pm opens 44th general assembly of apsf · 12/24/2019 · flowers and ornamental plants. ......

Volume 24 | Number 8115 | 2 RiyalsTuesday 24 December 2019 | 27 Rabia II 1441 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 01 SPORT | 12

Tokyo-bound Fares edges Rostami to top field

Boeing fires CEO Muilenburg to

steady spiralling 737 MAX crisis

PM opens 44th General Assembly of APSF

QNA DOHA

Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani opened the 44th General Assembly of the Arab Police Sports Federation (APSF) at Sharq Hotel yesterday.

At the outset of the opening ceremony, a documentary film on the activities of Qatar Police Sports Federation was displayed, followed by a speech on behalf of the dele-gations of the participating coun-tries, delivered by head of the Sudanese Police Sports Federa-tion’s delegation Major General Karim Eddin Mubarak Al Khalifa Fadl Al Sayed.

H E the Prime Minister and Interior Minister then honoured former Secretary-General of the Kuwaiti Police Sports Federation and former member of APSF Executive Bureau, Retired Major General H E Walid Ghanem Al Ghanem; former President of the Algerian Police Sports Federation, observer H E Belarbi Saleh Hamdan; President of Qatar

Volleyball Association, Ali Ghanim Al Kuwari; and Member of the Board of Directors of Qatar Society for Rehabilitation of Special Needs Talib Abdullah Afifah Al Marri, in recognition of their efforts and contributions to the march of the Arab Police Sports Federation and their effective participation in its various activities and programs.

The opening ceremony was attended by ranking officers, offi-cials of the Arab Police Sports Federation, delegations of the participating Arab police feder-ations and guests.

Doha hosted the 44th General Assembly of the Arab Police Sports Federation and 107th the Exec-utive Office meeting as well as the 8th Arab Police Cross Country Championship.

Fourteen countries participated in the General Assembly and Exec-utive Office meetings including the State of Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Pal-estine, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Somalia in addition to the State of Qatar.

QDPP set to activate diabetes research in early 2020FAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

The Qatar Diabetes Prevention Programme (QDPP), a research project expected to transform the way for diabetes prevention, will start recruitment of subjects in early 2020.

Dubbed as the region’s largest diabetes research project, QDPP will be conducted by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) led by the Qatar Metabolic Institute (QMI) of the Academic Health System (AHS).

The research programme aims to identify the best methods to predict, prevent, and reverse type 2 diabetes, Professor Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra, Director of the

Qatar Metabolic Institute (QMI), Chairman of Internal Medicine at HMC, and Director of the QDPP, told The Peninsula.

The five-year programme is funded by Qatar Foundation’s Qatar National Research Fund and co-funded by HMC. The QDPP research project supports the National Diabetes Strategy, led by the Ministry of Public Health.

“It is a unique research hap-pening in our region that will help us discover the best way to prevent diabetes in the region. For example, the diabetes pre-vention programmes done in the US, initially held for five years and then extended for additional 10 years, established the fact that diabetes can be prevented by

lifestyle modification and by some medication” he said.

“But the US experience may not be relevant to Qatar’s culture and environment. We need to discover the best method that is applicable in Qatar to prevent diabetes and to reverse the course of diabetes,” said Pro-fessor Abou-Samra.

Individuals between 18 and 60 years of age who are at high risk for diabetes such as having pre-diabetes or a history of ges-tational diabetes; and those who are newly diagnosed type 2 dia-betes (less than five years), are eligible to participate in the programme.

“At present 17 to 20 percent of adult population in Qatar have

diabetes and 20-25 percent have pre-diabetes. If we are able to prevent or reverse the course of diabetes in Qatar, it will have a major impact on the population health and the economy of Qatar,” he added.

The QDPP is comprised of seven complementary sub-projects: Project 1 aims to prevent the progression of pre-diabetes into type 2 diabetes; Project 2 aims to find the best method to prevent gestational diabetes in subjects with diabetes risk factors discovered in pre-marital screening. Project 3 aims to find the best method to prevent progression of gesta-tional diabetes into type 2 dia-betes. �P3

Biggest edition of Mahaseel Festival opens at KataraRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Mahaseel Festival marked the opening of its biggest edition yet yesterday with a large number of people visiting more than 40 stalls to buy fresh produce, dairy and meat products offered by local companies at cheap prices.

Thirty-four stalls repre-senting local fruit and vegetable farms, apiaries and food pro-duction companies are taking part in the festival. They com-prise 27 Qatari vegetable, honey and date farms, three com-panies manufacturing juices and dairy products and three poultry and egg companies in addition to Widam Food Company.

The venue is made colourful by stalls representing six farms engaged in the production of flowers and ornamental plants.

Visitors also flocked to a number of food stalls selling authentic local cuisine as well as food trucks offering scrumptious snacks.

There is also a large area where children can enjoy inflat-ables in addition to a giant tent where they can play various computer games such as VR games making the festival a one-stop shop for families.

Several fun and educational activities are being organised on the sidelines of the festival to raise awareness among children and the public on the importance of locally cultivated produce and food products manufactured by

Qatari companies. Mahaseel Festival is a vital

part of Katara’s initiatives to support government efforts to achieving food security and self-sufficiency which contribute to the realization of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

Organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), the fes-tival was officially opened by Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara and was attended by Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani, Assistant Undersecretary for Agriculture and Fisheries Affairs at MME, Sulaiman Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Mahaseel Festival organizing committee, representatives of participating companies and the public. �P3

Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani and other dignitaries attending the opening of the 44th General Assembly of the Arab Police Sports Federation (APSF) at Sharq Hotel, yesterday. �P2

Doha hosted the 44th General Assembly of the Arab Police Sports Federation and 107th the Executive Office meeting as well as the 8th Arab Police Cross Country Championship.

Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani, Assistant Undersecretary for Agriculture and Fisheries Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, with Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, Katara General Manager, and other officials during the launch of the 4th Mahaseel Festival at the Katara in Doha yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

Youth from 23 countries attend first Generation Amazing Festival in DohaTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The inaugural Generation Amazing Festival has inspired youth from Qatar and 24 coun-tries the first Generation Amazing Festival brought together 140 young leaders inspired to implement social change in their communities through football.

Held at Qatar Foundation’s Oxygen Park, the festival celebrated social inclusion and the promotion of gender equality, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Devel-opment Goals and Qatar National

Vision 2030. Youth from 24 coun-tries, including Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Nepal, Italy, Belgium, the UK and Brazil, partic-ipated in the festival, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) reported on its website.

Key highlights of the festival included football for development workshops, a football3 tour-nament, activities led by youth ambassadors, a FIFA Legends day, cultural performances, celebrity footballer events and the chance to attend the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup. �P3

02 TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019HOME

Qatar attends UN anti-corruption conferenceQNA DOHA

Qatar participated in the eighth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption held recently in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The Qatari delegation, which was headed by the Pres-ident of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, H E Hamad bin Nasser Al Misnad, discussed, on the sidelines of the conference, ways to enhance cooperation between the State of Qatar and a number of international organisations participating in the conference in the field of preventing and combating cor-ruption. The discussions were

held with a number of officials of those organisations and the heads of the national agencies concerned in this field.

The conference reviewed the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the only global legally binding anti-cor-ruption instrument. It discussed ways to prevent corruption, and strengthen international coop-eration to combat corruption and better asset recovery. The conference took a number of resolutions that would strengthen the aforementioned aspects.

The Conference is one of the world’s largest anti-cor-rupt ion gatherings and brings together people from Member States, parliaments,

inter-governmental organiza-tions, civil society, the private sector and the media.

It is worth noting that within the framework of its pioneering efforts to enhance international cooperation to prevent and combat corruption, Qatar was one of the first countries in the world to host the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, as Doha hosted the third session of the conference in 2009. The third session approved a review mechanism of the UN Convention against Corruption, which continues to play the greatest role in pro-moting the implementation of the Convention and the exchange of relevant interna-tional experiences.

The Qatari delegation, headed by the President of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, H E Hamad bin Nasser Al Misnad, at the eighth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption held recently in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

MoPH workshop discusses healthcare access of craftsmen, manual workersTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has recently organised a workshop on integrated healthcare pathway for craftsmen and manual workers with the participation of over 100 key stakeholders and decision makers from several entities.

The participants included Ministry of Public Health, Min-istry of administrative Devel-opment, Labor and Social Affairs, International Labor Organi-zation, Supreme Committee for Legacy and Delivery, Primary Health Care Corporation, Qatar Red Crescent, Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Qatar Petroleum among others.

The workshop aims at pro-viding information about the ministerial efforts under way to enhance craftsmen and manual workers’ access to healthcare services and the actions to be taken to promote and improve healthcare for the migrant group in Qatar, which constitutes the largest group of working popu-lation in the country. In addition to reaching to a unified con-ceptual model of healthcare

which will deliver better healthcare at the right place and time for craftsmen and manual workers.

Dr Saleh Ali Al Marri, Assistant Minister of Public Health for Health Affairs, opening the workshop, said, “We are meeting to discuss one of the seven priority population groups of the National Health Strategy (NHS) ‘Healthy and Safe Employees’, where craftsmen and manual workers make up the largest segment of the Qatar’s working population. We are all aware of the fundamental role laborers paly in the development of the country’s infrastructure. I

would like to point out that with the 2022 FIFA World Cup approaching and the size of craftsmen and manual workers population group, we have an opportunity to build on all our achievements in this field and be a model of best practices regionally and globally.”

“The Ministry of Public Health, with the help of its key partners, has developed a number of comprehensive plans aimed at providing reliable and transparent data that will help improve workers’ working con-ditions through creating an infor-mation system for managing occupational health and trauma,

provide a safer work envi-ronment through the devel-opment and implementation of national guidelines and policies, and, most importantly, monitor employers’ compliance with these policies,” added Dr Al Marri.

He also stressed the impor-tance of laying out plans for the delivery of healthcare services which addresses the specific needs of craftsmen and manual workers and focuses on pre-vention by developing cus-tomized health promotion pro-grams and delivering a truly patient-centered integrated model of care. In addition, he

pointed out that the implemen-tation of these plans requires continuous support.

Jaber Ali Al Marri, head of health and occupational safety section at the Ministry of Admin-istrative Development, Labor, and Social Affairs (MADLSA), reviewed several important legal provisions related to healthcare services for workers in the Qatari Labor Law.

Major Abdullah Khalifa Al Mohannadi, Director of Visa Support Services Dept at the Ministry of the Interior, demon-strated the efforts undertaken by the Ministry of Interior to facil-itate services for workers at

Qatari visa centers abroad, such as biometric data processing, medical examinations and signing employment contracts.

At the end of the workshop, the attendees held a roundtable discussion on financing mecha-nisms, and the challenges facing data collection and health pro-motion for craftsmen and manual workers.

The discussions in the workshop concluded that it is necessary to continue working together in reviewing and imple-menting a conceptual model of care considering the observa-tions of the roundtable discus-sions, in addition to the need to collect and share more accurate and robust data for this popu-lation group, as evidence-based data can help health policy-makers develop tailored care policies and guidelines. The dis-cussions also emphasised the importance of the roles of the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Administrative Devel-opment, Labor and Social Affairs in terms of performance and oversight, as well as raising awareness through a strong communication strategy directed to employers and workers.

The key stakeholders and decision makers from several entities during the workshop organised by the MoPH.

QNTC, UNWTO co-organise Doha Forum sessionTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) co-organised a high-level design thinking session on the heels of the Doha Forum, a global platform that promotes the interchange of ideas, discourse, policy making, and action-oriented dialogue.

This session brought together over 30 relevant experts from the public and private sectors, including inter-

national and non-profit organ-isations, funding agencies, entre-preneurs, and research and innovation centres. Discussions focused on generating inno-vative, actionable proposals and establishing commitments for

continued collaboration and implementation. HRH Princess Dana Firas of Jordan joined the afternoon session of the workshop to provide feedback on the generated projects during presentations.

The proposals included ini-tiatives to empower local com-munities, make travel accessible for all, provide educational opportunities in the tourism field, as well as develop ecolog-ically sustainable models.

The design thinking session followed on the participation of UNWTO Secretary-General,

Zurab Pololikashvili, and QNTC Secretary-General and GCEO of Qatar Airways, H E Akbar Al Baker, in the Doha Forum Plenary Session: Protecting the Benefits of Tourism in a Multi-lateral World, which convened

state leaders to explore what can be done through collaboration to reduce the negative impacts of conflict on travel and tourism and to bolster tourism as a driver of peace.

Al Baker said: “Tourism is an important sector not only in terms of tangible economic impact, but also for building bridges of understanding between peoples and changing deeply-rooted misperceptions. We are proud of the role tourism and aviation has played in cre-ating more awareness and understanding of our country, and of the policy of openness which has made us the most welcoming country in the Middle East.”

He added, “We are pleased to see the dialogue on tourism take its rightful place on the global agenda, and to share these important insights from the Middle East with our counter-parts around the world through the wide-reaching Doha Forum platform.”

Pololikashvili spoke of how “Education is one of my main pri-orities. Thanks to the Tourism Online Academy, a joint initiative between UNWTO and IE Uni-versity, we would have the oppor-tunity to train, democratize and scale the way people are educated regarding the tourism sector. Our vision is to provide global oppor-tunities to people who are inter-ested in the tourism sector and address the gap between jobs, skills and education.”

QNTC recently became the Destination Partner of the UNWTO Tourism Online Academy.

QNTC Secretary-General and GCEO of Qatar Airways, H E Akbar Al Baker (right), speaking during the Doha Forum Plenary Session: Protecting the Benefits of Tourism in a Multilateral World.

The Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, honouring retired Major General H E Walid Ghanem Al Ghanem, former secretary-general of the Kuwaiti Police Sports Federation and former member of APSF Executive Bureau; H E observer Belarbi Saleh Hamdan, former President of the Algerian Police Sports Federation; President of Qatar Volleyball Association, Ali Ghanim Al Kuwari; and Member of the Board of Directors of Qatar Society for Rehabilitation of Special Needs, Talib Abdullah Afifah Al Marri, in recognition of their efforts and contributions to the march of the Arab Police Sports Federation and their effective participation in its various activities and programmes at the 44th General Assembly of the Arab Police Sports Federation (APSF) at Sharq Hotel, yesterday.

PM opens 44th General Assembly of Arab Police Sports Federation

03TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019 HOME

Shura Council discusses draft law on railwaysQNA DOHA

The Shura Council held its regular weekly meeting yesterday under the chair-manship of the Deputy Speaker H E Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Sulaiti.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Council discussed a draft law on railways. The draft law includes (36) articles according to which the func-tions and terms of reference of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and Qatar Rail are defined, regarding the tech-nical and administrative aspects of the country’s

railways. The draft law also includes

issues related to the operation and safety of railways. The Council decided to refer the aforementioned draft law to the Internal and External Affairs Committee to study it and submit a report thereon to the Council. The Council also dis-cussed the report of the Internal and External Affairs Committee on a draft law amending some provisions of Law No. (15) of 2011 on combating human traf-ficking. The Council decided to approve the aforementioned draft law and refer its recom-mendations thereon to the Cabinet.

The Deputy Speaker H E Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Sulaiti chairing the regular weekly meeting of the Shura Council, yesterday.

Qatari Cartoonist ‘Guest of Honour’ at Kuwait Sports Caricature GalleryQNA/KUWAIT

The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) opened on Sunday the first sports caricature gallery in collaboration with the Al-Arabi SC and Kuwait Cartoon Society.

NCCAL’s President Kamel Alabdel-Jalil praised the emi-nence of Kuwait cartoonists, saying this gallery, which gathered 26 cartoonists and displays 70 sports caricatures, will catalyse the artistic movement and portray sports as a sort of art.

Among the other speakers at the ceremony were Al-Arabi SC Board Chairman Abdulaziz Ashour. Qatari cartoonist Abdulaziz Sadeq - the guest of honor at the event, praised the Kuwaiti caricature art movement, which dates back for many years.

Amir sends cable of condolences to Algerian PresidentDOHA: Amir H H Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,

Deputy Amir H H Sheikh

Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani

and Prime Minister and Inte-

rior Minister H E Sheikh

Abdullah bin Nasser bin

Khalifa Al Thani sent yester-

day cables of condolences

to President H E Abdelmad-

jid Tebboune of the brotherly

People’s Democratic Repub-

lic of Algeria, on the death of

Lt. General Ahmed Gaid Salah,

Deputy Minister of Defence

and Chief of Staff of the Peo-

ple’s National Army. QNA

OFFICIAL NEWS

Shura Council’s Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee holds meetingDOHA: The Legal and Leg-

islative Affairs Committee

of the Shura Council held a

meeting yesterday. It was

chaired by its Rapporteur H E

Nasser bin Rashid bin Saree

Al Kaabi. The Committee dis-

cussed a draft law amending

some provisions of the Penal

Code promulgated by Law No.

11 of 2004, and a draft law

amending some provisions of

the Criminal Procedure Code

issued by Law No. 23 of 2004.

The Committee approved the

aforementioned draft laws

and submitted its recommen-

dations regarding them to the

Shura Council. QNA

Draft law on unified economic registry discussed DOHA: The Financial and

Economic Affairs Commit-

tee of the Shura Council held

a meeting yesterday, chaired

by its Rapporteur

H E Ali bin Abdullatif Al

Misnad Al Mohannadi. The

Committee discussed a draft

law on the unified economic

registry, and decided to

approve the said draft law

and submit its recommen-

dations thereon to the Shura

Council. QNA

Youth from 23 countries attend Generation Amazing FestFROM PAGE 1

Generation Amazing partner clubs — AS Roma, KAS Eupen, Leeds United and Sheffield FC — all sent youth dele-gations, as did Brazilian champions CR Flamengo, who took part in the FIFA Club World Cup™, and the English Football Association.

A football for good tournament rounded off the festival’s educational and entertainment experience and offered participants the chance to apply all the technical and personal skills they acquired throughout the event.

In her welcome address, Generation Amazing’s Marketing & Communications Director, Moza Al Mohannadi, said: “You are the future game-changers. Welcome to Generation Amazing, welcome to Qatar, welcome to the country that will host the World Cup in 2022. I hope to see you here again and again.”

Speaking at the medal ceremony, Generation Amazing’s Programme Director, Nasser Al Khori, said: “As a pro-gramme, Generation Amazing operates today in eight countries and reaches 28 diverse communities, which you can see are all fantastically represented here at the festival. We’ve been able to reach 500,000 beneficiaries so far and this is something we are proud of and hold in our vision to achieve a lasting impact.”

During the five-day event, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) ambassadors Mubarak Mustafa, Adel Khamis, Wael Gomaa and Younis

Mahmoud inspired youth with their presence, while participants also got the chance to interact with global legends Tim Cahill, John Arne Riise, Michael Owen, Yaya Toure, Santiago Solari, Kristine Lilly, Steve McManaman, Bebeto and Julio Cesar.

Attendees also met Dutch legend Johan Neeskens, who gave an inspiring speech about the positive impact of football. Participants also took part in a talk with former Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen, and had the chance to attend training sessions organised by the Paris-Saint Germain Academy in Doha.

The festival featured a range of

cultural, networking and celebratory activities, including a visit to the National Museum of Qatar. Qatar Airways was the event’s official airline partner, while beIN SPORTS was named as official media partner. The festival was also sup-ported by Qatar Football Association, Qatar Museums, Ashghal, Q Life and Medical Insurance Company, and the University Campus of Football Business.

The FIFA Foundation also partnered with Generation Amazing for the event, which was organised in collaboration with streetfootballworld. Qatar Foun-dation was a strategic partner having provided the main grounds for the festival.

Young leaders inspired to implement social change in their communities through football pose at the first Generation Amazing Festival at Qatar Foundation’s Oxygen Park.

MBDA to sponsor DIMDEX for seventh time QNA DOHA

The organizing committee of the Doha International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX) revealed MBDA, the world’s leading developer of missile systems, as golden sponsorship of the event for the seventh time.

This disclosure comes within the framework of the continuous preparations for the 7th edition of the exhibition, whose activ-ities are scheduled to start on March 16 over three days.

The signing ceremony was held to officially announce the golden sponsor of the Doha International Maritime Defense

Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX) at the Ministry of Defense in the presence of HE Chief of Staff of Qatari Armed Forces Lieutenant General (Pilot) Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanim and the General Delegate of MPDA in Qatar Bertrand Dumoulin, who signed the agreement with Staff Brigadier (Sea) Abdulbaqi Saleh Al Ansari, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of DIMDEX.

Commenting on this occasion, H E Chief of Staff of Qatari Armed Forces Lieutenant General (Pilot) Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanim said that this reflects our continuous and firm commitment to the highest inter-national standards in the field of

infrastructure for the defense and security sector, which reflects the direction in which the State of Qatar is moving towards strengthening its position as a global center for trade and knowledge exchange, and therefore to achieve our national strategic goals through interactive exchange of capacity building and strengthening our position in the global defense industry.

For his part, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of DIMDEX said that MBDA has always been an essential part of DMDEX’s successful career since its inception in 2008, and we are delighted to have the support of this industry leader as a golden

sponsor and exhibitor for the seventh time in a row, and our joint efforts allow us to provide unparalleled business opportu-nities to the participants in each edition. Bertrand Dumoulin said MBPA is pleased to continue its long-term commitment to DMDEX and Qatar has always been a major partner of the company, and the company is extremely grateful for the con-fidence that the Qatari Armed Forces have placed in our products over the past forty years of partnership.

