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Volume 22 | Number 7142 | 2 RiyalsTuesday 25 April 2017 | 28 Rajab 1438 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

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Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met at the Emiri Diwan yesterday with UN Secretary-General's Humanitarian Envoy, H E Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Muraikhi. The official thanked the Emir for the aid and support Qatar provides for humanitarian and relief projects around the world.

Emir meets UN chief's humanitarian envoyKahramaa Awareness Park opens Irfan Bukhari The Peninsula

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday

opened the state-of-the-art Kahramaa Awareness Park, an ambitious initiative to promote the culture of conservation of electricity and water among children.

After inaugurating the park at a vibrant ceremony, the Prime Minister toured the facil-ity. The event was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdul-lah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, Minister of Energy and Indus-try H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Kahramaa’s President Eng Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari and other dignitaries and guests.

The Kahramaa Awareness Park is a magnificent theme-facility having all features needed not only to educate kids about water and electricity but also teach them about the importance of resources.

From life cycle of water to

wind energy, solar power to kinetic energy, gas turbine models to water recycling, every subject is there to be taught to children with the help of games, cartoon characters, audio, video aides.

The most interesting part of the park is “Dana Dome”, which shows a 3D film about the importance of water, its con-servation and recycling. In the external yard of the park, wind turbines and solar panels have been installed which will not only familiarise kids with alter-native energy but, according to an official, are “already produc-ing electricity.”

→ Continued on page 3

QA flights to offer high-speed broadbandThe Peninsula

Qatar Airways said yester-day it has become the first airline in the Middle East

to launch high-speed broadband

on flights starting this summer.The airline will also launch

a new graphic user interface and a complimentary new entertain-ment application for early access to thousands of entertainment

options. Qatar Airways also announced additional 12 new destinations to be launched in 2018: San Francisco, US; Cardiff, UK; Utapao, Thailand; Chit-tagong, Bangladesh; Mykonos,

Greece; Malaga, Spain; Accra, Ghana; Lisbon, Portugal; Abid-jan, Ivory Coast; Prague, Czech Republic; Kiev, Ukraine and Mombasa, Kenya.


No change in 2016-17 final exam dates QNA

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education said the 2016-17 final examination will be held

on the scheduled dates and in accord-ance with the annual calendar of Independent schools that the Minis-try released before the beginning of the current academic year.

Speaking to QNA, a senior source at the Ministry said the Ministry has no intention of changing dates of the final examinations to take place before the month of Ramadan, not-ing that the examination schedule is prepared in line with the calendar and there is no need to change the schedule.

The remarks came in the wake of rumours of a possible change in the examination schedule to take place before Ramadan.

According to the annual academic calendar of Independent schools, final examinations are set to start on May 25 and end on June 10 for the final year students of secondary schools.

Kahramaa Awareness Park decked up in lights for the opening ceremony yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula

New health strategy eyes complete immunisation within six yearsFazeena Saleem The Peninsula

Qatar aims to achieve hun-dred percent immunisation coverage within the next six

years, in line with the 2017-2022 new National Health Strategy, says a senior official at the Min-istry of Public Health (MoPH).

The new strategy, which is expected to be launched next week, will have nine goals set to be achieved related to com-municable diseases. Three of the

nine goals will be related to vac-cination and they include sustaining high immunisation coverage, providing vaccina-tions for children, adults and travellers and quality manage-ment of vaccines.

To promote vaccination among adults and travellers, the Ministry will provide 160,000 vaccines during the upcoming Umrah and Haj season. “The immunisation programme in Qatar has been always leading in the region. We provide most

of the vaccinations free for eve-ryone. Now Qatar has a 99 percent immunization cover-age. We want to reach 100 percent and achieving the remaining one percent is the most challenging,” said Dr Sheikh Dr Mohammad bin Hamad Al Thani, Director of Public Health at the Ministry.

“We are looking forward to achieving 100 percent immuni-sation coverage as part of the new National Health Strategy."


VAT could lead to 2% rise in revenueSatish Kanady The Peninsula

With the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) by next year,

Qatar, along with other GCC countries, is expecting its respective revenues to grow up to 2 percent. Addressing the International Monetary and Financial Committee’s (IMFC) meeting in Washington, the Qatar Group Countries said VAT could raise revenues any-where from 1 to 2pc of GDP.→ Full report on page 21

The most interesting part of the park is “Dana Dome”, which shows a 3D film about the importance of water, its conservation and recycling.

02 TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017HOME

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met at the Emiri Diwan yesterday with Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus, Charalambos Panayides (left), and Ambassador of the Republic of Liberia to Qatar, Ibrahim K Nyei, on the occasion of the expiry of their tenure in the country. The Emir granted Their Excellencies the Ambassadors the Decoration of Al Wajbah in recognition of the efforts they made for enhancing cooperation between Qatar and their respective countries and wished them success in their future missions and relations with their countries further progress and prosperity.

Emir honours outgoing ambassadors

President of the Republic of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, left Doha yesterday after an official visit to the country. The President and the accompanying delegation were seen off at Hamad International Airport by Minister of Culture and Sports H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali and other dignitaries.

Croatian President leaves Doha

QNA

The Advisory Council held yesterday its regular weekly session during its

45th ordinary session under the chairmanship of Speaker H E Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khulaifi.

At the outset of the meeting, the approved agenda of the meeting was read out, then the Council ratified the minutes of

its previous meeting. The Coun-cil listened to the report of the Internal and Foreign Affairs Committee on a draft law on the "National Address". The Coun-cil approved the draft law and decided to submit its recom-mendations to the Cabinet.

THe The Advisory Council's Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee held its meeting under the chairmanship of its Rapporteur Nasser Serayea Al

Kaabi during the council's 45th regular session.

The committee continued its review of the National Service draft law and decided to con-tinue the process at another meeting. The committee also reviewed a draft law on the work of expertise and decided to unanimously approve it as received from the government and to submit its recommenda-tion to the council.

Unesco's regional training on biosphere reserves starts QNA

The regional training programme on bio-sphere reserves and the "Man and the Bio-sphere Programme"

of the United Nations Educa-tional, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) started in Doha yesterday with the par-ticipation of GCC delegations.

Eng Ahmed Mohammed Al Sada, Aassistant Undersecretary for Environment Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality and Envi-ronment, kicked off the programme with a speech in which he said the programme is held with joint cooperation between the ministry's natural reserves department and the Unesco Office in Doha in order to carry out the national programme to prepare a comprehensive administrative plan for Al Reem Biosphere Reserve.

He said that the participa-tion of a number of specialists reflects the growing attention paid to the planning and man-agement of reserves, stressing that the main pillar of the pro-gramme is to review Qatar's experiment in the Man and the Biosphere Programme and dis-cuss the lessons learned from the Qatari experience since Al Reem Reserve was declared a biosphere reserve.

The programme aims to

enhance the regional role in terms of exchanging knowledge and expertise on the regional experi-ences of the Man and the Biosphere Programme, Al Sada said, expressing hope that such efforts will culminate in outputs that reflect the relevant priorities of the planning and management of domestic areas at the regional level and address the interna-tional terms adopted by Unesco.

Anna Paolini, Director of the Unesco Office in Doha, high-lighted the programme and expressed gratitude about Qatar's efforts, represented by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, in this regard, praising the Qatari experience in drafting the comprehensive plan for the biosphere reserve.

She said the outcome of the programme aims to promote awareness of the Man and the Biosphere Programme and learn

about the approach followed in nominating Al Reem Reserve for the biosphere programme, the contribution of the Qatari expe-rience in the preparation of the integrated management plan for Al Reem Reserve, in addition to an initial review of reserves in the Gulf region that are eligible for nomination and the adop-tion of an action plan for a regional program for man and the biosphere.

During the first day of the four-day programme, Tariq Mostafa Aboul Hawa, a regional expert in natural reserves, gave a presentation on the Man and the Biosphere Program that Unesco launched in 1971 as an interna-tional and scientific programme among governments in order to enhance the link between man and the environment.

He said that there are 669 declared biosphere reserves in 120 countries, 16 of which are cross-border and 30 are in the Arab region. He noted that the program strives to achieve the goals of pre-serving biodiversity and environment systems; enhancing the chances of sustainable devel-opment of for societies associated with environment systems; build-ing knowledge, awareness, education and communication in support of preserving biodiver-sity; and securing an opportunity for future generations to enjoy the natural and cultural heritage.

Nod for draft law on 'National Address'

Qatar praised

Qatari experience in drafting a comprehensive plan for the biosphere reserve praised.

669 biosphere reserves in 120 countries, 16 of which are cross-border and 30 in Arab region.

Continued from page 1Dr Al Thani added: "It may

not take six years but it’s part of our strategy. We make sure that everybody is protected by tak-ing the vaccination properly and create awareness that vaccina-tion is safe in Qatar as it is going through the correct procedure with quality management”.

Dr Al Thani also said that the continuous immunisation cam-paigns by the Ministry has helped in preventing any out-break of infectious diseases in the country.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a three-day train-ing workshop on ‘effective management of vaccine’ yester-day. The workshop aims to train healthcare providers on meth-odologies to be followed for proper storage and delivery of

vaccines. The training workshop is

being conducted by World Health Organization (WHO) affiliated trainers from Oman and Kuwait to coincide with the World Immunization Week which begins today. It is marked annually in the last week of April and aims to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease.

Dr Hamad Eid Al Rumaihi, Director, Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control Department at the Ministry, said, “Effective vaccine management is one of our objectives in line with the new National Health Strategy. Our ultimate goal is to deliver effective and safe vac-cines, assure proper storage and delivery of vaccination and have a correct stock management.”

He also said that 17 primary healthcare centres provide vac-cines for children as well as for adults and the new travel clinic at the communicable disease centre offers guidance for travelers.

Separately, speaking about the prevalence of MERS-CoV — Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus Dr Al Rumaihi said that the second confirmed case of the virus also has been discharged from the hospital.

“This year we had two cases and both have been discharged from the hospital. Due to proper management of the cases we have prevented any outbreak. But we are still working closely with research institutes to understand the situation in Qatar,” said Al Thani.

Immunisation campaigns help prevent outbreak of infectious diseases

Dr Mohammed Al Thani (centre), Director of Public Health; with Dr Hamad Eid Al Rumaihi, Director of the Health Protection and Communicable Disease Control Department, and Dr Soha Al Bayat, Head of Vaccination Unit at the Ministry of Public Health, with other officials during the Workshop on Effective Management of Vaccine at InterContinental Doha the City yesterday.Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula

03TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017 HOME

The Peninsula

Qatar Tourism Author-ity (QTA) and the UN World Tourism O r g a n i z a t i o n (UNWTO) yesterday

signed the official agreement through which Qatar will host the World Tourism Day (WTD) celebrations later this year under the theme, ‘Sustainable Tourism – a Tool for Development’.

The event will be held on September 27, under the patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khal-ifa Al Thani.

The agreement was signed by Hassan Al Ibrahim, Chief Tourism Development Officer at QTA and Taleb Al Rifai, Sec-retary General of UNWTO on the sidelines of the 2017 Ara-bian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai.

Qatar had been selected to host the official WTD celebra-tions by a vote of the 21st UNWTO General Assembly, held in 2015 in Colombia.

“Qatar’s leadership has identified tourism as a priority sector in the nation’s pursuit of a sustainable and diverse econ-omy. We recognise that tourism has the power to drive this growth, as well as enable us to celebrate our culture and her-itage with the world, and is rightlytherefore at the forefront

of national development plans,” commented Al Ibrahim. “There could be no more fitting a des-tination to carry this message to the world than Qatar, and we look forward to working with the UNWTO to host a memora-ble World Tourism Day event.”

Al Rifai, said “We look for-ward to be celebrating World Tourism Day 2017 on 27 Septem-ber in Doha, Qatar. World Tourism Day is the day set aside in the UN calendar to celebrate the transformative power of the tourism sector. This year’s cele-bration has an even greater significance as it happens in the scope of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.” Celebrated annu-ally on 27 September, World Tourism Day is the biggest inter-national event in tourism. The event, which is held in a differ-ent continent each year.

Continued from page 1The announcements were

made at a press conference on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), Middle East’s biggest travel show which kicked off in Dubai yesterday. Qatar Airways stole the show at the opening of ATM revealing its ground-breaking Qsuite.

The airline had already announced 14 new destinations for 2017-18, further adding to the airline's global network of more than 150 destinations.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said: “Qatar Airways constantly strives to create the ultimate passenger experience. Seamless connectiv-ity is part of our passenger’s lifestyle requirements on the ground and is fast becoming a minimum expectation for travel in the air. In order to not just meet these expectations, but to exceed them, I am delighted to announce this partnership with Inmarsat, the leading provider of airborne broadband connectivity."

"This, alongside our recently launched Qsuite, will offer pre-mium passengers a new level of sophistication, privacy and con-nectivity in the skies from this summer. The new destinations announced today mean that we can now bring these innovative and world-class products to even more travellers around the

world," he added.The new high-speed broad-

band in partnership with Inmarsat (GX Aviation) enables premium and economy passengers the abil-ity to stream content and browse the internet with the same speed and efficiency as if they were on the ground. Initially available on the Boeing 777 and Airbus 350, Inmarsat’s ‘GX Aviation’ product will offer seamless connectivity through its proprietary Global Xpress Ka-band satellite network, designed for use in commercial aviation.

Qatar Airways also announced the launch of its

redesigned website, set to go live in early May. The new website was developed to showcase the airline’s destinations and serv-ice, and features more than 2000 new destination and fleet images, and over 400 videos, including 360 degree videos and panoramic images.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Pres-ident and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Dubai and Sheikh Ham-dan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai were given a tour of the Qsuite by Al Baker.

Qatar to host World Tourism Day celebrations

MoU signed

QTA and UNWTO signed the official agreement for the event which will be held on September 27.

Qatar selected to host the celebrations by a vote of the 21st UNWTO General Assembly.

Hassan Al Ibrahim, Chief Tourism Development Officer at QTA, and Taleb Al Rifai, Secretary-General of UNWTO, signing the agreement.

QA's redesigned website launched

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, being given a tour of the Qsuite by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud; Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada; Kahramaa’s President, Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari and other dignitaries at the inauguration of the Kahramaa Awareness Park, an ambitious initiative to promote the culture of conservation of electricity and water among children.

Continued from page 1The park also has an Islamic

corner which illustrates the role of Islam in achieving sustaina-bility. The park will be open for school trips now and will be open for public visits later.

Coinciding with the opening ceremony, the Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of its ongoing National Program for Conserva-tion and Energy Efficiency (Tarsheed) with the slogan “one promise, one journey ’’.

With the annual Tarsheed celebration, Kahramaa announced future strategies for Tarsheed programme. During the event, a film on the first phase (2012- 2017) of the National Programme was screened, highlighting its over-all achievements and challenges. The Tarsheed succeeded in reducing per capita consump-tion of electricity and water in Qatar by 18% and 20% respec-tively until December last year.

During the event, Kahramaa also announced the commence-ment of the second phase (2017- 2022) of Tarsheed and its new roadmap to achieve the objectives set out by Qatar National Vision 2030 and extended National Development Strategy. During these years, Tarsheed will strive to reduce the per capita consumption of electricity and water by 8% and 15% respectively.

Kahramaa at this grand

occasion felicitated winners (individuals and establishments) in various categories of three competitions which were organ-ized by Kahramaa’s Conservation and Energy Effi-ciency department.

Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy was declared “2017 Best Government Corporation Applying Tarsheed Practices”. Ashghal won first place for its “Design of the Qatari Centre of Social Culture for the Deaf” in “In-design Competi-tion”. Ministry of Culture and Sports won award for “Lusail Sports Complex” in sports sec-tor in “Conserving Building Competition”.

Qatar Gas won award for its “Headquarters Office” in com-mercial sector for “Conserving Building Competition”. Ministry of Municipality and Environment won award for its “Ministry Tower” in government sector corporations in “Conserving Building Competition”.

Musherib Properties won award for “Cultural Forum Building” in government sector companies in “Conserving Build-ing Competition”. Qatar Foundation won award for “Northwestern University Qatar” in education sector in “Conserv-ing Building Competition”. Qatar Gas won another award for “CLPG Plant” in industrial sec-tor for “Conserving Building Competition”.

Sheraton Hotel won award in tourism sector for “Green Hospitality with QNCC”. Minis-try of Interior won second position for “Design of Civil Defence and Protection in Wakra” in “In-design Competi-tion”. ASTAD Projects Management won third place in “In-design Competition” for its “Design of Qatar University Sports and Events Complex”. Qatar Foundation won another award for “Solar Panel Units for Irrigation System” in corpora-tion sector for “Best Renewable

Energy Initiative”.Al-Shiamaa Secondary Inde-

pendent School for Girls won award for its research on “Eco Friendly Green School Model” in “Best Renewable Energy Initia-tive” competition. Eng. Ibraheem Al Ali won award for his work on “Humidification, Dehumidifica-tion, Desalination”.

Tarsheed was launched on the Earth Day in 2012 which falls every year on April 22. Through its multi- folded strategies and programmes, Tarsheed aims at reaching all segments of the society to create awareness for conserving the precious resources. It motivates the whole society to work together, con-tributing to the envisaged goals and ambitions of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

In order to achieve the tar-get set out by Tarsheed, Kahramaa has signed 56 MoUs in various sectors with various organizations is to implement its objectives.

Future strategies for Tarsheed unveiled


Punish perpetrators of Syria crimes: Al HammadiThe Peninsula

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H E Dr Ahmed bin Hassan Al Ham-madi, said yesterday

that Qatar will spare no effort in assisting in investigation and prosecution of officials respon-sible for the most serious crimes in Syria by supporting the Inter-national, Impartial and Independent Mechanism estab-lished by the General Assembly of the United States.

Speaking at the 7th Meeting of the National Responsibility to Protect Focal Points, which takes place over the course of two days in Doha, Al Hammadi noted that the regime has escalated its severe violations of international humanitarian law and the inter-national human rights law by adopting a policy of laying siege, starving, displacement, demo-graphic change, and the use of chemical weapons as reflected in the recent horrible massacres committed in Khan Sheikhon.

Prosecution of officials

responsible for crimes against civilians will send out a message to all violators of international humanitarian law, he added.

Qatar appreciates the role played by the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect and the Group of Friends on the Responsibility to Protect and its efforts in promoting the princi-ple said the Secretary General.

He said that regarding the horrific images of victims of a

chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun in Syria as evidence of such violations and crimes and the importance of protecting civilians calling the international community not to turn a blind eye on such crimes.

The Secretary-General added, putting an end to those crimes requires a commitment from the international community towards taking clear measures by pre-venting mass atrocity crimes. In addition to dealing with the causes of conflicts and crises at the roots through dialogue, rec-onciliation, transitional justice, involving minorities in the polit-ical process, and enhancing the mechanisms that monitor and warn of potential crises.

Al Hammadi reiterated Qatar's eagerness to implement the initiative of the Accountabil-ity, Coherence, and Transparency (ACT) of recording actions by the UN Security Council against gen-ocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and restrict the use of the veto to prevent mass atrocities. He emphasised Qatar's commitment to international laws

and its fixed policies towards the need to implement Responsibil-ity to Protect, and its supports to all global efforts to end violations of international humanitarian law.

Al Hammadi concluded urg-ing all countries to work together to implement the Responsibility to Protect as it guarantees respect for human dignity and the upholding of rights and justice.

