Marcelo's late winner help Real keep title bid on track

QP raises ethane supply to support

petrochem industry

Al Sadd players and officials celebrate after winning the Qatar Cup final in Doha yesterday. Al Sadd beat El Jaish 2-1 in the final played at Al Sadd Stadium. President of Qatar Olympic Committee H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani gave away the trophy to Al Sadd captain Xavi and medals to players of both sides. → See also page 28

BUSINESS | 21 SPORT | 28

Volume 22 | Number 7147 | 2 RiyalsSunday 30 April 2017 | 4 Sha'baan 1438 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

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Mohammad Shoeb The Peninsula

THE VALUE of Qatar’s exports of goods in March 2017 recorded a significant jump (year-on-year) compared to March 2016, as a result of higher exports of petroleum gases and other hydrocarbons products whose prices have relatively improved in the international market.

The total value of exports, including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports, in March was nearly QR19.7bn, showing a remark-able increase of 18.4% compared to the same month last year. However, when compared on month-on-month(M-o-M) basis, the value of export was almost stable.

→ See also page 3

Sharp jump in Qatar’s exports in March

Mohammed Osman The Peninsula

Qatar is free from fatal occupational acci-d e n t s a n d communicable dis-eases among

workers, Minister of Adminis-trative Development, Labour and Social Affairs H E Dr Issa Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi said yesterday. However, worksite accidents often occur as result of human error, he added.

In his opening address at the First Conference on Occu-pational Health and Safety (OHS) at the Four Seasons Hotel, the Minister said that Qatar has spared no efforts to provide workers with the high-est level of protection to ensure their safety and health at work-places and accommodations.

The Minister said that the government enforces rules and regulations on occupational safety and health of workers and punishes violators whether they are companies or individ-uals. In this context, Al Nuaimi pointed out that, through the Labour Inspection Department, the Ministry has carried out

thousands of inspection visits to workplaces and workers' housing complexes to ensure employers comply with the rel-evant laws and regulations guaranteeing their rights.

Inspection campaigns have also been carried out by teams and committees formed in coop-eration with other ministries, including the Ministries of Inte-rior, Municipality and Environment and Public Health, he added. Al Nuaimi highlighted the importance of transparency and credibility in dealing with OHS issues and exchange of information and data related to injuries and accidents. Qatar has nothing to 'hide' or 'conceal,' in this regard, said the Minister.

→ Continued on page 3

Qatar free from fatal worksite accidents

The Peninsula

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce has launched a new online

service for citizens, the benefi-ciaries of subsidised items (Tanween) to help them avail of their quota in an easier way.

The new service available on the website of the Ministry https://services.mec.gov.qa ena-bles them to change the

password of their smart ration cards, see the status of the card, available quota, records, stock of the distributors and locations of the distribution centres.

With the help of the service, ration card holders can search the addresses of the distributors and get information about the stocks available in each centre.

The move aims at improving the system to provide quick and easy services to those dealing with

the Ministry. The new service is also meant to protect the rights of consumers and ensure that the subsidised materials reach the deserving citizens directly.

Other online services pro-vided by the Ministry to the beneficiaries of subsidised materials are online applications for the issuance of ration card and text message service for tracking the distribution of quota.

Online service for beneficiaries of subsidised items launched

Included with today’s edition

is a 4-page supplement

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT THURSDAY 27 APRIL 2017

Travel & TourismQatar Airways to launch 12 new routes in 2018

25 new retail shops at The Pearl-Qatar

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Colourful kites take to the sky

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10m vehicles visited The Pearl-Qatar last year

Al Sadd lift Qatar Cup

The Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, H E Dr Issa Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi also said that Qatar is free from communicable diseases.

02 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017HOME

03SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017 HOME

Mohammad ShoebThe Peninsula

Qatar’s exports of goods in March 2017 recorded a double-digit growth

(year-on-year) compared to March 2016 as a result of higher exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons.

The total value of exports of goods, including goods of domestic origin and re-exports, in March was nearly QR19.7bn, showing a remarkable increase of 18.4 percent compared to the same month last year.

However, when compared month-on-month basis, it was almost stable, showing a mar-ginal increase of 0.1 percent compared to exports in Febru-ary 2017, preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Sta-tistics show.

The imports of goods in March 2017 amounted to around QR9.8bn, showing a decrease of 9.6 percent compared to March 2016. However, on a month-on-month basis, the imports have jumped by 20 percent.

In March 2017, the foreign merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between exports and imports, showed a surplus of QR9.9bn, an increase of about QR4.1bn, or 70.7 percent, compared to March 2016. When compared to February 2017, trade balance in March 2017 declined by QR1.6bn, or 14.0 percent.

The year-on-year (March 2017 to March 2016) increase in total exports in March was attributed to higher exports of

petroleum gases and other gas-eous hydrocarbons (LNG, condensates, propane, butane, and others) reaching about QR11.4bn in March 2017, regis-tering an increase of 18.1 percent, while a rise was shown in petroleum oils & oils from bituminous minerals (crude) reaching about QR3.3bn, which increased by 42.8 percent, and increases in the petroleum oils & oils from bituminous miner-als (not crude) reaching QR1.7bn, up by 119.0 percent.

In March 2017, Japan was at the top of countries of destina-tion of Qatar’s exports with close to QR3.7bn, a share of 18.7 per-cent of total exports, followed by South Korea with nearly QR2.8bn and a share of 14.3 percent, and India with about QR2.6bn, a share of 13.2 percent.

During March 2017, motor cars and other passenger vehi-cles were at the top of the imported group of commodities, with QR700m, showing a decrease of 9.2 percent com-pared to March 2016. In the second place was parts of aircraft and helicopters and others, with QR270m, showing a decrease of 32.6 percent , and in the third place was Electrical Apparatus For Line Telephony/Telegraphy, Telephone Sets and others; parts thereof with QR260m, a decrease of 59.5 percent. In March 2017, the US was the leading country of origin of Qatar’s imports with about QR1.2bn, a share of 12.2 percent of the imports, followed by Germany with about QR910m, a share of 9.3 percent, and the UAE with QR900m, a share of 9.2 percent.

The Peninsula

Oo r e d o o ’ s H u m a n Resources department yesterday officially

launched the eTatweer platform to support Ooredoo employees’ developmental needs and bet-ter serve customers.

Ooredoo’s dedicated online learning portal eTatweer was designed to provide employees with a convenient way to access a variety of learning resources and development planning tools.

Thanks to the new updates, eTatweer is mobile and tablet friendly, perfect for employees with different learning styles and schedules. On top of this mobil-ity, the company has added a host of new features and courses to ensure eTatweer is truly a one-stop platform.

The eTatweer update launch was held at an event in Ooredoo’s HQ1 last week and was attended by senior management including Ooredoo Qatar’s Chief Executive Officer, Waleed Al-Sayed.

As well as standard eLearn-ing solutions for Ooredoo employee’s eTatweer features

include online learning pro-grammes, book summaries, audios, videos, interactive activ-ities and more. Talking about the launch, Waleed Al-Sayed, Chief Executive Officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said: “We believe this advanced eLearning initiative will bring us yet another step closer to helping our employees take their careers to greater

heights. The greatest value of eLearning is that it allows our employees to develop their skills and improve their knowledge at their own pace. Our employee learning content comes leading online learning organisations such as the Chartered Institute of Management in the UK.”

To make sure that all Oore-doo employees have a chance

to see the new and updated eTatweer platform, the company will host a dedicated informa-tion kiosk in Ooredoo’s HQ1 for one week. Ooredoo has placed strong strategic focus on improv-ing the customer experience across its operations, and invest-ment in training and development plays a key role in that.

Sidi Mohamed The Peninsula

The Ministry of Munic-i p a l i t y a n d Environment, in col-laboration with the Ministry of Economy

and Commerce and the Minis-try of Public Health, will intensify inspections of food outlets before and during the fasting month of ‘Ramadan’ to check if they are complying with health regulations.

“We have already started the preparations and we do conduct routine inspection vis-its. However, we will intensify inspections with more raids before and during the holy month of Ramadan. We will focus more on restaurants which provide Ramadan dishes, supermarkets and cafeteria,” a ministry source told The Peninsula.

“During occasions like Ramadan, we don’t give leave or vacation to inspectors, except during some emer-gency,” he added.

"During the initial days of Ramadan we will focus more on supermarkets and restau-rants while during the middle of the month, we will focus on shops selling Garangao treats including nuts, dried fruits, chocolates and during the last phase of the month, we focus on abattoirs. What prompted us to intensify inspections on these facilities during a specific period is the rush that some outlets witness. The restaurants

will see overwhelming demand for food and so employees may not give proper attention to the health standards and require-ments, so we should monitor such facilities,” he added.

"We will conduct visits at eateries preparing food, so our teams will make sure that out-lets preparing Iftar and Suhoor meals during the fasting month will meet the health requirements."

Inspections visits will be more also on the central mar-ket because fruits and vegetables are perishable and most of them are imported.

The Ministry official urged the public to avoid shopping while hungry and also visit shops and supermarkets which see more customers instead of the ones no one vis-its. He also stressed that people must check the prod-ucts’ date when buying ready dishes and not to leave it for a long time in the car.

More inspections at food outlets during Ramadan

Occupational health & safety a priority: Minister→ Continued from page 1The first edition of the con-

ference has brought together a large number of speakers and experts from Qatar and abroad including Abdulaziz bin Hamad Al-Ageel, Secretary General of Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), Fayez Almat-iri, Director-General of Arab Labour Organisation and Eisa Al Hammadi, CEO of QPMC.

Al Nuaimi also shed light on Qatar's policy based on three pil-lars: first, availability of legislation and taking proper procedures for protecting workers at the work-place and accommodations. The second factor is strengthening the monitoring approaches enhanced by trained human capabilities which is empowered with suffi-cient authority to prevent any violations of the law and decisions related to health and safety of workers; and third, raising aware-ness among workers and employers, which is a key factor to avoid risks.

The State of Qatar attaches great importance to occupa-tional health and safety of all citizens and expatriate workers, Al Nuaimi said, pointing out that the conference was organized to coincide with the World Day for Safety and Health at Work celebrated on every April 28 and comes within Qatar's keenness to provide a platform designed to foster the exchange of exper-tise and experience, and promotes an understanding and dialogue among the concerned authorities in Qatar and various stakeholders.

The conference is organized by the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consultancy (GOIC) and the Hawkamah Public Rela-tions Center and is sponsored by the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs and has witnessed the

inauguration of National Book on Occupational Health and Safety, which includes reports by government and OHS private companies as well as legislative and procedural developments in Qatar.

The Secretary-General of (GOIC) Abdulaziz Al Ageel said the first edition of the conference is taking place within the GCC countries' approach to imple-ment preventive OHS measures to ensure all workers in all sec-tors by reducing work-related accident rates to zero, especially in the industrial sector.

He stressed that GCC coun-tries have imposed rules aimed at guaranteeing workers and facilities safety and security as well as protecting the environ-ment in all productive and economic activities.

Director-General of (ALO), Fayez Al Mutairi, hailed the con-siderable attention given by the State of Qatar, especially by the

MADLSA, occupational health and safety, protection of work-ing environment and the promotion of human dignity.

The conference aims to shed light on the mechanisms for the protection of workers in factories and construction sector of acci-dents along with legal and legislative aspects taken by the State of Qatar to protect workers, installations and machinery.

Eisa Al Hammadi, CEO of QPMC, for his part said the organ-ization has issued 19 agreements for joint Arab work plans which include several annual pro-gramms. The programms also include training for obtaining diploma in health and occupa-tional safety Al Hammadi added.

The conference includes three plenary sessions on "Gov-ernment Agencies in Occupational Health and Safety;" "International Standards in Occupational Health and Safety" and "Injuries and Diseases of

Workers: Between the Law and Practice.

The first session was chaired by Ali Hamed Al-Mulla, Assist-ant Secretary General for Industrial Projects Sector at GOIC and Chief Executive Officer - QPMC, and speakers include Leutenant Mohmamed Jasem Al Darweesh, Industerial Security Affairs Department, MOI who spoke about efforts being car-ried out to disseminate the culture of safety and health among workers.

Mohammed Ali Al-Meer, Manager of Labour Inspection Department at MADLSA, addressed during the session the ministry’s campaigns to maintain safety and enforce relevant rules, while Dr. Mohammed Hassan Kharita, Director of Dadaition Safety at HMC highlighted the measures being taken by the cor-poration to monitor and cure radiation cases if found accord-ing to him.

Ministry tips

Health inspectors to focus on restaurants and supermarkets in the initial days of Ramadan.

Ministry official urges the public to avoid shopping while hungry. Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, H E Dr Issa Saad Al Jafali

Al Nuaimi, with other officials and guests at the opening ceremony of Occupational Safety and Health Conference at Four Seasons Hotel Doha yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula

Ooredoo launches revamped eTatweer for staff Qatar’s exports in March surge by 18.4 percent

HMC to host thousands at quality and safety forumThe Peninsula

The fifth annual Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare (ME

Forum 2017) will start with a range of pre-conference sessions on 5 May at the Qatar National Convention Center. Organized by HMC in collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the ME Forum features five plenary speakers and highly specialised present-ers from around the world. It offers delegates the opportunity to earn up to 14.5 Continuing

Professional Development credit hours.

Thousands of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, hos-pital administration and medical students are gearing up to take part in scores of interactive work-shops and lectures that will be led by a unique mix of high-profile international experts.

To mark the event, the con-ference organizers have launched a dedicated app which can be downloaded by anyone interested in checking out the more than 50 workshops and lecture sessions focused on qual-

ity improvement learning.The two and a half day event

will feature the highly anticipated quality improvement poster exhi-bition and competition, with the winners’ award ceremony taking place on the final day.

The Knowledge Zone is another key attraction that is a regular feature at this event; it is an exhibition area featuring partner exhibition booths, inter-active and entertaining learning activities and the highly popu-lar quality improvement poster exhibition.

Limited spaces are still

available for some sessions and healthcare professionals inter-ested in participating in this event can register online or visit a special registration desk located in Bayt Al Dhiyafah in Hamad bin Khalifa Medical City, open from 1 to 6pm, Sunday 30 April to Wednesday 3 May 2017.

The Ministry of Public Health, Primary Health Care Corporation, Sidra Medical and Research Center, World Innovation Sum-mit for Health, and Qatar Biobank will be participating in this year’s event, showcasing their own programmes.

Ooredoo Qatar’s Chief Executive Officer, Waleed Al-Sayed, launching eTatweer.

04 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017HOME

Minister of Defence of the Republic of Sudan, Lieutenant General Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, arrived in Doha on an official visit. The Minister was welcomed at Hamad International Airport by Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah.

Sudanese defence minister arrives

Irfan BukhariThe Peninsula

Qatari and Swedish companies are in talks to form a consortium to start joint ventures, particularly in health-

care sector, in many Asian countries.

“Talks are underway to form a consortium of Qatari and Swedish companies that will start joint ventures partic-ularly in healthcare sector in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Bangladesh,” said Dr Prof.

Niclas Adler, Chairman NGT-PARTNERS, a Swedish company.

He was talking to The Penin-sula on the sidelines of the recently held Swedish National Day function. “These countries are spending billions on medi-cal tourism due to lack of cutting-edge medical technolo-gies. Our joint ventures in these and other such countries will not only be successful business mod-els but would also serve the respective nations by providing state-of-the-art medical facili-ties to them in their own

countries,” he added.Adler said that the talks with

Qatari companies were going in a positive direction and “I hope soon things will materialize dur-ing a Qatari high-level delegation visit to Sweden".

He said that he had visited various Asian countries where the proposed consortium would likely invest, including Pakistan. “Chief Minister of Pakistan’s province, Punjab, welcomed the move as he thought Qatar’s participation in joint ventures would ensure projects' success due to Qatar's trust in Bangladesh, Pakistan,

Indonesia and Malaysia,” Adler added.

He further said that Qatari companies had finances as well as trust while Sweden had the expertise, technology and entre-preneurship. “When both of these things meet, the result will be huge business successes for both countries,” he asserted.

Talking on the proposed consortium, Ambassador of Sweden to Qatar, Ewa Polano, said that Sweden and Qatar were both small countries but had high ambitions and huge potential. “Both can capture

emerging markets very suc-cessfully with joint ventures in various sectors like engineer-i n g , h e a l t h c a r e , entrepreneurship,” she said.

Polano said that Qatar had become a financial and intellec-tual hub of the region. “When we will merge resources and tech-nologies of Qatar and Sweden respectively, the result will be successful business ventures for companies of both countries,” she said, adding that Sweden was proud of its cutting-edge health-care technologies and successful startups.

Healthcare: Qatari & Swedish firms in talks to form consortiumJoint ventures

Talks underway to form a consortium of Qatari and Swedish companies to start the joint ventures in Asian countries.

Qatari companies have finances as well as trust while Swedish firms have expertise, technology.

