The Peninsula

DOHA: The Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdul-lah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani said yesterday that government will ease the procedures for work visas to enable private companies to meet the requirements of the job market.

These measures will follow the recent announcements about sim-plifying tourist and transit visa rules and procedures, the Prime Minis-ter said, addressing a meeting with chairmen of companies listed in the Qatari stock market at the Sheraton Hotel. A number of ministers and top officials were present.

The Prime Minister said that the private sector must be an active part-ner to the government and a pillar of the national economy.

The government is committed to continue improving the ease of doing business and investing in Qatar by developing the legislative framework and simplifying procedures, said the Prime Minister.

He said there was a committee revising the procedures and charged

with facilitating the private sec-tor’s ability to participate in all of

the country’s economic activities, highlighting changes to the visa and transit visas as an example of these efforts. There will also be a facili-tation in the process of obtaining a work visa to allow the private sector to obtain its needs from the job mar-ket, said the Prime Minister.

The meeting served as a way to discuss different views on how to advance the business and invest-ment environment in Qatar, in order to increase local and foreign investments. The Prime Minister agreed to form a joint committee between the govern-ment and the private sector that meets regularly to discuss challenges facing the private sector and their solutions. The committee would then present its reports to the Prime Minister.

Qatar is one of the biggest coun-tries in terms of spending on national projects. Spending on major projects reached QR56bn in the first six months of the year. The past two months also saw signings of agree-ments worth QR16bn, said the Prime Minister.

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www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Coaching superstar Villas Boas praises Aspire Academy

BUSINESS | 17 SPORT | 24

Reinsurance market in Mena

set to grow

WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016 • 4 MOHARRAM 1438 • Volume 21 • Number 6940 thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar 2 Riyals

An aerial view of the desert rose-inspired National Museum of Qatar with the Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani’s original palace nestled in the centre. The National Museum is unique for the structure of its façade comprising interlocking discs of varying sizes. This ultramodern museum, which is nearing completion, is set to reflect Qatari roots, history and identity in the thousands of objects that will be displayed in its temporary and permanent galleries. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula

The Peninsula

DOHA: The Ministry of Interior issued 201,663 new residence permits and cancelled 100,215 residencies during the first half of this year, with over 27 percent increase in various trans-actions carried out by the ministry, compared to the same period last year.

The different services centres of the ministry completed 159 trans-actions every minute and 9,559 transactions every hour, accord-ing to the six-month data released by the ministry yesterday.

The total number of transactions accomplished by the ministry during

the period reached 41,293,748, which shows 27.3% increase compared to the same period last year. This fig-ures a monthly average of 6,882,291 and daily average of 229,410. The General Directorate of Nationality, Borders and Expats Affairs com-pleted 20,982,263 transactions with an increase of 9.6% compared to the same period last year. These included 201,663 new residence permits, 673,430 residence permit renew-als, 97,811 residence changes to new passports from the old ones, 100,215 residency cancellations, 6,121 reacti-vation of residence permits and 3,723 sponsorship transfers.

The Recruitment Applications Reviewing Committee received a total of 345, 584 entry visa appli-cations during this period.

The total number of transac-tions related to the Qatar ID cards reached 21,520 marking an increase of 11.6%, in addition to 5,349 trans-actions related to Qatari citizenship.

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By Fazeena Saleem The Peninsula

DOHA: Telemedicine system for real time evaluation of stroke patients has been introduced at

Al Khor Hospital and it has signif-icantly helped patients’ chances of making a full recovery, said a sen-ior official.

Telemedicine is an advanced sys-tem that enables the diagnosis and treatment of patients by clinical teams situated in a different location to the

patient. A collaborative initiative by teams across Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has led to the implementation of the system that is improving care for stroke patients at Al Khor Hospital, said Professor Ashfaq Shuaib, Director, Neuro-sciences Institute HMC.

“The telemedicine technol-ogy enables direct evaluation of stroke patients admitted at Al Khor’s Emergency Department and allows real time examination of the CT scan imagery by HMC’s expert stroke team based at HGH’s Stroke Ward in Doha, facilitating

immediate treatment with live sav-ing therapies,” Professor Shuaib told The Peninsula.

“Prior to the introduction of the telemedicine system, patients would often need to be transferred to HGH’s Emergency Department for a full assessment before treatment was

given. By significantly reducing the time period between the onset of stroke symptoms and the start of treat-ment, patients’ chances of making a full recovery are greatly improved,” he added.

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New Kahramaa service

Al Khor Hospital starts telemedicine for stroke care

201,663 new RPs issued in first halfThe Ministry of Interior also cancelled 100,215 residencies during the first half of this year.

Stunning view of old & new

QU condoles death of two studentsDOHA: The Qatar University (QU) has condoled the death of two of its girl students, Noor Khalil Ibrahim Al Haidous and Reem Saif Homeid AlKa-lbani, who drowned in a swimming pool in their hostel on Monday.

News about the incident went viral on social media yesterday trigger-ing a debate on the safety and security of swimming pools in the country.

“ We pray God to help their bereaved families to bear this great loss,” the University tweeted yesterday.

“ I am shocked to hear the news of the death of the two girls… May God bless them and give their families the patience to bear this loss,” QU Pres-ident Dr Hassan Rashid Al Derham said on his Twitter account.

Some Qatari citizens have launched hashtags with the names of the deceased to express their sorrow over the incident and convey their con-dolences to the bereaved families.

DOHA: Qatar General Elec-tricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has launched a new service on its mobile app to get feedback directly from custom-ers about its services.

The Shoot & Send service aims to set up direct communication with customers to receive com-plaints and suggestions from them quickly.

→ Continued on page 4

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani meeting with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of companies listed on Qatar Stock Exchange at the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort and Convention Hotel, yesterday.

Work visa rules to ease: PM

HOME 02 WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

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He said that the budget for the 2017 fiscal year will see an increase in spending on the state’s big projects, something that will enhance economic growth in the country.

The Prime Minister highlighted some of the features of the 2017 budget, saying the government will focus on completing its major projects in infrastructure, education, health as well as projects tied to the World Cup 2022.

These commitments will lead to an increase in spending on those projects in the next three years, he added.

The Prime Minister noted that

the number of listings in the stock market did not match the economic growth of the country and required further listings and initial public offerings in the future. The Prime Minister stressed that the govern-ment was keen on backing the role of the country’s financial market, adding that a number of compa-nies and investment funds will list in the Qatari stock market in the coming period. The government is encouraging family business to list their companies in the stock market. There is a keenness to turn Msheireb into an international financial cen-tre, said the Premier.

His Excellency then said that Qatar always enjoyed a strong

coordination between fiscal and monetary policies, adding that the government is keen on supporting the role of the banking sector.

The Prime Minister said that the State Cabinet is giving the finishing touches to Qatar National Develop-ment Strategy 2017-2022, the second strategic plan in the process of achiev-ing Qatar National Vision 2030.

Some of the features of the new strategy include enhancing the partnership with the private sector. Other features include developing the logistics sector, the process of offering land to investors, devel-oping the legislative framework and simplifying the procedures for investment.

By Irfan BukhariThe Peninsula

DOHA: Q-Post yesterday launched the Arabic website of its online shop-ping and shipping service called ‘Connected’.

Maud Daniel, Head of Marketing and Communications, and Khalid J Alemadi, Deputy Director Market-ing and Sales, said that as many as 10,000 people had become members of ‘Connected’ since the launch of the service in April this year. Addressing media persons at Arab Postal Stamp Museum Katara, the officials said this was the proof of its success and

acceptability among residents.The officials further said that

from November 2016, Q-Post’s “Connected” will inaugurate its warehouse in China. They also announced multiple upgrades to the e-commerce service.

Connected by Qatar Post is an eagerly awaited e-service that allows residents in Qatar to shop their favourite brands online. It offers a range of unique delivery options. “The customers can not only collect the purchased items from Q-Post’s 25 branches in Qatar, but can also avail the facilities of new state-of-the-art smart lockers or even swift home-delivery. We lit-erally bring the world right to your doorstep,” said Faleh Al Naemi, Chairman Qatar Post.

The officials said that in the last six months, the “Connected” team had been listening to customers’ feedback and planned a great cus-tomer experience enhancement such as adding Arabic website, introduc-ing a rate calculator feature, opening a new warehouse in China and developing amazing offers.

On the eve of the launch of Ara-bic website, Q-Post also introduced a lucrative offer to all new users with a generous discount of 30 percent on the base charge of first ship-ment. “Every Connected customer who uses the service in October and December this year will qual-ify to enter a draw to win amazing prizes of two business class tickets to Europe, and one winner per month will be awarded and the final draw will be held on January 8, 2017,” the officials announced.

Connected offers home or office delivery; smart lockers which are available 24/7 (10 smart lockers across Qatar) and branches collection (30 branches across Qatar). Qatar Post, following the 2030 Qatar National Vision through its smart city engage-ment and ongoing transformation, is particularly focused on customer experience. “We respect customers’ feedback and the launch of this Arabic website is also the result of this con-sideration,” said Maud Daniel. “We understand that e-shoppers need eas-iness and convenience. ”

Connected is a full-service solution that offers simple shop-ping and shipping processes. While many international online stores do not offer international shipping options, Connected is here to resolve shoppers’ problem by providing international shipping addresses in the UK (for whole Europe) and US, and also China from November 2016.

It also offers consolidation of parcels ordered from separate ven-dors into one shipment for reduced shipping charges. The journey of the parcels is closely monitored and cus-tomers will be able to track every movement. Also, Qatar Post and Con-nected are the proud sponsors of The Splash Water Park in Katara and Heya Arabian Fashion exhibition, one of the largest exhibitions for the fashion and modern design in Qatar.

Q-Post launches Arabicwebsite of ‘Connected’

Khalid J Alemadi, Deputy Director of Marketing and Sales, and Maud Daniel, Head of Marketing and Communications, at the launch of Arabic website of ‘Connected’. Pic: Kammutty VP / The Peninsula

Around 10,000 people became members of ‘Connected’ since the launch of the e-commerce service in April this year.

New Development Strategy planned

Some of the CEOs of companies listed on Qatar Stock Exchange at a meeting which was addressed by the Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, at the Sheraton Grand Doha Resort and Convention Hotel.

HOME 03 WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

QNA

ISTANBUL: Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti participated yesterday in the 26th Universal Postal Union (UPU) Congress, with ministers from 50 member countries taking part.

The meeting, which took place in Istanbul, discussed the state of the global postal sector and focused in particular on discussing the World Postal Strategy 2017-2020. The strat-egy has three main goals -- first is to improve the interoperability of network infrastructure; second,

to ensure sustainable and mod-ern products, and the third goal is to foster effective market sector functioning.

On the sidelines of the congress, Qatar Postal Services Company (Q-Post) signed a cooperation agree-ment in the postal field with the national post and telegraph direc-torate of Turkey (PTT).

The cooperation will be in mail and packages, electronic and secure banking services. The Minister of Transport attended the signing along with Turkey’s Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communications Ahmet Arslan.

Signing the agreement on the

Qatari side was Chairman of Qatar Postal Services Company and Managing Director Faleh Moham-med Al Nuaimi. On the Turkish side, PTT Chairman of The Exec-utive Board and Director-General Kenan Bozgeyik signed the agree-ment. Qatar’s Ambassador to Turkey Salem Mubarak Al-Shafi attended the signing as well.

The Universal Postal Congress is the supreme authority of the Uni-versal Postal Union (UPU). It brings together plenipotentiaries of the Union’s 192 member countries every four years to discuss developments of the global postal sector and decide on its future.

1,097 new companies registered

Qatar’s Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, Turkey’s Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communications Ahmet Arslan and Qatar’s Ambassador to Turkey Salem Mubarak Al-Shafi look on as Chairman of Qatar Postal Services Company and Managing Director Faleh Mohammed Al Nuaimi and PTT Chairman of Executive Board and Director-General Kenan Bozgeyik sign the cooperation agreement.

Q-Post & Turkey’s PTT sign cooperation agreement

The Peninsula

DOHA: The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) registered 1,097 new companies last month, according to the monthly Business Progress Report of the Commerce Sector. The total number of compa-nies closed in September was 203,

representing 18.5 percent of the newly registered companies. The total number of new key commercial records reached 742 and new subsid-iary commercial records were at 355.

The percentage of the limited liability companies reached 60%, while 24% of the companies were registered in the category of Sin-gle-Person Company and 15% in

the category of individual corpora-tions. Contracting companies topped the list of the most commonly used activities, with 259 commercial records issued in this field.

In construction materials trad-ing, 112 commercial records were issued while for restaurants and groceries 124 commercial records were issued.

Auditoire Qatar wins DJWE bidDOHA: The 14th edi-tion of Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibi-tion (DJWE) to be held from February 20 to 25 at Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC), will be delivered by Auditoire Qatar, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) announced yesterday.

Following a compet-itive bidding process, Auditoire Qatar won the contract to deliver three editions of DJWE.

One of QTA’s flag-ship exhibitions, DJWE features more than 500 of the most exclusive international brands and one of the most notable events on the regional calendar de luxe.

QTA works to facil-itate the growth of business events in Qatar by working with, and empowering, the private sector to organise and deliver quality exhibitions and events. Identified in Qatar’s National Tour-ism Sector Strategy as a core sub-sector, Business Events play an impor-tant role in attracting the seven million annual vis-itors Qatar is targeting by 2030.

HOME04 WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

The Peninsula

DOHA: Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) has honoured the work of 467 local physicians who share their knowledge and experiences to help train the college’s students.

They were presented with WCM-Q doctor’s white coat and busi-ness cards at a ceremony at Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Hajar Auditorium.

As part of medical training, WCM-Q students in the final two years of their degrees spend 55 weeks on clinical clerkships in affiliated institutions, including Hamad Med-ical Corporation (HMC), where they can begin to apply knowledge they have gained in the classroom and acquire hands-on skills to be a fully qualified doctor under the super-vision of physicians affiliated with WCM-Q.

Dr. Javaid Sheikh, Dean, WCM-Q, said the work of WCM-Q’s affiliate

doctors is invaluable to the educa-tion of the next generation of doctors and the future of healthcare in Qatar.

The affiliates practice in institu-tions, including HMC; Sidra Medical and Research Center; Aspetar Ortho-paedic and Sports Medicine Hospital; Primary Health Care Corporation; and Feto-Maternal Center.

Dr. Sheikh said, “As a medical col-lege we can teach our student doctors

how to diagnose illnesses, how to pro-vide comfort and support and how to save lives. However, it is the doc-tors at our affiliate institutions who show them how to put that knowl-edge into practice.

“Among them, our faculty col-leagues at WCM-Q’s affiliates have experience that can be learned through decades of work in hospi-tals, clinics, surgeries and healthcare

centres. It is this knowledge and wis-dom in fields as varied as obstetrics, internal medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry and paediatrics they are passing on to our students,” he added.

