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ECB launches€1 trillionrescue plan

Call to set up food banks for workersDOHA: Several citizens, includ-ing a member of the Central Municipal Council (CMC), have called for setting up food banks across the country to support low-income expatriate workers and needy families reeling from the spiralling cost of living.

Small groups of expatriate workers are reportedly being spotted at shopping malls and public parking areas, especially during weekends asking for money from people to buy food. Recently, some customers con-tacted the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) urging it to take up this issue and find a solu-tion before it becomes a serious problem, according to Al Sharq.

Ahmed Al Sheeb, a CMC member while calling for prac-tical steps to address the prob-lem, said that the sponsors must be held responsible for leaving these workers jobless and needy.

He suggested that citizens and expatriates who come across people seeking financial help must try to find out their real problems, rather than giving

some emergency assistance.“Why do their sponsors fail

to give them job and salary? If the same faces appear again and again, the authorities should be informed so that they can take action,” Al Sheeb told this daily yesterday.

In remarks to Al Sharq, which carried a report on the issue yes-terday, Al Sheeb said the increas-ing prices is a problem for every one especially the low income workers since they have to sup-port themselves and their families back home.

“They are forced to ask for help or money with different justifica-tions. This shows there is a prob-lem. If we cannot provide them jobs, why are we bringing them here?” asked Al Sheeb.

He said a practical solution to the problem is to set up food banks in different parts of the country, especially in places dominated by expatriate labourers, with support of charitable organisations. Such projects are functioning success-fully in some Arab and European countries, he added.

“We do it here in Ramadan and why can’t we make it in other months as well?. Charity organisations are always ready to receive surplus food, not only during Ramadan and Eid. The surplus food from weddings and other special occasions as well as hotels and conferences can be saved and delivered to needy families and low income workers,” said Al Sheeb.

The idea of food banks is to preserve the surplus food prop-erly and distribute it to the poor and the needy.

“Businesses and families can cooperate in this project. We don’t want to see people begging in commercial centres and even in mosques,” he added.

According to Natra Saeed, a businesswoman, this is the right time to launch such projects with several new projects in the coun-try and a rapid increase in the number of foreign workers. For many of them, their meagre sala-ries are not enough to cover their expenses, she added.

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Number of low-income expatriates on the rise

Emir honours Nasser Al Attiyah with Sash of Merit

The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with Nasser Al Attiyah, the winner of Dakar Rally, at Al Wajba Palace yesterday. The Emir congratulated Al Attiyah and awarded him the Sash of Merit for the victory. The Emir urged Al Attiyah to pay attention to Olympic sports like shooting, in which he excels, to achieve further accomplishments. Al Attiyah thanked the Emir for continued support and encouragement for Qatari athletes.

DOHA: Voter registration for the forthcoming Central Municipal Council (CMC) elec-tions closed yesterday. A total of 16,605 voters — 9,063 men and 7,542 women — have registered until Wednesday evening, accord-ing to some reports. The final fig-ures were not released yesterday.

Deletions and additions in the voters list can be made from January 28 to February 5. The final voters list is expected to be announced on March 3 while the final list of candidates would be issued on April 8, according to Al Sharq.

Voters were allowed to reg-ister online through Metrash 2 or by visiting the registration centre in their respective con-stituencies. Many voters said they were keen not to miss the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.

All the centres in the 29 con-stituencies witnessed a good turn-out of voters, especially women, since the registration started on January 11.

“I voted in the previous elec-tions and I want to vote this time also. The constitution has given us the right to participate in this democratic process. It is a national duty for all citizens to exercise this right,” said Asma Al Mulla, a Qatari woman.

Several young Qataris who have just completed the legal age of 18 also turned up to register. “This is the first time I am registering my name in the voters list to take part in the election process,” said Abdullah Redwani, a youth.

A secondary school graduate said he will vote for the best can-didate who can represent him in the CMC and meet voters’ expectations.

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SANA’A: Senior elected offi-cials in Yemen resigned en masse yesterday night in pro-test at a takeover by Houthi rebels of the executive, poten-tially pushing the country into a new phase of instability.

President Abdrabuh Mansur

Hadi, Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and the entire cabinet quit their posts a day after the Houthis announced the embattled leader had yielded to their demands for a much greater share of power in Yemen’s political affairs.

In his letter of resignation, Hadi

Yemen govt quits in protest at Houthi rebellionsaid he could no longer stay in office as the country was in “total deadlock”. “I believe that I have not been able to achieve the goals for which I took up my duties,” he said, adding that Yemen’s politi-cal leaders had failed “to lead the country to calmer waters”.

The move caught the rebels off guard and promptly put on hold their moves to consolidate con-trol of the parliament and state institutions. Houthi supporters in the parliament said the presi-dent’s resignation would not be accepted, but it remained unclear whether the national legislature could make such a move in an emergency session called for today.

Since September, the Houthis had made explicit demands to be closer to political decision mak-ing. An initial push on September 19 saw the rebels take control of much of the capital. That move was secured this week when Houthi gunman sacked the presi-dential palace, took Hadi’s chief

aide hostage, overran military bases and clashed with loyalist guards.

Hadi was besieged in his home for 24 hours, after which he reportedly agreed to the Houthi demands, central to which was backing down on a planned draft constitution, which established six regions in Yemen as part of a federation. Houthis instead wanted two federal regions.

Hadi’s capitulation was meant to lead to the Houthis withdraw-ing from all state institutions and checkpoints and releasing the presidential aide. But by nightfall yesterday, that had not happened.

Bahah announced his resig-nation on his Facebook page, lamenting his “very complicated circumstances” in office. He said he had resigned to “avoid being dragged into an abyss of uncon-structive policies based on no law”. He added: “We don’t want to be a party to what is happening or will happen.” He also offered his “apologies to the patient people

of Yemen” and said: “We pray to Allah to protect Yemen.”

Hadi is from Yemen’s formerly independent south and in recent days southern officials have taken steps to back his rule, including closing the air and sea ports in main city Aden. The security and military committee for four of south Yemen’s provinces, includ-ing Aden, said in a statement late yesterday that it would not take orders from Sana’a following Hadi’s resignation.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was assessing the fast-moving events. “Our team is seeking confirma-tion of all of the reports,” Psaki told reporters, adding that so far there was no move to close the US embassy in Sana’a. “We continue to support a peaceful transition. We’ve urged all parties and con-tinue to urge all parties to abide by... the peace and national part-nership agreement,” she said.

THE GUARDIAN/AFP

Registration for CMC polls ends

SYDNEY: A four-year-old Australian boy has been fitted with an artificial pancreas in what researchers said was a world’s first treatment for managing type 1 diabetes.

Xavier Hames became the first patient following clinical trials to use the new device, which looks like an MP3 player and is attached to his body using several tubes inserted under the skin.

The insulin pump system is meant to replace the need to closely manage the impact of the disease — which occurs when people do not produce insulin, a hor-mone that regulates blood sugar — such as through daily injections.

“The technology mimics the biological function of the pancreas to predict low glucose levels and stop insulin delivery,” Western Australia’s health department

said in a statement issued late Wednesday.“This in turn avoids the serious conse-

quences of low glucose such as coma, sei-zure and potential death.” It was not clear when the procedure was carried out.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a non-profit organisation which funded the research that led to the proce-dure, said the technology tracks glucose levels and stops insulin delivery up to 30 minutes before a predicted hypoglycaemic attack happens. The attacks are sparked by low glucose levels and mostly take place at night when patients may not be able to react or recognise the potentially fatal epi-sode, said Professor Tim Jones of Perth’s Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, where Hames was fitted with the system.

“This device can predict hypoglycaemia before it happens and stop insulin delivery

before a predicted event,” Jones, one of the lead doctors involved in the research, said.

“This coupled with the fact that the pump automatically resumes insulin (delivery) when glucose levels recover is a real medi-cal breakthrough.” Hames’s mother Naomi said the device had already improved the life of her son, who has been suffering from the disease since he was 22 months old.

“Having the pump gives us the reassur-ance that Xavier is safe when we are all asleep at night, and during the day,” she said. “It is also waterproof meaning that he can enjoy water sports and activities as much as his friends and family.”

The device was developed after five years of clinical trials at the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children and at other Australian hospitals. It is reported to cost about Aus$10,000 ($8,100). AFP

Clock ticking for Japan IS hostagesTOKYO: The clock was ticking towards a deadline imposed by Islamist militants threatening to kill two Japanese nation-als unless Tokyo pays a $200m ransom.

The Japanese government said it was working to secure the release of freelance journalist Kenji Goto and self-employed contractor Haruna Yukawa, but with only 24 hours to go, admitted it had still not spo-ken to the Islamic State group. “We have not been able to confirm their safety,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

Jihadist footage posted online on Tuesday showed a knife-wielding militant looming over two kneeling Japanese men, appar-ently in a desert in Syria or Iraq. Tokyo believes the deadline will expire at 2.50pm (0550 GMT) today.

AFP

Yemenis watch a news channel as President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi (left) is seen on TV, in Sana’a, yesterday.

Four-year-old gets world’s first artificial pancreas

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DOHA: Seventy-five children with diabetes from 18 coun-tries will participate in 15th annual Al Bawasil camp from January 31 to February 5 at Aspire Academy.

They will learn about latest information about managing diabetes at the camp organised by Qatar Diabetes Association (QDA) — Qatar Foundation.

Maersk Oil Qatar has again supported the camp. A total of QR400,000 was raised to fund the camp during the recent Maersk Oil and Qatar Petroleum Challenge.

Dr Abdulla Al Hamaq, Executive Director, QDA, said: “The event is shaping up to be the best yet. Efforts of 27 teams that took part in Maersk Oil & Qatar Petroleum Challenge and registration fees were donated, while Maersk Oil Qatar’s sup-port for the challenge and Action on Diabetes has been invaluable.”

The camp will help children address the emotional and physical pain caused by diabetes and give them the confidence to reach their full potential.

Doctors, nurses, nutritionists

and social specialists will hold educational sessions and fun physical activities.

Lewis Affleck, Managing Director, Maersk Oil Qatar, said: “Diabetes is one of Qatar’s biggest health challenges. That is why the camp, run by QDA along with the broader work the Action on Diabetes partnership delivers is important.

“Our company is delighted to support such initiatives as part of our commitment to meaning-ful programmes aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030.”

The challenge in November

saw some 150 people from 27 teams representing private and government organisations in Qatar take to the desert to compete and raise money for the camp.

Teams completed five stages over two days. Challenges included mountain biking, kayaking, orienteering by GPS, completing construction projects, navigating in the desert at night and solving team prob-lems. Activities were themed around diabetes and promoted healthy lifestyles.

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DOHA: Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Ambulance Service LifeFlight has been accredited by European Aeromedical Institute for Adult and Paediatric Critical Care, HMC has said.

The accreditation follows evaluation of the LifeFlight service based on quality, man-agement and performance.

The LifeFlight fleet has three Agusta Westland AW139 heli-copters, launched last February. Two operates 24 hours to ensure emergency medical care even in the most remote parts of the country.

“The Emiri Air Force and Ambulance Service work closely

to ensure we provide the best possible aeromedical services to the people.

“The accreditation is a testa-ment to hard work and dedica-tion of all involved in the service from managers to pilots to criti-cal care paramedics,” said Dr Robert Owen, CEO, Ambulance Service.

It the third international accreditation for Ambulance Service in the last one year.

The command centre was named Accredited Center of Excellence by International Academy of Emergency Dispatch in May 2014 and the service as a whole was re-accredited by Joint Commissioning International in October. THE PENINSULA

One of the helicopters of LifeFlight on an emergency mission.

LifeFlight accredited by European institute

Al Bawasil camp for children with diabetes from January 3175 from 18 countries to attend Qatar Diabetes Association’s event

DOHA: A Qatari delegation visited Brussels, Belgium, to meet senior European Union officials on prepara-tions and organisation of the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to be held in Doha from April 12 to 19.

The delegation, led by Major General Dr Abdullah Yusuf Al Maal, Adviser to the Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the congress, held talks with offi-cials led by Mara Marinacci, International Relations Officer at the EU Secretariat at the EU headquarters.

Qatar’s logistics preparations for the congress was discussed, along with EU’s position on the issues on the agenda of the congress and topics of concern to EU countries in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.

The meeting also reviewed cooperation with the Qatari delegation with regard to

informal consultation rounds on preparations for Doha

Declaration in Vienna.THE PENINSULA

The Qatari delegation with EU officials in Brussels.

UN congress preparations reviewed

DOHA: Qatar Duty Free (QDF) is offering shopping experience on a range of products to complement golf-ing action during the 2015 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters which ends tomorrow at Doha Golf Club.

As the tournament’s official retail partner for the seventh consecutive year, QDF’s pavil-ion in Doha Golf Club Public Village is showcasing products and promotions.

The annual European tour-sanctioned tournament, with a prize fund of $2.5m and Mother of Pearl Trophy, has again attracted the world’s top champions. For the fourth con-secutive year, QDF is offering a special gift voucher worth $155,000 to any player who hits a hole-in-one.

This year, Sergio Garcia returns to Doha to defend his title against other world-class players such as Ernie Els, Paul Lawrie and Thorbjrn Olesen, on the desert course at the club.

“We are thrilled to be

supporting this year’s tourna-ment which has evolved into a premium international sport-ing event attracting local and international fans,” said Keith Hunter, Senior Vice- President, QDF.

“We are delighted to be the official retail partner for the

seventh consecutive as the pro-vides us with an opportunity to showcase our mix of retail pro-motions, offers and giveaways.”

Visitors to the pavilion not only have the chance to pur-chase products at special tournament prices, but will also receive a free gift for any

purchase above QR350. QDF is also running putting competi-tions in the pavilion for visitors.

At Hamad International Airport, QDF offers 40,000sqm of retail, food and beverage facil-ities which have established it as a premier shopping and dining destination. THE PENINSULA

Qatar Duty Free officials at their pavilion in Doha Golf Club Public Village.

QDF joins golfing action with promotion

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PM gets phone call from HagelDOHA: The Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yester-day received a phone call from US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel. They discussed relations, means of enhancing them and latest regional and international developments.

Qatar-US ties reviewedDOHA: Masoud Mohamed Al Amiri, Head, Court of Cassation, and President, Judicial Supreme Council, yesterday met US Ambassador Dana Shell Smith. They discussed legal and judicial cooperation.

Toxicology forum begins todayDOHA: The Supreme Council of Health is hosting today a three-day Fourth Middle East And North Africa Clinical Toxicology Association Conference of experts from the Gulf, the Middle East, Asia, the US and Europe.

The forum, which will be offi-cially opened tomorrow, is a platform for exchanging latest scientific and research and dis-coveries in clinical toxicology and presenting the basics of this sci-ence for newcomers.

The forum, organised in col-laboration with Hamad Medical Corporation and Association of the Middle East and North Africa of Clinical Toxicology, will also focus on building regional and global partnerships with local institutions to raise efficiency in the field, assess clinical toxicology and supporting services and work on standardisation of integrated clinical, laboratory and environ-mental toxicology services. Three workshops will be held today to discuss the basics of clinical toxi-cology. QNA

DOHA: Spanish stars Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Pablo Larrazabal sampled the Qatari culture dur-ing a lesson in Arabic calligraphy at the end of the second round of Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club.

“It’s nice to try things like this. It’s fun,” said Cabrera-Bello, who has twice finished third in the tournament, including last year when he missed the playoff by one shot.

As Sergio Garcia continues a solo defence of his title with a second 69 and Alejandro Canizares featured in the top 10 yesterday, Cabrera-Bello explained why he and many other Spanish stars enjoy the $2.5m tournament, which sits at the heart of The European Tour’s desert swing.

“It’s just like back home. It’s sunshine normally, a little breezy, we play in short sleeves and I kind of like the fact that there’s sand all around,” said Cabrera-Bello, a two-time European Tour winner.

The Spaniard, who considers the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters one of his favourite, said he has always felt at home on Doha Golf Club’s Peter Harradine-designed layout.

“I think it’s a long hitter’s course. I’m not the longest hitter, but I would consider myself one of the longer hitters. I also like it because there’s a lot of wedge play if you’re driving well and my wedge play tends to be good. As well as those things, the course suits my eye. The first time I came here, I liked it and I’ve enjoyed every time I’m here.”

He was in second place after his first-round 66 and after a second-round 73, he remains four shots off the lead and is determined to again be in the mix for the final round. “I’ve been close a couple of times, had a couple of top-threes here. It’s one of my flagship events and I know I can do good here. I just want to have a good round on Friday and put myself in position for Saturday.” THE PENINSULA

Spanish stars try hand at Arabic calligraphy

DOHA: The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) is extending its smoking cessation service to more health centres to help those wanting to quit the habit.

The service has been extended to Al Daayen, Mesaimeer and OBK health centres and Abu Bakr Health Centre will open a smoking cessation clinic soon, PHCC has said.

The clinic at Al Gharaffa Health Centre has been in oper-ation since 2013 and is led by

Dr Hamad Rashid Almudahka, Consultant, Community Medicine, and Manager, Health Promotion, PHCC.

“Delivering the service at Al Gharaffa Health Centre, I have been able to help transform many patients’ lives by helping them quit smoking,” said Al Mudahka.

The service is available to all patients and is led by trained phy-sicians and nurses who provide a tailored approach to behavioural change, including counselling and prescribing medications.

Khamis Amer Al Khaldi, Director, Western Region, PHCC, and Operational Lead, Health Promotion, said, “I am pleased to be leading the expansion of the service for PHCC. It’s important that we support and encourage patients to lead healthier life-styles and be proactive about quit-ting smoking which will benefit them and their families.”

People seeking an appointment for the service or details can call PHCC Customer Service Helpline 107. THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The second annual Leshta (Winter) Festival opened yesterday at Katara Esplanade with educational and awareness activities and entertainment for children and families.

Several centres and institu-tions are taking part in the five-day event, including Childhood Cultural Centre, Doha Youth Centre, Qatar Heritage and Identity Centre, Al Gannas Association, Al Ghalayel Championship, Katara Cultural Market, Bin Muftah Medical Polyclinic, Al Adam Harley Group and traditional bands.

Opening the festival in the morning, Katara General Manager, Dr Al Khalid Ibrahin Al Sulaiti, said following the suc-cess of the first edition last year which was warmly received by the public, Katara was encouraged to organise the second edition with events and activities focus-ing on education, awareness and entertainment.

The inaugural festival had attracted 146,840 visitors of dif-ferent nationalities in various age groups.

Dr Al Sulaiti said Katara is keen to involve all families in such cultural and educational events which mainly target children.

Abdulrahman bin Jassin Al Tamimi, Chairman of the festi-val organising committee, said the second edition has more events and activities, including the cul-tural market, dhad events, dis-semination of information on winter diseases and healthy food this season provided by Bin Muftah Medical Centre.

He urged the public to take part in the festival which coin-cides with school vacation.

Childhood Cultural Centre is participating with a small village

of five houses and activities and showcases to match children’s interests and age.

Qatar Heritage and Identity Centre is presenting a theatrical play on winter in Qatar and the people’s interest in stars, their locations and effects on their daily lives.

It aims to remind people of Qatari traditional life and docu-menting their social history. The centre is also organising tradi-tional games and competitions for children.

Science and skills-based workshops to improve children’s knowledge are being held along with those on agriculture in which children are taught how to identify seeds and their uses in addition to steps and tools in agriculture.

Story-reading sessions and tra-ditional games are held and visi-tors are introduced to traditional Qatari and Arab cuisine.

Children enjoy sand sculptures from 3pm to 5pm throughout the festival, the top five of which will receive prizes.

There are Arabic games in which children are to assemble alphabets and images.

Katara FM Radio is organis-ing a contest for the public until tomorrow from 4pm to 5pm. Questions about Katara are asked and those who get correct answers receive prizes.

There is an exhibition on hom-ing pigeons to remind the people of the importance of their impor-tance through the ages in Arab societies.

The term ‘Leshta’ is tradition-ally used to mean winter people eagerly anticipate to engage in activities, including desert trips for hunting and entertainment.

THE PENINSULA

A traditional band performing at the second Leshta Festival yesterday.

Leshta Festival opens at KataraFive-day event offers educational, awareness, fun activities for all

Children participating in a workshop organised by Childhood Cultural Centre .

PHCC plans smoking cessation service at more health centres

Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Pablo Larrazabal taking a lesson in Arabic calligraphy from a Qatari boy.

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DOHA: Qatar University College of Pharmacy, Al Wakra Hospital and Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) held the first symposium on medication safety at Sharq Hotel & Spa under the theme ‘It’s everyone’s concern’.

It aimed to promote inter-pro-fessional collaborative care and gather input from pharmacists, physicians, nurses and adminis-trators to cover the full spectrum of patient care.

The one-day event was held in partnership with International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology GCC Chapter and brought together over 150 clinically-ori-ented pharmacists, healthcare providers, researchers, academia and students from health-related disciplines.

Guest speakers from the college, HMC and King Saud University covered medica-tion safety policy, adverse event reporting, assessing medication

quality and the pharmacist’s role in research.

Research, practice and direct patient care at Al Wakra Hospital were also discussed.

Dr Ayman El Kadi (pictured), Dean of the college, said: “The symposium showcases the impor-tance of medication safety and the pharmacist’s role.

“Its discussions and recom-mendations will serve to raise the

standard of practice in Qatar as the country moves towards fulfill-ing the National Health Strategy 2011-2016 with a skilled work-force, effective services and a world-class healthcare system.”

Dr Rasha Al Anany, Pharmacy Director, Al Wakra Hospital, said, “The symposium is an opportu-nity for healthcare providers, researchers and aspiring phar-macists in Qatar to engage in discussions on medication safety to stimulate enhanced health outcomes.

“It consolidates HMC’s com-mitment to provide the safest, most effective and most com-passionate care to each of our patients as delegates will have the chance to identify the best medication safety strategies and learn innovative ways of ensuring safe use of medication.”

Medication safety is a key area of research being conducted by the college. A two-year project by faculty members Dr Kerry

Wilbur and Dr Ahmed Awaisu is exploring medication errors at HMC practice sites in an NPRP-funded study in collaboration with HMC and Robert Gordon University, the UK, to improve prescription safety and attendant systems.

Dr Awaisu and Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor of Social and Administrative Pharmacy at the college, are collaborating with HMC’s Pharmacy Department research team as part of a memo-randum of understanding signed in 2013 by QU and HMC to find solutions to healthcare issues.

“We want to understand how the current system on adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting operates, health professionals’ beliefs and behaviours in pre-scribing and dispensing medica-tion, and key barriers of reporting and documenting ADR”, said Dr Moza Sulaiman Al Hail, Executive Director, Pharmacy, HMC.

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Symposium explores medication safety

DOHA: Al Rayan Municipality got eight new parks in Al Gharrafa, Al Sudan, Al Waab, Al Rayan, Abu Sidra, Al Rayan Al Jadid, Muithir and Al Shihaniya, said a senior official.

The municipality has also announced to resume the serv-ice to kill rodents and insects in homesteads, farms and housing facilities, after suspending it two years ago.

“Three new parks in Al Laqta, Ain Khalid, Al Murra Al Sharqiyah are under construction and renovation will be completed soon,” Muqbil Al Shammari from the Services Department at the municipality told Qatar News Agency (QNA).

Nine additional parks are to be built in coordination with the Public Parks Department and some roads and intersections are being renovated, he added.

Some 5,000 sidr plants are also being laid.

The service aims to make 3,823 homesteads and 1,281 farms rodent- and insect-free across the country by making it mandatory for owners to allow teams to carry out the task.

If they refuse, then licences of farms and homesteads will be cancelled as bugs might harm neighbouring farms.

A tender has been awarded to a company for three years to implement the project. Phase-1 started this month, with teams of the company visiting farms and homesteads to seek approval to carry out operations.

A survey is being conducted to make a list of affected facilities to start operation accordingly.

Phase-II will start in mid-Feb-ruary and pesticides and other materials will be used to get rid of rodents.

A new office to combat rodents has opened in Al Gharafa. A team has been trained and provided with equipment and vehicles to cover entire area under the municipality.

On services at the municipal-ity, Al Shammari said, “About 70 percent area of the municipality is suffering due to poor drainage services that left streets flooded. The municipality, in collaboration with Ashghal, is looking for a per-manent solution.

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DOHA: Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a two-day conference on power and its critical appraisal.

The forum, featuring top schol-ars and academics from across the world, will be held on February 3 and 4 on the campus.

It will present a sweeping appraisal of historical and con-temporary examples of power expressed through cultural, social, economic and political institu-tions and identify and analyse non-traditional modes of power emerging from dramatic political shifts worldwide.

“We are celebrating what GU-Q does best: Innovative thought. To celebrate 10 years of intellectual innovation at GU-Q, we want peo-ple to think of power in a new way and through thoughtful and innovative research in keeping with the university’s reputation as a premier research institution,” said Dr Amira Sonbol, Professor of History and member of the organising committee.

Dr Laura Doyle, Professor at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, will speak on ‘Inter-imperial Powerscapes’ and Dr Sherman Jackson, Professor at University of Southern California, will discuss ‘Islam and Power:

Between Shariah and the Islamic Secular’.

“As part of the anniversary cel-ebrations, we decided to organise a conference that would be inclu-sive of all fields researched and taught at GU-Q.

“In our discussions as a com-mittee it became apparent that the one subject that binds all of us — whether specialists in eco-nomics, political science, history, linguistics, anthropology or litera-ture — is power,” said Mohammed Reza Pirbhai, Associate Professor of History, GU-Q, and Chair of the conference’s working committee.

Dr Gerd Nonneman, Dean, GU-Q, said: “In only 10 short years, our multicultural commu-nity of alumni, students and fac-ulty have helped create some of the most meaningful research and knowledge about international affairs and the Middle East here.

“We hope to continue building on this momentum during the coming decade and the confer-ence is one wonderful signpost.”

The forum is open to the public and will include panels: Empire Then and Now; Within and Beyond the Nation-State; Empowering the Disempowered; Forging Knowledge and Culture; and Muslims in Global Perspective. THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) hosted the second Qatar orthopaedic review course, bringing together experts from across the world.

The course, organised by Bone and Joint Center in collaboration with the Department of Medical Education provided high quality education and training to ortho-paedic residents, particularly those planning to take the upcom-ing board examinations.

“The course is an opportunity for residents preparing for Arab Board exams, examination for Fellowship of Royal College of Surgeons, England and Saudi and Jordanian boards

“It is also beneficial for ortho-paedics seeking re-certification, or want to refresh knowledge and enhance practice,” said Dr Mohammed Al Khayarin, Senior Consultant, Orthopaedic Surgery Department, HMC.

Dr Abdulaziz Al Kuwari (pictured), Orthopaedic Spine Consultant, HMC, and member of the course organising commit-tee, said they decided to hold the course following the success of the first one last year.

“By offering the course at HMC, we have made it possi-ble for orthopaedic residents to

benefit from it in Qatar instead of having to travel abroad.

“The course aims to raise standards of care in the region as it attracts residents and con-sultants from the region.

“Last year, we had 30 partici-pants from Saudi Arabia and 10 from Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. I hope many more professionals will take advantage of the oppor-tunity,” he said.