Khartoum

QNA

Governor of South Dar-fur State Adam al-Faki yesterday stressed that

the Doha Peace Agreement has allowed the Darfur region to achieve the greatest possi-ble gains, contributing to the prosperity of its economic, trade and investment activi-ties and also enhancing its bilateral relations with the African countries.

The Doha Peace Agree-ment brought stability to the region, which hosted various international economic activ-ities such as the ongoing 6th Nyala Trade Fair, al-Faki said, adding that development in South Darfur will witness in the next phase new dimen-s i o n s t h r o u g h t h e

implementation of large development projects includ-ing the development of the manufacturing sector and the extension of a new network of roads to link Sudan with neighboring countries.

He also mentioned that South Darfur is witnessing the implementation of several eco-nomic and development projects, including animal and plant production, noting that the economic aspects of the Doha Peace Agreement are considered a priority of the cur-rent phase after significant progress has been made in the areas of tribal reconciliation, social peace and peaceful coex-istence, which supported the economy and opened promis-ing opportunities for investment in the region with high incentives.

Doha peace agreement achieved many goals: Governor of South Darfur

Qatar Media Corporation wins prizes QNA

Qatar Media Corporation has won two prizes in the 18th session of the

Arab Radio and TV Festival which concluded in the Tuni-sian city of Hammamet.

Qatar Television's pro-gramme "Besaraha" won the first prize in the talk show cat-egory of the main television competitions, while "Al-Watar Al-Khames" programme won the second prize in the enter-tainment and artistic programs category.

The 18th session of the Arab Radio and TV Festival, organized by Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), kicked off in Hammamet last Tuesday, with participation of delegations representing radio and television organizations, satellite channels, private radio stations and owners of techni-cal equipment.

05SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017 HOME

QF initiative to boost local tech-innovationThe Peninsula

Tech entrepreneurs, or techpreneurs, from all over the world joined for a weeklong startup boot-camp, organised

by Qatar Foundation Research and Development (QF R&D), to help transform advanced inno-vative technologies into Made-in-Qatar technology products.

The boot-camp, which kicked off on April 23, is the first phase of QF R&D’s Research-to-Startup (RTS) programme, designed to facilitate the crea-tion, acceleration, and scaling of startups that leverage technolo-gies developed by the research institutes of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).

The boot-camp involves a condensed schedule of work-shops and activities between seasoned techpreneurs and researchers in an attempt to boost the tech-innovation sec-tor in Qatar. With the support of professional coaches and men-tors, the program aims to establish teams to create funda-ble, scalable business plans for p o t e n t i a l s p u n - o u t tech-startups.

Dr Hamad Al Ibrahim, Exec-utive Vice-President of QF R&D and Chairman of QSTP Board, said: “Our Research-to-Startup program is designed to leverage the technologies generated by QF researchers to provide tech-entrepreneurs with ideas to trigger and fuel the creation of technology startups at QSTP, which is QF R&D’s arm support-ing the establishment of a local and regional innovation ecosystem.”

President of HBKU, Dr Ahmad M Hasnah, commented: “Knowledge-based economies have their roots in research, and the ultimate goal of research is to get commercialised and act as a launchpad for product devel-opment companies. Therefore, we are delighted with this seam-less work between QSTP and QCRI. We are hopeful the HBKU

research will ultimately enrich people’s lives locally and internationally.”

On the technologies being discussed during the week, Dr Hasnah elaborated: “We are familiarising the entrepreneurs with six advanced technologies that have market potential and have received acknowledgement worldwide. For example, we have QATS platform, an advanced Arabic speech process-ing technology, including speech-to-text and dialect detec-tion using speech signal. Another one is Rayyan, which is an end-to-end collaborative platform (web and mobile) to expedite the creation of systematic reviews using text-mining, machine-learning, database, and multi-facet navigation/filtering; in addition to many others."

The RTS program’s call for applications was announced last January. From hundreds of appli-cations, QSTP selected 20 techpreneurs from Qatar, the region, the US, and Europe. By providing the right environment and tools to collaborate with researchers on potential business opportunities, formulated teams are expected to establish start-ups with a defined tech-product.

QF centres participating in the RTS program include: Qatar Science & Technology Park, Qatar Computing Research Insti-tute, and QF Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office.

The Pearl-Qatar wraps up Porto Arabia FestivalThe Peninsula

United Development Company (UDC), mas-ter developer of The

Pearl-Qatar, has wrapped up the Porto Arabia Festival, an outdoor event that featured a variety of entertaining activi-ties designed for different age groups.

The festival featured a ded-icated children's area where kids enjoyed petting animals in a small barn as well as pony rides in a sealed lawn designed specifically for the event. The festival was also home to game kiosks and booths for painting, arts and crafts activities as well as ceramics colouring.

The event attracted hun-dreds of visitors, residents and tourists from across the GCC, reflecting The Pearl-Qatar’s commitment to the organisa-tion of a variety of events, programmes and live shows

that bring joy and fun. To stay up to date with the

Island’s latest offerings, down-load The Pearl-Qatar Android

and iOS app on Apple Store and Google Play store.

The Porto Arabia Festival featured a variety of entertaining activities designed for different age groups.

The Peninsula

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) offers Qatar nationals

chance to train with world-class scientists. Qatari high school and college students who are interested in building success-ful careers in biomedical research have been invited to apply to join summer training programs offered by WCM-Q.

Applications have just opened for Qatari nationals to join two training programs at WCM-Q that offer the chance to learn key biomedical research skills in the college’s hi-tech labs under the guidance of leading researchers from all over the world.

Yassir Hussain, Assistant Director of Research Training and Outreach, said: “We have just opened applications for our extremely exciting biomedical research programs for high school and college students. Both programs have been care-fully designed to provide essential practical skills and knowledge of biomedical research, delivered by extremely talented scientists.

“If you are a Qatari national

and you are interested in a career in biomedical research, these programs are a brilliant way to make a very positive start.”

WCM-Q’s Research Intern-ship for National High School Students is available as a two-week or four-week program that runs during the summer and earns students 50 to 100 volunteer hours.

The Research Internship for National College Students is available as a four-week or eight-week summer program and teaches both lab skills and research management skills, as well as providing advice about the many career options avail-able in the field.

The two programs are a part of the Biomedical Research Training Programs for Qataris (BRTP_Q) and provide Qatari nationals with valuable experience.

Moza Al Hail completed the program in 2016. “I have had such a great time here and learned so much,” she said. “I learned that there is much more to research than what goes on in the lab.”

All Qatari nationals who are interested the Research Intern-ship for National High School students or the Research Intern-ship for National College Students should visit http://q a t a r - w e i l l . c o r n e l l . e d u /research/researchprograms.

html and complete their appli-cation before the closing date of June 9, 2017. Alternatively, email brtp@qatar-med.cornell.edu or send a WhatsApp mes-sage to +974 5031 6671.

Dr. Khaled Machaca, Asso-ciate Dean for Research, said: “These programs offer a won-derful opportunity to not only build a very successful career in a fascinating field, but also to help build Qatar’s emerging R&D sector and contribute to achieving the goal of diversify-ing the economy to provide prosperity and security for gen-erations to come.

“Quite simply, it is an opportunity that is too good to miss.”

The boot-camp

The boot-camp is the first phase of QF R&D’s Research-to-Startup program, designed to facilitate the creation, acceleration, and scaling of startups that leverage technologies developed by the research institutes of HBKU.

Lulu unveils 10/15/20/30 promotionThe Peninsula

Lulu Group, after an interval of a couple of months, has re-launched the most sought

after 10/15/20/30 promotion at all Lulu outlets in the Qatar Region. More than 1,000 products from all categories namely grocery, fresh food, fruits, vegetables, household, textile, footwear, cosmetics, sports goods, home décor, luggage, sta-tionery, toys and electronics, etc. are offered for the promotion.

The speciality of the promo-tion is that Lulu management has succeeded in adding products to meet every utility of the custom-ers. Products of good quality made available at affordable prices and

that defines the promotion as outstanding.

Hot Food and Bakery sections have organised their own tailor-made innovative offers to compliment value and beauty to the main-stream promotion. Value combo offers of food made of cui-sines of Arabic, western, Chinese, South Indian and North Indian, etc. are made available on display. Besides, customers could see diver-sities of bakery delights. Meanwhile, promotion with better prices have been organised on electronics, IT products and cameras as well.

Simultaneously many promo-tions are also organised by the suppliers. Customers those who buy Nivea products worth QR20

are entitled to get a raffle coupon to win 8 grams gold every day. The promotion will continue for 35 days whereby 35 winners will be benefitted from this promotion.

Abu Issa Marketing had launched another promotion on Sapil, Altamoda, Royal Jasmine and Shirley May Perfumes. Pur-chase of any of the aforesaid perfumes for a sum of QR25 will entitle the customers to win a JEEP Renegade and QR250 Gift vouch-ers as well. Another promotion by Ali Bin Ali Master Food offers a chance to win Lulu gift vouchers QR50,000 to the customers those buy any Mars products worth QR25 in a raffle draw, which will be held on May 22.

WCM-Q offers chance to train with top scientists

Customers shopping during the promotional event.

06 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017HOME

QDB presents 22 local firms at Algeria showThe Peninsula

In its drive to open new regional and international markets to Qatari private sector companies, Qatar Development Bank (QDB),

through the support of its export programme, Tasdeer, partici-pated along with 22 local construction sector companies at the 20th edition of Building & Construction Materials Interna-tional Exhibition (BATIMATEC) in Algiers, Algeria. The expo was held at Palais des Expositions d’Alger from 23 to April 27.

Executive Director for Tas-deer, Hassan Khalifa Al Mansoori said: "This year, our active participation with 22 Qatari construction sector com-panies at BATIMATEC 2017 marks our maiden attendance at this regionally renowned series. The local companies present — all of whom are involved in the fields of build-ing, construction material and public works — are here to strengthen their cooperation with interested parties, partic-ularly those based in Africa, because we are confident that this thriving market will only continue to develop.”

BATIMATEC is one of the most recognised exhibitions of the construction industry on a regional scale, making it the

largest forum for professional discourse and cooperation on developments in the construc-tion industry. This year, the event enjoyed the participation of more than 1,000 companies from 25 countries.

Leading up to Tasdeer’s par-ticipation at BATIMATEC 2017, QDB had extended invitations of participation to 62 local compa-nies as well as sent 63 product reports to businesses to raise awareness on the exportable goods and services in demand. Additionally, the export pro-gramme had sent 19 tender requests to companies in an effort to stimulate the local

private sector with business opportunities. Other promotional support included shipping bro-chures and samples of the participants’ goods to the exhibi-tion as well as hosting preparatory meetings with participants so as to educate them on the market in Africa and its best practices for optimum interaction with the vis-itors and interested parties at the exhibition.

The latest participation of Tasdeer at BATIMATEC was pre-ceded by a thorough 5-month research study conducted on the Algerian market to help Qatar’s native ecosystem of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) gage a better under-standing on how to develop its export strategy. In its efforts to help Qatar diversify its conven-tional sources of income from the oil and gas sector, Tasdeer also facilitates the access of non-hydrocarbon sector SMEs to global markets and emerging markets by bringing trade leads for importing and exporting to Qatari enterprises as well as supporting participation in international trade shows, workshops, exhibitions, and net-working events. The program makes powerful information tools available to exporters, including country-specific case studies, analytics, and business directories.

Qatar Development Bank, through its export programme, Tasdeer, participated along with 22 local construction sector companies at the 20th edition of Building & Construction Materials International Exhibition (BATIMATEC) in Algiers, Algeria.

Aspire first International Kite Festival draws to a close The Peninsula

The Aspire 1st International Kite Festival drew to a close yesterday, capping

an incredible five days of unique sporting spectacle and wide-spread involvement in community activities.

Over five days, more than 40,000 visitors enjoyed an incred-ible range of technical feats showcased by some of the world’s best professional kite flyers, in addition to a hugely varied pro-gramme of community events and activities. French competitor wins gold in the individual category and

Colombian team wins gold in the pairs & teams category

Large crowd gathered for the closing ceremony during which prizes were awarded to the win-ning teams. In the individual category, Richard Debray from France won gold, Roger Tessa-Gambassi also from France won silver and Adam Ahmad from Malaysia won bronze. In the pairs & teams category, Andesky team from Colombia won gold, Ex-Grads team from the UK won silver whilst Paire’Spire team from France won bronze.

Following months of plan-ning, the competition saw teams

of top international kite flyers from 13 countries compete in a range of individual and team sports kite events at the Festival – which took place between 25th and 29th April at Aspire Park.

Another major success for the festival was the level of involve-ment of young people from around the country. A specially designed schools programme attracted large numbers of schools to participate in a series of fun activities. More than 500 schools were invited to take part, including Tamakon Comprehen-sive School for children with special needs.

People gather at the closing ceremony of the Festival yesterday. Pic: Kammutty VP / The Peninsula

RAF renovates 200 homes of Palestinian families in GazaThe Peninsula

Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitar-ian Services (RAF) has

renovated 200 homes of Palestin-ian families destroyed in last Israeli war in Gaza.

The project of phase-1 costs $915,000. It was implemented in Rafah, Deir Al Balah, Al Daraj and Al Tuffah districts, North Gaza Governorate, Gaza Governorate, Khan Yunis Governorate and Rafah Governorate.

The renovation project aims at maintaining a total of 300 homes at a cost of QR6.5m. The project was financed by donors — citizens and expatriates in Qatar. More than 2,100 Palestinians will benefit from the project. The ben-eficiaries are poor people whose homes were destroyed partially or totally during the war.

RAF’s local partner in Gaza LifeWay Association is imple-menting the project. A survey was conducted by the Association in collaboration with three other

local humanitarian and charity organisation to list the most deserving people for the project.

Phase-1 project that included 200 homes destroyed about 40 percent has been completed. The project of phase-II will start soon to renovate the remaining 100 homes. The phase-II project coasts $870,000. RAF implemented sev-eral projects including relief and development to reduce the suffer-ing of Gazans.

According to the reports of United Nations, the poverty rate

reached 65 percent in Gaza. The unemployment rate is 63.8 per-cent and 72 percent families are having food security problems.

About 4,600 families are dis-placed without shelters. 45,000 families are living in tents and make shifting homes. Some 85 percent families depend on aid. They are also suffering from lack of drinking water and electricity. There is shortage of medicines. Majority of the students cannot afford the college fees. There are about 20,000 orphans in Gaza.

Nama honours teachers and students in ‘Sekik’ projectThe Peninsula

Nama Center, one of Qatar Foun-dation for Social Work’s affiliated centres, has organ-

ised a special ceremony to honour the teachers and students who partici-pated in its ‘Sekik’ life skills development project, in the presence of the heads of departments and media representatives, in the centre’s head-quarters. Awards were given to teachers for their excellent perform-ance during the training.

Seven educational projects have been implemented as part of the ‘Sekik’ programme, inspired by eve-ryday life skills. Participating schools competed to offer their best through implementing the workshops and cre-atively presenting information. Hanan Amin Al Tairi, from Amna Bint Wahab Preparatory School for Girls, won the first place, and Shrooq Al Mohannadi, from the Qatar Independent School of Banking and Business Administra-tion for Girls, came in the second place. The third place went to Huda Musawi Osman, from Amna Bint Wahab Inde-pendent Secondary School for Girls.

‘Sekik’ programme aims at improving life styles and skills, the main engine for developing youth capacities to become effective and productive members in the commu-nity. Through its ‘Sekik’ project, Nama seeks to build the capacities and minds of young people to enable them to think positively, perform better in life, and strengthen their identity. The

project is divided into two pro-grammes. The first is the "Life Skills Training Program", which revolves around developing the training capac-ity of teachers so that they can properly deal with the students and train them to develop their basic cog-nitive and life skills. The second programme is the "Life Enhancement Training Program", which involves providing students with the personal and social skills necessary to take steps towards achieving their goals. It also aims at helping students better under-stand their personal behaviours and improve their self-esteem so as to shape a brighter future for themselves and their community. The teachers delivered 32 workshops in 10 differ-ent schools, with nearly 130 educational activities offered to stu-dents. These activities focused on

enhancing personal and social skills.Maryam bint Abdullatif Al Man-

nai, Community Services Manager Acting Executive Manager of Nama Center, said: “This special event is a tribute to the participation of teach-ers and students in the project and to the recognition of their outstanding interest and interaction during ‘Sekik’ project’s training activities. We are truly pleased to realise this remarka-ble achievement, which is a great success for our approach that is based on investment in human capital and active participation in training, qual-ification and awareness-raising among members of the community, especially the youth, and preparing them to meet future challenges through the application of educational and training systems to produce con-crete and sustainable results.”

A renovated home by RAF in Gaza.

Participants at the event.

07SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017 HOME

Winners of Prophet’s Poet Award announcedThe Peninsula

The prestigious Proph-et’s (PBUH) Poet Award came to an end at the Cultural Village Foun-dation-Katara, with a

closing ceremony held at Katara’s Opera House, late on Friday.

