qatar, belgium sign deals to boost ties 7 march 2018 home 03 over 1,000 guests to ﬂy in for indian...

Volume 22 | Number 7458 | 2 RiyalsWednesday 7 March 2018 | 19 Jumada II I 1439 www.thepeninsula.qa

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BUSINESS | 21 SPORT | 35

LEFT: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani meeting with H M King Philippe of Belgium at the Royal Palace of Brussels yesterday. ABOVE: H H the Emir and his accompanying delegation holding official talks with Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel, and other dignitaries from the Belgian side.

Emir sends greetings to Ghana PresidentQNA

DOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent yesterday a cable of congratulations to President of the Republic of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day.

Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani also sent similar cables.

Qatar, Belgium sign deals to boost ties

QNA

BRUSSELS: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met yesterday with H M King Philippe of Belgium at the Royal Palace of Brussels.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed bilateral relations and exchanged views on a

number of topics of mutual interest.

H H the Emir and the King of Belgium met with a number of businessmen, investors and chairpersons of major firms in Qatar and Belgium who are taking part in the Qatari-Belgian Business Forum, organised by the Ministry of Economy and

Commerce and Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the Belgian company union, during a reception ceremony that was held for that occasion at the union’s premises in Brussels.

H H the Emir and the King of Belgium exchanged views with a number of participant

businessmen on opportunities of enhancing economic cooper-ation, trade exchange and investment between the two friendly countries.

H H the Emir also attended a luncheon banquet hosted by the King of Belgium in honour of H H the Emir and the accom-panying delegation at the Royal

Palace of Brussels.Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin

Hamad Al Thani and Prime Min-ister of Belgium, Charles Michel, also held a round of official talks at the Cabinet’s headquarters at Egmont Palace in the capital, Brussels.

→CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

H H the Emir meets King of Belgium; holds talks with Belgian PM

Whopping rise in bulk cargo traffic at Hamad Port in FebruaryDOHA: Hamad Port has received 120 commercial vessels in February.

The largest port in the region handled 55,862 tonnes of bulk cargo compared to 9,890 tonnes of bulk cargo in January, showing a whopping rise of 465 percent.

The Port handled 103,735 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) containers and 94,796 tonnes of break bulk cargo, according to Qterminals. A total of 4,845 vehicles and 50,000 cattle heads were handled by the port last month.

January was remarkable month for Hamad port as it received a total of 182 vessels during this month, which was the highest number of vessels handled in a month since the start of its operations.

The port had handled 103,996 TEUs containers, 136,511 tonnes break bulk cargo, 152,671 vehicles and 90,099 heads of cattle in January this year.

The ports in the country had shown a strong performance last year, which assumes importance as siege was

announced by the blockading countries in June last year.

The ports, specially Hamad Port, have played a crucial role in ensuring the uninterrupted and smooth supply of goods for residents.

In 2017, the ports in Qatar handled 1.26 million tonnes of general cargo, 772,835 TEUs containers, 857,429 cattle heads and 578,654 tonnes of aggregates and 3,869 vessels.

The positive momentum in the country’s maritime trade will get stronger in the ongoing year as Qatar has opened new trade routes and has diversified its source of supply.

Mwani Qatar in cooper-ation with partners had, in the second half of 2017, inaugu-rated a number of new direct shipping lines between Hamad Port and other ports in the region and beyond.

Hamad port is capable of handling 5,000 vessels per year and has a general cargo ter-minal that can handle 1.7 million tonnes of general goods per year.

The Port aims to capture 35 percent of the trade in the Middle East in the next two years.

SACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Qatar and Swiss Attorney Generals review cooperationBERN: Qatar’s Attorney General H E Dr Ali bin Fetais Al Marri, who is currently visiting Bern, met with Attorney General of the Swiss Republic, Michael Lauber. They exchanged views on a number of issues of mutual interest and discussed ways of cooperation in the fight against terrorism and its financing, combating reli-gious extremism and coop-eration in anti-corruption issues. Both sides agreed to exchange workshop sessions on the criminal systems between the two friendly countries and to find channels for direct communication.

‘Qatar’s economy overcomes regional and global challenges’

BRUSSELS: The Qatari economy has been able to overcome various regional and global challenges through the implementation of a strong strategy to diversify sources of income and support the private sector to be an active partner in achieving sustainable development, said Minister of Economy and Commerce H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani.

This came during the opening of the Belgian-Qatari Business Forum organised by the Ministry of Economy and Commerce in conjunction with the official visit of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the Kingdom of Belgium, in col-laboration with the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and the Belgian Association of Companies.

The forum was aimed at enhancing economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two sides and opening up prospects for communication between rep-resentatives of the Qatari and Belgian private sector to establish investment projects that serve the interests of the two countries.

→ FULL REPORT ON PAGE 20

02 WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018HOME

Emir & King of Belgium review bilateral relations

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met with H M King Philippe of Belgium at the Royal Palace of Brussels. The two sides reviewed bilateral relations and exchanged views on a number of topics of mutual interest. H H the Emir and the King met with a number of businessmen, investors and chairpersons of major firms in Qatar and Belgium. Separately, H H the Emir and Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel, witnessed the signing of two cooperation agreements between the two countries. H H the Emir also met with President of the Senate of Belgium, Christine Defraigne; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Jifred Prabki, as well as a number of members of the Belgian Parliament.

Qatar & Belgium sign deals to boost ties

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1At the outset of the session, the

Prime Minister of Belgium wel-comed H H the Emir and the official delegation, expressing his delight at the visit of H H the Emir to Belgium, which will enhance bilateral relations. H H the Emir expressed his thanks for being invited to visit Belgium, which will help in developing bilateral rela-tions in the different fields.

The session discussed means of boosting mutual cooperation in the fields of energy, economy, investment, culture, sport and health. H H the Emir and the Prime Minister exchanged views on regional and international devel-opments, particularly the current challenges in the Middle East and Europe, notably the phenomenon of terrorism and means of com-bating and uprooting it as well as eliminating its sources of financing.

An official reception cer-emony was held for H H the Emir upon his arrival at the Cabinet’s headquarters. H H the Emir and the Belgian Prime Minister also witnessed the signing of two coop-eration agreements including an air services agreement that facil-itates the operation of commercial flights between the two countries. The agreement includes granting the rights to designated carriers to operate from and to the two coun-tries, aviation security, and other articles that facilitate the operation between the two parties for car-riers. H H the Emir and the Prime Minister also witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between Qatar University and the University of Hasselt in the Kingdom of Belgium, aimed at strengthening academic and research cooperation and exchanging experiences and visits between researchers, students and faculty members.

The banquet, talks session and the signing ceremony were also

attended by Their Excellencies members of the official accompa-nying delegation and a number of Ministers and senior officials from the Belgian side.

H H the Emir also met with President of the Senate of Belgium, Christine Defraigne, and the Speaker the House of Represent-atives, Jifred Prabki, as well as a number of members of the Belgian Parliament. They reviewed a number of issues of mutual interest, especially the prospects for cooperation between the two countries, in addition to the latest

regional and international developments.

Upon arrival at the parliament premises, H H the Emir toured the building accompanied by the Pres-ident of Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, where the Emir was briefed about the history of the parliament premises and the legislative and supervisory functions of the two councils and their rules of pro-cedure. H H the Emir was accom-panied by Their Excellencies members of the official delegation.

03WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018 HOME

Over 1,000 guests to fly in for Indian weddingTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Visa-free entry for Indians into Qatar has opened doors for some unique oppor-tunities in the tourism sector as an Indian couple has chosen Doha as the venue for their destination wedding.

To be held at The Ritz-Carlton Doha, the wedding will see more than 1,000 guests flown in from all over the world. The wedding party has booked the entire hotel, all 374 rooms, for the event and the celebra-tion will continue for three days including a musical evening by renowned Indian pop band Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.

According to the general manager of the hotel, the nego-tiations to finalise the venue have been going on for almost a year. The family was looking at a few other options also including a few in other GCC countries. But finally they chose Doha and The Ritz-Carlton.

“The fact that we have a wonderful and newly renovated property went in our favour, but what really clinched the deal is the announcement by the Qatar government in August 2017 allowing citizens of 80 countries visa-free entry to the country. We were also able to anticipate and cater to every need of the family and this created an emo-tional engagement with them,” Erden Kendigelen, General Man-ager, The Ritz-Carlton, said.

The hotel has roped in prominent names from the world of Indian traditional wed-dings to orchestrate the three-day affair. The luxury wedding planners Divinity Weddings, famed decor designer Heena Patel of Amaahyaaj in Vadodara and Mumbai’s prominent gourmet vegetarian catering company Popular Caterers will

work closely with The Ritz-Carlton Doha teams. Some of them are already here getting the preparation going. To get the authentic feeling right the hotel is procuring a great many things straight from India. They had shipped in two containers full of kitchen equipment to prepare the traditional food for the guests.

The Ritz-Carlton Doha wants the event to be a show-piece event and the first in many. They are not new to hosting weddings as they host around 200 local weddings a year including 5-6 VIP wed-dings. But what makes this dif-ferent is the fact that a huge number of people are flying in to attend a traditional Indian wedding infused with Arabic

elegance. This also puts Qatar in the tourism map for destina-tion weddings, which is very popular among Indian elites.

“We have put in a lot of effort into planning the nitty-gritties along with the family and the professionals from India. We even attended a tra-ditional marriage ceremony in India to understand the require-ments better. There is a lot of excitement among the ladies and gentlemen of the hotel as this is a great opportunity to showcase our property and also Qatar as a destination for such huge events,” Kendigelen added.

The hotel with the help of various government bodies like QTA and Qatar Airways have arranged for a smooth arrival and custom procedures at the airport. Around 100 families will stay back after the wedding for a tour of Qatar. During the cer-emonial days, Ritz is planning short trips for guests to Museum of Islamic Art, Souq Waqif and shopping centres.

“Our ultimate goal is to pro-mote our destination and show-case the proud Qatari heritage while our guests experience a memorable, unique and unforget-table comfort that will stay with them forever,” a hotel spokes-person said.

A special team has been formed to take care of the guests, right from the arrival at the airport to their departure, and assist them throughout the three-day event.

Prime Minister arrives in Algeria

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani arrived yesterday in Algiers to take part in 35th session of Arab Interior Ministers, scheduled today. The Prime Minister and the accompanying delegation were welcomed upon arrival at the Presidential Airport by the Algerian Minister of Interior, Local Communities and Urban Planning, Noureddine Bedoui; the Secretary-General of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, Dr Mohammad bin Ali Koman; the Governor of Algiers, Abdelkader Zoukh; the President of the Municipality of Ad-dar Al-baya in Algiers, Qamqmani Elias, the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Algeria, Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al Sahlawi, and members of the Qatari Embassy.

To be held at The Ritz-Carlton Doha, the wedding party has booked the entire hotel, all 374 rooms, for the event and the celebration will continue for three days including a musical evening by renowned Indian pop band Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.

Qatari engineers highly competentDOHA: Qatari engineers graduated in Qatar or abroad are highly competent, said Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, President of Kahramaa at a ceremony held here yesterday to mark Engineer’s Day. He said that Kahramaa is playing its role in providing Qatari engi-neers skills and experiences required to start the prac-tical life. “We have big number of Qatari engineers – both male and female — to supervise the implementation of the projects, manage the assets of the corporation and monitor the network and other facilities of Kahramaa,” he said.

Kahamaa hosted President of Ashghal, Dr Eng Saad bin Ahmad Al Muhannadi as chief guest. A number of other dignitaries, including Abdulaziz Ali Al Ishaq, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Society for Engineers, and various officials attended the event. Students of engineering courses from QU and HBKU also attended the event. Engineer’s Day aims at promoting engineers’ role and their affilia-tion to the Corporation as well as creating awareness about challenging and best practices in this field.

Kahramaa President Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari (left) and Ashghal President Dr Eng Saad bin Ahmad Al Muhannadi (right) honouring a participant at the Engineer’s Day event yesterday

Erden Kendigelen, General Manager, The Ritz-Carlton.


Ooredoo to support Katara Beach Volleyball CupDOHA: Ooredoo announced yesterday it is the Official Telecommunications Partner of the 2018 Katara Beach Volleyball Cup. This is the second competition in the tournament, which is part of the International Volleyball Federation season.

The Katara Beach Vol-leyball Cup taking place from March 6 to 10 and see the par-ticipation of 56 teams from 28 different countries.

The total prize money for contests will be $150,000 and as Official Telecommuni-cation Sponsors, Ooredoo will ensure seamless access to the Supernet for athletes and vis-itors at the tournament venue.

Talking about the spon-sorship, Manar Khalifa Al Muraikhi, Director of PR and Corporate Communications, Ooredoo, said: “Ooredoo is happy to once again support the Katara Beach Volleyball Cup and wish all participants the best of luck. We encourage everyone to head along and support this event, to show the world that Qatar is passionate about sports.”

DIFI to host forum on Political Participation and Arab Women as Agents of ChangeTHE PENINSULA

DOHA:THE Doha International Family Institute (DIFI), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), will hold an open forum titled Political Participation and Arab Women as Agents of Change on March 11, in cele-bration of International Women’s Day in Qatar.

The event, organised in col-laboration with Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s College of Humanities & Social Sciences, will include a panel discussion on the rationale, challenges, and opportunities of women in par-liament in the Arab region and will explore the social barriers to women’s political partici-pation. In addition, the forum, to be held at the Qatar National Convention Centre, will open the floor to topics such as Qatari

women in parliament and the impact of their representation in influencing policy-making.

Noor Al Malki Al-Jehani, Executive Director, DIFI, said: “This event seeks to analyze the current situation of women in parliament, with particular emphasis on women’s lead-ership and participation in decision-making in the Arab region and at international level. The event aims to examine the links between women’s presence in decision-making and their impact on improving living conditions for families, communities, and societies as a whole.

“This discussion forum will also shed light on the recent steps taken by Qatar to nom-inate four female members to the Shura Council, which rep-resents an important historic

milestone in the process of empowering Qatari women,” added Al-Jehani.

Panel speakers will include female members of the Qatari Shura Council, Dr. Hend Al Muftah and Reem Mohammed Al Mansouri; Nashia Al Kharoosi, Member of State Council & Council Bureau in Oman; and Dr Ghadeer Al Assiri, a researcher and political activist from Kuwait. The event will also gather representatives from civil society and academia.

DIFI is a global policy and advocacy institute working to advance knowledge on Arab families through research and promote evidence-based polices at a national, regional, and international level. The institute has special consultative status with the United Nations Eco-nomic and Social Council.

Ooredoo sponsors kite festivalDOHA: Ooredoo announced yesterday that it is an official sponsor of the Aspire Inter-national Kite Festival. The second Aspire International Kite Festival will take place at Aspire Park from March 6 -9 and is set to attract visitors from across the region and internationally.

As part of the compa-ny’s sponsorship agreement, Ooredoo will ensure its award-winning Supernet is available at Aspire Park for all media and visitors.

Manar Khalifa Al Muraikhi, Director of PR and Corporate Communica-tions, Ooredoo, said: “We’re delighted to once again be sup-porting such a family-friendly event in Qatar and encourage everyone to come along, enjoy the nice weather and perhaps take up a new hobby”.

This is the latest in a host of sponsorship announcements in 2018 for Ooredoo, as the company continues to support local events and organisations.

Qatar emphasises importance of coordination on nuclear safetyQNA

VIENNA: The State of Qatar stressed the importance of combining national efforts and measures with regional and international measures and adhering to the Vienna Declaration on Nuclear Safety of 2015 in order to confront any transboundary nuclear and radiological incidents.

In a statement delivered by H E Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani, per-manent representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and inter-national organisations in Vienna, to the session of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held in Vienna, the State of Qatar urged all countries with existing or under-established power reactors to pay

greater attention to this subject and apply all safety standards to their facil-ities and inform member states, in par-ticular geographically neighbouring states and riparian states, of their pro-cedures and allow visits by scientists from states wishing to see the safety of their facilities. Qatar expressed its support for the efforts of IAEA and its Department of Security and Nuclear Safety in supporting the member states to establish a framework for nuclear safety and building national capacities in the field of radiation protection.

Qatar also thanked IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano for organising a training course in Doha last month, whose main objective was to enhance the knowledge, expertise and skills of those working in facilities dealing with

radioactive sources. Qatar stressed the importance of implementing these standards at their highest levels, since they can play an effective role only through the collective cooperation of all member states with IAEA in order to provide the highest safety in nuclear installations and in accordance with the guidelines adopted by IAEA in this area in order to achieve effective control over emergencies in a timely manner.

Sheikh Ali stressed that Qatar looks forward to strengthening its cooperation with IAEA in the future, especially as it is ready to implement ambitious pro-grams in different fields of peaceful uses of nuclear energy and development activities. Qatar also expressed support for IAEA’s actions in terms of enhancing nuclear safety activities.

Number of sold properties up by 18.4% in JanuaryTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Number of sold prop-erties in January increased by 309 properties, registering a monthly increase of 18.4 percent compared to December 2017, said the 49th edition of Qatar Monthly Statistics released yesterday. The total population of Qatar has increased from 2.58 million during January 2017 to more than 2.64 million at end of January 2018, registering an annual increase of 2.6 percent.

The demographic statistics showed that the total population of Qatar has increased from 2.58 million during January 2017 to more than 2.64 million at end of January 2018, registering an annual increase of 2.6 percent.

According to the figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Sta-tistics, 2,231 live births were reg-istered during January 2018 while 209 death cases were recorded. A total of 304 mar-riages were registered during January, whereas the total number of divorces reached 105 cases. In regard to social security value, January 2018 witnessed a significant decrease in number of social security beneficiaries as it reached 13,845 individuals, whereas the total value of social security reached QR77.9bn.

In regard to electricity and water consumption rates, the bulletin showed that the total

electricity utilisation value during January 2018 was 2,316.4 GWh showing a monthly decrease of 0.03 percent compared with last month. The bulletin also showed that the total value of water con-sumption has reached 38392.9 thousand cubic meters during the same month attaining a monthly decrease of 2.9 percent as com-pared with last month.

Total number of building permits reached 941 permits during January 2018, and thus recorded a monthly increase of 34.2 percent in comparison with the previous month December 2017.

A total of 580 traffic cases were recorded during January 2018, showing in a monthly decrease of 6.9 percent com-pared to 623 traffic cases in December 2017.

The bulletin also highlighted that the total number of regis-tered vehicles has reached 6,283 new vehicles during January 2018. The figure has registered a monthly increase of 21.1 percent compared to last December 2017, as the total number of registered vehicles was 5,189 new vehicles.

Total broad money supply (M2) recorded about QR598.9bn during the month of January 2018 showing an annual increase of 19.6 percent compared with January 2017 from last year. On the other hand, cash equivalents (including deposits) were QR803.2bn during January 2018.

Advisory Council Speaker meets envoys

Speaker of the Advisory Council H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud met separately with the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Qatar, Fikret Ozer (pictured); the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Qatar, Hans-Udo Muzel; and the Ambassador of the Argentine Republic to Qatar, Rossana Cecilia Surballe. The meetings reviewed parliamentary relations between Qatar and each of Turkey, Germany, and Argentina along with ways of boosting and developing them.

Ashghal to close Al Matar Street between D-Ring & C-Ring Road for 12 hoursTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ announces the temporary closure of part of Al Matar Street in both directions, between the D-Ring Road and C-Ring Road, in order to install the steel structure of a pedestrian bridge on Al Matar Street. The closure will last for 12 hours, starting from Thursday 11pm until Friday 11am, in coordination with the Traffic Police Department.

During this period, drivers can use the service roads on both sides of Al Matar Street to move between the D-Ring Road and C-Ring Road, and

to reach the neighbouring local roads.Ashghal will install road signs to advice

motorists of the closure. The authority requests all road users to abide by the speed limits, and follow the road signs to ensure their and others safety.

HMC signs agreement with PlanetreeTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Hamad Medical Corpo-ration (HMC) signed a partnership agreement with American healthcare consultants Planetree to collaborate in patient-centred care. The collaboration between HMC and Planetree will strengthen Center for Patient Experience and Staff Engagement (CPESE) capabilities by providing strategic direction and support to further enhance the healthcare providers commitment to ‘putting the patient first.’

The agreement was signed by HMC’s Deputy Chief Quality Officer, Nasser Al Naimi, and Planetree President Dr Susan Frampton.

The agreement will also see HMC work toward attaining the Planetree Person-Centered Care Designation. This accreditation is the only program of its kind and formally recognizes an organisa-tion’s ability to deliver excellence in patient and person-centered care. The accreditation includes empathy and compassion

training for staff and the devel-opment of a framework for deliv-ering an exceptional experience for both the care receiver and giver.

As part of the partnership, HMC and Planetree will develop and host an annual Patient Expe-rience Conference, which will include world-class speakers with knowledge and expertise in the field of patient experience,

improvement science, and patient and family-centered care. “The Planetree designation represents the highest level of achievement in patient-centred care based on evidence and standards. At HMC, this program will drive the overall quality improvement efforts of the organization by identifying

areas of improvement,” Al Naimi said. “The accreditation will also create a sense of achievement and recognition for our staff and the organisation and will gen-erate momentum to further enhance the patient experience. Most importantly, it will act as an assurance to our patients,

endorsing HMC’s resolution to deliver a superior patient expe-rience,” HMC’s deputy chief quality officer added.

Dr Frampton said Planetree is ready to support HMC in further enhancing the organization’s ability to provide a positive patient experience and strengthen its existing culture of empathy and compassion.

“Planetree’s primary focus is the delivery of healthcare in a manner that works best for patients,” Dr Frampton said.

“Planetree has helped healthcare organizations around the world transform how they deliver care by providing a stra-tegic, structured pathway for cre-ating truly patient-centered care. With the goal of radically improving the healthcare expe-rience for patients and staff alike, Planetree is always seeking new and innovative ways to enhance the delivery of care.

“We are excited about this partnership and the profound effect it will have on healthcare in Qatar,” he added.

Nasser Al Naimi, HMC’s Deputy Chief Quality Officer; and Dr Susan Frampton, President of Planetree, with other officials at the signing ceremony.

The collaboration between HMC and Planetree will strengthen Center for Patient Experience and Staff Engagement capabilities by providing strategic direction and support to further enhance the healthcare providers commitment to ‘putting the patient first.’


Pact boosts Qatar-Turkey cultural exchangeTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Cultural Village Founda-tion (Katara) yesterday signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with Global Public Diplomacy Network (GPDN) to enhance cultural exchange between Katara and the network.

Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, signed the agreement with Prof. Dr. Sheref Atesh, President of Yunus Emre Institute and President of GPDN, in the presence of Darweesh Ahmed Al Sheebani, Head of Marketing Department at Katara and acting Katara Cultural Affairs Director, in addition to a Turkish del-egation and media representatives.

Dr. Al Sulaiti expressed his grati-tude and happiness on signing this agreement which aims to promote Katara in the f ield of

international cultural diplomacy and enhance cultural exchange between Katara and GPDN through implemen-tation of bilateral projects and sup-port of joint programmes.

“Katara has achieved a lot in the field of cultural diplomacy especially

within its diversified cultural pro-grammes which promotes the values of tolerance and co-existence,” Dr. Al Sulaiti added.

He highlighted the importance of such cooperation which enables more interaction between people and sup-ports relations between countries and different societies. “Cultural diplo-macy has great impact on people as a “soft power” that strengthens peace around the world, as well as to create mutual grounds between people to overcome any issues or struggles,” Dr. Al Sulaiti explained.

Dr. Atesh said that the agreement includes cooperation in all areas of public diplomacy, to promote the con-cept of cultural exchange between Qatar and Turkey through joint projects that recognise the originality of the cultures of Qatar and Turkey and provide the world with the best image.

Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti and Prof. Dr. Sheref Atesh during the MoC signing.

Oscars chef to take part in QIFF

RAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Fresh from the recently concluded 90th Oscars, Michelin Star chef Wolfgang Puck (pictured) is coming to Doha to take part in the upcoming ninth annual Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) which kicks off on Thursday next week.

The celebrity chef, who has been preparing post-Oscar dinner for the last 24 years, will be featuring on the first two days of the festival at the QIFF Live Cooking Theatre – the centre-piece and one of the most antic-ipated features of the festival, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has announced.

On Sunday, Puck marked his 24th year of preparing sump-tuous dinner for the Governor’s Ball which hosted around 1,500 of the biggest names in Holly-wood including this year’s Oscar winners.

As a long-standing feature at QIFF, a slew of world-renowned chefs have already graced the Live Cooking Theatre

including global lifestyle person-ality Martha Stewart, Australian MasterChef Judge George Calombaris, Food Network’s Andy Bates and Graham Elliot among others. They have shared to food connoisseurs and nov-ices their flair in preparing a variety of cuisines from all over the the world.

This year’s long lineup of celebrity chefs will bring to the table their wealth of experience and varied cultures during the 11-day festival as they take to the Live Cooking The-atre preparing and cooking t h e i r c u l i n a r y masterpieces.

The QIFF 2018 Live Cooking Theatre will feature Qatari chef and food pro-gramme presenter Aisha Al Tamimi, Indian celebrity chef Ajay Chopra, Food Network pastry chef Anna Olson, Kuwaiti celebrity chef Asmaa Al Bahar, the first blind con-testant in US MasterChef and 2012 winner Christine Ha, IDAM Executive Chef Damien Leroux, Kuwaiti Cook Fawaz Al Omaim, Turkish celebrity chef Murat Bozok, Filipino celebrity TV chef Nino Log-arta, Lebanese celebrity chef Ramzi Choueiri, Kuwaiti celebrity TV chef Sulaiman Al Qassar and US Iron Chef Masharu Morimoto.

The Live Cooking The-atre will run daily food pho-tography sessions and con-tests from 4pm to 6pm from 6pm to 10.30pm, guest chefs will share their tips and tricks with a special food theme for each day.

In addition, select 5-star restaurants will be offering cooking classes providing residents and visitors unique opportunity to join

internationally-acclaimed chefs for an interactive cooking and tasting experience. They include IDAM Executive Chef Damien Leroux at IDAM at Museum of Islamic Art, US Iron Chef Masharu Morimoto at Mondrian Hotel and , Food Network pastry chef Anna Olson at Sheraton Doha.

To be held from March 15 to 25 at the Hotel Park, QIFF 2018 brings culinary and cultural

experiences from all corners of the globe through 177 food stalls, food trucks and trolleys, extending over the full 80,000sqm of the park grounds.

The longest-running food fes-tival, this year’s edition has a number of new features such as a mini-zoo, a dedicated coffee zone and free fitness classes in addition to exciting daily live per-formances and cultural shows and breathtaking fireworks display.

QU alumna Sheikha Hanadi honoured at AACSB 2018 Deans Conference in USTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar University College of Business and Economics’ alumna Sheikha Hanadi Nasser bin Khaled Al Thani was recognised at AACSB’s 2018 Deans Conference in the USA, among a group of 29 business pioneers, from 13 industry sectors, whose careers are addressing today’s most pressing social, economic, envi-ronmental, and educational chal-lenges.

Sheikha Hanadi was honoured on the basis of her role as Chairperson of “INJAZ Qatar”, a nonprofit organisa-tion dedicated to educating students on workforce readiness, entrepre-neurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on pro-grams. Sheikha Hanadi established INJAZ Qatar in 2007 and succeeded to reach 32,000 students across more than 60 schools and seven university with the support of 1500 volunteers, more than 75 companies, and the Min-istry of Education. She played key role

in incorporating elements of INJAZ into the ministry’s newly developed Life Skills program, which focuses on developing work readiness skills for students in secondary public schools in Qatar. Sheikha Hanadi’s vision is to inspire and prepare a generation of Qatari youth to draw on their nat-ural talents, inspiration, passion, and determination and become the entre-preneurs of tomorrow who fuel a knowledge-based economy by empowering communities and training the next generation.

“Each honoree from the 2018 class of Influential Leaders reflects the mindset, knowledge, and passion that

impactful business leaders must embody to impart positive change in today’s society,” said Thomas R. Robinson, president and CEO of AACSB. “We would like to thank Sheikha Hanadi Nasser Bin Khaled Al Thani for demonstrating the true excellence and

leadership we wish to see in the world, and we congratulate the College of Business and Economics of Qatar University for their role in helping to mold a new generation of global business leaders dedicated to driving impact that results in global prosperity.”

2018 Influential Leaders class were recognised across three cat-egories, including,Alumni Busi-ness Leaders Working in Non-prof i t or Community-Based Organizations,Alumni Business Leaders Advancing Diversity and Inclusion and Business Leaders Influ-encing Business Education.

National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) Chairman H E Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri met the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey, Fikret Ozer. During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the work of NHRC and means of enhancing cooperation and exchanging experiences between the two sides on human rights issues. Meanwhile, NHRC honoured yesterday its crew members from different services in recognition of their efforts and dedication over the past period, in the presence of representatives of the expat communities residing in Qatar, in order to provide a stimulating environment for work and a culture of appreciation in addition to preserving workers’ rights.

Vodafone Qatar launches Red 500 super planTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Vodafone Qatar continues to innovate with its mobile plan offerings to meet the ever-growing customer demand for richer data bundles in Qatar with the launch of its latest super plan- Red 500, part of their Red portfolio, the coun-try’s most comprehensive and worry-free mobile Postpaid plans.

For the price of QR500 per month, Red 500 has it all including unlimited local calling, 200 International min-utes, 100 Roaming minutes, a generous data offering of 100 GB local and Global Data and a free Star number worth up to the value of QR6000.

Traveling the world is a

breeze as Red 500 customers can roam on any network without restrictions and enjoy the benefit of using all their local in-plan data in 20 coun-tries for free until 31 March 2018. No activation is required – all a customer needs to do is use the internet like they’re at home and their in-plan Voda-fone Global Data will take care of the rest.

Vodafone Global Data is available in the following coun-tries where Vodafone operates: United Kingdom, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Egypt, Spain, Hun-gary, Portugal, Australia, India, Romania, Czech Republic, Ire-land, South Africa, Malta, Neth-erlands, Greece, New Zealand, Albania and Ghana.

“Red 500 is a super addi-tion to our range of Red Postpaid plans and high-lights our focus on continually delivering game changing prod-ucts and serv-ices that enable customers to confidently con-nect to the people and things that matter most. Vodafone Red truly has it all with its suite of unique fea-tures,” said Diego Cam-beros, Commer-cial Director, Vodafone Qatar.

Draw for Lulu-Mahindra XUV500 held Mega draw of Lulu-Mahindra XUV500, which was launched as part of Lulu Ultimate India Fest 2018, was held yesterday at Lulu Hypermarket, D-Ring Road branch under the supervision of Mohammed Jassim Al Thani, Inspector from the Ministry of Business and Trade, wherein Jefferson Tan (Coupon No.13691727) has won the prized car. Officials from Lulu Group including Regional Manager, Shanavas; GM-Hypermarket Operations, Mohamed Basheer and General Manager of Lulu Hypermarket, D-Ring Road, Krishna Kumar, were present at the draw.

Al Marri meets Turkish Ambassador


Call to address challenges in construction sector THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering (CAE) at Qatar University College of Engineering (QU-CENG) yesterday hosted a workshop on the challenges faced by the building and construction sector in Qatar due to the unjust blockade imposed on the country.

Organised in collaboration with QU Center for Advanced Materials (CAM), the event aimed to highlight post-blockade chal-lenges faced by the building and construction sector in Qatar and to find ways to overcome them.

It drew the participation of over 50 experts and researchers. They exchanged their ideas and expertise and discussed the latest research projects and devel-opment in the field of construction.

Attendees included, CENG Dean, Dr Khalifa Al Khalifa; CAM Director, Dr Nasser Abdullah Alnuaimi and CAE Department Head, Dr Mohammed Farouk

Hussein, as well as QU and CENG faculty and staff.

The event’s programme fea-tured presentations delivered by speakers from QU, Qatar Rail, Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Qatar Primary Mate-rials Company, and Qasab Projects Company.

They discussed issues related to “Qatar Rail projects and chal-lenges under blockade”, “Ashghal procedures after blockade”, “Operations management under blockade”, “Use of recycled materials and minor products”, and “Use of local building materials”.

In his remarks, Dr Khalifa Al Khalifa said: “It is our pleasure to collaborate with CAM to organise this workshop that rep-resents a significant platform to discuss and provide solutions to the challenges faced by the building and construction sector in Qatar due to unjust blockade imposed on the country. This event demonstrates CENG com-mitment to make use of research in various areas for the benefit

of society, and to provide sus-tainable solutions to issues related to the building and con-struction field.”

Dr Nasser Abdullah Alnuaimi, said: “This event reflects CAM’s vision to enhance and support interdisciplinary research on materials science and engineering by conducting applied research projects, and to provide knowledge and expe-rience that meet the needs of industry and society. The impor-tance of this event is that it deals with the raw materials involved in structural buildings. In this regard, CAM is working hard to carry out studies and research to develop the various materials involved in the construction process and find alternative solu-tions in the event of stumbling as a result of the unjust blockade imposed on Qatar. We also seek to develop the relationship between QU researchers and construction professionals from both the private and public sectors to support effective research ideas and proposals in

the field of construction materials.”

Dr Mohammed Farouk Hussein, said: “CAE is proud to be part of this event organised

in collaboration with CAM. The post-blockade building and con-struction challenges are an important issue which receives high attention from researchers,

and at CAE we find it urgent to run joint workshops among dif-ferent public entities to provide the efficient solutions for such challenges.”

Dr Khalifa Al Khalifa, CENG Dean and Dr Nasser Abdullah Alnuaimi, CAM Director, during the workshop organised by the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at Qatar University College of Engineering yesterday on the challenges faced by the building and construction sector in Qatar due to the unjust blockade imposed on the country.

Local and global entities support Qumra 2018THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The fourth edition of Qumra, the annual industry event by the Doha Film Institute (DFI), to be held from March 9 to 14, has received remarkable support, yet again, from leading local entities and global cultural and film organisations.

Organised with the goal of nurturing the talents of next-generation talents, with a focus on first- and second-time film-makers, Qumra will be held at Souq Waqif and the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), and will host over 150 international delegates including film producers, distrib-utors, festival directors, funding agencies, sales and marketing professionals, VoD experts and more, as well as the talents asso-

ciated with 34 Qumra projects. Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief

Executive Officer of the DFI, said: “The strong support that Qumra receives every year is a tes-tament to the commitment of the government and private sector in Qatar to promote our nation as a destination that promotes the creative industries and young talents.”

Continuing their support to Qumra are Qatar Museums, MIA and Souq Waqif as the Cultural Partners of Qumra 2018, while the event is supported by Culture Pass, the Translation and Inter-preting Institute (TII) and FNAC -the leading French Cultural store. SONY is the Official Elec-tronics Partner and Souq Waqif Boutique Hotels by Tivoli is the Official Hotel Partner.

Boeing and QCRI to host symposium on March 12THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Boeing Company and Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, will host the fifth annual Machine Learning and Data Analytics Symposium (MLDAS) in Qatar.

This year’s event will be held at the Qatar National Con-vention Centre on Monday, March 12 and Tuesday, March 13. Experts will discuss their latest research in fields as diverse as data mining, signal processing, human-centric machine learning, acoustics and facial recognition technology.

The speakers will include Stanford University’s Prof. Ben-jamin Van Roy, who will speak on the benefits of gathering “smart data” rather than relying on passively accumulating “big data”. Georgia Institute of Tech-nology’s Prof. Branislav Vida-kovic, a pioneer in the use of wavelets for signal processing, will discuss his latest work on wavelet-based scaling indices for machine learning. Dr. Seema Chopra, a Technical Lead at Boeing Research and Technology, will explore refining frameworks that enable humans to interact with machine learning models. And QCRI’s Jisun An will discuss her work on some of the opportu-nities and limitations of facial detection technology.

“Machine learning is the fastest growing field in engi-neering and science, because it is used in every field. Therefore, it is no surprise that this event

transformed from a small 30-person event in 2014 to the largest machine learning and data analytics forum in the Middle East. We hope that cre-ating an opportunity for the free exchange of ideas, such as MLDAS, will inspire innovation, improve industry and the com-munity as a whole,” said Bernard Dunn, President of Boeing Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

Dr. Ahmed Elmagarmid (pictured) , Executive Director, QCRI, described the symposium as an extension of a partnership in research and application, including a collaboration to jointly develop predictive air-craft maintenance technology, between QCRI and Boeing.

“We have enjoyed building a dynamic partnership with Boeing since 2013, and this annual event with experts pre-senting the latest research in machine learning and data ana-lytics builds on that,” Dr Elmagarmid said.

The MLDAS symposium is open to students, researchers and industry experts from around the world. To register, go to qcri.com

QLC welcomes 2018-19 National Leadership Program participantsTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Leadership Centre (QLC) marked the official commencement of its 2018-2019 National Leadership Programs by welcoming more than 120 new participants at its annual orientation event. The orientation, which was held at the Centre’s Al Bidda Tower headquarters from March 4-6, inaugurated the participants’ yearlong leadership devel-opment journey, further sustaining the Centre’s mission of strengthening Qatar’s human capital.

During the event, the Qatari professionals were introduced to the Centre’s facilities and pol-icies, as well as upcoming modules, local and international trips, and other QLC activities and events. Attendees had the opportunity to meet and interact

with fellow participants and engage in a series of team-building exercises.

“For both government and business leaders, who are at the pinnacle of their respective industries, honing one’s capac-ities is necessary for continued success,” noted Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Managing Director and Member of the Board of Directors of QLC. “Top-decision makers have an ongoing responsibility to their organiza-tions and the community to remain on the cutting edge in order to contribute to sus-tainable economic growth and prosperity. I am proud of all par-ticipants for investing their time in such a meaningful endeavor.”

Three National Leadership Programs are currently offered at QLC – the Executive Leaders, Rising Leaders, and Government Leaders programs. Each

program contains a bespoke mix of academic modules covering topics such as Strategy & Lead-ership, financial management, Marketing Analytics, Innovation & Change, Service Innovation, Negotiations, and team building.

The world-class modules are held in collaboration with leading institutions, such as Harvard University, Oxford Uni-versity Saïd Business School, University of Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, HEC Paris, and Duke Executive Education. These are complemented by interactive policy seminars, exclusive talks by senior leaders, and site visits to influential institutions and organizations within Qatar.The Centre’s 2017-18 participants will be honoured for success-fully completing their programs at a ceremony on April 15th.

Participants of the 2018-2019 National Leadership Programs of Qatar Leadership Centre during the welcome ceremony at the annual orientation event.

Derek Laidlaw appointed Executive Principal at Oryx International SchoolTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Airways and Orbital Education are delighted to announce the appointment of Derek Laidlaw (pictured) as Exec-utive Principal at Oryx Inter-national School (OIS) for the 2018/19 Academic Year. Laidlaw will head the new world-class campus which will offer state-of-the-art facilities for students from Foundation Stage 1 through Year 13, at Mesaimeer off Barwa City Road, Doha.

The school reflects Qatar Airways’ commitment to its staff, by ensuring both employees and their children receive the first-class training and education needed to excel. The school follows the National Curriculum of England, which provides stu-dents with a challenging learning environment that is balanced, interactive and supports their development in all activities.

Chief Executive Officer of Orbital Education, which operates Oryx International on behalf of Qatar Airways, David Pottinger, said: “Laidlaw clearly demon-strated how his leadership experience made him the ideal candidate to lead the school forward into the future. We look forward to seeing him develop a five-star educational institution in Doha for the children of Qatar Airways staff. We are delighted to welcome him on board”.

Laidlaw, who will take up his post on August 1, 2018, joins Oryx International School from the position of Head Teacher at King’s College, The British School of Alicante, which he led for more than seven years to become the leading interna-tional school in Spain, achieving an Excellent grading in all categories from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) of the UK. Laidlaw is no stranger to Qatar, having held a lead-ership position at Doha College for six years.

Malabar Food Festival begins at SafariTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Safari, the well-known hypermarket group in Doha have started “Malabar Food Festival”. By introducing Malabar traditional cuisines, creating a feast for all foodie people.

Safari is always the market leader by introducing fabulous offers and promotions in the field of innovative marketing. This Malabar food festival is the latest festival bonanza from safari. Safari bakery & Hot food has always stood as the inventor of innovative ideas to satisfy the customer needs and tastes. All customers are very excited about this Malabar food festival in which new inventions including Thattukada, Recipe Contest, Kuttandan Food Festval, Biriyani Fest etc. are

included. More than hundreds of Malabar dishes are show-cased in this festival to stimulate your taste buds with traditional nostalgic taste feelings.

The unique ability of the Malabari’s to enjoy the taste of food, Culture, arts, different taste cuisines is famous. Safari recreates the same traditional Malappuram, Kozhicode & Tha-

lasseri tastes. Muringaka Mutton

Soup, Puyapla Mutton Soup, Kunjippathal, Ithathas Kozhikari, Mean vatti Pol-lichathu, Irachippathiri, Mutta Mala, Mutta surka, Chattippathiri, Kallume-kkaya Nirachathu, Unnakaya Rahath Biriyani, Arakkal Poth Biriyani, Val-lumarathe Aattin Charu, Kozhi Urumathu, Kizhiyi-

lakkiya Chemmeen Kootam, Vazhuthananga Kizhikkootan, Aval Milk, Safari’s Own Kulukki Sarbath , Bathakka Vellam, Uppilitta Manga, Uppilitta Pine-apple, Then Muttayi, Puli Muttayi etc. are showcased under one umbrella . This Malabar Food Festival is arranged both in Safari Mall at Abu Hamour and Safari Hyper Market at Salwa road.


Global experts to address sixth healthcare forumTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Four renowned interna-tional speakers have been confirmed as plenary lecturers for this year’s sixth Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, which will take place from March 23 to 25 in Doha, Qatar. The theme for this year’s conference, which will feature the largest programme in the annual event’s six-year history, is ‘Building a Culture of Safety.’

Among numerous interna-tional and local speakers, the Forum will feature four interna-tionally renowned plenary speakers:

Dr. Don Berwick is a pedia-trician, President Emeritus, and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He has served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health and on the staff of many well-known US hospitals.

Maureen Bisognano has been a popular speaker at this

conference in previous years and is President Emerita and Senior Fellow at IHI. She is a prominent authority on improving health-care systems and regularly advises healthcare leaders around the world on practical ways of introducing real, effec-tive, and sustainable systems change.

Dr. Tejal Gandhi was Presi-dent and Chief Executive Officer of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) from 2013 until 2017 when the Foundation merged with IHI. She is now IHI’s Chief Clinical and Safety Officer. She is also President of the Lucian Leape Institute, a think tank founded by NPSF that now operates under the IHI patient safety focus area. Patty Skolnik is the Founder and President/CEO of ‘Citizens for Patient Safety’. She is a patient safety expert and an advocate for shared decision-making, informed consent, and improving patient/provider relationships in healthcare.

Dr. Don Berwick, a paediatrician, President Emeritus, and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and Maureen Bisognano, President Emerita and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

NBK Automobiles’ special offer on Mercedes-Benz CLSTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Nasser Bin Khaled Auto-mobiles, the authorised general distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Qatar, has launched a special offer on 2016 Mercedes-Benz CLS, the four-door coupe.

Sheikh Faleh Bin Nawaf Al Thani, Operations Director – Auto, at Nasser Bin Khaled Holding said: “We at Nasser Bin Khaled Automobile are pleased to launch this special offer on Mercedes-Benz CLS that com-bines high end luxury with sporty features and design along with high performance. We will con-tinue to launch special offers on our cars to provide our clients with their favorite cars.”

The offer is valid till 31 March 2018. Customers can now drive away in their 2016 CLS for QR199,900 with monthly install-ment of QR3333 for 24 months. In addition, customers can ben-efit from free registration, three years warranty with unlimited mileage, and flexible internal and bank financing options.

Mercedes-Benz CLS com-bines the sensual design and technology, the four-door coupe is a perfect combination of ele-gance and attractiveness that no car can do, thanks to its aggres-sive look and state of the art technology. Besides, the CLS pro-vides highest standards of safety.

The CLS has an innovative safety system to secure accident

free driving experience, thanks to the safety system and features including Attention Assist, New View Assist Plus, Lane Tracking Package, Driving Assistance

Package Plus, rear LED Lamps, front LED high performance lamps, moon shape side lights, Intelligent Light System Brake Assist Bas Plus with Distronic

Plus system, Pre-Safe Braking system, Speed Limit Assist, Reversing Camera, Active Parking Assist with Parktronic system.

The CLS has the latest entertainment and multi-media systems such as Audio 20 CD, Audio 50 APS, Command Audio 50 APS APS, Harman Kardon Logic 7. The internal design of the CLS comple-ments the external look. Thanks to the sensual

beauty of the internal cabin, the attractive and elegant features is an added value to the driving pleasure. The seats are equipped with Active Multi-contour Seat

Package and NECK-PRO Luxury for more comfort and stabiliza-tion of the head and rear seats.

Nasser Bin Khaled Automo-biles has built its success by establishing solid, longstanding relationships with its customers, and by offering a wide range of quality products.

