Al Gharafa basketball captain Omar Abdelkader Salem receiving the Qatar Cup at Al Gharafa Indoor Hall yesterday. Al Gharafa defeated defending champion Al Rayyan104-91 in the final. Pic: Mohd Faraj → See also page 16

Gharafa lift Qatar Cup

PSG aim to retain French League Cup

China's big banks say bad-loan fears

eased in 2016

BUSINESS | 12 SPORT | 17

Volume 22 | Number 7118 | 2 RiyalsSaturday 1 April 2017 | 4 Rajab 1438 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

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Sidi Mohamed The Peninsula

The Public Parks Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment is all set to

open three new public parks at two municipalities, a senior official from the Ministry has said.

“Three new public parks will be opened soon— one in Doha Munic-ipality and two in Al Khor and Al Dakhira Municipality,” Mohammed Ali Al Khori, Director of Public Parks told The Peninsula.

The three new public parks are for families and equipped with all the required facilities including entertainment, sports facilities and play areas for children, he added.

As part of Ministry’s project to develop “smart-parks” across the country, free wi-fi will soon be avail-able in the parks.

“Among the two parks in Al Khor and Al Dakhira Municipality, is Al Ghuwairiya park spreading over

9,234 sq metre with air-conditioned room for children between 2 to 5 years and equipped with games,”Al Khori said.

There are playground for chil-dren aged from 5 to 12 years in addition to many other required facilities.

“We are also using the modern irrigation system to save water con-sumption in addition to energy-saving as LED lights will replace traditional ones,” Al Khori

said.The second park in the same

municipality is Al Kaaban park with 10,693 sq metre. It is for families and included all facilities. It has sun-shades and rubberised flooring instead of sand in playgrounds. It also has a fountain and sensor for taps in bathrooms, as well as water coolers.

The lighting poles are of the type which is more safe and also cannot be affected by climate conditions.

The park is also monitored by cam-eras. The park in Doha Municipality is equipped with solar power poles.

Al Khori said his department was striving to make Qatar a green oasis. "Among the priorities of the depart-ment is to increase the number of public parks and renovate the exist-ing ones," he added.

Fazeena Saleem The Peninsula

With an aim to combat and reduce the burden of obesity in the coun-

try, Al Ahli Hospital will soon start a new initiative supplying healthy food for people intend to lose weight.

The first of its kind initiative will give people a choice of more than 100 healthy cuisines care-fully prepared under the supervision of expert dietitians, said Jamal Hammad, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Al Ahli Hospital, yesterday.

“We are going to start up a sister company called ‘Diet to Go,’ and for the very first time in Qatar will find expert dietitians joining hands with a French Chef

to provide healthy food to over-weight people,” he said speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Obesity and Overweight Symposium’ organised by Al Ahli Hospital at Katara, the Cultural Village.

“Basically we will have 122 different cuisines. So if anyone wants to go on a special diet or lose weight, they don’t need to go for the usual bored food every day, but choose from a wide selection. We hope to launch this by end of April,” Jamal added.

‘Diet to Go’ food will be pro-duced within the Al Ahli Hospital campus under the strict moni-toring of dietitians on calories and other factors which contrib-ute to a healthy meal.

“Guests register with the hospital will be able to have mobile application, so they can

log in with a password and user name. Each guest will have a cal-ories intake designed to suit their health condition and needs. Guests will be able to select from the menu, but if they exceeded the designated calorie intake they will not be able to submit the order,” said Jamal Hammad.

‘Diet to Go’ will be commer-cialised and anyone would be able to order food through subscription.

Some 1,200 medical profes-sionals and experts are taking part in the two-day ‘Obesity and Overweight Symposium.’ The event hosts a number of lectures, discussions, and presentations on obesity and other related diseases.

→ Continued on page 2

Sanaullah Ataullah The Peninsula

With increasing trust among customers in the Consumer P r o t e c t i o n

Department (CPD), complaints about consumer rights have increased significantly, said Director of Consumer Protec-t ion and Combating Commercial Fraud Department, Youssef Saad Al Suwaidi.

“The Department received 12,674 complaints from con-sumers against commercial shops and service providers in 2016 compared to 9,075 griev-ances in 2015,” Al Suwaidi said in a Qatar TV talk show.

Saud Sultan Al Asiri, Head of Anti-Trade Monopolies and Market Competition Protec-tion, also attended the programme. “This year we have received about 4,600 calls so far related to the issues of consumer rights. The figures of complaints show that the trust level of consumers in the actions taken by CPD against erring outlets has gone up. The crackdown built trusts of con-sumers for CPD,” Suwaidi said.

“The growing number of complaints does not mean that the level of fraudulent prac-tices has increased in the local markets because all grievances are not related to cheating. But many people complained for not receiving services up to the standards. In some cases, the consumers thought they were

right in making complaints but in the investigations we found nothing against the outlet to take action.”

“Most of the complaints were related to not providing the required services, delay in delivering projects. For exam-ple, signing a contract with a construction company to build a project and deliver on a stip-ulated date but the company fail to hand over the project on time," said Al Suwaidi.

Most of the complaints were related to services, not about the goods. We expected complaints about fraudulent and cheating, said Al Asiri.

The public awareness about the consumer rights has increased. Honestly, I would like to say that now consumers have become third eye of CPD.

→ Continued on page 2

Al Ahli Hospital to promote healthy diet

Consumer awareness on the rise

Reuters

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is disappointed and alarmed by Israel’s decision to build a new set-tlement on land the Palestinians seek for a state and has condemned the move, his spokesman said yesterday.

Israel’s security cabinet on Thursday approved the building of the first new settle-ment in the occupied West Bank in two decades, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiates with Washington on a possible curb of settlement activity.

“He condemns all unilateral actions that, like the present one, threaten peace and under-mine the two-state solution,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The White House appeared more accom-modating to Israel’s plans for the new settlement, intended for some 40 families evicted from Amona, a West Bank outpost razed in February because it was built on pri-vate Palestinian land.

A White House official noted Netanyahu had made a commitment to the Amona settlers before U.S. President Donald Trump and the Israeli leader agreed to work on limiting settle-ment activity.

Three new public parks to open soon UN chief alarmed by Israel’s approval of new settlement

QNA

THE STATE of Qatar con-demned yesterday an explosion that targeted a mosque in the city of Parachi-nar in Pakistan, leading to a number of deaths and injuries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement expressing Qatar's condem-nation of what it described as a criminal act that violated all humanitarian principles and aims to destabilise Pakistan. The statement highlighted Qatar's position that rejects violence and terrorism in all its forms regardless of its motives. The statement also expressed Qatar's condolences to the people and government of Pakistan, as well as the fami-lies of the victims of the attack.

→ See also page 5

Qatar condemns attack on mosque in Pakistan

The Consumer Protection Department (CPD) received 12,674 complaints against commercial shops and service providers in 2016 compared to 9,075 grievances in 2015. In the first three months of this year, the CPD has recorded 4,600 complaints.

Initiative will give people a choice of more than 100 healthy cuisines carefully prepared under the supervision of dietitians.

02 SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017HOME

Entertainment activities held at the Mall of Qatar as part of Spring Festival yesterday.Pic: Kammutty VP / The Peninsula

Advisory Council participates in IPU meetingsQNA

The Advisory Council is taking part in the 136th general assembly of the

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), which starts today in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka and lasts until April 5, with a delegation led by Advi-sory Council Deputy Speaker Issa bin Rabia Al Kuwari.

During the meetings, dep-uties of the 136th general assembly chairman will be elected and a general discus-sion will be held on the handling of inequality in wel-fare and dignity as well as the stance of parliamentarians towards foreign intervention in domestic affairs of sover-eign states, and other relevant issues.

Raynald C RiveraThe Peninsula

Thousands of food enthusiasts thronged the Hotel Park to savour a wide variety of delectable cuisines

at the eighth Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) on its first weekend yesterday.

Apart from enjoying the food, many of those who visited the festival were happy and satisfied with the new venue saying it is a breath of fresh air after having the festival at the MIA Park for several years.

“It is is actually my first time to visit the Hotel Park. I didn’t know about it until now and I’m quite impressed of how the sur-rounding areas look from here. The view is beautiful,” said Marty, a frequent festival visitor.

Boasting a four-storey underground parking that can accommodate 2,500 cars, amaz-ing water features and play areas and a breathtaking vista of the West Bay high-rise towers and the Doha Corniche, the Hotel

Park, which Katara Hospitality opened last year, has the poten-tial to be another most visited attraction in the city.

“Located in the heart of Doha, just fronting the iconic Sheraton Doha Park and adja-cent to the Corniche which is always busy with people walk-ing around, I think the Hotel Park is a perfect spot to visit during weekends. I will be coming back here often,” he added.

There is a wide array of food and beverages on offer at food

stalls and carts of around 130 participating outlets which vis-itors enjoyed at affordable prices ranging from QR5 to QR35.

“We were not able to go out last weekend because of the rain and today is a fine day ideal for family outing and we chose to come to the festival because it has food and entertainment which the whole family enjoys,” said Mohan, who came to the fes-tival with his entire family.

“This festival is something that I look forward to because it only happens once a year and I’m happy that it is longer this year so people have more time to enjoy the outdoors while the weather is still okay,” said Ber-nard, a frequent festival-goer.

In addition to the food stalls, there are a number din-ing options which foodies enjoyed at the festival such as garden picnics brought to the festival for the first time by Fra-ser Suites, the high tea and fine dining lounge by Sheraton Doha and Dinner in the Sky by Four Seasons Doha.

F i l m s c r e e n i n g s ,

cultural performances, pyrotech-nic displays, live cooking demonstrations and workshops add vibrancy to this year’s edi-tion of the festival expected to a t t r a c t 2 4 0 , 0 0 0

visitors including tourists from neighbouring countries. QIFF has become one of the most popu-lar festivals on Qatar’s calendar receiving a record-breaking 200,000 visitors last year.

In March last year – the month during which QIFF was held – Qatar welcomed 305,014 visitors, the highest number of visitor arrivals to be recorded in a single month.

Thousands throng Hotel Park on first weekend of QIFFNew venue

Many visitors satisfied with the new venue after having the festival at the MIA Park for several years.

Hotel Park has the potential to be another most visited attraction in the city.

Festival visitors enjoy the vast green area of the Hotel Park yesterday afternoon. Pic: Raynald C Rivera / The Peninsula

Riyadh

QNA

The GCC Ministerial Coun-cil reiterated its concern over the continued abduc-

tion of a number of Qatari citizens in Iraq, calling upon the Iraqi government to assume its responsibility to ensure the safety of the kidnapped people and release them.

In a statement released at the end of the 142nd session of the GCC Ministerial Council in Riy-adh on Thursday and carried by Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Ministerial Council welcomed the outcomes of the 28th Arab Summit held in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on 29 March 2017 and its constructive reso-lutions that serve the Arab issues and contribute to the achieve-ment of the objectives and aspirations of the Arab States.

The Ministerial Council

affirmed the GCC constant stances and resolutions against terrorism and extremism. The council reviewed the developments in this regard. It also confirmed a contin-uation of the GCC support regarding the international coalition to fight the ISIS in Syria and Iraq, stressing the need to protect civilians and return of the displaced people to their cities and villages. The coun-cil welcomed outcomes of the international conference to promote efforts of the Islamic and friendly countries against ISIS terrorist organization held in Riyadh on Jan-uary 15, 2017. The council considered this conference as a commitment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support all interna-tional efforts to combat terrorism.

The Ministerial Council lauded the efforts exerted by the security services in the Kingdom of Bah-rain and its high efficiency in maintaining the security and sta-bility of the Kingdom of Bahrain

and its territorial integrity, prais-ing its efforts to foil smuggling of a number of wanted fugitives in terrorist cases. The council sup-ported all efforts taken by Bahrain in maintaining its security and stability.

The Ministerial Council con-demned the terrorist attack on the guest house of Kandahar Governor which resulted in the martyrdom of the United Arab Emirates ambassador to Afghan-istan and five diplomats during a humanitarian mission within the assistance program provided by the United Arab Emirates in Afghanistan. The Ministerial Council lauded the opening of the NATO Regional Center for the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative countries in Kuwait to enhance aspects of joint coordination and cooperation in the security fields.

