Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, signing on a Tamim Al Majd image in front of The Peninsula and Al Sharq office on D-Ring Road, yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula Dar Al Sharq launches Tamim Al Majd image Djokovic, Federer march on as Kerber scrapes through Qatar's non-oil exports reached QR1.5bn in May: QC BUSINESS | 17 SPORT | 24 Volume 22 | Number 7217 | 2 Riyals Sunday 9 July 2017 | 15 Shawwal 1438 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 3 rd Best News Website in the Middle East QNA & AFP E mir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met yester- day at Al Bahr Palace with UK Foreign Minister Boris John- son and the delegation accompanying him. They discussed the latest develop- ments in the GCC crisis and its implications in terms of regional and international sta- bility. The British Foreign Minister stressed the United Kingdom's support to the State of Kuwait's mediation efforts, led by the Emir of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah to resolve the crisis. The meeting also dealt with issues of joint interest, particularly terrorism and extremism and the ways to enhance bilateral cooperation as part of regional and international counter-terrorism efforts. The Emir and the UK Foreign Minister reviewed facets of bilateral strategic ties and the means to enhance them in different fields, particularly bilateral cooperation in Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup. The Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also met UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The meeting dealt with bilat- eral relations and the means to enhance them. The Foreign Minister discussed with his UK counterpart the latest devel- opments of the siege laid on Qatar and all the illegal measures. The Foreign Minister stressed that enforcing unilateral measures on Qatar was against the Charter of the United Nations and a severe violation of inter- national law, which led to grave humanitarian consequences and human rights violations. The Foreign Minister also stressed that the siege was set without resorting to the mechanisms adopted by regional and international organisations. Meanwhile in Kuwait yesterday, Boris Johnson urged Arab states to end their Qatar boycott, downplaying the odds of a military escalation in the worst crisis to grip the Gulf in years, . Johnson met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah and was sched- uled to visit Qatar later in the day. "What people need to see is de-escalation and progress towards tackling the funding of terrorism in the region, and progress toward an end to this blockade," Johnson said, voicing support for Kuwait as a mediator in the crisis. Johnson, who also held talks in Saudi Arabia on Friday, said it was "highly unlikely" that the current stand- off would descend into military conflict. "Everybody I have talked to said the opposite. No possibility of a military confrontation," he said. "The blockade is unwelcome and we hope there will be a de-escalation," he added. The Peninsula Q atar Rail has achieved 62% completion of the Doha Metro Project and is on schedule so far, said Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Eng. Abdulla Abdulaziz Al Subaie. “Over 280 million man-hours worked and the 10 Metro Packages have now progressed to the next stage of construction which will see all the 37 stations undergo mechan- ical, electrical and architectural fit out,” he said. Al Subaie added: “The 4km track works for the Railway Test Section along the Metro Red Line is now complete while work on the Heavy Maintenance Depot at Ras Bu Fentas is vigorously progress- ing and on track for the arrival of the Rolling Stock (Trains) by end of year.” Ministry of Transport and Communication, Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti stated that the strategic initiatives show the strong commitment of Qatar Rail and the Ministry of Transport and Communication to continuously explore opportunities and best practices aimed at successfully delivering infrastructure projects for the transportation sector.” As part of its commitment to delivering the Qatar Rail Pro- gramme on schedule, Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) recently con- ducted a Delivery Alignment Workshop. The objective of the workshop-attended by both Qatar Rail’s executive management, project delivery team and its project man- agement consultants (PMCs)- was to evaluate the extent of progress to date and explore all opportunities to accel- erate progress and ensure that timely delivery is secured. → Continued on page 5 The Peninsula A s part of its efforts to ensure con- tinuous flow of supplies and meet the needs of local market in light of the recent measures taken against the state, Qatar Ports Management Com- pany-Mwani Qatar in cooperation with its partners has inaugurated five new direct service lines between Hamad port and a number of ports in the region and beyond in less than 20 days. The launch of the new lines comes within the framework of the directives of the Ministry of Transport and Com- munications in order to ensure the vessel movement, shipping operation and maritime navigation are not affected by these measures. The first direct service between Hamad Port and Sohar Port in Oman was inaugurated on June 11, 2017. Hansa Neuburg, which is operating under Milaha’s DMJ service, was the first ship to call the port under this new serv- ice with 1,696 TEUs, including 133 cold storage reefers that contain food supplies. On June 23, another new line linking Hamad Port directly to Salalah Port was launched with the arrival of the container ship Paul Abrao to the port with a range of various goods and building materials onboard. On the same day, the ship Hansa Magdeburg arrived from India's Nhava Sheva port in a new shipping line connects Hamad port with both of India’s Mundra port and Nhava Sheva port. Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) on June 28, inaugurated its maiden voyage between Hamad Port and Salalah Port and MSC KERRY was the first vessel to call the port under the new service with more than 660 containers onboard. → Continued on page 4 Doha Metro on schedule; 62 percent of work complete Emir and UK Foreign Secretary discuss GCC crisis Hamburg QNA TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yester- day that the accusations aimed at the State of Qatar by siege countries were unfair, stressing that his country views the sanctions against Doha as not appropriate. Erdogan was speaking at a press conference in Ham- burg on the sidelines of the G20 summit and stressed the importance of respecting Qatar's sovereignty. He added that no party wins from the differences GCC brothers are having. Anadolu Agency reported Erdogan as saying that the security and stability of GCC brothers was just as impor- tant as the stability and security of Turkey. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged Arab states to end their Qatar boyco and downplayed the chances of a military escalation in the worst crisis to hit the Gulf in years. Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at Al Bahr Palace, yesterday. Hamad Port opens five new service lines Accusations by siege countries unfair: Erdogan Oman orders trade of Qatari Riyal at official rate THE Central Bank of Oman ordered all local commercial banks and exchange companies to trade the Qatari riyal at the official exchange rate. "The Central Bank of Oman will also accept Qatari riyals and provide exchange services if needed," the statement said.
Transcript
Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, signing on a Tamim Al Majd image in front of The Peninsula and Al Sharq office on D-Ring Road, yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Dar Al Sharq launches Tamim Al Majd image
Djokovic, Federer march on as Kerber scrapes through
Qatar's non-oil exports reached
QR1.5bn in May: QC
BUSINESS | 17 SPORT | 24
Volume 22 | Number 7217 | 2 RiyalsSunday 9 July 2017 | 15 Shawwal 1438 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
3rd Best News Website in the Middle East
QNA & AFP
Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met yester-day at Al Bahr Palace with UK Foreign Minister Boris John-son and the delegation
accompanying him. They discussed the latest develop-
ments in the GCC crisis and its implications in terms of regional and international sta-bility. The British Foreign Minister stressed the United Kingdom's support to the State of Kuwait's mediation efforts, led by the Emir of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah to resolve the crisis.
The meeting also dealt with issues of joint interest, particularly terrorism and extremism and the ways to enhance bilateral cooperation as part of regional and international counter-terrorism efforts. The Emir and the UK Foreign Minister reviewed facets of bilateral strategic ties and the means to enhance
them in different fields, particularly bilateral cooperation in Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
The Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani also met UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The meeting dealt with bilat-eral relations and the means to enhance them. The Foreign Minister discussed with his UK counterpart the latest devel-opments of the siege laid on Qatar and all the illegal measures.
The Foreign Minister stressed that enforcing unilateral measures on Qatar was against the Charter of the United Nations and a severe violation of inter-national law, which led to grave humanitarian consequences and human rights violations. The Foreign Minister also stressed that the siege was set without resorting to the mechanisms adopted by regional and international organisations.
Meanwhile in Kuwait yesterday, Boris Johnson urged Arab states to end
their Qatar boycott, downplaying the odds of a military escalation in the worst crisis to grip the Gulf in years, . Johnson met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah and was sched-uled to visit Qatar later in the day.
"What people need to see is
de-escalation and progress towards tackling the funding of terrorism in the region, and progress toward an end to this blockade," Johnson said, voicing support for Kuwait as a mediator in the crisis. Johnson, who also held talks in Saudi Arabia on Friday, said it was
"highly unlikely" that the current stand-off would descend into military conflict. "Everybody I have talked to said the opposite. No possibility of a military confrontation," he said. "The blockade is unwelcome and we hope there will be a de-escalation," he added.
The Peninsula
Qatar Rail has achieved 62% completion of the Doha Metro Project and is on schedule so
far, said Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Eng. Abdulla Abdulaziz Al Subaie. “Over 280 million man-hours worked and the 10 Metro Packages have now progressed to the next stage of construction which will see all the 37 stations undergo mechan-ical, electrical and architectural fit out,” he said.
Al Subaie added: “The 4km track works for the Railway Test
Section along the Metro Red Line is now complete while work on the Heavy Maintenance Depot at Ras Bu Fentas is vigorously progress-ing and on track for the arrival of the Rolling Stock (Trains) by end of year.”
Ministry of Transport and Communication, Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti stated that the strategic initiatives show the strong commitment of Qatar Rail and the Ministry of Transport and Communication to continuously explore opportunities and best practices aimed at successfully delivering infrastructure projects
for the transportation sector.”As part of its commitment to
delivering the Qatar Rail Pro-gramme on schedule, Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) recently con-ducted a Delivery Alignment Workshop. The objective of the workshop-attended by both Qatar Rail’s executive management, project delivery team and its project man-agement consultants (PMCs)- was to evaluate the extent of progress to date and explore all opportunities to accel-erate progress and ensure that timely delivery is secured.
→ Continued on page 5
The Peninsula
As part of its efforts to ensure con-tinuous flow of supplies and meet the needs of local market in light
of the recent measures taken against the state, Qatar Ports Management Com-pany-Mwani Qatar in cooperation with its partners has inaugurated five new direct service lines between Hamad port and a number of ports in the region and beyond in less than 20 days.
The launch of the new lines comes within the framework of the directives of the Ministry of Transport and Com-munications in order to ensure the vessel movement, shipping operation and maritime navigation are not affected by these measures.
The first direct service between Hamad Port and Sohar Port in Oman was inaugurated on June 11, 2017. Hansa Neuburg, which is operating
under Milaha’s DMJ service, was the first ship to call the port under this new serv-ice with 1,696 TEUs, including 133 cold storage reefers that contain food supplies. On June 23, another new line linking Hamad Port directly to Salalah Port was launched with the arrival of the container ship Paul Abrao to the port with a range of various goods and building materials onboard. On the same day, the ship Hansa Magdeburg arrived from India's Nhava Sheva port in a new shipping line connects Hamad port with both of India’s Mundra port and Nhava Sheva port. Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) on June 28, inaugurated its maiden voyage between Hamad Port and Salalah Port and MSC KERRY was the first vessel to call the port under the new service with more than 660 containers onboard.
→ Continued on page 4
Doha Metro on schedule; 62 percent of work complete
Emir and UK Foreign Secretary discuss GCC crisis
Hamburg QNA
TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yester-day that the accusations aimed at the State of Qatar by siege countries were unfair, stressing that his country views the sanctions against Doha as not appropriate.
Erdogan was speaking at a press conference in Ham-burg on the sidelines of the G20 summit and stressed the importance of respecting Qatar's sovereignty. He added that no party wins from the differences GCC brothers are having.
Anadolu Agency reported Erdogan as saying that the security and stability of GCC brothers was just as impor-tant as the stability and security of Turkey.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged Arab states to end their Qatar boycott and downplayed the chances of a military escalation in the worst crisis to hit the Gulf in years.
Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at Al Bahr Palace, yesterday.
Hamad Port opens five new service lines
Accusations by siege countries unfair: Erdogan
Oman orders trade of Qatari Riyal at official rateTHE Central Bank of Oman ordered all local commercial banks and exchange companies to trade the Qatari riyal at the official exchange rate.
"The Central Bank of Oman will also accept Qatari riyals and provide exchange services if needed," the statement said.
02 SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017HOME
03SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017 HOME
Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi (fourth right), Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula; Sadiq Mohammad Al Amari (third left), Editor-in-Chief of Al Sharq; Faleh Al Hajri (second left), Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Al Sharq and Mohamed Haji (third right), Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Lusail newspaper, with other officials at the inaugural ceremony of Tamim Al Majd image in front of The Peninsula and Al Sharq office on D-Ring Road, yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Tamim Almajd image at Dar Al Sharq
Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani yesterday met with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The meeting dealt with bilateral relations and the means to enhance them.
Foreign Minister meets With UK counterpart
QA celebrates launch of Dublin serviceThe Peninsula
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker landed in Dublin on Thurs-
day to celebrate new direct service between Dublin and Doha.
Al Baker was welcomed at the airport by Dublin Airport Chief Executive Kevin Toland; Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison and Sheikh Salman bin Jassim Al Thani from the Qatari embassy in London.
Al Baker said Qatar Airways is committed to bringing more vis-itors to Dublin, boosting tourism to the already popular Irish capi-tal and its neighbouring cities. The
new route will also give the peo-ple of Ireland the opportunity to connect to more than 150 desti-nations on the airline’s global network via its hub in Doha.
Al Baker, said: “Dublin has long been on our list of destina-tions to add to our route map, and I am proud that we are here today to celebrate this important mile-stone in the history of our airline. We are here to serve the people of Ireland with a world-class serv-ice connecting them to business and leisure destinations on our global network. It is also our pleas-ure to promote Ireland as a tourism destination to our loyal passengers who have already
shown their appetite for Dublin.”Toland said: “We want to
express our warmest welcome to Qatar Airways and its new daily route between Dublin and Doha. We welcome tourists from Doha and beyond to enjoy Ireland’s tra-ditions and lively culture. There are many great reasons to take a break in Dublin which is a won-derful, vibrant and exciting city. Visitors can explore the city’s exceptional museums, take a cycle around town on the city bikes, or take a walk on cobbled roads. A stunning countryside of moun-tains, lakes and quaint villages are a short trip away from Dublin for everyone to enjoy.” Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker with other officials at the press conference.