Dr. Abdulla Al Ansari, Dep-uty Chief Medical Officer, Surgical Services, HMC, and Associate Dean, Clinical Medicine, WCM-Q, said the relationship between HMC and WCM-Q is getting stronger every day.

“WCM-Q students join us for sur-gery and on our ward rounds and all students I have seen are enthusias-tic, up-to- date and energetic. That means we have to keep up with them; when you have energetic students it energises their doctors and teachers. They have a very positive effect on the environment and it means they also have good relationships with nurses and patients,” he said.

Officials with affiliate doctors at the honouring ceremony.

WCM-Q honours work of 467 affiliate doctorsThe local physicians have shared their knowledge and experiences to help train the college’s students.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Sheikh Thani Bin Abdul-lah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) has opened a voca-tional training centre for inmates of Al Huda Jail in Khartoum, capi-tal of Sudan.

The project worth over QR2.1m was financed by the endowment fund of Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani for charity works. Thousands of prisoners will receive training so they could join the job market after serving their terms. It will also help them integrate into the social life and earn livelihood for them and their families.

The centre was inaugurated in the presence of Dr. Ayed bin Dab-ssan Al Qahtani, Chairman, Board of Trustees and General Director, RAF; several Sudanese ministers and officials. “We have prepared training courses for the inmates

in collaboration with the Supreme Council for Vocational Training and Industrial Apprenticeship,” said Minister of State for Labour Khalid Hasan. “The council will grant inter-nationally recognised apprenticeship

certificates to the participants.”There will be two courses for

six months and three years. The participants will undergo a month-long course to specify their level of education and will be selected by

the council for courses, including wielding, electri-cals, packing, installation of health equipment and aluminium fixers.

The training period will be for 24 weeks and classes will be held from 7:45am to 1:15pm.

QNA

DOHA: Qatar Fund for Development (QFD) has signed a grant agreement with Organisation of Islamic Coop-eration Humanitarian Funds (OICHF).

OICHF will receive a grant to support programmes for capacity-building and economic empowerment in its member states. The three-year deal was signed by QFD General Manager Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari and OICHF Board of Trustees Chairman Sheikh Dr. Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

It aims at supporting humanitarian projects imple-mented by OICHF in OIC member states, especially in the most needy areas where inhabitants are suffering due to poverty and diseases.

Sheikh Dr. Abdulaziz said the deal is a prelude to cooperation and sustainable partnership between OICHF and QFD as QFD is proactive in supporting humanitar-ian and development projects in the Arab and Islamic countries.

Qatar Fund for Development

signs deal with OICHF

QFD General Manager Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari and OICHF Board of Trustees Chairman Sheikh Dr. Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

RAF opens training centre in Sudan jail

Dr. Ayed bin Dabssan Al Qahtani, Chairman, Board of Trustees and General Director, RAF, with local officials at the vocational training centre opened in a jail in Khartoum.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Al Rayyan Municipal-ity last month closed down three shops for violating the law and registered 63 violations during 531 inspection visits last month.

It also destroyed 38 sheep which did not meet health spec-ifications and collected fines totalling QR178.000.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment said it is conducting annual main-tenance work for green spaces and it is normal for people to notice changes in landscape colours.

345 tonnes of farm

cargo destroyed

DOHA: The Agriculture Quar-antine Office at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment last month destroyed 167 imported agricultural shipments weighing about 345.08 tonnes for violating the agriculture quarantine law.

A total of 5,815 shipments weighing 72644.09 tonnes at var-ious outlets were inspected.

The office also inspected five export shipments weighing 49.5 tonnes and issued health certifi-cates and clearances. Agriculture quarantine is considered the first line of defence to protect plants and agriculture products from pests.

Three shops shut

for violating law

Continued from page 1

To avail of the service, customers must download ‘Kahramaa’ app on smart-phones, opt language and ‘Contact Us’. They will have options to request ‘Sug-gestion’ or ‘Complaint’. To send a suggestion, they have to enter data (name, phone number, email) and to lodge a complaint they may select the option according to the complaint type whether it relates to reading meters or electric-ity and water emergency.

The user has to record the electricity and water number that existed on the external wall of his house and fill in other informa-tion and attach a ‘Shoot’.

In case of informa-tion about a violation, the user must go to ‘Contact Us’ service, select ‘Com-plaint’ as a request type and choose ‘Others’ as a complaint type and men-tion the violation’s site with details.

‘Shoot & Send’

service guidelines

HOME 05WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

Ibrahim Fakhroo (left), Director of Protocol, Foreign Ministry; Wilfredo C. Santos, Philippine Ambassador to Qatar; and Michelle Adrillana, celebrity chef from the Philippines, opening the Filipino Food Fiesta at Hwang Restaurant at InterContinental Doha The City yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula

Filipino Food Fiesta at Hwang Restaurant

The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar Foundation (QF) today marks World Teachers’ Day by cele-brating local educators.

Teachers are celebrated as they strive to nurture excellence, unlock capabilities of future gen-erations and empower the leaders of tomorrow.

Through its world-class educa-tors and unique academic system that caters for children as young as six months through to doctoral level, QF is helping drive human development and enables students and graduates to flourish in a glo-bal world, while inspiring change in Qatar and beyond.

Qatari Khalaf Al Merekhi

(pictured) is a physical educa-tion teacher at Qatar Leadership Academy (QLA) and believes in the importance of lifelong learning.

About QF’s efforts to provide learning opportunities to its educa-tors, he said: “QF supports teachers

by developing skills and professional needs to improve performance lev-els in schools.

“I believe it is important in help-ing teachers perform their role to the best of their abilities, he added.

QF to mark World Teachers’ Day Local educators will be honoured today for their efforts to nurture excellence, unlock capabilities of future generations and empower the leaders of tomorrow.

HOME06 WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani yesterday met Singapore’s Foreign Minister Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan during a visit to the country. Talks dealt with mechanisms of promoting cooperation, particularly in the investment, commerce, infrastructure, urban planning and energy sectors; issues of common concern; and the latest regional and international developments.

Foreign Minister in Singapore

QNA

TOKYO: Children are the future of the world and Qatar is proud to support such an ambitious and innovative project in Onagawa Town in Japan, said Qatar’s Ambas-sador to Japan Yousef Bilal.

In a statement following the signing of a deal to donate $10m

towards a new school in the heart of Onagawa, Bilal said the project aims at putting children at the cen-tre of the community by nurturing their ambitions and helping develop the future leaders of the town.

The deal was signed by Qatar Friendship Fund (QFF) and Ona-gawa Mayor Suda Yoshiaki in the presence of Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrah-man Al Thani.

The Peninsula

DOHA: The Public Works Author-ity (Ashghal) has announced full closure of the previously known Delah Roundabout in Al Khor City to convert it to a signal-controlled intersection.

Traffic approaching the clo-sure area will be diverted to alternate routes.

The closure aims at complet-ing the final wearing course and road markings for the roundabout.

The closure will last six days starting this morning and the intersection will be re-opened to traffic in all directions on Sunday morning.

Delah Roundabout

in Al Khor closed

for works The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar Leadership Centre’s (QLC) Executive Leaders completed the ‘Innovation and Change’ module from September 18 to 23 at Harvard Business School (HBS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The HBS module was followed by a five-day Learning Journey to Rice University’s Baker Institute in Hou-ston, Texas.

The module has enhanced par-ticipants’ analytic skills and the Learning Journey strengthened their grasp of global energy and health pol-icies. Such activities are integral parts of QLC’s year-long leadership curric-ulum for Qatari professionals in the Executive Leaders Programme.

The module enabled the executive

leaders to sharpen leadership skills through team activities, discussions and case studies that highlighted exemplary management theory and practical solutions from the contemporary business and entre-preneurship landscape.

The sessions also highlighted how innovative and thought-based lead-ership can be and has influenced decisionmaking in major multina-tional corporations and fledgling startups. Pooling collective theo-retical and practical knowledge, participants identified and devel-oped strategies and best practices to solve problems based on real-world case studies.

They discussed cases ranging from a port authority project man-agement challenge to Uber’s business model. The module enabled them to better adapt to change and employ

strategic techniques to improve the performance of their organisations.

The leaders began their Learn-ing Journey at Baker Institute, a think tank dedicated to energy and health policy research studies. The visit allowed them to broaden horizons and observe and learn about how creative leadership can solve energy and health challenges facing the glo-bal economy.

The Learning Journey was fol-lowed by visits to Nasa, Texas Heart Institute and Schlumberger, a lead-ing oil and gas company.

“Challenges of today’s modern world compel us as professionals to make a commitment to life-long learning and development,” said Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al Thani, Member, Board of Directors and Manag-ing Director, QLC. “Developing our human capital will be crucial as we

forge ahead in our mission of achiev-ing Qatar’s 2030 vision.”

QLC also offers Rising Lead-ers and Government Leaders

programmes and applications for all three programmes are open for 2017-18 cycle until October 31. For details, visit QLC website: www.qlc.org.qa.

QLC’s Executive Leaders travelled to the US to learn from professors and experts at Harvard Business School and Baker Institute.

QLC Executive Leaders complete Harvard Business School module

The Peninsula

DOHA: Ooredoo Qatar’s Chief Oper-ating Officer Yousuf Abdulla Al Kubaisi has collected the trophy for ‘Best Operator Network’ on behalf of the company at the 2016 Telecom World Middle East Awards.

The gala event was held in Dubai, and was attended by several officials from Ooredoo, including members of Ooredoo Kuwait and Ooredoo Oman.

Al Kubaisi said: “The Ooredoo Supernet was launched to improve every aspect of our network services

and ensure that our customers have access to the fastest speeds available.

“We’ve invested heavily in launching world-class services such as 1Gbps Fibre and expanding and 4G+ network across Qatar. The award demonstrates our commitment and progress towards our vision and we plan to continue upgrading our Supernet until everyone in Qatar has access to its superior speeds.”

Ooredoo Qatar was awarded the Best Operator Network by a panel of judges assembled by Terrapinn, the organisers of the annual Telecoms World Middle East Conference and Awards.

The ‘Best Operator Network’ award recognises the telecommu-nications operator that has launched a new network or made significant improvements to its network since April 2015.

The Ooredoo Supernet launched in August 2015 enhances every aspects of the company’s offerings — mobile, fixed broadband Inter-net — and provide customers with

the strongest and latest technology. Qatar has become one of 10 coun-tries in the world to launch 1Gbps fibre, alongside a host of regional firsts from Ooredoo, such as adding the new Category 9 LTE-Advanced standard to its mobile network, bringing multiple 4G frequencies

together to support download speeds of up to 325Mbps for its customers. The awards recognise outstand-ing performance in key areas in the Middle East telecom industry and highlight key players that have con-tributed to making the sector one of the most dynamic globally.

‘Best Operator Network’ award for Ooredoo

Ooredoo Qatar’s Chief Operating Officer Yousuf Abdulla Al Kubaisi (second left) receiving the award at the gala event in Dubai.

Continued from page 1

A total of 1,417,196 transactions were made related to residence permits and 1,194,431 trans-actions related to entry permits during the first six months of 2016.

“The Ministry of Interior has been doing its best in providing its services in accordance with the lat-est systems that facilitated the public to access its services at anytime and anywhere in line with its strategy which was developed corresponding to Qatar National Vision 2030,” said a statement yesterday.

The Recruitment Applications Reviewing Com-mittee received 345,584 entry visa applications during the period.

The Airport Passports Department handled 6,908,230 transactions, with an increase of 6.1 per-cent compared to the same period last year.

These included about 218,325 company exit permits, 32 359 exit permits for Qatari personal spon-sorships, 58 235 exit permits for non-Qatari personal sponsorships and 9,032 return visas.

The General Directorate of Traffic completed 4,231,675 transactions, including 47,280 new licences and 49,531 new vehicle registrations. The Criminal Evidences and Information Department recorded 342,791 fingerprints along with 406,571 medical check-ups for expatriates during the period.

The outstanding services indicators show that 5,448 transactions were exempted from payment which amounted to QR1,440,563 in terms of serv-ices for the beneficiaries of the special decision of the Minister of Interior exempting them from payment.

The Ministry also facilitated a mobile vehicle with high technical specifications to offer services to the elderly and people with disabilities in all areas of the state.

The 2016 Telecom World Middle East Awards in Dubai recognise Ooredoo’s achievement.

Continued from page 1

The stroke telemedicine system has been developed by teams at HGH’s Stroke Ward; Al Khor’s Emer-gency Department; and the Health Information and Communication Technology Department.

Qatar, like other GCC countries, is no different from many developed

countries with stroke being one of the leading causes of mortality and the No.1 cause of chronic disability.

The main difference in Qatar and many countries is the younger average age of stroke victims — aver-age age is 54 years here and 77 in the US and the UK. Every day, four or five new patients are admitted to the Stroke Ward, according to Prof.

Shuaib. “Following discharge from the Stroke Ward, all patients receive extensive support throughout their recovery from our rehabilitation teams,” he added.

Patients needing long-term reha-bilitative care will soon benefit from Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI) due to open in Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City soon. “QRI will provide

world-class integrated rehabilitation services, including specialist care for patients recovering from stroke. At QRI, we will offer ground-breaking therapies to help patients recover lost skills. These will be provided by our teams trained extensively in assisted therapy to enhance the re-learning of movement, speech, hearing and reading,” he added.

Qatar Rehabilitation Institute opening soon for stroke patients

Envoy: QFF donation to help develop future leaders of Japan’s town

1,417,196 residence permit transactions in first six months

MIDDLE EAST 07WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

AFP

HEBRON: The Palestinian govern-ment delayed municipal elections for up to four months yester-day with Fatah and Hamas so far unable to overcome divisions to organise their first competitive polls in a decade.

The postponement came a day after the Palestinian high court ruled that the elections, initially scheduled for October 8, should be held only in the West Bank and not in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

A new date for the vote was not set by the government based in the West Bank, the Palestinian territory run by President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.

The Palestinian Central Elec-tions Commission and the United Nations special representative

welcomed the postponement, saying they were hopeful Gaza would now be included in the eventual vote.

The Palestinians have not held an election in which both Hamas and Fatah took part since 2006. They have also not held a vote in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip at the same time since then.

“The Palestinian cabinet, in con-sultation with President Mahmoud Abbas, decided to postpone the local elections for (up to) four months,” Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said in a statement.

Islamist movement Hamas rejected the postponement and said the delay and the decision not to hold the polls in Gaza were Fatah manoeuvrings to avoid an electoral defeat. Hamas had planned to sup-port lists of candidates not officially linked to the movement to avoid potential sanctions if they won.

It was not clear if Hamas would still attempt to do so.