The Ministerial Council wel-comed the statement issued by the US Department of State,

which included placing of some persons belonging to the so-called Saraya Al-Ashtar on the list of global terrorists, stressing that this position reflects the determination of the United States of America to address all forms of terrorism at the regional and international levels. The council stressed that this stance represents a tangible support for the efforts of the Kingdom of Bahrain to promote security and peace in Bahrain.

The Ministerial Council expressed its deep condemna-tion of the statement made by the representative of the Swiss Confederation before the United Nations Human Rights Council in its 34th session in Geneva on human rights in Bahrain. The council expressed its categori-cal rejection of the allegations in the statement which ignores the efforts exerted by Bahrain in protecting and enhancing human

rights. The council expressed hope that the Swiss government is to review its position and take information on human rights from the reliable sources. The council stressed that these rejected positions do not help to develop and strengthen the com-mon relations between the GCC States and the Swiss Union.

On the situation in Palestine and developments of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Ministerial Council stressed the GCC firm and permanent stances and res-olutions towards the Palestinian Cause, stressing that a compre-hensive, just and lasting peace can be achieved only with the full withdrawal of Israel from all the Arab territories occupied in 1967 and with establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capi-tal in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and the interna-tional relevant resolutions.

GCC Ministerial Council calls for release of abducted Qataris

→ Continued from page 1“The topic being discussed

is very timely, especially for the region. It is aimed at addressing the problems connected with obesity and overweight. The ratio of people, even children, with obesity and overweight is on the increase every year. We believe this symposium will address diagnosis and preven-tion of obesity,” said Hammad.

According to the World Health Organization, in the East-ern Mediterranean Region, Qatar has the highest prevalence of obesity. Worldwide, five GCC and Arab nations are included among the 20 countries with high prevalence of obesity .

At the Al Ahli Hospital, an average of 21 bariatric (weight

loss) procedures are conducted every week, including for peo-ple from the GCC region.

“We do at east around 15 sur-geries every week, but this is with the traditional bariatric surgery or gastric sleeve surgeries. We do another six surgeries with the new technique called folding the stom-ach, which is basically stitching the inner layer of the stomach to reduce the size. So on an average we do around 21 procedures,” said Hammad.

“We hope this symposium will help people to prevent obes-ity and overweight. It will present comparing the ratio of obesity in the Middle East and other regions as well as the techniques on how to control and combat obesity, especially prevention from

childhood by introducing a helathy lifestyle,” he said.

‘Obesity and Overweight Symposium’ is also the first of Al Ahli Hospital’s large scale events which is Qatar Council for Health Professional (QCHP) accredited.

“This symposium is aimed at providing education and creat-ing awareness. We have 30 speakers from several countries including Holland, the US and Austria. They have come with updated knowledge on how to prevent and manage obesity. On the first day of the symposium we discuss about the medical aspects and on the second day will high-light on surgical procedures,” said Dr Azeem Abdulwahab, Medical Director at Al Ahli Hospital.

Obesity prevalence very high in Qatar

→ Continued from page 1To ensure the rights of con-

sumers, the Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani per-sonally follows up the actions of both departments through Whatsapp and holds meetings with its directors and team members regularly, said CPD officials. The CPD falls under the Ministry of Economy and Commerce.

Regarding the poor response of CPD to complaints from

consumers, Al Suwaidi said: “CPD is very strict about pro-tecting the rights of customers. We took strong action against outlets flouting rules. For exam-ple, we shut down nine car dealers for selling damaged cars as brand new after repairing and painting."

Now car dealers are forced to sign a commitment letter with buyers that the vehicle is free from any defect. It did not undergo denting and painting due to any damage. All car

dealers are fully complying with the CPD rules.

Recently, a young person went to a car dealer to buy a car. The salesman told him clearly about a car available in the showroom that car had defect so it was repaired.

CPD has chalked out a pro-gramme to conduct surprise raids at commercial activities related to the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, about two months ahead of month's arrival.

Khalid Al Emadi, CEO of Al Ahli Hospital, and other officials during the Obesity and Overweight Symposium by Al Ahli Hospital at Katara yesterday. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula

CPD takes strong action against violations

Spring Festival at Mall of Qatar

03SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Saad Al Ajmi, former spokesman of the opposition Popular Action Movement, with his children upon his return home in Kuwait City. Ajmi, who was deported to Saudi Arabia was allowed to return home, after two years in exile.

Back home

Johannesburg

AFP

The sacking of South Afri-ca's respected finance minister in a cabinet purge

pitched the ruling ANC party into chaos yesterday, creating one of its biggest tests since leading the fight against apartheid.

The country's Deputy Pres-ident Cyril Ramaphosa launched an unprecedented verbal attack on President Jacob Zuma, whose midnight reshuffle sent the rand currency plunging and triggered accusations that he was promot-ing graft.

Zuma's axing of finance min-ister Pravin Gordhan also unleashed a wave of opposition in the African National Congress, which came to power under Nel-son Mandela in the euphoric 1994 elections but has suffered declining support.

Gordhan was widely seen as a competent manager of one of the world's most important emerging economies. Ram-aphosa went public with his anger, openly attacking his boss. "I told him that I would not agree

with him," Ramaphosa told reporters. "There are quite a number of other colleagues and comrades who are unhappy about this situation, particularly the removal of the minister of finance who was serving the country with absolute distinc-tion". Gordhan was reportedly

sacked because of an alleged intelligence report on meetings he held in London earlier this week. "For him to be removed for this type of reasoning is to me unacceptable," Ramaphosa said. Gordhan held a press con-ference on Friday, saying he heard of his sacking via

television and dismissing the intelligence report "as absolute nonsense."

"We hope more and more South Africans would make it clear that our country is not for sale," he added. Zuma made 20 new government appointments in the reshuffle.

Mosul

Reuters

United Nations Sec-retary General Antonio Guterres yesterday called on world powers to

increase aid to help people flee-ing the Iraqi city of Mosul which government forces have been battling to retake from Islamic State.

Iraqi forces have seized back most of the country’s sec-ond-largest city from the Sunni hardline group in a massive six-month campaign.

But at least 355,000 resi-dents have fled fighting, according to the government, and some 400,000 civilians remain trapped inside the densely-populated Old City where street battles have raged for weeks.

“We don’t have the resources necessary to support these people,” Guterres said during a visit to the Hassan Sham Camp, one of several cen-tres outside Mosul packed with civilians escaping the fighting.

The UN and Iraqi authori-ties have been building more camps but struggle to accom-modate new arrivals with two families sometimes having to share one tent.

“Unfortunately our pro-gramme is only 8 percent

funded,” he said, referring to a 2017 UN humanitarian response programme without giving additional details.

During his visit, which lasted about half an hour, res-idents complained to Guterres about the quality of drinking water and poor living condi-tions in tents frequented by mice and insects.

“We want to go back to our villages. We are fed up,” said Saqr Younis, who fled to Mosul when Islamic State arrived in his village in 2014.

UN urges more aid for Mosul people

Sacking triggers civil war in ruling ANC

People protesting outside the Parliament in Cape Town against the dismissal of the Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, by the President, in a cabinet reshuffle yesterday.

UN appeal At least 355,000 residents have fled fighting and some 400,000 civilians remain trapped inside the densely-populated Old City where street battles have raged for weeks.

The UN and Iraqi authorities have been building more camps but struggle to accommodate new arrivals with two families sometimes having to share one tent.

Beirut

Reuters

More than 7,000 people have escaped Islamic State (IS) control in the

Tabqa area west of the Syrian city of Raqqa since last week, US-backed local forces fighting the jihadists said yesterday.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish

and Arab milita fighters, has been battling Islamic State around Tabqa, nearly 40km west of Raqqa city.

Last week, they captured the northern entrance to the Tabqa Dam, a major target in their mil-itary campaign to isolate and capture Islamic State’s biggest urban stronghold.

With air strikes and special ground forces from the US-led

coalition, the SDF has been advancing on Raqqa city from the north, east and west. Thou-sands of families have arrived at SDF-held positions since Wednesday after managing to flee Tabqa and nearby villages, the SDF said. The Syrian Observ-atory for Human Rights said clashes and air strikes had pushed 3,000 people to escape those areas over the past week.

Libya

AFP

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamad Taher Siala yesterday urged the EU to

rethink its naval operation in the Mediterranean, saying it comes with the side effect of encourag-ing migrants to attempt the perilous crossing to Europe.

The European Union launched Operation Sophia in 2015 to crack down on smugglers on the high seas, after hundreds of migrants died when their rick-ety boats sank off southern Italy.

The operation's vessels are charged with intercepting smug-glers' boats and destroying them, but they often end up rescuing the migrants trying to make their

way to Europe -- many of whom depart from Libya.

"I think this Sophia opera-tion, it's negative. It's not positive. Simply because in part they encourage the migration," Taher Siala said in an interview in War-saw, where he met with his Polish counterpart.

Six years since a revolution that toppled dictator Moamer

Kadhafi, Libya has become a key departure point for migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

Migrants "used to calculate the whole risk, till they reach Lampedusa or Pantelleria in Italy," Taher Siala said, referring to two islands that have become migrant hubs. "Now they are only calculating the risk of how

they cross Libya and then go out-side the Libyan territorial waters," he added. "Because then they are picked up by the ves-sels, they take them to Europe, safely. So I think they have to rethink this operation."

Hailing mainly from sub-Saharan countries, most of the migrants board boats operated by people traffickers.

Kuwait City

AFP

Kuwaiti police have detained a woman for filming her Ethiopian

maid falling from the seventh floor in an apparent suicide attempt without trying to res-cue her, media and a rights group said yesterday.

The Kuwaiti woman filmed her maid land on a metal awning and survive, then posted the incident on social media, Al Seyassah newspaper reported.

The 12-second video shows the maid hanging out-side the building, with one hand tightly gripping the win-dow frame, as she begs for help in an apparent last-minute change of mind.

The woman holding the camera is heard telling the hanging maid: "Oh crazy, come back."

Khartoum

AFP

Sudan yesterday rejected a new US travel advisory warning Americans

against visiting the country, particularly three conflict zones, due to risks of "terror-ism and violent crimes".

The latest advisory was issued by the State Department on Thursday and posted on the website of the American embassy in Khartoum. It replaces a previous travel warning issued in January 2016.

It said "terrorist groups are active in Sudan and have stated their intent to harm Western-ers and Western interests through suicide operations, bombings, shootings and kidnappings".

"Violent crimes targeting Westerners, including kidnap-pings, armed robberies, home invasions, and carjacking occur everywhere in Sudan but are particularly prevalent in the Darfur region," it said. US citi-zens should also "avoid all travel" to Blue Nile and South-ern Kordofan states, two other hotspots in Sudan, it said.

"This travel warning con-tradicts the reality on the

ground because US, British and other diplomats have visited Darfur, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan and moved freely in these areas," a statement said.

"Allegations that there are terrorist groups in Sudan are contradictory to all the praise and appreciation offered by high ranking US officials for Khartoum's role in fighting ter-rorism and extremism in the region." The ministry urged the State Department to review the measure, saying improved rela-tions with Washington are necessary and help serve the common goal of fighting terrorism.

The US designated Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993 and Khartoum has been subject to a US trade embargo since 1997 over its alleged sup-port for Islamist groups.

Former US president Barack Obama eased the sanc-tions, but kept Khartoum on the blacklist. Earlier this month, the foreign ministry summoned the most senior diplomat at the US embassy to protest President Donald Trump's travel ban which bars citizens from six Muslim-majority countries, including Sudan, from entering the United States.

Gaza City AFP

A Palestinian prisoner freed after 17 years in an Israeli jail for a

murder he was later acquit-ted of said he felt reborn yesterday, after returning to his family in Gaza.

Hatem Al Maghari was arrested and convicted of murder after the brutal lynch-ing of two Israeli soldiers in 2000, but was released this week after new evidence emerged, the Israeli army said. He arrived in Gaza over-night, he said, and returned to his family in Rafah.

"The feeling of freedom is indescribable," he said by phone from his family home. "I didn't kill anyone." "I am reborn, I felt major injustice and oppression in prison." Maghari said he was working as a police officer in the Pal-estinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank when two Israeli reservists drove into the city by mistake. They were taken to a police station for their own safety but images filmed by an Italian television channel showed the crowd storming the station.

