Volume 22 | Number 7234 | 2 RiyalsWednesday 26 July 2017 | 3 Dhul-Qa’Da 1438 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

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They have no right to impose such measures against a country. If the blockading nations are not held accountable for their illegal actions

towards Qatar, it would set an unhealthy precedent for smaller countries elsewhere,” says Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Washington

Al Jazeera

A Saudi lobby in the United States has launched a tele-vision advertisement

campaign against Qatar, contracts reviewed by Al Jazeera show, with $138,000 spent on seven, 30-sec-ond TV spots.

The TV spots have been pur-chased by the Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Commit-tee (SAPRAC). The advertisements, which began airing on NBC-4 in Washington, DC on July 23, say Qatar is supporting “terrorism” and destabilising US allies in the region, allegations that the Saudi-led group of countries has

maintained since cutting ties with Qatar on June 5. Doha rejects the allegations as “baseless”. Four of the ads will run during Meet the Press, a weekly news-interview programme that sees host Chuck Todd interview high-level politi-cians on Sunday mornings.

→ Continued on page 5

Saudi lobby pays $138,000 for anti-Qatar ads in the US

Japan welcomes Emir’s call for dialogueMINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS of Japan has wel-comed the call of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for resolving the Gulf crisis through dialogue, reiterating its support for the Kuwaiti mediation.The Director of Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau at the Ministry, Kenichiro Matsubayashi informed Qatar’s Ambassador.

→ See page 2

Diplomatic Magazine focuses on crisisTHE DIPLOMATIC INSTITUTE at the Ministry of For-eign Affairs has published the 35th edition of the Diplomatic magazine, which devoted a special file on the Gulf crisis, titled “Minister of Foreign Affairs: “We Ready for Dialogue”, and the shuttle tours of H E Sheikh Moham-med bin Abdulrahman Al Thani as well as the great efforts exerted by the Qatari Foreign Ministry in clarifying the true picture of the Gulf crisis to reveal the false allega-tions of the besieged countries.

The Peninsula

The representatives of international, regional and national organisations of journalists, human rights and freedom of

expression groups yesterday unequivocally con-demned the threats by the governments of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, demand-ing the closing down of Al Jazeera and other media outlets including Arabi21, Rassd, Al Araby Al Jadeed and Middle East Eye.

The two-day conference titled “Freedom of Expression, Facing up to the Threat” also sup-ported the developing of a new binding international instrument dedicated to the safety of journalists, including a specific enforcement mechanism, which would improve the inter-national response to attacks against journalists and the culture of impunity.

The representatives unanimously adopted Recommendations at the International Con-ference titled “Freedom of Expression, Facing up to the Threat”, organised by the National

Human Rights Committee of Qatar in co-oper-ation with the International Federation of

Journalists (IFJ) and the International Press Institute (IPI). → Continued on page 2

Rights bodies condemn siege countries’ threats

Travel alert THE GOVERNMENT of Peru has declared a 30-day state of emer-gency on July 20 in six southern regions after violence broke out in Juliaca in San Romano (Puno) province, Sancho, San Sebastian, Cusco in the province of Cusco, the Machu Picchu tourist area, and Oiantaytambo area in the prov-ince of Aropamia. An official source at the Consular Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged Qatari cit-izens who plan to travel to these areas, especially the tourist city of Machu Picchu, to be cautious during this period until security is restored.

Al Jazeera investigation showed a joint lobbying effort between Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Defence Minister: Liftblockade before talks

The blockade imposed on Qatar by four Arab states must be lifted before the country can engage into a dialogue, Qatar’s Defence Minister H E Khalid bin

Mohammed Al Attiyah said. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut ties with Qatar, accus-ing it of interfering in their affairs and supporting “terrorism”. Foreign diplomats have visited the region, urging dialogue to resolve the crisis that is now in its second month. However, Al Attiyah said “lifting the siege should precede any dialogue”.

“If the blockading countries remain reluctant to lift the siege, Qatar will be compelled to resort to the available international legal procedures to lift it,” Al Attiyah said in an interview with Russia Today.

→ Full report on page 2

Erdogan’s visit a catalyst to Kuwait mediation Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi Page -3

INSIDE

Ishaan Tharoor The Washington Post

In a meeting with a group of journalists from The Washington Post, yesterday, Qatar’s Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani

lamented what has been “a very long two months” for him and his colleagues. Since early June, four Arab countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt — have imposed a diplomatic and trade blockade of Qatar, which they accuse of colluding with extremist groups and seeking to destabilise its neighbours. Qatar reject these allegations.

The Foreign Minister, in his interview with The Washington Post yesterday, expressed eagerness for conciliation and dialogue. But he said Qatar as a victim of geopolitical bullying, cornered by larger neighbours who are seeking nothing short of the surrender of Qatari sovereignty.

“They have no right to impose such measures against a country,” said the Foreign Minister, adding that if the

blockading nations are not held accountable for their illegal actions towards Qatar, it would set an unhealthy precedent for smaller countries elsewhere.

“This is a high risk for world order, not just for Qatar,” said the foreign minister, who said Qatar was caught in a baseless conflict fuelled by

disinformation. That includes what he suggested was the initial spur for the crisis: A hack of Qatari state media, now pinned by US investigators on the UAE, which planted false quotes attributed to the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani that helped trigger the spat with other Gulf states.

In the latest bid to broker some form

of truce, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew to Saudi Arabia over the weekend and then arrived in Doha on Monday. Turkish officials said they’re pushing for direct talksbetween Qatar and the quartet of Arab countries that

have Doha in their crosshairs. At present, the Emir of Kuwait has played the role of intermediary.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has worked fitfully behind the scenes to mediate the dispute, but was initially hamstrung by mixed messaging from the White House, with President Trump appearing to take the side of Qatar’s adversaries.

The Foreign Minister said that he was in close communication with Tillerson. He played down any potential rift between Tillerson and Trump, whom he said had spoken with the Emir and indicated that Tillerson was “the only one in charge” of resolving the crisis.

Nevertheless, the dispute has entered a tense, rumbling stalemate. The quartet initially delivered a list of 13 of demands — including calls for Qatar to shutter its controversial television network, sever ties with Iran and remove Turkish troops stationed on Qatari soil — that were rebuffed by Doha. Anybody scanning the ultimatum, the Foreign Minister said, “would find it very offensive for a sovereign country to receive such list of demands.”

Qatar a victim of bullying: FM

Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani

Saudi-led group blacklists 18 individuals, groupsSAUDI ARABIA, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emir-ates have added 18 individuals and groups to its “terror list”. The four Arab states cut ties with Qatar on June 5. In addition to placing a political and economic blockade, the countries placed 71 Qatar-funded or Qatar-based indi-viduals and organisations on a ban list. The new entrants include entities from Libya and Yemen and individuals from Qatar, Yemen and Kuwait who the Arab states say have direct and indirect links to Qatari authorities.

Demonstrators including representatives of international human rights organisations and foreign press members gather to protest the closure demand of the Al Jazeera television at Al Jazeera’s building in Doha, yesterday.

Mueller double helps Bayern see-off spirited Chelsea

QIC Group’s GWP surges 14% to hit QR6.24bn in first half

BUSINESS | 17 SPORT | 24

SAPRAC founder and president Salman Al Ansari stirred controversy last October when he wrote in favour of strong ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

02 WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017HOME

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met Ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan to the State of Qatar, Ardeshir Qaderi, yesterday on the occasion of the end of his tenure in the country. The Prime Minister wished the Ambassador success in his future assignments.

Prime Minister meets Tajikistan envoy Emir greets India’s new PresidentQNA

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent a cable of congratula-

tions to President Ram Nath Kovind on his election and swearing in as President of the Republic of India. Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani also sent a cable of congratulations to the President Ram Nath Kovind on his election and swearing in as President of India. Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani also sent a similar cable of congratulations to President Ram Nath Kovind.

Japan hails Emir’s call for dialogueTokyo

QNA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has wel-comed the call of Emir H

H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for resolving the Gulf cri-sis through dialogue, reiterating its support for the Kuwaiti mediation.

Director of Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau at Ministry, Kenichiro Matsuba-yashi, informed Qatar’s Ambassador to Japan, Yousif bin Mohammed Bilal, during a meet-ing at the Qatari Embassy yesterday, that the call of the Emir for dialogue is in line with the position of Japan, which

stresses the importance of achieving stability in the region and resolving the crisis through dialogue, and that the GCC remains united in the fight against terrorism and extremism. The Japanese official reiterated his country’s support for Kuwait’s mediation efforts, expressing hope that the crisis would be resolved in a peaceful manner.

The Ambassador expressed his appreciation for Japan’s position and stressed that Qatar relies on an active role of Japan in calling for lifting the unjust siege on Qatar as soon as pos-sible due to the negative repercussions and the material, moral and humanitarian harm caused by the siege.

Al Attiyah praises Russia’s position on lifting siege QNA

Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah (pictured) praised Rus-sia’s clear position that

supports lifting the unjust siege imposed on the State of Qatar.

Al Attiyah said in an interview with Russian news channel RT that the speech of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was clear and compre-hensive, laying a road map and telling the truth that many knew but that some parties refuse to understand.

Al Attiyah noted that the Emir intended to deliver a speech to the Qatari people and residents since the beginning of the crisis but opted to delay the speech to a suitable time in response to the request of Emir of the State of Kuwait, H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, the mediator that is highly respected by the Qatari leadership.

He noted that the speech of the Emir rang a reminder of the principles and morals that the Qatari people were raised upon, such as avoiding misrep-resentation and lying to citizens. The speech also focused on Qatar’s commit-ment to enhancing bilateral ties with

different countries. The Emir in the speech also renewed Doha’s invitation to the siege countries to hold a dialogue, which was what Qatar was keen on since day one of the crisis.

The Minister of State for Defence Affairs noted that any future agreement must not infringe on the sovereignty of Qatar, and must be binding to all coun-tries and not just Qatar.

The Minister noted that dialogue must be preceded by a lifting of the siege. He added that Qatar, backed by countries who realised the invalidity of the siege, might resort to the available legal international measures to lift the siege in case those countries delay lift-ing it. Especially that the siege violated all international accords and conventions.

On the tweets made by US President Donald Trump against the State of Qatar following the Gulf crisis, Al Attiyah said that Qatar does not implement its pol-icies based on social media or spontaneous tweets. He stressed that the siege countries relied in their esca-lation on those tweets and neglected that the United States had institutions, with the US Department of State one of the most important among them, that backed the Qatari position very hon-estly after it realised that the crisis was

based on a hacking of Qatar News Agency.

On the possibility of moving the American base to another country, Dr Al Attiyah said that Qatar’s ties with the United States were strong and Wash-ington would not accept that. He noted that the Turkish military presence does not represent a source of sensitivity, not-ing that each side knows the importance of the other. He added that both sides know that their interests in Qatar can-not conflict.

He dismissed the notion that speed-ing up the sending of Turkish forces to Qatar was a precaution against poten-tial military escalation on Doha, saying

it worked for a long time on activating its defence agreement with Turkey. He added that the sending of Turkish forces coincided with the GCC crisis. He noted that all weapon deals that Qatar held with different countries aimed at devel-oping the Qatari army’s defence ability, including the deal with the United States. He added that it wasn’t rational for Qatar to buy arms that its military did not need.

On earlier remarks regarding Qatar having to participate in the Arab coali-tion in Yemen, Dr Al Attiyah said that they believed the Yemeni crisis could be resolved politically without exclud-ing any side. Despite that, Doha’s participation was in accordance to the principle supporting brothers whether they were oppressed or oppressors. He denounced a statement made by one of the siege countries’ ambassadors in Mos-cow, who said that Qatar conspired against the Arab coalition. Dr Al Attiyah described the remarks as lacking the necessary experience to judge such mil-itary issues.

The Minister added that Qatar admits that Ali Abdullah Saleh and Al Houthis represented a threat to Saudi Arabia. He added that it was not possi-ble to work with a side that had hidden agendas in Yemen, one that fights Ali Abdullah Saleh but at the same time

provides shelter to his spoilt son on their land.

The Minister expressed his regret that Qataris were prevented from car-rying out Umrah and faced obstacles in carrying out Haj, drawing parallels to preventing people of Al Quds from pray-ing in Al Aqsa mosque.

Al Attiyah also expressed his appre-ciation for Iran’s help of the Qatari people by opening up its airfield and providing food products. He noted that geography and oil partnership make it inevitable for Qatar to cooperate with Tehran, who has strong ties with some of the siege countries.

He noted that democracy in the State of Qatar has many facets. He stressed that ties between the ruler and the peo-ple in the state have a special nature that guarantees the Qatari people all their rights, starting with freedom of expression.

At the conclusion of the interview, Al Attiyah said that one of the facets of freedom of expression was the enforce-ment of systems and laws. He added that this led the siege countries to wrongly believe that they can cause a division between the Qatari people and their leadership, neglecting that Doha guar-antees its citizens the right to freedom of opinion.

Rights bodies express solidarity with media persons→ Continued from page 1They also expressed total

solidarity with journalists and other media and ancillary work-ers at Al Jazeera and other targeted media.

In the set of unanimously passed Recommendations, Con-ference recognises the numerous resolutions adopted in recent years by the UN General Assem-bly, the Security Council and the Human Rights Council deplor-ing the impact of attacks against journalists and other media workers on the public’s right to information and freedom of expression, and expressing con-cern at the chilling effect that such attacks, especially when perpetrated with impunity, have on the media as a whole.

Conference supports the developing of a new binding international instrument dedi-cated to the safety of journalists, including a specific enforcement mechanism, which would improve the international response to attacks against jour-nalists and the culture of impunity. A Convention on the Safety of Media Workers, poten-tially negotiated within the UN General Assembly, would present the advantage of system-atising the relevant obligations inferable from multiple legal texts and making them more accessible to decision-makers and law-enforcement authori-ties and bringing together the applicable human rights and humanitarian law norms,

tailoring them to the situation of journalists.

Conference finally believes that current legal provisions should be expanded beyond the obligation to protect journalists against attacks on their life, and include forced disappearances and kidnapping (by state or pri-vate actors), arbitrary arrest, intimidation, deportation/refusal of entry, confiscation/damage to property and new forms of vio-lence experienced by journalists during the 2011 Arab Spring, and further develop Human Rights Council resolutions S-2/1 and S-9/1 concerning the attacks on media installations and allow-ing access as well as safe media corridors in conflict zones.

Conference therefore calls on governments: To recognise all recommendations, covenants, declarations and resolutions promulgated or endorsed by international organisations such as the UN and its agencies such as Unesco; To implement forth-with the UN latest plan of action and enhance their working with organisations dedicated to the safety of journalists and media workers; To acknowledge and accept their obligations to give journalists protection as civilians in situations of conflict; To strengthen national mechanisms and laws including criminal laws and overhaul justice system to end impunity and to provide judicial and legislative assistance to prevent serious violations of international humanitarian laws

including the targeting of journalists.

On media freedoms, Confer-ence calls on governments to recognise the right of media organisations to report informa-tion freely and without interference from government and to allow citizens to access information on their own gov-ernment and institutions in the cause of transparency and accountability.

It also calls on governments to limit their ability to curtail media access and set the limits of reporting and access to infor-mation and allow transparent and independent adjudication on decisions relating to

publication.Conference also acknowl-

edges the vital role played by trade unions in supporting free-dom of expression for journalists and defending the right of jour-nalists to report on often contentious issues and hold power to account.

Recognising the danger in establishing legal limits on expression, and accepting the risks in allowing states the abil-ity intervene on online information, conference calls on governments and media organ-isations to work to challenge hate speech, including misogyny, racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, and extremism, and

to promote the idea that encour-aging a plurality of ideas and ideologies is the solution to chal-lenge bigotry and prejudice.

Conference also calls on journalists to respect codes of conduct that demand fairness, accuracy and the need to oppose the scapegoating of minorities and pandering to prejudice and ignorance.

On international workers rights, Conference recognises that the freedom of expression and in particular of the media is inextricably linked to the free-dom of media workers to carry out their professional role with-out fear of intimidation or discrimination.

Envoy: Qatar committed to dialogue to solve crisisVienna

QNA

Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Repub-lic of Austria, Sheikh

Ali bin Jassim Al Thani, affirmed Qatar’s continued commitment to dialogue and finding a solution to the cri-sis without compromising its sovereignty as a state.

“The State of Qatar is committed to the principles of the Gulf Cooperation Coun-cil, which oblige member states to resolve their differ-ences internally and through diplomatic means,” the Ambassador said in an inter-view with the Austrian daily DiePresse, stressing that the tactic of siege violates these rules as well as international law and human rights.