The elections were initially to choose municipal councils in some 416 cities and towns in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

On September 8, the Palestinian high court based in the West Bank suspended the polls following dis-putes between Fatah and Hamas over candidate lists.

That dispute led to Monday’s decision in which the high court ordered the elections to be held only in the West Bank and not in Gaza.

It said that the Hamas-control-led judiciary in Gaza did not have the necessary “guarantees” in place for holding the polls.

Palestinian local polls delayed by up to 4 months

Reuters

MOSCOW: The Russian Defence Ministry said yesterday it had deployed an S-300 missile system to its Tartus naval base in Syria.

“The missile battery is intended to ensure the safety of the naval base ... It is unclear why the deployment of the S-300 caused such alarm among our Western partners,” the ministry said in a statement.

US media reported earlier this week that Russia had sent the S-300 system to Syria at the weekend in its first foreign deployment of the surface-to-air weapon in the civil war-ridden country.

US Secretary of State John Kerry

said yesterday efforts to end Syria’s war must continue despite Wash-ington’s decision to break off talks with Moscow over what he called its “irresponsible” support for Pres-ident Bashar Al Assad.

The United States on Monday suspended talks with Russia on implementing a ceasefire deal in Syria, accusing Moscow of not living up to its commitments to halt fight-ing and ensure aid reached besieged communities. “We are not giving up on the Syrian people and we are not abandoning the pursuit of peace,” Kerry said in a speech in Brussels.

“We will continue to pursue a meaningful, sustainable, enforceable cessation of hostilities throughout the country — and that includes the grounding of Syrian and Russian

combat aircraft in designated areas.”Kerry accused Russia of turning

a blind eye to Assad’s use of chlorine gas and barrel bombs and suggested it was pursuing a scorched earth policy in place of diplomacy.

“As we know, this tragic war has been made worse by the utter depravity of the regime, that doesn’t hesistate to still use gas, chlorine, mixed with other ingredients to kill its citizens, that drops barrel bombs on hospitals and children and women,” he said.

“You also have the irresponsible and profoundly ill-advised decision by Russia to associate its interests and reputation with that of Assad, a man who has been responsible for torturing more than ten thousand people.”

Russia deploys S-300 missile system at naval base in Syria

AFP & AP

CAIRO: Egyptian police shot dead two members of the Muslim Broth-erhood, one of them a senior leader of the outlawed Islamist group, the interior ministry said yesterday.

The ministry charged that Mohamed Kamal headed the mili-tary wing of the movement of ousted president Mohamed Mursi, although the group has always denied having one. A ministry statement carried by the state Mena news agency said 61-year-old Mohammed Kamal, a physician by profession, was killed

along with Yasser Shahata Ali Ragab in an exchange of gunfire as police tried to arrest the two late on Mon-day night.

But a Brotherhood statement posted on its official website shortly after reports of the shootout sur-faced said Kamal had been arrested by police, suggesting he was killed after being taken into custody.

In July 2015, the Brotherhood made a similar claim when secu-rity forces raided an apartment in a western Cairo suburb, saying nine of its members were killed after they were rounded up.

The ministry alleged that Kamal had founded the Brotherhood’s

military wing after the army’s over-throw of Mursi in 2013. It said he had been given two life sentences in absentia on charges of forming an armed group and involvement in a bombing near a police station in Assiut in southern Egypt.

It said he was also wanted on suspicion of involvement in the mur-der of prosecutor general Hisham Barakat in a June 2015 car bombing and the attempted murder of leading Muslim cleric Ali Gomaa in August.

The Brotherhood and its sup-porters have been subjected to a deadly crackdown since Mursi’s ouster but it denied taking up arms in response.

Anatolia

TRIPOLI: At least 30 people were killed when two boats carrying undocumented migrants of vari-ous nationalities sank off Libya’s northern coast Monday evening, according to local officials.

“Two boats carrying scores of undocumented migrants sank off the coast of Sabratha [in north-western Libya],” Bassam Al Gharabali, chairman of Libya’s anti-illegal immigration agency in Sabratha, told Anadolu Agency.

According to Al Gharabali, both ill-fated vessels had set out from destinations along the Lib-yan coast — he did not say where exactly — en route to Europe.

While the official refrained from saying how many people had been aboard the two boats or provide detailed information regarding their nationalities, he noted that survivors had included Libyan, Moroccan and Syrian nationals, including one baby.

“The search for bodies — and survivors — remains ongoing,” he said.

Egypt police shoot dead senior

Brotherhood leader and activist

30 migrants drown off Libyan coast

The postponement came a day after the Palestinian high court ruled that the elections, initially scheduled for October 8, should be held only in the West Bank and not in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

People inspect a damaged site after air strikes in the rebel held Karam Houmid neighbourhood in Aleppo, Syria, yesterday.

Nourane Houas (right), a Franco-Tunisian Red Cross worker freed following Omani mediation after almost a year in captivity in Yemen, being greeted upon her arrival in Muscat, yesterday.

Houthis voice conditions for possible peace talksSANA’A: Yemen’s Houthis toughened demands for the resumption of talks to end the 19-month-old civil war, saying President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi must go and an agreement must be reached on the presidency. The com-ments from the Iran-aligned forces are likely to complicate United Nations efforts to bring the parties back to talks based on proposals made by US Secretary of State John Kerry in August.

Hadi’s internationally-recognised government, which is supported by an alliance of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, is battling the Houthis who took over the capital Sanaa in September 2014.

AFP

ANKARA: Turkey yesterday sus-pended 12,800 police officers over alleged links to an Islamic preacher accused of master-minding the failed July coup, and cut broadcasts of a pro-Kurdish television channel under its con-troversial state of emergency.

Tens of thousands have already been arrested or lost their jobs under the three three-month state of emergency which was declared days after the July 15 coup and was extended on Mon-day a further 90 days to last well into 2017. Officers entered IMC TV headquarters and cut broadcasts after it was ordered, along with several other outlets, to be closed last week under the emergency laws over accusations of support-ing Kurdish militants.

A total of 12,801 police were suspended from duty as part of the investigation into the coup attempt, including 2,523 police chiefs, the police headquarters said in a state-ment. In total, Turkey has around 270,000 police officers.

A Turkish official, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the suspensions, adding that the indi-viduals would continue to be paid two-thirds of their salary “pend-ing further investigation”.

The action was taken over suspected links to the movement of the US-based preacher Fethul-lah Gulen which Turkey blames for the failed putsch in July which sought to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

Gulen, an ally-turned-foe of Erdogan who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, strongly denies Anka-ra’s accusations.

Turkey

fires 12,800

policemen

VIEWS08 WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement on Monday that Washington was suspending talks with Moscow due to Russia’s role in the offensive in Aleppo has dealt another blow to the faint chances of a ceasefire and a cessation of hostilities

in Syria. Washington’s decision came after Russia, along with Syrian forces, started unleashing an assault on Aleppo to retake the city from the rebels a week into the ceasefire agreed by Washington and Moscow. The US stance isn’t surprising because the Russian attack was a brazen violation of ceasefire terms, and the bombing of Aleppo, widely condemned, has been described as unprecedented in its ferocity. Russian and Syrian forces have been committing war crimes by deliberately targeting civilians, hospitals and aid deliveries to crush the will of more than 250,000 people trapped in the city. But the people of Aleppo are proving that their will is unbreakable, even in the

face of deadly bombardments from the air.

The battle for Aleppo is considered the most decisive and biggest in the five-and-a-half-year war in Syria. The Syrian-Russian forces, backed by the Iranian militia on the ground, wouldn’t hesitate to commit the worst crimes in their bid to recapture this last major urban stronghold, but it’s proving to be a tough battle. Rebels yesterday said they repelled an army offensive as warplanes from the alliance continued to pound residential areas.

Kerry yesterday said efforts to end the war must continue despite

the suspension of talks. But Washington still lacks an effective and coherent strategy on Syria which has been responsible for the current chaos. The collapse of the ceasefire last month was a blow to US and it was a personal blow for Kerry, who had negotiated the truce over months despite scepticism from several quarters. At the same time, Russia has been bulldozing its way ahead, strengthening the hands of its ally Bashar Al Assad.

Meanwhile, Turkey has said it planned to make a proposal to Washington and Moscow to resurrect the ceasefire that collapsed last month. It’s a proposal worth considering because it’s time for another ceasefire in Syria, a ceasefire that all sides must adhere to rather than try to sabotage. Turkey is also in a better position to make a proposal because it now enjoys good relations with Russia and knows the intricacies of this war, and as a neighbour, it has been a victim of this war – due to the spillover effect and the refugee crisis that has spilled into Europe.

A blow for peace

Washington still lacks an effective and coherent strategy on Syria.

Quote of the dayThis is what happens now, I will be reconfiguring my foreign policy. Eventually, I might in my time I will break up with America.

Rodrigo Duterte Philippine President

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It is nearly a year since Vladimir Putin sprung one of his little surprises on Washington by entering the civil war in Syria as an

active combatant on Bashar al-Assad’s side. In that time, Russian bombing can claim to have saved Damascus and the regime itself from falling, to have re-opened the coastal road to Latakia, and liberated Palmyra. Putin has already declared mission accom-plished once and flew home most of his bombers. He is now flying them all back in an assault on east Aleppo.

In that time, Sergei Lavrov and John Kerry lulled each other into thinking that they could waltz their way to the Geneva conference table, when neither the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nor the State Depart-ment were running things. The deal breaker was theUS bombing of Syrian regime positions in Deir Ezzor on 17 September, an act for which the US have apologised but which the Russians believe was a deliberate act.

Just as he did in Ukraine (a separatist war for which Moscow, Ukrainian nationalists and EU negotiators all have blood on their hands), the arch regional oppor-tunist Putin saw an opportunity: to finish off Aleppo, and with it a war that has lasted the five and a half years. Or so he thinks.

The fire that never goes outRussian generals also think

they have done Aleppo before. For anyone who witnessed the bom-bardment of Grozny - in 1994 and 2000 - the pictures coming out of east Aleppo are nothing new.

The use of thermobaric or vacuum bombs (bursts which suck the oxygen out of the air within a 500-metre radius), phosphorus, “double tap” strikes, deniable militias, the target-ing of hospitals, market places, mosques, anywhere where civil-ians gather in war time - all this Russia has tried before in Chechnya.

The brutality of the Russian counter insurgency in Chechnya

had one effect. It split a nation-alist Sufi separatist movement, which had been running on and off since Tsarist days, into two factions. One went into exile and is inert. The other became the hard core of the Islamic State (IS) in the North Caucasus, and provides one source of foreign fighters for IS in Raqqa.

Russia has never put this fire out. It continues to burn away in Muslim-majority Russian repub-lics like Dagestan and Ingushetia and will burst out again the moment Moscow takes its foot off the throat of the North Cauca-sus. In one sense, Putin is right to think that he is fighting the same enemy now in east Aleppo, as he did 16 years ago in Grozny. It is one that he himself created.

Aleppo, however, is not Gro-zny. It does not lie on the fringe of the Russian Steppe. Its one of three major Sunni cities, along with Baghdad and Mosul, which if Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah, and the Quds brigade of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard get their way, will see another major Sunni civilian exodus.

Putin is assuming that the fall of Aleppo will be a pivotal moment in the civil war. He is assuming the fall of a Sunni city to Shia militias, controlled by the regime and two other for-eign interveners, Hezbollah and Iran, would be game over for Syr-ian rebels.

To judge only by the recent history of Aleppo, Homs, Mosul, Fallujah and Ramadi, I would not place a lot of money on the bet that a Russian intervention can deliver a knock-out blow. These cities have fallen and been retaken more times than Putin and Barack Obama have met. What applies to the limits of US, British and French kinetic force in Iraq, applies also to Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah.

Considering the ferocious fire power they have faced, the com-bined combat strength of Syrian rebel factions has been remarka-bly resilient. Even under massive bombardment, the front lines in Aleppo have not changed, as yet, as much as one might have expected them to.

The issue is not the number of fighters at the rebel’s forces disposal. It has been faction-alism - which has been solved by the unity forged under all out assault. And it has been the quality of weapons that Obama allowed through, under a pol-icy designed to keep rebel forces strong enough to resist, but not strong enough to prevail. Obama has always been frightened by what victory in Syria looks like.

Brakes come off As the US walks away from

Geneva, that brake will now come off. The key funders of the rebel militias - Saudi Arabia, Tur-key and Qatar - will be freer to pump battlefield weapons into the battlefield.

Turkish forces are already within easy reach of east Aleppo. If they retake al-Bab from IS, they will be within a few kilometres of it.

Out of the blue, having seem-ingly been overshadowed by his younger nephew, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef has suddenly asserted himself. He popped up in Wash-ington and now Ankara. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied that the two had discussed arming the rebels. I have no infor-mation to contradict that, but in the context of the US withdrawal from Syria, this was an impor-tant meeting.

If I am right, and Russia fails to achieve the quick knock-out blow to the rebel cause that Putin thinks he will deliver, this means that he has to think long term. He has not got an economy that can sustain a long-term foreign intervention. Putin and his band of oligarchs never succeeded in weaning the Russian economy off its fix of oil and gas revenues.

The “fat” decade of extreme wealth for some in Russia has gone and will not return. The cranes have stopped whirring around Moscow.

At the rate at which Putin is burning through his foreign reserves, they have two years left. Saudi Arabia is also burning through its foreign reserves. But it has longer and has more options.

In a long-term military engagement in Syria, Putin is effectively pitting Russia’s econ-omy against Turkey’s and Saudi Arabia’s and in the circumstances, this is not such an intelligent thing to do.

Syria worked for Putin on a number of levels. It wrong-footed Obama - always a plus for Putin. A key role in Geneva could have

proved to be a ticket back out of international isolation, forced on it by the Ukrainian conflict. It saved Assad. It persuaded Obama to avoid the meltdown of the Syrian state, even at the cost of keeping Assad in a post-war transitional government.

Instead, in a series of quick-fire tactical moves, Putin is fashioning a strategic disaster for Russia. With the cancellation of the agreement to destroy plu-tonium, he has plunged Russian relations with America to its low-est levels of mutual trust since

Andropov, certainly to the pre-perestroika days of Gorbachev.

A winner-take-all mental-ity in post-cold war America and its Nato allies has undoubt-edly played its part. Nato is not the innocent victim of Putin’s nationalist revivalism. It is one of the well springs of it. But post-communist Russia is not even a shadow of the world power the Soviet Union once was. For most of his presidency, Putin has used military force reflexively and out of weakness, not strategically out of strength.

There is only one military force which can function and sus-tain itself as a global power, that belongs to whomever sits down next in the Oval Office.

Putin may think this is an excellent time for a bloodbath in Aleppo. Obama, who defined his presidency on withdrawal from foreign intervention, has not the will, nor the time left to resist.