As a brand name, Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles is deeply associated with a his-tory of premium quality service and market leadership. Estab-lished in 1957, Nasser Bin Khaled Automobiles is Qatar’s exclusive distributor of three of the world’s most respected, iconic brands: Mercedes-May-bach, Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG.

Event backs Qatari innovations THE PENINSULA

DOHA: The Center for Advanced Materials at Qatar University (QU-CAM) recently hosted the 9th Sciences and Engineering Mate-rials Symposium under the theme “Made in Qatar”.

Organized in collaboration with Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ), the event brought together speakers from local and international institu-tions to share their knowledge and expertise on issues related to sciences and engineering materials.

Attendees included, QU VP for Research and Graduate Studies, Prof Mariam Al Maadeed; CAM Director, Dr Nasser Abdullah Alnuaimi; TAMUQ Dean, Dr Cesar Malave and Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) Managing Director & CEO, Dr Mohammed Yousef Al Mulla, as well as QU and TAMUQ faculty, students, and

staff. The event’s programme fea-tured presentations delivered by speakers from QU, TAMUQ, QAPCO, Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Qatar Plastic Products Company W.L.L., Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Development Bank (QDB), and Qatar Steel.

Also on the programme was a competition to select the best

innovative materials made in Qatar. In the Students Category, the first-place winner was stu-dent Usman Shahid (HBKU), while students Latifa Khaled Al-Romaihi (QU) and Rola M Al-Sou-baihi (Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar) won the second place. In the Researchers Category, Anton Popelka (QU) won the first place. Ahmed Bahgat (QU) and Ihor Kulai (TAMUQ) won the second place.

FROM LEFT: QU VP for Research and Graduate Studies, Prof Mariam Al Maadeed; CAM Director, Dr Nasser Abdullah Alnuaimi and TAMUQ Dean, Dr Cesar Malave.

Al Jazeera summit discusses artificial intelligence in detailTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The second day of the annual Al Jazeera Future of Media Leaders’ Summit (FMLS) got underway yesterday with a series of keynote addresses from dignitaries and panels discussing Media and Cloud - Limitless Possibilities. It followed on from a successful first day discussing Cloud and Security.

On Monday afternoon fol-lowing keynotes, the Summit broke down into specialist par-allel sessions to discuss how the cloud is transforming their working environment , increasing collaboration and even changing approaches to issues like disaster management, as Hervé Pavard, Chief Tech-nology Officer at French channel TF1 explained. The panels debated new innovations such as Eluvio’s use of the blockchain for smart contracts, allowing suppliers and users to seamlessly record transactions through dis-tributed ledger technology, and discussed the advantages of the automation and scalability that the cloud will provide.

In the evening, Abdullah AlNajjar, Al Jazeera’s Executive Director of Global Brand and Communications, addressed the audience at the Gala Dinner, saying, “We have come to be known as the media network where the world conducts debate, dialogue, and informed conversation. It is global space for free expression that needs to be protected”. He also reiter-ated Al Jazeera’s commitment to a free and independent media, through its global

#demandpressfreedom cam-paign. This provided the con-text for yesterday’s detailed exploration of Artificial Intelli-gence and Augmented Reality.

Addressing the Summit, Dr Mostefa Souag, Acting Director General of the Al Jazeera Media Network said, “The purpose of organizing such an event is to seek - through acquaintance, dialogue and discussions - to highlight the most important challenges faced by contempo-rary media, which present

themselves with the adoption of new technology and inno-vation. Serious and profes-sional journalism and media is based on applying profes-sional, high standards such as truthfulness, accuracy, objec-tivity, and balance while pre-serving individuals’ and organ-izations’ rights and privacy.

At the end of his keynote, Dr Souag stressed that the high number of attendees proves that we are fundamentally hopeful for the future. He emphasized that meaningful development and progress not only creates new technological

tools, but also enlightens us and serves mankind, feeding our humanity’s hunger for knowledge.

The opening keynote was delivered by Yves Bergquist, of the Entertainment Technology Centre at University of Southern California, and corto.ai, was on Ethics and Implications of AI for the Media Industry. He clarified the differences between machine learning, and machine understanding, and explained in depth how his technology is

“numerically vectoring nuance” - enabling machines to under-stand the complex variety of humanity for the first time. The applications for this in the media are manifold, and will help the media navigate an increasingly information-flooded news cycle. Com-menting on the implications for job security in an AI-driven future, he said, “88% of jobs are staff-based, and if we are not careful with AI we may alienate our own society. Business values must not be divorced from our human values”.

Ali Shah, Head of Emerging Technology and Strategic Direc-tion at the BBC presented on The Value of AI in Media. Following the keynote, in the panel on robot reporting, asking if jour-nalists are becoming an endan-gered species, Ingrid Silver of Reed Smith moderated experts including Dr. Yasir Bishr, Exec-utive Director of Digital from Aljazeera, Ali Shah from the BBC, Rainer Kellerhals from Microsoft, and Dr. Ahmed from the Qatar Computing and Research Institute.

The participants during the annual Al Jazeera Future of Media Leaders’ Summit.

NU-Q students to intern at top global media organisations

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: In the coming two months, Northwestern University in Qatar’s (NU-Q) journalism and strategic communication students will be completing internships at top global media organisa-tions, including AJ+ in San Francisco, Forbes in New York, and Al Jazeera English and Ogilvy & Mather in London.

The 10-week residency program is a graduation requirement for all NU-Q stu-dents majoring in Journalism and Strategic Communica-tion. It is also an important learning component where students engage in the rig-orous nature of a media career and network with pro-fessionals in the industry. The internships also teach stu-dents to adapt to the bustling environment of a newsroom or corporate office, work to deliver quality pieces and ideas under deadline, and develop writing, fact-checking, research, and client management skills.

“Our residency students are able to apply the theory and skills they have learned in class on the ground at the most respected and highly competitive media operations in the world,” said Everette E. Dennis, Dean and CEO. “Through this hands-on expe-rience, they learn life lessons that will help them in their careers by working with pro-fessionals in a demanding, f as t-paced b us i n e s s environment.”

This spring, NU-Q stu-dents are interning for pres-tigious news outlets in New York and Washington D.C., San Francisco, London, and Doha. The organisations include AJ+, Forbes, Medill News Service, Ogilvy & Mather, Embassy of the State of Qatar in London, Al Jazeera English, Teneo Blue Rubicon, Forbes Associates, and more.

Recycling for reuse awareness drive by AAB THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. Co. (AAB), the exclusive distributor of Toyota and Lexus, held another Community Pallet Recycling activity using its excess pallets.

A group of motivated and environmentally minded com-munity members participated in this green yet creative activity, building furniture and home decorations. Families with their children joined in building their own furniture out of the excess pallets provided.

A representative from AAB

stated that” the objective of the recycling activity is to advance the awareness and practice of recycling for reuse. It also con-nects people across the com-munities through this pro-gram.” The Top 3 Designs that were completed built solely by

the participants were chosen as winners. Children were also given recognition for their cre-ativity in building. The event was open, free to the public and they were able to bring the results of their hardwork home.

AAB is fully committed to

giving back to the community through its CSR initiatives with one of its major pillars focused on caring for the Environment. This commit-ment is reflected on its sup-port to programs geared towards a Green Qatar.

Members of AAB with other participants during the event.

08 WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018MIDDLE EAST

Erdogan attends AKP parliamentary meeting

Trump hints at Israel travel for embassy openingREUTERS

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he might travel to Israel for the opening of the US embassy in Jeru-salem as he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a united front against Iran in White House talks.

Trump’s decision for the United States to recognise Jerusalem as the cap-ital of Israel and move the embassy there from Tel Aviv reversed decades of US policy, aggravated Arab allies and has complicated his administration’s attempt to revive long-stalled Middle East peace talks.

Trump, with Netanyahu at his side in the Oval Office, said he was consid-ering making what would be his second visit to Jerusalem as president. The opening of the US embassy is planned for May. “We’re looking at coming,” Trump said. “If I can, I will.”

Mired in corruption investigations threatening his political survival, Netan-yahu - questioned at his home by police on Friday — stepped into a different spotlight during his five-day US visit.

Trump’s push to change or scrap Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and concerns over Tehran’s foothold in Syria topped the agenda of his talks with Netanyahu, US and Israeli officials said. Both leaders have long railed against the deal, citing its limited

duration and the fact it does not cover Iran’s ballistic missile programme or its support for anti-Israel militants in the region. “If I had to say what is our greatest challenge in the Middle East to both our countries, to our Arab neigh-bors, it’s encapsulated in one word: Iran,” Netanyahu said. “Iran must be stopped. That is our common challenge.”

Trump has threatened to pull out of the agreement unless European allies help “fix” it with a follow-up accord. The White House said in a statement that Trump “underscored his goal of coun-tering Iran’s malign influence.”

Netanyahu told Israeli reporters that Iran had been a big focus of talks, which he said ran an hour longer than sched-uled. Israel has accused Tehran of seeking a permanent military presence in Syria, where Iranian-backed forces support Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in a civil war.

Netanyahu, whose relationship with

Trump has been among the closest of any world leader, has also cautioned that Israel could act against Iran itself after an Iranian drone flew into Israel last month and an Israeli warplane was shot down while bombing air defences in Syria. He has accused Iran of planning to build precision-guided missile facto-ries in Lebanon, amid tensions along that

border. The talks also touched on Syria,

Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinians, Netanyahu said, while the White House said Trump had “emphasised his com-mitment to achieving a lasting peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud

Abbas, angered by Trump’s Jerusalem move, has refused to engage with the United States on Middle East peace, prompting Trump to delay the rollout of peace proposals.

Participating in the talks was Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been on the defensive amid investigations into alleged meddling by Russia in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Some analysts believe Kushner’s ability to run the Middle East initiative has been handicapped by his loss of access to certain valued US intelligence because of a White House clampdown on access to such secrets for those without full security clearance.

The White House said the down-grade of Kushner’s security clearance did not affect the role he played in the meeting.

A US official speaking ahead of Netanyahu’s second visit to the Trump White House characterized it as a “rou-tine check-in.” For Netanyahu, however, the Oval Office meeting offered a res-pite from his legal troubles.

Netanyahu, who will speak to the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC on Tuesday, awaits a decision by Israel’s attorney general on whether to indict him, as police have recommended in two bribery cases. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.

PA considering ‘suspension’ of recognition of Israel: PLOANATOLIA

RAMALLAH: The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) is considering the “suspension” of its recognition of Israel, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official said yesterday.

“There is no alternative for the Palestinians but to suspend their recognition of Israel,” Saeb Erekat, a member of the PLO’s influential Executive Committee, said in a statement.

The PA and the PLO — both of which recognize Israel — are both led by Palestinian Presi-dent Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, which favors nego-tiations with the Jewish state.

Erekat’s assertions report-edly come in response to recent hints by US President Donald Trump that he might take part in the inauguration of Washing-ton’s new embassy in Jerusalem

— an event slated for May. According to Erekat,

Trump’s decision last December to recognize Jerusalem as Isra-el’s capital “was intended to iso-late Jerusalem but has instead isolated the US”

“We can only implement the PLO Central Council’s recom-mendation to suspend recogni-tion of Israel until Israel recog-nizes the state of Palestine,” Erekat said. On Monday, Trump hinted that he could take part in the official inauguration of Wash-ington’s controversial new dip-lomatic mission in Jerusalem.

Last December, the US pres-ident recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, sparking con-demnation and protest across much of the Middle East.

He later said Washington’s Israel embassy would be relo-cated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May to coincide with the 70th

anniversary of Israel’s establish-ment. In January, the PLO’s Central Committee granted the Executive Committee the authority to “suspend” Pales-tinian recognition of Israel until the latter formally recognizes the state of Palestine.

While the PLO recognized Israel in 1993 within the frame-work of the Oslo Accords, Israel has yet to recognize the Palestin-ians’ right to a state of their own. Last week, the US administration announced plans to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jeru-salem on May 14 — the day Israel was established in 1948.

The date, however, also coincides with the 70th anni-versary of the Palestinian Nakba (“catastrophe”), when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from their ances-tral homes to make way for the new state of Israel.

Iranians welcome Louvre show despite tense diplomacyAFP

TEHRAN: Iranians gave a warm welcome to a new exhibition by France’s Louvre yesterday —the first major show by a foreign museum in the country.

“It was great. I never thought I’d see such artworks in my life,” said Mehdi, a 26-year-old student.

The exhibition certainly appeared to go down better than Monday’s visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who faced a day of tense discussions with Iranian officials before inau-gurating the Louvre show.

The ever-combative Kayhan newspaper summed up the view of Le Drian’s visit with the head-line: “Impudent guest gets a dressing-down”.

Le Drian has angered Iran’s leaders with his stern criticism of their missile programme and for-eign interventions.

“It was a tough trip, without concessions,” he told reporters on the way back to Paris late on Monday. The Louvre show returns the focus to the more positive aspects of France’s relations with Iran, which include the rebuilding of trade ties through deals involving companies such as Peugeot, Renault and Total since world powers signed a 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran.

It features a number of

treasures from the Paris museum’s collection, including a 2,400-year-old Egyptian sphinx, a bust of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and drawings by Rembrandt and Delacroix.

“It was very good, though I was hoping to see more Iranian pieces,” said Sorena, a young accountant. “But it was interesting and this sort of international

cooperation is very good. Maybe it will lead to more economic rela-tions with other countries.”

Only two small pieces from what is now Iran came over from the Louvre collection -- an axe dating back more than 3,000 years and an even older mysterious bronze ornament from Lorestan featuring two bulls and a circle of men that became the logo of the

Tehran Stock Exchange when it was launched in the 1960s. “I know there are lots of val-uable Iranian pieces in the Louvre, but this is a good start,” said Khashayar Tayar, a music teacher in his thirties.

“I ’m really grateful to the organisers for this show. I hope future exhibitions will have more Iranian pieces to make me even happier.”

The exhibition marks the culmina-tion of two years of work since a cul-tural exchange agreement was signed during a visit by President Hassan Rowhani to Paris in January 2016.

France has deep cultural ties with pre-revo-lutionary Iran, and the National Museum itself was built by a Frenchman, Andre Godard, in 1938. “In the tumultuous ocean of international relations, cultural diplomacy is a flare that we should maintain together,” Le Drian said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday night.

President of Turkey and the leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Recep Tayyip Erdogan, greets people during the AK Party’s parliamentary group meeting at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) in Ankara, yesterday.

ISTANBUL: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) yesterday condemned Guatemala’s decision this week to follow Washington’s lead by moving its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“This illegal step constitutes a violation of UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, especially UNSC Resolution 478, which rejects any measure that would alter the occupied city’s historical and legal status,” the Jeddah-based organization said in a statement.

In January, OIC Secretary-General Yousef bin Ahmed Al Othaimeen sent a letter to Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel urging the latter to refrain from moving his country’s Israel embassy to Jerusalem.

Such a move, Al Othaimeen warned, would “represent an attack on the rights of the Palestinian people and the rights of the world’s millions of Muslims and Christians”. In the same letter, the OIC chief urged Guatemala to respect inter-national law and adopt positions that support the prospects for peace based on a “two-state solution” to the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Notably, Morales’s announcement came shortly after a meeting in Wash-ington with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last December, US President Donald Trump sparked outcry across the Arab and Muslim world after recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and vowing to relocate Washington’s embassy to the city.

OIC slams Guatemala mission move Trump’s push to change or scrap Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and concerns over Tehran’s foothold in Syria topped the agenda of his talks with Netanyahu.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (centre), cuts the ribbon during an opening ceremony after Iran Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) and Louvre Museum agreed to exhibit Louvre Relics at the National Museum of Iran to strengthen cultural relations between Iran and France, in Tehran, yesterday.

Germany urged to change travel advice for TurkeyANATOLIA

ANKARA: Turkish foreign minister has called on the German government to change its travel advice on Turkey, stressing that it is out-dated and does not reflect the real situation in the country.

“The latest travel advice is not reflecting realities of Turkey and the current state of our bilateral relations,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint news conference with his German counterpart, ahead of their meeting in Berlin.

Cavusoglu underlined that Turkey has addressed all possible concerns, achieved normalization after the defeated coup in 2016, and has taken strong security measures along its border with Syria against potential threats.

“Today, our touristic destinations Antalya or Istanbul, are no less secure than any other city in Europe,” he said.

Turkey has been one of the most popular travel des-tinations for German holidaymakers, but the number of visitors declined in recent years, due to conflicts in coun-tries neighboring Turkey, as well political tensions between Ankara and Berlin.

The number of German tourists dropped from 5.5 million in 2015 to 3.9 million in 2016, according to offi-cial figures. In 2017, around 3.5 million German tourists traveled to Turkey.

Cavusoglu hoped efforts in recent months to nor-malize political relations would also have a positive impact on tourism.

“In the first three months of this year, there has been a significant increase in the number of German visitors,” he said, and added that early bookings have also increased up to 80 percent, compared with the same period last year. The Turkish foreign minister said the figures have shown that German tourists, who opted for other coun-tries in the past two years, would again prefer to travel Turkey.

Cavusoglu is paying a two-day visit to Germany, and he is scheduled to visit ITB Berlin tourism fair today.

09WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Long wait

A general view shows several destroyed buildings in Douma, in the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus, yesterday. An international convoy entered Syria’s rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta to deliver much-needed aid as the regime pounded the region with fresh bombardment, killing dozens as it seized more ground.

UN: Russia, US air strikes caused mass civilian deaths in SyriaREUTERS

GENEVA: Air strikes by Russia and a US-led coalition killed civil-ians in Syria on a large scale last year, while the Assad government carried out unlawful chemical weapon attacks in rebel-held eastern Ghouta, UN war crimes investigators said yesterday.

Islamic State fighters and other insurgent groups com-mitted war crimes including deadly attacks on civilians and using them as human shields, the investigators said in their latest report covering six months through January 15.

During the period, “victims of the Syrian conflict have suf-fered greatly as violence coun-trywide re-escalated to new heights,” the UN Commission of Inquiry said. “Syrian government forces continued to use chemical weapons against armed group fighters in eastern Ghouta,” it said in its report.

Among other key findings, it said that an air strike by a “Russian fixed-wing aircraft” using unguided weapons last November hit a market killing at least 84 people in Atareb, west of Aleppo, in a “de-escalation zone” declared by Russia, Iran and Turkey.

It found no evidence that the Russian strike had deliberately targeted the market, but said “this attack may amount to the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks resulting in death and injury to civilians”, the first time it has explicitly implicated Moscow in possible war crimes.

And three US-led coalition strikes on a school near Raqqa in March 2017 killed 150 residents

— roughly five times the toll acknowledged by the Pentagon, which said at the time that dozens of militants and not civilians were killed. The UN investigators found no evidence that Islamic State fighters were at the site, and said the US-led coalition had violated interna-tional law by failing in its duty to protect civilians.

The independent investiga-tors called on all sides to allow access to besieged areas and all detainees. Justice must be served in any peace deal ending the con-flict soon entering its eighth year, they said.

The report is based on 500 confidential interviews con-ducted with victims and wit-nesses abroad or in Syria via social media. The Assad govern-ment has never let the team into the country.

“Vital civilian infrastructure has been decimated by repeated attacks on medical facilities, schools and markets. Humani-tarian aid has been instrumen-talised as a weapon of war with siege warfare and denial of life-giving assistance used to compel civilian communities and parties to the conflict alike to surrender or starve,” it said.

Syrian government forces used chemical weapons against insurgents in eastern Ghouta, including chlorine three times in July, and in Harasta on the western edge of the zone in November, the report said.

“The use of chemical weapons is prohibited under cus-tomary international humani-tarian law regardless of the pres-ence of a valid military target, including when used against enemy fighters,” it said. The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons, saying it surrendered its stockpiles after signing the global ban in 2013.

The multi-sided Syrian civil war has killed hundreds of thou-sands of people and driven at least 11 million from their homes. Neighbouring countries and global powers have entered the conflict, backing allied forces on the ground.

The United States joined the war in 2014, leading an interna-tional coalition carrying out air strikes against Islamic State fighters in both Syria and Iraq, who were largely defeated last year. Russia joined the conflict in 2015, providing air and ground support for its allies in the Syrian government.

The UN investigators, noting that efforts for the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the Inter-national Criminal Court (ICC) have stalled, due to Russian vetoes, welcomed national juris-dictions taking up more cases.

Victims must be helped to obtain justice, which should be a “central component” of any nego-tiated settlement ending the war, they said.

New air raids hit battered Ghouta after aid convoy turns backAFP

DOUMA: Fresh air strikes and clashes shook the Syrian rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta yesterday after desperately needed aid deliveries were cut short by fighting.

More than 780 civilians — including 170 children — have been killed since Russia-backed regime forces launched an assault on the besieged enclave outside Damascus on February 18. The brutal onslaught on the last major rebel stronghold near the capital, the latest regime offensive of the seven-year civil war, has sparked outrage but little action from the West.

Government troops have advanced rapidly across farm-land in Eastern Ghouta in the past week, a monitor says, and as of early yesterday controlled 40 percent of the enclave, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Essential aid deliv-eries to tens of thousands of besieged civilians were cut short on Monday as the regime pounded the region.

At least nine civilians were killed in air strikes on the town of Jisreen yesterday, the Britain-based Observatory said.

In the enclave’s main town of Douma, air strikes had reduced homes to piles of rubble

on both sides of the road. Some civilians took advan-

tage of a lull in air strikes to ven-ture out from cellars to gather a few necessities from what was left of their homes. Others gath-ered the pieces of home furni-ture smashed in the raids to use as fuel or sell to others. At the a hospital in the town, medical staff scrambled to help the wounded. Some had lost relatives in the raids. Parents held their children close, trying to comfort them.

A reporter in Hammuriyeh said air strikes had hit the town overnight and only a few resi-dents emerged from their cel-lars after daybreak for fear of more. Late on Monday, the Observatory reported 18 people suffered breathing difficulties following a strike on Ham-muriyeh. It had no firm word on the cause.

The UN Human Rights Council on Monday ordered investigators to examine the latest violence in the enclave.

It condemned “the indis-criminate use of heavy weapons and aerial bombardments against civilians, and the alleged use of chemical weapons in Eastern Ghouta”.

The enclave’s 400,000 res-idents have lived under siege since 2013, facing severe short-ages of food and medicines even

before the latest onslaught. Forty-six aid trucks entered

Eastern Ghouta on Monday for the first time since the offensive started, but had to cut short their deliveries and leave due to heavy bombardment.

“The people we’ve met here have been through unimagi-nable things. They looked exhausted,” Pawel Krzysiek of the International Committee of the Red Cross said afterwards.

“And the aid we’ve deliv-ered today is by no means enough,” he said on Twitter.