On the demands made by the siege countries, His Excel-lency said that they demanded that Qatar aban-dons its sovereignty and its independent foreign policy and demanded that freedom of expression be blocked through the closure of Al Jazeera, adding that the other party formulated its demands in a way that cannot be accepted due to legal considerations.

Key speakers at the International Conference titled “Freedom of Expression, Facing up to the Threat”, organised by the National Human Rights Committee of Qatar, yesterday.

The Peninsula

Ooredoo has y e s t e r d a y announced a spe-

cial offer for all new Shahry Smart customers, enabling them to get three months’ worth of data for free. Shahry Smart packs eligible for the free data offer start from just QR100 to QR450 per month.

The offer, which is available for customers both upgrading from Hala and signing-up to Shahry for the first time, has been designed to ensure access to knowl-edge and information is available for Qatar’s peo-ple via the Ooredoo Supernet.

Thanks to the pro-motion, new customers who subscribe to a Shahry 250 pack and above will enjoy 20GB of data per month, for three months (a massive 60GB of data in total).

Shahry 100 pack customers will get 6GB of free data for three months (18GB in total), and Shahry 150 custom-ers will get 10GB of free data for three months (30GB in total).

Ooredoo’s latest Shahry pack — Qatarna — is also included in the offer and new subscrib-ers can enjoy 20GB extra data per month for three months (60GB of data in total) on top of the nor-mal allowance of unlimited minutes to all networks in Qatar and 30GB of data.

The free data offer was available at Ooredoo Shops from yesterday onwards.

20GB free data for new Shahry customers for three months

03WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017 HOME

Erdogan’s visit a catalyst to Kuwaiti mediation: Dr. Al-ShafiSidi Mohamed The Peninsula

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit was not only to Doha but it also included Saudi Arabia and

Kuwait and there are some coun-tries which consider Turkish position as biased position.

“The Turkish position was clear from the beginning of the crisis and it supports Kuwaiti mediation to resolve the crisis through dialogue and negotia-tions based on respect of Qatar’s sovereignty,” said Dr. Khalid Mubarak Al-Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula while talking on Alaraby TV talk-show on the Gulf crisis.

“Turkish President’s visit was to provide more suggestions to resolve the crisis and it is not a mediator rather it is supporting Kuwaiti mediation. Before Erdogan’s visit there was also a visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Saudi Ara-bia in an attempt to broker a solution,” Dr. Al-Shafi said.

From the beginning, Dr. Al-Shafi said that Qatar rejects siege countries’ allegations and its demands. “Now the siege coun-tries, after international pressure, have retreated from the 13 demands, which we call in Qatar 13 allegations, to six and most of

six demands focus on terrorism while Qatar’s position on terror-ism is very well known which is to fight against terrorism,” Dr. Al-Shafi added.

Replying to question that Qatar was exploiting contradic-tions found in stance of Saudi Arabia and UAE, he said, “Qatar welcomed any solution to unify to GCC and Emir H H Sheikh Tamim

bin Hamad Al Thani has said in his recent speech that Qatar is ready for any dialogue that respects Qatar’s sovereignty. Same time, Qatar cannot force others for solu-tion if they don’t want.”

“But we should know that the UAE is jealous of Qatar because of its important position in the inter-national community. Two days ago we saw that United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the invitation of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin

Hamad Al Thani for dialogue to resolve the GCC crisis,” he said.

Dr. Al-Shafi said that the siege countries had thought that the blockade would affect Qatar and ultimately Qatar would give up and “this didn’t happen due to the wise Qatari leadership and unity of the peo-ple with their leader”.

For their sides, the guests

from France and Turkey, Ali Bakeer and Salah Al Ghadri, con-firmed that Turkey was not a mediator rather it was only sup-porting Kuwaiti efforts. They noted that during his visit, Turkish Pres-ident tried to persuade Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz to resolve the crisis and to take the initiative in this regard “but the problem is that some par-ties don’t want a solution”.

They further said that anyone who was following the develop-ments revolving around the crisis will discover that there are some changes in the last week. Saudi

Foreign Minister said that they (Saudi Arabia) are open on Qatar in case some changes happen.

“I think Saudi Arabia has achieved its goal which was to remove Mohammed bin Nayef with the help of the UAE,” said Salah Al Ghadri, a political researcher. The siege countries had committed a mistake in read-ing the political scenario.

“They were thinking that the US will agree with them but it didn’t happen and even some countries have accused Saudi Arabia of support ing terrorism,”Al Ghadri added.

Ali Bakeer, Researcher in International Relations said: “The military escalation hypothesis has become impossible after Turkish base. The siege countries have no option but to accept the retreat especially after the US pressure and leaks.”

The Turkish position is clear from the beginning of the crisis and it supports Kuwaiti mediation.

The UAE is jealous of Qatar and its place in the international community.

Qatar is ready for any dialogue that respects Qatar’s sovereignty.

Dr. Khalid Mubarak Al-Shafi, Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula talking on Alaraby TV talk-show on the Gulf crisis.

Dr. Khalid Mubarak Al-Shafi and other guests on Alaraby TV talk-show.

Qatar rejects siege countries’ allegations and its demands.

QDB holds second ‘Buy Local Products’ exhibitionThe Peninsula

Motivated by Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s latest

address to the nation, Qatar Development Bank (QDB) organ-ised the second edition of the ‘Buy Local Products’ exhibition in its renewed drive to support the development of indigenous industries, empower the local private sector and diversify the economy.

The exhibition was held at Al Dafna Hall, Sheraton Grand Doha yesterday. The exhibition series is designed to give a mer-chantable platform to native small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs) so that they may showcase their products and complement the nation’s renewed objective of localising the supply chain and increasing self-reliance.

Following the success of the first edition of ‘Buy Local Prod-ucts’, which witnessed the participation of 70 local compa-nies from across various sectors, the second edition was launched to further support local indus-tries through facilitating local procurement, especially for the industrial sector.

The second exhibition saw the participation of more than 150 companies as well as an even wider range of products on showcase than the first edition. T h e e x h i b i t i o n s a w

the following items on display: general building materials, plas-tics, aluminium and copper, steel and iron, wood, paper, glass products, detergents, informa-tion technology (IT) & equipment and marine sector services. The exhibition venue came equipped with different business-to-busi-ness (B2B) meeting halls that could be used by local suppliers and buyers to ink bilateral agree-ments and partnerships.

Commenting on the exhibi-tion, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), QDB, Abdulaziz bin

Nasser Al Khalifa said: “Over the course of time, our team, at QDB, has developed core services and initiatives aimed at accelerating the development of Qatar’s pri-vate sector – particularly the industrial sector. Today’s launch of the second edition of the ‘Buy Local Products’ exhibitions is yet another step in the same direc-tion and the purpose of this event serves to augment our ongoing efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in the local market. By strength-ening the ability of national suppliers to meet domestic

demand and linking local buy-ers and suppliers with each other, we seek to promote the microeconomics of a self-sus-taining economy.”

Recurring schemes, such as the eco-friendly Jahiz 1 and Jahiz 2 initiatives, also empower local suppliers that operate across a diverse range of industries, including: chemicals, electron-ics, plastics, wood materials as well as food and beverage.

Nasser Al Khalifa said: “Dur-ing the challenges of these prevailing times, Emir H H

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani reminded us of the para-mount importance of maintaining self-respect and composure when making rational, far-sighted decisions. In his last address, he laid unpar-alleled emphasis on the economic independence for our country. And for us to maintain our economic sovereignty, our industries and industry-owners need to continue to play their respective critical roles. Qatari products have demonstrated a strong promise in the local mar-ket by helping to meet nearly all the needs of our nation’s consumers.”

Notably, on the sidelines of the forum, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between QDB and Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ to launch the “Taaheel” programme for SMEs. Representing their respective organisations during the signing ceremony were CEO, QDB, Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa and President, Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’, Dr Eng Saad bin Ahmad Al Muhannadi.

The cooperation will include the Public Works Authority ‘Ash-ghal’ restructuring procurement regulations to prioritize vendor opportunities for local SMEs, while QDB, for its part, will focus on capability development of these SMEs and conduct regular meetings to monitor the per-formance of these companies.

QDB CEO Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa and other officials at the exhibition held yesterday.

Safety forum for major facilities heldQNA

The third forum for officials of hotels, com-mercial malls and security firms took place yesterday at the Directorate General of Civil

Defence. The forum, which is organised by the Facilities Security Department in cooperation with the Directorate General of Civil Defence, aimed to discuss and stress the importance of security sys-tems at major facilities such as hotels and commercial malls and the readiness of security personnel there.

The event featured lectures that focused on requirements of security and safety, fire systems, staff training, and the responsibilities of hotels and

commercial malls in implementing all safety and security conditions. Lecturers focused on the impor-tance of boosting the security of facilities through activating the strategic partnership with Qatar International Centre for Safety and Security to train workers in that field and coordinate with the dif-ferent security departments at the Ministry of Interior in relation to the working mechanisms of security monitoring and security systems.

At the end of the forum, Major Mohammed Marafiyah, the head of Operations Department at the Directorate General of Civil Defence, stressed the responsibility of directors of hospitality and commercial facilities to ensure the security meas-ures at their facilities.

Real estate trading volume tops QR572mDoha

QNA

Real estate transactions in Qatar during the period from July 16 to 20 were

worth QR572.90m, official data showed.

The weekly bulletin released by the real estate reg-istration department at the

Ministry of Justice said that the types of real estate traded ranged from plots of land, houses to residential com-pounds and multi-purpose buildings.

The majority of the trading took place in Al Rayyan, Doha, Al Khor, Al Dhakira, Al Wakrah, Al Shamal, Al Da’ayen, Umm Salal.

04 WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017HOME

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi, met Ambassador of Syrian Republic to the State of Qatar, Nizar al Haraki. They discussed bilateral relations and means of supporting and developing them as well as issues of mutual concern.

Dr Al Hammadi meets Syria’s Ambassador Qatar emerges stronger after 50 days of siegeSidi Mohamed The Peninsula

As Qatar completed 50 days under unjust blockade by siege countries, twitter was flooded

with messages of support for Qatar saying that the country has emerged stronger from the siege.

Yesterday marked the 50th day under the siege as the blockade was announced on June 5 by neighbouring countries.

“Today marks fifty days since the siege and marks 50 days on showing the world the Qatari morals and ethics,” tweeted Ali Al Naama.

A citizen, Dr Asma Al Fardan, said that “What we have experienced and learned during the siege should be doc-umented for generations to come.”

The life has remained nor-mal under the blockade, said residents. “It is has been 50 days since the blockade was imposed on Qatar, but life con-tinues normal. The blockade make us stronger than ever” said a Twitterati.

Residents also used this occasion to thank support of people from across the world.

“The love and support we received from the world is end-less and we are grateful for that,” said Noor.

“I am so proud to be Qatari, proud of the expats living in Qatar and proud of whoever is supporting Qatar,” Noor added.

The government has ensured that residents did not feel any difference in their daily lives. Nasser Al Qatari tweeted that “I swear I will spend my time and efforts to serve Qatar. I will show the Qatari morals to the world.”

Wafae Al Khulaifi tweeted “Remove the blockade imposed on #Qatar from #UAE#Saudi Arabia and #Bahrain it is an unjustified aggression”.

Some felt that the unjust siege had made citizens more patriotic as residents were seen showing for the leadership by through various means.

“First time in the history of Qatar.. We celebrated the national day for 50 days in a row,” tweeted a person.

The life has remained normal in under the blockade, said residents.

Vodafone fully resolves technical issues The Peninsula

Vodafone Qatar has now fully resolved the techni-cal issues that impacted its

network including all 3G and 4G+ voice and data services. The com-pany also announced the details of its customer appreciation pro-gramme YOU FIRST.

On July 17, Vodafone Qatar experienced a major network outage with its Home Location Register (HLR) a key hardware component of its core network. The equipment failure took place

during a network upgrade and extended to the network back-up and redundancy systems.

Vodafone deployed all avail-able resource to restore full connectivity across the network with the support of network experts who flew into Qatar from Vodafone Group. Vodafone is now taking further measures to enhance its network resiliency with new hardware and software that exceeds industry standards.

The YOU FIRST programme will give Vodafone’s consumer

and business Postpaid custom-ers a total of 18 GB of free data over the next 3 months, 6GB each month plus 30% of their monthly plan fee credited on their next bill. Customers will be notified by SMS when their free data has been added. Additionally, new Postpaid customers who sign up before August 15, will also receive 30% of their monthly plan fee credited to their first month bill.

Prepaid customers will receive 500 Flex which will be valid for 5 days to use any way they want — for international and

local calls, SMS or data. Custom-ers will be notified by SMS within the next 2 weeks when their FLEX has been added. Customers can discover how FLEX works at www.vodafone.qa/flex. In addi-tion, all balances that expired on July 17 have been returned to cus-tomers in full.

Ian Gray, CEO, Vodafone Qatar said, “We strive to provide our customers with world-class service every day and the outage of our network is most disap-pointing to us and our customers.”

HMC cautions against heat-related illnesses The Peninsula

Hamad Medical Corpora-tion (HMC) has advised people to take necessary

precautions to safeguard against heat-related illnesses as the summer temperatures continue to rise. While sunburn, heat exhaustion and heat stroke can occur at any time of the year, cases of heat-related illnesses are more common in Qatar dur-ing the summer months.

Health experts agree that children and older adults are most susceptible to heat-related illnesses.

Dr Khalid Al Ansari,Director of Pediatric Emergency Services at HMC recommends parents and caregivers keep children inside during hot days where they have access to air condi-tioning, adding that staying in shaded areas is advisable when outside. He noted that like older

adults, children are also at increased risk of heat-related ill-ness because they don’t adjust to changes in environmental conditions as quickly as most healthy adults do.

According to Dr Al Ansari, around 25 children in Qatar were treated at HMC in 2016 for heat exhaustion and heat stroke. He said that children exposed to high temperatures such as in parked vehicles and humid weather, are at the greatest risk of heat stroke.

“Parents should not leave children unattended in vehicles parked outside during the day. It is always advisable to take children inside because if a car is parked in the sun for even a short amount of time, for exam-ple, 10 minutes, the temperature inside the car can rise by 10 degrees,” he cautioned.

Chronic medical conditions, such as heart disease, poor

circulation, and obesity can hinder a person’s ability to cool down, and many of these con-ditions are more common in older adults. Additionally, cer-tain medications, such as those used to treat high blood pres-sure, heart disease and depression can diminish an indi-vidual’s ability to respond to heat, placing older adults at an increased risk of heat-related illnesses.

Dr Al Ansari explained that the signs of heat exhaustion to watch for include dizziness, nau-sea, vomiting, tiredness, muscles cramps, difficulty breathing and a racing heart rate. If left untreated, heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke.

“If you notice signs of heat exhaustion, the best action to take is to get the affected person out of the hot area. Take him or her to an air-conditioned area. Have them lie down, and

provide plenty of cool fluids,” said Dr Al Ansari.

He advised removing heavy clothing and applying cold com-presses to the body to bring the temperature down gradually.

“Usually within 30 to 45 minutes, the person should feel better. However, if the heat exhaustion continues and symp-toms are not attended to promptly, heat exhaustion will progress to heat stroke with the body temperature rising as high as 40 degrees,” he warned.

Dr. Al Ansari explained that patients experiencing heat stroke may lose consciousness, experience fainting, and seizure activity and can even go into a coma. “If these symptoms con-tinue, blood pressure will drop and the person can die,” said Dr. Al Ansari. He noted that if any of these symptoms are experi-enced, immediately dial 999 and seek emergency assistance.

QFFD holds meeting with charitable, development firmsQNA

Qatar Fund for Develop-ment (QFFD) has held the fourth coordination meet-

ing with the Heads of Qatar’s charitable and development institutions.

The meeting aims to enhance strategic cooperation and exchange of knowledge in the field of international development and foreign aid in addition to work within the framework of the State of Qatar’s international development policy and foreign aid, which focuses on the sectors of education, health, economic empowerment, combating pov-erty and relief work.

The meeting tackled the eval-uation of the joint action framework of the national devel-opment and humanitarian

institutions to achieve the objec-tives of sustainable development, coordinate external development and humanitarian activities and activate the role of cooperation with international and humani-tarian organizations in order to strengthen and document the international role of the State of Qatar in the field of foreign aid.