It will be months before a new president is elected, and if, as Russia fears, that new presi-dent will be Hillary Clinton, then Putin may well calculate that he has a window of opportunity in Syria which will shortly close.

Strategically, neither Russia, nor Iran, nor a rump sectarian regime in Damascus that has fought a war which has killed up to 470,000 of it own citizens and caused 4.8 million to fleecan prevail in a country with a Sunni majority, backed by two regional powers in Turkey and Saudi.

How and where Putin returns to Geneva is a matter for him. But if he thinks beyond the next tac-tical master stroke, he may well come to the conclusion that the worst thing that could happen to Russia is if east Aleppo fell. It would not be the end of five and a half years, but the start of another five and a half years.

The writer is Editor-in-Chief of Middle East Eye. He was chief for-eign leader writer of The Guardian, former Associate Foreign Editor, European Editor.

Good time for a bloodbath in Aleppo? Putin thinks so

By David Hearst

Putin is effectively pitting Russia’s economy against Turkey and Saudi Arabia’s and in the circumstances, this is not such an intelligent thing to do.

OPINION 09WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

All thoughts and views expressed in these columns are those of the writers, not of the newspaper.All correspondence regarding Views and Opinion pages should be mailed to the Editor-in-Chief.

Afghanistan: Beyond reactive tactics and quick fixes

By David KilcullenAl Jazeera

Afghanistan’s two key politi-cal leaders - President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah - today meet European Union rep-

resentatives, 70 donor nations and 20 international organisations in Brussels, to review progress and agree on future assistance.

As the Brussels conference gets under way, Afghanistan is increasingly frag-ile. Ghani and Abdullah jointly head the National Unity Government (NUG), which is now reaching the end of its second year. But in a recent interview, former presi-dent Hamid Karzai directly questioned the NUG’s legitimacy.

The political agreement that cre-ated the NUG requires a constitutional Loya Jirga (grand assembly) to decide on a change of political system, from a pres-idential to a parliamentary model, by the end of its second year.

Likewise, the NUG was supposed to undertake electoral reform and hold par-liamentary elections. But as the two-year deadline passes, none of these conditions has been met. Political opposition groups are relishing these failures, trying to fur-ther weaken the government.

Anwar ul-Haq Ahadi, a prominent opposition politician, has suggested early

elections as the only solution. NUG lead-ers have instead pushed a new reform agenda, promising to fulfil 30 commit-ments by the end of 2016.

Beyond the political sphere, Afghan-istan remains vulnerable in security terms. A renewed Taliban offensive threatens city centres in the north-east and south, while Islamic State has emerged in the country’s east.

The provincial capital of Kunduz, in the northeast, has been under near-con-tinuous siege for more than a year, briefly falling to the Taliban last October, while Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, is almost encircled and Tarin Kot, the cap-ital of Uruzgan, came dangerously close to falling to the insurgents last month.

Ordinary Afghans, the ones legitimis-ing the government through high turnout in elections, accept the current system and support the state.

How NUG leaders deal with the security crisis, amid their own internal disagreements and weakening legit-imacy, will determine Afghanistan’s future.

Most Afghans still prefer the post-Bonn order that has governed Afghanistan since the Taliban. People prefer a democratic state, despite its inadequacies.

Ordinary Afghans, the ones legit-imising the government through high turnout in elections, accept the current system and support the state. That’s why the NUG, as a symbol of the first peace-ful transition of political power in Afghan history, should continue for its constitu-tionally defined term.

Even its strongest political oppo-nents - groups such as the Enlightenment Movement - agree that the NUG must serve its full five years. A government collapse would set Afghanistan back, running the risk of a return to its bru-tal past. To address these challenges, the NUG needs to focus on bolstering its legitimacy.

In the past 15 years, reactive tactics and short-term solutions dominated Afghan government thinking. Both Afghan leaders and the international community invested primarily in insur-gent-dominated population groups and violence-affected provinces through developmental projects and security programmes.

The idea was not to focus on the majority of citizens who support the gov-ernment, but to win over the minority who don’t. This “red-centric” approach was partly to blame for the rifts that have appeared between the government and the people over the past decade.

Ghani and Abdullah continued the same approach, adding a Pakistani-cen-tric foreign policy in their first year in office. But this futile methodology must change.

The Afghan government’s key source of political legitimacy is the majority of the Afghan population who continue to support the state despite all its challenges.

Through a people-centric - or, we might say, a “green-centric” strategy, the NUG would focus on delivering nation-wide services comprehensively, seeking to reward and integrate the majority of Afghan citizens who support the state, rather than trying to win over the minor-ity who support an expanding insurgency.

In foreign policy, just as in its internal security, Kabul has traditionally invested much political capital on winning over Pakistan ...

In foreign policy, just as in its internal security, Kabul has traditionally invested much political capital on winning over Pakistan, gaining support from China and reinvigorating a failed peace process, with consequences that can be described as mixed, at best.

Ghani trusted Pakistan’s political goodwill gestures, failing to understand, or preferring to ignore, the real Afghan affairs doctrine of Pakistan.

The Pakistani military “Green Book”, which underpins Pakistan’s foreign pol-icy towards Afghanistan, was updated

in 2013, and indirectly treated Afghan-istan as its primary enemy. With this doctrine in place, it is hard to see a stra-tegic change in Pakistan’s vision towards Afghanistan.

Moreover, Afghanistan faces the challenge of managing conflict security interests of regional and international players. Until 2014, NATO member states, along with key non-NATO coali-tion members such as Australia, were the key players engaged in security affairs of Afghanistan.

But since then, major economic players such as China and Russia have become increasingly involved in the security arena. Managing these con-flicting states’ interests in Afghanistan is challenging and the country needs a more focused foreign policy. That’s why the NUG should not put Kabul in the circle of conflicting security interests of major players.

Despite the daunting list of chal-lenges, Afghanistan is changing for the good and there is every chance of a

positive future. But multilateral domestic develop-

ment is time-consuming, and with an increasingly active insurgency actively threatening cities across more than two-thirds of the country, there is no doubt that Afghanistan remains in dire need of international support.

This support should be conditional, requiring ongoing reform and devel-opment efforts, but despite all the difficulties, a strong international com-mitment is a must for the future of the country.

Forgetting Kabul, or treating Afghan-istan as a burden on the international community increases the risk of a cat-astrophic collapse, as we saw in Iraq in 2014, or at the very least a backsliding that would wipe out current achieve-ments and might lead Afghanistan back to the chaos of the pre-9/11 era.

Neither the world as a whole, nor Afghans - the overwhelming majority of whom reject a return to that disastrous past - can afford that outcome.

An Afghan National Army soldier sits in front of a closed shop in Kunduz.

Why biologists don’t put too much stock in race

By Faye FlamBloomberg

Race is perhaps the worst idea ever to come out of science. Scientists were responsible for officially dividing

human beings into Europeans, Africans, Asians and Native Americans and promot-ing these groups as sub-species or separate species altogether. That happened back in the 18th century, but the division lends the feel of scientific legitimacy to the prejudice that haunts the 21st.

Racial tension proved a major point of contention in the first 2016 presidential debate, and yet just days before, scien-tists announced they’d used wide-ranging samples of DNA to add new detail to the con-sensus story that we all share a relatively

recent common origin in Africa. While many human species and sub-species once roamed the planet, there’s abundant evidence that beyond a small genetic contribution from Neanderthals and a couple of other sub-spe-cies, only one branch of humanity survived to the present day.

Up for grabs was whether modern non-Africans stemmed from one or more migrations out of Africa. The newest data suggests there was a single journey - that sometime between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago, a single population of humans left Africa and went on to settle in Asia, Europe, the Americas, the South Pacific, and every-where else. But this finding amounts to just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on a sci-entific view that long ago rendered notion of human races obsolete.

“We never use the term ‘race,’ “ said Har-vard geneticist Swapan Mallick, an author on one of the papers revealing the latest DNA-based human story. “We’re all part of the tapestry of humanity, and it’s interesting to see how we got where we are.”

That’s not to deny that people vary in skin color and other visible traits. Whether you’re dark or light, lanky or stocky depends in part on the sunlight intensity and climate in the regions where your ancestors lived. Nor is it to deny that racism exists -- but in large part, it reflects a misinterpretation of those superficial characteristics.

“There is a profound misunderstanding of what race really is,” Harvard anthropology

professor Daniel Lieberman said at an event the night after the presidential debate. “Race is a scientifically indefensible concept with no biological basis as applied to humans.”

Consider the fact that most of the race boxes people tick off on census forms were invented by creationists, such as Swed-ish biologist Carolus Linnaeus. In 1758, he declared that humans could be divided into races he described as white (European), red (Native American), black (African) and yellow (Asian). He also attributed various unflatter-ing personality traits to all the races except for whites. In subsequent decades, scientists of European ancestry argued over whether God created the races separately or whether they diverged from a common creationist origin.

In the 19th century, scientists used race not just to classify people but to justify slavery by painting Africans as inferior, according to Joseph Graves, a University of North Carolina geneticist who spoke at Harvard this week. One of the world’s most prominent American scientists of the mid-1800s, Samuel Mor-ton, collected skulls from all over the world and attempted to demonstrate that those of European ancestry had the world’s biggest heads and were, so he claimed, intellectu-ally superior.

Scientists subsequently realized that Morton was wrong - about whose heads were biggest and the connection between head size and intelligence. There is still con-troversy about whether Morton cheated or

made a statistical error, but his conclusion remains debunked.

Graves - who is the author of several books, including 2005’s “The Race Myth” - said a key turning point occurred when Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. From his travels around the world, Darwin realized that there was no scientific reason to divide people into four races. It made just as much sense to him, he wrote later, to divide them into anywhere between two and 63 races.

But not everyone took Darwin’s side. Another influential figure in 19th century science was Swiss-American biologist Louis Agassiz, whom Graves describes as a “giant” - both in his accomplishments and his sway over his contemporaries. Even after Darwin published his book, Agassiz continued to pro-mote the notion that Africans and Europeans were different species. Agassiz proposed that the children of mixed couples would be infertile, as are the offspring of horses and donkeys. He was wrong, just like he was wrong in never accepting evolution.

Darwin’s powerful idea didn’t put an end to scientific racism -- the eugenics movement of the Progressive Era, for example, tried to cloak racism in evolutionary theory - but in general, 20th-century researchers pushed racism to the scientific fringes. (Historians have shown that Hitler could only fake the scientific credibility of his racist ideology.) And in the 1980s, scientists used DNA to trace all humans back to an origin 200,000 years

ago in Africa. This is recent in evolutionary time, given that our lineages split from that of chimpanzees perhaps 7 million years ago.

Refining the story, contemporary sci-entists have analyzed DNA collected from diverse populations - Aboriginal Australians, Papua New Guineans, Basques, Bedouins and Pygmies.

The very nature of the project acknowl-edges that these groups are distinct enough that their DNA matters in deciphering the human story - but not so distinct that they represent separate races. Bones and teeth scattered through the Middle East and Asia show people left Africa in many waves, but according to this latest DNA analysis, only one of those waves made a substantial contri-bution to the current population of humans.

Why are people still so determined to believe that racial categories are distinct, unchanging and rooted in biology? “It’s not rational,” said Graves. He said one reason Americans are stuck in the 19th century when it comes to race is that many teachers are unprepared to teach human evolution or refuse to out of fear.

Graves sometimes quizzes his students by showing them an image of a man and ask-ing them to guess where he comes from. It appears to show someone most Americans would identify as a black man, and Graves says people assume he’s from Africa or an African American community in the U.S. But he’s from the Solomon Islands, which are in the South Pacific.

Beyond the political sphere, Afghanistan remains vulnerable in security terms. A renewed Taliban offensive threatens city centres in the northeast and south, while Islamic State has emerged in the country’s east. Most Afghans still prefer the post-Bonn order that has governed Afghanistan since the Taliban. People prefer a democratic state, despite its inadequacies.

ASIA / AFRICA10 WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

Vegetarian festival in Thailand

LAGOS: Nigeria’s former national security adviser, held since December 2015 on fraud charges, should be released, a judge at the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ruled, saying his detention was unlaw-ful and arbitrary.

Sambo Dasuki has been accused of fraud involving $68m of defence spending, part of a wider $2.1bn in arms deals under investigation. He has pleaded not guilty.

He served under Nigeria’s former presi-dent, Goodluck Jonathan.

Court orders

Nigeria to release

ex-security adviser

France wants EU to act against DR Congo

Reuters

PARIS: France said yesterday it was time to prevent the political situation worsening in Democratic Republic of Congo and consider imposing Euro-pean Union sanctions.

The United States imposed sanc-tions on a general and a former senior police official on September 28 in an apparent ratcheting up of pressure on President Joseph Kabila

to hold an election for his successor in November.

Dozens of people have died in clashes between security forces and protesters angered by what oppo-sition groups say is Kabila’s plan to postpone the vote and retain power beyond his two-term limit.

“It is necessary to act to stop the situation from worsening in DRC,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said.

“France wants the European Union to use all means at its dis-posal, including if necessary and in function of the evolution of the situation, resorting to sanctions’ measures against those guilty of serious human rights violations or those who block an exit to the crisis.”

Kabila denies planning to retain power. His government has said the November election must

be postponed because of logistical problems.

The vast, mineral-rich central African state has never experi-enced a peaceful transition of power. Donors fear growing political insta-bility could turn into armed conflict in a country plagued by militias, especially in the lawless east.

Millions of people died in regional wars in Congo between 1996 and 2003 that drew in armies from half a dozen countries.

On Monday, French Foreign Min-ister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Kabila should step aside and allow the elec-tion to take place immediately.

“The constitution must be respected, a date must be fixed for the elections and a real national dialogue needs to really take place. He does not have the right to stand for re-election and he needs to set the example.”

AFP

BAMAKO: The UN said yesterday a second peacekeeper had died following an attack on a base in northeastern Mali, as it admitted serious failings in its most danger-ous ongoing mission.

More than 11,000 UN police and military are currently serving in Mali, attempting to guarantee secu-rity in lawless swathes of the vast Sahel nation.

“Following the attacks yesterday on the MINUSMA camp in Aguel-hok, we regret to inform you that a

second peacekeeper died overnight from his injuries,” said a UN state-ment, referring to the mission using its acronym.

A peacekeeper from Chad was killed and eight others injured on Monday in the attack near the Alge-rian border, the 27th attack on the force and the 13th peacekeeper killed since May 31, according to the UN.

The announcement coincided with the scheduled publication yes-terday of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on the crisis facing the Mali mission.

It said MINUSMA had been responsible for the death of a

detainee arrested over terrorism offences and two cases of torture in the last four months.

Ban said that an investigation had been launched and vowed “cor-rective measures”.

Two other cases of abuse have been lodged against its staff since the beginning of the year.