On the other hand, UN Sec-retary General's Special Adviser on Responsibility to Protect, Ivan Simonovic, praised Qatar's efforts to fight violence and atrocities

against civilians especially in the Middle East, noting that Qatar is the first Arab country to establish a Responsibility to Protect focal point, and is the first in the Mid-dle East to host such an important meeting, having already hosted a Gulf workshop that focused on Responsibility to Protect and impunity.

Simonovic urged the use of all communications possible to encourage countries to appoint focal points to prevent the crimes, strengthen the internal structure of the countries through issuing deterrent laws, raise the

communities' awareness and spread the culture of peace and accountability amongst all.

For his part, Fabrizio Hoch-schild, the assistant secretary general for strategic coordination in the UN Executive Office, said the UN General Secretariat is looking forward to the results of the Doha meeting discussions, noting that recommendations are not enough because atrocities are increasing every day and stress-ing the need to take the necessary measures to protect civilians in countries such as Syria, Yemen and South Sudan.

Qatar will spare no effort in prosecuting perpetrators of crimes in Syria, says Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H E Dr Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi, at the 7th Meeting of the National Responsibility to Protect Focal Points.

Dignitaries at the 7th Meeting of the National Responsibility to Protect Focal Points.

Detour on Al Shamal Road for corridor projectThe Peninsula

The Public Works Author-ity, Ashghal, is working on finalising the North Road

Corridor Enhancement project to be delivered soon.

To facilitate the construc-tions, Ashghal will close Al Mafyar Interchange on North Road at Al Shamal Road tomor-row. The detour, in collaboration with the General Directorate of Traffic, will run 87km from Doha and will be in effect for 45 days in order to conclude the con-structions in the areas of Athba and Jary Lehmaidat alongside Al Mafyar Interchange.

During the detour, travellers will be able to use the nearby

Madinat Al Shamal Interchange or Athba Interchange.

Also, travellers heading for Doha from Athba area on the western side of Al Mafyar Inter-change will be able to use the temporary routes illustrated on the attached map.

Also, ‘Ashghal’ will close one north-bound lane on North Road main carriageway between Umm Al Ethnatain Interchange and Al Zubara Interchange for a distance of 1,400-metre long.

The road change, which runs at 56km from Doha, will be in place tomorrow.

The detour will enable the construction of service roads as part of North Road Corridor Enhancement project.

Ashghal stresses that traffic will not be affected by the new diversion as the remaining three lanes will still be open as usual while the speed will be reduced

to 80km per hour. For their safety, Ashghal requests motor-ists abide by traffic instructions and the newly installed signage.

Temporary closure on Al Amir Street in Al KhorThe Peninsula

The Public Works Author-ity, Ashghal, announces that it will implement a

temporary closure on part of the street known as Al Amir Street in Al Khor, for a distance of 350 metres in the two lanes head-ing from the intersection between Ras Al Qirma Street and the street known as Al Amir Street, towards Al Khor Coastal Road.

The closure starts on the evening of Tuesday, 25 April 2017 and will last 35 days, in coordination with the General Directorate of Traffic.

During this period, traffic on the closed part of the street known as Al Amir Street will be directed to the service road par-allel to the closed road, as shown on the attached map.

This temporary diversion is required to enable the works of laying Sewer rising mains as part of design, build, operate and maintain of Al Thakhira Sewage Treatment Works, Transfer Pumping Station and Associated Pipelines.

The Public Works Authority requests all road users to abide by the speed limit and follow diversion road signs to ensure their safety.

Ooredoo is Kite Festival's official telecom sponsor The Peninsula

Ooredoo has announced that it is the

Official Telecom Sponsor of Aspire’s 1st International Kite Festival in Qatar.

The event, which will take place from April 25-29 has been organised by Aspire Zone Founda-tion and will be held at Aspire Park.

The festival will feature a host of professional international kite flyers from 13 different countries as well as kite workshops, roaming entertainers, food kiosks, F1 simulators and more.

Talking about the event, Manar Khalifa Al Muraikhi (pictured), Director Community & Public Relations, Ooredoo Qatar, said: “Ooredoo is proud to sponsor such a family friendly event and we encourage everyone to head along and check out the performers and what’s on offer. Aspire Zone is a great place to get fit, have fun and spend time with loved ones and we’re happy to be supporting their com-munity events.”

This sponsorship agreement will also see Oore-doo ensure its award-winning Supernet is available for all media and visitors to Aspire Park.

On top of the activities, Aspire’s 1st International Kite Festival will hold three contests offering a range of prizes. The first is for school children, asking them to design a kite, the second a photography contest for everyone attending the event and the third a chil-dren’s drawing contest aimed to inspire people to attend.

Sweden to focus on Qatar ties on National Day The Peninsula

The Embassy of Sweden in Doha will celebrate growing relations between Qatar-Swe-

den with a magical Midsummer themed National Day Celebration, today. The Embassy will put for-ward the Swedish government and private sector opportunities to Qatar in its continued journey towards a diversified economy and knowledge based society.

Meanwhile, the embassy stressed that the visits from Qatar to Sweden have increased substan-tially during the last year and it is receiving more requests for tour-ism visas and Sweden tourism info are pouring in. Sweden also hosts a small village close to Stockholm where over 20 Qatari families have invested in summer homes. They

frequently come for a visit and this village has now been called Little Doha.

The embassy’s celebration today will focus on sustainability, innovation, and tradition. The embassy will highlight how close Swedes are with nature and the environment, during the event. Hence the event will be themed according to one of the most cele-brated Swedish traditions — the magical Midsummer’s Eve, where after a long, dark, and cold winter, nature bursts into life. Swedes cel-ebrate Midsummer with family and friends outdoors — eating and danc-ing in harmony with the surrounding environment.

“A commitment to nature and the environment founds the basis for Sweden’s strong focus on envi-ronmentalism, sustainable

development, smart cities, and green technologies. Sweden has a long history of stewardship of nature,” said the embassy in a state-ment released yesterday.

Sweden’s green technology, sustainable development experts, and SymbioCity solutions are highly relevant to infrastructure and city planning projects being developed in Qatar, in line with the highly ambitious Qatar National Vision 2030. Being a global leader in sus-tainable urban planning, green construction, public transportation and corporate social responsibility (CSR), Sweden has engaged in a number of knowledge sharing efforts with Qatar, focusing on research cooperation, green tech-nologies, and smart connectivity.

“Additionally, road safety, in which Sweden is ranked as number

one with our Vision Zero initiative, has been a strong focus in the past few years, with a number of Swed-ish experts having been employed by Qatar’s Ministry of Interior to work on driver behaviour and con-gestion solutions. Because of our strong commitments to both the environment and Qatar, the Embassy of Sweden in Doha is proud to celebrate our National Day together with a multitude of inno-vative Swedish private sector representatives,” the embassy added.

A lucky social media user who tweets the embassy @SwedenDoha, or who posts on the Embassy’s Facebook page @SwedenDoha dur-ing the celebration today evening, will win a trip for two to Stockholm on Qatar Airways, including two nights at the new hotel At Six.

QBRI team selected for Parkinson’s clinical trialsThe Peninsula

A research team headed by Dr Omar El-Agnaf (pictured), Acting Executive Director of

Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), has been selected by the Aus-trian biotechnology company, AFFiRiS AG, to evaluate selected parameters in clinical trials on an innovative approach to treating Par-kinson’s disease that has been developed by the company.

QBRI is one of Hamad Bin Kha-lifa University’s (HBKU) three

national research institutes.A research carried out by Dr El-

Agnaf’s team of scientists that uses novel techniques to identify biomar-kers of Parkinson’s disease in human blood and cerebral spinal fluid sam-ples attracted the attention of AFFiRiS AG. The Austrian company is a leader in the field of developing immunotherapies that target chronic diseases with unmet medical needs. This led them to call upon the Qatar-based team to use the tools and expertise developed at HBKU to val-idate the target engagement of alpha-synuclein for the company’s

first-of-its-kind Parkinson’s disease anti-alpha-synuclein immuno-therapy approach . The product has been developed in Europe by a team of scientists and its pre-clinical and

clinical development has been sup-ported by Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Using the team’s novel analysis techniques, the researchers at HBKU will assess the product’s ability to engage with the target, alpha-synu-clein. QBRI’s scientists will explore novel biomarkers discovered by them that facilitate early diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s dis-ease and use the technique they have developed at HBKU to assess the magnitude of target engagement of this new immunotherapy-based compound.

The Peninsula

Qatar Assistive Tech-nology Center (MADA), will start

its first Gulf Region Edu-c a t i o n A s s i s t i v e Technology Conference (GREAT) today, at the Qatar National Conven-tion Center (QNCC) in Doha.

The event consists of education programmes, which will feature glo-bally recognised experts delivering master classes and keynotes.

The event is designed to provide the necessary tools and knowledge for attendees to solve the toughest challenges when it comes to the education of PWD and the latest AT practices.

The GREAT 2017 conference is the first of its kind in the region and will focus on education practices in Inclusive Computer Technology and Assistive Technology (AT) in the Gulf Region. Industry experts will exchange information on the best practices and the current trends when it comes to the field of Inclusive Computer Technology and Assistive Technology. The confer-ence will also discuss current trends in the field of Inclusive Computer Technology and Assistive Technology.

GREAT meet kicks off today


Sealine HMC clinic concludes activities as camping season endsThe Peninsula

Hamad Medical Corpora-tion (HMC) has concluded its activities at Sealine

Medical Clinic as the camping season in the area comes to a close.

Every year during camping season, HMC opens a medical clinic to provide medical serv-ices to all campers in Sealine and Khor Al-Udeid areas. The clinic started operations for the

seventh consecutive year at the beginning of the camping sea-son last November.

Ali Al Khater (pictured), Chief Communications Officer at HMC and Sealine Medical Center’s Project Manager expressed his thanks to all clinic staff including medical and nurs-ing staff, Ambulance Service staff and clinic administrators for ensuring the smooth running of the clinic..

He also thanked the

Ministry of Municipality and Environment for its constant and continued support of the medi-cal clinic throughout its operations.

During this time, the clinic received a total of 713 patients – both adults and children — which included 451 Qataris and 262 expatriates. Twenty seven patients were transferred to the Emergency Department at Hamad General Hospital by ambulance.

The clinic attended to 573 people suffering from a range of ailments such as fevers, abdom-inal pain, diarrhea, coughs and colds while an additional 135 people were treated for wounds, burns, colds, stomach problems and asthma. Five accident and bone fracture patients were also treated.

Despite the closing of the clinic, the Ambulance Service’s critical care paramedic team will continue to operate at

the Sealine from Thursday to Saturday at the existing Medical Clinic site.

Non-oil sectors diversify economy: Minister The Peninsula

Qatar has gradually man-aged to move from oil- based economy to a diversified economy and the contribution of

non-oil sectors has increased despite the decline in oil prices, the Minister of Economy and Com-merce, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani (pictured), said yesterday. The growth of non-oil sectors has jumped from 21 per-cent in the previous years to 61 percent, he added.

Addressing the opening ses-sion of the 4th International Conference on Entrepreneurship in Economic Development 2017 at Qatar University (QU), the Min-ister said small and medium enterprises have become main partner in the comprehensive development, where limited

liability companies representing 82 percent of the total commer-cial activities in the country witnessed a growth by 12 percent in 2016 comparing to 2015.

The two-day conference is organised by Qatar University Col-lege of Business and Economics (QU-CBE) in partnership with Qatar Development Bank (QDB).

The Minister highlighted the importance of “entrepreneurship education”, and role of entrepre-neurship business in economic development.

The Minister said: “The pur-pose of the conference is to motivate entrepreneurs to develop their projects, which will have a positive impact on the economic growth in Qatar. The private insti-tutions are key drivers of economic development. Hence, entrepreneurship has become a cornerstone of economic growth

and diversity. In Qatar, the private and the public sectors play a piv-otal role. The government implemented many programmes that contribute to economic growth. In this regard, the Minis-try of Economy and Commerce

launched many services using mobiles and applications that help entrepreneurs to fulfil their dreams and establish their own business." He concluded with thanks to QU for hosting this inter-national conference which reflects

its position as a key partner of eco-nomic growth in Qatar.”

The Minister was joined by QU President Dr Hassan Al Derham, CBE Dean Dr Khalid Shams M A Al Abdulqader, QDB CEO Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, and Interna-tional Council for Small Business (ICSB) Executive Director and Associate Professor at The George Washington University Dr Ayman Al Tarabishy, as well as CBE fac-ulty, students and staff.

The event featured four panel discussions entitled “Economic Changes and Entrepreneurship Education”, “Fostering Entrepre-neurship Education in Schools”, “Education, Innovation and Cre-ativity”, and “Practical Education and Effective Industrial Collabo-ration”. Speakers were from Australia, Canada, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the USA.

Dr Derham, QU President

outlined that entrepreneurship education contributes to economic diversification which leads to eco-nomic sustainability, one of the pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030. This requires the creation of various curricula that prepare students to become entrepreneurs. "To achieve this goal, CBE has established collaborations with many institutions from all over the world to boost its curriculum."

Al Khalifa said: “The research studies conducted around the world have shown that entrepre-neurship education and SMEs are the cornerstone of economic growth. Hence, merging practice with theory helps us to diversify the economy and to enrich the knowledge of the community members. At QDB, we are com-mitted to train new entrepreneurs through many workshops, facili-ties and services.”

Qatar Rail cycling event to raise public awarenessThe Peninsula

Qatar Rail held a cycling event in col-laboration with the Qatar Cycling Community on Friday. The cycle

challenge marks the launch of initiative that will include many more events to come that will be aimed at increasing the public’s awareness about Qatar Rail’s developments.

Over 50 cyclists from the Qatar Cycling Community and members of Qatar Rail staff cycled from the Soudan Station up to Sports City Station, back again to Soudan Station and then up to Aspire Park. The cycling challenge will took place in the Gold Line tunnel.

The tunnel that makes up the Golden Line is 30km in total, the route the cyclists took was around 10km of a sin-gle track tunnel. The Gold Line starts at Al Aziziyah and concludes at Ras Bu Abboud, the line comprises of 10 stations and passes through the main station in Msheireb.

This was the first time the tunnel has been opened for member of the cyclists.

At 10km, with uneven surfaces and unknown territory it was an interesting challenge for any rider. Qatar Rail ensured the highest standard of health and safety during the challenge.

Commenting on this exciting first of its kind event in the region, Eng. Abdulla Abdulaziz Al Subaie, Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Qatar Rail, said, “The completion of this tunnel is a key milestone for Qatar Rail, we look for-ward to hold more events of this kind to showcase the deliverance of Qatar Rail projects and bring us closer to the com-munity, that’s the essence behind the “Rail Challenge” initiative.”

Eng. Hamad Ibrahim Al Bishri, Dep-uty CEO, Qatar Rail, who participated in the challenge, went on to say: “Qatar Rail is delighted to collaborate with the Qatar Cycling Community for this event and give them the chance to experience the tun-nels before they are fully operational. We thank all the cyclists from the Qatar Cycling Community who took part in the challenge and sincerely hope they enjoyed

the experience.”President of the Qatar Cycling Com-

munity, Dr Abdulaziz Jeham Al Kuwairi, added: “We are delighted to collaborate with Qatar Rail for this unique cycling event. It’s an honour for us to be the first cyclists to ride in the recently constructed tunnel. We are pleased that such

initiatives support the sport of cycling. We thank Qatar Rail Management, headed by the Managing Director and CEO, Eng. Abdullah Al Subaie for ensuring the com-fort and safety of our cyclists. We also thank them for their efforts on the rail project that will benefit our beloved coun-try Qatar."

Cyclists at the finish line.

“The purpose of the conference is to motivate entrepreneurs to develop their projects, which will have a positive impact on the economic growth in Qatar," said Minister of Economy and Commerce, H E Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani


Qatar to send large team for Islamic Games in BakuThe Peninsula

Qatar will participate with a large delegation in the Islamic Games to be held in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan from

May 12 to May 22. Qatar will also be represented at the Intercul-tural Dialogue Forum in Baku with a high-level official delega-tion, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Qatar, Towfik Abdullayev, has said.

2017 has been announced Year of Islamic Solidarity in the Republic of Azerbaijan and dur-ing this year a number of events will be organised in Azerbaijan, the most important of which is the fourth session of the Islamic Solidarity Games. And also The Global Forum for Intercultural Dialogue will be held at the begin-ning of May in Azerbaijan.

"I would like to point out that the brotherly State of Qatar, which is one of the most impor-tant countries that always strives to strengthen the pillars of Islamic solidarity among the countries of

the Islamic world, will participate with a large delegation (which is expected to be one of the largest participating delegations) in the Islamic Games, as well as in other activities that will be organised in Baku within the framework of the year of Islamic solidarity in Azerbaijan. Qatar will also be rep-resented at the Intercultural Dialogue Forum in Baku with a high-level official delegation,

which we trust that will enrich the discussions," said the ambassa-dor in a statement.

The Islamic Solidarity Games, which aim to strengthen Islamic solidarity among member states and to consolidate unity, love, brotherhood and the spirit of cooperation and solidarity among

the youth of the member coun-tries and to unify their positions in the international arena, now became one of the most actual and important issues for all Muslims.

"We trust that hosting of Baku for this games will contribute to the strengthening of the spirit of

solidarity and brotherhood, to the promotion of the youth and sport activity of Islamic countries, and to the consolidation of the Islamic values and principles among the youth of the Islamic Ummah, and we are pleased that all 57 Muslim countries will participate in this year's Games," said Abdullayev.

Around 5,000 athletes from Islamic countries around the world will represent their coun-tries in 12 days of competitions on 21 different types of sport, including athletics, water sports, diving, swimming, water polo, basketball, football and gymnas-tics, volleyball, boxing, zorchana, karate, taekwondo and weight-lifting in 17 modern sport complexes in Baku.

In addition to this, all meas-ures have been taken for sport-lovers and tourists to visit the Republic of Azerbaijan and to enjoy live watching of competi-tions, which is a mini-Olympics in proportion to the large number of participating countries from Africa, Asia and Europe.

"We in the Republic of

Azerbaijan highly appreciate the active participation of Qatari side in these events. Qatari participa-tion will give an important asset that will contribute to the suc-cess of these activities and the implementation of their objec-tives. Especially, the State of Qatar today is one of the most important countries in promot-ing solidarity and a spirit of cooperation in both, the region and the world," said the ambassador.

Azerbaijan has historically been one of the most important centres of Islamic civilisation for centuries and has played an important role in the spread of Islam and the establishment of the Islamic Renaissance. This has led to the creation of a suit-able ground for the formation of Islamic heritage in the terri-tory of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's reputation in the Islamic world was reflected in the declaration of the City of Baku as the Capital of Islamic Culture in 2009 and the city of Nakhchivan in 2018.

2017 has been announced Year of Islamic Solidarity in the Republic of Azerbaijan and during this year a number of events will be organised in Azerbaijan, the most important of which is the fourth session of the Islamic Solidarity Games.

Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Qatar, Towfik Abdullayev.

Qatar Museums hosting educational workshop with showThe Peninsula

Qatar Museums (QM) is run-ning an educational programme alongside its

latest exhibition – JR – Réper-toire, aimed at inspiring an indigenous culture of creativity and educate the next generation of cultural audiences.