Regime ally Russia last week announced a five-hour daily “humanitarian pause” in Eastern Ghouta, during which it said it would guarantee safe passage to civilians wishing to flee the enclave.

But no Syrian civilians are known to have left since Tuesday last week. The “humanitarian pause” fell far short of a month-long nation-wide ceasefire demanded by the UN Security Council last month.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-gov-ernment protests. Over the years, numerous rounds of UN-backed Syria peace talks have failed to stem the fighting.

32 dead in Russian plane crash at Syria baseAFP

MOSCOW: A Russian transport plane crashed on landing at Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in Syria, killing all 32 on board, the defence ministry said in a state-ment carried by RIA Novosti.

There were 26 passengers and 6 crew, the min-istry said. “The reason for the crash according to pre-liminary information could have been a technical fault,” the ministry said, adding that the plane had not come under fire according to a report from the ground.

The transporter was around 500 metres from the runway, the statement said. A commisssion will investigate the causes of the crash.

Moscow began conducting air strikes in Syria

in September 2015, and its intervention has swung the nearly seven-year conflict firmly in favour of its ally in Damascus. The latest accident comes after a Sukhoi military jet crashed while trying to take off from Hme-imim in October last year, killing two crew.

Russia’s most recent officially acknowledged military loss in battle in Syria was last month when a pilot was killed after his plane was downed over Idlib province. Russia’s official military losses in the war before the crash were 45.

Moscow last month also said that five citizens, not officially affiliated with the Russian military, were likely killed in the strikes in eastern Syria — the first admission of non-military combat casualties.

“Syrian government forces continued to use chemical weapons against armed group fighters in eastern Ghouta,” UN war crimes investigators said in its report.

16 dead in central Nigeria clashesAFP

MAKURDI: At least 16 people, mostly women and children, were killed in clashes between youths and cattle herders in central Nigeria, police said yesterday.

Monday’s violence in the village of Omutu, in the Okpokwu area of Benue state, is the latest flare-up linked to tensions over land and grazing rights in the restive region.

State police spokesman Moses Yamu said in a statement that a meeting had been called to calm anger after a herdsman was killed on Monday and another went missing.

“Unfortunately as the search and peace meeting were going on some herdsmen surreptitiously went on (a) rampage, resulting in the macheting to death of 15 per-sons, mainly women and chil-dren,” he said.

Yamu said some houses were set on fire during the vio-lence and four people were arrested. “An extensive patrol of the community is ongoing, which will be reinforced with the (military) special forces,” he added. The chairman of the Okpokwu local government area, Francis Ejembi, described

the violence as “heart-rending”, and said the death toll could increase. “We are moving corpses and the injured from the village to the hospital and so far we have moved about 10 corpses and several injured persons to Saint Mary’s Hos-pital, Okpoga, the local govern-ment headquarters,” he said.

“We are still searching for more corpses and the injured and it is very possible that we may recover more dead bodies and injured persons because the village has been sacked and many are still missing.”

Central Nigeria has become the scene of almost daily clashes between settled farmers and the largely nomadic herders in a battle for land and resources. Religion adds an extra dimension to the clashes, as farmers such as the ethnic Tiv people of Benue are Chris-tian, while the herders are mainly ethnic Fulani Muslims.

Benue has been a flashpoint in recent months after resist-ance to a new law banning open grazing for cattle.

In January, 73 people from Tiv farming communities were buried at a mass funeral after a series of attacks blamed on Fulani herders.

Lassa fever deaths rise to 110 in NigeriaLAGOS: Lassa fever has claimed 110 lives in Nigeria since the beginning of the year, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said, in one of the worst outbreaks since 2016.

The World Heath Organ-isation last week said the epi-demic had reached record highs with 317 laboratory con-firmed cases and 72 people dead. “Since the onset of the 2018 outbreak, there have been 110 deaths: 78 in posi-tive-confirmed cases, 8 in probable cases and 24 in neg-ative cases,” the NCDC said in its latest report.

A total of 1,121 suspected cases were reported, “353 are confirmed positive, 8 are probable, 723 are negative (not a case) and 37 are awaiting laboratory results.”

The NCDC said cases have been reported in 18 of Niger-ia’s 36 states while 16 health workers had been affected in six states. Health Minister Isaac Adewole told local media that the government would soon take delivery of vaccines to tame the virus.

“We are doing everything possible to fight and address the outbreak of lassa fever on all fronts,” he said.

Kenya bans South African meat products as listeria scare spreadsAFP

NAIROBI: Kenya’s health ministry yesterday announced a ban on the import and sale of certain South African processed meat products after a listeria outbreak that has killed at least 180 people.

Kenya is the first nation in east Africa to ban ready-to-eat meat products from South Africa that include polony — a local version of baloney sausage —

sliced ham and Frankfurter-style sausages.

“In order to ensure the health of the public is protected and as a precautionary measure you are required to stop the importation and sale of these products” and recall those already on sale, the health min-istry wrote in a note to country health officers.

Mozambique, Namibia, Bot-swana, Zambia, Malawi, Swazi-land and Zimbabwe have also

blocked the import of the prod-ucts, including those made by the Enterprise factory, owned by Tiger Brands — which was pinpointed as the source of the outbreak — and others made by Rainbow Chickens.

Since January 2017, 948 people in South Africa have con-tracted listeriosis — a disease caused by bacteria from soil, water, vegetation and animal faeces which can contaminate fresh food, notably meat.

A train, that is part of a halted railway system project, aimed at connecting Libya’s eastern and western borders, is seen in Tripoli, yesterday.

Individuals with talent and education excellence are the real wealth of any country. In line with this notion, Qatar celebrated the 11th Education Excellence Day and honoured 64 winners in nine

different categories. The distinguished students and individuals who are honoured annually, represent an added value to the national Qatari competencies in different fields, which makes Qatar an incubator for educational excellence.

Honouring the winners of the Education Excellence Award, Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani urged the students and individuals to continue to excel and achieve success in all fields in order to serve their country and community. The award is the highest academic honour to individuals and educational institutions in the State.

Qatar established an education system that complies with the highest standards of global educational systems. Latest technologies, educational and research programs are being added in the curricula helping students to discover their creative potential and enhance scientific research skills in various disciplines.

The award has a great impact in spreading the culture of innovation and excellence in the Qatari society and encourages students to exert more efforts for academic excellence and outstanding academic achievement. The increasing interest in the Education

Excellence Award and the broad and growing participation witnessed in every edition, proves Qatar’s focus on youth as a main pillar in developing the society, and in achieving its national vision.

Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Dr Mohammed bin Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi said the winners and their predecessors must shoulder the responsibility for p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n implementing the directives of H H the Emir on development.

The award inspires the spirit of innovation in students, researchers and educational institutions, to stimulate the spirit of competition between individuals and educational

institutions in the field of scientific excellence and to direct the individual and institutional energies towards educational excellence in all fields.

The award also reveals talented and distinguished individuals as a national wealth to be nurtured through these awards and develop their skills in their areas of excellence. Investing in the human resource is a necessary option to support the overall development of the country. This is confirmed by the diversity of students, graduates, military officers, academics, researchers, schools and teaching staff. Qatar, no doubt, is taking care of its talented youth and knows that they are valuable treasures and that their capabilities must be developed. Qatar is moving way ahead to build a modern state that encourages education for all and recognises the value of youth who excel.

A strong economy and labor market can be great for US workers as a

whole. In some working-class immigrant communities, however, its effects could prove devastating.

At the moment, the labor market is tightest for low-paid service workers. That’s why large corporations are raising their minimum wages so quickly: Starting this year, Walmart employees will make at least $11 an hour. Such jobs now often include paternity benefits and money for continuing education. This is one of the most positive trends in the labor market.

But consider the effects on small-scale immigrant-run businesses. How many of them can afford to pay entry-level workers more than $10 an hour and offer a suite of benefits, too? Those that can’t will find it hard to compete and may have

to close. Restaurants face a unique challenge: Training someone to flip burgers is one thing, but finding Indian or Vietnamese cooks is another matter, especially if they need to be bilingual. In my own dining forays, I’ve see help wanted signs at more and more restaurants going unfilled for weeks or months.

The next question: What happens to vacant storefronts as restaurants and other labor-intensive businesses close? Any similar new businesses will face the same obstacles. What’s more, a growing economy will push up land values, notably in “class A” urban areas. As a result, developers will set their sights on immigrant neighborhoods, where land is cheaper. The real-estate investment will change the character of such communities, eliminating the relatively old and inexpensive buildings that have given lower-cost businesses a chance to thrive.

At the same time,

millennials are getting older and looking to settle down and start families. With housing inventories low nationwide, where will they buy homes? Once again, immigrant neighborhoods will be in play. Just as with commercial buildings, the housing stock tends to be older and cheaper. Redevelopment into luxury townhomes will become a more attractive option than paying for repairs on lower-rent units. Fighting such gentrification will be difficult, because immigrant neighborhoods tend to have low voting rates.

The changing demographics of immigration will play a role as well. Since the 2008 financial crisis, new arrivals have tended to come from Asian countries such as China and India, with higher levels of education and different housing preferences. And the birthrates of immigrants are falling faster than those of native-born

Americans, perhaps affording working-class the ability to live in wealthier communities with better schools. All this will inevitably lead to some hollowing out of older immigrant neighborhoods, even in the absence of economic pressures.

The face of US immigration is constantly changing. The wave of Spanish-speaking immigrants may be coming to an end, much as the Irish and Italian wave did more than a century ago. But this doesn’t mean the end of immigrant communities.

If you’re wondering where the next thriving immigrant scene will develop, look for neighborhoods with aging residents and buildings that are at least 20 or 30 years old. Ideally, they should also have plenty of under-utilised commercial and retail space, located where it can serve as an anchor for the community. In other words, decaying suburbs with dying malls.

The increasing interest in the Education Excellence Award and the broad and growing participation witnessed in every edition, proves Qatar’s focus on youth as a main pillar in developing the society, and in achieving its national vision.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM [email protected]

10 WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018VIEWS

EDITORIAL

Promoting education

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Possible progress being made in talks with North

Korea. The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but

the US is ready to go hard in either direction!

Donald Trump US President

From Florida to Syria, children are vilified mercilessly

A strong economy can be tough on immigrants

MALAK CHABKOUN AL JAZEERA

DESCRIBING the human depravity it takes to insult and throw accusations at children facing deadly violence is quite

difficult to do in any language, polite or otherwise.

It is absurd and unnecessary to have to say that it is wrong for adults to attack children, who have survived a school shooting or facing facing bombardment on a daily basis. But apparently, we live in a world where children in distress are seen as “fair targets”, accused of everything and any thing from being actors, to being exploited for regime change, to being Al Qaeda agents.

This was recently the case with a Syrian boy, 15, who has been viciously attacked online and in the media for posting videos showing the devastation of Eastern Ghouta.

The reaction against him was hardly surprising. Syrian children have been mercilessly killed by the regime and its allies for seven years now and there has been a constant stream of images of their bloodied faces. But the response to them has been scepticism and online attacks instead of sympathy and an imperative for change; news outlets and activists alike, in a bizarre vague manner, mention the “deaths” of these children but somehow fail to say who murdered them.

For children in the Middle East, this is nothing new. For more decades than I have lived, children who are victims of murderous US and Arab foreign policies have been treated with a shocking lack of sympathy by both the mainstream and alternative media.

To be perfectly clear, this is not the fault of any of these children: It is the fault of adults who claim to be up in arms about US imperialist ambitions, yet defend Russian imperialist ambitions.

Palestinians have fought the battle of “humanising” their victims for over 100

years, documenting their victims, giving media interviews, creating their own media, and generally using any tools at their disposal to show how Israel is an aggressor. Afghans, Iraqis and Yemenis have had to do the same.

In some cases, they have succeeded. Yet, some of the very

westerners who were thought to have finally admitted the nature of the aggressor that Israel is or that the US is, have now turned around and used Israel as an argument against another oppressed people: the Syrians who rose up against Bashar Al Assad, Russia, Iran, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). They, this “logic” goes, are pawns of Israel, so vilifying them and their children amid death and destruction is acceptable.

Many failed to recognise the danger of these attacks on children, until this type of human depravity came home to roost.

From Florida to Syria to the West Bank, children are victims thrice over

When a young man shot and killed 17 children at a Florida high school, the aide to a local legislator accused the students speaking out against guns and the National Rifle Association (NRA) of being paid actors. Some conspiracy theorists went so far as to claim the whole thing was suspicious because one of the outspoken students’ fathers was a retired FBI agent.

This wasn’t the first time children in the US were accused of being crisis actors, but the difference between them and children from the Middle East who have faced the same accusations is the ferocity with which they have been defended. For example, actor Mark Ruffalo, who has nearly 4 million Twitter followers, is on a crusade to defend Florida students against the NRA’s attacks (as we all should), but when it came to Syria, hecalled media coverage on the Assad regime’s crimes “propaganda”.

When Bana Al Abed went viral for her daily reporting on her life as a child in besieged Aleppo late 2016, so-called journalists began to question her motives, making fun of her English and calling her a paid propaganda mouthpiece for “jihadists”.

Sixteen-year-old Ahed Tamimi of Palestine received the same treatment, with commentators obsessing over her looks, accusing her family of being paid

actors and claiming she was at fault for slapping the Israeli soldier.

Now, as the Assad regime and Russia pound the Ghouta region’s people into oblivion, the anti-imperialism crew is reacting with its usual attacks on the children who are trying to use social media to save themselves and their families while at the same time defending children in the US who are speaking out against the NRA.

One of the biggest and yet-unaddressed problems with this “political tactic” is that it abuses these young people on three different levels. They are victimised by the oppressors, such as the Assad regime in Syria, or Israel in Palestine, or the shooter in Florida; then by the “alternative” media which accuses them of being paid to publicise their reality; and finally by the political actors, both for and against these children.

Children can and have been exploited by actors in conflicts. But those who deny them the freedom to express their reality and discount their very real experiences of fear are the bigger criminals.

This is not about us There is a reason I limited myself to linking to those who vilify children rather than mentioning them by name. They have been named and shamed by several outlets and countless activists, and there is no need to rehash their crimes against these children.

Yes, we must challenge the narratives produced by these child attackers. However, tempting as it may be, we must also avoid falling into the trap of focusing our discourse on responding to their bogus claims. It is time to refocus all efforts on the children who are living in these adult-created hell-holes and trying to survive by telling their stories in the ways they believe will reach the widest audience possible. A suffering child in the US deserves our attention and for us to come to his or her defence, and so do the suffering children in the Middle East.

The writer is an independent Middle East researcher and writer based in the US.

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

CONOR SEN BLOOMBERG

Children can and have been exploited by actors in conflicts. But those who deny them the freedom to express their reality and discount their very real experiences of fear are the bigger criminals.

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MORE than six years after assuming power, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un

has yet to complete one of the defining rituals of a world leader — hosting another head of state, or being welcomed by one on an official visit abroad.

It looks like that’s about to change.

South Korea’s presidential office announced Tuesday evening that the two countries had agreed to hold a summit next month at a truce village inside the Demilitarised Zone that divides their countries. And they plan to do so on the South’s side of the village, which would

be a first.Kim’s meeting this week

with a top South Korean delegation to hash out his proposal for a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in points both to some savvy political maneuvering and possibly a broader attempt by Kim to step more firmly out from the shadows of his predecessors as North Korea’s undisputed supreme leader.

Kim already seems to be perfecting the optics of what he hopes will be ahead.

While the South Korean delegation was in Pyongyang, Kim seemed to cherish a role he rarely gets to take — that of a magnanimous head of state welcoming important foreign guests. North Korea’s state-run media made a point of portraying him as a confident statesman, holding court over a lavish dinner, beaming with satisfaction during group photos and congratulating South Korea for successfully staging the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

That’s quite a dramatic departure from the predominant images of 2017 — Kim surrounded by his generals celebrating their latest missile launch.

The North-South summit itself isn’t without precedent. Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, met his South Korean counterparts in 2000 and 2007. Both of those summits were held in Pyongyang, however.

To show just how important such a meeting is to him, Kim sent his younger sister to make the pitch directly to Moon last

month, when she attended the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Her visit marked the first time a member of the Kim family had ever crossed the border.

Make no mistake — Kim is sticking to his nuclear weapons and arsenal of missiles capable of reaching the US mainland. While he may hold off on any new missile or nuclear tests for the time being, as Seoul has indicated, he has said repeatedly that he has no intention of giving them up or of using them as a bargaining chip to improve ties with Seoul, Washington or anybody else.

After a year of dangerously high tensions between his regime and the administration of US President Donald Trump, Kim is clearly hoping to woo Seoul away from Washington’s hard line of “maximum pressure.” He is also looking to improved ties with the South as a potential means of keeping the North’s economy afloat.

But his recent moves seem to go a step beyond that.

Even without any lasting political breakthroughs, a summit would mark a major personal milestone for Kim, who while being the epicenter of great international anxiety is still known to the world almost exclusively through images and statements that are carefully filtered through North Korea’s state-run propaganda machine.

With the five-year official mourning period for his father now over, and his personal powerbase seemingly strong, holding a summit would offer

Kim a chance to solidify his bona fides as a national leader and bolster his stature in comparison with the legacies of his grandfather, “eternal president” Kim Il Sung, and father, Kim Jong Il.

How far beyond a summit with South Korea Kim is willing or able to go remains to be seen. Moon is pushing for the North to reopen talks with the US and his agreement to hold a summit with Kim indicates more developments on that front are in the offing. Seoul has said its next move is to brief American officials.

Trips abroad can be a risky proposition if a leader isn’t entirely certain stability can be maintained while he is away.

Even so, both of Kim’s predecessors traveled outside North Korea’s borders during their tenures — Kim Il Sung famously visited the Soviet Union and most of eastern Europe by train in 1984. Kim Jong Un himself has been abroad, having attended school as a boy in Switzerland, and rumors have come up from time to time that he would visit either Beijing or Moscow.

If nothing else, Kim does have an aircraft that’s ready for the task.

Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, flew to the South for the Olympics on an aircraft believed to be Kim Jong Un’s personal jet, which was decked out to resemble the kind of plane other national leaders use for state trips. That seemed designed to suggest Kim, like any other political leader, could be ready to

hop on a flight if the opportunity arose. Not that he will likely need to do so anytime soon. No one is talking yet of a trip by Kim to Seoul.

Relations with Beijing have soured under his watch and while ties with Moscow are relatively better, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attention seems to be focused elsewhere. And despite Trump’s casual remarks otherwise, a journey to Washington would definitely seem like a longshot.

But then again, a year ago, so did the chances of a summit with South Korea’s leader.

The writer has been the AP’s Pyongyang bureau chief since 2013. Follow himw on Instagram and Twitter: @erictalmadge.

GERMANY’S Social Democrats (SPD) have bought Chancellor Angela Merkel time with their vote to join her conservatives

in another coalition, but she risks losing her long grip on power if she fails to balance the awkward allies’ conflicting demands.

Merkel’s conservatives - her Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) allies — and the SPD are both still bruised after suffering from the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in last year’s election.

Arch conservatives want to move right to counter the AfD, which profited from Merkel’s 2015 decision to open German borders to over 1 million migrants. The SPD, by contrast, wants to allay people’s insecurities with spending on welfare and education.

“Merkel needs to appease a weakened and insecure SPD without alienating her own CDU/CSU too much,” said Carsten Nickel, managing director at consultancy Teneo Intelligence.

Merkel has shared power with the SPD in two of her previous three terms in office, from 2005-2009, and from 2013 until now. The SPD said on Sunday its members had voted by a two-thirds majority in favour of a coalition deal struck last month.

But the two blocs’ weak performances in last September’s election, when they both suffered their worst results since Germany became a republic in 1949, mean the latest incarnation of their awkward alliance promises to be the most fractious yet.

“Despite the pretty solid majority (in the SPD ballot), this is not a long-term or permanent set up,” said Guntram Wolff, director of the Bruegel think tank. “The SPD is very fragile, and the CDU is also fragile.”

The inclusion in the coalition deal of a clause that envisages a review of the new government’s progress after two years is widely seen as giving the SPD an exit should it want one, and has also fuelled a debate about the post-Merkel era.

“If the Social Democrats continue to fall in the polls, then the point will come at some stage when they say ‘we must get out of the government’,” said Nils Diederich, professor at the Free University in Berlin.

One opinion poll published last month showed the AfD surpassing the SPD for the first time in a national poll to become the second-strongest party.

The SPD initially vowed to rebuild in opposition, only agreeing to talks on a return to its loveless marriage with Merkel after her negotiations with two smaller parties collapsed in November, plunging Germany into political uncertainty.

To stop the SPD from bolting, Merkel must deliver on those points in the coalition deal that are most dear to the Social Democrats: healthcare reform, and investment in education to meet the challenges of the digital age.

Like French President Emmanuel Macron, who is pushing for “a Europe that protects”, the SPD wants to promote economic stability and social convergence through the European project.

Kevin Kuehnert, head of the SPD’s Jusos youth wing who campaigned for a ‘No’ vote, is ready to call out any delay in implementing the hard-won coalition deal, which envisages euro zone reforms in partnership with France.

“Criticism of the grand coalition remains,” he tweeted after the ballot result. “The SPD needs to be more like it has been in recent weeks and less like it has been in recent years - the Jusos will

ensure this.” To her right, Merkel, 63, also faces

pressures from her own camp. Her weakness on the refugee issue

has forced the chancellor to name Jens Spahn, her biggest critic within the conservative bloc, as health minister in the new government.

Spahn, 37, wants to make the AfD “superfluous” by winning back voters on the right. He is also widely seen as ambitious, with an eye on succeeding Merkel, though he says he supports her as chancellor for the full parliamentary period.

Illustrating his lukewarm support for the new tie-up with the SPD, he described the coalition agreement this week as “no furious firework of innovation”.

Josef Joffe, publisher-editor of weekly Die Zeit, questioned whether Merkel would last out the full parliamentary term to 2021, “or whether she will be forced to hand over leadership to a younger CDU generation in two years.”

“Those who want to get rid of Merkel will try pull the party to right in order to recapture those voters who have defected to the nationalist, anti-immigrant AfD,” he said.

Merkel has already sought to head off challengers by appointing close ally Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to take over as CDU secretary general, heeding calls from within the party to inject new blood and groom a successor.

Merkel also wants to serve a full, fourth term, rather than yield before her time is up.

Asked last month if she saw Kramp-Karrenbauer as a possible successor, Merkel dodged the question, replying: “We have our hands full managing the business of the day.”