Thousands flee IS-held Tabqa area Kuwaiti woman held for filming suicide attempt

Palestinian man freed after 17 years in jail

EU naval operation 'encourages' migrants: Libya

Sudan rejects US travel warning for Americans

Amsterdam

Reuters

Recent acts of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the

killing of foreign United Nations experts, could constitute war crimes, the International Crim-inal Court’s prosecutor said yesterday.

About 400 people have been killed in the Kasai region,

including two UN experts from Sweden and the United States and their interpreter.

“There have been reports of violent clashes between local militia and Congolese forces, a large number of killings of both civilians and non-civilians, kid-nappings and summary executions,” Fatou Bensouda wrote in a statement.

“Such acts could constitute crimes within the jurisdiction of

the International Criminal Court.”

"I am deeply concerned by the numerous reports over the past several months of serious acts of violence in the DRC, par-ticularly in the Kasai province," Bensouda said.

The violence has spilled over from Kasai to the neighbouring provinces of Kasai-Oriental and Lomami, leaving at least 400 people dead.

Congo violence could amount to war crimes: ICC

04 SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017ASIA

Funeral preparations

China jails two HK activistsHong Kong

Reuters

TWO Chinese activists who supported pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong were jailed by a court in southern China yesterday for subverting state power, but their lawyer said their heavy sentences were part of an ongoing crack-down on civil society.

"Su Changlan and Chen Qitang, who both faced "incitement to subvert state power" charges, were jailed for three and four-and-a-half years respectively by a court in Foshan," according to their lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan.

At least four other Chi-nese activists who have been put behind bars for support-ing Hong Kong's large pro-democracy, "umbrella movement" protests in 2014.

Indian state hardens law to protect cowsGandhinagar

IANS

The Gujarat assembly yesterday made its anti-cow slaughter law the toughest in the country with the

offence now becoming non-bailable and punishable with a life-time in jail.

The Gujarat Animal Preser-vation (Amendment) Act, 2017, was passed with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's brute majority and the opposition Congress remaining suspended from the house for the entire day on the last day of the Budget session.

Moving an amendment, Minister of State for Home Pra-deepsinh Jadeja said: "During this auspicious occasion of Chaitri Navratri, the govern-ment, on suggestions of many sadhus and sants, has made amendments to the Gujarat Animal Protection (Amend-ment) Act, 2011. This is the harshest law in the country."

The new law provides for financial penalty from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for such a crime.

"If anyone is found to ille-gally keep or transport a cow, the new Act has provision for 10 years' imprisonment and minimum of 7 years in jail and a fine of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh".

There is also provision for permanent seizure of vehicles used for transportation of ani-mals for slaughter as against the earlier version which allowed only impounding of such vehi-cles for six months.

The minister said that the

state government would "strictly" implement the new law.

"Earlier it was a bailable offence and legal provisions were relatively mild. This did not act as an efficient deterrent for those committing this hei-nous crime," he added.

Explaining the rationale for a tougher law, Jadeja said sev-eral religious saints and leading citizens had in the past peti-tioned the Chief Minister for making a stricter law for cow protection.

"Cow is symbol of Indian culture. Cow protection is not only about religious sentiments but also is of great economic benefit to our society," he said.

The state government has also put curbs on transporta-tion of cows in the state during night hours.

Even the legal, licenced movement of cattle would not be allowed between 7pm and 5am.

333 whales dead in Japan Antarctic huntTokyo

AFP

A JAPANESE whaling fleet returned to port Friday after an annual Antarctic hunt that killed more than 300 of the mammals as Tokyo pursues the programme in defiance of global criticism.

The fleet set sail for the Southern Ocean in Novem-ber, with plans to slaughter 333 minke whales, flouting a worldwide moratorium and opposition led by Australia and New Zealand.

"The fleet consisted of five ships, three of which arrived in the morning at Shi-monoseki port in western Japan," the country's Fisher-ies Agency said.

More than 200 people, including crew members and their families, gathered in the rain for a 30-minute ceremony in front of the Nisshin Maru, according to an official of the Shimonoseki government.

Manipal and Visvesvaraya among top varsitiesBengaluru

IANS

Manipal University has been rated first in inno-vation and research

quality while Visvesvaraya Technological University tops in the improvement in research category, in a new comprehen-sive assessment of all universities in Karnataka.

The Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) on Friday released the inaugural edition of the Karnataka State Universities Rating Framework (KSURF), which is a detailed audit and evaluation of all the state, private and deemed uni-

versities in the state. In the established universi-

ties category, Gulbarga University was rated at the top for research productivity, Ban-galore University for research citations and KLE University for industrial memorandum of understandings.

In the young universities cat-egory, JSS University and NITTE University score high in teach-ing excellence and international diversity. Among the universi-ties established in the last five years, M S Ramaiah University has been rated very high on pat-ents, PES University for domestic diversity, Reva University on infrastructure.

In the specialist university category, University of Agricul-tural Sciences, Bangalore, is rated at the top for inclusiveness and social impact whereas Kan-nada University and University of Agricultural Sciences, Dhar-wad, score high on the faculty with Ph.D parameter.

"The assessment of univer-sities will help Karnataka government to prepare a plan for providing infrastructure for the state government universi-ties. It will help the students to select good and efficient univer-sities for higher studies," state Minister for Higher Education Basavaraj Rayaraddi told report-ers here.

In an effort similar to the Central government's National Institutional Ranking Frame-work (NIRF), Karnataka is the first state in the country to undertake a detailed evaluation of the universities.

"We have engaged ICARE Ratings, the research and anal-ysis division of the Indian Centre for Academic Rankings and Excellence. The work began in last July.

There are 51 universities in Karnataka, of which around 40 universities were assessed. Twelve universities are yet to submit the required documents for assessment," Executive Director of KSHEC S A Kori said.

Park arrested on bribery chargesSeoul

AFP

South Korea's ousted presi-dent Park Geun-hye was spending her first day in

custody yesterday after a court ordered her arrest, with her opponents crowing and her sup-porters crying.

The former head of state stared straight ahead, appar-ently trying to maintain her composure, as she was driven to the Seoul Detention Centre through a barrage of flashbulbs shortly before dawn.

After a marathon hearing on Thursday a court in the capital ordered Park's arrest in

connection with the corruption scandal that brought millions of people onto the streets and saw her impeached.

Prosecutors have yet to specify the formal charges against her, but have previously said she is suspected of bribery, abuse of authority, coercion, and leaking government secrets.

"It is justifiable and neces-sary to arrest as key charges were justified and there is risk of evidence being destroyed," the court said in a statement.

The decision made Park, 65, the third former leader to be arrested over corruption in Asia's fourth-largest economy, where politics and big business

have long been closely tied.It is a dramatic step in dis-

grace of South's first woman president.

The liberal Democratic Party, which is favourite to win the election on May 9 to choose Park's successor, said in a state-ment that the move showed "all are equal before the law".

"We hope today's landmark decision will provide fresh momentum in revealing the truth about the scandal of an unprecedented scale," it added.

But Park's own Liberty Korea party -- which has changed its name in an effort to distance itself from her -- called the move "regrettable".

Thaksin not interested in reconciliationBangkok

Reuters

Thailand's ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday

accused the junta of bullying him over a $500m tax bill and said it should count him out of reconciliation efforts.

Thaksin has lived in exile since being overthrown in 2006, but his populist move-ment remains at the heart of political division in Thailand.

Thaksin's rare public com-ments, made in a Facebook post, came days after the Thai

revenue department sent him a $500m tax bill over the sale of shares in a telecoms com-pany more than a decade ago.

Thaksin said it was the lat-est example of him and his family being "blamed and bullied".

"For the reconciliation process, I urge every side to please remove me from the equation," Thaksin said.

"Those in power also shouldn't use miracles and go out of their way just to get rid of me."

A government spokesman said Thaksin had not been

bullied, but had not been expected to play a part in the reconciliation process set up ahead of elections, which could happen next year.

"We're only discussing the present and the future," Sansern Kaewkamnerd told Reuters.

The reconciliation process, and the accession of new King Maha Vajiralongkorn last year, had stirred speculation in Thailand of a possible deal with Thaksin, who lives in exile to escape corruption charges he says are politically motivated.

Malaysia vows to retain ties with North KoreaKuala Lumpur

Reuters

Malaysian Prime Minis-ter Najib Razak (pictured) said he will

not sever ties with North Korea, state news agency Bernama reported, after a diplomatic row between the two countries ended this week.

Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of the North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, was mur-dered at Kuala Lumpur's airport on February 13 in a bizarre assassination using toxic nerve agent, sparking a row between the two countries that had friendly relations before.

Three North Koreans wanted for questioning over the murder left Malaysia yesterday along with the body of Kim Jong Nam after Malaysia agreed a

swap deal that saw nine Malay-sians allowed to return home from Pyongyang.

China confirmed that the body had arrived in Pyongyang - after transiting through Bei-jing -- along with "relevant" North Korean nationals.

Both countries expelled each other's ambassadors and barred their citizens from leav-ing, in a bitter stand-off over the killing.

Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-hye leaves the prosecutors' office as she is transferred to a detention house, in Seoul, yesterday.

Heinous crimeCow is symbol of Indian culture. Cow protection is not only about religious sentiments but also is of great economic benefit to our society: Minister

Workers assemble steel for one of the pavilions surrounding the late Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej's funeral pyre in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, yesterday.

The state government has also put curbs on transportation of cows in the state during night hours.

05SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017 ASIA

22 dead in Pakistan blast

Peshawar

AFP

At least 22 people were killed and 57 wounded yesterday when a car bomb tore through a mar-

ket in a mainly Shia area of Pakistan's tribal belt, officials said, in an attack claimed by the Taliban.

Survivors described hiding inside shops after hearing a "huge bang" -- then stumbling through dust-choked air filled with the sound of screams, trip-ping over bodies as they searched for the wounded in the busy market in Parachinar, cap-ital of Kurram tribal district.

"People were screaming for help... When I looked back eve-rything was filled with dust," shopkeeper Sardar Hussain

said. He saw his father "drenched in blood and dust", while the two clients in their store were lying dead on the floor. "We closed doors of the shop as we thought there might be a second blast, but we heard gunshots for a while and peo-ple were shouting, so we got out," Muhammad Ali, a resident at another shop, said

yesterday."We have 22 dead bodies

here at the hospital and 57 injured, including women and children," Moeen Begum, a sur-g e o n a t t h e l o c a l government-run hospital, said.

Shahid Ali Khan, an admin-istration official, confirmed the blast had been a car bomb.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

condemned the attack, urging "complete annihilation" of ter-rorism in Pakistan.

But Shia leaders and resi-dents angered by the attack, the second major blast in Parachi-nar this year, quickly accused security forces of failure, with small spontaneous protests numbering dozens of people breaking out.

Philippine govt seeks ceasefire with rebelsManila

AFP

The Philippines called for a new ceasefire yester-day with insurgents

after rebels killed two gov-ernment soldiers ahead of peace talks in Norway.

Negotiations between Manila and the rebels col-lapsed in February after the guerrillas killed several sol-diers and police in a series of attacks, spurring President Rodrigo Duterte to angrily call off the talks.

Duterte later softened his stance and agreed to resume discussions with the commu-nist-led National Democratic Front.

"The first agenda item that we will tackle starting April 2 will be the issue of a bilateral ceasefire agree-ment," Silvestre Bello, the government's chief negotia-tor, said.

"We expect the discussion in this round of talks to be very difficult and exacting," Bello said.

The communist insur-gency in the poverty-stricken

country began in 1968 and is one of the longest running in the world.

It has claimed an esti-mated 30,000 lives, according to the military.

Duterte, a self-described socialist who once boasted of his links to the communist rebels, opened talks with the 4,000-strong communist rebel movement after taking office in June last year.

He released captured rebel leaders and both sides declared separate ceasefires to pave the way for peace talks overseas.

However, the talks soured as Duterte refused to release hundreds of other detained guerrillas. The insurgents later resumed armed attacks.

It followed a pledge last weekend by the Communist Party of the Philippines to launch a unilateral ceasefire in support of the Oslo talks.