Orthopaedic residents, special-ists and consultants in the region wanting to attend the course in future can email to orthoreview@hamad.qa. Details can be found on website http://qorc.hamad.qa/en/index.aspx.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) is inviting adventure lovers to participate in the second edition of Desert Caravan Challenge aimed to revive the Arab tradition of camel riding.

QTA will arrange two camel caravans for a 12km endurance ride in Zekreet, west of Qatar for the challenge organised in part-nership with Qatar Museums.

It is working to develop the tourism product by adding new creative elements every year. The caravan will be held in a differ-ent region each year. Last year’s challenge was held in Al Zubarah Fort.

Diversification of tourism

products helps advance the National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030 which aims to develop a mature and sustain-able tourism sector.

“Our strategy seeks to build a modern and sustainable tour-ism sector capable of attracting tourists from all over the world,” said Hassan Al Ibrahim, Chief Tourism Development Officer, QTA.

“The event contributes to the realisation of this vision as it diversifies offerings and sheds light on Qatar as a world tourism destination with deep cultural roots. It also promotes prehis-toric landmarks and showcases the beauty of the Qatari desert

and nature.” Al Ibrahim said he expects

enthusiastic response from the public, noting that QTA built on the success of last year’s chal-lenge which attracted hundreds.

Open to Qatari citizens and residents above 18, the caravan will be held on February 6-7. It will from outside the antiquated mosque in Zekreet (House of the Imam) and pass through the sce-nic desert sand to Zekreet Fort.

The caravan will stop for breaks near Richard Serra sculp-tures in Ras Brouq and the ruins of Zekreet village.

QTA will select 15 candidates for the first day and as many for the second day. The journey takes

between four and five hours and ends at the same location.

During the journey, the par-ticipants experience Qatari hos-pitality in tents in the middle of the desert.

The event is free but the ride will be a gruelling test of endur-ance that only adults in good physical condition should con-sider registering.

It open to male and female participants, including those who have little or no camel-riding experience, as qualified trainers will accompany the participants.

Aspiring adventurers can reg-ister on www.qatartourism.gov.qa/dcc

THE PENINSULA

Adventure lovers invited for Desert Caravan ChallengeQTA plans two camel endurance rides in Zekreet on February 6 and 7

DOHA: Karwa Driving School will be the health safety and environment (HSE) train-ing provider for emergency response vehicle drivers and defensive driving for Qatar Petroleum (QP) for the next three years.

Khalid Nasser Al Hail, CEO, Mowasalat, said, “QP awarded the contract to the school upon compliance with strict require-ments and high standard set by QP for providing specialised training for the company’s driv-ers and staff.

“We understand the high standard set by QP which is par-allel to our international accred-itation strategy and objectives. Having won the contract mani-fests the school and QP’s commit-ment to road safety.”

The school was the first to win ISO 9001-2008 certification in Qatar in 2009 and was accred-ited by driver training institutes in Europe and the US, including City and Guilds, Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents, Smith System, Lifting Equipment Engineers Association and

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

In 2012, the school received the Defensive Driving Course Trend Setter Award from National

Safety Council of the US.For this year, it was accredited

by International Road Transport Union as a training institute to deliver courses for truck and

bus drivers after it met the requirements of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe resolution on road traffic.

THE PENINSULA

Al Rayan Municipality gets eight new parks

Karwa Driving School ... a premier training institute

Karwa Driving School wins QP contract

Power forum to mark GU-Q anniversary

Qatar orthopaedic review course held

DAVOS: The Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani underlined Qatar’s successful experience in sup-porting and activating private sector’s role in various projects.

He was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It ends tomorrow.

During an interactive session ‘Growth of markets in the Arab world’, the Minister said coopera-tion between the government and the private sector would contrib-ute to Qatari market’s growth.

The session discussed politi-cal and social developments in

the Arab world, effects of ris-ing unemployment, falling oil prices and economic implications and challenges facing the Arab economies.

The Minister also spoke about steps that must be taken to achieve growth and prosperity in the Arab world in view of prob-lems such as unemployment and weak trade between Arab coun-tries, which grew from 7 percent to 14 percent in recent years but much below the target.

He highlighted measures to achieve the goal, including increasing economic coopera-tion between Arab countries,

restructuring the overall econ-omy and providing more support for the entrepreneurship sector and small and medium companies and achieving complementarity between trade and investment.

On the sidelines, the Minister met Saudi Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah and discussed trade, economic and investment relations and ways of developing and taking advantage of experi-ences and expertise between both countries in light of the growing trade exchange between them, which reached 8bn riyals.

A total of 388 Saudi companies

are operating in the Qatari market.

Qatar’s participation in the forum comes at a time when its economy is growing due to the diversification of sources of rev-enue as the non-oil sector con-tinues to stimulate economic growth.

Qatar seeks to present its vision for investments, economic growth and regional and interna-tional trade because of its global and regional weight, high-level of income, low unemployment rates and transparency that has put Qatar in the first rank in Arab world. QNA

Qatar’s support to private sector highlighted in Davos

ISLAM 05FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

French film director finds Islam after Charlie attacks

French director Isabelle Matic has announced her decision to revert

to Islam on her FaceBook account, making the unex-pected announcement only a few days after Charlie Hebdo Paris attacks.

“Today, I passed through the first pillar of Islam. There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet,” Matic said in a message posted on her Facebook page on January 11.

She followed her announcement with a series of posts in which she thanked Moroccan actor Hicham Bahloul for announcing her decision on Moroccan papers.

In another message, she described how she took the decision and its effect on her beliefs in freedom of expression.

“Between the massacre at the premises of Charlie Hebdo and other event that have followed: I became a Muslim,” Matic wrote.

“Am I still for freedom of expression for all and Charlie Hebdo in particu-lar?! Yes,” Matic wrote yesterday.

“With regard to my posi-tion towards the caricatures of the Prophet, I will write you the text of the SMS that I received this morn-ing from a mosque which agreed quite well with my thoughts since the begin-ning of the cartoons, well before I became a Muslim,” she added

“They are making fun of Prphet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and do not harm him. They are making fun of a character that they have imagined and to whom they have given a name. This man is not our Prophet,” she wrote.

The new Muslim referred to the early life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) when non-believers rejected his calls to Islam.

“The Makkans laughed at the Prophet. The prophet was smiling. Yes, he was smiling!

“The wisdom is the answer to provocations. And this is what our beloved Prophet has taught us.

“So when Charlie Hebdo will be published insha ‘ Allah (God willing), do not pay attention. Do not respond to the provocation. And do not give them of importance,” she added.

In its new edition, Charlie Hebdo magazine features a cartoon of a man they claim to be the prophet of Islam on the cover.

The cover depicts Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) with a tear falling from his cheek, holding a sign that says, “Je suis Charlie” under the headline “All Is Forgiven.”

The edition is the first after two gunmen attacked the magazine’s headquar-ters in Paris, killing 10 journalists and two police-men. Two of the dead were Muslims, an editor and a police cop.

It culminates the maga-zine’s long history of offend-ing millions of Muslims worldwide. Agencies

Supporting the oppressedHold fast, all together, by the rope

which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among your-selves. ( Quran 3:103)

The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practice regular charity, and obey Allah and His Apostle. On them will Allah pour His mercy: for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise. (9:71)

The above injunctions in the Quran clearly teach us that at all times, and most particularly in

times of trials and tribulations, it is the duty of Muslims to stand together helping and supporting one another. Allah has decreed that the Muslims should form an Ummah (a closely-knit commu-nity) that loves and cares for one another and are ever willing to make sacrifices for one another.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught that the Muslim Ummah should act like a body: If one part of the body

suffers pain, the other part also suffers. When there is such a spirit of mutual trust and help, there will be unity and strength, safety and security. Unity was the blessing the early Muslims had when they faced threats of extinc-tion, so they could confront their enemies with confidence and put an end to injustice and oppression.

The sad state of affairs faced by Muslim peoples today is undoubt-edly due to the fact that we do not follow the guidance of Allah Almighty given in the Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet. Consequently, Muslims in one part of the world are apathetic when Muslims in another part are tortured, dismembered, and massacred.

Allah tells us in the Quran:And why should ye not fight in

the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated (and oppressed)? — Men, women, and children, whose cry is: “Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will protect;

and raise for us from thee one who will help! (4:75)

This evidently is a direct and categorical command from Allah to Muslims to fight for the libera-tion of the weak and the helpless people from oppression and tyr-anny; and note that this fight is real jihad in the cause of Allah Almighty.

In view of the foregoing, we may outline the ways in which we can respond to the present scenario:

First of all, we must utilise all the political means to protect our brothers and sisters, and what is more, we must urge our rulers to be committed to the welfare of the Ummah. Also, we must persuade the United Nations, the European Union, and even the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to stop adopting policies that directly or indirectly support the tyrants and oppressors.

Individually and collectively we should raise funds to help our brothers and sisters in need, and we should use the media to

bring before the world’s eye the sufferings of oppressed Muslims. We need to highlight the targeted killings, the ruthless demolition of civilians’ homes, the blatant dep-rivation of basic needs inflicted on the innocent and the defenseless people by the tyrants.

With the help and cooperation of our religious leaders as well as fearless journalists and activists, we should wage a relentless jihad for the liberation of the oppressed. We should indeed adopt all pos-sible measures to effectively resist all forms of oppression, exploita-tion, aggression, and occupation. Indeed, we should relearn the very purpose and meaning of “striving with might and main” in the way of Allah.

Also, through constant and sin-cere prayers to Allah Almighty, we need to lend moral and emo-tional support to those oppressed people who are deprived of their means of livelihood and their very human dignity. And this is the least we can do for our brothers and sisters. www.onislam.net

BY M ABDUSSALAM

The dealings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) with other religions can best be described in the verse of the Quran:

“To you be your religion, to me be mine.”The Arabian Peninsula during the time

of the Prophet was a region in which various faiths were present. There were Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, polytheists, and others not affiliated with any religion. When one looks into the life of the Prophet, one may draw on many examples to portray the high level of tolerance shown to people of other faiths.

In order to understand and judge this tolerance, one must look into the period in which Islam was a formal state, with the specific laws laid down by the Prophet in accordance with the tenets of religion. Even though one can observe many exam-ples of tolerance shown by the Prophet in the thirteen years of his stay in Makkah, one may incorrectly think that it was only due to seeking to raise the profile of the Muslims and the social status of Islam and in general. For this reason, the discussion will be limited to the period which com-menced with the migration of the Prophet to Madinah, and specifically once the con-stitution was set.

The best example of the tolerance shown by the Prophet to other religions may be the constitution itself, called the ‘Saheefah’ by early historians. When the Prophet migrated to Madinah, his role as a mere religious leader ended; he was now the political leader of a state, governed by the precepts of Islam, which demanded that clear laws of governance be laid out to ensure harmony and stability in a society which once had been distraught by dec-ades of war, one which must ensure the peaceful coexistence of Muslims, Jews, Christians and polytheists. Due to this,

the Prophet laid down a ‘constitution’ which detailed the responsibilities of all parties which resided in Madinah, their obligations towards each other, and certain restrictions which were placed on each. All parties were to obey what was mentioned therein, and any breach of its articles was regarded as an act of treachery.

ONE NATION

The first article of the constitution was that all the inhabitants of Madinah, the Muslims as well as those who had entered the pact from the Jews, Christian, and idol-aters, were “one nation to the exclusion of all others.” All were considered members and citizens of Madinah society regardless of religion, race, or ancestry. People of other faiths were protected from harm as much as the Muslims, as is stated in another arti-cle, “To the Jews who follow us belong help and equity. He shall not be harmed nor his enemies be aided.” Previously, each tribe had their alliances and enemies within and without Madinah. The Prophet gathered these different tribes under one system of governance which upheld pacts of alliances previously in existence between those indi-vidual tribes. All tribes had to act as a whole with disregard to individual alliances. Any attack on other religion or tribe was con-sidered an attack on the state and upon the Muslims as well.

The lives of the practitioners of other religions in the Muslim society was also given protective status. The Prophet said:

“Whoever kills a person who has a truce with the Muslims will never smell the fra-grance of Paradise.” (Saheeh Muslim)

Since the upper hand was with the Muslims, the Prophet strictly warned against any maltreatment of people of other faiths. He said:

“Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a non-Muslim minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more than they can

bear, or takes anything from them against their free will; I will complain against the per-son on the Day of Judgment.” (Abu Dawud)

TO EACH THEIR OWN RELIGION

In another article, it states, “the Jews have their religion and the Muslims have theirs.” In this, it is clear that anything other than tolerance would not be toler-ated, and that, although all were members of a society, each had their separate reli-gion which could not be violated. Each was allowed to practice their beliefs freely with-out any hindrances, and no acts of provoca-tion would be tolerated.

There are many other articles of this constitution which may be discussed, but emphasis will be placed on an article which states, “If any dispute or controversy likely to cause trouble should arise, it must be referred to God and His Messenger.”

This clause maintained that all inhabit-ants of the state must recognize a higher level of authority, and in those matters which involved various tribes and religions, justice could not be meted out by individual leaders; rather it must be adjudicated by the leader of the state himself or his des-ignated representatives. It was allowed, however, for individual tribes who were not Muslims, to refer to their own reli-gious scriptures and their learned men in regards to their own personal affairs. They could though, if they opted, ask the Prophet to judge between them in their matters. God says in the Quran: “…If they do come to you, either judge between them or decline to interfere...” (Quran 5:42)

Here we see that the Prophet allowed each religion to judge in their own matters according to their own scriptures, as long as it did not stand in opposition to articles of the constitution, a pact which took into account the greater benefit of the peace-ful co-existence of the society. There are many other examples during the lifetime of

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in addition to the Saheefah that practically portray the tolerance Islam shows for other religions.

Given consent by the constitution, the Jews had the complete freedom to practice their religion. The Jews in Madinah at the time of the Prophet had their own school of learning, named Baitul Midras, where they would recite the Torah, worship and educate themselves.

The Prophet emphasised in many let-ters to his emissaries that religious insti-tutions should not be harmed. Here in a letter addressed to his emissary to the reli-gious leaders of Saint Catherine in Mount Sinai who has sought the protection of the Muslims:

“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my fol-lowers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are declared to be pro-tected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).”

(“Muslim and Non-Muslims, Face-to-Face”, Ahmad Sakr. Foundation for Islamic Knowledge, Lombard IL).

As one can see, this Charter consisted of several clauses covering all important aspects of human rights, including such topics as the protection of minorities liv-ing under Islamic rule, freedom of worship and movement, freedom to appoint their own judges and to own and maintain their property, exemption from military service, and the right to protection in war.

On another occasion, the Prophet received a delegation of sixty Christians from the region of Najran, then a part of Yemen, at his mosque. When the time for their prayer came, they faced the direction of east and prayed. The Prophet ordered that they be left in their state and not harmed.

There are also examples in the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in which he cooperated with people of other faiths in the political arena as well. He selected a non-Muslim, Amr ibn Umaiyah Al Damri, as an ambassador to be sent to Negus, the King of Ethiopia.

These are only some of the examples of the Prophet’s tolerance of other faiths. Islam recognises that there are a plural-ity of religions on this earth, and gives the right to individuals to choose the path which they believe to be true. Religion is not to be, and was never, forced upon an individual against their own will, and these examples from the life of the Prophet are an epitome of the verse of the Quran which promotes religious tolerance and sets the guideline for the Muslims’ interaction with people of other faiths. God says:

“…There is no compulsion in religion…” (Quran 2:256)

www.islamreligion.com

Many mistakenly believe that Islam does not tolerate the existence of other religions in the world. This article discusses some of the foundations the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) laid to deal with people of other faiths, with practical examples from his lifetime.

The tolerance of the Prophet

Allah tells in

the Quran:

“And why should

ye not fight in the

cause of Allah

and of those who,

being weak, are

ill-treated (and

oppressed)? —

Men, women,

and children,

whose cry is: “Our

Lord! Rescue us

from this town,

whose people are

oppressors; and

raise for us from

thee one who will

protect; and raise

for us from thee

one who will help!”

(4:75)

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BY FRANCIS GHILES

AS HORRENDOUS as they were, the Paris murders were not a bolt from the blue, nor were they a French

9/11. They may have provoked a show of unity unprecedented since the vic-tory parades of 1945, but they have also unleashed a collective trauma about the state of French identity and specifi-cally the impact of 5 million Muslims on Republican values.

France may not be about to collapse, but its leaders and citizens must ask themselves some hard questions. In attempting to analyse these issues, France is caught between the alleg-edly rational views of the left and the

irrational views of the extreme right. The traditional secular anti-reli-gious agenda of the left has mutated into a public dis-course about identity, while the anti-immigration obsession of the Front National has become part of mainstream debate. Left and extreme right now secure equal space as contributors to the national con-versation about multiculturalism, but neither can supply answers as

to how France will hold together in the next few months, let alone years.

On both left and right, French leaders are apparently incapable of thinking for the 21st century. This is reflected in for-eign policy: since Jacques Chirac’s stand against the US-led invasion of Iraq, the proud Gaullist tradition of France’s for-eign policy has moved steadily closer to Israel and sponsored ill-conceived mili-tary interventions such as in Libya in 2011. Charles de Gaulle, who once wrote

“vers l’orient compliqué, je m’envolais avec des idées simples” (“to the com-plicated east, I send my simple ideas”), must be turning in his grave. Today’s political elite is too reactionary and hidebound to understand the virtues of multiculturalism, and develop a bold new French identity as De Gaulle did after the loss of Algeria in 1962.

Before the massive Je suis Charlie march through Paris, the presi-dent sought to dissuade Binyamin Netanyahu from attending while the prime minister, Manuel Valls, was encouraging him to join. Nicolas Sarkozy proclaimed on television that he would seek to meet leaders of the Muslim community: for example, the Conseil Français du Culte Musulman of the Grande Mosquée de Paris. Such organisations however, represent nobody but themselves and carry no weight in local communities.

It is little understood, however, that the Republic’s cherished values of secularism and freedom of speech his-torically have a darker side. The civil liberties now idealised emerged during a period of colonial rule. As the historian Arthur Asseraf reminds us, France’s iconic freedom of the press law, passed in 1881 and still enforced today, was designed in part to exclude France’s Muslim subjects.

The law protected the rights of all French citizens, explicitly all those in Algeria and the colonies, but excluded the subjects who were the majority of the population. In colonial Algeria, “citizens” were all those who were not Muslims, and the terms musulman or indigène usually overlapped. Muslim was a racialised legal category stripped of any religious significance.

Maybe the banlieues of today could be best understood as the Algeria of the 19th century: the legacy of French apartheid must be borne in mind when considering the problems of minori-ties. In the starkest indictment ever of French society by a senior government official, Valls said on Wednesday that “a geographic, social, ethnic apartheid has developed in our country”. The furious

reaction to his remark hardly augurs well for a reasoned debate. Yet, in the banlieues of Paris, more than 50 percent of young people, often Muslim, are unem-ployed. They are hitting the glass wall between them and the workplace; pris-oners with a north African father out-number prisoners with a French father by nine to one for the 18-29 age group, and six to one in the 20-39 age group. This points to a massive failure of French society to integrate minority groups.

Fifteen years ago, the secretary gen-eral of the CFDT trade union, Nicole Notat, asked the CNRS research organisation to conduct a study of racial discrimination at work: the results were an indictment of French companies. Many young, qualified Muslims had to fake Christian names and identities to have a chance of get-ting a job and, preferably, not post their letters from a banlieue.

Facts are stubborn: the radicalised young people who attacked Charlie Hebdo in no way represent the van-guard nor express the frustrations of all Muslims in France. Facts however hardly seem to figure in this fevered atmosphere. Falling into a binary trap which pits coloniser against colo-nised, white against black, collabora-tors against resistance fighters, does immense damage.

Yes, freedom of speech must be defended, but the real challenge for France is to sustain the solidarity shown in the wake of Charlie Hebdo. French minorities — not only Muslims — must be encouraged to preserve whatever identity they embrace but equally to pass through the glass walls which have surrounded them for so long. Above all, French leaders must reinvent a new identity for France that builds on its vibrant culture but accepts the world of today.

They must make bold economic reforms which offer jobs to young peo-ple. A new identity will take years to build, but the future of one of the two founding states of modern Europe looks sombre indeed if they fail.

GUARDIAN NEWS

EUROPEAN foreign ministers met Monday to consider proposals for resuming diplomatic contacts and

cooperation with Russia in a range of areas — a strategy pressed by several governments that wish to paper over the breach opened by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Unfortunately for the doves, the discussion came just as Russian forces, after several weeks of relative calm, launched a new offensive in eastern Ukraine.

By Tuesday, the Ukrainian gov-ernment and the US ambassador to Ukraine were reporting that fresh Russian army units were crossing the

border and attacking Ukrainian posi-tions north of the city of Luhansk and at the Donetsk airport. “The situation,” European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told us shortly after arriving in Washington, “is not going in the right direction.” Appropriately, the European ministers concluded there were no grounds for altering the exist-ing sanctions on Russia, some of which will come up for renewal at a summit meeting in March — and the plan for detente came under heavy criticism.

The episode illustrates a pervasive disconnect in Western thinking about the regime of Vladimir Putin. As Kadri Liik of the European Council on Foreign

Relations pointed out recently, many Western leaders persist in seeing the Ukraine invasion as a hiccup in relations with Russia that can be smoothed over, rather than as a demonstration that Mr. Putin’s agenda is fundamentally at odds with Europe’s security interests and its values. Because of their attachment to the hiccup theory, governments — including the Obama administration — have refused to take steps, such as providing the Ukrainian government with defensive weapons, that could help stop Mr. Putin’s aggression. Instead, they concoct futile schemes for “reen-gaging” the Russian ruler.

Mogherini, a former Italian foreign

minister often described as a lead-ing advocate of this soft line, told us that she did not foresee “a return to business as usual” with Moscow. She stressed that European ministers were committed to the principle that any alteration of sanctions must be linked to Russia’s full implementation of the Minsk agreement, an accord signed in September that requires the removal of Russian forces from Ukraine and international monitoring of the border. Meeting those terms would require an unprecedented reversal from Putin, who has never allowed a Russian retreat from occupied territories in Eurasia. The Washington Post

If France is to build new identity, it must address its apartheid

“I believe that I have not been able to achieve the goals for which I took up my duties. Yemen’s political leaders had failed “to lead the country to calmer waters.”

Quote ofthe day

Abdrabuh Mansur HadiYemeni leader

The other side

Prison and employment figures point towards a failure by French society to integrate minority groups such as Muslims.

THE invitation extended by President Obama’s Republican opponents to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of the Congress in March has opened a political debate

with the White House calling the invite a breach of protocol. The Republican House Speaker John Boehner said he had invited Netanyahu to deliver his third address to a joint meeting of Congress on March 3, saying the invite carries unwavering commitment by the US to the security and well-being of the people of Israel. But the White House says it had not been consulted before sending the invitation as the protocol stipulates that a foreign leader contacts the leader of the country when he plans to visit.

Boehner’s invitation comes as a rebuff to Obama, who in his State of the Union address on Tuesday repeated his call for lawmakers not to impose new sanctions against Iran as talks on its nuclear programme continue in Geneva. In his speech Obama argued that a negotiated deal would secure the US and its allies — including Israel — while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict. Four European foreign policy chiefs have issued a joint call in support of Obama’s position yesterday.

Netanyahu has called Iran’s nuclear push the most vital national security challenge his nation faces. A war-monger politician, he always insists military solutions. The latest

provocation is an Israeli raid on the Syrian parts of Golan Heights which saw the killing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah commanders and a top Iranian general.

When the world seeks peace, Israeli leaders are busy promoting war and terror. Unfortunately, we see the United States always succumbing to Israel’s nefarious interests which are evident in the Palestinian crisis. The US was the leading force at the UN Security Council to defeat the statehood aspirations of the Palestinians. It also slammed the Palestinian leadership for joining the

International Criminal Court (ICC) to sue Israel over war crimes. The US has already hinted that using the ICC to pursue Israel would hinder the aspirations of Palestinian people for statehood. A senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has threatened to withdraw millions of dollars of American aid to the Palestinians for the move.

Obama administration’s criticism of Netanyahu’s decision to freeze the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian is nothing but a smoke screen as the US has not seriously asked Israel to release the fund.

If Obama is sincere about freeing the Middle East from conflicts, he must rethink about the policies of the US in the occupied Palestine as well which is the burning issue the region has been facing for more than five decades. Succumbing to Israeli pressure and denying the statehood aspirations of the Palestinians will not help create a peaceful Middle East.

Conflict-free Mideast

When the world seeks peace, Israeli leaders are busy promoting war.

Editorial

06 VIEWS FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

War returns to Ukraine

VIEWS 07FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

BY FRANK JACK DANIEL

When Sri Lanka unex-pectedly turfed out President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an elec-tion this month, it

was the biggest setback in decades for China’s expansion into South Asia — and a remarkable diplomatic victory for India.

Despite New Delhi’s protestations, diplomats and politicians in the region say India played a role in organising the opposition against pro-China Rajapaksa.

His successor, President Maithripala Sirisena, has said India is the “first, main concern” of his foreign policy and that he will review all projects awarded to Chinese firms, including a sea reclama-tion development in Colombo that would give Beijing a strategic toehold on India’s doorstep.

India has pushed back against China elsewhere in the region since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in May, improving ties with Japan and Vietnam, both locked in territorial dis-putes with Beijing, and contesting a port project in Bangladesh that could other-wise have been a cakewalk for China.

The new robust diplomacy, which Modi calls “Act East”, has delighted Washington, which has been nudging India for years to dovetail with the US strategic pivot toward the region.

When President Barack Obama makes a landmark visit to India starting Sunday, he will be the chief guest at New Delhi’s showpiece Republic Day military parade, and rarely for a presidential trip, is not scheduled to visit any other country before returning to Washington.

Evan Medeiros, Obama’s point man for Asian diplomacy, told a conference at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday that Obama would discuss Modi’s shift from “Look East” to “Act East” when he was in India.

“We are looking very seriously at ways in which the US and India can work more together in the Asia Pacific on a whole range of issues,” said Medeiros, director for Asia at the White House’s National Security Council.

Medeiros also referred to a trilateral security dialogue involving the United States, Japan, and India.

Washington made no bones about its distaste for Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa, who critics accuse of war crimes, corruption and nepotism. But until last year India was indecisive, perhaps afraid of pushing the hero of the war against Tamil sepa-ratists even closer to China.

That changed in September, when Rajapaksa allowed a Chinese submarine to dock in Colombo, without informing India, as it was bound to under an exist-ing agreement. “That was the last straw,” a senior Indian diplomat said.

“He told Modi: “the next time I will keep you informed,”” the diplomat said, a promise that was broken when the sub-marine visited again in November.

In the build up to the January 8 elec-tion, India played a role in uniting Sri Lanka’s usually fractious opposition, for which the station chief of India’s spy agency was expelled, diplomatic and political sources say.

“At least that was the percep-tion of Mahinda Rajapkasa,” said MA Sumanthiran, a prominent member of the Tamil National Alliance, a coalition

of parties close to India. “He managed to get one of their top diplomats recalled.”