Summit would be rite of passage for North Korean leader

Weakened Merkel has her work cut out to make coalition last

PAUL CARREL REUTERS

11WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018 OPINION

The inclusion in the coalition deal of a clause that envisages a review of the new government’s progress after two years is widely seen as giving the SPD an exit should it want one, and has also fuelled a debate about the post-Merkel era.

Kim’s meeting this week with a top South Korean delegation to hash out his proposal for a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in points both to some savvy political maneuvering and possibly a broader attempt by Kim to step more firmly out from the shadows of his predecessors as North Korea’s undisputed supreme leader.

12 WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018ASIA

PNB scam: Govt, Congress spar in parliamentIANS

NEW DELHI: The Opposition continued to force adjournments of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the second day on Tuesday over the Rs 12,600 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud with differences cropping up between the government and the Congress in the lower house over the rule under which the issue should be discussed as also the wording of the motion.

Outside the house, Parlia-mentary Affairs Minister H N Ananth Kumar accused the Con-gress of running away from debate on the issue as there were “skeletons in the cupboard” of the UPA regime.

A combination of reasons resulted in uproar in the Lok Sabha, which witnessed a huge din in the morning with BJP’s ally Shiv Sena joining the protest near the Speaker’s podium demanding

classical status for Marathi. Another BJP ally TDP continued its protest over its demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh. AIADMK members were also near the podium demanding constitution of a Cauvery Management Board.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House as she was not able to proceed with the Question Hour.

When the house met at noon amidst similar scenes, Kumar said the discussion of the irreg-ularities in banking sector had been listed in the business of the day following notice given by Congress members and the Finance Minister will reply to the debate.

“I don’t understand why my friends from Congress are agi-tated. They wanted discussion on irregularities in banking, we are ready for that,” he said.

“Why are they afraid, why

are they running away. Those who have committed crime should be punished. In all these years, whatever has happened should be discussed. The crimes and irregularities committed during the UPA (United Progres-sive Alliance) government, that should also be discussed,” he said.

There was “no question” of saving anyone, the minister said.

The motion under Rule 193

read: “A discussion on alleged systemic irregularities in banking sector over the years and its impact on Indian economy.”

However, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge demanded discussion under rules that entail voting.

He said the party wants dis-cussion on financial default of crores of rupees in various nation-alised banks which resulted in the loot of public money. He said the perpetrators were “allowed to leave (India) despite complaints against them”.

With order not being restored, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.

Later, talking to reporters, Kharge said that the wording of the motion under Rule 193 was not the same as given in their notice. He said the party would give another notice of adjourn-ment motion.

Kharge said if the government

wanted to discuss the past irreg-ularities in banks, it should do it separately. He said the party was raising “recent occurrences of public importance” through its adjournment notice and other opposition parties were on board on the issue.”

“Bring our issue in the debate,” he said.

Ananth Kumar later told reporters that the Congress demand for discussion under a rule that entails voting came as an “afterthought” following the return of its President Rahul Gandhi from Italy.

“They are scared of debate. Many skeletons of banking scam will tumble out of the UPA regime. They don’t want it to be discussed. They want to hide things. We want discussion, they do not want it,” he said.

Referring to Congress mem-bers earlier giving notice under rule 193, which does not entail

voting, he said: “What is the enlightenment you got today? Why this sudden change of heart....”

He said the Congress appar-ently had objection to the use of “over the years” in the motion decided under Rule 193.

“Why should there be objection. Why you want to restrict the debate to one indi-vidual. Why you want to restrict the period of discussion. You can’t say NPAs started in 2014, Karti Chidambaram started in 2014, PNB issue started in 2014,” he said.

In the Rajya Sabha, opposi-tion protests continued when-ever the House met and it was finally adjourned for the day in the post-lunch session after sev-eral adjournments.

Like in the Lok Sabha, TDP members voiced their demands concerning Andhra Pradesh in the Upper House also

Lenin statue razed in Tripura amid clashesAFP

NEW DELHI: India’s ruling party warned its supporters yesterday they were not above the law after a mob celebrating an elec-tion victory against communist opponents bulldozed a statue of Vladimir Lenin.

Police in the remote state of Tripura said they were investi-gating more than a dozen com-plaints of arson, violence and vandalism in the wake of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) win at the weekend election.

An alliance led by the Hindu nationalist party of Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi crushed the incumbent communists — who had ruled the small northeastern state for a quarter-century — in a unexpected landslide.

The thumping victory kicked off a frenzied celebration by BJP supporters which degenerated into clashes with their commu-nist opponents and rioting.

Police launched an investi-gation after a mob — many wearing the saffron colours pop-ular with BJP supporters — on

Monday flattened the statue of Lenin with a bulldozer.

“We arrested a person who was driving the bulldozer that toppled the statue,” Tripura police spokesman Pradip De said.

“We have received at least 14 complaints of post-poll vio-lence, clashes, arson attacks and damage to property.” Images of the jeering mob reducing the statue to rubble sparked con-demnation and a rebuke from the soon-to-be BJP state leader in Tripura.

“Anyone involved in any-thing like this will face action as per law,” Biplab Kumar Deb, BJP’s chief minister-designate, told reporters yesterday.

But a major BJP campaigner in Tripura said the crowd was responding to a “symbol of oppression”.

“This is simple catharsis,” Rajat Sethi, the BJP northeast poll campaigner, said.

“It’s a good and legitimate form of expressing their resist-ance against their symbol of oppression.” Communist figures

decried what they described as a wider assault on democracy.

“The destruction of the statue of Lenin is symbolic,” said the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

“These attacks demonstrate, once again, that... (the BJP) rely mainly on unleashing political

violence as means to advance their inherent anti-democratic agenda.” Critics of Modi’s BJP say Hindu vigilantes have been emboldened since the party swept to power in 2014.

The BJP now rules 22 of India’s 29 states and territo-ries either outright or in an

alliance. Tripura, one of India’s smallest states with just four million people, had been a bastion of communist politics for 25 years.

Kerala, in India’s south, remains the last holdout where the Communist Party of India (Marxist) rules with its allies.

Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) stage a protest against the razing down of a statue of Vladimir Lenin in Belonia town in Tripura state, in Bengaluru, yesterday.

CBI arrests Gitanjali Group VP in PNB fraud caseIANS

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The CBI yesterday arrested the Vice-President of Banking Operations of Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Group in connection with its ongoing probe into the multi-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, officials said.

“Vipul Chitalia was arrested by the agency offi-cials after a brief ques-tioning,” a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said in Delhi.

He also said that Chitalia would be produced before a court in Mumbai later in the day.

Earlier in the morning, he was taken away from the Mumbai airport by the CBI, soon after he landed in the city from Bangkok.

Choksi, along with dia-mond jeweller Nirav Modi, has been accused of defrauding the PNB of Rs 12,600 crore, with Rs 1,300 crore being added to the fraud kitty on February 26.

The CBI had filed the first FIR in the scam on February 14 against Nirav Modi, his wife Ami, brother Nishal, uncle Choksi and his firms Diamond R US, Solar Exports and Stellar Diamond.

Nationwide state of emergency in Sri LankaAFP

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka yesterday declared a nationwide state of emergency after riots targeting Muslims left at least two people dead and homes ablaze in a hill station popular with tourists.

The government said it was imposing the extraordinary measures after police failed to curb violence in Kandy, a cen-tral district famed for its tea plantations and Buddhist relics.

Heavily-armed police com-mandos were deployed to restore

order in Kandy after rioters defied an overnight curfew and went on the rampage.

“The government is taking all possible measures to protect the people, especially Muslims,” Prime Minister Ranil Wick-remesinghe told parliament.

He said an inquiry had also been opened into security lapses by police that allowed mobs of Sinhalese rioters to burn mosques as well as homes and businesses belonging to Muslims.

The body of a 24-year-old Muslim man was pulled out of a burnt home yesterday. Police said two dozen people had been arrested in the wake of the riots.

The emergency measures, imposed for the first time since 2011, give authorities sweeping powers to arrest and detain sus-pects for long periods, and deploy forces where needed.

President Maithripala Sirisena said the measures would “redress the unsatisfac-tory security situation prevailing in certain parts of the country”.

“The police and armed forces have been suitably empowered to deal with criminal elements in the society and urgently restore normalcy,” he said.

City Planning Minister Rauff Hakeem described the riots as a “monumental security lapse” and recommended disciplinary action against those responsible for allowing the situation to deteriorate.

Sri Lanka’s parliament yes-terday issued an apology to its Muslim minority, which consti-tutes 10 percent of the country’s population of 21 million.

The violence in Kandy, a serene region of verdant hills frequented by tourists and pil-grims, has threatened to reignite communal tensions that have roiled Sri Lanka in recent weeks.

The emergency declaration was made after a special cabinet meeting with President Sirisena. It is the first time in seven years Sri Lanka has resorted to such a measure.

The island nation was under a state of emergency for nearly three decades during the civil war, when thousands disap-peared and civilians were sub-jected to rights abuses.

Amnesty International said it was important authorities took action to protect minorities from violence and hold those respon-sible to account. “But a state of emergency must not become a pretext for further human rights abuses,” said Amnesty’s South Asia Director Biraj Patnaik.

Riots erupted on Monday after a man from the island’s mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority died at the hands of a Muslim mob last week.

Hakeem said the riots were concentrated in Kandy, but the government wanted to send a strong message following recent outbreaks of communal violence elsewhere in the country.

A united oppn can force Modi on Andhra package: RahulIANS

NEW DELHI: Congress Pres-ident Rahul Gandhi yesterday said a united opposition can force the Narendra Modi government to give a special financial package to Andhra Pradesh to compensate for the losses it suffered following the state’s division in 2014.

At an unscheduled appearance at a protest gath-ering here, Rahul said the Congress, if voted to power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tion, would accord the state the central government package as promised after Telangana was created out of an undivided Andhra.

The protest was organised by MPs from Andhra Pradesh at Jantar Mantar in the heart of Delhi where other parties, including the Left and YSR Congress, were also demon-strating and seeking a special category status for the state.

“This afternoon, I joined the protests at Jantar Mantar demanding ‘Special Status’ for Andhra Pradesh. It is my belief that if the opposition stands united on this issue, we can force the BJP gov-ernment to do justice to the people of Andhra,” Rahul tweeted.

At the venue, the Con-gress President said: “I am confident that if we stand together, we will convince the government and (Prime Min-ister) Narendra Modi that what is due to the people of Andhra Pradesh should be given to them, at once.”

Rahul said that if his party came to power in 2019, the first thing his government would do is give special cat-egory status to Andhra.

“We are with the people of Andhra. Our stance has been very very clear. We are for special category status of Andhra,” Rahul said.

Gandhi attended the protest which was organ-ised by Andhra Pradesh Congress workers. A Con-gress leader said Gandhi’s appearance at the protest was not planned.

He was in Parliament till the afternoon and also par-ticipated in a demonstration outside Parliament House against the Punjab National Bank fraud involving fugitive jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MPs also staged a protest near Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament House demanding Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh.

Sri Lankan police patrol the streets of Pallekele, a suburb of Kandy, yesterday, following anti-Muslim riots that prompted the government to declare a state of emergency.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister H N Ananth Kumar accused the Congress of running away from debate on the issue as there were “skeletons in the cupboard” of the UPA regime.

13WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018 ASIA

Top Pakistan official begins US visit todayINTERNEWS

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua begins a crucial visit to the United States today as part of latest push by the two sides in attempts to rescue their uncertain alliance.

However, the visit appears to be kept low profile since the foreign office did not issue any statement on it. Officials pri-vately confirmed Tehmina’s trip and cited it as an important dip-lomatic voyage.

During the week-long stay in Washington, the Foreign Sec-retary is scheduled to hold talks with senior White House and State Department officials. According to official sources, discussions would focus on the current conundrum in bilateral ties and how the two sides could come to a decisive ground on Afghan saga. The foreign secre-tary will brief the Trump admin-istration about the steps Paki-stan had taken in the war against terrorism.

She will also raise Pakistan’s concerns, which includes pres-ence of anti-Pakistan elements in Afghanistan and growing

footprints of Indian secret agen-cies with the US government.

The Foreign Secretary visits Washington just days after Lisa Curtis, a senior aide of President Trump, travelled to Islamabad in search of common ground in the fight against terrorism and particularly bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan.

However, Curtis yet again reminded her interlocutors in Islamabad about the alleged pres-ence of Haqqani network and other terrorist outfits in Pakistan.

She said the United States wants to move toward a new relation-ship with Pakistan, based on a shared commitment to defeat all terrorist groups that threaten regional stability and security with a shared vision of a peaceful future for Afghanistan.

Moreover , Pakistan expressed its willingness to work with the US for peace in Afghanistan and beyond and made it clear that it would not compromise on its interests.

The US has adopted a tough policy towards Pakistan since Trump took over the White House. The Trump administra-tion continues to build pressure on Pakistan to do more in the war against terror.

The Oval Office recently indicated that it does not wish to abandon ties with Islamabad despite America suspending security assistance and moving the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) against Pakistan.

The Centcom chief Gen-eral JosphVotel said that the military ties between Paki-stan and the United States were not affected by the ongoing tensions between the two countries.

Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua visits Washington just days after Lisa Curtis, a senior Trump aide, travelled to Islamabad in search of common ground in the fight against terrorism & particularly bringing peace & stability in Afghanistan.

Alleged Taliban fighters and other militants stand handcuffed while being presented to the media at a police headquarters in Jalalabad, yesterday. Afghan police said over 17 alleged Taliban militants including two Pakistani nationals were arrested during a five-week operation in Nangarhar province.

Taliban fighters arrested

Two dead in bomb blast in Afghan provinceAP

KABUL: At least two people were killed when a sticky bomb attached to a fuel truck deto-nated in eastern Nangarhar province. Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the explosion also wounded three people.

He said it took place in the province’s Behsud district, along a main highway between the provincial capital of Jalalabad with the Torkham border crossing with Pakistan.

Khogyani also said that the force of the explosion was so strong that around 30 shops and

car repair places located by the roadside caught fire and burned down. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing but both the Taliban and IS militants are active in the province and have stepped up their attacks against Afghan security forces.

Deadly measles outbreak in Philippines amid vaccine rowAFP

MANILA: A health scare over a pioneering dengue vaccine is partly to blame for a decline in child immunisation and a deadly measles outbreak in the Philip-pines, a senior health official said yesterday.

The government has reported four outbreaks of measles, one of the world’s leading killers of children, since December, a period coinciding with the row over the dengue vaccine which some parents blamed for child deaths.

Manila suspended the Dengvaxia vaccine last December and threatened to sue Sanofi shortly after the French pharma-ceutical firm disclosed that it could worsen symptoms for people not previously infected by the dengue virus.

Government programmes against other deadly but prevent-able diseases became collateral damage, with immunisation rates

down below 60 percent in Jan-uary, Health Undersecretary Enrique Domingo said.

This compares to at least 80-85 percent last year, he said.

“We have eradicated mea-sles like 10 years ago but it’s coming back due to the low rates

of vaccination within the com-munities,” he said, adding this vaccine is given at the age of nine months.

Asked if lower immunisation rates this year were due to the Dengvaxia scare, he said “partly”, with insurgencies also blocking

delivery of medical services in some southern areas.

“Before, they (children) would come to our health cen-tres for their scheduled vaccines. Now we have to seek them (par-ents) out and convince them,” he added.

“As long as we can control it (measles), the mortalities are very low. But we (also) have like polio for example, diphtheria pertussis, which are more debilitating or more fatal.”

Domingo said 17 people con-tracted measles in a Manila dis-trict in January but none of them died. Three died in larger out-breaks in at least two areas on the southern island of Mindanao in December.

Meanwhile, he said a sus-pected measles outbreak was underway in two cities and five towns on the central island of Negros.

Domingo said the health department was actively seeking out children who had missed out

on immunisation to prevent the further spread of measles.

“We always tell them (par-ents) these are tried and tested vaccines and they save millions of lives every year around the world,” he said.

The Philippine health depart-ment injected some 870,000 people, all but 33,000 of them schoolchildren, with Dengvaxia in four of the country’s most pop-ulous regions in 2016 and 2017.

Sanofi’s belated disclosure sparked a nationwide panic, with some parents alleging the vac-cine killed their children.

The government suspended the drug and ordered an inquiry which so far failed to establish a link between the vaccine and 14 child deaths including three from dengue.

A total of 49 children who were given the vaccine had now died, nine of them from dengue, Domingo said. The underlying cause of these later deaths was still being investigated.

Philippine Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque (right) answers a question during a press conference at the DOH headquarters in Manila, yesterday.

NEWS BYTESPakistani women to take humanitarian leadershipISLAMABAD: Thirty female humanitarian responders will be par-

ticipating in a weeklong first response training launched exclusively to

enable these women workers to assume leadership roles in humanitar-

ian efforts in Pakistan.

A collaborative venture involving Oxfam, the National Humanitarian

Forum (NHN) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA),

this is the first in a series of trainings to be conducted to train female

mid-management professionals from national and local NGOs and local gov-

ernment departments across Pakistan in disaster response preparedness.

Islamabad to establish 2,500 strong anti-riot forceISLAMABAD: The Islamabad police have decided to establish an anti-

riot force with over 2,500 personnel to ensure no road in the federal

capital is blocked by protesters in the future, the Senate Standing Com-

mittee on Interior was told yesterday.

“As many as 550 police officials have been trained to deal with pro-

testers and 2,338 more officials will be recruited and trained according

to international standards. They will be equipped with anti-riot gear and

will be trained by Turkish trainers,” Inspector General Police (IGP) Islam-

abad Dr Sultan Azam Taimoori told the committee.

Drug testing of students suggested in ParliamentISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee of Interior yesterday

advised the government to conduct annual blood tests of all teenage

and adult students of the federal capital and expel those who test posi-

tive for any drug. The suggestion came after a briefing by the Islamabad

police during which the committee was told that students are using

opium, heroine and other drugs in educational institutions and hostels.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Security Waqar Chohan said the Spe-

cial Branch had identified and arrested some people who were selling

drugs in educational institutions. “However in 2017, for the first time tab-

lets were recovered from the culprits. Parties are held in private hotels

in which youngsters use drugs and we therefore need to take strict

measures. These tablets are smuggled in Pakistan and a large amount

of heroine and opium was also recovered,” he said.

2 more graft cases initiated against Sharif family membersINTERNEWS

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of Pakistan has approved initi-ation of another couple of inquiries against Sharif family members for alleged suspi-cious banking transactions and accumulation of assets beyond known sources of income in two different cases.

The anti-graft watchdog’s executive board also ratified the bureau’s previous decision of filing supplementary refer-ences - currently pending with an accountability court - against Sharif family members and senator-elect Ishaq Dar.

Two fresh inquiries against the Sharif family have been ordered upon receipt of com-plaints from the State Bank of Pakistan in cases related to the Chaudhry Sugar Mill.

The accused named in these inquiries are ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister She-hbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hamza Shehbaz, Kulsoom Nawaz, Fazl Dad Abbas, Mas-roor Anwar and others.

A separate inquiry has been initiated against Ishaq Dar, federal minister Anusha Rehman, former Pakistan T e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n Authority chairman Dr Ismail Shah and others in a case related to award of next gen-eration mobile services con-tract to a firm.

Australia, East Timor to settle bitter border differencesAP

CANBERRA: Australia and East Timor will sign a treaty that draws the first-ever maritime border between the neighbours, resolving years of bitter wrangling with a deal that carves up billions of dollars of oil and gas riches that lie beneath the Timor Sea.

Australia and its impover-ished half-island neighbour are to sign the agreement at the United Nations soon, putting to rest a dispute that has dominated and soured relations since 2002,

when East Timor emerged as a fledgling nation independent of Indonesia.

The terms of the deal negoti-ated in The Hague through the Permanent Court of Arbitration have not been made public. But achieving East Timor’s ambition of a border midway between the two countries would encourage Indonesia to renegotiate its own much longer maritime boundary with Australia agreed in 1971 under outdated international law. The Indonesian border with Aus-tralia extends east and west of the

new East Timor-Australia boundary and the vast expanse Indonesia allowed Australia is a source of increasing irritation in the capital Jakarta.

The revenue split from the new agreement is crucial for East Timor, with a population of 1.3 million people who are among the poorest in the world. Unemploy-ment is high and young people are increasingly looking abroad for work. East Timor’s oil revenues, which finance more than 90 per-cent of government spending, are rapidly dwindling due to the

exhaustion of existing fields in its territory. The country’s $16bn sov-ereign wealth fund could be empty within 10 years because the government’s annual withdrawals are exceeding its investment returns, according to La’o Ham-utuk, an East Timorese research institute.

Influential East Timorese Catholic Bishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Carlos Filipe Ximense Belo welcomed the border resolution as an eco-nomic boon for his deeply Cath-olic country.

Hottest summer on record in New ZealandAFP

WELLINGTON: New Zealand has sweltered through its hottest summer on record and can expect more of the same if climate change continues unabated, the government’s scientific agency said yesterday.

Daily temperatures aver-aged 18.8 Celsius , 2.1C more than normal, the National Insti-tute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said.

With the mercury reaching

as high as 38.7C in the South Island, NIWA said it was the hot-test summer since records began in 1909, surpassing the previous high set in 1934-35.

NIWA’s chief forecaster Chris Brandolino said a number of factors were behind the warm weather, including a spike in marine temperatures and warm northerly winds from a La Nina weather pattern.

Brandolino added that global warming due to climate change was also a major

contributor because it lifted baseline temperatures over the long term.

He said more records were likely to fall in coming years if the factors behind man-made climate change were not addressed.

Scientists have also linked extreme weather to climate change, including cyclone sys-tems that have devastated Pacific island nations and caused flooding in New Zealand.

14 WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018ASIA

North Korea willing to hold talks with USREUTERS

SEOUL: North Korea is willing to hold talks with the United States on denuclearisation and will suspend nuclear tests while those talks are under way, the South said yesterday after a delegation returned from the North where it met leader Kim Jong Un.

North and South Korea, still technically at war but enjoying a sharp easing in tension since the Winter Olympics in the South last month, will also hold their first summit in more than a decade next month at the border village of Panmunjom, the head of the delegation, Chung Eui-yong, told a media briefing.

“North Korea made clear its willingness to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and the fact there is no reason for it to have a nuclear programme if military threats against the North are resolved and its regime is secure,” the head of the delegation, Chung Eui-yong, told a media briefing.

“The North also said it can have frank talks with the United States on denuclearisation and the normalisation of ties between North Korea and the United States,” Chung added.

He cited the North as saying it would not carry out nuclear or missile tests while talks with the

international community were under way. North Korea has not carried out any such tests since November last year.