Key sponsorship agreements with industry leaders are an integral part of DMDEX’s stra-tegic business objectives.

A survey for the participants

showed that 95% of them found in it an added value for their companies and institutions, while 75% said that they achieved their commercial goals through their participation and it is expected that this edition of DMDEX will witness an expansion in its commercial scope, which will enhance its position on the global agenda of the maritime security and defense industry.

With the approach of DMDEX 2020, strategic agreements with global industry partners confirm the significant contribution of the event to advancing the security and maritime defense industry, in line with the country’s overall national development goals.

Chief of Staff of Qatari Armed Forces meets Director of US Air National GuardDOHA: The Chief of Staff

of Qatari Armed Forces, H E

Lt General (Pilot) Ghanem

bin Shaheen Al Ghanim, met

yesterday with the Director

of the US Air National Guard,

H E Lieutenant General L

Scott Rice. During the meet-

ing, they reviewed bilateral

relations between the two

sides. QNA

Biggest edition of Mahaseel Festival opens

FROM PAGE 1Al Sulaiti said Mahaseel has

proved the significant role it plays in local agricultural and food production sector as it had become an ideal marketing platform that attracts owners of Qatari farms and national food manufacturing companies to sell their products directly to the consumers at affordable prices.

He stressed that the festival had witnessed remarkable success and development year after year as indicated by the increasing number of partici-pation and the diversity of products offered, which reflects the growing interest of the public in local products, patronizing them for their com-petitive prices in the local

market which in turn encourages investment in the sector and contributes to the national economy.

Prior to the festival opening, the Farmers’ Forum office was inaugurated at building 47 yes-terday. A first-of-its-kind in Qatar, the office is expected to play an important role in the agricultural sector by bringing owners of farms together to exchange experiences, pro-viding workshops and seminars that will contribute to the development of local agricul-tural production, and encour-aging investment in agricultural projects. Mahaseel (an Arabic word which translates to ‘Harvest’) provides an excellent platform for local farms and food companies to directly

market their products as well as introduce people to the vari-eties of fruits and vegetables grown in Qatar which can be

purchased at competitive prices. The festival is open every day from 9am to 9pm until December 28, after which

the Mahaseel market will be open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays until March 31 next year.

QDPP set to activate diabetes research in early 2020FROM PAGE 1

Project 4 aims to achieve d i a b e t e s remission in patients with newly diag-nosed type 2 d i a b e t e s ; Project 5 aims to identify genetic factors associated with pre-diabetes and type 2 dia-betes; Project 6 aims to identify proteomic and m e t a b o l i c markers, associated with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes; and Project 7 aims to develop eHealth tools and mobile apps to support life-style intervention for diabetes prevention and management. The flagship research pro-gramme is the result of a multi-institutional research collaboration between healthcare, education, and research organisations. The collaboration includes investigators from HMC, PHCC, Weill Cornell College of Medicine, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Qatar Com-puting Research Institute of HBKU, Qatar Genome Programme, Qatar Biobank, Qatar Diabetes Association, Sidra and Droobi Health.

Professor Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra during an interview with The Peninsula. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE

PENINSULA

Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani, Assistant Undersecretary for Agriculture and Fisheries Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, with Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara Cultural Village (Katara), and other officials during the launch of 4th Mahaseel Festival at Katara in Doha, yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA


QIC Group the Official Insurance Sponsor of QND celebration at KataraTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Insurance Group, the leading insurer in Qatar and the MENA region, is the Official Insurance Sponsor of the QND celebration at the Katara Cultural Village. Hosted at the Cultural Village the National Day cele-bration boasted of a lineup of various activities and events that highlighted Qatar’s rich culture and heritage.

Qatar Insurance Group has long demonstrated its eagerness towards supporting activities that showcase Qatar’s rich culture and enhance the Qatari individual’s connection with his environment and heritage.

Commenting on the latest partnership, Fahad Al Suwaidi, Deputy CEO of QIC said: “As the

leading insurer in Qatar, we have a long-standing commitment to

acting as a trusted and ethical partner with the Qatari

community and in playing a vital role in affirming our loyalty and pride in our homeland.”

He added: “Qatar National Day helps us to introspect and reflect upon our achievements and all that we have accom-plished over the years. In doing so, we have always ensured that the core values of our business and operating principles align with the objectives of the Nation. In effect, being socially conscious has allowed us to respond, engage and solve the common concerns of the society along with the cooperation of our customers, business partners and affiliates. Contribution to and participation in Qatar National Day celebra-tions at Katara demonstrates our relentless efforts in highlighting the culture, traditions and achievements of the Nation.”

QIC headquarters in West Bay.

al khaliji donates to Qatar Autism SocietyTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

al khaliji Commercial Bank P.Q.S.C. (al khaliji), Qatar’s next generation bank, is proud to be collaborating with the Qatar Autism Society (QAS) to help it sustain its mission of providing aid to persons impacted by autism.

The donation was announced during a visit and delivered by Hassan Al Jaidah, Head of Premium at al khaliji. Dr. Manal Al Deeb, Vice-President QAS received the support on behalf of the Society.

“al khaliji is proud to support Qatar Autism Society to help make a difference in the lives of persons with special needs and their families. Developing the full potential of people and empow-ering them to achieve personal and professional fulfilment are important attributes of the human and social development pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030. These goals are also al khaliji’s goals,” said Hassan Al Jaidah.

“We look forward to full acceptance from our community towards persons with autism, good understanding for their

differences and their real inclusion in all the fields,” said Sheikha Jawaher Fahad Jassim Al Thani, President of QAS.

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, refers to a broad range of conditions characterised by challenges with social skills, repet-itive behaviours, speech and non-verbal communication. It is now accepted that there is not one autism but many subtypes, and each person with autism can have unique strengths and challenges.

A combination of genetic and environmental factors influence the development of autism, and autism often is accompanied by medical issues such as gastroin-testinal disorders, seizures and sleep disturbances.

A number of non-profit organisations have benefited from the social responsibility activities and initiatives established by al khaliji, in addition to its wide range of charitable actions within the country. In the area of social wellbeing, in 2019, al khaliji sup-ported Qatar Society of Rehabil-itation of Special Needs, QCS, and Ehsan Center, to name a few.

Dr. Manal Al Deeb, Vice-President of Qatari Autism Society receiving a donation from Hassan Al Jaidah, Head of Premium at al khaliji.

Drug Enforcement thwarts attempt to smuggle drugsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The General Directorate of Drug Control at the Ministry of Interior succeeded in thwarting an attempt to smuggle a large amount of drugs into the country.

Authorities arrested a gang of five people

from an Asian country, who tried to smuggle one hundred kilogrammes of hashish for the purpose of trafficking.

The authorities concerned received a tip-off that a gang is trying to smuggle and distribute drugs inside the country.

A special investigation team was formed to probe the lead and a number of suspects

were kept under watch.This led to the discovery of a warehouse,

where narcotic substances were hidden in containers carrying a shipment of marble stones. The suspects concealed the drugs inside the cavities of the marble.

After taking the necessary legal measures and obtaining an order from the Public Prosecution to hold the perpetrators and search the warehouse, the personnel of the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement succeeded in raiding the ware-house and extracted the containers to uncover the drugs.

The defendants were arrested in the act and the drug was extracted from the hidden places where they could find 100 kilogrammes of hashish, packed in 192 cylindrical covers.

After interrogating the accused, they con-fessed to participating in the smuggling and storage of narcotic drugs for the purpose of trafficking. They gave information of the rest of the gang and they were arrested. All the accused were referred to the competent authorities to complete the legal procedures.

The five suspects and the narcotic substances seized during a raid on a warehouse. Authorities said 100kg of hashish was seized during the raid.

SC Security Committee organises exceptional edition of FIFA Club World CupTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Security Committee of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy succeeded in securing the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, by securing all the participants in the tournament from official delega-tions, players, and fans and providing all means of safety for them.

Since the first day of the tour-nament, all security committee units were able to carry out their security duties as a trial of their security performance in prepa-ration for the FIFA World Cup 2022 to be hosted by the State of Qatar. All security units were located in their sites to provide security and order and to help the fans and maintain their security and safety, and to limit the crowds flow at the entry and exit gates.

In this context, Lekhwiya’s commander of parades and patrols Brigadier Ali Salman Al Mohannadi emphasised the importance of the great security role that the parades and patrols group played in securing the FIFA Club World Cup and previous championships, by accompanying the group’s patrols to all sports teams and official participating delegations in the tournament, as well as accompanying dignitaries

who attended various events of this tournament and previous sports tournaments.

Al Mohannadi explained that each day of the tournament had special plans for the movement and securing sports teams and official delegations. Al Mohannadi said that the security elements of the tour-nament were well-prepared before the tournament, and it is planned to intensify these exercises before organising any major sports tour-nament in the future to achieve the best security performance to secure the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

He stressed that all measures taken to secure the tournament were identical and similar to many of the security measures taken in the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018.

The Executive Director of the Security Department of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy Brigadier General Mohamed Majid Al Sulaiti, and member and secretary of the Security Committee, said that the discipline and seriousness in the performance of the plans to secure these events showed dis-cipline and seriousness of police officers.

Al Sulaiti pointed out that securing this tournament and the Arabian Gulf Cup and the World Athletics Championships is a trial

for the 2022 World Cup, which Qatar has succeeded in and has strengthened the confidence of the FIFA in Qatar’s capabilities and ability to organise an ideal cham-pionship that will be a legacy for the world.

For his part, the Head of the Communication and Media Unit of the Security Committee and Commander of the International Police Coordination Center, Colonel Khaled Al Kaabi pointed to the Center’s role in securing the World Cup by contributing to the process of securing this champi-onship through an operations room managed and supervised by the SC’s Security Committee based on the latest advanced techno-logical means and infrastructure working for the center’s role and achieving its goals.

He added that the Center has succeeded in this tournament in exchanging information between

representatives of the interna-tional police and the State of Qatar, where several representatives of the police agencies of countries that have teams participating in the tournament have been attached to the Center to work together with Qatari police officers.

Lt. Col. Khalifa Shaheen Al Dossary, the security commander of the tournament, said that the security committee succeeded in implementing comprehensive security plans that targeted all the activities of the tournament, relying on several security points that were set in front of the accom-modations of official delegations, stadiums, and streets leading to the tournament’s activities to carry out continuous security operations and set traffic services that facil-itate traffic and assist guests and fans to reach the stadiums easily.

Al Dossary praised the

performance of the security men participating in the tournament, who have been trained for more than 3 months, to secure this important tournament, which has had a great impact on the devel-opment of security plans and the distribution of security personnel on sports fields.

Lt. Col. Ahmed Mohamed Al Ghanem, commander of the fourth group of Special Operations Command, stressed that all security units have played a prominent role in securing the organization of tournament, imposing order, tight-ening control and addressing any negative aspects of stadiums that could disturb the sports competi-tions, which allowed athletes and fans to enjoy their favorite sport in a beautiful atmosphere.

Major Naif bin Faleh Al-Thani, Director of Rescue Police Department (Al Fazaa), pointed out that the Al Fazaa Police patrols have played their role in securing the tournament by dis-tributing it to all competitive and non-competitive establishments to secure the tournament, the continued security presence, and responding to all the communi-cations related to the tournament, in addition to carrying out its daily work by securing the areas sur-rounding the tournament’s accommodations in coordination

with the security units partici-pating in the tournament, and its initial response and control of any events that may occur and affect the progress of the tournament.

Major Youssef Al Hamad, the representative of the abolition and elimination of explosives group, said that the security committee used several inspection devices, including devices for inspecting bags, gates for inspecting people, and manual inspection devices provided for security personnel in the inspection tents. Al Hamad underscored that these devices are the latest in the world and were approved and tested shortly before the start of the tour-nament, as they work in the most difficult climatic conditions even in the event of rain, they perform their work very efficiently.

Major Rawda Masoud Al Abdullah, responsible for the female personnel in securing the championship, praised the per-formance of the female personnel in securing the championship, as the security committee at Khalifa International Stadium adopted more than 120 female personnel to work on securing the services and public portals. She empha-sised the readiness of the female personnel to carry out their assigned roles so that the masses can enjoy watching upcoming sporting events.

Since the first day of the tournament, all security committee units were able to carry out their security duties as a trial of their security performance in preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022 to be hosted by the State of Qatar. All security units were located in their sites to provide security and order and to help the fans and maintain their security and safety, and to limit the crowds flow at the entry and exit gates.

THE PENINSULA/DOHA

Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) will be conducting a mega event with the theme “Passage to India” on Thursday and Friday (January 16 and 17, 2020) at Museum of Islamic Arts (MIA) Park.

Salem Abdulla Al Aswad, Deputy Director Learning and Outreach, finalised this in a meeting with the ICC representatives including Man-ikantan AP, President; Seenu Pillai

General Secretary; Nayana Wagh, Head of Cultural & Educational Activ-ities; and Nirmala Shanmuga Pandian, Cultural Coordinator.

The meeting was also attended by Sarah Tose, Head of Academic Pro-grams; Abdulla Al Dosari, Acting Deputy Director – Operations; Saad Al Kaabi, Head of Security; Yasser Shazly, MIA Park Engineer; Rashid Al Muraikhi, Senior Garden Specialist; and Kaiser Colomo, Facilities Spe-

cialist for Museum of Islamic Art.Salem Abdulla Al Aswad, assured

that this event will the first of its kind with highest grade and will be an opportunity to appreciate the long-time Indian residents of Qatar who have contributed to the country’s growth.

Seenu Pillai announced the high-lights of the Festival such as Colourful Cultural programs from Qatar and different States of India, display of

life size monument of India, stalls/outlets highlighting various customs/features/materials from different states in India and Food outlets, by licensed Indian vendors, providing various Indian delicacies from dif-ferent States of India, to the visitors.

Manikantan said that Indian Cul-tural Centre had conducted the Indian community festival during 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016, the latest one with the theme “Passage To India”.

Indian Cultural Centre to hold Indian community festival at MIA Park


QA sponsors Generation Amazing Youth Festival in QatarTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Airways was the Official Airline Partner of the Generation Amazing Youth Festival held in Qatar last week. The airline flew the youth ambassadors from all over the world to take part in the inaugural event.

Generation Amazing aims to inspire a generation of young leaders from Qatar and round the globe to make a difference in their communities. More than 170 youth participants from 12 coun-tries (Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, the Phil-ippines, Nepal, Italy, Belgium, the UK and Brazil) participated.

Qatar Airways and Generation Amazing partner clubs AS Roma and KAS Eupen, along with the English Football Association and other football organisations were represented, along with Brazilian champions Flamengo, who reached the final of the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019.

Key highlights included football for development workshops, football tournaments, activities led by youth ambassadors, celebrity footballer events and cultural per-formances. Participants attended

the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 semi-final game between Liv-erpool FC and Monterrey CF, while a FIFA Legends day featured talks and a match between star players and the young leaders. Qatar Airways Capt. Khalifa Al Thani and Capt. Abdulrahman Al Mulla joined AS Roma and Brazil legend Cafu, who features in the airline’s recently launched on-board safety video, to present awards at the closing ceremony.

Qatar Airways Senior Vice President Marketing and Cor-porate Communications, Salam Al Shawa, said: “As an airline, Qatar Airways firmly believes in the power of sport to bring people together, and this festival has demonstrated that football has the ability to inspire today’s youth to make a difference. The Generation Amazing Youth Festival has been an exciting and engaging expe-rience for all the youth partici-pants and we look forward to many more Generation Amazing events in the lead up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM.”

Generation Amazing’s Mar-keting and Communications Director, Moza Al Mohannadi, said: “We are proud and excited to have hosted the very first edition of the

Generation Amazing Festival and it has been most rewarding to observe youth from Qatar and across the world coming together to celebrate the power of football.”

Generation Amazing, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy’s human and social legacy programme, was initiated during Qatar’s successful bid for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in 2010.

It uses the power of sport to positively impact lives and create sustainable social development in communities. More than 500,000 beneficiaries have been reached to date through Gener-ation Amazing in the Middle East and Asia, with the aim of reaching one million young people by 2022.

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

Representatives of Qatar Airways and participants during the Generation Amazing Youth Festival.

HMC’s first Planetree International Fellows in Person-Centered Care awardedTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Twenty staff members from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) have been awarded a Fellowship in Person-Centered Care by internationally-renowned US-based healthcare organisation Planetree International. The twenty staff members from HMC’s Center for Patient Experience and Staff Engagement (CPESE) are the first in the world to receive the prestigious Fellowship.

The fellowship was awarded to the CPESE staff during Qatar’s inaugural Patient Experience Forum, which was held in Doha in November. HMC’s CPESE has also been honoured as the world’s first ‘Planetree Professional Department’ and was presented with the ‘Early Adopters of the Planetree Fellow in Person-Cen-tered Care Program’ designation at the Planetree Person-Centered Care Conference held in Orlando, Florida, USA earlier this year.

Nasser Al Naimi, Deputy Chief of Quality, CPESE and Director, Hamad Healthcare Quality Institute, said the first group of

Person-Centered Care Fellows at HMC have forged a new path for the organisation.

“Becoming a Fellow signals not only their conviction that person-centered care is the right thing to do, but also their profes-sional track record of putting person-centered care into action. The process for becoming a Fellow focuses on expanding one’s knowledge about person-cen-tered approaches to care, and then applying that knowledge to make healthcare better,” said Al Naimi. He said HMC is honoured to be associated with the Fellow in Person-Centered Care credential as it demonstrates the priority the organisation places on providing person-centered care.

“In 2018, HMC signed a three-year partnership with Planetree to strengthen CPESE’s capabilities by providing strategic direction and support to further enhance our commitment to putting the patient first,’’ said Al Naimi.

“HMC is the first hospital system in the world to implement the Planetree Fellows in Person-Centered Care Program. The Plan-etree Fellowship Program aims to

recognise qualified healthcare professionals and students who have successfully expanded their knowledge of person-centered approaches and applied this knowledge in the field,” added Al Naimi.

The fellowship program is based on the principles of person-centered care and requires par-ticipants to provide evidence for a range of activities based on the three domains of learning, doing, and sharing.

Dr Susan Frampton, President of Planetree International, said the fellowship program was not just a first for Qatar, but internationally.

“Working together, Planetree and HMC’s dedicated CPESE team, under the leadership of Nasser Al Naimi, have developed a unique recognition of excellence. The Fellow in Person-Centered Care credential not only signifies a thorough knowledge base of person-centered care, but requires evidence of the practical application of that knowledge to one’s work to advance the field of patient experience,” said Dr Frampton.

Twenty HMS staff members become World’s first Planetree International Person-Centered Care Fellows.

Qatari climber reaches AntarcticaTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Fahad Badar (pictured), the Qatari banking executive leader and high-altitude climber arrived in Antarctica on December 21 to begin the 1st leg of his expedition to ski the last degree and climb Mount Vinson.

This incredible crossing with 24 hours of continuous daylight involves skiing in intervals for a 110km, using sleds to haul provi-sions across the Antarctic in tem-peratures of minus 20 degrees Celsius, which can drop down to minus 50 at the summit.

Skiing the last degree simply means one degree of latitude, where Badar will ski from 89 Degrees South to 90 Degrees of the South Pole, a distance of sixty nautical miles or 110km.

Badar is expected to reach deep within the frozen Antarctic, for the 2nd leg of his expedition some time after the first week of January 2020, to then scale one of the coldest mountains on earth, Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica. It will be Fahad’s fourth of the Seven Summits.

Only around 1200 climbers have summited Vinson since 1966, much less than Everest.

Badar shared his aspirations for the journey ahead, “I know it will be a physically challenging expedition with extreme weather conditions that can be obstacles to success. However, I am feeling extremely positive after months of training and ready to set out on this next challenge, with the deter-mination to succeed.”

In May of this year, Fahad made history by becoming the first Arab male to double summit both Mount Everest and Lhotse in a single expedition.

He is one of 85 people in the world to have succeeded this massive accomplishment. Making him also one of only two Qataris to successfully climb Mount Everest to date.

Dalian Professional FC Under-14 concludes Qatar Foundation tourTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

The Dalian Professional FC Under-14 football team has wrapped up its Qatar Foundation tour with six young players, along with six Qatar Foundation youth, serving as flag bearers for the final of the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019, which took place at Khalifa International Stadium on December 21.

Dalian Professional FC came to Qatar as part of Wanda’s FIFA Flag Bearers Programme at the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019, an ongoing initiative between Qatar Foundation (QF) and Wanda aimed at inspiring the next gen-eration of football talent in China and all over the world.

Liu Enzhe, 14, and a defender for Dalian Professional FC, said: “As a child I used to watch a lot of football and saw young kids car-rying the flag into the stadium and

I never imagined that one day I would get the opportunity to do the same. I was extremely excited. I followed all the instructions as every movement must be precise.”

During the week-long tour, each of the 22 aspiring footballers were given the chance to serve as flag bearers, along with 18 young people from QF’s sport and com-munity programmes.

Lincoln Zhang, Wanda Pres-ident of Culture, said: “Wanda Group has powerful and deep-rooted connections to football in China, particularly in our home of Dalian. It is our commitment to continue to support the devel-opment of the sport through ini-tiatives in China and across the world that provide players and fans with richer experiences.”

