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Volume 23 | Number 7724 | 2 RiyalsWednesday 28 November 2018 | 20 Rabia I 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

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BUSINESS | 01 SPORT | 12

QIIB emerges as ‘The Best Islamic

Retail Bank in Qatar’

Amir of Kuwait, H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, handing over Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah Informatics Award-2018 to H E Staff Major General Saad bin Jassim Al Khulaifi, Qatar’s Director-General of Public Security. The Ministry of Interior’s web portal and the e-services won the Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah Informatics Award-2018 for the best governmental e-services in Gulf region and Middle East.

Ashghal implementing 25 road safety plansTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has said that it is following the five-year plan (2018-2022) in implementing 25 projects related to the assessment and follow-up of road safety including work zone safety, traffic congestion management, intelligent trans-portation system, road design safety, traffic safety.

This was revealed during Ashghal’s participation in two-day International Traffic Safety Conference which con-cluded yesterday. A number of local and international traffic

safety experts and specialists from around 60 countries par-ticipated in the conference.

Sharing the details of Ashghal, Eng Yousef Al Emadi, Manager of Highway Projects Department, said that the plans also include an emergency team to respond urgently to mainte-nance requirements, study road signs, ensure pedestrian safety, and manage traffic congestion during the 2022 World Cup.

He added: “As for the road maintenance projects and the day-to-day work carried out by the authority to ensure the safety of the road users, Ashghal is implementing a school zone safety programme to ensure the

safety of students and parents when entering and leaving the schools.

The programme includes 475 schools throughout the country, of which 284 are com-plete, and 176 of those were completed in 2018. Currently work is ongoing in 42 areas around schools, in addition to working on the design of roads surrounding 149 other schools.”

Ashghal also participated in the exhibition that accompanied the conference, during which it presented the School Zone Safety Programme, and safety elements such as barriers, road signs, Intelligent Transportation Systems and others. �P6

NTC to promote Qatar in Australian, Scandinavian marketsRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

The National Tourism Council (NTC) is planning to promote Qatar in Australia and Scandi-navian countries including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden by next year as its next prospective target markets.

NTC representative Rashed Al Qurese mentioned the plan while speaking at the official launch of ‘Qatar.Qurated for you’

— Qatar’s first global destination campaign — on Monday in which he underlined achievements in promoting Qatar since the easing of visa policies and the launch of The Next Chapter of the National Tourism Sector Strategy last year.

“After the launch of the strategy in 2017 we opened three of the world’s most important markets including China, India, and Russia. Next year we are going to work with our partners in order to venture in the

Australian and Scandinavian markets,” said Al Qurese.

Granting visa-free entry to citizens of more than 80 coun-tries had made Qatar one of the most open countries in the Middle East and eighth worldwide according to UNWTO, which two-thirds of world pop-ulation can visit visa-free, he stressed.

He also spoke about NTC’s successful promotion efforts tar-geting travel and tourism trade which include Tawash, an online

destination training programme on Qatar’s tourism offerings in which more than 10,000 travel agents have already enrolled.

Also part of tourism pro-motion efforts are organising familiarization trips which to date has already hosted more than 1,500 travel agents, 500 media persons and 170 social media influencers, he added.

“We have also reinforced developments in different sectors, one of which is cruise tourism that has been one of the

success stories showing what we can achieve when concerted efforts are made by different government and non-gov-ernment sectors. This cruise season we expect to receive 140,000 visitors and tourists in 43 cruise ships and more than 200,000 cruise tourists next season,” said Al Qurese.

He also underlined NTC’s support to and cooperation with partners in hosting Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) events. �P6

Traffic accident deaths decrease by 25% in five yearsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Secretary-General of the Qatar National Traffic Safety Committee Brigadier Muhammed Abdullah Al Malki has said that the National Strategy for Traffic Safety has achieved a remarkable improvement in the standard of traffic safety in Qatar as the number of traffic accident deaths decreased by 25 percent compared to 2013.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the International Traffic Safety Con-ference (ITSC), Brigadier Al Malki said in

recognition of this success, Qatar has received the international prize for traffic safety for the year 2018.

During the closing ceremony, Brigadier Al Malki announced the recommendations of the conference for strengthening the present traffic safety system in the country to maintain the current results and to carry on continuous work to reduce traffic accident rates to achieve a 50 percent reduction in the number of deaths in 2022 in order to make the Qatar ready to deliver the 2022 World Cup successfully.

The ITSC underlined the importance

of developing traffic accident investiga-tions to identify the causes of these acci-dents and develop effective solutions. It also emphasised the role of scientific research in cooperation with local and international research centres in order to find innovative technological solutions to promote the concepts of traffic safety.

Enhancing cooperation with the United Nations and joining in the traffic safety related agreements, strengthening the role of intelligent transport systems, not only in solving traffic congestion problems, but also in improving traffic

safety and reducing some irregularities or misconduct of road users and empha-sising on the importance of establishing a precise database for traffic and traffic accidents in line with the best interna-tional practices so that they are available for all, were other recommendations of the conference.

On the second day of the conference, in the session on traffic safety, Colonel Mohammad Radhi Al Hajri, Director of Traffic Awareness Department presented a paper on ‘Wrong behaviors and their relationship to road traffic crashes’. �P6

MoI web portal wins Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah Informatics Award

Qatar’s monthly trade balance shows QR19bn surplus in OctoberQNA DOHA

In October 2018, the foreign merchandise trade balance of the State of Qatar, which repre-sents the difference between total exports and imports, showed a surplus of QR19bn almost, an increase of about QR10.7bn or 129.1 percent compared to October 2017, and increased by nearly QR3.5bn or 22.9 percent compared to September 2018.

According to figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority, in October 2018, the total exports of goods (including goods of domestic origin and re-exports) amounted to around QR28.8bn, showing an increase of 37.1 percent com-pared to October 2017, and increased by 7.3 percent com-pared to September 2018.

The imports of goods in October 2018 amounted to around QR9.8bn, a decrease of 22.9 percent over October 2017. �P4

28%Hamad Port’s

share in volume

of trade in

Middle East

Over 2 million TEUs

Hamad Port has handled

by October 2018

5 million tonnes cargo handled by Hamad

Port October 2018

500,000 vehicles The port has a capacity to receive 500,000 vehicles per year

QTerminals gets approval

for Phase II expansionSACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

QTerminals announced that it has received approval to design, develop and operate Phase II (Container Terminal 2) of Hamad Port. The announcement comes as a major boost for the expansion of Hamad Port, which has become Qatar’s gateway to the world trade in a short span of time.

“QTerminals is pleased to announce that it has received approval to design, develop and operate Phase II (Container Ter-minal 2) of Hamad Port,” said QTerminals in a tweet.

QTerminals is a terminal operating company jointly estab-lished by Qatar Ports Man-agement Company (Mwani) and Qatar Navigation (Milaha). The company provides container, general cargo, RORO (roll-on roll-off), livestock and offshore supply services in Phase 1 of Hamad Port.

Earlier this month, Minister

of Transport and Communica-tions H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti had said that the second phase of development of Hamad Port would be announced before the end of this year and the implementation of the project will start by early 2019. He added that the port would witness important development in the second phase, especially as work for the current phase in terms of equipment, operation and clearance have been completed.

QTerminals current opera-tions at Hamad Port include a container terminal with a capacity of two million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and general cargo, RORO and livestock terminals with a capacity of 1.7m tonnes. The port has a capacity to receive 500,000 vehicle per year.

Since commencing opera-tions in December 2016, Hamad Port has modernised the way Qatar handles imports and exports and has helped in facil-itating the growth and diversi-fication of the country’s economy. It has acquired 28 percent share in the volume of trade in the Middle East.

Within a short period of time, the port has reached a global port connectivity cov-erage with 40 ports spanning over three continents. The port has seen tremendous growth in a short duration and is further cementing Qatar’s position as a regional maritime hub.

It also plays a major role in securing the needs of local markets and projects imple-mented by Qatar, ensuring access of Qatari products to the global markets.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications on November 13 had celebrated the major milestones by Hamad Port of handling two million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and five million tonnes of general cargo in a record time of less than two years.

The port accomplished another feat in early this year as it celebrated, in March, handling of its first one million TEUs containers.

“QTerminals is

pleased to announce

that it has received

approval to design,

develop and operate

Phase II (Container

Terminal 2) of Hamad

Port,” said QTerminals

in a tweet.

Al Sadd's Qatari star Hassan eyes Asian glory

02 WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018HOME

03WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 HOME


Advisory Council website launched DOHA: The website of the Advisory Council was launched yesterday, in the framework of the Council’s efforts to develop its communication channels with the citizens, to clarify the work of the Council, its role and the tasks it performs within its terms of reference. The website includes the full recordings of the speeches of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in opening the sessions of the Council. It also includes several tabs on the background and history of development of the Council, the terms of reference and specialised committees, as well as news reports and press releases related to the Council’s activities. The inauguration of the website in Arabic and English languages came under the directives of Speaker H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud. The website can be accessed on www.Shura.qa. Citizens can submit their suggestions and comments directly through the specified link on the website. QNA

Minister meets University of South Carolina PresidentDOHA: Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cab-inet Affairs H E Dr Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi met yesterday with the President of the Univer-sity of South Carolina, Dr Harris Pastides. The meeting dealt with areas of legal cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and the University of Carolina in light of the partnership agree-ment signed with the Rule of Law Collaborative of the School of Law at the University of South Carolina, and ways to support joint US-Qatari efforts to estab-lish the rule of law, as well as discussing a number of areas of training and qualification. QNA

Amir sends message to President of AlbaniaTIRANA: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent a written message to the President of the Republic of Albania, Ilir Meta, on bilateral relations and means of boosting and developing them. The message was delivered by the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Albania, Ali bin Hamad Al Marri, during a meeting with the President of the Republic of Albania. QNA

Attorney-General, British officials discuss issues of common concernQNA LONDON

Attorney-General H E Dr Ali bin Fetais Al Marri met with Lord Burnett, chair of the British judiciary council, Dominic Grieve, chair of the intelligence committee, Robert Neil, chair of the justice committee of the British parliament, and Desmond Browne, a

member of the parliament.The meeting, attended by the

Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the United Kingdom, Yousef Ali Al Khater, discussed a number of issues of common concern.

The Attorney-General H E Dr Ali bin Fetais Al Marri also attended a workshop on the peaceful settlement of disputes as part of the Qatar Law

Forum, organised by the Center for the Rule of Law and Anti-Cor-ruption. Members of the British judiciary and several members of the House of Commons partici-pated in the workshop.

Senator George Mitchell, a former US senator, delivered a lecture at the workshop focusing on what he had done in Northern Ireland while at the head of the US government’s negotiating team, and the possibility of spreading the experience in different parts of the world.

Attorney-General H E Dr Ali bin Fetais Al Marri (second right) with British officials at the meeting.

Qatar provides $500,000 grant to UgandaQNA NEW YORK

The State of Qatar provided a grant of $500,000 through Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD) for the Republic of Uganda to organize and host the Third South Summit in 2019.

The signing ceremony of the agreement was held at the Head-quarters of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United

Nations in New York. Permanent Rep-resentative of the State of Qatar to the UN H E Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani signed the agreement on behalf of Qatar Fund For Devel-opment, while it was signed on behalf of Uganda by its Representative to the UN HE Ambassador Adonia Ayebare.

The grant comes as part of Qatar’s efforts to support the countries of the South and to strengthen international cooperation and partnership which is an essential actor for sustainable development.

The State of Qatar hosted the Second South Summit in 2005.

Qatar, US call for ending

abduction of children in

conflicts, crisis situationsQNA NEW YORK

The State of Qatar and the US called for an end to the abduction of children in conflict and crisis situations and stressed the need to exert all pressure to put an end to the widespread abduction of children in conflict and crisis areas.

This came in a message sent by Permanent Repre-sentative of the State of Qatar to the UN, H E Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, and Permanent Representative of the US to the UN Ambassador, Nicky Healy, to Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, on the occasion of the World Chil-dren’s Day, which falls on November 20 of every year.

The message, which was adopted by 101 countries, referred to the report of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), which noted a 70 percent increase in child abductions during the past year.

It also referred to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict and the report of the Office of the Special Representative of the Sec-retary-General for Children

and Armed Conflict.The abduction of

children was one of the most serious of six serious viola-tions against children, explaining that abduction could take more than one form and that children were subjected to brutal treatment by all parties to the conflict, the message said pointing that the abduction of girls usually leads to cross-border trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The message further stressed that conflict and post-conflict times provide suitable environment and conditions for trafficking because of poverty caused by conflicts. The message also pointed to the social, health and economic effects after the escape or release of children.

Qatar and the US called upon the international com-munity to treat abducted children as victims and to provide special care to those who were subject to psycho-logical and physical trauma, torture and sexual abuse.

The two states also stressed that violence against children in conflict has a strong negative impact on the sustainable development programs as well as on social welfare.

Qatar’s trade balance shows QR19bn surplus in October

FROM PAGE 1

The year on year (October 2018 to October 2017) an increase in total exports was mainly due to higher exports of Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons (LNG, condensates, propane, butane, etc) reaching approximately QR17.8bn in October 2018, an increase of 48.0 percent, Petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals (crude) reaching nearly QR4.6bn, increased by 10.5 percent, and increase in the Petroleum oils and oils from bituminous min-erals (not crude) reaching QR2.4bn, increased by 71.0

percent. In October 2018, South Korea was at the top of the countries of destination of Qatars exports with close to QR4.9bn, a share of 17.0 percent of total exports, fol-lowed by Japan with almost QR4.7bn and a share of 16.2 percent, India with about QR3.7bn, a share of 13.0 percent.

During October 2018, the group of “Motor cars & other passenger vehicles” was at the top of the imported group of commodities, with QR0.5bn, showing a decrease of 15.1 percent compared to October 2017. In second place was”

Turbojets, turbo propellers & other gas turbines, “parts thereof” with QR0.5bn, increase of 27.0 percent and in third place was Electrical apparatus for line telephony/telegraphy, telephone sets etc, “parts thereof” with QR0.3bn, showing an increase by 31.2 percent.

In October 2018, United State of America was the leading country of origin of Qatar’s imports with about QR1.6bn, a share of 16.4 percent of the imports, followed by China with QR1.2bn almost, a share of 12.8 percent, and United Kingdom with QR1.1bn, a share of 11.2 percent.

First educational exhibition for international universities heldQNA DOHA

The National Service Academy of Qatar Armed Forces yesterday hold the first educational exhibition of international universities with the participation of prestigious universities, as well as a number of educational and service institutions. The aim of the exhibition is to provide students and their families with the opportunity to meet up to 20 international institutions in more than ten countries around the world. The exhibition saw the participation of several international universities and educa-tional institutions, offering various scientific programmes and specialisations.

Qatar, Malaysia discuss bilateral relations

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, currently visiting the country. Talks during the meeting covered the bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them in various fields. The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the International Military Cooperation Authority, Brigadier-General (Pilot) Fahad Hamad Al Sulaiti, and a number of officers at the Qatari Armed Forces.

QNA DOHA

The Republic of Turkey’s President of Religious Affairs Prof Dr Ali Erbas arrived yesterday in Doha for a two-day visit. During the

visit, Turkey’s President of Religious Affairs and Minister of Endowments (Awqaf) and Islamic Affairs H E Dr Gaith bin Mubarak Al Kuwari will discuss relations between the two brotherly countries in religious affairs.

Turkey’s President of Religious Affairs arrives in Doha


Qatar attends seventh UN Annual Forum on Business, Human RightsQNA GENEVA

The State of Qatar is partici-pating in the seventh UN annual Forum on Business and Human Rights themed “Business respect for human rights building on what works”, which started in Geneva on November 26 and will conclude today.

The delegation is being headed by the Permanent Rep-resentative of Qatar to the United Nations in Geneva, H E Ali Khalfan Al Mansouri, and

with the participation of the Assistant Director of the Human Rights Department at the Min-istry of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Youssef Al Thani.

The UN Forum focuses on topics that relate to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework), as well as trends and challenges in the implementation of the Guiding Principles and promote dialogue and cooperation on issues linked

to business and human rightsThe Forum is the world’s

largest annual gathering on business and human rights with more than 2,000 participants from government, business, community groups and civil society, law firms, investor organisations, UN bodies, national human rights institu-tions, trade unions, academia and the media.

The State of Qatar had hosted the First UN Asia Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights in 2016.

MoI’s e-services portal wins Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah Informatics AwardTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Interior’s Web Portal and the e-services won the Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah Informatics Award 2018 among the best governmental e-services in Gulf region and Middle East.

This achievement comes as a result of the development and modernisation system led by the Ministry to improve the per-formance of various services to the citizens and residents in the country, using the latest technol-ogies that save time and effort and ensure the delivery of services smoothly and easily.

Staff Maj. Gen. Saad bin Jassim Al Khulaifi, Director General of Public Security

received the award. The web portal provides its integrated electronic services with high quality, enabling its visitors to obtain information, conduct transactions electronically and pay the fees directly in a few moments.

The portal provides 216 e-services to individuals, com-panies and institutions in the public and private sectors. These services include: Citizen Services, Entry Permit Services, Traffic Services, Residence Services, Security Systems Services, Civil Defence, NOC Services, Travel Notification Services, Reporting Services, Smart Card Services, Public Services and Community Policing Services among others.

QA is Official Partner of Ajyal Youth Film FestivalTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Airways is the Official Partner of the sixth annual Ajyal Youth Film Festival, taking place at Katara Cultural Village from November 28 to December 3, 2018.

Featuring thematic tributes, a ‘Cinema Under the Stars’ event, ‘Creativity Hub’ activities and a red-carpet screening, the six-day event aims to unite young people aged 8 to 21 years by empowering and encouraging

cultural dialogue through the magic of cinema.

The family-friendly event will also feature the annual ‘Ajyal Competition’, inviting young people to share their work with the aim of enhancing and encouraging support for the next generation of regional film-makers and storytellers.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker said: “As the Official Partner to this important event, we are delighted to play a role in pro-viding a voice to the next

generation of storytellers in Qatar. We believe that art is a universal language that plays a vital role in uniting people from different communities, some-thing which is central to Qatar Airways’ brand message of ‘Going Places Together’. We look forward to helping to inspire young people across Qatar in sharing their experiences and understanding of the world around them in a fun and engaging environment.”

As the national carrier of the State of Qatar, Qatar Airways has

a proud tradition of supporting both local and international cul-tural events. The airline recently supported the Cosmoscow Inter-national Contemporary Art Fair as Main Partner to the event, which took place in Moscow from September 6 - 9 2018, as part of the Year of Culture Qatar-Russia 2018.

This featured an exhibition showcasing the work of pio-neering Qatari artists, as well as a selection of sculptures and installations by leading contem-porary Qatari female artists.

Parliamentary Group for Qatari-Belgian Friendship set upAbdulrahman bin Mohammed Al Khulaifi, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Kingdom of Belgium, and heads of missions to the European Union and Nato, announced the establishment of the Parliamentary Group for Qatari-Belgian Friendship with the participation of Alain Destexhe, the Chairman of the Qatari-Belgian friendship Group in Belgian Parliament. The meeting discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and means of supporting and developing them.

National action plan to

improve dementia careFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has launched a four-year national plan to improve the quality of dementia care in the country.

The Qatar National Dementia Plan (2018-2022) was launched yesterday in the presence of Min-ister of Public Health H E Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, making Qatar first country in the Middle East working on a dementia plan for its local population.

The plan sets out seven action areas addressing sections of dementia care which will have an impact on improving the quality of care, in line with the Qatar National Health Strategy (2018-2022). The action areas focus on making dementia a public health priority by encour-aging dementia awareness and support, improving dementia diagnosis, treatment, care and support, promoting risk reduction, developing infor-mation systems for dementia, developing support for carers and supporting research and

innovation into the disease.The Minister affirmed that

the launch of the Qatar National Dementia Plan demonstrates the great care given by Qatar under the wise leadership of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the health and well-being of all segments of society.

“Such great care is extended even further to include the elderly, especially in light of the growing number of people with dementia globally, which calls for including dementia among the public health priorities in

Qatar. We seek to improve the quality of life for people with dementia, through the concerted efforts of all stakeholders and to promote public awareness and improve all the necessary services,” she added.