Deadline for Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation nearsMohammed Osman The Peninsula
The deadline for entries for the Third Edition of the annual Sheikh Hamad Award for
Translation and International Understanding is approaching near, as August 31 is the last day for accepting for nominations for the 2017 edition.
The award aims to honour translators and acknowledge their role in building bridges between nations and people around the world. The award has three categories; the first is award for translation, second for achievement and third for inter-
national understanding . The total value of the awards
has been doubled from $1m to $2m and several new languages have been included, said Dr Hanan Al Fayadh (pictured), the Award’s Media Consultant.
The translation category has four subdivisions translation prizes from/into Arabic and English, and Arabic vs French with prize of $200,000 for each, said Dr Hanan.
While the achievement award includes 10 sub-categories of translation from Arabic to Chinese, Japanese, Malay, Persian and Urdu and vice-versa and each will have a prize of $100,000 she added, noting that the third category is a
prize for international under-standing which is awarded to individual(s) and/or institution(s)
with substantive contribution to building a culture of peace and promoting international under-standing and its total value is $200,000.
The selection of the five East-ern languages (Chinese, Japanese, Malay, Persian and Urdu) has come in line with the goals of the awards to encourage translation between Arabic and these lan-guages, encouraging individuals, publishing houses, Arab and inter-national organisations and institutions to play role in creat-ing bridges for cultural dialogues and communications between the people, Al Fayadh stressed.
In regard to the terms and
condition of the nominations, Al Fayadh said the nominations at present are limited to the human-ities and the social sciences and submissions can be made by indi-viduals or institutions (publishing houses, research centres, transla-tion institutes, university departments, etc.).
Only one translated work is allowed for nominee who must be living at the time of the nomina-tion and institutions can nominate up to three translated works by three different translators.
The conditions also included that the translation works under the first category must have been published in the five years prior
to the announcement date of the award while achievement cate-gories are not subject to time limitation and can be awarded to a set of works/achievements of a lifetime.
Any of the award winners are not allowed to take part in the nomination of the award again before the passage of five years.
The Award was founded in 2015 with the aim of contributing to improvement of quality of translation from/into Arabic based on excellence, accuracy and cog-nitive and intellectual value. More information can be obtained from official website of the awards (www.hta.qa/en).
Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and the delegation accompanying him on the occasion of their visit to the country. They discussed latest developments.
The Peninsula
Qatar’s enterprises ena-bling mobile workforces will be the biggest trend
for 2018, driving strong take-up of Mobile Wi-Fi (My-Fi) devices, Ooredoo announced yesterday.
Increasingly, Qatar’s organ-isations — from small businesses to medium-sized enterprises —are adopting Ooredoo My-Fi devices to ena-ble their employees to work while on the go.
With a mobile data SIM card, My-Fi devices act as Wi-Fi hotspots for up to 15 mobile devices such as smart-phones and tablets. Using mobile data, My-Fi devices can provide faster download speeds compared to Wi-Fi, and allow easy file sharing between devices.
“Qatar is a major hub in the
global economy, with workers increasingly needing to work while off-site on mega-projects, in transit, and while travelling abroad. As a result, enabling mobile workforces will be the biggest business trend for Qatar’s organisations in 2018,” said Yousuf Al Kubaisi, COO, Ooreoo Qatar.
Businesses purchasing mobile devices is a major driver of the global mobile device spend set to reach $627bn by 2019, according to a recent report by research firm Gartner.
“Qatar’s organisations that want to become mobile-first should begin their digital trans-formation now. CIOs should work with an experienced part-ner, like Ooredoo, for enterprise-wide mobility, espe-cially for supporting Millennials who prefer mobile devices,” added Yousuf Al Kubaisi.
Helping organisations to easily adopt My-Fi devices, Ooredoo Business customers can purchase selected devices through their account manager, and pay with their Ooredoo bill.
Qatar’s businesses custom-ers can leverage the Ooredoo Advantage, making Ooredoo “Best for Business”, thanks to its breadth and depth of talent, best fixed and mobile net-works, broadest portfolio of ICT services and solutions, and trusted partner for 60 years.
In Qatar, Ooredoo is seeing strong demand for My-Fi devices such as the Huawei Prime, one of the most power-ful and smallest at only 7.5 mm thick and 58 mm wide, the Huawei E5786, which supports super-fast download speeds of up to 300 Mbps, and the Net-gear AirCard 790S, with up to 300 Mbps download speed and a long-lasting battery.
Enabling mobile workforces is Qatar’s top business trend for 2018: Ooredoo
Prime Minister meets UK Foreign Secretary
04 SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017HOME
The Peninsula
Pakistan International School, Qatar (PISQ) showed promising results
in Federal Board of Intermedi-ate and Secondary Education (FBISE) SSC-I Annual Examina-tion 2017.
In Science Group, Moham-mad Affan Farooq stood first in the school scoring 493 marks out of the total of 520. Second posi-tion was secured by Eiman Amir Latif with 492/520 and the third position was claimed by Sumaiya Rizwan with 491/520 marks. In Humanities Group (Commerce), Muskan Noor bagged 1st position scoring 427 marks out of the total of 530. Whereas, in the same group, Sara and Salwa Munir managed to secure second and third posi-tion scoring 426/530 and 402/530, respectively.
This year, total 162 students took the examination. The over-all pass ratio remained 87%. As for grades, 47 students got A1 and 31 got A. Muhammad Affan
New shipping lines to consolidate trade ties
→ Continued from page 1The international shipping company, Maersk, started its
first direct service between Hamad Port and Salalah Port on June 30. The ship Jack London was the first ship to be wel-comed under the new service.
Green Guatemala which is the first vessel to dock at Hamad Port under the new service between Hamad Port and Turkish ports has sailed from Izmir Port and called at Hamad Port on July 2 carrying more than 3,000 tonnes of various foodstuffs.
"The launch of these new maritime lines emphasize the high reliability of the Qatari economy and its ability to adapt to regional and global changes and will contribute to pro-vide fast and secure solutions to importers and exporters," Captain Abdul Aziz Al Yafei, Director of Hamad Port commented.
"We are assured that these new lines will consolidate trade ties between State of Qatar and the world, as well as promoting trade exchange and support Qatar National Vision 2030," he added.
"Mwani Qatar is committed to play a vital role in stabil-ising domestic market by managing Qatar’s ports and providing a stable platform for supply-chain for Qatar’s econ-omy in cooperation with its partners and stakeholders," Al Yafei stressed.
Hamad Port is Qatar's main gateway to world trade and is the largest of its kind in the Middle East. It can receive all types of ships and vessels of all sizes and weights. Hamad Port is also one of the most important portals which played a prominent role in breaking the blockade imposed by some neighboring countries on Qatar recently.
PISQ students excel in FBISE SSC-I exams
Qafco organises Career Fair for Qatari youth Mohammed Osman The Peninsula
Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco) organised one-day career fair in Al-Sharq Hotel last week to attract a
number of Qatari youth to fill administrative and technical positions.
Qatarisation in the company is more than 14 percent now and focusing on technical aspects, the Qatarisation programme covers all field of administrative, finance and technical positions, said Mar-iam Matter, Director of Public Relations and Communications of Qafco.
The company is committed to maximise the number of Qatari nationals in its workforce along with efforts on focusing the development of existing nation-als at the workforce as well as recruiting fresh Qataris in vari-ous levels including engineering, technical, vocational and admin-istrative disciplines.
During the career fair, the company has offered several vacancies for degree holders and high school graduates from both arts and science streams.
Job vaccines available for university degree holders included supply chain (contract, purchasing, stores), information technology, engineering and chemical labs.
Vacancies for high school stu-dents included security, firefighting, operators of ammo-nia, technicians (electricity, mechanical, and sophisticated equipment) and storekeepers.
Exhibitors received appli-cants from 9 am to 7 pm and explained and responded to their enquiries abut available vacan-cies, training and capacity building programme.
Applicants were also able to apply online and send CVs and required documents, along fill-ing hard copy of applications.
There are Qatari engineers in
the company and those who are conducting the interviews with applicants now are all Qataris, Mariam told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the event.
The company has provided with scholarships in Qatar and abroad to employees, and many of them have finished their courses and joined the company.
"The company takes part in all career fairs organised in the country and this is our first fair and we have a plan to make it on annual basis in accordance to the company’s needs," said Mariam. "We have joint programmes with Qatar Petroleum, and many of the secondary schools graduates get training in QP, and sometimes they also send their staffs for training in our company," Mar-iam added.
"Our company believe that human resources development is essential in line with Qatar vision giving priority to Qatari cadres and attract them and we train them to take certain posi-tions in the company," Mariam said.
Qafcois the country's first large-scale venture in the petro-chemical sector, and the company has evolved into a world-class fertiliser producer. Qafcois now the world's largest single-site producer of ammonia and urea and thereby made Qatar the world's fourth largest urea producer.
Lusail Smart City engineers honouredThe Peninsula
An event of appreciation was arranged with the issuance of appreciation
certificates to the best engi-neers in Lusail Smart City project, which is the first ever smart city in Qatar.
Located in the North of Qatar, this city covers a total area of 38sqkm and will house 200,000 residents in future and is part of Qatar National Vision 2030.
The event was held at cen-tral construction project of Lusail city nominating five engineers form various disci-plines of civil works. The professional attitude and out-class performance brought selection of nominees, recog-nising their efforts in the progress and technical exper-tise at the project.
Gul Hameed Khalil from Pakistan recently working as Geotechnical Specialist earlier to the role of Senior Civil Engi-neer was awarded appreciation certificate by Senior Resident Engineer (SRE) Cervantes of Dorsch Qatar, recognising his performance and dedication at one of the largest Infrastruc-ture project of Lusail smart city project.
Gul has been working at
central zone of Lusail City and his work has been applauded by his superiors and his immense efforts in design and construction was always admired by the client. It is worth mentioning here that he is lone Pakistani Geotechnical Specialist in Qatar and has been visiting for infrastructure and foundations projects since 2008 and being resident since 2013. He is also a member of
Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) UK, Advisory Committee in Qatar and delivered several seminars and presentations to the Engineers in Qatar.
Another Pakistani engineer Qazi Fawad, working at this project as Assistant Resident Engineer (ARE) was also awarded in the same ceremony with appreciation certificate for his good performance during supervision of construction.
The efforts, dedication and skills of Pakistani engineers are playing a substantial role in all kinds of positions in the devel-opment of Qatar, which has been appreciated across the country. The aim of this event was not only to lead by exam-ple but to work in team to progress with productive and efficient work environment demonstrating technical excellence.
Lusail Smart City project engineers at the event.
The company is committed to maximise the number of Qatari nationals in its workforce along with efforts on focusing the development of existing nationals as well as recruiting fresh Qataris in various levels.
FROM LEFT: Muskan Noor, Sara, Salwa Munir, Mohammad Affan Farooq, Eiman Amir Latif & Sumaiya Rizwan.
marks), Muhammad Rabid (440 marks), Hamda Qadeer (440 marks), Maha Masood Khan (438 marks), Mujeeb Ahmad Khan (438 marks), Hafsa Zahid Mirza (436 marks), Sana Atta ur Reh-man (434 marks), Muhammad Munyb Jamal (432 marks), Saba Anwar Farooqi (431 marks), Sal-iha Nasser Khan (431 marks), Eman Akhtar (431 marks), Mar-yam Tahir (430 marks), Rameesha Asim (430 marks), Muskan Noor (427 marks), Sara (426 marks), Waqas Khan (425 marks), Saif ur Rehman (425 marks), Ghanem (424 marks), Aisha Mehrban (424 marks), Saad Arshad (422 marks), Zaineb Latif Awan (420 marks), Fatima
Shams (419 marks), Mah-i-Noor Gul (418 marks), Urooj Aziz (417 marks), Ahmad Hassan (413).
Nargis Raza Otho, Principal, congratulated the students, their parents, and teachers. She said that PISQ’s academic progress is soaring high.
Shahzad Ahmad, Ambassa-dor of Pakistan to the State of Qatar, also extended his warm wishes to the students, teachers and parents. He said academic success is a matter of collective efforts and emphasised that all stakeholders will keep playing their role in this regard to the best of their potential. He wished the students good luck for their future.
05SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017 HOME
UDC reveals second Tamim Al Majd mural
The Peninsula
United Development Company (UDC), a leading Qatari shareholding com-pany, erected
another mural of "Tamim Al Majd" after the first one that was erected on Thursday was filled with signatures and expressions of allegiance and obedience by the Island's visitors and residents alike to Emir H H Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad Al Thani.UDC has unveiled the first
'Tamim Al Majd,' mural in The Pearl-Qatar on Thursday and was inaugurated by Turki bin Mohammed Al Khater, UDC Chairman and Ibrahim Jassim Al
Othman, the Company’s Presi-dent & Chief Executive Officer. An unprecedented number of residents and visitors flocked to sign the mural on inauguration day and pledge loyalty to the Emir.
The inauguration ceremony coincided with the decoration of the main driveways of The Pearl-Qatar and The Pearl Tower 1, which lies at the entrance of the Island, with the same slogan 'Tamim Al Majd,' in a strong sign
of solidarity.The remarkable initiative
underlines UDC’s national com-mitment to spearheading Qatar’s development under the leader-ship of the Emir, all while achieving the best returns for the
Company’s shareholders and supporting the country’s eco-nomic diversification strategy, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030, through a diversi-fied portfolio of leading investment projects.
The allegiance campaign also features highway decorations and a gigantic poster on The Pearl Tower 1.
Officials and other well-wishers at the UDC's installation of Tamim Al Majd mural in The Pearl-Qatar. UDC Chairman Turki bin Mohammed Al Khater (left) signing the mural. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Asian Town inaugurates mural of Tamim Al MajdThe Peninsula
Tamim Al Majd mural of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani placed at Asian Town by
Ibn Ajayan Projects packed with the signatures of public. People in the industrial area and visitors of Asian Town are gathering there to sign their names on it, as a support for the nation and the Emir.