As part of the tour, the visiting Chinese team also played three friendly games against select teams from Aspire Academy,

Qatar Academy Doha, and Qatar Foundation, and trained at QF’s facilities in Education City.

The team was also given the opportunity to participate in a series of cultural activities, visiting landmarks such Souq Waqif and the National Museum of Qatar and enjoying the sport and enter-tainment Education City has to offer from golf, bowling, recre-ation centres and more.

Mei Cheng Fu, 14 and a goal-keeper for Dalian Professional FC said: “I was excited to be a part of the tour and visit Qatar as I had watched China play Qatar last year and then earlier this year when they won the Asian Cup.”

Further to the Dalian Profes-sional FC tour, the partnership has also enabled 18 Qatar Foundation youth, including those from the ability friendly programme to also participate in the Wanda FIFA Flag Bearers Programme.


When M F Husain walked the earthTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Son of M F Husain has explained his father’s life — through the latter’s latest art installation titled ‘Seeroo fi al Ardh’.

“He lived his last day as he had done his entire life,” said Mustafa Husain. “He kept what mattered to him the most, and let the rest go.”

Maqbool Fida Husain’s third son and fourth child recalls the last few days of his father’s life. It was 2011, and the artist had been hospitalised during his annual summer trip to London.

“A week before June 9, he had admitted himself to a hospital with an upset stomach,” he said. “A few of us flew in to be with him. When we visited him that week, he insisted on eating something that was close to his heart: Zarda, a sweet rice dish made with saffron. And he wanted it made the way his wife, our mother, used to make it back home in Mumbai.

“That evening, I made the sweet and took it to him. He ate a few mouthfuls, relishing each one . That was the only thing that he retained in his stomach the whole day – he couldn’t digest anything else. That evening, we chatted well into the night; we discussed his future plans, his exhibitions. It was almost as if we were sitting around the dining table at our home in Mumbai in the 1960s, chatting away.

“The hospital authorities insisted we leave at midnight. Barely half an hour after we left, he passed away. Up until

that last minute, our father was every bit the Husain we had known our entire lives.”

Mustafa, a film maker and cinema-tographer, said that the title of Husain’s final work — Seero fi al Ardh — epito-mises his father’s life.

“That specific phrase from the Quran translates as ‘travel or walk across the earth’; it refers to the need to expose yourself to the varied cultures of dif-ferent lands, people and experiences,” he explains. “It prompts you to under-stand and appreciate the world, and by inference, understand the Creator, the God who made each of us.

“My father travelled through life in a way that very few people could, without bearing malice or carrying a grudge against anyone. I believe that’s the reason why he could pour creativity onto a canvas.

Mustafa recounts his childhood in a small one-room home on Grant Road in the Badr Baug neighbourhood in Mumbai. The fact that their father often travelled made his six children look forward to the time he spent at home with them.

“He had a unique style of parenting,” said Husain’s son. “When he came home, he would make it a point to spend a day with each one of his six children, sepa-rately. He would take us, in turn, to a park or restaurant.

“During those few hours, our roles would change. We were no longer his children; he was no longer our father. We were friends. We would tell him

about what was happening in our lives — what we learnt in school, any fights or arguments we had had with our friends, and so on — and he would tell us about the work he did, and the people he met during his travels.

Husain skills as a painter and an artist were mostly self-taught. To him, wanting to know was the first step to learning, and to knowing what a person would want from life.

While in primary school, Mustafa was flipping through a textbook at home, when his father walked up to him and asked what he was reading. The young boy replied that he had no idea what the book was about.

“My father grew quite annoyed and told me that if I didn’t take the effort to know why I was learning something in the first place, there was no point in me being educated,” he said. “It was a lesson I took to heart. Ever since then, and up until this moment, I made it a point to know why I was learning a skill or a piece of information, and how it would help me.”

Having experienced the joys – and hardships – of following his heart and becoming a painter, Husain encouraged his children to trust their instincts.

Mustafa said that Husain’s rise to fame — which began in the 1950s — did nothing to change his view towards life.

Husain lived his life as a child would: free-spirited and self-assured. It was his innate guilelessness that shaped his outlook on the world — a trait that often made him behave impulsively, and with

no qualms of the repercussions of his actions on others.

According to Mustafa, his father also lived the way he painted – by immersing himself in experiences. Through the ebb and flow of his father’s memories, Mustafa said that one particular scene is etched in his mind; one that goes back to the days when he was a young boy in the little house on Grant Road.

It was a phase when Husain painted movie billboards and giant canvases, as he sought to find his feet as an artist. One afternoon, eager to finish a

painting that had to be delivered the next day, his father lugged huge canvas rolls home — only to find that he couldn’t spread them out in the small rooms of their house. As always, he found a solution.

“The local tram service used to end at midnight and resume at 5am,” said Mustafa. “This meant that, for five hours each night, the roads were deserted and free of traffic - that was enough for my father.

“There was no stopping my father — he kept moving on.”

A family photo taken on Husain’s 90th birthday. Husain is wearing a green Sherwani (cloak), that has motifs of himself and his paintings embroidered on to it.

PISQ secures 2nd position in QND event THE PENINSULA DOHA

Pakistan International School-Qatar (PISQ) took part in Qatar National Day (QND) events which were held in Lusail Multipurpose Hall. There were performances of over 7,500 students from Asian schools who took part in this remarkable Qatar National Day celebration.

The ceremony commenced with Qatar National Anthem which was sung by students of dif-ferent schools. It was a memo-rable spectacle as anthem was sung with pride and honour. The parade began which included 17 Asian schools of Qatar.

Pakistan International School notched second position in The-matic Parade Category. Partici-pants carried various banners and items representing the culture of Qatar. Major among these were Qatar Rail and the upcoming FIFA 2022 World Cup. PISQ students

presented a military march. The students also flaunted their get-ups of butterflies and falcons.

All the principals, head girls, head boys, team managers, coor-dinators of schools were called upon the stage for the photo-graphs with the chief guest. Prin-cipals were awarded with partic-ipation shields and certificates.

Team manager Reema Rashid

received the shield on behalf of Nargis Raza Otho, PISQ Principal. The school also participated in Thematic Shows and Thematic Songs categories. The audience enjoyed and cherished the per-formances by school students. These sorts of events bring self-confidence and form a sense of competition among students and other teams.

Students of Pakistan International School-Qatar performing at Lusail Multipurpose Hall during Qatar National Day celebrations.

Safari announces 2nd lucky draw winners of ‘Win 20 Toyota Corolla 2020 cars’ promotionSafari Hypermarket Group in Qatar has announced the 2nd lucky draw winners of ‘Win 20 Toyota Corolla 2020 Cars’ promotion campaign. The draw was held at Safari Hypermarket, Al Khor, on December 22, 2019, in the presence of a Ministry official and Safari management staff. The winners of the three Toyota Corolla 2020 cars are KK Sadun (coupon number 0787624), Ravi Risal (0725347) and Sameer Kallaram Kettil (0796087).

Dreama Center honoured for its work for the orphansTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Orphan Care Center, ‘Dreama’, under the umbrella of the Qatar Social Work, participated in international forum for social humanitarian ambas-sadors for the year 2019 which was held at the headquarters of the Arab Planning Institute in Kuwait for three days and with Arab and international partici-pation.

The international forum for social humanitarian ambassadors honoured Dreama Center for its achievements during the last three years.

The invitation was to honour Dreama Center for its efforts over the past years and also to review the Qatari experience in the care and empow-erment of orphans and community responsibilities; and transferring its details to the State of Kuwait and other countries.

Center of Dreama is known to be working on a new strategy aimed at expanding international and regional partnerships; to exchange experiences and create a global front that addresses all the challenges facing the child and the family.

According to the latest UN statistics, the number of orphans in the world has reached 140 million children, and esti-mates by other international institutions suggest that the number may worsen under the current global condition of the world, especially in the Middle East due to violent incidents and armed conflicts in the Arab world and the Islamic world.

This has led Dreama Center to the

immediate involvement in global devel-opment action to address the growing international risks and filling the humanitarian gaps that threaten the sta-bility of all the nations of the region, and this is in keeping with the interna-tionally-agreed goals and principles of the United Nations and the interna-tionally-agreed humanitarian and development conventions.

The trust in Mariam bint Nasser bin Ali Al Misnad — Executive Director, Orphans Care Center (Dreama) — was renewed as an international ambassador for orphans. She was given the title depending on the achievements and developments that were observed in the last three years.

The forum discussed the Qatari expe-rience led by Dreama Center for Orphan Care and Empowerment in terms of the strategy followed in developing children’s abilities and treating psychological and behavioural effects on the group of people of unknown descents, after the

parents or one of them abandoned the child.

In addition to the human values that the Dreama Center tries to spread and raise awareness of the need to embrace them, including the principle of the unity of human origin, anti-classism and racial discrimination, and achieving principles of social justice.

Mariam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad said: “We are not here today to list the

achievements of the center, but I am here to deliver the message and the voice of children, asking: What if we can change the life of one person? If we moved him from nothingness to live in dignity, isn’t this a real success?”

Al Misnad continued: “Let’s be truly ambassadors by delivering their voice and their needs, otherwise we do not deserve to be so and we do not deserve labels, titles and honours.”

Mariam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad, Executive Director Orphans Care Center (Dreama), being honoured during the international forum for social humanitarian ambassadors at headquarters of the Arab Planning Institute in Kuwait.

The invitation for the Orphans Care Center (Dreama) to attend the international forum for social humanitarian ambassadors in Kuwait was to honour the center for its efforts and achievements over the past years and also to review the Qatari experience in the care and empowerment of orphans.

THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Mannai Trading Company, dealer of Cadillac in Qatar, has announced the recall of Cadillac ATS and CTS Models of 2017, due to a possible defect in the power steering assist which may fail to operate.

The recall campaign comes within the framework of the Ministry’s continuous efforts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

The Ministry said that it will coordinate with the dealer to follow up on the mainte-nance and repair works and will communicate with cus-tomers to ensure that the nec-essary repairs are carried out.

The Ministry has urged all customers to report any vio-lations to its Consumer Pro-tection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, which processes complaints, inquires and suggestions.

MoCI recalls Cadillac ATS and CTS 2017 models


QF’s funding pathways are designed to support students to achieve their goalsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

As a believer in inclusive, acces-sible education, Qatar Foun-dation (QF) aims to help students avoid this strain. And its Student Financial Services Department outlined how when it organised a seminar for students in Education City, and their parents, to learn about the scholarships and financial support options that QF offers, and how they can be accessed to help young learners overcome one of the obstacles to education.

The symposium provided an overview of how students can qualify to benefit QF’s financial aid, when they can apply, and the types of scholarships on offer, which include QF Merit Schol-arships, QF Financial Aid, funding from a university, private, corporate, or federal funding, and student employment.

“The financial aid QF offers benefits students, and over the years it has had a great positive impact on them,” said Noof A Al Derham, Student Financial Services Director, QF.

“Our programs are unique and designed to help students facing financial challenges that may otherwise prevent them from achieving their goals, because a financial burden may cause student distraction and lead to a lack of focus in their studies.

“There are families who have five or seven children studying in Education City, and one of the

aims of these programs is to help this particular group of students and their families and provide them with the financial means necessary to achieve their edu-cational goals, as well as removing financial barriers that may prevent outstanding stu-dents from going to university.”

The QF Merit Scholarships are open to undergraduate stu-dents who have completed two semesters of academic study in Education City and have a GPA of 3.6 or above. “This highly-competitive scholarship is open to students from all QF

universities, with an equal number being selected from each said, Al Derham.

“QF also provides another element of financial support, which is an interest-free loan program that gives students an equal opportunity to receive a quality university education. It’s open to all students who have

been accepted into an under-graduate program at QF.”

QF also provides funding to support students in meeting uni-versity expenses through ena-bling them to do part-time work on campus. Student employment ranges from jobs at universities, such as teaching and research assistants, to those at QF’s

recreation facilities and student housing complexes.

The financial aid cycle for newly accepted students runs from April 1 until May 31 every year, and from February 1 until March 2 each year for returning students. The application period fort the QF Merit Scholarships runs from May 15 to June 5.

A view of the seminar in the Education City.

The symposium provided an overview of how students can qualify to benefit QF’s financial aid, when they can apply, and the types of scholarships on offer, which include QF Merit Scholarships, QF Financial Aid, funding from a university, private, corporate, or federal funding, and student employment.

Innovative courses open up new worlds for CMU-Q studentsTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) has introduced micro courses, a new option for students to learn about a wide variety of topics that will complement their required course work.

The micro courses are taught by pro-fessors from Carnegie Mellon’s main campus in a hybrid fashion, with part of the instruction in person, and part by videocon-ferencing. Micro courses cover a wide variety of topics like how artificial intelligence (AI) affects society, blockchain applications, com-putational medicine and environmental ideas. The dean of CMU-Q, Michael Trick, said, “We selected topics for the micro courses that would give our students a new perspective. For instance, in the required courses they learn about AI, so we offered micro courses that look at the ethics and the societal impact of that technology. We want them to understand the broader context of what they are learning.” Micro courses can teach material in fields outside the main CMU-Q undergraduate degree programs of biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science and information systems.

Trick noted, “A Carnegie Mellon edu-cation includes a lot of course work outside the main area of study. We are educating thoughtful citizens and people who we

hope will shape the world in a careful, con-siderate way.” With about 400 students at the Qatar campus, CMU-Q students have identical degree requirements to Carnegie Mellon students on the main campus. Although there are benefits to studying at a small campus, one down-side is a more limited selection of electives.

Trick is working to provide more options for students at CMU-Q. “We encourage our students to take courses at our partner uni-versities in Education City, and we encourage them to study abroad for one semester. Micro courses are simply another option for them to expand their view of the world.” Professor David Danks (pictured) from CMU’s main campus taught a micro course in the ethics implications of artificial intelligence.

CMU-Q will offer 10 micro courses in the spring 2020 semester.

QC-sponsored orphans celebrate QND worldwideTHE PENINSULA DOHA

As part of the Qatar National Day cele-brations, Qatar Charity’s offices worldwide organised various activ-ities, which witnessed the participation of thousands of orphans sponsored by the people in Qatar, and the presence of many local officials. These events came in conjunction with the activ-ities held by Qatar Charity within the State of Qatar.

Orphans, along with their parents, from Gaza, Pakistan, Kenya, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Jordan, Mali, and Nepal, expressed their great delight at cele-brating the National Day, extending thanks to benefactors in Qatar for sponsoring them.

On the Qatar National Day cele-brations, they participated in cultural, sports, and entertainment competi-tions reflecting their love and appre-ciation for Qatar Charity and the state of Qatar.

Qatar Charity’s office in the Gaza Strip held a celebration event, in which nearly 400 orphans sponsored by Qatar Charity took part in an atmos-phere of joy, and many teams pre-sented art shows combining Pales-tinian and Qatari folklore.

The event came within the annual activities plan for the sponsored for the current year, which aims at encouraging orphans who are out-standing educationally, culturally, and morally.

During a speech delivered by Eng. Mohammed Abu Haloub, director of Qatar Charity’s office in the Gaza Strip, he said that celebrating the Qatar National Day by orphans of Gaza came

to affirm the good relations between the Qatari and Palestinian peoples.

He also noted that one of the most important goals of the celebration was to engage orphans in an atmosphere of fun, joy, and happiness, to create a positive impact on them.

It is noteworthy that Qatar Charity, through its office in the Gaza Strip, sponsors 15,700 orphans, who, along with their families, receive cash and in-kind assistance that contributes to improving their living conditions.

Qatar Charity’s office in Pakistan organized a ceremony attended by 200 orphans whom it sponsors in Azad Jammu Kashmir and Islamabad.

The celebration, which started

with the national anthems of the State of Qatar and Pakistan, included various activities such as drawing, coloring, and symbolic march, in addition to visiting the Pakistan Mon-ument in Islamabad.

In Azad Jammu Kashmir, the orphans, along with their families, participated in the celebration that took place at the Stadium Park, in the presence of many local officials. The ceremony included several sports and cultural competitions for children, such as tug of war, running race, skipping, musical chair, cricket, jumping, and bad-minton. Children won prizes and trophies.

Children during the celebration of Qatar National Day organised by Qatar Charity’s office in Pakistan.

QRCS medical convoy treats many Syrians in TurkeyTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has deployed a new medical convoy to Reyhanlı, Turkey, to perform critical surgeries for Syrian patients. It is part of an annual medical convoy program, co-implemented with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).

The purpose of the convoy is to provide different forms of medical help, including consultations, sur-geries, and medications, for the poor Syrian refugees in Turkey. In coordi-nation with the Turkish authorities, some internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Syria were moved to the Turkish territories to receive treatment under the convoy.

This is the second medical convoy in the same region. Two months ago, another one was conducted to meet the needs amid inadequate secondary health care services in Syria.

Many physicians have left the country, and thousands of Syrian ref-ugees live in Turkey with no health

insurance coverage.The five-day convoy cost a total

of QR143,000, funded mainly from the donations of charity givers in Qatar. The medical team comprised six expert surgeons in different speciali-zations, headed by Dr. Ahmed Al Maliki, Senior Consultant Urologist and Fertility Specialist at HMC.

Over the mission, a large number of patients were examined using clinical tests and X-ray. Out of those, 30 cases underwent operations in vital specialisations such as urology and

paediatric surgery, with a success rate of 100 percent. The convoy was hosted at the Sevgi Hospital, which provided in-patient pre-procedure and post-procedure care.

This year, the medical convoy program has expanded more than ever. Many convoys were deployed to Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Jordan, Gaza, Turkey, and other countries. QRCS pays great attention to this aspect of humanitarian action, realizing the serious lack of health services in dis-aster and war zones.

Members of QRCS’ medical convoy deployed in Turkey.

Our research firmly points towards the need for adequate provision of inclusive services across all sectors for those with autism. In this regard, Qatar is also one of only a few countries in the region with a national autism strategy.

MUSHTAQ MOJADDIDI AFP

08 TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019VIEWS

Ensuring everyone in Qatar is on the spectrum of opportunity

Having autism is no reason not to excel – a belief that is at the core of The World Innovation Summit for

Health’s (WISH) long-standing com-mitment to addressing the needs of

Qatar’s local community in relation to autism spectrum dis-order (ASD).

I see my recent partici-pation at the 3rd Annual Qatar Autism Awareness Gala in Wash-ington D.C. – hosted by the Embassy of the State of Qatar in part-nership with the Autism Society of America – as yet another

occasion when WISH worked with others, to enhance our collective knowledge of the condition.

The theme – ‘The Spectrum of Opportunity’ – captured the impor-tance of giving those with autism the

same opportunities to excel, both pro-fessionally and socially, as everyone else. In this respect, the work of WISH has one goal – that is also shared by our international partners – to deliver opportunities to those with autism.

Qatar has long been part of the global drive to change the narrative surrounding diagnoses and the condi-tions for people with autism; from sponsoring a resolution dedicating a World Autism Awareness Day at the United Nations General Assembly in 2008 – now celebrated yearly – through launching its own National Autism Plan, to WISH producing a report entitled: ‘Autism: A Global Framework for Action’.

Our research firmly points towards the need for adequate provision of inclusive services across all sectors for those with autism. In this regard, Qatar is also one of only a few countries in the region with a national autism strategy. Under the Qatar National Autism Plan, healthcare leaders in the public and private sectors are working towards reaching 44 goals, targeted for full implementation by 2021.

The goals are founded on devel-oping and delivering programs that enable early diagnosis of ASD and improving the quality of interventions and services. They also cover conti-nuity of care, education and social participation and increasing public awareness.

On behalf of Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), WISH is con-ducting a three-year study to identify the gaps that exist in the provision of services for young adults with autism, and then make policy recommenda-tions to address them. These recom-mendations will inform our plans to

open a respite program to help autistic young adults who are entering the workplace.

In 2018, a pilot program titled ‘The Young Adults’ Life Skills Camp’ was hosted in collaboration with the Child Development Center and the MoPH, and sponsored by Occidental Petroleum Qatar Ltd. We hope to expand on that pilot program using our learnings from the three-year research as well as feedback from parents of autistic children.

Recently, representatives from the Children’s National Hospital in Wash-ington D.C. – a premier provider of pediatric services in the US capital – paid a working visit to Doha to learn more about the life path of those on the autistic spectrum in Qatar. They focused on the critical phase that sees teenage years transition into adulthood, and shared experiences and expertise on the same.

In the interim, WISH will be working with some of Qatar’s largest employers to raise awareness of what to expect when hiring someone with autism. We have also developed a program to provide sports opportu-nities for children and young adults with autism and other conditions.

These initiatives are part of our overarching mission at WISH to build inclusive communities in Qatar, where every individual is an active and pro-ductive member of society.

In Qatar, and all over the world, addressing the challenges facing those with autism must take shape around programs that empower young adults with autism with the skills to become more independent. Because, when it comes to the spectrum of opportunity, we should all be ‘on the spectrum’.

SULTANA AFDHAL CEO, WISH

An initiative of Qatar Foundation

QUOTE OF THE DAY

What we won’t do is engage in reckless and job-destroying

and economy-crunching targets

which are being sought.

Scott Morrison Australian Prime Minister

40 years on, veterans still grapple with Soviet-Afghan war

At his home in the mountains north of Kabul, former muja-hideen fighter Shah Sulaiman closed his damaged eyes, took a

sip of green tea and thought bitterly of Afghanistan’s war against the Soviet Union that started four decades ago.