The Indian government denies any of its officers was expelled. But Sumanthiran said Modi had in a meeting encouraged the Tamil alliance to join forces with oth-ers in politics.

“The Indians realised that you can’t do business with this man and they were hoping for a change,” he said.

On last Friday, Sri Lanka said it would review a $1.5bn deal with China Communication Construction Co Ltd to build a 233 hectare patch of real estate on redeveloped land overlooking Colombo’s South Port.

In return, China was to get land on a freehold basis in the development. This is of particular concern for India, the destination for the majority of the trans shipment cargo through Colombo.

“The message is clear, that you do not ignore Indian security concerns,” said the Indian diplomatic source.

Modi is looking for similar good news elsewhere in South Asia. He has already visited Nepal twice, becoming the first Indian prime minister to travel to the Himalayan buffer state with China in 17 years, and signing long delayed power projects.

India has muscled into an $8bn deep water port project that Bangladesh wants to develop in Sonadia in the Bay of Bengal, with the Adani Group, a com-pany close to Modi, submitting a proposal in October. China Harbour Engineering Company, an early bidder, was previously the front-runner.

“Modi is willing to engage on long-term issues that stretch beyond India’s bor-der, including maritime security in the

Obama visit a boost for India’s Act East policy

An Indian kitemaker poses with kites adorned with images of US President Barack Obama (right) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Amritsar.

South China Sea, as well as North Korea and Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria,” said Richard Rossow at policy think tank CSIS. “That’s when we start to think about India as a regional glo-bal provider — or as a global provider of security.”

However, the bonhomie has limits —India and the United States do not see eye-to-eye on Pakistan, New Delhi’s traditional foe that enjoys substantial funding from Washington.

Tricky conflicts over trade and intel-lectual property hold back business,

and India has limits to its ability to project force outside its immediate neighbourhood.

But Modi’s policies mark a departure from India’s traditional non-aligned approach to foreign power blocs.

“Having the US president at the Republic Day celebration is a good thing, he is blessing Modi,” said Mohan Guruswamy, of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a think-tank.

“And that is a lesson to the Chinese that you have to mend your fences with us.” REUTERS

India has pushed back against China in the region since Narendra Modi took office in May, improving ties with Japan and Vietnam, both locked in territorial disputes with Beijing, and contesting a port project in Bangladesh that could otherwise have been a cakewalk for China.

BY LUKE HARDING

Nigeria’s current military strat-egy for defeating Boko Horam is unlikely to succeed, analysts have warned, with the inter-

national community largely powerless to defeat the increasingly rampant Islamist group.

Corruption inside the Nigerian army, unpaid wages, and mutinies among troops have all facilitated Boko Haram’s rise, they said. On Sunday the sect, which has killed thousands in its bid to carve out an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, kidnapped about 80 people in neighbouring Cameroon. The victims of this latest cross-border attack included many children. The Cameroon army subsequently managed to free 20 of the hostages.

Dr Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos, an associate fellow at Chatham House’s Africa programme, said Nigeria’s presi-dent, Goodluck Jonathan, had been mani-festly unable to halt Boko Haram’s advance. The opposition leader, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking to unseat Jonathan in the election on February 14, may be bet-ter able to overhaul the country’s dysfunc-tional military, he suggested.

“The best hope [of defeating Boko Haram] would be the elections. For me the problem is in Nigeria. The answer is in Nigeria.” He added: “I’m confident that so long as President Jonathan is in charge there isn’t much that can be done. He isn’t in control of the military leadership. And the leadership doesn’t control the soldiers on the ground.”

Others, however, were sceptical that the elections would bring about change, predicting instead that they would fur-ther polarise divisions between a largely Muslim north and Christian south. Buhari, a Muslim, draws most of his support from Nigeria’s northern provinces, where Boko Haram is active. The group rejects the idea of a secular state. It has promised to dis-rupt the polls.

“Nigerian politics is a violent and dan-gerous game. Gangs of thugs are hired to intimidate rivals,” Martin Roberts, senior Africa analyst at IHS Global Insight, said. Roberts predicted that neither side would concede defeat, with suspicion in the north

Nigeria’s prospects for defeating Boko Haram look bleak

People hold a banner reading “Support and encouragements to the defence and security forces in the fight against Boko Haram”, during a gathering in Yaounde.

that Jonathan was deliberately allowing Boko Haram to flourish in an attempt to disenfranchise Buhari’s supporters.

Montclos, meanwhile, said there was rel-atively little the international community could do, following several well-meaning but doomed attempts to boost the Nigerian military. The US offered surveillance and intelligence help after Boko Haram kid-napped 279 schoolgirls last April during a raid in Chibok, deep in north-eastern Nigeria, sparking global outrage. But an American plan to equip a new Nigerian bat-talion ended last month in an acrimonious squabble between Washington and Abuja.

Nigerian commanders insisted that the US supply them with attack helicopters and fighter jets to wipe out Boko Haram, some-thing that the White House was unwilling

to do, given the army’s poor human rights record. The Nigerian government then abruptly terminated the final phase of the programme. Successive central govern-ments have also deliberately hollowed out the army because of a pervasive fear it could stage a coup.

Tensions between Nigeria and its neigh-bours, meanwhile, made the prospect of a regional peacekeeping operation fraught.

At a summit last May the French presi-dent, François Hollande, announced a new regional force, comprising troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and the Republic of Niger. Each country was meant to sup-ply 700 troops. But by November the force had failed to materialise. Ghana’s president, John Mahama, who currently heads the west African Ecowas bloc, last week said

that an army to fight Boko Haram could be created under African Union auspices. “It’s pie in the sky. It isn’t going to happen,” Roberts predicted.

With Boko Haram staging a series of audacious cross-border raids, Nigeria’s neighbours were now busy defending their own territory. On Monday a convoy of troops from Chad arrived in Maroua, the main town in Cameroon’s far north.

The Chadian army — which helped French forces drive out Al Qaida-linked jihadis from northern Mali in 2013 — has deployed around 2,000 soldiers. Cameroon has also sent thousands of additional troops to its border with Nigeria.

According to Montclos, Chad’s chief goal is to protect its economic interests. Much of Chad’s oil is exported via northern

Cameroon. “This is the main reason they intervened,” he said. The obstacles pre-venting a regional task force appear insur-mountable, observers say. Cameroon and Nigeria have difficult relations.

Niger — a stable, smaller state, with a relatively disciplined army — has found it impossible to coordinate actions against Boko Haram with its Nigerian counter-part. “Military officers from the Republic of Niger complain that when they call the Nigerian army nobody picks up. What kind of regional cooperation are we talk-ing about?” Montclos asked.

His recent Chatham House report argues that Boko Haram, which has taken control of Borno state in Nigeria’s north-east, is adept at exploiting the state’s chronic insti-tutional weaknesses.

It knows the local terrain well, can navi-gate around a demoralised and deficient security presence, and is able to attack villages with total impunity. Government troops on the ground suffer from low morale. Local vigilante forces have been unable to stave off violent Boko Haram operations.

On January 3, Boko Haram launched a bloody assault on the towns of Baga and Doron, killing hundreds and razing the area to the ground. Roberts said the army had withdrawn ahead of the raid, after being told the Nigerian air force was about to bomb the rebels. But the plane never arrived. Typically, the army runs away when Boko Haram advances, he said. Since 2009 Nigeria’s security forces have waged a bru-tal anti-insurgency campaign, character-ised by massacres, extra-judicial killings and arrests without trial.

This onslaught has alienated many civil-ians and driven communities into the arms of Boko Haram. This repression has driven recruitment, with Boko Haram expanding from an estimated 4,000 members in 2009 to 6,000-8,000 in 2014.

A new report on Tuesday said that the rapidly escalating insurgency had forced a million people to flee their homes. The International Organisation for Migration said there was “growing evidence” of tur-moil spreading across Nigeria’s frontiers into neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad, in addition to those internally dis-placed by the fighting. THE GUARDIAN

08 MIDDLE EASTFRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

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Gunmen kill security chief in LibyaTRIPOLI: Armed men shot dead yesterday the head of secu-rity in the Islamist-held coastal city of Sirte, hometown of slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a security source said.

Colonel Senussi Kaiba was killed along with his driver when gunmen opened fire at their car in a residential area of the city, the source said. Security services were placed on high alert and a manhunt launched for the assail-ants who fled after the attack, the source added.

Two days earlier a local admin-istration official escaped unhurt after gunmen opened fire at him in a similar attack.

Sirte is in the hands of Islamist militias, including Ansar al-Sharia, which the UN added to its terror list in November over links to Al Qaeda and for running camps for the Islamic State jihad-ist group. The Far Libya (Libya Dawn) alliance of Islamist-backed militias is also present in the city which lies 500km east of Tripoli.

South Sudan rivals sign agreement ARUSHA, TANZANIA: South Sudan peace talks got a major breakthrough as rival factions of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed an agreement aimed at reunifying the his-torical party. Intense efforts spearheaded by regional leaders — which saw the Arusha meet-ing get into late night hours - marks a turning point in the bloody conflict.

AGENCIES

LONDON: Iraq yesterday called on the international community to provide more weapons to help it push back Islamic State amid growing fears the jihadists are planning to bring their fight to the streets of Europe.

Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi, speaking in London at a meeting of the international coali-tion, also warned of the impact of falling oil prices on his country’s ability to defeat IS.

“We don’t want to see a mili-tary defeat because of budget and fiscal problems,” Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi told reporters after talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry and minis-ters from 19 other countries in London.

The United States assembled a coalition of about 60 countries last year, including Arab nations, to take action against the Islamist

group after it seized a swathe of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Coalition members have con-ducted almost 2,000 air strikes against IS targets in the past four months, killing “thousands” of its fighters — including “50 percent of the top command”, Kerry said.

“They have definitively put Daesh on the defensive where those strikes take place and in that particular region,” he said, referring to the IS group by its Arabic acronym.

But Iraq’s security forces are on the frontline of the ground battle and they are struggling.

The former head of Britain’s MI6 secret intelligence service, John Sawers, said this week that an attack in the UK was now “highly likely” due to a “hardened core” of militants returning home from fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Abadi, who before the meeting

had talks with Prime Minister David Cameron in Downing Street, said there had been a recent increase in the delivery of weapons to his security forces, and reported a positive response at yesterday’s talks to a request to defer payment.

But he warned that the 60-per-cent fall in world oil prices since June had been “disastrous” for his country, where 90 percent of the budget is dependent on oil.

“Iraq needs weapons — and the international community has the ability to provide Iraq with the weapons it needs,” Abadi said at a press conference flanked by Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

Both foreign ministers prom-ised to supply what Iraq needed, saying the London meeting was intended to take stock of progress so far and establish what more

action was needed. “We’ve heard very clearly what he said,” Hammond said. “This campaign is not going to fail for want of some guns or some bullets in the hands of the Iraqi security forces.”

Kerry added that the IS group “is not simply a Syrian problem, it’s not an Iraqi problem — Daesh is global problem”.

The meeting was the second held by the coalition but unlike December’s talks in Brussels, only core members were invited.

It was their first chance to discuss as a group this month’s attacks in Paris against the satiri-cal magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket, which left 17 people dead and were claimed by Al Qaeda in Yemen and the IS group.

Looming over the meeting was also the today’s deadline imposed by IS militants threatening to kill

two Japanese nationals unless they are paid a $200m ransom.

“Terrorists want to drive us apart, but in fact their actions have had the opposite effect, they’re bringing us together,” Kerry said ahead of the meeting at the lavish 19th century Lancaster House in central London.

Asked about the Paris attacks, and terror raids in Belgium last week, the US diplomat said the public should take heart.

“In a sense we are flushing them out. These sleeper cells have been there for years now,” he said, adding that they represented “the challenge of our time”.

The coalition will set up expert-level groups to address specific issues relating to the IS group, from stopping the flow of foreign fighters that swell its ranks to cutting off sources of funding and their resources. AFP

CAIRO: An Egyptian court yesterday ordered the release of ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s two sons pend-ing their retrial on corruption charges, a judicial official said.

Their lawyer Farid Al Deeb said Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were free to leave prison after the court order because they had served the maximum pretrial detention period.

A police official said the Cairo prison holding them had received notice of the release order.

Egypt’s public prosecutor yes-terday ordered the release of 100 students arrested in a crackdown on protests since late 2013, ahead of the fourth anniversary of a popular uprising.

The students, who have not been formally charged, will be set free out of “concern for their academic future”, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Mubarak, unseated in Egypt’s 2011 uprising, was convicted by a lower court on corruption charges with his two sons last year, with Alaa and Gamal receiving four-year sentences.

Their charges included embez-zling at least $16m earmarked for the maintenance of presidential palaces.

The retrial was ordered this

month and Deeb said at the time that the elder Mubarak, who is in a military hospital, would also be a free man.

But state media reported there had been no orders yet for his release and there have been no signs of the 86-year-old leaving the hospital.

The release of the Mubaraks presents a dilemma for President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, a former army chief whom opponents accuse of reviving Mubarak-era practices.

Sisi took power after oust-ing Egypt’s first post-revolution leader — Islamist president Mohamed Mursi — in 2013 and won an election with massive sup-port last year.

But he has faced accusations of being even more authoritar-ian than Mubarak, unleashing a crackdown on Mursi support-ers that has killed at least 1,400 people. The possible release of the Mubaraks so close to the January 25 anniversary of the 2011 revolt might especially antagonise gov-ernment critics.

After the court’s announce-ment, several dozen Islamists tried to hold a protest in central Cairo but police dispersed them, an interior ministry official said.

Mursi, a leader of the Islamist

MOGADISHU: At least five people were killed yesterday in a suicide car bombing against a hotel in Mogadishu on the eve of a visit to the Somali capital by Turkey’s president, police said.

Sources at the hotel, situated close to the heavily-fortified pres-idential palace, said there were around 70 members of a Turkish delegation in the hotel at the time, but none of them were killed or seriously hurt in the blast.

Somalia’s Al Qaeda-affiliated Shebab rebels — who are fight-ing to overthrow the country’s internationally-backed govern-ment — said they carried out the bombing, the latest in a string of attacks by the group against high-profile targets in Mogadishu.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a major investor in Somalia, is due in Mogadishu today in what will be a rare visit by a foreign leader. Officials said the trip would go ahead as planned.

“Five people were killed in the attack, among them three security guards,” police official Mohamed

Adan said. “The attacker drove a car loaded with explosives aim-ing at the gate of the hotel but did not manage to get inside. The explosion partially destroyed the perimeter.”

Witnesses said they saw a car speeding towards the gate of the hotel.

“I saw it speeding along the main road and the driver turned into the Hotel SYL gate. There was a huge explosion, smoke and shrapnel. Several people were down on the ground,” said Abdukadir Munin.

The area around the hotel was quickly sealed off and police fired shots to keep away onlookers, wit-nesses said.

The attack comes even though Mogadishu, and particularly the area around the presidential pal-ace, has been placed under tight security ahead of Erdogan’s visit. Many of the Turkish officials inside the hotel were security per-sonnel preparing for his arrival and businessmen, Somali sources said.

Speaking in the Ethiopian

capital Addis Ababa, Erdogan condemned the attack as con-trary to the teachings of Islam.

“In what pretext they are car-rying out this? If they say they do it on the pretext of Islam, I am a Muslim. There is no such thing in Islam,” he told reporters.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also told reporters in Davos that Erdogan’s visit, during which he is due to meet his coun-terpart Hassan Sheik Mohamud, would not be cancelled.

“Risks could happen but Turkey’s determined position will not change,” he said.

The Turkish foreign ministry also said there were no casualties among the Turkish delegation in the hotel aside from some minor cuts from flying glass.

“There could be casualties among Somalis but there was no casualty on the Turkish side. One might have been lightly injured because of the smashed windows of the hotel, and Somali authori-ties have raised the security level,” the ministry said.

AFP

Suicide attack in Mogadishu ahead of Erdogan visit

Court releases Mubarak sons in graft cases100 students to be freed

A soldier stands next to the wreckage of a car, after a suicide car bombing in Mogadishu yesterday. At least five people were killed.

Saudi again to postpone blogger flogging DUBAI: Rights group Amnesty International said yesterday that Saudi Arabia would postpone the flogging of blogger Raef Badawi, whose case has sparked inter-national criticism, for a second week on medical grounds.

“The planned flogging of Raef Badawi will be suspended this Friday after a medical com-mittee assessed that he should not undergo a second round of lashes on health grounds,” the London-based watchdog said in a statement.

He has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam and is serving a 10-year jail term.

His wife Ensaf Haidar, who has sought asylum with her children in Canada, said by telephone that Amnesty had notified her of the latest delay but she had no other details.

Badawi, 30, received the first 50 lashes of his sentence outside a mosque in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on January 9.

He was expected to undergo 20 flogging sessions to complete the punishment but last Friday Haidar said the second round had been delayed on medical grounds.

She also said her husband’s case has been referred to the supreme court, possibly paving the way for an appeal.

A committee of several doctors carried out a series of tests at a Jeddah hospital on Wednesday and recommended against a new session of caning, Amnesty said.

But “there is no way of know-ing whether the Saudi Arabian authorities will disregard the medical advice and allow the flogging to go ahead,” Said Boumedouha, Amnesty’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, said in the statement.

Amnesty called for the blog-ger’s immediate and unconditional release, “instead of continuing to torment Raef Badawi by dragging out his ordeal”.

Badawi co-founded the now-banned Saudi Liberal Network along with women’s rights cam-paigner Suad Al Shammari, who was also accused of insult-ing Islam and arrested last October.

The charges against Badawi were brought after his group crit-icised clerics and the kingdom’s religious police.

AFP

opposition under Mubarak, is himself now on trial over violence during the 2011 uprising in which protesters torched police stations across the country.

Critics say such charges — pinning the blame of police violence during the revolt on Islamists — are a revision of history that tars the uprising as a plot by Islamists and foreign powers against Egypt.

Sisi himself has dismissed such allegations and — wary of appearing as a Mubarak-era loy-alist — has said he would decree

legislation banning “insults” to the uprising as well as the 2013 protests that prompted the army to remove Morsi.

Mubarak ruled for 30 years with a seemingly iron grip.

The turbulent years since his departure have caused many Egyptians to remember his rela-tively stable rule with nostalgia, and to support Sisi as a self-styled tough leader who would restore stability.

Islamist militants have killed scores of policemen and soldiers since Mursi’s ouster, most of them

in an insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula led by jihadists loyal to the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

In November, a court also dropped murder charges against Mubarak over the deaths of some of the roughly 800 protesters killed during the 2001 uprising.

Along with Mubarak, seven security commanders were acquitted of involvement in those deaths. Alaa and Gamal still face a separate trial for stock market manipulation.

AFP

Iraq calls for more weapons to fight IS threat

Members of the Ahrar movement, a coalition of various Islamist groups, take part in a demonstration at Talaat Harb Square in Cairo yesterday, following the release of ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s two sons pending their retrial on corruption charges.

INTERNATIONAL 09FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

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LONDON: The British govern-ment began a historic transfer of powers to Scotland yesterday, keeping a pledge it had given to persuade Scots to reject inde-pendence as renewed national-ist support surges.

The draft bill, to be enacted after a general election on May 7, will further dismantle Britain’s highly centralised system of gov-ernment, a move critics fear could trigger the beginning of the end of the United Kingdom.

It has already spurred demands from some politicians for simi-lar moves in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, teeing up political uncertainty and herald-ing an eventual redistribution of power in the world’s sixth largest economy.

Under the law, Scotland, which voted to reject full independence in a referendum in September, will be able to set income tax rates, have some influence over welfare spending, and be given the authority to decide how the Scottish parliament and other structures are elected and run.

“The leaders of the other main political parties and I promised extensive new powers for the Scottish Parliament — a vow — with a clear process and a clear timetable,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a speech in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.

“And now, here we have it: new powers for Scotland, built to last, securing our united future.”

Cameron, whose party is deeply unpopular in Scotland, moved to quell nationalist doubts the draft law would reach the statute book, saying the new powers were “guaranteed” whoever formed the next British government.

“The Scottish parliament will have more control of its tax and spending, making it one of the

most powerful devolved parlia-ments in the world,” he said.

The pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) welcomed the law’s publication but com-plained it did not go far enough and left the British government with too much power in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader, said she wanted “an urgent rethink” of the law to remove what she said were British government vetoes in certain policy areas.

“I welcome the draft clauses today as far as they go,” she told the Scottish parliament. “But I think in some key respects there has been a significant watering down.”

The SNP, which is hoping to hold the balance of power in Britain after May’s UK-wide election after a surge in support despite its referendum loss, has questioned if it will really become law, despite assurances from London-based parties.

“A big issue in the (election) campaign will be making sure it’s delivered, because unfortunately Scotland’s been round and round here before,” Steven Paterson, an SNP candidate for Stirling, told Reuters before publication.

The independence referendum, which saw Scots reject a breaka-way by 55-45 percent, exposed scepticism about promises made by politicians like Cameron, some-thing the SNP has since capital-ised on, surging in opinion polls.

The new law is part of an effort by Britain’s established parties to neutralise the SNP threat. The opposition Labour party, which has relied on Scotland to give it dozens of lawmakers in the British parliament for dec-ades, is hoping, but cannot be sure, that it will revive its own flagging fortunes in Scotland before May’s election.

REUTERS

UK announces new powers for ScotlandNationalists say it’s not enough

DONETSK: At least 41 people were killed in Ukraine’s east yesterday, one of the deadliest days in the separatist war, with a bloody bus shelling in Donetsk as government forces aban-doned their defence of the city’s strategic airport.

In a graphic illustration of the degenerating nine-month conflict, pro-Russian rebels also paraded some 20 captured Ukrainian sol-diers through Donetsk and forced them to kneel before enraged locals who threw snowballs and glass at them, some of it from the shattered bus.

The trolleybus shelling in the rebel bastion city was the day’s bloodiest incident, with 13 civil-ians killed and Kiev alleging that ultimate blame for the tragedy rested with Russia.

The violence came only hours after peace talks in Berlin called for a ceasefire and as the toll from the conflict surpassed 5,000 dead, with a million people also forced from their homes.

Another 10,000 have been

wounded by rocket and mortar strikes raining down daily on the industrial region’s residential dis-tricts, Michael Bociurkiw of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said.

With intensifying clashes rock-ing Donetsk airport in recent days, Ukraine’s military said that its troops had abandoned most of the site. The airport had become the symbolic prize of the conflict, with the army and rebels continu-ously battling for control.

Defence officials said fighting continued around the ruins of the air hub — once one of east-ern Europe’s most modern and busiest — but they admitted that government forces controlled lit-tle more than a few isolated build-ings on its outskirts.

The trolleybus shelling was among the bloodiest incidents involving civilians in recent months in a conflict that has dev-astated the ex-Soviet republic’s industrial heartland and brought Ukraine’s economy to its knees.

Stunned Donetsk residents

gathered around the shredded remains of the bus, with bloodied bodies of elderly victims sprawled in their seats hours after the attack and local militias cau-tiously inspecting the damage.

An official with the city’s emer-gency services said 12 people died in the bus while another was killed in a passing car. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the attack “a monstrous crime” whose ultimate responsib-lity rested with “’the party of war’ in Kiev and its foreign sponsors.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk made similar charges against Moscow, accus-ing the insurgents of committing “a horrible act against humanity.”. “And responsiblity for this is borne by the Russian Federation,” he said.

The violence came hours after the foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France ended a crisis meeting in Berlin with a joint call to cease hostili-ties, but no breakthrough agree-ment to stop the bloodshed.

AFP

PARIS: France announced new measures yesterday aimed at helping schools combat radi-cal Islam, racism and anti-Semitism in reaction to deadly Islamist attacks two weeks ago.

The moves, including more teacher training and civic and ethics education in the country’s secular curriculum, come after dozens of schools complained of pupils refusing to join a January 8 nationwide minute of silence for the victims.

French symbols such as the flag and national anthem will be explicitly celebrated and one day, December 9, set aside as a “Day of Secularism”. Poor pupils will receive more grants and efforts will be made to make school intakes more socially diverse.

While millions of French marched to defend freedom of expression after the killings at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, others have described its car-toons as offensive and rejected the “I am Charlie” movement of national unity.

In an unprecedented indict-ment by a French leader of the country’s failure to integrate large immigrant populations from North Africa and elsewhere, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said this week the aftermath of the attacks demonstrated that a form of “social and ethnic apartheid” existed in France.

“Secularism must be applied everywhere, because that is how everyone will be able to live in peace with each other,” Valls told a news conference.

A thousand educationalists will receive training to help teach-ers deal with pupils’ questions on France’s secular tradition, citizenship, prejudices, with an early-warning system created to identity and deal with worrying behaviour.

Around 200 incidents in which the national minute of silence was disrupted in schools were reported to the education min-istry and social media testify to differences among many pupils about the limits of freedom of expression.

REUTERS

ATHENS: Greece’s anti-bail-out party, Syriza, has widened its lead over the ruling con-servatives, two surveys showed yesterday, with just over a day of campaigning left before a national election.

A poll by Metron Analysis to be published today showed Syriza’s lead over the New Democracy party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras growing to 5.3 points from 4.6 points in a previous sur-vey. Syriza would take 36 percent of the vote, compared with 30.7 percent for Samaras’s conserva-tives, who have pushed through unpopular reforms as part of an EU/IMF bailout.

A second poll, by Rass, showed Syriza leading New Democracy by 4.8 points, up from 4.2 points in a survey published on Wednesday.

Greece’s election is being closely watched by financial mar-kets. A victory for Syriza could trigger a standoff with European Union and IMF lenders and push the country close to bankruptcy or to an exit from the euro zone.

Both polls had the centrist party To Potami (River) in third place, putting it on track to become kingmaker if voters deliver a hung parliament.

Under Greek electoral law, par-ties must secure 3 percent of the vote to enter the 300-seat par-liament. The biggest party auto-matically gets a 50-seat bonus. The level required to win outright depends on the share of the vote taken by parties that fail to cross the threshold.

Campaigning is due to end tomorrow. The head of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, is scheduled to hold a major rally in Athens. Samaras holds his final pre-elec-tion rally today. The vote will be held on Sunday. REUTERS

KINSHASA: Democratic Republic of Congo’s Senate has delayed until today a vote on changes to an election law as it faces pressure from Western powers to withdraw or alter a proposed bill that has led to days of violent protests.

The new legislation calls for a census before elections due next year. President Joseph Kabila’s allies say the move is needed to update voter lists but critics say it is a ploy to allow him to remain in office after his last term runs out.

The capital was largely quiet yesterday but witnesses said at least one woman was killed when police fired tear gas and live rounds to disperse thousands of protesters in the eastern city of Goma. Police said only tear gas

and sound grenades were used.At least 42 people have been

killed in clashes with security forces, one campaign group said on Wednesday. The government, which denies any plan to delay elections, said 15 people, most of them looters, have died.

The bill, which was approved by the lower house on Saturday, was delayed because the Senate commission examining the legis-lation had not finished looking at proposed amendments.