Several representatives from the MoPH, Hamad Medical Cor-poration (HMC), Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), EHSAN - Center for Empowerment and Elderly Care and the World Inno-vation Summit for Health (WISH) were present during the launch. They included Dr Salih Ali Al Marri, Assistant Minister for Health Affairs at MoPH, Dr Mariam Ali Abdulmalik, Man-aging Director, PHCC and Sultana Afdhal, CEO of WISH among others.

Dementia describes a set of symptoms that may include dis-turbance in memory, thinking, orientation, ability to com-prehend information, also affecting a person’s language and judgement. In addition, there can be changes in behaviour. These symptoms become severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities.

Dr Hanadi Khamis Al Hamad,

Chairperson of Geriatrics and Long Term Care Department at HMC, was recently appointed National Lead for the ‘Healthy Ageing Priority’ within the National Health Strategy 2018-2022. It was a result of her efforts in leading the Qatar Dementia Stakeholder Group which col-laborated with the MoPH in making the Qatar National Dementia Plan a reality.

“If we don’t address the issue now of the growing prevalence

of dementia, it will have far-reaching implications for our country. I am therefore delighted to see the positive support we have received from the gov-ernment of Qatar as well as private and public organisations. This plan is designed to ensure Qatar is ready to meet the chal-lenge of dementia with a coor-dinated, focused approach to care and research,” said Dr Al Hamad, who is also the focal point for the WHO Global

Dementia Observatory project in Qatar.

According to the United Nations, around 50 million people have dementia in the world. In Qatar, more than 4,400 people over 60 years of age may have dementia. This figure is expected to rise ten-fold to more than 41,000 people by 2050 if no cure or improved pre-vention takes in place. In 2017, HMC has recorded at least 900 dementia diagnosis.

Minister of Public Health, H E Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, and Dr Salih Ali Al Marri, Assistant Minister of Public Health for Health Affairs, during the Qatar National Dementia Plan launch held yesterday.

SAK wins Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah Informatics AwardQNA DOHA

Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Dr Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi on Monday received the Sheikh Salem Al Ali Al Sabah Informatics Award 2018 for the Government Sector after the Kuwaiti Foundation awarded ‘SAK’ project, implemented by Ministry of Justice.

The project aimed at devel-oping the real estate registration and documentation systems, and converting them from the tradi-tional paper system to the a modern online and secured one. The Minister received the Award at the annual ceremony held under the patronage of Amir of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah.

On the occasion, the Minister expressed pleasure with the Min-istry of Justice’s winning of the award, which confirms the advanced status of this national project. He pointed out that the victory of the SAK project con-firms the success of government plans in Qatar despite all the challenges as well as its pursue of the strategic plan of the Qatar Digital Government 2020.

He said that the award reflects the pioneering role of the State of Kuwait and His High-ness’s vision in supporting joint

Arab action and providing means to promote development projects and encourage them in various fields, especially those related to developing and enriching digital programmes and integrating them into government work plans and projects.

The Award aims to enhance the skills of informatics and cre-ativity, preparing youth to con-tribute to the development of information culture, develop and highlight Arabic digital content, stimulate competition, excellence and innovation in IT.

The Award also meant to activate the role of information culture in society, utilise infor-mation technology to identify important community issues, sensitise the community to sound information practices and increase the degree of com-munity readiness for digital processing.

The Ministry launched the project in line with e-Gov-ernment 2020 Strategy to create an electronic system that con-nects all components of the real estate system in the country, and depends on the computerisation of all the procedures of real estate registration and docu-mentation in such a way that makes it easy for the user to obtain the required information and access services at the right time and place.

The Qatar National

Dementia Plan (2018-

2022) was launched

yesterday in the

presence of Minister

of Public Health H E

Dr Hanan Mohamed Al

Kuwari, making Qatar

first country in the

Middle East working

on a dementia

plan for its local

population.

Ooredoo to sponsor Made In Qatar award at Ajyal festivalTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Ooredoo will be Principal Partner at the upcoming Ajyal Film Festival 2018, and will exclusively sponsor the Made In Qatar presented by Ooredoo Award at the festival.

The festival aims to connect people from all sectors of the community, through a series of screenings and events designed to inspire creative interaction and provoke cine-matic dialogue. Events will include talks, an interactive art exhibition and a series of live stage performances from musicians, dancers and artists on the Katara Esplanade.

This year’s festival will see a special focus on films made in Qatar, with local cinema being celebrated by the first Made in Qatar Presented by Ooredoo award.

The new award is intended to recognise the wealth of talent within local cinematog-raphy, and its contribution to the world of film.

Manar Khalifa Al Muraikhi, Director Communications and PR at Ooredoo, said: “We are delighted to have this oppor-tunity to support local cinema talent in Qatar, and are excited to see the quality of the films our cinematographers have produced. Promoting com-munity spirit is a key focus for Ooredoo and we’re looking forward to partnering with the Ajyal Film Festival to present this award”.


Ashghal implementing 25 road safety plansFROM PAGE 1

The authority also partici-pated in three discussion sessions; the first session was titled ‘Health and Traffic Safety’, which dealt with Ashghal’s strategy for traffic safety and the international standards adopted by Ashghal to preserve the safety of road users. The second discussion was titled ‘Traffic Safety Engineering and at Risk Road Users’ while the third discussion was held under the title ‘ITS – the Flow of Traffic’.

Taking part in the discus-sions, Eng. Yousef Al-Emadi, said that in the past years, the authority completed several road safety projects such as the devel-opment of a comprehensive road safety monitoring system,

including key performance indi-cators for road networks based on a star rating system through iRAP. This is in addition to ana-lyzing incident and road asset information, putting guidelines for temporary traffic man-agement and road safety assessment, and developing maintenance standards in the State of Qatar.

The conference aims to share knowledge, experiences and research related to traffic safety, and to introduce the world to the advanced level reached by the State of Qatar in the field of engi-neering, design and road con-struction. The conference also showcases Qatar since it met the international safety and security

standards, and it provides the opportunity to learn about the experiences and efforts of other countries in the field of road safety, and gain experience and learn about the latest technology of road engineering.

It is worth mentioning that the Public Works Authority is looking forward to continue to work with various agencies implementing the National Road Safety Strategy to complete the five-year projects remaining of the strategy 2018-2022. This will be through an execution plan, which includes all the projects and procedures that we are working on implementing together, aiming at developing a safe road network.

NTC eyes Australian and Scandinavian marketsFROM PAGE 1

He stressed on collabo-ration with various sports fed-erations and organizing com-mittees to promote tourna-ments which Al Qurese said is of crucial importance in the run-up to Qatar’s hosting of FIFA World Cup 2022 and FINA World Championships 2023.

In addition, AlQurese also stressed NTC’s efforts with its partners to position Qatar as a major destination for wed-dings as well as enriching the different events in its calendar such as Shop Qatar, Qatar International Food Festival, Q a t a r M o t o r S h o w ,

Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition and the recently launched Al Enna which is a

first-of-its-kind initiative launched under the Next Chapter.

NTC representative Rashed Al Qurese mentioned addressing the official launch of ‘Qatar.Qurated for you’ - Qatar’s first global destination campaign on Monday at Sheraton Doha.

Traffic accident deaths decrease by 25% in five yearsFROM PAGE 1

He explained through that the existence of a close rela-tionship between the wrong behaviors and the high rate of traffic accidents. Al Hajri pointed out that there are misconduct of the drivers (non-compliance with the specified speed, over-taking from the right, using mobile while driving, not leaving enough safety distance).

Chinese Prof. Shengchuan Zhao, Dean of the College of Engineering, Dalian University of Technology presented the a paper on ‘The Value of Statistical Life in Road Safety in China’.

Other presenters of the

session were Prof. Meng Li from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; Prof. Tom Brijs, Transpor-tation Research Institute of Hasselt University, Belgium and Dr. Wael Alhajyaseen, Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Center. They presented papers on ‘Development of Urban Traffic Management for Chinese Metropolis’, ‘Road Safety in Flanders (Belgium): Successful Experiences and Lessons Learned from Two Decades of Traffic Safety Research’ and ‘Variable Message Sign Strategies to Accommodate the Heteroge-neous Driving Population’ respectively.

Secretary-General of Qatar National Traffic Safety Committee Brig. Muhammed Abdullah Al Malki

Introductory meeting on benefits of studying in France organisedTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education organised yes-terday an introductory meeting with secondary public school stu-dents on the benefits of education in France and to brief them on the most prominent universities, insti-tutions and majors.

During the meeting, the director of educational guidance department Moza Al Mudahka called on the students, as ambas-sadors to their countries to high-light Qatar’s cultural role and reit-erated her trust in them and their capabilities to return to the State and contribute to its development.

She expressed her gratitude to the parents for all their efforts with their children and extending them with will and encour-agement to achieve the desired

goals of the nation. For his part, Ambassador of

France to Qatar Franck Gellet said his country is home to the oldest universities covering all majors that students have interest in. He added that education in France requires great effort and ambition which is found in the Qatari stu-dents which France wishes to increase their number to achieve the aspired cooperation between both countries.

The ambassador reiterated that all majors are available as per the students’ goals, in addition to training them to work in public and private sectors.

He said there are currently 86 Qatari students studying in France and urged the students not to worry about learning the French language as many of the Qatari students in France overcame this step through training and con-tinuous work till they achieved

highest certificates and positions in the State of Qatar and globally.

Permanent Delegate of the State of Qatar to Unesco Ali Zainal who is also responsible for the university cooperation in France said the French university system is among the best in the world.

He added that it provides lit-erary, linguistics, foreign lan-guages, history, engineering and law, information security and net-works, sports management, museum and archeology, interna-tional relations and other majors in various fields.

He confirmed that Qatar gives great interest in students and pro-vides them with all the services of housing, education, health insurance and registration in lan-guage institutes and other financial and management matters and monthly grants, annual allowances and residence cards.

The participants of the introductory meeting on studying in France organised by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

Qatar University organises

2018 Alumni ReunionQNA DOHA

Under the patronage of H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Hon-orary President of Qatar Uni-versity Alumni Association (QUAA), Qatar University organised yesterday evening its annual reunion ceremony (2018 Alumni Reunion).

Speaking on the occasion, President of Qatar University Alumni Association Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada praised the constant keenness of the wise leadership on supporting education in the State of Qatar,

The and its interest in Qatar Uni-versity in particular.

Dr. Al Sada noted that Qatar University is the first national university, and since its estab-lishment in 1973, the University has been keen on developing and

qualifying its employees to keep abreast of the highest interna-tional standards, and to prepare graduates capable of effectively contribute to the future their homeland and their nation.

More than 45,000 students have graduated from Qatar Uni-versity, a large number of them took over leadership positions in the State, Dr. Al Sada said, noting that Qatar University has ranked 332 among the top universities in the world the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, advancing 17 positions from the previous year.

Dr. Al Sada expressed

pleasure to welcome a brilliant group of graduates of this pres-tigious national academic edifice, noting that they are meeting again in the start point of their long journey spent in the service of beloved country Qatar.

He called for continued efforts and achievements, referring to Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s speech when he said: “We have done a lot and can do more, but we have to start from the existing reality and not from the wishes”.

President of Qatar University Alumni Association Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada

said that Qatar University always aspires to consolidate the rela-tionship with its graduates, and places high hopes on their role in supporting it. Therefore, Qatar University Alumni Association was established in 2012 aiming to provide programs that will bring together those with special interests in order to enrich per-sonal experiences and to provide mutual support between the graduates and the university in all aspects and fields.

Following the speech of the President of Qatar University Alumni Association, the distin-guished graduate was honored

by the President of the University. This year, HE President of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) Dr. Saad Ahmed Al Mohannadi was honored with the Distin-guished Alumni Award. Dr. Al Mohannadi graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Qatar University in 1997. He continued his higher studies at the uni-versity and took a master’s degree.

The event is organized annually by QU Alumni Relations Office in cooperation with Qatar University Alumni Association (QUAA). The first Alumni Reunion ceremony was held in 2007.The dignitaries at 2018 Alumni Reunion of Qatar University.

More than 45,000

students have

graduated from Qatar

University. A large

number of them

took over leadership

positions in the State.

MME clears water-logging in record timeTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Rainfall Emergency Committee at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment has cleared water-logging completely from low-lying areas caused by the rain in a record time.

“Rainfall emergency teams have completed the operation of removing rainwater from different municipalities,” said Safar Mubarak Al Shafi, Head of the Rainfall Emergency Committee and Director of General Cleanliness Department at the Ministry.

He said that over 101 million gallon of rainwater was removed in a 37-hour uninterrupted operation. “A total of 101,285,818 gallons of rainwater was taken in 14,448 tanker loads from Sunday to yesterday (Tuesday) morning,” said Al Shafi adding that field teams comprising of 706 workers were deployed.

He said that 347 tankers and 61 pumping machines were engaged in the operation of removing rainwater. “The municipal control rooms received 629 calls requesting to remove rainwater from their localities,” said Al Shafi adding that all calls were responded on time as water-logging was cleared completely across the country.

FROM LEFT: President of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Dr. Saad Ahmed Al Mohannadi; Director of Gulf International Center, Dr. Khalid Al Jabar; President of Qatar University Alumni Association, Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada; Qatar University President Dr Hassan Al Derham and Director General of Qatar Fund for Development, Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari at the ceremony.


Ajyal celebrates Qatar’s resilience with [Re]action exhibitionTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The sixth Ajyal Film Festival, hosted by Doha Film Institute (DFI) from November 28 to December 3 at Katara Cultural Village, celebrates the spirit of Qatar’s resilience and ability to overcome even the most testing of challenges with a special interactive art showcase.

Featuring new works by 12 of Qatar’s most promising film-makers and artists, [Re]action will be showcased from November 29 to December 3 at Katara Building 19. The exhi-bition invites visitors to reflect on the consequences of personal and global actions, and the varied options one can take in response to them.

Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, Festival Director and Chief Exec-utive Officer of DFI, said: “[Re]

action is a cultural response to the challenges faced by the nation and our remarkable spirit of resilience, and it will surely inspire all visitors. The powerful works of art communicate a poignant message that together, we can overcome all odds. The art showcase also reflects the overall theme of our festival’s programming, which puts the spotlight on human courage even in the most difficult situations.”

The pieces pay tribute to the

courage and resilience of Qataris and those who call Qatar home, who have weathered a storm and come out stronger together because of it. Sub-themes explored in their works include the impact of one’s choices both within and across borders, the meaning of community and its relationship to nations, and the forces that work to either amplify or quieten the truth.

Participating artist Ghada Al Khater, said: “This exhibition will be inaugurated at a pivotal time in Qatar and takes place at a film festival that gathers people from all over the world. It is a chance for local artists to showcase art-works to the public and present a daring contemporary art scene. I am honoured to be taking part in its second edition.”

The title of the art showcase draws from the definition of the word reaction, which means

something must be done, felt, or thought in response to a situation or event. All works on display were created with thought-pro-voking, interactive elements that will challenge audiences as it had the artists who created them.

Cartoonist Abdulaziz Yousef said: “Participating in this exhi-bition has been a challenge for me from an execution per-spective as a cartoonist of a daily newspaper. The challenge was not the technicality or the

physical projection of my idea, but rather in converting a cartoon drawn on a piece of paper to an interactive work that speaks for itself and delivers the multi-layer meaning behind it.”

A general view of [Re]action exhibition yesterday.

Featuring new works

by 12 of Qatar’s most

promising filmmakers

and artists, [Re]action

will be showcased

from November 29 to

December 3 at Katara

Building 19.

Qatar Post facilitates over 950 Valet Trolley deliveries for Carrefour customersTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Postal Services Company (Qatar Post) has facilitated more than 950 deliveries for Carre-four’s Valet Trolley service since the signing of an agreement one month ago.

The partnership ensures that MyCLUB members who purchase a minimum order of QR250 at Carrefour City Center receive their deliveries free of charge.

Upon making their pur-chases, customers can journey to the dedicated Valet Trolley counter, provide their exact address as per their ‘Inwani’ details, choose a one-hour delivery window from the six available time slots, and pay for their items. The Carrefour team will then pack and store the goods in chilled room until the time of delivery where the items will be loaded into refrigerated trucks so that all perishable items remain fresh during transit.

“We are happy to provide Carrefour with a state-of-the-art service which will enhance the shopping and delivery expe-rience, Qatar Post’s mission is to provide best in class service for

all people living in Qatar and our partnership with Carrefour in Qatar,” said Faleh Mohammed Al Nuaimi, Qatar Post Chairman and Managing Director.

Laurent Hausknecht, Country Manager of Carrefour Qatar said: “At Carrefour we’re constantly looking to introduce innovate products and services for the benefit of our customers. The Valet Trolley is positively received by shoppers, as it enables a seamless experience

that also saves their time. We are pleased with the number of users so far and look forward to serving more in due course”.

Customers who opt to use the valley trolley service will receive an SMS with delivery details after making payment. As a reminder, another SMS will follow 20 minutes prior to delivery. If cus-tomers wish to follow-up or reschedule, they can call +974 5517 9105, 7 days a week from 9am to 7pm.

Faleh Mohammed Al Nuaimi, Qatar Post Chairman and Managing Director (left), with Laurent Hausknecht, Country Manager of Carrefour Qatar.

QF students to celebrate QND at ‘Education City United’THE PENINSULA DOHA

Students from Qatar Founda-tion’s (QF) students are set to celebrate Qatar National Day through hosting ‘Education City United’. The event, which will take place at QF’s Ceremonial Court tomorrow (Thursday). It is designed to celebrate and honor Qatar’s rich traditions, values, and culture.

Organized and hosted by Education City by students from Hamad Bin Khalifa Uni-versity, QF’s partner univer-sities, and the Academic Bridge Program, the event – which is free and open to the public – will feature an operetta, a selection of retail business outlets and food stalls, and a STEM-themed entertainment area for children, as well as an exhibition showcasing pieces of artwork and innovative

projects. It will also showcase the

diverse multicultural com-munity within Education City,

and provide visitors with an opportunity to learn more about the various the academic institutes housed within QF’s flagship development.

Mohammad Al Mansouri, President of the Qatari Stu-dents Association at Texas A&M University at Qatar, a QF partner university, said, “Our aim this year is to focus on Qatar, both its past and its future. We, the students of Edu-cation City, believe that it is our duty to demonstrate how, whichever school or university we attend, we stand together for Qatar.”

“The concept of ‘unity’ cannot be fulfilled without the whole community partici-pating. With this in mind, we would like to encourage the public to come along and cel-ebrate with us.”

‘Education City United’ will take place from 12pm-10pm.

Last year’s ‘Education City United’ event, held at Qatar Foundation.

Percival: Parfums de Marly unveils its first marine fragrance for connoisseurs THE PENINSULA DOHA

Percival is a modern and refined perfume which name evokes a mythical thor-oughbred from the ‘haras de France’. Presenting a subtle balance of citrus and aro-matic notes on a woody base,

this last born of Parfums de Marly exudes a fresh, sensual and refined scent that will be remembered.

Created by Ju l ien Sprecher, founder of Parfums de Marly, in close collabo-ration with Hamid Merati-Kashani, a humanist per-fumer and talented nose of

the Maison Firmenich, this marine fragrance comple-ments a collection wherein this olfactory family was not present.

To create this elegant, vivacious and addictive com-bination of scents, a niche perfume “that incarnates body and density”, Julien

Sprecher committed himself to the highest standards of ingredients.

Amongst the top notes, scents of bergamot and man-darin sublimated by a touch of aromatic water offer a unique combination. The heart notes that give Percival its character and depth offer

a blend of natural jasmine, violet and geranium over-lapping with lavender, cori-ander and cinnamon.

Boasting opportune for all seasons, Percival is created for all perfume lovers, always in search of luxury, authen-ticity and noble raw materials.

QIC Insured launches QIC Safe Driver App at the International Traffic Safety Conference THE PENINSULA DOHA

QIC Insured, the retail arm of Qatar Insurance, the leading insurer in the MENA region par-ticipated in the International Traffic Safety Conference.

The highbrow conference, which addressed a number of topics, related to traffic safety, driving behavior, transport safety and security also served as a launch pad for QIC Insured’s latest offering, namely, the QIC Safe Driver App.