Washington and Pyongyang have been at loggerheads for months over the North’s nuclear and missile programmes, with Trump and Kim Jong Un trading insults and threatening war. North Korea has regularly vowed never to give up its nuclear pro-gramme, which it sees as an essential deterrent and ‘treasured sword’ against US plans for invasion.

The United States, which sta-tions 28,500 troops in the South, a legacy of the Korean War, denies any such plans.

To ensure close communica-tion, the two Koreas, whose 1950-53 conflict ended in a mere truce, not a peace treaty, will set

up a hotline between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un, Chung said.

The agreement came on the heels of a visit made by a 10-member South Korean dele-gation led by Chung to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, on Monday in hopes of encouraging North Korea and the United States to talk to one another.

During this week’s visit, a senior Blue House official said North Korea was informed it was not feasible to postpone the joint military drills between South Korea and the United States again and that Kim Jong Un acknowl-edged the situation.

Kim Jong Un said he under-stood the drills, expected in April, would be of a similar scale seen in previous years, the official said. The North Korean leader also had a request for the world: that he be seriously acknowledged as a dialogue counterpart, said the official.

The South’s delegation leader, Chung, said he would travel to the United States to explain the out-come of the visit to North Korea and that he had a message from North Korea he will deliver to Trump.

Chung will later visit China and Russia, while Suh Hoon, the head of South Korea’s spy agency

and another member of the del-egation, will head to Japan.

The United States has said before it is open to talks but its position has been that dialogue must be aimed at North Korea’s denuclearisation, something Pyongyang has rejected.

Moon has also remained vig-ilant against North Korea’s weapons ambitions, saying yes-terday South Korea should bol-ster its defences in tandem with talks with Pyongyang. The Pen-tagon has nevertheless said it was

‘cautiously optimistic’ about the North-South talks, which resumed in January for the first time in two years.

“It’s now the United States’ turn to assess the agreements made by North Korea,” said Kim Dong-yub, a professor and a mil-itary expert at Kyungnam Univer-sity’s Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

“The South Korean envoys will have things to explain to Washington, but will Trump truly be able to understand?”

North & South Korea are still technically at war but are also enjoying a sharp easing in tension since the Winter Olympics in the South last month.

Trump sees possible progress; Pyongyang, Seoul plan summitREUTERS

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said yesterday he saw ‘possible progress’ after South Korea said North Korea is willing to hold talks with the United States on denuclearisation and will suspend nuclear tests while those talks are under way.

“Possible progress being made in talks with North Korea. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned. The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the US is ready to go hard in either direction!” Trump wrote in a Twitter post.

North and South Korea will also hold their first summit in more than a decade next month at the border village of Pan-munjom, the head of a delegation from South Korea told a media briefing. The delegation met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit to the North.

Trump earlier tweeted: ‘We will see what happens!’.

Indonesian lawyer fights ban on ethnic Chinese owning landREUTERS

BANGKOK: An Indonesian lawyer said he will appeal a verdict by a regional court that upheld a decades-old ban on ethnic Chinese people owning land in Yogyakarta province, which he called racist and discriminatory.

Handoko Wibowo had filed a petition in a district court in Yogyakarta, calling for a repeal of the 1975 edict that gives only indigenous Indo-nesians the right to own land in the central province. Minor-ities only get usage rights.

The court last week dis-missed the lawsuit, reasoning that the edict was imposed to protect the interests of indig-enous Indonesians who are less wealthy than ethnic Chi-nese people, said Handoko, who rejected that conclusion.

“The Chinese are also Indonesian citizens. To dis-criminate even now on the basis of ethnicity is racist and unlawful,” he said.

“The edict goes against the agrarian law that gives all cit-izens the right to own land. It is time we repealed it,” he said.

Ethnic Chinese make up less than 5 percent of Indone-sia’s population, but they con-trol many of its large conglom-erates and much of its wealth.

The wealth gap has long fed resentment among poorer “pribumi”, Indonesia’s mostly ethnic-Malay indigenous people.

Former president Suharto blocked Chinese Indonesians from many public posts and denied them cultural expres-sion. Marginalised politically and socially, many turned to business and became wealthy.

Tensions against them have flared in recent years.

In 2015, Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights urged author-ities in Yogyakarta to repeal the land edict, saying it was discriminatory and would hurt development. At the time, offi-cials denied it was unconstitutional.

US Seventh Fleet Band performs in VietnamMembers of US Seventh Fleet Band perform as a statue of late Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh is seen in the background, as part of the US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinsons’ goodwill visit to Vietnam, at the Da Nang SOS Children’s Village in Danang, Vietnam, yesterday.

Japanese volcano erupts; many flights groundedAP

TOKYO: A volcano in southern Japan that appeared in a James Bond film had its biggest erup-tion in years yesterday, shooting smoke and ash thousands of metres into the sky and grounding dozens of flights at a nearby airport, officials said.

The Meteorological Agency said the Shinmoedake volcano on Japan’s southernmost main island of Kyushu erupted vio-lently several times, and some lava was rising inside a crater.

Public broadcaster NHK showed gray volcanic smoke billowing into the sky and orange lava rising to the mouth of the crater. The Meteorolog-ical Agency said ash and smoke shot up 2,300 meters into the

sky in the volcano’s biggest explosion since 2011. In Kirishima city at the foot of the volcano, pedestrians wore sur-gical masks or covered their noses with hand towels, while others used umbrellas to pro-tect from falling ash. Cars had layers of ash on their roofs.

There were no reports of injuries or damage from the eruptions. The agency said the volcanic activity is expected to continue and cautioned resi-dents against the possibility of flying rocks and pyroclastic flows - superheated gas and vol-canic debris that race down the slopes at high speeds, inciner-ating or vaporising everything in their path. About 80 flights in and out of nearby Kagoshima airport were cancelled.

The Shinmoedake volcano spews thick smoke in Kobayashi City, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, yesterday.

Japan navy gets first female chief of warship unitTOKYO: The Japanese navy said yesterday it had for the first time appointed a woman as commander of a unit that includes the country’s biggest warship. Ryoko Azuma, 44, will command 4 warships making up a division with a total of 1,000 crew members.

“This is the first time a woman was appointed for the job,” a spokesman for the Mar-itime Self-Defence Force said. “But she wasn’t chosen because she was a woman.” The ships include the helicopter carrier Izumo, the navy’s biggest ship.

Malaysian pro-democracy leader launches bid for parliamentREUTERS

KUALA LUMPUR: The leader of Malaysia’s biggest pro-democ-racy group said yesterday she will stand for parliament in a general election under the banner of an opposition alliance aiming to throw Prime Minister Najib Razak out of office.

Maria Chin Abdullah is chair-woman of the activist group Bersih, which means ‘clean’ in the Malay language, and which has for years led anti-government protests against Najib who has been dogged by a scandal over huge losses at a state fund.

Her support for the opposi-tion in a general election that must be held by August is likely to bolster the Pakatan Harapan opposition alliance, led by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, especially among urban voters frustrated with Najib’s rule.

“The system has not worked for us. We have to try new strat-egies and entering parliament is just one of them,” Maria, 62, she told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Najib faces an unprecedented challenge from his former mentor, Mahathir, 92, who turned on the prime minister over his handling of a multi-billion dollar scandal involving the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund. After news broke in 2015 of hundreds of millions of

dollars allegedly misappropriated from the fund, Najib moved quickly to quell dissent, sacking critics from his cabinet and ruling party and clamping down on a damaging internal probe.

Najib and the fund deny any wrongdoing. Despite the scandal, Najib’s Barisan Nasional ruling coalition, is widely expected to win the election, thanks to rural support, a rebounding economy, and the redrawing of electoral boundaries that critics say favour the government. Maria did not mention the 1MDB scandal in her

news conference. She promised to fight for election reform, gender equality and the environ-ment, if elected to the 222-seat parliament.

“My sole purpose is to get my agenda to parliament,” she said.

She said she was stepping down as leader of the activist group, which brands itself as non-partisan, to focus on her bid for parliament. Critics said her decision to enter politics exposed her political bias in favour of the opposition. But Maria said Bersih has never been neutral.

Maria Chin Abdullah, (centre), former chairperson of the coalition of Malaysian NGOs and activist groups known as Bersih, that also translates as ‘clean’ in the local Malay language, gestures after a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.

Former South Korean president Lee summoned over bribery allegationsREUTERS

SEOUL: South Korean prosecu-tors have called former president Lee Myung-bak to appear for questioning over allegations he took bribes when in office, a prosecutor said yesterday in the latest top-level political corrup-tion scandal to rock the country.

Prosecutors last month sought a 30-year jail term for former President Park Geun-hye, Lee’s successor, who was ousted last year amid an influence-ped-dling scandal and is standing trial

on charges of bribery, abuse of power and coercion.

Lee was asked to present himself for questioning on March 14, the senior prosecutor said.

“We must question (Lee) to reveal the truth”, the prosecutor said.

“We expect him to show up since we gave sufficient time for him to prepare for the ques-tioning” Lee has denied any wrongdoing, calling the investi-gation into the bribery allega-tions, summoning his family and confidants and raiding their

homes and offices, politically motivated. Lee was not imme-diately reachable for comment yesterday. Last month, Seoul prosecutors searched the offices of Samsung Electronics as part of the investigation, the prose-cutors’ office said.

They were looking for pos-sible evidence that Samsung pro-vided financial support for an auto parts maker run by Lee’s family and allegedly controlled by him, the prosecutors’ office said. Samsung has said it has no official comment.

15WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018 EUROPE

Spy poisoning: UK to respond ‘robustly’ AFP

SALISBURY: Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson warned yesterday that Britain would respond “robustly” if it emerged that a government was behind the suspected poisoning of a former Russian double agent.

Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intel-ligence who came to Britain in a spy swap in 2010, was found unconscious with his daughter Yulia in the southwestern Eng-lish city of Salisbury on Sunday.

The pair, found on a bench outside a shopping centre, were treated for “suspected exposure to an unknown substance” and are currently in a critical condi-tion in a local hospital.

Johnson told the House of Commons that it was too soon to establish the cause of the “dis-turbing” incident, which caused a major security alert in the nor-mally quiet city.

But he noted “the echoes” with the 2006 poisoning in London of Kremlin critic Alex-ander Litvinenko, an attack that an inquiry ruled was likely ordered by President Vladimir Putin.

“I can reassure the House that should evidence emerge that

implies state responsibility, then Her Majesty’s Government will respond appropriately and robustly,” Johnson said.

He added: “Though I am not now pointing fingers, I say to gov-ernments around the world that no attempt to take innocent life on UK soil will go either unsanctioned or unpunished.” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier yes-terday that it had no information on the “tragic situation”.

“We don’t have information about what could be the cause, what this person did,” he said.

He said London had not made any requests for assistance in the investigation, but added: “Moscow is always ready for cooperation.”

Police earlier revealed that

a number of emergency services personnel required medical assessment after the incident, and one remains in hospital.

However, they stressed there was no immediate risk to public health.

A cordon remained in place yesterday where Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter were found, while a restaurant on a street nearby, Zizzi, was also closed in a “precaution”.

Specialists from the counter-terrorism police unit are assisting in the investigation.

Fears of the suspected poi-soning revived memories of Litvinenko, an ex-Russian spy who was killed by radioactive polo-nium put in his tea in London.

A British inquiry ruled in 2016 that Putin “probably approved” the killing and iden-tified two Russians, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun, as the prime suspects.

The incident caused a deep diplomatic split between London and Moscow, and after a thaw, tensions are rising again, fuelled by accusations of Russian cyber attacks on the West.

The chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs com-mittee, Tom Tugendhat, warned the evidence pointed to Russia’s

involvement in the Salisbury inci-dent. “It is too early to say whether it is certain or not, but it certainly bears all the hallmarks of a Rus-sian attack,” he said.

Skripal was sentenced to 13 years in jail in Russia in 2006 for betraying Russian intelligence agents to Britain’s MI6 secret service. He was pardoned before being flown to Britain as part of a high-profile spy swap between Russia and the United States in 2010.

His collapse made the front pages of almost all Britain’s news-papers yesterday, with the Daily

Mail speculating that Skripal may have been the target of a revenge “hit” by former colleagues.

Litvinenko’s widow, Marina, told The Times that watching footage of emergency responders in hazardous material suits “was kind of deja vu”.

William Browder, a British hedge fund manager who has cam-paigned against the Kremlin over the death in custody of his former employee Sergei Magnitsky, said his “first suspicion” was that Moscow was involved. “This man was con-sidered by the Kremlin to be a traitor

to Russia,” he said.“They have a history of doing

assassinations in Russia and abroad. And they have a history of using poisons, including in Britain.” However, Lugovoi, who is an MP in the Russian parlia-ment, responded to the British media reports by saying that Britain “suffers from phobias”.

“Because of the presidential elections (on March 18), our actions in Syria, the situation with Skripal could be spun into an anti-Russian provocation,” he told Interfax news agency.

British Police Community Support Officers stand on duty outside a residential property in Salisbury, southern England, yesterday, believed to have been cordonned off in connection with the major incident which started at The Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury.

EU agrees first defence projects, delays decision on UK roleREUTERS

BRUSSELS: A group of European Union countries agreed yesterday to develop their first joint defence projects under a pact that excludes Britain, giving London a taste of life outside the bloc’s foreign policy decision-making process.

The 25 signatories to the pact also delayed a decision on whether to let non-member states join the projects, pro-longing uncertainty over any future role for Britain after it leaves the EU next year.

As Europe’s biggest military power along with France, Britain

is central to European security efforts but has long blocked defence integration, fearing the creation of an EU army.

Nevertheless, Britain is con-cerned about being left outside the new cooperation pact and missing out on weapons projects. Prime Minister Theresa May wants to reach a “security treaty” with the EU by 2019.

Defence ministers from the pact’s signatory states, which comprise all but three of the cur-rent EU members, signed off in Brussels on 17 collaborative projects. These include a Euro-pean armoured infantry fighting vehicle, underwater anti-mine

sensors and a European medical command.

The eventual aim of the Per-manent Structured Cooperation pact is to develop and deploy forces together, backed by a multi-billion-euro fund for defence research and develop-ment that is now under negotiation.

Denmark, which has opted out of most EU military matters, and neutral Malta are the others not taking part.

Its strongest backers - France, Germany, Italy and Spain - hope that by achieving a long-held ambition to develop national defences together, the

EU will save money by putting an end to competing national industries.

Spanish Defence Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal played down some U S concerns that Europe might overlap with what the transatlantic alliance is doing. “There is no suggestion of duplication with Nato,” she said.

But in some areas, the Euro-peans do seek “strategic autonomy” from the United States to be able to face threats on Europe’s borders in North Africa and the Sahel.

At their meeting, the minis-ters delayed until the end of this

year any decision on whether to allow non-EU countries to join future defence projects. That was despite expectations of a deci-sion by the end of June.

One senior EU official said ministers want to see more progress in Britain’s exit negoti-ations with Brussels given the sensitive nature of defence coop-eration with London.

In an EU document approved by ministers, any outside involvement in the pact will be “of an exceptional nature” and only if a country meets certain conditions, such as bringing suf-ficient financing and technical know-how.

Norway boosts quotas to revive whalingAFP

OSLO: Norway announced yesterday a 28 percent increase of its annual whaling quota to 1,278 whales in a bid to revive the declining hunt amid inter-national controversy.

Whalers have for several years failed to meet the quotas set by Oslo and the number of whaling boats has plunged.

“I hope the quota and the

merging of fishing zones will be a good starting point for a good season for the whaling industry,” Fisheries Minister Per Sandberg said in a statement.

Norway and Iceland are the only countries in the world to authorise whaling. Japan also hunts whales, but officially it does so for scientific research purposes, even though a large share of the whale meat ends up on dinner plates.

Norway does not consider itself bound by a 1986 inter-national moratorium on whaling, to which it formally objected.

The Scandinavian country resumed its Minke whale hunt in 1993, judging stocks robust enough. According to Oslo, there are more than 100,000 Minkes in Norwegian waters.

Yet whaling appears to have fallen out of favour.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II looks at a model of the RMS Queen Mary 2 transatlantic ocean liner during a visit to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London yesterday to mark the 70th anniversary of its formation.

Northern Ireland party rejects EU Brexit planAFP

BRUSSELS: The Northern Irish party that props up British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government yesterday rejected “unacceptable” EU plans for the Irish border after talks with the bloc’s Brexit negotiator.

Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the British-ruled prov-ince, said EU negotiator Michel Barnier had been “receptive” during a “very open and con-structive” meeting in Brussels.

But she said the pro-British DUP could not accept an EU draft divorce treaty unveiled last week, which says Northern Ireland must stay in a customs union with the rest of the bloc if no better way is found to avoid a hard border with EU-member Ireland.

“We feel that the current draft EU legal text is not a faithful or fair translation” of a preliminary withdrawal deal reached by Britain and the EU in December, Foster told a news conference in Brussels.

Foster, the former first min-ister in Northern Ireland’s cur-rently suspended power-sharing government, added that the EU had proposed a docu-ment that “we found unaccept-able and the government finds unacceptable”.

Barnier said on Twitter after the talks that the EU was “looking for practical solutions to avoiding a hard border, in full respect of the constitutional status of NI (Northern Ireland), as set out in the GFA (Good Friday agreement).” The 1998 Good Friday peace accords ended three decades of sec-tarian conflict between Protes-tants and Catholics that left 3,500 people dead in Northern Ireland.

The DUP brought talks on the Brexit divorce deal to the brink of collapse in December by holding out until the EU promised that there would be no new internal customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

But the EU’s draft text drops that assurance, focusing instead on the need for a “backstop” option that would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the customs union to avoid border checks after Brexit in March 2019.

Foster urged May to come up with a British version of the draft providing “sensible” and “imaginative” solutions, noting that most of Northern Ireland’s trade is with the rest of the UK.

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds meanwhile warned Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar against taking an “aggressive” stance in the talks.

Communist running for Kremlin risks removalAFP

MOSCOW: The Communist candidate running against Vladimir Putin in this month’s presidential polls risks being barred over allegations he failed to declare Swiss bank accounts containing $1m, Russian media reported yesterday.

Pavel Grudinin, a wealthy businessman, is currently running a distant second to Putin in opinion polls but his rating has grown as Putin’s has dipped.

He has faced largely neg-ative coverage in pro-Kremlin media.

Central electoral commis-sion officials have accused Grudinin of failing to declare and close all his foreign bank accounts before registering as a candidate in January, as required by law.

The commission will decide on Wednesday what action to take.

“Grudinin could be removed from the elections,” Vedomosti business daily wrote on its front page, quoting analysts who pre-dicted this would seriously harm turn-out.

Central Electoral Com-mission member Alexander Kinev told RIA Novosti news agency Swiss tax authorities passed on information that at the end of 2017 Grudinin had 13 accounts containing $1m including 174 ounces of gold.

Kinev and other offi-cials told Russian media the commission had not seen bank documents con-firming the closure of 11 of the accounts.

“A million dollars and five kilograms of gold could cost Grudinin the elections,” reported Business FM radio station yesterday.

Grudinin in a message on social media late on Monday condemned what he called “fake news” and said the party and Russia’s tax author-ities had “exhaustive infor-mation” on the closure of all his foreign accounts.

Queen commemorates 70th anniversary of IMO formation

“I can reassure the House that should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility, then Her Majesty’s Government will respond appropriately and robustly,” Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said.

16 WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018EUROPE

Democrats eye deal with 5-Star in ItalyAFP

ROME: Senior members of Italy’s vanquished Democratic Party yesterday were defying outgoing leader Matteo Renzi and eyeing a possible deal with the triumphant Five Star Move-ment after an election that ended in deadlock.

Anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio declared his party “the winners” after obtaining nearly 33 percent of the vote, but they need to form alliances in parlia-ment if they are to govern.

Renzi ruled out the prospect as he announced his resignation on Monday, following disaster at the polls that saw his party’s centre-left coalition slump to third place with 23 percent of the vote.

“During the campaign, we said we would not do a govern-ment with extremists. We have not changed our mind,” Renzi said, adding that the Democratic Party (PD) would “not be a crutch for anti-system forces”.

Political expert Giovanni Orsina said Renzi’s departure meant “a convergence between the PD and the M5S is much more probable because Renzi was an obstacle to this.” But Renzi yesterday said he would only step down once a new gov-ernment is formed, and would act as a “guarantor” that his party made no compromise with what he called the “wind of extremism” that swept Italy in Sunday’s election.

However, other leading voices in his party disagree and he now faces pressure to bring forward his resignation.

Michele Emiliano, governor of the Puglia region and a

leading PD member said his party could offer “external sup-port” to a M5S government.

In an interview with Il Fatto Quotidiano daily, Emiliano berated Renzi for not stepping down immediately.

“In order to cling on, he is willing to stall the political system,” Emiliano said.

With almost all ballots counted, the main right-wing alliance was in the lead with 37 percent, followed by the M5S and the centre-left alliance led by the PD.

The vote has drawn compar-isons with the Brexit referendum in Britain and the election of US President Donald Trump because of the anti-immigration and anti-establishment rhetoric, raising concern in European capitals about instability.

Far-right leader Matteo Sal-vini of the League party, the big-gest grouping in the right-wing coalition after Sunday’s election, has claimed his right to govern.

Salvini campaigned on an anti-immigration platform, promising to deport hundreds of thousands of “irregular” migrants, and has called the euro a “failed currency”.

Media mogul Silvio

Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy) party came second in the coalition -- a humiliating set-back for the three-time former prime minister.

With no party or alliance commanding an overall majority, M5S leader Luigi Di Maio also wants the prime min-isterial nomination after his party hoovered up votes from Italians fed up with a slow eco-nomic recovery.

Di Maio, who is due to visit his hometown of Pomigliano d’Arco, an industrial base near Naples later yesterday, will now face a difficult balancing act.

Any perception of cosy deals with other parties following the election risks alienating his core support from Italians angered by traditional politics.

A deal with the Five Star Movement could also divide the PD, where many are smarting from the movement’s victories in traditional leftist heartlands.

“The key question for the coming days is what the PD will do,” said Orsina.

“Neither the right-wing alli-ance nor M5S are able to form a government alone. The ques-tion is therefore what the third bloc will do,” he said.

Commentators said any compromise would be far from easy and would take time, at least until newly-elected law-makers meet for the first time on March 23.

“The world of Italian poli-tics as we have known it for the last 25 years is over,” wrote Cor-riere della Sera’s editor Luciano Fontana.

“Nothing will be as before. The players, and the political landscape of the country have changed,” he said.

Community workers (left) stand by as migrants gather on waste ground in the area of the ferry terminal in Calais, yesterday.

African migrants march in Florence after street vendor is shot to deathREUTERS

FLORENCE: African immigrants marched through the streets of central Florence late on Monday chanting “no more racism” after an Italian man shot dead a Senegalese street vendor earlier in the day.