As part of the educational programme, QM is hosting two workshops for schools, both run-ning until May 31. The first, titled, ‘Your Canvas Is Your Wall’, runs in two-hour blocks, every Wednesday morning from 8.30 – 10.30am and 10.30am – 12.30pm at the QM Gallery, Building 10, Katara. During this workshop, students are taken on a tour of the exhibition, and cre-ate a collage of art works on canvas using photos of Qatar

Heritage sites inspired by the exhibition.

The second workshop, titled ‘Stencil on Wood’, is running during the same timeslots every Monday morning at the QM Gal-lery, Building 10, Katara. During this workshop, school students examine photos where JR uses stencils to create his artwork on wooden boards. Students learn the basics of making stencils, and apply it on their own wooden boards, inspired by French art-ist JR’s work.

Dr Jelena Trkulja, Director of Education at QM, said:“We have seen great levels of engage-ment and enthusiasm from school children that have par-ticipated in these courses so far. We hope to see more schools come forward and take part in these fun workshops, to

stimulate students’ creativity and educate them on the role and value of arts, heritage and crea-tivity. We will continue to organise educational pro-grammes like this one around all of our exhibitions, to inspire and

develop our future creative generation.”

Presented by QM in collab-oration with Galerie Perrotin, JR – Répertoire is on show at the QM Gallery in Katara until May 31. JR’s work combines art and

engaged actions through large-scale outdoor installations, films, photographs and videos, using the streetscape as his canvas and his inspiration, which he claims as the largest art gallery in the world.

Children taking part in an educational programme.

VRF air conditioning system getting popularHuda NV The Peninsula

As Qatar moves towards environment friendly and energy efficient air con-

ditioning units, a new technology is becoming popular in the coun-try. Variable refrigerant flow or volume (VRV/VRF) air condition-ing system is continuing to make inroads into both the residential and commercial sectors, accord-ing to experts.

VRF system is the latest tech-nology in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. This sys-tem consists of one outdoor unit with many indoor units,

refrigerant piping, running from the outdoor to all indoors and communication wiring.

The system can be used for variable load hence, every space can be have its own temperature controls.

“VRF system has been around for some time, however, the popularity is now growing more than ever. It uses the new eco-friendly gases,” Shoukathali, GM, Marine Air Conditioning Company, told The Peninsula.

“It has digital control system connected to a number of inter-nal units, which also have individual control facility. Cur-rently a number of residential

buildings and major projects are utilising the system. With higher demand, the prices also have fallen from an earlier QR4,500 to less than QR3,000,” he added.

VRF air-conditioning sys-tems are cost-effective to install, easy to use and economical to operate throughout the entire life of the equipment. The compact design and flexible layout in terms of outdoor to indoor units are the added benefits leading to its adoption in commercial as well as residential air condition-ing systems.

“The system has started to become popular and more peo-ple have started asking about it

and many more projects here utilise VRF. The main advantage is that it facilitates mix and use of indoor units. People can opt for wall units, duct split, casket type and so on according to their own tastes,” said Azhar Maqbool Ahmed, Deputy GM, Alrais Group.

“One of major advantage of the system is the fact that the energy efficiency of these appli-ances are usually higher the current. The units are 13 and above star rated,” he added.

Another key attraction for customers of the system is that it requires lesser rooftop equip-ment than the conventional

central cooling system. Also they get much to gain in

terms of efficiency and depend-ability. The system also has inverter compressors that allow lowering power consumption with partial cooling loads. More over the system has an ability of modular expansion, hence can be used for large projects, that can grow in stages.

“The demand for VRF sys-tem is starting and popularity has been growing over the last few years. Most attractive part is the number of indoor units that can be attached to it,” said an official of a major appliances company.

Al Aziziyah Youth Center holds awareness lecture The Peninsula

Al Aziziyah Youth Center in collaboration with Qatar Unified Awareness Team

organised an awareness lecture for children on using mobile phones while driving and the correct way to follow while crossing roads.

The lecture was presented by Abdul Wahid Al Anzi, the QUAT founder and about 25 students attended the event. It focused on

children between the age of 12 and 16.

The lecture also focused on other issues related to child safety such as what to do in case of a fire incident at home and also the dan-gers of using mobiles phones specially handling social media. The lecture also highlighted that children should know about the legal issues related in publishing pictures or sharing videos on social media.Officials and children at the awareness lecture event.

People urged to take preventive measure against malariaThe Peninsula

Hamad Medical Corpo-ration (HMC) has urged people to take preven-

tive measures against malaria, especially as many residents plan their summer vacation.

In recognition of World Malaria Day and in support of the World Health Organiza-tion’s (WHO) call to improve access to life-saving preven-tion tools, HMC has started raising awareness.

Although malaria is not endemic in Qatar, hundreds of cases are diagnosed every year as a result of residents traveling to malaria-endemic countries, says experts. This year’s global theme for World Malaria Day, observed each year on April 25 (today), is ‘End Malaria for Good’. In the lead-up to the day, the WHO is highlighting the importance of prevention as a critical strategy for reduc-ing the toll of a disease that is thought to be responsible for more than 400 000 deaths each year.

Dr Hussam Al Soub, Sen-ior Consultant of HMC’s Infectious Diseases Unit said, “People who have resided in Qatar for a long time and other malaria-free countries (coun-tries where there is no continuing local mosquito-borne malaria transmission) may have lowered immunity to malaria and are thus vulner-able to serious illness.”

Malaria is caused by para-sites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. It can be a deadly disease, affecting mil-lions of people each year and resulting in hundreds of thou-sands of deaths annually, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the WHO.

Malaria transmission is more intense in warmer regions closer to the equator. However, even in countries where malaria is endemic, the risk of transmission can be reduced by avoiding bodies of water and staying in moun-tainous regions.

“Simple precautions can help prevent infection during visits to malaria-endemic areas, such as using mosquito repellent creams and mosquito nets (particularly insecticide-treated nets), wearing long sleeves and long pants to cover your skin, and avoiding going outside at night,” said Dr Al Soub.


QC extends support to Al Aqsa HospitalThe Peninsula

In cooperation with the Min-istry of Health, Qatar Charity (QC) has opened the CT department at Al Aqsa Hos-pital in Gaza and restored its

diagnosis department to provide excellent medical services to 300,000 people in the central area in the Gaza Strip.

This is a part of 'providing medicines and medical and lab-oratory supplies to the Palestinian Ministry of Health' project funded by QC at a cost of more than QR25m, aiming at restoring Al Aqsa Hospital to bring it back into perfect use, providing it with the necessary equipment, in addition to alleviating the pain and suffer-ing of the patients and the overcrowded hospitals in Gaza.

Dr Mahmoud Abu Khalifa, Director of the Sponsorship Pro-gram at the Qatar Charity Office in the Gaza Strip, said that what QC has done to help the Al Aqsa

Hospital and rehabilitate a full section of it is such a great humanitarian evidence and sup-port for the health sector in the Gaza Strip. Besides, he pointed out that the reason behind imple-menting this project is the responsibility for the sick and injured, especially residents of the Central Governorate who have suffered from the lack of advanced diagnostic services, which increased their suffering and endangered their lives, par-ticularly at the time of wars and crises.

Abu Khalifa assured that QC's

humanitarian mission is to aid the most needy social groups in accordance with the principles of human dignity and social justice. Accordingly, they have been keen to pay particular attention to the needs of patients in areas where there is a lack of health services.

He stressed that QC never slacks on giving Palestinians a helping hand. That is to say, he referred to their several achieve-ments in many sectors through QC’s programmes, especially those related to the reconstruc-tion programme through the Islamic Development Bank. These sectors included health, education and economic empowerment, water and sani-tation; agriculture and industry; housing construction, schools, mosques and cultural centres.

Moreover, he mentioned that QC is about to offer Al Aqsa Hos-pital a new X-ray device, within a project which supplies it with many medical devices and spare

parts for the broken devices in the Ministry of Health’s hospitals.

Bassem Naeem, Head of the Health and Environment Sector in the Gaza Strip, expressed his appreciation of QC's achieve-ments in supporting the health sector and thanked the gener-ous hands in Qatar who have been support ing the

implementation and financing of the projects that have been a distinct addition to health work, wishing that the good people in Qatar will continue to support such projects in various health fields.

Director of Al Aqsa Hospital, Kamal Khattab, praised the efforts exerted by QC and the Qatari

generous benefactors, stressing that the CT scan is a quantum leap for the hospital, which serves a large segment of the people of the Central Governorate.

"We are grateful to QC for carrying out the projects that sup-port the health sector, especially those that benefited Al-Aqsa Hos-pital," Khattab stated.

Qatar Charity has opened the CT department and rehabilitated the hospital's diagnosis department.

Officials opening the CT department at Al Aqsa Hospital in Gaza.

UDC updates its smart digital services bundleThe Peninsula

United Development Com-pany (UDC), master developer of The Pearl-

Qatar, has released a new and improved version of its smart-phone application for the Island’s residents and visitors as part of its strategy to deliver a premium lifestyle including smart and user-friendly services.

The update enables users to access a far-reaching range of

services due to the integration of UDC's customer relationship management system. Residents can submit inquiries and raise issues, such as those relating to cleaning services and internal security, and keep up-to-date with retailer offers and other news and happenings from The Pearl-Qatar.

The smartphone application bundle is another step toward UDC’s plan to create a smart city through the deployment of

advanced telecoms infrastruc-ture. Subsequently, this significant digital step forward will further strengthen client and resident relations through the innovative use of technology.

UDC launched the first release of its digital services in 2013. Its smartphone application enables users to enjoy a variety of exclusive and unique smart services and solutions, comple-menting other systems across the Island. Users can enquire about

public and private parking (retail, residential and valet parking) as well as easily locate the wide range of retail outlets from beauty salons and banks to res-taurants and entertainment venues.

The Pearl-Qatar visitors also enjoy free Internet access cour-tesy of an agreement between UDC and Ooredoo to deploy pub-lic Wi-Fi across retail areas on the Island. The revamped appli-cation, titled The Pearl-Qatar,

has already been launched on iOS platform and Android users

will soon be able to download the update.

Dignitaries at the event.

QU-CAS hosts event to celebrate Qatar Family Day The Peninsula

Under the patronage of Qatar University (QU) President Dr Hassan Al Derham, the

Department of Social Sciences at QU College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) recently hosted an event to celebrate Qatar Family Day 2017.

Organised in collaboration with Family Consulting Center in Qatar and Kuwait University Col-lege of Social Sciences, the event aimed to promote the spirit of col-laboration and student exchange between universities in the GCC and to showcase the field train-ing exercises provided by various institutions in Qatar and Kuwait.

Attendees included Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Kuwait to Qatar Nasser Saqer Al

Ghanim, CAS Dean Dr Rashid Al Kuwari, Head of CAS Department of Social Sciences Dr Abdulnasser Saleh Alyafei, and Consultant and Vice-President of the Kuwaiti Social Work Association at Kuwait University Dr Malak Alrasheed, as well as CAS faculty, students and staff.

The programme included three sessions that discussed a wide range of issues such as the role of social institutions, the field training exercises provided by social, medical, educational and psychological institutions, and an overview on the Kuwaiti Social Work Association and the under-graduate and graduate programmes provided by Kuwait University College of Social Sci-ences. It also included a lecture

on “The 10 keys for a happy fam-ily” presented by Dr Hassan Albreiki, Head of the Family Rehabilitation Department at Family Consulting Center in Qatar.

Commenting on the event, Dr Alyafei said: “The event’s sessions provided a comprehensive vision that contributes to a huge trans-formation in social studies and to new tracks in social services, and to investing in the outcomes of theoretical studies to improve the quality of life and living.”

Dr Alrasheed said: “Our visit to Qatar University is part of the many collaborative agreements between the universities in the GCC. These visits contribute to enriching the students’ academic and personal life.”

08 TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Members of the Iraqi Federal Police rest in a shop used by forces fighting the Islamic State, in western Mosul, yesterday.

Much-needed respite

Turkish soldiers march during an international service marking the 102nd anniversary of the WWI battle of Gallipoli, at the Turkish memorial in the Gallipoli peninsula in Canakkale, yesterday.

Battle of Gallipoli remembered

Cairo

AFP

An Egyptian court yes-terday sentenced 20 people to death for the

killing of 13 policemen in the aftermath of the ouster nearly four years ago of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi.

On August 14, 2013, a month after Mursi was over-thrown by the army, security forces forcibly dispersed two pro-Mursi protest camps in Cairo in an operation that killed more than 700 people.

Hours later a furious crowd attacked a police sta-tion in the Cairo suburb of Kerdassa, where 13 police-men were killed.

A year later, a Cairo court sentenced to death 183 Islam-ists but a higher court scrapped the verdict last year, amid an international outcry, calling instead for the retrial of 149 suspects who were behind bars.

Of those 149, yesterday a Cairo criminal court sen-tenced to death 20 people, a judicial official said, adding that a decision concerning the others would be made at another hearing on July 2.

The death sentences issued yesterday will be sub-mitted to the mufti, Egypt's official interpreter of Islamic law, as his opinion is legally required but not binding.

Egyptian courts have sen-tenced hundreds of Mursi supporters to death since his overthrow, but many have appealed and won new trials. Mursi and other top figures of his Muslim Brotherhood have also faced trial.

SDF enters town held by Islamic State

Beirut

AFP

A US-backed alliance of Arab-Kurdish forces entered the key jihadist-held town of Tabqa yes-

terday as they pursued their campaign against the Islamic State group in northern Syria.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have set their sights on Tabqa and the adja-cent dam as part of their broader offensive for the city of Raqa, the Syrian heart of the jihadists' self-styled "caliphate" since 2014.

Supported by US-led coa-lition air strikes and special forces advisers, the SDF sur-rounded Tabqa in early April.

Yesterday, they entered it for the first time, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

"They seized control of sev-eral points in the town's south and were advancing on its western edges," said

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. He said US-led coali-tion warplanes were carrying out "intense" strikes in support of the offensive, but that one raid had killed three women and five children trying to flee Tabqa.

"One raid killed eight civil-ians from a single family, including five children, who were trying to escape in their car via the town's southwest," Abdel Rahman said.

In an online statement, the SDF said it had captured IS-held positions in west Tabqa, including a roundabout, and part of a southern district.

"There are now clearing operations in the liberated posi-tions," the SDF said.

Tabqa sits on a key supply route about 55km west of Raqa, and served as an important IS command base, housing the group's main prison.

According to the Syrian Economic Task Force, a Dubai-based think tank, Tabqa is home to 85,000 people includ-ing IS fighters from other areas.

The assault on Tabqa began in late March when SDF forces and their US-led coalition allies were airlifted behind IS lines.

'The ensuing fight has been intense, with IS dispatching sui-cide bombers daily to try to slow the offensive and coalition warplanes intensifying their raids.

"The real battle begins now," Abdel Rahman said yes-terday, adding that IS fighters had "no way" out of the town.

Mission Raqa

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have set their sights on Tabqa and the adjacent dam as part of their broader offensive for the city of Raqa.

The assault on Tabqa began in late March.

Erdogan offended by former French diplomat's remarksIstanbul

AFP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's lawyer has lodged a complaint

against a former French diplo-mat accusing him of inciting an assassination of Turkey's leader, his spokesman confirmed yesterday.

The move follows comments by Philippe Moreau Defarges about the outcome of the April 16 referendum on controversial constitutional changes that will tighten the president's grip on power.

Defarges, now a senior fel-low at the French Institute of International Relations, said all legal paths to challenge Erdogan

had been shut off and that the only two options left were civil war or assassination.

In the referendum the 'Yes' camp won just over 51 percent of the vote, a narrower-than-expected victory, but Turkey's top election board last week rejected opposition calls to annul it after complaints of vote-rigging.

Defarges said on French broadcaster BFM on Saturday that Erdogan's strengthened powers would lead "only to catastrophe".

"There will either be a civil war or another scenario... his assassination," he said — though later apologised for the comments.

Huseyin Aydin, a lawyer representing Erdogan, said in a

petition to an Ankara prosecu-tor that the comments were not a simple expression of opinion, but were "clearly instigating the crime in question", the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

He said the comments showed how far the hostility against Erdogan had reached in the West, and suggested Defarges should undergo checks for his mental health if he ever came to Turkey.

"And if he is in good health mentally, his alleged links with the outlawed Kurdistan Work-ers' Party (PKK) or US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen blamed by the Turkish govern-ment for orchestrating the failed July coup should be investigated."

20 sentenced to death for slaying Egypt policemen

Funds drying out for aid bodies in Nigeria: UN Oslo

Reuters

Aid organisations working to stop the famine in Nigeria will run out of

money by June if donors do not give the cash they pledged at a conference in February, wors-ening an already difficult situation, a UN official said yesterday.

The famine in the northeast of the West African country is one of four hot spots, together with South Sudan, Yemen and Somalia, that constitute the worst humanitarian crisis the

world has faced since 1945, the UN said in March.

In Nigeria, 4.7 million peo-ple, many of them displaced by the conflict with Islamist insur-gent group Boko Haram, need rations to survive. Of these, an estimated 43,800 people already experience famine, the UN said.

Two months ago interna-tional donors pledged $457m at a conference in Oslo to address the needs of Africa’s Lake Chad region—Nigeria, Niger, Cam-eroon and Chad—to go towards the $1.5bn the UN says it needs this year.

For Nigeria, aid agencies

working on the crisis have so far received only 19 percent of the money appealed for, according to Peter Lundberg, the UN’s dep-uty humanitarian coordinator for the country.

By comparison, aid agencies working on the crisis in Cam-eroon have received 23 percent of the money appealed for; those in Chad 4 percent and Niger 47 percent. “At it stands right now we believe we are running out of money by June-July,” Lund-berg said in an interview, adding that donors he had talked so far had cited bureaucratic reasons for the delay. Lundberg was in

Oslo as part of a tour of Nordic countries to encourage donors to make good on their commit-ments and will travel to the UN in New York to discuss the issue with other UN member-states.

Without funding now, he said, aid agencies cannot feed enough people, provide the seeds and tools local farmers need to plant crops, or prepare for the rainy season that starts in May, when deteriorating road conditions mean people will be harder to reach.

The most critical needs for funding are for the World Food Programme, which provides

rations to 1.3 million people a month, said Lundberg.

“They may have to cut rations instead of scaling up as they should ahead of the rainy season,” he said. And the UN’s Food and Agriculture Agency, which helps farmers plant crops, has received only $12m of the $60m it needs, he added.

Earlier this month Reuters reported that WFP’s funds could run dry within weeks.

The UN is unable to reach an estimated 700,000 people, mostly in the remote parts of Nigeria’s Borno state, due to the presence of Boko Haram.

EU official says bloc could review ties with TurkeyBrussels

AFP

The EU warned member-ship candidate Turkey yesterday of a review

and possible "redefinition" of ties after a referendum granted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan extra powers.

The warning from Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn came days before ministers from the 28 European Union countries are due to discuss the bloc's trou-bled relationship with Ankara.

"The time has come for a thorough assessment of EU-Turkey relations and perhaps redefinition," Hahn said.

The "current situation is not sustainable, neither for Turkey nor for us," he said.

"All options are open, including continuation of accession talks, of course. But for the latter, Turkey has to fulfil the criteria."

Hahn, an Austrian, added that this could include "a new format of cooperation", for example an upgrading of the customs union between the EU and Turkey.

He said he would person-ally prefer to keep the door open for Turkey, which applied to join the bloc in 1987 but has seen its mem-bership bid stall over issues of democracy and human rights.