Working relentlessly towards its Corporate Social Responsi-bility (CSR) mission for safer roads in Qatar, QIC Insured has been for long engaging in various surveys for developing Road Safety monitor reports that high-light driving patterns of motorists and key areas for enhancing road safety for all users.

Aligning its efforts further with the second phase of the implementation plan for the National Traffic Safety Strategy (2018-2022), the Safe Driver App from QIC Insured demonstrates yet another initiative towards incentivizing motorists for being responsible drivers and ensuring road safety in Qatar.

Developed by OSeven, the revolutionary Safe Driver App uses world leading telematics and Artificial Intelligence to assess and rate the driving behavior of motorists and identify safe drivers. The App records all the nuances of a trip right from the start to the end.

Applying state of the art Signal Processing and Machine Learning algorithms, all param-eters of risky driving behavior, such as speeding, mobile use while driving, harsh accelera-tions and harsh brakes are iden-tified and translated into scores on a safe driving scale of 100.

To incentivize drivers to be responsible while driving, QIC Insured will reward ‘safe drivers’ who maintain a minimum score of 76 out of 100 (throughout the year) by offering a 20% saving upon renewal of their car insurance in the following year. This will be effective over and above the No Claim Bonus awarded to the safe driver.

Available exclusively online, customers can simply visit qic-insured.com, select the Safe driver option to download the Safe Driver App from Google Play (for Andriod users) or App Store (for iOS users) and register them-selves. After purchasing the new comprehensive car insurance, customers have to keep the Safe Driver App running while they drive so that the app can monitor the driving behavior of the motorist and rate the driver.

Ahmed Jarboey, Senior Claims Manager at QIC Insured said: “To enhance our efforts further towards achieving Road Safety and reducing road acci-dents and fatalities, we at QIC Insured have been working tire-lessly in raising awareness towards inculcating the culture of responsible driving and avoiding road rage.”

FROM LEFT: Ahmed Jarboey, Senior Claims Manager at QIC Insured, with Major General Mohamed Saad Al Kharji, Director General of General Directorate of Traffic, and Jean Todt United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety and President of International Automobile Federation (FIA),

MME participates in emergency management courseThe Department of Environ-mental Operations at the Min-istry of Municipality and Environment has participated in ‘Emergency Management Course Number 2’, in part-nership with Qatar Petroleum at the National Academy for Specialised Training, a security services center.

The course focused on ways of intervening, man-aging crises and taking appropriate positions during the major emergencies, said the Ministry of Municipality and Environment in a statement.

This participation comes from the Department of Envi-ronmental Operations, to develop the management of control rooms and learning about the various experi-ments in this field.

Training of different sce-narios like explosion or a ter-rorist operation in an oil field, an oil spill from a ship with high winds, a methanol leak from an oil tanker because of a collision with a bus were carried during the drill.


CMU-Q business graduates discuss building careers THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Members of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar’s (CMU-Q) Class of 2013 gathered to celebrate their five-year reunion and business admin-istration graduates shared their experiences in Qatar’s evolving economic landscape.

Hussain Abdulla Hajji works at Qatar Shell as part of the marketing and economics scheduling team. He can draw a direct line between his edu-cation and the skills he uses in his career. “There is a lot of focus on mathematics, calcu-lations, and economics, but also let’s not forget what really makes CMU-Q graduates special: their interpersonal skills. The courses you take at CMU-Q prepare you for working in this respect. At work it’s not just the quality of data that matters, it’s also the way you present and put things together.”

As technology becomes infused in nearly every aspect of big business, Hajji also sees an advantage for CMU-Q grad-uates: “This program is unique, as you are exposed to man-datory programming and com-puter courses. These skills set us apart from other business graduates.”

Mohammed Al Rawahi, who joined Commercial Bank of Qatar soon after graduation, and worked as an analyst and corporate assistant for three

years said, “Business Adminis-tration is quite a compre-hensive program. Along with preparing you for your specific area, it gives you a general idea of how things work. CMU-Q provided us with great skills, which I think can be used any-where, whichever industry we are in.”

Al Rawahi left Qatar to pursue graduate studies in finance and investment in the UK. Today he works for Oman Aviation in Muscat, but still maintains strong ties to Qatar. “Studying in Qatar, you have many opportunities to learn, and we developed the trans-ferable skills that you need at every job.”

Mohammed Hadi Takiddin, who works as head of finance in the commercial branch of Qatar Museums, commented “The way I looked at it was dif-ferent. My studies at CMU-Q were about how to become a better person, and how to think outside the box so you can s t a n d o u t i n t h e marketplace.”

Takiddin has worked at Qatar Museums since gradu-ation, and he credits his success and ability to handle pressure on a solid educational foun-dation: “My major in Business Administration was one of the best decisions of my life. If you start from a good place and have a good foundation, you will move up.”

CMU-Q offers under-graduate degree programs in biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science and information systems. Grad-uates from the Class of 2013, and all graduating classes, are working at top organizations within Qatar and around the world.

Business graduates of CMU-Q pose for a group photo on the eve of their five-year reunion.

Children under five at risk of flu virusTHE PENINSULA DOHA

To help reduce the risk of catching or spreading the flu, Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) is encouraging parents to ensure that children aged between 6 months and 5 years old are vaccinated, as this is the best defense against getting flu.

In Qatar, flu season occurs in the fall and winter. Between October 10 and November 18, PHCC has treated 622 confirmed cases of the different influenza virus subtypes (A and B).

The Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation and PHCC are working together to provide this year’s flu vaccine free of charge to all residents of Qatar. To find out more information on the flu vaccine, including where to get it, please visit www.stop-theflu.qa. Dr Zienab Shehata , family medicine physician, Com-municable Disease Control section at PHCC said that the flu vaccine which is currently available free of charge at 26 health centers gives children , offers the best defense against getting flu and spreading it to others. Being vaccinated can reduce flu illnesses, doctor’s visits,

missed school days, and prevent flu-related hospitalizations and deaths in children. Dr Khalid Elawad (pictured), Health pro-tection manager at PHCC said, “Parents should ensure that their young children are vaccinated as the flu can be very dangerous. Children can be affected more than others due to fact that their immunity system is developing. Parents should know that the flu vaccine is safe for children under five. The flu vaccine has a good safety record for children.”

“Like all vaccines, some children may experience mild side effects such as soreness or swelling in the arm where the shot administered, muscle aches and headache. But these side effects are almost always mild and short-lived.”

106.3 FM Radio Olive to host ‘Highest Radio Show’ in Qatar THE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar’s No.1 Hindi Radio Station, Radio Olive 106.3 FM is all set to host their Highest Radio Show. This unique show will be live on 106.3 FM Radio Olive tomorrow (Thursday) from 6-10am.

Radio Olive’s hosts RJ Harsha and RJ Sumit will be live from Fraser Suites Helipad making it the highest radio show the station has ever con-ducted. As per Radio Olive’s knowledge, no other Radio Station in the Qatar has ever attempted this feat.

Radio Olive 106.3 FM, which has an audience of 1.5 million South Asian expatriates has always been a trendsetter with its unique initiatives. Be it Junior RJ, Radio Antakshari (musical game show) or Dandiya Night (cultural dance

in India); with every event, Radio Olive has made its hold stronger on the audience of Qatar and fans from around the world. Many important digni-taries and community leaders are expected to grace the his-torical moment at Fraser Suites.

“Yet another milestone to be set by Radio Olive 106.3 FM. It is going to be a great moment for all of us at the radio station and special treat for the listeners. Special thanks to the management of Fraser Suites for accepting the proposal and supporting us in every way possible. We at Radio Olive and Radio Suno have always presented some-thing different to our fans and we would continue to do so with the support of all our lis-teners, sponsors and talented team members,” said Man-aging Director of Radio Olive, Ameer Ali.

Radio hosts – RJ Lallit, RJ Simran, RJ Harsha, RJ Sumit.

Second batch of ‘Sama Nama’ set to graduateTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Nama Social Development Center is preparing to graduate the second batch of the Social Entrepreneurship Development ‘Sama Nama’ tomorrow.

Sama Nama Graduation Cer-emony comes in the framework of the positive contribution to the progress and development of the community since the support of Social Entrepre-neurship Development ‘Sama Nama’ which is considered as one of the innovative and non-traditional projects in the Qatari society.

Through this program, Nama

aims to achieve an inspirational vision that contributes to expand the choices of young people, enhance their participation in the community service, and build a broad base of social pioneers and future leaders. Program targets Qatari/non-Qatari 18-35 years

old participants. The program was fulfilled

through a training plan that Center made to guarantee the achievement of needed goals. Training stages included several steps including the internal training, which was held for a week within the State of Qatar.

Plan covered a series of workshops and lectures that were delivered theoretically and practically to define the concept of social pioneering and devel-opment of social pioneer and his/her personal skills, as well as external training, which was also for a week.

External training aimed to

discover practical experiences in the social sphere at the Republic of Greece – Athens. Through direct contact with stakeholders in the field of social leadership like officials and individuals with different

activities and experiences in the field of social entrepreneurship and community service, capa-bilities and skills of our young people were enhanced.

This will be the future step, w h i c h w e e x p e c t

from participants to serve their community in a manner that optimizes the aspirations of our beloved country and con-tributes effectively to the achievement of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

A group photo of a new batch of ‘Sama Nama’ set to graduate from Nama Center.

CMU-Q offers

undergraduate degree

programs in biological

sciences, business

administration,

computational biology,

computer science and

information systems.

Temporary diversion on Salwa Road westbound carriagewayTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Public Works Authority, ‘Ashghal’, has announced the implementation of a temporary diversion on Salwa Road west-bound carriageway between Al Sailiya Interchange (Exit 17) and Mesaieed Interchange (Exit 24) for a distance of 1.3 kilometres to allow the installation of gan-tries at Mesaieed Interchange.

The proposed diversion has been designed in coordination with the General Directorate of Traffic, and will remain in place for a period of three days only, starting on Thursday, 29 November until Sunday, 2 December.

The traffic heading west-bound on Salwa Road towards Bu Samra will be diverted to the

eastbound carriageway after Al Sailiya Interchange (Exit 17) and will return to normal flow before

Mesaieed Interchange (Exit 24). During this diversion, the number of lanes will be reduced from four lanes to two lanes in order to accommodate traffic movement in both directions.

During the temporary rea-lignment, Salwa Service Road in the location will be limited to a one way flow with a right in/ right out availability to Salwa Road.

The Public Works Authority will install road signs advising motorists of the traffic shift and has urged all road users to abide by the speed limit which remains at 80 kph along Salwa Road and 60 kph along Salwa Service Road, and follow the road signs to ensure their safety.

Winter vegetable markets attract large number of customersTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The winter vegetable markets in Al Mazroua, Al Khor-Dakhira, Al Wakrah and Al Shamal attract large number of customers.

The markets run by the Agri-cultural Affairs Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment sold out a total of

368 tonnes of fruits and vege-tables during fourth week from November 22 to 24, 2018.

The sale of vegetables and fruits was recorded 345 tonnes in the previous week at the four markets. Over 2,500 kg of fish was also sold including 1,700 kg in Al Mazroua and 800 kg in Al Khor-Dakhira. During this period, about 390 cartons of

eggs; 1,808 birds; 400 litres milk and 116 kilograms of honey were also sold out.

In addition, the activities of ‘Farmers’ Market’ is also being organised at Celebration Ground of Qatar Foundation (Education City) for the second consecutive year, where local agricultural products were showcased by the participating farmers in

coordination with of Agriculture Affairs Department at the Ministry. The winter vegetable markets in Al Mazroua, Al Khor-Dakhira, Al Wakrah and Al Shamal are oper-ating three days Thursday to Sat-urday from 7am to 5pm. However, Farmers’ Market opens for the visitors of Edu-cation City on Friday and Sat-urday from 7:30pm.

Sama Nama

Graduation Ceremony

comes in the

framework of the

positive contribution

to the progress and

development of the

community.

BEIRUT: A well-known British radio presenter who had been living in Lebanon for years was found dead in his apartment in a mountain town near Beirut yesterday after being apparently murdered, Lebanese officials said. Gavin Ford’s death led to an outpouring of shock and sadness on social media by people who followed his popular morning program on all-music Radio One station. The 65-year-old Ford had worked for the station since the 1990s, gaining a large number of fans in Lebanon. LBC TV said Ford was strangled and struck on the head, leading to his death. Another official confirmed Ford was strangled, and said security agents are ques-tioning his neighbors for details about who visited him in recent days. Ford’s apartment is in the town of Beit Mery, east of Beirut.

With Royal guest

09WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Patience is running thin, Iran’s N-chief warns EUREUTERS BRUSSELS

Iran’s nuclear chief said yesterday he was warning the European Union’s top diplomat that Iranian patience was running out on the bloc’s pledges to keep up oil trade despite U.S. sanctions.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said the Islamic Republic could resume enriching uranium to 20 percent purity — seen as well above the level suitable for fuelling civilian power plants — if it fails to see the economic benefit of the 2015 deal that curbed its nuclear programme.

“If we cannot sell our oil and we don’t enjoy financial transactions, then I don’t think keeping the deal will benefit us anymore,” Salehi told Reuters ahead of a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Brussels.

“I will pass certainly a word of caution to her (Mogherini): I think the period of patience for our people is getting more limited and limited. We are running out of the assumed timeline, which was in terms of months.”

Following the meeting, Mogherini said she and Salehi remained committed to safe-guarding the nuclear accord.

“They equally expressed their determination to preserve the nuclear agreement as a matter of respecting interna-tional agreements and a key pillar for European and regional

security,” Mogherini’s office said in a statement.

It said Mogherini also repeated the EU stance “on issues of concern such as Iran’s role in the region” - alluding to Iranian involvement in Middle East conflicts from Yemen to Syria. Under the 2015 deal with world powers, Iran restricted its enrichment programme, widely seen in the West as a disguised effort to develop the means to make atomic bombs, in exchange for an end to interna-tional sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the accord in May, arguing it was weak because it did not halt Iran’s development of ballistic missiles or support for armed proxies abroad, and reimposed sanc-tions on Iran’s vital oil export sector earlier this month.

But Europe sees the nuclear deal as an important element of international security.

The EU and other remaining parties - China and Russia - have struggled to preserve trade incentives for Iran to respect the deal’s nuclear limits under U.S. pressure. In Brussels for talks on civilian nuclear cooperation that

EU officials intended as a signal support for the accord, Salehi said the bloc’s efforts were encouraging but added: “We have not yet seen any tangible results.”

He welcomed an EU plan to establish a special financial vehicle for non-dollar trade with Iran but only if it could preserve Iranian oil exports - Tehran’s economic lifeline. “It (the SPV) could be helpful in keeping the deal alive,” he said. “If there is nothing to reap, then what is the purpose of us staying in because voices in Iran are day by day becoming more against the deal.”

Iran’s oil exports are expected to drop sharply to about 1 million bpd in November from a peak of 2.8 million bpd earlier this year. However, output is expected to recover somewhat from December thanks to U.S. waivers, including for two EU nations - Greece and Italy. Under the 2015 deal, Iran stopped producing 20 percent enriched uranium and gave up the majority of its stockpile. Salehi reiterated warnings that Iran has the technical capacity to ramp up enrichment if the deal unravels.

Israeli envoy: US to release peace plan in early 2019AP UNITED NATIONS

Israel’s UN ambassador says the Trump administration has told the Israeli government that it expects to release its long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan in the beginning of 2019.

Danny Danon told a group of UN reporters that there is “a window of oppor-tunity” for the US to present the plan without interfering in Israeli elections likely scheduled for May or June.

Otherwise, he said, it will have to wait until next fall.

Danon said Israel knows the US plan is complete but doesn’t know the details.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces rounded up 18 Palestinians in overnight raids across the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli mil-itary. The individuals were arrested for “suspected involvement in popular ter-rorist activities”, the army said in a statement, without elaborating on the nature of these activities. The Israeli army frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest cam-paigns across the occupied West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.

Rights group urges Argentina to charge Saudi crown prince at G20AFP BUENOS

Human Rights Watch has urged Argentine prosecutors to consider bringing criminal charges against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is due to join world leaders in Buenos Aires this week for the G20 summit.

The New York-based rights group said it had filed a sub-mission with Argentine prose-cutors calling on them to invoke the country’s universal juris-diction statute to prosecute the crown prince for alleged war crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

“Argentine prosecutorial authorities should scrutinise Mohammed bin Salman’s role in possible war crimes com-mitted by the Saudi-led coalition since 2015 in Yemen,” HRW director Kenneth Roth said.

“The submission also high-lights his possible complicity in serious allegations of torture and other ill treatment of Saudi cit-izens, including the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the rights group said in a statement.

Bin Salman is the kingdom’s de facto ruler and defence min-ister. Argentina’s constitution recognises universal jurisdiction for war crimes and torture. That means its judicial authorities

“can investigate and prosecute crimes no matter where they were committed, and regardless of the nationality of the suspects or their victims,” HRW said.

Argentine press reports said the prosecutor with responsi-bility for the case, Ramiro Gonzalez, has yet to decide whether to open an investigation. The crown prince is scheduled to attend the G20 summit in Buenos Aires on Friday and Sat-urday. He has travelled to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in recent days, and landed in Tunisia yesterday,- where unions and human rights organizations protested against his visit.

British radio presenter found dead

Erdogan’s S American tour from FridayANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will kick off a South American tour on Friday. The tour will include three South American nations from November 30 to December 3, an official statement said. Erdogan will attend the G20 summit in Argentina and then visit Paraguay and Venezuela, Turkey’s Anatolia Agency reported. The visits to Paraguay and Venezuela will be the first for the Turkish President, the statement said.

DR Congo ex-militia chief on trial for mass abuseGOMA: A former milita leader accused of mass rape and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo went on trial at a military court in the eastern city of Goma. Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka and his militiamen are accused of raping more than 300 women in the towns of Luvungi, Tweno and Kembe in the Walikale tin-producing region in 2010. The 42-year-old, who founded the Nduma Defence of Congo (NDC) militia in 2009, is also accused of theft and looting, recruiting children into his militia and belonging to a criminal gang.

Hundreds of bodies exhumed from mass grave in RaqqaAP BEIRUT

Syrian workers have exhumed more than 500 bodies from one of the largest mass graves near the northern city of Raqqa, once the capital of the Islamic State group’s self-styled caliphate, and are still uncovering remains, a local official said.

The exhumation of mass graves in and around Raqqa is

being undertaken by local groups and first responders amid concerns about the preservation of bodies and evidence for pos-sible war crimes trials.

“We’re in a race against time. These bodies are decomposing at an exponential rate,” said Sara Kayyali, of Human Rights Watch.

A devastating US-backed air and ground campaign drove IS from Raqqa more than a year ago, but rescuers and recovery

teams continue to locate mass graves in and around the city. At least nine graves have been found in and around Raqqa, and the bodies that have been recovered are a mix of victims of US-led coalition airstrikes, IS fighters and civilians.

The Panorama mass grave, named after the neighborhood where it was found, is one of the largest of nine mass graves dis-covered so far, and is believed to

contain around 1,500 bodies. A local official involved in the work, said 516 bodies believed to be of IS fighters and civilians have been exhumed. The work is pain-staking and the task is huge. A team of Raqqa-based first responders and a forensic doctor carefully shovel dirt to search for the bodies, which are believed to have been buried there in the last days of the four-month campaign to liberate Raqqa.

Tunisians shout slogans and hold up signs as they protest against the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince to the country, in Habib Bourguiba Avenue in the capital Tunis, yesterday.

10 Cameroon separatists risk death sentenceREUTERS YAOUNDE

Ten Cameroonian separatist leaders extradited from Nigeria earlier this year will face trial next month on terrorism charges that could lead to the death penalty, one of their lawyers said after a court hearing yesterday.

The accused include Julius Ayuk Tabe, the leader of an

Anglophone separat ist movement in western Cam-eroon fighting to break away from the Francophone-domi-nated central government.

Hundreds of people, including civilians, separatist fighters and Cameroonian security agents, have been killed in the past year’s violence, which has emerged as the most serious security threat to

President Paul Biya, in power for 36 years.

“Ten charges have been brought against them, including terrorism, advocating terrorism, secession, civil war and revo-lution,” lawyer Christopher Ndong told Reuters after the charges were read out at the capital Yaounde’s military court.

The trial is scheduled to begin on December 6.