The rebels also urged the government to reciprocate by ceasing armed operations against them.

However Bello stressed that only a truce negotiated by both sides would suffice.

Islamabad opens computer labs for schoolgirlsIslamabad

Internews

A PROJECT to turn 33,000 schoolgirls in the rural areas of the federal capital of Islam-abad “computer literate” was launched by the Ministry of Information Technology.

Finance Minister Moham-mad Ishaq Dar, State Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rahman Khan and Minister of State for CADD Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry watched the signing cere-mony of two agreements to establish computer labs in more than 100 government schools for girls which launched the project.

State Minister for Infor-mation Technology Anusha Rahman Khan said her min-istry’s Universal Services Fund (USF) signed one agree-ment with the Federal Directorate of Education for setting up computer labs and another with Microsoft for training over 90 teachers to run the computer labs.

Welcoming the project, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar praised the efforts of the peo-ple and institutions involved in promoting ICT amongst girls from rural areas.

This project aims to train schoolgirls of rural back-ground in digital coding skills and building early stage apti-tude for ICT related careers.

Myanmar militants vow to protect RohingyasYangon

Anatolia

A militant group operating in western Myanmar issued a statement l out-

lining its role in defending Rohingyas.

The Arakan Rohingya Salva-tion Army (ARSA) said it would “defend, salvage and protect Rohingya… as we have the legit-imate right under international law to defend ourselves in line

with the principle of self-defense.”

The statement, which bore the group’s crossed Armalite rifle logo, declared its attacks had “only been aimed at the oppres-sive Burmese regime in accordance with international norms and principles”.

It also denied any ties to any terrorist group.

ARSA claimed responsibility for the killing of nine police officers last October.

They were killed at border posts in the Maungdaw area of Rakhine state, sparking a violent crackdown on Rohingya across the region.

Around 1.2 million Rohingya, described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, live in Rakhine, which lies along the border with Bangladesh and is also known as Arakan.

During the crackdown, the UN and rights groups

documented widespread abuses by security forces.

The government has said at least 106 people were killed dur-ing the operation but activists have said around 400 Rohingya were killed.

It has labelled ARSA a terror-ist organization and has said its leader was trained by the Tali-ban and has links to foreign terror groups.

ARSA leader Ata Ullah, who signed the statement, denied the

claims. “We do not commit any form of terrorism against any civilian regardless of their reli-gious and ethnic origin as we do not subscribe to the notion of committing terrorism for our legitimate cause,” the statement said.

The group called for peace-keeping troops to be sent to Rakhine to protect the Rohingya community from “genocide as well as crimes against humanity”.

Australia boosts security on flights from MideastSydney

AFP

Australia said yesterday it will increase security checks for flights from

some Middle East airports, but stopped short of implementing the laptop ban introduced by the United States and Britain.

Britain and the US banned laptops and tablet computers in cabins on flights from some countries in the Middle East and North Africa earlier this month, citing fears of possible attacks.

"Explosive detection screen-ing will be conducted for randomly selected passengers and their baggage. Checks may also include targeted screening of electronic devices," Transport Minister Darren Chester said.

"Our changes are in line with the UK, which recently announced that people travel-ling from Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai will be subject to random explosive trace detection screening.

"There is no ban on the car-riage of electronic devices on flights to Australia at this stage."

The airlines affected are Qantas Airways, Etihad Air-ways, Emirates, and Qatar Airways. The increase security checks will hit passengers fly-ing direct to Australia from Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

"In response to national security advice the federal gov-e r n m e n t h a s m a d e precautionary changes and instructed airlines to implement new protocols from next week."

Maldives oppn faces crackdownColombo

AFP

Opposition parties in the Maldives accused the government yesterday

of waging a revenge campaign against their leaders after they narrowly failed to seize con-trol of parliament.

Mohamed Nasheed, the leader of the main opposition party, was slapped with fresh terrorism charges this week just days after he remotely lead an effort to wrestle con-trol of parliament.

The bid failed after Presi-dent Abdulla Yameen ordered troops to remove the dissent-ing MPs from the floor of parliament, causing chaotic scenes.

Nasheed, the head of the Maldivian Democratic Party, was sentenced to 13 years prison in 2015 and has been living in self-imposed exile in London since last year.

"President Yameen has instigated new charges of ter-rorism against Nasheed," the joint statement said.

The charges stemmed from

when Yameen was briefly detained in 2010 allegedly under orders from Nasheed, who was president at the time.

The opposition said sev-eral others who support Nasheed's bid to oust the speaker had been intimidated by police in the days since.

"I urge the wider interna-tional community to clearly observe the intricacies of the laws of the Maldives before rushing to judgement," the government quoted fisheries minister Mohamed Shainee as saying.

Europe sends Afghan refugees homeKabul

Reuters

Two more planes carrying Afghans deported from Europe landed in Kabul

this week, failed asylum seek-ers sent back under an agreement between European U n i o n a n d A f g h a n government.

"The arrivals mean 248 peo-ple have been deported from Europe to Afghanistan this year, compared with 580 throughout 2016," said Hafiz Ahmad Mia-khel, spokesman for the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations.

The number of Afghans deported from Europe is small compared to the thousands

returning voluntarily, but depor-tations are rising and some migration experts say expelling people to a country where the government controls less than two thirds of territory amid a Taliban insurgency is wrong.

Fifteen deportees arrived by chartered flight from Germany on Tuesday, while 19 landed on Wednesday from Austria and 10 from Sweden. Another flight, from Finland, is scheduled to arrive this Tuesday.

European governments say those deported back have failed rigorous asylum tests.

Afghans were the second largest group of asylum seekers in Europe in 2015, and concerns about security and their

integration have encouraged politicians to take a tougher line.

"We are committed to the agreements but we need more assistance from the interna-tional community to help these people," Miakhel said, referring to an agreement between the EU and the Afghan government.

"There is a war against the Taliban, against Islamic State, against Al Qaeda and this year we will have more forced depor-tees than last year," he said.

"Afghanistan will welcome more returning migrants than any other country in 2017, including up to one million from neighbour-ing Pakistan," said Masood Ahmadi at the International Organisation for Migration.

Residents gather at the site of a powerful explosion at a market in Parachinar, capital of the Kurram tribal district, yesterday.

Terror actShia leaders and residents angered by the attack, quickly accused security forces of failure, with small spontaneous protests numbering dozens of people breaking out.

Afghans, whose asylum applications have been rejected, arrive from Germany in Kabul airport.

06 SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017EUROPE

Letter to MayFirst Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote a letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May telling her that Scotland did not want to leave Europe’s single market, two days after Britain launched the process of leaving the European Union.

Edinburgh

AFP

The Scottish govern-ment yesterday formally asked British Prime Minister Theresa May for a

second referendum on inde-pendence, deepening a constitutional crisis sparked by the Brexit vote.

First Minister Nicola Stur-geon wrote a letter to May telling her that Scotland did not want to leave Europe’s single market, two days after Britain launched the process of leaving the Euro-pean Union.

“The people of Scotland must have the right to choose our own future,” Sturgeon, leader of the ruling Scottish National Party, said in the letter. Scotland voted to remain in the EU in last year’s referendum but Britain as a whole voted to leave.

Sturgeon argues that this means the circumstances have changed since a 2014 independ-ence referendum in which 55 percent voted to stay part of Britain. She said the government had rejected “all attempts at

compromise” on Brexit—a ref-erence to her proposal for Scotland to be allowed to stay in the European single market even as the rest of Britain leaves.

“There appears to be no rational reason for you to stand in the way of the will of the Scot-tish parliament and I hope you will not do so,” she said.

The Scottish Parliament voted by 69 votes to 59 on Tues-day for another referendum, but it cannot hold a legally-binding vote without London’s approval.

Sturgeon has said she wants the referendum to be

held by early 2019, before Brit-ain leaves the EU.

However a government spokeswoman has reiterated May’s position that “now is not the time” for a second inde-pendence referendum, adding that the government “will not be entering into negotiations on the Scottish government’s proposal”.

“At this point, all our focus should be on our negotiations with the European Union, mak-ing sure we get the right deal for the whole of the UK,” she added.

But Sturgeon said that the new referendum would give Scots “the choice of following the UK out of the EU and single market on the terms you nego-tiate, or becoming an independent country”.

May now faces a battle on two fronts as she seeks to nego-tiate a good deal from Brexit and tame nationalist sentiment in Scotland.

Opinion polls show support for independence is broadly unchanged from 2014, but May’s firm stance against discussing a vote now is widely regarded as a gamble as Scots could react

Valletta

AFP

The European Union demanded that Britain make “sufficient progress”

on its divorce before talks on a trade deal can start as it laid out its tough Brexit negotiating plans yesterday.

EU president Donald Tusk ruled out an immediate start to parallel talks, as demanded by British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday in her letter triggering the historic two-year Brexit process.

Tusk’s draft negotiating guidelines add that other 27 countries are ready for a transi-tional deal after Britain’s exit in 2019, but that any such arrange-ment must be under strict EU rules.

Former Polish premier Tusk said it was his “first divorce and I hope the last one”, adding that while he hoped it would not be confrontational the EU would stick to its principles during the

talks. “The EU 27 does not and will

not pursue a punitive approach. Brexit itself is already punitive enough,” he told a news confer-ence in the Maltese capital Valletta as he revealed his plans.

The EU is keen to stress its unity as it faces the wrenching departure of one of its biggest members, the first time a coun-try has left the bloc in its 60-year history.

Tusk’s guidelines will now be

sent out to leaders of 27 remain-ing EU countries, which will suggest changes ahead of a spe-cial summit in Brussels to approve the plans on April 29.

Germany and France had already set out a united and uncompromising stance against May’s demands.

“Starting parallel talks on all issues at the same time as sug-gested by some in the UK will not happen,” Tusk said.

“Once and only once we have achieved sufficient progress on withdrawal can we discuss the framework for our future relationship.” The guidelines say the EU called for a “phased approach” that prioritises an orderly withdrawal that reduces disruption caused by Britain’s departure in March 2019.

The fate of three million EU citizens living in Britain and one million British people within the bloc’s 27 other nations is at the top of leaders’ agenda.

Also looming large is the so-called “exit bill” which Britain

will have to pay, estimated to be €60bn ($64bn, £52bn), and the border between Northern Ire-land and Ireland.

“The European Council (EU leaders) will monitor progress closely and determine when suf-ficient progress has been achieved to allow negotiations to proceed to the next phase” on a future relationship, the draft guidelines say. A decision on that could come by end of this year, a senior EU official said.

The EU said no trade deal can be agreed on before Brexit takes effect. But it is also open to a tran-sitional arrangement after Brexit as a “bridge” to a future deal some years down the line, but said it would have to be under EU rules and European Court of Justice. It said it will “prepare itself to be able to handle the situation also if the negotiations were to fail.”

The EU’s chief negotiator, France’s Michel Barnier, is expected to get the green light to start talks with Britain on May 22, an EU official said.

Belfast

Reuters

NORTHERN Ireland’s main political parties will resume talks on Monday to break a deadlock that threatens devolved government, corner-stone of peace in the province for almost two decades, the British government said.

A political crisis has gripped Northern Ireland since Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein pulled out of gov-ernment in January, which sparked a March 2 election that ended the majority pro-British unionists had enjoyed for almost a century.

No one is predicting the political impasse might pitch Northern Ireland back into the violence between Catho-lic nationalists and Protestant unionists that killed 3,600 people in three decades before a 1998 peace deal.

But the impasse may increase sectarian tensions and freeze decision-making. The last time devolved gov-ernment collapsed, it took five years to reinstate it.

This week, nationalists and unionists missed a dead-line to form a coalition government after three weeks of talks. But the British gov-ernment has said it will not start to revert powers to Lon-don until April 18, giving the parties an additional two weeks to strike a deal.

After criticism from all sides about the format of the talks, the parties are to agree an agenda and hold struc-tured, bilateral and roundtable meetings over-seen by the British and Irish governments, the London said in a statement.

The talks will also explic-i t ly address “ the implementation of outstand-ing issues from previous agreements”, it said.

Sinn Fein argues that pre-vious deals to give legal status to the Irish language and to proceed with inquiries into deaths during the decades of sectarian violence have not been honoured.