“When we fought against the Soviets, we were expecting a good future,” said the 62-year-old father, who was blinded in one eye and suffered a leg wound when he trod on a landmine during the conflict in 1985.

“Unfortunately things turned out for the worst.”

This month marks the 40th anni-versary of the Soviet Union’s “inter-vention” -- or invasion -- of Afghanistan, the beginning of a decade-long guerilla war that killed up to two million Afghans, forced seven million more from their homes and led to the deaths of more than 14,000 Soviet troops.

“(It) brought only misery and destruction to Afghans and Afghanistan,” recalled Sulaiman, who commanded a unit of 12 men in the Panjshir valley, a heartland of mujahideen resistance north of the capital.

In the decades since the war, which ended in 1989, Afghan veterans like Sulaiman and former Soviet soldiers have had to grapple with the physical and emotional wounds of a bloody con-flict whose purpose and consequences remain angrily contested.

While the war was a mujahideen victory, what came next saw Afghanistan plunge deeper into misery and fighting, with veterans blaming the conflict for the

rise of the Taliban and the ongoing vio-lence that besets the country to this day.

In Russia, former Soviet soldiers are still trying to make sense of a war the public condemned at the time and that observers say hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“We defended our southern borders, and I still think our presence in Afghan-istan was essential,” said Ilias Daoudi, 52, a former Soviet intelligence official who lost a leg in a 1986 landmine blast in Herat, in western Afghanistan.

“A big country like ours has to control what is happening in neighbouring regions.” Regular Soviet soldiers began arriving in Afghanistan after Moscow’s December 24, 1979 deployment order to support a pro-Soviet regime in Kabul and quell a nationalist Islamist insurgency that was pushing back against the atheist communists and their reforms.

More than 600,000 troops from the USSR would eventually cycle through Afghanistan, playing a part in a Cold War proxy conflict that also saw the United States arm and fund mujahideen fighters including Osama bin Laden.

“It was my religious duty to do Jihad (holy war) against the Soviets because our country was invaded by them and they were spreading communism and infidelity in Afghanistan,” Sulaiman said.

In Russia, veterans seek to recast the war as a necessary step to counter the threat of rising Islamism in Afghanistan and Muslim-majority Soviet republics.

The decision to send troops in 1979 was the “right” one -- not just for the communist bloc but on a personal level too, said Vladimir Vchivtsev, 58, who spent 16 months in Afghanistan as a Soviet reconnaissance officer.

“War is the best school of life, where you learn to think quickly and find the best solutions”, said Vchivtsev, who was blinded in an explosion in Khost province in 1987.

The conflict was extremely unpopular with the Soviet public at the time and was officially condemned in 1989 at the height of leader Mikhail Gor-bachev’s policy of “glasnost”, or transparency.

But as part of an overall re-evalu-ation of the war’s legacy, Russia’s parlia-mentary defence committee has -- under pressure from veterans -- backed a draft resolution saying Soviet troops helped Afghan authorities fight “terrorist and extremist groups” and curbed the growing security threat facing the USSR.

Sidiqque Rasulzai was a teenager when the Red Army arrived in Kabul, and he had no idea what was coming.

“I didn’t know it was war. My parents told me that was something that hap-pened in Palestine, I would never have thought that it could happen to us, that it would last 40 years,” recalled Rasulzai, who joined the Soviet-backed Afghan army in 1985 and served for more than three years.

He remembers the Soviets trans-forming Kabul, constructing apartment buildings with central heating, roads, and even an electric bus system.

“I liked the communists,” he said. “They were educated, not like the muja-hideen.” To this day, signs of the Soviet war abound. Defunct tanks and aban-doned helicopters and personnel carriers still dot parts of the countryside, and in cities such as Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, huge Soviet structures still dominate the skyline.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK [email protected]

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM [email protected]

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI [email protected]

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

Getting ready for 2022

By presenting the most wonderful and successful edition of the FIFA Club World Cup 2019, Qatar has proved its capability and won full trust of the world

as a country that can organize mega sporting events. Now football fans around the globe can expect something special in 2022 when Qatar hosts the next FIFA World Cup. In all aspects, from the organising of the game to its marketing, a unique Qatari touch was throughout visible.

In what was termed by many as a test run of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, the FIFA Club World Cup 2019 has enhanced necessary skills and knowledge needed to Qatari officials concerned from the Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy to the security personnel for the big event in 2022.

Going by the words of the Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), H E Hassan Al Thawadi, preparations are in full swing and on the right track to offer the best edition of the World Cup in 2022. “Despite the great success that Qatar has achieved in organising the Club World Cup, we are not currently 100 percent ready to host the World Cup, but

this success assured us that we are on the right track to prepare for presenting the best in 2022.”

These words truly reflect the commitment, passion and enthusiasm of the nation in organising similar sporting events. “It is natural during the trial period to go through problems and things that must be rectified with the coming years, adding that some plans are significantly successful, others have succeeded but need some development, and some plans must be com-pletely changed,” said Al Thawadi.

Qatar views the negative factors in these tournaments as positive because they help to raise awareness and capacity. By organising these

tournaments, Qatar has identified a whole lot of areas where more attention is to be paid for the smooth run of the tournament in 2022. “Issues must be addressed during the coming period through communication with the public and sensitising them because they are one of the main factors in the success of safety and security plans,” Al Thawadi added.

The success of the transportation plan in general, espe-cially the use of the metro project and the ideal coordi-nation mechanism with all concerned bodies in the country, which will be developed better in the coming years, are some the areas where Qatar excelled at during these tournaments.

In short, the successful organization of Gulf Cup and FIFA Club World Cup have boosted Qatar’s confidence for 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and after all, it helped the nation to self evaluate its strengths and weaknesses for a flawless sporting event in 2022.

The successful organization of Gulf Cup and FIFA Club World Cup have boosted Qatar’s confidence for 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and after all, it helped the nation to self evaluate its strengths and weaknesses for a flawless sporting event in 2022.

On behalf of Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), WISH is conducting a three-year study to identify the gaps that exist in the provision of services for young adults with autism, and then make policy recommendations to address them. These recommendations will inform our plans to open a respite program to help autistic young adults who are entering the workplace.

Europe’s is a history of final solutions, of one “monumental historical crime” after another. There is no - to borrow from Holocaust scholar Timothy Snyder - “golden age to look back to” in the history of Europe as nation-states.

09TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019 OPINION

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Worst case for climate change doesn’t look realistic

European history: One of final solutions

NOAH SMITH BLOOMBERG

DR. EMIR SULJAGIC ANATOLIA

In recent years, much of the com-mentary about climate change has gone from sternly serious to wildly despairing. A new report

from the United Nation’s Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change warns that the effects of climate change are accelerating and that the world has barely more than a decade

to make deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by century’s end. Such reductions are extremely unlikely, given that global emissions rose this year and last. China, the world’s biggest emitter by far, is still building coal-fired power plants, while the U.S. under President Donald Trump has abdicated leadership on the climate issue. Warming of more than 1.5 degrees seems certain at this point and the world will have to deal with the consequences.

But how much, exactly, will Earth warm before the fossil-fuel era runs its course? That’s harder to forecast because it depends not just on climate science but also on assumptions about emissions. And that, in turn, depends on technology and economics, both of which are notoriously hard things to predict. The IPCC lays out several business-as-usual scenarios for how much greenhouse gas would be emitted without major policy action, but it doesn’t say which scenario it thinks is more likely. The direst of these, called RCP8.5, implies that the planet would warm by an average of 5 degrees Celsius (about 9 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100 -- an absolutely

catastrophic, civilization-ending level of warming. It’s typically this doomsday scenario that motivates some observers to despair and others to call for reckless, flailing policies like the dismantling of capitalism.

But a growing chorus of climate scientists and energy policy analysts has begun to question whether the dreaded RCP8.5 scenario should be taken seriously. The scenario assumes that after a brief flirtation with natural gas and renewable energy, the world returns to fueling industrialization primarily with coal. But it seems van-ishingly unlikely that the global coal industry will increase sevenfold, as RCP8.5 envisions, even if natural gas proves to be a temporary phenomenon.

First of all, there probably just isn’t that much accessible coal in the ground. Second, burning coal creates air pollution in addition to greenhouse gases, which gives countries an addi-tional incentive to reduce its use. Third, the price of renewables has dropped to the point where building new coal plants is simply not eco-nomical in most places. Despite China’s new plants, overall global coal use fell 3% in 2019. India is turning away from coal, and so is Southeast Asia:

Even Trump, despite his promise to restore the coal industry to its former glory, has managed to do nothing of the kind:

And as renewables get cheaper, it will become economical to retire existing coal and gas plants. McKinsey predicts that this will be the case in most of the world by 2030. Banks are already beginning to pull out of the coal-power industry, not because of environmental pressure (since they’re still funding coal for other industrial uses), but because they know there’s just no future in coal plants. Gas won’t be far behind, though a few gas plants will probably remain in service to back up solar plants when the sun isn’t shining.

So the IPCC’s commonly cited

doomsday scenario looks like a rash flight of imagination. A group of climate scientists recently got together on Twitter and tried to figure out what a more realistic scenario looked like. They fed energy predic-tions from the International Energy Agency into climate models and found out that 3 degrees of warming is a much more likely business-as-usual scenario than 5 degrees. But as the climate scientists noted, the IEA has consistently underestimated the growth of solar power; each year the international agency predicts that growth in solar-power generation will slow, and each year it grows rapidly. If renewable technologies continue to surprise on the upside, warming could be limited to 2.5 degrees.

Now for the bad news: 2.5 degrees of warming will still be catastrophic for many people and countries, and 3 degrees even more so. Heat waves will become unbearable without air conditioning, even in high latitudes. All coral reefs will probably die. Many major cities will be drowned. Even just 2 degrees of warming, which will be exceeded in any business-as-usual scenario, will have very serious global repercussions.

That’s why a business-as-usual scenario is unacceptable. The human race probably isn’t doomed, but climate change is still an enormous catastrophe in the making. Big policy changes are needed -- in the U.S., in China and in many other countries. Instead of embarking on the fool’s errand of trying to dismantle capi-talism, governments should utilize the combined resources of the public and private sectors. They should retire all coal plants as quickly as possible, steadily reduce natural gas usage and convert to all electric vehicles. Buildings need to be retrofitted to use electricity instead of gas. And new technologies for producing low-carbon steel and cement, and for carbon-free aviation, need to be researched, scaled up and dissemi-nated internationally.

They killed us in euphemisms. They killed us in “ethnic cleansing,” “tragic conflict,” or civil war. They first robbed

us of words, then they robbed us of our experience.

The phrase “ethnic cleansing” typifies how words changed the meaning of what went on in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. In the English language, the notion “ethnic cleansing” was first used in a Washington Post article in August 1992, relaying the accusations leveled by the Croatian government against their Serbian counterparts that their “aim . . . is obviously the ethnic cleansing of the critical areas that are to be annexed to Serbia”.

In order to explain, however, how the term not only gained promi-nence outside the former Yugoslavia, but came to signify a particular set of policies and practices implemented by the Serb military and political leadership in Bosnia and Herze-govina, it is worth quoting Eric Gordy:

“The term appears to have entered the language through a squeaky back door carved out by Serbian regime media in 1992.

Naimark (2001) describes it as having ‘exploded into our consciousness’ (ouch!) in May that year. Without the ‘ethnic’ modifier, ‘cleansing’ appears to have had a variety of military and propagandistic uses over a much longer period.”

“Ethnic cleansing,” in other words, was part of the vocabulary, or, if you will, the discourse created by the perpetrators of genocide to normalize their actions, and success-fully supplanted genocide, crimes against humanity and other, more precise and less morally, legally and politically ambiguous ways to describe policies and practices implemented by Serbia in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early to mid-1990s. Those words would have been far less believable had the targets of genocide not been Muslims.

Europe’s is a history of final solutions, of one “monumental his-torical crime” after another. There is no - to borrow from Holocaust scholar Timothy Snyder - “golden age to look back to” in the history of Europe as nation-states.

There is no place for Muslims in that history either. Today there are few things left that would help to

prove how Ottoman Muslims were not only physically removed from the Balkans, but have also been removed from the narrative and wiped from history.

The genocidal attack on the Bosniaks was in fact a Third Balkan War, most significantly in the way that a majority population was reduced to a minority through a combination of measures that involved mass murder, deportation, pillaging and mass rape. As with the two previous Balkan Wars, it also involved the systematic killing of officials, town and village leaders; all in all, the elite. In addition, the paramilitaries of the 1990s con-tinued the work of the “komitajis” when dispensing with civilians, women and children. Along with the practice of sieges, there was also widespread participation of pop-ulace. The final goal was “de-Turki-fication.” In the same vein, Ratko Mladic stood on the square in Sre-brenica in July 1995 and vowed a revenge against “the Turks.”

But the slow-motion genocide against Ottoman Muslims spanning the 19th and beginning of the 20th century was disturbingly modern. The description of the fallout of the siege of Edirne, for example, (from Justin McCarthy’s book, “Death and Exile: The Ethnic Cleansing of the Ottoman Muslims, 1821-1922”) reads very much like the reports coming from Srebrenica in 1995:

“It is a manhunt, a hunt for the Turks, with all the refinements of cruelty. Day and night the machine guns rattle - these are the executions.”

By the end of the Balkan Wars in 1913, 62 percent of the Muslim popu-lation living in the Ottoman Empire in Europe was gone. The crime com-mitted against them is not only cele-brated in the history of several states that emerged in its place, but has a central place in the narrative of “national liberation.”

When the Serbian elites set out to destroy Yugoslavia in the 1990s, they drew on a “repertoire of con-tention” informed by a successful history of executing genocidal pol-icies against Balkan Muslims. They knew the words the European elites would understand and they were

Now for the bad news: 2.5 degrees of warming will still be catastrophic for many people and countries, and 3 degrees even more so. Heat waves will become unbearable without air conditioning, even in high latitudes.

By the end of the Balkan Wars in 1913, 62 percent of the Muslim population living in the Ottoman Empire in Europe was gone. The crime committed against them is not only celebrated in the history of several states that emerged in its place, but has a central place in the narrative of “national liberation.”

correct in assuming that “the Turk” still occupied an important place in the imagination of European political class.

At the beginning of December, I travelled from Sarajevo to Stockholm to take part in the protest against the decision of the Swedish Royal Academy to award the Nobel prize in literature to Peter Handke, an avowed gen-ocide-denier. At the Munich Airport, a police officer asked me how long I was going to stay “in Europe.” I duly stated that I would return in four days, but it was a crystalizing moment: being killed in Levi’s jeans and Adidas shoes, as so many of my countrymen were, does not and did not make one a European. It is still all in the name. Mine is unmistakably Muslim.

European Union flags are seen waving outside the EU Commission Building at night in Brussels, Belgium.

11TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Iraq protests resume as political paralysis deepensAFP DIWANIYAH, IRAQ

Thousands of protesters blocked roads and bridges in southern Iraq yesterday, condemning Iranian influence and political leaders who have missed another deadline to agree on a new prime minister.

Anti-government demon-strators burned tyres in major cities across the south, forcing the closure of schools and gov-ernment buildings, a witness reported as political paralysis deepened in Baghdad.

Negotiations over a can-didate to replace premier Adel Abdel Mahdi, who quit in November in the face of protests against corruption and unem-ployment, remained stalemated as a midnight Sunday deadline expired.

While a pro-Iran camp has tried to impose a candidate, Iraqi President Barham Saleh has reportedly put up resistance.

On the street, protesters are mobilising anew after weeks of relative calm in a movement that has seen hundreds die in clashes

with security forces. Demon-strators announced civil disobe-dience campaigns in the southern cities of Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, Hilla, Kut and Amara, where schools and public buildings were closed yesterday.

“We are upping our actions because we oppose any can-didate from the political class that has been robbing us since 2003,” said Ali Al Diwani, a young protester in Diwaniyah.

For Iraqis protesting since October 1, the system installed by the United States after it led a coalition to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003 has become dominated by Iran and

is beyond reform. An economic revival promised for 16 years never came, protesters say, while more than half of all oil revenues were syphoned off by crooked politicians and their cronies.

While renewed protests risk a resumption of the violence that has already caused 460 deaths and 25,000 injuries since October, the government remains paralysed.

Officials say Iran wants to install Qusay Al Suhail, who served as higher education min-ister in the government of Abdel Mahdi.

A former key member of Shiah cleric Moqtada Sadr’s movement, Suhail rejoined the State of Law Alliance of former premier Nuri Al Maliki, who is close to Iran and an enemy of Sadr. While pro-Iran factions and parliament speaker Mohammed Al Halbusi are pushing for Suhail, a source in the presidency says Saleh has vetoed his appointment.

Demonstrators also categor-ically reject his candidacy and that of anyone from the wider political establishment. “What

we want is simple: a prime min-ister who is competent and inde-pendent, who has never been involved with the ruling parties since 2003,” said Mohammed Rahman, a protesting engineer

in Diwaniyah. Protesters say an overhaul of the political system must start with electoral reform.

Since 2003, elections have used a complicated mix of pro-portional representation and list

voting that favours major parties and the heads of lists.

Parliament has recently dis-cussed electoral reform and was scheduled to resume talks yes-terday afternoon.

Iraqi demonstrators block a street during an anti-government protest in Najaf, Iraq, yesterday.

While renewed protests risk a resumption of the violence that has already caused 460 deaths and 25,000 injuries since October, the government remains paralysed.

Algeria’s military chief Gaid Salah dies amid protest crisisAP ALGIERS

Algeria’s powerful military chief Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah (pictured), who was instru-mental in pushing out the gas-rich country’s long-serving president amid pro-democracy protests earlier this year, died unexpectedly yesterday at age 79.

Gaid Salah’s death thrusts Algeria into new political uncer-tainty as a tumultuous year comes to a close. Algeria’s mil-itary plays a central role in decision-making in this country, a key ally to Western powers in fighting Islamic extremism.

Born January 13, 1940, Gaid Salah was a product of the old guard that won Algeria’s inde-pendence from France in 1962 after a brutal seven-year war. He died yesterday morning in the military hospital of Algiers after a heart attack, according to government statements.

Gaid Salah was seen as the main power player in Algeria after protesters with his backing pushed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika out of office in April after 20 years in power.

The military chief then championed an unprecedented push against corruption - including by people in

Bouteflika’s inner circle - and pushed for new presidential elections earlier this month.

The winner, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, was widely seen as close to the miltary chief, and the two were seen warmly embracing at Tebboune’s inau-guration just four days ago. Gaid Salah had suffered heart problems in the past, according to Algerian media reports, but his death came a shock to most Algerians. National radio scrapped regular programming to broadcast readings from the Quran and classical Arabic music, while state television aired extracts of Gaid Salah’s many speeches, one after the other. The president declared three days of national mourning.

Iran starts new operations at heavy water reactorAP TEHRAN

Iran began new operations yesterday at a heavy water nuclear reactor, the head of the country’s nuclear agency said. The move was seemingly designed to intensify pressure on Europe to find an effective way around US sanctions that block

Tehran’s oil sales abroad.Starting up the Arak heavy

water reactor’s secondary circuit doesn’t violate Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But it does inch Tehran’s program closer toward weapons-grade levels.

Ali Akbar Salehi explained to state TV that the secondary circuit transfers heat to the

reactor’s cooling system. He said the entire reactor system will go online in 2021.

Heavy water helps cool reactors, producing plutonium as a byproduct that can poten-tially be used in nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful pur-poses. Britain is helping Iran redesign the Arak reactor to limit

the amount of plutonium it pro-duces. London has filled the role left after the US unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal last year.

Tehran has slowly stepped up violations of the nuclear deal to pressure world powers to provide more incentives to make up for the US withdrawal from the deal.

Ivory Coast issues arrest warrant for presidential candidate SoroREUTERS ABIDJAN

Ivory Coast has issued an arrest warrant for Guillaume Soro, a former rebel leader and candidate in next year’s presi-dential election, four government sources said yesterday, just before he was due to return home after more than six months overseas.

Soro diverted his Ivory Coast-bound private flight from Paris to neighbouring Ghana “for security reasons”, his adviser, Alain Lobognon, said. Lobognon said he was not aware of an arrest warrant.

The sources provided no details about the specific alle-gations against Soro. A police spokesman said he did not know about the warrant.

Soro, 47, led the rebels who tried and failed to oust then-president Laurent Gbagbo in 2002, before installing Alassane Ouattara in the presidency during a brief civil war after a disputed 2010 election.Soro has since fallen out with Ouattara, who is widely expected to back his prime minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, in the 2020 presidential election.

Libya’s east-based forces release ship with Turkish crewAP CAIRO

Libya’s forces based in the coun-try’s east said yesterday they have released a vessel with Turkish crew members seized over the weekend amid heightened tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over a contentious maritime border deal involving Tripoli and Ankara.

Ahmed Al Mosmari, a spokesman for the self-styled Libyan National Army, said they found no weapons on the vessel flying a Grenada flag, which was

carrying a shipment of flour from Malta to the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria.

The vessel was seized “because it entered Libya’s ter-ritorial waters without prior per-mission,” the spokesman said.

The LNA, led by commander Khalifa Hifter, seized the vessel on Saturday and took it into a Libyan port under its control for inspection.

The vessel’s seizure came amid tensions between the LNA and Turkey, which backs Libya’s UN-supported government based in the country’s capital of Tripoli.