Ethiopia plans first census in a decadeADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia will hold its first population census in more than a decade, a step that could have far-reaching conse-quences for the Horn of Africa nation that’s grappling with multi-ethnic representation and rippling demands for self-determi-nation. The census’ advisory council will have 20 members, including nine ministers and officials from all nine of Ethiopia’s ethnically based regional states, the ruling party-funded Fana Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a meeting with previously outlawed opposition groups it’ll be before the 2020 election.

Respond to dialogue call, Morocco tells AlgeriaRABAT: Morocco urged Algeria to officially respond to a call by Rabat for direct dialogue between the two countries. Earlier this month, Moroccan King Mohammed VI proposed that a committee be formed to “normalize” relations with the country’s eastern neighbor. In a written statement, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry underlined its regret that Algiers had yet to reply to the proposal.

Youth pose for a photograph with Britain’s Prince Harry during his visit to Circus Zambia in Lusaka, Zambia, yesterday.

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy

Organisation of Iran, said the Islamic Republic

could resume enriching uranium to 20 percent

purity — seen as well above the level suitable

for fuelling civilian power plants — if it fails to

see the economic benefit of the 2015 deal that

curbed its nuclear programme.

Qatar has world’s

second largest

ecological

footprint of 8.5

global hectares.

However, we

cannot deny

that the rapid

economic growth

also brought

some benefits

to the country

as well as its

citizens.

10 WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018VIEWS

Environmental protection vs economic growth in Qatar

The welfare of our children and of the future generations demands that we use our resource-wealth wisely. Qatar

must continue to invest in its people so that all can participate fully in eco-nomic, social and political life,” said Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Qatar National Vision 2030.

Since the mid-1990s, the economy of Qatar witnessed a rapid economic growth. In fact, Qatar is developing way too fast. Often, this development is driven by one specific need, without taking into consideration the broader or future effects. We are already seeing the cost that this kind of tactic can produce, such as air pol-lution resulting from Qatar’s dependence on fossil fuel-based energy sources and the constant changes of landscape to create roads, bridges, rails and malls. In addition, according to EcoMENA,

Qatar has world’s second largest ecological footprint of 8.5 global hec-tares. However, we cannot deny that the rapid economic growth also brought some benefits to the country as well as its citizens. Before that, “Qatar mainly [focused] on pearling, but now it is a diversified economy with sports base-economy, education, and financial,” said Anto Mohsin, a professor at Northwestern University.

Yet, meeting the demands of the increasing population in Qatar is linked to expanding the oil and gas industry, as well as the agricul-tural and water industry. This places an increasing pressure on all of the natural resources and cultural wealth of the country.

But how could these limited resources satisfy the never-ending demands of citizens? And how can Qatar satisfy the needs of the present without compromising the capacity of the future? This is called Sustainable Development. It is the development that meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, guaranteeing the balance between economic expansion, envi-ronmental protection and social well-being.

The Qatar National Vision 2030, launched in 2008, aims to “advance Qatar’s sustainable development goals, providing its current residents and future generations with a standard of high living,” The National Vision focuses on four pillars:

Q Human Development: Devel-oping Qatar’s entire population, ena-bling them to sustain a prosperous society.

Q Social Development: Developing a caring society based on high moral standards and capable of playing a significant role in the development of global partnerships.

Q Economic Development: Devel-oping a competitive and diversified economy, capable of meeting peoples’ needs and securing a high standard of living for Qatar’s population now and in the future.

Q Environmental Development: Managing growth to ensure and maintain harmony between economic growth, social development and pro-tection of the natural environment.

It can obviously be seen how human and social development is implemented in Qatar, by supporting higher education, women’s empow-erment, equality between citizens and foreigners, as well as Muslims and non-Muslims. Economic development is another obvious factor. According to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics, the number of new projects, including large, small and industrial projects, have

increased from 1061 projects in 2012 to 3423 in 2017. However, the envi-ronmental development is trickier to measure. Although the goal is there, what we need to know is how it is being applied in practice, and whether that is effective.

The menace present within our environment is evident. The quality of land, water, and air have reduced gradually over the years with the increase in pollution. The water body has been polluted, and the impact on marine life and humans has been adverse. Strict action needs to be taken on individuals and organizations that propagate environmental pollution.

It is crucial to persuade the Qatari government to make new laws for organizations and house-holds to lower the production of greenhouse gases. These policies could be achieved through carbon costs, carbon limits, and rising awareness of such changes and how it effects a sustainable future – to let people know that that if nothing is done, their grandchildren will suffer and struggle to survive.

It is going to be hard to change both the people and the country’s behavior. It might even take longer than expected, but taking the chance is better than doing nothing. But if the Qatari government is not limiting the pollution, there is going to be a con-tinuous degradation with resource extraction and this causes a threat to the public health. So who is going to put pressure on the government to implement those changes?

The writer is a Journalism student of Class of 2019, Northwestern University in Qatar

AL-BANDARI AL-KUWARI

QUOTE OF THE DAY

It’s a different Afghanistan. We’re open for business, I hope you’re open

for partnership. What we require is a

national strategy of competition.

Ashraf Ghani

Afghanistan President

Qatar’s trade

relationships

around the world

have continued

to flourish, while

new markets and

opportunities are

constantly being

added.

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

Positive trend

The new data showing Qatar’s trade surplus regis-tering a quantum jump highlights the encouraging investment climate and the incentive atmosphere

of the nation. The results also put spotlight on the increased trade relations and the public-private partnerships ben-efiting the economy.

The foreign merchandise trade balance in October 2018 showed a surplus of around QR 19bn, posting an increase of about QR10.7bn, or 129.1 percent, compared to the corresponding month in 2017. When compared on monthly basis, it has increased by nearly QR3.5bn, or 22.9 percent from September 2018. In previous months also, the data showed that Qatar has steadily registered an increase in the trade surplus.

The total exports of goods amounted to around QR28.8bn last month, showing an increase of 37.1 percent compared to October 2017, and increased by 7.3 percent compared to September 2018. It’s interesting to note, meanwhile, that the imports of goods in October 2018 amounted to around QR9.8bn, showing a decrease of 22.9 percent over October 2017. The main reason for this sig-

nificant increase in total value of exports was mainly due to the higher exports of petroleum and other hydro-carbons products.

South Korea was the top destination of Qatar’s exports last month with around QR4.9bn, followed by Japan and India. And for imports, United State of America was the leading country of origin, followed by China and the United Kingdom.

This clearly shows that Qatar’s trade relationships around the world have con-tinued to flourish, while new markets and opportunities are

constantly being added. There were many doubts in the minds of several people about the future of the economic activities of Qatar when the unjust siege was clamped on Qatar around 17 months back, but after about a year and a half it’s become very clear that it doesn’t have any impact on the country.

The international trade and global investment measures represent main components of Qatar’s eco-nomic diversification policy and the country’s growth. Qatar has been able to strengthen its local economy, where the GDP grew in 2017 to about $222bn as compared to $218bn in the previous year, an annual growth rate of 1.6 percent at constant prices. The World Bank expects Qatar’s growth rate to be 2.8 percent in 2018, and expects country to achieve an average growth rate of around 3 percent in 2019 and 2020.

Qatar’s foreign trade witnessed a growth of 16 percent in the past year and exports rose by about 18 percent, which contributed to the increase in the surplus in the trade balance and it is expected to get stronger in the future.

This crisis, rather than a hurdle, has acted as a cat-alyst to make the Qatari economy more open to all coun-tries in the world and succeeded in the development of trade.

Peace is possible in Afghanistan - but it will take patience

In recent days, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan has met with civic and political actors here to discuss the formation of a team

to negotiate peace with the Taliban insurgents who have subjected the country to decades of violence. The US special representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said at a Nov. 18 news conference that he is “cautiously optimistic” about peace prospects. He even urged all sides to work toward getting a deal by the spring presi-dential elections.

As a human rights advocate for many years before I joined the Afghan government in 2016, I used to struggle to imagine how we could ever rec-oncile with a group that has for so long contravened basic human rights prin-ciples. But earlier this year, the need to end this conflict was brought home to me in a profound way.

On April 30, two coordinated suicide bombings in Kabul killed at least 29 people, including nine

journalistswho had rushed to cover the first explosion. I knew most of those journalists. An hour after the attack, I visited the scene. The smell of burned human flesh and blood, the destruction and depth of the brutality of the crime, struck me like never before. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for that particular attack, but the slaughter was all too much like the mass killings perpe-trated by the Taliban since it was ousted from power in 2001 by a US-led military coalition. The shock of my experience last spring has been compounded by the government intel-ligence reports I’ve seen describing the true impact of the Taliban violence on our people. Like many Afghans, I now accept that the war has dragged on for too long.

The suffering of our people must come to an end. We must make peace. But even as the sense of urgency for peace grows, the parties involved are still far apart in their objectives. Taliban statements a little more than two weeks ago at a peace conference in Moscow sounded unchanged from statements they made years ago. The Taliban don’t seem ready to acknowledge how fundamentally Afghan society has been transformed since their rule ended, particularly regarding democratic practices and the rights of women. As for the

Russians - there is much speculation about the reasons for their involvement in the negotiations, but the platform they provided for the Taliban seemed intended to strengthen the group’s position in future talks. Afghans’ yearning for peace should not push us to settle for less than our changed country deserves. Peace talks also must not be driven by superficial deadlines urged by a US administration anxious to be done with the conflict. History is instructive: The Nixon administration in the early 1970s, eager to end the Vietnam War, secretly pursued a “decent interval” strategy that would ensure a buffer of a year or two between a US military withdrawal and the collapse of the South Vietnamese government. Rushing for a settlement with the Taliban instead of doing the arduous work of building peace could be disastrous.

Seventeen years ago, in November 2001, talks were held in Bonn, Germany, to establish an Afghan gov-ernment after the Taliban’s sudden fall. I participated in the talks and wit-nessed a hasty process in which the urgency of achieving a short-term objective undermined the participants’ efforts to design a sustainable outcome. We are in danger of repeating that same process, but this time with the Taliban included.

A file picture of people marching along the Corniche to mark Qatar Environment Day.

NADER NADERY THE WASHINGTON POST

The BJP’s ultimate

goal is to make the

80 percent of Indians

who are Hindus vote

according to their

religious identity,

driven by animosity

towards minorities,

mainly Muslims. If the

BJP succeeds, this

would turn India’s

political character on

its head.

11WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 OPINION

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Why the 2019 election may be the most crucial in India’s history

NILANJAN MUKHOPADHYAY AL JAZEERA

In April-May next year an esti-mated 900 million Indians will be heading to the polls to elect their next parliament. In the

70-odd years since India’s inde-pendence, this will likely be the first election that seriously challenges the country’s inclusive political culture.

If the current government led by the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi secures another emphatic mandate, the country will move dangerously close to becoming a majoritarian state.

A decisive victory would give the BJP hegemonic control over all state institutions, as well as the media and public discourse. This would further undermine the integrity and autonomy of different arms of the state, including the judiciary, public watchdogs and, more importantly, state-run educational institutions. Moreover, another BJP victory would put the freedoms and security of approximately 175 million Indian Muslims in jeopardy.

Amid waning public support for the government caused by economic failures, the BJP recently took a series of steps to accentuate India’s growing reli-gious polarisation. It appears the far-right party is trying to secure an elec-toral victory not by convincing Indians that it will implement a strong social, economic and political agenda, but by fomenting the Hindu majority’s preju-dices against Muslims and convincing them to vote along religious lines.

Fuelling religious polarisationIn 2014, Modi was voted into

office for two reasons. First, anti-incumbent sentiment against the Con-gress-led coalition government was rampant, mainly as a result of cor-ruption accusations and a downward drift in governance. Second, Modi managed to raise Indians’ hopes about their country’s future by making several ambitious promises.

Despite his controversial past - he was accused of initiating and con-doning the 2002 Gujarat riots that resulted in the death of almost 1,000 people, many of them Muslims - Modi succeeded in presenting himself as a messiah of development throughout the election campaign. Once in

power, however, he moved away from the reformist image he created for himself.

He did follow through some of his campaign promises, such as starting pro-poor economic schemes and innovative programmes but mostly used sectarian, Hindu-nationalist dog whistles to consolidate his power. As a result, Muslims became open targets for discrimination and abuse.

The Modi government’s tacit pro-motion of sectarian politics resulted in disquiet in what is identified as “Middle India” - a burgeoning demo-graphic block of urban middle-classes who are socially liberal and economi-cally conservative.

They backed Modi in the 2014 election, mostly because they believed he had left divisive politics behind and was committed to economic policies that would help everyone prosper. They expected him to act as a neo-Thatcherite reformer and save the struggling Indian economy. However, only a couple of months into his reign, Middle India realised that he is no unifying reformer.

Over the past four years, the BJP government has repeatedly turned a blind eye on attacks by fringe groups on religious minorities. According to data from IndiaSpend, which tracks news about violence in English-lan-guage media, reports of religious-based hate-crimes - mainly targeting Muslims - have spiked significantly since 2014.

Modi himself did little more than deliver periodical tepid words of caution in the face of growing reli-gious polarisation. He likely believes that firing up Hindu-nationalist senti-ments would give him an electoral advantage. In the end, he was right. Sectarian politics did partially cost the BJP the support of Middle India but simultaneously made it more popular among wider Hindu masses across the country (As seen in the party’s land-slide victory in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, in March 2017).

However, such divisive politics stopped yielding sufficient political dividends for the BJP from the autumn of 2017 and Modi’s personal popu-larity started to decline.

BJP’s loss of electoral momentum

Modi’s loss of popularity was mainly caused by two controversial economic decisions: the demoneti-sation of high-value currency notes in November 2016 and the rollout of a Goods and Service Tax in July 2017. These decisions hurt small and medium-sized businesses and held the Indian economy back. Both deci-sions were criticised harshly by prom-inent economists and were not popular among ordinary citizens.

These economic moves dimin-ished the government and the PM’s political clout significantly, and are likely to negatively impact the BJP’s prospects in the 2019 general election.

The start of the BJP’s electoral slide became clear last December when the party limped to a majority in Modi’s home state, Gujarat. The party’s electoral decline continued into 2018: it won only three of the 13 parliamentary by-polls, and 5 of the 22 state legislature elections.

Beside demonetisation and the Goods and Service Tax, rising unem-ployment and spiralling distress in the farming industry are also expected to cause Modi some electoral headaches in 2019. Opinion polls consistently demonstrate that the BJP’s popularity across India is on the decline. The BJP, well aware that it is facing strong anti-incumbent sentiments, is looking to find ways to widen its support base before the general election.

In the past, the party has tried to achieve this by stirring up nationalist sentiments and it is likely that it will continue to do so in the near future. For example, in 2016, Modi used the Indian military’s so-called “surgical strikes” against “terrorist units” in troubled Jammu and Kashmir for ultra-nationalist propaganda.

Just months after the strikes, he rode the wave of jingoistic fervour he created through these propaganda efforts and swept the elections in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier this year, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the anniversary of the operation would be celebrated every year as “National Strike Day” - further demonstrating that the BJP plans to continue using past military opera-tions to stoke nationalist sentiment and garner support for the government.

Convincing Hindus to ‘vote Hindu’The BJP’s ideological siblings have

been campaigning for a nation-wide Hindu resurrection since the 1920s - the era in which the party’s core Hin-dutva ideology was first born. But, for a very long time, these efforts had limited success due to India’s syn-cretism and the caste-based divisions within Hindu society.

Hindu nationalists emerged as a major political force only in the late 1980s, on the back of the demands for a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya to be replaced with a Ram (an avatar of Vishnu, a major Hindu god) temple.

The demolition of the mosque in December 1992 led to several months of inter-communal rioting in which Hindus and Muslims attacked one another. A decade later, the issue led to the Gujarat riots, which helped Modi transition from a satrap to a popular political leader. Anti-Muslim riots in the Uttar Pradesh town of

Muzaffarnagar in 2013, which were fanned by members and sympa-thisers of the BJP, also contributed to Modi’s 2014 electoral victory.

Such past efforts were indeed the main force behind the BJP and Modi’s rise to power, yet the gov-erning party knows that it needs to do more to overcome the incum-bent’s political handicap and is now actively working towards con-structing a wider Hindu-nationalist voter block. Thanks to the BJP’s efforts, the Ayodhya temple dispute is once again roaring and Hindu nationalists are agitating for the demolition of other historical mosques allegedly built over temples, including one in Modi’s political constituency, Varanasi. There are fears that these issues may be raked up further before the elections.

In recent weeks, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath renamed one major city and another district, alleging that pre-vious names were “Islamic blem-ishes”. Coming on the back of other renaming controversies, this raised fears that a Hindu-nationalist “renaming spree” is about to begin.

Coupled with ongoing cam-paigns against eating beef and so-called “Love Jihad” and conspiracy theories about Muslims illegally entering India from Bangladesh and altering the demographic balance of the country, the government’s current attempts to fuel Hindu nationalist and anti-Muslim senti-ments aim at shifting the voters’ focus away from daily grievances. The BJP’s ultimate goal is to make the 80 percent of Indians who are Hindus vote according to their reli-gious identity, driven by animosity towards minorities, mainly Muslims. If the BJP succeeds, this would turn India’s political character on its head.

Bitcoin’s crash looks likea real currency crisis

LIONEL LAURENT BLOOMBERG

Bitcoin is in crisis. You can never really declare it dead - the idea of an electronic currency that is theoreti-

cally borderless and lawless will always live on somewhere - but its price has slumped 80 percent in less than a year, wiping about $700 billion off cryptocurrency markets.

Where does it go from here? True believers are betting on a simple repeat of past asset bubbles, like dot-com stocks or real estate: a system-wide cleansing of bad actors before the roller-coaster ride begins anew. On that argument there’s a price for everything, even niche

assets with no intrinsic value. Maybe Bitcoin should be above $3,700.

But the virtual currency’s behavior since the start of the year doesn’t just look like a bubble bursting; it looks more like a cur-rency under attack. Most of the price collapse happened between December and February, falling from almost $19,000 to about $7,000. Until this month, the $6,000-to-$7,000 range seemed unbreakable. There was a floor in the price - until it caved.

It’s reminiscent of how central banks in the past have defended their currencies in the face of heavy selling pressure, using their financial reserves to maintain a price level or range. Like a boxer

taking a relentless series of punches, if there are no more resources to withstand the pain, it becomes a knockout. Think of the Russian central bank’s fight to defend the ruble in 1998, or the Bank of England’s effort to defend sterling in 1992. In both cases, the currencies held, then wobbled, then broke.

A charitable interpretation of this kind of movement in Bitcoin, which has no central bank, would be of a tight-knit community banding together to protect their investment. In 2014, when Bitcoin was going through an earlier post-bubble hangover, a huge sell order for 30,000 Bitcoin with a price limit of $300 per coin - at a time when the market price was $350 - caused market jitters. But crypto-fans rallied together to absorb the selling, even making concept art to immortalize the slaying of the “bearwhale” seller.

But that was then, and this is now. The defenders of the faith with the resources to influence the price are more likely to be large, cen-tralized actors like big mining oper-ations, exchanges or the 500-odd

addresses with more than $10 million of Bitcoin to their name, not a committed community of tech geeks.

If you’re looking for who has central-bank type firepower to take on heavy selling in Bitcoin, look no further than Tether, according to Raoul Pal, a former manager at hedge fund GLG Partners turned-adviser and author of The Global Macro Investor, a research publication.

Tether tokens claim to be backed one-to-one by hard cur-rency like US dollars - which means they can be traded and used on crypto exchanges as a simple proxy for dollars that aren’t vulnerable to virtual currency-type price volatility.

Yet there have long been suspi-cions that Tethers, which are created in sizable waves, are used to artificially prop up the price of Bitcoin. One research paper in June suggested newly issued Tethers seemed to flood the market whenever Bitcoin prices fell, helping to arrest the decline. The US Justice Department recently began a probe.

Indian minister on Pakistan visit

12 WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018ASIA

New Kerala Minister sworn inIANS THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader K Krishnankutty (pictured), was sworn in as the new Minister for Water Resources in the Kerala government yesterday. Governor P Sathasivam administered the oath of office and secrecy.