Patriotic feeling have been stim-ulated in the country among citizens and expatriates alike. In Asian Town,
mostly the working class are coming to sign on the portrait, as it is close to them, while the Asian families who visits Asian Town Cinemas and shop-ping malls also sign with great interest.
Asian Town is place created by the state of Qatar to serve the needs of expats in Qatar. Now people feel it as a time to show their love and respect for the nation and they are showing their support for HH the Emir in dif-ferent ways. A labourer signing the painting at Asian Town.
First trains will be tested before end of this year
→ Continued from page 1Opening the workshop, Qatar
Rail’s Managing Director & CEO, Eng Abdulla Al Subaie, said: “We are very pleased with the progress of the Metro Phase 1 Program as it approaches 62% overall completion. Over 280 million man-hours has been worked and the 10 Metro civil packages have now progressed to the next stage of construction which will see all the 37 stations undergo mechanical, electrical and architec-tural fit outs, a colossal undertaking and notable milestone for a landmark
project.” Al Subaie added; “The com-pletion of a 4km trackwork railway test section along the Metro Red Line, together with the extensive progress made at the Main Depot at Ras Bu Fentas signals readiness for the arrival of the first consignment of trains before end of year. The civil structures are 95% complete, and are scheduled for completion by the end of the year. The railway systems installation is on progress and the first trains will be tested on the test section of the Red Line before end of this year.”
06 SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017HOME
Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), with the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil. They discussed issues of mutual interest and coordination regarding the QIA investment plan in Germany. The meeting was attended by Qatar's Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
QIA chief meets Lower Saxony PM
QNA
Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) President
Eng. Issa bin Hilal Al Kuwari has underlined that the Corporation currently has the capacity to meet all the country's electric-ity and water needs over the next five years.
Eng. Issa bin Hilal Al Kuwari said that KAHRAMAA has all the necessary reserves to operate all the projects in the country whenever required and that it has many plans to enhance its role to fulfil its mission of pro-viding sufficient quantities of electricity and water to meet the country's energy future needs, in accordance with internation-ally recognized standards.
He explained that all
electricity and water projects in the country are proceeding as planned without delay and that additional projects in the fields of electricity, water and solar energy will be announced soon.
During the second quarter of this year, Kahramaa suc-ceeded in meeting the growing demand for electricity and water services with great efficiency thanks to the great efforts and coordination between all the concerned authorities in the country, the statement added, where the maximum load reached by the electricity net-work during this period 7600 MW, while the maximum demand for water was 375 mil-lion gallons.
Eng. Issa bin Hilal Al Kuwari said that the levels of electricity and water production in the
country are constantly increas-ing to keep pace with the country's steady growth in all fields. The second quarter of 2017 witnessed the operating of the first phase of the Umm Al-Hall Electricity and Water Production Project, noting that the current phase of the plant feeds the network with a pro-duction of 60 million gallons of water and 1612 MW of electric-ity and final operation of this phase of the project will be com-pleted this July. The new quantities of production of the network increased the electric-ity production reserve to more than 23 percent and the water production reserve increased by about 15 percent while the water storage capacity increased to 1472 million gallons, an increase of 10 percent.
Kahramaa can meet five-year needs
The Peninsula
Sheikh Thani bin Abdul-lah Foundation for Humanitarian Services
(RAF) provided iftar meals to 404,000 fasting people at a cost of QR6.1m in 32 countries.
The projects include set-ting up mass iftar tents in the campus of the mosques built by RAF in beneficiary coun-tries in Asia, Africa and Europe and distributing Ram-adan food baskets.
At least, 48 Ramadan projects were implemented in 17 Asian countries benefit-ting 244,000 fasting people.
Thirteen African coun-tries received 92 projects in which 159,000 fasting peo-ple offered iftar meals. Thousands of food baskets were also distributed to poor families to meet their require-ments during Holy Month of Ramadan, said a release. Fol-lowing the requests of philanthropists who financed building mosques, Iftar tents were set up in the campus of these mosques.
Poor people were pro-vided some cash from Eid Al Fitr alms given by people in Qatar for the beneficiary countries of Ramadan projects. RAF has been pro-viding food baskets and Iftar meals for many years to poor people during the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan projects were implemented by RAF in collaboration with its 34 local partners in the beneficiary countries. High quality food baskets and Iftar meals were provided to the fasting people and families as per the international standards.
QNA
Qatar Fund for Devel-opment (QFD) has signed a partnership agreement with the American Tomorrow
Youth Organization (TYO), under which the Fund provides impor-tant support to various projects in the West Bank, including health and education sectors, as well as training and rehabilita-tion of young people for employment and entrepreneur-ship, empowerment of women and motherhood, economic sup-port for families and academic intervention for young people.
The agreement was signed by Qatar Fund for Development Director General Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari and Director General of the American Tomorrow Youth Organization Hani Hikmat Al Masri.
It aims to support develop-ment projects in the West Bank in light of the increasing need to sponsor programmes for the development and empower-ment of youth in Palestine in light of the challenges faced by the Palestinian people, in addi-tion to helping the Palestinian people within the mechanisms of international and regional solidarity and the urgent need for concerted efforts of devel-opment and humanitarian actors to promote their common abilities to face the challenges of development and humanitar-ian work in Palestine. The support of the QFD is targeted
at several developmental projects, including early child-hood education projects for children from 2 to 8 years, cov-ering two phases of 120 and 120 children per year for those with learning difficulties in order to create a positive environment for children affected by devel-opmental disorders and children with special needs.
Support for the rehabilita-tion of youth and employment training programs includes 390 young people between the ages of 18 and 30, with the aim of giving them the opportunity to participate voluntarily, assist teachers in the Early Childhood Program and provide academic support for 300 children per year at age of 9 to 14 years. The support provided for the reha-bilitation of young people through entrepreneurship and the provision of courses and training programmes and material support for 30 young graduates of universities and vocational centers.
QFD signs deal to support Palestinians
Humanitarian aid
The agreement was signed by Qatar Fund for Development Director General Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari and Director General of the American Tomorrow Youth Organization Hani Hikmat Al Masri.
The Peninsula
Under “Save Aleppo” cam-paign, three Qatari charity organisations
have singed five memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a number of United Nations’ organisations to implement humanitarian projects at a cost of $8.5m to rescue Syrian peo-ple battling for survival due to war here yesterday.
Each agreement is worth about $2m except one that was signed with OCHA as it costs half million dollars. The MoU was signed by Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF), Qatar Charity and Eid Charity with the United Nations Office
for the Coordination of Human-itarian Affairs (OCHA), the Office of the United Nations High Com-missioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations International Children's Emer-gency Fund, World Food Programme and World Health Organization (WHO).
The agreements were signed by Yusuf Ahmad Al Kuwari from Qatar Charity as a reprehensive of the executive committee for “Save Aleppo” campaign and the officials from the organizations of United Nations at the conclu-sion ceremony of 3rd meeting for coordination between Qatari humanitarian organizations and organizations of United Nations under the campaign.
The executive committee
representing the all three Qatari charity organizations will finance the humanitarian projects to be implemented inside Syria. “A slew of agree-ments for implementing humanitarian projects worth $8.5m have been signed,” said Dr Ahmad Mohamad Al Muraikhi, Envoy of Secretary General of United Nations for humanitarian affairs. “The coop-eration agreement will help achieve the targeted humani-tarian goals that needed to be utilized to enhance cooperation and exchanging information and sharing experiences by holding regular meetings to follow up the humanitarian projects to be implemented under the “Save Aleppo” campaign,” he added.
Qatari organisations sign five MoUs worth $8.5m to rescue Syrians
RAF provided iftar meals to 404,000 people
07SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017 MIDDLE EAST
IS militants pledge to fight to death in MosulMosul / Erbil Reuters
Islamic State militants vowed to “fight to the death” in Mosul as Iraqi military command-ers said they would take full control of the city from the
insurgents at any moment. “The fighters of Islamic State are
collectively pledging (to fight to the) death in Maydan,” Amaq news agency said in an online post.
Dozens of Iraqi soldiers cel-ebrated amid the rubble on the banks of the Tigris river without waiting for a formal victory dec-laration, some dancing to music blaring out from a truck and fir-ing machineguns into the air, a
Reuters correspondent said.The mood was less festive,
however, among some of the nearly one million Mosul resi-dents displaced by months of combat, many of whom are liv-ing in camps outside the city with little respite from the blazing summer heat. “If there is no rebuilding and people don’t
return to their homes and regain their belongings, what is the meaning of liberation?” Moham-med Haji Ahmed, 43, a clothing trader, said.
A military spokesman said the insurgents’ defence lines were col-lapsing, state television reported. “We are seeing now the last metres (yards) and then final victory will
be announced,” a presenter said, citing correspondents embedded with security forces fighting in Islamic State’s redoubt in the Old City by the Tigris. Amaq news agency reported “fierce fighting” around the riverside district of Maydan and said its fighters “were holding onto their forti-fied positions.”
Announcement imminent: USWASHINGTON: Iraqi authorities will imminently announce a final victory in the battle to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State group, Baghdad-based Brigadier General Robert Sofge said. "I don't want to speculate if it's today or tomorrow but I think it's going to be very soon," he added.
Israel is at it again. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reduced the membership fees that his country is contributing to the United Nations by $10m. The reason: The Unesco decided to list the Old City of Hebron in the
West Bank as an endangered Palestinian world heritage site in a move that angered Tel Aviv. Cutting funds to the global body is the easiest thing Israel can do to register its protest at actions which it deems unpalatable, and being deprived of Israeli funds is something the UN would like to tolerate as a price for doing the right thing. After all, the UN cannot take a decision unless it passes all the tests of justice, and the very fact that it went ahead with declaring the Old City of Hebron as an endangered Palestinian heritage site despite opposition from Israel proves the truth of what Palestinians have been saying in their struggle for freedom.
This is the fourth cut in UN funds by Israel, bringing the total to $10m since December 2016. In March, the Human Rights Council passed five anti-Israel resolutions and Netanyahu reacted furiously, but as usual, by vowing to withdraw another $2m. It has been a strained relationship with the UN caused by the global body’s decisions which exposed Tel Aviv’s aggressions and apartheid. In one particular move that infuriated Israel, a Security Council resolution demanded an end to Israeli settlement
building on land Palestinians were proposing for an independent state.
The latest Unesco decision is a shot in the arm for Palestinians who have been feeling cold-shouldered after the Arab Spring which left the Arab world in disarray and Israelis in complete control. The Unesco is one of the few institutions in the world which Israel hasn’t been able to arm-twist into submission, though it has been trying hard to do so with the support of the Donald
Trump administration. Nikki Haley, America’s UN ambassador and the new darling of Israel (who declared at the annual AIPAC Policy Conference that ‘the days of Israel-bashing at the United Nations are over’) is on a stubborn mission to eradicate everything pro-Palestinian at the global body and any victory for Palestinians in such a hostile atmosphere is commendable. Praising the Unesco vote, the Palestinian foreign ministry said “it celebrated facts and rejected the shameless high-profile political bullying and attempts at extortion. Hebron was celebrated as part of world heritage, a value that transcends geography, religion, politics, and ideology.”
At the same time, the Unesco victories are largely symbolic which will not change the situation on the ground.
I condemn in the strongest terms the extreme violence and unbridled brutality that police were repeatedly confronted with. There is no justification for plundering, arson and brutal attacks on the lives of police officers ... anyone who acts in this way .. places himself outside our democratic community.
Angela Merkel German Chancellor
The Unesco decision to list the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank as an endangered Palestinian world heritage will come as a relief for Palestinians at a time of setbacks.
Q atar’s ambassador to Spain Moham-med bin Jaham Al Kuwari (pictured). has warned that the current crisis in the region will lead to the militarisa-tion of the Gulf region, noting that if
this happens, it will have dire consequences for the region and the world.
Ambassador Al Kuwari urged the interna-tional community to take a firm stand against militarisation and to prevent countries that have caused the crisis to continue their cur-rent policy, stressing that what is happening to the State of Qatar currently can be repeated with one of the Gulf states in the future.
“We are facing an unprecedented crisis because of the severing of diplomatic rela-tions with the State of Qatar and the unilateral blockade imposed on the interna-tional laws,” said Ambassador Al Kuwari in a lecture at the Royal Institute for Interna-tional and Strategic Studies in Madrid, in the presence of Spanish politicians, journalists and businessmen.
He added : It is interesting to note that the countries that created the crisis and the siege did not discuss the issue in the GCC or in a prior dialogue between governments.
Ambassador Al Kuwari explained that the harshness and ferocity of the measures taken against Qatar do not respect the minimum human rights. He gave an example of this when the Qataris living in these countries were forced to return to their homeland within a maximum period of 14 days. This also happened to the citizens of those countries who had to return home.
Ambassador Al Kuwari described the behaviour of the countries that imposed the blockade as unacceptable and that they treat Qatar as an easy prey and an occupying state to respond to their demands. He added that these countries have shown arrogance and an uncivilised act by not resorting to negotiations.
The Ambassador emphasised that their justifications were contradictory, not based on practical evidence and accompanied by random decisions.
Regarding Qatar’s position towards the crisis, he said: “We say with a loud voice that Qatar does not support terrorism and the issue of terrorism is justified by some as a weapon against some countries to stir differences.”
On the presence of the Muslim Brother-hood in Qatar, the Ambassador said that they do not enjoy any privileges especially since Qatar does not support this group, noting that many countries have relations with this group, including Saudi Arabia.
Regarding Iran, Ambassador Al Kuwari said relations with Tehran are not distinctive or strategic.
On the Hamas movement, he said that Qatar does not have special relations with it, Qatar is concerned about the situation of the Palestinian people and the issue of peace in the Middle East. he added.
Regarding Al Jazeera, Ambassador Al Kuwari said that it represents a pride for Qatar because it defends the freedom of
Qatari Ambassador warns against militarisation of Gulf regionQNA
expression and that this is an internal issue and does not accept any outside interference.