Attacks against the UN force and Malian security forces were “increasingly frequent, bold and well coordinated,” Ban said, while only a third of the expected financing for humanitarian projects in 2016 had been received.

The UN’s World Food Programme said last week that school meals for

nearly 180,000 children in about 1,000 schools were in jeopardy, in a country where one meal a day was a major incentive for parents to send their children to school.

Continued equipment shortages could mean that the mission would be “handicapped in carrying out its mandate, and the confidence that the signatory parties and the population have in the mission will suffer,” the secretary-general said.

Ban also emphasised that while some progress had been made to secure the troubled peace process that began last year, developments in the country’s troubled north had been limited.

Second UN peacekeeper dies in MaliS Africa students and

police clash in battleAFP

JOHANNESBURG: South African police fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas at student protesters in Johannesburg yester-day as authorities tried to re-open the prestigious Wits University after weeks of demonstrations.

The university, along with many campuses across South Africa, has been closed for at least two weeks during protests over tuition fees, with violent clashes regularly erupt-ing between students, police and private security guards.

“There has been an attempt to disrupt lectures at Wits today,” the university said in a statement recently.

“Police are dispersing the pro-testing students as we speak, using teargas and stun grenades.”

University authorities had vowed to re-open the campus yes-terday, with vice-chancellor Adam Habib warning of the “immense

consequences of not finishing the academic year”.

He said most students wanted to return to lectures, adding that police and security staff would ensure teaching could go ahead and that mass protests would not be allowed.

“The university wants to arrest us, instead of listening to us,” said 21-year-old Patrick Shabalala, a third-year law student, as clashes continued outside Wits’ Great Hall auditorium.

“We are not criminals. We want to study and not end up pay-ing endless student loans from the government. That is why we are striking.”

As police opened fire and pro-testers threw rocks, television footage showed several students and at least one police officer sus-taining minor injuries.

Campuses nationwide includ-ing the University of Cape Town, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Pretoria have all been hit by violence, arson and clo-sures in recent weeks.

Harare ‘losing $1bn a year to graft’

Smoke billows at the University of Witwatersrand as students disperse during a running battle with the police forces on campus during a mass demonstration, in Johannesburg, yesterday.

Reuters

HARARE: Zimbabwe is losing at least $1bn annually to corruption, with police and local government officials among the worst offenders, Transparency International said in a report yesterday.

Social media groups like #This-Flag and #Tajamuka have cited corruption in President Robert Mugabe’s (pictured) government and police roadblocks where money is taken from motorists as among the main reasons for protests that have rocked the southern African nation in the last few months.

Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) said the police, local councils, the vehicle inspec-tion department that issues driving licences and the education depart-ment were among the most corrupt institutions.

“The resulting institutional-isation and systematisation of corruption in Zimbabwean politi-cal and economic spheres has been

extensive,” TIZ said recently.‘It would be surprising if the

value (of corruption) were less than $1bn annually.”

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said she could not imme-diately comment.

Critics and the opposition accuse President Mugabe of failing to tackle high-level graft and say endemic corruption is one reason foreign companies are hesitant to invest in the country.

Mugabe has at times admitted to corruption among his cabinet minis-ters but says police lack the evidence to prosecute.

“It could be true there could be corruption but we don›t have people who are prepared to give evidence,” Information Minister Christopher Mushohwe said in response to ques-tions about the report.

“Give us the evidence and the law will take its course.”

Zimbabwe was last year ranked 150th out of 168 countries on the Transparency International index, which measures public perceptions of corruption in public institutions.

Corruption mainly consists of public officials demanding bribes for basic services like installing an electricity metre, approving a house plan to facilitating investment.

Zimbabwe’s tax authority in May suspended its head and five manag-ers in connection with the purchase of luxury cars that were underval-ued by a local dealer, one of few high-ranking graft cases to be made public in recent years.

Lawmakers to probe use of funds for people fleeing Boko HaramReuters

ABUJA: The use of Nigerian govern-ment funds earmarked for assisting displaced people who are living in desperate conditions in the former stronghold of Boko Haram, is to be investigated because of suspicions of corruption, lawmakers said yes-terday.

More than two million have been displaced, and some 15,000 people have been killed, during the jihad-ist group’s seven-year insurgency in which it has sought to create a state adhering to a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Last week Unicef said 75,000 children could die in the next year in northeastern areas previously

controlled by the group before it was pushed back by Nigerian troops and others from neighbouring countries in early 2015.

Bashir Gabai -- a senator from Borno, the state where the insur-gency began -- tabled a motion, passed by the upper house of par-liament, to investigate the use of government funds.

“The rather incoherent and largely fragmented state of the pro-curement process so far points to a vague and corrupt scheme that is not in tune with helping our people in the north east,” stated the motion.

The motion stated that 63 trucks carrying grains intended for dis-placed people in camps in Borno state had been diverted.

It also said $260,323 was paid to a company to refurbish a police

station and $654,839 was paid to another company for the removal of invasive plant species along river channels.

And it added recently that another company received $377,419 for supplying temporary shelters but there was “no record of these shel-ters anywhere”.

The Senate set up a committee, which would report its findings in two weeks and be followed up by a public hearing, to establish how much of the government’s funds had been used and how the money was spent.

Boko Haram’s move to its strong-hold in the northeast’s vast Sambisa forest in the last few months has enabled government and aid agen-cies access to areas that were previously hard to reach.

US warships

revisit Vietnam

after 21 years

HANOI: Two US warships made port calls at Viet-nam’s strategic naval base at Cam Ranh Bay, the US navy said, in a brief but symbolic return for US combat vessels to what was a crucial logis-tics complex during the Vietnam War.

Submarine tender USS Frank Cable and guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain made the visit on Sunday to the deep-water naval base, marking an impor-tant step in fast-growing defence ties between the two former enemies.

Members of a Chinese opera troupe prepare before performing at a shrine during the annual vegetarian festival in Bangkok, yesterday.

It is necessary to act to stop the situation from worsening in DRC: Spokesman

Boys drink packets of evaporated milk at the camp for internally displaced people in Abuja recently.

ASIA / PHILIPPINES 11WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian military hel-icopter crashed into a school yesterday in a rural area on Borneo island, injuring at least 23 peo-ple including students, authorities said.

The helicopter made the emergency crash landing at a high school in Tawau in Sabah state about two hours into the routine training flight, the air force said.

It added yester-day that all 14 people on board the plane survived, and that it will investigate the cause of the incident.

23 injured as

Malaysia military

chopper crashes

Philippine-US annual war games begin

AFP

MANILA: The Philippines and the United States launched war games yesterday against the backdrop of the unusual threat of American forces being ejected from the Southeast Asian nation, as its leader pivots to China.

President Rodrigo Duterte has sustained a verbal assault on the United States, the Philippines’ former colonial ruler and mutual defence partner, since he took office on June 30 in response to criticism of his deadly war on crime.

Duterte has in recent days warned the war games will be the last of his six-year term, and threatened to scrap a defence pact implemented by his predecessor that was meant to see more US troops in the Philippines to counter Chinese expansion in the South China Sea.

“Better think twice now because I will be asking you to leave the Philip-pines altogether,” Duterte said in his latest outburst against the Americans, full of typical invective.

“The Americans, I don’t like

them... they are reprimanding me in public,” he said, while signalling again that he wanted to forge closer alliances with China and Russia.

Last week Duterte, 71, also claimed the CIA was plotting to assassinate him.

Duterte has vowed to eradi-cate illegal drugs in the Philippines, warning the nation is in danger of becoming a narco-state.

His crime war has seen more than 3,000 people killed, with the United Nations, the European Union and rights groups raising concerns about alleged extrajudicial killings and a breakdown in the rule of law.

President Duterte has insisted he is not doing anything illegal, yet at the same time said he would be “happy to eliminate” three million drug users.

He also likened his crime war to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s effort to exterminate Jews, but following an outcry apologised for referring to the Holocaust.

A total of around 2,000 troops from the two sides are taking part in the war games, including in waters close to flashpoint areas of the South China Sea.

China claims nearly all of the sea, even waters close to the Phil-ippines and other Southeast Asian nations, and has in recent years built artificial islands in the disputed areas, capable of hosting military bases.

To counter China, the Philip-pines’ previous president, Benigno Aquino, sought to draw the US closer. This included the signing of

the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that Duterte now wants to scrap.

President Duterte appears intent on adopting the opposite tactic, say-ing recently he hopes to travel to China and meet with President Xi Jinping.

Aquino also launched interna-tional legal action that in July saw a UN-backed tribunal declare China’s vast claims in the sea illegal.

However, Duterte has declined to use the verdict to pressure China.

He has also said there will be no joint patrols with the United States in the sea.

Still Duterte’s comments have not filtered down into government pol-icy, and it remains unclear to what extent he is prepared to damage ties with the United States.

“I am confident that we will con-tinue to build our partnership and capabilities together,” the 3rd US Marine Expeditionary Force deputy commander, Brigadier General John Jansen, said at the opening ceremony in Manila.

The US Embassy in Manila urged the Philippines yesterday to live up to previous agreements.

“We will continue to honour

our alliance commitments, and we expect the Philippines to do the same,” embassy spokeswoman Molly Koscina said.

Anatolia

SINGAPORE: Authorities in Sin-gapore have approved use of the world’s first dengue vaccine, allowing the city-state to tackle a mosquito-borne disease estimated to globally infect 390 million peo-ple each year.

Dengvaxia was approved by the Health Sciences Authority yesterday following a seven-month review into its potential benefits and risks, and will be made commercially availa-ble in several months time.

It is approved for use by indi-viduals between the ages 12-45 years old, as studies showed inconsistent risk reduction of hospitalised dengue in the nine to 11 age group, while there was

insufficient evidence on the safety and efficacy of Dengvaxia on those above 45.

However, the Authority indi-cated that it is prepared to review the approved age range once more clinical data is available.

According to major clinical stud-ies involving individuals between the ages of two and 16, Dengvaxia is effective in reducing dengue illness by 60 percent, and severe dengue illness by 84 percent.

It was also found to be much less effective on the two strains of dengue that are most common in Singapore.

Authorities have also advised individuals who have never been infected with dengue to discuss with their doctors whether the vaccine is advisable for them, as Dengvaxia is 81 per cent effective for those who

have had prior exposure to den-gue, but only 38 percent effective for those without previous dengue infection.

Dengue -- which causes flu-like illness, and occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complica-tion called severe dengue -- has long been an issue on the small tropical island nation.

According to information from the National Environment Agency, there are currently six high risk areas in the country where 10 or more cases of dengue have been logged.

In the first 39 weeks of 2016, 12,034 cases of dengue were reported in Singapore.

Dengvaxia is currently approved for use in 10 other countries, includ-ing the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil and Mexico.

AFP

YANGON: Myanmar yesterday scrapped a law used by the former military government to silence political activists, which threatened jail for anyone who endangered public morality or execution for damaging telephone lines.

The Emergency Provisions Act, passed in 1950 after Myanmar won independence from Britain, became the military’s weapon of choice to silence dissent during its half a cen-tury in power.

Lawmakers from the National League for Democracy party, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, have been trying to repeal it since

they took power in late March. Many are former political

activists who spent years in prison because of the law.

Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than said yesterday that legislation over-turning the act had been approved.

Under the repressive act any-one committing treason -- which spanned sabotage of railways or damaging telegraph poles -- could face life behind bars or even death.

Hefty terms were also meted out for other crimes, such as spread-ing false news or disrupting public morality.

Previous attempts to axe or amend the act were scuppered by opposition from military MPs, who still control a quarter of the seats in parliament.

Thai PM takes

steps to allay

flood fears

BANGKOK: As Thailand’s rainy season peaks, the government is taking steps to avoid a repeat of devastating floods in 2011 that killed hundreds of people and cost bil-lions of dollars, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said yesterday.

“This time round, the floods in the north-ern and central regions are manageable,” Pray-uth said.

“The government is doing everything it can to manage the water, but in some areas it is flood-ing because of heavy rain and others are low-lying.”

Singapore approves dengue vaccine

Indonesia Air Force to hold largest drill in S China SeaReuters

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s air force is holding its largest military exercise this week, near some of its islands in the South China Sea, in a show of sovereignty over the gas-rich area on the fringe of territory claimed by China, officials said yesterday.

President Joko Widodo in June launched an unprecedented campaign to bolster fishing, oil exploration and defence facilities around the Natuna island chain after a series of face-offs between the Indonesian navy and Chinese fishing boats.

China, while not disputing Indo-nesia’s claims to the Natuna islands, has raised Indonesian anger by saying the two countries had “over-lapping claims” to waters near them, an area Indonesia calls the Natuna Sea.

“We want to show our existence in the area. We have a good enough

air force to act as a deterrent,” said Jemi Trisonjaya, spokesman for Indonesia’s air force.

More than 2,000 air force personnel were taking part in the two-week long exercise, which includes the deployment of Indonesia›s fleet of Russian Sukhoi and F-16 fighter jets, he said recently.

Other branches of the Indo-nesian armed forces are not taking part in exercise, which ends tomorrow.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, where about $5 trillion worth of trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philip-pines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

While Indonesia is not part of the dispute over claims in the South China Sea, it objects to Chi-na’s inclusion of waters around the Natuna Islands within its “nine-dash line”, a demarcation line used by China to show its claims in the sea.

Myanmar scraps law used

by junta to silence activists

I am confident that we will continue to build our partnership and capabilities together: US official

Philippines and US marines link arms during the opening ceremony of the Amphibious Landing Exercise at the Marines headquarters in Manila, yesterday.

Air Force Sukhoi fighter pilots and crew walk across the tarmac after training for an upcoming military exercise at Hang Nadim Airport in Indonesia.

US Marine Commander Brigadier General John Jansen (left) and Philippines Marines Commandant Major General Andre Costales salute at the start of the opening ceremony of the Amphibious Landing Exercise.

Vietnam War propaganda broadcaster dies

AFP

HANOI: Silky-voiced communist propaganda broadcaster “Hanoi Hannah”, famous for urging American GIs to leave her coun-try during the Vietnam War, has died at age 87, friends said yes-terday.

The radio presenter, whose real name was Trinh Thi Ngo, was among dozens of Vietnam-ese journalists drafted by the communist regime to inundate the country with anti-US rheto-ric during the conflict that ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon and America’s defeat.

“GI, your government has abandoned you. They have ordered you to die,” she said in one of her on-air appeals in Eng-lish during the draining war.

“Don’t trust them. They lied to you, GIs, you know you cannot win this war.”

In daily broadcasts on state-run Voice of Vietnam (VOV) from the northern capital Hanoi, Han-nah would list the names of American troops killed in com-bat, read US newspaper articles about anti-war protests and lull listeners with Joan Baez and Bob Dylan tunes.