The EU has criticised Erdogan's referendum earlier this month.

Israel probe clears cop who shot teen girlsJerusalem

AFP

An Israeli criminal inves-tigation has cleared a policeman who shot two

Palestinian teenage girls when they stabbed a man with scis-sors in 2015, the Justice Ministry said yesterday.

Hadeel Awad, 14, and her 16-year-old cousin Norhan stabbed the elderly man in a market in central Jerusalem in November that year, during a spate of Palestinian stabbing attacks.

They were then shot by an off-duty police officer.

Hadeel Awad died, while her cousin survived despite being seriously wounded and was later convicted of attempted murder.

Rights groups said at the

time the officer's response was disproportionate and the Jus-tice Ministry announced a review.

Security camera footage showed the two girls in school uniform chasing a man with scissors before being shot.

The footage showed both girls shot and on the ground.

The policeman ran back towards one of them — appar-ently Norhan — and opened fire despite her being curled in a ball. Lawyers for the policeman argued he was concerned the girls may have been wearing explosive belts.

A justice ministry review sided with the officer, conclud-ing his use of force was "not unreasonable" since he believed the perpetrators posed a danger to himself and others.

09TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017 ASIA

SC reinstates Senkumar as Kerala DGP NEWS BYTES

MUMBAI: India's first and longest ropeway to connect Mum-bai with the famous Elephanta Island in the Arabian Sea is planned to be constructed by the Mumbai Port Trust, officials said yesterday. The 8km ropeway will begin from Sewri in Mumbai's east coast and end at Raigad district's Elephanta Island, globally renowned for Elephanta Caves, a Unesco World Heritage site. Mumbai Port Trust Deputy Chief Engi-neer P.K. Sinha said there will be few stops en route and that the cable height, capacity of cars and other technical details are being worked out.

Mumbai plans 8km sea ropeway

MUMBAI: India and France yesterday began their week-long bilateral naval exercise Varuna in France's Toulon port, a navy statement said. The Indian contingent comprises Indian Naval Ships Mumbai, Trishul and Aditya, part of Indian Navy's Overseas Deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and the west coast of Africa, and part of an anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden. Another Indian Naval Ship Tarkash, which is also a part of this group, has proceeded to London, Navy said. Mumbai, Trishul, and Aditya, will be at Toulon for three days.

India-France naval exercise begins

AGARTALA: Northeast India's sixth and largest Information Technology (IT) hub was inaugurated here yesterday to boost employment and e-governance besides to export software technology. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, accompa-nied by IT and Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty and Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Director Gen-eral Omkar Rai inaugurated the IT hub, set up at a cost of Rs 50 crore. Sarkar said that this IT hub would help to create employment opportunities for the IT educated youths and to further extend the e-governance to the door step of people.

Northeast's largest IT hub opens

Thiruvananthapuram

IANS

The Supreme Court yester-day directed the Kerala government to reinstate

T P Senkumar as the police chief, dealing a blow to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Senkumar was removed as Director General of Police on the day Vijayan assumed office on May 25, 2016. The officer is set to retire on June 30. The Kerala government had justified

Senkumar's removal saying he did not do a clean job in the Puttingal temple cracker blast and in the Jisha murder cases.

Senkumar approached the Kerala High Court but failed to get a favourable verdict. He then moved the apex court. Express-ing his happiness, Senkumar, presently the Director of the state-owned Institute of Management, said in Thiruvananthapuram that justice had prevailed and this was a boost to those who work with commitment.

"I take this opportunity to thank my advocates, the media and all those who stood by me in the pursuit of my fight for justice."

Senkumar added: "I will wait for the government to make the next move."

Vijayan told reporters that now that the apex court had given its ruling, "we are waiting for the entire verdict".

"Once that comes, we will do what needs to be done as per the law."

In the assembly, Vijayan had come down heavily on Senku-mar, saying he was not fit to head the state police force.

Former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said the state government should abide by the ruling. Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, under whom Senkumar served, called it a huge morale booster for the officer and the verdict proved that the cases he probed were investigated in the best possible manner.

NEW DELHI: Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will be paying India a state visit from April 25 to 29, an official statement said. "This is the first visit of the President Anas-tasiades to India," said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement. Starting his visit from Mumbai on April 25, Pres-ident Anastasiades will have a meeting with Governor of Maharashtra C. Vidyasagar Rao. On April 26, he will address a business forum in the western metropolis and laterb in the day travel to Delhi.

President of Cyprus to visit India

Water-saving scheme backfires in TN101-year-old Man Kaur bags gold in 100m race

New Delhi AFP

A politician who attempted to cover a dam in sheets of polystyrene has been

left red-faced after his bizarre w a t e r - s a v i n g s c h e m e backfired.

Tamil Nadu state minister Sellur K Raju waded into the dam with dozens of sheets of polysty-rene, convinced they could help reduce water evaporation in the drought-stricken state.

But the noble yet puzzling effort went belly-up almost immediately as strong winds lifted the lightweight sheets into the air, tossing them across the surface of the water.

Footage of last Friday's inci-dent showed officials in rowing boats pursuing the airborne sheets, while others used rocks to try and keep them in place.

Elsewhere, broken chunks of the white polymer plastic, stuck together with coloured

tape, were seen washed up on the dam banks. The minister defended the hare-brained scheme — which reportedly cost one million rupees — saying he had been told "thermocol tech-nology" could reduce water evaporation.

"I learnt about this (technol-ogy) from a source," he told reporters, without elaborating.

Images of the minister

flailing waist-deep in water with the unwieldy sheets attracted widespread scorn on social media, where Indians blasted the botched experiment as a waste of public money.

"Instead of using thermocol sheets to cover the entire dam, how about using a huge tarpau-lin sheet to cover the sun. Problem solved," one Twitter user wrote sarcastically.

Chandigarh

IANS

Indian Man Kaur, 101, won the 100 metres sprint at the World Masters Games

in Auckland yesterday. Hail-ing from Chandigarh, Man Kaur was the lone contender in the 100-years-and-over event which she completed in a minute and 14 seconds.

She will also compete in the 200 metres race tomor-row, and has registered to take part in the shot put and javelin throw events.

Man Kaur has raced her way to glory in many cham-pionships with training from son Gurdev Singh, who lives in Canada and is also a run-ner. She took to running at the age of 93 on encouragement of her son. She has won more than 20 medals in the Mas-ters Games across the globe.

"I follow whatever my son does. I train every day with my son. I like to keep myself fit and healthy. I will continue running till the death," she said.

World Masters Games 2017 chief executive Jennah Wootten said the Auckland organisers were delighted to host such an inspiration. While Kaur was the only 100-plus athlete to compete in Auck-land, there are a surprising number of spritely centenar-ians still on the sporting stage.

Tamil Nadu court orders police to rescue trafficked boysChennai

Reuters

A court yesterday ordered police to rescue 50 boys believed to have been

trafficked from Tamil Nadu to sweet shops in western India, giving families hope of being reunited with their missing sons.

Responding to a petition filed by the father of a missing teen-ager, the high court in Tamil Nadu asked police to form a

special team to rescue the boys and submit a report in three weeks.

“The order gives many hope,” said lawyer David Sun-der Singh, who represented the petitioner.

“Though it was the case of one father and one missing boy, the court in a rare instance has taken into account the plight of so many other families whose sons have not returned home.”

M Arumugam has not seen

his younger son since 2013, when a “recruiting agent” paid him Rs1,000, promised another Rs20,000, and took Surya Pra-kash, then 14, from his home village of Kullalakundu. The agent had promised the boys eight hour shifts in sweet shops, a place to stay, a monthly salary of Rs5,000, proper food and leave to visit home, Arumugam’s petition states.

“We accepted it thinking it would be good for our son’s

future,” Arumugam states in his petition. Prakash was one of many school dropouts from Theni, Madurai and Dindigul dis-tricts of Tamil Nadu who are trafficked to western and north-ern India, where they are employed in shops - deep frying snacks and making sweets, say campaigners. In his petition, Aru-mugam pieced together the abuse the boys go through based on the account of his nephew, who escaped from a sweet making

factory in western city of Nashik after he was burnt with hot oil.

“The owner and his wife assaulted my son and other chil-dren many times if they did not wake up on time or if they were resting due to illness,” the peti-tion states. The boys were not allowed to contact anyone or go home till they had repaid the advance amount - which the owner claimed was much higher than the amount the father said he had received.

Raipur

AFP

Hundreds of Maoists yesterday massa-cred at least 26 CRPF personnel in C h h a t t i s g a r h ' s

Sukma district in the bloodiest attack in the state since 2013. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the deadly ambush on the 74th Battalion in a forested area in Kala Pathar near Chin-tagufa as "cowardly and deplorable" and said the deaths of the troopers won't go in vain.

The Central Reserve Police Force said the ambush began at 12.30 p.m., leading to a gun bat-tle between the troopers and the Maoists who, survivors said, used hand grenades, automatic rifles and rocket launchers.

Troopers who survived the horror said the Maoists, women included, emerged out of the blue before opening indiscrim-inate fire.

CRPF Deputy Inspector General M. Dinakaran said 11 bodies were first recovered and a 12th trooper succumbed to his injuries in a hospital here. A

subsequent search of the area led to 12 more bodies. Two more men died subsequently in hos-pital, taking the toll to 26.

The 99-member CRPF patrol assisting a Road Opening Party was reportedly readying for lunch when it came under attack, taking the victims by sur-prise. Air Force helicopters evacuated the wounded to hos-pitals in Raipur, officials said.

Security forces launched a major search operation to track down the Maoists.

This was the worst attack by Maoists in Chhattisgarh since

2010 when 76 CRPF troopers were killed. Twelve CRPF men were killed in a similar Maoist attack in Sukma early this year.

Modi saluted the CRPF."We are proud of the valour

of our CRPF personnel. The sac-rifice of the martyrs will not go in vain," he tweeted. "Condo-lences to their families. May those injured in (the) attack recover at the earliest."

The Prime Minister said the government was monitoring the situation in Chhattisgarh closely.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he was "extremely pained" by the killings and offered tributes to the dead and condolences to their families.Congress President Sonia Gan-dhi and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi also condemned the killings of the CRPF personnel.

"The sacrifice of 24 brave men is a big loss to the nation. Such attacks will never deter our fight against extremism," Sonia Gandhi tweeted. Former Home Secretary R.K. Singh blamed the massacre on "complete intelli-gence failure on the ground level".

Maoist assault leaves 26 CRPF soldiers dead

Security forces stand guard during clashes with students in Srinagar's Lal Chowk, yesterday.

Tamil Nadu Co-operatives Minister Sellur K Raju (centre) and other officials using thermocol polystyrene sheets to attempt to cover the reservoir at the Vaigai Dam in Madurai.

Police fire at student protesters in SrinagarSrinagar

AFP

Police fired into a crowd of stone-throwing students in Kashmir yesterday, as vio-

lence in the disputed Himalayan region intensified.

Hundreds of student pro-testers shouting "We want freedom" and "Go India, go back" fought with government

forces after taking to the streets of the main city Srinagar.

Reporter saw police fire live rounds as well as tear gas and water cannon to try to disperse the protesters as shoppers fled the violence and retailers shut down for the day.The clashes broke out as colleges in the city reopened following skirmishes last week between students and government forces.

"A few students were detained. Three photojournal-ists and eight policemen were injured with stones," a police officer said on condition of ano-nymity. Nearly 100 students and around the same number of police were wounded in last week's disturbances, which prompted authorities to tempo-rarily shut down schools and universities.

Deadly ambush

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the deadly ambush on the 74th Battalion in a forested area in Kala Pathar near Chintagufa as "cowardly and deplorable" and said the deaths of the troopers won't go in vain.

Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen have emerged as winners of the first round of presidential vote in France. The results didn’t throw any surprise. It’s often said that a

country is at a crossroads during an election because of the crises it’s facing and the diverse visions of the parties contesting the polls, who can chart a dramatically different course than the one it has been pursuing for decades. But this saying has an extra ring of truth in the case of French election. Europe and France are going through a period of upheaval due to a number of factors which have brought about drastic shifts in popular thinking, bringing to the mainstream those parties which were languishing on the sidelines until now, sending shockwaves across the continent and the world.

But the French election results came as a relief because the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-globalisation and anti-European Union Le Pen couldn’t muster the majority to rule, paving the way for a straight two-way fight between the pair in a run-off on May 7, with opinion polls flagging Macron as favourite. Le Pen is a threat to the existing order both in France and Europe. Her ascension to presidency, if it happens, would unleash forces of hate and deepen divisions already existing in the country. She would curtail and

restrict the freedom of the Muslim minority in France and pull the country out of the European Union at a time when the bloc is going through multiple crises. Le Pen continued to spew hate even after the results, launching a scathing attack on her rival Macron, calling him weak in dealing with ‘Islamic terrorism’.

The continent heaved a sigh of relief at

the results. The European commission president broke the protocol to wish Emmanuel Macron well in the second round of the election, as the EU rallied against those seeking its ‘destruction’. Leaders from European countries too hailed the victory of Macron, while leaders of far-right and xenophobic parties heaped congratulations on their partner Le Pen. Stock markets and euro surged. Investors globally had been fearful that a wave of populism, which swept Donald Trump to the White House and saw Britain leave the EU, could lead to a win for the anti-European Le Pen and put the future of the bloc in doubt.

Macron, a pro-European centrist who ran as the head of his own political movement, topped the first round with 23.75% of votes, slightly ahead of the anti-immigration, far-right Le Pen, who took 21.53%. Opinion polls suggest that he would easily win the second round. It shows that despite all the challenges, a vast majority of the French are against the hate-filled policies of Le Pen.

10 TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017VIEWS

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

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

[email protected]

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

[email protected]

Great for Europe

QUOTE OF THE DAY

We agree that given the degree of confrontation and the volatility of the situation, a negotiated solution is needed, and it must inevitably involve giving back to the Venezuelan people their voice.

Mariano RajoySpanish Prime Minister

Pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron has won the first round of French election, and is now the favourite to win the second round.

True to the spirit of 1789, the revolu-tionary French are a step ahead of everyone else. On Sunday, they became the first large Western country to ditch, in a major election,

the center-right/center-left political-party structure that has dominated European poli-tics since the Second World War. Neither Emmanuel Macron nor Marine Le Pen, the two candidates who emerged from the first round of voting for the French presi-dency, belongs to the old gauche or the old droite. Neither will have a major parliamen-tary party behind his or her program. Neither, as president, would represent a continuation of the status quo.

If the most important political divide, in France as almost everywhere else, was once over the size of the state, the new political divide is not really about economics at all. It is about different visions of the identity of France itself.

Le Pen, best described as a national socialist, would like to take France out of international institutions, including both the European Union and Nato; block borders; curtail trade; and impose quasi-Marxist state-dominated economics. Her voters are pessimistic about the present and nostalgic for a different France.

Her most important foreign ally is Vladimir Putin, whose money funded her campaign, but in recent days President Trump has made positive noises about her, too. Her party, the National Front, has been part of French politics for decades, and has been his-torically noisy in its opposition to immigration.

On the other side is Macron, whose brand-new movement, En Marche — the name means “forward” — represents the brand-new radical center.

Macron rejects political branding: “Honesty compels me to say that I am not a socialist,” he has said, despite having served in a Socialist Party government. He embraces markets, but says he believes in “collective solidarity.” His vot-ers are more optimistic about the future, they support the European Union, they embrace France’s integration with the rest of the continent and the world: “You are the new face of French hope,” Macron told them in his victory speech Sunday night.

Though Macron favours strong external borders of the European Union, he expresses no special dislike of immigrants. The foreign politician he most resembles is the young Tony Blair, who also put together a centrist coalition, though it wasn’t called that at the time.

In this sense, the second round of France’s election has a clear agenda: open vs. closed, integrationist vs. isolationist, future vs. past. Unlike her father, who won 18 percent in the

French election reveals a new political divide

French presidential candidate for the En Marche ! movement Emmanuel Macron, speaks after winning the lead percentage of votes in the first round in Paris.

Anne ApplebaumThe Washington Post

second round of the presidential election in 2002, Marine Le Pen is expected to win more, maybe much more, in the May 7 runoff. Though she is far behind Macron right now, a fluke victory cannot be excluded.

There is a part of the old left, includ-ing those who voted for the Trotskyist,

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who sympathise with her objections to trade, bankers and interna-

tional business; there is a part of the old right, including those who voted for François Fillon, who prefer her ostenta-tious endorsement of “traditional values.”

There are many who, confused by the new political divide, will abstain. The smear campaign that will now be

aimed at Macron — backed by Russian, alt-right and pro-Trump trolls — is going to be unparalleled in its vicious-ness. It may well put people off voting altogether.

Whatever the final result, Le Pen and her party will not go away. They stand for a set of feelings that are real, that exist in every Western country, and that are now best fought openly, point by point, argument by argument — for they pose a genuine and power-ful threat to liberal democracy as we know it.

Though the origins of the National Front are indeed fascist — its founders included Vichy sympathisers — it is no good dismissing her candidacy on those grounds. The task now, for Macron and those who will now imitate him, is to find solutions for the many people who reject his “open” politics and his centrist vision.

Security for the fearful; safety for those who feel threatened, whether by immigration or unemployment; dyna-mism for static economies. On Sunday night, Le Pen called on French “patriots” to support her in the second round. In response, Macron must now define new forms of patriotism, and new forms of solidarity, for those in France who want to remain French but embrace the world.

The writer is an American journalist and

Pulitzer Prize–winning author who has writ-

ten extensively about communism and the

development of civil society in Central and

Eastern Europe. She is Washington Post col-

umnist and author of GULAG and IRON

CURTAIN, among others.

Though Macron favours strong external borders of the European Union, he expresses no special dislike of immigrants. The foreign politician he most resembles is the young Tony Blair, who also put together a centrist coalition, though it wasn’t called that at the time.

ED ITOR IAL

11TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017 OPINION

how far the text is revised. Moreover, comments as a developed style of chatting, takes in consideration the first and faster response to any post on social apps, as well as, the fact that reading or viewing materials on social media create various personal reactions such as happiness, anger, disappointment or grief... etc. These emotions are consequently reflected on the general dialogue among through stimulating interaction between Internet users.

Thus, this written expression is a result of spon-taneous way of thinking and it is far away from journalistic writing.

Sometimes, on one single account on Facebook or Twitter and within five minutes only, dozens of news-stories appear on timeline, but not like reports people used to read on newspapers. Those

Turkish citizens’ struggle for self-rule

“At the heart of debates about democ-racy are three contested principles, popular sovereignty, autonomy, and equality; and three related, but less visible, underlying premises,

deliberation, pluralism, and reciprocity…. This book also explores two underappreciated aspects of North American democracy, its religious origins and its eth-ical dimensions, which have profoundly influenced its development.” (James T. Kloppenberg, Toward Democracy: The Struggle for Self-Rule in European and American Thought, p. 6)

Now that Turkey’s referendum has passed, with about 1.4 million more citizens voting to accept the constitutional changes than to reject them, foreign observers of Turkish political events need to calmly, objectively evaluate the results, and begin looking towards the 2019 elections, when most of the changes will actually take effect.

Since Turkish elections became democratic in 1950, Turkey has been plagued by intermittent military interventions and unstable, coalition governments. The switch to a presidential system ends the coalition government problem. So the essential political task of the coming years is reform aimed at creating more effective, efficient, transparent, and democratically accountable state institutions.