On the real causes of the crisis, Ambassador Al Kuwari affirmed that the foreign policy of the State of Qatar is an independent policy and that Doha has become a centre of dialogue and played a role in international mediation in recent years.
He pointed out that some countries want revenge from Qatar because of its support for the Arab Spring and there is a plan to prepare a direct confrontation with Iran, referring to the failure of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Yemen’s crisis.
Al Kuwari said: “We are facing a dangerous turn as there is a tendency by some countries to militarise the region, which will have serious consequences for all Gulf countries and the world”.
He added that these countries have
lost a lot of credibility on the interna-tional level and failed to create an alliance against the State of Qatar and they are endangering the GCC.
He said European countries and the United States could suffer economically and politically because of the current situation.
Ambassador Al Kuwari stressed the possibility of a solution as Qatar is bet-ting on dialogue and understanding to end the crisis quickly and that it is nec-essary to call loudly on all for preventing prolongation of the crisis and preventing the occurrence of more serious conse-quences, stressing that he will remain optimistic and Qatar has the desire to resolve the crisis as soon as possible.
“We are facing a dangerous turn as there is a tendency by some countries to militarise the region, which will have serious consequences for all Gulf countries and the world,” says Qatar’s envoy to Spain Mohammed bin Jaham Al Kuwari.
ED ITOR IAL
People signing on the huge painting of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to show their solidarity with the leadership in Doha.Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
09SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017 OPINION
of the fact that Moscow is treating news coming out of Saudi Arabia with extreme caution.
Russia found itself almost in the crossfire in the crisis over Qatar. Having embarked on a campaign to rally diplomatic support globally Doha reached out to Moscow, an unlikely ally in its row with Riy-adh. Even since the killing of the Chechen rebel leader, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, in Doha and the trial of two Russians accused in the murder, the relations between Russia and Qatar have remained strained. The issue of terrorism financing has his-torically worried the Kremlin, first in relation to the North Caucasus, where, as Russia claims, Gulf money propped extremists in the 90s, and more recently in Syria, where it fights extremist groups allegedly funded out of the Gulf.
But despite this record, Moscow at least indi-rectly indicated its support for Doha in the recent diplomatic crisis, which is evidenced by the sur-prising intensity of contacts between Russian and Qatari officials. The Kremlin was visibly unsettled by the strategy towards the isolation of Doha that Saudi Arabia as well as the UAE. opted for and interpreted it as an attempt to change the regional power balance. Doha is a known rebel within the GCC and is powerful enough to exercise independ-ent foreign policy thus keeping its neighbors in check. This is what contradicts the rise of Moham-med bin Salman to power in Saudi Arabia recently since he is emerging as the next generation of Saudi leaders with the ambition to consolidate support for his policy of confronting Iran and gov-erning the GCC under Riyadh’s leadership.
Russia sees merit in maintaining the existing GCC balance and preventing the emergence of one pole of influence led by a young inexperienced hothead in Riyadh, which would arguably make the council too powerful and unpredictable. The reaction to the Qatar crisis coming from Washing-ton is another element that pre-determined the Kremlin’s sympathies with Doha. With Donald Trump taking credit for the isolation of Qatar a unique opportunity emerged for Russia to assert itself with a state that was being rejected by the Americans, which goes in line with Vladimir Putin’s policy of reaching out to rogue states that fall out of America’s grace and is a long-term investment.
Moscow has not yet fully comprehended what the promotion of Mohammed bin Salman means
G20 is trying to save a failed world order
The Hamburg G20 might go down in his-tory as the moment the international elite just couldn’t hold it together any longer. For years, leaders of the most powerful countries have come together to cooper-
ate on how to run the world: the G6, G7, G8, G20. Their watchword was stability.
Holding it together was far preferable to allow-ing an international free for all. Agreeing among themselves was preferable to cooperating with small, poor and troublesome nations at the United Nations. That’s why they invented this system of global policymaking.
But the global elite has fractured. In the run-up to the Hamburg G20, the talk was of the global strongmen who had taken centre stage, for whom diplomacy was simply war by other means. The power of Trump, Putin, Erdogan and their ilk derives from a form of nationalism that believes global rules are for the weak.
The G20 came to prominence in 2008 after the financial crash meant the richest G8 countries needed the wealth of emerging nations to stabilise the world economy. The likes of Saudi Arabia and Turkey were granted a seat at the table. In London in 2009, they patted themselves on the back on a job well done.
But their reforms were too timid, too beholden to the free-market ideology that caused the crash in the first place. Today that crash haunts this G20 like a ghost that won’t be exorcised.
The international elite are divided. This should scare us, as such divisions can plunge the world into violence and disorder. But the situation is not hopeless... This G20 will pitch the “strongmen” against the “moderates” — Merkel, Macron, Tru-deau. The latter might look nicer, talk nicer and act nicer. Merkel has put climate change, migration and free trade on the agenda, much to the chagrin of Trump.
We shouldn’t be fooled. The G20 agenda utterly fails to break with the tired, broken policies of the free market. In other words, those very policies which, by increasing inequality and devastating communities, turning everyone into a self-inter-ested individual, have unwittingly given rise to the likes of Trump.
And that’s to ignore the “Trumpism” in Euro-pean politics — the barbaric immigration policy at Europe’s borders through which thousands of des-perate migrants die in the Mediterranean every year.
Sure, Merkel wants cooperation on climate change and thinks globalisation should work for the many, not the few. Who can disagree? But what does that really mean? A desperate attempt to restore the system that was destroyed on the day Lehman Brothers collapsed.
The G20 agenda talks about the need for struc-tural reforms to reduce debt. Like those deeply anti-social policies the European Union has imposed on Greece for the last eight years, which have devastated that country and its people?
International capital flows are good, the G20 agenda tells us. For whom? Unregulated capital flows have sunk economies from Jakarta to Istan-bul, with millions losing jobs and livelihoods as a result. Agribusiness can feed the world, we’re told. Yet there is already more than enough food in the world to feed 10 billion people —so how do 800
million go to bed hungry every night? How is the further displacement of small farmers to make way for monocrops going to help?
Merkel crowns her benevolent agenda a “Part-nership for Africa”. But as Zimbabwean activist Fanwell Bokosi told this week’s G20 counter-sum-mit — “a partnership normally means both sides are at the table and agree”.
In fact, this partnership is about using Western aid and power to politely suggest African countries might want to change their policies to make life easier for western multinationals to “invest” in their countries. It also means they will be able to avoid their taxes, and repatriate their profits back to the west when they’ve fleeced the continent.
Even mainstream economists and newspapers are unimpressed. Jeffrey Sachs gave a despairing speech before the conference began, essentially saying 20 people can’t solve these problems - especially not these 20 people. Liberal German daily Der Spiegel said, under a leader titled “the G20 farce”, “the group meeting here is an exclusive club that is mostly interested in preserving a creaking system of financial market-driven capitalism”.
Which is why there is such support for the pro-testers in Germany this week. The tectonic plates of global power are moving, and only a new poli-tics can get us out of this mess. If we want to preserve the openness of globalisation, the only
Last month was marked by a string of troubling developments in the Gulf, a region that until recently was seen as an island of stability and calm in the troubled waters of
the Middle East. The diplomatic crisis over Qatar that erupted following Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh as well as the Saudi royal succession shake-up are indicative of major changes happening in the Gulf Coop-eration Council (GCC) power balance. Moscow has been watching these develop-ments very closely, wary of their implications for Russia’s standing in the region, specifically when it comes to Syria and Iran, as well as its fragile relations with the Gulf.
Arguably the first signs of the looming changes in the Saudi Kingdom came in May with the visit of Donald Trump to Riyadh and the solid support for the future king that the US president expressed then. Moscow did feel threat-ened by this rapidly unfolding dynamic and felt that its presence in the Middle East would no longer be unchecked, something that it has enjoyed for the last two years. The boycott of Qatar followed and there is little doubt presently that the successful coercion of Doha into Saudi demands would have been a triumphant backdrop for Mohammed bin Salman’s appointment as crown prince.
Moscow normally sees diplomatic courtesy as an important tool of main-taining good relations with partners, but what is surprising about Russia’s reaction to the royal shakeup is that there has been no congratulatory note sent to Riy-adh on the occasion and no official statements released by the Kremlin, which would normally be done within hours. Silence, however, speaks more than words in this case and is indicative
Putin is wary of rapid changes in the GCC
Leaders of the world’s top economies gather for G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany.
for Russia in a number of contexts. Since the accession of Salman bin Abdelaziz to the throne in Saudi Arabia and the appointment of his son as minister of defence and later Deputy Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman has been in charge of the Russia file in the kingdom. He has been instrumental in upgrading the status of the relationship between the two countries. On Mohammed bin Salman’s watch Russia and Saudi Arabia struck a crucial deal to cut oil production with the hope of ending the global oil glut that deeply affected economies of the two countries.
During Mohammed bin Salman’s first visit to Russia in June 2015, Moscow and Riyadh signed a flurry of agreements, including one on nuclear energy coopera-tion as well as a $10 billion investment deal, all of which were aimed at reaching a breakthrough in bilateral relations.
To top that, Mohammed bin Salman’s every trip to Rus-sia involved a discussion of an arms deal, which clearly hits the right note in the Kremlin that has an ambition to expand its client portfolio in the Gulf. All in all, Mohammed bin Salman’s tenure in office gave a much-needed boost to bilateral relations, yet it has not marked an emergence of an alliance due to existing political disagreements.
Despite Russia and Saudi Arabia managing to compart-mentalise their relations, disagreements over Syria have been a central theme of their relations. As the Minister of Defense, Mohammed bin Salman has been in charge of the Saudi policy towards Syria and its largely unsuccessful military campaign in Yemen.
The concern that persists in Russia is that Moham-med bin Salman will increasingly resort to military options as a means of projecting the image of a skilled and experienced leader ready to take over from his father in the near future. This may not only affect Rus-sia’s standing in Syria, but also contain the spread of its clout across the Middle East.
Despite this duality of the Kremlin’s view of Moham-med bin Salman, he is arguably a better interlocutor for Moscow than his cousin Mohammed bin Naif would have been. Saudi Arabia’s “counter-terrorism czar”, Mohammed bin Naif was a firm ally of the United States, historically had no interactions with Russia and never shied away from criticizing the Kremlin’s policy towards the Middle East.
Despite this seemingly positive development that is the deposition of Mohammed bin Naif, Moscow is not con-vinced that the cycle of changes has come to an end in Saudi Arabia. Mohammed bin Salman’s position is still shaky and his kingship may be at risk if he continues with his overly ambitious military-focused foreign policy.
All thoughts and views expressed in these columns are those of the writers, not of the newspaper.
All correspondence regarding Views and Opinion pages should be mailed to the [email protected]
way is through regulation — of capital, of big business, of trade. There is no other way that the incredible riches of our world can be shared by the many.
What does this look like? The G20 fear a healthcare crisis as antibiotics stop working. So scrap intellectual property rights for drugs companies, and use public funding to insist on public priori-ties in medical research, and access for all. Climate change?
Urgently reduce carbon emis-sions and put massive funding into helping developing countries develop free of fossil fuels. Ter-rorism? The simplest of all. The G20 are the biggest backers of terrorism in the world. Stop it, and put real effort into creating a world order based on peace and cooperation in a properly funded and functional UN.
The G20 cannot or will not adopt such an agenda. Only mas-sive popular action can bring it about. Who knows, they may patch together the vaguest of communiques from the Hamburg G20 in the next 24 hours. But it will represent no more than an attempt to hold together a creak-ing building, slowly collapsing in on itself, with a piece of sticky tape. This is the end of some-thing. What will come next? That is still to be decided — and it depends on us.
The writer is the director of UK cam-
paigning organisation Global Justice
Now. He was previously the director
of Jubilee Debt Campaign.
Nick DeardenAl Jazeera
The tectonic plates of global power are moving, and only a new politics can get us out of this mess.
Yury BarminAnatolia
10 SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017ASIA
Gorkhaland supporters gathering along a street following clashes with the police during an indefinite strike called by Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, in Darjeeling, yesterday.
Darjeeling unrest NEWS BYTES
AIZAWL: India and Bangladesh have decided to construct a bridge over Mizoram's Khawthlangtuipui river to facilitate trade and improve communication between the two neigh-bours, an official said here yesterday. "Officials of India and Bangladesh held a meeting on Friday evening at Tlabung town (Mamit district) and discussed to speed up the works for the proposed bridge between the two countries across Khawth-langtuipui river (also known as Karnaphuli river)," Mizoram Industries and Commerce Department Director J. Hmingth-anmawia said. Several bilateral issues were also discussed in the meeting, he added. Bangladeshi official Rowshan Ara Khanam, who led his country's delegation, said : "The pro-posed bridge would be an important linkage between India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has taken a number of steps to make it a reality." "Bangladesh Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina had given approval to construct the bridge and linking roads," the official added.
IMPHAL: The flood situation in Manipur worsened as the water level of major rivers increased due to incessant rain and many villages continued to reel under the floods. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh announced yesterday that relief material will be distributed to the victims. While the central government is yet to send a team to assess the flood situation, the state gov-ernment had sent a proposal to have the floods declared a state calamity. Director of the Zoological Garden of Manipur P.S. Haokip has notified that it will remain closed till further orders from Monday. While visitors find it difficult to come due to the surging flood waters, the animals are under threat.
BEIJING: China has issued a safety advisory to its citizens travelling to and living in India over the worsening border row between the two countries. "The (Chinese) embassy in India has issued a safety advisory to its people asking them to pay attention to their safety and avoid unnecessary travel," a Chinese government official said. The advisory was issued on July 7 and is for a month. No reason was given for issuing such a notice. "They have been asked to contact local police or the Chinese Embassy in Delhi," the official added. The advisory comes as Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a stand-off in Doklam region in Sikkim sector since mid June, which has led to marked unease in ties. Last week, the Chi-nese Foreign Ministry said depending on the security situation China could issue a travel alert to its citizens visiting India.