Amsterdam

Reuters

DUTCH investigators have seized paintings, a gold bar and jewellery and arrested two people as part of a inter-national hunt for tax evaders, after receiving a tip-off about 55,000 suspect accounts at a Swiss bank, prosecutors said yesterday.

The country’s office for financial crimes prosecution (FIOD) said the coordinated raids began on Thursday in the Netherlands, Britain, Ger-many, France and Australia.

The Dutch are “investi-gating dozens of people who are suspected of tax fraud and money laundering”, the prosecutors said in a statement.

Suspects deposited money in an unidentified Swiss bank and did not dis-close that to authorities, the statement said.

Paris

Reuters

France’s conservative pres-ident ia l candidate yesterday dismissed as

“fantasy” concerns that Russia could be interfering in the elec-tion and said he would seek a better balance in relations with a country that was nevertheless “dangerous”.

Francois Fillon (pictured), who had been favourite to win the election until a scandal over his wife’s work broke in Janu-ary, has said European Union sanctions against Moscow are totally ineffective, creating a “cold war” climate that needs to be reversed.

The head of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating the Russian hacking of the 2016 US presiden-tial campaign, said on Wednesday that the Kremlin was trying to interfere in the French vote.

“We must avoid these fan-tasies,” Fillon told reporters as he outlined a defence pro-gramme that would prioritise defeating “totalitarian Islam”

and review France’s existing military operations overseas.

“There is enough unwel-come interference in this electoral campaign to not need to go and seek some in Russia. We’re sufficiently capable our-selves,” he said.

Fillon has said he is a victim of a plot from within France and has accused the French govern-ment of orchestrating his downfall.

He has been placed under judicial investigation on suspi-cion of embezzling state funds by paying his wife for work she

may not have done. He denies any wrongdoing, but he has plunged far behind the leaders, centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, in opinion polls.

A daily opinion poll pub-lished by Opinionway yesterday put Macron and Le Pen neck-and-neck in the April 23 first-round vote on 24 percent with Fillon on 19 percent.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it was behind media and internet attacks on the campaign of frontrunner Macron, who, contrary to Fil-lon, has suggested imposing new sanctions on Moscow should it not implement its side of a deal to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin last week met Le Pen, who has called for a closer alliance with Moscow.

Fillon himself has come under fire from the left in France for advocating a softer tone towards Putin that con-trasts with the Socialist government’s hard line on EU sanctions put in place over his annexation of Crimea and

subsequent action in eastern Ukraine.

Repeatedly attacking 39 year-old Macron for his “inex-perience” and “immaturity”, Fillon, a former prime minister, said Russia was not the biggest threat to France and should not be treated as such.

He said that provoking Rus-sia by putting missiles along its borders or admitting states under its sphere of influence into the Nato would just add fuel to the fire.

“Today, it’s a new cold war even though our priority is to defeat Islamic totalitarianism,” he said.

“We’ve always had a diffi-cult relationship with Russia. It’s a country that doesn’t have the same democratic system as in the West so it’s a country that is dangerous,” he said.

“We can consider it an enemy and prepare a clash or adopt a second strategy to try and engage in a serious and frank dialogue to put in place conditions for peace in Europe,” he said, adding that he would seek that approach if elected.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon working on her Section 30 letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May requesting a second Scottish independence referendum at Bute House, in Edinburgh, yesterday.

unfavourably to London ignor-ing the will of the Edinburgh parliament.

Sturgeon has already indi-cated she will take unspecified “steps” for holding a referendum anyway in case her request for one is ignored.

Sturgeon’s predecessor Alex Salmond frequently threatened to hold a non-binding “consult-ative referendum” in 2012, before London relented and approved

the legally binding poll in 2014.The Spanish region of Cata-

lonia’s separatist government held a non-binding referendum in 2014, but the 80 percent vote for self-determination was called into question amid reports of a boycott by unionists.

The SNP wants to prevent Scotland being “dragged out of the EU against its will”, but a sur-vey by NatCen Social Research on Thursday found Scottish

people have broadly the same opinions on the European Union as the rest of Britain.

Professor John Curtice, sen-ior research fellow at NatCen, said: “For the most part voters on both sides of the border want much the same outcome—free trade, immigration control and retention of much of the con-sumer and environmental regulation currently afforded by the EU.

Scotland urges UK for independence vote

EU demands progress on Brexit divorce before trade talks

President of the European Council Donald Tusk (left) and Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat during a joint news conference about Brexit in Valletta, Malta, yesterday.

N Ireland's main parties to resume talks on govt formation

Dutch seize paintings & gold in hunt for tax evaders

Russia not interfering in French polls: Fillon

07SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017 EUROPE

Members of Austrian special operations unit Jagdkommando perform an exercise in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, yesterday.

Taking tough lessons

US firm on standReiterating Washington’s demands, Rex Tillerson said allies will need to pay up or outline plans for how they plan to meet the threshold when Nato leaders meet on May 25 for the first top-level summit of the alliance.

Brussels

Reuters

Germany said yester-day that Nato’s agreed target spend of two percent of members’ yearly

economic output was neither “reachable nor desirable” coun-tering a call by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for all allies to comply and quickly.

The United States provides nearly 70 percent of Nato’s budget and is demanding that Nato allies make clear progress towards the agreed target this year. Only four European Nato members - Estonia, Greece, Poland and Britain - have done so.

“Two percent would mean military expenses of some €70bn. I don’t know any German politician who would claim that is reachable nor desirable,” Ger-many’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said at the first Nato meeting attended by Tillerson.

Tillerson, however, reiter-ated Washington’s demands and said allies will need to pay up or outline plans for how they plan to meet the threshold when Nato

leaders meet on May 25 for the first top-level summit of the alli-ance. US President Donald Trump will attend that meeting.

“Our goal should be to agree at the May leaders meeting that by the end of the year all allies will have either met the pledge guidelines or will have devel-oped plans that clearly articulate how...the pledge will be fulfilled,” Tillerson said.

“Allies must demonstrate by their actions that they share US government’s commitment.”

In Berlin, German govern-ment spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the government was com-mitted to increasing defence

spending and would continue to do so “because we know it is necessary and makes sense to further strengthen our armed forces”.

Members have until 2024 to comply with the spending target.

Tillerson did however offer assurances of Washington’s commitment to Nato during his brief stop in Brussels, although US officials said he did not have time for one-on-one meetings, which are customary during such meetings.

“The United States is com-mitted to ensuring Nato has the capabilities to support our col-lective defence,” Tillerson said at the meeting in Brussels. “We will uphold the agreements we have made to defend our allies.”

Tillerson said the Nato alli-ance was fundamental to countering Russian aggression, in particular in Ukraine. A meet-ing on Thursday between ambassadors from Nato and Rus-sia called on Moscow to do more to rein in armed separatists bat-tling Kiev’s forces.

Meanwhile, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said ties between European Nato

members and the United States were “rock solid”.

He said the ministers would discuss “fair burden sharing to keep the trans-atlantic bond

strong” and “stepping up Nato efforts to project stability and fight terrorism”.

Stoltenberg confirmed min-isters would discuss national

defence spending plans yester-day as the bloc seeks to respond to the new, harsher tone from across the Atlantic, which has galvanised European Nato allies.

Warsaw

Reuters

Poland expects to sign a deal worth up to $7.6bn with US firm Raytheon to buy eight

Patriot missile defence systems by the end of the year, Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said yesterday.

Warsaw sees the deal as cen-tral to a thorough modernisation of its armed forces by 2023, in light of what Macierewicz called “growing aggression and a grow-ing threat from the East.”

Nato member Poland has

sped up efforts to overhaul its military following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014 and in response to Moscow’s renewed military and political assertive-ness in the region.

“Those systems allow us to guarantee security of the Polish state,” Macierewicz told a news conference. The contract still requires approval from the US Congress, as it involves a pur-chase of advanced military technology for which special permission must be obtained.

“It’s premature to say that it

is all done,” Bill Schmieder, Raytheon’s head for Europe, told the same briefing. “But we have very high hopes that the proc-ess will proceed normally.”

The Patriot mobile missile defence interceptors are designed to detect, track and engage unmanned aerial vehi-cles (UAVs), cruise missiles and short-range or tactical ballistic missiles.

Poland should receive the first of Patriot systems within two years of signing the contract, Macierewicz said. All of the units would come with the Integrated

Battle Command System (IBCS), designed to give commanders a better perspective of their oper-ating environment to make better informed decisions.

Starting with delivery of third system, Patriots will also be equipped with 360-degree rotating surveillance radars.

Poland spends about 2 per-cent of its gross domestic product on defence, in line with Nato’s tar-get. But some military officials are pressing for more, saying nearly two-thirds of hardware dates from the era when the country was in Moscow-led Warsaw Pact.

Budapest

Reuters

Hungarian Prime Minis-ter Viktor Orban (pictured) said yester-

day a Budapest university founded by financier George Soros had “cheated” in award-ing its diplomas and violated Hungarian laws.

Orban, outspoken critic of liberal civil organisations funded by Soros, said the Central Euro-pean University’s fate depended now on talks between Hungary and the United States. The US State Department said in a state-ment that CEU was a “premier academic institution” that pro-moted academic excellence and critical thinking.

“We urge the Government of Hungary to avoid taking any legislative action that would compromise CEU’s operations or independence,” acting spokesman Mark Toner said.

In an interview on state radio, Orban said the CEU vio-lated rules by issuing diplomas recognised both in Hungary and the US as the university operates exclusively in Hungary and has no campus in the United States.

“Hungary is a sovereign country, it supports knowledge in all cases but does not tolerate cheating,” Orban said. “Not even a billionaire can stand above the law, therefore this university must also obey the law.”

The CEU said it operated lawfully and was accredited to award Hungarian and US degrees.

“The CEU utterly rejects the Prime Minister of Hungary’s false allegations that CEU is ‘cheating’,” CEU said in a state-ment. “We have been lawful partners in Hungarian higher education for 25 years and any statement to the contrary is false.”

A year before 2018 elec-tions, Orban has raised the stakes in his fight against civil organisations funded by US fin-ancier and philanthropist Soros.

Earlier this week, his gov-ernment submitted a bill to parliament to regulate foreign universities, which could force the CEU founded by Soros in 1991 out of the country.

CEU has said the bill, which Hungarian news web site 444.hu said could be discussed in Parliament as early as Monday, threatened academic freedom in Hungary.

Hungarian scholars and teaching organisations have come out in support of CEU, saying it was one of the preem-inent centres of thought in the country and deserved to be saved.

Vienna/Berlin

Reuters

AUSTRIA said yesterday it would file a legal challenge against plans by Germany to introduce a road toll for for-eign-registered cars using German highways.

Cross-border traffic between the two countries is common and a frequently used route connecting the city of Salzburg to the west of Austria passes through a part of Germany.

“We are taking legal action in Luxembourg,” Austrian Transport Minister Joerg Leich-tfried told reporters, apparently referring to the seat of the European Court of Justice, the European Union’s top court.

“Italians have to pay, the French have to pay, Austri-ans have to pay—only Germans don’t. I believe that is discriminatory and against European law.”

Leichtfried’s comments came hours after the toll plan, which the European Commis-sion approved in January after adjustments were made, cleared Germany’s upper house of parliament.

Austria’s legal action, though not fundamentally affecting its ties with Ger-many, marks an ugly episode at a time when the EU is try-ing to project unity as it gears up for negotiations with Brit-ain over its departure from the bloc.

Berlin

Reuters

Germany’s business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) want to win back

voters and become kingmaker in coalition talks after a federal election in six months by prom-ising lower taxes, higher investment in infrastructure and a tough stance on Turkey.

Recent polls put support for the FDP, which was the junior coalition partner to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives from 2009 to 2013, at 5 to 7 percent.

That suggests it will get

enough support to cross the 5 percent threshold to enter the Bundestag lower house of par-liament in elections on September 24.

Presenting the FDP’s plat-form titled “No longer on the sidelines”, party leader Christian Lindner yesterday said that the FDP wanted to become the voice of the “impatient centre” of soci-e t y b y e m p h a s i s i n g self-responsibility and liberal values.

“People can do great things if you just let them,” Lindner told reporters, adding that the FDP’s motto in the election campaign would be ‘German courage’

instead of ‘German angst’.The FDP wants to manage

the balancing act of lowering taxes and increasing investment in education and digital infra-structure by privatising state assets.