“For the future of our country, we cannot botch it. That is why we need to give the commission the time to finalise that law that sat-isfies everyone,” Senate President Leon Kengo Wa Dondo said.

Envoys from the United States, Britain, France and

former colonial power Belgium met Kengo Wa Dondo on Wednesday, a diplomat said.

“They invited the president of the Senate to take into considera-tion the tension that was prevail-ing in Kinshasa and other towns of the country,” the diplomat said. A meeting with the head of the National Assembly was also planned.

The opposition says the census would take years to organise in a poor nation the size of Western Europe and would extend Kabila’s rule beyond his 2016 term limit.

Kabila became president in 2001 when his father, Laurent, was assassinated. He went on to win elections in 2006 and 2011 but, according to the constitution, cannot run for a third term.

REUTERS

Obama’s gesture

US President Barack Obama touches the cheek of Akira Cooper during a visit to the Community Children’s Centre in Lawrence, Kansas, yesterday.

No date set to reopen US, Cuba embassies: OfficialsHAVANA: US and Cuban officials did not set dates to reopen their embassies during historic talks yesterday but agreed to meet again on the issue, US and Cuban officials said. “I can’t tell you exactly when (reopening embassies) will happen,” Roberta Jacobson, the US assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, told reporters. Cuban delegation chief Josefina Vidal said more talks would take place “in the future” but no date or place have been set yet. Jacobson, who became the high-est-ranking US official to visit Cuba in 35 years, said the meeting in Havana’s Convention Center had been “positive and produc-tive” but that normalizing relations that were cut that in 1961 would take time. “Those issues that are part of the full range of normalisation are complex and they reflect profound differences between our two countries and will continue to be discussed,” she said. “We have ... to overcome more than 50 years of a rela-tionship that was not based on confidence or trust,” she said. “So there are things that we have to discuss before we can establish that relationship.”

Morales sworn in for third term LA PAZ: Evo Morales was sworn in yesterday for a third term as president of Bolivia at a ceremony in the country’s national assembly and vowed to sharply reduce poverty. As thousands of supporters cheered outside, the country’s first indigenous presi-dent took the oath of office with his left fist raised “on behalf of the Bolivian people and equality for all human beings”. Morales, in office since 2006, was re-elected in October with 61 percent of the vote. His new term ends in 2020. In an inaugural speech, the 55-year-old former coca grower boasted of having ended Bolivia’s dependence on the United States in his first nine years in office, and said he would reduce poverty to single digits by the end of his term. With control of the national assembly, Morales should have a free hand to undertake reforms, possibly including a con-stitutional amendment to allow him to run for a fourth term.

British politician Brittan dead at 75LONDON: British politician Leon Brittan, a trusted minister under Margaret Thatcher and a former European commissioner who was recently accused of covering up a report into high-level child abuse, has died aged 75, his family said. “Leon passed away last night at his home in London after a long battle with cancer,” the family said. “We... salute his extraordinary commitment to British public life as a member of parliament, minister, cabinet minister, European commissioner and peer.” Brittan served as an MP between 1974 and 1988 and held four different ministerial positions in Thatcher’s Conservative administration, becoming, in 1983, the youngest home secretary since Winston Churchill . He later served as vice-president of the European Commission having held three different commissioner roles. Prime Minister David Cameron called Brittan “a dedicated and fiercely intelli-gent public servant” and “a central figure in Margaret Thatcher’s government”. AGENCIES

People inspect the place of the explosion not far from a bus stop in downtown Donetsk, yesterday.

Bus attacked in Ukraine as govt forces abandon airport

Greece’s Syriza party widens lead; poll looms

Congo delays vote on electoral law

France plans secularism day on Dec 9

10 ASIA / PHILIPPINESFRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

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BANGKOK: Ousted Thai pre-mier Yingluck Shinawatra yes-terday attacked impeachment proceedings against her ahead of a crunch vote that could see her banned from politics for five years and deepen the country’s bitter divide.

Yingluck, the kingdom’s first female premier and the sis-ter of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, was toppled from office by a controversial court rul-ing shortly before the army staged a coup in May.

She faces impeachment today by the junta-picked National Legislative Assembly over her administration’s populist rice sub-sidy programme, which funnelled cash to her rural base but cost bil-lions of dollars and inspired pro-tests that felled her government.

Yingluck arrived at heav-ily policed Parliament House in central Bangkok accompanied by a handful of her party members.

“There is no position to remove me from as the Constitutional Court has already removed me as prime minister,” she told assembly members, also saying she should not be impeached for violating a constitution that no longer exists under junta rule.

Yingluck robustly defended the rice scheme as an attempt to sup-port Thailand’s rural poor, who historically receive a dispropor-tionately small slice of govern-ment cash.

“I am not corrupt, I was never careless,” she said, rejecting accu-sations that had been levelled against her and urging members to consider her case with fair-ness and “without being guided by

anyone”. But a junta spokesman rejected Yingluck’s allegation that the impeachment process had no basis in law.

“The process is legal and appropriate so that the country can move forward because it will stop conflicts and allow the facts to be seen by the people,” deputy government spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said.

A successful impeach-ment needs three-fifths of the 220-strong assembly to vote in favour when they meet today. A guilty verdict would bring an automatic five-year ban from poli-tics and risks enraging her fam-ily’s ‘Red Shirt’ supporters, who have laid low since the coup.

Speaking before the hearing yesterday, Jatuporn Prompan, chairman of the Red Shirts, cau-tioned against street protests on his television show, after noting signs he believed would “lead to impeachment”.

“From tomorrow, we will see more clearly... If we are not patient, Red Shirts will be accused of being responsible for bad things,” he said on Peace TV.

“It is not over on the 23rd, tomorrow is not the end. Time will tell... We have to be patient,” Jatuporn urged his viewers.

Experts say the impeachment move is the latest attempt by Thailand’s royalist elite and its army backers to nullify the politi-cal influence of the Shinawatras, whose parties have won every election since 2001.

Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has led the probe into the rice programme, which paid farmers

Yingluck slams impeachment voteI am not corrupt, I was never careless, says ousted Thai premier

Ousted Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra (centre) receives roses from her supporters after facing impeachment proceedings by the military-stacked National Legislative Assembly at the parliament in Bangkok yesterday.

up to twice the market rate for their grain but left Thailand with a mountain of unsold rice.

At the hearing, NACC commis-sioner Vicha Mahakhun described it as a populist policy “used to win the election”. “NACC members can see she (Yingluck) is guilty of failing to use her power as Prime Minister to stop the project,” which he deemed as causing “huge damage” to the economy and rice farmers.

Prosecutors are also in the process of deciding whether

Yingluck should face a separate criminal case over the rice sub-sidy scheme. Since Thaksin swept to power in 2001, Shinawatra governments have been floored by two coups and the removal of three other premiers by the king-dom’s interventionist courts.

The Shinawatras’ rise has coin-cided with the declining health of Thailand’s revered 87-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Observers say the febrile poli-tics of recent years, characterised

by bouts of street protest and vio-lence, is fired by the concerns of competing elites over the future of the kingdom once the king’s reign ends.

Thaksin, who was deposed as premier in a 2006 coup, is reviled by the Bangkok-based establish-ment, its supporters in the south and among the judiciary and army, but still pulls on the loyalty of the north and sections of the urban middle and working classes.

AFP

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new government pledged yesterday to trace billions of dollars in stolen wealth stashed abroad by mem-bers of the previous regime and said experts from the IMF and World Bank had agreed to help.

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his powerful fam-ily are accused of siphoning large sums of money from the pub-lic coffers during his decade in power, which ended when he was voted out this month.

The new cabinet agreed at its first meeting on Wednesday to track down the cash, and said forensic experts from India’s cen-tral bank, the World Bank and the IMF would assist. “We will go after the foreign assets of Sri Lankans,” health minister and cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said.

“Billions of dollars have been stolen and taken out of the coun-try. We are taking steps to bring them back.” Sri Lanka’s anti-graft body has already slapped overseas travel bans on the former central bank governor Nivard Cabraal and Sajin Vass Gunawardena, a key Rajapakse aide, pending a corruption investigation.

Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka said a preliminary study by a local university showed the cost of new road construction in Sri Lanka in 2013 had been inflated by Rs200bn ($1.53bn).

RS700BN ‘SIPHONED OFF’Rajapaksa was the minister

in charge of highways in the former administration. Ranawaka accused Rajapakse and his imme-diate family, who controlled nearly 70 percent of the national budget, of siphoning off Rs700bn ($5.38bn) from the national econ-omy. The new government of President Maithripala Sirisena took power on a pledge to inves-tigate allegations of corruption under Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa was the minister of finance, highways and ports, while all his immediate family members also held powerful positions in the administration. The government also announced a 20 percent reduc-tion in fuel prices and accused the former regime of imposing unfair taxes at a time when world oil prices had tumbled.

“The former regime used taxes from fuel and basic food items to finance their luxury lifestyles of racing cars and extravagance,” Ranawaka said. The two ministers said the cabinet also appointed a high-powered “rapid response team” to look into corrupt land transactions, stock market price-fixing and the abuse of state funds for political purposes. AFP

YANGON: Myanmar yester-day said that it would investi-gate the deaths of two teachers who activists claim were raped and murdered by government troops, as crowds gathered in the country’s far north amid rising anger over the killings.

The battered bodies of the two women, aged 20 and 21, were found on Monday in a remote village in Shan state where they were teaching children on behalf of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), according to the group’s spokesman Lama Yaw.

Images of the women’s injured corpses have been widely circu-lated on social media, stirring outrage in Shan and neighbour-ing Kachin state, which have

been wracked by conflict between Myanmar’s army and ethnic minority rebels in recent years.

“Local police and state govern-ment are investigating. People are saying it was committed by the Tatmadaw (army), but they need evidence — they can’t just accuse,” president’s office spokesman Zaw Htay said and added that if soldiers were found to have committed the crime “we won’t be tolerant, we will take serious action”.

But he bristled at a statement from the United States urging a probe into the incident, saying Washington should “respect our country’s sovereignty”.

Myanmar has been wracked by sporadic civil wars across its ethnic minority borderlands for

more than half a century, leaving a legacy of entrenched mistrust of the army, which has been accused of committing serious abuses with impunity.

“The victims are dead and can’t point out who did it to them. But everyone in Myanmar—not only the Kachin people — knows the truth,” Lama Yaw said, referring to KBC claims that soldiers were responsible. The government has put a national ceasefire deal at the heart of reforms, but heavy fight-ing in Kachin has overshadowed peace talks. The international community has also raised rising alarm that the country is back-sliding in other key areas of its democratic transition.

“We call on authorities to

investigate this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice in a credible and transparent man-ner,” said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Lama Yaw said he was travel-ling with a procession carrying the coffins of the two women to the Kachin state capital Myitkyina, where their parents were wait-ing to hold funerals. He said they had been greeted by large crowds on the two-day journey. “Even in the freezing weather, people were waiting for us,” he said.

Fighting between the Myanmar military and Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which reignited in 2011 after the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire, has displaced around 100,000 people. AFP

DHAKA: Bangladesh yesterday banned motorcyclists from car-rying extra passengers in a bid to halt a spate of drive-by firebomb-ing attacks by anti-government protesters, officials said.

The South Asian nation has been hit by weeks of violent protests after the opposition leader called a nationwide transport blockade to topple Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government. At least 30 people have been killed in the vio-lence to date, more than a dozen of whom burnt to death after buses and cars were firebombed.

The government said many of those attacks were carried out by pillion-riding motorcyclists, making it difficult to arrest them despite deploying thousands of police and paramilitaries across the country. “It’s been noticed that assailants are using motorcy-cles to carry out massive violence and subversive acts including bomb attacks on vehicles on the street,” the Roads and Highways Department said in a statement.

“To ensure public safety pillion riding on motorbikes has been banned across the country until further notice.” Motorcycle is the main mode of transport in many remote parts of the country.

AFP

MANILA: The Philippines’ foreign minister yesterday slammed China’s attempts to build islands in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Beijing to accuse Manila of making “trouble out of nothing”.

Albert del Rosario repeated a warning that Beijing was reclaim-ing land around isolated reefs in the South China Sea to turn them into islands which could hold for-tified positions or even airstrips.

The Philippine foreign secre-tary said the Chinese actions in the Spratly islands would impact freedom to navigate the strate-gic mineral-rich waters, through which large volumes of the world’s trade pass. “I will re-emphasise this and invite the concern of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) states because it is a threat to all of us,” del Rosario told reporters.

Beijing dismissed Manila’s con-cerns, saying that “small coun-tries” should not play up disputes.

China’s retort came after US assistant secretary of state Daniel Russel commented on the dis-pute that “bigger nations can’t bully the small”. Asked about the remarks, Chinese foreign minis-try spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: “China always maintains that countries, big or small, are equal in international relations.

“We are opposed to big coun-tries bullying small ones, and meanwhile, we believe that small countries cannot make trouble out of nothing,” she added.

Manila accused Beijing last year of reclamation work in the Cuarteron, Johnson, Johnson South and Gaven reefs in the Spratly group, which the Chinese call Nansha.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a claim which conflicts with those of Asean members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam as well as non-member Taiwan.

Beijing has previously rejected Philippine protests, saying that the land reclamation was being conducted in Chinese sovereign territory. A People’s Liberation Army Major General Luo Yuan defended China’s actions as “jus-tifiable” in state media.

While the Philippines and Vietnam have been vocal in accusing China of aggressive actions, other Asean members have been reluctant to criticise the regional giant. Del Rosario said he would raise the issue at an upcoming meeting of Asean foreign ministers, pushing for countries involved in the dispute to adhere to a code of conduct to not increase tensions in the mari-time region. AFP

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s law-makers failed to agree on a new constitution as a midnight deadline expired, deepening public frustration over the slow pace of political progress in the young republic.

Parliament Speaker Subash Nembang adjourned the late-night session after opposition lawmakers rushed into the well of the main chamber, shouted slo-gans and disrupted proceedings for nearly three hours.

“If a culture of obstruction is allowed, there will be no consti-tution,” Nembang told assembled lawmakers. “If political parties are not able to fulfil the commitment they made to the people...they will never trust us,” he added.

Nepal’s rival parties have spent years mired in deadlock while trying to reach agreement on a national constitution.

The Maoist-led opposition brought parliamentary proceed-ings to a halt yesterday, in a cha-otic bid to prevent lawmakers belonging to the ruling coalition from proposing a vote on disputed issues in the charter.

But Speaker Nembang said he intended to allow the ruling par-ties to present their proposal in the coming days unless lawmakers arrived at a consensus, in order to “guarantee the constitution within a specific time”.

Authorities deployed 1,000 police to guard parliament after

Sri Lanka vowsto trace wealth stolen by Rajapaksa, kin

Myanmar to probe deaths of two teachers

Philippines decriesChina island building

Dhaka bans pillion riding

China air quality dire: GreenpeaceBEIJING: The skies of China’s notoriously smog-filled cities saw a marginal amelioration last year, according to figures released by Greenpeace yesterday, but pollu-tion remained far above national and international standards.

Levels of PM2.5 — airborne par-ticulates with a diameter small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs — fell year-on-year in 71 of the 74 cities monitored by the min-istry of environmental protection, the figures showed. But in China’s most polluted city, Xingtai, they still averaged 131.4 micrograms per cubic metre. In Beijing, they were 83.2 micrograms per cubic metre, and 52.2 in Shanghai.

The WHO recommends a maximum average exposure of 25 micrograms per cubic metre in a 24-hour period, and 10 micrograms per cubic metre over a year. China’s own standard is 35 micrograms per cubic metre over a year.

AFP

Nepal fails to agree on statute

Nepalese opposition lawmakers turn desks over as they obstruct the meeting of the constituent assembly in Kathmandu yesterday.

the violence spilled over onto the streets, and 2,000 flag-waving protesters demonstrated outside.

“I am very sad today. We voted for them... and they have failed to deliver,” said an official, reflect-ing a growing sense of frustration over the delayed charter. “We had

high hopes and they have disap-pointed us yet again,” he said.

The constitution was intended to conclude a peace process begun in 2006 when Maoist guerrillas entered politics, ending a decade-long insurgency that left an esti-mated 16,000 people dead. AFP

11PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Thousands protest against Charlie HebdoKARACHI: Thousands of people marched in Pakistan yesterday against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo as anger remains high in the Muslim majority country over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

The march through the streets of Karachi is the biggest in a series of demonstrations against the magazine, whose Paris offices were attacked on January 7 by gunmen, killing 12 people.

An intelligence official over-seeing the rally said that the protesters numbered in the “thousands”, still a relatively small turnout in a city of 18 mil-lion people.

Protesters carried green flags printed with the Prophet’s mau-soleum and chanted anti-Charlie Hebdo slogans as they marched.

“Down with Charlie Hebdo, down with the blasphemers,” they shouted.

Many carried placards demanding blasphemers be killed.

One of the protest leaders, Sarwat Ejaz Qadri, demanded that the Pakistan government cut diplomatic ties with France.

“Their ambassador should be declared persona non grata and must be expelled from the coun-try,” Qadri said.

In the southwestern city of Quetta, some 400 activists of Markazi Jamiat-e-Ahl-e-Hadith, a Sunni Muslim organisation, held a demonstration in front of the press club and burned a French flag.

The demonstrators, many of them children, carried placards condemning the satirical maga-zine and shouted slogans includ-ing: “Let blasphemers be hanged, we will not tolerate anyone ridi-culing our Prophet.”

In eastern city of Lahore, around 2,000 from different groups including labour unions and a body that represents

government clerical staff, also held a demonstration condemn-ing the publication of the cartoon.

The protestors chanted slo-gans including “Down with France, France should tender an apology”.

Across the border in Afghanistan, around 50 people gathered outside the French Embassy in Kabul to protest against the magazine, chanting “France you are the devil”.

Charlie Hebdo last week pub-lished a “survivors” issue with an image of the Prophet on the cover. The issue quickly sold out before more copies of an even-tual print run of five million hit newsstands.

Under Pakistan’s strict blas-phemy laws, insulting the prophet can carry the death penalty, and the country’s prime minister and parliament last week strongly condemned the publication of the cartoons.

At least three people were

Protesters seek apology from France for blasphemy

Parents concerned about school securityPESHAWAR: Sayyed Ali Nawaz GIllani is considering not using the bus service provided by the school administration for shuttling his children between school and home anymore.

In the wake of gruesome inci-dent at an Army-run school in Peshawar that left about 150 people, mostly students, dead on December 16 last year, Gillani fears that school buses, carrying scores of kids, are soft targets for terrorists. “Being a parent I am very disturbed”, a perturbed Gillani said. “I am thinking of tak-ing children to school in my car.”

Muhammad Aneesur Rahman, a parent living in the Faqeerabad neighbourhood of Peshawar, is also thinking of making alter-native arrangements for his kids to study. A family in this neighborhood lost two children in the terrorist attack on the Army Public School. “The situa-tion is extremely alarming”, said Rehman.

“I am totally mixed up about what to do: should I continue sending my kids to schools and risk their lives or keep them home,” says Rahman.

He fears that after the crack-down on the terrorists, espe-cially withdrawal of moratorium on hangings of terrorists, there may be retaliation. Syed Shakoor Hussain Shah, a teacher at the Government Primary School, Chulghalpura a neighbourhood in Peshawar’s suburbs says he is very concerned about the security of his school.

He says that the terrorists hit an army-run school because the military had launched an opera-tion against them in the North Waziristan Agency and other tribal areas.

“But one thing must be kept in mind that the army has support from the government to carry out the operation and so the terror-ists can also target government-run public schools to force it to review its policy for eradication of terrorism,” he says.

Shah says that it is next to impossible for the authorities to provide security to each and every school in the province.

According to the News Lens Pakistan, there are 28,309 schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23,290 of them are primary schools, 2,639 middle schools, 2,029 high schools and 361 higher secondary schools. According to the department, the number of private schools is close to 7,000.

Muhammad Quraish Khan, a senior police officer who pres-ently heads the Forensic Science Lab in Peshawar, said that even if the schools are provided with a single security guard insufficient to the highly trained and combat hardened terrorists would mean deploying over 28,000 policemen at schools. INTERNEWS

injured on Friday when protest-ers and police clashed at an anti-Charlie Hebdo demonstration

outside the French consulate in Karachi.

They included AFP

photographer Asif Hassan, who was shot in the back and is now recovering in hospital. AFP

KARACHI: A serious food shortages and land inequality could increase social unrest and terrorism incidents in Pakistan, a recent World Bank’s study warns.

“In Pakistan, the probability of violent attacks by insurgents, sec-tarians, and terrorists is found to increase with food insecurity and land inequality,” says the study titled ‘Addressing Inequality in South Asia’.

It says concentration of land-holdings is a norm in rural set-tlements of the country, wholly acquired through inheritance with purchased land accounting for only 16 per cent of all land-holdings. This norm governs the access to public transportation, health, sanitation, electricity, schooling and other services, the report says.

“In Pakistan, land inequality is unambiguously associated with greater access to (public) serv-ices,” it says. “(There is) change in the availability of public goods when the share of land owned by the top quintile increases by one

per cent in Pakistani villages.”According to the study, quality

of teaching in unequal society is because of the wealthy opts out of public goods, for instance mov-ing to private schools. “Greater inequality reduces the quality of public services when the rich can opt out,” the report mentions.

Comparing a nonmonetary indicator of inequality in South Asia, which is one of the most dynamic regions in the world, the study finds the health status is poor, especially in Pakistan.

Infant and under-five child mortality rates are alarming in Pakistan and India since out of every 1,000 child births in the former, 94 die before reaching one year of age and 120 within five years. The figures for the latter are 82 and 117, respectively.

Counting education as another neglected nonmonetary dimen-sion of inequality, the assessment generally notes a wide disparity in public spending on education.

“Public spending tends to be progressive at lower grade levels but regressive at secondary and

especially tertiary levels,” it says. “Equity requires committing

additional resources to disad-vantaged groups to offset their otherwise more limited access to basic services.”

Social protection spending is largely progressive across the region, the study says, appreci-ating the achievements of the world’s largest public works pro-gramme in India and the income support programme of Pakistan.

“However, the coverage of social protection programmes in South Asia is partial, their targeting is generally poor, and the amount of resources they make available to those who need them the most is often too modest,” it says.

“Across all countries in the region, 60 per cent to 80 per cent of the beneficiaries are not poor, and they receive between 50 per cent and 80 per cent of the funding.”

As far as the energy subsi-dies are concerned, according to the finding, the wealthy turns out to be the biggest benefici-ary. The report says the energy

subsidies eat into four per cent of GDP in Pakistan and Bangladesh as against two per cent in Sri Lanka and India. “In the case of Pakistan, the poorest 40 per cent of households used to receive less than 30 per cent of total electric-ity subsidies, while the richest 20 per cent received close to 40 per cent of total subsidies,” it says.

Despite some improvement, it adds, “electricity subsidies remain regressive”.

While subsidies are massive government tax collection is not impressive. The tax receipts are much below the actual potential, while only a small portion of the registered taxpayers are filing their income tax returns.

“This situation clearly points to weak tax enforcement by the Federal Board of Revenue,” the report says.

It adds that poor in Pakistan pay almost as much tax as the middle class.

The low-income group has developed its own coping strate-gies to defy an economic shock, like food price inflation. Selling an

agriculture asset is one of them, which is tantamount to compro-mising “long-term ability to earn an income”.

The report adds, “In con-trast, the wealthiest groups are much less likely to use these mechanisms.”

The World Bank says South Asia has still the moderate levels of inequality based on standard monetary indicators.

However, “Despite not being the poorest region in the world, the region has some of the worst human development outcomes worldwide,” it adds.

Inequality is one of the seven debating issues in the annual four-day meeting of World Economic Forum in Swiss Alpine resort of Davos.

The gathering started yester-day through Saturday. It is not the first time that this theme is selected to invite attention of the world leaders for addressing the inequality. For several years, the rally has been discussing this, but the progress is said to be ‘disap-pointingly slow’. INTERNEWS

Food shortages can increase terrorism: World Bank

Supporters of Ahle Sunat Wal Jamat attend a rally against French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Karachi, yesterday.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani prime minister has cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos to deal with a severe petrol shortage at home, offi-cials and state media said yesterday.

State media said Nawaz Sharif cancelled the visit “in view of the prevailing domestic situation” and had convened a high-level meeting in Islamabad to review petrol supplies.

The fuel crisis began last week when Pakistan State Oil was forced to slash imports because banks refused to extend any more credit to the government-owned business,

which supplies 80 percent of the country’s oil.

The situation has eased slightly, but queues of vehicles were still seen at filling stations in Islamabad and other parts of the country, particularly cen-tral Punjab province.

A spokesman for Sharif con-firmed that in a short text mes-sage that the “Prime minister has cancelled his trip” to Davos.

Sharif has suspended five top officials over the crisis, which has seen buses taken off the roads and angry scuffles at petrol stations, with tempers fraying as people waited in long queues for fuel. Some filling sta-tions were forced to close.

Anger is growing over the shortage amongst Pakistanis -- who already have to deal with chronic power cuts that can see them struggle without electric-ity for 12 hours a day or more — at a time of a global glut in oil supplies.

Solving Pakistan’s energy cri-sis was a key campaign pledge for Sharif in the run-up to the 2013 general election, and the shortage is heaping fresh pres-sure on his government.

A spokesperson for oppo-sition leader Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) party has said it was planning nationwide protests over the petrol crisis. AFP

Petrol crisis forces Pakistan PM to cancel Davos WEF trip

Pakistani motorists wait for their turn to fill their vehicles at a petrol station in Islamabad yesterday.

12 INDIAFRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

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NEW DELHI: Barack Obama arrives in India this weekend for an unprec-edented second visit by a serving US president, the honoured guest of his new friend Narendra Modi who was a Washington outcast only a year ago.

As well as holding bilateral talks, the leaders of the world’s two largest democ-racies will address CEOs, appear on a radio phone-in and watch a spectacular parade together in a visit that under-scores their closeness.

The US president and wife Michelle will also travel to the Taj Mahal, with hundreds of photographers on hand to snap the first couple’s visit to the ulti-mate monument to love.

Obama’s courtship of Prime Minister Modi is evident from his three-day itiner-ary, the first time an incumbent president has returned to India.

While recent swings through Asia have included multiple stopovers, India is Obama’s only destination this time, despite the risk of offending neighbour-ing Pakistan.

“There’s no question this is a defin-ing time in the US-India relationship,”

US Ambassador Richard Verma said in New Delhi. “Things not only feel differ-ent, they are different.”

Modi’s election in May 2014 was a potential headache for the US, which had blacklisted the Hindu nationalist for more than a decade after deadly com-munal riots in Gujarat when he was state chief minister.

He was only brought in from the cold last February when Verma’s predeces-sor travelled to Gujarat once it appeared Modi was likely to end the centre-left Congress party’s 10-year rule.

The transformation since has been spectacular, with both men heartened by their meeting of minds on a range of issues in Washington in September.

The US website Politico described their summit as a “love-in” and predicted Modi could become “America’s new best buddy”.

Modi’s November invitation “to have a friend over” was issued via Twitter and Obama’s quick-fire acceptance under-lined a sense of coordination.