India & Bangladesh to construct bridge along Mizoram border
Flood situation worsens in Manipur
China issues safety advisory for its citizens in India
KolkataIANS
The West Bengal gov-ernment yesterday ordered a judicial probe into the com-munal violence in
North 24 Parganas's Basirhat, and continued a major shake-up of the police administration in the area by transferring two senior officers.
Meanwhile, a team of three BJP MPs en route to the trou-bled area, was stopped and detained by police. Another BJP delegation met Governor K N Tripathi to demand imposition of President's Rule in the state.
Announcing the judicial probe, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said a sitting or a former Calcutta High Court Judge would be entrusted with the responsibility. Violence erupted between two commu-nities at Baduria on July 3 night over a Facebook post by a youth.
While he was soon arrested, violence broke out with mobs attacking shops and houses, torching vehicles, including those of police, and putting up road blockades.
Several police personnel sustained injuries as the vio-lence to spread to various p o c k e t s u n d e r t h e sub-division.
"We will conduct a judicial probe into the Baduria-Basirhat incident to take impartial action as per law. We want to know which were the forces which
indulged in violence. We will also probe the media's involve-ment in spreading rumours," Banerjee told reporters at state Secretariat Nabanna.
She said the state would provide all administrative inputs to the judicial commission.
The Chief Minister promised strong action against those responsible for the violence and attacked the Central govern-ment for not carrying out its responsibility of protecting the international border.
"How was the Bangladesh border opened? Who takes care of the security of the border? Some of the infiltrators came from the other side of the bor-der and left after indulging in communal violence," she alleged.
Communal violence
Announcing the judicial probe, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said a sitting or a former Calcutta High Court Judge would be entrusted with the responsibility.
BJP delegation met Governor K N Tripathi to demand imposition of President's Rule in the state.
Bengal announces judicial probe into Basirhat violence
Srinagar IANS
Clashes took place at over a dozen places between protesters and security
forces yesterday on the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahedin militant Burhan Wani, but no major incident of violence was reported from the Kashmir Valley that was under total security clampdown with internet services blocked.
Authorities had imposed curfew in old city area of Srina-gar and in Burhan Wani's native town Tral, while restrictions were also imposed in almost all the district headquarters in the Valley where the paramilitary CRPF and police in full riot gear patrolled the areas. Clashes between stone pelters and security forces broke out in Mehjoor Nagar of Srinagar,
Shopian town, Palhalan town in Baramulla district and in Tral in Pulwama.
Over two dozen stone pel-ters were arrested by security forces. No report of any serious injury to any stone pelter or security personnel was reported form anywhere in the Valley.
Three soldiers were injured in Hajin area of Bandipora dis-trict in the morning when militants attacked a patrol vehi-cle of the army. The area was surrounded for searches and the injured soldiers were shifted to hospital. There was complete shutdown across the Valley as shops, other busi-nesses and public transport remained shut.
Even private transport remained off the roads in Srina-gar and other district headquarters.
Internet services on both
mobile and fixed landline remained suspended for the sec-ond day while broadband speed was curbed.
All separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geel-ani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, were placed under house arrest. JKLF chief Yasin Malik remained under preventive detention in Srinagar Central Jail. He was arrested three days ago.
The Amarnath Yatra was also suspended.
Train services between Bar-amulla and Bannihal town were suspended.
All exams scheduled for yes-terday by the University of Kashmir were cancelled.
Given the massive unrest triggered last year due to Wani's killing, authorities had beefed up security to ensure that the situation remains under control.
Protestors throwing stones at government forces during clashes in Srinagar, yesterday.
Clashes mark Wani's death anniversary
New DelhiIANS
A day after the CBI car-ried out raids at over 12 places of RJD chief Lalu
Prasad, the ED yesterday con-ducted raids at three different properties owned by his daughter Misa Bharti in con-nection with an over Rs 1,000-crore benami (proxy) land deals case.
"We have conducted raids at three places including Ghi-torani, Sainik Farms and Bijwasan belonging to Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar," an ED official said.
ED officials refuted that they had questioned Bharti at her residence here. The ED is investigating a 'benami' land deals case allegedly involv-ing family members of Lalu Prasad on the basis of an Income Tax department case.
On Friday, the CBI carried out raids at the residences of Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri and son Tejashwi Yadav, who is also Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, for allegedly receiving a three-acre plot of land as a pay-off in leas-ing two railway hotels to a private company when he was the Railways Minister.
Lalu Prasad denied the charges and dubbed the Cen-tral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids a political conspir-acy done at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government. On June 21, Income Tax (IT) offi-cials interrogated Bharti for five hours in connection with the benami land case.
Gadchiroli IANS
Five most-wanted Mao-ists, including two couples, with rewards
totalling Rs16 lakh on their heads, laid down their arms before the authorities yester-day, police said.
According to Superintend-ent of Police (SP) Abhinav Deshmukh, they are Jairam Komti Gavde alias Jaggu, his wife Deve Zuru Pungati-Gavde alias Rasso, another couple Anil Budhu Gawde and Sunny Busku Pungati-Gawde, and Kamlesh Lachhu Telami.
The surrender was effected in the presence of Special Inspector General of Police (Anti-Naxal Opera-tions) Sharad Shelar, DIG Ankush Shinde and other dis-trict officials. The surrendered Maoists are entitled to full rehabilitation as per the state government's policy, includ-ing allotment of plots of land, financial aid, employment opportunities and other benefits.
ED conducts raids at Misa Bharti's properties
Five Maoists surrender in Maharashtra
Mumbai IANS
One of the prime accused in the sensational lynch-ing of 16-year-old Junaid
Khan in a train last month has been arrested in Dhule, north-ern Maharashtra, Government Railway Police said here yesterday.
The fugitive was hiding in Dhule since the incident, which
triggered nationwide outrage. On police interrogation, the accused confessed to stabbing Junaid and his brothers, an offi-cial of GRP said.
The accused, whose name the GRP police declined to reveal, hails from Palwal district of Haryana, close to Ballabgarh, the village of the victims.
The accused is likely to be produced before a Dhule mag-istrate for a transit remand
yesterday and later handed over to the police in Delhi.
Junaid and cousin brothers Hasim Moin and Shakir Moin had boarded the EMU train going from Ghaziabad to Mathura after Eid shopping on June 22.
The accused, along with around a dozen other persons, boarded the train at Okhla and ordered Junaid and his brothers to give them their seats.
When they refused, they
brutally beat the three and also stabbed them and dumped them at Asaoti railway station in Pal-wal district.
The Haryana Police had announced a Rs 50,000 reward for information on the prime accused who went missing after the incident.
On July 4, the GRP had announced Rs 2 lakh reward to anyone providing information about the identity of the accused.
Kohima IANS
Nagaland appeared headed for a fresh bout of polit-ical crisis with majority
of the ruling Naga People's Front legislators gunning for the ouster of Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu and return of his predecessor T R Zeliang, who quit four months ago.
Zeliang, yesterday wrote to Governor P.B.Acharya saying
that he has the support of 41 leg-islators and staked claimed to form the new government.
"The legislators also urged the present Chief Minister Shurhozelie Liezietsu, who is a non-legislator, to resign and pave way for me (Zeliang) to take over as the Chief Minister," he said in his letter.
Claiming support of 34 (including himself( out of the 47 NPF legislators, he also told Ach-arya that seven Independent
legislators have also affirmed their support in his favour.
In the letter, Zeliang said that the legislators wanted him to continue as leader of NPF leg-islature party and also authorised him to stake claim top form a new NPF-led Dem-ocratic Alliance of Nagaland government. Zeliang, who is camping with his party legisla-tors and Independent legislators at a resort in Assam's Kaziranga National Park.
Prime accused in Junaid lynching arrested in Maharashtra
Zeliang stakes claim to power in Nagaland
11SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017 ASIA
Asakura Reuters
Japanese rescue crews took advantage of a break in the weather yesterday to search
for survivors of torrential rain, floods and landslides, as the death toll from several days of freak weather rose to 16, the NHK state broadcaster reported.
Authorities warned of more downpours over the weekend, compounding the misery that the summer storms have brought to southwest Japan since Wednesday.
The city was pounded by more than 600mm (24 inches) of rain in the 24 hours to 5am (2000 GMT) yesterday, accord-ing to Japan’s weather agency.
Some neighbourhoods have
been devastated by flooding and landslides, and rescue workers and residents have been pick-ing their way through expanses of broken, water-logged trees, branches and mud.
“All the mud and debris is making the clean-up effort dif-ficult,” said Susumu Higuchi, a resident of Asakura.
Heavy machinery was working to clear almost knee-deep mud from streets while nearby, an uprooted tree was tangled in cables from an elec-tricity power pole.
A police dog was hunting for victims in flooded homes, many now clogged with debris.
The weather agency said 150 mm of rain was forecast to fall in industrialised Northern Kyushu in the 24 hours to 6am.
today. Some places have seen more rain in a matter of hours than they usually get in the whole month of July.
The rain has been caused by a low pressure over the Pacific that has been feeding into moist air into Japan’s seasonal rainy front. Deep mud and soaked ground on steep hillsides as well as knocked-out bridges have hampered rescue work.
TV footage has shown res-cuers strapping people to cables to be lifted up to helicopters and ferried to safety in evacuation shelters.
Broken trees, their bark stripped away, littered the sce-nic and verdant landscape like broken matchsticks as thick clouds hovered over green mountains.
US & allies seek counter to North Korean menaceHamburgAP
President Donald Trump assailed North Korea as a "problem and menace" yesterday as he met with Asian
allies on the sidelines of an inter-national summit to find consensus on next steps after Pyongyang's recent test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
"Something has to be done about it," Trump said as he met with Chinese President Xi Jin-ping. In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the two were tackling "the problem and men-ace of North Korea."
Abe, speaking through a translator, noted that the secu-rity situation in the Asia Pacific region has become "increasingly severe" due to North Korea's push to develop its ballistic mis-sile and nuclear programme. Abe said he wanted to "demonstrate
the robust partnership as well as the bonds" between Japan and the US on the issue.
North Korea's successful test launch of an ICBM was a major milestone in its long-term effort to build a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead to attack the United States.
The extensive slate of meet-ings with Abe, Xi, British Prime Minister Theresa May and oth-ers came on the final day of the annual Group of 20 summit,
which has been marked by vio-lent demonstrations by anti-globalization activists. Trump also had a brief, unsched-uled meeting with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation in Syria.
North Korea has been dom-inant topic of discussion, and the White House said earlier that the US, South Korea and Japan were pressing for additional measures against North Korea to demon-strate the "serious consequences" for its latest provocations.
The three nations have been calling for "early adoption" of a new UN Security Council reso-lution and additional sanctions to demonstrate to Pyongyang the consequences of its actions.
Bringing China on board is a key part of the plan. The White House has tried to pressure Bei-jing to rein in the North, a major trading partner, to halt Kim Jong Un's development of nuclear weapons before they have the ability to threaten the US homeland.
The administration wants China to fully enforce interna-tional sanctions intended to starve Pyongyang of revenue for its nuclear and missile pro-grammes. But Trump has been frustrated by the amount of progress. Earlier in the week, he vented on Twitter that trade
between China and North Korea had grown nearly 40 percent at the start of 2017.
"So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!" Trump officials said later that the president hadn't given up on the relationship.
Trade was also a key part of
the discussions. The Trump administration is investigating the possibility of putting new barriers on steel imports based on national security considera-tions, a move that could target China, which has flooded inter-national markets with cheap steel exports.
Heavy rain continues to pound southwest JapanOne-window centres to help businesses in PunjabLahore Internews
The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) is in the process
of developing ‘One-Window Centres’ to ensure ease of doing business in the province.
Once operational, these centres will facilitate existing as well as new investors to register their business with 19 provincial as well as federal services, which will signifi-cantly reduce the time and nuisance for the business community.
“These ‘one-window cen-tres’ bring 19 provincial and federal services under one roof,” PITB Chairman Dr Umar Saif said. “We are collaborat-ing with the Punjab Industries department to remove red tape and delays in starting new businesses,” he added.
Pakistan’s business com-munity has been demanding a ‘one window facility’ for quite some time, as currently, starting a new business and registering it with federal and provincial departments is a hectic and lengthy process. At present, it takes almost 19 days for any investor to register a new business in Pakistan; the industry said that the ideal time for registering a firm is half a day, as practised in the modern world.
ManilaAFP
Snipers in high-rise build-ings are the main problem facing Philippine forces
battling to crush pro-Islamic State fighters who have occu-pied a southern city for more than a month, a military spokes-man said yesterday.
Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera said this was the reason the government was using air strikes against the militants despite the massive damage it may cause in the city of Marawi.
"If we do not use air strikes, we will incur more casualties of
our troops," he told reporters in Marawi, which was overrun by hundreds of militants on May 23.
Despite more than a month of fighting with hundreds of govern-ment troops, militants flying the black flag of the Islamic State group are still entrenched in parts of the city. The military has used jet fighters, attack planes and hel-icopter gunships, armed with bombs and rockets, to attack areas where the gunmen are hiding.
"We have identified key defensive positions. These are being subjected to surgical air strikes now. They are still occu-pying high-rise buildings. We need to take them down so we
can facilitate a swift offensive of our troops," Herrera said.
"One reason we are using air assets... is this is the advantage we need to neutralise the snip-ers' positions," the regional military spokesman added.
"They occupy high-rise buildings so we have to be higher. So we use air strikes."
While hundreds of fighters rampaged through much of Marawi in the early days of the siege, Herrera said there were now around 80 gunmen still active in the "main battle area" comprising around 800 build-ings. "These are the tall buildings. This was the centre of commerce
of Marawi City," he explained.However the buildings also
needed to be cleared of impro-vised bombs and other booby-traps as the troops advance, he said.