The present President of JD-S, Krishnankutty, 74, replaced Mathew T Thomas who resigned yesterday in accordance with a decision by the national leadership of the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S). While the Congress-led opposition boycotted the swearing in protesting against the Kerala government’s tough stand on the Sabarimala issue, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his cabinet colleagues and legislators from the ruling front were present on the occasion.

Pakistan to invite

Prime Minister Modi

for Saarc SummitIANS NEW DEHI / ISLAMABAD

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be invited to Pakistan for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit, a senior Foreign Office official said yesterday, raising hopes of a possible thaw in bilateral relations amidst the goodwill over the opening of Khartarpur Corridor.

Pakistani newspaper Dawn quoted Foreign Office spokesman Mohammed Faisal as saying this while addressing a Kashmir Conference here.

Faisal recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his first address after taking power, had said that if India took one step forward, Pakistan would take two. The Saarc Summit, which was to be held in Pakistan in 2016, was cancelled after India boycotted the event, triggering a pullout by Afghanistan, Bang-ladesh and Bhutan.

Faisal said Imran Khan had expressed Pakistan’s openness to resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue with India.

“We fought wars with India, relations cannot be fixed quickly,” Faisal said. The decision to extend an invite to Modi for the Saarc comes at a time when the two countries have broken the ice with a decision to build the Kartarpur Corridor for visa-free travel for Sikh pilgrims to visit gurdwaras in Pakistan.

While the ground breaking ceremony on the Indian side

was done on Monday, the Pakistan will complete the for-mality in Lahore on Wednesday at a function in which Imran Khan will participate.

The Saarc Summit has been the casualty of strained ties between India and Pakistan after the Pathankot terror attack in 2016 which New Delhi blamed on ele-ments from Pakistan. Ever since, there have been no high-level con-tacts between the two sides. A Foreign Ministerial level meeting in September on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York was aborted by India surprisingly a day after announcing it. The Foreign Office spokesman said the Kartarpur Corridor, which will facilitate the travel of members of Indian Sikhs to their religious site in Pakistan, will be inaugurated today and is expected to be com-pleted within six months. He added that Indian media had been invited to cover the inau-guration ceremony.

“In this century, diplomacy has completely changed,” he said. “Now policies are made based on citizens’ emotions and wishes.”

Delhi wanted Lone’s govt: J&K GovernorGWALIOR

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik yesterday said he would have had to let Peoples Conference leader Sajad Lone form a government if he had taken hints from Delhi.

“I want to make it clear once again. If I had looked at Delhi, I would have had to make a government of Lone and I would have been known in the history as a dishonest (beimaan) man,” the Governor reportedly said at an event here on November 24.

“That’s why I ended the issue. Those who want to abuse me, they will keep abusing. But I am convinced that what I have done was right,” Malik said, defending his decision to dissolve the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. Later, talking to CNN News 18, Malik said that whatever he did was right. “Sajad Lone had the numbers, obviously Delhi will push for him,” he said, rejecting the claims that Delhi interfered in the decision to dissolve the Assembly.

The Governor claimed that PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah made no “serious” efforts to get in touch with him. “You can’t just fax or tweet and form the government. Why didn’t they come to Jammu? ” he said. On November 21, the Governor dissolved the Assembly after the PDP staked claim to form a government along with the Congress and with the outside backing of the National Conference.

Farmers to hold protest rally in Delhi on FridayIANS NEW DELHI

Thousands of farmers from across the country will hold a protest march from Ramlila Maidan to Parliament Street in the national capital on Friday to pressurise the government for higher crop prices and farm loan waiver.

According to the All India Kisan Sang-harsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), an umbrella organisation of over 184 farm

outfits, the two-day protest starting Thursday would be the culmination of efforts being made by the distressed farmers over the past one-and-a-half years.

“We had held our first rally after the Mandsaur firing. We have received a huge response from not just farmers but people in the country as well. The AIKSCC has brought all ideologies together for the cause of farmers,” Yogendra Yadav, Pres-ident of Swaraj India, told reporters.

AIKSCC Convener V.M. Singh said

farmers coming from different parts of the country would hold marches on Thursday from the stations they arrive at to the Ramlila Maidan.

Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader and Member of Parliament Raju Shetti, who is also a part of the AIKSCC, has introduced two Private Member’s Bills in the Lok Sabha seeking a loan waiver for farmers across the country and a guar-anteed remunerative price for agricul-tural commodities.

“We want the government to pass these Bills for the benefit to farmers,” Singh said.

The AIKSCC said 21 political parties have extended their support to the Bills and their representatives may visit the protest march on Friday.

Left-affiliated All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) leader Ashok Dhawale said the gov-ernment had failed to do anything with regard to the Private Member’s Bills in the last one year.

The cabinet minister of India’s Punjab state and former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu (centre), entering Pakistan from India at the border crossing in Wagah, yesterday. Sidhu arrived in Pakistan to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Nankana Sahib scheduled for today.

BJP will lose in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan: MamataIANS PURULIA, WEST BENGAL

Accusing the BJP-led central government of not keeping its electoral promises and making the lives of traders and busi-nessmen miserable, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday said the saffron party will lose the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

“Today, the traders are in trouble. They are scared of the CBI, ED and Income Tax

Department. This fear was not there earlier. The people of Rajasthan do not support the BJP-run central government anymore. They will lose big time in Rajasthan. I have heard that their situation is not good any-where, be it Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan,” Banerjee said at a public rally in Purulia.

“People are not able to do business freely. Even the money kept in the banks is not safe. The business infrastructure in the country has collapsed after demonetisation. Many small and

medium-scale traders are forced to shut their business while a number of big businessmen have left the country,” she maintained.

The assembly election in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 28 while Rajasthan will go to polls on December 7.

Taking a veiled swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Banerjee said a true leader of the nation should be loved and not feared by the people.

“The leader of a nation should be loved by its people.

But someone cannot be a leader if people are scared of him. Today we have such leaders in the country of whom people are scared. They will not be able to continue for long. They will be dethroned this time,” she said.

The Trinamool Congress chief said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments have failed to tackle Maoist insur-gency in Jharkhand and Chhat-tisgarh. The West Bengal gov-ernment, on the other hand, has successfully “eradicated” the Maoists from the state, she said.

Soldier, 3 militants dead in Kashmir gunbattleIANS SRINAGAR

A soldier and three militants, including the deputy co m m a n der o f t h e IS-aligned Ansar Ghazwatul Hind group, were killed in two separate gun battles in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

The soldier and two mil-itants possibly of the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit were shot dead in Redwani village in Kulgam district.

The soldier’s identity has not been revealed while the identity of the two militants was being ascertained.

A sub-inspector and a constable of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were also injured in the fighting which led to street protests by civilians.

Govt cracks down on school bag burdenREUTERS MUMBAI/NEW DELHI

Concerned about producing a generation of children with hunched backs and other spine problems, India has denounced schools for making students carry heavy school bags and giving young children homework.

The government has issued weight guidelines for school bags depending on a child’s age, citing studies that show how the load can affect soft, developing spines.

One survey done by the Associated Chambers of Com-merce and Industry of India

found that 68 percent of pre-teen children might suffer from mild back pain, which can develop into chronic back pain, and later into a hunchback.

The study, which covered more than 2,500 children and 1,000 parents in major cities, found that more than 88 percent of children from seven to 13 carry more than 45 percent of their body weight on their backs.

Rashmi Tapke, a mother of two, said heavy school bags reflect poor time-table planning and said she supports the federal initiative.

“If they (schools) plan, they can repeat the subjects taught and thus reduce the load. My

kids find it difficult to carry so many books,” Tapke, whose children attend a private school in Mumbai, said.

The state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located, man-dates that the weight on the bag should not exceed 10 percent of the child’s body weight. Many schools there have started using white boards and projectors to ensure text books are not required to be carried to school.

But in large parts of rural India, children have to walk great distances, weighed down by school bags. Children have been known to ford rivers, some with books on their heads, to get to school.

Missing Air India staffer’s case shifted to Crime BranchIANS NEW DELHI

Almost two months after Delhi Police failed to locate a missing Air India woman employee, the case has been handed over to the Crime Branch.

Sulakshna Narula, 57, went missing from outside her Pandara Road house in the heart of Delhi on Sep-tember 30, leaving her family in distress.

The Crime Branch took over the case on November 22 following Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Pat-naik’s intervention.

“My mother went missing from outside our house around 6 p.m. on September 30. We lodged a missing com-plaint on October 1 and a case of abduction on October 4. But Delhi Police is still clueless,” the woman’s son Anubhav Narula said.

“After our continuous pressure, the case was trans-ferred to Crime Branch last Thursday and their team met us the very next day,” Anubhav Narula said.

The distraught son expressed the hope that the Crime Branch might be able to trace his mother.

A day after Sulakshna went missing, a complaint was filed by the family at Tilak Marg police station. On October 4, an FIR was filed suspecting abduction.

The family also contacted all relatives, put up posters on auto-rickshaws and even created a Facebook page in a desperate bid to locate her.

Abhinav Narula suspects that his mother may have been locked up at some Ashram as she was a religious person and was facing acute depression since 2007 as her promotion was denied to her even as a junior was made her boss.

Schoolchildren walk along a footpath in New Delhi, India, yesterday.

The Saarc Summit,

which was to be held

in Pakistan in 2016,

was cancelled after

India boycotted the

event, triggering a

pullout by Afghanistan,

Bangladesh and

Bhutan.

13WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 ASIA

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (centre), arrives to join a UN debate on performance of his country’s private sector during a Conference on Afghanistan, in Geneva, yesterday.

262 delegations from 51 countriesattending Pakistan defence expo AP KARACHI

Pakistan is hosting a four-day defence exhibition, an international show with over a dozen countries displaying their latest defense weapons. Archrival India is not participating.

President Arif Alvi opened the show yesterday in the port city of Karachi, the scene of a deadly attack on the Chinese Consulate last week.

Alvi lauded his country’s “high-tech defence production,” insisting Pakistan

seeks a peaceful resolution to all regional disputes and inviting India to come to the “peace table.”

The event, organized by the Paki-stani military and entitled “IDEAS 2018,” includes a defence seminar with 262 delegations from 51 countries attending.

The event’s spokesman, Tariq Javed, said major exporters of defense technology — such as United States, China, Russia, South Korea and others — have their indi-vidual pavilions at the Karachi exhibition.

We’re open for business, Ghani tells UN meetREUTERS GENEVA

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani made an investment pitch at a UN conference yesterday, describing the business opportu-nities and challenges in a country where millions are displaced or close to starvation.

The two-day conference, jointly hosted by the Afghan gov-ernment and the United Nations, will evaluate whether strategies and aid are helping to resolve the quagmire created by Afghani-stan’s 17-year war, clearing the way for the withdrawal of foreign troops.

“It’s a different Afghanistan. We’re open for business, I hope you’re open for partnership,” Ghani said, setting out a vision that would enable growth of “nine percent and in double digits”.

Afghanistan needed to focus on “market building”, with indi-vidual entrepreneurs forming creditworthy companies that could build value chains to take advantage of available trade preferences.

“The main problem of the market is the firm,” he said. “What we require is a national

strategy of competition.”He said Afghanistan needed

help with the renewables revo-lution to exploit its “amazing potential of 220,000 megaWatts of solar and 80,000 megaWatts of wind”.

“We need to make a jump in energy, the way we took a jump in telecoms, going directly to mobiles instead of (land)lines,” Ghani said.

The country also had $1 trillion in natural resources, and new mining and hydrocarbon laws have finally created the

stable policy environment needed for investment, he said.

In a stark reminder of security challenges, three US service members were killed and three wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated yesterday near the central Afghan city of Ghazni, the Nato-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement. The Taliban, who control large parts of Ghazni province, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Presidential Banking and Finance Adviser Ajmal Ahmady

said laws passed in the last year had made it easier to start, invest in and close a business, and the next focus would be on making it easier to operate a business.

“We feel we’re finally ready to move from potential to pro-duction in our natural resources sector,” Ahmady said.

The government has ended its monopoly in telecoms and planned to do the same in land development and other sectors this year and next, he said.

Afghanistan’s location would also be “solid gold” in the

next 50 years, at the crossroads of south, central and west Asia, a potential market of 4 billion people, Ghani said.

However, Afghanistan has the wrong education system to take advantage of the opportu-nities, and entrepreneurs could not get started because they lacked access to credit.

“Monetary policy is killing us,” Ghani said. “In this envi-ronment entrepreneurial energy cannot be individual, it needs to become collective and supported.”

Myanmar seizes boat carrying 93 fleeing RohingyasREUTERS YANGON

Authorities in Myanmar have seized a boat carrying 93 people, apparently Rohingya Muslims, fleeing displacement camps in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State and hoping to reach Malaysia, an official said.

The boat is believed to be the third bound for Malaysia stopped in Myanmar waters since monsoon rains began to subside last month, bringing calmer weather, raising fears of a fresh wave of hazardous voyages after a 2015 crackdown on people smugglers.

Moe Zaw Latt, director of the government office in Dawei, a coastal town in southern Myanmar, said fishermen had reported a “suspicious” boat to authorities.

The navy stopped the boat on Sunday and detained the 93 people, who said they had come from the Thae Chaung camp in the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe, he said.

Thae Chaung is about 900km northwest of Dawei and holds internally displaced people, most of whom are stateless Rohingya.

“They said they ran away from the camp. They said they intended to go to Malaysia,” said Moe Zaw Latt, adding authorities were preparing to send them back to Sittwe.

Photographs in media showed police standing by as passengers — many of them women in headscarves and children - huddled on the deck. The boat resembled vessels the Rohingya typically use to escape the apartheid-like conditions in Rakhine State, where their movements and access to services are severely curtailed.

The UN refugee agency has said Myanmar must “address the root causes of displacement”, including the lack of citi-zenship for the Rohingya, who consider themselves native to Rakhine State.

Myanmar regards Rohingya as illegal migrants from the Indian subcontinent and has confined tens of thousands to sprawling

camps outside Sittwe since violence swept the area in 2012. More than 700,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh last year fleeing an army crackdown in the north of Rakhine State, according to U.N. agencies.

UN-mandated investigators have accused the Myanmar army of “genocidal intent” and ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has denied most allegations of atrocities, blaming Rohingya insurgents who attacked police boats for sparking the exodus.

Myanmar officials say they are ready to accept Rohingya who want to return from Bangladeshi refugee camps. But refugees themselves and aid agencies oppose a repa-triation plan that was due to begin on Nov. 15, saying conditions in Myanmar were not safe.

Myanmar detained 106 Rohingya men, women and children on a boat near the com-mercial hub of Yangon on November 16, when their engine failed on their way from the Sittwe camps to Malaysia.

Sri Lanka’s ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (right), speaks with opposition leader R Sampanthan in the parliament in Colombo, yesterday.

Three US soldiers dead in bombing in AfghanistanAFP KABUL

Three US soldiers were killed and three wounded by a bomb in Afghanistan yesterday, Nato said, with the attack claimed by the Taliban as the US tries to ratchet up efforts to engage the militants in peace talks.

Nato’s Resolute Support mission would not immedi-ately release any details about the identity of the soldiers, whose deaths took the number of American service personnel to die in the war-torn country this year to 12.

A Nato statement said they had been killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near Ghazni city in central Afghanistan.

An American contractor was also wounded, it said, adding that the four injured in the blast were receiving medical care. The casualties come just days after another US soldier was killed in Afghanistan’s Nimroz province on Saturday.

An initial review showed the soldier was “likely acci-dentally shot by our Afghan partner force”, a Nato statement said, adding that the “tragic” incident occurred as they engaged in a battle with al Qaeda militants.

“There are no indications he was shot intentionally,” the statement added, naming the soldier as Sgt Jasso without giving a first name. General Scott Miller, the top US and Nato commander in Afghan-istan, said Jasso was killed “defending our nation, fighting Al Qaeda alongside our Afghan partners”.

Jasso’s death follows a spate of so-called “insider attacks” that have rattled foreign troops tasked with training and assisting Afghan-istan’s military. More than 2,200 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime from power. Washington is trying to find a way out of the conflict more than 17 years since it began.

Pakistan President Arif Alvi (second right), looks at a weapon during a visit to the 10th International Defence Exhibition and Seminar in Karachi, yesterday.

Sri Lanka lawmakers linked to Rajapaksa boycott ParliamentAP COLOMBO

Sri Lankan lawmakers supporting disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa boycotted Parliament for a second day yesterday, accusing the speaker of bias during a political crisis that has engulfed the island nation for nearly a month.

President Maithripala Sirisena abruptly fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 26 and appointed Rajapaksa. Both claim to be the

legitimate officeholder, with Wickremesinghe saying he has majority support in Parliament and his firing was invalid.

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya announced last week that Sri Lanka has no prime minister or government after Parliament passed no-confidence motions against Rajapaksa. Both Sirisena and Rajapaksa have refused to accept the results of the motions, saying proper procedures were not followed. Sirisena has said he will only accept a vote taken by name or through the elec-

tronic voting system.When Parliament met yes-

terday, Rajapaksa loyalists did not enter the chamber and accused Jayasuriya of violating parliamentary traditions and being partial to Wickremes-inghe. Jayasuriya was elected to Parliament from Wickremesin-ghe’s United National Party.

Nimal Siripala de Silva, a law-maker loyal to Rajapaksa, said they would boycott parliamentary sessions unless Jayasuriya follows traditions and rules. Rajapaksa loyalists also boycotted

Parliament last week and during their absence lawmakers opposed to Rajapaksa won control of a key committee setting Parliament’s agenda, dealing a severe blow to his leadership.

Parliament has become the center of the political crisis. During the no-confidence motions against Rajapaksa two weeks ago, rival lawmakers exchanged blows, and those sup-porting Rajapaksa threw books, chairs and chili powder mixed with water to try to block the proceedings.

Price surge marks 100 days of Imran Khan-led governmentINTERNEWS KARACHI

Burdens on the common citi-zenry in Pakistan have increased markedly in the first 100 days of the new government as it moves to address the massive economic imbalances it inherited upon coming to power.

The main drivers of the price surge already eating away at the purchasing power of common people are the depre-ciation of the rupee and the large hike in gas tariffs. Rupee in interbank market and open market lost its strength by eight per cent and 10.4pc.

Headl ine inf lat ion,

measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) touched 6.8 per cent in October, up from 3.8pc for the same month last year, and up from 5.1pc in the preceding month of September.

Data from the State Bank’s inflation monitor shows that the largest impact has come on non-food prices, most likely driven by the gas price increase since fuel carries a large weight in the CPI basket.

The government argues that the bulk of the impact of the inflation has been felt by higher segments of society, though the State Bank data shows this to be the case in all years, not just this one.

The two-day

conference, jointly

hosted by the Afghan

government and the

United Nations in

Geneva, will evaluate

whether strategies

and aid are helping

to resolve the

quagmire created by

Afghanistan’s 17-year

war, clearing the way

for the withdrawal of

foreign troops.

14 WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018ASIA

Japan may buy

100 US stealth

fighters: Report AFP TOKYO

Japan is considering buying up to 100 F-35 stealth fighters from the US for more than $8.8bn as it seeks to counter China’s growing military presence in the region, a news-paper reported yesterday.

The reported purchase comes as President Donald Trump pushes Japan to buy more military equipment and other US products, pointing to Washington’s huge trade deficit with Tokyo.

Japan has already decided to buy 42 F-35 stealth fighter jets from the US and is now considering purchasing as many as 100 more, worth more than one trillion yen ($8.8bn), according to the evening edition of the Nikkei daily.

The cabinet is expected to approve the plan in mid-December when the nation’s defence programme guidelines are released, the business daily said.

A defence ministry spokesman declined to confirm the report, saying only: “Every-thing related to additional pur-c h a s e s i s u n d e r consideration.”

In September, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly told Trump: “Intro-ducing high-spec military equipment, including US equipment, is important to

strengthen Japan’s defence.” Tokyo is also considering upgrading its helicopter carriers so that they can transport and launch fighter jets, Kyodo News reported, quoting a government source.

The government is looking to upgrade the Izumo, a flat-top destroyer that currently carries helicopters, to a fully fledged aircraft carrier that is critical in the face of China’s maritime assertiveness, the local news agency said.

China is deploying its first stealth fighter into military service in the latest milestone highlighting the modernisation of the country’s armed forces.

Izumo-class 19,500-tonne carriers — Japan’s largest postwar naval vessels — are 248 metres (818 feet) long and can carry up to 14 helicopters.