Lindner told reporters that the government could raise over €10bn by selling stakes in firms such as Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Telekom and Deut-sche Post.

On foreign policy, the FDP called for the European Union to quit membership talks with Tur-key and freeze any further financial aid to the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“For us, Turkey in its current state under the despotic regime of Erdogan can no longer be a candidate for accession,” FDP party secretary general Nicola Beer told reporters.

Lindner repeated his stance that Greece could only stay in the euro zone and receive more financial aid from its European partners if it implemented the structural reforms agreed in its bailout programme.

The likely alternative would be a debt cut, which would result in its departure from the euro zone, he said.

Lindner said that he wanted the party to regain its traditional

role as the decisive force in shap-ing a coalition government in the country.

“I want to be the chancellor maker,” he said.

Asked about possible coali-tion partners, Lindner only ruled out joining forces with the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the far-left Linke.

The FDP’s power in state leg-islatures has been diminished in recent years by the rise of other parties, including the AfD. It failed to win enough votes for representation in the Bundestag lower house of parliament in 2013.

Germany balks at US call for more Nato spending

FROM LEFT: Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson take part in a meeting of Nato foreign ministers at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, yesterday.

Hungarian PM denounces Soros-backed college

Poland may ink $7.6bn deal for Patriot systems

Austria to file legal challenge against German highway toll

Germany’s FDP to woo voters with lower taxes

08 SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017VIEWS

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

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The separation of powers is essential for democracy to function, and keeping democratic spaces open is essential to ensure human rights are protected.

Zeid Ra’ad Al HusseinUN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Presidential elections in France have never been as scandalous and con-troversial as this year’s. But what really sets the 2017 election apart from previous ones is how French main-

stream media is behaving itself in terms of objectivity and fair standards of coverage.

In a democratic context, the general objec-tive of media coverage during an election campaign should ultimately be the dissemina-tion of fair and impartial information, through an equal distribution of broadcasting time among all candidates taking part in the elec-tions, as well as an objective and critical analysis of the candidates’ discourses and/or policy plat-forms while avoiding granting preferential treatment to one candidate at the expense of all others.

By law, airwave time and exposure is mon-itored and enforced by the state’s Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel (High Council for Audiovisual) which stipulates that the media should “ensure that candidates enjoy fair rep-resentation and access to the media space”. However, serious questions can be raised about the media’s compliance with such guidelines in the 2017 elections.

Furthermore, France is now going through tough socioeconomic problems that provide the media outlets with enough material to question different candidates’ platforms and visions in terms of strategies and means that they intend to employ to address these challenges. Rather the mainstream media coverage of the candi-dates’ electoral campaigns mostly tends to focus on political scandals and trivial issues, such as the prices of Francois Fillon’s costumes and watches, or the daily obsession over the possi-ble scenarios regarding the elections’ second round.

But the most striking example illustrating the media’s complacency and bias is the case of Emmanuel Macron, former Socialist minister of economy under the presidency of Francois Hol-lande, and now an independent candidate under a social democratic banner.

Framed as “the renewal candidate”, and France’s “saviour”, Macron, who has never been tested at the ballot box, enjoys unprecedented media coverage in France.

Even before he announced his candidacy, mainstream media was reporting on rumours about the announcement of his candidacy. And when the day came, Macron made headlines in major dailies such as Le Monde, Le Figaro, Lib-eration and Le Parisien, and his announcement was also featured on all major radio and TV sta-tions. For two consecutive days, the national channel France2 reserved half of its prime-time newscast for Macron’s announcements, while the other candidates did not enjoy such coverage.

And in the aftermath of a national TV debate, bringing together five of the 11 candidates, almost all major media outlets anointed Macron as the most convincing personality of the debate. A simple critical look at the debate in question would suffice to see how Macron’s performance

French elections: Manufacturing consent

Marine Le Pen, French National Front leader and candidate for the presidential election, talking to residents as she visits a market in Concarneau, yesterday.

Ali SaadAl Jazeera

and discourse were banal. In contrast, far left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who had distinguished himself during the debate both by his innovative political pro-posals and his provocative style, did not get the media coverage to match his ground-breaking political platform.

So what could justify such bias in favour of Macron and the media’s insist-ence on constructing popular support around his candidacy? Especially since Macron, presented as an anti-system can-didate who has ambitions to revolutionise the French political landscape, is the very product of the system?

Until August 2016 Macron served as minister of the economy under the social-ist Francois Hollande’s presidency, and before that he served as deputy secretary-general at the Elysee Palace. In addition, he graduated from the prestigious French National School of Administration and worked as a banker at Rothschild & Co.

In April 2016, the Mediapart, an inde-pendent news website, disclosed that the legal address of Macron’s “En Marche” (Onwards) political movement was hosted at the private residence of the director of the Institut Montaigne. The institute is a liberal think-tank close to the Mouvement

des Entreprises de France, the largest entre-preneur federation in France which has lobbied against various labour rights.

It is a bit of a contradiction for a man clearly close to France’s top business cir-cles to say that he stands against policies “preserving the privileges of some to the detriment of millions of others”.

The mainstream media has painted a picture of Macron as the only candidate capable of confronting the danger that the extreme right candidate Marine Le Pen poses. But any candidate, whether on the left or right, who enjoys popular support, will be able to win the elections over Marine Le Pen in a runoff.

Some media business tycoons have expressed outright support for Macron. Pierre Berge, co-owner of the newspaper Le Monde, has publicly supported him, while Bernard Mourad, deputy managing director of SFR Media, which controls L’Express, Liberation, BFM TV and RMC, resigned from his position to join Macron’s election campaign. Such staunch support from media tycoons cannot but influence the content and discourse of the media out-lets they own.

This way of promoting a particular can-didate and granting him excessive media exposure at the expense of all other candi-dates is a clear case of media bias. Furthermore, framing the electoral compe-tition as an inevitable duel between only two possible candidates - Macron, who would be “France’s saviour”, and Le Pen, who would be the ultimate threat to society - can only aim to create a sense of urgency among vot-ers to support the former.

Thus a media machine owned by busi-ness tycoons is manufacturing popular consent around a candidate supported by financial circles which are far from con-cerned with democratic ethics or the general population’s interests.

George Orwell once wrote: “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” Well, in present times, French mainstream media are surely not revolutionary!

Promoting a particular candidate and granting him excessive media exposure at the expense of all other candidates is a clear case of media bias.

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-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDmsalim@pen.com.qa

Israel has again ridiculed the world and expressed its deep contempt for international laws and the rights of Palestinians by announcing new settlement construction. The

Israeli cabinet gave unanimous backing on Thursday for the first officially sanctioned newsettlement in the occupied West Bank in more than 20 years. The announcement is a direct challenge even to US President Donald Trump who is backing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the hilt and has promised to upend the decades-old US foreign policy in favour of Tel Aviv. This is because Trump has undertaken a mission to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and had earlier said that unrestrained settlement building will not help the peace process. But Netanyahu has now thrown the last of the caution to the wind and embarked on the most dangerous phase of his settlement expansion. The latest announcement is also a violation of the settlement construction guidelines presented to the Trump administration. The guidelines were presented as evidence of restraint and a goodwill gesture, but the details seem to indicate the opposite. The new settlement is near Nablus to rehouse illegal Jewish settlers from the Amona outpost, which was demolished on the instruction of an Israeli court.

Palestinians have been saying that the settle-ment expansion is the biggest impediment to peace, and peace talks cannot restart unless Israel halts the con-struction. Netanyahu too understands this and he has unleashed an unprecedented con-struction with the sinister motive of killing the peace process. His latest move could be part of an agenda to sabotage the ‘peace

process’ which the Trump team is planning. By planning more construction, he hopes to further infuriate the Palestinians while the Trump adminis-tration watches helplessly. Interestingly, reacting to Thursday’s development, the White House yester-day cautioned Israel on ‘unrestrained settlement building, while in the same statement giving a green signal to Netanyahu for more settlements. “While the existence of settlements is not in itself an impediment to peace, further unrestrained settle-ment activity does not help advance peace,” a White House official said. It flies in the face of com-mon sense how an administration that completely sides with the aggressor hopes to negotiate a solu-tion to an intractable conflict. Trump is either foolish or naïve, and abject failure is likely to be the most natural outcome of his half-baked efforts.

The new Israeli settlement guidelines have set off alarm bells for a different reason - they go beyond the agreement between the late Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and George W Bush for settlement construction and far beyond what the Obama administration called for.

Israeli arrogance

Netanyahu could be looking to sabotage Trump’s so-called peace efforts by announcing a new settlement construction.

ED ITOR IAL

Dan Perry &Susannah GeorgeAP

Zahra Mahmoud HusseinAl Jazeera

09SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017 OPINION

international airport for a holiday. He has been working in the field of media and journalism for more than 29 years. During those years, he con-veyed the voices of Egyptians, their happy and sad moments, their needs and creative projects. And when the crowds revolted, he rushed to convey the voice of his homeland to the entire world.

Hussein started his career working with the Egyptian Al Ahram newspaper, then at

Mosul shows difficulty of removing militants

As the fight for the Iraqi city of Mosul drags on, many might ask: Why has it taken the combined militaries of the United States and Iraq backed by an international coa-lition more than two years to dislodge a

relatively small force of militants lacking heavy weaponry?

Donald Trump raised the question during his campaign, promising to turn up the heat against the Islamic State group if he became president. Now the growing controversy over the high number of civilian casualties believed caused by recent US airstrikes has touched on a major part of the answer: The mili-tants are mingled among tens of thousands of civilians in Mosul and are willing to take the popula-tion down with them.

Inevitably, the more force brought to bear to crush the fighters, the greater the danger civilians will be killed. To avoid that, strikes must be more surgical and more cautiously used, and the battle turns to street-by-street fighting where the techno-logical edge is often neutralised. Minimising civilian deaths is more than just a humanitarian concern: Heavy bloodshed can fuel public resentments that push some to join militant groups.

Another factor is whether the extremists have support from at least part of the population. It’s even further complicated if they can claim to be fighting for national liberation — as, for example, with the Hamas group in its battles with Israel in Gaza. In Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State group clearly holds the population hostage in many cases, but it also seeks to sway some support by claiming to defend Sunnis against a mostly Shiite force from Baghdad.

After a March 17 explosion that residents say killed at least 100 people in Mosul, the US military acknowledged an airstrike was involved. But the top commander of US forces in Iraq said investigations may reveal a more complicated explanation, includ-ing the possibility that militants rigged the building with explosives after forcing civilians inside.

Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend said recent civilian casualties in Mosul were “fairly predictable” given the densely populated urban neighbourhoods the IS fighters are defending against Iraqi troops.

Over the past 2½ years, Iraqi forces backed by US special forces and coalition airstrikes have managed to push IS out of most of the territory they overran in the summer of 2014 — retaking three major cities and numerous smaller communities. The fight for

Mosul, launched in mid-October, has been the long-est battle yet. With each fight, the Islamic State group has adapted its use of civilians as human shields, cre-ating increasingly deadly battlefields.

In Tikrit and Sinjar, IS let the population flee early on, allowing Iraqi and coalition forces to liber-ally use airstrikes and artillery to retake the areas by the autumn of 2015.

IS then tightened its grip on other cities and towns. It locked down Ramadi in western Anbar province with checkpoints to prevent civilians from fleeing. Only those with serious health conditions were allowed out — and only if they left behind a rel-ative, property or thousands of dollars to guarantee their return.

After Iraqi forces punched into Ramadi, fleeing IS fighters forced civilians to go with them to thwart airstrikes. Moving west along the Euphrates River, Iraq’s military responded to the use of human shields by largely emptying towns of their populations as they retook territory. The massive displacement resulted in humanitarian crises. Thousands were left without shelter and little food or water in desert camps.

So the government changed tactics. It asked civil-ians to stay in their homes, a decision that was controversial with commanders faced with clearing militants from dense residential areas.

In Mosul, an estimated 1 million people were in the city when Iraqi forces breached its eastern edge. IS fighters fired from the rooftops of homes where civilians sheltered, targeting those who fled with mortars and gunfire. In denser neighborhoods, even

precision munitions inflicted heavy casualties. In western Mosul, IS fighters forced civilians into explo-sives-rigged homes, then took up positions on the roofs, Iraqi and coalition officials said.