Israeli troops are pictured in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on the border with Syria, yesterday.

Israeli strike on Syria kills 3 regime loyalistsAFP/BEIRUT

A war monitor said yesterday that air raids in Syria the previous night, blamed on Israel, killed at least three foreign pro-regime fighters south of the war-torn country’s capital.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday night’s attack hit Syrian regime and Iranian posi-tions south of Damascus.

It said three non-Syrian loy-alist fighters were killed by a rocket blast between the suburb

of Aqraba and the nearby Sayyida Zeinab neighbourhood, home to a shrine revered by Shiite Muslims. It did not specify their nationality but said they were likely Iranian.

Syrian state news agency SANA reported the attack just before midnight on Sunday.

It said Syrian air defences fired on “hostile missiles” coming from “the Occupied Ter-ritories”, referring to Israel.

It said one missile came down in Aqraba, southeast of Damascus. Israel has not

publicly claimed responsibility for the raids. An Israeli army spokeswoman said Israel does not comment on reports in foreign media.

Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria against Iranian targets and pro-Tehran militias allied with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. An Israeli strike on November 20 killed 21 pro-regime fighters including 16 for-eigners, along with two civilians, according to the Observatory.

7 killed in Al Shabaab attack on military baseANATOLIA/MOGADISHU

At least seven Somali soldiers were killed and several others wounded yesterday when gunmen belonging to Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab attacked a southwestern military base, offi-cials said.

Hassan Isack, a Somali mil-itary official in the Bay region, confirmed the attack and casu-alties in the vicinity of Goof-gadud Burey. “The attack began after Al Shabaab attacked the base yesterday morning, and fighting between the terrorist

fighters and Somali forces broke out,” he said over the phone.

The terrorists also burned several military and civilian vehicles, but Somali forces killed four terrorist fighters, he added.

Goof-gadud is an agricul-tural district located 30km from the city of Baidoa, the adminis-trative capital of the Bay state.

The attack followed a Sat-urday night bomb blast in the town of Galkayo, in the central region of Mudug, which killed over nine people including mil-itary personnel and civilians and wounded more than 20.

Saudi court sentences five to death over Khashoggi murder AGENCIES RIYADH

Five people sentenced to death yesterday for the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal khashoggi, on October 2, 2018 in Istanbul.

The Riyadh criminal court found another three people guilty of covering up the crime. They were sentenced for a combined 24 years in prison, according to a statement read by the Saudi attorney general’s office on state TV.

In total, 11 people had been on trial in Saudi Arabia for the killing, and all the verdicts are preliminary and can be appealed.

Meanwhile, Saudi Press Agency reported following up on the previous statements issued by the Public Prose-cutor. The Public Prosecution stated that it has concluded its investigations and due process in this case which

included (31) individuals, of whom (21) individuals have been arrested, and (10) indi-viduals have been called in for questioning without arrest as there was no basis for their detention.

The investigation yielded the following:

First, the indictment of (11) individuals in this case and the filing of criminal charges against these individuals in the Criminal Court of Riyadh.

Second, the Criminal Court of Riyadh rendered its decision regarding the (11) individuals who were indicted and charged as follows:

(5) individuals for committing and directly participating in the murder of the victim.

amounting to a total of (24) years in prison for (3) indi-viduals for their role in cov-ering up this crime and vio-lating the law.

12 TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019ASIA

BJP loses yet another state, bites the dust in Jharkhand electionsREUTERS/BLOOMBERG NEW DELHI

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party lost control of another state yesterday, adding to a string of electoral losses since last December amid protests that mark the biggest challenge to the Hindu-nation-alist leader.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conceded defeat in the eastern state of Jharkhand, with an alliance of the main opposition Congress party and a regional bloc slated to take control of the resource-rich province.

“I dedicate this victory to the people of Jharkhand,” Hemant Soren, leader of the regional Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party, said after claiming victory.

The loss comes in the middle of a sometimes deadly wave of nationwide protests triggered by a new citizenship law, which critics say discriminates against Muslims and has brought thou-sands of people out on to the streets in opposition.

However, the BJP’s defeat will be a shot in the arm for India’s opposition parties, some of which have used popular anger against the Citizenship Amendment Act to their advantage.

The poor showing will add pressure on the government as it presides over an economy that’s growing at its slowest rate in six years and with unem-ployment running at the highest in four decades.

The data from Election

Commission indicate the BJP — which currently rules the state — was ahead in 26 seats, well short of a clear majority in the 81-member state assembly. The opposition alliance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Congress party and other regional groups led in 46 seats.

“A narrative could now start building against the invincibility of the BJP, health of the gov-ernment and the popularity of Modi,” said Rahul Verma, a researcher at Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research who has written a book about ideology in Indian politics.

“Every election that the BJP loses gives some respite to its political opponents. A win in a mineral-rich state like Jharkhand, just like the one in rich Maharashtra, will by default add to the opposition parties’ psychological and monetary resources to fight elections.”

Despite a sweeping victory in national elections in May, Modi and the BJP have faced a tougher-than-expected battles in the state polls that have followed.

Hemant Soren yesterday

won both the assembly seats he contested.

Soren defeated Jharkhand Welfare Minister Lois Marandi in Dumka seat, securing 80,589 votes against his BJP rival’s 67,571 votes of the total counted 165,033 votes.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief, who was first elected to the state Assembly from Dumka in 2005, had lost the seat in the 2014 assembly poll.

Soren also retained the Barhait assembly seat, defeating BJP can-didate Simon Malto by over 25,000 votes. Soren got 73,534 votes and Malto got 47,939 votes.

Soren first came to limelight in 2004 when his father and then Coal Minister Shibu Soren was facing an arrest warrant in a three-decade-old case. The elder Soren had to resign as minister but Hemant Soren fought the legal battle and ensured acquittal of his father.

Becoming Deputy Chief Min-ister in the Arjun Munda-led BJP government in 2010, he pulled it down in January 2013. He himself became Chief Minister on July 2013 and held power of the state till his party’s defeat in the 2014 Assembly elections.

The Jharkhand results come after the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls in October, where the BJP fell short of a clear majority. In Haryana, a BJP-led coalition eventually formed the government for second time, but the party lost control of country’s richest state Maharashtra after a falling out with its regional partner, the Shiv Sena.

Congress-JMM alliance workers celebrate results projecting an assembly majority in the Jharkhand state election in Ranchi, yesterday.

BJP’s arrogance’ led to debacle in Jharkhand: Sharad PawarIANS MUMBAI

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘arrogance and money-power’ have been defeated in Jharkhand, as the results indicate, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar said here yesterday.

“The results of Jharkhand Assembly elections clearly show that the people of the country have lost faith in the BJP. The electorate of Jharkhand has rejected BJP’s arrogant tactics of using money-power through its government at the Centre,” Pawar told mediapersons.

He said that with successive defeats in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mahar-ashtra and Jharkhand, the BJP

has already lost five states inside a year.

“This has boosted the confi-dence of people in other states. Wherever there is an oppor-tunity, people will make it (BJP) bite the dust. The BJP’s downslide has begun and nobody can arrest its downfall,” Pawar asserted.

He congratulated the people of Jharkhand for showing a new direction to the people of India by voting out the ruling BJP.

The JMM-Congress-RJD combine is heading for a clear mandate in the Jharkahnd Assembly polls and is set to form the new government, as per the latest Election Commission counting trends.

Referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register for Citizens

(NRC), the 79-year old NCP chief accused the BJP leadership of deliberately spreading confusion by adopting a dual-faced approach.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that there was no opposition to NRC in the Cabinet or in the Parliament is wrong. In Rajya Sabha, NCP member Praful Patel and myself had spoken on the ramifications of NRC.

“In his speech to the joint sitting of Parliament, the Pres-ident had spoken over it as if it was the policy of the gov-ernment. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the decision has been taken in the interest of the country in the Parliament, but the Prime Minister speaks something else outside,” Pawar said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi (right) and ex-party president Rahul Gandhi attend a sit-in protest for “unity” in New Delhi, yesterday.

Congress stages protest against new citizenship lawAP NEW DELHI

India’s main opposition party staged a silent protest in the capital yesterday against a contentious new citizenship law, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended the legislation and accused the opposition of pushing the country into a “fear psychosis.” About 2,000 people joined the protest at the Raj Ghat, a

memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, where the Congress party demanded “protection for the constitution and the rights of people enshrined in it.”

Tens of thousands of pro-testers have taken to India’s streets to call for the revocation of the law, which critics say is the latest effort by Modi’s gov-ernment to marginalise the country’s 200 million Muslims.

The law allows Hindus, Chris-tians and other religious minorities

who are in India illegally to become citizens if they can show they were persecuted because of their religion in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It does not apply to Muslims.

Yesterday’s protest was led by opposition Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi along with other senior leaders, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The leaders read out the preamble to the constitution at the protest site. The party’s former president,

Rahul Gandhi, had urged young people in New Delhi to join the protest.

“It’s not good enough just to feel Indian. At times like these it’s critical to show that you’re Indian & won’t allow to be destroyed by hatred,” Gandhi tweeted yesterday.

Other protests were held across the country yesterday, including in the southern cities of Bengaluru and Kochi, where thousands came out on the

streets against the law.Twenty-three people have

been killed nationwide since the citizenship law was passed in Parliament earlier this month in protests that represent the first major roadblock for Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda since his party’s landslide reelection earlier this year.

Most of the deaths have occurred in Uttar Pradesh, where 20 percent of the state’s 200 million people are Muslim.

Jharkhand rejects Modi’s misleading politics: GehlotIANS NEW DELHI

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who arrived in the national capital to participate in the Congress’ ‘Satyagrah’ over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens yesterday, said that earlier the people of Maharashtra and Haryana and now Jharkhand have rejected the misleading politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. The trend shows that the people are tired of their divisive politics, he added.

Speaking to the media at the party headquarters here, Gehlot said: “During the Maharashtra

and Haryana Assembly polls a message went to the entire country that they (Modi and Shah) are misleading the people on the issues of nationalism, Article 370, and their campaign has no agenda. Rahul Gandhi raised the issues of what the common citizens faced.”

“The people of Jharkhand were unhappy and everyone knew that the Congress is going to win. They pressed their entire resources into use in Jharkhand but the message of Sonia Gandhi went to the people. The way in which they are misleading the people, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi misled the people from Ramlila Maidan, but we got a clear mandate in Jharkhand,” he said.

Delhi Cabinet approves Electric Vehicle PolicyIANS NEW DELHI

The Delhi Cabinet yesterday approved the Electric Vehicle Policy, 2019 with an aim to check vehicular pollution in the national capital.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that Delhi gov-ernment estimates that 500,000 vehicles will be registered in the

next five years. “It will result in saving Rs60bn on fuel expend-iture,” he said.

Kejriwal said the goal is to ensure that 25 percent of the new vehicles that will be registered by 2024 should be Electric Vehicles.

Delhi Transport Minister echoed him saying this will be considered as a huge step in fighting air pollution.

“With the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy, 2019, 25 per cent of all new vehicle registrations in Delhi to be EVs by 2024,” he said.

Kejriwal said the first draft of the EV policy was made public in November 2018. “The policy has been made after receiving feedback from several expert bodies.” The Chief Minister said vehicles have been a major cause

of pollution, “40 percent of PM2.5 and 80 percent of NOx and Carbon Monoxide is due to vehicles” He said the aim of this policy is to make Delhi the Electric Vehicle capital of India.

Sohinder Gill, Director General Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) wel-comed the EV Policy and thanked the government for con-sidering most of their

recommendations, including conversion of commercial ICE vehicles into electric, E-bike taxi etc as they are the key drivers to take the e-mobility momentum forward.

“It would encourage the cus-tomers to go for green vehicles as it provides customers with additional incentives apart from the subsidy offered by the central government.

Delhi school boys take pledge to respect womenIANS NEW DELHI

In one of the unique initiative for women safety, over 2.2 million from the Delhi schools came together yesterday with boys taking a pledge to honour and respect women while girls promised to make their brothers take the same oaths at home.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal administers the oath to the school students across Delhi through a live video tel-ecast in various government, private and aided schools, saying we need to change the mindsets of people to stop crimes against women.

The step, the government said, was taken to sensitize the students on gender issues and crimes against women.

In the event, the boys were made to take an oath to respect women and to never misbehave with any women and the Chief Minister requested the girl stu-dents to talk to their brothers at home and take the same oath, and to warn them of the repercussions of such acts.

He also requested the teachers to conduct a one-hour classroom discussion on the experiences of the students and the reactions of their family members on the oath.

“We launched the women’s safety campaign today along with 22 lakh children from all schools in Delhi. The police and the law and order have to be cor-rected. CCTV cameras and street lights are also being introduced. But the mindset of the society has to be changed. We have to create a Delhi where women can get out of the house without fear even at night,” the Chief Minister said.

Bharatiya Janata Party conceded defeat in Jharkhand, with an alliance of the main opposition Congress party and a regional bloc slated to take control of the resource-rich province.

13TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019 ASIA

Govt springs into action as gas crisis deepens in PakistanINTERNEWS LAHORE

With a sudden drop in temper-ature across Pakistan, the ongoing gas crisis deepened as the total shortfall surged to 600 million metric cubic feet a day (MMCFD) that may compel the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to curtail the supply to sectors other than domestic consumers.

The shortfall has affected not only the supply to domestic con-sumers but also to the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sector for the past several days.

Addressing a press conference in Sialkot, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Dr

Firdous Ashiq Awan told the media that the government had directed the authorities concerned to ensure gas supply to households even at the cost of the CNG sector.

Both the gas utilities and the federal government have done little over the years to further explore natural gas, check gas theft and leakage, import the required liquefied natural gas (particularly in case of Sindh), and curb use of compressors by con-sumers despite the ever-increasing demand and repeated warnings by weather experts to Pakistan about effects of climate change.

Feeding Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the SNGPL faces over 200MMCFD gas shortfall.

According to a senior official of the SNGPL, gas theft in KP and various sectors in Punjab is a major reason behind the shortfall.

“Half of the total volume of the gas being produced in KP (400MMCFD) is being stolen by the people of the areas close to gas fields.

“They have their own net-works to steal gas, claiming it a

matter of their right as the gas is being extracted from their areas,” he said.

“The gas available with us ranges between 950 and 970MMCFD. We are also receiving around 1,020MMCFD RLNG (Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas) in our system.

“But the demand is rising fast, forcing us to stop gas supply to the industry and the CNG sector to accommodate about six million domestic consumers in Punjab and KP,” the official said,

About the changing weather pattern, the official said Pakistan was the fifth most affected country by climate change.

“The intensity of winter we are facing these days is very harsh,

pushing up demand in all provinces.

“The situation appears to be going out of control despite giving 20 per cent more gas to domestic consumers,” the senior official warned. According to him, massive use of compressors by consumers in areas experiencing extremely low gas pressure is another major reason of shortfall.

A senior SSGC official said: “Initially we had stopped the supply to the CNG sector, but the issue did not resolve.

“We requested the industry to at least stop using gas meant for captive power plants, but they didn’t listen, rendering the utility helpless in giving relief to the domestic consumers.”

Road mishaps killed 27,500 in Pakistanin 2016: WHOINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road acci-dents in Pakistan claimed 27,500 lives and injured an estimated 500,000 people in the year 2016.

The statistics show that the number of casualties due to traffic accidents is three times higher than other causes of death. The 15-29 year age group was found to be the most vul-nerable in traffic accidents.

In middle-income countries, financial losses due to traffic accidents are estimated to be more than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance and the World Bank, Pakistan’s GDP is likely to increase by Rs360 billion in 2020.

Taking into account that 3 per cent GDP rise, traffic accident casualties would hurt Pakistan’s economy by about US $ 11 billion next year.

The government of Pakistan, on the recommendation of the National Highways and Motorway Police (NH and MP), has consequently approved modifications in fines imposed on national highways and motorways for traffic violations.

According to official NH and MP sources, the revised twelfth schedule of the National Highway Safety Ordinance 2000 will be effective from January 1, 2020. The schedule will apply only to national highways and motorways and will not be appli-cable to highways or roads that come under municipal author-ities of provinces, cities, and towns.

The current penalties have been modified to better implement traffic rules. The rate of modification of the various traffic violations has been deter-mined by taking into account serious errors committed by drivers on highways.

Afghan election run-off likely amid complaints

REUTERS KABUL

Afghanistan’s Electoral Complaints Commission said yesterday the election might go to a second round as it begins reviewing thou-sands of complaints a day after the preliminary result handed incumbent president Ashraf Ghani a narrow victory.

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced on Sunday a much delayed prelim-inary result of the September 28 presidential vote which was

marred by allegations of massive fraud, technical problems with biometric devices used for voting, attacks and irregularities.

IEC said the total turnout was over 1.8 million with Ghani securing 50.64 percent to win the first round of voting, beating his main rival Abdullah Abdullah who currently shares power with him in a unity government.

However, if a review by the complaints commission reduces Ghani’s vote share to below 50 percent and no other candidate has a majority, a second round will

be held between the two top con-tenders. Deen Mohammad Azimi, deputy head of the Electoral Com-plaints Commission, said there is a “strong possibility” the election would go to the second round.

“Looking at the scope of com-plaints and objections that needs a thorough review, there could be a run-off,” Azimi told Reuters.

The review might take around five weeks, Azimi said, adding that thousands of complaints from candidates had already been filed.

According to the tally released by IEC, the total turnout was

1,824,401 with Ghani winning 923,868 votes and Abdullah second with 720,099 (39.52 percent).

“President Ghani avoided a run-off just by over 11,000 votes and the complaints commission might invalidate tens of thousands of votes from all candidates,” another election official said on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media.

Ghani welcomed the IEC decision and said the country was on the right path towards pros-perity but Abdullah dismissed the result as fraudulent as he called for a full review.

“There is not doubt that based on clean votes, we are the winner,” Abdullah told a crowd of sup-porters on Sunday in Kabul.

The situation echoes 2014, when both Ghani and Abdullah alleged massive fraud by the other, forcing the United States to broker an awkward power-sharing arrangement that made Ghani president and Abdullah his chief executive.

Aides close to Ghani, a Western-educated former World Bank official, said the incumbent was not ready for another power-sharing deal with Abdullah, a former medical doctor and three-time contender for the presidency.

Maryam won’t be allowed to travel abroad, says PM’s aideINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The federal government of Pakistan has decided not to allow Maryam Nawaz, vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and daughter of former premier Nawaz Sharif, to travel abroad and rejected her application in this regard.

“The rules concerning placement of the name of persons on Exit Control List (ECL) do not allow the gov-ernment to entertain her application to remove her name from the no-fly list,” said senior lawyer and aide to the prime minister Dr Babar Awan.

Headed by Law Minister Farogh Naseem, the subcom-mittee of the federal cabinet that deals with ECL cases rejected her plea, as she had sought the facility for flying to London to look after her ailing father, Dr Awan said.

“In fact the subcommittee is part of the cabinet and a formal announcement to bar Maryam from travelling abroad will be made by the federal cabinet in its meeting [on Tuesday],” Awan said.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government also hinted at challenging the court’s decision in case the leader of the main opposition party was allowed by the judi-ciary to travel abroad.

US soldier dies in Afghanistan Taliban attackAP KABUL

An American service member was killed in combat yesterday in Afghanistan, the US military said, without providing further details, while the Taliban claimed they were behind a roadside bombing in northern Kunduz province that killed the US soldier.

The latest fatality brings the number of US deaths in Afghan-istan this year to 20. There have also been three non-combat deaths in 2019. More than 2,400 Americans have died in the nearly 18-year conflict.

The Taliban now control or hold sway over practically half of Afghanistan but continue to stage near-daily attacks targeting Afghan and US forces, as well as government officials - even as they hold peace talks with a US envoy tasked with negotiating an end to what has become Amer-ica’s longest war.

Scores of Afghan civilians are also killed in the crossfire or by roadside bombs planted by mil-itants. Th military statement did not identify the US soldier or say where the service member was killed.

Pakistan set to expand irrigated areas to meet rising food demandINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

With Pakistan’s population projected to cross 221 million in the next five years, the country will have to take on some serious challenges, including a jump of nearly 50 percent in national food demand.

This additional food demand can be met by increasing crop yield and expanding irrigated area, wherever opportunities exist.

Punjab fulfils about 80 percent of the country’s food requirements, and irrigated agri-culture accounts for 28 percent of the provincial GDP.

It manages an existing irri-gation system serving 8.4m hec-tares (around 21m acres) of irri-gated land.

To meet the increasing food demand of the country, Punjab needs to further exploit its untapped natural resources, particularly in the arid lands of the province.

Provincial authorities are going to execute the Jalalpur Irrigation Project (JIP), located along the right bank of Jhelum river and conceived more than a century ago.

The groundbreaking cer-emony was scheduled to be held on December 13, but it had to be postponed to December 28 because no one from the senior political leadership was available or interested in joining

the inauguration.Costing around $275m and funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the JIP will create non-perennial irrigation services to increase agricultural pro-duction on 200,000 acres in Pind Dadan Khan tehsil of Jhelum district situated in the foothills of the famous Salt Range and part of the adjacent Khushab district.

Starting from the right bank of Rasul barrage, at least 200km new irrigation canals will be constructed for the Jalalpur canal command area with the ADB loan facility to be paid back in 20 years, including a five-year grace period.