In the context, HE Director General of QFFD Khalifa bin Jas-sim Al Kuwari stressed that the strategic coordination meetings between the Fund and the Qatari charities and foundations work-ing in the field of foreign relief and development assistance aim to enhance joint cooperation to implement Qatar’s foreign policy and strategy in the field of foreign aid. They also aim to recognize regional and international dimen-sions and trends related to such

assistance as well as the roles of Qatari institutions working in the development and humanitarian fields and their endeavors to raise the level of aid and increase its effectiveness, he said adding that the meetings also aim to highlight Qatar’s bright and pioneering role in the field of international devel-opment at both regional and international levels.

He explained that during the meeting, they discussed the best ways for Qatari institutions to participate in the realization of the policies and strategies of the State in the field of foreign aid and to announce opportunities for future projects in which they can coop-erate in financing and implementing in order to stimu-late cooperation, reduce costs and enhance the developmental impact.

Russia ready to help resolve crisisMoscow

QNA

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed that his country is ready

to help calm and resolve the current GCC crisis.

Itar-tass reported yesterday that Lavrov said that Russia was keen on resolving the crisis while taking in consideration the fears of both sides and look-ing for solutions that will be acceptable to all parties involved. He added that Russia supports the mediation efforts of Kuwait. He also said that if all parties involved decide that Russia can do something use-ful in addition to Kuwait’s efforts, Russia will be ready to respond to those requests.

Lavrov noted that Russia

was in touch with all parties involved in the crisis and that Russia was aware of the efforts of other countries keen on hav-ing the situation in the Gulf return to normal.

He said that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson paid an active visit to the region, France and the United Kingdom were also ready to help. He said that Russia will support any effort that can avoid the current sit-uation turning into a chronic state.

QNA

The rate of detecting d r u g - r e l a t e d crimes through the

different state ports has dropped in June and July of this year by 90 percent compared to the previ-ous months of the year, an official source at the Ministry of Interior’s Drugs Enforcement Administration said.

The source said the Ministry is doing all it can in coordination with rel-evant state entities and at the regional and inter-national levels to counter and combat this crime.

Drug-related crimes drop in June and July: Ministry

Russia will support any effort that can avoid the current situation turning into a chronic one.

05WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017 HOME

The employees of Galfar Al Misnad, leading engineering & construction company, in front of the mural of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at it’s office premise in Al Hilal. The mural, displayed in front of the building, was signed by its employees to show solidarity and support for the achievements and vision of Qatar’s leadership. Satish G Pillai, Executive Director of Galfar Al Misnad, expressed gratitude to the leadership of Qatar.

Fazeena Saleem The Peninsula

The ongoing unjust blockade on Qatar by siege countries has not affected expatriate students. Expressing

solidarity with Qatar, they said the country has given the best quality higher education to them.

Several expatriate students at the Hamad Bin Khalifa Uni-versity (HBKU), The Peninsula spoke to, said they consider Qatar as their second home.

Waqas Nawaz, a Pakistani student doing his PhD in Sustain-able Energy, at HBKU’s College of Science and Engineering said, “Over the past five years, I have seen that the people of Qatar are like a big family and it gave me immense pleasure to see that nothing has changed even in the tough times. The country is blessed with the leadership of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and it is now our responsibility to stay united and stand with him confidently in support of our country.”

HBKU of Qatar Foundation is an emerging research univer-sity that acts as a catalyst for transformative change in Qatar and the region while having glo-bal impact.

Being here for five years,

Qatar is second home for Nawaz and has a deep affection for the country. “There is a famous say-ing that ‘true character of nations comes out at the time of difficul-ties’ and I must say that the character of people of Qatar has indeed came out in the light of current situation. It is commend-able how people have stood by each other in an unprecedented situation. My message to the fel-low countrymen is to continue to stay united and take this situ-ation as an opportunity to flourish in future. In order to ‘think globally and act locally’ – promote the Qatari products since these are no less in quality than other products,” he said.

“The opportunities that one gets in Qatar for research and

development, and academia are matchless to what is offered in other parts of the world,” said Nawaz who came to Qatar in 2012 as a Masters student in Texas A&M University at Qatar.

“The country’s ideology to diversify the economy and investing in human capital are the two core instruments which brings quality education at the door step. As a result, we get to see the world’s top universities in the country, state of the art laboratories, and most impor-tantly, a research culture. I believe that my development as an engineer, as a researcher, as a human being could not have been better,” he added.

Similarly Wafa Trad, a Tuni-sian studying for Juris Doctor at

HBKU’s College of Law and Pub-lic Policy, expressing solidarity with the country said, “Qatar has given a lot to us and we will always be grateful.” She says, higher education is unique in Qatar and delivers international standard opportunities.

“Unlike higher education elsewhere, where you need to travel to receive a good education, being a student in Qatar means that the world will travel to you to offer a high- quality education. So, I personally think that the most significant role played by Qatar’s higher education is that it exposes students to different teaching methodologies presented by an elite of a

qualified, experienced and reputable professors from around the world,” said Wafa.

“This has certainly developed my critical thinking skills besides other personal and professional capabilities. What is also worth noting, is the world-class facilities and the generous research funds offered by Qatar’s educational institutions to its students,” she added. Umair Dogar is the other expatriate student who has been in Qatar for almost 17 years. He first studied at the Georgetown University in Qatar and is now following Juris Doctor program at HBKU’s College of Law and Public Policy. “I have lived in Qatar since 2000 and can be

easily considered as a complete product of Qatar’s Higher Education. I started my higher education at the Georgetown University in Qatar and now studying at the HBKU. I am graduating next year with a strong resolve to give back to the country that has given me so much,” he said.

Expressing solidarity with the country, Dogar said, “Qatar’s leadership has already given its people so much to be proud of. Their mature response to recent events has got to be the icing on the cake. Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, you are indeed glorious. You have set an example for many to follow in the years to come.”

Life normal for expatriate students despite siege

FROM LEFT: Wafa Trad, Umair Dogar and Waqas Nawaz.

“Over the past five years, I have seen that the people of Qatar are like a big family and it gave me immense pleasure to see that nothing has changed even during the tough times. The country is blessed with the leadership of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and it is now our responsibility to stay united and stand with him confidently in support of our country,” said Waqas Nawaz, a Pakistani student doing his PhD in Sustainable Energy, at HBKU’s College of Science and Engineering.

Irfan Bukhari The Peninsula

Condemning the demand from the blockading countries of shutting down Al Jazeera,

John Yearwood, President of the International Press Institute (IPI) has said that Al Jazeera is the most favourite news channel of people from Morocco to Jakarta.

“IPI condemns in strongest words the demand from Saudi-led coalition to shut down Al Jazeera. What was good to watch was the unanimous reaction from across the world which forced the block-ading countries to rescind the demand in the revised version of demands,” Yearwood said while talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of two-day conference “Freedom of Expression: Facing up to the threat” organised by National Human Rights Commit-tee (NHRC).

He said that all human rights, press freedom organisations had condemned the demand of clos-ing down Al Jazeera with one voice. “They heard us and they also heard the voice of their people who like Al Jazeera whose days begin and end at watching Al Jazeera.”

He said that he had travelled a

lot in Islamic countries and had witnessed that the people from Morocco to Jakarta were fond of Al Jazeera and its independent reporting.

He said that people also used to watch other channels including state-run electronic media news channels but for independent cov-erage of events they would depend on Al Jazeera.

“Fortunately they (blockading countries) realized the feeling of people and have rescinded the demand in new version having six points. The demand of closing down Al Jazeera was unaccepta-ble for their people too who think that state-run TV channels cannot go outside the line while Al Jazeera has the courage to paint independ-ent stories.”

To a question about recent demand by the blockading coun-tries to restructure Al Jazeera, Yearwood said that it was trou-bling. “How can a country ask the other to close an independent, international media outlet,” he questioned.

IPI President said that Doha conference on freedom of press would highlight the issue interna-tionally. “Such a conference on media freedom would have been

held in Riyadh or Jeddah instead,” he quipped.

To another question, Year-wood said that Al Jazeera, in the long run, would introduce social and political reforms in the region. “Information is power therefore these (blockading) countries are afraid of it,” he said.

Regarding social media, Year-wood said that it was incredibly important but there was a dire need of exercising responsibility. “Now social media companies are coming together to devise ways to cleanse social media platforms from which I call “pollution’ like fake news etc. Facebook is hiring more people to accomplish the task,” he added.

IPI condemns demand to shut down Al Jazeera

John Yearwood, President of the International Press Institute. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula

Continued from page 1The programme leads the

Sunday show news market and has seen gains in view-ership over the past year, according to reports.

For the four spots, total-ling 120 seconds, SAPRAC paid $120,000, or $1,000 per second. The three other ads were aired during the British Open golf tournament on July 23 and cost $6,000 each.

Kip Cassino, Executive Vice-President of research of a market research firm Bor-rell Associates, said SAPRAC probably does not want to influence the public, but deci-sion-makers, given the few spots purchased for the ad.

“Having a few ads is not much repetition. There’s not much to gain from it,” Cas-sino told Al Jazeera, adding that current research suggests that repetition is key to influ-encing an audience.

Richard Lau, a professor of political science at Rutgers University who specialises in media effects in political cam-paigns and political persuasion, agreed. The few airings, time slots and the fact that the advertisement is only airing in DC means there is a

select audience: politicians.The ad “would only be in

the service of influencing government policy towards the countries. It’s not like a campaign where people are going to go out and vote for Saudi Arabia or Qatar”, Lau said. Lau doubted the effec-tiveness of the TV spot, saying that experts and politicians in Washington, DC, are some of the most informed individu-als regarding foreign policy, and many have already made up their minds on the issue of who funds “extremist” organ-isations in the Middle East.

“What strikes me as inter-esting is that Saudi Arabia is starting a new strategy for influencing opinion in Amer-ica,” he said. The strategy is headed by the new pro-Saudi lobby organisation in Wash-ington, DC. Salman Al Ansari, a Saudi writer, lobbyist and political commentator who has become a fixture on US national news networks, is SAPRAC’s founder and pres-ident. The ad firm, which is typically employed by Dem-ocratic candidates and received more than $9m in payments for the 2016 elec-tion cycle, made a

commission of more than $20,000 on the SAPRAC deal.

Canal Partners Media did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on its relationship with SAPRAC.

For Riza Marashi, Research Director at the DC-based National Iranian American Council, SAPRAC is one of the most obvious instances of warmer Israeli-Saudi relations.

Israel has a long history of influencing US politics through its lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Marashi said he has noticed “a willingness” from pro-Israel lobbyists and groups to teach SAPRAC how to lobby, “particularly since King Salman and Mohammed bin Salman came into the most powerful positions”.

An Al Jazeera probe in June also showed a joint lob-bying effort between Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Marashi noted that Saudi Arabia had a pow-erful lobbying apparatus in Washington for years, but it was mostly done through the embassy through a behind-the-scenes strategy.

Paid ads meant to influence govt policy on countries

The Peninsula

In his capacity as the CMIO, Dr Alyafei and his team will oversee the successful and safe integration of best practice healthcare

technologies within the Sidra Outpatient Clinic as well as the main hospital. The integration will assist physicians to ensure they provide top quality and safe care to all patients com-ing to Sidra. This includes improving the efficiencies and the effectiveness of medical and IT services and their functions within a hospital environment.

Dr Alyafei will be in charge of implement-ing an extensive health information exchange system that links Sidra with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC). The system will allow physicians to review and share patient infor-mation accurately and securely and is part of the Qatar National Health strategy to set up a single medical record system across the entire healthcare network. he was previously the Vice CMIO before his appointment as CMIO

was confirmed in June.Dr Kee was appointed as the Chair of

Anesthesiology at Sidra in June 2017. He joins Sidra from his previous role as the Professor and Director of Obstetric Anesthesia and Director of Research at the Chinese Univer-sity of Hong Kong where he led one of the world’s top clinical research teams in obstet-ric anesthesia.

Sidra appoints Dr Khalid Alyafei as CMIO

Dr Alyafei (left),CMIO,Sidra and Dr Warwick Ngan Kee, Chair of Anesthesiology.

Galfar Al Misnad shows support to Qatar

06 WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017HOME / MIDDLE EAST

The officials of Ali Bin Ali Group (ABA), Adel Ali bin Ali (third right), Chairman; Nabeel Ali bin Ali (fourth left), Vice-Chairman; Ahmed bin Majed Al Madheed (second left); and guests, pose after signing solidarity messages on the permanent ‘Signature Wall’ unveiled at the ABA headquarters in Doha yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula

ABA unveils ‘Signature Wall’

The Peninsula

QSF Summer Entertain-ment City, now in its 5th week, is providing a

basketball theme to this week’s entertainment, featur-ing Serbia’s Dunking Devils acrobatic slam dunking team.

In addition, the organiser hosts a QSF 3-on-3 MallJam Basketball Tournament, giv-ing players of all backgrounds a chance to win QAR8,000 in championship prize money. The action is open to the pub-lic and is located at Doha Exhibition & Convention Center (next to City Center Mall).

The line-up this Friday and Saturday at Summer Entertainment City includes: QSF 3-on-3 MallJam Basket-ball Tournament - all day long Dunking Devils – Three High-Flying Shows at 6:00pm, 7:15pm, and 8:30pm. Extreme skating and BMX demonstra-tions each evening

Speaking about this week-end’s entertainment, Adil Ahmed, Founder & CEO of organiser, QSports, had this to say: “In celebration of the fast-rising sport of Basketball in Qatar, we have created the perfect platform, at Summer Entertainment City, to display Qatar’s best players and Ser-bia’s famous Dunking Devil’s team.” He added “there will be many local basketball teams competing for significant prize money, making Summer Entertainment City the center of Qatar’s basketball scene. In

addition to our entertainment, there will be more than 85 activities available for the entire family, making the Gold Pass (QR165) a popular choice amongst our visitors, saving up to 85% off regular prices of included attractions.”

The theme of Summer Entertainment City changes weekly, in line with scheduled entertainment and social media contests, with an array of fantastic prizes from

Official Partner, Shangri-La Hotel Doha, as well as Aqua Park Qatar, and Warwick Hotel. In addition to all the activities and prizes, Summer Entertainment City also fea-tures a more than 40 dining options, including Johnny Rockets, Chilis, Jolibee, Baba Chapatea, Charisma, and more.

Following Basketball Week, the next week will take on a Georgian theme, with

special performances that cel-ebrate the culture of Georgia.

For a Limited Time, Offi-cial Partner, Shangri-La Hotel Doha (located next door to Summer Entertainment City) has arranged special stayca-tion packages in Qatar, offering a 3-day, 2-night stay with addition perks, includ-ing tickets to Summer Entertainment City from just QAR775.

Special treats await you at QSF

The Peninsula

International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) has unveiled the “Tamim Al Majd” mural, dur-

ing an official signing ceremony at the Bank’s main branch, in the presence of IBQ senior manage-

ment and staff. The installation of the

mural was an initiative to show unity and loyalty to Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The mural was signed by several attendees during the ceremony, illustrating their

solidarity and allegiance to the country. The iconic artwork was originally created by Qatari artist, Ahmed Almaad-heed and has generated a ground-breaking, positive impact in society, ever since its initiation.

IBQ unveils ‘Tamim Al Majd’ mural

IBQ staff in front of the ‘Tamim Al Majd’ mural at its main branch.

The Peninsula

The Ministry of Econ-omy and Commerce has carried out a sur-prise inspection campaign targeting

tyre shops and warehouses in the Industrial Area in a bid to monitor the compliance of sup-pliers (retail outlets) with their obligations under law number (8) of 2008 on Consumer Protection.

The inspection campaigns come within the framework of the Ministry’s efforts to regulate and monitor markets and com-mercial activities as well as to crack down on price manipula-tion and uncover violations in a bid to protect consumer rights.

This inspection campaign resulted in the seizure and inspection of 185 tyres of three brands. The concerned depart-ment sent samples of these tyres for inspection by competent authorities. Authorities found that original expiry dates were concealed and replaced with new expiry dates on 30 of the seized tyres, which represents a violation of article (7) of law

number (8) of 2008. Article 7 compels suppliers to clearly dis-play on the product’s package the type and nature of the item as well as other relevant data in line with the law’s implement-ing regulations. The law also compels the display of warning risks pertaining to the use of the product while prohibiting the display of fraudulent descrip-tions, advertisements and misleading statements.

Violations of law number 8 of 2008 on Consumer Protec-tion result in penalties including administrative closures and fines ranging between QR3,000 and QR1m.

The ministry stressed that it will not tolerate any violations of the Consumer Protection and its regulations and will intensify its inspection campaigns to

crackdown on violations. The ministry said it will refer those who violate laws and ministe-rial decrees to competent authorities, who will in turn take appropriate action against per-petrators in order to protect consumer rights.