The systemic changes instituted by the referen-dum should also finally strengthen citizen-based democratic control over those state institutions. But this point is clearly lost on most foreign observers, whether those writing for the international press or academics.

For that reason, I think that anyone who wants to understand the ongoing Turkish political process should refer to Harvard professor James T. Kloppen-berg’s recent intellectual history of Western democracy, titled Toward Democracy: The Struggle for Self-Rule in European and American Thought.

Kloppenberg bases his analysis on several con-cepts that he sees as fundamental to democratic political processes. Even though his focus is on the North Atlantic democracies, his analysis is eminently relevant to developments in Turkish democracy.

A main obstacle preventing most foreign observ-ers from comprehending Turkish politics is the widely held — and mistaken – assumption that Turk-ish democracy was fully formed at some point in the

recent past, and then backsliding, usually blamed on “the Islamists,” began. Those who have fallen victim to this error are then unable to comprehend that Turkish democracy is still deepening and expanding.

Kloppenberg lists popular sovereignty, auton-omy, and equality as the main points of contention which democratic politics in the UK and the US formed around.

In the book’s introduction, he summarises these concepts: popular sovereignty, for Kloppenberg, not only involves the right of a society’s citizens to exer-cise authority over their own affairs, but also the problems of representation and participation.

To what extent should the people be able to par-ticipate directly in making political decisions and to what extent is representation acceptable? In history, both topics have been realized across a spectrum ranging from minimal to extreme.

Autonomy, as Kloppenberg describes it, “… requires a self both psychologically and ethically, as well as economically and socially, capable of deliber-ate action; and it requires the absence of control over individuals by other individuals and by the state.

Autonomy has meaning only if individuals are understood as beings who act on the basis of con-sciously chosen goals developed in the framework of community standards and traditions.” In other words, autonomy is an individual’s ability to under-take political decisions that have both personal and social dimensions.

Kloppenberg then describes equality, itself a prob-lematic concept, as posing apparent contradictions to individual autonomy. The reason that all three of the main concepts underlying democracy can coexist, according to the author, is that they function in dia-logue with each other as a society attempts to find solutions to the problems that it faces. This approach features “careful weighing of different values” and sees democracy as a “way of life, not simply a set of political institutions.” But Kloppenberg cautions that arguments over goals and compromises are an “inevi-table” result of democratic processes.

In the Turkish case, even though the Turkish state

was not under the direct control of any foreign power, popular sovereignty existed only on paper until about 10 years ago. In truth, Turkish citizens did not have complete control over their own state.

The reason is that elections were not democratic for the first 25 years of the Turkish Republic’s exist-ence. Then, after elections did become democratic in 1950, whenever the military-political elite’s control over state institutions was threatened, the military stepped in to reassert their domination. This situation continued even into the initial years of the Justice and Development (AK) Party’s government.

The emergence of the other essential concepts stated by Kloppenberg, autonomy and equality, was also stunted by the lack of popular sovereignty in Turkish politics. Those who controlled the Turkish state from the 1920s to 1950 did not see the mass of Turkish citizens as equals, which precluded the abil-ity of Turkish citizens to develop their own autonomy. Only after 1950 were the Turkish people slowly able to begin the process of constructing their autonomy and forcing the military, the state bureaucracy, and the intellectual classes to begin accepting them as equals. It has been a long, difficult road. Along with increasing control of their political system, Turkish citizens also gained greater control over the ideas and values guiding their political system. Kloppenberg notably refers to the “religious origins” and “ethical dimensions” of the democracies he discusses.

In the long quote concerning autonomy quoted above, he also refers to the “community standards and traditions” which are vital to an individual’s deci-sion-making. But have Turkish people had recourse to their own culture’s “standards and traditions”? In the Turkish case, a modernizing political vision, based on ideas that were not simply foreign but fundamen-tally at odds with Turkish culture, was imposed on Turkish society beginning in the mid-19th century, during the reform era known as the Tanzimat.

The initial attempts at Ottoman modernization were carried out by state bureaucrats who did not follow any deterministic intellectual outlook. But after 1908, the Committee of Union and Progress

Eight years ago, online chatting rooms on PCs were the old-fash-ioned application(s) for social interaction. They were a break-through of electronic tool of

communication instead of classic landline telephones.

Nowadays, people can scan their mobiles for chatting, reading updates and interacting instantaneously while dining, working, laying on bed or even behind the wheel.

Hence, social media provided by these sophisticated smart phones became major motivation for changing the behavior and thoughts toward events that people pass through. It is not merely a conversation between two persons or among groups as before but also, it is an individual media outlet. Millions of up-to-the minute-news on online media confuse the scene with endless posts and tweets.

Press used to impose traditional for-mat of writing news so journalists are obliged to answer very well-known five questions; what happened, who is involved, where did it take place, when did it take place and why did it happen?

Adding to that, the professional type of media either reports published on news-papers or scripts transferred by Radios and TVs must be linguistically correct.

However, the social media, more than anything else, is a popular way of express-ing ideas no matter what the structure is or

Emergence of new spontaneous media

Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave national flags and shout slogans during a rally in Turkey.

fast-moving events on news stream are transient in nature and also not to mention the subjectivity of composing details of certain topic depending on how ordinary people think about it and whether they are emotionally touched by its developments or not.

No doubt, that the world witnesses emerging of new dominant media or so-called spontaneous-media, which already produce new writing style, may rely on someone’s bad temper or his limited knowledge. This kind of short texts influence not only media, but also standard languages and in the end, it will shape the heritage of humanity or at least the literature that we are intending to pass it to the coming generations.

The writer is Arab media coordinator in Organisation of Islamic

cooperation (OIC).

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(CUP) asserted influence, then direct control over Ottoman institutions.

The CUP, of which Mustafa Kemal was a member, preferred European ideas such as Comtean positivism, radical materialism, and Gustave Le Bon’s anti-democratic mass psychology. The CUP did not see the “values and standards” pre-ferred by the vast majority of Turkish citizens as an acceptable guide for political decisions.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the state-sponsored effort to suppress traditional Turkish culture went to the extremes of mandating certain types of Western clothing, instituting a Turkish call to prayer in place of the Arabic, and encouraging the adoption of Western music in place of traditional Turkish musical styles, among many other sim-ilar interventions. Since the 1950s, Turkish political movements, generally mislabeled in Europe and North Amer-ica with the derogatory term “Islamist,” have become the dominant political voice of the Turkish people.

The Democrat Party of the 1950s, the Justice Party of the 1960s and 1970s, the Motherland Party of the 1980s, and now the AK Party of the past 15 years achieved electoral successes because the Turkish peo-ple saw their aspirations, as well as their values, expressed through those movements.

Religion was one aspect of those parties’ platforms, but only one. Consequently, those parties should be understood as the expressions of Turkish “community and traditions,” a fundamental aspect of a successful democracy, according to Kloppenberg.

Adam McConnelAnatolia

The switch to a presidential system ends the coalition government problem. So the essential political task of the coming years is reform aimed at creating more effective, efficient, transparent, and democratically accountable state institutions.

Aiman Abboushi

12 TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017ASIA

ANZAC day

Solemn pledgeChina urges restraint amid N Korea's threatBeijing

Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all sides to exercise restraint yesterday in a telephone call

about North Korea with US President Donald Trump, as Japan conducted exercises with a US aircraft carrier strike group headed for Korean waters.

Trump sent the carrier group for exercises in waters off the Korean peninsula as a warn-ing, amid growing fears North Korea could conduct another nuclear test in defiance of United Nations sanctions.

Angered by the approach of the USS Carl Vinson carrier group, a defiant North Korea said yesterday the deployment was "an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade".

"The United States should not run amok and should con-sider carefully any catastrophic consequence from its foolish military provocative act," Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said in a com-mentary yesterday.

"What's only laid for aggres-sors is dead bodies".

Two Japanese destroyers have joined the carrier group for

exercises in the western Pacific, and South Korea said it was also in talks about holding joint naval exercises.

The US and its allies fear North Korea could be preparing to conduct another nuclear test or launch ballistic missiles.

China is North Korea's sole major ally but has been angered by its nuclear and missile pro-grammes and is frustrated by Pyongyang's belligerence.

China, which has repeatedly called for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, is increas-ingly worried the situation could spin out of control, leading to war and a chaotic collapse of its iso-

lated, impoverished neighbour.Xi told Trump in their latest

telephone conversation that China resolutely opposed any actions that ran counter to UN Security Council resolutions, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

China "hopes that all rele-vant sides exercise restraint, and avoid doing anything to worsen the tense situation on the penin-sula", the ministry said in a statement, paraphrasing Xi.

"The nuclear issue could only be resolved quickly with all relevant countries pulling in the same direction, and China was willing to work with all parties, including the United States, to ensure peace," Xi said.

The issue has gained added urgency as North Korea pre-pares to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People's Army on Tuesday. It has marked similar events in the past with nuclear tests or missile launches.

Trump was critical of China in his election campaign but he has in recent days praised its efforts to rein in what he called the "menace of North Korea".

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the call between the two presidents was the lat-est manifestation of their close communication, which was good for both of their countries and the world.

Hong Kong court grants bail to former leader Thailand okays $393m purchase of submarineBangkok

Reuters

Thailand's cabinet has approved the first of three planned submarine pur-

chases from China worth $393m, a government spokes-man said yesterday.

The plan to buy the three Chinese-built submarines worth $1.05bn was confirmed in July, signalling warming ties with the regional superpower since relations with the United States cooled after a May 2014 military coup.

The first submarine pur-chase was approved last week.

"The cabinet approved one submarine purchase on April 18," spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said, adding that a budget of $393m has been earmarked for the Yuan Class S26T submarine over a six-year period.

"The media were not told about the purchase following a cabinet meeting last week because it was a matter of national security," he added.

Public criticism and ques-tions have arisen as to whether Thailand really needs new submarines.

"In the current situation, where the government cannot successfully solve economic problems, buying expensive submarines is completely

unnecessary," Watchara Petch-thong, a politician with the Democrat Party, said yesterday.

Navy spokesman Admiral Jumpol Loompikanon said the Thai navy owned four Japanese submarines nearly 60 years ago, so new submarines were necessary to protect the coun-try's maritime interests.

"Thai people can rest assured that the navy's subma-rine spending will be worth it and beneficial to Thailand".

Thailand's navy chief, Admiral Na Arreenich, will visit China soon to finalise the gov-ernment-to-government purchase, a source at the defence ministry, who declined to be named because of the sen-sitivity of the matter, said recently.

Maritime security is a hot issue in Southeast Asia, given competing claims over the South China Sea.

Thailand's defence budget this year is more than $6.11bn, about 9 percent more than the year the military took power.

Hong Kong

Reuters

A Hong Kong court yester-day granted bail to former leader Donald

Tsang (pictured), who was jailed in February for 20 months for misconduct in public office, the broadcaster RTHK reported.

Tsang, wearing his signature bow-tie, was transferred to court from hospital, where he had been taken from the city's

Stanley Prison this month after complaining of breathing prob-lems, RTHK said.

The devout Catholic is the most senior city official to serve time behind bars, bringing an ignominious end to what had been a long and distinguished career, before and after the 1997 handover of the former British colony to Chinese rule.

A nine-person jury ruled in February that Tsang had deliber-ately concealed private rental

negotiations with property tycoon Bill Wong Cho-bau while his cab-inet discussed and approved a digital broadcasting licence for a now defunct radio company, Wave Media, in which Wong was a major shareholder.

Tsang, 72, had denied graft and pleaded not guilty.

Jurors failed to return a majority verdict for another charge related to bribery, with a re-trial tentatively set for September.

American doctor ordered to pay reparations over highway crashWellington

AP

A WISCONSIN heart surgeon who was vacationing in New Zealand when he caused a highway accident that killed two people and injured four others was ordered yesterday to make reparation payments but avoided jail time.

A district court judge ordered Kenneth Wolnak to pay a total of $116,000 to the victims or their families.

Last month, the 63-year-old pleaded guilty to six charges of careless driving after attempting a U-turn on a coastal highway near the town of Nelson. Several vehi-cles were involved in the ensuing accident.

As part of a legal process in New Zealand known as restorative justice, Wolnak met with some of the victims and their families. He also agreed at the request of a woman whose husband died in the accident to participate in an interview with Radio New Zealand.

Wolnak said in the inter-view that while in New Zealand, he had to concen-trate on driving on the left-hand side of the road.

Constitutional changes may pave way for Nepal polls Kathmandu

Anatolia

The government yesterday tabled a constitutional amendment as part of a

breakthrough deal with opposi-tion groups.

The proposal is one of the central demands of the Madhe-sis people from Nepal’s southern plains. They have been calling for changes to the electoral sys-tem to protect their rights.

The development paved the

way for local elections in mid-May and followed a series of talks between government and opposition negotiators in Kath-mandu over the weekend.

Manish Kumar Suman, a spokesman from the opposition Sadbhavana Party, said long-run-ning protests had been postponed after the government agreed to table the amendment.

“We have verbally agreed on this with the government but a formal document is yet to come out,” he said.

“We have other demands such as compensation to those killed in protest, the withdrawal of court cases against our cad-res. Our full withdrawal of the protests depends on how these will be met.”

Early last month, five pro-testers were killed in southeast Nepal, casting a shadow over the local elections that are crucial for implementing a new constitution.

Elections for more than 700 village and town councils are due

on May 14 with a second stage to be held on June 14, the govern-ment said.

The voting will be Nepal’s first polls in 20 years, a period that has seen a 10-year Maoist insurgency in which more than 17,000 people were killed and the abolition of the monarchy by an assembly dominated by former guerrillas.

Groups like the Madhesis, whose region is home to more than half of the 28.6 million pop-ulation, rejected a constitution

approved by the main political parties in 2015, saying it concen-trated power among the dominant elite.

A general election to the national parliament must be held by January 2018 to build a third government under the new constitution.

“This decision finally paves the way for healing the rifts between Kathmandu and Mad-hesis,” The Kathmandu Post newspaper said in an editorial yesterday.

'Dangerous act'

China "hopes that all relevant sides exercise restraint, and avoid doing anything to worsen the tense situation on the peninsula": Xi

North Korea newspaper said, The US should not run amok and should consider carefully any consequence from its foolish military provocative act.

Crack down on 'gutter oil' to be intensifiedBeijing

Reuters

CHINA will intensify a crack down on the use of recycled "gutter oil", strengthen-ing controls on oil origins and monitoring processing, according to a document released by the State Coun-cil yesterday.

China has cracked down on food safety in recent years after a series of scandals, including the use of recycled gutter oil.

But the illicit production and sale of gutter oil has con-tinued, the document released said.

The document added that restaurants and meat proc-essors must collect and store kitchen and meat waste sep-arately, and dispose of it properly.

Beij ing will also strengthen supervision of slaughter houses, meat proc-essors, edible oil producers and restaurants, the docu-ment said, and online sellers of fake edible oil will be punished.

Gutter oil is a term used in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan to describe illicit cooking oil which has been recycled from waste oil collected from sources such as restaurant fryers, grease traps, slaugh-terhouse waste and sewage from sewer drains.

The 15th King of Malaysia, King Muhammad V, during his coronation at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday. The 15th King pledged to protect Islam and maintain peace in the nation.

Naval security

Public criticism and questions have arisen as to whether Thailand really needs new submarines.

Police officers patrol on the eve of ANZAC day at the Opera House in Sydney, yesterday. Dawn services will be held across the two countries on the anniversary of the ill-fated 1915 campaign of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

13TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017 ASIA

Tight security

Singapore

Reuters

An anti-cybercrime oper-ation by Interpol and investigators from seven

southeast Asian nations revealed nearly 9,000 malware-laden servers and hundreds of com-promised websites in the Asean region, Interpol said yesterday.

Various types of malware, such as that targeting financial institutions, spreading ran-somware, launching Distributed

Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and distributing spam were among the threats posed by the infected servers, the operation showed.

"This operation helped par-ticipants identify and address various types of cybercrime which had not previously been tackled in their countries," said Francis Chan, head of the Hong Kong Police Force's cybercrime unit and chairman of Interpol's Eurasian cybercrime working group.

Experts from seven private firms also participated in the operation run out of the Singa-pore-based Interpol Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI), with China providing some cyber intelligence, the international police body said on its website.

DDoS attacks have always been among the most common on the Internet, making use of hijacked and virus-infected computers to target websites until they can no longer cope with the scale of data requested.

The operation also identified nearly 270 websites infected with a malware code, among them several government web-sites that may have contained citizens' personal data, Interpol added.

The effort follows a breach this year at Singapore's Ministry of Defence, when personal details of 850 national service-men and staff were stolen in what the defence ministry described as a "targeted and carefully planned" attack.

Case against Duterte filed before ICCThe Hague

Reuters

A Philippine lawyer filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) yesterday against

President Rodrigo Duterte (pic-tured) and senior officials, accusing them of mass murder in a nationwide anti-drugs crackdown.

Attorney Jude Sabio said in the 77-page complaint that Duterte "repeatedly, unchang-ingly and continuously" committed crimes against humanity and that under him, killing drug suspects and other criminals has become "best practice".

Sabio is the lawyer for Edgar Matobato, a man who has testi-fied in the Philippines Senate that he was part of a hit squad that operated on Duterte's orders.

It is the first publicly known

communication to the ICC against Duterte and is based on the testimony of Matobato and retired policeman Arturo Las-canas, statements from rights groups and media reports on the killings.

The complaint alleged that Duterte and at least 11 senior government officials were liable for murder and called for an investigation, arrest warrants and a trial.

Lawmakers found no proof of Matobato's Senate testimony, which the president's aides have dismissed as fabrication.

Almost 9,000 people have been killed since Duterte took office last summer. Police claim a third of those killings were in

self-defence during legitimate police operations. Rights groups say many of the remaining two-thirds were committed by vigilantes cooperating with the police or by police disguised as vigilantes. Police deny this.

Duterte has persistently denied he is involved with any death squad and said that his orders to kill drug suspects come with the caveat that police should operate within the bounds of the law.

"We can confirm we have received a communication," the ICC Office of the Prosecutor said in a statement. "We will analyse it, as appropriate. As soon as we reach a decision, we will inform the sender and provide reasons for our decision."

Ernesto Abella, a spokesman for Duterte, dismissed the com-plaint as a "cynical effort" to undermine the president.

"The so-called extra-judicial killings are not state-sanctioned

or state-sponsored," Abella said in a statement. "The intent of this filing in ICC is clearly to embar-rass and shame the president, and undermine the duly consti-tuted government of the Philippines."

The ICC has no powers of enforcement, and any non-com-pliance has to be referred to the United Nations or the court's own oversight and legislative body, the Assembly of States Parties.

The complaint is only a pos-sible first step in what could be a long process at the ICC. The tri-bunal first has to decide whether it has jurisdiction, and then decide whether it should con-d u c t a p r e l i m i n a r y examination.

It can then ask a judge to open an official investigation, which could lead to a trial.

Duterte has said he wel-comed the prospect of the ICC putting him on trial.

Interpol finds 9,000 infected servers in Asean region

Dhaka factory-collapse workers seek justiceSavar

AFP

Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers staged a tearful demonstration yes-

terday to mark the anniversary of a factory disaster that killed 1,138 people, demanding justice for the victims and better pay.

Four years later, no one has yet been convicted over the col-lapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in one of the world's worst industrial tragedies.