The funds will also be used for introducing institutional reforms and establishing farmers’ organisations as well as building their capacity.

Proponents argue the Jalalpur project will increase Kharif crop’s intensity in its command area by 50 percent, improve crop yield and reduce land degradation, thus directly benefiting about 300,000 rural people.

Moreover, drinking water will also be supplied to 26 vil-lages, including the Khewra town and a nearby cement factory.

The project will help address the challenge of food insecurity, improve economic growth and alleviate poverty.

Pakistani writer gets prestigious Turkish AwardINTERNEWS KARACHI

Pakistan’s renowned writer and poet Amjad Islam Amjad received the prestigious Necip Fazil Inter-national Culture and Art Award at a ceremony in Istanbul on Saturday.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and leading literary figures attended the event, said a dawn.com report.

The annual award ceremony is organised by leading Turkish newspaper Star in collaboration

with the Turkish ministry of culture and tourism.

The ceremony is organised to honour the cultural and literary heritage of Turkish poet Necip Fazil. Addressing the ceremony, the Turkish president said: “Amjad Islam Amjad is one of the most important poets in modern Urdu literature and a prominent figure in Pakistan.”

“Pakistan is a cherished friend of Turkey. Relationships are based on mutual benefit, but the Turkey-Pakistan friendship is based on sincerity and solidarity,” he said.

In his acceptance speech, Amjad thanked the jury for bestowing the accolade upon him.

“Turkey is close to every Paki-stani’s heart,” he said, adding that receiving the award in the presence of the Turkish president was a huge honour.

Amjad was the only foreign recipient of the award in 2019.

Congratulating Amjad, Paki-stan’s Ambassador to Turkey Syrus Qazi said, “The award is an acknowledgement of Amjad’s out-standing contributions to literature”.

Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani (centre) delivers a speech in Kabul.

Pakistani police commandos take part in an anti-terrorism drill outside the Marriyam Muqaddasa Church ahead of Christmas celebrations in Lahore, yesterday.

Anti-terrorism drill ahead of Christmas

Gas theft in KP and various sectors in Punjab is a major reason behind the shortfall, according to a senior official of the SNGPL.

14 TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019ASIA

China, South Korea look to improve ties with Beijing SummitAP BEIJING

The leaders of South Korea and China said yesterday that they look forward to improved ties following a protracted disa-greement over the deployment of a US anti-missile system that Beijing considers a threat.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that while the side s may have felt “disappointed toward each other for a while,” their shared culture and history prevented them from becoming completely estranged.

“It is hoped that South Korea’s dream becomes helpful for China as China’s dream becomes an opportunity for South Korea,” Moon said in opening remarks before reporters were ushered from the room.

In his opening comments at the meeting at the Great Hall of the People in the center of Beijing, Xi described China and South Korea as “countries of sub-stance and influence in Asia and throughout the world.”

“China and (South Korea) should deepen and develop their strategic cooperative part-nership, accommodate each other’s core interests and major concerns, and lift bilateral ties to

a higher level,” Xi said. Ties between the Northeast Asian neighbours nosedived in 2017 after Seoul accepted the placement of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD, system in southern South Korea. Beijing insists its real purpose is to use its pow-erful radars to peer deep into its territory, rather than to warn of North Korean missile launches and shoot them down.

A furious China launched an unofficial boycott of everything from Chinese tour group visits to South Korea to South Korean television shows, boy bands and other cultural products. Major South Korean retailer Lotte, which provided a golf course where the missile system was deployed, was singled out for especially harsh treatment and its China business operations were essentially destroyed. Even sales of ubiquitous South Korean auto brands such as Hyundai and Kia plunged for months.

Ultimately, Beijing was unable to force South Korea to remove the system and its fury appears to have subsided somewhat amid its trade war with the US and tensions else-where in Asia. South Korea now hopes to have Xi visit next year and is also eager to have Beijing

use its influence with North Korea to give a jolt to deadlocked denuclearization talks.

While South Korea appre-ciates the part China has played in that effort, the “current recent situations in which the talks between the United States and North Korea are stalled and ten-sions on the Korean Peninsula have become heightened are certainly not favorable, not only for South Korea and China but also for North Korea,” Moon said in his opening comments.

“I hope that we continue to closely cooperate so that the opportunities we have gained with difficulty can come to fru-ition,” he said.

North Korea has set a year-end deadline for the US to make concessions in the nuclear talks, without apparently making any offers of its own. The US says it won’t accept that demand and has called on North Korea to return to negotiations. While China is North Korea’s most important diplomatic ally and chief source of investment and economic assistance, its ability to force Kim Jong Un’s regime to alter policy is believed to be limited.

Along with meeting Xi, Moon is to take part Tuesday in a tri-lateral summit in the

southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Xi met with Abe yesterday afternoon in Beijing, saying the two are “jointly opening a new future for relations between the two countries.”

“At present Sino-Japan rela-tions are facing an important development opportunity,” Xi said.

Ties between the longtime rivals have improved remarkably in recent years, despite lingering resentments over Japan’s invasion and occupation of much of China last century and its con-tinuing control of East China Sea islands claimed by Beijing.

Japan is also wary about China’s rapid military expansion,

and there has been a public uproar over the detention of more than a dozen Japanese cit-izens on spying allegations in China. Chinese naval and coast guard ships also routinely violate Japanese-claimed waters around the disputed islands.

Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Masato Otaka char-acterised the meeting as an addi-tional step in improving rela-tions, to be further cemented by a planned visit by Xi to Japan in the spring.

However, Otaka said Abe did not shy away from sensitive areas, including Japanese con-cerns over China’s handling of matters in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, where months of anti-government protests have turned violent; the northwestern

territory of Xinjiang, where China has built a vast network of political reeducation camps in which it has locked up more than a million members of Muslim minority groups; and the cases of detained Japanese, about which Abe asked Xi to take “swift action” to resolve.

Abe also emphasised the importance of maritime security, proposing stronger communi-cation between the navies and air forces of the two countries and cooperation in search and rescue to reduce the chances of confron-tation in the East China Sea, Otaka said.

“Abe stressed that without the stability of the East China Sea, true improvement of (the) Japan-China relationship cannot really happen,” Otaka said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, yesterday.

China denies forced labour accusationsREUTERS BEIJING/LONDON

China dismissed accusations of forced labour at a Shanghai prison on Monday, a day after media reports that a message had been found in a Christmas card saying it had been packed by inmates.

The Sunday Times said a young girl had found a note in a charity card sold by British supermarket giant Tesco reading: “We are foreign pris-oners in Shanghai Qingpu Prison China. Forced to work against our will.”

The newspaper said the message urged whoever received it to contact Peter Humphrey, a British former journalist and corporate fraud investigator who was imprisoned in the same jail from 2014-2015.

Tesco suspended the Chinese supplier of the Christmas cards on Sunday and said it had launched an investigation.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press briefing on Monday: “I can responsibly say, according to the

relevant organs, Shanghai’s Qingpu prison does not have this issue of foreign prisoners being forced to work.”

Geng Shuang dismissed the whole story as “a farce created by Mr. Humphrey” - an accu-sat ion dismissed by Humphrey.

“I never had any possible way to fabricate anything at all in this incident and this story,” Humphrey told Reuters. “This message from prisoners in China came in a Christmas card purchased by a family who I’ve never met, never known until that moment in time,” he added.

Humphrey said the message fitted “with everything I know, and I have spoken with ex-pris-oners who were released this year and who confirmed that that prison unit was making packaging for Tesco Christmas cards.”

Humphrey spent 23 months in prison on charges of illegally obtaining private records of Chinese citizens and selling the information to clients including drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline.

Humphrey said during his trial he had not thought his activities in China were illegal.

Uzbekistan’s LibDems retain biggest number of seats in pollsREUTERS TASHKENT

Uzbekistan’s Liberal Democratic Party have retained the biggest number of seats in the Central Asian nation’s legislature so far, winning 43 seats out of 128 in Sunday’s vote which Western monitors criticised for “numerous serious irregular-ities”.

Although Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev has no party affiliation, it was the Liberal Democrats who nominated him for presidency in the 2016 election.

All five parties taking part in the election back Mirziyoyev, who has embarked on a cam-paign to reform the resource-rich Central Asian nation and open it up to foreign investment.

The vote count has been assessed negatively in 42% of the stations observed by the mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, it said, citing issues such as proxy voting.

OSCE observers, however, praised Uzbekistan’s efforts to improve the legal framework and make the vote more open.

“While an important

milestone has been passed, old problematic habits - including on election day - make it clear that much work remains,” George Tsereteli, Special Co-ordinator and leader of the OSCE short-term observer mission, said.

“Regrettably, the new legis-lation and modernised admin-istration of elections did not improve the polling process, with international observers reporting numerous serious irregularities, such as voting on behalf of others and disregard for key procedures during

counting.” The Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) party has won 35 seats, the Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party got 21, the People’s Democratic Party 18 and the green Ecological Party has won 11 seats so far.

The remaining 22 seats in the lower house of parliament will be contested in the second round of voting next month, Central Election Commission Chairman Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov said on Monday, adding that the body would investigate all complaints.

3 students found dead in flooded Indonesian caveAFP BANDUNG

Three university students were found dead in a cave in Indo-nesia after they were trapped inside by flood waters, officials said yesterday.

A search and rescue oper-ation launched on Sunday retrieved five people alive from Lele cave in West Java after heavy rain hit the area and flooded it, authorities said.

The victims “were trapped inside the cave for quite a while before the team managed to evacuate them,” said local search and rescue agency spokeswoman Seni Wulandari.

She added it took an hour for the rescue team to make it into the cave, which is 30 metres below ground level.

The students — part of a university nature club — went there to train in basic caving.

New construction seen at missile site in N KoreaAP SEOUL

A new satellite image of a factory where North Korea makes military equipment used to launch long-range missiles shows the construction of a new structure.

The release of several images from Planet Labs comes amid concern that North Korea could launch a rocket or missile as it seeks concessions in stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States.

North Korea has warned that what “Christmas gift” it gives the US depends on what action Washington takes.

One of the satellite images taken on December 19 shows the completion of a new structure at the March 16 factory near Pyongyang, where North Korea is believed to be developing and manufacturing vehicles used as mobile launchers for long-range ballistic missiles.

Australia prepares for post-holidays extreme bushfiresREUTERS MELBOURNE

Scorching heat baking Australia eased on Monday bringing relief from extreme bushfires, which destroyed around 180 houses and killed one person over the weekend, allowing firefighters to prepare for worsening condi-tions post-Christmas.

Six people have now died in bushfires which have destroyed more than 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres) across five states. Potter Steve Harrison, 67, only survived a major blaze southwest of Sydney by crawling beneath a makeshift kiln as the flames passed over.

Harrison stayed to defend his property in the town of Balmoral on Sunday but by the time he

changed his mind it was too late to leave.

“I ran to my ute (truck) but my garden was already on fire, the driveway was on fire, the road was on fire so I couldn’t

evacuate,” Harrison told the Aus-tralian Broadcasting Corp.

“The day before I had actually built myself a small kiln down the back - a coffin-sized kiln - just big enough for me to

crawl inside,” he said.“I could have (died) if I hadn’t

thought about plan B. In that little kiln enclosure I made, I had a fire extinguisher, a bucket of water, a drinking water bottle and a fire blanket.” The town of Balmoral, population 400 and 150 houses, was virtually destroyed, the New South Wales (NSW) State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

Australia has been fighting wildfires for months as hot, dry conditions brought about an early start to the fire season.

Australia posted record tem-peratures over 41 degrees Celsius (105 Celsius) last week as an extreme heatwave swept across the country and a long-running drought in the country’s east has created tinder-dry conditions.

Nearly 100 fires are burning

across New South Wales state.“Conditions have begun to ease,” the New South Wales (state) Rural Fire Service said on Monday.

“Crews will continue their work today to identify and strengthen (fire) containment lines, with favourable conditions over coming days.”

Temperatures are forecast to spike again in many states by the weekend, with the South Aus-tralian capital city of Adelaide forecast to reach 39 Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit), according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Similar temperatures are expected in the Victorian city of Melbourne.

In South Australia one person was confirmed dead in weekend fires and fire fighters were facing another tough day on Monday.

A burnt field is seen at Adelaide Hills, Australia, yesterday.

People read ballots before voting at a polling station in Tashkent .

15TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019 EUROPE

French transport strike enters day 19, disrupts travel AFP PARIS

French train and metro drivers withheld labour for the 19th straight day yesterday in a standoff with the government over pension reform, casting a pall over Christmas plans with many unable to reach loved ones.

Talks between the gov-ernment and unions last week failed to find middle ground, and strikers vowed there would be no holiday truce unless the overhaul plan is scrapped.

Starting on December 5, the strike has hit daily commuters hard — especially around Paris and other large cities — and is now impeding tens of thousands of ticket holders who had planned to spend the festive season with family or friends.

On Saturday and Sunday, the last weekend before Christmas, the SCNF rail operator provided half the usual number of TGV high-speed trains, a third of regional TER services, a quarter of inter-city trains, and one in

five connecting Paris to its outer suburbs.

This sent thousands scram-bling for alternative transport, with car rental agencies unable to meet the surge in demand.

Nor will there be reprieve for those staying in Paris from the stoppage that has slashed train and metro services and caused high levels of frustration on overcrowded carriages.

The SNCF has announced that tomorrow evening, Christmas Eve, it will halt trains between Paris and its suburbs. Some lines will reopen on Wednesday morning, others only on Thursday, meaning many people will have to cancel plans to meet up with friends or family for Christmas lunch.

Unions are angry about the

government’s plan to merge France’s 42 pension schemes into a single points-based one, which would see some public employees — notably railway staff — lose early-retirement and other benefits. The government insists the new system would be fairer and more transparent.

Workers are baulking par-ticularly at the inclusion of a so-called “pivot age” of 64 until which people would have to

work to earn a full pension — two years beyond the official retirement age.

President Emmanuel Macron issued an appeal on Saturday for a holiday truce, urging strikers to embrace “a spirit of responsi-bility” and for “collective good sense to triumph”.

A poll by the IFOP agency published on Sunday showed public backing for the action dropping by three percentage

points, though 51 percent of respondents still expressed support or sympathy for the strikers.

Unions are hoping for a repeat of 1995 when the gov-ernment backed down on pension reform after three weeks of metro and rail stoppages just before Christmas — a cherished holiday for many French people.

But their action is taking a heavy toll on businesses.

Police officers push demonstrators back during a rail workers demonstration outside the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris, yesterday.

Russia to retaliate for US sanctions against gas pipelineAP MOSCOW

The Russian government has vowed to retaliate against US sanctions on a new Russia-Germany pipeline, work on which was suspended on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump signed legislation last week that provides for sanctions against individuals and companies involved with the vessels laying the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.

The move prompted a Swiss company that operates ships

laying sections of the pipeline to suspend the work. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that Moscow will take measures of “reciprocity” over the sanctions, which Russia con-siders unacceptable.

“How and when it will be done remains a question of Rus-sia’s national interests,” Peskov told reporters yesterday, adding that the Kremlin still hopes to complete Nord Stream 2.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated the sentiment, saying that Russia would respond to “these absolutely unacceptable, blunt actions that violate all norms of international

law and diplomatic and human decency” after some “cool-headed analysis” of the situation. Later yesterday the country’s prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, said he tasked the cabinet with looking into “pos-sible restrictions” that could be imposed on the US in retaliation for the sanctions.

The US has been an out-spoken opponent of the pipeline, which will allow Russia to transport natural gas about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) directly to Europe, bypassing Ukraine. Along with eastern European countries that also oppose the project, the US government

argues that it will increase Europe’s dependence on Russia for energy.

Nord Stream 2 is owned by Russia’s Gazprom, with investment from several European companies.

The German government said it regretted the enactment of the US legislation and con-sidered the sanctions an inter-ference in the country’s domestic affairs. However, Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear last week that Germany isn’t consid-ering retaliation against the sanctions and said that there is “no alternative to conducting talks.”

Venice flooded againPeople walk in the flooded St. Mark’s Square during high tide in Venice, Italy, yesterday. Though the tide yesterday morning peaked lower than expected at 1.44 metres, it remains above the 1.40-metre mark considered exceptional. The city is still reeling from the 1.87-metre high tide on November 12, which was the highest in more than 50 years, the Associated Press reported.

EU charts path for ‘challenging’ post-Brexit UK dealAFP BRUSSELS

The EU will keep engaging with the UK through the WTO and the UN as both sides work out a deal on their future ties once Britain leaves the bloc, according to the top Brexit negotiator in Brussels.

Agreeing and ratifying a post-Brexit relationship by the end of 2020 “will be immensely challenging, but we will give it our all, even if we won’t be able to achieve everything,” the official, Michel Barnier, wrote in a weekend online commentary for the Project Syndicate

magazine website. The two sides will have just 11 months to settle that agreement following Brit-ain’s formal departure from the EU on January 31.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists he will not seek an extension beyond 2020 to fine-tune a deal.

He has also made it clear his country will drop EU labour, environmental, financial, health and safety standards, spurring Brussels’ concerns about British trade “dumping” and making prospects of a quick and comprehensive deal appear remote.

Barnier, who was unfailingly courteous when he negotiated the terms of Britain’s withdrawal in a way to protect the EU’s single market and citizens, said he had three goals — framed as “New Year’s resolutions” — for the upcoming talks on the future relationship.

To work together on global issues, “the EU will continue to engage positively with the UK, both bilaterally and in global fora such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the G20,” he said.

In terms of security issues, while it is “simply not possible”

for Britain to have the same access to data as EU members, “tackling terrorism, cyberattacks, and other attempts to undermine our democracies will require a joint effort”.

Barnier said there should be “unconditional commitment from both sides” to building a security alliance.

And for economic ties, “any free-trade agreement must provide for a level playing field on standards, state aid, and tax matters,” Barnier emphasised.

That last point is seen as being a big stumbling block in the talks.

Johnson told the British par-liament last Friday that an “ambitious” trade agreement would be struck “with no alignment on EU rules, but instead with control of our own laws, and close and friendly relations”.

EU officials and lawmakers have voiced concern that Johnson might be seeking to build Britain as a deregulated “Singapore-on-Thames” that would try to sell goods into the EU made cheaper by cutting rules meant to protect workers, c o n s u m e r s a n d t h e environment.

Britain’s Prince Philip, 98, remains in hospitalAFP LONDON

Britain’s Prince Philip is being looked after “very well”, his son Prince Charles said yesterday after the elderly royal spent a third night in hospital for treatment for a pre-existing condition.

“He’s being looked after very well in hospital. At the moment that’s all we know,” Charles told a reporter when asked about his father’s health during a visit in northern England.

Philip, the 98-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was admitted to London’s King Edward VII hospital on Friday.

Buckingham Palace said it was for “observation and treatment in relation to a pre-existing condition”, adding that it was a “precautionary measure”.

The Duke of Edinburgh was reportedly flown there by heli-copter from the royal San-dringham estate in eastern England, where he has been based since retiring from public duties in 2017.

The 93-year-old queen did not alter her plans, travelling by train on Friday from London to Sandringham, where she hosts the royals for Christmas each year. She attended church at usual on Sunday, accompanied by her son Prince Edward and his family. The duke has long been an advocate of eating well and keeping fit, but has had a number of health issues as he advances in age. In recent years, he has been admitted to hospital for abdominal surgery, bladder infections and a blocked cor-onary artery, while he is also reported to suffer from arthritis in his right wrist.

Two migrants dead after boat capsizes near Croatian borderAFP BELGRADE

At least two migrants drowned early yesterday after their boat capsized on the Danube River while they were trying to cross from Serbia to Croatia, police said, adding that the search for others was ongoing.

The Danube river is a common crossing point for migrants who are trying to enter EU member state Croatia from northwest Serbia on their path through the Balkans towards Western Europe.

“A boat carrying a group of migrants capsized at 6:00 am on Monday (04:00 GMT),” Serbia’s Interior Ministry told AFP in an email.

Police officers “found the bodies of two drowned people at the scene” and “searches are underway to find other possible victims of drowning” the ministry added.

Police did not specify the age, nationality or number of possible victims.

Serbia’s state-run tele-vision RTS reported that around a dozen migrants were on the vessel when it over-turned under rainy weather.

Some six passengers, including two children, are missing, according to RTS.

Serbia is a key transit country for migrants from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa who are tra-versing the Balkans on their way to Western Europe.

While numbers are down from the peak of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, around 5,000 migrants are still based in Serbia, according to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR.

With Hungary’s border to the north fortified by the wall it built in 2015, many migrants are now attempting the western route through Bosnia and Croatia.

UK widens fast-track visa for scientists as Brexit nearsREUTERS LONDON

Britain said yesterday it would increase the number of scien-tists and researchers eligible for fast-track visas, part of the government’s plans to attract more elite researchers after Brexit.

The number of eligible fel-lowships which offer accel-erated endorsement for visas will rise to more than 120 from 62, the interior ministry said.

“We want to make sure the UK continues to be at the fore-front of innovation, so we need an immigration system that attracts the sharpest minds from around the globe,” interior minister Priti Patel said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who won approval for his Brexit deal in parliament last week, made a pledge in August to relax immigration rules for scientists to help Britain address its skills shortages.

Britain is due to leave the European Union on January 31 although it will immediately begin an 11-month, no-change transition period with the bloc.