The ministry urges all con-sumers to report violations or submit complaints and sugges-tions through the following channels:Call Centre: 16001Email: info@mec.gov.qaThe accounts of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce on social networksTwitter MEC_QATAR Instagram MEC_QATAR

The application of the Min-istry of Economy and Commerce on iPhone and Android devices MEC_QATAR

Ministry holds raids at tyre shops

An official from the ministry examines tires at a shop in Industrial Area, yesterday.

The inspection campaigns come within the framework of the Ministry’s efforts to regulate and monitor markets and commercial activities as well as to crack down on price manipulation and uncover violations in a bid to protect consumer rights.

Activities at QSF Summer Entertainment City.

Geneva

Reuters

Yemen’s cholera outbreak is set to hit 400,000 cases yes-terday but there are signs the

three-month-old epidemic is slow-ing, according to World Health Organization data.

A dramatic fall over the past month in the number of people dying from the disease each day—from about 30 to single figures—suggests the WHO’s strat-egy of setting up a network of rehydration points to catch patients early is working.

Cholera, which is spread by ingestion of food or water contam-inated by the Vibrio cholerae bacterium, can kill within hours if untreated. The deaths figures indi-cate that 99.5 percent of patients now survive in Yemen, where a devastating civil war and economic collapse has left millions on the brink of starvation.

“We are confronted with the vicious circle where war destroys (the) water distribution system, water is not available or contami-nated and people are infecting themselves,” ICRC President Peter Maurer said during a visit to Taiz governorate on Tuesday.

“To cope with the crisis we need a fundamental change in attitude and behavior of the belligerents,” an ICRC statement quoted Maurer as saying. The latest WHO situation report showed 396,086 Yemenis

were thought to have caught the diarrhoeal disease by July 24, about 1 in 50 of the population. There were 1,869 associated deaths.

New cases are continuing at between 5,000 and 6,000 per day, but the epidemic curve shows that the outbreak peaked about three weeks ago, according to the WHO.

Such epidemics normally see as many cases after the peak as before, however, and the Interna-tional Committee of the Red Cross has predicted that the number of people affected will have hit 600,000 people by the end of 2017.

The cholera outbreak has prompted the U.N. to revise its humanitarian assessment and it now calculates 20.7 million Yem-enis are in need of assistance, up from the previous figure of 18.8 mil-lion. Cholera is also spreading in Somalia, Kenya, Congo, Nigeria, Tanzania and South Sudan, where the WHO is about to start a vacci-nation campaign with 500,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine.

Despite Yemen’s huge out-break, the biggest in any country in the space of a year, it has put off a vaccination campaign until 2018, the WHO said.

“A cholera vaccination cam-paign originally planned for July 2017 has been postponed at the request of the health authorities, in favour of a much larger preventive campaign next year targeting mil-lions of Yemenis at risk of the disease,” a WHO statement said.

Yemen cholera epidemic slowing after infecting 400,000 in 3 months

07WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Jerusalem

Reuters

Israel removed metal detec-tors from the entrances to the Al Aqsa mosque com-pound in Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday in favour of

CCTV cameras, hoping to calm days of bloodshed, but Palestin-ians said the modified security m e a s u r e s w e r e s t i l l unacceptable.

The spike in tensions and the deaths of four Palestinians in violence on Friday and Saturday raised international alarm and prompted a session of the United Nations Security Council to con-sider ways of defusing the crisis.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and the senior Muslim cleric who oversees Al Aqsa compound both turned down the new Israeli measures and demanded all of them be removed.

“We reject all obstacles that hinder freedom of worship and we demand the return to the sit-uation where things stood before July 14,” Hamdallah told his cab-inet in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Waqf, the religious body

that runs the Islamic sites in the Al Aqsa compound, said wor-shippers would continue to stay away from the elevated, marble-and-stone plaza and pray in the streets outside.

A Waqf spokesman said it was awaiting a decision of a technical committee but was demanding the situation revert to the way it was before July 14, when the metal detectors were installed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet of senior ministers voted

to remove the metal detector gates early yesterday after a meeting lasting several hours.

David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel, said while visiting Israel’s parliament that Washington had talks with Israel and Jordan to resolve the crisis.

“(There was) a lot of hard work behind the scenes, discus-sions by senior officials in the United States, and of course, with the prime minister and with the king of Jordan, (and) we were able to defuse the situation very quickly that obviously, under other circumstances, could have not ended as successfully,” Friedman said.

A statement issued after the security cabinet meeting said it had decided to heed a recom-mendation of Israeli security bodies and replace the detectors with “smart checking” devices.

In the pre-dawn hours, municipal workers began work in some of the narrow stone-paved streets around the Al Aqsa compound to install overhead metal beams that will hold closed-circuit TV cameras. Israeli media said there were plans to invest in advanced camera sys-tems. The cabinet statement added that it had allocated up to

100m shekels ($28m) for the equipment and for additional policing over the next six months.

CCTV images indicated that the two Israeli police officers on guard duty were shot dead by three Israeli Arabs who had concealed weapons inside the Al Aqsa compound, Islam’s

third most sacred site.The dispute, like many in

the Holy Land, is about much more than security devices, taking in issues of sovereignty, religious freedom, occupation and Palestinian nationalism. Jordan’s King Abdullah has called on Israel to return to the

pre-July 14 status quo and lift all unilateral measures taken since the attack on the police-men. Thousands of Jordanians chanted “Death to Israel” yes-terday as they attended the funeral of a teenager shot dead by an Israeli embassy security guard.

Israel removes metal detectors at Al Aqsa

Palestinians performing noon prayer in front of Al Aqsa Mosque Compound after Israeli authorities decided to remove metal detectors in Jerusalem, yesterday.

Beirut

AP

Airstrikes in a Damascus suburb have killed eight people, including chil-

dren, the area’s first casualties since Russia said three days ago that it reached an agreement with the Syrian opposition on the boundaries for a de-escala-tion zone in the capital’s eastern suburbs, opposition activists and a paramedic group yesterday.

The airstrikes on Arbeen, just before midnight Monday, also caused material damage. Residents in Damascus said insurgent groups fired several shells an hour later that fell near

the Russian embassy in Damas-cus with no reports of casualties. The Syrian Civil Defense group, more popularly known as the White Helmets, and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say the airstrikes on Arbeen killed eight and wounded dozens. The White Helmets said the eight killed included five children and two women.

Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian Military General Staff had said earlier that Mos-cow deployed military police to monitor the cease-fire in a safe zone in the eastern suburbs of Damascus.

In neighboring Lebanon,

two international human rights groups called on Lebanese authorities to disclose their find-ings into the fate of four Syrian refugees who died while in cus-tody of the Lebanese army.

The four were detained in a sweeping security raid late last month in refugee settlements in and around the border town of Arsal that netted 355 Syrians. The town and its surrounding area was the scene of a major cross-border attack in 2014, when more than two dozen Leb-anese soldiers were abducted.

A Lebanese military probe aired on state-run media on Monday said the four died of natural causes.

Abuja

AFP

Hundreds of young Nige-rians marched on the country’s parliament

yesterday, calling for lawmak-ers to remove age barriers on political posts, including the presidency.

Nigeria’s 1999 constitution stipulates that the president has to be at least 40, while senators and state governors have to be aged 35 or above.

But with an increasingly young demographic in Africa’s most populous nation and a majority of voters (55.4 percent) in the 18-35 age group, the restriction is seen as unfair.

About 500 protesters, wearing white T-shirts and brandishing placards proclaim-ing “#NotTooYoungToRun”, marched two kilometres (1.5 miles) to the National Assem-bly. A sit-in was planned outside the parliament build-ing until lawmakers vote on a constitutional amendment to lower the age. Protest leader Samson Itodo said they needed a two-thirds majority in the 109-seat senate and the 360-seat House of Representatives to vote in their favour.

“For us, we are saying remove the age limit com-pletely. If you are eligible to vote, you should be eligible to run for office,” he said.

“That is full franchise. But what we currently enjoy is par-tial franchise.” Nigeria’s current

head of state is President Muhammadu Buhari, a 74-year-old former military ruler who has been out of the country on indefinite medical leave since May 7. Buhari’s age is not an exception in Africa, where many elderly presidents remain in power, including Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, who is still president at the age of 93. Itodo said Nigeria had a “youthful population” so it was crucial young people were more involved in the political process.

Hamzat Lawal, from the NotTooYoungToRun group, said the campaign was about equal opportunity and improv-ing good governance.

“If they (lawmakers) don’t vote today, let us sleep at the National Assembly so that they know that we are serious that young people count,” he added.

“We must ensure that this legislation sees the light of the day.” Senator Dino Melaye, rep-resenting members of the upper and lower chambers of parlia-ment, promised protesters the issue had been given careful attention.

“There is already a proposal that will be debated between today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday) in the National Assembly in the ongoing con-stitutional amendment,” he said. “The age qualification for the presidency has been reduced from 40 to 35 while the ages for state governorship has been reduced from 35 to 30.

Rabat

AFP

A Moroccan court yester-day sentenced to three months in jail a jour-

nalist accused of having “invited” people to take part in banned protests in the res-tive north, his website said.

Hamid El Mahdaoui was arrested on Thursday at the start of a banned demonstra-tion in the northern city of Al Hoceima, during which pro-testers clashed with police.

El Mahdaoui, who heads the Badil online news site, was found guilty of helping to organise “a non-authorised march” as well as having “invited” others to take part in the protest, the website said. He was sentenced to three months in jail and fined 20,000 dirhams (1,800 euros), Badil said, adding that he could appeal the verdict.

The journalist, known for criticising authorities partic-ularly in videos posted on YouTube, was already facing prosecution after two govern-ment ministers accused him of defamation.

Ankara

Reuters

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (pictured) said yesterday Israel would pay

a price for a dispute over secu-rity measures it imposed at the entrance to Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

“Israel, which shows no respect for the Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock, will see itself suffer the most damage,” Erdogan said, referring to Muslim sacred

sites in the elevated compound holy to both Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem’s walled Old City.

“I have heard of Israel’s deci-sion to remove the metal detectors, and I hope the rest will follow,” Erdogan told parliamen-tarians from his AK Party. “...We expect Israel to take steps for the peace of the region.”

Al Aqsa, one of Islam’s holi-est sites and a nationalist symbol for Palestinians seeking their own state, is built on a compound revered by Jews as the vestige of

their two ancient temples. The site lies in East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in a 1967 war and annexed to form part of its “eternal, indivisible” capital - a move not recognised internationally.

The tensions in Jerusalem have kindled protests in Turkey. Turkish media said some protest-ers kicked the doors and threw stones at a synagogue in Istan-bul. Erdogan called for calm and said attacking places of worship was “a big mistake”. “We have no

issues with the houses of wor-ship of Christians or Jews. We have taken the necessary meas-ures against the attacks planned on synagogues and temples in our country,” he told the parliamentarians.

Erdogan said he spoke to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and told him that Muslims going to Al Aqsa mosque could not be treated as terrorists. “We can also not accept Jews going to synagogues and temples being treated as terrorists,” he said

Israel would pay a price for the dispute: Erdogan

Still unacceptable

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and the senior Muslim cleric who oversees Al Aqsa compound both turned down the new Israeli measures and demanded all of them be removed.

Jordan’s King has called on Israel to return to the pre-July 14 status quo and lift all unilateral measures taken.

Eight dead in strikes near Damascus despite truce

A wounded child waiting to receive treatment at a hospital after an airstrike over the de-conflict zone, Arbin town, in the Eastern Ghouta region of Damascus, yesterday.

Young Nigerians push for removal of age limit on political posts

Moroccan journo jailed over banned protests

Nairobi

AFP

A top opposition law-maker in Tanzania has been charged with

“hate speech” after calling President John Magufuli a dictator, according to court documents yesterday.

Tundu Lissu, chief whip of the opposition in parlia-ment and president of Tanzania’s bar association, was arrested last week after holding a press conference where he criticised Magufuli and complained of a “climate of fear which reigns every-where.” After appearing in court on Monday, Lissu was “returned to prison,” ahead of a Thursday ruling on his application for bail, said Saed Kubenea, a member of par-liament in Lissu’s Chadema party.

Tanzanian MP charged with ‘hate speech’

Israel is feeling the intense heat of Arab and international fury at the new security measures it has introduced in the Al Aqsa mosque compound. Arab and Muslim leaders condemned the Israeli action in unequivocal

words, warning the government of Benjamin Netanyahu that it was playing with fire; demonstrations were held in several countries; the United Nations called for a swift resolution of the crisis and the US sent a special envoy to the region to ease the crisis. It was a weekend of bitter violence as an Israeli guard at its embassy in Jordan shot dead two Jordanians who were protesting against Israel. At the same time, Palestinians are continuing their protests with all groups showing rare unity in opposing Israel’s sinister design to change the status quo at Al Aqsa compound. The protests started when Israel installed metal detectors and security cameras at the mosque compound in the name of security after two Israeli policemen were killed by Palestinians.

Israel, being Israel, refused to buckle under pressure after protests erupted, but an international outcry has forced the government to backtrack, at least partially. It said that it would remove metal detectors, keeping in place the cameras. But Palestinians have rejected the offer and want full restoration of the status quo ante. Palestinians know

that the new security measures are a ploy by Israel to assert further control over the site. They have refused to enter the compound in protest and have prayed in the streets outside instead.

Israel’s action at Al Aqsa is a violation of all international laws. Open violation of international laws is what Israel excels in, with the support of the United States, and it wants to repeat the crimes at the holy site

too. Tel Aviv must realise that this is a red line it cannot cross. Jordan is the official custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem and it must listen to the decisions of Amman. In a telephone conversation with Netanyahu, Jordan’s King Abdullah reiterated Jordan’s demand that Israel remove all the recent security measures at the Al Aqsa compound.

Israel must withdraw all security measures imposed at the holy site. Palestinians have every right to continue their boycott and protests until their demands are met, and Arabs and the United Nations and the international community must support Palestinians in their struggle.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged all Muslims to visit and protect Jerusalem. “From here I make a call to all Muslims. Anyone who has the opportunity should visit Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa mosque,” Erdogan said in Ankara. “Come, let’s all protect Jerusalem.” It’s a call that must be answered by all Muslims.

08 WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017VIEWS

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

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

msalim@pen.com.qa

Protecting Al Aqsa

QUOTE OF THE DAY

From here I make a call to all Muslims. Anyone who has the opportunity should visit Jerusalem. Come, let‘s all protect Jerusalem.

Recep Tayyip ErdoganTurkish President

Palestinians must continue their protests until Israel withdraws all security measures at Al Aqsa compound.

The blockade imposed on the State of Qatar by the siege coun-tries has failed due to the nation’s resilience and its lead-ership’s wisdom. This has made

many around the world admire Qatar and the way it has absorbed the impact of the crisis and managed to deal with the land, air and sea blockade with standing firmly to challenge the countries and make them failed in achieving their goals.

Qataris have stood united and have become one heart. Yes all Qataris at all levels, the Emir, the people, government stood united to resist the blockade with admirable and honest reaction to the sudden siege. The public’s firm standing against the blockade has made the impact of the blockade on the people of Qatar (including nationals and expatri-ates) very minimal.

The people of Qatar have showed, during this crisis, unique and honest cohesion with the leadership and patriot-ism that shocked the siege countries. It is a country which provided its people with all the wealth and provided them with decent and stable life making the leader-ship deserve more love and loyalty.

Satisfaction of its people with the jus-tice, fairness and dignified life they are enjoying has made the country immune to conspiracies and made its people resistant to any threats posed to their country regardless of the source and strength of threats.

It is not possible to defeat united peo-ple having such level of determination or to affect their willpower in order to put them under any form of guardianship or humiliate them to degrade their inde-pendence and sovereignty.

Qatar, as presented by its Emir, its people, and government and their resist-ance to this illegal blockade have made it gain further respect, admire and appreci-ation of nations and individuals across the globe along with sympathy and respect it has obtained worldwide for its wisdom and calmness in response to the provoca-tive measures taken by the siege countries during the crisis.

The most critical and difficult phase of the crisis has passed, and Qatar’s policy to diversify its economy and sources of income and imports have proved effec-tiveness of its policies and played a significant role in the failure of the sea, land and air blockade. As well, the crisis has revealed that Qatar’s trade exchange with siege countries is not as huge as was being considered because Qatar’s exports of gas and oil are mainly directed to the Asian and European markets.

Qatar has a sovereign fund amount-ing to $335bn and the country occupies the first place among the exporters of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) in the world with huge reserves of gas estimated by

Qatar defeats conspiracies with resilience and unityYusuf Ahmed Al Zaman

12.5% of the total global reserves. The country has also modernised gas transportation carriers consisting of 60 ships.