The ceremony, held in the presence of the General Manager of Katara, Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, was attended by the organising committee, poets, and media personnel. The annual fes-tival comes under the title ‘Poetry’s Beauty Blossoms When Describing the Best of Mankind’.

Contestants from various parts of the Arab world aimed to incorporate the Classic and Nabati styles (Nabati is a popu-lar dialect), into their compositions for the competi-tion. Finalists drawn from each category went through four stages of selection. For the first stage, eight poets were selected from the present fifteen. In the second phase of the competition, five poets were selected to

compete for the top three places from each category. Katara has dedicated a number of cash awards totalling QR4,200,000, for both categories, Classic and Nabati, to highlight the signifi-cance of the event.

From the classic style, awards were presented to the top three poets. The first position was awarded to the poet Abdullah bin Mohamed Al Enzi from Saudi Ara-bia, who received a financial award of QR1m. The second posi-tion went to the poet Mohamed Ahmad Darkoushi from Syria and consisted of a financial award of QR700,000, while the third

position went to the poet Sameer Mostafa Farag from Egypt who received QR400,000.

The Nabati Style category too, saw the selection of the top three poets. Fayez bin Serhan Al The-beti from Saudi Arabia was the first place winner and receiving a prize of QR1m. The poet Mohamed bin Abdlhadi Al Atibi, also from Saudi Arabia was placed second, and was awarded a prize of QR700,000, while the poet Abdullah Khaled Bani Kha-led from Bahrain went on to win the third position and received QR400,000.

Aside from the qualification rounds, various other institutes such as Qatar Charity, Ehsan, Childhood Cultural Center and Raf, participated in the second edition of the festival. Qatar Char-ity had set up a booth to introduce the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) story through visuals and text. The morning events were dedicated to school children, who took part in numerous interactive sessions, while visitors to the evening ses-sions engrossed themselves in various Islamic lectures,

seminars, and numerous competitions.

A key objective of Katara's Award for the Prophet's Poet is to highlight the importance of

poetry and the Arabic language, while encouraging unity across the Muslim World. This objective is in tandem with Katara’s efforts to strengthen ties between the

youth, society and Arab identity. Those attending the festival will in turn be introduced to new gen-res of poetry and the impact it has on our culture and community.

Katara has dedicated a number of cash awards totalling QR4,200,000, for both categories, Classic and Nabati, to highlight the significance of the event.

Participants at the Prophet’s (PBUH) Poet Award event at the Cultural Village Foundation-Katara.

HBKU celebrates 1st graduating cohort of College of Science and Engineering

Malabar Gold & Diamonds opens another showroom in Saudi ArabiaThe Peninsula

Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one among the big five jewellery retailers glo-

bally, has expanded its footprint in Saudi Arabia by opening a new showroom at Lulu Hypermarket in Lulu Mall, Al Ahsa, on April 26. Prince Badr bin Muhammed bin Abdullah bin Jalawi Al Saud, Governor of Al Ahsa, and Lulu Group Managing Director Yusuff Ali M A jointly inaugurated the 176th global showroom in the presence of Dr PA Ibrahim Haji, Co-Chairman, Malabar Group.

Among others who attended the event included Shamlal Ahamed, Managing Director - International Operations of Malabar Gold & Diamonds; KP Abdul Salam, Group Executive Director of Malabar Group; Gaf-foor Edakkuni, Regional Director of Malabar Gold & Diamonds - KSA; Mohammed Wasem, Director - KSA, management team members, other invited guests, personalities from media

& well-wishers. The newly-opened showroom is the 13th outlet of Malabar Gold & Dia-monds in Saudi Arabia.

This new outlet unveils a sig-nificantly large collection of traditional as well as contempo-rary designer jewelleries. The exquisite range of collections in the new outlet can hold you spell-bound with their awe-inspiring beauty and classic designs. Like all their other out-lets, this outlet also will exhibit a wide range of diverse and trendy designs in gold (18K & 22K), IGI certified diamonds and precious gem jewellry from Italy, Singa-pore, Bahrain and India.

The new outlet will showcase the finest collection of gold, dia-monds and precious gems in addition to offering exciting pro-motions for their customers. Celebrating the launch, the new outlet will take part in their much awaited campaign, ‘Win 30kg of gold in 18 days’. The customers get unprecedented opportuni-ties to win a total of 30kg of gold.

A true shopper’s delight, Mala-bar Gold & Diamonds will captivate the customers by exhibiting eye catching designs in gold, diamonds, platinum and precious gems from different parts of the world to flaunt any occasion or event and are well priced too.

With every purchase of gold & diamond jewellry worth SR500, customers get a chance to enter raffle draws to win 1/2 (Half) kg of gold each in 4 raffle draws. Adding to the above, cus-tomers also get 2g gold coin on diamond jewellery purchase of SR5,000 and a 1g gold coin on purchase of diamond jewellery worth SR3,000. Also, customers can protect the gold rate at Mal-abar Gold & Diamonds on payment of 10% of the entire amount on the selected gold jew-ellery. Furthermore, customers can avail the zero deduction offer on 22K (GCC) gold jewellery exchange as well. All these offers will be valid at their outlets in Saudi Arabia until May 6.

Prince Badr bin Muhammed bin Abdullah bin Jalawi Al Saud, Governor of Al Ahsa, along with Lulu Group Managing Director Yusuff Ali M A and Dr PA Ibrahim Haji, Co-Chairman of Malabar Group, jointly inaugurate the 176th global showroom of Malabar Gold & Diamonds at Lulu Hypermarket in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, in the presence of other officials and well-wishers.

The Peninsula

Students from Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) recently had the opportunity

to defend their master’s theses to faculty and staff, ahead of becom-ing the first graduating class from the research university’s College of Science and Engineering (CSE).

HBKU is celebrating an aca-demic milestone this year with the graduation of its first cohort of master’s degree students from CSE. Among the Class of 2017 are 7 graduating with a Master of Sci-ence (MSc) in Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS), 7 with an MSc in Sustainable Energy, and 3 with an MSc in Sustainable Environment.

With the rapid economic development and population growth in Qatar, healthcare and sustainability were identified and highlighted as two of the grand challenges that needed tackling as part of Qatar National Vision 2030. Their importance was fur-ther highlighted in the Qatar National Development Strategy 2011–2016, which called for “more sustainable urbanisation and a healthier living environ-ment”. The BBS and the two sustainability programs were launched two years ago in response to the growing industry demand for experts in these fields, and were deemed central to the long-term aspirations and needs of Qatar and the region.

“As a pioneering educational institution, the graduation of the first graduates in biological and biomedical sciences, sustainable energy, and sustainable environ-ment marks a significant milestone for HBKU,” says Dr Mounir Hamdi, the Founding Dean of HBKU’s College of Sci-ence and Engineering. "The establishment of various

biomedical and health sciences institutes and national projects in Qatar, and the influx of biologi-cal and biomedical researchers, is a testament to the potential that resides here in that field. One can find traditional graduate pro-grams in life sciences almost anywhere. However, with new connections established between environment, genetics, develop-ment of disease, and personalised medicine, HBKU was prompted to establish multi-disciplinary biological and biomedical sci-ences graduate programs.”

HBKU’s BBS master’s pro-gram has exposed the newly graduating students to state-of-the-art basic, clinical, and translational life sciences research. Students are trained to be the next generation of experts in their field with a full spectrum of knowledge across a range of interrelated subject areas and are given the highly specialised train-ing needed to ensure they are capable of translating research findings into clinical benefits.

Similarly, the Sustainable Energy and Sustainable Environ-ment programs address

important issues facing the region in energy and environment. The centuries to come will bring myr-iad challenges brought on by inefficient and unequal supply of society’s basic goods and services including food, water, energy, land, and shelter. These problems are amplified, and in some cases created, by non-sustainable prac-tices and policies. Moving toward a sustainable society presents a series of interdependent, multi-disciplinary and conflicting challenges for all professions, especially engineers, scientists, teachers, businessmen, and policy-makers.

“HBKU’s sustainability pro-grams are designed to grow future generations of stakehold-ers, innovators, leaders, scientists, engineers, managers, and entre-preneurs who have an advanced understanding of sustainability issues and research skills in this field,” explains Dr Hamdi. “Our sustainability graduates leave us extremely skilled at finding a bal-ance between long-term development needs and the pro-tection of health, wealth and the environment.”

Students from College of Science and Engineering defending their theses at a program at HBKU.

08 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Beirut

Reuters

Fighting between rebel groups in the biggest insurgent stronghold near the Syrian capital Damascus entered

a second day yesterday, while govern-ment forces pressed an offensive against the besieged enclave, a war monitor said.

The clashes broke out in part of the densely-populated rural area east of Damascus known as the Eastern Ghouta which has been besieged by Syrian gov-ernment forces since 2013.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of at least 38 fighters in the first 24 hours of fighting between rebel groups. It also reported civilian casualties.

Jaish Al Islam is pitted against the Failaq Al Rahman group and fighters from an alliance with links to Al Qaeda, rebels, activists and the Observatory said.

Fighting between the groups killed hundreds of people last April before a ceasefire was agreed in Qatar in May.

The rift was exploited by Syrian gov-ernment forces to capture parts of the Eastern Ghouta, whose territory shrank by about a third in the second half of last year.

Jaish Al Islam is one of the biggest Syr-ian rebel groups and has been the dominant faction in the Eastern Ghouta. Its leader, Zahran Alloush, was killed in an air strike in December 2015.

A Failaq Al Rahman statement on Friday said Jaish Al Islam attacked some of its positions and said the factional

fighting was not in the interests of the Eastern Ghouta or the Syrian revolution.

A statement by Jaish Al Islam said its dispute was with the group called Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (Liberation of the Levant Committee) which had been obstructing Jaish Al Islam members from going about their business.

Hayat Tahrir Al Sham is an alliance of factions formed in January, whose mem-bers include Jabhat Fateh Al Sham, formerly Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front group.

Jaish Al Islam said it shared the same

goals as Failaq Al Rahman and called on them to contain the crisis.

During the fighting, Syrian govern-ment and allied forces attacked the rebel-held district of Qaboun northwest of Eastern Ghouta by land and air.

The Syrian government, which is backed by Russian air power and Iranian-backed militias, launched an offensive against Qaboun and neighbouring Barza, which are believed to contain supply tun-nels for the besieged enclave, in February. Government forces advanced slightly in Qaboun on Friday, the Observatory said.

Gaza City

AFP

Hamas is to unveil a new version of its c o n t r o v e r s i a l founding charter which called for the

destruction of Israel in a bid to ease its international isolation, party officials said.

Leaders of the Islamist movement have long spoken of the more limited aim of a Pales-tinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip without explicitly setting it out in its charter.

But after years of internal debate, the party leadership is to publish a supplementary char-ter at a conference in Qatar tomorrow that will formally accept the idea of a state in the territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967.

The original 1988 charter will not be dropped but just

supplemented, and there will be no recognition of Israel, as demanded by the international community.

The new document will clearly present the objective of establishing a "sovereign Pales-tinian state with Jerusalem as its capital in the 1967 borders," a senior Hamas official said.

"It does not constitute in any way a recognition of the Zionist entity," the official added.

Leading Hamas official Bassem Naim said the new doc-ument was the fruit of four years of discussion within the move-ment, which has fought three wars with Israel since it seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Another Hamas leader, Ahmed Yusef, said the updated charter was "more moderate, more measured and would help protect us against accusations of racism, anti-Semitism and breaches of international law."

It will "differentiate between Jews as a religious community on the one hand, and the occu-pation and Zionist entity on the other," he said.

But Mahmud Zahar, an influ-ential leader, insisted there would be no change in the par-ty's commitment to armed resistance against Israel, which

has put it on the terror blacklists of the European Union and the United States. He said the new document was "a tool for the future but it does not mean we're changing our principles".

"The resistance remains and we will fight (Israel) with all our might."

Hamas swept Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 but the international community refused to deal with any govern-ment in which it participated until it renounced violence and recognised Israel and past peace agreements.

The resulting deadlock led to mounting friction between Hamas and the rival Fatah movement of Palestinian Presi-dent Mahmoud Abbas which culminated in its seizure of Gaza.

The senior Hamas official who asked not to be identified said the new charter was also intended to give a boost to

reconciliation efforts between the two factions, which still run rival administrations in the West Bank and Gaza.

The new document defines the movement's goals as "politi-cal and not religious," easing its entry into the Palestine Liberation Organisation, headed by Abbas. It describes Hamas as a "Palestin-ian national liberation and resistance movement with reli-gious references," the official said.

The new charter also aban-dons past references to the pan-national Muslim Brother-hood, to which it was closely linked when formed.

That could ease difficult rela-tions with the Egyptian government of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who as army chief overthrew his Islamist predeces-sor Mohamed Mursi in 2013 and has since led a bloody crack-down on the Brotherhood.

Hamas to amend controversial charter Turkey blocks Wikipedia access ISTANBUL: Turkey yester-day blocked all access inside the country to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia reportedly for articles claim-ing links between Ankara and terror groups, the latest restriction on a popular web-site to hit Turkish users. Turkey's Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) said it had implemented the ban against Wikipedia.org, without mak-ing clear the reason for the move. Turkish state media said the ban was imposed because Wikipedia had failed to remove content promot-ing terror and accusing Turkey of cooperation with various terror groups.

There was no indication as to when the ban might be removed, with a formal court order expected to follow in the coming days. Reacting to the ban, Wikipedia's founder Jimmy Wales wrote on Twit-ter: "Access to information is a fundamental human right. Turkish people, I will always stand with you to fight for this right."

Rebels fight each other in besieged Damascus enclave

Baghdad

AP

THE ISLAMIC STATE group claimed responsibility for a bombing that targeted a police station in Baghdad's center Fri-day night, and Iraqi officials said the blast killed four people and wounded eight.

The attack was carried out by a suicide car bomber, according to police and hospital officials who spoke on condition of ano-nymity in line with regulations. They put the death toll at four. But Saad Mann, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry and

Baghdad Operations Command, said that only three were killed in the bombing. He said all those

killed were policemen and did not offer any information as to the number of injured.

Johannesburg

Reuters

South African President Jacob Zuma has signed the anti-money laundering bill

FICA, which allows increased scrutiny of the bank accounts of “prominent individuals”, including himself, into law, his office said yesterday.

The country risked being kicked out of global fraud mon-itor, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), if the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment (FICA) bill was not signed by June. The bill, intended to bol-ster the fight against global financial crime by making it easier to identify the ultimate owners of companies and accounts - including those of “domestic prominent influen-tial persons” - was passed by parliament in May.

But Zuma sent in it back to the legislature saying he was concerned about the legality of provisions allowing searches without warrants.

“The President is now

satisfied that the Act addresses the constitutional concerns he had raised about warrantless searches,” said the statement from the presidency.

Opposition parties and civil society groups speculated that the stance was related to a fight between the Treasury, which sponsored the legislation, and the Guptas, a family of busi-nessmen close to Zuma.

In December, former Finance Minister Pravin Gord-han asked the High Court to rule he was not allowed to interfere with decisions by South Africa’s major banks to close business accounts of Oakbay Invest-ments, owned by brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta.

Gordhan, axed by Zuma as finance minister in March, said in court papers the Gupta fam-ily was waging an “organised campaign” to smear him and the Treasury. The Gupta family in turn accused Gordhan of leading a conspiracy to ruin their business interests.

The court has yet to rule on the matter.

Cairo

AFP

EGYPTIAN President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi yesterday urged the United States to help restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, a statement from the presi-dency said.

The statement came after Sisi met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas who will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday for talks on reviv-ing the stagnated Middle East peace process.

Sisi said it was "important that the United States returns to play an active role in efforts to resume negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel", the statement said.

The two "agreed that the two-state solution is the only way to bring stability to the region", it added.

Sisi said a 2002 Arab peace initiative should be the basis for a comprehensive solution.

Syria govt repels IS attack in AleppoBeirut

AP

SYRIA'S MILITARY says its troops and allied fighters have repelled an attack by the Islamic State group on a gov-ernment-held area south of Aleppo province. Yesterday's attack took place in Khanaser, southeast Aleppo — a strategic region that links Aleppo with central and western Syria.

The military media arm says the IS attack was repelled.

The opposition Britain-based Syr-ian Observatory for Human Rights says IS fighters launched the attack on mil-itary posts in the area, triggering intense clashes and leaving many casualties.

IS-affiliated Aamaq news agency claimed IS fighters killed 30 govern-ment soldiers in the attack on Um Mayal village east of Khanaser.

The government wrested control of the strategically-located Khanaser from IS last year. Since, IS has lost most of the areas it had controlled in Aleppo province.

Zuma signs anti-money laundering bill into law

Smoke rising from buildings following an air strike on Jobar, a rebel-held district on the eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, yesterday.

Bahrain King to visit Malaysia from todayMANAMA: The King of Bah-rain H M Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa will pay an official visit to Malaysia today, the Bahraini Royal Court announced in a statement. During the visit, the Bahraini King will meet the Malaysian monarch and hold discus-sions with Prime Minister Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak.