Germany: 11 migrants found in refrigerated truck on roadAP BERLIN

German police say 11 migrants have been freed from a refrig-erated truck on a highway in Bavaria.

Police yesterday said the Afghans, aged 14 to 31, appar-ently boarded the Turkish truck loaded with fruit in Serbia, news agency DPA reported.

They were found on Sat-urday after the truck’s driver heard knocking noises from the truck at a highway rest area near Passau, close to the Aus-trian border. Police opened the truck and found the migrants, who complained about breathing problems.

Police said the truck driver gave them credible assurances that he had known nothing about the passengers. The truck was headed for Belgium.

The SNCF rail operator has announced that tomorrow evening, Christmas Eve, it will halt trains between Paris and its suburbs.

16 TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019EUROPE

Croatian President to face ex-PM in run-offAFP ZAGREB

Croatia’s conservative president narrowly made it to a run-off election against a leftist former premier next Sunday, after a nationalist folk singer won over a large chunk of her camp’s far-right wing.

The hotly contested first round vote signalled the appeal of populism in a Balkan country struggling with an influx of migrants at its borders, an emi-gration exodus and widespread corruption.

It also leaves Croatia waiting to know who will be head of state as the country prepares to take over the European Union’s rotating presidency in the new year.

With nearly all ballots counted, centre-left former prime minister Zoran Milanovic took the lead with 29.56 percent of the vote, according to the elec-toral commission.

Incumbent President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic garnered 26.7 percent, eking out a second place finish just two points ahead of 57-year-old far-right singer Miroslav Skoro.

Skoro, whose patriotic folk tunes were a hit in the 1990s,

won nearly a quarter of the vote with campaign promises such as pardoning a notorious war criminal and deploying troops to stop migrants at the border.

That left Grabar-Kitarovic without the hardline segment of her centre-right HDZ party’s base.

But analysts said the first round results showed that Croatia’s electorate was shifting to the right — even though that camp was split in two.

Grabar-Kitarovic, 51, became Croatia’s first female president — a largely ceremonial role — in 2015 with the backing of HDZ, which has led Croatia for most of the past three decades.

During her mandate she has often wavered between repre-senting moderates and pan-dering to the nationalist faction

Now she faces the tough task of uniting the two wings of the party in the run-off on January 5.

If she fails, analysts say it would spell trouble for HDZ’s moderate Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic when he faces general elections next year.

In the meantime, his gov-ernment will be tasked with holding the EU presidency for a six-month term, with thorny issues like Brexit and the Western Balkans’ membership bids on the agenda.

“Croatia went to the right and it is reflected in the elections,” said political analyst Tihomir Cipek, adding it mirrored trends in other parts of Europe.

“The radical right showed its force.... We will see whether it will be repeated in the parlia-mentary elections,” he added.

The left, meanwhile, appeared to rally around Milanovic, a 53-year-old who served as prime minister from 2011 to 2016 and hails from Croatia’s Social Dem-ocrat opposition.

Considered driven by sup-porters but pompous by critics, he has been trying to make a comeback with a promise to make Croatia a “normal” liberal democracy with an independent judiciary and respect for minorities.

While the split right-wing opened a way for his rise in the

first round, he will face a tougher race if HDZ manages to unite its party for the run-off.

Croatia may be a magnet for tourists, but it is no paradise for locals who are fed up with a sluggish economy and rampant corruption.

And yet the campaign was light on policy ideas with many candidates instead attacking each other with war-era grievances.

“They stole the space for

issues of vital importance for most people’s lives, including the young who are leaving in increasing numbers,” lamented Matija Horvat, a 27-year-old economist.

The government has struggled in particular to curb the outflow of Croatians who are packing their bags for better pay and professional opportunities in wealthier EU states.

Many who leave also cite the culture of nepotism and

corruption at home, plus poor public services, as key motivations.

Labour gaps have started to affect key industries like tourism, which accounts for a fifth of Croatia’s GDP.

At the same time, authorities have taken a hardline stance against migrants from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa who have been trying to slip into its borders on the way to Western Europe.

Presidential candidate of Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (centre) reacts next to her husband Jakov Kitarovic after the results of the Croatian presidential elections’ first round, in Zagreb, yesterday.

Russia tests ‘sovereign’ Internet amid fears of online isolationAFP MOSCOW

Russia carried out tests yesterday to ensure the “security” of its Internet infrastructure in case of a foreign cyberattack, measures that rights activists worry could also tighten censorship and lead to online isolation.

A controversial law that allows the country to cut Internet traffic from international servers came into force in November, but the communications ministry has denied that the government is gearing up to isolate the Russian

segment of the Internet and said ordinary users would not notice the tests.

The ministry has said that the drills are aimed at ensuring the “integrity” of the Internet.

The law, which President Vladimir Putin signed in May, requires Russian Internet pro-viders to install equipment pro-vided by the authorities to enable centralised control of traffic.

They will also filter content to prevent access to banned websites.

At his annual news con-ference last week, Putin

defended Russia’s internet pol-icies, promising that the country was not “moving towards closing off the internet.”

“A free Internet and a sov-ereign internet are two concepts that aren’t mutually exclusive,” he said.

The Internet is the country’s main forum for political debate and opposing voices as well as coordinating opposition demonstrations.

The new system is set to go online in 2021.

Internet providers need to ensure before that time that their

networks have the technical means for “centralised traffic control” to counter potential threats.

The main providers have already begun installing the required equipment including Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) which would allow Russia’s Roskomnadzor internet watchdog to analyse and filter traffic.

Supporters of the legislation say the aim is to ensure Russian sites keep working if they are unable to connect to interna-tional servers or in the case of a

threat from abroad such as cyberattacks.

But rights activists say it is another censorship bid following previous efforts in Russia to block services such as the LinkedIn professional net-working site and the Telegram messenger service.

While Beijing has created what has become known as the Great Firewall of China to filter content and limit access to foreign websites, activists and analysts are divided if Russia has the resources to implement such a system.

Centre-left former prime minister Zoran Milanovic took the lead with 29.56 percent of the vote, according to the electoral commission.

Right-to-die activist acquitted of assisting suicideREUTERS MILAN

A Milan court yesterday acquitted right-to-die activist Marco Cappato of aiding suicide, following a landmark constitu-tional court ruling which breached Italy’s traditional rejection of helping suffering people to die.

Marco Cappato, a member of Italy’s small Radical party, accompanied a 40-year-old blind and tetraplegic Italian former disc jockey, Fabiano Antoniani, better known as DJ Fabo, to take his own life at a Swiss clinic in 2017.

The constitutional court

ruled in September that it was not always a crime to help someone in “intolerable suf-fering” to kill themselves, opening the way to yesterday’s verdict clearing Cappato.

The prosecutor in the case, Tiziana Siciliano, had herself requested the acquittal following the constitutional court’s ruling.

“This is a historic day because the court’s decision fully reflects article 2 of the consti-tution, which puts the individual, and not the state, at the centre of social life,” Siciliano said after the verdict.

Italy is slowly adapting its legislation and legal precedent towards a less rigid position on

assisted suicide.In December 2017 a law was

passed allowing severely ill people to refuse treatment that would prolong their lives.

That legislation, which was fiercely opposed by right-wing parties, was one of the first cases of collaboration between the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party, which have governed together since September.

Cappato faces another trial in February over a similar case to that of DJ Fabo, in which he helped a 53-year-old suffering from motor neurone disease to die in a Swiss clinic.

Malta suffers 2nd massive power outage in a monthREUTERS VALLETTA

Malta suffered a nationwide power cut yesterday, the second in less than a month, shutting off electricity to all homes, businesses and factories and causing rush-hour road chaos as traffic lights went dark.

State-owned energy provider Enemalta confirmed that there was no power anywhere on Malta and said a problem with a cable supplying power from Sicily to Malta appeared to be the cause.

Power was lost shortly after 8am (0700 GMT) and began being restored in parts of the island shortly after 11am.

Another recent power outage, on November 26, was also caused by a fault in the Sicily-to-Malta undersea cable.

Malta’s own power stations have enough capacity to meet demand, but Enemalta usually relies on most of its supply from Sicily because it is cheaper. Turning on power generators when the undersea cable fails takes several hours.

The latest blackout, two days before Christmas, left shopkeepers unable to operate credit card machines and, in some cases, they were not even able to open their shop shutters.

Malta airport said it was operating normally, using generators.

Passengers hailed for stopping tram in German city

AFP FRANKFURT AM MAIN

German passengers were hailed for preventing a disaster at the weekend when they were able to bring a runaway tram to a halt after the driver lost consciousness.

Two male passengers broke down the door to the driver’s cabin after the tram sped past eight stations without stopping in the western city of Bonn late Saturday night.

They found the driver unre-sponsive in his seat but managed to halt the tram thanks to instructions given to a female passenger who was on the phone throughout with local transport operator SWB.

They did exactly the right thing in a dangerous situation and possibly saved lives,” mayor Ashok Sridharan said General-Anzeiger daily. “Something like this should not be allowed to happen”.

The 47-year-old driver was taken to hospital but has since been released. He remains on sick leave but no further details were given about his medical condition.

The General-Anzeiger said passengers on the “horror tram” were terrified even if everyone escaped unharmed.

The SWB transport company faced mounting crit-icism over the incident, and prosecutors are investigating whether all the technical fail-safes had worked properly.

Germany argues on children in Greek migrant campsAP BERLIN

German government officials are rejecting an opposition leader’s call for the country unilaterally to take in migrant children stuck in overcrowded camps on Greek islands.

Robert Habeck, a co-leader of the Green party, said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper that “it is an imper-ative of humanity to help quickly” and get some 4,000 children out of the camps.

He noted that some German states have said they’re ready to help.

Asked whether Germany should go ahead even if other

European countries don’t also take in migrants, he replied: “Yes. In any case, everyone will never join in.”

But government officials made clear that they don’t want to let other European countries, many of which have been reluctant to take in any migrants, off the hook.

Government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said yesterday that Germany wants to help improve the living conditions of all concerned, but added: “We are seeking a European solution for the future, and Germany can’t do that unilaterally.”

Gerd Mueller, the devel-opment aid minister, told the Passauer Neue Presse news-paper that “the children can and

must best be helped on the spot.”Under a 2016 deal between

the European Union and Turkey to stop migrant flows into Europe, those who arrive on Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast are held in island camps pending deportation unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.

The deal, coupled with an increase in new arrivals since the summer, has led to deteriorating conditions in overcrowded camps on the eastern Aegean islands.

Greece’s 6-month-old gov-ernment has vowed to move about 20,000 people off the islands and into other migrant and refugee facilities on the mainland by early 2020.

Migrant children playing in the snow by a disused ski lodge near Polineri in Grevena, some 210km west of Thessaloniki, yesterday.

17TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAS

House Speaker, Senate leader spar over Trump trialAFP WASHINGTON

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sparred yesterday over the ground rules for President Donald Trump’s trial in the Senate on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Pelosi, the speaker of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, said she is not yet ready to name her team for Trump’s trial in the Republican-majority Senate.

“The House cannot choose our impeachment managers until we know what sort of trial the Senate will conduct,” Pelosi said on Twitter.

House managers will pros-ecute the case against Trump in

the Senate in a trial expected to begin in January. Trump’s Republicans have a 53-47 seat edge in the chamber.

Pelosi has not yet sent the impeachment articles passed by the House last week over to the Senate amid a standoff with McConnell over the form the trial will take.

Democrats have been pushing

for four current and former White House aides with direct knowledge of Trump’s Ukraine dealings to testify in the Senate.

Trump blocked all four from testifying in the House. Demo-crats believe their appearances would bolster the case for con-viction in the Senate, where a two-thirds majority is needed to remove the president from office.

“President Trump blocked his own witnesses and docu-ments from the House, and from the American people, on phony complaints about the House process,” Pelosi said. “What is his excuse now?”

McConnell, speaking on the Fox & Friends television show yesterday, said Pelosi “appar-ently believes that she can tell us how to run the trial.”

“We haven’t ruled out wit-nesses,” McConnell said, adding that he wanted to apply the same rules as in the impeachment trial of president Bill Clinton.

“You listen to the opening arguments, you have a written question period, and at that point in the Clinton trial, we had a decision about which witnesses to call,” he said.

“What was good enough for president Clinton is good enough for President Trump,” the Repub-lican senator from Kentucky said.

McConnell chided Pelosi for not sending the impeachment articles over to the Senate yet.

“The papers have to be phys-ically brought over to the Senate, and we can’t go forward until the speaker does that,” he said.

“She’s apparently trying to tell us how to run the trial.

“You know, I’m not anxious to have this trial,” McConnell added. “So if she wants to hold all the papers, go right ahead.

“Sooner or later, I’m assuming she’s going to send them over,” he said. “It seems to me a rather absurd position to say, after you’ve impeached the president, you won’t send the papers over to the Senate for the impeachment trial mandated by the Constitution.”

Trump, who is on vacation in Florida, lashed out at Pelosi.

“Pelosi gives us the most unfair trial in the history of the US Congress, and now she is crying for fairness in the Senate, and breaking all rules while doing so,” he said on Twitter.

The House voted along party lines last week to impeach Trump for abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate his potential 2020 election opponent, Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump is accused of with-holding military aid to Ukraine to push Kiev to investigate Biden.

According to an internal e-mail published over the weekend, a US budget official told the Pentagon to “hold off” on military aid to Kiev 90 minutes after a controversial July 25 phone call between Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Lawmakers also impeached Trump for obstructing the con-gressional probe into his Ukraine dealings.

Nancy Pelosi has not yet sent the impeachment articles passed by the House last week over to the Senate amid a standoff with Mitch McConnell over the form the trial will take.

US allocates $175m in military aid to Baltic countries in 2020AP HELSINKI

The United States has allocated $175m in military aid to the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for 2020, the Estonian defence ministry said yesterday.

The three countries are Nato members and all of them border Russia.

The defence ministry said that along with $125m in general military aid, Washington has for the first time earmarked a sep-arate $50m budget line to boost air defense capabilities of the three ex-Soviet republics — seen by many military experts a weak area in their current defense.

The overall aim of US mil-itary aid to Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius is to strengthen “the deterrence and defense posture in the Baltic States including in the area of airspace and espe-cially in the field of air defense,” Estonian Defense Minister Juri Luik said in a statement.

The three Baltic nations, which joined Nato in 2004, are all staunch allies of Washington.

They have been highly worried over what they have perceived to be waning interest by US President Donald Trump’s administration in trans-Atlantic relations and Nato’s joint d e f e n s e c o m m i t m e n t ,

particularly since Trump had earlier called the military alliance obsolete.

But Estonia sees the US mil-itary aid as a sign that Washing-ton’s commitment to Nato and the Baltic states is strong.

“Our (US) ally clearly con-firms its commitment to (Nato’s) collective defense on Europe´s eastern flank,” Luik said in a statement, referring to the financial aid.

As Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have no fighter air-craft, Nato fighter jets are responsible for policing Baltic airspace on a four-month rota-tional basis from bases in Estonia and Lithuania.

Luik stressed “the transition from (Baltic) air policing to air defense requires a common decision from all (Nato) allies, but the US position and practical support are of great importance.”

The ministry said the Baltic region’s proper air defense would consist of a well-func-tioning early warning system, surveillance capabilities and anti-aircraft weapon systems and skilled staff.

It said the US National Defense Authorization Act bill granting aid to the Baltic coun-tries was signed by Trump last week. The bill includes a solidarity clause confirming Washington’s commitment to the Baltic region.

Flood woes

Texas barbershop employee shot at over haircutAP/KATY

A dispute over a child’s haircut ended with gunfire at a Texas barbershop, according to authorities yesterday.

Deputies are looking for a man who shot an employee of a barbershop in the Houston suburb of Katy during an argument, the Harris County Sheriff’s office said in a tweet. Witnesses said the argument was over a haircut given to the man’s son.

The alleged shooter left the barbershop in a grey, four-door sedan, according to the sher-iff’s office.

The employee was shot three times and was in stable condition at an area hospital, KPRC-TV reported.

The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to requests for information.

A woman sits on the hood of her car after it stalled in flood waters as she was driving, in Hollywood, Florida, yesterday. The area received up to 12 inches of rain during an overnight storm that hit the area causing flooding that even forced Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to shut down flight operations yesterday morning.

Accused in racist attack charged in 2nd incidentAP CLIVE

An Iowa woman who told police she intentionally ran over a 14-year-old girl because she believed the girl was Mexican has been charged with a hate crime for an incident that occurred shortly after the girl was struck.

Nicole Franklin, who also goes by the name Nicole Poole, was charged on Sunday with assault in violation of individual rights and with operating under the influence, second offense. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call yesterday from AP.

Franklin was charged with attempted murder following the December 9 attack on Natalia Miranda in the Des Moines suburb of Clive.

Miranda suffered a con-cussion and severe bruising and was hospitalised for two days.

Clive police have said Franklin, 42, admitted steering her SUV onto a sidewalk and running over the teenager, who was walking to school to watch a basketball game. Franklin then fled the scene, Clive police said.

West Des Moines police said in a court document that Franklin then went to a conven-ience store where she threw items at a clerk and directed racial epithets at him and customers.

That incident prompted the new charges.

On Sunday, Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Cit-izens, called for a hate crime charge against Franklin in the attack on Miranda.

Joe Henry, who is president of the group’s Des Moines branch, echoed Garcia’s call and told The Des Moines Register that it would be wrong if pros-ecutors did not charge her with a hate crime.

“It would give the green light to anybody to do this type of ter-rible thing,” Henry said.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone said that a hate crime charge enhances other charges, such as arson and assault, but doesn’t apply to attempted murder.

“It may sound nice, but it doesn’t help anything,” Sarcone said. “When it’s appropriate to enhance, we’ll do it.”

Kevin Costner endorses Buttigieg at Iowa campaignAP INDIANOLA

“Field of Dreams” actor Kevin Costner returned to Iowa to go to bat for Democratic presi-dential candidate Pete Buttigieg, pitching the small-town mayor as someone worth listening to in the crowded lineup of White House hopefuls.

“Whether your road leads you to Pete, like mine has, that’s for you to judge,” Costner, a self-described independent, told more than 1,000 people in the high school gymnasium of Indi-anola, a town of about 16,000 people located south of Des Moines. “When Pete speaks of unity, it’s the kind of unity I’ve been waiting and hoping to hear about.”

Costner, whose 1989 film offered a mixture of baseball and fantasy amid Iowa cornfields, also noted the status of the state’s caucuses as the first voting in the selection of a Democratic nominee.

“That power, that awesome responsibility, originates here on the ground in Iowa,” said Costner, speaking in a low voice from a lectern and looking casual in jeans and a wind-breaker. “What you do with your vote is put those first seeds in the

ground and see what grows next year.”

It was Buttigieg, not Costner, who brought up “Field of Dreams.” In a nod to his audience, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, didn’t quote the movie’s most famous line - “Ïf you build it, he will come”- but a more crowd-pleasing bit of

dialogue: “Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa.” The candidate thanked the star for making “Iowa as heavenly as it can be on a December day.”

The appearance of celebrity endorsers marks a new phase in the Iowa campaign as the cau-cuses loom February 3. Earlier this month, actress Rosario

Dawson campaigned with her boyfriend, Cory Booker, the New Jersey senator and Buttigieg rival. Days later, former Olympic ice skater Michelle Kwan was spinning with children at a downtown Des Moines ice rink touting her pick in the 2020 Democratic field, former Vice President Joe Biden.

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg (right) with actor Kevin Costner during a campaign event at a high school in Indianola, Iowa, yesterday.

$17,000 donated to pay student meal debts in VirginiaAP STAFFORD

The holidays came early for some Virginia families struggling to pay school lunch debt.

Three Virginia pastors used more than $17,000 from their church’s budget to pay off meal debt at two local school systems.

“It seemed like a good idea, (but) we didn’t know if there was a need because no one ever seems to talk about this,” said the

Rev Jerry Williams, a pastor at Mount Ararat Baptist Church. “So we called the school systems. And gosh, wow, was there a need.”

Williams, the Rev Brian Bennett and the Rev Andrew Segre gave $10,500 to Stafford County Public Schools and close to $7,000 to Spotsylvania County Public Schools, which wiped out balances across the district, news outlets reported.

Keana Butler, principal of Park Ridge Elementary School

in Stafford, said she was scep-tical when the pastors emailed her about students’ meal debt. She said usually parent-teacher groups and members of her own staff pay out of pocket to help reduce the debt.

“I was overwhelmed by the generosity,” Butler said.

About 75% of schools dis-tricts nationally reported unpaid meal debt, with the median amount per school being about $2,500, according to The

Washington Post, which cited the national School Nutrition Association. The median amount of unpaid debt increased 70% from the 2012-2013 school year.

The Washington Post reported students across Wash-ington, Maryland and Virginia owe nearly a $500,000 in meal debt.It also reported that although the National School Lunch Program allows some stu-dents to get free or reduced-price meals.

18 TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019AMERICAS

Morales slams Bolivia for joining Lima blocANATOLIA ANKARA

Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales denounced yesterday interim government’s move to join a Latin American bloc, Lima Group.

“The year-end gift of the putschists (self-proclaimed interim President Jeanine) Anez; (opposition leader Luis Fernando) Camacho and (former President Carlos) Mesa is to return to neoliberalism, entering the Lima Group,” Morales said on Twitter.