There are also about 300 civilians trapped in the area, Herrera said, adding that some were being used as hostages, bearers of supplies and even being forced to help in looting the city. President Rodrigo Duterte last month vowed to "crush" the militants, but several deadlines have already been missed to end a conflict that has forced almost 400,000 people from their homes.
Policemen crossing a swollen river during search operations for missing poeple in a flooded area in Asakura, yesterday.
Dhaka police nab cafe attacker
Chinese Nobel laureate too sick to travel abroad
US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping holding a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, yesterday.
Seeks consensus
"Something has to be done about it," Trump said as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the two were tackling "the problem and menace of North Korea."
DhakaAFP
Bangladesh police have arrested an Islamist mili-tant over last year's deadly
Dhaka cafe siege, officials said yesterday, as authorities con-tinue to crack down on militant outfits a year after the attack.
The counter-terrorism unit arrested Sohel Mahfuz, who allegedly supplied the weapons used in the Holey Artisan Bak-ery attack where armed gunmen killed at least 22 people, mostly foreigners, after taking them hostage.
"He was the supplier of the
weapons in the Holey incident. We were hunting him way before the attack," Abdul Man-nan, counter-terrorism additional commissioner, said.
Acting on a tip-off, police arrested the 33 year old from the northwestern Chapainawabganj district along with three associ-ates, Mannan said.
Mahfuz is the chief of the northern command of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a homegrown Islamist extrem-ist outfit blamed for the attack.
He is also wanted in India for his alleged role in a 2014 blast in Burdwan, West Bengal, in which two people were killed
and police recovered a huge cache of improvised explosives, the official said.
The arrest came within days of US-based monitoring group SITE publishing a statement of an Islamic State operative who warned of many more attacks in West Bengal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Islamic State claimed the Holey Artisan Bak-ery attack but the government has blamed homegrown JMB.
Bangladesh has been reeling from a spate of extremist violence in recent years, with dozens of foreigners, secular writers, athe-ist activists and members of religious minorities killed.
Beijing AFP
Chinese doctors treating ailing Nobel Prize laure-ate Liu Xiaobo warned US
and German medical experts he is too sick to travel abroad for care, the hospital looking after him said in a statement Satur-day. The foreign doctors visited Liu, China's most prominent democracy advocate, at the hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang following interna-tional pressure for China to let him go abroad or allow him to choose his own treatment.
Beijing has come under fire from human rights groups over its treatment of the activist and for waiting until he became ter-minally sick to release him from prison more than a month ago.
But the hospital said the experts concurred that Liu has
been afforded top medical care from renowned doctors.
The First Hospital of China Medical University said Liu, 61, was visited by American oncol-ogy expert Joseph Herman from the MD Anderson Cancer Center and German doctor Marcus Buch-ler from Heidelberg University.
The doctors, who were invited by the hospital at Liu's family's request, found that Liu had excess abdominal fluid and was in serious condition, the hospital said on its website.
They suggested that Liu undergo an MRI to evaluate his liver condition and decide if he should undergo radiotherapy or another type of intervention. Asked by the foreign experts about the possibility of sending Liu for treatment abroad, Chi-nese doctors replied "the process of transferring the patient is unsafe".
Philippine air strikes target high-rise snipers
Protestors preparing to post postcards written and addressed to terminally-ill Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo outside the General Post Office in Hong Kong, yesterday.
12 SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017EUROPE
Turkey slams Greece's remarks on Cyprus talksAnkara Anatolia
Turkish Foreign Minis-try's spokesman yesterday criticiSed Greek Foreign Minis-ter's remarks over the
Cyprus issue.After a series of failed Cyprus
reunification talks between the representatives from the EU, the Turkish and Greek Cypriot lead-erships in Swiss Alps, Greece's Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias blamed Turkish side for having 'intervention rights'.
"It was not possible to accept Turkish intervention rights on whole island. The dream and plan for a solution in Cyprus problem remains alive," Kotzias said, sharing his quotes via his Twitter account.
In a written statement, spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu responded to Kotzias, saying Turkey attended the conference in Crans-Montana "with the
goodwill and constructive atti-tude we had been displaying since the very beginning of the negotiation process, with the aim of reaching a just and sustaina-ble comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus issue."
"During this meeting, which was the last Conference, we exerted sincere efforts for two weeks towards a settlement".
"As for the answer to why the Conference on Cyprus failed to
succeed, it can also be seen from the remarks shared by Greek
Foreign Minister Mr Kotzias on his Twitter account."
Muftuoglu said Kotzias "seems to have forgotten that he,
with the attitude he displayed, was the one responsible for the Conference's lasting no more than a day in January."
"The uncompromising and non-constructive attitude that underlies Minister Kotzias' remarks was displayed through-out the entire Conference by the Greek Cypriot and Greek sides," the spokesman said. "
The Conference has demon-strated yet again that it will not be possible to reach a settlement in the absence of good faith and political will."
The UN is seeking a peace deal to unite Cyprus under a fed-eral umbrella that could also define the future of Europe's relations with Turkey, a key player in the conflict.
The Eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks, and Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power.
Turkish spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu said Kotzias "seems to have forgotten that he, with the attitude he displayed, was the one responsible for the Conference's lasting no more than a day in January."
Chaos
A UN peacekeeper stands guard as protestors demonstrate in the UN-controlled buffer zone between the southern Greek side of the island and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, in Nicosia.
Thousands march to honour Srebrenica victimsBelgrade Anatolia
Thousands of people from all over the world set off yesterday on a three-day
peace march in Nezuk town near the Bosnian city of Tuzla to com-memorate the 22nd anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide.
More than five thousand participants, who began gather-ing at the town since the early morning hours, will cover a total distance of approximately 100km.
The walk is expected to con-clude at a cemetery in Potocari, a village in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina, just northwest of Srebrenica town, where a funeral prayer and burial cere-mony will be held for 71 genocide victims.
Participants will travel about
35km each day to reach Poto-cari within the scope of the "Peace March" organised for the
13th time this year, and will be spending the nights at desig-nated wooded areas.
During the long walk, they will be also given details about the genocide and told of the memories of survivors who took the so-called "Death Road".
Camil Durakovic, chairman of the organising committee, said that the peace march had turned into a global activity.
"People from all over the world are participating [in the walk] alongside the children and the grandchildren of those who were killed in 1995. The purpose of the peace march is to experi-ence at least a bit of what Srebrenica victims went through on this path," said Durakovic yesterday.
Munir Habibovic, one of the representatives of the organiz-ing committee, said that five to seven thousand people were expected to attend the march this year.
Eighth body pulled from Italy building rubbleMilan AP
FIREFIGHTERS and police in Italy yesterday pulled the eighth and final body from the rubble of a five-story apart-ment building that partially collapsed in a seaside town south of Naples.
The digging through the debris for victims ended more than 24 hours after the resi-dential building collapsed in the early morning.
About 80 firefighters worked alongside police and other crews through the night.
The dead were identified as an elderly resident and two families, one with children of elementary and high school age, and one with a grown son living at home.
The cause of the collapse remained under investiga-tion, but authorities said it may be linked to renovation work on the building, located along the Naples-Salerno railway line in the town of Torre Annunziata.
Debris fell onto the rails, and the scenic line that con-nects Naples with the nearby Pompeii archaeological site and the scenic Amalfi coast remained closed.
Witnesses said there was no explosion before the col-lapse but that a train had just passed by. The Italian railway said vibrations from the train have no impact on adjacent buildings because they are absorbed by ballast.
Imams begin protest against terrorismParisReuters
Dozens of religious lead-ers boarded a bus on the Champs Elysees in Paris
yesterday to kick off a European tour of the sites of recent attacks to remember the victims and condemn violence.
Imams from countries including France, Belgium, Brit-ain and Tunisia were joined by representatives of other reli-gious communities at the spot
where French policeman Xavier Jugele was shot dead in April.
Tour stops will include Ber-lin -- where organisers say they hope to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel -- Brussels and Nice, with a return to Paris for July 14, the first anniversary of the Nice truck attack.
IS group claimed responsi-bility for the Nice attack when a truck killed 86 people cele-brating Bastille Day on the seafront and a truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin last
December that killed 12.The Imam of Drancy and
French writer Marek Halter were behind the initiative of the current tour.
"We are here to say that our religion and the values of Islam are opposed to those assassins," Hassen Chalghoumi, the imam de Drancy, said yesterday.
Some 30 people boarded the bus yesterday with more expected to join on the way bringing the total number of participants to 60.
Prince Ernst August marries Russian designerHanover AFP
Prince Ernst August of Hanover, descendant of one of Europe's storied
noble families, married a Rus-sian fashion designer yesterday-- despite the public disapproval of the match by the groom's father.
Borne in a horse-drawn carriage, Ernst August Jr, 33, and Ekaterina Malysheva, 30, tied the knot at the Marktkirche, the main Lutheran church in Hanover.
They were surrounded by celebrities and aristocrats from houses across Europe, includ-ing his step-sister Princess Alexandra, the daughter of Ernst August Sr and Princess Caroline of Monaco.
Caroline's other children -- Charlotte, Pierre and Andrea Casiraghi -- also attended the
event, broadcast on German state television.
But Ernst August Sr, 63, was conspicuous for not being seen at the event, having said he wor-ries what the match might mean for the family's holdings in Ger-many, in particular its lands and forests in Lower Saxony.
"I continue to hope my son will finally think of the higher interests of our family and give in," he said before the wedding. "I am ready for talks and reconciliation."
Yesterday, the young cou-ple was to host a private reception for about 600 people at the dynasty's family seat, the neo-Gothic Marienburg castle near Hanover.
The bride, sporting a dia-dem, wore a classically cut white gown highlighted with pearl-encrusted embroideries, created by the Lebanon-based designer Sandra Mansour.
Participants from all over the world attend the "March of Peace" from Nezuk town on forest road to commemorate the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, yesterday.
Prince Ernst August of Hanover and Ekaterina Malysheva leave after their church wedding ceremony in Hanover, central Germany, yesterday.
Former Poland leader admitted to hospitalWarsaw AP
Poland's former president Lech Walesa (pictured), a democracy hero, has
been hospitalised with heart problems in his Baltic coast home city of Gdansk, his son said yesterday.
Jaroslaw Walesa said that his father was feeling "unfor-tunately weak."
It was not immediately known when he could be dis-charged from the heart diseases ward of the Gdansk University Clinic.
The 73-year-old Walesa on Thursday attended a speech by President Donald Trump in Warsaw.
He was booed by many in a crowd that supported the cur-rent government, which criticizes Walesa's role in Poland's politics.
Walesa strongly criticizes the government, saying its pol-icies threaten democracy and hurt Poland's ties with the European Union's leading nations.
On Monday, he had been expected to lead a demonstra-tion against monthly observances that the ruling populist party holds in mem-ory of President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others killed in a 2010 plane crash in Russia.
The head of the ruling party
is Kaczynski's twin brother, Jaroslaw, who is Poland's most powerful politician.
Walesa says the monthly observances are used to rally support for the ruling party.
The protest planned for downtown Warsaw will pro-ceed even if Walesa cannot attend, said another pro-democracy activist, Wladyslaw Frasyniuk.
Walesa in 1980 led a mas-sive strike against Poland's communist authorities, giving rise to the Solidarity freedom movement.
Solidarity peacefully ousted the communists from power in 1989, ushering in democracy.
But Kaczynski claims that the transition included a secret deal that allowed the commu-nists to retain some influence and wealth.
13SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017 EUROPE
G20 leaders struggle on climate dealHamburg Reuters
The final statement from Group of 20 leaders yesterday exposed a divide between the United
States and other G20 members on the Paris accord aimed at combating climate change.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hosting the two-day G20 summit, said she was pleased all club members besides the United States had agreed the Paris climate accord was irreversible.
"I think it's very clear that we could not reach consensus, but the differences were not papered over, they were clearly stated," Merkel said.
She said she did not share the view of British Prime Min-ister Theresa May who said on Friday she thought Washing-ton could decide to return to the climate agreement.
In the final communique, the G20 leaders took note of the United States' decision to with-draw from the landmark accord.
"The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversi-ble," the statement read.
Trump, who on Friday found chemistry in his first face-to-face meeting with Rus-sian President Vladimir Putin, congratulated Merkel on her stewardship of the summit.
"You have been amazing and you have done a fantastic job. Thank you very much chancellor," he said.
For Merkel, the summit was
an opportunity to show off her diplomatic skills ahead of a fed-eral election in September, when she is seeking a fourth term in office.
She treated the leaders to a concert at Hamburg's Elbphil-harmonie on Friday night, where they listened to Beethoven while their aides began an all night slog to thrash out the consensus on trade that had eluded the leaders.
Merkel chose to host the summit in Hamburg, the port city where she was born, to send a signal about Germany's openness to the world, includ-ing its tolerance of peaceful protests.
The summit is being held only a few hundred metres from one of Germany's most potent symbols of left-wing resistance, a former theatre called the "Rote Flora" which was taken over by anti-capital-ist squatters nearly three decades ago.
Peaceful protests mark end of summitHamburg AP
Tens of thousands of peace-ful protesters took to the streets to demonstrate
against the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg yesterday, hours after masked rioters clashed with police, burned cars and looted businesses.
Marching on a route close to where some of the worst vio-lence unfolded overnight, protesters chanted, sang, danced and played music as
world leaders wrapped up their two-day summit in the German port city.
An eclectic crowd of fami-lies pushing baby carriages, Kurdish groups, Scottish social-ists and anarchists waving flags and shouting anti-capitalist slo-gans progressed through the city accompanied by thousands of police officers.
Despite the mayhem late Friday and early yesterday, many officers patrolling the march removed their helmets and appeared relaxed as the
huge crowds passed by. Organ-izers said some 78,000 demonstrators participated, while police estimated the crowds at 30,000.