Algeria praises UN vote on W SaharaALGIERS: Algeria yesterday hailed a UN Security Council resolution endorsing a new peace initiative on the dis-puted territory of Western Sahara as a "diplomatic suc-cess". Friday's vote came as UN military observers confirmed that Polisario Front forces, fighting for independence in Western Sahara, had with-drawn from the Guerguerat area near the Mauritanian bor-der. The resolution "is a diplomatic success for the Sah-rawi issue because the (peace) process will be back on track", Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said in a

Egypt urges US to play active role in Mideast

Banjul

Anatolia

Some 160 Gambians who were arrested and lan-guishing in Libyan jails

have been repatriated on Thurs-day night to the small West African nation through the sup-port of the International

Organization for Migration.Since the fall of Gambia’s

strongman Yahya Jammeh, doz-ens of migrants who had left the small nation to go to Europe via Libya have started coming back.Bubacarr Touray, 24, who was among the repatriated Gambians, told Anadolu Agency that living conditions for migrants in Libya,

especially in jails, was “horrible”. “There are people who have been shot dead by gunmen and no one knows who they are, whether government or rebels,” Touray said at Banjul Interna-tional Airport. Sulayman Ceesay, 26, also a Gambian jailed in Libya, said that in jail, they were at times denied food and water.

160 Gambians return from Libyan jails

IS claims Baghdad police station attack

Burnt police cars are seen at the site of a blast in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, yesterday.

Years of debate

After years of internal debate, the party leadership is to publish a supplementary charter at a conference tomorrow that will formally accept the idea of a state in the territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967.

09SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017 ASIA

Chandigarh

IANS

With some oppo-sition leaders alleging tam-pering and hacking of

electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Election Commission yesterday said it will soon throw an "open challenge" to prove if the machines could be tampered with.

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said here that the EC will call a meeting of political parties to assure them that the EVMs were tamper-proof.

"They will be told how the EVMs are non-tamperable and secure as per our administrative and technical safeguard system," he told media here.

The EC, to make things trans-parent and boost confidence of people in the EVMs, has pro-posed to use the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) tech-nology in future elections. He added that India could become the first country in the world to have the VVPAT for elections.

The EC has placed an order for the supply of 15 lakh VVPAT machines. These will be supplied by the public sector Bharat Elec-tronics Ltd (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India (ECI).

At least 16 opposition parties, alleging tampering, had recently urged the EC to stop use of EVMs

and revert to the paper ballot system in elections.

The parties, including Sama-jwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and others, levelled tampering allegations after the BJP swept assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.In the past, similar allegations of EVM tampering were made to the EC by political parties and leaders. However, no one was also to prove that the machines could be tampered with.

Meanwhile, Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav yesterday again ques-tioned the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs) after the state police found a chip-like device used in stealing petrol.

"When petrol can be stolen with the help of a remote through a chip without any internet con-nection then EVMs too. Need to stop the wrong use of technol-ogy," the Samajwadi Party President tweeted.

Yadav's remarks came two days after the Special Task Force (STF) in Lucknow raided several

petrol pumps and found them using a chip board like device inside the dispensing machines for petrol theft.

The chorus against EVMs has gained momentum after the recently held assembly elections in five states, with Arvind Kejri-wal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) spearheading a campaign on the issue. The Election Com-mission, however, has said the machines can't be tampered with.

On April 15, Yadav also demanded an answer from the

EC over the controversy on tam-pering of EVMs. Amid opposition accusations of tampering of elec-tronic voting machines (EVMs) to favour the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said yesterday the Delhi civic polls had proved that the EVM stands for "Every Vote for Modi".

At a meeting of party work-ers in Gorakhpur, his parliamentary constituency since 1998, the Chief Minister said EVM for him meant - 'Every Vote for Modi'.

Questioning the opposition over the allegations that EVMs were compromised, Yogi won-dered how those very people who had been elected in the past through EVMs were now ques-tioning its reliability.

The Delhi Municipal Corpo-ration election results have proved that for the people EVMs mean "Every Vote for Modi", he said.

He also said that EVMs were tamper proof and if anyone would try to manipulate it, it will shut down on its own

India's EC to hold open challenge on EVM issue

Chief Election Commissioner of India, Dr Nasim Zaidi, talking to media personnel.

The EC, to make things transparent and boost confidence of people in the EVMs, has proposed to use the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) technology in future elections.

To boost confidence

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said that the EC will call a meeting of political parties to assure them that the EVMs were tamper-proof.

Hundreds throng shrine to crack Trump's visa curbsHyderabad

AFP

Hundreds of Indians gather daily at a 500-year-old Hindu temple in south-

ern India where they pray for a single wish — an increasingly elusive US visa.

The Chilkur Balaji temple dedicated to Balaji on the out-skirts of Hyderabad city, has long been a one-stop solution for pro-spective Indian immigrants

seeking US visas, earning it the sobriquet of 'visa temple'. But temple officials say the place has seen an increase in visitors since the election of US President Don-ald Trump, who this month signed an order seeking to reform the "H-1B" work visa system.

The "H-1B" visas are highly sought after by aspiring Indian immigrants but Trump's push to make the permits available only to the most-skilled or

highest-paid applicants has many worried. Software engi-neer Shreekanth Angirekula was among the fortunate ones, hav-ing recently secured a US visa after repeated rejections.

"It's a miracle. I couldn't get a visa for the last two years but after visiting the temple every-thing went off smoothly," Angirekula, 33, said.

"I am not superstitious but there was definitely divine inter-vention," he said.

More than 100,000 devotees visit the temple every week, for visas and other reasons.

They proffer their passports and a flower before the deity as they circumambulate the inner sanctum of the temple 11 times while chanting Hindu hymns.

Once the wish is granted, worshippers must return to make 108 rounds of the sanctum. Chief priest Ranga Rajan said devotees come from across the country in pursuit of visas.

10 students suspended for exam frivolity

New Delhi AFP

Emergency workers were searching for the bodies of at least 10 people in India

yesterday who went missing in two separate drowning inci-dents that left 27 others dead, police said. The bodies of two children were among the miss-ing after a dinghy capsized late on Friday in a small village lake in southern Andhra Pradesh

state, leaving 13 people dead. Six among the dead were children, police said.

Police said the boat sank due to overcrowding when 17 pas-sengers hired the dinghy for a joy ride after attending a function in the Anantapur district. More than ten bodies were fished out from the lake, state health Minister Kamineni Srinivas told report-ers. Two girls were rescued by locals, police said.

While in eastern India's

West Bengal state, scores of divers and speed boats were try-ing to find the bodies of eight people in Hoogly river after doz-ens of passengers were swept away following the collapse of a jetty on Wednesday.

Eleven bodies were retrieved from the river on Fri-day as anxious relatives and villagers continued to gather at the banks of the river. Three bodies were found on Wednesday.

New Delhi

IANS

The Congress yesterday replaced Digvijaya Singh (pictured) as general sec-

retary in-charge of poll-bound Karnataka as well as Goa, where the party failed to form government despite emerging as the largest single party.

The charge of Karnataka has been given to party MP K. C. Venugopal, who has been appointed a general secretary. A. Chella Kumar has been named AICC in charge of Goa.

A press release issued by the party said that four party secretaries - Manickam Tagore, P.C. Vishnunadh, Madhu Yashki Goud and Sake Sailjanath - will assist Venugopal.

"Congress President Sonia Gandhi has assigned the task of looking after Karnataka and Goa affairs to new AICC teams," the Congress release said.

Elections will be held to the Karnataka assembly in the first

half of next year. The Congress is in power in the state.

The release said that party secretary Amit Deshmukh will assist Chella Kumar.

The Congress failed to form the government in Goa despite emerging as the largest single party. Elections to the Goa assembly were held earlier this year and the BJP formed the government with help of smaller parties.

New Delhi IANS

An undertrial in a murder case was shot dead out-side a district court

complex here in Rohini yester-day while being brought for a hearing, police said.

"Rajesh, a notorious crimi-nal, was shot dead outside

Rohini Court Complex. The shooter, 19-year-old Mohit is a resident of Jhajjar district in Har-yana," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rishi Pal said.

The incident occurred while Rajesh was being brought by the Haryana Police to the district court.

At around 11.30am, Mohit fired a bullet at Rajesh's chest,

who died on the spot, the police said. The police arrested Mohit.

During interrogation, Mohit disclosed that he fired at Rajesh on the instruction of his friend Satish. Mohit also revealed that he did not know Rajesh person-ally, police said. Rajesh, 38, was arrested in a murder case in December 2016 and was in judi-cial custody in a Haryana jail.

He was facing trial in 16 dif-ferent cases in Haryana as well as in Delhi. The police official said he suspects it to be a case of personal enmity or gang-rivalry and are verifying whether Rajesh was a member of any gang, including the Neeraj Bawana gang.

He said they are are probing all angles in the case.

Divers search for 10 missing as 27 drown in APCong removes Digvijaya Singh as party in-charge of Goa & Karnataka

Undertrial shot dead near court in Rohini

Two accused in Kodanad murder case meet with accidentChennai

IANS

In a curious twist, two men suspected of involvement in the killing of a security guard

at late Tamil Nadu Chief Minis-ter J Jayalalithaa's Kodanad Estate met with separate road accidents, killing one of them, police said.

While Kanakaraj, employed as a driver in Kodanad Estate, died of injuries in Salem on

Friday night, Sayan is in critical condition.

Kanakaraj, who was riding a two-wheeler, was hit by a car. He was taken to the hospital where he died on Friday night.

He had worked at Jayalalith-aa's residence here at Poes Garden later at the Kodanad Estate. Syan was travelling in a car with his family in Palakkad in Kerala when their car rammed against a stationary lorry. He is in a critical condition.

His wife and five-year-old daughter died in the accident.

The death of Kanakaraj has deepened the mystery over the murder of the Nilgiris district's Kodanad Estate's security guard earlier this week. Police sources said he was on his way to see a newborn baby at his relative’s house in an inebriated condition.

According to police, a group of unidentified persons fatally attacked security guard Om

Bahadur, and injured Krishna Bahadur, who tried to stop them.

The police were on the look-out for Kanakaraj and Syan, suspecting them of involvement. Tamil Nadu Congress President S Thirunavukkarasar has demanded a probe by the Cen-tral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the security guard's murder.

Earlier, former Chief Minis-ter O Panneerselvam had said the security guard's murder has made people fear about the law

and order situation in Tamil Nadu. Citing reports about the gang fleeing with documents from Jayalalithaa's Kodanad Estate, Panneerselvam said the state government has to clarify the reasons behind Om Baha-dur's murder.

Sayan was a native of Irin-jalakuda near Thrissur and residing at Kuniamuthur in Coimbatore for a long time, working as a helper in a bakery.

Kolkata

IANS

At least 10 students of a college in West Bengal were sus-

pended for writing about love, Hindi and Bengali film songs and poems instead of answers to ques-tions in their semester exams.

The students were from Balgurghat Law Col-lege in Malda, affiliated to the University of Gour Banga.

"They were third semester students at the college. They could have written wrong answers but they chose to write slang, abuses and things about love, including lines from Hindi and Bengali film songs.

Devotees offer prayers at a shrine in Hyderabad, yesterday.

North Korea has test-fired another ballistic missile despite rising tensions in the region. It was an unsuccessful test, which wasn’t unexpected, because Kim Jong Un was more in a hurry to test-fire the missile rather than

make it successful. Tensions have been rising in the region to explosive levels in the past few weeks after Donald Trump threatened to retaliate if Pyongyang didn’t restrain itself. Kim just wanted to prove that he is undeterred by such threats, and in that sense, the test-firing was actually redundant. Kim didn’t have to resort to such an action to prove himself. He has been reckless and dangerous from the day he assumed office, and the entry of Trump has only added to and exacerbated that recklessness.

The missile test took place near Bukchang in South Pyeongan Province early yesterday. It comes as the US is pushing for more sanctions to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and is weighing all options to achieve its objective, including military options. The US threat and North Korea’s recklessness have ratcheted up tensions in the region to unprecedented levels, with leaders of the region calling for calm and worried about a nuclear conflagration.

Leaders in the region have reacted with alarm to the latest test. Speaking at a press conference in London, Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe, said: “Despite strong warnings by the international community, North

Korea today went through its ballistic missile launch. It is a grave threat to our country. This is absolutely not acceptable. We strongly condemn such acts.”

While the Trump administration is fully aware of the dangerous consequences of letting Kim have his way, there is a need to proceed with extreme caution not to push the region into a catastrophe. While the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has warned that the failure to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear abilities could lead to “catastrophic consequences”, China and Russia have

cautioned Washington against using military force to solve the problem. This view was also shared by some other leaders in the region. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is the current chairman of the Association of South East

Asian Nations (ASEAN), was blunt in his warnings. He urged the US to avoid playing

into the hands of leader Kim Jong Un, who “wants to end the world”.

“You know that they (US and its allies in the region) are playing with somebody who relishes letting go of missiles and everything. I would not want to go into his (Kim’s) mind because I really do not know what’s inside but he’s putting mother earth, the planet to an edge,” he said.

Duterte has sent a powerful message. The world should not rise to Kim’s provocations. Let there be more sanctions, and diplomacy must be given every chance available.

10 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017VIEWS

E S T A B L I S H E D I N 1 9 9 6

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

msalim@pen.com.qa

Another test

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The consequences would be high if France were to turn away from Europe. The choice of the French people is a choice for France but also for the European Union.

Francois HollandeFrench President

As North Korea continues its provocations with more nuclear tests, the onus is on saner countries not to push the region into a nuclear conflagration.

I was in Brussels recently with other Syrian civil society representatives to meet with EU and UN officials to reinforce our key demands on protection, accountability, humanitarian access and especially the

need for a meaningful inclusion of civil society in the Syrian political process.

Our discussions were overshowed by the heinous chemical attacks in Khan Sheikhoun, that resulted in the death of many civilians, including innocent women and children. The attack illustrated once again the urgent need for the protection of civilians if we are to see the end of a conflict that has gone on for too long.

That’s why when the US launched retalia-tory strikes against the Syrian regime for the use of chemical weapons, we Syrians celebrated.

Nobody wants to ask for foreign interven-tion against its own country. But the US response was a long overdue international first step to protect Syrian lives. To be truly effective, the US action must now turn into a comprehensive mechanism to protect civil-ians not only from chemical attacks but also from all indiscriminate attacks against civil-ians that remain the biggest killer of civilians in Syria.

Europe has a key role to play in this effort. European member states are well placed to work closely with the US to stem the violence across Syria and create the conditions for a genuine political solution.

Each day without the prospects of a viable political solution, the greater the threat of vio-lence, instability, displacement, and extremism for Syria and the West. This is why solving the Syrian crisis is in the interest of Europe.

Syria has triggered an epic refugee cri-sis that Europe has to manage at great costs. And Syria has spawned a dangerous terror threat that has already affected many European capitals as recently shown in the tremendous terrorist attacks in Lon-don and Stockholm.

The US decision to hold the Assad regime to account for the chemical attack has the potential to pave the way to a political transi-tion in Syria. It can change — and has already changed — the calculations of the Assad regime. (Regime airstrikes against civilians dropped soon after the US action. This shows how the regime can respond when faced with credible international action.)

The prospects of protection will also cre-ate the necessary space on the ground to allow moderate voices and civilian structures to counter extremists. As I say, Europe has a key role to play in this effort.

Working towards a political transitionFirst, European states should work with

the US to deter all indiscriminate attacks against civilians. If civilians are seriously pro-tected this will compel the regime to engage substantively in the Geneva process and will set the stage for a political transition.

Europe needs to step up its game in SyriaMazen DarwishAl Jazeera

Europe is also positioned to apply pressure on Assad and its allies. As a human rights defender, I urge Europe to use its economic powers to sanction Ira-nian and Russian individuals who are complicit in the Assad regime’s war crimes.

Thirdly, Europe needs to lead the accountability effort. As a former detainee, I can tell you that I — just like millions of Syrians who have fled Syria - will not return home unless credible measures are put in place to hold war criminals to account.

The current lack of justice only helps the extremist narrative. We need to address this head on. This is not about revenge. This is about finding a path for-ward where all Syrians can heal and have trust in a sustainable political settlement.

Finally, Europe should insist that no reconstruction aid would be given with-out a guarantee of a political transition. Otherwise, Europe will end up financing the Assad regime itself and will risk aid-ing and abetting his vicious war crimes.

I understand none of these options are easy. But they are not impossible

if Europe shows politi-cal will. The real work on Syria’s future begins after a political transition, when Syri-ans are tasked with

rebuilding a war-torn society. We know many questions will need

to be addressed for stability to hold. What will be done to reintegrate dis-placed people? How will we address terrorism? How will we rebuild Syria’s destroyed infrastructure? What instru-ments are necessary for democracy to work?