“It is to return to the past to privatize natural resources, basic services, education and health. It is to submit to the impositions of the IMF (Interna-tional Monetary Fund),” he added.

On Sunday, Bolivia’s Foreign Ministry announced the partic-ipation of the South American country under the de facto gov-ernment to Lima Group — a bloc of 12 Latin American nations working to find a solution to the Venezuela crisis.

“Bolivia will contribute to achieving a peaceful, democratic and constitutional solution to the crisis in Venezuela, which must be guided by the Venezuelan people,” the ministry said in a statement.

The group was established in 2017 by countries including Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Santa Lucia, Canada, Colombia, Honduras, Costa Rica and Guatemala, with the support of the US,

Organization of American States and EU.

As being a long-time ally to Venezuela and its President Nicolas Maduro, Morales had kept Bolivia out of the Lima Group, due to bloc’s support behind Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.

The group Lima recognises Guaido as the country’s legit-imate ruler instead of the elected Maduro government.

However, following his ouster, the Anez government continues to erase footprints of Morales’ policies.

Morales also announced that nine leaders of Movement for Socialism Party will arrive Buenos Aires, where he is granted asylum on December 29 for a meeting to choose a can-didate for the next election.

Turmoil in Bolivia began in October when Morales won a fourth term in office and faced immediate resistance from opposition parties that chal-lenged election results.

After weeks of upheaval, Morales resigned under pressure from the military and moved to Mexico, where he was offered political asylum.

Conservative Senator Anez then proclaimed herself interim president.

But public demonstrations have yet to subside, with mostly rural and indigenous pro-Morales supporters taking to the streets, including in La Paz, as well as Sacaba and Cochabamba, since he left the country saying his ouster was a coup.

Mexico ambassador resigns after book theft allegationAP MEXICO CITY

A Mexican ambassador who was called home after allegedly attempting to steal a book from a shop in Argentina has resigned, officials said, and relatives reported he may have suffered behavioural changes due to a brain tumour.

Yesterday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called the case “painful”and “sad”.

Officials said late Sunday that Ambassador Óscar Ricardo

Valero had resigned for health reasons, and Mexico’s Foreign Relations Secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, wrote in his Twitter account that Valero “is under-going neurological treatment”.

Mexican news media reported that Valero allegedly also tried to take a T-shift without paying from a shop at the airport after he was called back to Mexico in early December.

At the request of relatives, Ebrard’s office published a doc-tor’s letter saying Valero had been treated for a brain tumour

that may have altered his behaviour.

Ebrard described Valero, 77, a career diplomat with a long pedigree in Mexico’s left, as “a great person.”

A letter by Dr. Ana Luisa Sosa states that Valero was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2012 that resulted in “behavioural changes.”

While the tumour was sur-gically removed years ago, the letter says behavior changes in the last 1 1/2 years — including traffic tickets and “difficulties in personal relationships”

— suggests the tumour or its after-effects may have returned or worsened.

Video of the bookstore incident earlier this year appears to show the diplomat tucking the book — reportedly worth about $9.50 — into a stack of papers he is holding and being stopped by security after passing a detector gate on the way out.

The incident is especially embarrassing given López Obra-dor’s main policy aim of pro-moting honesty among public servants.

Dozens injured as 69 vehicles pile up in Virginia: PoliceAP WILLIAMSBURG

A pile-up involving more than 60 cars on a major interstate in Virginia on Sunday morning injured dozens of people, according to state police yesterday.

“The crash happened just before 8am on Sunday on west-bound Interstate 64 in York County near Williamsburg,” Vir-ginia State Police Sgt. Michelle Anaya said.

No fatalities were reported, but it took crew several hours to clear the roadway and reopen all lanes of traffic.

Authorities do not yet know the cause of the crash, but fog and icy road conditions were contrib-uting factors, Anaya said.

Photos from the scene showed a tangled mass of metal, with car hoods crumpled,

windows smashed and a red truck plopped on top of another vehicle.

Sixty-nine vehicles were involved in the crash, and 51 people were treated or trans-ported to hospitals, Anaya said Sunday afternoon, noting that those figures were constantly changing.

Among those hurt, two were listed in critical condition and 11 were serious but not life-threatening, said York County F i r e C h i e f S t e p h e n Kopczynski.

An investigation into the cause of the crash was ongoing.

In a separate incident, eight cars were involved in a crash on I-64 in the opposite direction after the larger pileup, Anaya said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if others were injured in that crash.

First responders working at the site of an accident on the Interstate 64 highway in York County near Williamsburg, Virginia.

Pinera inks law for vote on new constitutionREUTERS SANTIAGO

Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera (pictured) yesterday signed off on a referendum to be held on a new consti-tution, which he vowed would generate a “solid, compassionate and legitimate framework” that would help reunify the country after nine weeks of intense protest over inequality and elitism.

Pinera said the plebiscite, which was approved by Congress last week and is to be held next year, would kick-start a process of “broad and effective citizen participation.”

“It is of the utmost importance to recover the value of unity, of dialogue, of agreements, especially with those who think differently,” he added.

Chileans will on April 26 decide whether they want a new constitution and if they do, whether the body that

draws up the new document should be a popularly elected assembly or one mixed with current lawmakers.

The country’s current constitution dates back to General Augusto Pinoc-het’s 1973-1990 military dictatorship and, critics say, fails to guarantee

proper healthcare, education and citizen participation in government.

The scrapping of the old constitution emerged as one of the main demands of protesters who have mobilized across the country over the two months.

A poll by Cadem last month sug-gested that 82 percent of Chileans believe the country needs a new con-stitution and 60 percent want it drawn up by a popularly elected assembly, compared with 35 percent who want a mix with politicians.

The president said that he hoped the new constitution “should serve to leave behind the violence and divisions that we have seen resurface with pain and sadness during these days”.

On Friday, a demonstration brought chaotic scenes in Santiago’s central Plaza Italia rallying point, where an estimated 1,500 demonstrators clashed with as many as 1,000 police officers.

Ecuador announces Galapagos fuel spill ‘under control’AFP/QUITO

Ecuador officials announced that a fuel spill in the Galapagos Islands, caused when a barge sank carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel, was “under control.”

Authorities had activated emergency protocols earlier on Sunday to contain the environmental impact of the spill in the Galapagos archipelago, a Unesco World Heritage Site that is home to one of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet.

“The situation is under control, and a series of actions have been deployed to mitigate the possible effects,” the presidential communications office said in a statement, adding the response operation had “controlled” the spill.

The accident, in which one person was injured, occurred in a port on San Cristobal Island, the easternmost island in the chain, when a crane collapsed while loading a container holding an electric generator onto a barge.

The falling container destabilised the ship, which was carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel, causing it to sink.

The generator and the loading crane were also submerged. The Emergency Operations Committee (COE) took “immediate action to reduce the environmental risk” in the so-called Enchanted Islands.

Galapagos minister Norman Wray said that work was under way to recover the diesel. He also said the generator, which was intended to supply energy on Isabela Island, and the barge would be replaced “as soon as possible.”

18 people dead in new Honduras jail clashAFP TEGUCIGALPA

Eighteen people were killed in violence between prisoners at a jail in central Honduras, less than two days after another 18 died in unrest at a separate facility, a military spokesman told local media yesterday.

The spokesman for the com-bined national security force known as Fusina released a list of names of the 18 dead and two injured, saying that “firearms, knives and machetes” were used in the clash in El Porvenir prison north of the capital Tegucigalpa.

The violence followed over-night unrest earlier in the weekend at a facility in the northern port town of Tela that killed 18 inmates and wounded 16 others.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, grappling with a recent wave of prison killings, had ordered the army and the police on Tuesday to take full control of the country’s 27 prisons, which are badly

overcrowded with some 21,000 inmates.

On Saturday, top military officer General Tito Livio Moreno indicated that the military would be deployed in 18 penal centers identified as “high risk.”

Hernandez announced the crackdown after the killings on December 14 of five members of feared gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) by a fellow detainee at the high-security prison in La Tolva, east of Tegucigalpa.

That came just a day after Pedro Idelfonso Armas, the warden of El Pozo — the coun-try’s main high-security prison, in the western city of Santa Barbara — was shot dead in the south of the country.

The Ministry of Security had suspended Armas shortly before that amid an investigation into his presence during the October 26 killing by prisoners of Magdaleno Meza, a drug kingpin whose confession and notebooks linked him to a brother of the president, Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernandez.

Meza’s account books were entered as evidence in the New York trial of Hernandez, who was subsequently convicted on four counts of drug trafficking. He faces sentencing — possibly for life — in January.

President Hernandez con-demned the conviction of his younger brother, saying it was based on “the testimony of con-fessed assassins.”

A video circulating on social media shows the 52-year-old Armas talking with Meza when prison guards opened a locked gate, allowing a dozen inmates to burst in and stab and fatally shoot the drug trafficker.

In addition, a lawyer who had represented Meza and other members of the Valle Valle drug

cartel, Jose Luis Pinto, was killed in an attack on December 9 in a t o w n n o r t h w e s t o f Tegucigalpa.

Honduras has been plagued by drug trafficking, gangs, poverty and corruption.

It suffers from one of the

highest homicide rates in the world outside areas of armed conflict, having registered 41.2 homicides per 100,000 inhab-itants in 2018.

To fight this scourge, Hern-andez created a military police force financed by a new tax, and

built special prisons for gang members.

The sky-high crime rate has been a key factor behind a wave of migration toward the United States, notably by minors who say they fear being forced into gangs.

Members of Honduras National Police patrol the entrance of El Porvenir prison, in the department of Francisco Morazan Honduras, yesterday.

The spokesman for Fusina released a list of names of the 18 dead and two injured, saying that “firearms, knives and machetes” were used in the clash in El Porvenir prison.


QU Health hosts RSCI delegationTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

QU Health - Qatar University hosted Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RSCI) in its campus to discuss opportunities of collaborations. RCSI is world leader in health education, training and research.

They ranked in top 250 among world universities. RSCI delegation started their visit to Qatar with a tour in Aspire Zone, where they met leaders and responsible from Aspire Academy and Aspetar. They dis-cussed mutual collaboration and expressed their admiration of the capabilities and facilities available.

QU Health, led by Dr.Egon Toft - Vice-President for Medical and Health Sciences, Dr Feras Alali- Director of Research and Graduate Studies, Dr Asmaa Althani - Dean of College of Health Sciences, Dr Mohammad Diab - Dean of College of Pharmacy, and the associate & assistant deans for the three col-leges (College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy and College of Health Sciences) welcomed the delegation at Al-Bitar Building.

RSCI delegation presented the education and research capabilities and outcome of Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Schools of

Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sci-ences, Physiotherapy, Nursing & Midwifery, Postgraduate Studies and the Institute of Leadership, in Ireland.

The visitors had the chance to meet leaders from QU Research and Graduate Studies Office, Dr Mariam Al-Maadeed - Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies Office, Dr Aiman Erbad - Director of Research Planning and Devel-opment Department, Ahmed Elza-tahry - Dean of Graduate Studies, and Dr Abdelbary Elhissi - Manager of Research Excellence, Research

Planning and Development Department. They discussed mutual research interest and opportunities for MSc and PhD Dual or Joint Doc-toral Degrees with RCSI.

Irish visitors were very keen to provide a presentation on “Cancer Genomics”, and meet people involved in Qatar Genome. Dr. Asmaa Althani - Dean of College of Health Sciences led this session with a group of elite researchers from Biomedical Research Center. Also, Dr. Hamdi Mbarek- Scientific &Industry Partnerships Manager at Qatar Genome Program, who

presented a general idea on Qatar Genome and its activities.

QU Professional Achievement Award winner - Dr Alla El Awaisi - Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, College of Pharmacy presented a summary on IPE program & the next ATBH conference in 2020 which will be hosted by QU Health.

Sport Science department, led by Dr. Mahfoud Amara- Director of Sport Sciences Program, College of Arts and Sciences, hosted the del-egation in their facility and accom-panied them in a tour to their labs and to the new Sport Complex.

QU Health officials and RSCI delegation pose for a group photo.

Celebrate the Festive Season with family at Mercure HotelTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

La Brasserie Restaurant will have a special festive buffet dinner today (December 24) from 7pm to 11pm and buffet lunch on December 25 from 12noon to 3pm. Menu special-ities include festive Turkey, live BBQ station, spread of International and Oriental buffet with assorted salads, appetizers and festive dessert.

All these at a price of QR95 per person with children from 4 to 12 years getting 50% off. On Friday

(December 27) and January 3, there will be festive Brunch at the Oryx Hall and Poolside with live stations for BBQ and with special cuisine.

Guests can book a weekend stay offer together with the brunch. The brunch is reasonably priced at QR95 per person for food and QR120 with selected unlimited soft drinks.

At La Villa Restaurant located on the 12th floor there is a special 4-course set menu on December 31 from 7pm onwards. Guests can also

have an overnight stay at the hotel booking different available packages with meals. Special festive

delights available on order like Cakes, Yule logs, Gingers, cupcakes, mince pies and macarons.

CROSSWORD

The film, a prequel in part, traces Chulbul Pandey’s journey from a young man named Dhaakad to police officer Chulbul Pandey, and his fight with the demons of his past.

DABANGG 3

MALL ROYAL PLAZA

Hero (2D/Tamil) 2:00pm Prati Roju Pandaage (2D/Telugu) 2:15pmFrozen II (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 4:45pm Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2D/Action) 6:30pm; Jumanji: The Next Level (2D/Action) 4:00, 6:15 & 9:00pm;Dabangg 3 (2D/Hindi) 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pmKettyolanu Ente Maalakha (2D/Malayalam) 8:30pmMamangam (2D/Malayalam) 11:15pmThambi (2D/Tamil) 11:15pm

Dabangg 3 (2D/Hindi) 10:30am, 1:45, 5:00, 8:15 & 11:30pmHero (2D/Tamil) 11:45am, 5:45 & 11:45pmJumanji: The Next Level (2D/Action) 11:45am, 11:30pm; Thambi (2D/Tamil) 3:00 & 9:00pm; Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2D/Action) 2:30pm; Mamangam (2D/Malayalam) 5:30pm

LANDMARK

AL KHOR

Dabangg 3 (2D/Hindi) 6:30 & 9:30pm

Thambi (2D/Tamil) 3:15 & 6:15pm

Hero (2D/Tamil) 9:00pm

Mamangam (2D/Malayalam) 5:45 & 11:15pm

Kettyolanu Ente Maalakha (2D/Malayalam) 8:45pm

ASIAN TOWN

ROXY

FLIK Mirqab Mall

Dabangg 3 (2D/Hindi) 5:40, 7:25, 8:50, 10:35pm & 12:00 midnight

Frozen II (2D/Animation) 10:30am, 12:40 & 2:50pm

Go Fish (2D/Animation) 10:35pm

Jumanji: The Next Level (3D/Action) 10:10, 12:40, 3:10, 5:00pm &

0:4am

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2D/Action) 10:30, 11:00am,

11:50, 12:10, 1:20, 1:50, 2:40, 3:00, 4:40, 5:30, 5:50, 7:00, 7:30, 8:20,

8:40, 9:30, 9:50, 10:50, 11:10, 11:30pm

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (3D/Action) 10:00am, 11:30am,

12:50, 2:20, 3:40, 5:10, 6:30, 8:00, 9:20, 10:50pm & 0:10am,

Bonnie Bears: Blast Into The Past 10:30 & 3:45pm; Dabangg 3 (2D/Hindi) 10:30, 1:00, 2:50, 4:00, 4:50, 7:00, 8:00, 10:00, 11:10pmFrozen II (3D/Animation) 12:30, 2:45, 5:00 & 5:45pmHero (2D/Tamil) 12:30, 6:40 & 10:10pmJumanji: The Next Level (3D/Action) 11:00, 12:30, 1:20, 2:40, 3:30, 4:20, 5:10, 7:40, 8:00 & 9:00pmRuler (2D/Telugu) 10:30pmStand Up (2D/Malayalam) 10:30am, 12:30, 1:20, 4:00, 6:00, 7;00, 8:10, 10:00 & 11:30amThambi (2D/Tamil) 3:40, 7:30, 10:00 & 10;30pm

Prati Roju Pandaage (2D/Telugu) 4:00pmHero (2D/Tamil) 2:15 & 11:00pmDabangg 3 (2D/Hindi) 2:00, 5:15 & 8:15pmFrozen II (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 5:00pmLegend Of The Christmas Witch (2D/Comedy) 5:30pm Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2D/Action) 8:45pmKettyolanu Ente Maalakha (2D/Malayalam) 6:45pmBombshell (2D/Biography) 7:15pmJumanji: The Next Level (2D/Action) 6:30 & 9:15pmThambi (2D/Tamil) 11:15pm; I See You (2D/Horror) 11:30pm

Prati Roju Pandaage (2D/Telugu) 2:00pmHero (2D/Tamil) 2:30 & 8:30pm; Dabangg 3 (2D/Hindi) 5:30, 8:30 & 11:30pmThambi (2D/Tamil) 11:30pmGo Fish (2D/Animation) 2:00pmPrati Roju Pandaage (2D/Telugu) 2:30pmFrozen II (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:15pmStar Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2D/Action) 6:00m;Jumanji: The Next Level (2D/Action) 4:45, 7:00 & 9;15pm Into The Ashes (Crime) 11:30pm

20 TUESDAY 24 DECEMBER 2019MORNING BREAK

Remnants of Soviet intervention in Afghanistan This photo taken on November 28, 2019 shows an Afghan boy playing on the wreckage of a Soviet-era tank alongside a road on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. December 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s ‘intervention’ of Afghanistan. In the decades since the war, which ended in 1989, Afghan veterans and former Soviet soldiers have had to grapple with the physical and emotional wounds of a bloody conflict whose purpose and consequences remain angrily contested.

Notre Dame fire wakes the world up to dangers of lead dustAP PARIS

It took a blaze that nearly destroyed Paris’ most famous cathedral to reveal a gap in global safety regulations for lead, a toxic building material found across many historic cities.

After the Notre Dame fire in April spewed dozens of tons of toxic lead-dust into the atmosphere in just a few hours, Paris authorities discovered a problem with the city’s public safety regulations: There was no threshold for them to gauge how dangerous the poten-tially-deadly pollution was from the dust that settled on the ground.

Since then, AP has found this regulatory gap extends far

beyond France. Officials in other historic European cap-itals such as Rome and London, as well as the US

Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization also have no such outdoor lead dust hazard

guidelines. The reason, they say, is that although there are lead regulations, no one con-templated a conflagration on a lead-laden building the scale of Notre Dame — whose spire towered nearly 100 meters (330 feet) high.

Poisoning from lead dust can cause permanent loss to cognitive ability, seizures, coma, or death — and exposure is of greatest risk to pregnant mothers and to young children, who can easily transfer toxic dust into their mouths.

After 250 tons of lead on Notre Dame’s spire and roof was engulfed in flames in central Paris on April 15 and authorities alerted Parisians to an environmental health risk, they were forced to cobble

together disparate and incom-plete research to set a make-shift safety level in an attempt to reassure the public.

“When the Notre Dame fire happened, we didn’t have any threshold for what represented dangerous lead levels out-doors,” Anne Souyris, the Paris City Hall deputy mayor in charge of public health, said.

“It was a wake-up call... the amount of lead that was burned in Notre Dame was unprecedented.” Officials were surprised to discover that while safety guidelines exist in France for lead levels inside buildings and schools, as well as in paint, soil and air pol-lution, there were zero hazard guidelines for lead accumula-tions in public spaces, such as dust on the ground.

The steeple and spire of the Notre-Dame Cathedral collapses as the cathedral is engulfed in flames in Paris on April 15, 2019.

Longer exposure to obesity linked to high diabetes riskIANS/NEW YORK

Researchers have found that longer and sustained exposure to obesity is linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

For the findings, the research team from Indiana University in the US, used data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) to identify body mass index (BMI) trajectories over the early adult life course.

Climate change may be death knell for Madagascar lemursAFP/PARIS

At least two species of Madagascar lemurs teetering on the brink of extinction because of deforestation could be pushed over the edge by climate change, researchers said yesterday.

Ruffed lemurs could lose more than 90 percent of their habitat within 50 years as a result of global warming and habitat loss combined, they reported in the journal Nature Climate Change. Because the tree-hugging, saucer-eyed fruit eaters are the only vehicle for distributing the seeds of numerous rare plants in Madagascar’s rainforest, their demise could damage entire ecosystems.

“Loss of either species will probably have cascading effect on the structure and integrity of remaining forest,” the researchers said. Varecia variegata and its close cousin Varecia rubra are already “critically endangered” on the IUCN’s Red List because of hunting, habitat loss, forest fragmentation and invasive species.

More than 95 percent of Madagascar’s 101 lemur species are endangered to one degree or another, probably making them the most imperilled group of vertebrates.

“As one of the world ‘hottest’ biodiversity hotspots, Madagascar is experiencing all of the key global change threats,” the researchers note.

The island nation accounts for five percent of the world’s unique plant and animal species.

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum16oC 23oC

HIGH TIDE 03:53 – 14:08 LOW TIDE 10:40 – 21:49

Moderate temperature daytime with some

clouds, and relatively cold by night.

FAJRSHOROOK

04. 54 AM06. 16 AM

11. 33 AM02.31 PM

04. 52 PM06. 22 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

pm opens 44th general assembly of apsf · 12/24/2019 · flowers and ornamental plants. ......

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