Another 2,000 people were wounded in the disaster, which sent shockwaves across the world and highlighted the fail-ure of many top Western fashion brands to protect workers in the poor developing countries where their goods are manufactured.

"If four years are not enough to punish the culprits, bring them to us: we will find justice for our-selves," said Marium Akter, whose daughter Shieuly died in

the disaster, as she laid a wreath at the site.

"I don't need any compen-sation any more. I want Sohel Rana to be hanged," she said, referring to the owner of the fac-tory complex who has been

charged with murder.A court last year ordered that

Rana and 40 others, including factory officials and government inspectors, should face trial for murder. They are accused of falsely certifying the factory

complex as safe.Thousands of textile work-

ers were forced to enter the building to start shifts even though some expressed fears after noticing cracks in the structure.

Man escapes crocodile attack in QueenslandSydney

AFP

A MAN who accidently snor-keled headfirst into a crocodile in northern Australia escaped with minor injuries as wildlife officers yesterday worked to track down the reptile.

The croc, measuring up to two metres, "reacted defen-sively" when the swimmer "inadvertently" swum into it on Sunday near popular Liz-ard Island in Queensland state.

"The man suffered minor cuts and abrasions to his head and was treated for his non-life threatening injuries on the island," a department of envi-ronment spokesperson said yesterday.

"Wildlife officers are trav-elling to the area and will search the area for the croc-odile responsible."

The waters surrounding Lizard Island are a known hotspot for crocs with signs in the area cautioning swim-mers of the threat.

In a separate incident on Sunday, a crocodile was found decapitated near Inn-isfail, prompting authorities to warn it was illegal to kill reptiles.

"Based on an initial inspection, the four metre animal appears to have been deceased for some time".

" (The Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection) would like to remind the pub-lic that it is illegal to deliberately interfere with, harm or kill crocodiles with-out authorisation."

Repeated attacks have lead to calls from some parts of the community for a cull of the animals, but the state gov-ernment has so far resisted.

Drugs crackdown

Attorney Jude Sabio said in the 77-page complaint that Duterte "repeatedly, unchangingly and continuously" committed crimes against humanity.

Ernesto Abella, a spokesman for Duterte, dismissed the complaint as a "cynical effort" to undermine the president.

Members of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) stand guard near the venue of the coming Asean Summit as they provide security for guests and VIPs at the convention centre in Pasay City, yesterday.

Turnbull's satisfaction rating on the rise: PollSydney

Reuters

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pic-tured) has recorded a

rise in voter support just days after tightening rules for for-eigners seeking work and citizenship under an "Australia first" policy, a newspaper poll showed yesterday.

Turnbull has struggled to stop a haemor-rhage of voter support with far right parties including Pauline Hanson's One Nation on the rise and with his con-s e r v a t i v e government lag-ging behind opposition Labor in opinion polls.

The next election is not due until 2019, but continued poor polling could undermine Turn-bull's leadership.

"Tightening immigration and citizenship rules last week under the banner "Australia first", similar to US President Donald Trump's "America first", boosted Turnbull's personal rat-ing four percent from early April," said a Newspoll by The Australian newspaper.

"While support for the gov-ernment rose one percent on a two-party preferred basis - where votes for minor parties

are redistributed to the two main blocs - Turnbull's govern-ment still trails Labor by a margin of 52-48," the poll showed.

Turnbull's move towards more conservative politics may have won some support, but his position as leader remains on a knife-edge with poor polling a trigger for leadership spills in Australian politics.

"Although the poll offers some support for Turnbull's hopes of keep-ing his job, he has to arrest the clear movement away in support since the elec-tion last year and show that he can keep hold of it," said Haydon Man-

ning, a political science professor at Flinders Univer-sity in South Australia state.

Last week, the prime min-ister abolished a temporary work visa popular with foreign-ers, replacing it with a new programme, in a move critics described as political posturing.

He also announced plans to raise the bar for handing out citizenships by lengthening the waiting period, adding a new "Australian values" test and raising the standard for English language.

Activists chant slogans as they mark the fourth anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, yesterday.

Manila

AP

Philippine troops, backed by airstrikes, captured a jungle camp belonging to

an extremist band allied with the IS group yesterday and killed several militants in the country' south, military officials said.

Regional military spokes-man Lt Col Jo-ar Herrera said an army general raised the Phil-ippine flag in the camp of the Maute armed group near Pia-gapo town in Lanao del Sur province a few hours after troops occupied the rebel base.

"At least three bodies of militants were recovered by troops in the camp, which had tents, bunkers and trenches, although intelligence indicated as many as 36 militants were

killed in three days of intense fighting. Three soldiers were wounded," Herrera said.

Troops found homemade bombs, grenades, combat uni-forms and passports of suspected Indonesian militants in the camp.

The Maute group is among less than a dozen new armed groups that have pledged alle-giance to the Islamic State group and formed a loose alli-ance in the south in recent years.

It has been blamed for a bomb attack that killed 15 peo-ple in southern Davao City, President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown, in September last year and a number of attacks against government forces in Lanao, although it has faced setbacks from a series of major military offensives.

Army seizes militant camp in Lanao del Sur

14 TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017ASIA

Official accuses Russia of arming TalibanKabul

AP

The United States must confront Russia for providing weapons to the Taliban for use against American-

backed forces in Afghanistan, top US military officials said yesterday.

At a news conference with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis at his side, General John Nicholson, the American commander in Afghanistan, wouldn't provide specifics about Russia's role in Afghanistan. But said he would "not refute" that Moscow's involvement includes giving weapons to the Taliban.

Earlier yesterday, a senior US military official said in Kabul that Russia was giving machine guns and other medium-weight weapons. The Taliban are using the weapons in the southern provinces of Helmand, Kanda-har and Uruzgan, according to the official, who briefed journal-ists on intelligence information on condition of anonymity.

Russia denies that it provides any such support to the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan until the US-led invasion in 2001. Russia says contacts are limited to safe-guarding security and getting the hard-line religious fundamen-talists to reconcile with the

government — which Washing-ton has failed for years to advance.

Russia also has promoted easing global sanctions on Tali-ban leaders who prove cooperative.

Asked about Russia's activ-ity in Afghanistan, where it fought a bloody war in the 1980s and withdrew in defeat, Mattis alluded to the increasing US concerns.

"We'll engage with Russia diplomatically," Mattis said. "We'll do so where we can, but we're going to have to confront Russia where what they're doing is contrary to international law or denying the sovereignty of other countries."

"For example," Mattis told reporters in the Afghan capital, "any weapons being funneled here from a foreign country would be a violation of interna-tional law."

Mattis met with President Ashraf Ghani and other senior government officials just hours after the nation's defense min-ister and Army chief resigned

over a massacre of more than 140 Afghan troops at a military base last Friday.

The insurgent assault was the biggest ever on a military base in Afghanistan, involving multi-ple gunmen and suicide bombers in army uniforms who pene-trated the compound of the 209th Corps of the Afghan National Army in northern Balkh province on Friday, killing and

wounding scores. The death toll was likely to rise further.

Nicholson also said that in view of the sophisticated plan-ning behind the attack, "it's quite possible" that the Pakistan-based Haqqani network was responsi-ble. The Taliban claimed it carried out the attack.

Nicholson, the top American commander in Kabul, recently told Congress that he needs a

few thousand more troops to keep Afghan security forces on track to eventually handling the Taliban insurgency on their own.

Mattis yesterday offered a grim assessment for Afghan forces fighting the Taliban.

"2017 is going to be another tough year," he said.

Kabul was the final stop on Mattis' six-nation, weeklong tour.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis (right) and US Army General John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, hold a news conference at Resolute Support headquarters in Kabul, yesterday.

Punjab arrests woman for selling infantIslamabad

Internews

POLICE arrested a woman, claiming to be a faith healer, and her husband for selling a four-month-old child in Muz-affargarh yesterday. The doctor and his wife who bought the child were also arrested.

Police said the couple had taken their son to a female faith healer identified as Mus-sarat Bibi in Jhuggi Wala area of Muzaffargarh, where she kept the child inside a room for two hours.

After that she told the parents the child had died and later sold the infant to a doc-tor Muhammad Ali and his wife for Rs75,000.

The couple told the police the woman had administered an injection to the child, after which he fell unconscious.

She asked them to bring a cow so that she could do something to bring the child ‘back to life’. But the parents had suspicion over Mussarat Bibi’s behaviour and informed the police about the matter.

The police acted on the complaint and arrested the accused woman, Muhammad Ali, his wife and others.

A few weeks ago, a fake faith healer in Sargodha tor-tured over 20 people to death over fears they would poison him. It was later revealed the man had feared they would not let him take over as in-charge of a shrine in the area, where he was the custodian and the people he had killed were his followers.

PTI seeks new allies to pressure Sharif to resignIslmabad

Internews

Encouraged by the legal fra-ternity’s ultimatum to Prime Minister Nawaz

Sharif to resign within a week or face a lawyers’ movement-style agitation, opposition parties have started flexing their muscles.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan, the main petitioner in the Panama Papers case, announced yester-day that it would contact representative bodies of law-yers, doctors, traders, teachers, students, labourers, farmers and other professionals to increase

pressure on the prime minister to quit in the light of the Pan-ama Papers judgement.

In addition, the party said it would file a reference against National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

In a statement, PTI informa-tion secretary Naeemul Haq said the party leaders would soon contact office-bearers of all bar councils and associations and enhance the scope of the par-ty’s anti-government movement to convert it into a countrywide agitation.

PTI chairman Imran Khan has already announced plans to

hold a public meeting in Islam-abad on April 28, in a bid to mobilise the masses and increase pressure on the prime minister to resign.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry welcomed the state-ments made by office-bearers of the Supreme Court Bar Asso-ciation (SCBA) and the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) that the prime minis-ter had no moral authority to stay in office after the verdict.

The SCBA office-bearers have endorsed the opposition’s view-point that PM Sharif should step down, at least until the investiga-tions against him and his family members are completed.

Army vows transparency in premier's fraud probeIslamabad

AP

Pakistan's army is pledging that the corruption probe of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's family will be carried out in a "legal and transparent manner."

Military officials are to be part of the court-ordered commis-sion, which has two months to complete the investigation.

The allegations have been a serious blow to Sharif, with oppo-sition parties demanding the premier, in power since 2013, resign over tax evasion and concealing foreign investment.

Sharif has defended his financial record. His family has acknowledged owning offshore businesses.

Wrongful act

A senior US military official said in Kabul that Russia was giving machine guns and other medium-weight weapons.

We'll engage with Russia diplomatically. We'll do so where we can, but we're going to have to confront Russia where what they're doing is contrary to international law or denying the sovereignty of other countries: Mattis.

Workers protest Sri Lanka-India oil dealColombo

Reuters

Thousands of Sri Lankan motorists were queuing for fuel yesterday after

workers at the state-run oil firm went on strike, demanding the government scrap a deal which they say would give India too much influence over fuel prices.

Unions said the strike was to stop a deal that puts 99 oil tanks in the island nation's east-ern port city in the hands of Lanka IOC, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation.

Sri Lanka has agreed with India to jointly develop and operate all oil tanks in the oil storage facility located in the port town of Trincomalee near the world's second deepest nat-ural harbour.

Union leaders said there was speculation the deal could be finalised either when Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visits New Delhi on Tuesday or Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes to Sri Lanka on May 11.

Lanka IOC already operates 15 of the oil tanks; the rest have not been used for decades.

For its part, IOC has agreed to build a second refinery with a capacity of at least 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Sri Lanka, while Modi in 2015 pledged to establish a petro-leum hub in Trincomalee.

The unions at state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said handing the tanks to Lanka IOC would give it too much influence over fuel stations.

Dispensing speedy justice: Mediation centres paying off in PunjabLahore

Internews

The Lahore High Court’s recent initiative to set up third-party mediation

centres is paying dividends if the number of cases resolved within the past month is to be believed.

The newly established Alter-native Dispute Resolution (ADR) centres have decided several references pending for several years in different civil and fam-ily courts in a matter of days.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah ordered setting up these alter-native courts and a notification for their establishment was issued on February 23.

The decision to establish these ADRs at district courts came after observing results of similar initiatives in other coun-tries to dispense speedy justice.

Three ADR centres have ini-tially started working in Lahore. While Mediation Centre-I being run by Additional District and

Sessions Judge Tajammul Shah-zad Chaudhry was established a few days ago, the other two mediation centres were inau-gurated on March 7.

Mediation centres II and III are headed by senior civil judges Imran Nazir and Aisham binte Sadiq, respectively.

These ADR centres, with their motto ‘No Litigation but Recon-ciliation’ and the main objective of dispensing speedy justice have resolved a record number of cases in the past 30 days. The first

reference was referred to Medi-ation Centre-II on March 15 and was decided within 10 days.

One case pending since May 22, 2014 in a civil court was referred to the same centre and was decided in just 12 days with the consensus of both parties.

According to officials, sev-eral references at these ADR centres have been decided on the same day whereas the cases had been pending in courts for several months.

Consolidated data from

mediation centres II and III from March 15 till April 10 shows the facilities received 110 cases.

Out of them, 60 were suc-cessfully mediated while 13 remained unsuccessful. Eleven references were sent back to the relevant courts owing to the absence of parties. The centres still have to decide 26 cases.

The alternative dispute res-olution centres work via a neutral third person helping the rival parties reach a voluntary resolution over a dispute.

A man waits until a fuel truck from Ceylon Petroleum Corporation arrives during an islandwide CEYPETCO strike at a fuel station in Colombo, yesterday.

Michelin Guide to launch Thailand editionBangkok

Reuters

THAILAND will be the lat-est country to have a Michelin Guide, its state tourism agency said yesterday, taking its place on the culinary world map just days after authorities announced they would shut down Bangkok's vibrant street food scene.

The dining publication was introduced by the French Michelin tyre company in 1900 to encourage people to take road trips. Its star sys-tem began in the 1920s.

The guide to hotels and restaurants, which will be released in Thai and English, will be the company's sixth in Asia. It has guides for China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The news comes days after authorities in Bangkok said they would banish some of its world-famous street food vendors as part of a clean-up drive by the military government, outraging food-ies and threatening the livelihoods of the city's road-side cooks.

The guide could end up featuring some of Bangkok's street food. In 2016, Singa-pore made history when two modest food stalls – one serv-ing chicken rice and the other pork noodles – were among dining venues featured in the Singapore guide.

15TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017 EUROPE

Paris

AFP

The battle to become France's president comes down to a clash of two visions — Emmanuel Macron is

pro-globalisation and pro-EU, while Marine Le Pen rages against both.

As the rival camps celebrated reaching the decisive second round of the election, Le Pen said on Sunday that voters will have "a very simple choice" on May 7.

"Either we continue on the path of... off-shoring jobs, unfair foreign competition, mass immi-gration and free movement of terrorists... or you choose France and borders that protect," she told her supporters.

Macron, 39, had a starkly dif-ferent message: "I will be... the voice of hope for our country and for Europe," he told thousands of his followers.

The photogenic former investment banker, who had never before stood for election, started his centrist movement only 12 months ago.

Yet polls currently show he will easily become France's youngest ever president, beat-ing Le Pen by more than 20 percentage points.

His meteoric rise began when President Francois Hol-lande chose him as an economic advisor and then parachuted him into his Socialist cabinet as econ-omy minister.

But shrewdly sensing his chance, Macron turned his back on Hollande when he quit the cabinet in August to concentrate on building up his own centrist political movement "En Marche" (On the Move).

Since then, he has amassed 250,000 members and con-founded critics who said his appeal would not reach beyond young, urban professionals.

In politics as well as his per-sonal life, Macron has also broken traditions.

The theatre and poetry lover

from a middle-class family in Amiens, northeast France, fell for his secondary school drama

teacher. Brigitte Trogneux, a mother of three and 25 years older than Macron, left her

husband and married the young prodigy in 2007. "At the age of 17, Emmanuel said to me: 'What-ever you do, I will marry you!'," Trogneux told Paris Match mag-azine last April, summing up a story that has captivated the French media.

Unlike Macron, 48-year-old Le Pen is steeped in hard-edged politics. Her pugnacious father Jean-Marie Le Pen reached the runoff of the 2002 presidential election, but was roundly beaten by the centre-right Jacques Chirac.

Fifteen years later his gravel-voiced daughter believes she can become France's first woman president, and the first from the National Front (FN) party that her father founded.

She faces an uphill task as

her younger rival appears to attract a broader spectrum of voters.

She also goes into the runoff with several investigations hang-ing over the FN and her entourage for alleged funding scandals, while she is also being probed after tweeting pictures of Islamic State atrocities.

In the last presidential elec-tion in 2012 Le Pen finished third with just under 18 percent.

She has worked assiduously to try to rid the party of its more extreme anti-Semitic edge — and kicked her father out of the party after he repeatedly described the Holocaust as a "detail of history".

Over the past six years, Le Pen's rebranded "party of

patriots" has been propelled by the anti-globalisation, anti-establishment fury that drove Britain's vote to leave the EU and Donald Trump's election in the United States. Now a twice-divorced mother of three, she guards her private life zealously, in contrast to Macron.

She appears rarely as a cou-ple with her current partner, who is the FN's vice-president Louis Aliot.

Le Pen developed her flair for sharp putdowns as a lawyer defending illegal immigrants fac-ing deportation as a state-appointed attorney.

Despite that experience she blames migration -- and the European Union — for France's economic woes.

France awaits clash of visions on May 7

Paris

AFP

The results of France's first round of presidential election made front page

headlines around the world yesterday. Many newspapers noted that a likely win for pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron in the May 7 run-off would be good news for the European Union but warned that his far-right rival Marine Le Pen could still pull off a sur-prise victory.

'Le Pen threat not over' -Media in neighbouring Brit-

ain hailed pro-European Macron's strong showing while adding that Le Pen's second-place success should not be ignored.

"The threat from the French extreme right is not over," the centre-left Guardian said, describing Macron as the "best hope of a deeply-troubled but great country". Similar caution appeared on the front page of France's leftist daily Liberation which ran a picture of Macron with the headline: "Just one more step."

"The FN won its highest ever score in a presidential election. And if the fight turns into a confrontation between people and elites, who can be sure of the outcome?" it said.

"In this new world, anything is possible. In other words, stay vigilant," the paper said, while voicing hope that the "young leader of the (first round) vote

will defeat the wicked stepmother."

French communist paper L'Humanite had a picture of Le Pen with the words "Never" across it. "Let's rally together to block her way," it said.

The Financial Times pre-dicted May 7 would be an "act of coronation" for him, but warned that governing would not come so easily, saying Macron could be forced into "hard bargaining" to implement his reform agenda. An opinion piece on America's rightwing Fox News website said Le Pen was still in with a good chance and referenced US President Donald Trump's shock win, say-ing: "She may pull off an even

bigger surprise than the Tweeter in Chief. Yuge, in fact."

'A house divided' Many papers pointed to the

historic defeat inflicted on tra-ditional parties, with the Wall Street Journal calling the vote a "stunning rebuke of France's mainstream political forces".

"A huge leap into the unknown," wrote the French economic daily Les Echos which described the vote as an expres-sion of people being "fed up to the back teeth with the 'system' (and) making a clean break with the past."

But Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted that more than 40 percent had cast

their ballots for the far-right or far-left.

"Macron's victory is so nar-row that in the two previous presidential elections, he wouldn't have won a place in the second round," it said.