The plan is also expected to be finalised when the guidelines are published next month, it added.

The reported

purchase comes as

President Donald

Trump pushes Japan

to buy more military

equipment and other

US products, pointing

to Washington’s huge

trade deficit with

Tokyo.

China’s Premier Li Keqiang (right) shakes hands with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon during a meeting with a delegation of governors from South Korea at Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing, yesterday.

China-South Korea diplomacy

Sleeping pilot overflies island destination in Australia by 46km AP MELBOURNE

A commercial pilot is under investigation after falling asleep in the cockpit of a freight plane and overflying his Australian island destination by 46km, offi-cials said yesterday.

The pilot, who has not been identified, was the only person aboard the twin-propeller Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain and was flying on autopilot during the early morning flight on

November 8 from Devonport city on Tasmania 250km northwest to King Island in Bass Strait, his employer, Vortex Air, said. The pilot “unintentionally fell asleep while in command of the aircraft,” the Melbourne-based airline said.

“The issue became apparent when air traffic control was unable to contact the pilot in-flight, and the aircraft travelled past the intended destination point while operating on auto-pilot,” the statement said.

Air traffic control recordings showed several radio calls were made to the unresponsive pilot, The Australian newspaper reported.

The pilot landed safely on King Island, Vortex Air said.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, a crash and risk investigator, and the Civil Avi-ation Safety Authority, the avi-ation industry regulator, are investigating the incident and the company’s management of pilot fatigue.

Tsetse, six-year-old daughter of Dukha herder Erdenebat Chuluu, sits among her family’s reindeer in a forest near the village of Tsagaannuur, Khovsgol aimag, Mongolia.

Gentle prodding

Indonesia to give first report on Lion Air crash todayREUTERS JAKARTA

Indonesian investigators will deliver their first report into the Lion Air crash today, a month after the brand-new Boeing 737 crashed into the sea, killing all 189 on board in the country’s second-worst air disaster.

The report, which comes as the search continues in the Java Sea for the jet’s cockpit voice recorder, is not expected to draw firm conclusions from the ongoing investigation into the October 29 crash.

However, investigators have said they are focusing their attention on the Boeing 737’s anti-stall system.

The doomed jet’s systems had detected it was in a stall due to a faulty indicator and gave the captain a warning through a “stick shaker” that vibrated the controls, Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at Indo-nesia’s transport safety com-mittee (KNKT), told parliament last week.

The Maneuvering Charac-teristics Augmentation System (MCAS) — an automated mod-ification new to the model that

crashed — activated and directed the jet’s nose down to prevent a stall, Utomo said.

The pilots counteracted that successfully for some time before the plane entered a final dive, he added. The same anti-stall system had activated on the jet during a flight the pre-vious evening, but the pilots in that case managed to shut off the system, Utomo said.

The crash was the first involving the latest model of Boeing’s best-selling 737 series, the 737 MAX, which entered service a year ago.

MCAS was not described in the Lion Air flight manual before the crash, KNKT has said, nor in those used by American airlines according to US pilot unions.

However, the cockpit pro-cedure for dealing with a runaway stabiliser remains unchanged from earlier 737 models. Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said that Boeing provides “all of the information that’s needed to safely fly our airplanes” but the jet’s manual and training methods have come under scrutiny after the crash.

Stage set for Australian election showdown in MayAFP SYDNEY

Australia is set for a May election showdown after the prime minister yesterday announced a budget date in the new year and his weakened liberal party staggers on following another defection.

Scott Morrison announced a new national spending plan for April 2, promised a fiscal surplus and hailed his party’s custodianship of a booming economy in remarks effectively firing the starter’s gun for the 2019 election campaign.

Parliamentary budget rules and constitutional provisions about the length of campaigns mean the election will now almost certainly take place in early to mid-May.

Yesterday, Liberal MP Julia Banks — who had earlier com-plained of party bullying and is

an ally of ousted former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull — delivered Morrison a hammer blow, quitting the party to become an independent.

The defection put the ruling conservative Liberal Party two members short of a parlia-mentary majority.

With his government in the minority and his party riven by divisions between moderates and the hard right, the prime minister faces an uphill struggle to keep his job.

A weekend parliamentary election in Victoria — the state that encompasses Melbourne — saw the Liberal Party vote shrink to historically low levels.

This, just weeks after the party lost a Federal parlia-mentary by-election in a Sydney suburb that has been solidly Liberal since the constituency was created at the founding of the country. Morrison has

struggled to keep his party together since Liberal ideo-logical firebrands ousted cen-trist leader Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister last August.

Since then, persistent back-biting and stinging electoral defeats have created the sense of a government in disarray, even as Morrison has tried to take the fight to the opposition Labor Party. Banks cited Turn-bull’s removal as the catalyst for her decision to become an independent.

“Led by members of the reactionary right wing, the coup was aided by many MPs trading their vote for a leadership change in exchange for their individual promotion, prese-lection endorsements or silence,” she told parliament.

With each defection the odds of Morrison being ousted in a vote of no confidence increase.

21 held over Malaysian temple land disputeAP KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysian police said yesterday that 21 people have been arrested over rioting that broke out amid a dispute over the relo-cation of an Indian temple outside Kuala Lumpur. They said 12 people were injured, one critically.

The melee began on Monday

morning when a group of intruders attacked people in the temple in central Selangor state’s Subang Jaya township and burned vehicles. Another group of men retaliated yes-terday morning by vandalising the office of property developer MCT Berhad near the temple and also set some vehicles ablaze.

MCT’s unit, One City

Development Sdn. Bhd., owns the land on which the temple sits and is embroiled in a legal tussle to relocate the century-old temple to a nearby area. Gov-ernment officials and police were quick to deny rumours on social media that it was a racial conflict. Selangor police chief said 21 people were detained and will be investigated for rioting with weapons and arson.

China hospital denies role in gene-edited babies test AFP BEIJING

The Chinese hospital linked to a controversial experiment purporting to have created the world’s first genetically-edited babies denied its involvement yesterday.

Shenzhen Harmonicare Women and Children’s Hos-pital said in a statement that it suspected the signature on a document approving the experiment, specifically its adherence to ethical standards, was falsified.

It has also asked police to investigate.

“We have always firmly opposed the development of genetic experiments that violate human ethics and morality,” the hospital said on its website.

The experiment, which was led by Chinese professor He Jiankui, altered the DNA of twin girls born a few weeks ago to prevent them from contracting HIV, and has prompted a heated debate among the scientific community.

New Zealand rescuers save six stranded whalesAFP WELLINGTON

Six beached whales were successfully refloated off New Zealand yesterday, rescuers said, after a spate of mass strandings in recent days that resulted in the deaths of dozens of marine mammals.

Wildlife rangers and vol-unteers used pontoons to float the killer pygmy whales — part of a group of 12 found beached in the country’s far north on Sunday — and take them about 400 metres offshore.

“We are hopeful that the six whales that have been refloated will remain at sea,” the Department of Conser-vation (DOC) department said in a statement, adding that another two whales were euthanised after continually restranding.

Two of the pod were already dead, and two more died after being found by res-cuers on the North Island’s west coast, with the remaining eight transported by truck to the east coast on Monday, where sea condi-tions were calmer.

The survival of even part of the pod was a rare success for DOC as it struggled to deal with four separate strandings in quick succession, including a sperm whale and a pygmy sperm whale in separate inci-dents on the North Island coast. By far the largest was when up to 145 pilot whales were found late on Saturday washed up on Stewart Island, 30km off the southern coast of the South Island.

REUTERS LONDON

Prime Minister Theresa May began a tour of the United Kingdom to drum up support for her Brexit divorce deal with the European Union, while her deputy said yesterday parliament might reject it if asked to vote on it now.

May has warned sceptical lawmakers that if they reject the deal then the world’s fifth largest economy will either leave without an agreement or Brexit could be delayed or even reversed. The vote in parliament is scheduled for December 11.

Amid demands from British lawmakers for May to seek a better deal from the EU, a step Brussels has said it will not coun-tenance, her de-facto deputy David Lidington told Sky News: “If the vote were today, it would be a difficult one to win, but I think that we have time between now and (December 11) to make the case.”

In a separate interview with the BBC, Lidington, the cabinet office minister, said it was “wishful thinking” on the part of some lawmakers that the EU would offer an alternative plan

if parliament rejected the deal. “There’s no plan B because the European Union itself is saying the deal that is on the table is the one that we have had to com-promise over,” he said.

May sealed a deal with EU leaders on Sunday that would see Britain leave the bloc on March 29 with continued close ties, but now faces an uphill struggle to get it approved by a divided par-liament where lawmakers of all parties and on both sides of the Brexit debate have criticised it.

May will travel to Northern Ireland and Wales as part of a tour aimed at rallying support for

the deal. May faced further censure on Brexit from the United States, where President Donald Trump said the EU got a good deal that may make trade between Washington and London more difficult.

“I think we have to take a look seriously whether or not the UK is allowed to trade,” Trump said. “Because right now if you look at the deal, they may not be able to trade with us... And that wouldn’t be a good thing. I don’t think they meant that.”

May’s office said the deal would allow the UK to sign trade deals with countries throughout the world and it had begun laying the groundwork for an agreement with the United States.

Such is the pressure on her leadership that The Times news-paper reported some Brexit-sup-porting lawmakers in May’s Con-servative Party were demanding that she set out when she will quit as a condition for supporting the deal.

May has 314 active Conserv-ative lawmakers in the 650-seat House of Commons and would need around 320 votes to ratify the deal. Even one of her allies, former defence secretary

Michael Fallon, said yesterday he could not support it.

Fallon, who resigned last year after a journalist accused him of harassment, told BBC radio negotiators should head back to Brussels to secure a better agreement, even if this

meant postponing the leaving date for two or three months.

“My fear is that this deal gives us the worst of all worlds. No guarantee of smooth trade in the future and no ability to reduce the tariffs that we need to con-clude trade deals with the rest of

the world,” Fallon said, adding unless parliament could be per-suaded those things were pos-sible “the deal is doomed”.

Amid such uncertainty, some lawmakers are calling for Brit-ain’s exit to be delayed or even cancelled.

15WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EUROPE

Top court to give ‘quick’ verdict on Brexit reversal REUTERS LUXEMBOURG

Europe’s top court said yesterday it would decide “quickly” whether Britain can unilaterally reverse its decision to leave the European Union, a ruling supporters of EU membership hope could lead to a second referendum and ultimately stop Brexit.

Lawyers for a group of Scottish politicians want the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to interpret whether Britain can revoke its notice to withdraw from the EU under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty without agreement of the other 27 states.

Some opponents want a second referendum giving British voters the option to remain in the EU. May’s government says a

second referendum will not happen, and any ECJ ruling that would allow the reversal of Brit-ain’s withdrawal notice would be irrelevant since it is against government policy.

The ECJ said it would deliver its decision “quickly” but gave no specific date. “The British government don’t seem to want and the public to know that Article 50 can be revoked. That’s

why they fought this case so hard,” Joanna Cherry, a Scottish National Party lawmaker and one of the cross-party group of pro-EU politicians that brought the case told Reuters.

The case was referred to the Luxembourg justices for a ruling by Scotland’s top court and “expedited” for yesterday’s urgent one-day hearing before a full court of judges. Article 50

of the EU treaty, which sets the rules for leaving the bloc, states that if a country decides to withdraw, it has two years to agree a deal, a deadline which can be extended only if the remaining EU states unani-mously agree. There is no mention of whether a state can change its mind. No other member state has ever left the 60-year-old bloc.

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May (centre) meets with farmers, as she launched a nationwide tour to whip up support on the Brexit deal, at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Builth Wells, Powys, in Mid Wales, yesterday, with Britain’s Wales Secretary Alun Cairns (right).

May starts Brexit tour to drum up support

Brithis PM,Corbyn agreeto TV debateREUTERS LONDON

British Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn agreed to a prime time tele-vision debate on Brexit ahead of a crunch parliamentary vote as she struggles to win support for the deal agreed with the European Union.

May personally chal-lenged her rival to take part in the head-to-head debate and said the format would need to be decided by broad-casters. Corbyn’s team accepted the offer, prompting demands from other parties and anti-Brexit groups to insist one of their supporters be allowed to take part.

“I am going to be explaining why I think this deal is the right deal for the UK - and yes, I am ready to debate it with Jeremy Corbyn,” May told the Sun newspaper. “Because I have got a plan. He hasn’t got a plan.”

The International Grand Committee with representation from nine parliaments, a chair and the name plate for Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg who was invited to give evidence, and declined the invitation, to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee investigation into disinformation and ‘fake news’ at the Houses of Parliament in London, yesterday.

Lawmakers criticise Zuckerberg for British parliament no-showREUTERS LONDON

Facebook came under fire yes-terday from lawmakers from several countries who accused the firm of undermining demo-cratic institutions and lambasted chief executive Mark Zuck-erberg for not answering ques-tions on the matter.

Facebook is being investi-gated by lawmakers in Britain after consultancy Cambridge Analytica, which worked on Trump’s presidential campaign,

obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users from a researcher, drawing attention to the use of data analytics in politics. Concerns over the social media giant’s practices, the role of political adverts and possible interference in the 2016 Brexit vote and US elections are among the topics being investigated by British and European regulators.

While Facebook says it com-plies with EU data protection laws, a special hearing of law-makers from several countries

around the world in London criticised Zuckerberg for declining to appear himself to answer questions on the topic.

Facebook has faced a barrage of criticism after it said last year that Russian agents used its platform to spread dis-information before and after the 2016 Trump’s election, an accu-sation Moscow denies. Legal documents show how the inves-tigation by British lawmakers has led them to seize documents relating to Facebook, which is in a legal dispute with Facebook.

Macron in bid to ease popular angerover fuel pricesAP PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to defuse protests over rising fuel taxes by explaining his plans to wean the country off fossil fuels and promising to shift out of cheap nuclear energy more slowly.

After days of sometimes violent protests over high energy prices, Macron stuck to the small tax increases on gasoline and fuel that had prompted the popular anger. But he proposed a mechanism to regularly review the tax when global oil prices are rising. “I have a deep under-standing of the expectations and frustrations, the resentment of citizens... Our duty is to bring a response,” Macron said in a speech at the presidential palace.

Macron insisted he will show “no weakness” toward troublemakers who used the protests to damage businesses and clash with police — including in the heart of Paris, on the famous Champs-Elysees avenue. “I don’t confuse thugs

with fellow citizens who want to send out a message. I feel understanding for these fellow citizens but I will not indulge those who want destruction and disorder,” he said.

Outlining France’s energy strategy for the next 30 years, Macron said the government will by 2035 shut down 14 nuclear reactors out of the 58 now running at 19 plants.

Yet he said France would cap the amount of electricity it derives from nuclear plants at 50 percent by 2035. That is a delay compared with the goal of 2025 set by his predecessor, Francois Hollande.

France depends more on nuclear energy than any other country, getting about three-quarters of its electricity from the plants. The delay on the cap would in theory help move France from fossil fuels, which Macron wants to do to fight global warming, and toward renewables without increasing the price of energy too much. Germany saw an increase in energy prices after it started a big push from nuclear to renewable energy.

Serbia plans to halt dam boom in protected areasREUTERS SARAJEVO

Serbia has drafted a new law to ban the construction of small hydro power plants in protected areas, bowing to pressure from environmentalists aiming to preserve a network of waterways that see the Balkans

dubbed the “blue heart” of Europe.

The law, drafted by the min-istry of environmental pro-tection, will be forwarded to the government and parliament at the beginning of 2019, Ivan Karic, the state secretary at the ministry, told Reuters on Tuesday. Authorities and

investors across the western Balkans view hydro power as a green alternative to other sources of energy, and say it could help countries in the region hit the renewable energy targets they need to meet to join the European Union.

Under plans being con-sidered by governments, a

network of nearly 3,000 hydro plants could be built across the region, with about a third of them in protected areas.

Campaigners say the dams would drain rivers used by local communities for drinking, farming, fishing and tourism, while destroying the habitat of species unique to the region,

such as the Danube salmon and the Balkan lynx. Non-govern-mental organisations River-watch and EuroNatur yesterday published a document showing that three quarters of the rivers in the Balkans are so ecologi-cally valuable they should be completely off-limits for hydro power development.

3 migrants found dead in Greece railway track AFP GREECE

Three migrants were found dead yesterday on a railway track in northern Greece, apparently killed by a train whilst asleep, local police said.

The bodies were spotted by the train driver near the village of Fylakio, which lies between the cities of Alexan-droupolis and Komotini, near the Greek border with Turkey.

Police said they were unable to immediately identify the victims. The area lies on a migration route into Greece from Turkey that has been increasingly used by smugglers. Greek authorities have recorded over 14,000 irregular entries so far this year, compared to some 5,500 in 2017.

The sharp increase in overland arrivals has been accompanied by successive deadly accidents in the north of the country, as illegal net-works cram migrants into cars driven by teenagers.

May has warned

sceptical lawmakers

that if they reject

the deal then the

world’s fifth largest

economy will either

leave without an

agreement or Brexit

could be delayed or

even reversed. The

vote in parliament

is scheduled for

December 11.

16 WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018EUROPE

Russia-Ukraine row: West fears wider conflictREUTERS MOSCOW

Several senior European politi-cians yesterday raised the possi-bility of new sanctions against Russia to punish it for capturing three Ukrainian vessels at sea, an incident the West fears could ignite a wider conflict.

Financial markets have responded to the prospect of new Western sanctions that could hurt Russia’s economy, though the rouble yesterday clawed back some losses from the pre-vious day as investors bet any sanctions would not be swift.

After Russia opened fire on and seized the Ukrainian boats and crews on Sunday near Crimea — which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 - Moscow and Kiev have tried to pin the blame on each other.

President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone on Monday that Moscow was ready to provide more details to bolster its version of events. Moscow says Kiev deliberately provoked it in order to trigger a crisis.

Merkel, who also spoke on Monday with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, called for de-escalation and dialogue.

Ukraine has introduced martial law for 30 days in parts of the country it deems most vul-nerable to an attack from Russia. It has said its ships did nothing wrong and that it wants the West to impose new sanctions on Moscow.

Some of the 24 Ukrainian sailors held by Russia for straying into Russian waters appeared on Russian state TV yesterday admitting to being part of a

pre-planned provocation. Kiev denounced what it described as forced confessions.

Their vessels were captured by Russian forces at sea near the Kerch Strait, which is the only outlet to the Sea of Azov and con-trols access to two major Ukrainian ports.

A reporter at the Crimean port of Kerch where the vessels are being held saw masked armed men on board one of the ships removing boxes of ammunition.

Two Russian police officers with automatic rifles stood on the pier where the Ukrainian vessels were moored. The vessels bore traces of collisions and big holes in places.

Senior German conservative Norbert Roettgen, a close Merkel ally, said the European Union may need to toughen its sanc-tions against Russia, imposed partly over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.

Karin Kneissl, foreign min-ister of Austria, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the EU would consider sanctions depending “on the exposition of facts and the further conduct of both parties”.

Poland and Estonia, both hawkish on Russia, expressed support for more sanctions.

Polish Deputy Foreign Min-ister Bartosz Cichocki said the incident in the Kerch Strait

vindicated Warsaw’s call for a more unified Western stance towards Russia.

“Russia remains wrongly convinced that the reaction of the West isn’t unified... because in energy matters there is one stance and in defence matters there is another,” he said, noting that some EU states such as Germany backed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that increases Europe’s reliance on Russian gas.

Highlighting that lack of unity, it was unclear whether all 28 EU member states would be able to agree a joint text calling on Russia to free the Ukrainian ships and sailors.

EU foreign affairs ministers are due to discuss the matter on December 10, and EU leaders are expected to agree to extend the bloc’s existing sanctions on Russia, including the economic ones, later next month, diplo-matic sources said.

They said the latest esca-lation weakened the hand of Italy and other doves keen to dilute the bloc’s sanctions regime against Moscow for its past actions in Ukraine.

Russia’s FSB security service released video footage yesterday of the captured sailors saying they had ignored Russian orders to stop. At least one appeared to be reading from a script. Ukrainian politicians said the sailors were coerced, rendering their confessions meaningless.