She rarely spoke of Vietnam-ese losses or American successes in her broadcasts, which were carefully controlled by the com-munist authorities.

Hannah died Friday at her home in Ho Chi Minh City, accord-ing to VOV.

“Hanoi Hannah was clearly one of the most prominent broad-casters we had in history of the Voice of Vietnam and the coun-try in general,” said Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, a former journalist at VOV’s English service.

“She will be remembered for her legendary voice in broadcasts targeting American servicemen.

PAKISTAN12 WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

Afghan forces flushing Taliban out of Kunduz

AFP

KUNDUZ: Fighting continued on the outskirts of Kunduz yester-day as some frightened residents fled the city a day after the Taliban launched an hours-long assault that was repelled by Afghan forces backed by Nato.

Helicopters hovered over the strategic provincial capital and com-mandoes were stationed in the main square, as Afghan forces conducted a

clearing operation warning that mil-itants were hiding in civilian homes.

Dozens of residents could be seen boarding buses, many of them government employees and their families fearing Taliban violence.

“I have to leave the city with my family, because my brother is in the army,” 40-year-old Hussain said as he boarded a bus for Kabul. “The situation is uncertain, if the Taliban find out about it they may kill us. The people are very scared, they are all moving to safer places.”

“We could not sleep the whole night, each blast would startle my kids and shake our house,” said another resident Amrullah. “There is no safe place in the city, they are fighting from street to street. I have to move my family to a safer place until the situation comes back to normal.”

The assault launched early Monday came just over a year after militants briefly seized the provin-cial capital.

Interior ministry spokesman

Sediq Sediqqi said fighting was ongo-ing in the city’s outskirts, and that at least 30 Taliban insurgents had been killed. The defence ministry earlier said three Afghan soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the fighting.

The number of civilians reach-ing hospital with bullet and shrapnel wounds jumped from around 40 to more than 100, hospital officials said, with one person killed.

Kunduz provincial governor Assadullah Omarkhil said the oper-ation was moving slowly “because the Taliban are using people’s houses to hide”. But a Taliban spokesman insisted via Twitter that the militants were still advancing. The insurgents are known to exaggerate their claims.

Jawid Salim a spokesman for the special forces in Kunduz, said the Taliban were setting fire to some buildings as they were pushed out of the city, including the main power station.

On Monday, residents had reported being trapped in their

homes by intense fighting as the sound of explosions echoed across the city, with provincial officials voic-ing fears it could fall.

Nato spokesman Brigadier Gen-eral Charles Cleveland said the government was in control of the city, but the strength of the attack was still being assessed. “We did see fighting but we did not see the scale of attack that was initially being reported,” he

said, comparing it to “exaggerated” attacks earlier this year on Lashkar Gah in Helmand, and Tarin Kot in Uruzgan.

Afghan troops had responded “effectively”, he said.

After seizing Kunduz on Septem-ber 28, 2015, the Taliban held the city for two days then withdrew from the outskirts on October 15. More than 280 people were killed and hundreds

wounded. The organisation, which has not since relaunched its oper-ations in Kunduz, had planned to mark the anniversary on Monday by sending its country representative Guilhem Molinie and international president Meinie Nicolai to the city.

But the fresh Taliban assault forced them to hastily cancel and evacuate non-medical staff who had been sent ahead to prepare.

Afghan security forces keep watch in front of their armoured vehicle in Kunduz city yesterday.

Fighting was ongoing in the city’s outskirts and at least 30 Taliban insurgents were dead.

World powers seek more money to keep Kabul runningReuters

BRUSSELS/KABUL: World pow-ers convened in Brussels yesterday to raise billions more dollars for Afghanistan to keep the country running until 2020, but hopes for a new start to peace talks were over-shadowed by a surge in violence by Taliban fighters.

Fifteen years after the US inva-sion that ousted Taliban rulers harbouring militants behind the attacks on New York and Washing-ton, Afghanistan remains reliant on international aid and faces resurgent militants that threaten its progress.

The two-day, European Union-led donor conference is seeking fresh funds, despite Western public fatigue with their governments’ involvement in Afghanistan.

Around 70 governments, includ-ing the United States, Russia, Iran, China and India, are attending, with pledges to be made today. “We’re buying four more years for Afghani-stan,” said EU Special Representative for Afghanistan Franz-Michael Mellbin.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini may seek to bring together

China, Iran, Russia, the United States, Pakistan and India on the sidelines of the conference in what would be the first concerted peace push since 2013. “If we don’t achieve peace, it’s going to be extremely costly for the foreseeable future,” Mellbin said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Brussels yesterday.

A senior US State Department official said the United States was prepared to restart a peace process “without any pre-conditions”, and noted that after forty years of con-flict, Afghans were tired of war. US and EU officials have been encour-aged by a smaller peace agreement last month between the Afghan gov-ernment and a local warlord.

But a senior Indian diplomat questioned whether the Taliban was ready to make peace. The West wants Pakistan to do more to strike remaining militants. “The fact remains that at least the Afghan Tal-iban continue to enjoy safe havens in Pakistani territory,” the US offi-cial said.

Afghanistan remains one of the world’s most dangerous countries, with 1.2 million Afghans forced to live as refugees in their own coun-try and another 3 million living in

Iran, Pakistan or seeking asylum in Europe.

A prosperous Afghanistan could mean fewer refugees into Europe, an end to its status as a haven for mil-itant groups hostile to the West and more effective police action against its billion-dollar narcotics trade.

For Moscow, which invaded in 1979 and spent a decade trying to control the country, the stability of the central Asian region is par-amount. It has its largest foreign military base on the Afghan border, in Tajikistan, and an interest in keep-ing out the drugs that are trafficked and consumed in Russia.

But even with billions of dollars spent by the United States and Nato for Afghan security forces, some 30 percent of the Afghan population lives in territory that the government does not fully control, according to Western officials.

At the Brussels conference, offi-cials will seek total pledges of $3bn a year for the 2017-2020 period. That is lower than the $4bn a year pledged at the last conference in Tokyo in 2012, partly because Afghanistan is rais-ing its own revenues and because of donor fatigue.

Eighty percent of Afghanistan›s budget is financed by aid.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (left) and Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah during a Conference on Afghanistan in Brussels yesterday. The two-day conference, hosted by the EU, will have the participation of over 70 countries to discuss the Afghanistan situation.

200,000 Afghan

refugees return

in exodus from

Pakistan: UNHCR

AFP

ISLAMABAD: More than 200,000 Afghan refugees have been repat-riated from Pakistan this year, nearly half of them in September alone, UNHCR said yesterday, the highest number since 2002, after the fall of the Taliban regime.

The tsunami of refugees returning to the war-torn country comes after Pakistan tightened its border controls in June and began cracking down on undocumented Afghans. The vast majority — more than 185,000 — returned after July, with nearly 98,000 crossing the border in September alone, UNHCR spokesman Qaisar Khan Afridi said.

“From January until today, the number of refugees voluntarily repatriating to Afghanistan has crossed the figure of 200,000,” Afridi said.

More and more appear to be going every day, with officials saying that the first four days of October saw up to 5,000 returnees daily. An Amnesty International report said Pakistan hosted 1.6 million refugees, making it the third largest refugee hosting nation in the world. But UNHCR said the figure, based on its own data, was already out of date and should be revised to 1.4 million after the movement since July. A further one million undocu-mented refugees are estimated to be in Pakistan.

Since 2009, Islamabad has repeatedly pushed back a dead-line for them to return, but fears are growing that the latest cutoff date in March 2017 will be final.

Pakistani officials said the increase came after they vowed to tighten border controls, par-ticularly at the porous Torkham Gate crossing.

However UNHCR cited an array of other reasons that could be helping drive the rush back into Afghanistan, including increasing anxiety and insecurity for refu-gees about life in Pakistan.

Other factors include the UNHCR decision to double its cash grant for voluntary returnees from $200 to $400 per individ-ual in June, and a campaign by the Afghan government to lure its citizens back with the slogan «My country, my beautiful country».

In Afghanistan, however, torn apart by more than three decades of conflict, authorities warn the number of displaced people has outpaced the capacity of the gov-ernment and aid agencies to cope.

Meanwhile, the EU said it has struck a tentative deal with Afghanistan to take back migrants.

Ban on Indian content on cable networks soughtInternews

ISLAMABAD: Seemingly in a move to counter decisions taken by the Indian film industry, the Paki-stan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) yesterday asked the government to impose a complete ban on Indian content on cable TV networks.

The Pemra Board at a meeting made the consensus decision to ask the federal government to amend the existing policy, adding Pakistan should allow airtime to the Indian content only if New Delhi allows air-time to the Pakistani content.

The Pemra Board decried the policy formulated in 2004 by the government of Pakistan allowing six per cent airing of Indian content.

An official of the authority said

that there was no policy in India regarding the Pakistani content and artistes, and decisions in this regard were made by the relevant industry themselves.

“We have made this consen-sus decision to link the airing of the Indian content with the policy in that country after looking at their treat-ment of our artists and productions,” said one of the Board members.

The member referred to a

decision by the association of film producers in India and the demand made by some actors in Bollywood to ban Pakistani artistes, musicians and technicians. The current policy in Pakistan allows a total airing of 10 ercent foreign content that is more than two hours and 40 minutes in 24 hours while the airing of Indian con-tent is limited to six percent which is a little less than one hour and 35 minutes daily.

Senators call for

building small

dams & reservoirs

Internews

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Sena-tors stressed the need for building more small dams and water res-ervoirs for the development of the agricultural sector and to over-come energy issues.

Before holding a full-fledged debate on the problems being faced by farmers on a motion moved by Taj Haider of the Paki-stan Peoples Party (PPP), the Senate unanimously adopted a resolution “recommending that a 250km highway be constructed along the coast from Sir Creek to Karachi to serve as a wall against sea intrusion”.

The resolution was tabled by the PPP’s Sassui Palijo after Min-ister for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmed assured the house that the federal government would ask the National Highway Authority to construct the road once the Sindh government pre-pared feasibility of the project.

Palijo warned that if the high-way was not built, Badin and Thatta districts would drown under sea water in the near future. She urged the federal government not to leave the matter to the pro-vincial governments.

Four women dead in Quetta bus attack AFP

QUETTA: Gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on a moving bus in Pakistan and killed four women from the Shia minority in an apparent sectarian attack, officials said yesterday.

The gunmen sprayed the vehicle with bullets in the outskirts of Quetta city, the provincial capital of the south-western province of Baluchistan.

“At least two motorcycle riders on one bike fired at the bus when it reached close to Hazara town. Two people, one male and another female, were also wounded in the attack,” Abdul Razzaq Cheema, a senior police official said.

“The bus was travelling from one locality of Hazaras to the other,” Cheema said.

Security officials and residents gather around ambulances carrying the bodies of women killed in an attack by gunmen at a hospital in Quetta yesterday.

INDIA 13WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

Belgium Foreign Minister Didier Reynders (left) meets with his Indian counterpart M J Akbar prior to a conference in Brussels yesterday.

MJ Akbar in Brussels

Cross-border terrorism & radicalisation big threats: PM

IANS

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday described cross-border terrorism and radical-isation as “grave challenges to our security” while visiting Singapore Premier Lee Hsien Loong condemned terrorism in all its forms.

“Rising tide of terrorism, espe-cially cross-border terrorism, and the rise of radicalisation are grave chal-lenges to our security,” Modi said in a joint press statement with Lee after delegation-level talks between the two sides here. “They threaten the very fabric of our societies,” Modi said. “It is my firm belief that those who believe in peace and humanity

need to stand and act together against this menace,” Modi added.

In the joint press statement,

Singapore’s Lee, while condemning terrorism in all its forms, extended his condolences to the families of the

victims of the Uri attack.Modi said that India and Sin-

gapore have agreed “to enhance

our cooperation to counter these threats, including in the domain of cyber security”.

“Our defence and security coop-eration is a key pillar of our strategic partnership,” he stated.

“As two maritime nations, keep-ing the sea lanes of communication open, and respect for international legal order of seas and oceans is a shared priority,” Modi said.

“Our cooperation in the frame-work of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), East Asia Summit and the Asean Regional Framework is aimed at building an open and inclusive architecture for regional cooperation, in an atmos-phere of trust and confidence.”

Modi said trade and investment ties formed the bedrock of the India-Singapore bilateral relationship.

Stating that the two sides enjoyed a strong network of business to busi-ness partnerships, he said: “In this context, Prime Minister Lee and I have agreed to expedite the second review of our Comprehensive Eco-nomic Cooperation Agreement.”

Following the delegation-level talks, India and Singapore signed three memoranda of understanding (MoUs). One MoU was signed between Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Education Services (ITEES) and India’s National Skill

Development Corporation on collab-oration in technical and vocational education and training.

Another MoU was signed between the Assam government and ITEES Singapore, also on collaboration in technical and vocational educa-tion and training. A third MoU was signed in the field of industrial prop-erty cooperation between India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and Intellectual Property Office Singapore.

“Prime Minister Lee and I also welcome the issuance of corporate rupee bonds in Singapore,” Modi said.

“It is a step forward in our efforts to mobilise capital for India’s large infrastructure development needs.”

Recalling his visit to Singapore in November last year, the Indian Prime Minister said that the bilat-eral relationship was upgraded to the level of a Strategic Partnership with “renewed spirit, new energy”.

“To deliver benefits to both our people, our partnership aims to com-bine the strengths of Singapore with the scale of India; and dynamism of Singapore with vibrancy of our states,” Modi said.

Affirming the importance of the bilateral ties, Prime Minister Lee said that Singapore was a firm believer in India and would contribute where it can.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, prior to a meeting in New Delhi yesterday.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee while condemning terrorism in all its forms, extended his condolences to the families of the victims of the Uri attack.

Kashmir daily banned

for ‘inciting unrest’AFP

NEW DELHI: Authorities in Kash-mir have banned a local newspaper they said was inciting violence in the Himalayan region, which has been roiled by deadly violence in recent months.

The editor of the Kashmir Reader, an English-language daily, said police had come to their office carrying an order for them to stop publishing. “There was no prior notice or communication from the government,” Hilal Mir said. “If there was a problem with the content, they could have sought an explanation from us.”

The order said the Kashmir Reader “contains such material and content which tends to incite acts of violence and disturb public peace and tranquility”.

Rights groups criticised the

move, which comes weeks after local authorities briefly banned all newspapers from publishing and stopped internet services.

“The government has a duty to respect the freedom of the press, and the right of people to receive information,” Amnesty Interna-tional said in a statement.

“It cannot shut down a newspa-per simply for being critical of the government.”

Journalists marched to protest the move in Srinagar, calling it a violation of press freedom.