Police said Roberto Pirrone had fired six pistol shots at close range, killing Idy Dienec as he sold leather bags, umbrellas and trinkets on a bridge in the Tuscan city, one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations.

Later, dozens of immigrants marched through the historic centre of Florence, knocking over trash bins, motor scooters and large flower pots.

The shooting came a day after a parliamentary election in which

politicians often portrayed migrants as criminals and called for mass deportations.

Police said yesterday that the murder was not racially motivated, citing testimony Pir-rone gave to investigators after his arrest. Pirrone, who had a license to carry a weapon for sport, was suicidal and lashed out in a state of confusion, investigators said.

But the timing of the attack raised suspicions among Flor-ence’s large Senegalese commu-nity. In the election, the anti-immigrant League became the second-biggest party in parlia-ment. “The fact that the elections went the way they did shows the kind of mood the country is in,” said Pape Diaw, a representa-tive of the Senegalese

community, before the march. “Italy has become a country where blacks are shot on the street.” Last month a man with neo-Nazi sympathies and ties to the League opened fire on African migrants in the city of Macerata, wounding six before he was captured.

Dienec, the 54-year-old victim of Monday’s attack, had legally lived in Italy for many years, police said. But more than 600,000 boat migrants have arrived on Italian shores in the past four years, making immi-gration a top concern for voters during the campaign. The League and the 5-Star Move-ment, which emerged as the largest party in the vote, have promised to ramp up deporta-tions of irregular migrants.

Polish official denies US sanctioning over Holocaust law

AP

WARSAW: Poland’s deputy foreign minister denied reports yesterday that the U S is punishing Poland over a contro-versial new Holocaust law.

Bartosz Cichocki said that Washington has been expressing “concerns and questions” about the law, but that reports of sanc-tions are untrue. Polish news portal Onet.pl reported that the Polish government was told that the Polish president and prime minister cannot count on any meetings with either President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence until Poland changes the law.

Onet said it has seen doc-uments confirming the ulti-matum, and reported that the Americans also threatened to block the financing of joint military projects.

The United States has pre-viously warned Poland not to pass the law, which imposes prison sentences of up to three years for falsely and intention-ally attributing the crimes of Nazi Germany to Poland.

Poland’s nationalist gov-ernment says the law is meant to protect Poland, a victim of Hitler’s Germany, from being accused of crimes that it did not commit as a nation. Israeli and US offi-cials, however, fear that it could undermine free speech and academic research into the cases of Polish violence against Jews during the Second World War.

In late January the U S State Department said the law could have “repercussions... on Poland’s strategic interests and relationships.”

A boat makes its way through the icy water in Nybroviken bay in Stockholm yesterday.

Navigating icy obstacles

Trial of Danish inventor for murdering scribe begins tomorrowAP

COPENHAGEN: As divers found mutilated body parts in plastic bags on the ocean floor one by one, a gruesome puzzle as dark as any Scandinavian noir emerged in Denmark: A young Swedish reporter who had embarked on a submarine journey to interview its maker was tortured, murdered and disposed at sea.

Businessman Peter Madsen stands trial at Copenhagen’s City Court tomorrow for the killing of Kim Wall, 30, in his submarine off the usually quiet northern European country.

Madsen denies killing Wall and says she died accidentally inside the UC3 Nautilus while he was on deck.

However, he has admitted cutting her up before he “buried her at sea.” Some don’t want to talk about Madsen or be asso-ciated with him anymore. Others do.

“He had two sides: He could be a well-spoken and charis-matic person who could speak for hours about his submarine. And then... a much darker side,” said retired adult movie actress Dorthe Damsgaard, 48, who met him several times.

Damsgaard said that she had declined invitations to join Madsen in his submarine because she has claustrophobia. “He made it no secret to me about having fantasies,” Dam-sgaard said, describing him as “funny, manipulative, serious and scary.”

His former workshop, a low building of corrugated iron, sits on Refshale island, a once-bus-tling shipyard and industrial area across from downtown Copenhagen.

It was here that Wall embarked on the submarine journey on a sunny summer evening last year.

On August 10, she and her Danish boyfriend, Ole Stobbe Nielsen, threw a goodbye party before moving to China.

That evening, she received a text message from Madsen saying an interview was possible. For months, she had been trying to speak with him and she left the party to join the now 47-year-old Dane. Alone.

Wall grew up in southern Sweden, just across a narrow

waterway from Copenhagen. She studied at Paris’ Sorbonne university, the London School of Economics and Columbia University in New York, from where she graduated with a master’s degree in journalism in 2013.

She wrote for The New York Times, The Guardian and other publications, reporting on topics such as tourism in post-earthquake Haiti and nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands.

Caterina Clerici, a friend from Columbia, said Wall had “a soft spot for misfits, for places and people that did not con-form.” Madsen doesn’t fit into any boxes.

According to a 2014 biog-raphy, he grew up in a small town west of Copenhagen

with an authoritarian father. Considered a nerd at school, he chal lenged sc ience teachers and built rockets in his past time.

In 2008 he co-founded Copenhagen Suborbitals, a pri-vate aerospace consortium to develop and construct manned spacecraft.

In 2011, it launched a home-made nine-metre rocket 8km into the sky over the Baltic Sea, a step toward its unrealised goal of launching a person into space.

However, differences led to a split with his business partner in the year 2014.

Madsen, known for his shifting moods and for hating to be contradicted, moved into another workshop.

France to build new jail cells to tackle overcrowdingREUTERS

PARIS: France will build thou-sands of new jail cells and use electronic tagging more widely under reforms being pursued by President Emmanuel Macron to remedy some of the worst prison overcrowding in Europe and protests by wardens over violence.

France’s prison population of 69,000 is the fifth-largest in Europe, after Russia, Turkey, Poland and Britain, World Prison Brief data compiled by a London university shows.

But French jails are more overcrowded than those in Britain, with an average 115 inmates per 100 places. In some Paris area jails there are reports of inmates sleeping on floors with three or more prisoners

squeezed into a cell.The changes, to be formally

presented by Macron during a visit to southeast France, follow a rash of attacks by inmates that triggered protests by guards, who said violence was spinning out of control.

The protests calmed when the government offered 30 mil-lion euros for better training and pay, as well as moves to isolate Islamist militants from other prisoners. With his latest announcement, Macron is promising to go further..

As well as promising to build 10,000-15,000 new cells to tackle overcrowding and to enforce sentences more strictly, the 40-year-old president, elected nine months ago, will pledge to find outside-of-prison alternatives for lesser offenders.

For a better life

Anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio declared his party “the winners” after obtaining nearly 33 percent of the vote, but they need to form alliances in parliament if they are to govern.

17WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018 AMERICAS

Former Argentina leader to be tried in cover-up caseAP

BUENOS AIRES: Former Pres-ident Cristina Fernandez will face trial on charges she covered up the role of Iranians in a 1994 terrorist bombing at a Jewish center in Argentina’s capital, judicial authorities announced yesterday.

Eleven other former offi-cials and people close to Fern-andez’s government will also be tried on charges of cover-up and abuse of power, Fed-eral Judge Claudio Bonadio said in a ruling released by Argentina’s official CIJ Judicial Information Center.

The trial date has not been set. So far, four of the accused have been detained. In December, Bonadio asked law-makers to remove Fernandez’s immunity from prosecution, which she gained last year when she was sworn in as a senator.

Legislators have not acted on the request. The immunity protects her from being arrested, but she can still be tried.

Fernandez, who was presi-dent in 2007 to 2015, denies any wrongdoing or involvement in any cover-up involving Argen-

tina’s worst terror attack. The 1994 bombing of the

Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AIMA) centre in Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires killed 85 people and wounded hundreds. Iran denies any involvement.

The judge backed an asser-tion against Fernandez made on January 14, 2015, by Alberto Nisman, a prosecutor who was investigating the case.

Nisman said the 2013 agree-ment that Fernandez’s govern-ment made with Iran in exchange for favourable deals on oil and other goods ensured that Iranian officials involved in the attack

would escape prosecution. Nisman was found dead in his apartment with a bullet wound in his right temple four days later.

His case remains unsolved. But last year, an investigation by Argentina’s border police agency concluded that Nisman was murdered, contradicting earlier official findings that Nisman likely killed himself.

Fernandez, a left-of-centre politician, blames the accusa-tions against her on what she says is the bias of judges fol-lowing the orders of her con-servative successor, President Mauricio Macri.

She recently said she wanted to go on trial as soon as possible to prove the “arbitrariness of the accusation.”

Fernandez has defended the 2013 deal with Iran as a way to solve the bombing case. But Jewish groups and other criti-cised it at the time, saying Tehran had failed to turn over suspects. A joint “truth com-mission” called for by the deal was approved by Argentina’s Congress but it was never formed because it was later ruled by local courts to be unconstitutional.

ALBA bloc leaders remember ChavezAP

CARACAS: Leaders from Latin American governments belonging to an anti-US bloc have converged on Venezue-la’s capital yesterday to commemorate the fifth anni-versary of President Hugo Chavez’s death.

Presidents Raul Castro of Cuba, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua were among those who made the trip, which coincided with a meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, known as the ALBA bloc.

The meeting came as Ven-ezuela grapples with a

deepening economic crisis and heads into an early presidential election that has drawn inter-national condemnation.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro called Chavez his political father and said that he is continuing the socialist revolution begun by his mentor.

Journalists walk next to an image depicting Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro during an ALBA alliance summit in Caracas, Venezuela, yesterday.

Former Michelle Obama chief to head Grammys inclusion group AP

NEW YORK: The former chief of staff for former First Lady Michelle Obama will head The Recording Academy’s new task force focused on inclusion and diversity.

The academy announced yesterday that Tina Tchen (chen), a veteran lawyer who is also working on the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, will chair the new initiative. The Grammys announced the task force after its CEO drew crit-icism for saying women need to “step up” when asked about the lack of female win-ners backstage at its 60th awards show, held in January.

The task force plans to uncover unconscious biases and other barriers that impede women’s success in the music industry.

Tchen says in a statement it’s “an important initial step by the Recording Academy to demonstrate its commitment to tackling these challenges in a comprehensive way.”

Utilities rush to restore power in NortheastAP

BOSTON: Utilities are racing to restore power to tens of thousands of customers in the Northeast still without elec-tricity after last week’s storm as another nor’easter threatens the hard-hit area with heavy, wet snow, high winds - and more outages.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning that stretches from eastern Pennsylvania, across most of New England, from late yesterday night into tomorrow morning.

More than a foot of snow is forecast for some interior areas. Meanwhile, about 250,000 homes and business across the Northeast remain without power, down from about 2 million at the last storm’s peak.

Mississippi Republican senator announces retirement

Wreckage of WWII US aircraft carrier foundAFP

WASHINGTON: Wreckage from the USS Lexington, a US aircraft carrier which sank during World War II, has been discovered in the Coral Sea, a search team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen announced yesterday.

The wreckage was found on Sunday by the team’s research vessel, the R/V Petrel, some 3,000 metres below the surface more than 800km off the eastern coast of Australia.

The search team released pictures and video of the Lex-ington, one of the first ever US aircraft carriers, and some of the planes which went down with the ship.

Remarkably preserved air-craft could be seen on the seabed bearing the five-pointed star

insignia of the US Army Air Forces on their wings and fuselage.

The search team also released pictures and video of parts of the ship, including a name-plate, and anti-aircraft guns covered in decades of slime.

The USS Lexington and another US aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown, fought against three Japanese aircraft carriers from May 4 to 8, 1942 in the Battle of the Coral Sea.

The badly damaged Lex-ington, nicknamed “Lady Lex,” was deliberately sunk by another US warship at the con-clusion of the battle.

More than 200 members of the crew died in the battle but most were rescued by other US vessels before the Lexington sank.

Admiral Harry Harris, who

heads up the US military’s Pacific Command (PACOM) -- and whose father was one of the sailors evacuated -- paid tribute to the successful research effort.

“As the son of a survivor of the USS Lexington, I offer my congratulations to Paul Allen and the expedition crew of Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel for locating the ‘Lady Lex,’ sunk nearly 76 years ago at the Battle of Coral Sea,” Harris said in a statement.

“We honour the valor and sacrifice of the ‘Lady Lex’s’ Sailors -- and all those Ameri-cans who fought in World War II -- by continuing to secure the freedoms they won for all of us,” he said.

The USS Lexington was car-rying 35 aircraft when it went down.

A wreckage from the USS Lexington, a US aircraft carrier which sank during World War II, that has been found in the Coral Sea.

Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio said in a ruling that ‘eleven other former officials and people close to Fernandez’s government will also be tried on charges of cover-up and abuse of power. The trial date has not been set.

AP

JACKSON: Longtime Republican Sen Thad Cochran (pictured) of Mississippi said he will resign because of health problems - triggering what could be a chaotic special election to fill the seat he has held for a generation.

Cochran, who turned 80 in December and has been in poor health, has been a sporadic pres-ence on Capitol Hill in recent months. He stayed home for a month last fall, returning to Washington in October to give Republicans the majority they

needed to pass a budget plan. He has since kept a low profile and an aide ever present at his side.

“I regret my health has become an ongoing challenge,”

Cochran said in a statement. “It has been a great honour to

serve the people of Mississippi and our country. I’ve done my best to make decisions in the best inter-ests of our nation, and my beloved state. ... My hope is by making this announcement now, a smooth transition can be ensured so their voice will continue to be heard in Washington, DC”

Cochran said his resignation is effective April 1, allowing Republican Gov Phil Bryant to appoint a temporary replace-ment to fill the seat until a spe-cial election on November 6. The

winner would serve until the end of Cochran’s term in January 2021.

Cochran’s departure sets off a scramble within a state Repub-lican Party already struggling to manage a disaffected conserva-tive faction. The special election is expected to attract several candidates, including the out-spoken, tea party-backed state senator who came close to defeating Cochran in a bitter 2014 Republican primary. Republican Chris McDaniel, who said last week he would chal-lenge Mississippi’s other GOP

senator, Roger Wicker, said Monday it is “premature” to say whether he will run for the newly open seat.

“I want him to be healthy and happy,” McDaniel said of Cochran. “We disagree politi-cally, but I have nothing but respect for his service.”

Republicans in Washington are hoping to prevent a rough and costly primary season as they struggle to defend their narrow 51-49 hold on the Senate. Some Republicans have doubts about McDaniel’s ability to win a general election.

Ohio woman charged with child endangermentAP

ASHLAND: A prosecutor alleged that an 8-year-old Ohio boy loaded a rifle, repeatedly shot his 4-year-old sister at home and then informed their mother, who left work to check the girl’s injuries, cleaned up a bloody bed cover and then returned to work, leaving the children alone again.

The woman, 27-year-old Alyssa Edwards, is jailed on child endangerment charges related to the Saturday shooting in Hayesville, about 113km southwest of Cleveland.

An arraignment is sched-uled for for Edwards. She

tearfully appeared for court yesterday via video and said that there was no information that a magistrate needed to consider before he set her bond at $30,000, The Ashland Times-Gazette reported .

Ashland County Prosecutor Christopher Tunnell said Edwards took the girl to a hos-pital hours after the shooting because she had a leaking wound, and the hospital con-tacted police.

The 4-year-old girl who was shot was in stable condi-tion at a children’s hospital in Cleveland.

The boy was in the custody of children’s services.

SpaceX marks 50th launch of Falcon 9AP

CAPE CANAVERAL: SpaceX is marking the 50th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket (pictured), its satellite-delivery work-horse.

The latest Falcon took flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida, early yesterday, suc-cessfully hoisting a massive communications satellite for Spain’s Hispasat corporation. The orbiting satellite is almost as big as a city bus.

No attempt was made to recover the first-stage booster. Waves offshore were too rough for a barge landing.

SpaceX has been flying the Falcon 9 since mid-2010.

Fifty launches in less than eight years is a pretty good clip, by rocket standards.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk says via Twitter that he can’t believe it’s already been 50 launches and that just 10 years ago, the company couldn’t even reach orbit with the little, original Falcon 1.

18 WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018AMERICAS

Florida Senators pass bill to curb rifle salesAP

TALLAHASSEE: It doesn’t include the assault weapons ban that students who survived Flor-ida’s deadly school shooting demanded of lawmakers, but the state’s Senate narrowly passed a bill that would create new restrictions on rifle sales and allow some teachers to carry guns in schools.

Meanwhile, prosecutors and lawyers for the victims are going to court to handle the aftermath of the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the court system.

Grand jurors are expected to begin hearing evidence today against Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old former student who authorities say killed 17 people and injured more than a dozen others when he fired an AR-15 assault-style rifle inside the school.

The 20-18 Senate vote followed three hours of often

emotional debate. Support and opposition

crossed party lines, and it was clear many of those who voted for the bill weren’t entirely happy with it. The bill now goes to the House, which has a s imi lar b i l l awai t ing consideration by the full chamber.

“Do I think this bill goes far enough? No! No, I don’t!” said Democratic Sen Lauren Book, who tearfully described visiting the school after the shooting.

Book also wanted a ban on assault-style rifles, like many of

the students who traveled to the state Capitol, who asked lawmakers to do that and more to stop future mass shootings. But Book said she couldn’t let the 60-day legislative session end on Friday without doing something.

“My community was rocked. My school children were murdered in their classrooms. I cannot live with a choice to put party politics above an opportunity to get something done that inches us closer to the place I believe we should be as a state,” she said.

“This is the first step in saying never again.”

Earlier Monday, families of the 17 people who died called on the state’s Legislature to pass a bill they believe will improve school security.

Reading a statement outside Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Ryan Petty implored legislators to pass Gov Rick Scott’s proposal to add armed security guards, keep guns away from the mentally ill and improve mental health programs for at-risk teens.

Scott also opposes arming teachers.

If just one more senator voted no, the bill would have died. Democrats didn’t like the idea of letting teachers carry guns, even if the bill was amended to water down that proposed program. And many pro-gun rights Republicans didn’t like the idea of raising the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21 and to create a waiting

period on sales of the weapons.The Senate amended its bill

to limit which teachers could volunteer to go through law enforcement training and carry guns in schools. Any teacher who does nothing but work in a classroom would not be eligible, but teachers who perform other duties, such as serving as a coach, and other school employees could st i l l participate.

Other exceptions would be made for teachers who are current or former law enforcement officers, members of the military or who teach in a Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps program.

The bill would name the programme for slain assistant football coach Aaron Feis, who has been hailed as a hero for shielding students during the school attack. Republican Sen. Bill Galvano said he got the approval of Feis’ family to name the programme for him.

Galvano, who took the lead on the bill, said he sees the bipartisan opposition as a good thing.

“You know what that means in my experience? That we’ve gotten somewhere,” he said. “We’re hitting nerves. We’re going into areas that may not be our comfort zone.”

The bill also would create new mental health programmes for schools ; improve communication between schools, law enforcement and state agencies; create a task force to review mistakes made during mass shootings nationally and recommend improvements in Florida law; and establish an anonymous tip line students and others can use to report threats to schools.

“This bill will make a difference now. When it becomes law, things will start changing,” Galvano said. “We listened and we’re trying. We’re trying hard.”

The bill would create new mental health programmes for schools; improve communication between schools, law enforcement and state agencies; create a task force to review mistakes made during mass shootings nationally and recommend improvements in Florida law; and establish an anonymous tip line students and others can use to report threats to schools.

$5m stolen from Lufthansa cargo plane in BrazilAFP

SAO PAULO: A group of thieves stole $5m in cash, which had been due to travel from Brazil to Switzerland aboard a Lufthansa jet, at a large freight airport near Sao Paulo, police said yesterday.

The spectacular heist, which took place late Sunday, was completed in a matter of minutes, and authorities have yet to arrest a suspect.

The crooks entered Viracopos International Air-port’s freight terminal using a pickup on which they had “placed stickers mimicking the runway security compa-ny’s logo,” federal police said in a statement released yesterday.

Germany-based Lufthan-sa’s plane had been traveling from Guarulhos airport in Sao Paulo and was making a stop at Viracopos -- Brazil’s big-gest freight terminal -- with Zurich as its final destination.

The stolen money had been held under the auspices of secure transport provider Brinks, according to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

The daily said five men had threatened security agents on the runway before taking off with the cargo, in barely six minutes.

There was no immediate sign of injuries, the airport said.

Cargo theft is on the rise in Brazil, where most targets are semi-trucks, especially those serving Rio de Janeiro.

According to the series of reports by SensiGuard Secu-rity Services last year, statis-tics show an increase in cargo theft across Brazil in the second quarter of 2017.

Lula likely to dominate presidential elections: PollREUTERS

SAO PAULO: Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would easily win a second-round runoff vote against several likely opponents and retake the presidency in October elections if allowed to run, according to a poll released yesterday.

Lula, who is likely to be barred from running because of a corruption convic-tion that was upheld on appeal in January, also had the lowest rejection rate among likely contenders in the survey, conducted by pollster MDA. Support for him in sev-eral potential second-round matchups rose from levels in an MDA poll in September.

Still, nearly half of those polled, 46.7 percent, said they would never vote for Lula, underlining widespread voter

discontent with political choices in Brazil as graft investigations continue to target the political class.

In a runoff vote against right-wing congressman Jair Bolsonaro, the MDA polls found, Lula would take 44 percent of the vote against 26 percent for his opponent.

If Lula is barred by courts from run-ning for the presidency, the poll found that Bolsonaro would face environmen-talist and former senator Marina Silva in a second-round runoff, which takes place in Brazil if no single candidate wins a majority of votes on the first ballot.

Bolsonaro and Marina Silva are polling within the survey’s margin of error in a theoretical runoff, MDA found, a situa-tion repeated in other likely second-round scenarios absent Lula.

Lula has said repeatedly that he wants

to run and will fight for that chance in Brazil’s top courts. However, the coun-try’s constitution, with rare exceptions, bans politicians from running for office if

their convictions have been upheld on appeal. The question of whether Lula can run is not likely to be settled by the courts for several months.

A file picture of former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a rally, in Belo Horizonte.

Sanctions on Russia soon: Mnuchin

Immigration agents arrest 23 in raidsAP

SANTA FE: Federal agents arrested 23 people on suspicion of being in the country illegally as they served notices of employ-ment audits to over 100 businesses in New Mexico and west Texas, immigration officials said. US Immigration and Customs Enforce-ment agents made the arrests over the past week, according to an email from agency regional spokeswoman Nina Pruneda. She said three of the arrested individuals face criminal charges related to illegal re-entry to the US after deportation or firearm possession or both.

Of the audit notices, 68 were served on businesses across a swath of 18 counties in western Texas.