The FSB said it had infor-mation showing the sailors’ mission had been pre-planned by the Ukrainian government and that two intelligence officers from Ukraine’s SBU security service had been on board to coordinate the provocation.

The members of Russia’s FSB security service escort a detained Ukrainian navy sailor (centre) after a court hearing, in Simferopol, Crimea, yesterday.

Ukraine has

introduced martial law

for 30 days in parts of

the country it deems

most vulnerable to an

attack from Russia.

Court orders detention of Ukrainian sailors AFP SIMFEROPOL

A court in Crimea yesterday ordered three Ukrainian sailors to be held in custody for two months after a weekend con-frontation at sea with Russian border guards.

“For now, the court has ordered three people held until January 25” on accusations of crossing into Russian territory illegally, Crimea’s rights Ombudswoman Lyudmila Lubina said.

Several others of the more

than 20 Ukrainian sailors held by Russia were expected to appear before the court later Tuesday.

They have been held by Moscow since Sunday, after Russian forces captured three of Kiev’s ships off the coast of Crimea, sparking the most dan-gerous crisis between the ex-Soviet neighbours in years.

Kiev says 23 are in detention, while Russian officials have put the figure at 24.

Three of the Ukrainian sailors were wounded in the clashes and are being treated in

a Crimean hospital. Russia has so far resisted

calls to release them, accusing the sailors of crossing illegally into Russian waters and of ignoring warnings from its border guards.

The incident was the first major confrontation at sea in the long-running conflict pitting Ukraine against Moscow and Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east.

The court hearings took place in Simferopol, the main city in Russian-annexed Crimea, and are expected to continue today.

El Nino weather likely to form by February: UNAFP GENEVA

There is a 75 to 80 percent chance of a moderate El Nino event forming in the next three months, possibly impacting weather patterns in several regions, the UN said yesterday.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) noted that the impending El Nino is not

expected to be as powerful as the 2015 to 2016 event that was linked to droughts, floods and coral bleaching.

But, it “can still significantly affect rainfall and temperature patterns in many regions, with important consequences to agri-cultural and food security sectors... and public health,” the head of WMO’s climate prediction branch, Maxx Dilley, said in a statement.

“It may combine with long-term climate change to boost 2019 global temperatures.”

El Nino is triggered by periodic warming in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It typically emerges every three to seven years.

WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis was asked to respond to US President Donald Trump’s assertion that he doesn’t believe

his own government’s report last week warning of massive eco-nomic losses if carbon emissions continue to feed climate change unchecked.

Without criticising Trump directly, Nullis insisted the report’s findings could not be casually dismissed.

“It’s a federally mandated report and it’s 13 agencies. It’s hundreds of scientists so it’s not

just a couple of scientists seating in a backroom somewhere with a computer. It’s a very detailed assessment based on the best available science,” she said.

The report by the National Climate Assessment said there will be hundreds of billions of dollars in losses by the end of the century due to climate change “without substantial and sus-tained global mitigation”.

Dortmund soccer team’s bus attacker convicted of 28 attempted murdersAP BERLIN

A German court yesterday con-victed a man of 28 counts of attempted murder in last year’s attack on the Borussia Dortmund soccer team’s bus and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.

The Dortmund state court found the defendant, who has been identified only as Sergej W in line with German privacy rules, guilty of 28 counts of attempted murder as well as bodily harm and setting off an explosion, the

dpa news agency reported.Dortmund defender Marc

Bartra and a police officer were injured when three explosions hit the team’s bus as it left a hotel in the western German city for a Champions League game on April 11, 2017.

Yesterday’s verdict ended an 11-month trial that featured tes-timony from players and then-Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel.

Prosecutors alleged that W took out a loan to place a bet that Borussia Dortmund’s shares would drop in value, then

bombed the bus and tried to dis-guise the attack as terrorism.

The blasts shattered a window of the bus and hit Bartra with shrapnel, leaving the team without the Spanish defender for about a month after he had to undergo surgery on a broken bone in his wrist.

The verdict fell short of prosecutors’ call for a life sen-tence. However, defence lawyers had argued that W. should be convicted only of setting off an explosion and given a much lower sentence.

Defendant Sergej W (centre) arrives in the courtroom for the verdict in his trial in Dortmund, yesterday.

Slovenia appoints female officer as army chiefAP LJUBLJANA

Slovenia’s government yesterday appointed a female officer as the head of the army, a first for the small country which is a member of Nato and the European Union.

Maj Gen Alenka Ermenc (pictured), 55, will formally take up her post as the Chief of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces at a ceremony today, when she will also become the only woman to currently hold the top army post among the Nato countries.

The British-educated Ermenc replaces Maj Gen Alan Geder after serving as his deputy. Geder took over Slov-enia’s military earlier this year after his predecessor was sacked over poor results in a Nato test.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor hopes Ermenc’s appointment will help improve the performance of Slovenia’s military.

“The global trend of a deteriorating security situ-ation continues and even though Slovenia is not directly threatened military-wise, it must improve its military safety relatively quickly,” Pahor said in a statement released by his office.

Ermenc was promoted to the rank of major general last week. She has participated in the Nato-led KFOR peace-keeping mission in Kosovo and holds of several army awards.

French museum chief hits back at call to return African artsAFP PARIS

The head of France’s greatest collection of African art hit back yesterday at a report urging the return of thousands of artworks to the countries from which they were taken.

Stephane Martin, of the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris, which holds more than two-thirds of the 90,000 African treasures in French public collections, said the report had tainted “every-thing that was collected and bought during the colonial period with the impurity of the colonial crime.”

His comments come days after a report by French and African specialists commis-sioned by President Emmanuel Macron urged the return of thousands of artworks in a radical shift of policy.

But Martin said changing the law to enable treasures to be returned, as the report rec-ommended, “opened the door to complete maximalist restitution”.

The director said he would prefer that great African art-works “be circulated more widely” rather than handing them back.

He said “the big problem” with the report written by French and Senegalese experts

is that it “puts historical repa-rations over the contribution museums make” in explaining and safeguarding art.

Martin said that donations made by people “linked to colo-nisation (administrators, doctors and soldiers), or items gathered during scientific expeditions,” could be put in jeopardy.

He said many artworks were given freely, citing the case of Dr Pierre Harter whose collection came from gifts given to him by chiefs in Cameroon after treating their families for leprosy.

The director of the museum with collections from four regions (Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas) also baulked at the idea of a mixed com-mission proposed by the report to decide on the fate of objects if a state demanded their return.

“It would be a huge inno-vation in French law to give a foreign state parity to determine what was or wasn’t part of its heritage,” he added.

Martin argued that the French presidency is not likely to back massive restitution of African artworks.

“The way I read it, they have closed the door on the report by insisting that museums, and above all uni-versal museums, are an important part of our common cultural heritage,” he said.

17WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 AMERICAS

Trump, Pence campaign for Mississippi run-off electionREUTERS BILOXI

President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence launched a rescue mission in Mississippi for a Republican candidate on the eve of a run-off election for the US Senate, with Democrats hoping to win a seat in the state for the first time since 1982.

Trump appeared at two large, boisterous rallies in Biloxi and Tupelo, Mississippi, for Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is in a close race against black Democrat Mike Espy in the deep South state.

The result of run-off will determine whether Republicans widen their control of the US

Senate to 53 to 47 seats when the new Congress takes office early next year. Hyde-Smith remains a narrow favorite to win.

While Republicans did well in Senate races, Democrats took control of the US House of Rep-resentatives from Republicans in midterm congressional elec-tions three weeks ago.

In a question-and-answer session with reporters, Trump defended Hyde-Smith from crit-icism after a video surfaced showing her praising a sup-porter at a November 2 public event by saying: “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.”

The comments triggered a political firestorm in a state that has a history of racism and

lynchings and was a flashpoint in America’s civil rights struggle.

Trump, asked about Hyde-Smith as she sat nearby at a question-and-answer session with reporters, said her com-ments struck him initially as “something that was sad” and a little flippant but that she had apologized for them when they spoke about it on the phone.

“I’ve gotten to know her over the last period of time as a senator, as a very, very talented US senator and I know where her heart is, and her heart is good. That’s not what she was meaning when she said that.”

Pence joined Trump for the Biloxi rally, declaring Espy too liberal for the state of Mississippi.

US President Donald Trump during his address to supporters at a ‘Make America Great Again’ rally in Biloxi, Mississippi, yesterday.

Panel says Trump seeks $5bn for wall fundingBLOOMBERG WASHINGTON

The head of the Senate Appro-priations panel said that Pres-ident Donald Trump is holding firm in his insistence on $5bn for a border wall in a year-end spending package, a demand that risks blowing up negotia-tions and triggering a partial government shutdown.

Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, has been working to find some middle ground between the House version of the spending bill that includes $5bn for the wall and the $1.6bn Republicans and Democrats on the Senate panel have proposed.

Asked whether the $5bn is a red line in the negotiations, Shelby said, “for the president.”

He said he can’t predict what will happen or whether Trump is looking at a confron-tation with Democrats over the wall that leads to a partial shutdown as a political benefit.

‘The president has to speak for himself,” Shelby said. “I’ll just say that I don’t think it’s a good idea to shut the gov-ernment down, period. But people are going to posture. And

it could happen, it’s happened before. But all the government won’t be shut down, even if it is. I hope none of it shuts down.’

If lawmakers can’t complete a handful of remaining spending bills by December 7, funding will expire for several government departments, including Homeland Security and Justice.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and other members of the Republican leadership were scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House today to plan out the rest of the congres-sional term.

Trump’s position in the spending debate could harden further after his recent actions over the US border with Mexico. They have included threatening to close it permanently in the wake of a confrontation between Central American migrants and Customs and Border Patrol agents at the busy San Ysidro port of entry between Tijuana and San Diego.

The wall was clearly on the president’s mind Monday when he appeared at a campaign rally in Tupelo, Mississippi, to support the candidacy of GOP Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who faces a run-off in her re-election bid yesterday.

US border patrol officers are seen near the border between Mexico and the US on Tijuana river, as seen from the Mexican side of the border, yesterday.

Mexico wants probe into US tear gas at borderREUTERS TIJUANA

Mexico’s foreign ministry pre-sented a diplomatic note to the US government calling for “a full investigation” into what it described as non-lethal weapons directed toward Mexican territory on Sunday, a statement from the ministry said.

The formal request came a day after US authorities fired tear gas canisters toward migrants in

Mexico — near the border crossing separating Tijuana from San Diego, California — when some rushed through border fencing into the United States.

More than 40 were arrested on the US side, US border author-ities said, adding that none were believed to have sucessfully crossed further into Californian territory.

US President Donald Trump told reporters at an event in Mis-sissippi that he would close the

border if migrants “charge” the barrier.

Sunday’s incident was the latest chapter in a saga that has pitted Trump’s hardline immi-gration policies against thousands of migrants who have made their way north through Mexico from violent and impoverished Central American countries.

Trump went further, saying Mexico should send the Central Americans, mostly Hondurans, back home.

Chicago officers accused in teen shooting coverup to stand trialAP CHICAGO

A trial is set to begin for one current and two former Chicago police officers accused of trying to cover up what happened when a white officer fatally shot black teenager Laquan McDonald.

David March, Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney are charged with felony con-spiracy, misconduct and obstruction of justice after they allegedly falsified reports to protect Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot McDonald 16 times in October 2014.

The trial will feature the dashcam video that was instrumental in a jury finding Van Dyke guilty last month of second-degree murder and aggravated battery.

With the video, prose-cutors plan to show that the 17-year-old McDonald wasn’t trying to attack Van Dyke when he was shot and wasn’t as threatening or aggressive as officers portrayed him in their reports.

Trump steps up attack

on Russian probe chiefBLOOMBERG NEW YORK

President Donald Trump claimed Robert Mueller is behaving “viciously,” a day after the special counsel accused Trump’s former campaign chairman of lying in breach of an agreement to cooperate with authorities.

In one of his most sustained and rambling attacks yet, Trump said on Twitter yesterday that Mueller is “ruining lives” as pun-ishment against witnesses who he said refuse to lie.

The president’s attack on the investigation comes after Mueller said in court filings Monday that a cooperation pact with Trump’s one-time cam-paign chief Paul Manafort was void because Manafort lied to federal investigators and prosecutors.

The rupture in relations could hamper Mueller’s ability to turn an insider against Trump in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and has raised questions about whether Manafort could be maneuvering for a presidential pardon.

“Wait until it comes out how horribly & viciously they are treating people, ruining lives for them refusing to lie,” Trump said in a tweet yesterday. “Mueller is a conflicted prosecutor gone rogue.”

Trump didn’t mention Man-afort, 69, directly in his posts. But he continued in subsequent messages to say that Mueller “is doing TREMENDOUS damage

to our Criminal Justice System, where he is only looking at one side and not the other. Heroes will come of this, and it won’t be Mueller.”

He then went on to claim the probe was run by a “terrible Gang of Angry Democrats” and then alluded to his opponent in the 2016 presidential election former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her use of private email for government business. He made no mention of his daughter and presidential adviser Ivanka Trump’s use of private email for some official correspondence during the first nine months of his term.

Trump earlier downplayed reports saying his daughter’s emails didn’t contain classified information and haven’t been deleted, but CNN reported that House Oversight and Gov-ernment Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy has sent a letter to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly seeking addi-tional information.

Mueller said late Monday that Manafort lied repeatedly to authorities after he’d pledged to cooperate as part of a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to

avoid spending the rest of his life in prison. The former campaign chief pleaded guilty to two con-spiracy counts after a jury con-victed him of bank and tax fraud.

The three-page “Joint Status Report” had been eagerly antic-ipated since both sides received a 10-day extension to file it. With the end of the midterm elec-tions, speculation mounted that Manafort might deliver infor-mation that could lead to charges against others in Trump’s inner circle.

Instead, the document laid bare the differences between two sides who have met repeatedly since Manafort entered his guilty plea on Sept. 17 before US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson. Had Manafort p r o v i d e d “ s u b s t a n t i a l assistance” to prosecutors, they could recommend a reduction in the 10-year term he faced under the deal. They say they won’t do that now.

But the filing raised suspi-cions among lawyers not involved with the case about Manafort’s motives.

“To the extent that he’s lying to the special counsel’s office, it says that he believes he can mislead them and walk away from this,” said David S Wein-stein, a former federal prosecutor.

“Perhaps he feels this is to get a pardon, if the ultimate goal is to protect Trump or people very close to him. He may be saying, ‘I will tell the truth about myself but not implicate anyone else.”’

In one of his most

sustained and

rambling attacks yet,

Trump said on Twitter

yesterday that Mueller

is “ruining lives” as

punishment against

witnesses who he

said refuse to lie.

Investigators set to update timeline of California mass shootingAP LOS ANGELES

Investigators plan to release a more detailed timeline of a mass shooting at a Southern California bar that killed 12 people in the first news conference since the week of the November 7 attack.

Investigators haven’t said what they believe motivated 28-year-old Ian David Long to open fire at the Borderline Bar and Grill in the Los Angeles

suburb of Thousand Oaks. Long, who killed himself, posted on social media about whether people would think he was insane.

Investigators have inter-viewed hundreds of witnesses, gathered bullet casings, surveil-lance video, and other evidence from the scene of the shooting, as well as seized items from Long’s home, including electronic devices, said Ventura County sheriff’s Capt Garo Kuredjian.

Detectives hope evidence taken from the house helps them learn why Long carried out the attack, and that evidence from the bar better explains how he carried it out.

“There’s a process of both interviewing the people and getting the information investi-gators obtain and consolidating those to develop a timeline and if we can discover what the moti-vation was for this attack,” Kuredjian said. “They’ve been

doing that pretty much around the clock since it happened.”

Their work continued in spite of a wildfire that erupted just hours after the shooting, forcing FBI investigators and local sher-iff’s detectives to evacuate.

“They didn’t miss a beat,” said Kuredjian, who also had to evacuate.

Long, a former machine gunner and Afghanistan war veteran, attacked the Borderline Bar on a busy weekday

night, firing into the crowd as some hurled barstools through windows to escape. Those killed included sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus, one of the first officers to arrive in response to 911 calls.

Neighbors said Long made them uncomfortable and even called 911 on him in April. Responding deputies found Long behaving angrily and irrationally but a mental health specialist who met with him didn’t feel he needed to be hospitalized.

Two of Long’s former high school track coaches described his behavior during his teenage years as aggressive and disturbing.

They said that they repeatedly complained about Long to school administrators, insisted that he needed help, and even kicked him off the team after he assaulted one of them. They say another coach rein-stated Long after arguing the black mark could jeopardize his goal of joining the military.

18 WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018AMERICAS

UN releases

relief fund

for Venezuela

AP GENEVA

The United Nations has released $9.2m for food, medicine and other help for Venezuelans through an emergency relief fund, the first such assistance during the country’s deepening political and economic crisis.

The move to unlock the Central Emergency Relief Fund for various UN agencies since mid-November marks a break-through because such UN emergency funding for a country generally requires the approval of its government.

President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly denied that Ven-ezuela needs outside aid, pinning blame for the country’s woes on what he calls imperi-alist countries, like the United States and some European Union members plotting an invasion.

A once-wealthy oil-nation, Venezuela has been in the grips of an economic crisis for at least five years under two decades

of socialist rule. Masses are migrating from the country, while millions staying behind struggle to afford scarce food and medicine.

The latest sum of UN funds, disbursed yesterday, involves $2.6m for nutrition support for young children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Separately, the UN’s Inter-national Children’s Emergency Fund announced that since August it’s broadened existing programs, delivering 130 tons of medicines, health and nutrition supplies for 350,000 women and children. Unicef has had a presence in Vene-zuela since 1991.

The supplies are being delivered in agreement with the government, the UN says, noting that nearly 12 percent of t h e p o p u l a t i o n i s undernourished.

Unicef is pouring $32m into its programs in Venezuela, said Christopher Tidey, a New York-based Unicef spokesman. That pays for 2.5 million doses of measles vaccines and antima-larial treatment for 150,000 children.

“It’s really an expansion of the work we were already doing,” Tidey said, “And taking into account that the economic crisis is making it harder for families to give the support they need for their kids.”

One shot dead at Pennsylvania municipal buildingAP PHILADELPHIA

A township employee was shot and killed inside a Penn-sylvania municipal building yesterday morning, officials said.

A gunman walked inside the Paradise Township municipal building about 8:20am and opened fire, according to police and township officials. State and local police rushed to the small municipal building in the Pocono Mountains, about 161km north of Philadelphia, and took the suspect into custody without incident.

The gunman and the victim were not immediately identified. It’s not clear how or whether the gunman and victim knew each other.

“That is something we’re still working on right now,” Trooper David Peters told the reporters yesterday.

US slams Hungary over Russian arms dealersAFP WASHINGTON

The US State Department yesterday slammed a Hungarian decision to extradite two Russian suspected arms dealers back to Russia instead of sending them to the United States.

The US had sought the extra-dition of father and son Vladimir Lyubishin Sr and Vladimir Lyu-bishin Jr under an extradition treaty with Hungary.

But Budapest denied the request and sent the suspects to

Russia, “where it is unclear whether they will face trial,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

“The United States is disap-pointed in the Hungarian gov-ernment’s decision to extradite the Lyubishins to Russia,” she added.

“Hungary is a partner and friend of the United States, but this decision raises questions about Hungary’s commitment to law enforcement cooperation.”

Hungarian government

spokesman Zoltan Kovacs responded on Twitter that the decision was based on a court ruling and “relevant interna-tional agreements.”

He noted that over the last five years, Hungary had sought extraditions on nine occasions from the US.

“Eight of those were rejected,” Kovacs wrote.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is one of the few European leaders to have praised President Donald Trump, and relations between

the two Nato nations are usually good.

The Lyubishins had been living in Hungary for several years.

According to the Hungarian news website Direkt 36, Hun-garian counterterrorism police arrested them in 2016 in an operation conducted with US authorities.

“The United States had a strong case, built in cooperation with members of Hungarian law enforcement,” Nauert said yesterday.

E. coli in lettuce outbreak traced to CaliforniaAFP NEW YORK

An outbreak of E. coli linked to romaine lettuce appears to have been traced to crops in California, the US food authority said yesterday.

American consumers were warned against eating the leafy salad by health offi-cials last week.

The outbreak has caused 43 people to become sick in the US and another 22 in Canada, according to the Food and Drug Adminis-tration (FDA).