Nearly 90 people, most of them young protesters, have been killed in clashes with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir since the death on July 8 of a popular militant leader. It is the worst vio-lence the troubled region has seen since 2010, although several armed groups have for decades been fight-ing Indian forces stationed there, seeking independence from India.

Fresh cross-border firing heats up tension IANS

JAMMU: Fresh firing across the de facto border between India and Paki-stan yesterday intensified military tension between the already tense neighbours with Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha warning that the situation on the Line of Control (LOC) was still “live”.

The Army alleged that Pakistan troops opened unprovoked heavy firing in at least three places on the LoC — a ceasefire line that divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two countries. Cross-border shelling also occurred along the International Border at Akhnoor sector in Jammu.

No injuries were reported from the Pakistan mortar shelling at bor-der posts in Jhangar, Kalsian and Makri areas of Nowshera sector in Rajouri district. The heavy exchange of fire continued for several hours and was continuing till yesterday evening.

A police officer said many shells

landed near civilian areas in Now-shera, a border area located on the banks of Manawer river, some 125km from here.

The officer said the Army retal-iated and fired at Pakistani posts. Any damage on the other side of the ceasefire line was not known immediately.

Across the LoC, the Pakistan Army made similar allegations, saying Indian troops “resorted to unprovoked firing” at 4am yesterday.

“Pakistani troops befittingly responded to the unprovoked Indian firing... in Bhimber sector,” an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said.

“It would not be right for me to give a perspective now,” Raha told reporters in New Delhi, refusing to take any questions on India’s cross-border surgical strikes late last month targeting militant launch pads in Pakistan-held Kashmir.

Raha said the Indian Air Force had “evolved” and was prepared to face a two-front war, in case it broke out simultaneously with China and

Pakistan. “We are always ready and we will be ready... The IAF has the capability to be deployed for offen-sive operations. Today, the IAF has the strategic reach and can deter a conflict,” he said.

India said its Special Forces

destroyed at least seven terror launch pads and killed an unknown number of militants and their sympathisers in the September 29 cross-border raids.

The heavy exchange of fire was the latest in a series of violations of border truce signed in 2003.

Activists and supporters of Aam Aadmi Party shout anti-Pakistani slogans during a protest as they try to march towards the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi yesterday.

Get instructions

on Jayalalithaa’s

health: High Court

IANS

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court yesterday directed Addi-tional Advocate General to get instructions from the government on Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s health.

Jayalalithaa was admitted to Apollo Hospitals on Septem-ber 22 for fever and dehydration. The hospital on Monday said she continues to improve and must remain warded for some more days because of infection.

Social activist Traffic Ram-aswamy filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court seeking the real status of Jayalalithaa’s health.

The court also observed that people were anxious to know about the Chief Minister’s health.

Traffic Ramaswamy sought to know whether Jayalalithaa was in sound health to take impor-tant decisions and hold meetings of officials and ministers.

A brief statement from the hospital said: “The same line of treatment is being continued. The Chief Minister is under close observation by doctors.”

According to Apollo Hospitals, Jayalalithaa has been advised fur-ther stay in the hospital.

Mallya can return to India on emergency travel document: EDIANS

NEW DELHI: Enforcement Direc-torate (ED) yesterday told a court here that industriliast Vijay Mallya can obtain emergency travel doc-ument to visit India and can face a case of alleged violation of foreign exchange rules against him.

The ED’s Public Prosecutor Navin Matta requested Chief Met-ropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass to reject Mallya’s plea for exemption from personal appearance before the court. “...the accused (Mallya) may visit the nearest High Com-mission of India and obtain an emergency travel document and visit India on the basis authorised travel document obtained from the High Commission of India,” Prose-cutor Matta told the court.

Mallya on September 9 sought exemption from personal appear-ance in court and said he is unable to return to the country and face trial in a case of alleged violation of foreign exchange rules as the Indian authorities had suspended his passport.

On July 9, the court asked Mallya to personally appear before it on September 9, after allowing the

Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea to withdraw the exemption given to him from personal appearance in the case.

Mallya’s counsel Ajay Bhargava moved a plea seeking exemption from his personal appearance and told the court that his client is liv-ing in London.

The court has fixed the matter for November 4 for further hearing.

Earlier, the court had allowed the ED plea to seek recall of a court order that granted perma-nent exemption from appearance to Mallya, who faces money laun-dering charges in India.

The court was hearing the final arguments in the 2000 case related to alleged violation by Mallya of provisions of the erstwhile Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) in arranging funds to advertise his company’s liquor products abroad.”

According to the ED, Mallya allegedly paid $200,000 to a British firm for displaying the Kingfisher logo in the Formula One World Championships in London and some European countries in 1996, 1997 and 1998. The agency had claimed that the money was allegedly paid without prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India, in violation of FERA norms.

Roopa Ganguly nominated to Rajya SabhaIANS

NEW DELHI: Actor-turned-BJP leader Roopa Ganguly was yester-day nominated to the Rajya Sabha, an official statement said.

A Home Ministry release said she had been nominated to the upper house by President Pranab

Mukherjee to fill a vacancy of a nom-inated member. The vacancy had arisen following the resignation of cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu of the Bharatiya Janata Party from the upper house.

Ganguly, who had come into the limelight with her role of Draupadi in television serial “Mahabharat”, joined BJP in 2015, ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections in 2016

which she contested. She however lost from Howrah

North to Trinamool Congress can-didate and cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

In the Rajya Sabha, she will be in the company of former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, actor Rekha, col-umnist Swapan Dasgupta and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who are among the nominated members.

EUROPE14 WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

A woman stands behind a curtain before unveiling the memorial for Czech Republic’s former President Vaclav Havel by Czech sculpture Kurt Gebauer, yesterday in Prague, on the eve of Havel’s 80th birth anniversary. Havel was the hero of the 1989 Velvet Revolution against communist rule.

History behind shroud

Assange vows more leaks about US vote

AFP

BERLIN: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange vowed yesterday to pub-lish new “significant” documents related to the US presidential elec-tions ahead of the November 8 vote, as the online leaking platform cel-ebrated its 10th birthday in defiant mood.

Taking aim at critics accusing him and his organisation of manip-ulation, Assange pledged he would not be muzzled as he sought to raise “an army” of supporters to join in the defence of WikiLeaks.

“We hope to be publishing every week for the next 10 weeks. We have on schedule... all the US election related documents to come out before November 8,” Assange, wearing a black T-shirt bearing the word “Truth”, told journalists via webcast from the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he has been holed up since 2012.

He refused to reveal if the US-vote related documents would hurt

Democrat candidate Hillary Clin-ton or target her Republican rival Donald Trump. But the white-haired WikiLeaks founder described the material as “significant” with “a lot of fascinating angles”.

“Do they show interesting fea-tures on power factions and how they operate? Yes they do,” he said.

Ten years after it was founded, Wikileaks has faced growing charges that it is manipulated by politicians — either by recycling documents provided by Moscow, or by allegedly serving the interests of Trump in the US presidential elec-tion race.

And Assange himself took ref-uge in the Ecuador embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden where he is accused of raping a woman while she was asleep.

The 45-year-old has always maintained the allegations are false and has refused to travel to Stockholm for questioning due to concerns that Sweden will hand him over to the US to stand trial for espionage.

He has come under fresh pres-sure after WikiLeaks published some 20,000 internal emails on the eve of the US Democratic Party convention that forced top party officials to quit.

Assange charged that WikiLe-aks was now the target of a witch hunt orchestrated in particular by Clinton, likening it to the repres-sion of American communists in the 1950s driven by then senator Joseph McCarthy.

Julian Assange, founder and Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks, on video link and Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks journalist, attend a press conference on the 10th anniversary of WikiLeaks in Berlin, Germany, yesterday.

British trio wins Physics Nobel for ‘strange states of matter’AFP

STOCKHOLM: The study of “strange states” of matter, which may one day yield superfast and small computers, earned British scientists David Thou-less, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz the Nobel Physics Prize yesterday.

The trio, all based in the US working in the highly-specialised mathematics field of “topology”, studied unusual phases or states of matter.

“This year’s laureates opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states,” the Nobel jury said.

“Thanks to their pioneering work, the hunt is now on for new and exotic phases of matter.”

The jury said there were hopes that their discoveries would have future uses in the fields of materials science and electronics, especially at the super-small quantum scale.

For now, the scientists’

discoveries remain in the realm of research.

Thouless won half of the eight million Swedish kronor (around $931,000 or ¤834,000) prize, while Haldane and Kosterlitz share the other half.

Topology is a branch of mathe-matics that investigates the physical properties of matter and space — shape in essence — that remain unchanged under certain deform-ing forces.

These include stretching, com-pressing and bending, but not piercing, tearing or gluing.

An often-used example is a rub-ber coffee cup being bent, twisted and reshaped into a donut — for topologists the two shapes are indis-tinguishable, though to the rest of us they are completely different.

In practical terms, these proper-ties of matter may one day lead to the reshaping of common materials into “topological states” that can trans-port energy and information in very small spaces without overheating.

The trio’s pioneering work “boosted frontline research in condensed matter physics, not least because of the hope that topological materials could be used in new generations of electronics and superconductors, or in future quantum computers,” said the Nobel jury.

‘Stumbled’ on discovery’ In the early 1970s, Kosterlitz and

Thouless overturned the theory that superconductivity or suprafluidity could not occur in very thin layers of material.

Superconductivity is when elec-tricity flows through a material without experiencing any resist-ance or losing energy as heat, while suprafluidity is when a fluid flows without any friction.

Thouless, 82, is professor emer-itus at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Haldane, 65, is a professor at Princeton University, and Kosterlitz, born in 1942, teaches at Brown Uni-versity in Providence, Rhode Island.

WikiLeaks founder refuses to elaborate on planned leaks on 10th anniversary of the site.

EU tightens

export ban

on torture

equipment

Reuters

STRASBOURG: The European Parliament passed legislation yesterday designed to strengthen the EU’s ban on the export of tor-ture equipment by preventing the marketing and promotion of items such as spiked batons or restraint chairs.

The European Union has since 2005 banned goods used for capital punishment or torture, including drug injection systems and electric-shock belts on a list since expanded to thumb cuffs or chains to anchor a person to a wall or floor.

However, rights group Amnesty International had crit-icised the existing legislation for still allowing companies to adver-tise such equipment at military and security trade fairs inside the bloc, notably in London and Paris, and promoting them on the internet.

It highlighted the promotion of banned equipment at a Paris exhi-bition in November 2015 and to a German company showcasing on its website “stun-cuffs” operated by remote control that can deliver an electric shock of 60,000 volts.

The new EU law, likely to enter force at the start of 2017, is designed to expand on the export ban to prevent marketing and pro-moting of torture goods, whether at trade fairs, in catalogues or on the internet, and to end transit of such equipment.

“We want to make it difficult, and to remind countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, China but also the US that we don’t tolerate and we condemn these practices,” EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told a debate before the vote.

“We should of course continue our fight against capital punish-ment for all crimes and invite countries to apply similar end-use controls to their exports,” she said.

The new law will extend to ban acting as a broker for such goods or offering technical sup-port, including repairs or training. The law also aims to make it easier and faster to update the banned list to take into account changing technologies.

“We hope that this can pro-vide a start and we would look to see similar regulations in other parts of the world,” said Amnesty International EU foreign policy specialist David Nichols.

England wants

fewer foreign

doctors after Brexit

AFP

BIRMINGHAM: England is to train more doctors so that it can end its reliance on foreign recruits for the state-funded National Health Service after it leaves the European Union, the government announced yesterday.

“Currently a quarter of our doctors come from overseas,” Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said at the ruling Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham.

“They do a fantastic job and the NHS would fall over without them. When it comes to those that are EU nationals, we’ve been clear we want them to be able to stay post-Brexit,” he said.

“But looking forward, is it right to carry on importing doc-tors from poorer countries that need them, whilst we turn away bright home graduates desperate to study medicine?”

From September 2018, Eng-land will train up to 1,500 more doctors every year, increasing the number of medical school places by up to a quarter, he said.

There is currently a 6,000 cap on numbers of medical students.

Paris climate deal set to take effect after EU parliament nodAFP

STRASBOURG: The landmark Paris climate pact is poised to enter into force globally after the European Parliament joined the world’s top polluters in endorsing the deal to slow the planet’s dangerous tem-perature rise.

With UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon watching the vote yester-day, the parliament overwhelmingly

approved the EU’s fast-track ratifi-cation of the deal sealed in Paris last December.

That puts the European Union on track to hand over its ratification to the United Nations on Friday, which would then take the international community above the threshold needed for implementation within one month.

“I’m extremely honoured to be able to witness this historic moment,” Ban said at the European

Parliament building following the vote that passed by 610 to 38, with 31 abstentions.

“I look forward to the Paris agreement entering into force as soon as possible, even in just a few days time.”

The Paris accord requires all coun-tries to devise plans to achieve the goal of keeping the rise in temperatures within two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahr-enheit) above pre-industrial levels and strive for 1.5 C (2.7 F) if possible. The

European Parliament, the bloc’s only elected body, backed a decision by EU environment ministers last Friday to fast-track approval of the deal, despite only seven out of 28 EU countries hav-ing themselves ratified it.

Fears that China and the United States, the world’s two biggest pol-luters, were leaving Europe behind on ratifying last year’s historic deal pushed them into rushing through the ratification.

To come into force the accord

needs ratification from 55 coun-tries, which must together account for at least 55 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible for climate change.

With a decision in the last few days by India, the third biggest emitter, a total of 62 countries have ratified the agreement to commit to take action to stem the planet’s ris-ing temperatures. They all account for 52 percent of the planet’s green-house gas emissions.

Kim Kardashian freed herself and raised alarm after robberyAFP

PARIS: Kim Kardashian freed herself and raised the alarm after being tied up and robbed at gun-point in Paris of $10m in jewels in Paris, police sources said yes-terday.

The multi-millionaire US real-ity TV star, who was in the French capital for Paris fashion week, was robbed at a luxury residence in the early hours of Monday by five men posing as police officers.

Kardashian was tied up and

locked in the bathroom while the robbers helped themselves to a ring worth around ¤4m ($4.5m) and a case of jewellery with a value of ¤5m ($5.6m).

Two mobile phones were also stolen.

The robbery in the chic Madeleine district of Paris, near the city’s main department stores, took place at around 2:30am (0030 GMT). When the danger had passed, 35-year-old Kardashian “untied her bonds and at 2:56 am phoned her bodyguard who was not present at the time of the attack,” the sources said.

Investigators had initially thought a stylist who was in the building at the time had raised the alarm.

Kardashian’s bodyguard Pas-cal Duvier was providing security for Kardashian’s sister Kourtney at a Paris nightclub.

The assailants wore masks and police jackets. After overpow-ering the night warden three of them kept guard while two burst into Kardashian’s apartment, sources said. They held a gun to her head, gagged her and bound her hands and feet before bun-dling her into the bathroom, the sources added.