The BBC said France was "entering unchartered political water" and noted that whoever won the next round, the coun-try was "deeply divided".

And Switzerland's Le Temps said the result showed the French republic was "broken" with the run-off "set to oppose two visions of France -- one inclusive and open to the world and its concerns, and the other cut off behind its borders and its old myths".

Insider or outsider? "Congratulations to the art-

ist! Eight months have seen Emmanuel Macron stage his takeover bid in the world of pol-itics," enthused Xavier Brouet in the regional French paper Le Republicain Lorrain, in a nod to M a c r o n ' s b u s i n e s s background.

The New York Times noted Macron's strange status as both someone who has set himself apart from establishment par-ties but who also hails from the political elite.

"His profile is that of an insider, but his policies are those of an outsider," it said. "If the ever-precocious Mr Macron is to succeed, his first challenge is to sell a product still largely unfamiliar to almost everyone: himself."

Polls show Macron easily beating Le Pen in run-offPARIS: New opinion polls carried out after the announcement of the first round results of the French presidential elections sug-gested that Centrist Emmanuel Macron would easily beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the second round, due on May 7.

The two polls by Ipsos Sopra Steria and Harris Interactive showed that Macron would win 62-64% against 36-38% for National Front leader Le Pen if the run-off was held today.

The French Interior Ministry announced that centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen led the first round of France's presidential election, qualifying for a sec-ond-round runoff in two weeks. According to the final voting figures released by the Ministry, Macron got 23.75% of votes and Le Pen got 21.53%.

French election resultsCentrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step towards the French presidency onSunday by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for a May 7 runoffalongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

FIRST-ROUND RESULTSLeading candidates per department, final results.

G. Cabrera, 24/04/2017

Source: French Interior Ministry.

MACRON

LE PEN

MELENCHON

FILLON

OVERSEAS TERRITORIES(Not to scale)

Guadeloupe

Martinique

Guyane

La Reunion

Mayotte

Nouvelle Caledonie

Polynesie Francaise

Saint Pierre et Miquelon

Wallis et Futuna

Saint-Martin/Saint-Barthelemy

LEFT: Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche !, or Onwards !, and candidate for the French presidential election run-off on May 7, waves to people as he leaves his home surrounded by policemen in Paris, yesterday. RIGHT: Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) leader and rival candidate in the run-off, arrives at her campaign headquarters in Paris.

Brussels

AFP

EU Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici warned yester-day that although pro-Europe centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of France's presidential election, far-

right leader Marine Le Pen is still a contender.Moscovici, a former French socialist finance minister and now

EU commissioner for financial affairs, told reporters Macron's vic-tory was welcome but there was "bad news" too.

"Le Pen qualified for the second round; she may have scored less in percentage terms than was expected but it is frightening that she still got 7.6 million votes," he said.

"It is too early yet to heave a sigh of relief, the election is not over," he said. Moscovici said he believed Le Pen would not be the next French president but feared that she could still garner about 40 percent of the vote. "That would show a country deeply divided and we must remain on guard — We must not claim victory yet, we must fight against the false claims of the FN," he said.

Macron "will have my vote," he said, adding that his victory was essential to the future of France and Europe.

"The European Commission is ready to work with the new French president on how we can re-launch Europe," he said.

Kremlin denies favouring candidateTHE KREMLIN yesterday said it respected the result of the first round of the French presidential election, and denied favouring any candidate in the polls. "We respect the choice of the French people. We are in favour of building good and mutually benefi-cial relations," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Russia has been seen as a keen backer of Kremlin-friendly far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who met President Vladimir Putin in a surprise visit to Moscow ahead of the vote.

But Peskov insisted to reporters that Russia did not have a pre-ferred candidate in the election.

"These are incorrect assertions, they are quite primitive," Peskov said. "In this case to say that Russia more or less supports one candidate or another would be wrong."

Pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron and Le Pen claimed the most votes in the election Sunday to progress to a second round run-off on May 7. Macron is clear favourite to become France's youngest president after topping Sunday's ballot with 23.75 per-cent of votes, slightly ahead of National Front (FN) leader Le Pen on 21.53 percent, according to final results.

EU's Moscovici warns Le Pen remains threat in French polls Newpapers predict likely win for Macron

Front pages of various US newspapers reporting on the French presidential election, yesterday.

16 TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017EUROPE

London

Reuters

The British government is seeking permission to delay a report on tackling air pollution until September 15,

breaking a court deadline for it to comply with European Union legislation.

Concern over air quality has grown since the Volkswagen emissions scandal in September 2015 and reports that real-world emissions exceed those recorded during laboratory tests have put pollution high on the political agenda.

The British government had until yesterday at 4pm (1500 GMT) to produce a plan to improve air quality and meet nitrogen dioxide limits set by the EU after London’s High Court ruled a calculation of future vehicle emissions was too optimistic.

But following Prime Minis-ter Theresa May’s decision to call an early election for June 8, the government has asked the court for permission for an extension.

“In light of the general election, on Friday (April) 21 we sought an application to consult on the draft air qual-ity plan after the general election and to publish the final plans by 15 September,” May’s spokesman said. Envi-ronment minister Andrea

Leadsom said the government would publish a draft copy by June 30.

Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that May had asked officials to develop plans for a scrappage scheme for diesel cars as part of proposals to improve air quality.

Major cities such as Paris, Stuttgart, Athens, Brussels and Madrid are proposing bans, fines and restrictions particu-larly on diesel cars and London will introduce a levy on the most polluting vehicles enter-ing the city centre from October.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a member of the main

opposition Labour Party, accused the government of “dithering and delaying”.

“In the meantime, every day delayed means another young child will grow up hav-ing under-developed lungs and another adult will be dying prematurely,” he told Sky News.

“Low income families, small businesses, charities were encouraged to buy diesel vehi-cles over the last few years. They should be given assistance through a national diesel scrap-page fund to help them move from diesel.”

ClientEarth, the environ-mental law firm which brought the original case, said it was considering a legal challenge to the extension.

"The unacceptable last minute nature of the govern-ment's application late on Friday night, after the court had closed, has meant that we have spent the weekend considering our response," said chief executive James Thornton.

"We are still examining our next steps. This is a question of public health and not of politics and for that reason we believe that the plans should be put in place without delay."

Air pollution contributes to the death of more than 40,000 people per year in Britain, according to official figures, with nitrogen dioxide a particular problem.

London

AP

Britain's anti-EU UK Inde-pendence Party says it will promote social unity by

banning face-covering veils and barring the opening of new Islamic schools.

The right-wing party yester-day unveiled what it calls an "integration agenda" ahead of Britain's June 8 election.

It includes bans on Shariah law and on wearing

face-covering veils in public, and a call for the prosecution of parents of girls subjected to female genital mutilation.

Whittle also said there should be a moratorium on Islamic faith schools "until there is far better integration of the entire Muslim community."

Green Party lawmaker Caroline Lucas accused UKIP of "full-throttled Islamophobia."

UKIP played a major role in Britain's decision last year to leave the EU but is struggling to

remain relevant now that it has achieved its main goal.

UKIP's only lawmaker in the House of Commons recently quit the party. UKIP leader Paul Nut-tall has so far declined to say whether he will run for Parlia-ment in June's election.

Polls give Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives a big lead on the main Labour opposition and other parties in an election likely to be domi-nated by Britain's decision to leave the EU.

UKIP calls for ban on face-covering

veils and new Muslim schools

UK seeks court nod to delay pollution report

Draft copy by June 30

Following Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to call an early election for June 8, the government has asked the court for permission for an extension.

Environment minister Andrea Leadsom said the government would publish a draft copy by June 30.

UK Independence Party (UKIP) Deputy Leader, Peter Whittle (left), leader Paul Nuttall (second left), Party's Women and Equalities Spokesman, Margot Parker (second right) and Education Spokesman David Kurten, pose for photographers after a policy announcement in London, yesterday.

London

AFP

A disciplinary tribunal opened a hearing in London yesterday into law firm Leigh Day for allegedly

allowing false claims of murder and tor-ture against British soldiers.

Leigh Day and three of its solicitors face 20 charges and are accused of know-ing that their clients were insurgents and not "innocent bystanders", as claimed. The firm denies the charges.

The accusations revolve around the 2014 Al Sweady Inquiry, which found Brit-ish troops had mistreated nine Iraqis captured after a fierce firefight, but rejected claims of murder and torture as "deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility".

Leigh Day allegedly shredded a vital document that showed the claimants were militant fighters, which would potentially have brought an end to the

£29m ($37m, ¤34m) inquiry.Head of the law firm Martyn Day

along with senior lawyers Anna Crowther and Sapna Malik were present at the opening of the hearing, which is due to last for seven weeks.

Leigh Day, which secured millions in compensation for Iraqi clients claiming they had been abused by British troops, said it would contest "all the allegations made against us".

"The case against us primarily relates to allegations that were made by Iraqis regarding an incident in May 2004 known as 'the battle of Danny Boy', where ulti-mately a public inquiry found that many of the allegations were untrue," the firm said in a statement.

"We believe that it is essential for our democracy that lawyers can bring claims before our courts, whether on behalf of service personnel or civilians, against the Ministry of Defence or any other govern-ment entity," it added.

Boy dead in blast at Russian schoolMOSCOW: A grenade blast yesterday at a school in Rus-sia's restive Dagestan region killed one student and injured 11 others, the police said, add-ing that it was set off accidentally.

"According to preliminary information, one teenager died and 11 were hurt due to careless handling of a gre-nade," the regional interior ministry said in a statement.

The blast during a com-puter class at the local school in Agvali, a village about 115km in the mountains west of the regional centre of Makhachkala, the ministry said.

A student who claimed to have found the grenade in the street brought it into the classroom, the ministry said, adding that an investigation had been opened.

An advisor to the Dag-estan health minister, Zaira Kaplanova, told the Tass news agency that a 12-year-old boy had died, while other victims were being airlifted to the regional hospital with shrapnel wounds.

Kremlin denies military hackingMOSCOW: Kremlin spokes-man Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations that Russia had hacked the Danish military, a day after a Danish newspaper cited Danish government members as making the alle-gation. “Russia as a state does not do hacking attacks,” Peskov told reporters on a con-ference call.

Answering a different question about the presiden-tial election in France, Peskov also denied allegations that the Russian state had inter-fered in France’s electoral process, saying allegations it had were “primitive and wrong.” He said the Kremlin had not taken sides in the French election.

UK law firm accused of allowing false claims against troops

FROM LEFT: Solicitors Anna Crowther, Martyn Day and Sapna Malik of solicitors Leigh Day arrive at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in central London, yesterday.

Brussels

Reuters

The snap general election called by British Prime Minister Theresa May will reduce the already limited

time available to negotiate a Brexit deal, an influential EU lawmaker said yesterday.

Britain has only two years from March 29 to get a wide-ranging divorce settle-ment and the June 8 election will take a chunk of time away, said Danuta Hubner who chairs the constitutional affairs com-mittee at the European Parliament which has the power to veto any final Brexit deal.

“There will be an issue probably of ... how much time the elections will take away from the time that we have for nego-tiations. That’s a challenge. I think we can all hope that this will not mean a big delay,” Hubner said.

The European Commission, which will lead the talks with Britain, has said the negotiations were always meant to start in June and the snap election will not change that.

Hubner, whose committee must approve the deal before it goes to parlia-ment for a final vote, said a trade deal would take many more years, as formal talks could not start during the two-year divorce negotiations while Britain is still an EU member.

It usually takes about five years for the EU to reach a trade deal and several more for it to be implemented, so transi-tional arrangements may be needed in the interim, she said.

EU negotiators have repeatedly said they want substantial progress on a Brexit deal on citizens’ rights, the Irish border and financial liabilities before any discussions on future relations with Britain.

Hubner said she did not expect “a major disagreement” on the amount Brit-ain would have to pay to settle its financial liabilities, but guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and of Brit-ons in the EU could be trickier as that will touch on social security and pensions, among other things.

Parliament will adopt a new

resolution on citizens’ rights, most likely in September. Even without Brit-ain, English will remain the most common language in EU meetings, Hubner said, discarding doubts she had

raised after the Brexit referendum.“It’s hard to imagine that another lan-

guage will replace English as the most commonly used in meetings in Europe,” she said.

Liberal Democratic Party leader Tim Farron speaks at a campaign event in London yesterday, in the build-up to the June 8 general election. Tim Farron, whose centre-left party holds just nine seats, hopes to make gains.

UK election cuts time for Brexit talks: EU lawmaker

17TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017 EUROPE

Brussels

Reuters

European Union gov-ernments could get ¤60,000 for each asylum-seeker they take in above their

quota, or chose to pay that amount if they fall below their share, Malta proposed, in a bid to end a row over migration that has sharply divided Europe.

Tiny Malta, where migrants land after crossing the Mediterranean, hopes to persuade eastern European countries to end their refusal to take in asylum-seekers under a system aimed at relieving the pressure on the southern frontline states.

With anti-immigration sen-timent boosting nationalists in elections across the bloc, and Britain’s decision to quit the EU, dealing with the unprecedented wave of people fleeing the Mid-dle East and Africa is vital to the EU’s future.

The proposal from Malta, which holds the rotating EU presidency, will be discussed by EU states’ representatives in Brussels on Wednesday.

It suggests that at times of particularly high migrant arriv-als, the distribution of asylum-seekers across the bloc would kick in “quasi-automat-ically” and each country would be obliged to take a number of them based on its size and wealth.

“In order to overcome the political obstacle to receive an unknown number of persons ... an EU overall cap for alloca-tions could, for example, be set at 200,000 applications per calendar year,” says

the proposal. The figure is ambitious, given that EU states only managed to relocate some 17,000 asylum-seekers over nearly two years under a pre-vious programme meant to deal with 160,000 people, which has collapsed in acrimony.

That system formally expires in September and several EU leaders are push-ing for a new agreement by the middle of this year. If that fails, as seems likely, the EU is set for a big showdown over migraiton in the second half of 2017.

Under the Maltese proposal, EU states would be obliged to take in at least half of their quota and could meet the other half by providing help such as money or staff to help with the screening of people arriving in frontline states.

Countries hosting more people than they are due would receive 60,000 euros per extra person over five years. Those who take in fewer people than their quota, would pay the same amount for every asylum-seeker they fail to take.

Athens

Reuters

At least 16 people, includ-ing a child, drowned when an inflatable boat

carrying refugees and migrants sank off Greece’s Lesbos island, officials said yesterday.

Eight bodies were recovered in Greek territory and another seven in Turkish waters, a Greek coastguard official said. The boat is believed to have set sail from Turkey late on Sunday.

Citing survivors, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said 25 people were on board. Two survivors, one of whom is pregnant, were from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the agency said.

Though fewer than 10 nau-tical miles separate Lesbos from Turkish shores, hundreds of people have drowned trying to make the crossing since the refugee crisis began in 2015.

In that year, Lesbos was the main gateway into the European

Union for nearly a million Syri-ans, Iraqis and Afghans.

A deal in March 2016 between the EU and Ankara has all but closed the route down and just over 4,800 refugees and migrants have crossed to Greece from Turkey this year, accord-ing to UNHCR data. An average of 20 arrive on Greek islands each day.

At least 173,000 people, mostly Syrians, landed in Greece in 2016.

The number of refugees and

migrants in Greece has swelled to about 62,000 in the last year, about 13,000 of whom are in camps on five eastern Aegean islands waiting for their asylum applications to be processed.

Violence has broken out in overcrowded camps on several occasions, as have protests against asylum delays. Twelve Syrian Kurds living in Lesbos’s Moria camp for months began a hunger strike on Friday, the Ath-ens News Agency reported.

Moscow

Agencies

THE EUROPEAN UNION'S for-eign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said yesterday that Russia had a duty to protect the human rights of all of its citizens.

Mogherini, on her first offi-cial visit to Russia in her current role, made the comments after being asked at a news confer-ence about the alleged persecution of gay men in the southern Russian region of Chechnya.

"Our expectation is that the Russian Federation does its part to protect its own citizens in full respect of human rights principles," she said, adding that she had discussed the issue during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The top diplomats from Russia and the European Union struggled yesterday to over-come deep rifts that have plunged ties to a post-Cold War low despite calling for closer cooperation.

Mogherini insisted that cooperation between the sides was "not frozen" but said that progress was hampered

by profound disagreements on subjects including Ukraine and Syria.

"It would be quite surreal to consider ourselves as strategic partners and to have respective sanctions," Mogherini said after talks with Lavrov.

"We share the interest to make our relations better," she added.

The EU imposed sanctions on Russia for its annexation of

Crimea in 2014 and support for east Ukrainian rebels.

Moscow responded with an embargo on agricultural prod-ucts from the West.

Mogherini said the EU's sanctions against Russia were "not an objective in themselves" but were meant to help end the crisis in Ukraine, which has claimed more than 10,000 lives since it erupted in 2014.

Lavrov meanwhile said the

two sides had reiterated the need to fulfil the stalled European-brokered Minsk peace agreements to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

He also called for a "thor-ough, quick and transparent" investigation after an American monitor with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was killed Sunday when a patrol vehicle hit a landmine in the rebel-held east.

Malta for cash solution to end migration row

Mogherini tells Russia to protect citizens rights

Tirana

Reuters

Supporters of Albania’s opposition Democratic Party blocked several main

roads yesterday for one hour, escalating their two-month-old protest for a caretaker govern-ment to oversee the June 18 general elections.

Party leader Lulzim Basha joined supporters sitting at a crossroads on the outskirts of Tirana where traffic comes off a main highway, and praised their peacefulness and “Euro-pean culture”.

There were other sit-ins near highways in northern, cen-tral and southern Albania.

The opposition has been

calling for a caretaker govern-ment to oversee the next election because it says Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist-led coalition will reshape the judiciary to its liking and it can-not be trusted to ensure a fair vote.

The government, which is trying to reform the judiciary as part of its drive to join the Euro-pean Union, rejects this accusation.

The protesters have been holding a sit-in for the past 65 days at a tent pitched in the main street below the govern-ment offices. Efforts to solve the deadlock have so far failed.

The opposition is also boy-cotting parliament, stalling the passage of laws that would help

vet the new judges and kick-start a reform of the judiciary that Brussels has made a step before starting accession nego-tiations with Albania.

At the end of the hour-long protest, Basha repeated his call for a technocrat government that could purge officials with a criminal past and pass the vet-ting laws. “This is a warning that the determination of this peo-ple’s movement is unbreakable in its resolve to hold free and fair elections,” he told the crowd on the road.

Police had earlier warned the protest was illegal but it did not try to disperse the crowd. Except for minor altercation in the south, the roadblocks passed peacefully.

German court orders 10 be tried for 2010 festival deathsBERLIN: A German court gave the go-ahead yesterday for 10 peo-ple to be tried over a deadly stampede at a German “Love Parade” music festival in 2010, overturning a lower court’s decision last year. Twenty-one people died and 500 were injured on July 24, 2010, when panic broke out in a packed underpass that was the only entrance route to the festival venue in the western city of Duisberg.Six private event organizers and four city workers have previously denied wrongdoing in the disaster, in which eight for-eigners — from Spain, Bosnia, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy and China — were among those killed.

The Duesseldorf higher regional court approved the trial of the 10 organisers, who face charges including involuntary man-slaughter and bodily harm, saying in a statement there was “sufficient probability” of convictions.