The big gathering came after aggressive riots overnight in the city's Schanzenviertel neighbor-hood, which is only a few hundred metres away from the summit grounds.
Hundreds of special riot police went into buildings to arrest rioters wearing black masks from rooftops while being attacked with iron rods.
GERMANY'S Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday praised Turkey's contribu-tion to the success of the G20 summit, a key gathering of the world’s 20 largest economies.
"Turkey and President Erdogan showed a lot of com-mitment. He was very much engaged on the whole agenda of the summit and gave his contribution," Merkel said.
"We also paid tribute to Turkey's efforts for the refu-gees, and he also pointed out these efforts again during the discussion on migration".
Merkel recalled that she and Erdogan held a bilateral meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of the summit, where they discussed recent political disagreements between the two countries.
"This meeting has shown that we have profound differ-ences," she said, and stressed that they had openly dis-cussed these differences, rather than "sweeping them under the carpet".
The Turkish government sharply criticised German authorities earlier this week for blocking Erdogan from addressing Turkish immi-grants in Germany on the sidelines of the summit.
Three nations agree to take action on Ukraine crisisHamburg Reuters
Measures are needed that will lead to a genuine ceasefire in Ukraine,
and implementation of the Minsk agreements to end the conflict there has been too slow, the Kremlin said yesterday.
With Ukraine on the agenda,
President Vladimir Putin earlier met with his counterparts from France and Germany, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, on the fringes of the G20 summit in Hamburg.
Macron said he had no ready solution to the crisis, but that the three countries had had a "good discussion" about it.
"If I had a solution in my
pocket I would have already used it and shared it with my friends," the French president said in a video posted on his Facebook account.
"We know how complicated the situation is on the ground, so we are negotiating."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was an under-standing between the three
countries that "effective meas-ures should be taken, which would lead to real ceasefire on the frontline and to ensure mil-itary hardware withdrawal".
"The Minsk accords are being implemented too slowly, serious disappointment is not concealed," Peskov told report-ers during a regular conference call.
Italy arrests Chechen man over terror linkMilan AP
ITALIAN authorities have arrested a 38-year-old Chechen accused of fight-ing with the IS group in Syria and participating in a deadly attack on foreign and Russian journalists in Chechnya, pros-ecutors disclosed yesterday.
Prosecutors said that Eli Bombataliev, who had been living in nearby Foggia since 2012, was arrested three days ago on terror charges under emergency measures as he was preparing to depart for Belgium.
They said evidence indi-cates that he was in touch with the IS network based in Bel-gium, where he intended to travel as soon as he received an Italian residency permit.
According to wiretaps, the man told his Russian wife that he was prepared to carry out an attack if ordered. "If tomorrow they call to offer myself up, I must do it," pros-ecutors quoted him as saying.
As part of the operation, authorities expelled the wife, identified as a Russian woman living illegally in Italy, and two Albanian brothers in who were legal residents.
According to prosecutors, Bombataliev was trying to get his wife to become a suicide bomber, which she was resisting by saying she was his second wife and the first wife should "sacrifice herself first."
Russia detains dozens of Navalny supportersMoscow AFP
More than 60 supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
were arrested across Russia yesterday as they distributed campaigning material, a pro-democracy group said.
"As things stand, at least 66 people have been arrested, 35 of them in Moscow," said the OVD-Info NGO a day after Nav-alny finished a 25-day jail term for organising unauthorised protests against President Vladimir Putin's rule.
"I was arrested while I was in a car. In the boot was a balloon with Navalny's name on it," tweeted Nikolai Kassiane, a cam-paign organiser for Navalny.
Navalny, who hopes to stand against Putin in next
year's presidential election, has twice been jailed in recent months for organising sizeable anti-corruption rallies banned by the authorities and which saw scores of arrests.
Navalny insists he will keep up his fight and has been trav-elling around the country promoting his election bid, although electoral authorities say a suspended prison sen-tence makes him ineligible to run for office.
Putin has yet to confirm whether he will seek re-elec-tion himself.
The Russian leader was curt when asked about Navalny yes-terday on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Germany.
"I believe we can have a dialogue... with people who propose constructive, even if critical, positions.
I think it's very clear that we could not reach consensus, but the differences were not papered over, they were clearly stated: Merkel
Final communique
In the final communique, the G20 leaders took note of the United States' decision to withdraw from the landmark accord.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with policemen and firemen who were deployed during the G20 summit in Hamburg, northern Germany, yesterday.
Nurse acquitted on appeal of murdering patientRome AFP
A 45-year-old Italian nurse jailed for life for murder-ing a patient and widely
suspected over the deaths of many others at the time has been acquitted on appeal, Italian media reported yesterday
Daniela Poggiali was arrested in October 2014 in Lugo, northern Italy, and sentenced to life behind bars in March last year.
A court acquitted her on Friday.
Publication in the media of pictures of her smiling next to recently deceased patients had caused uproar in Italy, amid reports that she had given huge doses of drugs to sick patients she found "annoying".
At the emergency room where she worked she was always engaging and tireless with patients' families, but seems cold and unpleasant with colleagues.
And in the first three months of 2014, 38 of the 83 deaths reg-istered in her department occurred when she was on duty, against an average of no more than 10 for her fellow nurses.
At the start of April a series of troubling coincidences alerted the authorities. And when a 78-year-old woman died shortly after being taken care of by the nurse, an investigation was launched.
The autopsy showed that she had been given a massive dose
of potassium chloride. Prosecu-tors said it could not have been a mistake, and Poggiali was the only person who could have given the injection.
Potassium chloride is detect-able in the body only for a few days after death, therefore the other suspicious cases raised by prosecutors -- around 10 over a period of a few months -- could not be added to the official file.
But an expert called by Pog-giali's lawyers during the trial over the death she was convicted
of found that, if the injection had occurred as claimed, the patient would have died in a matter of minutes, and not over an hour as was the case.
"The facts do not stand up," the Bologne appeal court ruled on Friday.
The former nurse was released Friday evening, after nearly three years behind bars. "They described me as someone who I am not, and now I am going to be able to get my life back again," she said.
Supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speak to police near the Kremlin in Moscow, yesterday.
14 SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017AMERICAS
Caracas Reuters
Venezuela’s best-known jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was out
of prison and hugging his fam-ily yesterday after being granted house arrest following three years in jail for leading anti-gov-ernment protests.
Lopez’s return to his Cara-cas home comes as Venezuela is once again convulsed by dem-onstrations against socialist President Nicolas Maduro, struggling with an economic cri-sis and global censure for overriding the powers of the country’s opposition-led congress.
Lopez, 46, a photogenic, Harvard-educated former mayor who has been barred from holding elected office, left the Ramo Verde military jail before dawn and was reunited with his wife and two young children, relatives said.
“A few days ago they had punished him with solitary con-finement without light or water for three days,” said his father, of the same name, in an inter-view with Spanish radio.
“(Now) he’s hugging his chil-dren, he’s with his wife ... I’m happy, he’s happy of course,” he added, adding that his son was wearing an electronic tag for authorities to track him.
The opposition has long called Lopez a political prisoner, and leaders around the world, including U.S. President Donald Trump, have pressed for his
release. Maduro, who for years refused to pardon Lopez, has described him as a dangerous terrorist who sought to over-throw him through street violence. Government support-ers often note Lopez’s role in a short-lived 2002 coup against the late former leader Hugo Chavez when he helped arrest a minister.
Venezuela opposition leader Lopez granted house arrest
Washington Reuters
The United States plans to carry out a new test of its Thaad missile defence system against an intermedi-
ate-range ballistic missile in the coming days, two US officials said, as tensions with North Korea climb.
Despite being planned months ago, the US missile defence test will gain signifi-cance in the wake of North Korea’s launch of an interconti-nental ballistic missile (ICBM) on July 4 that has heightened con-cerns about the threat from
Pyongyang. The test will be the first of the Terminal High Alti-tude Area Defence (Thaad) to defend against a simulated attack by an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), one of the officials said. The Thaad interceptors will be fired from Alaska.
The United States has Thaad interceptors in Guam that are meant to help guard against a missile attack from a country such as North Korea.
The officials who disclosed the precise nature and timing of the upcoming test spoke on con-dition of anonymity. The US Missile Defence Agency (MDA) confirmed that it aimed to carry out a Thaad flight test “in early
July.” Chris Johnson, an MDA spokesman, said the Thaad weapon system at the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, would “detect, track and engage a target with a Thaad interceptor.”
“The test is designated as Flight Test Thaad (FTT)-18,” Johnson said. He did not elaborate.
Still, in recent testimony to Congress, Vice Admiral James Syring, then the director of the Missile Defense Agency, said FTT-18 would aim to demon-strate Thaad’s ability to intercept a separating IRBM target.
MDA said Thaad had a 100 percent successful track record in its 13 flight tests since 2006.
After previous tests, the US mil-itary has publicly disclosed the results. Thaad is a ground-based missile defence system designed to shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
Lockheed Martin Corp, the prime contractor for the Thaad system, said it has the ability to intercept incoming missiles both inside and outside the Earth’s atmosphere.
This year’s US deployment of Thaad in South Korea to guard against North Korea’s shorter-range missiles has also drawn fierce criticism from China, which says the system’s power-ful radar can probe deep into its territory.
US plans Thaad against North KoreaTension prevails
The US missile defence test will gain significance in the wake of North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile that has heightened concerns.
The test will be the first of the Thaad to defend against a simulated attack by an IRBM. The Thaad interceptors will be fired from Alaska.
Venezuela's opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has been granted house arrest after more than three years in jail, salutes supporters, in Caracas, Venezuela.
Lima Reuters
Peruvians marched through the streets to urge President Pedro
Pablo Kuczynski not to par-don the country’s former leader Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights violations.
Kuczynski’s promise not to pardon Fujimori during last year’s presidential election helped him scrape together a narrow victory against Fuji-mori’s daughter, Keiko Fujimori. But last month Kuc-zynski proposed a potential pardon for Fujimori, 78, for health reasons as his finance
minister was ousted by Con-gress, which is dominated by Fujimori’s supporters.
“It would be a betrayal. A betrayal of his word and his promise to the families of the victims of the dictatorship,” said protest organizer Jorge Rodriguez. At least 2,000 pro-testers participated in the march through the streets of Lima, witnesses said.
“Fujimori’s human rights violations cannot be pardoned for humanitarian reasons,” said Giancarlo Portugal, a 26-year-old student who par-ticipated in the march.
Fujimori has been con-victed of leading groups that massacred civilians and kid-napped journalists during his
years in office from 1990-2000. Despite his autocratic style, Fujimori still has a solid following among Peruvians who credit him with fixing an economy in crisis and quash-ing a bloody leftist insurgency. A May Ipsos poll found that 59 percent of Peruvians back a humanitarian pardon for Fujimori.
In an interview with local broadcaster RPP on Friday, Kuczynski said his decision would be based strictly on a medical review that should be completed by the end of year.
“I’ll follow the medical recommendation,” Kuczynski said. But the proposed evalu-ation, which was not requested by Fujimori, is
widely seen as a political ges-ture. While pardoning Fujimori might help Kuczyn-ski ease tensions with Congress, it would anger the leftist groups that helped elect him. Kuczynski, who took office nearly a year ago to cap a distinguished career in finance and public adminis-tration, has vowed to transform Peru into a modern country and is leading regional efforts to pressure Venezuela to enact demo-cratic reforms.
Fujimori’s doctor, Alejan-dro Aguinaga, said Friday that Kuczynski’s committee for presidential pardons has not received any new information about Fujimori’s health.
Peruvians protest against possible pardon for jailed Fujimori
Demonstrators march against a possible pardon for former president Alberto Fujimori, who has been serving a 25-year sentence for human rights violations, in Lima, Peru , yesterday.
San Francisco Reuters
The state of Hawaii renewed its bid to narrow President Donald Trump’s
temporary travel ban, follow-ing court rulings which said the state had taken the wrong pro-cedural approach in attempts to challenge the administra-tion’s policy earlier this week.
In a court filing late on Fri-day, Hawaii’s attorney general asked a Honolulu judge to issue an injunction allowing grand-parents and other family members to travel to the United States.
The US Supreme Court last month let the ban on travel from six Muslim-majority countries go forward with a limited scope, saying it could not apply to anyone with a credible “bona fide relation-ship” with a US person or entity.
The Trump administration then decided that spouses, par-ents, children, fiancés and siblings would be exempt from the ban, while grandparents and other family members traveling from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen would be barred.
Trump said the measure was necessary to prevent attacks. However, opponents including states and refugee advocacy groups sued to stop it, disputing its security ration-ale and saying it discriminated against Muslims.
Earlier this week Hawaii had asked a Honolulu judge for a court order clarifying the Supreme Court’s ruling to allow grandparents into the United States. The judge, along with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled that the lower courts did not have the power to simply clarify the Supreme Court’s opinion.
However, the 9th Circuit on Friday said the courts could issue an injunction against Trump’s policy in the future, if the government misapplied the Supreme Court’s ruling to a particular person or entity harmed by the travel ban.
Hours after that ruling, Hawaii made such an injunc-tion request in a Honolulu federal court. Hawaii said the state itself, along with resettle-ment agencies, are harmed by Trump’s guidelines because they are prevented from help-ing refugees move there.
Montreal AFP
British Columbia has declared a state of emergency in response
to forest fires that have forced the evacuation of thousands of people in Canada's west-ernmost province.
"Given the current wild-fire situation and the expected increase in wildfire activity, the province is taking this extraordinary measure of declaring a provincial state of emergency," Todd Stone, the province's transportation and emergency management chief, said in a statement late Friday.
Hot, dry weather has fueled the blazes, with 138 new fire starts reported on Friday alone.Environment Canada said much of south-ern British Columbia was under threat of forest fires.
Residents were ordered to evacuate the villages of Ashcroft, where a hospital was closed as a precaution, and Cache Creek in the prov-ince's Thompson-Nicola district, Stone said. More than 3,600 people were forced to leave their homes in the Kam-loops district, about 100km east of Ashcroft.