From Left: Princeton University professor F Duncan Haldane, who was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics, talks with fellow Nobel Prize winners from Princeton University Eric F Wieschaus, 1995 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Joseph Taylor, 1993 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, on the campus of Princeton University, in Princeton, New Jersey, yesterday.

AMERICAS 15WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2016

Yahoo secretly scanned customers emails for US intelligenceReuters

SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo Inc last year secretly built a custom software programme to search all of its customers’ incoming emails for specific information provided by US intel-ligence officials, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company complied with a classified US government directive, scanning hun-dreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency or FBI, said two former employees and a third person apprised of the events.

Some surveillance experts said this represents the first case to surface of a US Internet company agreeing to a spy agency’s demand by searching all arriving messages, as opposed to examining stored messages or scanning a small number of accounts in real time.

It is not known what information intelli-gence officials were looking for, only that they wanted Yahoo to search for a set of charac-ters. That could mean a phrase in an email or an attachment, said the sources, who did not want to be identified.

Reuters was unable to determine what data Yahoo may have handed over, if any, and if intelligence officials had approached other email providers besides Yahoo with this kind of request.

According to the two former employees,

Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer’s deci-sion to obey the directive roiled some senior executives and led to the June 2015 departure of Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos, who now holds the top security job at Facebook Inc.

“Yahoo is a law abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States,” the company said in a brief state-ment in response to Reuters questions about the demand. Yahoo declined any further comment.

Through a Facebook spokesman, Stamos declined a request for an interview.

The NSA referred questions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which declined to comment.

The demand to search Yahoo Mail accounts came in the form of a classified directive sent to the company’s legal team, according to the three people familiar with the matter.

US phone and Internet companies are known to have handed over bulk customer data to intelligence agencies. But some former government officials and private surveillance experts said they had not previously seen either such a broad directive for real-time Web collection or one that required the cre-ation of a new computer programme.

“I’ve never seen that, a wiretap in real time on a ‘selector,’” said Albert Gidari, a lawyer who represented phone and Inter-net companies on surveillance issues for 20 years before moving to Stanford University

this year. A selector refers to a type of search term used to zero in on specific information.

“It would be really difficult for a provider to do that,” he added.

Experts said it was likely that the NSA or FBI had approached other Internet companies with the same demand, since they evidently did not know what email accounts were being used by the target. The NSA usually makes requests for domestic surveillance through the FBI, so it is hard to know which agency is seeking the information. Reuters was unable to confirm whether the 2015 demand went to other companies, or if any complied.

Alphabet Inc’s Google and Microsoft Corp, two major US email service providers, did not respond to requests for comment.

Under laws including the 2008 amend-ments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, intelligence agencies can ask US phone and Internet companies to provide customer data to aid foreign intelligence-gathering efforts for a variety of reasons, including pre-vention of terrorist attacks.

Disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and others have exposed the extent of electronic surveillance and led US authorities to modestly scale back some of the programmes, in part to protect pri-vacy rights.

Companies including Yahoo have chal-lenged some classified surveillance before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a secret tribunal.

Some FISA experts said Yahoo could have

tried to fight last year’s directive on at least two grounds: the breadth of the demand and the necessity of writing a special programme to search all customers’ emails in transit.

Apple Inc made a similar argument earlier this year when it refused to create a spe-cial programme to break into an encrypted iPhone used in the 2015 San Bernardino massacre. The FBI dropped the case after it unlocked the phone with the help of a third party, so no precedent was set.

Other FISA experts defended Yahoo’s decision to comply, saying nothing prohib-ited the surveillance court from ordering a search for a specific term instead of a specific account. So-called “upstream” bulk collec-tion from phone carriers based on content was found to be legal, they said, and the same logic could apply to Web companies’ mail.

As tech companies become better at encrypting data, they are likely to face more such requests from spy agencies.

The Yahoo campus in Sunnyvale, California, United States.

Hurricane rips through Haiti

AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Hurricane Matthew roared across the south-western tip of Haiti with 145 mph winds yesterday, uprooting trees and tearing roofs from homes in a largely rural corner of the impover-ished country as the storm headed north toward Cuba and the east coast of Florida.

One person was reported killed in Haiti as the storm closed in, and four deaths were recorded in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, bringing the death toll from Mat-thew’s path through the Caribbean to at least seven.

The dangerous Category 4 storm blew ashore around dawn in

a corner of Haiti where many peo-ple live along the coast in shacks of wood or simple concrete blocks.

Matthew was causing major damage, though the extent was not immediately known, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of the coun-try’s Civil Protection Agency.

“It’s much too early to know how bad things are, but we do know there are a lot of houses that have been destroyed or damaged in the south,” Jean-Baptiste said.

Haitian authorities had tried to evacuate people from the most vulnerable areas ahead of the storm, but many were reluctant to leave their property. Some sought shelter only after the worst was already upon them, making their way through debris-strewn streets amid pounding rain.

“Many people are now asking for help, but it’s too late because there is no way to go evacuate them,” said Fonie Pierre, director of Catholic Relief Services for the Les Cayes area, who was huddled in her office with about 20 people.

Matthew was expected to bring 15 to 25 inches of rain, and up to 40 inches (100 centimetres) in isolated places, along with up to 10 feet (3

metres) of storm surge and batter-ing waves.

“They are getting everything a major hurricane can throw at them,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the US National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm was moving along the Windward Passage between Haiti and Jamaica, where it was dumping heavy rain that caused flooding. It was headed for southeastern Cuba and then into the Bahamas. The centre of the storm was projected to pass about 50 miles northeast of the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Forecasters said it could menace Florida toward the end of the week and push its way up the East Coast

over the weekend.“We do not know yet whether

the centre of Matthew will actually come ashore in Florida. That’s possi-ble,” said Rick Knabb, director of the hurricane centre. “It also could go to the right and stay farther offshore. The farther offshore it is, the lesser the impacts will be, but the impacts are going to happen no matter what.”

Cuba’s government declared a hurricane alert for six eastern prov-inces, and workers removed traffic lights from poles in the city of San-tiago to keep them from falling.

In the US, Florida Governor Rick Scott urged residents along the state’s Atlantic Coast to prepare for

the possibility of a direct hit, and the Red Cross put out a call for volunteers in South Carolina.

As of 11am EDT (1500 GMT), the storm was centred about 35 miles north-northeast (60 kilometres) of Tiburon, Haiti, and 90 miles (145 kil-ometres) south of the eastern tip of Cuba. It was moving north near 10 mph (17 kph). As dawn broke, people in the Haitian tourist town of Port Salut described howling winds and big waves slamming the beaches.

“The winds are making so many bad noises. We’re just doing our best to stay calm,” said Jenniflore Desro-siers as she huddled with her family in her fragile cinderblock home.

Vice presidential

candidates face

the heat in US

election debate

AFP

WASHINGTON: Hillary Clin-ton and Donald Trump’s running mates carried the race for the White House yesterday, prepar-ing to face off in their only debate of the campaign with the US elec-tions five weeks away.

Polls show Clinton, the Dem-ocratic candidate, gaining in the wake of a punishing week for her Republican rival Trump, who was hammered by controversies over his taxes, his charitable founda-tion and treatment of women.

The candidates’ number two’s — Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence — were to take their place in the spot-light last evening when they were to battle before a national televi-sion audience.

For many Americans, it will be their first prolonged exposure to the little-known men who would be next in line for the presidency if their side wins on November 8.

Kaine, 58, is an affable sena-tor from Virginia whose liberalism stems in part from his Catholic faith and experiences as a volun-teer working in poor communities in Central America.

Pence, 57, is the Christian con-servative governor of Indiana, as modest and polite in style as Trump is brash and insulting.

Pence’s job will be to reassure prospective Republican voters at a time when Trump is mired in dif-ficulties, many of his own making.

Weighing heavily against the New York billionaire are a medio-cre performance in his first debate with Clinton, followed by revela-tions of a near billion dollar loss in 1995 that may have meant he paid no taxes for 18 years, and criticism of his demeaning treat-ment of a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado.

His campaign manager Kel-lyanne Conway promises the Kaine-Pence debate will be “fiery.”

“I think you’ll see in Mike Pence somebody who is able to defend Donald Trump the run-ning mate, but at the same time, take the case right to Hillary Clin-ton,” she said on CBS.

Pence, who spent a dozen years as a member of Congress, is known for his discipline. He has prepared intensively for the debate, unlike Trump, who did lit-tle to practice for his September 26 encounter with Clinton.

“We expect them to throw a lot of mud,” said Clinton cam-paign manager Robbie Mook, ahead of the debate in Farm-ville, Virginia.

Full extent of damage uncertain as Cuba braces for barreling Hurricane Matthew.

Hillary courts working mothers in PhiladelphiaAP

HAVERFORD: Hillary Clinton aimed to capital-ise on tumult within the campaign of rival Donald rump yesterday, hunting for votes in the Philadel-phia suburbs with a message directed at working mothers and college-educated women.

Joined by daughter Chelsea Clinton and actress Elizabeth Banks at an event billed as a “family town hall,” the Democratic presidential nominee outlined ways she would curb gun violence that has spilled out across the nation and provide paid family leave and sick days for struggling work-ing mothers.

“It should not be so hard to be a young parent. And it should not be so hard on the other end of the age spectrum to take care of your loved one,” Clinton said in a question-and-answer session with supporters, making the case to female vot-ers who have periodically backed Republicans in past presidential races.

Trump, meanwhile, sought to shore up support in Arizona after finding himself on the defensive after revelations that his massive financial losses could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for years. He was also grappling with new allegations of boorish treatment of women and criticism of his comments about veterans’ health.

Trump has not said whether he has paid fed-eral income taxes in recent years and has refused

to release his tax returns. On the stump Monday night, he told supporters he used tax laws “bril-liantly” to his benefit, but pointed to “unfairness” in the system.

Trump’s tax reform proposals do not call for changing the provision that would have allowed him to avoid paying taxes.

There were signs Trump’s troubles were trick-ling down to other Republicans on the ballot.

New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte, a Republican running for re-election, stumbled on Monday night when she was asked whether she considers her party’s nominee to be a role model for children. Ayotte, who is in a close race with Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan, initially answered “absolutely,” but then backtracked in a statement afterward saying she had changed her mind.

“I misspoke tonight,” the statement said. “While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example, and I wouldn’t hold up either of them as role models for my kids.”

Ayotte’s trouble answering the question underscores Trump’s trouble with independent, moderate and college-educated women who are turned off Trump.

Those were precisely the type of voters Clinton was seeking to connect with in suburban Philadel-phia’s Delaware County, where President Barack Obama earned 60 percent of the vote in both the 2008 and 2012 election but has often served as a swing area in the battleground state.

Colombia govt and Farc hold talks in HavanaReuters

HAVANA/BOGOTA: Colombia’s government and Marxist guer-rillas went back to the drawing board in Havana yesterday after a peace deal they painstakingly negotiated over four years was rejected in a shock referendum result.

In a vote that confounded opinion polls and was a disaster for President Juan Manuel Santos, Colombians narrowly rebuffed the pact on Sunday as too lenient on the rebels.

Lead negotiators Humberto de la Calle and Sergio Jaramillo were back at a Havana convention center yesterday meeting coun-terparts from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to see what the rebels are willing to do, the government said.

The Cuban capital was the venue for talks between the two sides since 2012 that reached an accord to end Colombia’s 52-year war that has killed around a quar-ter of a million people.

US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at a ‘Family Town Hall’ campaign stop in Haverford, Pennsylvania, yesterday.

People wade through a flooded street while Hurricane Matthew passes, in Cite-Soleil in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, yesterday.

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First branch of Spazio Interni opens in DohaThe Peninsula

DOHA: The first branch of Spazio Interni for decoration and furnishings opened last Satur-day on Salwa Road in the presence of Italian Ambassador to Qatar, Guido De Sanctis, Mansour Abdullatif Al Mahmoud, Executive Director of the company, and several VIPs and media personnel.

The Italian ambassador pointed out that Italian furniture and items of decoration are one of the important Italian exports to Qatar and the Middle East in general. “This is a clear evidence that Italian goods are well known for their high quality and magnificence”.

“Despite the relatively high prices of Italian brands compared to other products, Italian brands are in high demand because of their high quality and finest touches”, he added.

I am happy to be here on the launch of the first branch of Spazio Interni in support of Italian companies providing innovative products in the world of furniture and deco-ration, said Sanctis.

Sanctis emphasised that trade ties and exchanges between the two countries have witnessed significant progress in the past, particularly after the opening of commercial mission at the embassy in Doha. He added that “trade exchange between Qatar and Italy has reached around QR2bn and Italian exports to Qatar amounted to around QR1bn, and furniture is placed second among the exports”.

Mansour Abdullatif Al Mahmoud said: “We are pleased to launch today the first branch of Spazio Interni which means in Ital-ian “internal decorations” that invites one for

filling the interior spaces with high quality antiques and furniture, adding a group of Ital-ian companies to the Qatari market”.

The Executive Director of Spazio Interni said “we have a number of exclusive agen-cies in the region on top of that Sirmani, specialising in modern furniture, and Design Nature Company which offers quality wooden accessories. The designers of the company and the artist recycle old wood and produce impressive pieces of arts; this is in addition to illumination specialised in production of chandeliers and crystal.

Talking about textiles, Al Mahmoud said Spazio Interni provides luxurious fabrics from companies like Marco Foresti, CTS, and Sam-giorgio specialising in silk and cotton, and from Gacimbirti Company which is a major producer of silk and satins.

When it came to attracting excellent brands to the Qatari market, our choice was

the Italian brands which are famous for their luxury and excellence and long history with Qatari customers, said Al Mahmoud praising the quality of Italian products.

He added: “We have witnessed more attraction for Italian brands following the spread of Chinese and other cheap and low

quality products in the market”.Al Mahmoud pointed out that the com-

pany is ready to meet special orders which could be prepared at the mother company in Italy. He added that while visiting the factory in Italy he noted that the sizes of the furniture were small in keeping with small flats there. “We asked the factory to make the sizes bigger in line with the bigger villas and spaces here”.

Ahmed Samih, Director of Marketing at Spazio Interni branch, lauded the quality of Italian products saying “our products have lifelong warranty because all goods here were made unbreakable. They are made from spe-cial beech woods and other hard woods.

Samih assured customers that prices are competitive, because we conducted visibil-ity study in the market and compared Spazio Interni’s products with similar ones in the local market and then decided the prices in collaboration with the Italian brands.

Italian furniture and decoration brand Spazio Interni’s first branch in Doha was inaugurated last Saturday. Below: Furniture on display during the opening ceremony on Salwa Road. Pic: Kammutty VP / The Peninsula

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