One cloud was lifted in November when the two governments resolved a row over food subsidies that had been

blocking a global trade agreement.Obama’s top diplomat, Secretary of

State John Kerry, even called Modi a “visionary” on an advance visit last week.

Obama will be the main VIP at Monday’s Republic Day parade when India’s military showcases everything from tanks to its camels.

“For President Obama to be invited as the first US president to attend as the chief guest sends a very important mes-sage to the world,” US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told report-ers in Washington.

“There is extraordinary potential in this relationship... Our goal is to lead this relationship in a fundamentally different place than it was when President Obama took office and when Prime Minister Modi took office.

“We believe we have a unique moment of opportunity to have that type of breakthrough.”

Observers are not expecting major policy announcements, although a deal on intelligence sharing is on the cards and decade-old defence cooperation pact is expected to be upgraded.

“I think strengthening our ties with US, with the already existing framework enhancing its scope, is definitely benefi-cial to the country,” Defence Minister Manohar Parikar told Indian television.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Brookings India think-tank, former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal said there were unlikely to be other big break-throughs in Sunday’s talks as “we have not given ourselves enough time since September.”

Climate change and Afghanistan are expected issues on the agenda, while par-ticular focus will be on the economy after Modi pledged to make India “the easiest place” to do business.

Courting businessObama and Modi will make a joint

address to company bosses on Monday in an event organised by the US-India Business Council.

“With business sentiment at an all-time high, the timing could not be bet-ter,” said the organisation’s acting head Diane Farrell.

US Ambassador Verma said bilateral

trade was now running at around $100bn a year — five times the level of a decade ago — and saw no reason it couldn’t grow by another five times.

Officials in Washington have admit-ted a certain degree of surprise over the upswing in ties.

The rapid escalation of a row over the strip-search of an Indian diplomat in New York in late 2013 — which saw the Stars and Stripes torched on the streets of Delhi — hinted at a latent anti-Ameri-can sentiment in a country that still sees Russia as its most reliable ally.

But both sides share a common goal in wanting a counter-balance to China, even if President Xi Jinping beat Obama to a Modi invite.

Modi did not eat with Obama in Washington as he was observing a reli-gious fast.

But reports say Modi will host his first private dinner for Obama at his Delhi home and has asked about the dream menu of the president - who once learnt how to cook the Indian staples of daal and keema.

AFP

Modi rolls out red carpet for new buddy ObamaLeaders will address CEOs, appear on a radio phone-in and watch a parade together in New Delhi

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi con-demned the blight of India’s dwindling number of girls yesterday, launching a cam-paign to address the prob-lem the United Nations has said amounts to a national emergency.

“In our neighbourhood, girls are commonly killed in their mothers’ wombs and we don’t feel the pain,” Modi said in a speech in the northern state of Haryana.

“We don’t have a right to kill our daughters,” he said.

Despite being banned, selective abortion is a grow-ing problem that results in a steady decline in the number of girls being born even as the economy has grown and other social indicators like maternal mortality have improved.

The “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” (Save the Daughter, Teach the Daughter) campaign

is aimed at improving India’s child sex ratio — the number of girls born for every 1,000 boys — and gender equality through access to education.

India’s child sex ratio dropped from 964 in 1971 to a low of 918 in 2011, accord-ing to UN data. Between 2001 and 2011, the decline was seen in more than two-thirds of the districts in the nation.

A 2011 study published in the British medical journal the Lancet found that as many as 12 million Indian girls may have been selectively aborted between 1980 and 2010.

This trend, in a deeply patri-archal society where daughters can be seen as a financial lia-bility, has led to an uptick in crimes including rape, traffick-ing and the emergence of “wife-sharing” in villages where the sex ratio is low, experts say.

“For every 1,000 male child births, there should

be 1,000 girl child births,” Modi said yesterday, adding that placing importance on sons above daughters is “a psychological illness of the entire country”.

The problem is worse in urban areas, numbers show. In 2011, Delhi, the capital region, had one of the lowest child sex ratios of any state, with 871 girls born for every 1,000 boys.

New Delhi is part of a swathe of northern India where pre-birth sex selection has been especially pervasive, including Haryana, where Modi kicked off the new campaign.

“Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” will focus on 100 gender criti-cal districts where the child sex ratio is particularly low by enforcing existing laws that criminalize pre-birth gender selection, and by improving girls’ school attendance, among other measures.

REUTERS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (centre) launches the Sukanya Samridhi Account Scheme at the launch of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ Programme at Panipat in Haryana as the Governor of Haryana, Kaptan Singh Solanki (right) and the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi (second right) and Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit look on.

Campaign to tackle dwindling number of girls launched

GUWAHATI: A court yesterday reordered the release of a cam-paigner staging a hunger strike for more than 14 years to protest human rights abuses in the coun-try’s remote northeast, her lawyer said.

Irom Sharmila, known as the Iron Lady of Manipur for her unwavering and non-violent protest, has spent years in judicial custody over her fast, intended to draw attention to abuses allegedly committed by the military.

The court in Manipur state capital Imphal struck down charges against Sharmila of attempting to com-mit suicide by fasting, said lawyer Khaidem Mani.

“The court has ordered the release of Irom Sharmila as the prosecution failed to prove the charges,” he said by phone.

The 42-year-old was expected to be released later today or tomorrow from a makeshift cell in a hospital, where she has been force fed via a nasal drip for years.

Sharmila was briefly freed last year after the court also set aside the charge, sparking celebrations from human rights activists and her family.

But she vowed to continue her fast and was quickly rearrested after police slapped her with a fresh charge.

Supporters urged police to leave her alone this time, pointing to the junior home minister’s statements in December that the government would decriminalise attempted suicide.

“The judgement must end the farcical cycle of arrest and re-arrest that this brave activist has faced for so long,” Amnesty International pro-gramme director Shemeer Babu said.

“Authorities must (instead)... engage with the issues she is raising.”

Babloo Loitangbam, a long-time Sharmila supporter and rights activist, said he was hopeful she would finally see real freedom, but added that the government has not yet removed the clause from the criminal code.

“The government has told parlia-ment it will move on this, but so far it hasn’t been gazetted,” he said.

Sharmila began her hunger strike in November 2000 after witnessing the army kill 10 people at a bus stop near her home in Manipur, which is subjected to the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

AFP

Court frees Irom Sharmila 693 candidates in fray for Delhi pollsNEW DELHI: A total of 693 candidates are left in the fray for the February 7 Delhi assembly polls after scru-tiny of nomination papers, the Election Commission said here yesterday.

“After scrutiny, a total of 693 (candidates) are left in the fray for the Delhi assembly polls,” a poll panel statement said.

A total of 923 candidates filed their nomination papers for the polls.

The last date to withdraw the nominations is January 24.

According to the poll panel, nomination papers of 230 candi-dates were cancelled due to wrong documentation and ineligibility.

Voting for the 70-member Delhi assembly will take place on Februay 7 and ballots will be counted on February 10.

Congress condemns Dwivedi’s remarksNEW DELHI: The Congress yesterday condemned sen-ior party leader Janardan Dwivedi’s remarks allegedly linking ‘Indianness’ to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vic-tory in the Lok Sabha polls and indicated a possible action against him.

The party, in a specially con-vened press meet in the morning, reacted to Dwivedi’s purported remarks that have been widely noticed in political circles.

Dwivedi, however, later in the day clarified that he did not praise Modi and did not require lessons to understand ‘Indianness’.

Congress general secretary Ajay Maken, who heads the par-ty’s communications department, told media persons that “the party strongly condemned the compari-son of Modi with Indianness”.

Maken said the Congress fol-lows principles of Mahatama Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Kabir on “Indianness” and Modi is not even close to it.

Saying that ideological stand of the Congress on Indianness was far away from “what Dwivedi tried to define yesterday (Wednesday)”, Maken said ‘Indianness’ meant keeping all people united.

AGENCIES

T H I R U V A N A N T H A PURAM/THRISSUR: The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala yes-terday called for a state-wide shutdown on Tuesday demanding resignation of state Finance Minister K M Mani over a bribery allegation while the Left parties decided to boycott him.

While deciding to boycott all official functions of the beleaguered minister, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) also decided to stage a march Feb 3

to the state secretariat to press for Mani’s resignation.

With this, the entire opposi-tion in Kerala has decided to mount pressure with protests against Mani after whistle-blower bar owner Biju Ramesh alleged in October last year that Rs.1 crore was given to Mani as the first instalment of the ̀ 50m he had demanded for reopening bars in the state.

State BJP president V Muraleedharan told reporters in the state capital after a party meet that the tainted Mani,

facing allegations of corruption, will have to go.

At Thrissur, the LDF leaders’ meet decided to boycott all offi-cial functions being participated in by Mani.

“We will be marching towards the state secretariat on February 3. He has no place to go but to resign. We will not retract until he quits,” LDF convenor Vaikom Viswan told reporters in Thrissur.

CPI-M politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said if Mani is going to present the

state budget (March 13), the Kerala assembly will witness never-seen-before incidents.

But state Congress president V M Sudheeran said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has made it very clear that Mani will be presenting the state budget and there is not going to be any change in that.

Early this week, Ramesh gave an audio recording of the conversation to the various TV channels that has since been aired.

IANS

Kerala graft case: Left to boycott Finance Minister Mani

13BUSINESS FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

ECB launches €1 trillion rescue planFRANKFURT: The European Central Bank took the ultimate policy leap yesterday, launch-ing a government bond-buying programme which will pump hundreds of billions in new money into a sagging eurozone economy.

The ECB said it would pur-chase sovereign debt from this March until the end of September 2016, despite opposition from Germany’s Bundesbank and con-cerns in Berlin that it could allow spendthrift countries to slacken economic reforms.

Together with existing schemes to buy private debt and funnel hundreds of billions of euros in cheap loans to banks, the new quantitative easing programme will release €60bn ($68bn) a month into the economy, ECB President Mario Draghi said.

By September next year, more than €1 trillion will have been cre-ated under quantitative easing, the ECB’s last remaining major policy option for reviving economic growth and warding off deflation. The flood of money impressed markets: the euro fell more than

two US cents to $1.14108 on the announcement, and European shares hit seven-year highs. “All eyes were on Mario Draghi and he has delivered a bigger bazooka than investors were expecting,” said Mauro Vittorangeli, a fixed income specialist at Allianz Global Investors, adding that the news marked “an historic crossroads for European markets”.

The ECB and the central banks of eurozone countries will buy up bonds in proportion to its “capi-tal key”, meaning more debt will be scooped up from the biggest economies such as Germany than from small member states such as Ireland. The prospect of dra-matic ECB action had already prompted the Swiss central bank to abandon its cap on the franc against the euro. Denmark cut its main policy interest rate for the second time this week after the ECB announcement, aiming to defend the Danish crown’s peg to the euro.

Draghi has had to balance the need for action to lift the euro zone economy out of its torpor against German concerns about

risk-sharing and that it might be left to foot the bill.

Economists noted that Draghi had said only 20 percent of pur-chases would be the responsibility of the ECB. This means the bulk of any potential losses, should a eurozone government default on its debt, would fall on national central banks.

Critics say this casts doubt over the unity of the euro zone and its principle of solidarity, and countries with already high debts could find themselves in yet deeper water. “It is counterpro-ductive to shift the risks of mone-tary policy to the national central banks,” said former ECB policy-maker Athanasios Orphanides. “It does not promote a single mon-etary policy. This path towards Balkanisation of monetary policy would signal that the ECB is pre-paring for a break-up of the euro.”

Tensions broke out as the ECB’s meeting got underway with French Finance Minister Michel Sapin firing a broadside at Berlin. “The Germans have taught us to respect the independence of the European Central Bank,” he told

France Info radio. “They must remember that themselves.”

A German lawyer who has been prominent in attempts to halt eurozone bailouts said he was already preparing a legal com-plaint against the bond-buying programme.

Draghi said the ECB’s Governing Council had been unanimous in agreeing that the step to print money was legally sound. There was a large majority on the need to trigger it now, “so large that we didn’t need to take a vote”. “There was a consensus on risk-sharing set at 20 percent and 80 percent on a no-risk-sharing basis,” he added.

One euro zone central bank-ing source said five policymakers opposed the expanded asset-pur-chase plan: the central bank chiefs of Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Estonia, along with Executive Board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger, a German.

Guntram Wolff, head of the Bruegel think tank, said the plan’s size was impressive. “But the ECB has given the signal ... that its monetary policy is not a

New QE programme will release €60bn a month into the euro economy

single one. That’s a bad signal to markets and a bad signal to eve-rybody in the eurozone.”

The ECB is trying to push euro zone annual inflation back up to its target of just below two percent; consumer prices fell last month, raising fears of a Japanese-style deflationary spi-ral. But there are doubts, and not only in Germany, over whether printing fresh money will work.

Most eurozone government bond yields are at ultra-low levels and the euro had already dropped sharply against the dollar. Lower borrowing costs and a weaker

currency could both help to boost economic growth but there is a question about how much further either can fall. Asked if the ECB had a Plan B, Draghi responded: “We just presented Plan A, and we have Plan A Period.”

The ECB could create the basis for growth, he added, but he put the onus on governments to fol-low. “For growth to pick up ... you need structural reforms,” he said. “It’s now up to the governments to implement these structural reforms. The more they do, the more effective will be our mon-etary policy.” REUTERS

ECB President Mario Draghi addresses a conference in Frankfurt yesterday.

Washington Auto Show

Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen delivers keynote speech next to a 2016 CTS-V at the Washington Auto Show yesterday.

Air France confirms job cutsPARIS: Air France confirmed it plans to offer new voluntary departure incentives to 800 ground personnel and cabin crew as the heavily-indebted French airline moves forward with new restruc-turing measures.

“Air France management will present at a central works coun-cil meeting set for the first half of February plans for voluntary depar-tures,” the company said.

Union sources added the plans would seek to reduce the number of Air France ground staff by 500 and cabin stewards and stewardesses by 300. Despite shedding 8,000 jobs over

the past three years, the Air France-KLM group looks set to continue los-ing money.

The Air France-KLM group, which lost €1.8bn in 2013, hasn’t turned a profit since 2010. Air France and its subsidiaries employ some 65,000 people. Further details could come out during the next meeting between Air France management and union leaders on February 5, or when the airline group releases its 2014 results on February 19.

Air France-KLM executives have been hinting that more job cuts were on the way after issuing a profit warning last month. AFP

Qatar bourse extends losing streak for fourth straight sessionDOHA:Qatar bourse extended its losing streak for the fourth straight session yesterday to finish the week at 1.27 percent down to 11,698 points. Banking stocks were the main drag. The mar-ket was down 4.78 percent year-to-date.

QIB fell 3.09 percent as QNB declined 3.01 percent. Doha Bank, which announced a 40 percent dividend to its shareholders Tuesday, slid 2.21 percent.

Real estate stocks lost 0.79 percent. UDC declined 2.67 percent. Barwa Real Estate was down byt 2.10 percent. Barwa yesterday announced it launched its second phase of Dara project.

Most stocks in the Industrials sector fell. Industries Qatar edged 1.49 percent down.

The bourse’s total traded value declined to QR517m from the previous session’s QR634m. Total traded volume slipped to 10 million from 12 million. Of the total 40 traded companies, 17 declined yesterday.

Qatar Exchange‘s (QE) weekly data suggests the main index lost 1.38 percent in the week. Market capitalisation fell by 1.55 percent compared to previous week. The Banking

sector was the worst performer in the past week, which declined 3.13 percent. QNB tumbled 6.81 percent. QIB and Commercial Bank lost 3.27 percent and 3.11 percent respectively. Gulf International was another major loser.

Barwa jumped 6.35 percent. The real estate stock led trad-ing value during the week, accounting for 25.29 percent of the total trading value, followed by Gulf International.

Overall, the trading value during the week decreased by 3 percent to QR 2.78bn from the previous week’s QR 2.86bn. Trading volume increased by 22.45 percent to reach 58 mil-lion shares from 47 million shares.

The total number of transac-tion fell by 0.92 percent.

Of the 43 listed companies, 23 companies ended this week higher, while 19 fell and 1 com-pany remained unchanged.

With a 34.97 percent share, the Real Estate sector led the trading value, followed by Banks and Financial Services sector (34 percent) and Industrials sector (18.58 percent). Trading volume was also led by the Real Estate sector with 49.61 per-cent of total trading volume. Banks and Financial sector

accounted for 23.29 percent and Industrials stocks accounted for 10.15 percent.

Meanwhile, the Gulf stock markets ended on a mixed note due to pressure from some negative earnings reports and supported by stronger oil. Egypt established a clear break of major technical resistance, Reuters reported.

Saudi Arabia’s index edged up 0.3 percent as petro-chemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries gained 1.5 percent and a number of other stocks in the sector also rose.

Meanwhile shares in Etihad Etisalat Mobily, the kingdom’s second-biggest mobile telecom-munications operator, tumbled their daily 10 percent limit to SR42.70. Mobily made a fourth-quarter net loss of QR2.28bn ($607m), while analysts had forecast a profit of QR1.33bn.

Dubai’s index rose 0.9 per-cent as Dubai Islamic Bank added 1.8 percent and Emaar Properties gained 0.7 percent. Abu Dhabi’s benchmark edged down 0.4 percent as most blue chips pulled back.

Oman index edged up 0.1 per-cent to 6,645 points as Bahrain slipped 0.3 percent to 1,429 points.

THE PENINSULA

Egypt’s pound hits new lowCAIRO: Egypt’s pound weak-ened to 7.39 per dollar from 7.34 the previous day at a cen-tral bank auction yesterday, the weakest level it had been allowed to reach since auctions began in December 2012.

It was the fifth official depreci-ation this week, prompted by the widening gap between the black market and the official rate.

The bank offered $40m and sold $38.4m at a cutoff price of 7.3901 pounds per dollar, the cen-tral bank said.

The rates at which banks are allowed to trade dollars are deter-mined by the results of central bank sales, giving the bank effec-tive control over official exchange rates. But there remains an active black market in the pound that is used by businesses and individu-als, and the gap between this and the official rate had been widen-ing for months.

The pound was trading at 7.89 to the dollar on the black market shortly after the central bank’s auction, according to one trader. Another trader put the rate at 7.87. That was slightly stronger than the black market rate on Wednesday, when several trad-ers put the average rate at 7.93.

Earlier in the week, traders said the rate rose to eight pounds per dollar on no demand for dollars in the unofficial market. REUTERS

14 BUSINESSFRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Real estate transaction value jumps 25pc in 2014DOHA: Qatar’s real estate transaction value grew by 25 percent in 2014, from a year ago. The combined value reached QR56bn last year from the pre-vious year’s QR45bn.

According to Ezdan Holding Group report, the first quarter of 2014 recorded a 35.2 percent year-on-year growth in the transac-tion value. The month of January witnessed maximum transaction value during the first quarter. The month witnessed QR4.8bn worth deals, compared to QR2.8bn dur-ing the same month in 2013.

The combined transaction value during the second quarter stood at QR14bn, up 8.5 percent from a year ago. The month of May witnessed maximum value of transaction with QR5.2bn.

The total transaction value during the third quarter grew by 6.6 percent to QR11.3bn on year-on-year basis. The month of July recorded the maximum value of QR6.8bn, up from QR5.5bn recorded during the same month in 2013. The final quarter transac-tion value touched QR18.2bn, up 46.8 percent a year ago. Maximum transaction value was recorded during the month of December, QR7.8bn.

The Ezdan Holding Group report noted the shares of real estate stocks on Qatar Exchange (QE) grew by 15 percent in 2014. “The real estate stocks are immune from the oil price –induced market volatility. The sector is expected accelerate its growth pace in 2015”, Ezdan ana-lysts noted. THE PENINSULA

Sustainable development meet

Bill and Melinda Gates attend a debate on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in Brussels yesterday.

Growing number of Britons switching banksLONDON: The number of Britons switching bank accounts grew by 12 percent to 1.16 million in 2014, marking progress in the government’s push to boost competition, the Payments Council said yesterday.

Rules introduced in 2013 to ensure customers can switch accounts within seven working days are part of a range of meas-ures to stimulate competition to Britain’s dominant big banks, whose reputations have been tar-nished by scandals ranging from mis-selling to rate-rigging.

“The number of people switch-ing banks continues to grow, showing that customers are prepared to move banks to get a better deal. This is great news for competition in banking” said jun-ior UK finance minister Andrea Leadsom.

Britain’s competition watchdog

could impose more onerous measures, such as breaking up the country’s biggest banks if initiatives such as seven-day switching fail to increase com-petition sufficiently.

The country’s biggest four lenders — Lloyds Banking Group , Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and HSBC — control about 77 percent of Britain’s cur-rent accounts, the Competition and Markets Authority said in a report last November.

The Payments Council, which is responsible for the account-switching service, published data showing how many customers banks gained and lost during the second quarter of last year.

Santander attracted the most net new accounts, while Barclays and the Co-operative Bank lost the most customers.

Santander has benefited from the popularity of its 1-2-3 current

account, advertised in a tel-evision campaign featuring the world No.1 golfer Rory McIlroy and Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.

It made a net gain of 59,922 customers during the period. Halifax, owned by Lloyds Banking Group, was the second-biggest net gainer, adding 15,125 accounts.

Barclays had a net loss of 22,119 customers during the period and the Co-operative Bank lost 19,103.

Co-op Bank lost customers last year after falling under the con-trol of U.S. hedge funds when a £1.5bn ($2.27bn) capital shortfall left it fighting for survival.

The Payments Council said that 69 percent of Britons now knew about seven-day switching, up from 59 percent at the end of 2013, and that growing numbers have confidence that the process works. REUTERS

Barclays and Co-operative Bank lost most customers

Barwa begins second phase of Dara project, signs dealDOHA: Barwa Real Estate Group and Erga Qatar Architectural and Engineering Consultants signed an agreement yesterday which marks the first steps of execut-ing the second phase of (Dara) project.

The project will be developed into the largest residential project in Fox Hills as all the phases of the project will be constructed over 147,000 sqm, owned by Barwa Real Estate Group, a regulatory filing to Qatar Exchange (QE) said.

Ahmad Abdulla Al Abdulla, Acting Group CEO of Barwa Real Estate, and Elie Chebly, Chief International Projects Officer & Partner Architect, signed the agree-ment as part of a ceremony attended by Executive Directors from Barwa, along with the project team from Erga Qatar.

As per the agreement which is worth approximately QR88, Erga Qatar will conduct the design and supervision works of the second

phase of Dara project. The design phase and the super-

vision phase will go in parallel. The design phase will be implemented over two years, while the supervi-sion & implementation will be done over three years.

Works on Dara (B-F) will be divided into 9 phases over 3 years starting from September 2015 until September 2018.

The project is expected to offer over 2,000 high quality residential apartments and serviced apart-ments, of different sizes, as part of 53 buildings for residential & multi use. The project will provide as well basement car parks, hotels, res-taurants, commercial units, green spaces, swimming pools and sports facilities.

Other entertainment facilities will be added to the project to serve tenants and visitors. In addition to being located on the main commer-cial street of the city.

THE PENINSULA

China luxury market shrinksBEIJING: China’s luxury market shrank last year, a global consultancy said, attributing the decline — the first it has detected — to a national anti-corruption campaign, slowing economic growth and changing con-sumer tastes.

Sales of luxury goods in mainland China fell one percent to 115bn yuan ($18.5bn) in 2014 compared to a year earlier, Bain & Company said in an annual report. The consulting firm, which has been surveying the market since 2000, said it was the first time the industry had contracted.

China has become an ever more important destination for luxury goods manufacturers as the ranks of its wealthy have been swelled by a decades-long boom.

Swiss giant Richemont, the world’s second-largest maker of luxury products, said in November that its 2014-2015 first half net profit dropped 23 percent due to weaker demand in China.

Bain’s China Luxury Market Study said the overall decline last year was because of the “continued impact of anti-corruption and frugality cam-paigns undermining ‘luxury gifting’”.

Slowing sales of high-end watches, menswear and leather goods contributed the most to the decline, it added.

Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping has overseen a much-publicised anti-corrup-tion drive since taking power in late 2012, targeting high-level “tigers” and low-level “flies”.

A parallel austerity campaign

has also has sought to curtail extravagant gift-giving, ban-quets and other excesses in the ruling party and government.

Bain added that China’s slowing economic growth was “exacerbating the issue”.

China’s economy expanded 7.4 percent in 2014, its weak-est pace in 24 years, official data showed on Tuesday, and authorities are emphasising a “new normal” as they retool the country’s growth model to one they hope will be more sustainable.

The consulting firm also stressed that China’s luxury market is becoming more diverse. “The field of luxury brands in China is breaking wide open,” Bruno Lannes, the Bain partner who wrote the report, said in a statement.

AFP

Source: Bain & Co.

Chinese luxury sales2014 GLOBAL LUXURY SHOPPERS BY ORIGINPercentage

CHINA’S DOMESTIC LUXURY SALESBillion dollars

0

5

10

15

20

25

20142013201220112010200920082007

CHINA29%

AMERICAS22%

EUROPE21%

JAPAN13%

OTHERASIA9%

OTHER7%

Ukraine requests fresh IMF bailoutDAVOS: Ukraine has asked the IMF for a new and broader rescue package, and would seek to renegotiate its debt with bond holders, officials said as the war-torn country fights to save its reeling economy.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde met Ukrainian Petro Poroshenko on the side-lines of the World Economic Forum in Davos and said Ukraine requested that the Washington-based IMF deepen its relation-ship with Kiev.

The meeting took place soon after Poroshenko told an audience of the world’s financial elite in Davos that 9,000 Russian troops were backing Ukrainian separatist fighters. “President Poroshenko informed me that the Ukrainian authorities have requested a multi-year arrangement with the Fund... to replace the existing... arrange-ment,” the IMF said in a statement. “We will consult with the IMF Executive Board on the authorities’ request,” Lagarde said.

The IMF, which last year granted Kiev $17bn in financial aid over two years as part of a broader $27bn global rescue package, has expressed fears that the former Soviet

country may need an additional $15bn in immediate aid. The Ukrainian government said the request was key to turning around the war-torn economy. The new programme “will allow us to gain access to additional resources, which in turn will enable us to return to economic growth, restore adequate foreign exchange reserves, and ensure eco-nomic and financial stability going forward,” said Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko.

Kiev added that as part of an effort to stabilise its finances, it will “consult with the holders of Ukrainian international sover-eign debt so as to improve Ukraine’s medium term sustainability”.

Asked for details on the debt restructur-ing, Jaresko said that “there’s no perimeter to discuss” until the IMF talks are over.

“When we finish our discussion with the IMF agreement, then I would expect the next step to be these consultations — we would be listening to and talking with our sovereign creditors to talk about how we can improve the debt sustainability of the country,” she said. AFP

IMF chief Christine Lagarde speaks during a panel session of the 45th Annual Meeting of the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, yesterday.