Recently Hamad Port which is one of the largest ports in the Middle East was launched. The port has capacity to receive ships and vessels of different sizes and weights and its capacity is estimated to receive around six million containers per year.

Additionally, Qatar has one of the best airline in the world — Qatar Air-ways — which owns a fleet consisting of over 190 commercial aircraft of the latest models and different sizes carrying passengers and goods to over 150 destinations in the world. Hamad International Airport is also one of the best and largest airports of the world.

The strong economy and abun-dance of finances, foreign investment and advanced sea and air carriers,

have put the country in a strong position to resist and ameliorate the impact of the siege imposed by the neigh-bouring countries.

Adding to this, of course these are friendly ties with dif-ferent countries and international organisa-tions across the globe which altogether have been part of Qatar’s precious assets and capital and have played positive and effective role in pre-venting the blockaders from achieving their negative goals.

The writer is a former

Judge and a renowned

lawyer based in Doha.

The people of Qatar have showed, during this crisis, unique and honest cohesion with the leadership and patriotism that shocked the siege countries. It is a country which provided its people with all the wealth and provided them with decent and stable life making the leadership deserve more love and loyalty.

ED ITOR IAL

A file photo of people at Al Zubara castle releasing over 2,000 balloons with images of H H the Emir under the theme “We are All Tamim”.

09WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017 OPINION

match the passion of immigration restrictionists.In effect, Trump wagered that he could handle

immigration politics the way Republicans have long handled gun politics, appealing to the hard right and ignoring the moderate middle.

The campaign proved Trump correct.Under his administration, arrests by Immigra-

tion and Customs Enforcement agents are up, and the willingness to spare undocumented immi-grants who are longtime residents, leading exemplary lives, is way, way down. Almost any undocumented immigrant is now a federal target.

“We used to look at things through the totality of the circumstances when it came to a removal order — that’s out the window,” a veteran ICE agent told Jonathan Blitzer of the New Yorker, on condition of anonymity. The agent continued:

“I don’t know that there’s that appreciation of the entire realm of what we’re doing. It’s not just the person we’re removing. It’s their entire family. People say, ‘Well, they put themselves in this posi-tion because they came illegally.’ I totally understand that. But you have to remember that our job is not to judge. The problem is that now there are lots of people who feel free to feel contempt.”

Polling shows broad and mostly consistent support for immigrants. Gallup regularly shows that more Americans support current levels of immigration or increased immigration than sup-port a decrease. Dreamers, the undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children, whose status Trump has declined to resolve, are very popular. Most Americans support a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants living in the

Language of reason appeals to all

A true leader’s words written by the heart go straight to the hearts of his people and even stir the conscience of his opponents. It was the very first address of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to

his nation after imposition of unjust blockade on Qatar by three Gulf countries and each and every word of the speech resonated with the deep-seated aspirations of Qatari nation as well as met univer-sally adopted principles of politics, diplomacy and human rights.

From the beginning to the conclusion, the whole speech was delivered from the moral high ground which the state of Qatar, its leadership and people have taken since the onset of the Gulf crisis. A grace-ful speech filled with undeniable facts and weighty arguments; a speech which was bold, clear and com-prehensive with confident voice inflections. No doubt, he addressed his nation’s conscience in “lan-guage of reason”.

The bottom-line message to the blockading countries is clear and loud. No dictations and no compromise on Qatar’s sovereignty, period. “Any solution to the crisis must be based on two principles: firstly, the solution should be within the framework of respect for the sovereignty and will of each State; secondly, it should not be in a form of orders by one party against another, but rather as mutual under-takings and joint commitments binding to all.”

Qatar and its wise leadership with the backing of Qataris and world nations have been crystal clear on defending its sovereignty. Not budging an inch from its principled stance of protecting Qatar’s sover-eignty, the Emir, Foreign Minister and all state representatives have been saying in categorical terms that they would never compromise on state’s independent foreign policy and sovereignty. Despite extreme bitterness created by the blockading coun-tries in the last fifty days, the Emir’s readiness for a constructive dialogue has won global acclamation.

The UN Secretary General António Guterres has welcomed “the invitation of His Highness the Emir for dialogue to resolve the GCC crisis” and encour-aged all parties to start talks to lift the siege imposed on Qatar.

France also welcomed Qatar’s call for dialogue to resolve the crisis terming the Emir’s speech as a “promising development”. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said: “I welcome the Emir of Qatar’s commitment to combat terrorism in all its manifestations, including terrorist financing. The Emir also pledged to resolve the remaining differ-ences with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain

through dialogue, negotiation, and Kuwaiti media-tion. These steps will help to resolve the dispute.”

Morality matters the most: “All those who live in this country have become spokespersons for Qatar. Here I would like to recognize, with great pride, the high moral standard exercised by this people despite the campaign of incitement as well as the siege.” The Emir further said: “We have proved that there are basic principles and norms that we observe even in times of conflict and dispute, because we respect ourselves first and foremost.”

Without expressing any anger against the block-ading countries and taking a moral high ground of grace and politeness, the Emir himself has set an example for his countrymen to follow while dealing with the opponents in the testing times.

Like all great leaders, the Emir uses word “we” that shows he considers his nation as his part and his power. Though the speech was purely on the current Gulf crisis but people are lauding the Emir for not forgetting Al Quds in his crucial address to the nation. The speech ended on a high note when he said: “I cannot end this speech without expressing solidarity with the brotherly Palestinian people, especially our people in Al Quds (Jerusalem), and denouncing the closure of the Al Aqsa Mosque … hoping that what is happening in Al Quds be an incentive for unity and solidarity instead of division.”

Three Gulf countries had constructed their diplo-matic offensive against Qatar on baseless allegations of “Qatar supports terrorism” and logically no one in global audience expressed readiness to buy their groundless accusations. The Emir reiterated Qatar’s principled and unflinching stance against terrorism saying: “Qatar is fighting terrorism, relentlessly and without compromises, and there is international rec-ognition of Qatar’s role in this regard. It does this not because we want to appease anyone in the East or the West, but because we consider terrorism, in the sense of it being an act of aggression against innocent civilians for political ends, a heinous crime against

humanity.” But, at the same time, without any hesita-tion he repelled misconceptions revolving around term of terrorism. “We disagree with some on the sources of terrorism. For example, we say that reli-gion is a moral motive, and not a source of terrorism that could lie in radical ideologies whether religious or secular.”

The Emir reminds the world that “while the dis-ease of terrorism must not be underestimated, we cannot ignore other issues in our world. We believe that the whole world, including our region, also suf-fers from problems such as poverty, tyranny, occupation and others. This suffering needs to be addressed, as it is also a significant root cause of vio-lent extremism and terrorism.”

Blessing in disguise: Dale Carnegie once said that the greatest power of a man is to turn negative into positive. The Emir also showed the people silver lin-ing in the cloud of crisis and asked his countrymen to speed up adopting reforms. “This crisis has helped us identify the shortcomings and obstacles in determin-ing Qatar’s national, political, economic and independent identity and in deciding to overcome and surpass these obstacles.”

Quoting the verse from the Holy Quran, “And perhaps you may hate something which is good for you,” he told his countrymen: “We are called upon to open our economy to investments and initiatives so that we produce our own food and medicine, diver-sify our sources of income, achieve our economic independence through bilateral relations of coopera-tion with other countries.”

Qatar has already set an ambitious National Vision 2030 for itself which is futuristic, all-encom-passing and based on pillars of sustainability, diversification of economy and human development. Sharing his future vision for the country and Qatari nation, the Emir said, “Under my direction, the gov-ernment will do whatever it takes to achieve this vision, including the required economic openness, the removal of obstacles to investment, and the

It’s easy to lose sight, amid the dan-gers and dysfunctions of Donald Trump’s presidency, of his very real success on a core issue.

Trump made a bold bet against immigration in his 2016 campaign. That bet had two components. First, Trump gauged that a passionate anti-immigrant faction of the Republican Party could be the foundation of a winning campaign. Second, he bet that a majority of Ameri-cans, who have expressed far more benign views towards immigrants, including the undocumented, would not

Trump is winning his war against immigration

A building adorned with images of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

US. More Americans say immigrants help the economy than say they hurt it.

The public sentiments reflected in such polls are surely real. But Trump has proved that intensity of feeling may be more important. Americans have not taken to the streets in numbers strong enough to protect otherwise law-abiding mothers and fathers from deportation. Everyday Americans are not stopping the Trump administration roundup.

“When you add these measures to others — the Muslim ban, the refugee ban, and, soon, a push to cut legal immi-gration by half by eliminating family reunification categories that have benefited Asian-Americans in particu-lar — you have a set of policies designed to do the following: Deport Latinos, keep out Asians and ban Muslims,” said immigration advocate Frank Sharry in an email. “Not only does this gang seem intent on remaking our immigration system so that we are no longer a welcoming nation, they seem intent on remaking the racial and ethnic make-up of the country. Dare I say it? This is a white nationalist agenda.”

It’s also arguably the most successful element of Trump’s otherwise woeful first six months in office. Some ICE agents, such as the one quoted by the New Yorker, might be ill at ease with the new aggression toward the undocumented. And many Americans would prefer not to separate parents from their American children or spouses. But so far, outrage has been confined to what, for Trump, is a manageable minority.

Trump has counted on American passivity to see him through. So far, it’s working for him.

The author writes editorials on politics and US domestic policy

for Bloomberg View. He was executive editor of the Week. He

was previously a national affairs writer for Rolling Stone, a com-

munications consultant and a political media strategist.

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prevention of monopolies in the context of building the national economy and investing in human development.”

The speech of the Emir also reflects that vested interests or pol-itics of momentary gains of siege countries can never shatter love between people of the Gulf as for centuries they are living as a closely-knitted family. “I do not want to underestimate the scale of suffering and pain caused by the siege, and I hope that this malevo-lent approach in dealing among brothers will come to an end, and that differences may be resolved through dialogue and negotiation, for this approach has tarnished the image of all GCC countries in the eyes of the world.” In the times when Qatar is facing a harsh siege and an unending propaganda war by three Gulf countries, the Emir is still perturbed about tarnishing of GCC image in world community.

United we stand: Among other things the unity of Qatari people was the biggest force which defeated all corrosive conspiracies of the blockading countries. They say where there is unity there is vic-tory. The Emir concluded his speech on the same theme: “I would like to thank you for your solidarity, cohe-sion, determination, resolve and civilised behavior, and to congratu-late you on the spirit of nobility, love and amity prevailing in our land nowadays. These are our assets, our provision and energy to counter the great challenges in the way ahead.”

The writer is a Doha-based journalist.

Irfan Bukhari

Despite extreme bitterness created by the blockading countries in the last fifty days, the Emir’s readiness for a constructive dialogue has won global acclamation.

Francis WilkinsonBloomberg

In effect, Trump wagered that he could handle immigration politics the way Republicans have long handled gun politics, appealing to the hard right and ignoring the moderate middle.

10 WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017ASIA

Srinagar

IANS

Normal life in the Kashmir Valley was paralysed yesterday as shops and

other businesses remained closed due to restrictions imposed by the government and shutdown called by separatists to protest the arrest of seven Hurriyat leaders for allegedly funding terrorism in the state.

The authorities imposed curfew in parts of Srinagar to prevent separatist-called protests against the arrests, effected on Monday.

Chairmen of the two factions of the separatist Hurriyat Conference -- Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar

Farooq, who had called for the shutdown, were detained in their houses in Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik was lodged in the Srinagar Central Jail.

The District Magistrate ordered restrictions in the old city areas to prevent people from holding protest marches.

Public transport, shops, other businesses and educational institutions remained closed almost across the valley. Contingents of police and the Central Reserve Police Force in riot gear disallowed vehicular and pedestrian movement in all the areas where restrictions were imposed. Private transport and

some three-wheelers were, however, seen moving in uptown areas and the city outskirts.

Train services in the valley were also suspended for security reasons, a railway official said. The protest shutdown was called after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested seven separatist leaders in the terror funding case.

The arrested include Altaf Ahmad Shah, son-in-law of Geelani, and Ayaz Akbar, spokesman of the Geelani-led Hurriyat group.

The other arrested separatists include Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Shahid-ul-Islam,

political aide of the Mirwaiz, Peer Saifullah and Mehrajuddin Kalwal.

A Delhi court remanded the arrested separatists in NIA custody for 10 days.

Meanwhile, trade across the Line of Control (LoC) between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad was suspended yesterday after authorities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir said no commerce will take place this week. Authorities at the Trade Facilitation Centre near the border town of Uri in Baramulla said they had received a letter from Pakistan which gave no reasons for suspending the trade that takes place from yesterday to Friday every week.

Kashmir shuts down to protest Hurriyat arrests

Kovind sworn in as 14th Indian PresidentNew Delhi

Reuters

Ram Nath Kovind was sworn in yesterday as India’s 14th president, becoming the first member of a power-

ful Hindu nationalist movement to assume the highest public office in the world’s largest democracy.

The 71-year-old’s elevation also boosts the representation of his Dalit community, which ranks at the lower end of India’s ancient caste hierarchy, poten-tially helping Prime Minister Narendra Modi extend his voter base in a 2019 general election.

Kovind, a veteran politician and lawyer with a previously low profile, is a long-time member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or National Volunteers’ Association, a grassroots move-ment that also helped launch Modi’s political career. Opposi-tion leaders accused Modi of using the presidential race, which Kovind won easily in an electoral college last week, to further a divisive agenda through which, they say, he wants to redefine

India as a Hindu-first nation.In a speech at his swearing

in Kovind, however, praised India’s diversity, saying it was “the core that makes us so unique”.

“I bow to the (1.25 billion) cit-izens of this great nation and promise to stay true to the trust they have bestowed on me,” Kovind said in parliament’s cen-tral hall.

India has around 200 million Dalits, previously known as

untouchables, and many suffer social deprivation and economic exclusion.

Kovind’s rise caps a series of top appointments backed by Modi - including naming a hardline priest to lead India’s most

populous state of Uttar Pradesh - that tighten the grip of the Hindu right on key public offices.

India’s constitution foresees a largely ceremonial role for the president, with the prime minis-ter and his cabinet holding

executive power.But the president has a key

role during political crises, such as when a general election is inconclusive, by deciding which party is in the best position to form a government.

CPI-M not to field Yechury for Rajya Sabha again

Renowned astrophysicist Yash Pal dies

New Delhi

IANS

The CPI-M’s Central Committee yesterday decided that party Gen-

eral Secretary Sitaram Yechury will not be fielded again as a Rajya Sabha can-didate from West Bengal, observing that the party could not take support from the Congress.

“Sitaram Yechury will not be fielded as Rajya Sabha candidate. In fact, we can’t field anybody else because we don’t have the numbers and we don’t want the sup-port from the Congress as it is against our party line,” said a party Politburo member on the condition of anonymity.

Even though the Commu-nist Party of India-Marxist’s West Bengal unit wanted to send Yechury for the third term to the Rajya Sabha, the Kerala unit was opposed to it.

Noida

IANS

Renowned astrophysicist Professor Yash Pal, who did yeoman work in the

field of cosmic rays and high energy physics, died here yes-terday night due to age-related illness. He was 90.

A passionate educator who became popular spe-cially with children for his programmes that enunciated tough subjects in simple terms, Yash Pal made signif-icant contributions over the years in areas of cosmic rays, high energy physics, astro-physics, science education and communication.

Yash Pal was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2013 and Padma Bhushan in 1976. He was chairman of Univer-sity Grants Commission (1986-91) and Secretary Department of Science and Technology (1984-86).

Yash Pal was fellow and honorary fellow of several organisations including National Science Academy, Academy of Science, and Soci-ety of Astronautics and was on the editorial boards of several scientific journals.

He was awarded INSA award for science popularisa-tion in 2000. A multi-faceted personality, Yash Pal was asso-ciated with science magazine TV series “Turning Point”.

Mumbai

AFP

At least 11 persons, includ-ing five women and a three-month old baby,

were killed when a four-sto-ried dilapidated residential building crashed in Ghatkopar suburb here yesterday morn-ing, officials said.

Another 19 persons were rescued from the debris of the crashed Sai Darshan building in Damodar Park. Rescue work was underway late yesterday evening to extricate around eight persons feared trapped under the rubble.

Around 12 families were believed to be living in the

ill-fated structure which also housed a private nursing home on the ground floor.

According to eyewitnesses, around 10.43 a.m., the building suddenly collapsed amidst a thick cloud of dust and they heard screams and cries of help from the residents.

The Mumbai Fire Brigade, BMC rescue teams, NDRF and SDRF teams and others rushed to spot with 14 fire engines, res-cue vans, ambulances, JCBs and metal cutters.