Accustomed to a high degree of efficiency and organization at such events, Germans were dumbfounded by the chaos and by media reports that officials and organizers did not heed warnings about the problems such a massive crow would cause.

Romanian court upholds leader's sentenceBUCHAREST: A Bucharest court upheld yesterday a two-year suspended jail sentence of Liviu Dragnea, the leader of Romania’s ruling Social Democrats, rejecting his challenge.

Dragnea was sentenced last year for illegally using his influ-ence within the party to sway a 2012 presidential impeachment referendum. Earlier this month, his lawyers challenged the con-viction on a technicality, saying the court’s argument was not written and signed by the same judges who issued the sentence. Dragnea is also on trial in a separate abuse of office case.

Albanian citizenship to former Kosovo PMTIRANA: Albania's president has granted citizenship to the former prime minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj. Bujar Nishani yes-terday issued a decree granting Albanian citizenship to Haradinaj and his wife Anita.

Many Kosovars have been granted Albanian citizenship in order to profit from the country's visa-free regime with the Euro-pean Union's Schengen member countries. Kosovo is the only country in Western Balkans whose citizens still need a visa to visit the Schengen zone. Haradinaj is in France on judicial supervision awaiting a court decision on whether he will be extradited to Ser-bia. He was detained in January following arrest warrants from Serbia on war crimes charges.

Moscow

Reuters

UKRAINE has launched an investigation into the death of an American working for the European security watch-dog OSCE, whose vehicle hit a landmine in the country’s conflict-hit east, the general prosecutor’s office (GPU) said yesterday.

The paramedic was on an OSCE monitoring mission patrol near the village of Pry-shybin, controlled by pro-Russian separatists, in the Luhansk region when the blast occurred.

The United States called for a transparent, timely investigation.

Regional prosecutors in the government-controlled part of Luhansk will handle the probe. The GPU said Ukraine was treating the incident, which wounded two others, as a “terrorist act”.

Sunday’s killing was the first death of a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine, where over 700 observers report on the three-year-old conflict that has strained ties between Russia and the West.

In Moscow, Russian For-eign Minister Sergei Lavrov also called for a careful inves-tigation into the incident, saying those guilty should be brought to justice.

Vital for EU's future

With anti-immigration sentiment boosting nationalists in elections across the bloc, and Britain’s decision to quit the EU, dealing with the unprecedented wave of people fleeing the Middle East and Africa is vital to the EU’s future.

16 drown as migrant boat sinks off Lesbos

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and European Union's Foreign Policy chief Frederica Mogherini arriving for a meeting in Moscow, yesterday.

Supporters of Albania's opposition Democratic Party demonstrate in Tirana, yesterday.

Albania oppn wants technocrat govt

Ukraine opens probe into death of OSCE monitor

18 TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017AMERICAS

Asuncion

AFP

Suspected Brazilian gang-sters blasted into a secure vault in south-

eastern Paraguay yesterday and robbed millions of dol-lars, leaving a policeman dead in what officials called the “robbery of the century”. Some 50 gunmen with explo-sives and heavy arms left the city of Ciudad del Este look-ing like a warzone after a two-hour overnight assault on a security firm and police headquarters, authorities and witnesses said.

Officials said it was an unprecedented attack even for Ciudad del Este, a key trading hub near the borders of Brazil and Argentina in an area linked to drug gangs. The robbers set vehicles on fire to block roads and detonated explosives near the city’s police headquarters as a diversion. They blasted their way into the premises of Pros-egur, a firm that specializes in securely transporting cash. “The noise rang out around the city like bombs in a war,” one man who witnessed the attack, Antonio del Puerto, said.

Television images from the scene showed the Prosegur building was virtually destroyed, with missile casings lying around and burned-out vehicles in the streets.

Police reports said the attackers included members of the Sao Paulo-based First Capital Command, one of Bra-zil’s most powerful drug gangs. Public prosecutor Denise Duarte said the men wore masks and spoke Portuguese.

Washington

AFP

US President Donald Trump congratu-lated Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson for setting a new space

record yesterday, but expressed disdain for a particular rigor of space life — drinking recycled urine.

Whitson, 57, marked 534 days in orbit and counting yes-terday, beating Nasa’s previous record-holder Jeff Williams, but remains still far short of the world title, which belongs to Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka with his 879 days.

“This is a very special day in the glorious history of American spaceflight,” Trump said in a phone call to space, broadcast live on Nasa television. “That’s an incredible record to break,” he added from the Oval Office, flanked by daughter Ivanka and Nasa astronaut Kate Rubins. Reading from a prepared state-ment on his desk, Trump also asked Whitson and her Nasa col-league Jack Fischer “What are we learning from being in space?”

After Whitson described tech-nology to support long-duration manned trips to space — includ-ing a system that converts urine to drinking water for astronauts — Trump went off script. “Better you than me,” he said.

After earning a doctorate in biochemistry in 1985, Whitson worked as a Nasa scientist for

seven years before starting as an astronaut in 1997. She flew to space for the first time in 2002 aboard the space shuttle Endeav-our, staying for a six-month stint at the International Space Sta-tion, which orbits some 400km above the Earth.

She became the first female commander of the research out-post in April 2008, during her second, six-month tour of duty. Her latest, third, trip to space began on in November. She is scheduled to return to Earth in September after an extended nine-month mission.

The oldest woman ever in space, Whitson also set a new record for most spacewalks by a female astronaut earlier last month when she floated outside the space station for the eighth time in her

career. She is married to a fellow Nasa biochemist, Clarence Sams. Her hobbies include weightlifting, biking, basketball and water ski-ing, according to her Nasa biography.

“How does it feel to have broken such a big and important record?” Trump asked at one point during his call. “It is actu-ally a huge honor to break a record like this,” Whitson said, thanking her Nasa colleagues for making it possible.

“It is a very exciting time to

be at Nasa,” she added, mention-ing Trump’s support for manned missions to Mars in the coming decades. After Fischer described drinking coffee in space in “floaty ball form”, Trump asked the astronauts about the plans for Mars.

“Tell me. Mars. What do you see as timing for actually send-ing humans to Mars? Is there a schedule and when would you see that happening?” the presi-dent asked. “Well, I think as your bill directed, it will be

approximately in the 2030s,” Whitson responded.

“As I mentioned, we actually are building hardware to test a new heavy launch vehicle and this vehicle will take us further than we have ever been away from this planet,” she added, referring to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

“Well, we want to try to do it during my first term or at worst during my second term so we will have to speed that up a lit-tle bit ok?” Trump said.

Better you than me: Trump to astronaut Gunmen rob millions from vault in Paraguay

Caracas

AFP

Protesters rallied yesterday vowing to block Venezue-la’s main roads to raise

pressure on President Nicolas Maduro after three weeks of deadly unrest that have left 21 people dead.

Riot police fired rubber bul-lets and tear gas to break up one of the first rallies in eastern Caracas early yesterday while other groups were gathering elsewhere, the opposition said. It called for crowds to fill the main route into the capital and other roads around the nation. That raised fears of fresh vio-lence in an oil-rich country wracked by food shortages and political tension.

The center right-led oppo-sition is demanding elections to get rid of Maduro, blaming him for the crisis. It is furious at recent moves by authorities to curb his opponents’ power. Each side has accused the other of trying to mount a “coup.” Maduro has been resisting the

opposition’s drive to remove him for more than a year. His critics brand him a dictator, while he says the crisis is a US-backed capitalist conspiracy.

“Peaceful protests across the country will continue until Mr Maduro respects the constitu-tion and ends his internal coup,” senior opposition leader Hen-rique Capriles tweeted yesterday. “If there is no answer from Maduro’s corrupt drug-trafficking leadership, at the end of the day we will announce fur-ther action.”

A presidential election is scheduled for 2018. Elections for regional governors due in December were postponed. Maduro said on Sunday that he wanted the regional elections “now” but did not indicate a possible date for those or local ballots that are due this year. “I am ready for whatever the elec-toral authorities say,” insisted Maduro.

The government has ruled out an early presidential elec-tion this year as opposition leaders have demanded. The

socialist leader won the 2013 election by a narrow margin over Capriles. But Maduro’s popularity has since dropped. A survey by pollster Venebaro-metro indicated that seven out of 10 Venezuelans disapprove of him.

The opposition blames Maduro for the unraveling of the oil giant’s once-booming econ-omy. Falling oil prices have slashed its revenues, leading to critical shortages of food, med-icine and basic goods.

Maduro resisted the oppo-sition’s efforts last year to hold a referendum on removing him from power.

Vatican-mediated negotia-tions between the two sides broke down. Late last month, the authorities moved to seize the powers of the opposition-majority legislature, before reversing the measure. They later banned Capriles from pol-itics. The moves sparked international condemnation and a wave of opposition demon-strations from the start of the month.

New York AFP

The public prosecutor’s office in the New York borough of Brooklyn will

change the way it deals with minor infractions by undocu-mented immigrants to lessen their risk of expulsion under the Trump administration, it said yesterday.

Brooklyn’s acting district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, said in a statement that his office would do everything possible to help those accused of minor crimes “avoid disproportionate collateral consequences such as deportation.”

The attorneys in his office will be instructed that when possible, “if an appropriate dis-position or sentence recommendation can be offered that neither jeopardizes public safety nor leads to removal or to any other disproportionate collateral consequence,” they should recommend that option, Gonzalez said.

Assistant district attorneys are being told to “consider alternative offenses the defend-ant can plead to” — different from those a citizen might face

— as well as “reasonable mod-ifications to the sentence recommendation.”

But Gonzalez added that such alternatives should, when possible, “be similar in level of offense and length of sentence to that offered to a citizen defendant.”

Gonzalez’s announcement was welcomed by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), a non-profit working to defend immigrants’ rights, which has denounced Trump administra-tion threats to cut federal funding to cities that fail to cooperate in deporting the undocumented.

But Gonzalez insisted that he was not attempting “to frustrate the federal government’s func-tion of protecting our country by removing noncitizens whose illegal acts have caused real harm and endangered others.” He said his office recognized that many felons, and particu-larly violent felons, would face “appropriate collateral immi-gration consequences.”

The administration in early April instructed law enforce-ment officials to be much more stringent in dealing with undoc-umented immigrants.

Washington

Reuters

US President Donald Trump tried to press Democrats yesterday to

include funds for his controver-sial border wall with Mexico in spending legislation as lawmak-ers worked to avoid a looming shutdown of the federal government.

The battle offers the Repub-lican president, whose approval ratings have slid since he took office, a chance to score his first big legislative win or to be mired in a Washington stalemate as he marks 100 days in the job on Saturday.

Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but a

White House-backed bill to gut former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, failed to gather full party sup-port and imploded last month.

If no deal is agreed on spending, parts of the federal government will shut down at 12:01am (0401 GMT) on Satur-day. Trump is demanding that Congress include funds for the construction of the wall, which he made a key theme of his 2016 presidential campaign and which he says will stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States.

The funding bill will need 60 votes to clear the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 52 seats, meaning at least some

Democrats will have to get behind the bill.

“The Wall is a very impor-tant tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! If ... the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situa-tion will NEVER be fixed the way it should be!” Trump tweeted on Monday.

Trump has said Mexico will repay the United States for the wall if Congress funds it first. But the Mexican government is ada-mant it will not finance a wall and Trump has not laid out a plan to compel Mexico to pay. Department of Homeland Secu-rity internal estimates have placed the total cost of a border barrier at about $21.6bn.

Venezuela protesters up the ante; vow to block roadways

Brooklyn to help minor offenders avoid expulsion

Man jailed for starting LA blaze Los Angeles AFP

A 58-year-old man who started a massive fire in Los Angeles in anger

over police killings of African-Americans was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday following a plea deal.

Dawud Abdulwali admit-ted to starting the December 2014 blaze at the unfinished seven-storey downtown Da Vinci apartment complex, causing damages in excess of $100m, the prosecutor’s office said. No one was injured in the spectacular fire that charred the complex that was being built along a free-way. According to witness testimony, Abdulwali bragged about setting the fire as a response to protests that swept the town of Ferguson, in Missouri.

Trump pushes party on border wall

Nasa's record

“This is a very special day in the glorious history of American spaceflight,” Trump said in a phone call to space, broadcast live on Nasa television.

Peggy Whitson, 57, marked 534 days in orbit and counting yesterday, beating Nasa’s previous record-holder Jeff Williams.

Us President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka holding a video conference call with Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of Nasa on the International Space Station from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, yesterday.

Opposition supporters attending a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, yesterday.

Chicago

AFP

Former US president B a r a c k O b a m a returned to the public spotlight yesterday, saying he hopes to

spend the next phase of his life helping to “prepare the next gen-eration of leadership”.

After three months off, Obama broke his silence in his adopted hometown of Chicago, speaking to high school and col-lege students about the need for greater civic engagement.

The 55-year-old Democrat, who ended his two terms at the White House in January — hand-ing power over to Donald Trump — said he was “incredibly opti-mistic” about the future, and that problems facing America could be solved.

“On the back end now of my presidency, now that it’s com-pleted, I’m spending a lot of time thinking about what is the most important thing I can do for my next job?” Obama said in his opening remarks at the

University of Chicago, where he once was a lecturer at the law school.

“What I’m convinced is that... the single most important thing I can do is to help in any way I can to prepare the next genera-tion of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world.”

Until yesterday, Donald Trump’s Democratic predeces-sor had not given a public speech or an interview since leaving the White House on January 20.

He has tweeted a few times and issued a few statements through a spokesman, notably to defend his signature domes-tic policy achievement, health care reform — which Trump’s Republicans are now hoping to dismantle.

Obama also spoke up when his billionaire successor accused him of personally ordering the wiretapping of Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign.

But for now, he has abstained from any substantive commen-tary on how Trump is doing, in keeping with presidential pro-tocol which dictates that past residents of the White House do not step on the toes of the cur-rent occupant.

That silence comes in the face of accusations by Trump on everything from Syria, with the Republican all but accusing Obama of bearing responsibility for chemical weapons attacks by the Damascus regime, to gang violence in America.

Youth civic engagement and community organizing are at the

heart of the mission of the Obama Center, which is located on Chicago’s South Side, where Obama started his career as a community activist.

On Sunday, America’s first black president privately met with at-risk youth from the South

Side to discuss gang violence, jobs and training, according to The Chicago Tribune.

The Obamas are currently renting a house in Washington, where their youngest daughter Sasha is finishing high school. Since leaving office, Obama has

gone kitesurfing in the Caribbean with British billionaire Richard Branson.

He then spent nearly a month in French Polynesia, where he vacationed on media mogul David Geffen’s yacht — and was reportedly working on his book.

19TUESDAY 25 APRIL 2017 AMERICAS

Post-presidency

The 55-year-old Democrat, who ended his two terms at the White House in January — handing power over to Donald Trump — said he was “incredibly optimistic” about the future, and that problems facing America could be solved.

Washington

AFP

New Orleans took down the first of four controversial Confeder-ate monuments (pictured) under

cover of darkness early yesterday morn-ing, the latest removal of a widely perceived racist symbol of white supremacy in the South.

Workers arrived shortly after 1am (0600 GMT) to remove the Battle of Lib-erty Place statue — an obelisk first erected in 1891 to commemorate a failed rebellion against a racially integrated

government following the Civil War — in order to minimize protests by vocal opponents who had been staging vigils, local media reported.

Some city officials in the majority African-American city say they have received death threats. Workers were seen wearing flak jackets and helmets as police snipers observed from the roof of a nearby parking garage. “The removal of these statues sends a clear and une-quivocal message to the people of New Orleans and the nation: New Orleans cel-ebrates our diversity, inclusion and tolerance,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu said

in a statement. “The decision to remove these statues was made after a lengthy public process,” the statement added.

The city will remove three more stat-ues — to Confederate Generals Robert E Lee and P G T Beauregard and Confeder-ate States of America President Jefferson Davis — in coming days after a court struck down legal challenges. They will be relocated to “a place where they can be put in historical context”, the city said.

“This is about showing the whole world that we as a city and as a people are able to acknowledge, understand, reconcile — and most importantly

— choose a better future,” Landrieu said. “We can remember these divisive chap-ters in our history in a museum or other facility where they can be put in context—and that’s where these statues belong.”

The mayor had issued an order call-ing for the four monuments to be relocated in February 2015 after the city council approved the plan in a 6-1 vote. In June that year, a white supremacist fatally shot nine African-American parishioners at a black church in South Carolina, prompting a national debate over Confederate symbols in the for-merly slave-owning South.

Obama says ready to train new leaders

New Orleans removes first of four Confederate monuments

Former US President Barack Obama (centre), meets with youth leaders at the Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago to discuss strategies for community organisation and civic engagement in Chicago, yesterday.


FAJRSHOROOK

03.43 am

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PRAYER TIMINGS

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Raynald C Rivera The Peninsula

Qatar Solar Technol-ogies (QSTec), a member of Qatar Foundation, yester-day opened Shams

Generation 3 Collective Exhi-bition at the Fire Station featuring 400 solar artworks by students as young as eight from over 20 schools and uni-versities across Qatar.

Chairman and Chief Exec-utive Officer (CEO) of QSTec, Dr Khalid Al Hajri opened the exhibition with dozens of teachers, parents, and stu-dents in attendance. This year’s edition of Shams Gen-eration is driven by its motivation to address a criti-cal concern: global warming.

“One of the most funda-mental issues faced by all countries across the planet is effectively combating cli-mate change—we need to

preserve our environment for future generations and suc-cessfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve this, education is essential, and to this end, we must all play a proactive role in shouldering our respective responsibilities to protect our environment," said Al Hajri.

He added: “QSTec devel-oped Shams Generation as a part of an integrated strategy for solar energy innovation to take root amongst the youth of the nation. Through our initia-tive, we have fostered an environment where students, from an early age, are encour-aged to develop creative ideas, solutions and applications for solar energy. We all need to be more sustainable and by famil-iarizing our youth with environmental protection, sus-tainability and solar energy, QSTec is playing a vital role in protecting our planet.”

The exhibition, which is

open until May 1, displays a wide variety of art creations by students from 18 Inde-pendent and private schools

including Abu Bakr Assedeeq Preparatory Independent Boys, Al Bayan Primary Inde-pendent Girls , Qatar Academy Doha, Awsaj Acad-emy and ACS International School Doha among others.

This year’s exhibition also features solar art and engi-neering collaboration between students studying at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and Texas A&M Univer-sity at Qatar.

Since its launch in 2014, the Shams Generation initia-tive has reached over 16,000 students through its outreach programs. On its third year, this multi-award winning hands-on learning initiative was developed by QSTec, in collaboration with Qatar

Museums, to address the knowledge gap in the region on the use of solar energy and its applications. Shams Gen-eration educates the nation’s younger generation about the use of solar energy and the importance of environmental sustainability through an interdisciplinary approach to education combining science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.

In the lead-up to the exhi-bition, each participating school hosted in-school workshops, during which students created artwork using solar-powered kits and recycled materials. The best solar artworks were then shortlisted and are now show-cased at the Annex Room gallery at Fire Station.

400 solar artworks by students on display

Dr Khalid Al Hajri, Chairman and CEO of QSTec, during the inaugration of the Shams 3rd Generation Collective Exhibition at the Fire Station yesterday. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula

HIGH TIDE 03:30 - 16:45 LOW TIDE 10:15 - 22:30

Hazy at places at first becomes hot

daytime with slight dust at places

and some scattered clouds.

WEATHER TODAY

Minimum Maximum26oC 39oC

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