QATAR EXCHANGE | DAILY TRADING REPORT | 22-01-2015

QE Market Summary Comparison Today Previous day

22-01-2015 21-01-2015

Index 11,698.86 11,849.63

Change 150.77 12.69

% 1.27 0.11

YTD% 4.78 3.55

Volume 10,284,132 12,379,231

Value (QAR) 517,153,886.43 634,209,680.16

Trades 6,458 7,223 Up 21 | Down 17 | Unchanged 02

QE Indices SummaryQE Index 11,698.86 1.27 %

QE Total Return Index 17,448.74 1.27 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 4,004.71 1.03 %

QE All Share Index 3,014.69 0.98 %

QE All Share Banks & Financial Services

3,056.11 1.69 %

QE All Share Industrials 3,722.59 0.78 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,303.09 0.61 %

QE All Share Real Estate 2,254.27 0.79 %

QE All Share Insurance 3,745.56 0.24 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,369.17 0.68 %

QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services

7,107.96 0.14 %

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD & SILVERWORLD STOCK INDICES

CRUDE OIL

Buying SellingINDEX Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low

15MARKET FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

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A B G Infra-T/D 160 -3.9 1725A C C-A/D 1556 12.25 12328Aarti Drugs-B/D 1092.5 22.95 5629Aban Offs-A/D 490.75 -17.9 212731Aegis Logis-B/D 454.05 19.65 22965Ahmed.Forg-B/D 341.15 -7.5 39758Alembic-B/D 46.2 -5.05 1444499Alkyl Amines-B/D 381.05 3.05 1579Alok Indus-A/D 10.08 -0.31 1187945Apollo Tyre-A/D 230.85 -1.3 97806Asahi I Glass-/D 129.1 0.15 12526Ashok Leyland-/D 63.2 -0.55 1873959Bajaj Hold-A/D 1425 12.65 1427Ballarpur In-B/D 16.6 -0.25 504370Banaras Bead-B/D 45.85 1.2 1596Bata India-A/D 1468.25 -8.15 9469Bayer Crop-A/D 3440.6 -61.25 2323Beml Ltd-A/D 912.7 -3 106617Bh Electronic-/D 3222.05 65.4 31048Bhansali Eng-T/D 14.35 0.34 6200Bharat Bijle-B/D 699.15 -1.5 6655Bharatgears-B/D 88.8 -3.05 55721Bhartiya Int-B/D 407 0.1 32522Bhel-A/D 283.7 1.9 312087Bom.Burmah-B/D 465.85 -8.8 90603Bombay Dyeing-/D 78.95 -1.35 1756372Camph.& All-B/D 328.7 44.1 47490Canfin Homes-B/D 695.15 -4.7 57070Caprihans-B/D 87.5 2.6 11832Cast.Bo/D 498 -1.15 43435Century Enka-B/D 171.25 -0.35 7158Century Text-A/D 564.45 0.25 65184

Chambal Fert-B/D 64.95 3.9 142308Chola Invest-B/D 519.4 1.95 14015Chowgule St-T/D 26.7 -0.8 12453Cimmco-B/D 75.8 3.4 27729Cipla-A/D 654.15 11.15 217747City Union Bk-/D 93.75 -1.7 60745Cmc Ltd-A/D 1890.7 -1.85 6906Colgate-A/D 1921.8 23.65 11969Container Cor-/D 1445.15 48.55 28174Dai-Tichi Kar-/D 196.5 11.5 28781Dcm Shram Ind-/D 104.7 -6 4262Dhampur Sugar-/D 43.3 -0.65 17039Dr. Reddy-A/D 3361.45 33.45 12323E I H-B/D 115.85 -0.3 6240E.I.D Parry-A/D 191.8 2.2 16531Eicher Motor-A/D 15320 -40.75 1676Electrosteel-B/D 17.1 -0.05 94405Emco-B/D 39.9 -2.25 132262Escorts Fin-B/D 6.47 -0.34 12416Escorts-A/D 129.95 -2.65 668872Essar Oil-T/D 110.95 -1.4 101810Eveready Indu-/D 213.5 6.6 231658F D C-B/D 157.4 1.35 20271Federal Bank-A/D 143.8 -0.7 115271Ferro Alloys-B/D 6.12 -0.14 17085Finolex-A/D 290.8 4.1 64028Forbes-B/D 2205.4 -46.05 1976Gail-A/D 430.85 -1.85 174285Galada Power-T/D 17.73 0.84 4186Gammon India-T/D 23 -0.6 208971Garden P -B/D 30.75 -0.3 4921Godfrey Phil-B/D 559.8 -5.15 5740

Goodricke-B/D 150.7 -2.6 17049Goodyear I -B/D 614.85 -2.35 4600Hcl Infosys-B/D 49.55 -0.05 551857Him.Fut.Comm-T/D 16.95 -0.75 1431801Himat Seide-B/D 88.05 -0.3 36009Hind Motors-T/D 7.83 -0.06 135168Hind Org Chem-/D 21.55 -0.05 32927Hind Unilever-/D 944.2 3.8 351062Hind.Petrol-A/D 558.9 -8.6 99337Hindalco-A/D 143.6 0.35 461883Hous Dev Fin-A/D 1279.8 -4.55 148367I F C I-A/D 37.45 0.1 482414Idbi-A/D 75.6 -1 314821Ifb Agro-B/D 335.2 -55.9 37385Ifb Ind.Ltd.-B/D 495.5 2.75 17268India Cement-A/D 111.45 9 1786548India Glycol-B/D 103.95 0.8 49945Indian Hotel-A/D 118.3 -1.4 96942Indo-Tcount-T/D 376.05 6.7 35922Indusind-A/D 846.4 4.5 44314J.B.Chemical-B/D 198.95 1.55 10533Jagson Phar-B/D 36.4 0.35 18606Jamnaauto-B/D 155 2.6 1789Jbf Indu-B/D 252.3 -3.45 152223Jct Elect P -B/D 0.66 -0.02 66659Jct Ltd-B/D 3.27 -0.12 296625Jenson&Nich.-B/D 5.84 -0.27 23909Jik Indust-B/D 1 0.04 3005Jindal Drill-B/D 166.6 -2.85 1666Jktyre&Ind-B/D 124.3 2.7 356990Jmc Projects-T/D 173.6 -3.75 3971Kabra Extr-B/D 95.3 -0.45 12682

Kajaria Cer-A/D 728.9 -6.95 16243Kakatiya Cem-B/D 117 0.9 3827Kalpat Power-B/D 236.75 -5.15 58849Kalyani Stel-T/D 159.1 0.3 36181Kanoria Chem-B/D 36.8 -1.1 7875Kg Denim-B/D 22.9 1.35 49335Kilburnengg-T/D 47.1 -0.6 16527Kinetic Eng-B/D 45 -0.9 11701Kopran-B/D 55.3 -1.15 194120Lakshmi Elec-B/D 445.4 12.2 12388Lok.Hous&Con-T/D 12.7 -0.19 29987Lumax Ind-B/D 416 -12.55 2440Lupin-A/D 1503.3 19.35 83426Lyka Labs-T/D 39.6 3.3 334620Mah.Seamless-B/D 222 -0.25 8643Mangalam Cem-B/D 336.7 0.65 13822Maral Overs-B/D 24.25 1.65 22738Mastek-B/D 421.5 15.8 621891Max India L-A/D 419.3 -7.55 124168Mrpl-A/D 47.8 -1.15 135807Nahar Spg.-B/D 93.65 -0.6 31691Nation Alum -A/D 47.7 -0.25 147165Navneet Edu-B/D 111 -0.8 15279Nepc India-T/D 2.71 -0.13 19084Nrb Bearings-B/D 137.6 0.55 6058O N G C-A/D 352.4 6.95 320381Ocl India-B/D 509.15 -3.75 21140Oil Country-B/D 35.65 -0.7 11098Orchid Chem-B/D 64.8 -1.4 111663Orient Hotel-T/D 23.6 0.15 2800Orient.Carb.-T/D 525.3 24.3 40079Pacific Indu-B/D 155.1 -0.1 3645

Radico Khait-B/D 89.1 -1.05 54857Rallis India-A/D 230.5 13.8 270455Rallis India-A/D 230.5 13.8 270455Reliance Indus/D 464.1 -2.55 55885Ruchi Soya-B/D 34.8 -0.25 42253Salora Inter-B/D 45.95 7.65 11762Savita Oil-B/D 745.75 15.85 5846Tanfac Indust-/D 14.97 0.29 25730Tanfac Indust-/D 14.97 0.29 25730Thirumalai-B/D 95.15 0.25 10196Til Ltd.-T/D 568.55 52.75 43463Timexgroup-T/D 13.52 -0.15 31626Tinplate-B/D 65.4 -0.8 392390Ucal Fuel-B/D 151.8 0.5 27042Ucal Fuel-B/D 151.8 0.5 27042Ultramarine-B/D 71.4 -0.05 5382Unitech P -A/D 16.75 0.1 5474273Univcable-T/D 52.9 2.3 6433

3I Group/D 446.3 4.4 501520

Assoc.Br.Foods/D 2924.9 -76 488495

Barclays/D 240.35 2.45 10141441

Bg Group/D 916.363 30.6 3426987

Bp/D 433 7 13934781

Brit Am Tobacc/D 3687.5 -3 952324

Bt Group/D 419.8 -1.5 4708005

Centrica/D 267.8 -1.6 4003236

Gkn/D 374.5 1.1 1304975

Hsbc Holdings/D 616.08 10.5 18539872

Imperial Tobac/D 2964 -42 1184426

Kingfisher/D 338.6 -0.4 2444903

Land Secs Grou/D 1261 -2 425108

Legal & Genera/D 258.9 0.2 3695802

Lloyds Bnk Grp/D 75.58 -0.01 31101999

Marks & Sp./D 467 -5.9 1704850

Next/D 6955 -100 87571

Pearson/D 1308 12 1925046

Prudential/D 1576.5 -1 986127

Rank Group/D 162.9 4.9 52977

Rentokil Initi/D 124.2 -0.1 619076

Rolls Royce Pl/D 887 -5.5 2545190

Rsa Insrance G/D 464.2 12.4 2592375

Sainsbury(J)/D 266.5 2.5 5644551

Schroders/D 2755 36 184643

Severn Trent/D 2126 -9 132825

Smith&Nephew/D 1187 -3 603384

Smiths Group/D 1121 39 393620

Standrd Chart /D 965.5 31.8 3780853

Tate & Lyle/D 658 3.5 412417

Tesco/D 232.72 3.8 24272456

Unilever/D 2754 -24 950282

United Util Gr/D 973.5 2.5 653339

Vodafone Group/D 237.6 -0.55 20725712

Whitbread/D 4920 22 161432

LONDON

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS A List of Shares from the worldCOMPANY CLOSE NET VOLUME VolumeNAME CHG TRADED

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US$ ..........................QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK ...........................QR 5.4988 QR 5.5766

Euro .........................QR 4.2126 QR 4.2719

CA$ ..........................QR 2.9257 QR 2.9831

Swiss Fr ..................QR 4.2419 QR 4.3045

Yen ..........................QR 0.0307 QR 0.0313

Aus$ ........................QR 2.9324 QR 2.9911

Ind Re ......................QR 0.0586 QR 0.0597

Pak Re .....................QR 0.0358 QR 0.0366

Peso ........................QR 0.0816 QR 0.0832

SL Re .......................QR 0.0273 QR 0.0279

Taka .........................QR 0.0463 QR 0.0473

Nep Re ....................QR 0.0366 QR 0.0373

SA Rand ..................QR 0.3143 QR 0.3205

BRENT

$ 48.79

DUBAI

$ 44.13

GOLDQR150.5866

SILVER QR 2.1114

All Ordinaries 5390.476 23.062 0.43 5447.6 5248.5

Cac 40 Index/D 4483.91 -0.91 -0.02 4484.82 4076.16

Dj Indu Average 17554.28 39.05 0.22 18103.4 15340.69

Hang Seng Inde/D 24522.63 170.05 0.7 24373.28 23312.5

Iseq Overall/D 5381.11 -8.97 -0.17 5390.08 5072.7

Karachi 100 In/D 34146.97 -182.53 -0.53 34395.19 32134.82

Nikkei 225 Index 17329.02 48.54 0.28 17540.92 16592.57

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 2093.55 1737.92

Straits Times/D 3370.29 15.83 0.47 3375.13 3267.89

Straits Times/D 3290.99 -1.82 -0.06 3387.84 2953.01

Straits Times/D 3274.06 -8.82 -0.27 3291.83 2953.01

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James shakes off flu as Cavs win fourth in a rowHawks match club record with 14th victory in a rowCLEVELAND: A day after missing practice due to illness, LeBron James scored 26 points to lead Cleveland over Utah 106-92 Wednesday, giving the Cavaliers their fourth consecu-tive NBA victory.

Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James was 8-of-16 from the floor and added nine assists and seven rebounds for Cleveland, which lost six games in a row before the current win streak. The first five of those losses while James with sidelined by knee and back injuries.

Kevin Love added 19 points and 13 rebounds while Australian guard Kyrie Irving contributed 18 points after missing shoot-ing drills himself due to illness on a night when every Cavaliers’ starter scored in double figures.

Russian big man Timofey Mozgov added 16 points and 11 rebounds while fellow Cleveland newcomer J.R. Smith netted 15 points in the victory.

The Cavaliers improved to 23-20, four games behind Central division leader Chicago and in fifth-place overall in the Eastern Conference.

Utah stumbled to 14-28 with a fifth loss in six games. Enes Kanter scored 24 points and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds to lead the Jazz. Hawks match club record with 14th win in a row

Matching a team record with their 14th consecutive victory, the Atlanta Hawks also made Mike Budenholzer an all-star coach by virtue of Wednesday’s 110-91 rout of the Indiana Pacers at home.

Jeff Teague and DeMarre Carroll each scored 10 of their team-high 17 points in the third quarter, when the host Hawks outscored Indiana 36-23, shooting 14-of-21 from the floor including 6-of-9 from 3-point range on the way to an 88-64 lead entering the

fourth quarter.The Hawks’ current win streak

matches the 1993-94 edition of the team for the longest unbeaten run in franchise history. They could claim the record for themselves with a home victory Friday over Oklahoma City, which edged Washington 105-103 in over-time Wednesday for a fourth win in a row. As a result of the tri-umph, Atlanta improved to 35-8 and clinched the best record in the Eastern Conference on February 1, meaning Hawks’ coach Budenholzer and his staff will coach the East against the

Western Conference in the 64th NBA All-Star Game on February 15 in New York.

Budenholzer, in his second season guiding the Hawks, has a 73-52 record with Atlanta and becomes the first Hawks coach to coach an All-Star squad since Lenny Wilkens in 1994.

Al Horford scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and passed off five assists while Paul Millsap added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks. Reserve C.J. Miles led Indiana with 18 points. The Pacers have lost six in a row and fell to 15-29. AFP

Cleveland Cavaliers’ forward LeBron James makes a dunk in the second quarter of an NBA match against the Utah Jazz at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Wednesday night.

‘Srinivasan guilty of conflict of interest’NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court yesterday ordered world cricket chief Narayanaswami Srinivasan (pictured) to give up his stake in the Indian Premier League if he wanted to be re-elected head of the country’s powerful board.

The court found Srinivasan guilty of a conflict of interest for having commercial dealings in the sport while head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by owning an Indian Premier League franchise.

“Srinivasan or any other administrator can’t contest elec-tions (to the BCCI) (while) they have those interests,” the two-judge bench was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.

The court was rul-ing on the findings of a panel it appointed last year to inves-tigate betting and other scandals in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL).

Srinivasan, 70, is managing director of India Cements which owns the Chennai Super Kings franchise captained by India skipper Mahendra Dhoni.

Srinivasan had asked the court to allow him to be reinstated as BCCI chief after the panel, headed by former judge Mukul Mudgal, cleared him of corruption charges in November.

Although the court on Thursday absolved Srinivasan of any specific wrongdoing, it struck down an IPL rule which allowed BCCI members to own a team in the popular Twenty20 tournament.

Srinivasan, appointed International Cricket Council chief last year, has not yet com-mented on whether he will run for the BCCI president’s post at

elections in six weeks time for a second term or give up his stake in the Chennai Super Kings.

The court had barred Srinivasan from carrying out his duties as BCCI president, a post he held since 2011, until it deliv-ered its final verdict.

The court also appointed Thursday a panel headed by a former chief justice of India to recommend changes to BCCI rules to avoid any future conflict of interest by its members.

The court agreed with the Mudgal panel that Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan took part in illegal betting while

a team official of the Chennai Super Kings, as did Raj Kundra, owner of the Rajasthan Royals.

The court, how-ever, recommended no punishment for the two franchises even though IPL rules state that a franchise can be sus-pended if any official indulged in unlawful activities.

The sixth IPL season last year was mired in controversy after police launched legal proceed-ings against several officials and cricketers, including former Test fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, for illegal betting and spot-fixing.

The IPL, a domestic tourna-ment which began in 2008, fea-tures the world’s top players signed up for huge fees by com-panies and high-profile indi-viduals in a mix of sport and entertainment.

International news organisa-tions including Agence France-Presse have suspended on-field coverage of matches hosted by the BCCI since 2012 after the board imposed restrictions on picture agencies. AFP

Blackhawks down Penguins in shootoutPITTSBURGH: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane scored shootout goals to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The game went to overtime fol-lowing a scoreless third period. The Blackhawks had the best scoring chance but right winger Marian Hossa was wide of an open net with a backhander in the lower slot with just over two minutes to go.

However, the Blackhawks, who blew a 2-0 lead, didn’t miss in the shootout as they improved to 5-5 during a choppy January.

Hossa had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks and defense-man David Rundblad also scored.

Senators 4, Maple Leafs 3Ottawa winger Mike Hoffman

had a goal and an assist and team captain Erik Karlsson had two goals to extend Toronto’s losing streak to six games.

Hoffman had his 16th goal of

the season - best of the NHL rookies - with Karlsson and Mika Zibanejad also scoring as they built a 3-0 first-period lead.

Toronto’s David Clarkson and Nazem Kadri scored to cut the Ottawa lead to a goal early in the third period.

Jets 4, Blue Jackets 0Winnipeg hit the mark on

their first two shots of the game and cruised to a shutout victory over Columbus. Wingers Blake Wheeler and Evander Kane staked the Jets to a 2-0 lead just over six minutes into the first period, beating Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky on back-to-back scoring chances. REUTERS

Sidney Crosby (87) of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates against Jonathan Toews (19) of the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period of an NHL game at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night .

Cavani on the mark again as PSG progress in French Cup

Paris Saint-Germain’s Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani celebrates after scoring a goal during a French Cup match against Girondins de Bordeaux at the Parc-des-Princes Stadium in Paris on Wednesday night.

PARIS: Uruguayan interna-tional striker Edinson Cavani scored his second goal in as many games since being restored to the Paris Saint-Germain line-up as PSG reached the last 16 of the French Cup on Wednesday with a 2-1 win over Bordeaux.

Cavani — who along with Argentinian international Ezequiel Lavezzi were left out for three games by coach Laurent Blanc for returning late from the Christmas holidays — gave the hosts a 14th minute lead which was doubled by Javier Pastore, also registering his second goal in as many matches.

Bordeaux reduced the deficit two minutes into the second-half but PSG held on, despite having defender Zoumana Camara sent off seven minutes from time, in a far more assured performance

than they have produced over the past few weeks.

Their victory was achieved despite Blanc not starting first team regulars such as Thiago Motta, David Luiz and Zlatan I b r a h i m o v i c , preferring to give them some rest ahead of the champions pivotal Ligue 1 clash with highflying St Etienne this weekend.

Blanc will have taken some pleasure at seeing St Etienne hav-ing to go to extra-time in their match on Wednesday with second

tier Tours before prevailing 5-3.

St Etienne’s Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel — who endured a miserable time in the English Premier League last season after a big money move to Norwich — scored a double.

Indeed Tours came closest to pulling off a shock as all the other

Ligue 1 clubs progressed includ-ing holders Guingamp, who beat second division Chateauroux 2-0.

There was no fairytale for the conquerors of Marseille in the previous round as an

injury-depleted Grenoble side, from the fourth tier, lost to third division Boulogne.

On Tuesday league leaders Lyon’s hopes of the domestic double this season ended as a hat-trick by Vincent Bessat gave Ligue 1 rivals Nantes a 3-2 victory in a thrilling round of 32 French Cup clash.

The 29-year-old -- who was born in Lyon -- scored the winner two minutes from the end of nor-mal time to book the ‘Canaries’ place in the last 16.

Quevilly, the team that Lyon beat to win the 2012 French Cup, produced another famous exploit as the fourth division French side claimed the scalp of Ligue 1 side Bastia, holding their nerve to prevail 3-1 on penalties after the match finished 1-1 after extra-time. AFP

Ajmal hopeful of clearing action testLAHORE: Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal yesterday raised hopes that he will pass a bowl-ing action test after he was sus-pended last year, but ruled out any chance of featuring in next month’s World Cup.

The 37-year-old will travel to Chennai, India later yester-day and have a reassessment test on his bowling action in the International Cricket Council (ICC) accredited laboratory.

He was reported during the Galle Test against Sri Lanka in August last year and he was subsequently suspended from bowling a month later after a bio-mechanic analysis found his action illegal.

“I have worked really hard to overcome the flaws and I am hopeful that I will be cleared,” Ajmal told media.

“I am going to give test on five various deliveries and I am quite hopeful that I will return as spearhead of the team after get-ting clearance.”

After his suspension Ajmal did remedial work under former

Pakistan great Saqlain Mushtaq and claimed to have cleared unof-ficial tests.

Ajmal ruled out any chance of featuring in the World Cup, to be played in Australia and New Zealand in February-March.

“I withdrew from the World Cup after I felt that I am not ready for it and if any player of the team gets injured even then I will not play,” said Ajmal.

Ajmal said he has developed some new deliveries.

“I have developed some new deliveries, like a carrom ball and seam-up delivery which I have mastered and will bowl them at international level,” said Ajmal.

Another Pakistani spinner Mohammad Hafeez will also undergo reassessment test in Brisbane on February 5.

Hafeez, part of Pakistan’s 15-man squad for the World Cup, was suspended over illegal action in November last year.

Pakistan selected him as bats-man only, hoping he will clear the action test and could also bowl in the World Cup. AFP

French Cup Results French Cup round of 32 results on

Wednesday (aet — after extra-time):

Monaco 2 Evian-Thonon 0

Boulogne 1 Grenoble 0

Tours 3 Saint-Etienne 5 — aet

Guingamp 2 Chateauroux 0

Cholet 1 Brest 3

Bressuire 0 Le Poire-sur-Vie 1 — aet

Paris SG 2 Bordeaux 1

Yesterday’s MatchRennes vs Reims

Playing TodayRed Star vs Marseille Consolat

NBA ResultsCharlotte 78 Miami 76

Cleveland 106 Utah 92

NY Knicks 98 Philadelphia 91

Atlanta 110 Indiana 91

Detroit 128 Orlando 118

Memphis 92 Toronto 86

Dallas 98 Minnesota 75

New Orleans 96 LA Lakers 80

Oklahoma City 105 Washington 103

Phoenix 118 Portland 113

Brooklyn 103 Sacramento 100

Golden State 126 Houston 113

NHL ResultsOttawa 4 Toronto 3

Chicago 3 Pittsburgh 2

Winnipeg 4 Columbus 0

Colorado 3 Boston 2

Anaheim 6 Calgary 3

San Jose 4 Los Angeles 2

19SPORT FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

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Serena joins rampant Djokovic in third roundAzarenka beats Wozniacki to prove title credentials; Wawrinka winsMELBOURNE: Serena Williams was slow to get going before finding her groove to bull-doze into the Australian Open third round yesterday, joining rampant fellow world number one Novak Djokovic and come-back queen Victoria Azarenka.

With the temperatures again sizzling around 33 degrees Celsius at Melbourne Park, the American 18-time Grand Slam champion took time to adjust to the sauna-like conditions against Russian veteran Vera Zvonareva.

She had to save two set points before exploding into action in the second set to easily win 7-5, 6-0 and keep alive her dream of a sixth Australian title.

Djokovic, gunning to be crowned champion a fifth time, was on fire in his showdown against Andrey Kuznetsov, crush-ing the hapless Russian 6-0, 6-1, 6-4, while defending champion Stan Wawrinka had to work hard to get past Marius Copil.

The Romanian took the fourth seed to two tiebreakers before

the Swiss star triumphed 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. Japan’s Kei Nishikori also went through.

In a blockbuster evening clash, two-time champion Azarenka crushed close friend and eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-2 as her comeback from injury gathers steam.

Williams said she only started finding her range when she relaxed.

“She started out really well, she was really aggressive and I was a little too passive,” said Williams, the top seed.

“Once I got down I thought ‘Serena, you’ve done so well here you’ve got nothing to lose, just have fun and enjoy yourself ’ — then I started to play a lot better.”

While the old guard of Williams and Maria Sharapova are safely into the third round, the new gen-eration of Eugenie Bouchard and Simona Halep have looked more impressive in the early rounds.

Sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska is also in ominous form after hiring former great Martina Navratilova as her coach.

The Pole, a semi-finalist last year, took just 44 minutes to brush aside Sweden’s Johanna Larsson 6-0, 6-1 and has only lost four games in two matches.

“She’s helped me a lot, on and off the court,” Radwanska said of Navratilova.

Williams faces a tricky third round match against another of the new young guns in Spanish

world number 24 Garbine Muguruza, who beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 0-6, 6-1.

Her sister Venus also pro-gressed, as did Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova.

Men’s top seed Djokovic came out of the blocks firing against Kuznetsov, who had no answer to his booming serve and powerful groundstrokes in a masterclass performance.

“Overall I executed the game plan,” said the Serb.

“Everything I intended to do, almost 100 percent, from every second in my game, serve, base-line play, aggressive shots and aggressive returns.”

In contrast Wawrinka, who beat Rafael Nadal in last year’s

final, was put through his paces by Copil and was glad to get off court after three sets.

“The court was quite fast and he was really aggressive on serve and I was happy to get through in three sets,” said Wawrinka.

Fifth seed Nishikori was forced to four sets by Croatia’s Ivan Dodig, digging deep to keep his dream of a maiden major title alive with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (7/0) win in front of a noisy pro-Japa-nese crowd.

“It was very warm condi-tions today and he was playing really well, very aggressive, good returns and it was a tough battle,” Nishikori said.

Others through included Canadian eighth seed Milos

Raonic, Spain’s ninth seed David Ferrer and 12th seeded compa-triot Feliciano Lopez.

Azarenka, ranked just 44 after an injury-marred 2014, again showed why she is the most dan-gerous unseeded player at this year’s tournament after upsetting Wozniacki.