According to officials, the building figured on the Brihan-Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s list of dangerous buildings and had been served an evacuation notice six months ago.

Building collapse kills eleven in Mumbai

Ahmedabad

IANS

Prime Minister Narendra M o d i y e s t e r d a y announced Rs5bn for

Gujarat for rescue work after an aerial survey of the flooded areas and Rs200,000 compen-sation to the kin of the 83 people who have died and Rs50,000 to the injured.

Modi, who flew over Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Patan districts of North Gujarat, said a team of the union Urban Development and Rural Devel-opment Ministries would visit the state to assess the extent of dam-age and suggest short-term as well as long-term measures.

Modi told reporters at the Ahmedabad airport: “In such sit-uations, it is the farmers who suffer the most. Insurance com-panies may be advised to quickly organise assessment of

damage to crops and assets of farmers and initiate immediate steps to settle the claims.”

Modi was accompanied by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel during the aerial survey.

After holding a high-level meeting with Rupani and Patel, besides former Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and officials, Modi praised the Gujarat govern-ment for “rising to the occasion promptly and having already pre-pared a blueprint for the crisis”.

The north Gujarat districts of Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Patan have been flooded after incessant rains during the last 36 hours.

Tharad town has received maximum rainfall of 24 inches, followed by Dhanera 20 inches, Dantiwada 18, Palanpur 15, Deesa and Diyodar 13 inches each, Patan 12 inches and Vadgam about 11 inches.

The region has got 95 per-cent of its seasonal average of 659 mm.

In all, entire Gujarat has reg-istered 534 mm of rain, which is 66 percent of its total usual seasonal average of 810 mm. “As many as three persons have lost their lives in last 24 hours in Banaskantha district,” Patel said.

As many as 46,000 people have been moved to safety in Banaskantha district till Tues-day evening even as 1,000 persons have been rescued.

A total of 472 villages in the district are without electricity, with six national highways, 61 other roads and 287 panchayat roads closed for vehicular traffic.

Seventeen trains passing through the region to Delhi and north India have been cancelled, six terminated midway and two trains diverted. Over 300 buses too have been cancelled.

Rescue workers looking for survivors at the site of a building collapse in Mumbai, yesterday.

New President Ram Nath Kovind inspecting an honour guard after being sworn in at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi, yesterday.

Modi announces Rs5bn for flood-hit GujaratTop-rated BEd colleges to go out of NCTE regulationKolkata

IANS

The Human Resource Development Ministry, which aims to overhaul

teachers’ training in the coun-try, yesterday announced that the best-rated Bachelor of Edu-cation colleges will be left out of the regulatory regime of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

“Best rated colleges (five star rated) will go out of the reg-ulatory regime of NCTE. They will be recognised and accred-ited but the usual inspection will not happen,” said Secre-tary, School Education and Literacy, Anil Swarup. NCTE will start ranking teacher train-ing institutes and aims to put out the list of top 100 institutes

by January next year.“The idea first is to see all the

BEd colleges existing only in name should not be recognised for the purpose of imparting education. As they do that they will also try and evaluate each of the colleges that have submit-ted their affidavits and they have five sets of ratings and the idea is the best rated of college will only have to furnish documents and there will be no other con-trol thereafter,” he said.

“Annually they will furnish documents. They have worked out a criteria to come to that conclusion (ranking),” he said on the sidelines of the Trans-forming Lives Through Education and Innovation-cum-Education Excellence Awards 2 0 1 7 o r g a n i s e d b y ASSOCHAM.

Medha Patkar to go on indefinite fastNew Delhi

IANS

Social activist and Nar-mada Bachao Andolan (NBA) founder Medha

Patkar, along with those affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project, will launch an indefi-nite fast from tomorrow to protest against alleged forced eviction of the affected fami-lies from the project area.

According to a release, the Andolan will start the indefi-nite fast on the bank of river Narmada.

It said that the Madhya Pradesh government’s list of project-affected people had a number of flaws. The NBA pointed out that the families, who had left decades ago or removed on other grounds like reduced water level, were also included in the list.

“On the other hand, many families, who have been resid-ing since generations and are to be surely affected, have been left out (from the list),” it said.

It alleged that the project was initially pushed “in the name of drought-affected in Gujarat”.

“It is obvious that it was being pushed for the corporates and in the interest of the elec-toral politics,” the NBA said.

Praises diversity

“I bow to the (1.25 billion) citizens of this great nation and promise to stay true to the trust they have bestowed on me,” Kovind said in parliament hall.

In a speech at his swearing in Kovind praised India’s diversity, saying it was “the core that makes us so unique”.

11WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017 ASIA

Islamabad offers Kabul joint anti-terror fightKarachi

Anatolia

Pakistan yesterday offered neighboring Afghanistan help in eliminating suspected terrorist safe havens

in its border areas.Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa,

Pakistan’s army chief said both countries would continue to suf-fer if terrorists using Afghan territory are not contained.

The remarks came during a security meeting he chaired fol-lowing a suicide attack in northeastern Lahore city on Monday, which claimed 26 lives.

“Concurrent blasts at Kabul and Lahore are testimony of our stance that both Pakistan and Afghanistan are victims of ter-rorism and will continue to suffer if these actors are able to use Afghanistan’s territory with impunity,” Bajwa was quoted as saying by Pakistan Army’s media wing, Inter-services Pub-lic Relations (ISPR).

More than 30 people were killed in a deadly blast in Kabul hours before the suicide attack in Lahore on Monday.

“We are ready to help Afghanistan to eliminate terror-ist safe heavens in their border areas as we have done on our side,” he added, referring to a series of operations against the

Taliban since 2014 the army launched in the restive tribal belt, along the border it shares with Afghanistan.

In an indirect reference to Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) he said that some “regional actors and hostile intelligence agencies were fully involved to use terror as a pol-icy tool”.

Islamabad maintains the Indian intelligence agency is operating from Afghanistan to destabilize Pakistan.

Last month, the army chief had called for joint border man-agement and security cooperation against terror group

Daesh, an offer which received a lukewarm response from Kabul.

Kabul and Islamabad have long been accusing each other of providing sanctuaries to the militants in their respective bor-der areas.

A series of terrorists attacks in both countries, for which both sides blame each other, has put a further strain on the already frosty relations between Paki-stan and Afghanistan in recent months.

Pakistan had brokered the landmark first round of direct talks between the fragile Afghan government and the Taliban in Islamabad in July 2015, but the process broke down after Taliban announced the death of their long-term leader Mullah Omer, triggering a bitter power struggle within the militia.

Chances for resumption of the stalled process were further dimmed, following the death of Mullah Omer’s successor Mul-lah Mansur in a US drone strike last year, on Pakistan’s side near its border with Afghanistan.

Several attempts aimed at resuming the halted process have been made since July 2015 by a four-nation group compris-ing of Pakistan, Afghanistan, US and China but failed one after the other.

Duterte asks US to return three church bellsManila

AFP

PHILIPPINE President Rod-rigo Duterte has demanded the United States return church bells seized by American forces in a bloody campaign more than a century ago, in another blast at his country’s traditional ally.

American forces took three bells from the Catholic church of Balangiga town on the eastern island of Samar in 1901 as war booty in what his-torians said was a particularly brutal military operation in the new US colony.

“Give us back those Bal-angiga bells. They are not yours. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage,” Duterte said at his annual State of the Nation Address on Monday.

Troops lock down Maldives parliament as crisis worsens

Minister urges Asean to reject ‘foreign interventions’ in S China Sea disputesZamboanga City

Anatolia

China yesterday urged nations in Southeast Asia -- including Philippines --

to jointly resist ‘foreign interventions’ in South China Sea disputes.

“If there are still non-regional forces in the region, they don’t want to see stability in the South China Sea and they still want to stir up trouble in the South China Sea, we need to

stand together and we need to say no to them together,” Chi-nese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a news conference in Manila.

Wang arrived in Manila on Monday for a two-day recipro-cal visit following Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano visit to China from June 28 to July 1.

In July 2016, China slammed a ruling of The Hague tribunal which favoured the Philippines’ claims over Scarborough Shoal

in the South China Sea.Other sovereign entities

such as Brunei, Malaysia, Tai-wan and Vietnam have rival claims on the waters.

China has built man-made islands on seven reefs in the sea, a move that has sparked ten-sions and triggered concerns among several nations, includ-ing the US, Australia and Japan.

Wang noted that the dis-putes can be solved within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) region.

Malé

AFP

Maldivian troops block-aded parliament and clashed with opposition

leaders for a second day, wit-nesses said yesterday, as political turmoil escalated in the troubled honeymoon islands.

The latest turbulence came as the United Kingdom urged its citizens to take caution in the capital Male after soldiers tear gassed protesting politicians there.

Soldiers barred the main opposition Maldivian Demo-cratic Party (MDP) from entering the heavily guarded parliament complex again yes-terday, with witnesses reporting shoving as MPs were forced back from the barricade.

“Even when parliament is not in session, MPs are free to go to the building and attend to their work, but it is not allowed now,” MDP spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said. “This is ridiculous.”

The parliament gates were padlocked by soldiers Monday in a move described as illegal by exiled Maldivian opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed.

An opposition coalition, united against President Abdulla Yameen, had been threatening to move a

no-confidence motion against the speaker in a bid to impeach the president’s ally.

But MPs trying to enter the compound were hit with pep-per spray and forcibly evicted.

Yameen’s office said in a statement releases yesterday that parliament was closed ahead of an “incoming VVIP visit”.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is in the Maldives as the tropical island nation cel-ebrates its 52nd anniversary, the Pakistan High Commission in Sri Lanka said.

“The special measures taken by the security forces at the parliament building on 24 July 2017 were to ensure the security and safety of the premises, as mandated by the... constitution,” Yameen’s office said.

Tokyo

Reuters

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday revised when he first knew about a

friend’s application to open a veterinary school at the centre of a suspected cronymism scan-dal, saying he only became aware of the plan after it was approved.

Abe, whose ratings have plunged below 30 percent in some polls over the issue, ear-lier said he knew about his

friend’s school when the appli-cation was lodged -- 10 days earlier.

Abe has denied intervening to help Kake Gakuen, an edu-cational institution whose director Kotaro Kake is a long-time friend, win approval for the school in a special economic zone.

Imabari City had previously applied unsuccessfully 15 times for approval to host a veterinary school before winning approval this year - the first such approval in more than 50 years.

Grilled for a second day in a parliamentary panel, the prime minister reiterated he had not done any favours for Kake Gakuen, nor had his friend sought to use their ties to get special treatment.

But questioned by Demo-cratic Party leader Renho, who goes by one name, Abe said his previous remarks about when he knew Kake Gakuen was the operator seeking approval for a new veterinary school in Ima-bari City, western Japan, were mistaken.

Canberra

AP

The Australian foreign min-ister yesterday rejected the UN refugee agency’s alle-

gation that her government reneged on a deal to resettle some refugees who attempted to reach Australia by boat.

The UNHCR said on Monday it had agreed to facilitate a deal in which the United States would take up to 1,250 refugees among more than 2,000 asylum seek-ers languishing in immigration

camps on the impoverished Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru “on the clear understanding that vulner-able refugees with close family ties in Australia would ultimately be allowed to settle there.”

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi’s state-ment is the first indication that Prime Minister Malcolm Turn-bull’s government had ever discussed backing down from its 4-year-old policy that no refu-gee who attempts to reach Australia by boat will ever be

allowed to stay.But Foreign Minister Julie

Bishop said her government had never wavered from its tough policy that stopped asylum seek-ers from paying people smugglers to bring them from Indonesia aboard overcrowded fishing boats.

“The Turnbull government’s position has been clear and con-sistent throughout, and that is that those who seek to come to Australia illegally — who pay people smugglers that are crim-inal networks and have then

gone to regional processing cent-ers — will not be resettled in Australia,” Bishop, who is dep-uty leader in the ruling center-right Liberal Party, said. “That’s been our clear and con-sistent position throughout.”

Grandi said his agency had only recently been told that the only options for refugees on Nauru and Papua New Guinea were to stay on the islands or relocate to the United States or Cambodia. Australia pays Papua New Guinea and Nauru to look after the asylum seekers who are

legally Australia’s responsibility. Australia also pays Cambodia to resettle refugees, but few have taken that option.

Vulnerable refugees sub-jected to four years of “punishing conditions” on the islands should be reunited with their families in Australia, Grandi said.

“The Australian govern-ment’s decision to deny them this possibility is contrary to the fun-damental principles of family unity and refugee protection and to common decency,” Grandi said.

Seven dead & 12 missing in Jakarta boat accidentJakarta

AP

A speedboat carrying 48 people capsized yesterday in central Indonesia, killing seven people and leaving 12 others missing, an official said.

The speedboat sank about 10 minutes after it left the town of Tarakan in North Kali-mantan province on a one-hour voyage to Tanjung Selor, local Search and Res-cue Agency official Octavianto said.

According to the manifest, the boat was carrying three crewmen and 45 passengers, said Octavianto. “29 people — 20 men and nine women — were found alive while seven were found dead.”

Boating accidents are common in Indonesia because of poorly enforced safety regulations.

Australia denies breaching UN refugee deal

We are ready to help Afghanistan to eliminate terrorist safe heavens in their border areas as we have done on our side: Pakistani official

War on terrorism

General Bajwa also said that some “regional actors and hostile intelligence agencies were fully involved to use terror as a policy tool”.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) signs the Philippines’ guestbook, in Manila, yesterday.

A protester holds up a placard during a rally against Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in front of the parliament, in Tokyo, yesterday.

Japan premier denies favours for friend

Even when parliament is not in session, MPs are free to go to the building and attend to their work, but it is not allowed now.This is ridiculous: Spokesman

12 WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017EUROPE

Unrest Russia & China hold naval drillsMoscow

AP

SHIPS of the Russian and Chinese navies have begun exercises in the Baltic Sea, watched from afar by neigh-boring Nato countries uneasy about Russia’s growing mili-tary assertiveness.

Russia and China have conducted joint exercises for several years, but the manoeuvres that began yes-terday were the first in the Baltic.

The exercises include a Chinese destroyer, frigate and supply ship and will include live-fire practice at surface and air targets, the state news agency Tass reported.

“Lithuania constantly observes the exercises taking place in our neighbourhood,” country’s vice-defence min-ister Vytautas Umbrasas said.

Berlin-Ankara row: Nato offers to mediateBerlin

Reuters

Nato’s secretary gen-eral is offering to broker a visit by German lawmak-ers to troops

serving on a Turkish air base in an attempt to heal a rift between the two allies which is disrupting anti-IS fighters operations.

The mediation offer by Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg, announced on Monday, came as Ankara itself sought to limit the economic fallout from the damaging row with Berlin, dropping a request for Germany to help it investigate hundreds of German companies it said could have links to terrorism.

Germany has become increasingly worried by Presi-dent Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on the Turkish opposition since a coup attempt last year - concerns made more acute by the arrest this month of six human rights activists, including one German.

“The Secretary General has now offered to arrange a visit for parliamentarians to Konya airfield within a Nato frame-work,” alliance spokesman Piers Cazalet said.

“Konya airfield is vital for Nato operations in support of Turkey and the Counter-ISIS Coalition.”

With Germany Ankara’s largest export market and home to a three million strong Turk-ish diaspora, it is in Turkey’s economic interests to resolve the row.

The swift deterioration in relations threatens to damage deep-rooted human and eco-nomic ties.

Germany has warned its nationals travelling to Turkey that they do so at their own risk, and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Erdogan was “jeopardising the centuries-old partnership”.

Stepping back from con-frontation, Turkey’s interior minister on Monday told his German counterpart that Ankara’s submission to Inter-pol of a list of nearly 700 German companies suspected of backing terrorism had stemmed from “a communi-cations problem”.

Turkey had merely asked Interpol for information regarding the exports of 40 Turkish companies with alledged links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed for the failed putsch last July, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said.

Spain’s premier to testify in graft trialMadrid

AFP

Spain’s Prime Minister Mar-iano Rajoy is gearing up to testify as a witness (yester-

day) in a major graft trial involving former members of his conservative Popular Party, a first in the country.

No other acting prime min-ister has appeared in court since Spain’s transition to democracy following dictator Francisco Franco’s death in 1975.

Two former premiers -- Felipe Gonzalez, a former Socialist leader, and Adolfo Sua-rez, prime minister during the transition -- appeared in court in separate trials after they were no longer in office.

In power since 2011, Rajoy will take the stand as his party’s reputation suffers from a series of corruption scandals that have exasperated Spaniards and con-tributed to the PP losing its absolute parliamentary major-

ity in 2015 elections.The 62-year-old conserva-

tive leader had asked to testify by video-conference but Spain’s High Court ruled he must appear in person.