“Our investigation at this point suggests that romaine lettuce associated with the outbreak comes from areas of California that grow romaine lettuce over the summer months,” the FDA said in a statement.

“The outbreak appears to be related to ‘end of season’ romaine lettuce har-vested from these areas,” it added.

The harvest has now shifted to other areas and it was “critically important to have a ‘clean break’ in the romaine supply available to consumers in the US in order to purge the market of poten-tially contaminated romaine lettuce,” the FDA said.

It added that the break in supply appears to have been accomplished after officials requested on November 20 that the produce be with-drawn from the market and destroyed.

On the same day — two days before the Thanksgiving holiday when Americans gather and feast together — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised consumers not to eat any romaine lettuce and to throw away any they might have in their homes.

The latest sum of

UN funds, disbursed

yesterday, involves

$2.6m for nutrition

support for young

children, pregnant

women and lactating

mothers.

BenevolenceUS First Lady Melania Trump fills care packages with second lady Karen Pence (third left) and President of the American Red Cross Gail McGovern (third right) for service members deployed over the holidays at the American Red Cross headquarters, in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Pompeo, Mattis to brief senators on Saudi issue

A vehicle accident in the Manhattan borough of New York City, yesterday.

One dead in NY vehicle accidentAP NEW YORK

A 70-year-old driver trying to parallel park on a New York City street lost control of his minivan and struck several pedestrians standing next to a fruit stand, killing one person and injuring six others, police said.

“The car just suddenly appeared and banged into the wall backward. I was just so shocked,” said witness Jin Lin,

32, who saw several pedestrians trapped between the vehicle and the wall.

It happened shortly before 7pm yesterday in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Police said four people were hospitalized. Two were in critical condition and the other two were in serious condition.

According to police, as the driver approached a parking spot the vehicle accelerated, striking several people on the

sidewalk. Video shows a dark-colored minivan speeding down a street in reverse.

A man who runs a parking lot across the street tells the New York Post “it sounded like a big boom.” He said he saw people under the vehicle and “a lot of blood.”

The unidentified driver, who remained at the scene, was arrested on charges of failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.

AFP WASHINGTON

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Pentagon chief Jim Mattis will brief US senators today on developments related to Saudi Arabia, amid mounting bipar-tisan concern about the kingdom, a senior Republican lawmaker said.

President Donald Trump’s emphatic support of Riyadh in recent weeks has rankled some Republicans. And the continuing brutal Saudi-led war in neigh-boring Yemen, which has caused an urgent humanitarian crisis, has also triggered concern.

Bob Corker, the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Trump critic, said that Pompeo and Mattis would brief the full Senate at 11:00am (1600 GMT) in a closed-door session.

Corker said he also hoped Central Intelligence Agency director Gina Haspel would attend.

Trump last week called Saudi Arabia a “steadfast partner” and said it was unclear whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was aware of the plan to kill Jamal Khashoggi, who Riyadh has acknowledged died inside the

kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. Trump has also cast doubt

on the CIA’s reported con-clusion that the crown prince was behind the killing.

With tensions high over Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Corker said it was crucial to “hear from the administration as to where this is going.”

The scheduled briefing comes as liberal Senator Bernie Sanders moves to re-introduce a resolution, as early as this week, to end US participation in the Yemen war, months after his initial effort fell short.

Corker signaled it could have broader backing this time.

“I have a pretty good gauge on how people feel about Saudi Arabia right now, and I’d say we’re in a very, very different place than when we kept this from happening” in March.

“I’m considering what the options are to make sure that we deal appropriately with Saudi Arabia on multiple issues right now.”

Some US lawmakers have called for a strong US response to Khashoggi’s murder, including blocking arms sales and imposing sanctions beyond those that Washington slapped on 17 Saudis allegedly involved in the killing.

Witness: ‘El Chapo’ paid massive bribes to top Mexican copAP NEW YORK

Back when business was starting to boom, notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman took delight in seeing massive cocaine shipments arriving by air from Colombia, occasions he code-named “parties” that made him so rich he could pay multi-million dollar bribes to a powerful police commander, a government witness at Guzman’s

US trial testified yesterday.Miguel Angel Martinez told

the jury that while working for Guzman in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the largest shipment ever seen at that time was carried by a fleet of 10 planes, each hauling hundreds of kilos, that landed one day on a hidden airstrip.

At the time, Guzman “was very happy,” Martinez said. He added that Guzman told him, “Compadre, now it’s a great party.”

Martinez, testifying in the trial’s third week, also told the jury that the Sinaloa cartel paid $10m in drug money bribes at least twice to Guillermo Gonzalez Calderoni, a top law enforcement official in Mexico City. In exchange, Calderoni tipped off the cartel about inves-tigations and offered other pro-tections that helped keep Guzman from getting caught.

Calderoni was known in that era for helping solve the slaying

of a Drug Enforcement agent by drug dealers in Mexico in 1985. He also was accused of cor-ruption and torture before slipping out of the country to live in McAllen, Texas, where he was gunned down in a suspected hit in 2003.

Guzman was extradited to the United States last year to face drug-trafficking charges accusing him of running a cartel known for greed and violence. His lawyers say he’s being

framed by cooperators like Mar-tinez, whose witness protection status remains unclear.

To show that Martinez actually knew Guzman, prose-cutors entered into evidence a photo they said shows him sitting next to Guzman at a social gath-ering sometime in the early 1990s. The prosecutors had the face of Martinez obscured because they say having images of him go public could put his life in danger.


HMC warns people against dangers of carbon monoxide poisoningTHE PENINSULA DOHA

In advance of the cooler tem-peratures setting in, Hamad Medical Corporation has warned residents about the dangers of burning charcoal and wood inside their homes.

Last winter between 70 and one hundred patients were treated each month at Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Emergency Departments for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.

“During the colder months, we see an increase in the number of patients with carbon monoxide poisoning. Many people seek ways to keep their homes warm and some resort to burning coal or wood inside. When charcoal and wood burn without oxygen, they produce fossil fuels that release carbon monoxide - a colorless, tasteless, and odorless gas. Carbon monoxide is very hard to detect, leading to people inhaling it and being poisoned. This can happen very quickly and is extremely dangerous,” said Dr Galal Saleh Al Essai, an Accident and Emergency Con-sultant at HMC.

He said that carbon mon-oxide poisoning is so dangerous because the signs and symptoms can be easy to miss. He says many people with mild carbon monoxide poisoning think they have food poisoning or the flu and dismiss the symptoms. He says symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can start to appear within five to 20 minutes of exposure but notes that lower concentrations may lead to a delay in the onset of symptoms. Dr Al Essai urges

anyone who develops symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can include a headache, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, weakness, and confusion, to get into the fresh air immediately and seek emergency medical help.

“Most of the patients we receive at the Emergency Department show flu-like symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, disorientation, nausea, and fatigue. Some may also experience chest pain, especially those with coronary heart disease. If carbon mon-oxide has been inhaled in a high concentration, as is the case in the incidence of fire, patients could also experience impaired vision, confusion, and loss of coordination,” added Dr Al Essai.

Dr Al Essai said last winter a number of patients were treated at HMC Emergency Departments for serious burns sustained due to using small engines, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges, or fur-naces as heating sources. He said there were also fatalities as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Dr Galal Saleh Al Essai

QBRI signs agreement on cancer diagnostics and treatment researchTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), and the King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) in Jordan will work together to help accelerate cancer research in the region.

This collaboration was underscored through the signing of an important research agreement between the two entities this month.

In attendance were Dr. Omar El Agnaf, acting executive director of QBRI; Dr. Asem Mansour, director general of KHCC; and Dr. Richard O’Kennedy, vice president for research, development and inno-vation at Qatar Foundation and Vice President for Research at HBKU.

Highlighting the importance of this agreement, Dr. El Agnaf

said: “This agreement between QBRI and KHCC will bring together many teams of accom-plished researchers and clini-cians with aligned ambitions, skills and objectives. It also allows both institutions to benefit from complementary research assets and immediate access to different populations. Over the next five years, we hope that this symbiotic relationship will help us deliver innovative break-throughs that better address this pressing healthcare challenge and have regional and worldwide resonance.”

Dr. Mansour stated: “Our collaborative agreement with QBRI is a significant milestone in cancer research at the regional level. We are excited to see teams from our institu-tions combining expertise to d e l i v e r c u t t i n g - e d g e

translational research and gen-erate quality oncology-specific scientific content from the region.”

QBRI’s research capabilities will play a significant role in the collaborative research con-ducted. The all-encompassing

agreement ushers in new tech-niques and methodologies in cancer-related research. The agreement includes (but is not limited to) sharing research data with KHCC regarding new diag-nostic and predictive biomarkers for breast cancer, potential novel biomarkers for cancer patients with diabetes, and the detection of circulating tumor cells and protein biomarkers in the plasma of patients with early stage cancer.

QBRI aims to improve and transform healthcare through innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of dis-eases. In 2017, the institute won the prestigious Best Arab Research Institute Award in rec-ognition of its efforts in bio-medical research.

KHCC is one of the leading cancer centers in the region, with more than 52,000 patients receiving treatment there since

the turn of the century. These include an increasing number from the GCC, in addition to many others from conflict-stricken countries around the region who also benefit from the invaluable support provided by KHCC.

Prior to this agreement, QBRI’s biomedical research teams have been working on the development of novel biomarkers, and diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for many diseases. Partnerships are fun-damental to the institute’s day-to-day endeavors as QBRI works with pharmaceutical giants including Lundbeck and AFFiRiS, as well as the Harvard Stem Cell Institute on an international level. Nationally, QBRI has col-laboration with key players in the healthcare fields such as Hamad Medical Corporation, Sidra Medicine and the Shafallah Center.

The officials exchanging documents after signing the agreement.

This collaboration was

underscored through

the signing of an

important research

agreement between

the two entities this

month.

QRCS implements sanitation project for Syrian refugeesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society’s (QRCS) mission in Lebanon has completed a community-based project to enhance the sani-tation services at four Syrian refugee camps in Joub Jannine, the capital of West Beqaa.

The project is supported by Elrha’s Humanitarian Inno-vation Fund (HIF) programme, a grant-making facility sup-porting organisations and indi-viduals to identify, nurture, and share innovative and scalable solutions to the most pressing challenges facing effective humanitarian assistance. HIF is funded by aid from the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Over the past six months, the toilets at the target camps were improved cleaned, main-tained, and equipped based on the recommendations and needs of their end users.

“The value of the project goes far beyond the physical adjustments to the camp toilets, said Omar Katerji, head of QRCS’s mission. “The biggest success was not only the exterior and interior modifi-cations to the structures, though important, but rather how such modifications were designed in a manner that reflects the needs of the beneficiaries.”

He highlighted the fact that being close to the beneficiaries requires reconsideration of the safety and security protocols, emergency plans, and the

broader humanitarian action methodology.

“All our work should be beneficiary-oriented. Safety and security, logistics, procure-ments, human resources, and financial departments should work in harmony with the p r o g r a m m a n a g e m e n t department in a dynamic rapid intervention system, with a well-controlled workflow time-frame and department-specific key performance indicators (KPIs),” Katerji noted.

Two advisors from Oxfam GB, a leading UK charity fighting global poverty, visited and evaluated the project. Over three days, they held interviews with Syrian men, women, and children; each camp’s security officer; and QRCS’s project team.

“Usually, humanitarian organizations have to intervene at short notice during emer-gency to provide life-saving aid

and reduce disease risks, paying no attention the desires and needs of the refugees. The joint project of QRCS and HIF, however, serves as a role model in refugee community engagement in order to find out how to make their lives better,” said Helen Hawkings, one of the advisors.

Now, the toilets are bigger, cleaner, and lighted. A new ‘smart bucket’ has been developed to save water. Instead of having to go to the nearby greens, it has become safe for women and kids to use the toilets, even at night. Most impor-tantly, the new sanitary facilities are special-needs-friendly.

“Formerly, going to the toilet was too difficult. No water. No lighting. In the winter, the sewage storage pits would overflow,” said Farah Al Hassan, a refugee who lived at a camp for three years now.

Representatives of QRCS at a Syrian refugee camp to access the needs of the people.

Dreama organises open entertainment day for staffTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Orphan Care Center ‘Dreama’ organized an open entertainment day for the staff of the Center at Sharq Hotel.

During the day, many enter-tainment events, competitions and activities were held in order to promote the social atmos-phere outside the official working hours.

The Entertainment Day also had a tribute concert for hon-oring the distinguished employees at Dreama amid rec-reational atmosphere of friend-liness and intimacy between the employees of the Center.

The content of a range of competitions was dedicated to the mission and vision of Dreama that aim to provide the target categories of the society with the best services and another variety of competitions about the six

essential values of the “Our Culture Project” of the Qatar Social Work Foundation: “Service Leadership, Effective Communication, Professional and Social Responsibility, Con-tinuous Development and Inno-vation, Teamwork and Profes-s i o n a l a n d S o c i a l Empowerment”.

On this occasion, Mariam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad, Executive Director of the Orphan Care Center said: “The Center’s staff is the true wealth of the Center,” adding that “this Enter-tainment Day is a good occasion to reward our employees in rec-ognition of their efforts and con-stant hard work in order to achieve the objectives of Dreama and firmly establish its name in the humanitarian service field in Qatar.”

Ahmed Hussein, Dreama Support Services Director, said: “Dreama pays a special attention

and care to its employees in order to encourage them to do their best in serving the targeted categories, adding that we were keen to organize the Enter-tainment Day 2018 so that all employees would have the

chance to participate in this pleasing atmosphere and their favorite events and activities, which will promote joy, inter-action and distinguished presence.”

He added, “We were happy

to see the employees rejoicing because we believe that these events will have a remarkable effect at the professional and social levels in the future and will renew, build and promote rela-tions among the team members outside work, which will have positive impact on the effective communication among the employees of Dreama.”

He concluded: “I would like to express my thanks and rec-ognition of the Dreama staff for their efforts to make this Enter-tainment Day 2018 a success and their keenness to attend and participate.”

The employees of Dreama expressed their great happiness to have this Entertainment Day and have their work appreciated and recognized, extending their thanks to Dreama Management for organizing such an enter-tainment event and recognizing their efforts.

The staff of Dreama enjoying open entertainment day organised by Dreama at Sharq Hotel.

Action on fruits and vegetable shops for violating rulesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Municipal inspectors of Health Monitoring Unit caught two violations about rules at fruits and vegetable shops at Al Daayen Munici-pality during an inspection campaign.

The action was taken fol-lowing the Law No. 8 of 1990, said the Ministry of Munici-pality and Environment in a statement. The inspectors also asked the shopkeepers to rectify their situation in five cases of the violations.

During the inspection campaign, the shopkeepers were educated about the rules and regulations about trading fruits and vegetables and proper transportation according to the specified of Qatar.

Meanwhile the General Monitoring Unit at Al Shi-haniyah Municipality carried out an inspection campaign in the areas of Umm Al Zubar, Abu Nakhla, Shihaniyah and its camel racing area.

The inspectors booked two violations in the action and put stickers of violations on 50 abandoned car at aforementioned areas. The inspectors made 30 field visits and conducted two inspection campaign on those areas. The inspection cam-paign aims at educating shop-keepers about rules and reg-ulations and to ensure they are complying to the law

Public Parks Department organises agricultural dayThe Public Parks Department of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment in collabo-ration with Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd (Nakilat) organised an agricul-tural day for the students of Abdulrahman bin Awaf Pre-paratory School for Boys. The event was organised under the framework of the ‘Tree Planting’ initiative launched by Nakilat.

The event was attended by Jassim Al Nima, Director of Public Relations Department at Nakilat, Khalid Al Sindi, Head of Projects Department, Abdul Muhsin Al Marri from Public Parks Department, Maryam Al Dossari, Head of the Home Garden Program.


Qatari project ‘Deaf Pedia’ wins WSA awardPRAMOD PRABHAKARAN THE PENINSULA

A path-breaking project from Qatar has won the prestigious World Summit Award (WSA) for this year.

Deaf Pedia, created by Qatari entre-preneur and inventor, Mohammed Hassan Al Jefairi (pictured), won the award in the Inclusion & Empowerment category.

Deaf Pedia was selected by the final jury from more than 400 nominations from over 100 UN member states.

“I feel very proud of putting Qatar flag among the World Summit Awards. This shows our unity and passion towards success in spite of the current illegal blockade,” Al Jefairi told The Peninsula

after winning the award. Deaf Pedia is a platform that supports deaf by offering sign language open source platform to share and improve sign language.

“This award is unique because it’s

based on nominations and this shows that the community believes in it,” Al Jefairi said with pride.

Deaf Pedia tries to make communi-cation between deaf people and non-deaf people easier. Deaf Pedia started the first and only open source database to share and add new signs by sign language experts and users around the world. It can also be used like a translate tool from text or audio to sign language. The award will be presented at a function to be held in march 2019 in Portugal.

Al Jefairi, a Star of Science finalist, founded Abilitx, an umbrella network for the disabled community. Abilitx is already developing some of the latest ground-breaking learning solutions for disabled people, including Robot Seedo and

Deafpedia — the ultimate sign language database. He is also the author of over 68 books on leadership and technology which are now available to download for free in multiple languages.

The WSA selects and promotes local digital innovation with high impact on improving society. WSA is an interna-tional platform for cutting edge examples on how ICTs can have an impact on society. Running 15 years by now, WSA has become a quality seal for digital content with societal impact in over 180 participating countries. WSA keeps a close strategic association with the United Nation agendas. By reporting back national digital developments to the UN WSIS process it is supporting the UN Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Broken Wings to have Doha runRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Broken Wings, a new major musical written by Lebanese actor and composer Nadim Naaman and Qatari composer Dana Al Fardan, is likely to be staged in Doha next year.

An adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s 1912 autobiographical poetic novel of the same title, Broken Wings marked a sold-out premiere in London’s West End in August this year.

“It is a fully staged musical which we premiered in London earlier in the year at a week-long performance in Theatre Royal Haymarket in West End and we are now beginning the process of organising an international tour next year. Dana is from Qatar so we want to bring it to Doha, that’s why we are here this week to showcase some of the music and meet the right people, and hopefully we can bring the show here next year,” Nadim, who also leads the cast, told The Peninsula.

Nadim was speaking on the eve of a performance of songs from the

musical organised as part of the ongoing Qatar British Festival which he says was a perfect template for this project.

“What the show does is promote the culture of the West and the Middle East because it’s about a Middle Eastern icon, Kahlil Gibran, and was written by a Qatari and a Lebanese but was created in the West. That was sort of Gibran’s life, he moved to America when he was 12, he was Middle Eastern but he was also from the West as well,” he said.

Gibran is considered the third best-selling poet of all time known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet written in poetic English prose.

“Gibran is not only loved by the Lebanese and the Middle Easterners but by many people like in North America where he sold the most copies of 10 million books,” he said, adding they plan to bring the show in various parts of the world starting in the Middle East.

“We are going to bring the show in six or seven cities where we are in talks with to have the shows produced, but we are also targeting countries with big

Middle Eastern communities such as US, Canada, Australia and Europe,” he said.

Two years in the making, Broken Wings follows an ageing Gibran in 1923 New York reflecting on his life as an 18-year-old back in the Middle East where he falls in love with Selma Karamy, daughter of family friend, who was soon betrothed to another man, thus Gibran has to fight for her love.

“We were curious how it would be received but I think the story and the themes of the story are so universal. It’s about family. It’s about love. It’s about your relationship with your society and how going through life you have to

choose between going with your heart or going with what society expects of you. These are also things that happen today, a hundred years later all over the world, so I think people realize that although maybe beforehand they have never heard of Broken Wings or Kahlil Gibran, there are lots of things in this story that they can relate to,” he said.

“People should watch the show because it reveals plenty about Gibran himself and how he came to be the poet. It is an opportunity for Middle Eastern audiences to see a show about their her-itage, about their region, about a literary hero of the region which I think should be celebrated,” he ended.

Broken Wings performance at The St. Regis Doha on Sunday. PIC: ABDUL BASIT / THE PENINSULA

FAJRSHOROOK

04. 39 AM

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ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

HIGH TIDE 08:45 – 20:00 LOW TIDE 00:45 – 17:00

Mild daytime with scattered clouds and

relatively cold by night.

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum 18oC 25oC

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