“She had such an incredible end of last season so I knew I had to step up my game and really take my chances today,” said Azarenka, who won the title in 2012 and 2013. “I think I did that pretty well.” The win keeps her on track to meet Serena Williams in the quarter-finals. AFP

Australian Open Results

Collated results from day four of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park yesterday:

Men’s Singles Second Round

Steve Johnson (USA) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL x30) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; John Isner (USA x19) bt Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) 6-4, 7-6, (7/4), 4-6, 6-4; Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)

bt Matthias Bachinger (GER) 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 7-5; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) bt Alejandro Gonzalez (COL) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3;

Kei Nishikori (JPN x5) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (7/0); Feliciano Lopez

(ESP x12) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 4-0 retired; Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 6-0,

6-1, 6-4; Stan Wawrinka (SUI x4) bt Marius Copil (ROU) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3; Gilles Muller (LUX) bt Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x13) 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-5, 6-1; Vasek Pospisil (CAN) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-4; Gilles Simon (FRA x18) bt

Marcel Granollers (ESP) 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-4; David Ferrer (ESP x9) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; Jerzy Janowicz (POL) bt Gael Monfils (FRA x17) 6-4, 1-6, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-3; Fernando Verdasco

(ESP x31) bt Go Soeda (JPN) 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3); Benjamin Becker (GER) bt Lleyton

Hewitt (AUS) 2-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; Milos Raonic (CAN x8) bt Donald Young (USA)

6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.

Women’s Singles Second Round

Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x6) bt Johanna Larsson (SWE) 6-0, 6-1; Venus Williams

(USA x18) bt Lauren Davis (USA) 6-2, 6-3; Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) bt Anna Tatishvili (USA) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-2;

Garbine Muguruza (ESP x24) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 6-1, 1-6, 6-0; Serena

Williams (USA x1) bt Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 7-5, 6-0; Camila Giorgi (ITA) bt Tereza Smitkova (CZE) 6-1, 6-4; Elina Svitolina

(UKR x26) bt Nicole Gibbs (USA) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (8/6); Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x11) bt

Tsvetlana Pironkova (BUL) 6-2, 6-0; Varvara Lepchenko (USA x30) bt Ajla Tomljanovic

(AUS) 6-1, 7-6 (7/1); Madison Keys (USA) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS x29) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1; Alize Cornet (FRA x19) bt Denisa Allertova

(CZE) 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2; Madison Brengle (USA) bt Irina Falconi (USA) 6-1, 6-3; Petra Kvitova (CZE x4) bt Mona Barthel (GER) 6-2, 6-4; Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE x25) bt Chang Kai-chen (TPE) 6-1, 7-5; Victoria Azarenka (BLR) bt Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x8) 6-4, 6-2; Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt

Samantha Stosur (AUS x20) 6-4, 6-4

Australian Open Order of Play

Order of play on the main show courts on day five of the Australian Open today (prefix denotes seeding; play begins at 0000 GMT on all courts).

Rod Laver Arena

Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) vs Julia Georges (Germany) 7-Eugenie Bouchard

(Canada) vs Caroline Garcia (France)

Not before 0230 2-Roger Federer (Switzerland) vs Andreas Seppi (Italy)

Not before 0800 31-Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) vs 2-Maria Sharapova (Russia);

Dudi Sela (Israel) vs 3-Rafa Nadal (Spain)

Margaret Court Arena

22-Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) vs 10-Ekaterina Makarova (Russia); 7-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) vs Victor Troicki (Serbia); Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) vs

3-Simona Halep (Romania)

Not before 0800 Malek Jaziri (Tunisia) vs Nick Kyrigos (Australia); Hisense Arena 14-Sara Errani (Italy) vs Yanina Wickmayer

(Belgium); Carina Witthoeft (GermanY) vs Camilla Irina-Begu (Romania); 6-Andy Murray (Britain) vs Joao Sousa (Portugal)

Not before 0600 Bernard Tomic (Australia) vs Sam Groth (Australia)

Brilliant Cahill scores twice as Australia beat China 2-0BRISBANE: Tim Cahill scored a brilliant bicycle-kick and a trademark header as Australia downed brave China 2-0 to reach the Asian Cup semi-finals yesterday.

Cahill took his record tally of goals for Australia to 39, and few have been as important as his sec-ond-half strikes to put the hosts into the last four.

Shortly after half-time, Cahill pulled out a bicycle-kick from a sharp angle which beat Chinese ‘keeper Wang Dalei, and he then made it two with a familiar leap and header.

The Socceroos deserved the win against a willing but outgunned Chinese side, who scrambled well in the first half but folded under the weight of possession enjoyed by the Australians.

Coach Ange Postecoglou recalled skipper Mile Jedinak to the starting line-up after injury and gave veteran midfielder Mark Bresciano his first start of the tournament.

He also restored Australia’s forward line of Cahill and Robbie Kruse following a string of missed chances against South Korea in their final pool game.

China initially sat back in defence and looked to counter-attack. They looked the more dangerous early on, Wu Lei’s pace causing the Australian defence plenty of problems.

The Chinese had the best chance of the opening 25 minutes

when Ji Xiang’s backheel went just wide, but it was all Australia from that point on.

Cahill and Jedinak were both on target with headers, while Mathew Leckie and Trent Sainsbury should have done bet-ter with good chances.

The Socceroos started the sec-ond half just as dominantly and they were finally rewarded in the 49th minute when Cahill worked his magic.

China cleared the ball from a corner but only as far as Ivan Franjic, who put a looping header back into the box.

An acrobatic Cahill met the cross with an overhead bicycle kick angled past Wang.

Cahill then scored his sec-ond in the 65th minute when his pinpoint header from Jason Davidson’s cross gave Wang no chance.

The Chinese refused to concede and forced two diving saves from Australian keeper Mathew Ryan, but they paid for a lack of strike power up front and were lucky not to concede more.

Australia will now play either Japan or the United Arab Emirates in the semi-finals.

Serena Williams of the US reacts during her women’s singles second round match against Russia’s Vera Zvonareva on day four of the 2015 Australian Open in Melbourne yesterday. RIGHT: Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after defeating Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia in their men’s singles second round match in Melbourne yesterday.

Australia’s Tim Cahill (centre) scores a goal against China during the AFC Asian Cup 2015 quarter-final in Brisbane yesterday.

‘Sonaldo’ sinks Uzbeks as South Korea reach semisMELBOURNE: South Korea’s golden boy Son Heung-Min scored twice in extra-time to give the Taeguk Warriors a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan in a nail-biting Asian Cup quarter-final yesterday.

The man dubbed “Sonaldo” by his team-mates scored with a div-ing header after 104 minutes and slammed home a second a minute from the final whistle, leaving on a stretcher with exhaustion as the Koreans set up a meeting against either Iran or Iraq in the last four.

South Korea, World Cup semi-finalists in 2002 but seeking to end 55 years of hurt in Asia’s show-case tournament, had to toil for their victory against 2011 semi-finalists Uzbekistan in Melbourne.

Goalkeepr Kim Jin-Hyeon flew off his line to deny Sanjar Tursunov, looking menacing in the early skirmishes, as Uzbekistan’s aerial assault caused havoc in the Korean defence.

At the other end, Son’s curling effort was clawed away brilliantly by Ignatiy Nesterov in an absorb-ing first half.

Striker Lee Jeong-Hyeop’s header forced another acrobatic save from Nesterov five minutes after the break, but moments later Kim’s attempted clearance almost ricocheted into the Korean goal after cannoning off defender Kim Jin-Su’s backside.

The Koreans continued to press, a mazy run from Son tak-ing him past three players only to

be robbed by a last-ditch tackle as he prepared to pull the trigger.

An air-shot from Nam Tae-Hee with the goal at his mercy added to South Korea’s frustra-tion, though the Red Devils were

lucky to escape when Lutfulla Turaev contrived to miss an open goal after 78 minutes after being picked out by Sardor Rashidov.

But as both teams began to wilt, Son popped up to glance Kim Jin-Su’s dinked cross past Nesterov’s despairing dive before collapsing to the turf with fatigue, having recently been floored by a flu bug.

Son then capped a gutsy dis-play by smashing home from close range after a lung-busting charge down the right from substitute Cha Du-Ri. AFP

South Korea’s Son Heung Min heads home to score against Uzbekistan during their Asian Cup quarter-final match in Melbourne yesterday.

Asian Cup Results Results from the Asian Cup quarter-final matches yesterday

China 0 Australia 2

South Korea 2 Uzbekistan 0

Today’s Quarter-finals

Iran vs Iraq (0630 GMT)

Japan vs United Arab Emirates (0930 GMT)

20 SPORTFRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

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Thawi corners glory in fine styleAbdulla Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Cup: British jockey Harry Bentley tops feature race

Harry Bentley receives his trophy from H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah at Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) in Doha yesterday. RIGHT: Bentley rides Thawi to glory in the Abdulla Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Cup race. PICTURES: JUHAIM

(Read under as horse, trainer and jockey)

Thoroughbred Maiden Plate (3 Year Olds Only)

1200M

Running Time: 1:13:18

Copleys Walk, M. Hussain, B.Doyle

Red Connect, A. Al Qathiri, Marco Monteriso

Beach Samba, I. Al Malki, Gary Carter

L/B P/A Maiden Plate

1850M

Running Time: 2:09:00

Tabasheer, A. de Mieulle, P. Convertino

Naamah, M. Salama, Cedric Segeon

Thabit, J. Smart, Marco Monteriso

Thoroughbred Maiden Plate

1400M

Running Time: 1:25:27

Tarrafal, H Al Jehani, P. Convertino

Sherston, Jassim Al Ghazali,Yanis Aouabed

Soebroto, Z. Mohsen, Marvin Suerland

P/A Graduation Plate

1600M

Running Time: 1:46:31

Nomaas, M. Hussain, Cedric Segeon

Qassy, Jassim Al Ghazali,Harry Bentley

Al Khattaf, J. Smart, Marco Monteriso

Thoroughbred Graduation Plate

1400M

Running Time: 1:24:20

Leafcutter, M. Hussain, Marco Monteriso

Itorio, Jassim Al Ghazali, Declan Cannon

Mind Of Madness, I. Al Malki, Gary Carter

Thoroughbred Advanced Plate

1200M

Running Time: 1:11:62

Victory Laurel, I. Al Malki, Gary Carter

Hearts Of Stone, Ahmed Kobeissi, S. Golam

Captain Cleo, Jassim Al Ghazali, Stephan Ladjadj

Umm Taqa Cup - Thoroughbred Handicap

1850M

Running Time: 1:52:37

Tortoni, S. Ibido, Marco Monteriso

Blackdown Fair, I. Al Malki, Evert Pheiffer

Janoub Nibras, B. Al Abid, B.Doyle

Abdulla Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Cup - L/B P/A Conditions

2000M

Running Time: 2:14:04

Thawi, Jassim Al Ghazali, Harry Bentley

Haashed, J. Smart, Marco Monteriso

Rassan, Jassim Al Ghazali, J.P Guillambert

DOHA: Jassim Al Ghazali-trained Thawi yesterday beat Haashed to Abdulla Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Cup glory as British jockey Bentley celebrated his 40th win of the season at Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC).

Thawi, ridden by 22-year-old Bentley, clocked a time of 2:14.04 as Julian Smart-trained Haashed was pushed to the second spot in the nine-entry race. Rassan, rid-den by J P Guillambert, finished in third spot in the as Al Ghazali camp walked off with the top prize of QR57,000. The second prize was worth QR22,000.

Earlier, jockey Marco Monteriso completed a decent run of races over the weekend at QREC, winning the Umm Taqa Cup with Tortoni. On Wednesday, Monteriso rode Majd Al Uraqi to Al Mafiar Cup glory.

Blackdown Fair, ridden by Evert Pheiffer, finished in second spot while Janoub Nibras - who had B Doyle in the saddle - fin-ished in third spot.

In race six, jockey Gary Carter rode Victory Laurel to win ahead of Hearts Of Stone - who had S Golam in the saddle. Victory Laurel clocked a time of 1:11.62 in the 1200m race. Captain Cleo - ridden by Stephan Ladjadj - fin-ished in third spot.

In race five, Monteriso topped the 14-entry field on the back of Leafcutter. Monteriso clocked a time of 1:24.20. Leafcutter

finished the 1400m turf race a head’s length in front of Itorio - ridden by Declan Cannon and Mind Of Madness who has Carter in the saddle.

Earlier, Nomaas with jockey Cedric Segeon in the saddle won

race four while race four was secured by Tarrafal who was rid-den by P Conevrtino who topped race two with Tabasheer. In race one, Copleys Walk topped the contest with jockey Doyle in the saddle. THE PENINSULA

Owner of Tortoni Abdulhadi Mana Al Hajri receives his trophy from

H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah

after Tortoni, ridden by Marco Monteriso, won Umm Taqa Cup.

Losail Circuit welcomes region’s best drivers

Zaid Ashkanani in action.

Emirati driver Saeed Al Mehairi is ready for the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East 1

DOHA: The region’s leading drivers return to Qatar follow-ing a mid-season winter break to face the challenging Losail International Circuit in Doha for Round 3 of the sixth edi-tion of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East.

Unlike previous instalments of the Qatar rounds which have seen the drivers race under floodlights in exciting night conditions this year the testing fast and furious Losail International Circuit will be tackled in daylight.

An impressive international grid of 16 world-class drivers representing 9 different nations including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Oman will race in the shadows of world-class

Losail Sports Arena, with the opening race scheduled at 3.20pm today and the second race at 3.05pm tomorrow with all fans welcome

In a change of timings Season 6 to encourage even more fans in Doha to enjoy the spectacle, new daylight races will give more meaning to the practice times which now take place under simi-lar conditions where the sun is up and the track temperature is high.

With drivers getting used to the track ahead of the race weekend it was Kuwaiti star Zaid Ashkanani who set the early tone by posting the fastest time in morning prac-tice, as Skydive Dubai’s Emirati driver Saeed Al Mehairi posted the second fastest time.

Series leader Clemens Schmid of Al Nabooda Racing was third fastest after Al Mehairi and Charlie Frijns, ensuring fans are in for a weekend of high octane action.

Ashkanani’s early pace sets shows that the young Kuwaiti is determined to make Qatar a key milestone in his defence of his series title win last year.

With just four points separat-ing Ashkanani and championship leader Clemens Schmid of Al Nabooda Racing the Losail track could well be the site of some exciting action this weekend as the duo go head to head in their Porsche 911 Cup cars.

Speaking ahead of Race 1 and Race 2 of the Qatar round Ashkanani said: “I’m really happy with the pace that is for sure. The rain we’ve had in the last few days has cleaned up the track so it’s definitely fast and I feel like we have the car in a very good place in order to compete come qualify-ing and then the race.”

He added: “At this stage last year I think I was about 20 points behind Clemens so it’s a lot tighter this year but I’m tak-ing nothing for granted. There’s a long way to go in the season so the hard work has to continue and I can’t wait to get back in the car and start racing.”

After securing his first ever win in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East in Round 2 in Dubai, Saeed Al Mehairi will be hoping to continue his early practice form into the upcoming Round 3 race weekend.

His pace on the Losail track is symbolic of Skydive Dubai’s solid rise through the ranks since join-ing the competition in Season 5.

The Emirati duo of Al Mehairi and Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum have proven themselves to be out-standing team competitors with a podium finished secured in every race.

Speaking after morning prac-tice Saeed Al Mehairi said: “I’m really happy with the pace that is for sure. The rain we’ve had in the last few days has cleaned up the track so it’s definitely fast and I feel like we have the car in a very good place in order to com-pete come qualifying and then the race.”

Al Mehairi added: “It’s been a great season so far but we never forget how quickly things car change in motor sport. We’ve had a few ups and downs but our results are generally con-sistent and that’s the goal again this weekend; nothing too fancy, just go out and give it our all and keep the momentum going.”

Just a 10th of a second off Al

Mehairi’s pace is current cham-pionship leader Clemens Schmid who will be looking to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Standings.

The Season 4 winner has been on sensational form so far but has not yet been able to escape the sights of his closest competitor, Kuwait’s Zaid Ashkanani, who sits just 4 points behind.

Speaking after morning prac-tice Clemens Schmid said: “I’m comfortable enough with the times in practice. It’s an opportu-nity to get the car set up how we want for the race so we’re getting

there and will have another chance to do so before qualifying so there’s plenty of time.”

He added: “It’s going to be a very different feeling this time around with the race being dur-ing the day instead of at night but it’s always good to mix it up so I’m looking forward to a lot more track time this weekend and hopefully some silverware.”

The region’s leading drivers will line-up in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup again as the star attractions at Losail International Circuit for Race 1 and 2 of Round 3 today and tomorrow. THE PENINSULA

Results

Standings after race 2, round 2Read under as name, country, team and points

Clemens Schmid, UAE, Al Nabooda Racing, 94

Zaid Ashkanani, Kuwait, BuzaidGT, 90

Hasher Al Maktoum, UAE, Skydive Dubai Falcons, 84

Charlie Frijns, NED, Team Frijns, 76

Saeed Al Mehairi, UAE, Skydive Dubai Falcons, 65

Raed Raffii, BAH, Team Bahrain, 55

21SPORT FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

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Wiesberger, Coetzee and Grace share lead in DohaQatar Masters: Marc Warren cards a 65 to share second spot at DGC

Korea’s An, India’s Kapur lead Asian charge at Qatar Masters DOHA: Ben An Byeong-hun raised the possibility of a first-ever Asian winner of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters when the strapping Korean carded a second-round 69 to move to eight-under-par, just one shot behind the three joint leaders.

India’s Shiv Kapur carded a bogey-free 68 to share 10th spot on six-under with the likes of Sergio Garcia, while Kiradech Aphibarnrat was just a shot behind after the big-hitting Thai signed for a 71 at Doha Golf Club.

Indian legend Jeev Milkha Singh, who won the last of his four European Tour titles in 2012, shot a second 70 to move to four-under, while Thai veteran Thongchai Jaidee, a six-time win-ner on The European Tour, was two-under after a 73.

YE Yang, the first and so far only Asian man to win a Major, missed the cut by one on his tour-nament debut after a 71 left him even-par.

Kapur, 32, played with An for the first two days and admitted he was inspired by playing with the 23-year-old Korean, who’s play-ing his first full season on The European Tour after earning his card through last year’s Challenge Tour.

“I played pretty steady and was happy to be bogey free. The wind has died down from the start of the week and conditions were there for scoring, and I managed to take advantage of it,” said Kapur, who spent seven years on The European Tour before losing his card at the end of 2012, then regaining it the following year by finishing fourth on the Challenge Tour.

“Ben and I were feeding off each other. He’s playing really well. He had a good week last week and is in form. It was good to play with someone who’s playing that well, because, like I said, you feed off each other.”

With An making his tourna-ment debut, Kapur believes Asian golfers are enjoying a particularly impressive showing in this year’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

“I’ve known Jeev for a very long time and he seems to be coming back into form after a bit of a rough year with injuries. We all know Thongchai is usually going to be at the business end of the leaderboard, same for Kiradech. It’s a really strong Asian pres-ence,” Kapur said.

“Back in the day, you didn’t really see many Asians contend-ing on desert courses, predomi-nantly because of the length of the courses. They’re very different to the courses we’ve grown up on, but with the more exposure we’ve had playing on The European Tour, you see Asians contending now.”

Although Kapur stopped short of predicting an Asian champion in this year’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, he didn’t rule it out, especially considering the repeated success of Thongchai and Singh on the circuit.

“I’d say there’s as good a chance for an Asian champion as there has been, but the field here is always very strong and you always have the top players here,” Kapur said.

“You have to have a bit of luck, but I won’t say it’s out of the ques-tion. You have to have a few guys firing on all cylinders to be at the business end of the leaderboard, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see an Asian winner.”

THE PENINSULA

LEFT: Austria No. 1 Bernd

Wiesberger on way to shooting

a 66 to share the lead after the second round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club (DGC) yesterday.

RIGHT: George Coetzee of

South Afica in action at DGC

yesterday. PICTURES:

QASSIM RAHMATULLAH

BY RIZWAN REHMAT

DOHA: Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger and South Africa’s George Coetzee yesterday joined Branden Grace for a share of the clubhouse lead with a nine-under par 135 aggregate on day two of the $2.5m Qatar Masters.

Wiesberger, who suffered a couple of bogeys on day one, yes-terday produced a slick perform-ance with a six under par 66 at the sun-bathed Doha Golf Club (DGC) where Coetzee’s 67 saw the two join South Africa’s Grace who carded 68 to supplement his first day’s 67.

After firing seven birdies, Wiesberger said: “I feel comfort-able. I haven’t really expected it going into those two weeks, especially because I played quite poorly last year.”

Jumping 21 spots to share the lead, Wiesberger added: “It gives me great confidence; if I keep on doing what I’m doing, I think I’ve worked on the right things the last couple of weeks and it shows.”

Coetzee also sparkled under sunny conditions, making four birdies, but stuttered with his second bogey at the fifth hole this week.

“I’m playing well. My swing is coming along slightly and I’m putting pretty nicely,” Coetzee said.

“ I’ve just got to wait for my birdies and not force it and kind of play the golf course like I know it,” he added.

In a memorable outing yester-day, Marc Warren of Scotland scorched the DGC course with a stunning 65 to join An Byeong-hun of Korea and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina to finish the day with an aggregate of 136.

Thirty-three-year-old Warren, who missed the cut at last week’s Abu Dhabi Championship, was clearly going against the script when he launched the proceed-ings with an eagle on the 591-yard first hole and then fired six birdies - on holes 3, 4, 5, 12, 14 and 15 - to emerge joint second.

Wiesberger, 29, picked up a shot on his opening hole before firing four straight birdies from 13 to 16 and picking up two more

on the front nine, offset by a bogey on seven.

“I played nicely out there today. I had a lot of birdies on my first nine. I got the putter going and drove it beautifully, only missing the last fairway on the fringe,” said Wiesberger, who finished sixth in Abu Dhabi last week.

“I only missed one green, where I hit the flag, so the long game was steady.

“However, the short irons down the stretch – four, five, six, seven – weren’t particularly good. I couldn’t get deeper into the 60s, but it was still a very good round.”

Wiesberger said his form in Abu Dhabi and Doha signals that he’s recovering the form that earned him two European Tour titles in 2012.

“I feel comfortable. I haven’t really expected it going into these two weeks, especially because I played quite poorly last year, so it gives me great confidence if I keep on doing what I’m doing. I think I’ve worked on the right things the last couple of weeks and it shows.”

Grace, already a winner on the European Tour this season at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, made four birdies and a bogey to sit on nine under par.

His four under par round of 68 came on an unusually calm day at DGC, although no one could take advantage sufficiently to reach double figures under par.

Grace, five times a European Tour winner, said: “I really thought somebody was going to

push on. You saw the guys from this morning, they were six under and five under and seven under, and nobody really pushed towards the end of the day.”

He added: “The greens weren’t as quick as I thought they were going to be. They are still very good. They didn’t spike up at all, so it’s a big surprise nobody really pushed on.”

Spain’s Alejandro Canizares, South Africa’s Darren Fichardt and Australia’s Richard Green finished day two with 137 to share the third spot on the leaderboard.

After a sluggish 70 on the first day, Green carded a 67 at DGC yesterday.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia failed to improve on his first day’s performance.

The 35-year-old Spaniard carded another 69 to share fourth spot with 11 others that included former champion Paul Lawrie (70, 68), India’s Shiva Kapur (70, 68) and overnight leader Oliver Fisher of England.

Fisher who fired a 65 on day one yesterday was brought down to earth with a sluggish 73. Three bogeys - on holes 5, 9 and 13 - saw the Englishman finish the day with an aggregate of 138.

The cut mark was one under, with Major Champion Charl Schwartzel a notable absentee for the next two days, having shot six over yesterday.

Last week’s winner at the Abu Dhabi Championship Gary Stal also missed the cut.

THE PENINSULA

Commercial Bank Qatar Masters tickets are available

to purchase at Doha Golf Club, Virgin Megastores (in stores

in Doha and online) and Doha Rugby FC. Commercial Bank

Qatar Masters tickets for adults are priced as follows: Friday 23 January – QR250 (includes evening entertain-ment – UB40 featuring Ali

Campbell, Astro and Mickey) Saturday 24 January – QR200.

Entry is free for children under 14 years of age.

Qatar Golf Academy offers free lessons at 2015 Qatar Masters DOHA: Spectators at this week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club can enjoy free lessons by PGA pro-fessionals at the Qatar Golf Academy booth in the QAFCO Family Zone, as well as spe-cial discounts on Academy membership.

The Academy aims to pro-mote the game to newcomers and amateurs. While operating as a division of Doha Golf Club, the Academy is open to the pub-lic and offers both lessons and its own membership scheme.

In September, the Qatar Golf Academy teamed up with world-renowned coaches Peter Cowen and Mike Walker, whose cur-rent stable of star students includes Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington.

All four full-time coaches at the Qatar Golf Academy have been trained in Cowen’s coach-ing methods and this week the PGA Master Professional has been spending more time with the quartet, as well as looking after some of his star pupils at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Andy McCormick, Director of Qatar Golf Academy, says the Academy is targeting newcomers and intermediate golfers of all ages and backgrounds, but that its coaching methods are world-class.

“We want our coaching to

be of the highest level,” said McCormick, a former employee of Cowen’s. “Having worked with Pete before, I was excited that we were able to team up with him and Mike, and ensure all our coaches have been taught by argu-ably the best coach in the sport.

“Results wise, I think a lot of people would say Pete is the best coach in the world and Mike is certainly not far behind. Pete has been working with our coaches again this week and some of his students – European Tour players

– are likely to come down and help out in the Family Zone and the booth.” McCormick is keen to stress that although the Academy is based at Doha Golf Club, its les-sons are available to non-mem-bers of the country’s only course, who can still use the facilities.

“This week, we’re introducing people to the Academy and offer-ing free lessons to encourage as many people as possible to try out the game,” McCormick said.

“We offer memberships where they can get discounts off lessons

and the practice range. We do clinics throughout the year and run tournaments on the Academy Course. There’s demand because there’s a lot of non-golfers or developing golfers and we’re catering to them. We’re encour-aging ladies to play, children to play, families to play.”

The Qatar Golf Academy booth also has a covered area where spectators can sit and watch the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters live on television.

THE PENINSULA

Andy McCormick, Director of Qatar Golf

Academy, with some of the

schoolchildren who have visited the Qatar Golf Academy

facilities in the QAFCO

Family Zone, one of the

many popular attractions at this week’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at

Doha Golf Club.

Qatar Masters Scores

DOHA: Leading scores in Doha yesterday in the second round of the Qatar Masters:

135 Branden Grace (RSA) 67-68, George Coetzee (RSA) 68-67, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 69-66

136 Marc Warren (SCO) 71-65, An Byeong-Hun (KOR) 67-69, Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 67-69

137 Alejandro Cañizares (ESP) 67-70, Richard Green (AUS) 70-67, Darren Fichardt (RSA) 67-70

138 Renato Paratore (ITA) 69-69, Grégory Bourdy (FRA) 70-68, Shiv Kapur (IND) 70-68, Sergio García (ESP) 69-69, Peter Lawrie (IRL) 70-68, Kristoffer Broberg (SWE) 67-71, Alexander Norén (SWE) 67-71, James Morrison (ENG) 68-70, Matthew Baldwin (ENG) 70-68, Oliver Fisher (ENG) 65-73, Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 73-65

139 Andy Sullivan (ENG) 71-68, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 68-71, Johan Carlsson (SWE) 74-65, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 68-71, Rafael Cabrera (ESP) 66-73, Eduardo De La Riva (ESP) 70-69, Ricardo González (ARG) 69-70, Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 71-68, Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 71-68, Grégory Havret (FRA) 70-69, Ernie Els (RSA) 67-72

140 Benjamin Hébert (FRA) 72-68, Michaël Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) 70-70, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 70-70, Álvaro Quirós (ESP) 70-70, Anders Hansen (DEN) 71-69, Magnus Carlsson (SWE) 71-69, Damien McGrane (IRL) 68-72, Eddie Pepperell (ENG) 69-71, Ross Fisher (ENG) 70-70, Mark Foster (ENG) 67-73, Paul Lawrie (SCO) 67-73, Michael Hoey (NIR) 71-69

141 Scott Jamieson (SCO) 68-73, Justin Rose (ENG) 68-73, Seve Benson (ENG) 70-71, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 70-71, Brett Rumford (AUS) 69-72, Thomas Pieters (BEL) 73-68, Moritz Lampert (GER) 67-74, Dawie Van der Walt (RSA) 72-69, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 71-70

22FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.comSPORT

Germany and Denmark advanceHandball: Poland qualify for last sixteen stage, France survive Algeria scare in QatarDOHA: Germany, Denmark and Poland qualified for the last six-teen knockout stage of the 24th Men’s World Championship from Group D.