Businesses were given three days to provide hiring records that deal with employees’ immigration status. Such employment audits and interviews can lead to criminal charges or fines.

The federal “worksite enforcement strategy is focused on pro-tecting jobs for U.S. citizens and others who are lawfully employed, eliminating unfair competitive advantages for companies that hire an illegal workforce, and strengthening public safety and national security,” Pruneda said in a written statement.

New Mexico immigrant rights advocates and officials in Santa Fe said four people were arrested locally and the six business audit notices were sowing fear and uncertainty in the community.

“It absolutely disrupts people’s lives and the harmony of the city,” Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales said

AFP

WASHINGTON: Despite Pres-ident Donald Trump’s public statements appearing to oppose sanctions against Russia, the steps ordered by Congress will be imposed in coming weeks, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday.

In testimony before a House subcommittee, Mnuchin pushed back against the idea that Trump is trying to block the sanctions in response to Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US presidential elec-tion, saying Trump is “fully supportive.”

“We will implement them,”

Mnuchin said. “I expect in next several weeks will be going for-ward with sanctions on Russia.”

Trump’s vocal opposition to the package -- which entered into law earlier this year -- and his regular praise of Vladimir Putin has raised questions about whether the administration is dragging its feet, which has angered some lawmakers.

Several members of Trump’s campaign have been charged or admitted to lying to the FBI about their contacts with Kremlin-linked officials accused of trying to sway the 2016 vote in Trump’s favour.

M n u c h i n a s s u r e d

the legislators that “In recent conversations with the president he is fully supportive of the work we are doing,” and that the sanctions will be enforced.

Democratic representative Mike Quigley said so far the only step has been a “laughable report on Russian oligarchs,” but Mnuchin said the classified report given to Congress detailed the efforts to design the package of penalties.

In its report Treasury pub-licly identified more than 100 Russian officials and business leaders eligible for sanctions, a list derived from Forbes maga-zine, among other sources.

MP pushes for vote on migrant billAP

WASHINGTON: A Republican congressman says he’s trying to force a House vote on extending expiring protections against deportation for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants for three more years.

Rep Mike Coffman of Colo-rado says his measure would give Congress more time to decide how help the so-called Dreamers. They are young immigrants brought to the US illegally as children who have only temporary protection to stay here.

It was unclear whether Coffman can get the 218 signa-tures his petition needs.

Coffman faces a competitive re-election race this year in a district surrounding Denver in

which around one in five voters are Hispanic.

Coffman announced his plan on the day President Donald Trump set as a deadline for Con-gress to extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, or DACA.

President Donald Trump is blaming Democrats for failing to pass legislation extending protections for young immi-grants that he has tried to end.

Trump tweets, “It’s March

5th and the Democrats are nowhere to be found on DACA.” He says, “We are ready to make a deal!”

Trump announced last year he was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but asked Congress to come up with a legislative fix in six months.

Trump had insisted that any legislation saving DACA had to be coupled with funding for his border wall and an overhaul of the legal immigration system.

Democrats and some Republicans balked at those demands.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders is blaming both parties for the failure, saying it’s “absolutely terrible that Congress has failed to act.”

Dreamers and advocates attend a rally in support of a Clean Dream Act in Los Angeles, yesterday.

Trump tweets, “It’s March 5th and the Democrats are nowhere to be found on DACA.” He says, “We are ready to make a deal!”


VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTERCROSSWORD NOVO Pearl Qatar

MALL

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

LANDMARK

ROXY

AL KHOR

ASIAN TOWN

Death Wish 10:00, 10:30am, 12:15, 12:30, 12:45, 2:30, 3:00, 3:15, 4:45, 5:15, 6:00, 7:00, 7:30, 8:45, 9:15, 9:45, 11:30, 11:40pm & 12:00midnightBlack Panther (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:45, 3:30, 6:15, 9:00 & 11:45pm Gnome Alone (2D) 10:00, 11:45am, 1:30, 3:15, 5:00, 6:45, 8:30, 10:15pm & 12:00midnightThe Shadow Effect (2D) 10:00am, 2:00, 6:00 & 10:00pm The Midnight Man (2D) 12:00noon, 4:00, 8:00pm & 12:00midnight The Leisure Seeker (2D) 10:00am, 2:45, 7:15 & 11:50pm I, Tonya (2D) 12:15, 4:45 & 9:30pm Talq Sena3y (2D/Arabic) 10:00am, 2:00, 6:00 & 10:00pm Okdat Al Kawja (2D/Arabic) 12:00noon, 4:00, 8:00pm & 12:00midnight Game Night (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight Black Panther (3D IMAX/Action) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm

Captain (2D/Malayalam) 2:00 & 11:15pm Pari (2D/Horror) 2:30 & 11:30pm Talq Sena3Y (2D/Arabic) 7:00pm Gnome Alone (2D/Animation) 3:00, 4:30 & 6:00pm Death Wish (2D/Action) 5:00, 7:30 & 11:15pm The Leisure Seeker (2D/Romantic) 5:00pm Black Panther(2D/Action) 2:30, 7:00 & 9:00pm The Shadow Effect (2D/Drama) 9:30pm The Midnight Man (2D/Horror) 9:30pm Veerey Ki Wedding (2D/Hindi) 11:30pm

ROYAL PLAZA

Captain (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 9:00pm Gnome Alone (2D/Animation) 2:30, 4:00 & 5:30pm Talq Sena3Y (2D/Arabic) 2:30pm Black Panther(2D/Action) 4:30pm Maya Nadhi (2D/Malayalam) 5:00 & 11:00pm The Shadow Effect (2D/Drama) 7:30 & 11:30pm Death Wish (2D/Action) 7:00, 9:30 & 11:30pm The Midnight Man (2D/Horror) 9:15pm

Captain (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 11:30pm Pari (2D/Hindi) 2:30pm Gnome Alone (2D/Animation) 3:30 & 5:00pm Black Panther (2D/Action) 6:45pm Special Show 7:00pm The Leisure Seeker (2D/Romantic) 9:30pm Maya Nadhi (2D/Malayalam) 5:00pm The Midnight Man (Horror) 7:30 & 11:30pm The Shadow Effect (2D/Action) 7:30pm Death Wish (2D/Action) 2:30, 9:00 & 11:00pm I, Tonya (2D/Drama) 9:15pm Talq Sena3Y (2D/Arabic) 5:00pm

Maya Nadhi (Malayalam) 6:00, 7:00, 8:45, 9:45, 11:30pm Captain (Malayalam) 6:00, 7:00, 8:30, 10:00 & 11:15pm Pari (Hindi) 6:00pm

Captain (Malayalam) 11:30am, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30 & 11:30pmGnome Alone (Animation) 10:30am, 12:15, 2:15 & 4:15pmDeath Wish 12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30 & 11:45pm Maya Nadhi (Malayalam) 6:15, 9:00 & 11:45pm

Gnome Alone (Animation) 10:30am, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30 & 6:30pm Pari (Horror) 10:30am, 1:10, 3:50, 6:30, 9:10 & 11:50pm Death Wish (Drama) 10:30am, 12:50, 3:10, 8:20 & 10:40pm Captain (Malayalam) 10:30am, 4:15 & 10:10pm Maya Nadhi (Malayalam) 1:30 & 7:15pmBlack Panther (Action) 5:30, 8:30 & 11:20pm

A girl and her friends find a game in the attic that summons a creature known as The Midnight Man, who uses their worst fears against them.

THE MIDNIGHT MAN

FLIK MirqabBlack Panther (Action) 2D 11:20am, 12:20, 2:00, 4:40, 7:20, 9:20, 10:00pm & 12:05am 3D 3:00, 5:40, 8:20 & 11:00pmCaptain (Malayalam) 3:20, 6:20 & 8:20pm Death Wish (Action) 11:35am, 1:50, 4:05, 6:20, 7:05, 8:35, 8:50&9:25pm Early Man 10:30am, 2:20, 5:25pm Ferdinand 11:40am, 1:35 & 4:15pm Game Night 11:25am, 1:30, 4:55, 7:20, 9:05 & 11:40pm Gnome Alone (Animation) 3:35, 12:25 & 6:30pm Mom & Dad (2D/Horror) 8:45 & 11:45pm Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle 2:35pmMaya Nadhi (Malayalam) 12:35, 5:00, 9:20 & 12:10am Maze Runner: The Death Cure 10:45pm Talq Sena3y (Arabic) 7:00pm Talq The Last Flag Flying 4:30 & 11:20pm The Midnight Man 11:10pm

Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar honours Urdu fiction writerDOHA: Bazm-e-urdu Qatar organ-ised a reception and Mushaira in the honour of renowned Fiction writer Naushabah Khatoon and Urdu poet Dr Nadeem Jeelani Danish recently at Maza Restaurant Doha.

The event consisted of prose and poetry sessions.

The programme was presided over by Mohammad Sabih Bukhari, Director of Satco group and the Patron Chief of Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar, while, Urdu fiction writer Naushabah Khatoon was the Chief guest and renowned Urdu poet Dr Nadeem Jeelani Danish was the guest of honour.

After the welcome address by

Bazm-e-Urdu General-Secretary Ahmad Ashfaque, Naushabah Khatoon’s book “Khizan K Baad” was launched and Memento were

presented to the Chief guest and Guest of honour.

“The Urdu language is spreading all over the world and its popularity

is gaining ground in the State of Qatar.

“It is interesting to note that many expatriates including Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalese are being drawn to this language and have started to understand the poetry, lit-erature and culture of Urdu,” said chief guest Naushabah Khatoon, a fiction writer.

The chief guest Naushabah Khatoon, talked on “The need of fic-tion in Urdu writing”.

“Fiction is the spirit of novel and it appeals the reader to read the whole novel unless it is not finished. It cre-ated an interesting scenario in his/her mind”

Mercure Grand Hotel offer on Women’s DayA woman in any form shall be celebrated and honoured, be it, a sister or a wife or daughter or a mother. In celebration of International Women’s Day, Mercure Grand Hotel is offering a complimentary buffet dinner for all the ladies after their partners pay for the meal from March 7 to 8 at La Brasserie Restaurant, in Doha. Mercure Grand Hotel will be celebrating Women’s Day together with all the AccorHotels brands worldwide.

OIS honours Eco Club volunteersDOHA: A felicitation ceremony was held at Olive International School (OIS), Nuaija campus to honour the volunteer parents of Eco Club.

The ceremony started with a prayer and the song ‘Give me Oil in my Lamp’ by the choir.

Volunteer parents were wel-comed with words of appreciation by Jasmine Jose, the school mag-azine in charge and member of ‘Live Green Club’.

She expressed heartfelt

gratitude for the parents’ dedicated efforts in making the vertical garden project a feat so remark-able and award winning.

Students who dedicatedly worked in making this project a success were also honoured with certificates.

Said event was followed by the most awaited launch of Class Mag-azine launch. Students were given the opportunity to be the editors and design their own class magazines.

Principal Jacob K M honoured the volunteer parents for making the Live Green Club Project possible.

He emphasised the importance of taking care of the environment.

“Showing care for the environ-ment is very essential as our future depends on it for it is the source of life. Only when we are deprived of something, we realise its impor-tance. Therefore, it is still not too late to give our best in taking care of the environment.”

Thrissur Jilla Sauhrudavedi to hold 18th blood donation camp on FridayDOHA: Thrissur Jilla Sauhrudavedi, in tie-up with Hamad Medical Corporation, will hold its 18th blood donation camp at Naseem Al Rabeeh Medical Center (C- Ring Road) from 8am until 4pm on Friday.

Thrissur Jilla Sauhrudavedi will pro-vide a medical seminar and free blood sugar and blood pressure test.

Everyone is welcome to take part in the said event.

For inquiries, please contact 33571882.


FAJRSHOROOK

04.36 am05.52 am

ZUHRASR

11.45 am03.07 pm

MAGHRIBISHA

05.41 pm07.11 pm

PRAYER TIMINGS

HIGH TIDE 08:00 – 21:15 LOW TIDE 02:15 – 14:30

Relatively hot daytime with some clouds

becomes mild by night.

WEATHER TODAY

COURTESY: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum 20oC 24oC

Colourful start to Kite Festival at Aspire ParkAMNA PERVAIZ RAO THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Aspire Second Interna-tional Kite Festival kicked off yesterday, bringing in leading international kite flyers from 23 countries. Large crowds gathered to participate in the first day of the four day event at Aspire Park.

Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) conducted workshops for seven schools which included, Khadija school, Aspire Academy, Cambridge School, Pak Shama School and College, Muath Ibn Jabal School, Gheras Interna-tional School and Lebanese School of Qatar.

The workshops were deliv-ered by Wing Lee, President of Singapore Kite Association and Gadis Widiyati Riyadi, the Sec-retary of the International ASEAN Kite Council, a renowned Singa-porean trainer.

Talking to The Peninsula, Wing Lee said: “ I am conducting workshops for school children. We give them a presentation to make it easy for them to

understand how a kite flies, what are the different types of kites and we teach them how to make a kite. We are also providing all the material which can be used while making a kite”.

Comparing the previous edi-tion from the second edition, he said: “ Last year we faced prob-lems due to weather conditions while this year, AZF has worked really hard on every aspect of Kite Festival. The venue is amazing with perfect weather to fly kites. This time we have observed increase in the participants and schools participating as well”.

This year’s event is witnessing a growing number of participating countries, with more than 102 par-ticipants from 23 countries to take part in the festival. Last year, 40 participants from 13 countries took part. Countries participating this edition include: Austria, Aus-tralia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zea-land, Netherlands, Pakistan, Phil-ippines, Spain, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United

States of America.Mohammed bin Fahad Al

Thani, Member of Second Inter-national Kite Festival organising committee told the Newspaper: “This time we have 23 countries coming from five continents of the world. We have Qatar’s team participating this year, work-shops were conducted by AZF to prepare them for the competi-tions. The morning sessions are running from 9am until 12pm. It will comprise various workshops for students who are taking part in a local kite flying competition on the sidelines of the main international event on a smaller scale for local schools’ teams.”

The afternoon sessions will run from 3pm until 11pm, and comprise various entertainment activities and more than 28 food and beverage outlets set up alongside the main International Kite Flying competition.

“The atmosphere is catchy and exciting for children and for the organizers as well. Looking at children’s interest in making kites and flying themselves is priceless. We had more than 200

students today who attended the workshop and flew kites in sky. We have special teachers for them from Singapore, we hope children and families enjoy the second edition of International Kite festival”, said Sumaya Al-Qasabi, Member of Second Inter-national Kite Festival organizing committee, talking about the atmosphere created by AZF during the festival.

The festival organiser have

Views from the Second Aspire International Kite Festival. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT / THE PENINSULA

Qatar-Belgium Economic Forum launchedTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: In the presence of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium, Minister of Economy and Commerce, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani and his Belgian counterpart Kris Peeters, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, inaugurated yesterday, the Qatar—Belgium Economic Forum.

The Forum was organised by the Ministry of Economy and Com-merce, in cooperation with Qatar Chamber and the Federation of Belgian Enterprises, on the sidelines of the official visit of H H the Emir to Belgium.

The Forum brought together Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar Chamber and Bernard Gilliot, president of the Federation of Belgian Enterprises, along with more than 200 businessmen, investors and govern-ment officials from both countries.

In his opening speech, Qatar’s Min-ister of Economy and Commerce high-lighted friendly Qatari-Belgian rela-tions that date back to the 1970’s, especially in the economic and com-mercial fields, noting that bilateral trade grew to $1bn in 2017.

He said that 14 companies fully owned by Belgian citizens and 31 com-panies jointly owned by Qatari and Bel-gian citizens are currently operating in Qatar, praising the expectations and ambitions of both governments and the capacities of their economies, which should encourage further cooperation. He noted that the Forum comes at a time of global economic uncertainties, regional challenges and the illegal blockade on Qatar on June 5th 2017.

He added that the blockade was aimed at undermining Qatar’s posi-tion as an economically independent and sovereign state but has failed, adding that Qatar has emerged stronger and more economically inde-pendent than ever before.

In fact, the illegal blockade has presented an opportunity for Qatar to make its economy more accessible to the world, he said. The Minister stressed that Qatar has seized the opportunities that the illegal blockade has presented, noting that the Qatari economy continued its positive per-formance during the past year and into 2018 and has been largely unaffected by the blockade.

The minister added that the Qatari economy has managed to overcome various regional and global challenges by implementing a strategy aimed at diversifying its revenue sources and positioning the private sector as an active partner. The Forum aims at enhancing Qatari-Belgian economic, trade and investment cooperation and opening up new prospects for

cooperation between representatives of the private sector in both countries in bid to launch investment projects that serve the interests of both Qatar and Belgium. The Minister outlined Qatar’s characteristics as a leading investment destination, noting that the pragmatic policies adopted by the State and its wise leadership have stimulated all sectors of the economy to achieve increased productivity over the years.

Qatar’s total GDP increased to reach $220bn in 2017, compared with $218bn in 2016 while stressing that the blockade has resulted in a renewed determination to deliver long-term eco-nomic stability among the Qatari people. Sheikh Ahmed added that annual real GDP at constant prices grew better than expected at 2 percent in 2017.

While Qatar’s economic stability is built on its vast natural resources, the Minister said economic diversification has become a top priority for the gov-ernment, which offers numerous oppor-tunities to Belgian investors.

The Minister said the share of the non-oil and gas sector in the nation’s GDP at constant prices was 52 percent last year while foreign trade increased by 16 percent, reaching $103bn com-pared with $89bn in 2016. Qatar’s total exports increased by 19 percent to reach $68bn in 2017 from $57bn in 2016, the minister said. As a result, Trade surplus increased by 40 percent in 2017, reaching $35bn compared with $25bn in 2016, which reflected positively on Qatar’s ranking on several international indicators, the minister added.

The Minister highlighted Qatar’s economic stability despite the uncertain-ties weighing on global economies, noting that economic stability was bolstered thanks to the full support of Qatar’s Gov-ernment to foreign investment. He high-lighted Qatar’s advanced ranking on the latest Global Competitiveness Index, noting that the country ranks first for its safe busi-ness environment, second for the impact of tax on business, third for government procurement of advanced technology, fifth for venture capital availability and fifth for the availability of scientists and engineers.

He added that foreign companies looking to expand their business in Qatar can benefit from many

investment incentives. In this context, Sheikh Ahmed said that investors can take advantage of a tax-free environ-ment, allowing for up to 10 years Income Tax exemption for selected investment projects across many sectors, together with customs tax and fee exemptions for equipment and raw material imports.

The minister added that Qatar also allows foreign investors up to 100 per-cent ownership across various sectors in addition to allowing the repatria-tion of capital profits and the free transfer of company ownership.

He explained that investors can choose between operating their invest-ment projects in free zones or directly accessing Qatar’s markets, noting that state is currently developing two free zones spanning 35 sqm. This will posi-tion Qatar as an ideal destination for foreign direct investment, the minister said, adding that the State has estab-lished four new logistics zones that have contributed to reducing the cost of warehousing.

Touching on Qatar’s legislative environment, the Minister said that the government is currently working on issuing a PPP law that will coincide with the launch of a number of invest-ment projects. He added that a law reg-ulating the investment of non-Qatari capital in economic activity was recently issued in line with the highest international standards. This law sig-nificantly eases the registration of companies, the minister added.

He also noted that investing in Qatar is now easier through the Invest in Qatar Center, which aims to help investors establish their businesses.

The Minister also highlighted the state-of-the-art infrastructure pro-vided to investors and Qatar’s position as a global geographical hub. Hamad International Airport’s role as one of the biggest airports in the region, with passenger capacity of more than 30 million per year and connecting Qatar to more than 150 destinations around the world through Qatar Airways, which has been selected as the world’s best airline. The new Hamad port, which is located south of Doha, also reflects Qatar’s efforts to accelerate its economic expansion, the minister said, noting that the port was officially

inaugurated in September 2017 and is one of the largest ports in the Middle East, accounting for 27 percent of regional trade.

He added that Hamad Port, which can accommodate up to7.5 million cargo containers annually, has con-tributed to the state’s success in launching new and direct trade routes linking Qatar with many nations around the world as well as positioning the country as a transit point for trade across the Middle East.

He invited Belgian and other Euro-pean businesses to enter the Qatari market, which is full with promising opportunities, noting that Qatar’s busi-ness environment is being transformed to help sustain the country’s impres-sive economic performance and encourage FDI in addition to the backing provided by a strong sover-eign credit rating.

The Forum was also attended by chief executives of major Qatari com-panies in the fields of trade and industry, oil and gas, investment, food, con-tracting, medical equipment, health, medicines, automobiles, agriculture, engineering, building materials, e-com-merce, along with other sectors, who dis-cussed investment opportunities and potential joint ventures.

In a separate presentation, the par-ticipating Qatari delegation also shed light on logistic services, World Cup 2022-related projects and the energy sector as well as challenges and oppor-tunities for Qatari-Belgian coopera-tion. The session was attended by Sheikh Meshal bin Jabor Al Thani, Director of energy Affairs at Ministry Of Energy and Industry, Fahad Rashid al Kaabi, CEO of Manateq Company, and Eng Yousef Al Musleh, Executive Director at Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy. The Forum also featured a discussion panel on poten-tial joint ventures, investment oppor-tunities in the tourism and transport sectors as well as challenges. The event was attended by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker, Mohamed Al Sada, CEO of Hassad Food, Hassan Al Ibrahim, Acting Chairman of Qatar Tourism Authority and Salem Al Kubaisi, Chief cooperate services officer at Katara Hospitality.

designed a dedicated schools pro-gramme to introduce children to the sport of kite flying through a friendly inter-school competition, with teams representing 14 local schools vying for a range of cash prizes including QR50,000 for first place, QR30,000 for second place and QR20,000 for third place.

Along with the International Kite Festival, AZF, in collaboration with the Qatar Photographic Society, has launched a photography competition for amateur and pro-fessional photographers in Qatar. Entrants can compete by posting

their photos on social media under the hashtag #AspireKiteFest for a chance to win valuable prizes and get the honour of being crowned the 2018 Aspire International Kite Festival Pho-tography Competition winner. First place winner of the 2018 Aspire International Kite Festival Photog-raphy Competition will receive QR20,000 cash prize. Second place winner will get a business class plane ticket to a destination of their choice. Third place winner will receive two economy class plane tickets, whilst fourth and fifth place winners will each receive a professional camera.

H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, the Minister of Economy and Commerce, speaking during the inauguration of Qatar-Belgium Economic Forum in Brussels yesterday. RIGHT: Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker speaking at a panel discussion.

qatar, belgium sign deals to boost ties 7 march 2018 home 03 over 1,000 guests to ﬂy in for indian...

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