Emergency declared in western Canada
Hawaii renews bid to narrow travel ban
San Salvador AFP
A court in El Salvador sentenced a teenage abuse victim, whose
baby died at birth, to 30 years' jail for murder, an abortion rights group said yesterday..
Evelyn Hernandez gave birth in April last year in the makeshift bathroom of her home in the central Cuscat-lan region. She was 18 years old and eight months pregnant.
She said her son was still-born but a court in the city of Cojutepeque convicted her on Wednesday of murdering him, abortion rights group ACDATEE said.
A spokeswoman for the group, Morena Herrera, said Hernandez was convicted "with no direct proof" and that the court failed to take into account key forensic evidence.
ACDATEE cited a pathol-ogist's report which it said indicated the baby had choked to death while still in the womb.Prosecutors argued Hernandez was culpable for not having sought prenatal care, ACDATEE said.
Salvador teen gets 30 years after baby dies
Charlottesville AFP
Supporters of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) gathered in Char-
lottesville, Virginia yesterday to protest the planned removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, who oversaw Confederate forces in the US Civil War.
The afternoon rally in this quiet university town has been
authorized by officials in Virginia and stirred heated debate in America, where critics say the far right has been energised by Donald Trump's election to the presidency.
Be it the Ku Klux Klan, the alt-right or generic white supremacists, these conserva-tives have found a new cause in defending the Confederate flag and monuments in the US South that recall the era of slavery.They
are outdated, awful symbols of racism for many Americans, who are mobilizing to have them taken down from public places.
Anti-Klan protesters in Char-lottesville got an early start overnight, throwing red paint on the bronze equestrian statue of the saber-wearing Confederate general. City workers were scrubbing the paint off early yes-terday. Watching the scene, Mason Pickett, a sixtyish retired
businessman, said he regretted the decision by Charlottesville -- which he said had become an "ultraliberal city, even socialis-tic" -- to remove the statue.
"Statues can be good history, they can be bad history -- you may not like it and you may love it, but it's history," he said.
But Tina Young, a 49-year-old lawyer, said it was past time to remove signs of the state's Confederate past. Virginia and
other Southern states had had plenty of time to do so, she said.
"In Washington DC, they have put up a Martin Luther King statue, they have an Afro-Amer-ican museum, they have a Jewish museum, they made the public space more fair and balanced," she said. As to Robert E. Lee, she added, "he did represent slav-ery, he did fight a war against our government which killed thousands."
placing puzzle based on a 9×9 grid. The object is to
place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so
that each row, each column and each 3×3 box
contains the same number only once.
CROSSWORD
CONCEPTIS SUDOKU
Yesterday's answer
MALL
LANDMARK
ROYAL PLAZA
ASIAN TOWN
NOVO — Pearl
ROXY
Tisbah Ala Khair (2D/Arabic) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 12:20, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, 5:40, 6:00, 8:00, 8:20, 10:00, 11:00pm, 12:00midnight & 01:40am Spider Man: Homecoming (3D/Adventure) 12:00noon, 2:45, 5:30, 7:00, 8:15, 9:40 11:00pm & 12:20am The House (2D/Comedy) 11:30am, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm Despicable Me 3 (2D/Animation) 10:00, 11:00am, 12:00noon, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 & 6:00pm Transformers: The Last Knight (2D/Action) 8:00 & 11:00pm Overdrive (2D/Action) 10:30am, 2:45, 7:00 & 11:15pm Antar Ibn Shaddad (2D/Arabic) 12:30, 4:45 & 9:00pmPirates of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:40, 3:20, 6:00, 8:40 & 11:20pm Inconceivable (2D/Thriller) 10:30am, 3:00, 7:30pm & 12:00midnight How To Be A Latin Lover (2D/Comedy) 12:40, 5:10 & 9:40pmSpider Man: Home Coming (3D IMAX/Action) 10:40am, 1:20, 4:00, 6:40, 9:20pm & 12:00midnight
Despicable Me 3 (2D/Animation) 3:30 & 6:30pmMom (2D/Comedy) 1:00 & 11:30pm Spiderman: Homecoming (2D/Adventure) 3:00, 7:00, 9:30 & 11:45pm Ninnu Kori (2D/Telugu) 2:00pm The House (2D/Comedy) 8:00pm How To Be A Latin Lover (2D/Comedy) 5:00pm Inconceivable (2D/Thriller) 1:00 & 9:30pm Tisbah Ala Khair (2D/Arabic) 4:30 & 9:30pm Guest In London (2D/Comedy) 7:00pm Role Models (2D/Malayalam) 11:30pm
Spiderman: Homecoming (2D/Adventure) 4:00, 6:30, 9:00 & 11:30pm Role Models (2D/Malayalam) 1:30 & 8:30pm Guest In London (2D/Comedy) 1:00 & 11:00pm How To Be A Latin Lover (2D/Comedy) 3:30pm Despicable Me 3 (2D/Animation) 2:00, 4:00, 5:30 & 7:00pmTisbah Ala Khair (2D/Arabic) 6:00 & 9:30pm The House (2D/Comedy) 8:00pm Inconceivable (2D/Thriller) 7:00 & 11:30pm
Spiderman: Homecoming (2D/Adventure) 2:00, 4:30, 9:00 & 11:30pm Despicable Me 3 (2D/Animation) 1:00, 3:30, 5:00 & 6:30pmNinnu Kori (2D/Telugu)1:00pm Mom (2D/Comedy) 2:30 & 11:30pm Inconceivable (2D/Thriller) 5:00 & 11:30pm The House (2D/Comedy) 8:00pm Tisbah Ala Khair (2D/Arabic) 9:30pm How To Be A Latin Lover (2D/Comedy) 7:00pm Role Models(2D/Malayalam) 9:00pm
Role Models (2D/Malayalam) 4:30, 6:30, 7:30, 9:30 & 10:30pm
Ninnu Kori (Telugu) 6:30 & 9:30pm
Guest In London (Hindi) 5:45 & 10:45pm Mom (Hindi) 8:15pm
Despicable Me (Animation) 12:00noon, 2:30, 4:30 & 6:30pm Tisbah Ala Khair (2D/Arabic) 12:00noon, 2:10 & 4:20pm
Spiderman: Homecoming (2D/Adventure) 12:00noon 2:45, 5:30, 8:15 & 11:00pm Mom (2D/Comedy) 12:00noon & 2:50pm How To Be A Latin Lover (2D/Comedy) 8:30 & 11:00pm Vekham Vedra (Tamil) 6:30, 9:30 & 12:30 Role Models 5:40, 8:30 & 11:20pm
16 SUNDAY 9 JULY 2017HOME
FAJRSHOROOK
03.21 am
04.50 am
ZUHRASR
11.39 am
03.03 pm
MAGHRIBISHA
06.30 pm
08.00 pm
PRAYER TIMINGS
HIGH TIDE 03:45 – 18:00 LOW TIDE 00:30 – 10:15
Poor horizontal visibility expect-
ed at places at first. Misty to foggy
at places at first becomes hot day-
time with some clouds and humid
by night.
WEATHER TODAY
Minimum Maximum33oC 42oC
Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department
Sidi Mohamed The Peninsula
The hosting of the meeting in Cairo by the siege countries shows three things; rejection of Kuwaiti
mediation by siege countries, leveling more accusations against Qatar and accusing Qatar of revealing the list of demands public, said Dr. Kha-lid Al Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula while talking in "Truth" talk show on Qatar TV on Friday night. The official who leaked the list of demands was from UAE, he added.
Replying to a question about why the Foreign Minis-ters of the siege countries' in Cairo did not focus on reduc-ing ties with Iran or on Al Jazeera issue, Al Shafi said, "They forgot to mention these issues due to the US President Trump's call to President of Egypt and that was why they had changed the statement twice."
He added that, "the rea-son why the siege countries don’t want to make direct negotiations with Qatar is the fact that they don’t have any-thing to discuss and don’t have evidences for their allegations, otherwise Qatar from the
beginning of the crisis has welcomed negotiations and Kuwait's initiative."
About Kuwaiti mediation, he said, "Qatar welcomes the Kuwaiti mediation, and the Kuwaitis political analysts were annoyed because the siege countries were not respecting the Kuwaiti medi-ation. Otherwise why the foreign ministers of siege countries held their press con-ference in Egypt?" He questioned whether Egypt was among GCC countries while the siege countries were insisting that the crisis must be solved among the GCC framework."
“I am also sorry about Saudi policy, its policy has
become fragile and it is not like before when it was strong and taking decisions after thorough study,” he said.
Al Shafi also said that the siege countries had failed to put pressure on African Union. H H the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had received a telephone call from the President of Guinea, Alpha Conde, the current president of the African Union and the President had welcomed the Kuwaiti mediation.
About the solidarity of Qatari people with the lead-ership, he said: “In Qatar there is no difference between peo-ple and leadership; you can see His Highness everywhere in public places. He is like father, brother to us. Qataris also understand that these siege countries have just alle-gations, and Qatar is ready to apologies if it has made any mistake to brother countries but they have not provided any evidence”.
For his side, Dr. Hassan Al Ansari, Editor-In-Chief of Qatar Tribune said that the siege countries were think-ing that Qataris would not be able to bear the blockade because they were used to of living a luxurious life . "They don’t know Qataris. Even if the blockade lasts for a longer period of time, they
will not surrender."“If the siege countries
believe in freedom of choice, then why they are punishing their people to show sympa-thy with Qatar,” Al Ansari said.
Replying to a question whether the crisis was an international subject or just an internal issue of GCC coun-tries, Al Ansari said that the Gulf crisis was an interna-tional issue and was not limited to the Gulf only because all the countries had interests in Gulf. "Otherwise why we have seen German minister visiting these coun-tries and others are also
paying visits to the Gulf to resolve the crisis."
About accusations that Qatar supports terrorism, Al Ansari said that the terrorism topic could not be discussed among these counties because it was an international issue.
Commenting on the issue how the media of the siege countries was dealing with the crisis, Dr Al Shafi noted that the media in Qatar was deal-ing in a respectful way and not hurling abuses. "And, we also listen to the media of siege countries. There is no compar-ison between media of two sides because they shut down our media outlets and are abusing us."
He added that even "Truth" talk show of Qatar TV had annoyed them and they had dubbed its guests as "hired agents" and not Qataris but "everyone knows that all guests of talk show are prom-inent Qataris".
“What benefit Saudi gov-ernment will get even if it succeeds in persuading its people that the blockade of Qatari brothers is right? Now they are exploiting Imams of mosques because they know that Saudi are religious peo-ple,” Al Shafi said.
Hosting meeting in Cairo shows rejection of Kuwaiti mediation
Dr. Khalid Al Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula
Dr. Hassan Al Ansari, Editor-In-Chief of Qatar Tribune
The Peninsula
Lulu Hypermarket Group has started import of all categories of fresh milk
from world-renowned sup-pliers of United Kingdom twice in a week on a regular basis to ensure uninterrupted supply in all their outlets across the region.
The major categories of fresh milk that made availa-ble on shelves from prestigious dairy brands such as Graham’s, a2 and Coun-trylife etc. are: sterilised whole cow’s milk, skimmed cow’s milk, semi-skimmed cow’s milk, organic whole cow milk, skimmed organic milk and semi-skimmed organic milk etc. in 1L and 2L containers. All these categories of fresh milk have an average shelf life of 7 days.
The Management of Lulu Group indicated that the fresh milk which is being imported from UK is rich with good taste and great nutritional contents such as Calcium, C a r b o h y d r a t e s , F a t ,
Phosphorous, Potassium, Iodine, Vitamin B?, Vitamin B??, Zinc and Protein etc. It is much better in quality and health-oriented than any milk that were available earlier from other GCC countries. a2 milk is cow's milk that con-tains predominantly the A2 type of beta-casein protein rather than the more common A1 protein found in regular milk.
Besides, Lulu Group has also organized the import of whole cow’s milk, semi-skimmed cow’s milk, skimmed cow’s milk, whole goat’s milk and semi-skimmed goat’s milk etc. pasteurized in ultra-high tem-perature (UHT long life milk) from reputed companies of UK like Arla, Daioni and Dela-mere etc.
It is quite a healthy drink and all of the nutritional ben-efits of drinking milk are available from pasteurized milk without the risk of dis-ease that comes with drinking raw milk. Normal pasteuriza-tion heats milk to around 70
– 75°C. for 15 seconds, — but the newer technique heats at up to 150°C. for 5 seconds. At such a temperature, all harm-ful pathogens, including spores, are killed, as well as the enzymes which could spoil the milk, which is why you can keep at room tem-perature for months.
The milk also goes directly into the container after heating, which elimi-nates possible contamination.
Also Almond milk, Cashew milk and Rice milk are also available on the shelves.
Soya Milk is also made available from major suppli-ers of UK namely Alpro, Provamel and Soysolei etc. in flavors like E/Calci Soya Milk, Soya with Coconut Milk, Unsweetened Soya Milk, Milk Light, Milk Vanilla, Chocolate Milk, Strawberry Milk, Rice Plus Calcium+Vit and Sweet-ened CI&Vitamin etc.
Lulu Hypermarket ensures regular milk supply The Peninsula
Doha Bank said yes-terday that its branches in India
continue to exchange Qatari riyal for Indian rupee.
“Doha Bank is authorised to exchange Qatari Riyal currency notes against Indian Rupees (INR) at its Bank’s Branches in India for its customers and other Banks,” Dr. R Seethara-man, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank. “Doha Bank would like to assure its existing cus-tomers that they can exchange Qatari Riyal currency notes against Indian Rupees at its Branches in India. Doha Bank has also communi-cated to all the Banks in India that they can get in touch with the branch personnel to discuss the operational aspects of the exchange,” he said.
Doha Bank branches in India exchanging riyals
Customers picking milk from a shelve at Lulu Hyper Market.