For Syrian civil society, these chal-lenges are not new. We have been working on these questions and doing the hard work for six years. We risk our lives to build a Syria that is free, demo-cratic, and inclusive. Many, like myself, have spent years in prison for these efforts, enduring torture, physical abuse and even starvation. Too many more have brutally been killed in the process. Still, we will not give up.

That is why Syrian civil society members are among the best placed to help create sustainable peace. It is the activists, humanitarians, human rights defenders and educators who will be key to reconstruction, solving the refugee crisis, and combating extremism. We are ready to do whatever it takes to establish a free, democratic and stable Syria.

But to do so the international com-munity must hear and respond to the concerns of the Syrian civil society. We are not a “nice to have”, but a fabric of Syria’s present and future. Together, Europe and Syria’s civil society can still chart a course for Syria’s future. But first we need your help to stop the bombs and make justice prevail.

The writer is President of the Syrian Centre

for Media and Freedom of Expression, is a

Syrian lawyer, activist, and former political

prisoner. He has received numerous interna-

tional awards for his work on freedom of

the press, including being named as a World

Press Freedom Hero by the International

Press Institute.

European member states are well placed to work closely with the US to stem the violence across Syria and create the conditions for a genuine political solution.

ED ITOR IAL

EU foreign ministers and officials observe a minute of silence in respect for the victims of Khan Sheikhoun attack during a conference on the future of Syria in Brussels.

11SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017 OPINION

Most South Koreans are similarly allergic to the idea of a large-scale conflict. Yes, North Korea would lose, but along the way, a sizeable chunk of Seoul, the South Korean capital and its most impor-tant economic centre, would be devastated by North Korean artillery. Even if the conflict ended without the North getting a conventional/nuclear/chemical shot off, it would still be ruinous. The South would face a human tidal wave of refugees, economic dis-location, and an anxious, defensive China worried about its border. And that’s if it went “well”.

China doesn’t want a war - not on its border, not with nuclear weapons in play, not when its number one vital interest is political stability and sufficient economic growth to keep a poor and potentially restive population focused on dreams of a middle-class life. Japan?

There is nothing in it for Tokyo, except possibly stirring up anti-Japanese feelings that have per-sisted since the end of World War II. And the last thing Mr Donald Trump needs is a war, not with tens of thousands of US troops in South Korea and Japan. His presidency would be over before it had barely started. So, no war, right? Not so fast.

Unfortunately, wars can break out even when none of the parties wants a war. Leaders may be rational, yes even Kim Jong-un, but that doesn’t mean they are perfect. They can miscalculate the likely response of an adversary; they can misread the situation; they can find themselves backed into a corner where the only “rational” choice is to fight.

Those inadvertent or accidental wars are also rare, even less likely than wars fought on purpose, but they can happen. And the Korean Peninsula hap-pens to be a place where many of the conditions for

Can Emmanuel Macron revive idea of Europe?

The first round of the 2017 French presiden-tial election has brought with it surprises and hopes. France will go to the second round of elections where the candidates of the main political parties from the right

and the left will not be competing for the first time in the last 60 years.

And it will probably have for the first time a young president, who has never held elected office and who does not have an organised political base.

How has 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron — who does not have a serious political career aside from his short-time duties as minister of economy and the president’s adviser on economic affairs — risen to the position of being the closest candidate to the French presidency in a matter of one year through his cen-trist En Marche! (On the Move) movement, of which he is also the founder?

To find the answer to this question, rather than analySing Macron’s political promises, which are considered a fresh glimmer of hope for French soci-ety and European politics, it would be wise have a look at the traditional dynamics of French politics and history as well as the social structure of the country, the factors that have enabled such a candi-date to emerge in such a short time span.

Although it is generally the graduates of the National School of Administration (Ecole Nationale d’Administration/ENA) — established in 1945 to train high-ranking state officials for France – who hold critical positions in French politics, when Macron’s ‘short background’ is considered given his age, it would not be wrong to say that the path that he has taken so far — from being an adviser to Hollande to holding a ministerial seat in Hollande’s government and later his resignation and founding his own politi-cal movement — can only be the result of the French political system based on the equality of opportunity and competence.

Another important driving force behind Macron’s rapid rise is that the people and especially the young and middle-aged French now see that the center-right and center-left in the country have been “clogged” and mired in a vicious cycle of repeating itself. Therefore, the people must have concluded that the dilemmas in traditional French politics could only be overcome through a new “middle way poli-tics”, a method that can integrate rightist and leftist politics in a way that would constitute an alternative

to France’s old political ways. The rise in the ultranationalist and racist rhetoric

of Marine Le Pen’s National Front and the need to put a brake on this trend may also be seen as another reason why those French people seeking a fresh blood in French politics are supporting Macron.

If we think that France would have an interna-tional agenda with a pragmatic approach far from extreme kinds of populism under the likely presi-dency of the young Macron, who is an alternative product of the deadlock of the French political and social structure, then a likely Macron leadership could turn into a positive transformation move not only for the current monotony of French politics but also for European politics and the liberal interna-tional order, which are now mostly defined by polarisation.

This wave of dynamism that the “Macron wind” might generate might as well bring an important development in practical terms, more than just act-ing as a source of inspiration to European peoples, who have been on the lookout for alternatives from amongst a bunch of populist leaders.

The most important implication of this practical development is the re-emergence of the idea of European integration that would come back to life and gain momentum under the leadership of France with Macron as president.

We can argue that Macron, who maintains that his movement incorporates the best parts of the left, the right and the center just as De Gaulle’s movement once did, may attempt to shoulder a responsibility for the integrative future of European politics follow-ing the example of De Gaulle.

And in such a cause, his closest partner could be Germany. In this regard, in order to reinvigorate the belief in the idea of Europe, the prospect of a joint initiative by Macron and Merkel is quite likely to give a new impulse to EU politics, which has been in a systemic crisis.

Macron’s pro-business world stance, underlying his political program shaped by his background in

investment banking, constitutes another pragmatic factor for the future of European integration, which has economically drifted toward greater division and been steeped in major uncertainties since Brexit became a reality.

Promising to introduce greater ease and conven-ience to the French taxation system — which is “very strict” to say the least — this stance seems to have a potential for creating advantages not only for politi-cians and societies but also for European investors who are in despair. It is also possible to interpret this stance not as an optimistic attitude to save the future of the EU but rather as a step to breathe new life into the French economy itself, which has been adversely affected by the euro crisis.

Under a likely Macron presidency, France would be very significant for the revivification of the faith in the EU as well as the liberal international order, which is plunging ever deeper into its current crisis. So much so that the French president may walk strongly and decisively alongside Germany, which has allegedly been left on its own to advocate the lib-eral order, particularly given the negative and uncertain attitudes of the US under Trump’s presi-dency toward global governance.

We might at this point recall that Marine Le Pen had described her struggle against Macron in her presidential campaign as “a patriotic struggle against the globalists.”

Another strikingly significant point in this regard is the fact that the traditional European politics based on a separation between the right and the left has now been replaced by the struggle between the glo-balists and localists/nationalists, as is often mentioned by various experts from time to time.

In an era marked by a dwindling faith in interna-tional organisations, such as the United Nations, G20 and the like, it seems likely that France under a Macron presidency would make global governance a priority in European politics again.

Besides his vision of defending the global liberal order, we can argue that Macron is also projecting a

TThe United States and North Korea are hurling threats at one another. In Japan, the sale of bomb shelters is booming. And in South Korea, a country that has

seen this all before and is typically non-plussed about a test or two, citizens are feeling a bit anxious.

Could war really break out on the Korean Peninsula? Could a conventional war lead to the first use of nuclear weap-ons since 1945? Is this actually for real?

Well, there is some good news and some bad news. But it has to be said, the good news isn’t that great and the bad news is potentially horrific.

First, the good news. On average, big, ugly wars between major countries don’t happen very often. On any given day, the chance of a major war, let alone a war involving nuclear weapons, is exceedingly small. On the Korean Peninsula, that prob-ability is reinforced by the fact that none of the key players wants a war. North Korea doesn’t want a war, because it knows it will lose and lose decisively. That would mean the end of the Kim dynasty, and if there’s one thing Chairman Kim Jong-un wants, it’s to stay in power.

Is war coming to North Korea?

French presidential election candidate for the En Marche ! movement Emmanuel Macron gestures as he addresses supporters at the Angerlarde hall in Chatellerault.

such a conflict are already present. Poor lines of communication and little understanding of the adversary’s intentions? Check. Lots of bluster and bluffing by the parties? Double check. Mili-tary doctrines and force postures that can push small incidents up the ladder to a major confrontation? Again, check.

North Korea is the most isolated, least understood country in the world. The US repeatedly misread Soviet intentions during the Cold War, despite an enormous effort that lasted for decades, and my conversations with government officials in Washington, Seoul, Beijing, and Tokyo give me no reason to believe that we are doing any better with North Korea.

Of course, the North Koreans could tell the US what they want. They could communicate their red lines, but the US has no formal diplomatic relations with the North Koreans and rarely talks to them. And if the North Koreans told Washington where those red lines are, would it believe them? How are we to distinguish the over-the-top threats from the serious warnings?

And unfortunately, the new US administration has its own issues in this regard. Between late-night tweets, contradictory statements by the highest officials in the US government, and threats that are clearly bluffs, how should Pyongyang inter-pret US “signals”? Will the Kim clan be able to discern when the Trump is serious and when he is posturing? China can act as a go-between, but one has to wonder what gets lost in translation, especially when Beijing has its own interests and the Chinese-North Korean relationship (never great to begin with) further erodes in response to Chinese pressure.

Less well-understood but perhaps more important are doctrines and force postures. The North is outgunned, and they know it. South Korean and US forces are far more capa-ble and have worked assiduously to be able to hit every military asset in North Korea. If you are an American or South Korean, that sounds like a good thing, until you realise how that looks from Pyongyang.

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leadership role for France. In his vision, that future will be that of the liberal order. Macron positions France as a new center and strate-gically targets the Trump administration as part of this vision.

As an example, we can present Macron’s statement that France may become a new home to scien-tists, entrepreneurs and researchers instead of the US, which has been drifting with the wind of populism under Trump’s leadership.

Another important point in terms of the role France may play under a Macron presidency for the future of the liberal international order pertains to Macron’s attitude towards Russia. Unlike Le Pen, who advocates the lifting of the sanc-tions on Russia, Macron opines that these sanctions should continue to be in force for the time being.

Macron’s stance against Russia, in a way, proves the idea that Rus-sia has been supporting the populist-nationalist movements in Europe against the liberal interna-tionalists, a claim frequently voiced in recent times. The biggest obsta-cle to a likely Macron presidency, which is already causing such a positive wind to blow in terms of European politics and the liberal international order, will undoubt-edly be the balances in the French national assembly.

What might make this positive vision a reality would be a victory by the En Marche movement of Macron in the parliamentary elec-tions in June despite lacking an organised political infrastructure.

What might make this positive vision a reality would be a victory by the En Marche movement of Macron in the parliamentary elections in June despite lacking an organised political infrastructure.

Emel Parlar Dal & Murat KursunAnatolia

Jim WalshAl Jazeera

12 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017ASIA

North Korea tests missile; US calls for sanctionsSeoul

Reuters

North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile yesterday shortly after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

warned that failure to curb Pyongyang's nuclear and ballis-tic missile programmes could lead to "catastrophic consequences".

US and South Korean offi-cials said the test, from an area north of Pyongyang, appeared to have failed, in what would be the North's fourth straight unsuccessful missile test since March.

"The test came as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group arrived in waters near the Korean peninsula, where it began exercises with the South

Korean navy yesterday, about 12 hours after the failed launch," a South Korean navy official said.

Tillerson, in a UN Security Council meeting on North Korea on Friday, repeated the Trump administration's position that all options were on the table if Pyongyang persisted with its nuclear and miss i le development.

"Failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring cata-strophic consequences."

US President Donald Trump

said the launch was an affront to China, the North's sole main ally.

"North Korea disrespected the wishes of China and its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccess-fully, a missile today. Bad!," Trump said in a post on Twitter after the launch.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the UN meeting it was not only up to China to solve the North Korean problem.

"The key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula does not lie in the hands of the

Chinese side," Wang said.In a commentary yesterday,

China's official Xinhua news agency said both North Korea and the United States needed to tread cautiously.

"If both sides fail to make such necessary concessions, then not only will the two coun-tries, but the whole region and the whole world end up paying a heavy price for a possible confrontation."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the test as a grave threat to the interna-tional order.

French amphibious assault carrier arrives in JapanTokyo

AFP

A French warfare ship arrived in Japan yester-day for an international

drill as tensions mounted over North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch in defiance of a US push for tougher global sanctions.

The amphibious assault ship arrived at the Sasebo naval base in southwestern Japan ahead of the first joint exercise among Japan, France, the US and the UK.

The drill will run from May 3 through May 22 in the waters

surrounding Japan as well as the Pacific islands of Guam and Northern Marianas, according to Japan's Self Defence Forces.

As many as 700 military personnel are expected to take part in the Jeanne d'Arc mis-sion for young officers, also to be joined by French frigate Courbet.

Some 60 British sailors as well as 220 Japanese military personnel will go on board the French vessels, along with their American counterparts.

The exercise "is designed to strengthen and to enhance trust and cooperation among the participating countries",

Indonesia lifts tsunami warning after strong quakeTuban

Anatolia

A POWERFUL earthquake struck Molucca Sea off north-ern Indonesia early yesterday.

"The magnitude 7.2 tremor hit 210km northwest of the Sangihe Islands in North Sulawesi province at a depth of 417km at 3.23pm," National Disaster Manage-ment Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said yesterday.

The US Geological Survey downgraded its own assess-ment of the magnitude to 6.8.

Nugroho said Indonesia's Geological Agency issued and then lifted a tsunami warning.

"Until now, there have been no reports of 7.2 earth-quake impacts on Indonesian territory, either casualties or damaged buildings," Nugroho said.

On December 7, a magni-tude 6.5 temblor rocked the north of Sumatra island, leav-ing 104 people dead and tens of thousands displaced in Aceh province.

Indonesia lies within the Pacific’s "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and cause frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

Mob forces closure of two Muslim schoolsYangon

Anatolia

Fearing violence, two Mus-lim religious schools in Myanmar’s largest city

were closed after an anti-Mus-lim mob claimed they were being operated as mosques, a police source said yesterday.

More than 100 people led by ultra-nationalist Buddhist monks gathered on Friday evening in Yangon’s Tharkayta

Township, forcing authorities to shut down two Muslim madras-ahs in the area immediately.

“Two schools were sealed off temporarily” on Friday night, a senior officer at Yangon Police Force, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said.

The officer said that the decision was made following negotiations between local authorities and local Muslim leaders.

“We did it without any court decree because we wanted to prevent further unnecessary conflict,” he said, adding that police at the scene dispersed the mob peacefully.

"The area is home to a mosque and three madrasahs which have been operated with official permission for decades, said Tin Shwe," the head of one of the madrasahs sealed off last night.

“I understand the (decision

by the) authority regarding the situation last night,” he said.

"The mob is believed to have been ready to destroy or torch the schools unless the authori-ties gave into their demands," he said yesterday. “We are feeling very bad as they were bullying our religion.”

Anti-Muslim movements have been on the rise in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar since an out-break in communal violence in western Rakhine state in 2012.

Bangkok

AP

A Bangkok court approved an arrest warrant for an heir to the Red Bull energy drink for-

tune accused of a deadly hit-and-run accident, Thai police said, moving the case forward after almost five years without charges being pressed.

Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya is accused of fleeing the scene of a 2012 crash in his Ferrari after allegedly fatally hitting a police officer on motorcycle patrol.

His family, half-owners of the Red Bull empire, has esti-mated wealth of more than $20bn.

The state prosecutor asked for police action after Voray-uth missed Thursday's deadline to answer a summons, and police applied for the warrant on Friday morning.

Police spokesman Krisana Pattanacharoen said the court had approved the arrest war-rant on two charges, hit-and-run and reckless driving.

"He will be processed like any other suspect who is evad-ing their arrest warrant," said Krisana.

"There are tens of thou-sands of these suspects."

The case has drawn atten-tion as an example of the impunity of Thailand's rich and well-connected, who are able to avoid or delay justice in a way that ordinary Thais wouldn't be able to.

Vorayuth's current where-abouts are unknown.

"Whenever he steps into Thailand, we should be able to get him," national police chief Gen Chaktip Chaijinda said.

China deports US 'spy' after convictionSan Francisco

AFP

An American woman con-victed of espionage this week has been deported

by China, a human rights group that campaigned for her release said yesterday, removing a source of tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Sandy Phan-Gillis was detained in March 2015 at the Macau border after visiting mainland China.

She was accused of

espionage, stealing state secrets and allegedly passing on intel-ligence to a third party.

She was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and deportation on Wednesday.

On Friday, "Phan-Gillis was deported. She arrived in Los Angeles the same day. She was met upon arrival by her husband and members of her family," the Dui Hua group said in a statement.

Her return to the US comes three weeks after Chinese Pres-ident Xi Jinping met US

President Donald Trump in Flor-ida, amid a warming of ties between the two countries.

Since their first face-to-face meeting in Florida earlier this month, the two presidents "have been in constant touch with each other," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.

Dui Hua said negotiations to secure the release of Phan-Gil-lis were stepped up during US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to Beijing in March this year.

HK to reopen June 4th MuseumHong Kong

AFP

The world's first museum dedicated to China's Tiananmen Square crack-

down will once again open its doors in Hong Kong after a months-long closure as the city prepares to mark the 20th anni-versary of its handover to Beijing.

The June 4th Museum closed its doors last July after organis-ers said they were being targeted for political reasons in the semi-autonomous city where concerns are growing that Beijing is tight-ening its grip.

Tenants in the commercial building which housed the museum from 2014 said the

museum breached regulations that said the premises could only be used for offices.

The museum, now housed at a new temporary venue, will open to the public at a time when Hong Kong is revving up the fan-fare for the 20th anniversary of its handover to China by Britain, with expectations of a high-pro-file visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Organiser Lee Cheuk-yan said this was an especially important time to reopen the museum.

"It's very important that this museum will be here to tell him (Xi) in his face that people in Hong Kong have not forgotten what had happened 28 years ago when the Communist Party

decided to open fire and send in tanks against the people's aspi-ration for freedom," Lee said.

Chinese authorities branded the pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 a "counter-revolu-tionary rebellion" and many on the mainland remain unaware of the crackdown.

The cramped 100sq metre space will be displaying news-paper clippings, large photographs and videos of tanks rolling down the streets of Bei-jing during the crackdown.

The exhibit opens from April 30 to June 15 in the city's Shek Kip Mei residential region.

"It's very much meaningful because... it counteracts against the brainwashing by Communist

party," Lee said of the museum, which is still searching for a per-manent home.

"They have the money and resources to really try to use

excuses to suppress our museum, but I think we will fight on, and I think with the support of peo-ple in Hong Kong we can fight," he said.

Thai court issues arrest warrant for Red Bull heir

People watch a TV broadcasting of a news report on North Korea's missile launch, at a railway station in Seoul, yesterday.

Unsuccessful

US and South Korean officials said the test appeared to have failed, in what would be the North's fourth straight unsuccessful missile test since March.

US President Donald Trump said the launch was an affront to China, the North's sole main ally.

French amphibious assault ship Mistral (left) arrives at Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force's Sasebo Naval base, yesterday.

Workers install a poster at the June 4th Museum at Beijing's Tiananmen Square, in Hong Kong, yesterday.

Hit-and-run case

The case has drawn attention as an example of the impunity of Thailand's rich and well-connected, who are able to avoid or delay justice in a way that ordinary Thais wouldn't be able to.

13SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017 ASIA

NEWS BYTES

BISHKEK: A landslide swept over part of a village in Kyr-gyzstan yesterday, killing 24 people, including nine children, the emergencies ministry said.

"The landslide hit the village of Ayu in the Osh region of the mountainous Central Asian country at around 640am and covered six houses with inhabitants inside".

"All 24 citizens of Kyrgzystan, nine of them children, died under the landslide in the south of the country," emergen-cies ministry spokeswoman Elmira Sheripova said.

24 dead in Kyrgyzstan landslideFormer Afghan warlord urges Taliban to end warKabul

AP

A former Afghan warlord who battled US forces after the 2001 invasion and nursed bitter rival-ries with other militant factions before signing a peace deal with the Afghan government appeared in public for the first time in more than 20 years yesterday and called for peace.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who leads the Hezb-i-Islami, appeared in a gathering organised by provin-cial officials in eastern Laghman province in which government offi-cials were also present.

During his remarks, Hekmatyar called on all insurgent groups to end the war and join the peace process in Afghanistan. He pointed to a recent attack by Taliban fighters on an army base in Balkh province.

Manila

AFP

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte faced pushback yesterday at a regional summit over his efforts to

weaken Southeast Asian resist-ance to Chinese expansionism in the contested South China Sea, diplomats said.

Duterte was due to release a chairman's statement at the end

of the one-day Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) leaders meeting that ignored an inter-national tribunal ruling rejecting China's sweeping claims to the strategically vital waterway.

Ahead of the summit Duterte said the Philippines and other nations were helpless to stop Chinese artificial island building in areas they claimed, so there was no point discussing it at dip-lomatic events such as yesterday's summit.

But diplomats said other Asean nations, unhappy with intense Chinese lobbying of the Philippines, had sought to toughen up the chairman's state-ment and there were hot debates on the issue leading up to yes-terday's summit.

"It can't be seen that Asean has totally given in to Chinese pressure," a Southeast Asian dip-lomat in Manila for the event said.

China has been turning reefs and shoals in areas of the sea claimed by the Philippines and other nations into artificial islands, and installing military facilities there.

The Philippines, under pre-vious president Benigno Aquino, had lobbied hard at Asean sum-mits for the bloc to voice its

strong opposition to the Chinese expansionism.

Aquino also filed a case at a UN-backed tribunal asking it to reject China's claims and artifi-cial island building.

The tribunal last year ruled largely in the Philippines' favour. But the ruling came after Duterte took power.

Duterte steadfastly refused to use the verdict to pressure China, instead pursuing warmer relations and billions of dollars' worth of trade and aid.

In a speech to open the sum-mit, Duterte made no reference to the South China Sea.

Duterte's chairman's

statement, which is meant to reflect the views of all Asean leaders, will voice concern but not mention the ruling nor China directly, according to excerpts of the latest draft yesterday.

"China, through its ambas-sador to Manila, had this week been campaigning to weaken it further," delegates and diplomats said.

"The lobbying is quite intense. They (China) want it fur-ther watered down," one diplomat said.

China had wanted Asean to remove a reference to "respect for legal and diplomatic proc-esses", and it was taken out of

the South China Sea section of the latest draft of the chairman's statement.

Filipino diplomats said the phrase was important because "legal and diplomatic processes" encompassed the entire process of the filing of the case in the tri-bunal until its resolution.

Nevertheless, the new draft statement reintroduced a call for no further "land reclamation and militarisation" of the sea.

Diplomats said the reinclu-sion of the reference to land reclamation and militarisation meant that some Asean countries were not comfortable with "total acquiescence" to China.

Duterte calls for drug-free Asean

US troops return to Helmand provinceLashkar Gah

AFP

US Marines returned to Afghanistan's volatile Helmand yesterday,

where American troops faced heated fighting until Nato's com-bat mission ended in 2014, as embattled Afghan security forces struggle to beat back the resurgent Taliban.

The deployment of some 300 Marines to the southern province came one day after the militants announced the launch of their "spring offensive", and as the Trump administration seeks to craft a new strategy in Afghanistan.

"Commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan General John Nicholson attended a handover ceremony marking the return of the prestigious force, the first Marines in Afghanistan since 2014," a pho-tographer said.

Part of a regular troop rota-tion announced in January

under the Obama administra-tion, they will arrive in stages, eventually numbering some 300 who will take part in Nato's train, assist and advise mission.

"In those days Afghan secu-rity forces were tiny and just got started," Brigadier General Roger Turner said.

"With the leadership in place

now they... are poised to do much better."

The Taliban effectively con-trol or contest 10 of Helmand's 14 districts, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency. Around 30,000 people fled fighting in the prov-ince in 2016, mostly seeking refuge in Lashkar Gah, with the city at times practically besieged.

Eight get death sentence over drug smugglingHanoi

AP

VIETNAMESE state media say a court in Hanoi has con-demned eight people to death for heroin trafficking.

The Hanoi People's Court on Thursday convicted 11 people of trafficking 303kg of heroin to China between 2004 until the ring was bro-ken up in 2015.

The People's Police news-paper reported that eight of the 11 were condemned to death. The three others were sen-tenced to life imprisonment, including ringleader Dang Minh Chau, whose penalty was reduced because she has a child under 3 years of age.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. The country shifted execu-tions from firing squads to lethal injection in 2013.

KARACHI: A trust in Pakistan named after Turkey’s presi-dent yesterday inked a deal with the country’s largest Punjab province to run major hospitals in its capital Lahore.

The Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital Trust will also take over the management of two major blood transfusion cent-ers in the Multan and Bahawalpur districts under the agreement, signed between the two sides in Lahore.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the sign-ing ceremony.

Turkish Trust to run Punjab hospitals

YANGON: A bus fell into a deep ravine near Myanmar’s south-eastern border with Thailand, killing 17 people and injuring 22 others, according to police.

The accident occurred when the bus was trying to avoid a head-on collision with another vehicle near the border town of Myawaddy in Karen.

“Seventeen people, including the bus driver, [are] dead,” a local police officer, Ko Ko Naing, said.

“Most of the passengers are Myanmar migrant workers."

Bus plunges into ravine; 17 dead

MANILA: Fourteen people were wounded in a pipe bomb blast in Manila, Philippine police said yesterday, but author-ities dismissed any link to an Asian leaders' meeting.

The explosion happened late Friday about five km from the heavily guarded complex where Asean leaders are meet-ing and police said they were investigating the possibility it was a revenge assault.

A relative of a boy injured in an attack in the same area by a group of youths earlier in the week had made public threats, police spokeswoman Chief Inspector Kimberly Mol-itas said.

14 injured in Manila explosion

Army rejects Sharif's action to sack adviser

Manila

AFP

Philippine President Rod-rigo Duterte warned Southeast Asian leaders

yesterday they were facing a "massive" illegal drug menace that could destroy their socie-ties, as he called for a united response.

Duterte, who has faced international condemnation for his own crackdown on

drugs that has claimed thou-sands of lives, also insisted that outsiders should not interfere in Southeast Asia's affairs.

"The illegal drug trade is massive but it is not impreg-nable," Duterte said.

"With political will and cooperation, it can be disman-tled. It can be destroyed before it destroys our societies."

Duterte urged the leaders to be "resolute in realising a drug-free Asean".

Asean leaders join hands as they pose for a 'family photo' at a summit in Manila, yesterday.

US Marines and Afghan National Army during a handover ceremony at Leatherneck Camp, in Lashkar Gah, yesterday.

Islamabad

AP

Pakistan's army yesterday rejected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's (pictured)

decision to sack an adviser over his connections to a reporter who wrote an article last year saying there is a rift between civilian and military leaders over efforts to combat militancy.

Yesterday's strong reaction from the army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor came

shortly after Sharif's office ordered the firing of Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi.

In a tweet, Ghafoor said the notification from the office of the prime minister was "incom-plete" and "it was not in line with recommendations" made by an inquiry board that was set up to determine who leaked information to journalist Cyril Almeida about a security meeting.

Shortly after the army's response, Sharif addressed two rallies in the cities of Sargodha and Okara in Punjab province but made no mention of the army's tweet.

Islamabad tests scanning devices to improve securityIslamabad

Internews

Pakistani authorities have begun testing radio fre-quency identification

(RFID) devices in Islamabad, to be installed at the city’s points of

entry and exit, to facilitate motorists, officials said.

The scanners have been installed at Islamabad’s points of entry and the Red Zone, including Faizabad, Golra Chowk and Serena Chowk.

RFID is a feature of the Safe

City Project that has been set up in the capital. In light of the country’s security situation, a number of pickets were set up in various parts of the city to intercept suspicious elements.

After RFID devices are installed, the motorists will be

issued e-tags to affix to their vehicles to move into the city without any hindrances.

The tag would carry the details of the vehicle and its owner, such as their name, CNIC number, address and informa-tion on other family members

who may be using the vehicle.The officials said recently

that the tags were an optional choice for the citizens but those who do acquire them would be able to travel into the city with-out being intercepted at any checkpoint.

Sea claims

Diplomats said the reinclusion of the reference to land reclamation and militarisation meant that some Asean countries were not comfortable with 'total acquiescence' to China.

Asean leaders wrestle over China at summit

14 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017EUROPE

Hundreds of people pose for a picture with Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander (centre) after a dinner with 150 fifty-year-old Dutch people who were invited on the occasion of the 50th birthday of the King at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, late on Friday.

Celebrities at 50!

EU party says Orban accepts demands

Brussels

Reuters

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (pictured) told leaders of his centre-right EU

political group yesterday that he would comply with demands from Brussels to change meas-ures branded an attack on academic freedom, the party said.

There was no immediate confirmation from Orban. But the apparent easing of tensions with Budapest came as EU national leaders met in Brus-sels to demonstrate unity ahead of Brexit negotiations. They agreed formal guidelines for those talks with Britain with-out further discussion.

Orban, in power since 2010,

has regularly bashed the EU and is accused in Brussels along with leaders of some other ex-communist countries such as Poland, of willingly accepting EU funds, while rejecting EU values or a share of refugees. The Hungarian leader appeared to be in appeasing mode yesterday.

“Prime Minister Orban committed himself in the EPP council to follow and imple-ment all the demands of the European Commission within the deadline set by the Com-mission,” Siegfried Muresan, the European People’s Party spokesman, told reporters.

On Wednesday, the EU exec-utive gave Budapest a month to adapt a higher education law passed on April 4, saying it was not compatible with fundamen-tal European freedoms.

An Orban spokeswoman declined to say what Orban had told the meeting, called to clear the air within the conservative bloc, whose members include German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Anti-Putin protests across RussiaMoscow

Reuters

Several hundred Russians lined up in central Moscow yesterday under the gaze of

riot police to hand over hand-written appeals for President Vladimir Putin to quit, as simi-lar protests took place in other cities.

Putin, who has dominated Russian politics for 17 years, has not said whether he will run in presidential elections in March 2018. But the 64-year-old poli-tician, who enjoys high popularity ratings, is widely expected to do so.

Yesterday’s protest in the capital — called “We’re sick of him”—was organised by the Open Russia movement founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Once Russia’s richest man,the oil tycoon he was freed by Putin in 2013 after spending a dec-ade in jail for fraud, a charge Khodorkovsky said was polit-ically-motivated. One of hundreds shepherded into a queue behind metal barriers by police before handing over their petitions one-by-one, Anna, a 16-year-old Moscow schoolgirl, said she hoped Putin would get the message and not run again.

“Nothing positive has hap-pened in our country on his watch and I have the sense that things are getting worse, and that the main problem is the fact that those in power are the same,” she said.

Her preference for president was opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who spent 15 days in jail last month after helping organise the biggest anti-gov-ernment protests since 2012, which ended with over 1,000

arrests.Yesterday’s event, held in

bright sunshine, was more mod-est, though authorities were taking no chances. A Reuters reporter counted at least 30 police buses and coaches in the area, packed with hundreds of riot police.

Videos posted by Russian media showed police in riot gear detaining protesters in St Peters-burg, where activists reported over 100 arrests. There was no official confirmation of the arrests.

STEPPING UP PRESSUREPolice said 250 people had

showed up in Moscow, the Inter-fax news agency reported, while Maria Baronova, an Open Rus-sia activist, said at least 500

people had handed over a peti-tion. Irina Glushkova, 64, standing in the same line as the schoolgirl, said she and many others simply didn’t agree with how Putin governed.

“I’m sick of the situation,” she said. “I’m the same age as Putin and I don’t think I’m less intelligent than him, but my opinion is not taken into account at all.”

Authorities have stepped up pressure on Open Russia in recent days.

The General Prosecutor’s Office ruled on Wednesday that the activity of Open Russia’s British arm was “undesirable” and accused it and other organ-isations of trying to discredit the election.

On Thursday, police

searched the Moscow offices of Open Russia’s Russian branch. Activists said they confiscated 100,000 blank appeal forms which the foundation had hoped to hand out to people encouraging them to call for Putin to quit.

On Friday, REN TV, a Rus-sian TV channel, broadcast a documentary about Open Rus-sia activists, some of whom it accused of having criminal records, of being drug addicts, and of cultivating close links with the US government.

Activists dismissed the pro-gramme as a cheap stunt designed to discredit them, with at least one noting that REN TV had somehow obtained video footage stored in his mobile phone.

Open Russia movement coordinator Maria Baronova (second right), surrounded by journalists and an Interior Ministry officer, walks during a protest, calling for Russian President Vladimir Putin not to run for another presidential term next year, in central Moscow, yesterday.

Working relationship with Trump good: MerkelBerlin

Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that she and Presi-dent Donald Trump have built a

“good working relationship” even though the two had frosty exchanges last year that raised fears of damage to the pivotal US-German partnership.

“President Trump and I have devel-oped a good working relationship, which doesn’t rule out having different points of view,” Merkel told the Redaktion-sNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) group of newspapers.

“When we talk with each other, for instance, it’s about developing a common strategy for the Ukraine conflict or the horrible war in Syria. It’s also about the fight against terror or the disastrous humanitarian situation in Yemen — all these conflicts are at the doorstep of

Europe. “If we want to resolve these prob-lems, if we want to help people, we need strong involvement from the United States,” Merkel said.

In his 2016 election campaign, Trump had disparaged Merkel for allowing more than a million refugees from Syria, the Middle East and Afghanistan into her country, saying she was “ruining Ger-many” with those policies. He had also criticised Germany’s large trade surpluses and threatened to slap import duties.

After Trump won, Merkel congratu-lated him but pointed out importance of democracy and the need to respect peo-ple’s dignity regardless of their origin, colour of their skin, religion, gender, sex-ual orientation or political views.

Merkel’s relations with Trump’s pred-ecessor Barack Obama got off to an awkward start when she rejected his request to speak at the Brandenburg Gate during the 2008 presidential campaign.

But the two grew close, cooperating on sanctions against Russia and launching negotiations on a transatlantic free-trade deal.

Merkel met Trump for the first time in March — an encounter closely watched by governments around the world for clues about the transatlantic alliance that

helped shape the post-war global order that Trump was threatening to upend.

Trump and Merkel shook hands when she arrived at the White House but did not do so in the Oval Office where she fre-quently leaned towards him while he stared straight ahead.

The two leaders’ differing views on trade, Russia and immigration led to some uncomfortable moments at a joint news conference which ended oddly with a quip by Trump about wiretapping that left Mer-kel visibly bewildered.

But Trump has since praised the chemistry he has developed with Merkel and the two have spoken regularly on the telephone. She also invited Trump’s daughter Ivanka, an unpaid adviser to the president, to address a conference in Berlin.

“When I visited him in Washington, we talked about trade agreements,” Mer-kel said.

EU-Hungary row

EPP President Joseph Daul, whose group has considered in the past suspending Orban’s ruling Fidesz party over concerns about its respect for democratic values, said Orban had reassured the party that Hungary would comply with the Commission request.

Spanish PM says no 'red lines' on Gibraltar Brussels

AFP

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said yes-terday that Spain had no

"red lines" on Gibraltar after EU leaders granted Madrid a veto over any future deal with Britain that would involve the territory.

"There are no red lines or lines of any other colour" on Gibraltar, Rajoy said at a news conference after 27 European Union leaders met without Britain to adopt their negoti-ating position for Brexit talks.

The EU 27 guidelines state that "no agreement" after Brexit between the EU and Britain could apply to Gibral-tar without a bilateral agreement between Madrid and London.

Britain has expressed alarm over the clause and British Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted she will "never" allow Gibraltar to slip from British control.

With a population of just over 32,000, Gibraltar has been a British overseas terri-tory since 1713 but Spain has long laid claim to it. Some 10,000 people cross from Spain to Gibraltar to work every day.

Authorities in Gibraltar fear Spain is trying to take advantage of Brexit to impose its control over the territory.

One former leader in May's Conservative party said the dust-up invoked the memory of the Falklands War against Argentina.

Paris attacker's father arrested Paris

AFP

The father of the gunman who killed a policeman in an attack on Paris's

Champs Elysees this month was arrested after turning up drunk at a police station and threat-ening officers, a source close to the case said yesterday.

His son, 39-year-old Karim Cheurfi, was killed in a firefight with police that sent tourists on the world-famous boulevard running for cover days before the first round of France's pres-idential election.

The father, who was not identified, "came to the police station (in Paris suburb Noisy-le-Grand) drunk and threatened police officers without

weapons and without violence," the source said.

He was also angry that offi-cials in Noisy-le-Grand and nearby Chelles had refused per-mission for his son to be buried in those towns, the source added.

The father was arrested on Friday and was still in police custody yesterday.

The April 20 shooting, which the Islamic State (IS) group claimed as the work of one of its "fighters", was the lat-est in a string of attacks that have claimed 239 lives around France since 2015.

The scenes of violence pro-pelled security back to the fore in the presidential campaign after nine months of relative calm.

Donald Trump (left) and Angela Merkel.

15SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017 EUROPE

EU leaders close ranks over BrexitBrussels

AP

European Union lead-ers vowed yesterday to stand shoulder-to-shoulder behind their negotiating team dur-

ing the divorce proceedings with Britain and warned that demands from British Prime Minister Theresa May will be dealt with "firmly."

The 27 EU leaders in Brus-sels finalised the cornerstones of their negotiating stance within four minutes of starting a short smooth summit, a month after the British leader triggered two years of exit talks on March 29. The negotiations themselves are to open shortly after Britain holds an early election on June 8. "We now have unanimous support from all the 27 member states and the EU institutions, giving us a strong political man-date for these negotiations under chief negotiator Michel Barnier", EU Council President Donald Tusk said.

Tusk said there can't be any discussions on the future rela-tionship between the EU and Britain until there has been major headway on key issues.

"We must first achieve suf-ficient progress on citizens' rights, finances and the border issue in Ireland. It is too early to speculate on when this might happen," Tusk said yesterday.

He said the 27 leaders would unanimously have to say there was "sufficient progress" to allow the talks to go to the next phase. That would give any EU country with a dispute with Britain, like Spain over Gibraltar, major

influence over the timetable of the talks.

The negotiating guidelines also halted British hopes of hav-ing future trade relations being discussed concurrently through the talks.

"Before discussing the future, we have to sort out our past. We will handle it with genuine care — but firmly," Tusk said.

Some at the summit were already considering how to deal with possible British negotiating tactics.

"Maybe the British govern-ment will do its utmost to split

the 27 nations. It is a trap we need to avoid," said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.

Ever since the June 23 refer-endum last year in which Britons narrowly voted to leave the bloc, the unity of the remaining 27 EU nations "has been really exem-plary," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In contrast, citizens in Brit-ain have been divided because of the momentous changes looming.

The EU is also intent on mak-ing Britain pay a divorce bill, which some EU officials have put as high as ¤60bn ($65bn). The money aims to pay for every-thing from pensions to financial commitments already made in the EU's 7-year-budget, which runs until 2020.

French President Francois Hollande said the leaders agreed on "a simple principle," applica-ble to Britain or any other country that might want to quit the bloc in the future, "that they must not be in a more favoura-ble situation on the outside than they were on the inside."

"There is always a price, a cost, a consequence from quit-ting the Union," Hollande said at his farewell European summit.

To kick off the negotiations with Britain, Tusk wants to cen-tre on the millions of people living in each other's nations who would be immediately affected.

All sides "need solid guaran-tees for all citizens and their families who will be affected by Brexit on both sides. This must be the No 1 priority," Tusk said.

Some 3 million citizens from the 27 nations live in Britain while up to 2 million Britons live

on the continent, all facing mas-sive uncertainty on such issues as health benefits, pensions, taxes, employment and educa-tion. Tusk said the sustained unity of the 27 will help May since she will have political cer-tainty throughout the talks.

"Our unity is also in the UK's interest," he said.

Over the past years, the bloc has often been bitterly divided over issues like the financial cri-sis, the euro debt crisis, bailouts to financially-strapped members like Greece and how to deal with the hundreds of thousands of migrants who have been enter-ing the bloc.

The 27 EU leaders also acknowledged that Northern Ire-land could join the bloc in the future if its people vote to unite

with EU member Ireland. The two share the same island, and the difficulties of re-establishing a land border once Britain leaves the EU are immense and politi-cally fraught.

Irish Prime Minister Edna Kenny said if a Northern Irish referendum to break away from the United Kingdom is approved "at some time in the future, EU membership is assured, and is unanimously accepted by the European Council."

Kenny stressed that such a referendum was not in sight at this stage.

Future relations between Ire-land and Britain, including how the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland would work with the UK outside the bloc, have emerged as a key problem.

Kenny conceded that EU unity will be tested once negotiations start, given the challenge of accommodating the sometimes-competing interests of the countries involved.

"It won't all be as calm and as measured as today," he said.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker already complained yesterday that "Brit-ain currently blocks the decision-making" on a review of the EU's long-term budget.

"It would be good and it would make the start of the talks easier if Britain could lift its objection," Juncker said.

British officials say the gov-ernment prefers to postpone the decision on such an important matter as the EU budget until after the election is over.

Le Pen names PM pick ahead of May 7 run-offParis

AFP

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen announced yester-day that she would name

a eurosceptic from outside her National Front party as prime minister if she captures France's presidency in the May 7 run-off.

In a bruising contest against pro-European centr is t Emmanuel Macron, Le Pen is hoping to broaden her base enough to win the decisive sec-ond-round vote, despite polls suggesting she is some 20 points behind.

The anti-immigration Le Pen told reporters that she and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan — who lost in the election's first round with 4.7 percent of the vote — shared a "common project that we will promote together".

"We will build a national

unity government that will bring together people chosen for their skills and their love of France," said 48-year-old Le Pen, who has promised a French referendum on quitting

the European Union. Dupont-Aignan, 56, heads the nationalist Debout la France (France Stand Up) party and, like Le Pen, has said he favours ditching the euro.

Marine Le Pen, National Front (FN) party leader shakes hands with Debout La France leader Nicolas Dupont-Aignan before a news conference in Paris, yesterday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (centre) speaks with Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat (left) while French President Francois Hollande looks on during a special EU leaders' meeting at the main headquarters of European Council and the Council of the EU, in Brussels, yesterday.

Rome

AFP

After faking a pregnancy to fool her family, an Italian woman discov-

ered a baby she bought from a young Romanian was of mixed race and gave it back three days later, Italian media said yesterday.

The baby's biological mother, the "fake" mother and a Moroccan man who allegedly served as an inter-mediary in the arrangement have been arrested.

The 35-year-old woman allegedly paid ¤20,000 for the baby, who was born to the Romanian woman after a short relationship with a man from Mali, according to press reports.

Investigators were alerted in Latina, south of Rome, after the two women called local authorities in February ask-ing how to register a baby born at home. Authorities grew suspicious after the women did not turn up for a scheduled meeting.

When police went to question the adoptive mother, she said she had faked the pregnancy, using latex belly prostheses bought on the internet.

Her partner was in prison and she had recently under-gone two miscarriages, the papers reported.

When she discovered the baby was of mixed race, how-ever, the woman didn't know how to explain the baby's skin colour to her family and friends.

Police found the baby girl with the biological father, who works in Rome. She has been placed in foster care but may return to her father.

Rome

AFP

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlus-coni was briefly

hospitalised after a fall, the mayor of a Tuscan town where he was due to attend a meeting of his political party Forza Italia, said yesterday.

"He slipped, he was injured and briefly hospital-ised and will not join us this afternoon," said Massimo Mallegni, mayor of Pietras-anta. The 80-year-old tripped on cobblestones Friday night, falling head first and cutting his upper lip.

Italian woman gives back mixed-race baby to mother

UKIP's Nuttall to contest vote from eurosceptic seatLondon

Reuters

The leader of euroscep-tic party UKIP will stand in the constitu-

ency of Boston and Skegness in Britain’s general election in June, the party said yes-terday, seeking to capitalise on strong pro-Brexit senti-ment in the area.

Paul Nuttall (pictured) will stand in the Conserva-tive-held seat, and will test the extent to which the country’s most eurosceptic areas trust British Prime Minister Theresa May’s party

with the Brexit process. UKIP was a driving force in the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, but has seen support nearly halve since the June 2016 referendum delivered the one of the par-ty’s main goals. The party currently has no elected MPs in parliament.

Boston, a town on

England’s east coast about 160km north of London, has seen a rapid rise in immigra-tion in recent years, especially from eastern European EU member states.

More than 75 percent of residents in Boston voted “leave”, the highest major-ity of Brexit voters in Britain. However, the current Con-servative representative Matt Warman campaigned in last June’s Brexit referen-dum to stay in the European Union. Nuttall said he would ensure that the government would not betray residents during the talks.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May at an election campaign rally near Aberdeen in Scotland, yesterday.

Berlusconi hurt in fall

While Le Pen pro-jected a nationalist Prime Minister, her

rival Emmanuel Macron (pictured) was yesterday aim-ing to entice voters in rural central France to his pro-free trade, globalist message.

"On one side, there is a reactionary, anti-European right... and on the other, a pro-gressive movement that supports an EU that protects as well as social and economic reform," he said. "That is my

candidacy." He told reporters that the alliance between Le Pen and Dupont-Aignan was a "political scam that aims to solve Marine Le Pen's credi-bility problems."

A political scam: Macron

Fraught talks

The 27 EU leaders in Brussels finalised the cornerstones of their negotiating stance within four minutes of starting a short smooth summit, a month after the British leader triggered two years of exit talks on March 29.

Some 3 million citizens from the 27 nations live in Britain while up to 2 million Britons live on the continent, all facing massive uncertainty on such issues as health benefits, pensions, taxes, employment and education.

16 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017AMERICAS

US First Lady Melania Trump takes part in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Children's National Health System in Washington, DC, yesterday. Trump spoke at the opening of the Bunny Mellon Healing Garden for patients and famlies, an outdoor location to safely spend time while receiving treatment at the hospital.

Care for patients

Caracas

AP

Venezuela formally notified the Organ-isation of American States yesterday of its intention to leave

the regional body amid some-times violent protests at home and international calls for its embattled government to hold delayed elections and release prisoners.

Venezuelan Interim Ambas-sador Carmen Velasquez submitted a letter announcing the move in Washington to OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, a strong critic of socialist Pres-ident Nicolas Maduro. The notice begins a two-year exit process from the Western Hem-isphere’s largest diplomatic body, which had become a forum for its neighbours to exert pressure on Venezuela.

“This is a historic moment that marks a new independence for Venezuela and the region,” said Velasquez, adding Venezuela would be first country to leave the Washington-based bloc this way. “We are not going to be partici-

pating in any OAS activities.”The decision to leave the

OAS comes amid almost daily clashes between security forces and anti-government protest-ers that have left at least 28 people dead and hundreds injured.

Yesterday, hundreds marched to a military prison

outside Caracas to demand the release of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and other jailed activists they consider political prisoners.

The march was part of an intensifying campaign by the opposition to force Maduro from office. More than 1,300 people have been arrested in almost four weeks of street clashes.

Marchers wound through side streets on the way to the prison, shouting “Maduro out!” and waving Venezuelan flags. Light armoured vehicles and national guardsmen blocked access to Ramo Verde military prison where Lopez is serving a nearly 14-year sentence for inciting violence during a pre-vious round of anti-government unrest in 2014. With access blocked, the march ended 2.5 miles from the prison.

Protesters also marched to prisons in other cities where they say 178 people are being held on political charges. Lopez’s wife Lilian Tintori was at the front of a group of law-makers and opposition activists carrying a large Venezuelan flag making their way to the prison.

“For Maduro, not being on his side is a crime, thinking differ-ently is a crime,” she said. “They forgot what democracy is.”

Venezuela’s decision to leave the OAS comes after a conten-tious meeting at group’s headquarters in which its perma-nent council voted in favour of holding a special session to eval-uate Venezuela’s crisis, adding to

calls for Maduro to schedule delayed elections and free detained political activists.

Tensions have been rising between Venezuela and a group of OAS members since Almagro issued a 75-page report in March accusing Maduro’s government of violating human rights and stand-ards of democracy.

Venezuela denies the

accusations, accusing regional body of being a tool of the US.

At a news conference at his country’s consulate in New York yesterday, Samuel Moncada, Ven-ezuela’s deputy minister of foreign affairs for North America, said his country is pulling out of OAS because the group it is now a forum for “coercion” instead of cooperation.

Carmen Velasquez (left), Interim Ambassador of Venezuela at the Organisation of American States, submits a letter to OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro, formally starting the process to quit the 34-member-countries regional body.

Rio de Janeiro

AFP

Police in Brazil tear-gassed demonstrators and rioters burned buses yesterday in

the violent conclusion of a gen-eral strike that shut down transport, schools and banks in protest against austerity reforms.

A peaceful protest by several thousand people in central Rio in the afternoon turned violent, with small groups smashing bank windows, erecting barri-cades and setting fires, including torching at least eight buses.

Police responded with bar-rages of rubber bullets and tear gas, which floated through the avenues and up into the high windows of office buildings.

There were similar distur-bances in Sao Paulo, the country’s economic powerhouse. A crowd attempted to march to private res-idence of President Michel Temer and clashed with police, who fired rubber bullets and stun grenades.

As they retreated, the pro-testers hurled rocks, set fires, smashed street lamps and threw concrete blocks into the centre of the avenue.

The ugly scenes came at the close of a day in which unions

and leftwing groups managed to paralyse much of Brazil in pro-test at the reforms, especially a steep cut to the generous pen-sion system.

The metro systems in Sao Paulo, Brasilia and Belo Hori-zonte, another major city, were shut down. Curitiba, where Bra-zil’s huge “Operation Car Wash” anti-corruption investigation is based, was left without bus serv-ices, as was the city of Recife, local media reported.

The Forca Sindical union said 40 million people had responded to the call for nation-wide strike. The strike came as government statistics showed unemployment has reached a record 13.7 percent, or more than 14 million people without jobs.

“We can’t keep quiet anymore with a government that isn’t legit-imate, which wasn’t elected to dismantle the rights of workers,” said Ricardo Jacques, a striking bank employee in Sao Paulo.

However, Temer’s center-right government says reforms are needed to save Latin Amer-ica’s biggest economy from further damage after more than two years of deep recession.

In a statement, Temer criti-cised the “unfortunate and serious incidents” during the protests and the curtailing of “freedom of movement for citizens.”

The strike had the greatest effect in heavily unionised parts of the economy, including trans-portation, banks, schools, the post office and some hospital staff. The metallurgical workers’ union said 60,000 members downed their tools.

Although a spokesman for the National Civil Aviation Agency told reporters that oper-ations at the airports are functioning normally, there were multiple reports of delayed and cancelled flights.

Temer has said Brazil’s economy faces a meltdown without severe fiscal discipline and belt tightening.

His most controversial measure has been to curb pen-sion costs by raising the retirement age to 65 for men and 62 for women, up from the cur-rent 60 and 55.

Washington

AFP

THE National Security Agency announced yesterday it would end its controversial practice of sweeping up any email or text message an American exchanges with someone overseas that makes reference to a real target of NSA surveillance.

The powerful US spy agency said although it has legal power to continue scoop-ing up such communications, it would halt the practice to protect the privacy of US citi-zens. “NSA will no longer collect certain internet com-munications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target,” it said in a statement.

The NSA, the country’s premier signals intelligence body, is permitted to collect communications of any for-eign target, but not that of Americans except in certain situations, or if it gains a war-rant to do so.

Under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil-lance Act, it is allowed to scoop up a US citizen’s emails or texts with someone out-side the country if those merely mention a specific NSA surveillance target—so-called “about” collection.

The practice has sparked heavy criticism from civil lib-erties advocates, who say it violates constitutional pro-tections. Many have threatened to try to block the renewal of Section 702 at the end of this year if the law is not tightened. But the coun-try’s intelligence community wants the law to be renewed unchanged.

The NSA said it would vol-untarily end “about” collection even if it means that it might lose access to other important information in fight against cyber threats and terrorism.

Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat on the Senate Intel-ligence Committee, praised the move but said that Section 702 needs multiple changes.

“To permanently protect Americans’ rights, I intend to introduce legislation banning this kind of collection in the future,” he said.

New York

Reuters

Two Russian nationals arrested in the United States last October on

charges of conspiring to export sensitive military technology from the United States to Rus-sia were sentenced to time served yesterday, a spokesman for US prosecutors said.

Dmitrii Aleksandrovich Karpenko, 33, and Alexey Kruti-lin, 27, both pleaded guilty and were sentenced by US District Judge Leo Glasser in Brooklyn. They have agreed to immediate deportation to Russia, where both live, the spokesman said.

US prosecutors said the men planned to obtain microelectron-ics from manufacturers and suppliers in the United States and

export them to Russia while evad-ing government controls on high-tech exports.

The technology at issue included devices used in radar and missile guidance systems, prosecutors said.

The United States restricts the export of items it believes could contribute to weapons prolifera-tion and undermine US national security.

Karpenko and Krutilin were arrested in Denver on October 5 in a sting operation arranged by US Department of Homeland Security agents posing as sellers, according to court filings.

In briefs filed in the Brook-lyn court, lawyers for Karpenko and Krutilin said while the two men knew the purpose of their trip was illegal, they had been sent by their employer, a

Russian company called Aelek, and did not plan the purchases themselves.

“We’re grateful that Judge Glasser recognised the limited role that Karpenko and Krutilin played in the conspiracy,” said Richard Levitt, a lawyer for Karpenko.

Raymond Granger, a lawyer for Krutilin, said his client was “extremely gratified” by the decision.

Prosecutors said last October that Karpenko and Krutilin con-spired with Alexey Barysheff, a US citizen living in Brooklyn who was also arrested. Prosecutors say Barysheff set up front companies to buy and export electronics.

Barysheff also has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sen-tenced on June 17, court records show.

Two arrested on charges of illegal exports to Russia get time served

Venezuela begins process to leave OAS; protests rage

Letter submitted

Venezuelan Interim Ambassador Carmen Velasquez submitted a letter announcing the move in Washington to OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro.

The notice begins a two-year exit process from the Western Hemisphere’s largest diplomatic body, which had become a forum for its neighbours to exert pressure on Venezuela.

Washington

AFP

A FEDERAL judge has ordered the Arkansas author-ities to conduct an autopsy on the body of an executed inmate whose lawyer described his death as “hor-rifying,” including jerking and convulsions during his lethal injection.

Judge Kristine Baker of the US Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas issued the order yesterday, less than 24 hours after the state executed the 38-year-old convicted multiple murderer Kenneth Williams.

Arkansas officials had said the compressed timeline was necessary because the state’s stock of a sedative used in the lethal injection, midazolam, was set to expire at the end of April.

In addition to the autopsy, the judge also ordered the Arkansas authorities to pre-serve blood and tissue samples from Williams’s body.

Violence mars Brazil’s anti-austerity strike

Protesters burn items looted from offices during the nationwide strike called by unions opposing austerity reforms in Rio de Janeiro, yesterday.

Judge orders autopsy on executed inmate

NSA halts collection of certain emails

First rise in decades

The measure will increase excise taxes on petroleum by 12 cents per gallon, from the current rate of 28 cents, and on diesel fuel by 20 cents per gallon over the next 10 years. It will go into effect in November.

17SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017 AMERICAS

Too many odds

The 45th president of the United States has seen his bid to tear up his predecessor’s landmark health care reforms founder in Congress, where many of his other legislative priorities have also run up against cold political gamesmanship.

Funding for his promised wall along the US border with Mexico was stripped from a federal funding bill in order to prevent a government shutdown.

Chefs Susan Feniger (left) and Mary Sue Milliken (right), serve food at the Border Grill booth during the 11th annual Vegas Uncork’d by Bon Appetit Grand Tasting event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, yesterday.

Bon Appetit!

Washington

AFP

Donald Trump marked his 100th day in the White House yester-day facing the sober realities of a presi-

dency stamped by disruption, confusion and a struggle to con-vert campaign promises into tangible achievements.

That hasn’t stopped the pres-ident—who has both hyped and dismissed the significance of the 100-day mark—from claiming to run the most successful adminis-tration in US history, a message he’s expected to take to support-ers in a campaign-style rally.

Under a relentless spotlight since stunning the world in Novem-ber with a victory over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, the 45th pres-ident of the United States has seen his bid to tear up his predecessor’s landmark health care reforms founder in Congress, where many of his other legislative priorities have also run up against cold polit-ical gamesmanship.

Funding for his promised wall along the US border with Mexico was stripped from a federal fund-ing bill in order to prevent a government shutdown.

His tax plan, hastily unveiled this week in the hope of burnish-ing his first 100 days with a success story, has been savaged as a multi-billion-dollar giveaway to the wealthy that will send the national debt soaring.

Trump has signed dozens of executive orders, including sev-eral that roll back Obama-era regulations on industry or lift bans on oil and gas drilling, efforts

Republican lawmakers and vot-ers widely praised. But US courts twice blocked his most high-pro-file order, a temporary ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries entering the United States. Trump has put on a brave face nevertheless.

“The first 100 days of my administration has been just about the most successful in our coun-try’s history,” the real estate billionaire said in his weekly address, despite having called the 100-day milestone arbitrary, “a false standard.”

But even if his core support-ers still fully back him, he is the least popular US leader in mod-ern times at this stage of his presidency. Democratic lawmak-ers have gleefully described his opening century mark as a slow-motion train wreck, a period of

dramatically diminished stability, legislative failures and broken campaign pledges. That was the message carried by much of the news media yesterday.

A New York Times editorial titled “100 Days of Noise From Donald Trump” excoriated his ignorance of policy and politics and warned of his danger to American institutions. “Govern-ing, so far, has turned out to be more than Mr Trump can man-age,” the paper wrote. “His determination to leverage his office to expand his commercial empire is the only objective to which Americans, after 100 days, can be confident this president will stay true.” But others blamed any shortcomings on obstruction from Democrats.

Fox News, a favourite among conservatives, topped its website with an article praising Trump’s record under the headline: “100 days of disruption: How Trump rewrote the presidential playbook as Dems tried to derail plans.”

Republicans have rallied behind Trump’s appointment of the conservative judge Neil Gor-such to the Supreme Court.

But warning signs have tem-pered any positivity, including Friday’s Commerce Department announcement that US economic growth slid to its lowest level in three years during the first quar-ter of 2017.

And Congress and the FBI are conducting investigations into Russia’s apparent interference in last year’s US elections, and whether there was any collusion with the Trump campaign.

Rising global tensions are also preoccupying the White House.

Los Angeles

Reuters

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill early yesterday to

raise petroleum taxes and other transportation-related fees for the first time in decades in an ambitious $52bn plan to repair the state’s long-neglected roads and bridges.

The measure will increase excise taxes on petroleum by 12 cents per gallon, from the cur-rent rate of 28 cents, and on diesel fuel by 20 cents per gallon over the next 10 years. It will go into effect in November.

The bill cleared the state legislature three weeks ago, on the strength of a two-thirds super-majority the Democrats wield in both houses that allows them to pass new taxes with lit-tle or no Republican support.

Republicans condemned the increases, saying the state’s transportation taxes and fees are already among the highest in the nation. They call the measure the largest fuel tax in California’s history.

“Californians got a lemon of a gas and car tax hike today,” Senate Republican leader Patri-cia Bates said.

The average motorist in California, a state renowned for its car culture, will see trans-portation costs rise by about $10 a month, the bill’s support-ers say. The governor insisted the pain of higher taxes would be more than offset by eco-nomic benefits.

“Safe and smooth roads make California a better place to live and strengthen our econ-omy,” Brown said. “This legislation will put thousands

of people to work.” Brown, a Democrat who has governed largely as a fiscal moderate, refused to back any plan that involved borrowing money to shore up a sagging transporta-tion system that has gone unrepaired for decades.

Supporters say the meas-ure is needed to address a mounting backlog of deferred maintenance projects, includ-ing more than 500 bridges statewide requiring major repair, most of which are con-sidered structurally deficient.

The fuel tax increases, together with higher vehicle reg-istration fees and a new $100 annual fee on owners of electric-only vehicles, would raise $5.2bn a year, all earmarked for road, highway and bridge repairs, along with mass transit and anti-congestion projects.

To address concerns that those revenues might end up diverted elsewhere in the budget, the bill calls for a state constitutional amendment to be placed in June 2018 ballot that would, if approved, pro-hibit spending funds on anything but transportation.

Supporters foresee creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next decade.

Rio de Janeiro

AFP

FALLEN tycoon Eike Batista, who rose to become Brazil’s wealthiest man before sur-rendering to face corruption charges, may be released from prison while awaiting his trial.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes ruled yesterday that though Batis-ta’s alleged crimes were serious, they did not warrant custody during legal proceedings.

The 60-year-old former oil and mining magnate is alleged to have paid a $16.5m bribe to ex-Rio de Janeiro state governor Sergio Cabral, already behind bars for alleg-edly taking bribes over World Cup and Olympics infrastruc-ture projects.

His downfall represented a new landmark in a series of sprawling but interconnected corruption scandals envelop-ing much of Brazil’s elite.

He was incarcerated on January 30 after giving him-self up to authorities. He was sent first to the Ary Franco prison in Rio, which like many in Brazil is seriously overcrowded, before trans-ferring to the much bigger Bangu complex.

Unlike many other white collar crime suspects, Batista dropped out of university. He therefore was unable to ben-efit from a law that puts higher education graduates in better conditions.

A former speedboat racer who reached seventh place on Forbes magazine’s rich list in 2012, Batista was said to be worth $30bn in 2011.

Trump marks tough 100 days in the White House

Washington

Reuters

The website of the US Envi-ronmental Protection Agency, EPA.gov, is getting

a makeover to reflect the views of President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the agency said yesterday.

“As EPA renews its commit-ment to human health and clean air, land and water, our website needs to reflect views of the leadership of the agency,” it said in a statement.

Trump, a climate change doubter, campaigned on a pledge to boost the US oil and gas drilling and coal mining industries by slashing regula-tion. He also promised to pull Washington out of a global pact to fight climate change.

The first page to be updated is one that reflects Trump’s executive order on energy inde-pendence, which calls for a review of Clean Power Plan put into place by his predecessor, President Barack Obama, the statement said.

“Language associated with Clean Power Plan, written by the last administration, is out of date,” it said. “Similarly, content related to climate and regula-tion is also being reviewed.”

The Clean Power Plan aimed to sharply reduce carbon diox-ide emissions from electrical power generation over 25 years, focusing on reductions from coal-burning power plants and increasing the use of renewable e n e r g y a n d e n e r g y conservation.

“We want to eliminate

confusion by removing outdated language first and making room to discuss how we’re protecting the environment and human health by partnering with states and working within the law,” J P Freire, associate administra-tor for public affairs at the agency, said in the statement.

The website changes will comply with agency ethics and legal guidance, including proper archiving, so a screenshot of Obama administration’s website would remain available from the main page, the statement said.

In January, EPA sources told reporters that administration officials had asked the agency to take down the climate change page on its website, and that EPA staff had pushed back in an effort to convince the adminis-tration to preserve it.

EPA website undergoing makeover to match Trump and Pruitt views

California enacts $52bn fuel tax hike for road and bridge repairs

Brazilian judge authorises release of tycoon Batista

18 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017HOME

19SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017 MORNING BREAK

One of the first ever camel overpasses in Qatar, located near Al Doosari Zoo and Game Reserve on road from Al Shahaniya leading to Leatooriya and Lijmiliya. The project runs from central to north-west of Qatar, around 40km from Doha City, and involves two lane dual Rural Arterial road including cycle lane and footpath. The road is approximately 29km and includes eight roundabouts and two camel crossings. Through similar wildlife crossings, which includes the under passes and guardrails to reduce the risk of animals straying onto the roadway, Qatar strives to preserve its wildlife amid new construction projects. Pic Abdul Basit / The Peninsula

First camel overpass in Qatar

Drottningholm, Sweden

AP

Despite a cold wind and chilling tempera-tures, spring has come to Sweden. At least, spring for the milk cows.

In an annual event that warms hearts across the country, “koslapp” (KOOH-slep)

— the cow release — has become a popular family outing for urban residents. That’s when the farmers of Sweden free their cows from the barns and stables where they have spent the long, dark, cold winter.

Dozens of dairy cows were frolicking and jump-ing yesterday on the outskirts of Stockholm, the capital. “I live in the city and it’s really nice to come out to the countryside,” said 37-year-old Linda Lundberg from Stockholm who attended the event with her friends.

In recent years, milk farms across Sweden have seen a growing number of people attending what used to be simply a big day for Sweden’s agricultural community. Last year, alone, dairy cooperative Arla Foods saw around 165,000 people flock to their farms to watch the cows.

“We make a lot of people happy, both families and children,” explained Elin Rydstrom, 37, who has spent the past week preparing to welcome about 1,000 peo-ple at her farm in Drottningholm. She’s noticed a real shift in people’s attitude toward farmers. “When I was little, people would tease me at school and say ‘You smell like cows,’” she recalled. Now her children’s classmates come to the farm “and everyone thinks it’s really nice.”

Media-savvy farmers are now turning to social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to change the perception of their profession and to encourage people to reflect on where their food comes from. “Snapchat allows me to bring the farm to the city,” explained 28-year-old dairy farmer Anna Pettersson. She posts farm-life photos on social media and answers questions from users, including about animal welfare, food production and the length of her working hours.

A mere 30 minutes after their release, the cows were settling into their new environment while groups of people elsewhere on the farm were searching for the best picnic spot.

New York

Reuters

Bruce Springsteen talked yesterday about his strug-gle to live in the real world

rather than inside the lyrical songs he has composed over his 40-year career.

The Born to Run musician, who revealed in a 2016 memoir that he struggled with depression, called rock songs “three minutes

of bliss and life compressed.”He said he had sometimes

seen his music “as a life preserver and as a safe space —you think you can live there.” But Springs-teen said no artist could live only within his art.

“At the end of the day it’s just your job and just your work and life awaits you out-side of those things. ... So that took me a long time to learn that lesson —thanks Patti— and

it was a tremendous struggle for me,” he added, referring to his wife of 25 years, Patti Scialfa.

Springsteen spoke of his early days in music in New Jer-sey, buying his first guitar at age 15, and being a “stone-cold draft dodger” during the Vietnam War - a period that informed much of his writing, including one of his best known but most misun-derstood songs, Born in the USA.

'Freed' Swedish cows a soothing site for urban residents

Springsteen recounts struggle to live

FAJRSHOROOK

03.37 am05.09 am

ZUHRASR

11.31 am03.00 pm

MAGHRIBISHA

06.06 pm07.36 pm

HIGH TIDE 07:00 - 20:30 LOW TIDE 02:30 - 13:00

Hazy at places at first becomes hot

daytime with slight dust and part-

ly cloudy times with weak chance of

light rain at places.

WEATHER TODAY

Minimum Maximum

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

27oC 37oC

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

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20 SUNDAY 30 APRIL 2017HOME