The trial at a court in San Fernando de Henares, near Madrid, centres on a vast kick-backs scheme that allegedly saw companies shower former PP lawmakers and civil servants with bribes in exchange for contracts.

While he is not accused of anything, Rajoy’s post as party chief since 2004 -- and a high-ranking member before that -- means he could provide val-uable testimony.

A spokesman for the court said that as prime minister,

Rajoy would have the “privi-lege”, if he so desires, of not sitting in the traditional witness stand in front of the judges but on the elevated platform where they preside.

But he will not be able to avoid the shouts of protesters who have planned to gather in front of the courthouse on Wednesday morning, nor ques-tions on corruption issues.

“The impact in the media on that day and the next days could be brutal,” conservative daily ABC said at the weekend in an editorial.

Public prosecutors are not to expected to be questioning Rajoy as they came out against his appearance, judging it unnecessary.

Albania premierurges Serbia to recognise Kosovo independenceTirana

AP

ALBANIA’S prime minister is urging Serbia to recognise Kosovo as a separate country, saying the acknowledgement would help stabilise the Bal-kan region.

Prime Minister Edi Rama wrote on his Facebook page yesterday that Serbia’s rec-ognition of Kosovo’s independence was “the clear solution from the darkness of the tunnel to the light of com-ing out of it.”

Rama was reacting to an op-ed article by Serbian Pres-ident Aleksandar Vucic published Monday.

Vucic urged a lasting solution for Kosovo, a former province of Serbia which has been a source of tensions in the once war-torn Balkans.

Rama also urged Kosovo and Serbia to continue Euro-pean Union-mediated talks.

Kosovo declared inde-pendence from Serbia in 2008.

London

Reuters

The parents of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard yester-day accused the London

hospital treating him of placing obstacles in the way of their son dying at home, but the hospital said it would like to fulfil their

wish “if practical”.The plight of 11-month-old

Charlie, who suffers from an extremely rare genetic condition causing progressive brain dam-age and muscle weakness, has been at the centre of a bitter dis-pute between his parents and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The tragic case has elicited

sympathy from far and wide, with US President Donald Trump and Pope Francis among those who have weighed in with views.

Charlie’s parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, on Monday abandoned their legal battle to prolong the life of their son, whom they had wanted to take to the US to undergo an experimental

treatment never before tried on anyone with his condition.

But doctors at Great Ormond Street believed the treatment had no realistic chance of helping Charlie and would only prolong his suffering.

Both parties were back at the London High Court yesterday, this time for a hearing on

arrangements for Charlie’s life support to be switched off.

The parents’ lawyer, Grant Armstrong, said the hospital was placing obstacles in the way of their final wish to take their son home.

“We struggle with the diffi-culties the hospital is placing in the way of the parents having a

... short period of time before the final act in Charlie’s short life.”

Minutes later, the lawyer representing the hospital said the couple had rejected an offer of mediation.

Katie Gollop also said Great Ormond Street would like to ful-fill the wish of Charlie’s parents “if practical”.

Kiev

AFP

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko demanded Russia’s Vladimir Putin

halt arms supplies to rebels as the leaders of France and Ger-many tried to revive a peace plan.

After a spike in violence, the four leaders discussed the Ukraine crisis for two hours by telephone in the latest round of talks aimed at stilling a conflict that has killed 10,000 people since April 2014.

The conversation was the first to involve French President Emmanuel Macron since he came to power in May, becom-ing the main international moderator on the crisis along with Germany’s Angela Merkel.

Last week saw some of the costliest clashes in months between Russian-backed rebels and government troops, after an insurgent leader announced plans to form a new “state” to replace Ukraine.

Poroshenko called the last days of July some of the blood-iest in 2017 and urged Russia

“to immediately cease aggres-sive actions and supply of weapons to the occupied terri-tories,” Ukraine’s presidency said in a statement after the talks.

Kiev and its allies in the West insist the Kremlin has sent troops and arms to back up the rebels, but Moscow continues to deny evidence of its role in the conflict.

In a statement, the Kremlin said Putin “laid out Russia’s approach on all the key points of the agreement in great detail.”

Separately, the German government said the leaders had agreed on the priority of achieving the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from certain zones.

Merkel and Macron “encouraged reciprocal meas-ures, the exchange of prisoners before the end of the year... and the renewal of economic rela-tions,” Berlin added.

A 2015 peace plan ham-mered out by the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine in Minsk has failed to stop clashes rumbling on in east Ukraine.

Fires destroy 1,400 hectares of France forestParis

Reuters

Fires have destroyed some 1,400 hectares of forest and woodlands in the

south of France and the island of Corsica, authorities said.

The biggest fire was in the village of Bastidonne, in the Vaucluse region, where fires, intensified by strong winds,

consumed some 600 hectares of forest.

About 100 residences were evacuated in the village of Mira-beau and a dozen of horses in a stable were also moved to safer ground.

Part of the A51 highway and the railway line between Bri-ançon and Marseille have been closed temporarily, and public access to several forest areas has

been suspended, officials said.There were also forest fires

in Corsica, in the city of Carros close to Nice and in the resort town of Saint-Tropez, authori-ties said.

A prefecture spokesman said that on Monday, the fires were not yet under control but the situation was evolving favourably as weather condi-tions were improving.

Ukraine slams Russia over support to rebels

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in Artigues, southeastern France, yesterday.

Terminally ill baby’s parents appeal to take him home

The mediation offer by Nato chief came as Ankara itself sought to limit the economic fallout from the damaging row with Berlin, dropping a request for Germany to help it investigate hundreds of German companies it said could have links to terrorism.

Intervention

Amnesty International activists and partners hold placard with the names of those arrested as they protest outside the European Council building, in Brussels, yesterday. According to the P24 press freedom group, there are 166 journalists behind bars in Turkey, most of whom were arrested under the state of emergency imposed after the July 15, 2016 failed coup.

13WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017 EUROPE

Theresa May kicks off three-week vacation

Prague

AP

Britain’s Brexit minister said yesterday that progress has been made in talks with

the European Union on the rights of citizens living in each other’s nations once the country leaves the bloc.

But after meeting Czech For-eign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, David Davis (pictured) said dis-agreements remain over the role of the European Court of Justice.

The EU wants the court to be the final arbiter on many issues after a Brexit agreement, some-thing Britain rejects.

Davis said that his govern-ment wants a quick deal on the rights of one million UK citizens

living in the EU, and three mil-lion EU citizens living in Britain.

“We want to do this quickly

as a moral imperative because we want to take away the anxi-ety of all of those four million people and give them some cer-tainty in the future,” he said.

He noted that other top issues in negotiations “are mak-ing progress.”

Those issues include how much Britain will pay to meet its obligations as part of any Brexit deal, and how to manage the border with Ireland.

But he said Britain was not willing to give the right to the EU court to become an ultimate arbiter.

“When, for example, we strike a deal, let’s say, with the United States we don’t give the

United States’ Supreme Court rights in Britain to enforce that. And the same with any other for-eign power.”

He said that “any future arrangements will be subject ... to UK Parliament’s approval.”

In a statement in support of the European Court of Justice, the European Parliament said yesterday it wants Britain’s Brexit deal to be directly enforceable and to “include a mechanism in which the Euro-pean Court of Justice can play its full role.”

The European Parliament, which has the right to veto any future Brexit deal, said progress on one issue is not enough.

Brexit: Minister seeks ‘quick deal’ on EU citizen rights Manhunt for Swiss chainsaw attacker widensGeneva

AFP

SWISS police issued an international arrest warrant yesterday for a chainsaw-wielding attacker who remained on the run after wounding multiple people in an office building rampage.

The assailant has been identified as Franz Wrousis, 51, who has a criminal history and had reportedly been liv-ing in a forest.

Wrousis targeted the CSS insurance company on Mon-day in the northern town of Schaffhausen, storming into their office where he injured two people, one of them seriously.

Three other people suf-fered various injuries amid the fracas but none of the vic-tims are currently in critical condition, public broadcaster RTS reported.

Wrousis fled the scene and was caught on camera carrying a black bag and a rucksack that likely contain the chainsaw and possibly other weapons, the 20Minuten website said yes-terday, quoting Schaffhausen police.

An international arrest warrant has been issued for Wrousis, local media said, cit-ing police.

EU urges social media sites to amend user termsBrussels

Reuters

European Union authori-ties have increased pressure on Facebook,

Twitter and Google to amend their user terms to bring them in line with EU law after pro-posals submitted by the tech giants were considered insufficient.

The European Commission and consumer protection authorities in the bloc wrote to the three companies in June, asking them to improve their proposed changes to user terms

by the end of September, according to letters sent to the companies.

The authorities have the power to issue fines if the com-panies fail to comply.

Twitter did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment and a Google spokesman declined to make immediate comment.

Facebook said it believes that the company is compliant with EU law but recognised that its terms could be made easier to understand and would work to meet the authorities’ concerns.

The concerns centre mainly on procedures the social media companies proposed to set up for the removal of illegal con-tent on their websites, terms limiting their liability and terms allowing them unilaterally to remove content posted by users.

The US trio were given until July 20 to submit new propos-als, which need to be implemented by the end of Sep-tember the letters said.

A person familiar with the matter said that two of the com-panies had submitted amended proposals, while a third had asked for more time, declining

to specify which one.The companies had first

proposed changes to their terms and conditions in March to assuage the regulators’ con-cerns in March.

The sticking points were terms such as those that forced European consumers to seek redress in California, where the companies are based, i stead of the consumer’s home country.

US technology companies have faced tight scrutiny in Europe for the way they do business, from privacy issues to how quickly they remove illegal or threatening content.

Davis Davis noted that other top issues in negotiations “are making progress.”

Divorce talks

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip in Desenzano del Garda, by Lake Garda, northern Italy, yesterday.

Macron hosts talks with Libyan leadersParis

AFP

The two main rivals in conflict-ridden Libya are committed to a ceasefire and holding elections “as soon as

possible”, according to a draft statement released ahead of French-brokered ta lks yesterday.

The communique says Lib-ya’s UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj and Khalifa Haftar, the military commander who controls the remote east of the vast country, accept that only a political solution can end the crisis.

Diplomatic sources said the two sides had agreed on a joint statement but that the text being circulated was not the final version.

The 10-point version says the ceasefire would not apply to counter-terrorism efforts.

It also says the two sides are committed to developing the rule of law.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has made Libya

one of his foreign policy priori-ties, has organised the meeting and while officials admit they have modest expectations, they say it sends a “strong signal”.

French officials are aiming to persuade the two sides to agree on a roadmap to end a conflict that has plunged the oil-rich country into chaos since the

2011 uprising that toppled long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

The newly appointed UN envoy for Libya, Ghassam Salame, was to chair the talks, but Macron was to make a state-ment at the end.

It is the second time that Sar-raj and Haftar have met in the space of three months after they held talks in Abu Dhabi in May. That meeting made little progress.

Dozens of armed groups have vied for control in Libya in the power vacuum created by Kadhafi’s fall.

Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) has sought to unify powerful fac-tions, but despite support from the United Nations has struggled to assert its authority since it began work in Tripoli in March 2016.

A rival administration based in Libya’s remote east -- with which Haftar is allied -- refuses to recognise Sarraj ’s government.

Jihadist groups have profited from the turmoil, seizing the Mediterranean coastal city of

Benghazi three years ago, although Haftar’s forces drove the extremists out earlier this month.

Another diplomatic source involved in the talks said there was scepticism about whether the military strongman was pre-pared to share power.

“We have to hope that when he signs something, he will keep his word,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Human Rights Watch said it

was watching the talks closely after a video appeared on social media this week showing the execution of 20 blindfolded peo-ple in orange jumpsuits, reportedly by members of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) commanded by Haftar.

Eric Goldstein, Middle East and North Africa deputy direc-tor for Human Rights Watch said, if confirmed, the execu-tions were “yet another manifestation of how (the LNA’s members) are taking the law

into their own hands in the absence of accountability and rule of law”.

The rights group called for those accused to be removed from active duty and held accountable if found guilty.

Human traffickers have exploited the chaos in Libya to boost their lucrative but deadly trade, and the country has this year become the main spring-board for migrants seeking to reach Europe in often flimsy and overloaded boats.

London

Reuters

British Prime Minister Theresa May was photo-graphed with her

husband Philip on holiday in Italy yesterday, the first leg of a three week summer holiday.

May was pictured strolling through the streets of Desen-zano del Garda, a town on the southern shore of the pictur-esque Lake Garda.

She left London on Monday to spend five days in northern Italy, and will spend a further two weeks in the Swiss Alps after briefly interrupting her

break to attend a memorial service.

During her last break, a walking holiday in Wales in April, May made the ill-fated decision to call a snap national election.

The gamble resulted in her losing her parliamentary majority and weakened her authority.

Asked in a radio interview last week what people should expect when she returned from this holiday, May joked: “You’ll just have to wait and see ... But I think there are many people who are grateful I’m going to the Alps and not to Wales again.”

The European Parliament, which has the right to veto any future Brexit deal, said progress on one issue is not enough.

Sophia rescue operation extendedBrussels

AFP

EU member states yester-day extended the landmark Sophia rescue

operation in the central Medi-terranean for another 18 months amid growing concern at the huge number of migrants cross-ing to Europe.

More than 100,000 from North Africa and the Middle East have made the trip so far this year, often in flimsy boats run by unscrupulous people smug-glers, according to UN figures.

Most have landed in Italy

which complains bitterly that its EU partners have not done enough to share the burden.

EU foreign affairs head Fed-erica Mogherini said that since Sophia was set up in 2015 after thousands of migrants drowned, “many suspected smugglers have been apprehended and many lives saved.

“Today, I’m particularly proud to announce that the man-date of Operation Sophia has been unanimously renewed.”

Sophia was originally a straightforward rescue opera-tion but Mogherini pushed for it to take on increased powers and

responsibilities, including the use of force to stop and destroy smugglers’ boats in international waters.

Member states agreed yes-terday Sophia would take on several new tasks -- to monitor how well the Libyan coastguard trainees worked out and to “conduct new surveillance activities and gather informa-tion on illegal trafficking of oil exports from Libya”.

At the same time, it would look to increase information sharing on human trafficking, a hugely profitable business for the criminal gangs involved.

French President Emmanuel Macron with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj (right) and General Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), before talks in La Celle-Saint-Cloud near Paris, yesterday.

The communique says Libya’s UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj and Khalifa Haftar, the military commander who controls the remote east of the vast country, accept that only a political solution can end the crisis.

Political solution

French officials are aiming to persuade the two sides to agree on a roadmap to end a conflict.

14 WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017AMERICAS

Washington

Reuters

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ allies say President Don-ald Trump is carrying out a delib-

erate public campaign to pressure him to quit, rather than fire him outright, but the coun-try’s top lawyer has no intention of resigning.

Trump said in a tweet yeste-day that Sessions had “taken a VERY weak position” on inves-tigating his former opponent in the 2016 presidential election, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, over her use of a private email server. On Monday, Trump

had called his attorney general “beleaguered”.

Trump is angry that Sessions recused himself from the federal

investigation into possible col-lusion between Trump’s election campaign team and Russia. The Kremlin says it did not interfere in the election, and Trump has denied any collusion.

Sessions’ recusal means he has no oversight of Special Coun-sel Robert Mueller, whose wide-ranging investigation has focused on Trump aides and his son-in-law Jared Kushner and cast a deep shadow over Trump’s presidency.

Two people close to Sessions said the attorney general, who was the first Republican senator to back Trump’s presidential campaign, has been deeply offended by the public berating from his boss, but his resolve to

stay is strong.The public attacks by a pres-

ident on a member of his own Cabinet and onetime close polit-ical ally have stunned many in Washington. Trump has torn out yet another page from the rule-book - typically a president would convey his displeasure with a cabinet secretary out of the public eye.

“In an administration where a lot of unexpected things have happened, this may be the most unexpected. This has risen to a level that we have never seen before,” said Douglas Heye, a former top aide to former Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

Republican lawmakers

sprang to Sessions’ defence yes-terday, and the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, accused Trump of trying to “bully his own attorney general out of office.” He said if Trump fired Sessions, Democrats would fight any attempt to replace him dur-ing the August congressional recess.

Trump’s public criticism of Sessions began in earnest in an interview with the New York Times last week in which he said that he would not have hired him had he known he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation.

He followed that with the critical tweets, and close aides, White House press secretary

Sarah Sanders and newly installed White House commu-nications director Anthony Scaramucci have gone on tele-vision to reinforce Trump’s frustration with Sessions.