A similar battle looms in the Islamic State group’s Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.

There, the militants have taken even greater pains to trap the population. Land mines and check-points circle the city. And all the men have been ordered to wear the jihadis’ garb of baggy pants and long shirts, making it difficult to distinguish militants from civilians.

The US has faced backlash over civilian deaths in nearly all its recent conflicts — Korea, Vietnam, and more recently Iraq and Afghanistan. Public fury in Iraq and Afghanistan over deaths in airstrikes and at checkpoints and abuses by US troops has been a major factor shaping the evolution of US tactics since 9/11. The response has been to turn increasingly to special operations forces and armed drones and to work with local fighters.

In Iraq from 2005 to 2007, the more secretive elements of U.S. special operations, led by Lt Gen Stanley McChrystal, combined intelligence with night raids to capture or kill insurgents, including the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. This — and the enlisting of Sunni tribesmen to fight the insurgents — proved far more effective than con-ventional forces kicking in doors.

Still, drone strikes that kill civilians continue to raise an outcry in Yemen, Pakistan and elsewhere.

And militants also evolve. Al Qaeda in Iraq was all but extinguished by 2009, but a kernel of militant

Do other people feel the days passing by as we do? Oh, Dad! We are counting every hour, minute and second. One hun-dred days have passed since

you were taken away from us, handcuffed and exhausted. No matter how hard you had worked and how little you had slept, you called us every single day to check on us. We no longer receive those calls.

Millions of Egyptians live abroad to earn their living and secure a decent life for their families. One of them is my father, Mah-moud Hussein (pictured). He never got used to staying away from his country and family for a long time. Still, he put up with living abroad and was satisfied with his fre-quent visits to check on the big family he takes care of.

However, his last visit to Egypt was different. This time, he was welcomed with handcuffs on his hands instead of his family’s embrace, and he stayed in dark detention cells instead of his warm bed among his caring family. He has always been described as the “soul” of the family, as he brings life to it when everyone, old and young, gathers around him.

Hussein, an Egyptian journalist, was arrested after arriving at Cairo’s

Hundred days without my father

Iraqi security forces drive past civilians fleeing their homes in Mosul’s old city, yesterday.

the radio station, and later in the Egyptian TV news sector. He later joined a number of Arab TV channels until he eventually joined Al Jazeera.

Everybody knows he works there, and his work proves how professional his performance is. If the people who detained him tried to Google his name, they would find what an honourable and professional man he is. They would real-ise that my father has never said a single word that harms the interests of his homeland.

If they go through the history of his life, they would find nothing but good deeds and virtues. “Your message is your manners and principles, and the evidence to that is your work” - a sentence that my father was always repeating to us to strengthen the foundation of our thinking.

Mahmoud Hussein is a good father and friend. He encouraged us to study the Holy Quran, and at the same time took us to the theatre and made us listen to music to nourish our souls with art and melodies.

He explained to us the different kinds of art and music until we developed excellent skills to distinguish the exquisite genres of art. He introduced us to all kinds of books, poetry, literature, philosophy, history and languages to enable us to absorb as much information as possible.

He took us to visit old cafes to get to know the ancient and eternal roots of the Egyptian spirit. He also got us deeply involved in all the developments under way in our country so we would never fall behind. My father has taught us how to face challenges and keep going. We are still inspired by him to keep going. But what we cannot understand is why my father has been in detention for 100 days on false charges. There is no case or reason for this that I can explain to my little siblings.

Why do we have to spend our days off standing in long queues in extremely cold weather or under the burning sun waiting to visit him in jail? Why do we need permits to meet him or wait to just hear his voice while being transported in a tiny vehicle? That is what he never prepared us for!

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leaders who met in US-run prisons transformed it into the Islamic State group by exploiting Iraq’s Sunni-Shia divide, which worsened after US forces left in 2011.

Minimising civilian deaths is more than just a humanitarian concern: Heavy bloodshed can fuel public resentments that push some to join militant groups.

Zahra, daughter of detained Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein, writes about her father’s legacy.

10 SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017AMERICAS

The Ecuadorean presidential candidate for Creating Opportunities party, Guillermo Lasso (centre), speaks during the closing rally of his campaign in Guayaquil, ahead of the April 2 run-off election.

Wooing voters

Court move flayedThe court move brought condemnations and concern from the United States, Organisation of American States, European Union, major Latin American nations and the top UN human rights official.

Caracas

Agencies

Venezuelan opposition protests began and foreign pressure mounted yesterday over a court takeo-

ver of Congress that many viewed as a lurch into dictator-ship by a leftist government grappling with a plunge in popularity.

“We will not accept usurpa-tion by the Supreme Court,” said a student group in Caracas marching to the nation’s top tri-bunal which has assumed the functions of the opposition-led National Assembly .

Elsewhere, protesters blocked a main Caracas motor-way, joined by opposition lawmaker Miguel Pizarro.

“We mustn’t give up or stop, we have to demand our rights,” he said.

Having already shot down most of the National Assembly’s measures since the opposition won control in 2015, the

pro-Maduro court this week said it was assuming the legislature’s functions because it was in “con-tempt” of the law.

Outraged foes of President Nicolas Maduro accused him of staging a “coup” against an elected body.

The court move also brought condemnations and concern from the United States, Organi-sation of American States (OAS), European Union, major Latin American nations and the top UN human rights official.

Ally Russia, however, bucked the trend in a statement on Fri-day urging the world to leave Venezuela alone.

“External forces should not add fuel to the fire to the conflict inside Venezuela,” it said. “We are confident in the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.”

OAS head Luis Almagro has been pushing for its suspension from the 34-nation regional bloc and wants an emergency meeting after the latest developments.

“It’s false there has been a coup d’etat in Venezuela,” Ven-ezuela’s foreign ministry said, alleging a regional right-wing conspiracy against it.

“On the contrary, institu-tions have adopted legal correctives to stop the deviant and coup-seeking actions of opposition parliamentarians openly in contempt of decisions by the republic’s maximum tribunal.”

Venezuela’s opposition Dem-ocratic Unity coalition, made up of about two dozen parties and groups, declared itself in

“permanent session” and prom-ised rolling street protests.

Meanwhile, Venezuela’s attorney general surprisingly broke ranks with Maduro yes-terday, condemning Supreme

Court rulings that consolidated the socialist president’s power as a “rupture of constitutional order.”

Attorney General Luisa Ortega is the first high-level

official in Venezuela to criticize court rulings this week that effectively dissolved the oppo-sition-majority legislature and revoked lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution.

Washington

AFP

Michael Flynn has “a story to tell,” his lawyer said yesterday, amid reports

that the ousted US national security adviser has offered to testify in exchange for immu-nity about potential ties between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia.

Flynn proposed his deal to Federal Bureau of Investigation and House and Senate intelli-gence committees, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A close adviser of Trump’s 2016 campaign, Flynn was forced to step down just weeks into the security job last month.

His resignation came after it emerged that he made mislead-ing statements about talks he held

with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during presidential tran-sition concerning Washington’s sanctions on Moscow.

The Journal said it wasn’t clear what exactly Flynn had offered to discuss. But it quoted one unnamed official as saying the retired army general’s bid for immunity suggested poten-tial “legal jeopardy” for him.

Robert Kelner, a lawyer for Flynn, said “General Flynn cer-tainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should circumstances permit.

“Out of respect for the com-mittees, we will not comment right now on the details of dis-cussions between counsel for General Flynn and the House and Senate intelligence commit-tees, other than to confirm that those discussions have taken

place,” the lawyer added.The New York Times quoted

a congressional official as say-ing investigators are wary of cutting a deal with Flynn until they are further along in their probe and have a better idea of what information Flynn might offer.

The Times also quoted an expert as urging caution over Flynn’s offer of testimony.

“At this early stage, I wouldn’t read anything into this request beyond smart lawyer-ing,” Mark Zaid, a Washington lawyer specialising in national security cases, was quoting as saying by the Times.

“In such a politically charged, high-profile national security case, I couldn’t imag-ine not first asking for immunity,” he added.

Atlanta

Reuters

A BRIDGE on Interstate 85 in Atlanta collapsed yesterday as a fire raged beneath it, author-ities said, sending black smoke into air and briefly causing a fireball before the structure fell in on itself.

There were no immedi-ate reports of casualties in the incident, which snarled traf-fic for miles (km).

“We are trying to assess the damage and determine how quick we can repair it,” Republican Georgia Gover-nor Nathan Deal told a news conference.

Black smoke billowed so thickly from the bridge in the heart of Atlanta that area res-idents told local media they thought a storm was coming or that the sun had set early when the fire started at around 6 p.m. local time.

Then flames rose several stories high from under the bridge before a section col-lapsed around 7:30 p.m., even as dozens of firefighters fought it, causing a brief fireball.

Hours after the collapse, vehicles were still stuck try-ing to get off the highway.

Washington

Reuters

Senators Joe Manchin and Heidi Heitkamp yesterday became the first Democrats

to support the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, giving Republicans two of eight Democratic votes needed to avoid a nasty fight on the US Senate floor next week.

Both West Virginia’s Manchin

and North Dakota’s Heitkamp are up for re-election next year in states that voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

“I hold no illusions that I will agree with every decision Judge Gorsuch may issue in future, but I have not found any reasons why this jurist should not be a Supreme Court justice,” Manchin said.

Heitkamp said Gorsuch “has a record as a balanced, meticu-lous and well-respected jurist who understands rule of law.”

If confirmed by the Senate to fill a vacancy created by the February 2016 death of conserv-ative Justice Antonin Scalia, Gorsuch, 49, would restore the nine-seat high court’s conserv-ative majority.

Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington state, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois said yesterday said that they would vote against Gorsuch.

Their announcements mean

35 of the 48 Democrats in the 100-seat Senate oppose Gor-such, the Colorado-based federal appellate judge nomi-nated by Trump in January for a lifetime post on the high court.

Most Democrats have said they would back an effort to block a confirmation vote using a procedural hurdle called a fil-ibuster that requires 60 votes to allow a confirmation vote.

But there are some seeking

to avoid such a move, including Chris Coons of Delaware.

“I’m open to anyone who’s got a reasonable suggestion for how we might slow what seems to be an inexorable path towards changing the rules,” Coons said yesterday.

The Senate Judiciary Com-mittee is set to vote on sending the nomination to the Senate floor on April 3. Republican Sen-ate leaders hope to confirm Gorsuch on April 7.

Cape Canaveral, Florida

Reuters

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket recovered at sea from its maiden flight last year

blasted off again from Florida yesterday in the first successful launch of a recycled orbital-class booster, then capped the feat with another return landing on an ocean platform.

The unprecedented twin achievements of re-launching a used rocket and salvaging the vehicle yet again were hailed by billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk as a revolutionary step in his quest to slash launch costs

and shorten intervals between space shots. “This is a huge day,” Musk told reporters after the launch. “My mind’s blown.”

It took Space Exploration Technologies Corp, as the Califor-nia-based company is formally known, 15 years to demonstrate that a rocket typically discarded in the ocean after a single flight could be recovered and reused.

The SpaceX chief executive said his next goal is to turn the booster around for relaunch in 24 hours, a milestone he said could be accomplished before the end of the year.

“The potential is there for (an) over 100-fold reduction in the cost

of access to space. If we can achieve that, it means humanity can become a space-faring civi-lization and be out there among the stars. This is what we want for the future,” he said.

The Falcon 9 booster, which previously flew in April 2016, lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 2227 GMT to put a communica-tions satellite into orbit for Luxembourg-based SES SA.

The booster’s main section then separated from the rest of the rocket and flew itself back to a landing pad in the Atlantic, where it successfully touched down for its second at-sea return.

Protests begin against Venezuelan president

Venezuelan opposition activists scuffle with National Guard personnel during a protest in front of the Supreme Court in Caracas, yesterday.

Former Trump adviser Flynn offers testimony for immunity

Two Democrats back US Supreme Court pickFire collapses portion of highway in Atlanta

SpaceX successfully launches first recycled rocket booster

Space X's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from space launch complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, yesterday.

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6:30 101 East

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15:00 In Search Of Putin's

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05:00 Food Factory

05:24 The Unexplained

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19:30 NASA's

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23:40 The Big Brain

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08:15 Rugged

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10:05 Gangland

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11:00 Life At Vet

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11:55 Bondi Vet

12:50 Snake Sheila

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18:20 Village Vets

18:45 Village Vets

19:15 There's A Rhino

In My House!

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21:05 Pit Bulls &

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22:00 Pit Bulls &

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22:55 Gator Boys

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13:20 Girl Meets World

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17:05 Eco Club

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17:35 Stuck In The

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CROSSWORD

CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

Yesterday's answer

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Get Out (2D/Horror) 10:30am, 12:45, 3:00, 5:15, 7:30, 9:45, 11:55pm & 12:00midnightSmurfs: The Lost Village (Animation) 3D 10:00am, 2:00, 6:00 & 10:00pm 2D 12:00noon, 4:00, 8:00, 11:50pmChips (2D/Action) 10:15am, 12:30, 2:45, 3:00, 5:00, 7:15, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:45pm Power Rangers (2D/Action) 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:00pmKong: Skull Island (2D/Action) 1:30, 6:30 & 11:30pmLife (2D/Thriller) 10:30am, 2:50, 7:10 & 11:30pm Autobahn (2D/Action) 12:40, 5:00 & 9:20pm Killing Ground (2D/Thriller) 10:15am, 4:10 & 10:10pm El Qerd Beytkalem (2D/Arabic) 12:05, 6:00pm & 12:00midnight Daylight’s End (2D) 2:00 & 8:00pm Logan (2D/Action) 10:25am, 3:00, 7:35pm & 12:00midnight 30 Days of 3Izz (2D/Arabic) 1:00, 5:35 & 10:10pm Sleepless (2D/Action) 10:00am, 2:30pm & 12:00midnight Beauty And The Beast Kong (2D IMAX/Fantasy) 10:00am, 2:45, 7:30pm & 12:00midnight 2D 12:00noon, 4:30, 7:00 & 9:30pm Life (2D IMAX/Horror) 12:35, 5:20 & 10:00pm

Naam Shabana (2D/Hindi) 2:30 & 11:00pmSmurfs: The Lost Village (2D/Animation) 2:15, 3:45 & 5:30pm Honey Bee 2 (2D/Malayalam) 5:00pm Dora (2D/Tamil) 11:15pm Northern Lights: A Journey To Love (2D/Tagalog) 7:30pm Killing Ground (2D/Thriller) 9:15pm Beauty & The Beast (2D/Family) 3:00 & 7:15pm Guru (2D/Telugu) 4:45pm Chips (2D/Action) 7:15pm 30 Days of 3Izz (2D/Arabic) 9:00pm Daylight’s End (2D/Action) 9:30pm Get Out (2D/Horror) 11:00pm

Honey Bee 2 (2D/Malayalam) 2:30pm Beauty & The Beast (2D/Family) 2:15 & 7:00pm Chips (2D/Action) 4:30 & 11:30pmSmurfs: The Lost Village (2D/Animation) 2:30, 4:00 & 5:45pm 30 Days of 3Izz (2D/Arabic) 5:00pm Daylight’s End (2D/Action) 7:00pmNorthern Lights: A Journey To Love (2D/Tagalog) 6:15pm Barbie Video Game Hero (2D/Animation) 8:00pm Get Out (2D/Horror) 9:00pm Guru (2D/Telugu) 8:00pm Get Out (2D/Horror) 9:00pm Kavan (2D/Tamil) 10:30pmKilling Ground (2D/Thriller) 11:00pm

Smurfs: The Lost Village (2D/Animation) 2:30, 4:15 & 6:00pm Honey Bee 2 (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 8:30pm Chips (2D/Action) 5:00pmNorthern Lights: A Journey To Love (2D/Tagalog) 7:45pmBeauty & The Beast (2D/Family) 2:00 & 6:30pm Kavan (2D/Tamil) 10:45pmPower Rangers 4:15pm Chips (2D/Action) 5:00 & 8:45pm30 Days of 3Izz (2D/Arabic) 6:45pm Killing Ground (2D/Thriller) 9:30pm Get Out (2D/Horror) 11:00pm Daylight’s End (2D/Action) 11:15pm

Honey Bee 2 (Malayalam) 3:15, 6:00, 8:45 & 11:30pmKavan (Tamil) 12:30, 6:15pm & 01:45pm Dora (Tamil) 12:30, 3:30 & 11:00pmGuru (Telugu) 12:30 & 3:15pm Naam Shabana (Hindi) 6:00 & 11:30pm Ezra (Malayalam) 12:30, 3:15, 6:00, 8:45 & 11:30pm

Power Rangers 2:00, 4:30pm Ezra 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pmChips 2:00, 4:15, 6:30, 8:45 & 11:00pm Beauty & The Beast 7:30 & 10:00pm Dora 5:10 & 11:10pm

AL KHORSmurfs 11:00am, 1:00 & 3:00pm Ezra 11:30am, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm

Kavan 10:30am, 5:15 & 11:00pm Dora 2:30 & 8:15pm Honey Bee 2 1:15 & 11:30pm

Chips 4:00 & 9:15pm Naam Shabana (Hindi) 6:15pm

19SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017 HOME

20 SATURDAY 1 APRIL 2017MORNING BREAK

FAJRSHOROOK

04.09 am

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PRAYER TIMINGS

HIGH TIDE 07:15 - 20:45 LOW TIDE 02:15 - 13:30

Hazy to misty at places at first be-

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23oC 33oC

Las Vegas AFP

20th Century Fox opened day four of CinemaCon with stunning new foot-age from "Alien: Covenant," some CGI apes and a singalong with Aus-

tralian showman Hugh Jackman. The studio has a deserved reputation for razz-

matazz at the annual Las Vegas gathering, and opened this year with an illuminated dance troupe high kicking in the dark to a remix of "There's No Business Like Show Business."

The presentation was book-ended by big Broad-way moments, with "Logan" star Jackman coming onstage to introduce footage from his PT Barnum biopic "The Greatest Showman" as a chorus of sing-ers took to the stage at Caesar's Palace and balloons fell from the ceiling.

Hollywood's biggest studios decamp to Sin City for four days every spring, providing news and foot-age from their upcoming movies to the theater operators who will be showing them. Despite the bells and whistles, Fox's presentation was less star-studded than many of the studios' shows, and there was no word on the progress of James Cameron's now fabled "Avatar" sequels.

But there was a crowd-pleasing start to the show with an appearance from Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn, who star in kidnap comedy "Snatched."

"Goldie Hawn is up here! She is such an inspira-tion to me. I love the way you live," Schumer enthused, noting that her co-star used to be a dancer in Vegas. There were presentations for comedy reboot "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul" and survival drama "The Mountain Between Us,"

starring Idris Elba and Kate Winslet. Then it was onto the main event, with an extended look at "War For The Planet Of The Apes," the third installment in the rebooted series.

The spectacular CGI-laden footage followed Cae-sar, mo-capped by Andy Serkis, and his heavily armed fellow apes as they chase a new character on horseback through a snowy forest.

Fox debuted footage from spy comedy sequel "Kingsman: The Golden Circle," "Red Sparrow," another spy movie starring Jennifer Lawrence and Kenneth Branagh's "Murder On The Orient Express."

And then came the moment much of the crowd had been waiting for, as Ridley Scott appeared on the giant screen to deliver a pre-recorded message intro-ducing "Alien: Covenant."

"What you're about to see is a small window into the hell that awaits our characters as they arrive at a strange new world," Scott said, expressing in strong language his hope that the footage would cause audi-ence members to lose control of their bowel movements. "Alien: Covenant," due out on May 19, is the follow-up to "Prometheus" in the "Alien" pre-quel trilogy, and the sixth film overall in the series.

Fox serves up apes and aliens at CinemaCon

A view of the stage at the Big Screen Achievement Awards during CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada, US.

New York

Reuters

A photograph of Harriet Tubman, believed to be the earliest-known image of the anti-slavery cru-sader and showing her as younger than she is

normally depicted, is up for auction in New York.The photograph, previously unseen by scholars,

shows Tubman in her late 40s, wearing an intricately decorated blouse and voluminous skirt, and sitting in a chair, leaning one arm on its back.

“It’s quite remarkable: This is what she looked like in her prime Civil War period when she was working as a spy for Lincoln,” Wyatt Day, the specialist organ-izing the sale at Swann Auction Galleries, said in a telephone interview.

He noted the photograph was taken about three years after the American Civil War ended in 1865. “All of the images show her as an older woman, maybe in her 70s. She looks a bit tired, and here she looks vibrant and strong.”

Kate Clifford Larson, a historian and Tubman biog-rapher, said the photograph, which was brought to Swann last year after being purchased at auction by a collector of vintage photos about 10 years ago, could help the public “reimagine” Tubman.

“There are so many details about it that are thrill-ing,” she said in a phone interview. “She’s so much younger and she’s dressed so beautifully, so it helps us look at her in a different way.”

Tubman, who escaped from slavery in Maryland when she was in her 20s, later led dozens of black slaves

to freedom using the Underground Railroad and became a Union Army spy during the Civil War and women’s suffragist.

The US Treasury Department said last year it planned to put her on the face of the $20 bill, replacing former President Andrew Jackson, making her the first African-American so honored.

The photograph for auction is in the form of a carte de visite, a 19th-century custom in which people would leave photos of themselves as a calling card.

Rare image of Harriet Tubman is up for auction in New York

The unusual approach of removing anti-bodies from the blood stream can reduce the effects of chronic infec-

tions, according to a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Crit-ical Care Medicine.

In the study, two patients with bron-chiectasis who suffered from chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections that were resistant to many antibiotics; a 64-year-old male, diagnosed with bron-chiectasis aged fifteen, and a 69-year-old female who had bronchiectasis from childhood.

"These patients had an excess of a par-ticular antibody in the bloodstream. In contrast to the protective effect normally associated with the antibody, in these patients the antibody stopped the immune system killing the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium and this worsened the patients' lung disease," Ian Henderson, Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham said explaining the study. "We decided to remove this antibody from the bloodstream and the outcomes were wholly positive," he said. "This shows that we can improve patient well being significantly, by reducing the need for treatment and the numbers of days spent in hospital," he added.

London

Reuters

“This is nice, it tickles me,” Kaspar the social robot tells four-year-old Finn as they

play together at an autism school north of London.

Kaspar, developed by the Univer-sity of Hertfordshire, also sings song, imitates eating, plays the tambourine and combs his hair during their ses-sions aimed at helping Finn with his social interaction and communication. If Finn gets too rough, the similarly sized Kaspar cries:

“Ouch, that hurt me.” A therapist is on hand to encourage the child to rectify his behaviour by tickling the robot’s feet.

Finn is one of around 170 autistic children that Kaspar has helped in a handful of schools and hospitals over

the last 10 years. But with approxi-mately 700,000 people in Britain on the autism spectrum, according to the National Autistic Society who will mark World Autism Day on Sunday, the uni-versity want Kaspar to help more people. “Our vision is that every child in a school or a home or in a hospital could get a Kaspar if they wanted to,” Kerstin Dautenhahn, professor of arti-ficial intelligence at the University of Hertfordshire, told Reuters.

Achieving that goal will largely depend on the results of a two-year clinical trial with the Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, which, if suc-cessful, could see Kaspar working in hospitals nationwide. TRACKS, an independent charity and specialist early years centre for children with autism in Stevenage, have seen posi-tive results from working with Kaspar, who sports a blue cap and plaid shirt

for play sessions. “We were trying to teach a little boy how to eat with his peers. He usually struggled with it because of his anxiety issues,” said deputy principal Alice Lynch. “We started doing it with Kaspar and he

really, really enjoyed feeding Kaspar, making him eat when he was hungry, things like that. Now he’s started to integrate into the classroom and eat alongside his peers. So things like that are just a massive progression.”

Robot helping autistic children with their social skills

New treatment for antibiotic resistant bacteria developed

LEFT; Kaspar, a child-sized humanoid robot at the University of Hertfordshire in Stevenage, Britain. RIGHT; Harrison, who is autistic, plays with Kaspar.