The Germans won 28-23 against Argentina, while Poland easily accounted for Saudi Arabia 32-13.

In the last match of the Group D, Denmark overcame a fighting Russia 31-28.

Yesterday at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall, Argentina once underlined again why they have been a difficult opponent for teams at the championship in Qatar.

The South Americans man-aged to put pressure on Germany almost over the entire length of the match but the Germans came on top at the end.

That victory sealed Germany’s participation in the pre-quarter- finals, while Argentina´s destiny will be decided on the last match day.

Before the game, Germany had five points after their first three matches, while Argentina had three, so the Germans were obvi-ously closer to the eighth finals – without having qualified yet, though.

The German favourites were in the lead from the start, but not by more than one or two goals, as the Argentineans played very well. After 16 minutes and 45 seconds, left wing Frederico Fernandez could even give Argentina their first lead at 8-7 during one of many periods of being one player up on court.

After another couple of German two goal leads, Argentina went ahead again at 14-12 with less than five min-utes left of the first half, and with only goal – scored by the Germans – Argentina could take a surprising 14-13 lead with them to the dressing room.

Right away from the start of the second half, Germany were back on track and in control, with another series of two goal leads.

Still Argentina came back once again, getting another lead at 19-18. And even though the fol-lowing goals were all German, the South Americans kept bouncing back due to their enormous spirit and energy.

In the end, the German’s expe-rience turned out to be the decid-ing factor, as the Europeans got ahead by five goals which was also the result at full time.

Right wing Patrick Groetzki was the top scoring German player with seven goals, while Frederico Fernandez scored six for Argentina.

Russia and Argentina meet on January 24, with the winner qualifying for the next stage.

Meanwhile, favourites France survived a second half scare from the bottom team in Group C, Algeria, yesterday to win 32-26 and maintain their unbeaten record.

The reigning European and Olympic champions ended up winning by six goals in a game they had initially threatened to win with ease, but which ended up becoming far more uncomfortable.

THE PENINSULA

Germany’s Michael Mueller (right) in action against Argentina’s Gonzalo Carou during the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship match at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall, outside Doha, yesterday. RIGHT: Mariusz Jurkiewicz of Poland in action against Saudi Arabia at the Duhail Sports Hall yesterday.

Duhail set for clash of Karacic brothersDOHA: A match between former brothers.

That’s how journalists often describe a clash between coun-tries of the former Yugoslavia, the one-time handball powerhouse which ceased to exist in 1991.

A clash similar to the final pre-liminary round Group B match between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina set for tonight in the

Duhail Sports Hall. That match will however also offer a unique face-off between two brothers who’ll be wearing the uniforms of opposing teams.

Igor Karacic, who plays for Croatia, and his brother Ivan, who represents Bosnia and Hercegovina, were born in Mostar. They have dreamed the same dreams under the same

family roof, but the way their stories developed illustrates how unpredictable life’s paths can sometimes be.

“We have never thought that we would play against each other at a World Championship,” said Ivan, a playmaker for the Bosnian squad who is three years his brother’s senior.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina were always far away from the big stage, and, on the other side, Igor fought hard for the Croatian jer-sey for many years. But this is some kind of justice and destiny for both of us.

“I support my brother. Croatia are also my team. I like both teams, but I play for my country. I adore this Bosnian generation. Igor dreamed to play for Croatia. I am happy because of him. He is happy because of me. Our family is proud of us.”

New Croatian star Igor, who is 26, recalls the time when the brothers went their separate ways.

“Actually, that wasn’t just a moment. I got a call from coach Irfan Smajlagic to join the Croatian youth national team in 2005. That was the beginning.

“Ivan had already competed

in Bosnian youth categories. Our rivalry began when we played for two rivals team in the Bosnian championship: Bosna Sarajevo and Borac Banja Luka.”

Igor knows who will have the toughest time during their 60-minute match today.

“That will be our mum. I know that she won’t watch the game, but our father and brother will for sure.

“They have already installed two TVs in order to watch both teams as we have some matches at the same time. A lot of our friends will be guests in our house

during those days. It will be a real spectacle. Thank God that we are both in Qatar.”

Mostar will have fans of both sides on that day.

“I think that Croatia will have stronger support, but I also know that people cheered for Bosnia in our previous matches. It is a big thing for such a small city to have two play-ers at a World Championship,” said Ivan, an organiser of the Bosnian attack. No matter who wins today, the Karacic brothers will write a new chapter in handball World Championship history.

THE PENINSULA

IHF President confident in Qatar’s ability to host OlympicsDOHA: International Handball Federation President Hassan Moustafa (pictured) has voiced confidence in Qatar’s ability to host the Olympics in the near future, particularly after its success in staging the World Handball Championship.

For any country, Moustafa said yesterday in an interview with German news agency DPA, host-ing a world tournament means that it laid down the foundations that it can rely on when organis-ing other sports events, especially by using the facilities and techni-cal capacities that can help Qatar in hosting the Olympic Games.

The international federa-tion president said Qatar’s hosting of the World Handball Championship has made it a challenging task for future hosts in order to pass Qatar’s success rates, noting that preparing three venues for the tournament was a huge achievement.

Moustafa said international handball will be strongly present in the Arab region in the next few years, with Algeria hosting the youth world tournament in 2017, while Egypt submitted a bid to stage the 2021 edition of the World Handball Championship.

Asked about his tenure as IHF president, Moustafa said the success during his four terms in power is a collective effort for the board members, presidents of national federations and gen-eral assembly members. He added that one of the notable achieve-ments of the IHF is increasing the number of member federations, growing its revenue and increas-ing the number of projects that serve developing federations. QNA

Sweden and Egypt share pointsDOHA: Sweden and Egypt shared points after an exciting 25-25 in Group C match at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena in Al Sadd yesterday.

Both teams had their chances to take a win, but in the end both sides can be satisfied with the draw. The result leaves Sweden on seven points while Egyptians have two less.

With Egypt having the fran-tic support of fans behind them it was a clear sign that Sweden won’t have an easy task ahead of them. Sweden took an early 6-4, but Egypt levelled the result and even took a 10-9 and went to the half time break at 10-10.

In the second half, Egypt were five goals up 23:18 with 13 min-utes left; the game seemed to be heading in one direction but the Swedes had different ideas.

The Swedish defensive giants found a way to stop the Egyptians from scoring. And the Scandinavians scored a few easy goals and mounted a late comeback to draw level. Ahmed Elahmar top scored for Egypt while Niklas Ekberg found the net 10 times. Also in Group C, the Czech Republic beat Iceland 36-25, meaning both sides have a chance of qualifying going into this weekend’s final group games. THE PENINSULA

Croatia’s Igor Karacic reacts during the World Championship match against Macedonia at Duhail Sports Hall in Doha on Wednesday.

Sweden’s Kallman Jonas attempts to score in their

match against Egypt in the Group C match at Ali Bin

Hamad Al Attiyah Arena at Al Sadd yesterday.

PICTURE BY: BAHER AMIN

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina player Ivan Karacic (left) player Ivan Karacic (left) in action against Issam in action against Issam Tej of Tunisia in a match Tej of Tunisia in a match at the Ali Bin Hamad Al at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Al Sadd, Attiya Arena in Al Sadd,

on Wednesday.on Wednesday.

24th Men’s Handball Championship ScheduleGroup A: Belarus, Brazil, Chile, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain

Day Time Match Venue

January 23

5.00pm Brazil vs Chile Lusail

7.00pm Qatar vs Belarus Lusail

5.00pm Spain vs Slovenia Duhail

Group B: Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Iran, Tunisia

January 23

7.00pm Croatia vs Bosnia-Herzegovina Duhail

5.00pm Tunisia vs Iran Al Attiyah

7.00pm Macedonia vs Austria Al Attiyah

24th Men’s World Handball Championship

Yesterday’s Results

Group C:

Sweden 25 Egypt 25

Czech Republic 36 Iceland 25

France 32 Algeria 26

Group D:

Germany 28 Argentina 23

Poland 32 Saudi Arabia 13

Denmark 31 Russia 28

Qualified Teams

Teams which have qualified so far for the pre-quarter-finals

Group A: Spain, Qatar, Slovenia

Group B: Croatia, Macedonia, Austria

Group C: Sweden, France, Egypt

Group D: Germany, Denmark, Poland

Sherman’s Lagoon By Jim Toomey

C O O DSR S RW

Yesterday’s answer

Yesterday’s answer

How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku Puzzle is solved by filling the numbers from 1 to 9 into the blank cells. A Hyper Sudoku has unlike Sudoku 13 regions (four regions overlap with the nine standard regions). In all regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is solved like a normal Sudoku.

How to play Kakuro:

The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any

size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells

like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword,

some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some

cells will contain two numbers.

However, in a crossword the numbers reference

clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get!

They denote the total of the digits in the row or

column referenced by the number.

Within each

collection of cells

- called a run - any

of the numbers 1

to 9 may be used

but, like sudoku,

each number may

only be used once.

HYPER

ACROSS

1 Big A.T.M. maker

4 Part of TWA

9 One turning to enter?

14 “Now I get it!”

15 One of Santa’s reindeer

16 Serengeti scavenger

17 Brand with the tagline “Established in Milwaukee 1844”

20 Glowing coal

21 Roi’s wife

22 Part of the back

25 They precede sigmas

29 Vote of support

30 Garden of Eden creature

32 Prez on a penny

35 ___-mo

37 Big and cumbersome

38 Extremist group

42 Best friend of Thomas the Tank Engine

43 Election day: Abbr.

44 Mary ___ cosmetics

45 Local’s counterpart

48 Triangular sail

50 Hardly brow-furrowing

51 Deli counter cheese brand

57 Hero of New Orleans

59 Aquafina competitor

60 What Thanksgiving turkey may come with … as suggested by parts of 17-, 22-, 38- and 51-Across?

65 Tricks

66 Therefore

67 Nat ___ (cable channel)

68 Bub

69 Relatively cool red giant

70 Mess up

DOWN

1 Pickup sites?

2 Titleholder

3 Temple teacher

4 Couch potato’s table ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

J I F F I M P E L O H M SU S E R W A H O O D O I TS H E E R A G O N Y O S L O

D O N O T Q U E E RA T M S N O O Z E A L A R MN O I D E A O A T SI N N O S O S A A T TS Y D N E Y A U S T R A L I AE S S P E R M S T A B

H E L I S U P E R BS A M U E L A D A M S R A YE X A M S E T U D EA L M A S M A R T A L E C KT E E N S P L I T M A N ES S T S E S S A Y S U N G

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

32 33 34 35 36 37

38 39 40 41

42 43 44

45 46 47 48 49

50 51 52 53 54 55 56

57 58 59

60 61 62 63 64

65 66 67

68 69 70

5 Josh

6 Rock’s ___ Rose

7 Prefix with surgeon

8 Dirty looks

9 A guard may protect it

10 Science fiction subgenre

11 Yank’s foe

12 Brian who pioneered in ambient music

13 Lacking color

18 D.C. V.I.P.

19 Hitchhiker’s need

23 In case that

24 Colombian city

26 Wyeth subject

27 Pleasant to the ear, say

28 Pig’s place

31 M.L.B. stat

32 Vega of “Spy Kids”

33 Pats on the back, maybe

34 Unreadable without a key

36 Big campaign mo.

39 Vote of support

40 Honshu peak

41 Derby strap

42 Second of April?

46 Kemo ___

47 Sluggish creatures

49 3 or 5 Series car, in slang

52 Combustible heaps

53 Early year in Nero’s reign

54 Former Celtic Danny

55 54-Down was one

56 Belgian painter James

58 Very

60 Ship in a 2014 Russell Crowe film

61 Him: Fr.

62 Acid

63 Acct. earnings

64 Longtime record label

TV LISTINGS

12:15 Austin & Ally

12:40 Jessie

13:05 I Didn’t Do It

13:30 So Random

13:55 Liv And Maddie

14:20 Austin & Ally

14:55 Jessie

15:20 Liv And Maddie

15:45 Liv And Maddie

16:10 Violetta

17:00 Wendy Wu:

Homecoming

Warrior

18:40 Austin & Ally

19:05 Spooksville

19:30 Violetta

20:20 Liv And Maddie

20:45 Liv And Maddie

21:10 Wolfblood

21:35 Gravity Falls

22:00 Suite Life On Deck

22:25 A.N.T. Farm

22:50 Shake It Up

23:10 Wolfblood

23:35 Wolfblood

13:00 My Boys

13:30 The Simpsons

14:00 How I Met Your

Mother

14:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine

15:00 Hot In Cleveland

15:30 The Daily Show With

Jon Stewart

16:00 Two And A Half Men

16:30 Last Man Standing

17:00 Late Night With Seth

Meyers

18:00 The Neighbors

18:30 How I Met Your

Mother

19:00 Brooklyn Nine-Nine

20:00 The Tonight Show

Starring Jimmy

Fallon

21:00 The Daily Show With

Jon Stewart

21:30 Two And A Half Men

22:30 Silicon Valley

23:00 Sean Saves The

World

13:20 Swamp Brothers

14:45 Swimming

With Monsters:

Steve Backshall

15:40 Wildest Africa

16:30 My Cat From Hell

17:30 Wildest Islands

18:25 Karina: Wild On

Safari

18:50 Karina: Wild On

Safari

19:20 Ray Mears’

Wild Britain

20:15 North America

21:10 Galapagos

22:05 Wildest Africa

23:00 Nick Baker’s

Beautiful

Freaks

13:00 ZRA -

Nomination

Special

14:00 Total Siyappa

17:00 Neeli Chatri

Waale

18:00 Maharakshak

Aryan

19:00 Gulf Rangoli

Season 4

20:00 Sapne Suhane

Ladakpan Ke

20:30 Jodha Akbar

21:00 Jamai Raja

21:30 Parwaaz

22:30 Zee Connect

Season 4

23:00 Aatma - Feel It

Around You

12:00 Emmerdale

13:00 Ellen DeGeneres

Show

14:00 Psych

16:00 Emmerdale

17:00 Ellen DeGeneres

Show

18:00 Psych

19:00 Once Upon A

Time

20:00 Grey’s Anatomy

21:00 American Idol

22:00 American

Horror Story:

Freak Show

10:00 Girl In Progress-

PG15

12:00 Son Of Rambow

14:00 Men At Work

16:00 The Little

Rascals Save

The Day

18:00 Gambit

20:00 Syrup

22:00 21 & Over

00:00 Men At Work

02:00 The Little

Rascals Save

The Day

13:15 Return To Nim’s

Island

15:00 The Wolverine-

PG15

17:15 Frozen

19:00 The Way Way

Back

21:00 The Secret Life

Of Walter Mitty

23:00 Drive

01:00 Parker

03:00 Frozen

13:00 Ancient Secrets:

Mystery of The

Silver Pharaoh

14:00 Megacities

15:00 Mega Factories:

Supercars

17:00 Live Free Or Die

18:00 Hunter Hunted

19:00 Mega Factories:

Supercars

20:00 Mega

Breakdown

21:00 Live Free Or Die

23:00 Plastiki

TEL: 444933989 444517001SHOWING AT VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

BREAK TIME 23FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

11:25 Street Outlaws

12:15 Extreme Car

Hoarders

13:05 Auction Hunters

13:30 The Liquidator

13:55 Dallas Car Sharks

14:20 Outback Truckers

15:10 Classic Car Rescue

16:00 Fast N’ Loud

16:50 How It’s Made

17:15 How It’s Made

17:40 Dual Survival

18:30 Fast N’ Loud

19:20 Kindig Customs

20:10 The Liquidator

20:35 What’s In The Barn?

21:00 Overhaulin’

21:50 Kindig Customs

22:40 Highway To Sell

23:30 Overhaulin’

00:20 Kindig Customs

01:10 Highway To Sell

02:00 Fast N’ Loud

02:50 Auction Hunters

03:15 The Liquidator

03:40 What’s In The Barn?

08:00 News

08:30 Earthrise

09:00 Al Jazeera World

10:00 News

10:30 Inside Story

11:00 News

11:30 The Stream

12:00 News

12:30 101 East

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 The System

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 The Stream

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:00 News

19:30 Fault Lines

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 Wildlife Warzone

23:00 Lifelines: The Quest

For Global Health

1American Sniper (2D/Action)

– 11:00am, 1:30, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30pm &12:00midnight

2Taken 3 (2D/Action)

– 10:00am, 12:10, 2:20, 4:30, 6:40, 9:00 & 11:20pm

3Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 10:15am, 12:30, 2:45,

5:00, 7:20, 9:40 & 11:50pm

4Barbie In Princess Power (2D/Animation)

– 10:00am, 11:40, 1:15, 2:45 & 4:15pm;

13 Sins (2D/Horror) – 9:20 & 11:20pm

Unbroken (2D/Drama) – 6:45pm

5The Book of Life (2D/Animation)

– 10:30am, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30 & 6:30pm

The Theory of Everything (2D/Drama)– 8:30 & 11:15pm

6Reach Me (2D/Action)– 10:00am, 2:00, 6:00 & 10:00pm

Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror)– 12:00noon, 4:00, 7:50pm & 12:00midnight

7 The Imitation Game – 12:30, 4:40, 9:05 & 11:30pm

Paddington(2D/Family)–10:40am, 2:45 &7:05pm

813 Sins (2D/Horror)– 10:30am, 2:15 & 6:00pm Rec 3: Genesis – 12:30, 4:15, 8:00, 9:45 & 11:20pm

9Taken 3 (IMAX 2D/Action)

– 10:30am, 12:40, 2:50, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30 & 11:50pm

10Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 11:00am, 3:20, 7:45 & 10:00pm

Mortdecai (2D/Action)– 1:10, 5:30pm & 12:15am

MALL

1 Barbie In Princess Power – 2:30 & 4:00pm

Taken 3 (2D/Crime) – 5:30pm

American Sniper (2D/Action) – 7.30pm

Rec 3 (2D/Horror) – 10:00pm

Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror) – 11:30pm

2 The Book Of Life (2D/Animation) – 2:30pm

We'll Never Have Paris (2D/Comedy) – 4:15pm

Baby (2D/Hindi) – 6:00 & 10:30pm

Reach Me (2D/Drama) – 8:45pm

3 Shankar's "I" (2D/Tamil) – 2:00pm

The Book Of Life (3D/Animation) – 5:15pm

Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 7:00pm

Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror) – 9:00pm

American Sniper (2D/Action) – 11.00pm

LANDMARK

1 Shankar's "I" (2D/Tamil) – 2:00pm

The Book Of Life (2D/Animation) – 5:15pm

American Sniper (2D/Action) – 7.00 & 11:00pm

Rec 3 (2D/Horror) – 9:30pm

2 Barbie In Princess Power – 2:30 & 4:00pm

Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror) – 5:30 & 11:30pm

Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 7:30pm

Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 9:30pm

3 The Book Of Life (3D/) – 2:15pm

Baby (2D/Hindi) – 4:00pm

We'll Never Have Paris (2D/Comedy) – 6:45pm

Reach Me (2D/Drama) – 8:30pm

Shankar's "I" (2D/Tamil) – 10:15pm

ROYAL

PLAZA

1

The Book Of Life (2D/Animation) – 2:30 & 5:30pm

Barbie In Princess Power (2D/Animation) – 4:00pm

Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 7:15pm

American Sniper (2D/Action) – 9:15pm

Taken 3 (2D/Action) – 11:30pm

2

Mortdecai (2D/Action) – 3:00pm

Dolly Ki Doli (2D/Hindi) – 5.00 & 9:30pm

American Sniper (2D/Action) – 7:00pm

Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror) – 11:30pm

3 Legend Of The Never Beast(2D/Drama) – 2:30pm

We'll Never Have Paris (2D/Comedy) – 4:00pm

Wolf Creek 2 (2D/Horror) – 5:45pm

Rec 3 (Horror)– 7:45pm; Reach Me – 9:15pm

American Sniper (2D/Action) – 11:15pm

MORNING BREAK24FRIDAY 23 JANUARY 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

NEW YORK: Eating less than a handful of walnuts daily as a snack or as a part of a meal can sharpen your memory, says a study.

The first-ever large representa-tive analysis of walnut intake and cognitive function found that eat-ing just 13 grammes of walnuts a day improved memory perform-ance on cognitive function tests, including those for memory, concentration and information processing speed.

In this study, participants included adults aged 20-59 as well as 60 and over.

Lenore Arab, a doctor from David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, and co-researcher Alfonso Ang, also a doctor, found that participants with higher walnut consumption performed significantly better on a series of six cognitive tests.

Cognitive function was con-sistently greater in adult par-ticipants that consumed walnuts, regardless of age, gender or ethnicity.

“The analysis supports previous results of animal studies that have

shown the neuroprotective benefit from eating walnuts and it is a realistic amount — 13 grammes,” Arab said.

There are numerous possible active ingredients in walnuts that may be contributing factors in protecting cognitive functions.

This includes the high antioxi-dant content of walnuts and the combination of numerous vita-mins and minerals.

Walnuts also contain a sig-nificant source of alpha-lino-lenic acid (ALA), a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid with heart and

brain-health benefits. It includes the possible beneficial effects of slowing or preventing the pro-gression of Alzheimer’s disease.

According to a 2012 World Health Organisation (WHO) article, the estimated number of new cases of dementia each year worldwide is nearly 7.7 million and the number of people living with dementia worldwide is estimated at 35.6 million.

This number is predicted to double by 2030 and more than triple by 2050.

IANS

Eating walnuts daily boosts memory

DAVOS: Imagine a world where mosquito-sized robots fly around stealing samples of your DNA. Or where a department store knows from your buy-ing habits that you’re pregnant even before your family does.

That is the terrifying dystopian world portrayed by a group of Harvard professors at the World Economic Forum here yesterday, where the assembled elite heard that the notion of individual pri-vacy is effectively dead.

“Welcome to today. We’re already in that world,” said Margo Seltzer, a professor in computer science at Harvard University. “Privacy as we knew it in the past is no longer feasible... How we conventionally think of privacy is dead,” she added.

Another Harvard researcher into genetics said it was “inevi-table” that one’s personal genetic information would enter more and more into the public sphere.

Sophia Roosth said intelligence agents were already asked to col-lect genetic information on for-eign leaders to determine things like susceptibility to disease and life expectancy.

What’s more, Seltzer imagined a world in which tiny robot drones flew around, the size of mosquitoes, extracting a sample of your DNA for analysis by, say, the government or an insurance firm. Invasions of privacy are “going to become more pervasive,” she predicted. “It’s not whether this is going to happen, it’s already happening... We live in a surveillance state today.”

Political scientist Joseph Nye tackled the controversial subject of encrypted communications and the idea of regulating to ensure governments can always see even encrypted messages in the inter-ests of national security.

“Governments are talking about putting in back doors for communi-cation so that terrorists can’t com-municate without being spied on. The problem is that if governments can do that, so can the bad guys,” Nye told the forum. “Are you more worried about big brother or your nasty little cousin?”

However, despite the pessimis-tic Orwellian vision, the academ-ics were at pains to stress that the positive aspects of technology still far outweigh the restrictions on privacy they entail. In the same

way we can send tiny drones to spy on people, we can send the same machine into an Ebola ward to “zap the germs”, Seltzer said. “The technology is there, it is up to us how to use it,” she added.

“By and large, tech has done more good than harm,” she said. And at a separate session on artificial intelligence, panellists appeared to accept the limit on privacy as part of modern life.

Rodney Brooks, chairman of Rethink Robotics, an American tech firm, took the example of Google Maps guessing — usually correctly — where you want to go. “At first, I found that spooky and kind of scary. Then I real-ised, actually, it’s kind of useful,” he told the forum.

Anthony Goldbloom, a young tech entrepreneur, told the same panel that what he termed the “Google generation” placed far less weight on their privacy than previ-ous generations. “I trade my pri-vacy for the convenience. Privacy is not something that worries me,” he said. “Anyway, people often behave better when they have the sense that their actions are being watched.” AFP

Privacy is dead, Davos hears

Children’s fashion

Siberian Tiger Park

Young models present creations from the Fall/Winter 2015/16 collection by Italian label Fun&Fun during the Pitti Immagine Bimbo fashion fair in Florence, Italy, yesterday. The children’s fashion event ends tomorrow.

The Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin, the capital of China’s Northeast Heilongjiang Province. The park, which is the world’s largest breeding centre for the species, allows visitors to send sheep ($100), chickens ($25) and cows ($350) to their deaths by watching them being released into the tiger areas for a nominal price. The Siberian tiger is the largest of the world’s big cats.

Fajr (Dawn) 5:01

Shorook (Sunrise) 6:20

Zuhr (Noon) 11:46

Asr (Afternoon) 2:50

Maghrib (Sunset) 5:12

Isha (Night) 6:42

PRAYER TIME

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Hazy to mist at places at first becomes moderate temperature day and cold by night.

High: 20° Low: 11°

High: 21° Low: 15

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MUSCAT 23/19 Partly cloudy 23/19 Partly cloudy

MAKKAH 34/21 Clear 34/21 Partly cloudy

KUWAIT 22/06 Clear 22/07 Clear

BAHRAIN 19/13 Clear 21/14 Clear

SANAA 22/04 Clear 22/03 Clear

RIYADH 22/11 Partly cloudy 22/10 Clear

DUBAI 23/14 Clear 25/12 Clear

BAGHDAD 20/05 Partly cloudy 22/06 Partly cloudy

ATHENS 16/09 Partly cloudy 15/11 Chance of rain

WASHINGTON 07/04 Chance of rain 06/04 Rain

SYDNEY 30/21 Clear 35/19 Clear

LONDON 06/03 Clear 08/03 Clear

PARIS 03/-1 Partly cloudy 07/00 Chance of rain

ISTANBUL 14/08 Clear 12/08 Chance of showers

MANILA 26/22 Partly cloudy 28/22 Clear

DHAKA 27/16 Clear 26/13 Clear

DELHI 17/10 Clear 17/09 Clear

ISLAMABAD 16/04 Mostly cloudy 16/03 Clear