Adding to the pressure were multiple reports on Monday that Trump was considering Repub-lican Senator Ted Cruz and former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani as replacements. Cruz called the reports false and Giuliani demurred.

Sanders told Fox News that “right now, Attorney General Sessions is the attorney general and I haven’t been part of any conversations discussing poten-tial replacements so I can’t comment on that.”

Detroit

Reuters

A federal judge in Michigan halted the deportation of more than 1,400 Iraqi

nationals from the United States, the latest legal victory for the Iraqi nationals facing deporta-tion in a closely watched case.

US District Judge Mark Gold-smith granted a preliminary injunction requested by lawyers from the American Civil Liber-ties Union, who argued the immigrants would face perse-cution in Iraq because they are

considered ethnic and religious minorities there.

Goldsmith said the injunc-tion provides detainees time to challenge their removal in fed-eral courts. He said many of them faced “a feverish search for legal assistance” after their deportation orders were unex-pectedly resurrected by the US government after several years.

Goldsmith wrote, in his 34-page opinion and order, that the extra time assures “that those who might be subjected to grave harm and possible death are not cast out of this country before

having their day in court.” The decision effectively means no Iraqi nationals can be deported from the US for several months.

It was not immediately known whether Goldsmith’s ruling would be appealed by the US govern-ment. A representative for the US Attorney’s Office in Detroit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There are 1,444 Iraqi nation-als who have final deportation orders against them in the United States, although only about 199 of them were detained in June as part of a nationwide sweep by

immigration authorities.The ACLU sued on June 15 to

halt the deportations of the detainees. They argued the Ira-qis could face persecution, torture, or death because many were Chaldean Catholics, Sunni Muslims, or Iraqi Kurds and that the groups were recognized as targets of ill-treatment in Iraq.

Those arrested by immigra-tion authorities had outstanding deportation orders and many had been convicted of serious crimes, ranging from homicide to weapons and drug charges, the US government said.

Goldsmith sided with the ACLU, expanding on June 26 an earlier stay which only protected 114 detainees from the Detroit area to the broader class of more than 1,400 Iraqi nationals nationwide. Goldsmith’s Mon-day decision came hours before that injunction was set to expire.

The ACLU argued many Iraqi detainees have had difficulty obtaining critical government documents needed to file depor-tation order appeals, and also that the government has transferred many detainees to facilities in dif-ferent parts of the country.

US judge halts deportation of 1,400 Iraqi nationals

Trump uses Twitter to force Sessions’ resignationStunning attack

Trump: Sessions ‘took a weak position” in investigating Hillary Clinton over the email controversy.

Public attacks by a president on a member of his ownCabinet stun many in Washington.

US Senate votes to opendebate on healthcare billWashington

AFP

The US Senate voted yester-day to proceed with a debate on Republican

plans to repeal Barack Obama’s health care reforms -- proceed-ings marked by the dramatic return of John McCain, who is suffering from cancer.

The vote was a victory for President Donald Trump, who spent weeks cajoling, strong-arming and warning Republicans to get on board with his effort to overhaul Obamacare.

Despite the vote, several Republicans remain skeptical about how the new plan could affect millions of Americans.

In recent weeks, several measures have been considered -- but ultimately collapsed, revealing fissures within the Republican Party on how to reach a goal they have had since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010.

“This was a big step,” Trump said shortly after the vote at a press conference in the White House Rose Garden, calling Obamacare a “disaster for the American people.”

Senator John McCain, who announced last week he is suf-fering from brain cancer, cast a vote for the measure, leaving the total at 50-50.

All 48 Democratic and left-leaning senators voted against, along with Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Vice President Mike Pence broke the tie, as the US Constitution calls on him to do in such a case.

McCain received a standing ovation from his colleagues as he entered the chamber, having made the trip from his home state of Arizona, where he was convalescing.

He called for more biparti-san cooperation in the days ahead, saying: “Why don’t we try the old way of legislating in the Senate, the way our rules and

customs encourage us to act?”Shortly before the vote,

about 20 protesters burst into the Senate’s public gallery in a bid to interrupt the proceedings, shouting “Shame!” before being removed by Capitol police.

Tuesday’s vote was only a

first step. Senators will now launch into long hours of debate, with Republican conservatives and moderates divided over how to proceed.

The latest Republican plan would dismantle Obamacare but delay actual implementation of

the repeal to allow time for a via-ble replacement to be crafted.

That bill is unlikely to ulti-mately pass in its current form, but the Senate leadership insisted on the importance of at least voting on it in order for changes to then be introduced.

Thousands ofCanadians return home after wildfiresOttawa

AFP

About half of the more than 40,000 people who were evacuated

from their homes because of raging wildfires in western Canada have been allowed to return, as the government yesterday promised emer-gency aid.

For nearly three weeks, the forest fires have plagued British Columbia province, from the border with Wash-ington state in the south up to Alaska in the north. About 46,000 people were forced to flee.

While a handful of peo-ple went home late last week, provincial emergency serv-ices have now given the green light to the vast majority of evacuees to head back.

Prime Minister Justin Tru-deau, who met with British Columbia’s provincial leader John Horgan in Ottawa on Tuesday, pledged that the government would do “eve-rything we can to help.”

“Rest assured, we will help British Columbians as they begin to rebuild,” Tru-deau said, promising federal disaster aid. Trudeau said he would visit the affected areas of the province next week, to meet victims and assess the damage.

Yesterday, more than 150 fires were still burning, with about 100 of them still not under the control of the 3,500 firefighters deployed in the Pacific coast province.

Some 200 water-dump-ing helicopters and planes are being used in the effort.

Sen. John McCain (left) returns to the US Senate accompanied by his wife Cindy in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Venezuela arrests two more opposition-appointed judgesCaracas

Reuters

Two more people named to an alternative Supreme Court in defiance of Vene-

zuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government were arrested by intelligence agents during a fast-escalating political showdown, the opposition said.

Jesus Rojas and Zuleima Gonzalez were seized in central Anzoategui state, after another appointee Angel Zerpa’s arrest at the weekend, the opposition-led National Assembly said.

Venezuela’s majority-backed opposition is demanding Maduro abandon a Sunday election to create a controversial congress with powers to rewrite the

country’s constitution and over-ride all other institutions.

Foes say that will institution-alize dictatorship by the ruling Socialist Party. But Maduro insists it is the only way to empower the people and bring peace after four months of anti-government unrest that have killed more than 100 people. “The Constituent Assem-bly will be a blank check for the executive to decide everything,” state prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who has broken with Maduro this year, told a local paper.

The main business guild Fed-ecamaras also backed the opposition, issuing a statement on Wednesday that called the coming weekend vote “uncon-stitutional and unnecessary.”

“We demand the executive

branch abandon its intention to impose a new constitution,” said the group, which is hated by gov-ernment supporters for its central role in a short-lived 2002 coup against Maduro’s predeces-sor Hugo Chavez.

Facing intense foreign pres-sure including the threat of economic sanctions by US Pres-ident Donald Trump, Maduro has vowed the vote will go ahead despite “imperial” pressure. He has called for the arrest of the 13 people named by the opposition to the alternative court last week, calling them “usurpers”. The existing Supreme Court has con-sistently backed Maduro and shot down all measures by the opposition-led National Assembly.

Venezuelan citizens arrive at Cucuta in Colombia after crossing the Simon Bolivar international bridge from San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela, yesterday. Some 25.000 Venezuelans cross to Colombia and return to their country daily with food, consumables and money from ilegal work, according to official sources.

15WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2017 BREAK TIME

Yesterday’s answer

SHOWING ATVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

BABY

BLU

ES

ALL IN THE MIND

ACCOUNTANT, ARCHITECT, ARTIST, ASTRONAUT, AUTHOR, BAKER, BRICKLAYER, BUILDER, BUTCHER, CARPENTER,CHEMIST, DENTIST, DOCTOR, DRIVER, ELECTRICIAN, FARMER,FIREFIGHTER, GLAZIER, HANDYMAN, JOURNALIST, LAWYER, MUSICIAN, NURSE, PHOTOGRAPHER, PILOT, PLUMBER, POLITICIAN, SAILOR, SCIENTIST, SOLDIER, TAILOR, TEACHER.

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10:55 Deadliest

Catch

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It?

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21:00 The Island With

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Games

22:40 Phelps vs Shark:

Great Gold vs Great

White...

23:30 Return To The Isle

Of Jaws (Title Tbc)

00:20 Wheeler Dealers

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11:00 Dogs/Cats/Pets

101

11:55 Animal Cops

Philadelphia

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Rescue

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Monsters: Steve

Backshall

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University

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The Deep End

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Of Indonesia

00:45 Animal Cops

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01:40 The Bronx Zoo

13:05 Star Darlings

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Charlie

15:15 Whisker Haven

Tales...

15:20 Miraculous Tales

Of Ladybug...

15:45 Elena Of Avalor

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Mouse

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Middle

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22:00 Bunk'd

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Of Ladybug...

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku is a number-

placing puzzle based on a 9×9 grid. The object is to

place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so

that each row, each column and each 3×3 box

contains the same number only once.

CROSSWORD

CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

Yesterday's answer

MALL

LANDMARK

ROYAL PLAZA

ASIAN TOWN

NOVO — Pearl

ROXY

Huroob Ezterari (2D/Arabic) 10:30am, 12:45, 3:00, 5:15, 7:30, 9:45pm & 12:00midnight War For The Planet of The Apes (2D/Action) 10:00, 11:30am, 12:50, 2:20, 3:40, 5:10, 6:30, 9:15, 11:00 & 12:00midnight Baywatch (2D/Comedy) 10:00, 11:30am, 12:20, 2:40, 4:30, 5:00, 7:20, 9:20, 9:40pm & 12:00midnightAltitude (2D/Action) 10:00am, 2:30, 7:00 & 11:30pm Pirates of The Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (2D/Action) 11:50am, 4:20 & 8:50pm Cars 3 (2D/Animation) 11:00am, 1:10, 3:30 & 5:40pmOverdrive (2D/Action) 7:50, 9:50 & 11:50pmDespicable Me 3 (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00 & 4:00pm Tisbah Ala Khair (2D/Arabic) 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnightBaby Driver (Thriller) 11:30am, 1:50, 2:00, 4:10, 6:30, 7:00, 8:50, 11:15 & 11:45pm Spider Man: Home Coming (2D IMAX/Action) 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:15pm The Mummy (3D IMAX/Action) 1:40, 6:40 & 11:55pm

Munna Michael (2D/Hindi) 2:00 & 11:30pm Vikram Vedha (2D/Tamil) 2:00 & 11:00pm Cars 3 (2D/Animation) 2:00 & 6:00pm Spiderman: Homecoming (2D/Adventure) 2:30pm Despicable Me 3 (2D/Animation) 4:00pm Altitude (Action) 4:30 & 10:00pm Huroob Ezterari (2D/Arabic) 5:00, 8:00 & 9:00pm Baywatch (Comedy) 5:30 & 11:30pm Baby Driver (2D/Action) 7:00 & 9:30pm Tisbah Ala Khair (2D/Arabic) 7:30pm War For The Planet of The Apes (2D/Adventure) 11:30pm

Cars 3 (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:00pm Fidaa (Telugu) 2:30pmDespicable Me 3 (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 6:00pmSpiderman: Homecoming (2D/Adventure) 2:30 & 11:00pm War For The Planet of The Apes (2D/Adventure) 4:30pm Tisbah Ala Khair (2D/Arabic) 5:00pm Baby Driver (2D/Action) 7:00pm Altitude (Action) 5:00 & 9:45pm Vikram Vedha (2D/Tamil) 7:00 & 11:30pm Huroob Ezterari (2D/Arabic) 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm Baywatch (Comedy) 9:00pm

Munna Michael (2D/Hindi) 2:30 & 9:00pm Despicable Me 3 (2D/Animation) 2:15pmCars 3 (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 5:00pm Baby Driver (2D/Action) 3:00 & 8:00pm Baywatch (Comedy) 4:00, 6:00 & 9:00pm Vikram Vedha (2D/Tamil) 4:15 & 11:15pm Spiderman: Homecoming (2D/Adventure) 7:00pm Huroob Ezterari (2D/Arabic) 7:00, 9:15 & 11:00pm Tisbah Ala Khair (2D/Arabic) 10:00pm Altitude (Action) 11:45pm

Vikram Vedha (Tamil) 5:45, 6:30, 8:30, 8:45, 9:15, 11:15pm &12:00midnight

Fidaa (Telugu) 6:00pm Munna Michael (Hindi) 11:30pm Thondi Muthal (2D/Malayalam) 6:30, 9:15pm &12:00midnight

Cars 3 (Animation) 12:00noon, 2:20, 4:40 & 7:00pm Vikram Vedha (Tamil) 12:00noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00pm & 12:00midnight

Baby Driver (2D/Thriller) 12:00noon, 2:30, 5:00, 7:30 & 10:00pm Baywatch (2D/Comedy) 12:00noon, 2:30, 5:00, 7:30 & 10:00pm Fidaa (Telugu) 9:20pm & 12:10am Huroob Ezterari 12:30pm

AL KHORCars 3 (Animation) 10:30am & 12:45pm

Baby Driver (Thriller) 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:00pm Munna Michael (Hindi) 12:15, 3:300, 5:45,

8:30 & 11:15pm Vikram Vedha (Tamil) 3:00, 6:00, 9:00pm & 12:00midnight

Baywatch (Comedy) 1:30, 6:30 & 11:30pm

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PRAYER TIMINGS

HIGH TIDE 06:30 – 19:30 LOW TIDE 02:00 – 12:00

Hazy to misty at places at first be-

comes hot daytime with slight dust

to blowing dust at places by noon.

WEATHER TODAY

Minimum Maximum34oC 41oC

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Hundreds join to form ‘Tamim Al Majd’ image Amna Pervaiz Rao The Peninsula

Hundreds of citizens and residents participated in the largest national soli-darity event hosted by Qatar Foundation for

Social Work (QFSW) to form the ‘Tamim Al Majd’ image yesterday at Al Sadd Sports Club.

Around 2,000 citizens and residents formed the iconic image with each holding a wooden piece of the image to form the portrait, showing their love to their beloved country and its wise leadership.

Amaal bint Abdullatif Al Mannai, QFSW’s CEO, told The Peninsula: “We all have gathered today, this gathering compromises different organisations from sports, culture and volunteering sectors. Today we all are going to par-ticipate in ‘Tamim Al majd’ global campaign. We all stand together, no matter if we are Qatari or non Qatari, different language speakers and differ-ent religions, to be a part of this beautiful image. We want to convey ‘We love Qatar’ and ‘We love Emir’. We all thank our country because it brings out the best from us in a very beautiful way.”

Laalei Abu Alfain, Executive Direc-tor at Best Buddies, said: “This gathering will be marked in history. We have gathered to show support which will fight against this crisis. This crisis has violated the norms of our country inter-nationally. We all will work hard to overcome this crisis and together we pray to Allah to protect Qatar and peo-ple living in Qatar.”

A number of institutions such as Qatar Players Association, Qatar Foot-ball Association, Supreme Committee

for Delivery & Legacy 2022, AI Kass Sports Channel and Qatar Stars League participated in the event.

Hafiz Junaid Amir Sial, Community Welfare Attache’, Embassy of Pakistan to Qatar, said: “Today we have all gath-ered here to show our complete solidarity with the brilliant Qatari lead-ership. Qatar is an independent and sovereign country and every other nation should respect its sovereignty in its true letter and spirit.”

“On behalf of the Pakistanis living in Qatar I would like to say that we stand by Qatar and support its leader-ship. I believe that the siege imposed

on Qatar is unjust and unfair and all Pakistani communities condemn it in all its forms and manifestations. I hope that the diplomatic crisis will be resolved soon and that too amicably. Long live state of Qatar,” he added.

Through drawing this human mural, the participants expressed their gratitude for the leadership, the extent of love and sincerity that Qatari people feel towards their beloved homeland, and their willingness to spare no effort for the sake of Qatar’s progress, pride and status.

A member of Qatari Voice said: “Qatari Voice is an independent

initiative which was founded by Qatari community which includes Qatari writers, poets and film mak-ers. Youth created this project, which aims to respond to all fake news cre-ated against Qatar. This initiative aspires to show the real image of Qatar that consists of projects within Qatar and globally.”

“This is a long-term programme, which is created during the ongoing cri-sis and will continue till we spread our voices throughout the world. We are using websites, radio, television and other social media platforms to high-light our plan,” he added.

Citizens and residents taking part in creating ‘Tamim Al Majd’ image at Al Sadd stadium yesterday. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula