amir to patronise qu graduation ceremony today · 2019-10-06 · graduation ceremony of this year...

Volume 24 | Number 8037 | 2 RiyalsMonday 7 October 2019 | 8 Safar 1441 www.thepeninsula.qa

BUSINESS | 19 SPORT | 02

Gatlin and team-mates delighted to end 4x100 relay jinx

QNB outperforms global peers

in ESG ranking

Amir to patronise QU graduation ceremony todayQNA/THE PENINSULA DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will patronise the graduation ceremony of the 42nd batch of Qatar University students, which will be held at Qatar University’s Sports and

Events Complex this morning.H H Sheikha Jawaher bint

Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani, wife of H H the Amir, will patronise the graduation ceremony of Qatar University’s female stu-dents tomorrow morning.

The graduation ceremony is an annual event celebrating

Qatar University graduates. It has become a customary event ever since the University’s founding in 1977. Graduates who have suc-cessfully completed the Bachelor and the Master’s Degree require-ments will be recognized and honoured.

In the presence of Qatar

University President, VPs, deans, faculty, graduates and their fam-ilies, as well as VIP guests, the graduation ceremony of this year will take place over two consec-utive days.

The first day is dedicated to men graduates, and the second day to women distinguished

graduates. The ceremony will recognize and honour QU grad-uates of the whole academic year (including Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, and Summer 2019).

This year, around 3220 stu-dents (2468 females and 752 male) from fall 2018, winter 2019, spring 2019 and summer

2019 will be graduating from all colleges.

QU’s new strategy places an emphasis on elevating the student experience by placing QU as a pioneer and a leading educational institution in the higher education sector in Qatar and abroad.

ITUC praises Qatar's labour rights protection systemQNA/DOHA

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with a delegation from the World Bank. They reviewed cooperation relations between the State of Qatar and the World Bank in the fields of supporting the investment and business envi-ronment, and supporting the private sector in addition to topics of mutual interest.

H E the Prime Minister and Interior Minister also met yesterday morning with Secretary-General of the International Trade Union Con-federation (ITUC) Sharon Barrow, on the occasion of her visit to the country.

The ITUC Secretary General praised the ongoing legislative and executive measures being undertaken by the State of Qatar in the development of labour rights protection systems in accordance with the highest international standards.

H E the Prime Minister and Interior Minister reiterated Qatar's keenness and commitment to international standards of labour and workers and the development of its mechanisms.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani during a meeting with the World Bank delegation, yesterday. �P2

After successful Doha Worlds, Qatar promises more exciting sports eventsFAWAD HUSSAIN THE PENINSULA

The biggest track and field show on earth came to a spectacular close last night with hosts Qatar prom-ising to host more sports event in the future.

The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships ended at the iconic Khalifa Interna-tional Stadium where 1972 athletes comprising 1054 men and 918 women from 208 countries took centre-stage under lights for most part of the hugely fol-lowed event.

The 10-day event also wit-nessed the first ever midnight marathons held at Corniche. Qatar now is the first and only country in the Middle East to host the World Cham-pionships of track and field.

With the rapid progress in terms of performances by their athletes, and organisation of top level events over the years, Qatar will not stop here and will continue to promote the popular sport in the region, Dahlan Al Hamad, Vice-Chairman of the Organising Committee and Director General of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, said yesterday.

Speaking at a crowded press conference on the final day of

10-day event, Dahlan said Qatar achieved various objectives from the World Championships, which will leave a lasting impact on the sport in the region. “We are really happy to host the World Championships,” Dahlan, accompanied by IAAF Pres-ident Sebastian Coe, said yesterday at the press conference. “The cham-

pionships witnessed many good per-formances including a world record. Athletes were happy to be in Doha and we hope they will leave Qatar with a lot of memories.

“We are really thrilled to partner with the IAAF to expand the horizon of athletics in the Middle East and the MENA region. It is a collective effort of our

people and the government,” he said.

“If we go back to 1997 when athletics was just about the national team, and now we can see the fans in athletics are really increasing. Also we are happy because in Qatar, we have more than 100 communities, our duty is to make

those communities to celebrate and see their athletes,” he said.

Dahlan added the event was a part of Qatar’s National Vision 2030, in which sports is one of the pillars.

“Our legacy here (World Cham-pionships) is to make new gener-ation, those kids sports people. This is what we want, and we will keep promoting the sport until we see we

are really going on the right direction. The fans are increasing and they are excited about the sport,” said Dahlan.

To a query, Dahlan said the IAAF Doha Worlds will help Qatar in organising mega sports events in a more efficient manner.

“We don’t say that we are perfect. There is nothing perfect in the world. There are many lessons (to be learnt) and we will review them after the championships,” he said. �P2

Dr. Khalid Al-ShafiEditor-in-Chief

OPINION

Golden jump and amazing accomplishment

Organising the 2019 World Athletics Championships in

Doha, an oasis of world of sports, for the first time in the

Arab region and the Middle East, is a historic and quali-

tative achievement that confirms that nothing is impossible

for Qatar, especially when it comes to hosting mega sports,

cultural, political and economic events.

Nearly 2,000 players from all over the world gathered in

Doha to compete in different forms of races and athletic games.

The international media and press did not lose sight to

express their admiration for the success achieved by Qatar in

hosting many global championships including IAAF 2019.

This confirms the strong will of Qatar and far-sighted plans

to make Qatar one of top centers in the world for sports having

world-class infrastructure and ability to host global events

successfully.

The Organizing Committee of the championship did not

leave any stone unturned to make this event a big success and

accorded special attention to all the requirements, including

logistical and technical facilities for the distinguished guests

of Qatar. All this was accomplished under the follow-up and

direct supervision of H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani,

President of the QOC and Chairman of the Organizing Com-

mittee of the championship.

The success of Qatar in hosting this World Championship

is the biggest response to the sceptics who doubted our capa-

bility and aspiration for a bright and prosperous future. The

siege which has been imposed on our beloved country would

not hinder our national journey or discourage us from making

our way towards the future we want for our future

generations.

Lord Sebastian Coe, President of the (IAAF), praised the

efforts of the organizing committee and the available facilities

to make the event a success. The number of journalists cov-

ering the event reached more than 700 who represented several

international news agencies, sports channels and the press, in

addition to more than 5,000 volunteers representing more

than 100 countries.

The excellent organization of many tournaments has helped

our beloved country occupy a distinguished position, and the

first in the region, in hosting international sporting event, and

the FIFA Club World Cup in coming December is not the last.

Qatar not only hosted the event, but thanks to Allah, Qatar

also won the gold medal in the final jumping event, with Qatar’s

Moataz Barsham scoring first place in the high jump.

Barshim is the fruit of Qatar’s Aspire International Academy,

which contributes effectively and strongly to the graduation

of Qatari sports talents. This institution has also provided us a

strong football team, which won the 2019 Asian Cup.

All these were achieved only with the help of Allah, and

then with the wise leadership and its sound planning.

This has been achieved as we are preparing and looking

forward to the largest and most prominent event in the world,

the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which will be an exceptional

tournament by all standards in terms of capabilities, stadiums

and organization.

For this event, Qatar has been working on for quite a long

time to be a ray that would illuminate the paths for the Arab

region, and as H H the Amir said: it will be a championship of

all Arabs.

Welcome everyone in Qatar; castle for the oppressed, and the country of love, purity and magnanimity.

QNA DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was awarded yesterday the International Association of Athletics Feder-ations (IAAF) Golden Order of Merit, in appreciation of His Highness’ support and to the State of Qatar’s hosting of the 17th World Athletics Champi-onships.

On behalf of H H the Amir, President of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), and Chairman of the World Ath-letics Championships Organ-izing Committee, H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani received the order of merit from the President of the Inter-national Association of Ath-letics Federations, Lord Sebastian Coe, on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of the championships hosted by Doha.

Amir honoured with IAAF Golden Order of Merit

On behalf of H H the Amir, President of Qatar Olympic Committee, and Chairman of the World Athletics Championships Organising Committee, H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, receiving the IAAF Golden Order of Merit from the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Lord Sebastian Coe, yesterday.

02 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019HOME

Amir issues Decree Law onregulating strategic stock of food and consumer goods

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

issued Decree Law No. 24

of 2019 regulating and

managing the strategic

stock of food and consumer

goods. The Decree Law

shall be effective starting

from the date of its issu-

ance and shall be published

in the official gazette. QNA

OFFICIAL NEWSPM meets Secretary-General of ITUC

The Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, with the Secretary-General of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Sharon Barrow, on the occasion of her visit to the country, yesterday morning.

Shura Council to

participate in

WTO’s Public

Forum in Geneva

DOHA: The Shura Council

will participate in the Public

Forum of the World Trade

Organization (WTO) which

is scheduled to be held in

Geneva, Switzerland, from

October 8 to 11 under the

theme “Trading Forward:

Adapting to a Changing

World”. The Shura Coun-

cil will be represented by its

Member, Mohammed bin

Khalid Al Maadeed. QNA

Amir issues

decisions

appointing envoys

to Kazakhstan,

Senegal, Oman


Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani

also issued Amiri Decision

No. 37 of 2019, appoint-

ing Abdulaziz Sultan Jassim

Al Rumaihi as Ambassador

Extraordinary and Plenipo-

tentiary to the Republic of

Kazakhstan. H H the Amir

also issued the Amiri Decision

No. 38 of 2019, appointing

Mohamed Kurdi Talib Al Marri

as Ambassador Extraordi-

nary and Plenipotentiary to

the Republic of Senegal. H

H the Amir issued the Amiri

Decision No. 39 of 2019,

appointing Sheikh Abdul-

rahman bin Mohamed Al

Abdulrahman Al Thani, as

Ambassador Extraordinary

and Plenipotentiary to the

Sultanate of Oman.

The decisions are effective

starting from their date of

issue and are to be published

in the official gazette. QNA

Amir issues an instrument of ratification


Tamim bin Hamad Al

Thani yesterday issued an

instrument of ratification

approving an agreement

between the Government

of the State of Qatar and

The United Nations Chil-

dren’s Fund (Unicef), signed

in Doha on December 16

2018. QNA

Qatar takes part in STS Forum in JapanQNA KYOTO

The State of Qatar is partici-pating in the 16th Science and Technology in Society Forum (STS Forum) in Japan.

The Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi, is heading Qatar’s delegation to the Forum.

Over 1,400 participants from 80 countries, in addition to over 25 ministers (of education, higher education, technology

and innovation) are participating in the two-day STS Forum, which will be held at the Kyoto International Conference Center.

On the sidelines of the STS Forum, H E the Minister of Edu-cation and Higher Education participated in the round-table for the Ministers, where they dis-cussed the role of international cooperation in easing the chal-lenges to research and devel-opment in order to activate the role of science, technology and innovation in achieving sus-tainable development goals.

The Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum aims to provide a new mechanism for open discussions on an informal basis, and to build a human network that would, in time, resolve the new types of problems stemming from the application of science and tech-nology. The forum community will also explore the opportu-nities arising from science and technology, and address how to remove the barriers to using science and technology to solve the problems facing humankind.

The Minister of Education and Higher Education, H E Dr. Mohammed Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi, at the 16th Science and Technology in Society Forum in Japan.

HMC only facility in region to offer last-resort treatment for Moyamoya patientsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The neurosurgery team from Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Hamad General Hospital has recently performed a brain bypass surgery on a 30-year-old patient from the Philippines, marking the tenth procedure performed since the introduction of the Brain Re-Vascularization Program two years ago.

HMC is currently the only healthcare provider in the region to offer the surgery, which is a last-resort treatment for patients suffering from symptoms of decreased blood flow due to

Moyamoya disease.“Moyamoya is a progressive

disease that does not improve without treatment. It develops over months or years and is caused by blocked arteries at the base of the brain. The rare con-dition, which is more common in the childhood age group, affects only about one in a million people,” said Dr. Sira-jeddin Belkhair, Senior Con-sultant, Neurosurgery and Head of the Neurosurgery Department at Hamad General Hospital.

“The name ‘Moyamoya’ means ‘puff of smoke’ in Jap-anese and describes the appearance of tiny vessels that

form to compensate for the blockage. As the normal blood vessels narrow and become blocked, the condition predis-poses affected patients to stroke,” said Dr. Belkhair.

“While Moyamoya itself is not curable, surgery to provide alternative blood flow to the brain prevents related symptoms and can significantly reduce stroke risk. As the arteries become narrower, the brain forms tiny blood vessels to create new pathways for blood to flow,” added Dr. Belkhair.

He said that while the exact cause of Moyamoya disease is not known, multifactorial inheritance

is considered a possible cause because the incidence of the disease is more common in Asian countries, underscoring the sig-nificance of HMC’s programme.

“We are still trying to under-stand the mechanism of devel-oping Moyamoya disease. Some researchers believe it could be due to an inherited defect of cer-ebral blood vessels.

The cause may also be related to associated conditions such as Down syndrome and sickle cell disease. This disease primarily affects children, but it can also occur in adults, with the first symptom often being a stroke,” added Dr Belkhair. Dr.

Ali Ayyad, Senior Consultant, Neurosurgery, was the lead surgeon for the recently com-pleted milestone tenth operation. He said surgery is generally rec-ommended for Moyamoya patients with recurrent or pro-gressive TIAs or strokes to prevent further strokes by restoring (re-vascularizing) blood flow to the affected areas of the brain.

“HMC introduced the Brain Re-Vascularization Program in Qatar as a last resort for patients suffering from symptoms of decreased blood flow to the brain. We are the only healthcare provider in the Middle East

offering this complex surgery,” said Dr Ayyad.

Dr. Ayyad said that the surgery, which involves taking blood vessels from the scalp of a patient and then completing a craniotomy (making an opening in the skull) and connecting blood vessels from the scalp to blood vessels on the patient’s brain, has been successful in improving the symptoms of patients and increasing blood going to their brains.

The overall prognosis for patients with Moyamoya disease depends on how rapidly vascular blockage occurs, and to what extent.

Qatar’s ports handleover 1m containersin 9 months this yearSACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

The container traffic at Hamad Port, Ruwais Port and Doha Port has crossed 1 million mark in the first nine of this year, showing that Qatar’s maritime sector remains strong. The ports have handled 1,002,908 Twenty-Foot Equiv-alent Units (TEUs) containers in January-September period, which is around two percent more than compared to container traffic in same period in 2018.

These ports also witnessed impressive growth in building materials and vehicles handling. During the first nine months, these ports handled 307,511 tonnes of general cargo, recording 23 percent growth compared to same period in previous year. The ports handled 54,555 vehicles in January- September period, reg-istering a growth of 7 percent compared to corresponding period in 2018, said Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) in tweet yesterday.

The ports also handled 556,780 tonnes of general cargo in first nine months and 582,598 heads of livestock.

In September this year, 371 ships docked at Hamad Port, Ruwais Port and Doha Port com-pared to 319 ships in August 2019.

Hamad Port has lion’s share in container traffic because of its state-of-the-art container ter-minal. QTerminals at the moment operates Phase-I of the Hamad Port which consist of several facil-ities, including a container ter-minal (CT-1), a general cargo

terminal that handles cars and other vehicles, heavy equipment and livestock, and other areas which is called offshore-supply services terminal to support the oil and gas industry.

The container traffic expected to rise further in future as Hamad Port is undergoing expansion. The development works of Phase II of the Hamad Port, which consist of second container ter-minal (CT-2), has already begun.

In August this year, Hamad Port was placed at number 114 in top 120 container ports ranking of 2018. The port was ranked number 114 globally in the list of top 120 ports released annually by Container Management mag-azine. Qatari ports have seen tre-mendous growth in a short duration and they are further cementing Qatar’s position as a regional maritime hub. They are playing a major role in securing the needs of local markets and projects implemented by Qatar.

Ports in Qatar registered impressive growth in cargo han-dling in the first half of this year. The ports handled 218,330 tonnes of building materials in January-June period of this year, compared to 177,000 tonnes in the same period last year, showing a growth of around 24 percent.

The ports have handled 1,002,908 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units containers in January-September period.

After successful Doha Worlds, Qatar promises moreFROM PAGE 1

About the low turnout in the first couple of days during the championships, Dahlan said yes-terday: “Filling stadiums is the challenge. This wasn’t the chal-lenge in these world champion-ships only, it is a challenge in every championships.

“First two days were hectic but if you see the last 3 days, the stadium was filled because people started to appreciate the results of the athletes.”

Dahlan, who is also the Pres-ident of Asian Athletics Associ-ation (AAA), overall was pleased with the participation from the continent. “I am happy that Asian countries are progressing. Things are going good. We have good cooperation with the IAAF

and AAA, so this is something we want to enhance, for the time being we have good results from Asian countries like China Qatar and Japan,” he added.

Doha Worlds proved to be a blockbuster and witnessed many thrilling performances by the track and field stars at Khalifa International Stadium, which remained packed on most days of the competition.

American hurdler Dalilah Muhammad will return with a new world record from Doha as she clocked 52.16m in the women’s 400m hurdles to win gold medal. Netherlands’ Sefan Hassan also clinched a unique 10000m-1,500m double to make history in Doha. The event also saw various new

championships, national and area records besides the per-sonal bests from the competing athletes. Qatari athletes also sent the home crowd into rap-tures as Mutaz Essa Barshim retained his crown to become the first high jumper to win back-to-back titles at worlds. Star hurdler Abderrahman Samba was the other Al Anabi athlete to clinch medal, claiming a bronze medal in men’s 400m hurdles.

Qatar has been the centre of athletics events since the 2006 Asian Games and has been hosting the Diamond League since years. It also played host to the Asian Athletics Champi-onships last April at the same venue.

Qatar takes part in IACA’sAssembly of Parties in Kazakhstan THE PENINSULA DOHA

The State of Qatar participated recently with a delegation from the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority (ACTA) in the eighth session of the IACA’s Assembly of Parties, held in the city of Nur-Sultan in Kaza-khstan.

The participation comes in the light of the keenness of ACTA to effectively represent the State of Qatar in all international efforts to promote transparency, integrity and anti-corruption.

High-level representatives from anti-corruption authorities, specialised law enforcement authorities and international organisations of the academy also participated in the session.

The conference discussed the work that was accomplished in the previous year of the acad-emy’s work programme, the ways of developing the acad-emy’s future work and ways to strengthen the role of the academy as an internationally leading institution in research and training in the areas of anti-corruption. The delegation of

ACTA held a number of bilateral meetings, which participated in the conference, to strengthen bilateral relations and promote international awareness of the State of Qatar’s efforts in the areas of transparency, integrity and anti-corruption.

In his speech at the opening of the conference, the represent-ative of ACTA, Ibrahim Ali Abdullah, presented a compre-hensive proposal by ACTA to develop the work of the academy, which aims to pre-serve and build on the achieve-ments of the academy, to meet the challenges faced by the academy, both in terms of Internal work systems and pro-grams, or in relation to the Acad-emy’s partnerships with the Parties and in general, benefi-ciaries of its services and pro-grams. Also, ACTA presented a working paper during the dis-cussion session on “Protecting Whistleblowers: Implementing National Legislation and Pol-icies”, which was held on October 3, in which ACTA’s expert presented Qatar’s expe-riences, best practices and future projects in this field.

03MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 HOME


Labour Minister meets ITUC Secretary-General

The Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, H E Yousuf bin Mohamed Al Othman Fakhroo, met yesterday with the Secretary-General of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Sharon Barrow, on the occasion of her visit to the country. They discussed aspects of cooperation in the field of protecting workers’ rights and ways of supporting and developing them.

Al Khulaifi highlights importance of awareness in crime prevention THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Director of Public Security, Staff Major General Saad bin Jassim Al Khulaifi, stressed the importance of awareness aspects to face crime before it happens.

Al Khulaifi said, on the side-lines of the awareness sym-posium organised by the General Directorate of Criminal Investi-gations at the Ministry of Interior, that the Ministry of Interior is keen to communicate with the various concerned authorities in this context in order to spread awareness about all facts related to criminal methods, including economic crimes, especially in light of the rapid technological development.

“The economic crime occurs all over the world and our role is

to take caution and provide nec-essary awareness to all employees and those concerned with economic affairs,” he said.

Brigadier General Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi, Director General of Criminal Investigation, said that this awareness sym-posium comes within the framework of the activities of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation, in order to reduce the spread of crime and try to avoid it before it occurs, where

cooperation between the security services and the public is the first barrier to prevention the crime. He stressed that the General Directorate of Criminal Investi-gations plays an awareness role in cooperation with the Public Relations Department at the Min-istry of Interior and other bodies through various media outlets, in order to make the community aware of the causes and methods used in some common crimes.

The symposium dealt with a number of topics, including a working paper on the Criminal Investigation Department, which was reviewed by Major Nawaf Mohammed AlOtaibi, in which he referred to incidents of theft of bank customers, and gave a number of tips and guidance, which enhance security and reduce this crime.

QRCS opens Global Innovation Meeting in Humanitarian ActionSANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

With the participation of 96 people, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) opened yesterday the Global Innovation Meeting in Humanitarian Action at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) to discuss with stockholders the innovations which help to enhance the operation of humanitarian and charity works.

The meeting, a three-day event, is being organised by QRCS in collaboration with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Solferino Academy.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Director-General of Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari; President of QRCS, Dr. Mohamed bin Ghanem Al Ali Al Maadheed; Secretary-General, Ali bin Hassan Al Hammadi, and Chief Executive Director at QRCS, Eng. Ibrahim Abdullah Al Malik.

Addressing the opening cer-emony, the President of QRCS said that one of the objectives of the meeting was to exchange ideas and insights on inno-vation in humanitarian work, and reviewed the challenges in this area, pointing out in a related context that humani-tarian institutions are currently

under a great deal of pressure, which creates a clash between management and activists.

“Innovation is part of the business. It is understood that you can take risks by intro-ducing new technology that may work and may not, and that can be later developed. What about the humanitarian dimensions. I have been in Qatar Red Crescent for around 20 years,” said Al Maadheed.

He said that the problem with activists is discipline. “You want to go to the field and do many things. They have the spirit, which is a good thing. It is part of learning. Some of it will be useful, but it is not a sys-tematic kind of approach to

humanitarian action,” he added.

He said that now, humani-tarian organizations are under a lot of pressure, so those in the management clash with the activists, it is a very difficult issue how to make the balance between empowerment and governance.

Shaun Hazeldine, Head of Innovation at IFRC said: This is the fourth time we hold a global innovation meeting. We held the first one three years ago in Denmark. With only 20 people attending. So, it has grown largely over the years. This reflects a kind of shift within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and recognition of

the need to make things differ-ently.” He said that the world is rapidly changing. “We live in a world that is dynamic and changing very rapidly. This is the biggest humanitarian network in the world, with 450,000 staff, some 13-14 million volunteers, and 160 branches,” said Hazeldine.

“We are here because we have to decide on what to change. I hope the coming couple of days will be a chance to talk to each other, to share your experiences, and to tell people what is going well as well as what is not going well. We are all in trouble. We all have troubles, just as we all have successes,” he added.

The President of QRCS, Dr. Mohamed bin Ghanem Al Ali Al Maadheed. PIC: BAHER AMIN

/ THE PENINSULA

Qatari student delegation to participate in 3rd Gulf Physics Olympiad in MuscatQNA/MUSCAT

A Qatari student team will participate in the third Gulf Physics Olympiad 2019, which is scheduled to start in Muscat today and continues until October 10.

The participation of the Qatari dele-gation of four students is the third in such competition. The competition is composed of two tests in physics. The first is a theo-retical test that measures the higher levels

of thinking in various fields of physics (mechanics, solid-state mechanics, hydraulic mechanics, thermodynamics and molecular physics, vibrations and waves, electric charge and electric field, current and magnetic field, electromagnetic waves, quantum mechanics and relativity, the physical properties of matter). The other is a practical test that measures students’ skills in dealing with practical experiences.

Al Khulaifi said that the Ministry is keen to communicate with the concerned authorities to spread awareness about all facts related to criminal methods.

Achieving self-sufficiency, Qatar toexport dairy and poultry productsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

After achieving self-sufficiency in dairy and poultry products, Qatar is planning to export the surplus stock of these food products in near future.

Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani, Assistant Under-Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality and Envi-ronment (MME), has said that the local poultry products covered the 100 percent demand of fresh chicken in the market within two years since blockade.

He said in a statement that local poultry products got popular in the local market within a short period of time, and plans are afoot to export the surplus stock.

“We currently have a surplus of dairy products, where local pro-duction reached 109 percent, egg production also rose to 40 percent which will increase with the joining of other farms in the coming period,” said Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani during his visit to National Group for Agriculture and Animal Products (Mazzraty) yesterday.

The delegation of MME to Maz-zraty also included Yousef Khaled Al Khulaifi, Director of Agricultural Affairs Department and Abdulaziz Al Ziyara, Director of Animal Resources Department.

Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani said that there are some farms which are planning to export, some of which have already started exporting in small quantities, stressing that there is a possibility to export poultry and dairy products, in addition to fish and shrimp through farms, where they can be exported in the future as products and not in fresh form.

The Assistant Undersecretary for Agriculture and Fisheries Affairs praised all investors in the agricul-tural and livestock sector who have worked sincerely since the imposition of the blockade to keep the pro-duction continue round the clock.

He said that a plan was developed

by the government sector to support agricultural production through the provision of greenhouses, production inputs, feed, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation systems, vaccination and medicines.

Sheikh Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani said that the production of local farms reached 10,000 tonnes per year, which is expected to reach a whopping 90,000 tonnes by next year with the help of 10 modern farms equipped with greenhouse technologies.

The new farms which started operation will be an added value to the market in coordination with Mahaseel, the marketing arm of Hassad Food which will market the local products. He said that the number of productive farms in Qatar reached 1,300 farms, which are fixed farms. The work begins to utilise the free spaces for the construction of

greenhouses, which will help to con-tinue the production throughout the year, in addition to high quality and low water consumption.

He said that the largest future plans for the agricultural sector focus on sustainable production, and to maintain the quality of the product and its development, focusing on products with less water con-sumption and those that Qatari market needs.

Sheikh Dr Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani lauded the Mazzraty for its achievement in a short period of time.

“Mazzraty managed to establish itself as a strong and competitive Qatari producer because of its high quality poultry and feed products, starting with the production of excellent quality feeds through its modern plant which adopts the latest international technologies as well as the latest in Qatar,” said Al Thani.

Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani, Assistant Under-Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, with other officials during his visit to Mazzraty, yesterday.

Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani said that there are some farms which are planning to export, some of which have already started exporting in small quantities, stressing that there is a possibility to export poultry and dairy products, in addition to fish and shrimp through farms, where they can be exported in future as products and not in fresh form.


NHRC and US Congressdelegation hold talksTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) received at its headquarters yesterday a delegation of senior members of the US Congress.

The delegation was received by Vice-Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), Dr Mohammed Saif Al Kuwari, along with a number of directors and legal experts.

The meeting dealt with a number of human rights issues, including the efforts of the NHRC to protect the workers’ rights, and cooperation with United

Nations bodies, international and civil society organisations.

T h e m e m b e r s o f

the Committee explained the composition of the committee, which is made up of 13 members, 9 of whom were representatives of civil society and 4 representing government ministries who can not vote in decisions taken by members.

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee shall be selected among the members representing civil society.

The delegation inquired about the role of the Committee in spreading the culture of human rights in the country.

The Committee has a five-year strategic plan which includes organizing lectures and

programs targeting workers and employers, and organizes in a number of places where workers are present. It also has estab-lished community offices in the

Committee to facilitate the processing of complaints and a hotline that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to the role played by the

reception and registration section of the Department of Legal Affairs, which provides free legal advice to received complaints.

Award-winning photographer toengage local community in QatarTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) – an initiative of Qatar Foundation – is bringing award-winning British photog-rapher Giles Duley (pictured), to Doha as part of a WISH-curated art exhibition currently on display at the Fire Station.

The exhibition – titled Artistic Dimensions to a Healthier World – explores the relationship between art and health, particu-larly in the context of conflict set-tings. And it features work by Duley, who – through his photo-graphs – documents the chal-lenges faced by people whose health is affected by war and those that strive to help them.

As part of the visit, Duley will deliver a public talk at the Fire Station tomorrow and a photog-raphy workshop on October 10. Each event will run from 6pm.

During his talk tomorrow, Duley will share his personal reflec-tions on his life and work, including the reasons that motivated his change of career from successful portrait photographer of

high-profile musicians, to serious photo-documenter of people dealing with the long-term impact of war. Duley, who lost both legs and one arm while reporting on conflict in Afghanistan in 2011, will also detail the importance to him of not letting his own disability overshadow his work, or the people on whom he focuses his lens.

At his workshop on October 10, Duley aims to engage those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the intricacies of reportage photography and photo-journalism. In particular, he will explore ways to get impactful images that respect those being photographed.

Duley said, “For me the core of my work is the story. The tech-nical aspects of photography are always secondary when it comes to producing a photograph, most important is building a rela-tionship with the subject of the image. At the end of the day, it is their story and my work must be honest to them.

“This will be the first time I’ve done a talk and workshop in Doha and I’m thrilled at the opportunity to share the stories of those I’ve photographed and my own expe-riences over 25 years working as a photographer. Photography is my life and it’s always a joy to talk with those who share my passion.”

Mahmoud El Achi, Research and Policy Development Officer, WISH, and photographer, said: “The community of photography enthusiasts in Qatar has been growing recently, so we are pleased to host a world-renowned photographer who can inspire the local community to use their passion for a good cause.” The talk, workshop, and exhibition are open to the public and are free of charge, with the exhibition running until October 25.

Dr Mohammed Saif Al Kuwari, Vice-Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), during a meeting with delegation of senior members of the US Congress, at NHRC headquarters.

The meeting dealt with a number of human rights issues, including the efforts of the NHRC to protect the workers’ rights, and cooperation with United Nations bodies, international and civil society organisations.

QSTP inspires innovation through creative collaborationTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), through its Arab Inno-vation Academy (AIA), has created a unique learning envi-ronment that equips young people with the confidence and ability to turn their innovative startup ideas into a reality.

AIA, a two-week entrepre-neurship bootcamp launched by QSTP, part of Qatar Foundation Research, Development, and Innovation, in collaboration with the European Innovation Academy – takes place every year, and provides participants with hands-on experience, men-torship opportunities, and access to investors in order to help take their startup concepts from ide-ation to commercialized products.

Shaikha AlSubaey, a graduate of Qatar University, and her team won joint third place

in AIA 2019 with their project ‘EyeTalk’ – a software-hardware system that aims to people with disabilities completely paralyzed people communicate using just their eyes, by blinking.

Talking about how the AIA

experience allowed her to develop and grow as an indi-vidual and as an innovator, AlSubaey said, “One of the most important things I learned during my AIA experience was to speak up. Great ideas are irrelevant if

they only exist in your head; and developing the self-confidence to articulate your thoughts and challenge others’ thinking, espe-cially within groups of strangers, is a skill we all should possess.”

“But it’s not just about talking

– listening is something that is fundamentally important to innovative thinking. It’s about being open, flexible, and accepting of the ideas of others, even though they may be dif-ferent or come from a completely different cultural point of view. The key thing is to embrace the notion that knowledge is organic and innate to us all, and genu-inely effective solutions will only really materialize when we work together to improve our world through innovation, creativity, and original thinking.”

Intrinsic to the AIA phi-losophy is mentoring, with experts on-hand to share their experiences and advice. AlSubaey felt the mentoring that was available throughout the AIA program was an essential part of the whole experience and one that allowed her to be in the right place to learn from those with more knowledge and expe-

rience than myself. “The unique interaction of all

these diverse personalities, with all their professional experiences seemed to exemplify the idea of the ‘whole being greater than the sum.’ And you felt that this critical mass of knowledge, experience, personalities, and energy was exactly what you, as a participant, needed to hear,” she added.

AlSubaey majored in accounting – not an area that anyone would immediately asso-ciate with innovation or crea-tivity – but as an accomplished artist illustrator, and as a direct result of her involvement in the program, she is now volun-teering with the AIA’s marketing team, to work on their 2020 marketing campaign, where they are using her illustrations, and her experiences, to encourage next year’s young innovators to step up, speak up and get involved.

Participants at the Arab Innovation Academy 2019.

Mazzraty to launch marinated chickenTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

The National Group for Agriculture and Animal Products (Mazzraty) has announced to launch new products including Omega 3, baby chicken and marinated chicken, which will be ready to roast directly.

The announcement was made by Abdul Rahman Hamad Al Mana, Chairman of the National Group for Agriculture and Animal Products (Mazzraty) while briefing about the products and future plan of the Group during the visit of a high level delegation from the Min-istry of Municipality and Envi-

ronment to Mazzraty yesterday.“The consumers prefer the

local product because it is fresh and of high quality, especially with the strict control by the concerned authorities in the country, which is an encouraging factor for the demand for the Qatari product, and the local product was able to prove itself, and became a competitor to foreign products,” said Al Mana.

He said that the visit by the officials of Ministry of Municipality and Environment is a support for the project which plays an important role in promoting live-stock and food production,

especially as it is a sector that requires continuous follow-up and coordination between all ministries.

“The Ministry has a qualified team and quick procedures and facilitates the import of materials for the field such as vaccinations and medicines, and conduct pre-ventive measures,” said Al Mana

He said that Mazzraty is an environmentally-friendly project that meets all environmental standards, and is equipped with a mechanism that allows recycling of all products in the farm, without the need to take out any waste outside.


Qatar Charity implements 11 major development projects in IndonesiaTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Charity, with the generous support of the people in Qatar, has implemented 11 major development projects in Indo-nesia at total cost of over QR13m during the past two years.

The projects, which were implemented in the fields of education, health and social welfare to support thousands of orphans and low-income fam-ilies, will be inaugurated in the near future.

“Qatar Charity exerts its utmost efforts continuously in the field of development and social welfare to protect the most vulnerable and help those most in need,” said Karam Zeinhom Aly, director of Qatar Charity’s office in Indonesia.

He pointed out that the implementation of the projects, which will be opened soon, began in 2017 and ended in 2019, noting that they would contribute significantly to the development of communities and provide the necessary services in the areas of health, education and social welfare.

He added that all these projects have been implemented with the support from the people in Qatar, who always respond to the needs of the Indonesian

society, pointing out that many donors direct their donations to social projects.

For his part, Hendra Hadi, project officer at Qatar Char-ity’s office in Jakarta, said the projects implemented in various Indonesian regions, included centers for the care and rehabilitation of orphans in Banten, 20 social housing units as well as multiple service center in Subang, and a residential complex with 25 houses in East Lombok, in addition to building many hos-pitals and clinics across the country.

Since its inception in Indo-nesia in 2006, Qatar Charity has been active in channeling humanitarian assistance to those in need. It has provided urgent relief aid to tsunami victims in 2007, and urgent assistance to those affected by the West Sumatra earthquake in 2009.

Besides, it delivered assistance to Rohingya refugees in 2009 and 2015, and assisted the Garut flood victims in 20016. It has also built 126 housing units including six schools and a mosque. Furthermore, Qatar Charity has provided aid to the victims of the 2018 Lombok earthquake and constructed a social housing for the poor in Aceh.

A beneficiary family of the relief project implemented by Qatar Charity in Indonesia.

ICBF opens legal clinic to support expats

THE PENINSULA/DOHA

Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF), under the patronage of Embassy of India, Qatar has opened a legal clinic at the Integrated Indian Community Centre (IICC), Al Thumama. The clinic was inau-gurated by Ambassador of India, P Kumaran.

The legal clinic is aimed at sup-porting the Indian expats who are in need of legal assistance, espe-cially for the workers who don’t have means to receive proper legal help or hire a lawyer. The legal clinic is being operated by Kocheri & Partners Legal Con-sultants, who are providing legal consultancy in Qatar for past many years.

Representing Kocheri & Partners, its Chairman Nizar Kocheri, and representing ICBF, its President P N Baburajan,

signed the memorandum of understanding in the presence of P Kumaran. The free consultation service will be provided every third Thursday from 5pm onwards at ICBF office at IICC, Thumama. Any Indian national in need of legal assistance can walk in to have the legal guidance.

S.R.H. Fahmi, the First Sec-retary at the Embassy of India and Coordinating officer, ICBF, Sona Soman, the 3rd Secretary at the Embassy of India also attended

the inauguration ceremony.Dr Nizar Kochery explained

about the intention as this is part of humanitarian service he has been doing for many years as he provide such assistance to many other communities too.

P Kumaran applauded the efforts of ICBF to start the legal clinic and expressed that this is the need of the hour as many people are in need of legal assistance, which is a costly affair that many cannot afford. He hoped that the legal clinic would

be able to provide initial legal help for people in need for all types of cases where community members are involved.

ICBF shall as part of the Legal Clinic shall provide legal awareness sessions to community members, so they are aware of the law of the land and prevent themselves from landing in troubles. Community leaders and members of com-munity who were present applauded the efforts of ICBF in starting such a new initiative to support the needy.

Ambassador of India, P Kumaran, with members of ICBF during the opening of the legal clinic.

CMU-Q lecture explores national food securityTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

At a lecture at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), Kamel Abdallah (pictured), Group Chief Exec-utive Officer of Baladna Food Industries, discussed the challenges and opportu-nities for sustainable food security in Qatar. He was speaking at the Dean’s Lecture Series, a CMU-Q forum for leaders in business and government to

discuss the p r e s s i n g issues that affect Qatar and the world. During his talk, A b d a l l a h highlighted the crucial partnership between the private and public sectors, stressing that this collaboration has made it

possible for Qatar to make giant strides toward food security. “Baladna and the Qatar government have worked together in many areas, including devel-oping advanced technologies in livestock breeding and agricultural production. Before the blockade, we were importing 100 percent of our milk. Today, 100 percent of Qatar’s dairy products are from Qatar.”

Michael Trick, the dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, noted: “Food security is not just a policy question, it

Students of PISQ participate in Maker MajlisTHE PENINSULA DOHA

A group of the students of Pakistan Interna-tional School-Qatar (PISQ) participated in Maker Majlis, a Youth Development Program by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a great platform for the young minds.

The event was hosted by Hammad Bin Khalifa University at the Education City Mosque. Nine students from Pakistan

International School namely Munyb Jamal, Muhammad Moosa, Mauzzah Naseem, Maheen Malik, Alyna Arshad, Aruba Atif, Eiman Iftikhar, Umme Haani Ali and Sarah Akbar attended this program.

In the program, students learned a lot about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a fun way. On the very first day the students were tested about their knowledge of the SDGs and later they watched a video about Qatar’s development for the FIFA World Cup 2022 and

the work in progress for Qatar’s 2030 vision. To make the task a little more challenging

the students were then asked to choose the issue that needed serious attention and which had to be solved at first hand. On the second day the students were asked to relate the problems to Qatar and find solutions to solve the problem they had chosen the previous day.

All the students worked hard to come up with ideas to solve them. On the third day the students were given a new challenge to make a prototype of a business idea that they market as well as solve the problem and earn a rea-sonable profit. The winning team had two stu-dents, Munyb Jamal and Umme Haani Ali, from Pakistan International School.

Their team were given SDG 8 which aimed at decent work and economic growth and the issue, the team chose was ‘to overcome the problems faced by the workers due to extreme heat in Qatar’ and they came up with a bril-liant idea of ‘ultra cool’ which would be a uniform comprising of a cooling device, powered by the belt, in the shirt and a jump suit made of reflective material, made of alu-minium, to save the workers from heat and provide them a sustainable environment to work on very hot days.PISQ students during their participation in Maker Majlis, a Youth Development Program.

i n v o l v e s business, tech-nology, science and sustaina-bility. At CMU-Q, we encourage our students to think beyond their main area of study, and I thank Dr. Abdallah for outlining how we can tackle food security by integrat ing these areas of e x p e r t i s e . ” Abdallah said that education is vital for the next generation to understand the connections between fresh food, proper nutrition and sustainable packaging and a h e a l t h y community.

The free consultation service will be provided every third Thursday from 5pm onwards at ICBF office at IICC, Thumama.


Permanent closure on service road linking Al Shamal RoadTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ has announced a permanent closure of the entrance from Al Shamal Road south bound to the service road before Thani Bin Jassim Street (Al Ittihad Street).

The permanent closure will be implemented tomorrow in coor-dination with Traffic Department, to facilitate construction of two of new bridges at Umm Lekhba Interchange and new roads scheme in the area as part of Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor.

Road users on Al Shamal Road

can use the entrance near Al Gharrafa Complex after “Al Ittihad New Bridge” then head to Abdul-rahman Bin Ouf Street to use the U-turn on Thani bin Jassim Street to reach Q Mall, Gharrafa Market and commercial areas.

Road users can also use the new Etihad Bridge in the direction to Gharrafa to reach the inter-section known as “Al Ittihad Inter-section” and make a U-turn to Thani bin Jassim Street and then make another U-turn under the bridge to reach Q Mall and com-mercial areas.

Ashghal will install road signs to guide road users through the new road layout.

Genomic approaches to cancer treatment discussed at WCM-QTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The growing role of genomics in cancer treatment was examined at the latest Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) Grand Rounds.

Dr. Susanna El Akiki, consultant clinical scientist in the diagnostic genomic division at Hamad Medical Cor-poration (HMC), gave a presentation that explained the difference between genetic and genomic analysis, described the technologies used to detect genomic changes, and discussed the impact of genomic reporting on therapeutic decision making.

Dr. El Akiki, who is an affiliate faculty member at WCM-Q, also explained how genomics has become central to pre-cision cancer medicine.

Dr. El Akiki said, “What cancers all have in common is that they are due to changes in the genome, to mutations in the DNA, and it’s these mutations that disrupt the regulation of the cell cycle. My role as a diagnostic scientist is to use genetic technologies identify these muta-tions. We do this to confirm a diagnosis, to determine the prognosis of the patient, to risk stratify for treatment, to measure response to treatment, to monitor disease progression.”

Dr. El Akiki said that new genetic sequencing technologies allow physi-cians to look at very large numbers of genes simultaneously, radically enhancing their ability to diagnose, monitor and target treatments at cancers. For example, targeted treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of the white blood cells, with a therapy called tyrosine kinase inhibitors, had led to dramatic improvements in sur-vival rates, she said. Furthermore, by analyzing the mutations in the patient’s genome the physician can make an informed decision about which of the several tyrosine kinase inhibitors would be most effective.

Dr. El Akiki added, “If you look at the

key milestones in the treatment of CML over the past 60 years, all of them have been based on our improved under-standing of the underlying genomics.

“Genomic medicine is really reshaping the delivery of pathology services as we go into this new era of cancer precision medicine, so it’s a very exciting time and a huge era of change.”

The lecture, titled ‘The Role of Genomics in Cancer Treatment, was accredited locally by the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners-Accredi-tation Department (QCHP-AD) and inter-nationally by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

Dr. Susanna El Akiki

PHCC urges women to repeat breast cancer screeningTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Primary Health Care Corpo-ration (PHCC) is urging women across Qatar to ensure they are screened for breast cancer every three years.

The call comes as the Cor-poration, which runs ‘Screen For Life’, Qatar’s National Breast and Bowel Cancer Screening program, has already completed three years of operation, and is now identifying women who undertook mammograms in 2016 and are now eligible to screen again. As per the national guidelines, breast cancer screening should be done every three years.

“We always make sure to explain to women that the screening must be repeated every three years,” said Dr Shaikha Abu Shaikha, Manager of Screening Programs at PHCC. “Being screened once is not the end of the preventative care. Circumstances change and if we are to be successful, we must reinforce the message that women must repeat the screening at the three-year interval.”

Dr Shaikha said the repeat screening message will be part of this month’s ‘Put Yourself First’ campaign which ‘Screen For Life’ is running as part of International breast cancer awareness month.

“The good news is that this month women will have more access than ever to free mam-mogram testing as we are taking the opportunity to sites throughout Qatar. Our mobile screening unit will tour the country, we will have sign-up opportunities in malls and at public and private sector gath-erings nationwide to com-pliment free screening at our three main screening suites. Screening is not a one-off task – it is a lifelong undertaking, hence our campaign being named ‘Screen For Life,’” she explained.

‘Screen For Life’ is urging women of 45 years and above to take up the ‘Put Yourself First’ free mammogram opportunity. “No-one should be reluctant to use the mobile unit as it operates to the same high standard as our permanent screening suites in Al Wakra, Leabaib and Rawdat Al Khail health centres. Our staff are highly-trained and women benefit from a high level of privacy,” said Dr Shaikha.

During October ‘Screen For Life’ will conduct lectures, undertake training for physi-cians, operate a mobile screening unit and mount infor-mation booths in malls and health centers while imple-menting social media contests and an advertising campaign to promote the early screening message. “Quite simply early screening can save lives and women who adopt the repeat screening cycle are setting a very positive example to younger generations,” added Dr Shaikha.

Youth have funwith robotics,coding at QNLTHE PENINSULA DOHA

A group of young adults enjoyed an interactive session of Fun Robotics at Qatar National Library on Saturday. A hands-on intro-duction to robotics, the Internet of Things, and coding let enthusiastic participants do robotic coding with the aid of drag-and-drop func-tionality. After this brief intro-duction, the group solved a daily life issue using robotics.

The program is designed to enable young students to even-tually address other real-time problems using the same strategy, applying collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and complex problem-solving.

A participant at the workshop, Sanad Joudeh, a robotics enthu-siast who regularly attends

competitions in Qatar and the region, said: “This event is brilliant. It introduces new concepts in robotics and provides incredible learning materials to participants. The world of robotics is advancing very quickly, so it is always val-uable to learn something new about this field. I have been

practicing coding and robotics for the last two years, and I’m thankful to have been part of a major robotics competition that brought the first cup to Jordan.”

Sessions continue every Sat-urday throughout October. As the course progresses, the level of problems identified and the

complexity of programming used to solve them will increase. A mini-challenge day will be held in November, when participants will exhibit their creations.

Zakariya Muhamed, who also took part, said: “I am happy that the Library is organizing inform-ative events for youth, and

especially for those with an interest in computer science and information technology. Robotics teaches students how to solve complex problems and work together with other students. The lecture today helped me under-stand the different types of robot sensors and how they function.”

Young adults during an interactive session of Fun Robotics at Qatar National Library.

The program is designed to enable young students to eventually address other real-time problems using the same strategy, applying collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and complex problem-solving.

CEO of WISE receives Centennial Medal by IIETHE PENINSULA DOHA

Stavros Yiannouka, CEO of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) – an initiative of Qatar Foundation – has been awarded the Centennial Medal by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

In honour of 100 years of academic and cultural exchange, the IIE award individuals and organisations who have con-tributed to the field of interna-tional education through gov-ernment service, leadership in

academic exchange and global mobility, philanthropic excel-lence, and corporate support for advancement of international education and relations. The Centennial Medal acknowledges the world’s most prestigious and innovative programs in interna-tional education and exchange.

Yiannouka said, “I am grateful to be receiving this pres-tigious award, and can only accept it on behalf of all of the work that WISE and the local and international community do to make education a priority around the world.”

WISE offers a range of pro-grams that go beyond its flagship summit in Doha, including annual action-oriented initia-tives such as the Learners’ Voice, WISE Awards, WISE Prize for Education, and the WISE Accel-erator. This also includes over 23 original research reports on a broad range of topics such as agile leadership and global lan-guage policies. Since 2009, WISE has welcomed over 12,000 par-ticipants from 150 countries at its events, engaging with 5,400 organizations, and over 950 speakers. WISE continues to

grow the education movement with 35,000 active contacts in the community database, and 150,000 social media followers.

The flagship global summit this year, taking place from November 19 – 21, aims to address pressing issues affected by rapid transformations in tech-nology and the environment through the theme: ‘UnLearn, Relearn: What it means to be Human’. This will drive discus-sions and debates on topics such as integrating holistic learning for well-being, understanding

our brain and how we learn, global citizenship for sustainable development, and leveraging technology for positive learning outcomes.

The summit will be preceded by Doha Learning Days, a week-long celebration of education, on November 14-19. In partnership with Exxon Mobil Qatar, WISE is showcasing local initiatives and encouraging the public to par-ticipate in the activities. The events will be centered in QF’s ceremonial court and will feature local and regional initiatives in education.

MOCI recalls selectApple 15-inchMacBook Pro salesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Due to potential overheating of the battery that may pose a fire safety risk in a limited number of older generation units, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) has announced the recall of Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro sales of September 2015 and February 2017.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Redington and Apple, announced a free of charge recall of Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro units sold between September 2015 and Feb-ruary 2017, due to the fire safety risk that the battery may pose if overheated.

The recall campaign comes within the framework of the Ministry’s continuous efforts to ensure that suppliers follow up on product defects and recall defective items in a bid to protect consumers.

The Ministry said that it will coor-dinate with the suppliers to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out. The Ministry has urges all cus-tomers to report any violations to its Con-sumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, which processes com-plaints, inquires and suggestions.

Dr. El Akiki said: “What cancers all have in common is that they are due to changes in the genome, to mutations in the DNA, and it’s these mutations that disrupt the regulation of the cell cycle.”

A UN report found that US and Afghan forces killed 717 civilians and injured 680 in the first six months of the year, up 31% from the same period in 2018. The Taliban and IS killed 531 and wounded 1,437, down 43%.

08 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019VIEWS

Anger grows at civilian deaths by US, Afghan forces

The workers were sleeping on the mountainside where they had spent a long day har-vesting pine nuts in eastern

Afghanistan. Some were in tents, others lay outside under the stars, when the US airstrike tore into them. Only hours before the Sept. 19 strike, the businessman who hired them had heard there was a drone over the mountain and called Afghanistan’s intelligence agency to remind an official his workers were there - as he’d notified the agency days earlier. “He laughed and said, ‘Don’t worry they are not going to bomb you,’” the businessman, Aziz Rahman, recalled.

Twenty workers were killed in the strike, including seven members of one family. A relative, Mohammed Hasan, angrily described body parts they found scattered on the ground, gesturing at his arm, his leg, his head. “This is not their (Americans’) first mistake,” said Hasan. “They say ‘sorry’. What are we supposed to do with ‘sorry?’ ... People now are angry. They are so angry with the foreigners, with this government.”

Increasing civilian deaths in stepped-up US airstrikes and opera-tions by Afghan forces highlight the conundrum the US military and its Afghan allies face, 18 years into the

war: How to hunt down their Islamic State group and Taliban enemies, while keeping civilians safe and on their side. Com-plaints have also grown over abuses and killings by a CIA-trained Afghan special intel-ligence force known as

Unit 02. In the same province, Nan-garhar, members of the Unit killed four brothers during a raid on their home. The brothers’ hands were bound and they were shot in the head.

Former President Hamid Karzai, in a recent interview with The Associated Press, said he didn’t want the US troops for “one more minute” if deaths of civilians continued. Some 16,000 civilians have been killed since 2009 in the war, according to the UN Overall, civilian deaths are down so far this year, on track to the lowest number

since 2012. But civilian deaths caused by US and Afghan government forces are rising, surpassing for the first time those caused by the Taliban and other insurgents, according to a UN report .

It found that US and Afghan forces killed 717 civilians and injured 680 in the first six months of the year, up 31% from the same period in 2018. The Taliban and IS killed 531 and wounded 1,437, down 43%. Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center, said that is because US President Donald Trump has sought to ramp up pressure on the battlefield amid nego-tiations with the Taliban and has loosened rules of engagement for US forces. “In effect, the Trump adminis-tration has given its blessing to US forces to use a more gloves-off approach on the battlefield that raises the risk of civilian casualties,” he said.

In early September when Trump declared as “dead” a deal with the Taliban that had seemed imminent, he boasted the US had “been hitting our enemy harder than at any time in the last ten years.” Last week, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said: “We did step up our attacks on the Taliban since the talks broke down. . . we did pick up the pace considerably.”

According to the US Air Forces

Central Command, the US conducted more bombings and drone strikes in Afghanistan in August than in any pre-vious month this year - 783, compared to 613 in July and 441 in June.

Dropping more bombs doesn’t appear to be working. The Taliban are stronger than they have been since their ouster in 2001, and IS is expanding its footprint, moving into the mountains of the northeast, according to a US Department of Defense intelligence agent. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his work.

In an interview with The Asso-ciated Press, Afghan Defense Minister Asadullah Khaled disputed the UN report, saying “we do not have a lot of civilian casualties.” He accused the Taliban and their sympathizers of inflating numbers. “I cannot say there are no civilian casualties from the Afghan side but there is a big dif-ference. Taliban is killing people in the mosque, in the school, in the street, and we are trying our best,” to avoid civilian casualties, said Khaled.

Khaled seemed to put some blame for the deaths in the Sept. 19 strike on the farmers. He said they were working on a mountain where IS is known to have bases, without informing the authorities.

KATHY GANNON AP

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The European Union now will have to react to US tariffs and, after

obtaining the approval of the World Trade

Organisation, probably impose punitive tariffs

as well.

Heiko Maas German Foreign Minister

France has a way out of the US-Iran impasse

The US and Iran are both look-ing for diplomatic off-ramp from their intensifying confron-tation. France may have found way out. President Emmanuel Macron has developed a four-point framework that looks like a plausible basis for a resump-tion of US-Iranian dialog.

It is clear that, without talks, the Islamic Republic will not stop with its calibrated program of military provocations, which culminated in the strikes on Saudi oil facilities on Sept 14 that temporarily halved that country’s oil production. As with previous attacks on energy shipping in the Persian Gulf, the latest strikes restate Tehran’s

consistent message: If we can’t sell oil, we’ll make sure nobody can. Generating a crisis is Iran’s chosen strategy to restart diplo-macy. But Tehran doesn’t want a war, knowing it will surely lose. Trump has made it clear he doesn’t want a conflict either.

But who will blink first? For more than a year, each side was convinced it had the upper hand, overvaluing its own leverage while underes-timating the endurance of the other side. Iran believed it could wait out the Trump presidency in hope that a more concili-atory administration would follow. The American strat-egy, since Trump abrogated the 2015 nuclear agreement, has been to exert pressure through economic sanctions and force the Iranians to negotiate a new and better deal. The sanctions have severely damaged the Ira-nian economy, but the regime in Tehran has not shown any signs of bending. Recognizing

the impasse, both sides have been looking for an opportunity to resume dialogue, but nei-ther has been willing to make opening concessions.

At the G7 meeting in Biarritz in August, the French presi-dent came close to persuading Trump to meet Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif. At the UN General Assembly in New York last month, he came even closer to arranging a phone call between Trump and Rouhani.

Those failures belie the real progress Macron has achieved in creating a framework that Washington and Tehran might be able to accept as a basis for resumed negotiations.

Iran would again agree never to build nuclear weap-ons, and forswear other forms of aggression in its neighbor-hood. The latter may imply restricting some aspects of its missile-development. In return, the US would agree to lift all sanctions imposed since 2017,

freeing Iran to once again sell its oil and spend money.

It’s not as easy as all that. Rouhani reportedly backed out of the phone call after demanding that the US lift all new sanctions before any talks. Hardliners in Tehran will resist any new dialogue. Iran hawks in Washington, like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, will like-wise argue against any outreach until the Islamic Republic shows it is mending its behavior.

Some sweeteners will be required. As an initial induce-ment, France proposed giving Iran a $15 billion line of credit; Trump seems open to the idea. Can the US also lift some sanc-tions in order to resume talks, on the understanding others will be removed only after an agreement is reached? Or would a promise to ease the pres-sure suffice? And what steps might Iran be willing to take on nuclear or regional issues to demonstrate its own good faith?

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM [email protected]

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI [email protected]

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

Combating cyber crimes

Despite international efforts, cyber crimes are growing and posing a serious threat to the safety and security of global social, political and economic orders. In this

context, Qatar’s efforts in fighting cyber crimes have attained global attention and the nation is leaving no stone unturned in its fight to curb the emerging phenomenon of cyber crimes.

Qatar was also a victim of this heinous crime as imme-diately before the start of unjust blockade on Qatar, the siege nations went to the extent of using cyber tools to tarnish the image of Qatar. The cyber crime committed against Qatar was not an isolated incident as hundreds of reports on cyber crimes surface from around the world on daily basis.

According to the report of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, around $600bn, nearly one percent of global GDP, is lost to cyber crime each year. This figure alone is enough to understand the gravity of this global threat.

Qatar’s efforts to fight cyber crimes are really the need of the hour and deserve big round of applause. The country always raises voice for enhanced international cooperation to curb the cyber crime and works in close coordination with global agencies to formulate policies and execute

measures against this global threat.

Qatar’s commitment and vision to fight cyber crimes are reflected in Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s invitation for holding an inter-national conference to discuss ways to tackle it and in His Highness’ assertion that Qatar is ready to host this conference under the auspices of the United Nations and to exert all efforts with international partners to make it a success.

Well cognizant of the conse-quences of the threat, Qatar also seeks to strengthen its cooper-ation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to build national capacities of states to enhance the security of computer networks and support

regional and international cooperation to provide a safe and robust cyber environment.

With determination and willpower, Qatar has been making use of all available means to fight cyber threats. The Ministry of Transport and Communications will organise the 5th Qatar IT Conference and Exhibition under the theme “Safe Smart Cities” between October 29 and November 1.

Taking into account the gravity of cyber crimes, Qatar has enhanced its information security within country and is ready to always move an extra mile to extend support to the United Nations efforts to combat cyber crimes by addressing the root causes.

Qatar’s vision to establish and maintain a secure cyber-space to safeguard the national and international interests and preserve the fundamental rights and values of the society has won wide acclaim. Undoubtedly, Qatar’s far-sighted moves will inspire the world to work for a cyber crime free globe.

Qatar’s vision to establish and maintain a secure cyberspace to safeguard the national and international interests and preserve the fundamental rights and values of the society has won wide acclaim.

HUSSEIN IBISH BLOOMBERG

Palestinians must hear and examine closely the views of South Africans who have fought and continue to fight for true equality and meaningful democracy, so that they can better understand post-apartheid South Africa and draw important lessons for our own struggle.

09MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 OPINION

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When it’s ok for health officials to panic, andwhen it’s not

Palestinians need to learn from South Africa’s mistakes

FAYE FLAM BLOOMBERG

RAMZY BAROUD AL JAZEERA

New and scary diseases have always made good head-lines, but if they are very rare, is it ever justified to tell

people to be afraid? Exaggerators in public health fields or in the media may not think they can do any harm by issuing alarming warnings about things like mosquito-borne illnesses,

vaping or eating meat. But there can be costs to such tunnel vision.

It’s OK to make a big deal about something that’s small when there’s a reasonable chance it might become a lot bigger, said risk communication consultant Peter Sandman. Think of the H5N1 bird flu scare of the last decade, he said. The disease was much more likely to kill those who got infected than was the 1918 pandemic flu, which killed about 50 million people. The new bird flu hadn’t evolved the ability to spread from person to person, but in the very real possibility it did, it could have been the worst pandemic ever.

That never happened, but it was still good public health procedure to warn people, said Sandman, because it genuinely looked like it was the tip of an iceberg. The same goes for SARS, a viral disease that broke out in 2003 and was contained before it could

become the global pandemic some feared.

Today the big scare in some US states is eastern equine encephalitis (EEE). It’s exceedingly rare, but can be deadly. There are usually about seven cases a year in the US, but this year there have been 28 cases and nine deaths.

The important question is whether this is just a bump, or whether there’s reason to think something has changed that has made this disease more easily spread. That question remains unanswered, though the answer is critical in deciding how to talk about the threat.

Stoking fear can lead to responses that are, at best, a misallocation of resources. In 2016, the mosquito-borne disease that had people scared was Zika virus, and this was used, said Sandman, to justify spraying in New York, though there were never any cases attributed to local mosquitoes there.

By far the biggest scare story of 2019 has been the small rash of acute lung illnesses associated with vaping. The media reported that cases were “surging” when they reached a pos-sible 450 incidents with five deaths. The numbers have now edged over 1,000, with at least 18 deaths, but there’s no mechanism by which this will likely explode into a pandemic. And it’s not a big number compared to the number of people who have been vaping without incident. Although the exact cause has yet to be pinned down, which is worrisome, from the start the evidence has pointed to THC (the active ingredient in marijuana), flavoring or other additives as the primary risk.

There are lots of reasons for

people to worry about the exploding popularity of vaping among young people. It’s highly addictive, and the long-term effects remain unknown. But for older people who are already addicted to nicotine, is this disease enough of a threat to warn smokers against switching to vaping? Is it better for someone who has switched to vaping to go back to cigarettes?

More than 480,000 people die every year from smoking in the US, many from lung cancer. There is good reason to think vaping won’t cause cancer because users don’t inhale the carcinogenic tar that comes from the combustion of tobacco. Which opens up the possibility that scaring people over this rare new disease could have the unintended consequence of increasing the incidence of something much more common - and known to be deadly.

Similar unintended consequences have come from scaring people away from certain foods, like meat and dairy. Last week, a new paper in pub-lished in the Annals of Internal Med-icine reported that the available evi-dence points to no statistically signif-icant risk from eating red meat.

Some nutrition researchers objected, but the scientific evidence never pointed to more than a small risk associated with eating meat. A few years ago researchers claimed to find a link between cancer and proc-essed meats, such as ham, sausage and bacon. People who ate a lot of these had an elevated risk of colon cancer, but the risk was small - a 5.3% lifetime risk for those who ate con-sumer processed meat every day, as opposed to a 4.5% risk for the general population.

Today, the comparison between Israeli and South African apartheid is as per-vasive as it is obvious. Just as

South Africa and many other settler colonies did in the past, Israel is now utilising policies of racial segregation and ethnic cleansing to advance and preserve the interests of the coloni-alists while suppressing and margin-alising the basic human rights of the colonised population.

Naturally, the Palestinian liber-ation discourse has adopted refer-ences to the popular struggle against South Africa’s apartheid, while the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is also largely modelled around the boycott movement of South Africa.

The relentless resistance and overwhelming sacrifices of South Africans which were made to ulti-mately overturn hundreds of years of Dutch and British colonialism and racial apartheid are exceptional and praiseworthy. Challenging and offi-cially defeating the powerful and sin-ister forces that upheld such historic injustice is a tremendous feat. It underscores the unsurmountable power of popular movements and presents a positive example for Palestinians.

However, in the rush to emphasise the similarities between the two expe-riences - which itself stems from the burning and justifiable desire of Pal-estinians to achieve their own “South Africa moment” - two major mistakes

are being made. One, Palestinians often misconstrue and romanticise the path of the South African anti-apartheid struggle. Two, there is a widely-shared belief, among Pales-tinians and their supporters, that the official scrapping of apartheid laws automatically ushered in a new age of democracy and equality in S Africa.

Such perceptions lead to the erro-neous assumption that a similar legal victory in Israel can solve all of Pales-tine’s problems and pave the way for the coveted one-state solution.

This issue occupied my mind during a recent visit to South Africa. While giving lectures on Palestine and the shared struggle of the two nations, I had the opportunity to meet and discuss the South African experience with a number of intellectuals, former anti-apartheid fighters and human rights activists who are part of today’s South African struggle for equality.

In my opinion, Palestinians must hear and examine closely the views of South Africans who have fought and continue to fight for true equality and meaningful democracy, so that they can better understand post-apartheid South Africa and draw important lessons for our own struggle.

Nationhood, democracy and mar-ginalisation One of the main chal-lenges that post-apartheid South Africa has faced is building a nation on the ashes of a regime which was pred-icated on racial division, marginali-sation and oppression.

As South African academics

Na’eem Jeenah and Salim Vally explained in their essay, Beyond Ethnic Nationalism: Lessons from South Africa, a common future for the colonialists and the colonised can only be built “when there is agreement that a new nation needs to be forged within a new state”. “While it might be tempting to talk about the new state now and leave the question of the new nation for some post-liberation phase, this would be a huge mistake. It was postponed in South Africa and South Africans are now living with the con-sequences,” Jeenah and Vally wrote.

Indeed, while post-apartheid gov-ernments in South Africa emphasised symbols of unity and celebrated diversity - such as the rainbow flag - symbolism was not enough to stitch together a nation.

As Enver Motala, associate of the Chair for Community, Adult and Worker Education at the University of Johannesburg pointed out: the “approach to the constitution of nationhood in has often favoured the liberal democratic, aspirational claims of human and legal rights enshrined in a constitution, its symbols, flags and anthems for unification, while leaving untouched the structural arrange-ments and enduring characteristics of historically entrenched power, and social fragmentation”.

Motala added that the formation of a truly unified state and nationhood can only be possible through “the demobilisation of every conceivable form of social privilege”.

There has been the expectation that dismantling apartheid political structures and introducing democracy would facilitate the nation-building process. But as Karima Brown, a prominent journalist and political analyst, told me, the democratic breakthrough of 1994 was only “the start of deepening democracy and building a more equal, non-sexist and anti-racist order”.

She emphasised the importance of not allowing apartheid colonialism to be replaced with a neo-colonial project that would continue to mar-ginalise various groups and undermine the nation-building effort.

Inequality and land rights According to a recent World Bank

study, South Africa “remains the most economically unequal country in the world”, a sad reality which has much to do with the neoliberal economic model which the democratically elected South African government adopted after 1994 and which is closely associated with the powerful, neo-colonial forces that remain at work in South Africa.

Today the big scare in some US states is eastern equine encephalitis (EEE). It’s exceedingly rare, but can be deadly. There are usually about seven cases a year in the US, but this year there have been 28 cases and nine deaths.

Vally told me that “the fault lines of the present system of inequality in South Africa can be traced to the nature of the negotiated settlement between the erstwhile, dominant liberation movement and the apartheid regime”.

As a result, the end of apartheid law did not change the class for-mation and power relations in South Africa, as the post-apartheid period witnessed “the continuation of the class character of the state [despite the discourse of human rights, liberal bourgeois democracy and development] and the incorporation of South Africa into a global market economy”. “In a sense, while the scaffolding [racially-based discrimi-natory laws] was removed, the foundation and the house of ine-quality remains even stronger than it did prior to 1994. Traditional white capitalists, global capital, a layer of the black middle class and a few black capitalists are, today, the beneficiaries, at the expense of the vast majority,” Vally said.

This persisting inequality mani-fests itself in a myriad of ways, most starkly in the issue of land rights and redistribution. As in the case of Pal-estinians, South Africans perceive land as having much deeper value than its market price; it is closely tied to identity and cultural roots.

Mahlatse Mpya, a researcher at the Afro-Middle East Centre, told me that the South African gov-ernment is still unable to “com-prehend what land meant to black people”. For black South Africans, “land is part of their identity, her-itage, a way for many of them to connect with their roots and ancestors”, she explained.

A file photo of Palestinians posing for a picture with a sculpture of the first democratically elected South African President Nelson Mandela, in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

10 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019MIDDLE EAST

Iraq PM vows reforms; eight dead in new clashes

An Iraqi protester waves the national flag during a demonstration against state corruption, failing public services, and unemployment, in the capital Baghdad, yesterday.

AGENCIES BAGHDAD

The Iraqi government announced a series of reforms early yesterday after an “extraordinary” session overnight in response to sweeping anti-government rallies that have left nearly 100 dead in less than a week.

At least eight people were killed and 25 wounded in new clashes between protesters and police in eastern Baghdad yes-terday, police and medical sources said.

The clashes were in Sadr city, a sprawling residential district of the Iraqi capital, and added to a death toll of more than 100 people killed in less than a week of protests over corruption and unemployment. Police, backed by the army, used live rounds and tear gas to disperse the crowds at two separate locations in Sadr City, police said. The Interior Ministry spokesman said 112 anti-government protesters and eight security members have been killed during protests in Baghdad and the south. Spokesman Saad Maan said that 6,107 protesters and more than 1,200 security personnel have been wounded in the unrest.

Confronted by its biggest challenge since coming to power just under a year ago, Prime

Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi’s cabinet issued a decree including 17 planned reforms, such as land distributions and increased welfare stipends for needy families.

The decree ordered con-struction of 100,000 new housing units. In September, local authorities launched demolitions of houses in informal settlements, home to three million Iraqis across the country.

In response to staggering youth unemployment, which has reached around 25 percent according to the World Bank, the government said it would create large market complexes and boost benefits for those without work. The public sector remains the largest employer in Iraq, a country of 40 million people, but it has struggled to absorb new university graduates in recent years.

In the southern city of Kut last month, a young Iraqi man died after he set himself alight in

despair after authorities seized his mobile kiosk.

The government has offi-cially designated those killed as “martyrs,” granting their families a special set of benefits.

The majority of protesters killed were struck by bullets, according to medical sources, who said on Friday that six police officers have also been killed.

The authorities have accused “saboteurs” and unidentified snipers of targeting protesters.

Last morning, the situation was calm in Baghdad, though with lighter traffic than usual. The capital’s iconic Tahrir Square remained blocked off by security forces.

P a r l i a m e n t s p e a k e r Mohammed Al Halbusi pledged a range of reforms in a meeting with lawmakers on Saturday, but did not hold his planned legis-lative session as the body failed to reach quorum.

Born of calls on social media, the protest movement denounced

corruption, unemployment and the decay of public services in a country chronically short of electricity and drinking water.

Iraq is the 12th most corrupt country in the world, according to Transparency International.

The protests follow Iraq’s declaration of victory over the

Islamic State group at the end of 2017 — after nearly four decades of conflict.

Starting Tuesday, protesters gathered in Baghdad and spread to the country’s Shiite-majority south, defying an internet blackout, tear gas and even live rounds. The mainly male, young

crowds say they are not backed by any political or religious establishment and have attacked a broad range of political party offices.

“We don’t want parties anymore. We don’t want anyone to speak in our name,” one pro-tester said on Friday.

Turkey summons US charge d’affaires over Twitter ‘like’AFP ANKARA

Turkey yesterday summoned the US charge d’affaires after the embassy’s Twitter account ‘liked’ a tweet about a nation-alist politician who was recently in hospital, the Turkish foreign ministry said.

“Today the US charge d’affaires was summoned to the ministry to give an open and clear explanation of the social media posting,” the ministry said. It added that the United States’ ambassador was not in Ankara yesterday.

The embassy’s official Twitter account had liked a tweet on Saturday in which an individual said Turkey should be ready for a political period without Devlet Bahceli.

Bahceli leads the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the junior partner of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) since their formal alliance in 2018.

The MHP also backed the AKP in a 2017 referendum on changing the Turkish consti-tution to transform the country’s system into an executive presidency.

Last month Bahceli, 71, was taken to hospital after suffering nausea but was released shortly after. Despite assurances, there have been concerns recently over his health.

The US ambassador, David Satterfield, arrived in Turkey earlier this year after a period of nearly two years without an American ambassador to Ankara following John Bass’ departure in 2017.

The US embassy late on Sat-urday apologised in a tweet, saying the posting had been “liked by accident”.

Relations between Turkey and the United States have been strained in recent years over multiple issues including US support for a Syrian Kurdish militia viewed by Ankara as terrorists.

Erdogan on Saturday renewed his threat to launch an air and ground operation against the Kurdish militia in north-eastern Syria despite US opposition.

Turkish and American offi-cials in August agreed a deal to set up a buffer zone on Turkey’s border, and Turkey has been pushing for a “safe zone” but has accused the US of stalling over its establishment.

Turkey reiterates importance of safe zone formationANATOLIA ANKARA

The Turkish president yesterday said his country offered to set up safe zone in northern Syria to the US as it was presented to former US President Barack Obama.

Speaking on last day of ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s consultation and assessment meeting in Kizilca-hamam, a retreat town of capital Ankara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the setting up of safe zone in northern Syria was offered by Turkey to the US President Donald Trump as it was also offered to the Obama administration.

Later, Trump agreed with Turkey and the US brought up the idea of withdrawal from east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria, Erdogan said, adding that the people around Trump have not followed these instructions yet. “Unfortunately, terrorist organisations such as the PKK, PYD and YPG teem here (safe zone),” Erdogan said.

Erdogan said it is Turkey’s right to question the delivery of 30,000 trucks loaded with weapons and ammunition from Iraq to the safe zone area.

“Because we share a 911km border line,” he said.

Turkey plans to resettle 2 million Syrians in a 30km-wide safe zone to be set up in Syria,

stretching from the Euphrates River to the Iraqi border, including Manbij.

On August 7, Turkish and US military officials agreed to set up a safe zone in northern Syria and develop a peace corridor to facil-itate the movement of displaced Syrians who want to return home.

They also agreed to establish a joint operations center. The agreement also envisaged setting up necessary security measures to address Turkey’s security con-cerns, including clearing the zone of the terrorist YPG/PKK, a group the US has sometimes been allied with, over Turkey’s objections.

Turkey has long championed

the idea of terrorist-free safe zones in Syria. It has stressed ridding the area of the terrorist YPG, as well as resettling Syrian migrants currently sheltered in Turkey.

Meanwhile, Turkey has boosted troop numbers on its border with northern Syria, local media reported, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch a military operation in the area against a US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia.

The number of Turkish mil-itary patrols on the frontier with armoured vehicles “increased” in the border town of Akcakale, the private DHA news agency said.

Jordan teachers end strike after pay deal with govtAFP/AMMAN

Jordanian teachers ended a month-long strike yesterday after reaching an agreement with the government for a rise in wages. The strike, which began on September 8 just a week into the school year, paralysed some 4,000 public schools in the kingdom where more than 1.4 million students are enrolled.

The teachers had demanded a 50-percent hike in their salaries, “the lowest among state employees,” according to the union. Union leader Nasir Al Nawasra said the “historic” strike was halted after a deal was reached with the government on “raises and an apology”.

The union, which represents 100,000 teachers, obtained a revalu-ation of its members’ salaries ranging from 35 to 75 percent, he told an Amman press conference. The gov-ernment had previously refused to meet the union’s demands, proposing in late September it grant the teachers

a raise of 24 to 31 dinars ($34-$44) instead.

Monthly salaries for public school teachers in Jordan range between $500 and $1,000. Prime Minister Omar Al Razzaz claimed the increase was all the government could afford “given the current eco-nomic circumstances”.

Cash-strapped Jordan is highly dependent on foreign aid and has struggled to curb its debt since securing a major loan from the International Monetary Fund in 2016. Unemployment in the resource-poor kingdom remains at 19 percent and the poverty rate hovers at more than 15 percent, according to official figures.

Jordan has blamed its economic woes on instability wracking the region and the burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees without adequate interna-tional support. More than 650,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the UN refugee agency in Jordan.

US conducts patrol in Syria’s Tal AbyadANATOLIA TAL ABYAD, SYRIA

US troops conducted a ground patrol in the town of Tal Abyad in Syria’s northern city of Raqqah. According to local sources, a convoy of seven US armored vehicles conducted a ground patrol in the town controlled by the YPG/PKK terror group.

The YPG/PKK terrorist organization late Saturday

forcibly mobilized a group of Arab-origin fighters held by the group to Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn regions near Syria’s border with Turkey. Also, the YPG/PKK dispatched reinforcements con-sisting of snipers and improvised explosive devices (IED) with two convoys of military vehicles to the Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn regions. Vehicles also carried military ammunition.

In its more than 30-year

terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

However, the US has been providing support to the YPG/PKK since 2015, citing the fight against Daesh, and has 18 mil-itary bases with 2,000 personnel in Syria.

Students line up to enter their classrooms at one of the public schools during the first day after the end of teachers’ one-month strike in Amman, Jordan, yesterday.

Confronted by its biggest challenge since coming to power just under a year ago, Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi’s cabinet issued a decree including 17 planned reforms, such as land distributions and increased welfare stipends for needy families.

Iran arrests Instagram celebrityAFP/TEHRAN

Iran has arrested an Instagram celebrity famous for drastically altering her appearance through cosmetic surgery, Tasnim news agency has reported.

The social media star known as Sahar Tabar was detained on the orders of Tehran’s guidance court, which deals with “cultural crimes and social and moral corruption”, Tasnim said.

She faces charges including blasphemy, inciting violence, gaining income through inap-propriate means and encour-aging youths to corruption, the news agency added. Tabar shot to prominence on Instagram last year after posting a series of images of her face altered through plastic surgery. Most of the photos and videos shared with her 26,800 followers have also been heavily edited so that she seemingly resembles Hol-lywood star Angelina Jolie.

The account features images of her with a gaunt face, pouting lips and sharply turned-up nose. In some, she can be seen wearing a loosely fitting hijab over her hair and a white bandage on her nose commonly seen on Tehran’s streets. Cos-metic surgery is hugely popular in the Islamic republic, with tens of thousands of operations taking place each year.

11MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Tunisian Islamist party says it won parliamentary pollsREUTERS & AP TUNIS

Tunisia’s moderate Islamist Ennahda came first in yesterday’s parliamentary election, one of its spokesman said in a news briefing broadcast online, citing what he called preliminary results.

An exit poll by Sigma Conseil broadcast by state television showed Ennahda with 17.5% of the vote and its main rival, the Heart of Tunisia party of detained media mogul Nabil Karoui with 15.6% of the vote.

Security was tight for the vote, with around 100,000 police officers and

soldiers patrolling 4,500 polling stations, notably along the sensitive borders with

LEFT: Kais Saied, presidential candidate for the run-off election, casts his ballot in the legislative elections in Tunisia at a polling station in the capital Tunis, yesterday. CENTRE: Leader of Ennahda Movement Rachid Al Ghannouchi, who is a candidate in the legislative polls, is seen casting his vote at a polling station in Ben Arous. RIGHT: Salwa Smaoui, the wife of detained Tunisian media mogul and presidential candidate in the run-off polls, Nabil Karoui, gestures after casting her ballot in Tunis.

Algeria and Libya.The detained Tunisian presi-

dential candidate Nabil Karoui said earlier in a statement that his Heart of Tunisia party had come first in the parliamentary election, without saying where the information came from.

His statement was emailed to Reuters at 6.35 pm, 35 minutes after polls closed, with early indications from the electoral commission having shown that turnout across the country was low.

Economic concerns are para-mount to voters in this North African nation on the Mediterranean Sea, which kicked off the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011 and built a democracy, but is struggling with high unemployment and attacks by extremists.

Voters are choosing among nearly 16,000 candidates from more than

200 parties to fill the 217 seats on the Assembly of People’s Representatives. Preliminary results are expected by Thursday.

It will be tough for a single party to win a majority for the five-year term, although the Islamist party Ennahdha and the Qalb Tounes party of jailed media magnate Nabil Karoui are expected to do well.

The parliamentary election is sandwiched between rounds of a bizarre presidential race that will see Karoui face independent law pro-fessor Kais Saied in a presidential run-off on October 13.

The Islamist party Ennahdha, the biggest party in the outgoing legis-lature, is hoping to hold on to its lead by campaigning against corruption and against Karoui. The busi-nessman is accused of tax evasion and money laundering, but denies wrongdoing and says he’s being

politically targeted.The legislative election has

aroused little public interest, which is more focused on the presidential race. Electoral commission chief Nabil Baffoun said turnout at 2:30 p.m. was just 15%.

The commission also reported scattered voting infractions, though in general international observers have praised Tunisia’s voting prac-tices as free and fair.

Despite low public interest and the confusingly huge number of parties and candidates, political ana-lysts say Sunday’s vote will have lasting impact.

“These elections are of paramount importance, because it is the winners who will decide the future of our country and our major political, eco-nomic and social choices,” said analyst and former government min-ister Hakim Ben Hammouda.

Rwandan security forces kill 19 ‘terrorists’ AFP/KIGALI

Rwandan security forces killed 19 “terrorists” blamed for a weekend attack that left 14 dead near the Volcanoes National Park, famous for its mountain gorilla sanctuary, police said yesterday.

“The security forces were able to follow these terrorists, to kill 19 of them and arrest five,” the police said in a statement,

following the attack overnight Friday in northern Rwanda.

Tourism officials insisted on Saturday that all visitors to the park were safe after the attack in Musanze district, near the border with the DR Congo.

The death toll from the attack, carried out with knives, machetes and stones, according to the police statement, was ini-tially set at eight.

The area has repeatedly

been targeted by Rwandan rebels operating from the DRC.

One such group is the Dem-ocratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, created by Rwandan Hutu refugees in eastern DRC after the 1994 genocide of Tutsis by majority Hutus in Rwanda.

The last attack by rebels in this region happened in December and resulted in the deaths of two Rwandan soldiers.

Mali President dismisses coup speculationAFP/BAMAKO

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita yesterday rejected as speculation talk of a military coup after recent jihadist attacks left dozens of soldiers dead.

Keita said lessons would be learned after 38 soldiers were killed in two attacks last week near the border with Burkina Faso, a death toll that observers say is probably an underestimate.

“No military coup will prevail in Mali, let it be said,” the president said in remarks recorded Sat-urday and released yesterday. “And I don’t think this is on the agenda at all and cannot worry us,”

he added. “We are at war,” the president said after the attacks last Monday and Tuesday in the towns of Boulkessy and Mondoro, which evoked memories of a 2012 army coup in the former French colony.

“What happened at Boulkessy could unfortu-nately happen again,” Keita said. The assailants used heavily armed vehicles in the raids on the two military camps, during which the government said troops killed 15 militants. The militants made off with a large quantity of arms, ammunition and equipment -- local media said about 20 vehicles were captured, including some mounted with machine guns.

Abbas says to discuss elections with Hamas, factionsAGENCIES RAMALLAH

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday he would discuss plans for new parlia-mentary elections with all factions, including longtime rivals Hamas.

Meeting with senior Pales-tinian leaders in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Abbas renewed a pledge to hold the polls —the first since 2006 — but without giving a timeframe.

He announced they had formed committees to “commu-nicate with the election com-mission and factions such as Hamas and all factions, as well as with the Israeli authorities”.

He said any elections should take place in “the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip”.

Hamas and Fatah have been at loggerheads since 2007, when the Islamists seized Gaza and threw out Abbas’s forces, which r e t a i n e d c o n t r o l o f

the internationally recognised Palestinian government based in the West Bank.

No parliamentary elections have been held since 2006, with the two sides trading blame.

Multiple attempts at recon-ciliation have failed and analysts say new elections are impossible without improved relations.

Hamas said in a statement on Saturday it didn’t “know what Abu Mazen means by general election”, using the common nickname for Abbas. The movement said it had already committed itself to elections. Abbas has previously pledged on multiple occasions to hold elec-tions but without any results.

Meanwhile, Abbas also con-firmed the Palestinian Authority (PA) had received yesterday $1.5bn shekels ($430m) from Israel — representing taxes that had been withheld from the Jewish state.

Israel in February decided to withhold around $10m per

month from revenues of some $190m per month it collects on the behalf of the PA, triggering Abbas’s fury.

The money comes from customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports and constitutes more than 50 percent of the PA’s revenues.

Israel had said the money it was withholding corresponds to what the PA pays Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, or their families.

A report compiled by the Pal-estinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) said yesterday that Israeli occupation forces committed eight violations against Palestinian journalists in September, In its monthly report on Israeli treatment of Pales-tinian journalists and media, WAFA said that six journalists were injured from rubber bullets, tear gas inhalation or beating by Israeli soldiers while covering events in the occupied

Palestinian territories, while the number of arrests, deten-tions, cards withdrawals and shootings that resulted in no injuries was two. The Israeli occupation forces arrested yes-terday nine Palestinians, including a boy, from different

parts of the West Bank.The Israeli occupation forces

arrested five Palestinians from several towns in Hebron and three others from Azzoun village east of Qalqilya, Palestinian News Agency reported citing the Prisoners Club.

Jordan summons Israeli diplomat in AmmanQNA AMMAN

Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates yesterday summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the Israeli Embassy in Amman and handed him a protest note over the detention of Jordanian citizens.

Foreign ministry spokes-person, Ambassador, Sufian Qudah said today that Amman reiterated its demand for the immediate release of the detained Jordanians, and called for improving their detention conditions until their release and for Israel to respect the due process in line with the interna-tional law and human rights, Jordan (Petra) news agency reported.

Qudah said that the ministry and the Jordanian Embassy in Tel Aviv are closely following up on the case, adding that the

embassy will pay a fourth visit to Abdel-Baqi and a second to Marei at their detention, once the procedures are completed.

Meanwhile, King Abdullah II of Jordan met yesterday with a delegation from the US House of Representatives currently vis-iting Jordan, headed by US Rep-resentative Jason Crow.

The meeting touched on the relations of cooperation and strategic partnership between Jordan and the United States, the latest regional developments, and the war on terrorism.

The meeting dealt with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, where the Jordanian King stressed the need to intensify international efforts to end the conflict based on a two-state solution, to ensure the estab-lishment of an independent Pal-estinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

At least 23 dead in Burkina Faso militant attackANATOLIA OUAGADOUGOU

At least 23 people were killed in an attack at a gold mining site in northern Burkina Faso in a latest violence by the militants linked to Al Qaeda, security source said.

“Armed individuals attacked the gold mining site at Dolmane, leaving around 23 people dead,” local media reported, quoting a security source. The attack took place in Soum province on Friday, the report said.

The victims were mainly gold miners, and several others were injured, it said. At least 29 people were killed in two sep-arate attacks in northern Burkina Faso on September 8, according to the government.

The first attack took place in the Barsalogho area when a vehicle loaded with passengers and goods rode over an impro-vised explosive device (IED), leaving at least 15 passengers dead --most of the victims were businesspeople.

The second attack targeted food vans driving in convoy, leaving 14 people dead.

Burkina Faso has been bat-tling militants and inter-ethnic violence since 2015.

In August, suspected mili-tants killed 24 soldiers in the deadliest attack on the coun-try’s military base.

Three key militant groups have been raking havoc in north and east. But even the capital Ouagadougou has not been spared. A March 2018 attack on the military headquarters left eight dead.

Reports indicate hundreds of people have been killed so far this year and more than 150,000 fled their homes due to attacks which spill across the Sahel region.

Last December, a state of emergency was declared in several northern regions, allowing security forces extra powers to search homes and restrict freedom of movement.

Staff members of Tunisia’s Independent Higher Authority for Elections (ISIE) sort through ballots in the capital Tunis, yesterday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas chairs a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

An exit poll by Sigma Conseil broadcast by state television showed Ennahda with 17.5% of the vote and its main rival, the Heart of Tunisia party of detained media mogul Nabil Karoui with 15.6% of the vote.

12 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019ASIA

NC team meetsFarooq, OmarAbdullah; seekleaders’ release

IANS SRINAGAR

A National Conference dele-gation met detained party Pres-ident Farooq Abdullah and Vice-President Omar Abdullah here yesterday, and sought their release. The 15-member dele-gation was led by party’s provincial President for Jammu, Devender Singh Rana.

Farooq Abdullah, flanked by his wife Molly, came out of the Gupkar Road house to greet the delegation.

The senior leader, who is under house arrest under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA), waved to the reporters outside his residence, flashing victory signs.

“The delegation enquired

about Farooq Abdullah’s health and discussed the situation after the revocation of Article 370 with him and Omar Abdullah,” sources said.

The delegation had earlier met Omar Abdullah, who is detained at the Hari Niwas here. It was the first such meeting between Omar Abdullah and party leaders ever since he has been put under detention since August 5 when the Central gov-ernment abrogated Article 370.

Later, Rana told reporters that for any political process to begin, the political leadership of the state must be released.

“There is anger about the lockdown,” he said.

Rana said that his party appeals that for the revival of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir, “all leaders from mainstream and others

groups without any criminal record should be released to initiate the political process and win the hearts and the minds of the people”.

About his participation in the Block Development elections, Rana said: “See, there is a complete lockdown... Let them (the leaders) be released, then the working com-mittee of the party will meet and discuss and formulate a strategy for the future.” Party MPs Hasnain Masoodi and Akbar Lone were also part of the delegation.

“Both father and son are in good spirits,” Justice (retd) Masoodi said. “We discussed their detention and the future course of action that the party is going to take.” The permission for yesterday’s meeting was granted by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, days after it was sought from Gov-ernor Satya Pal Malik.

The delegation had officially maintained before the meeting that the point of discussion

would be restricted to the pre-vailing situation in Kashmir, fol-lowing the abrogation of the Constitution’s Article 370, which gave special rights to Kashmir, on August 5, but it was widely speculated that the upcoming BDC polls could come up during the meeting.

After the Abdullahs, sources said a PDP delegation will be allowed today to meet Mehbooba Mufti who has been lodged at Chashma Shahi after detention.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and leader of regional National Conference, Farooq Abdullah, and his wife Molly Abdullah gesture before a meeting with party colleagues at his residence, in Srinagar yesterday.

Sonia accepts Hasina’s invite to visit BangladeshIANS NEW DELHI

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi yesterday accepted visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s invi-tation to visit her country for commemoration of the 50th anni-versary of Bangladesh’s liberation, a Congress statement said.

Sheikh Hasina also extended her invitation to Con-gress leader Rahul Gandhi and party’s General Secretary Pri-yanka Gandhi Vadra.

A Congress delegation com-prising Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma met the Bangladesh Prime Minister here yesterday morning, a day after she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with Hasina came “especially considering the bond of friendship between the two families”, said the statement.

Sheikh Hasina was accom-panied by Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdul Momen, senior ministers and her advisers.

In the meeting, she recalled with gratitude India’s support for Bangladesh’s liberation and the special bond of friendship that her father and Banga-bandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman shared with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the statement said, adding she also revisited the period after his assassination when she lived in exile in Delhi.

Sonia Gandhi congratulated Sheikh Hasina on winning the 3rd consecutive term as Prime Minister with the people of Bang-ladesh reaffirming their trust in her leadership and vision, while Manmohan Singh complimented here for the impressive economic growth made by the country and her initiatives that have led to commendable improvement of social indicators, particularly health and education.

PMC Bank’s Singh sent to police custody till October 9IANS MUMBAI

A Mumbai magistrate yesterday remanded the arrested ex-Chairman of the crisis-hit Punjab & Maharashtra Cooper-ative (PMC) Bank Ltd, S Waryam Singh, to police custody till October 9, officials said.

Waryam Singh, who was nabbed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police from his hiding place in Mahim late on Saturday, was produced before the Esplanade Magistrate Court yesterday.

The police said that he will be interrogated for his prima facie involvement in the alleged Rs4,355 crore fraud case concerning the Housing Development & Infra-structure Ltd (HDIL).

The police informed the court that they wanted to confront him with the other accused in the case since he was the PMC Bank Chairman and also the Executive Director of HDIL simultaneously.

Waryam Singh’s lawyer V Krishna argued that his client had surrendered on his own will and it was being falsely propagated that he was arrested by the police.

Krishna added that Waryam Singh had no role to play in the day-to-day affairs of the bank which were managed by its arrested former Managing Director Joy Thomas and was merely signing documents.

“My client only used to sign the documents. He had no role in the loans sanctioned. All the documents are in the custody of the EOW and the administrator appointed by the RBI,” Krishna contended.

Waryam Singh, 68, was missing since the irregularities in the PMC Bank tumbled out two weeks ago, and was traced to a location in

Mahim where he was in hiding, the police said on Saturday.

Waryam Singh is the fourth important arrest in the PMC Bank case after Thomas, who was arrested on Friday. Earlier on Thursday, the police nabbed HDIL Chairman and Managing Director Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, respectively, and their assets worth Rs3,500 crore were frozen, including official and personal accounts.

The arrests came after the EOW registered a case last Monday against the PMC Bank and the HDIL for causing alleged

losses worth Rs 4,355 crore to the bank between 2008 and 2019 in the Bhandup branch.

The Mumbai Police FIR has named Thomas, Waryam Singh, the Wadhwans and other offi-cials and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the case.

On September 24, the RBI slapped six-month sanctions on PMC Bank, restraining it from car-rying out a majority of its routine businesses, sparking huge panic among the depositors and stunning the banking and corporate circles ahead of the festival season.

Air Force Day rehearsalChinook helicopters fly past as people watch during a full-dress rehearsal for the Indian Air Force Day at Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad on the outskirts of New Delhi, yesterday. The Air Force Day will be celebrated at Hindon Air Force Station on October 8.

BSF, BGB discuss steps to curb trans-border crimeIANS KOLKATA

Measures to curb trans-border crime including unwanted loss of life, smuggling of cattle, drugs and narcotics were among major issues discussed at a four-day meeting between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) that ended here yesterday.

Smuggling of arms and ammunition and gold were also deliberated upon during the Border Co-ordination Conference between Inspectors’ General of BSF and Region Commanders’ of the BGB, officials told the media.

The BSF delegation was led by Yogesh Bahadur Khurania, Inspector General, South Bengal Frontier, while Md Jalal Ghani Khan, Additional Director General, Region Commander, South West Region, Jashore, was

the head of the Bangladesh team.“The aim of this conference

was to improve mutual co-oper-ation and understanding between both the border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh for better border management and to resolve various issues related to border in the mutual interests of both the countries,” said Khurania.

“During the conference, various issues for effective border management were discussed which included measures to curb trans-border crime including unwanted loss of life, smuggling of cattle, drugs and narcotics, con-traband items,” he added.

They also discussed about effective measures to check illegal movement across the International Boundary, smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Notes, breach of fence and safety and security of border popu-lation of both the countries.

Fear of dengue outbreak in waterlogged Bihar capitalIANS PATNA

Fear of a dengue outbreak is looming large in waterlogged Patna with 640 patients being tested positive mostly in the last four days according to official data.

Unofficially, however, the number of dengue patients may be as high as 800.

According to health offi-cials, dengue is spreading fast in the worst waterlogged resi-dential localities in Patna.

What worries health offi-cials is the stagnant, stinking water that still remains a problem in the posh residential localities of Rajendra Nagar, Patliputra and Gola Road fol-lowing so many days of heavy rain.

Bihar Health Department Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar has, however, ruled out a dengue outbreak in the state capital.

“There is no indication of an outbreak of a vector-borne disease in Patna as per the views of experts”, he said, admitting, however, that chances are high of an epidemic. According to him, 24 teams are spraying ‘Temefos’ in Patna to kill mosquitoes.

Till now, 900 cases of dengue have been reported from across the state, including 640 cases in Patna alone.

The Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) Deputy Superintendent Ranjit Kumar Jaimiar said the number of dengue patients is on the rise.

India’s citizenship drive hits women hardestREUTERS GUWAHATI

Abanti Deka had no idea when she married her husband that taking his name would jeop-ardise her Indian citizenship.

That was before authorities in the northeast Indian state of Assam, where she has lived all her life, launched a vast and highly contentious exercise to register all its citizens as part of a campaign against illegal immigration.

When the register was pub-lished at the end of August, the names of nearly two million of the state’s about 33 million people were missing, plunging them into a bureaucratic nightmare that human rights experts fear could render some stateless.

Abanti was one of the unlucky ones. “The notice came suddenly,” she said at her law-yer’s office. “I don’t understand. I was born here, I have voted here before, but suddenly none

of that matters any more.” Resentment against illegal

immigrants has simmered for years in Assam, one of India’s poorest states, with residents blaming outsiders for taking their jobs and land.

To be included on the reg-ister, residents had to produce documents proving their fam-ilies lived in India before March 24, 1971, when hundreds of thou-sands of people began fleeing conflict across the border in what is now Bangladesh.

Lawyers and campaigners dealing with such cases say they present particular challenges for women.

About one in three women in Assam is illiterate — a higher proportion than for men - and many marry young, moving away from home and losing access to any documents that might prove their origins.

They also take their hus-bands’ names, a move that has complicated things further for many married women in a

region where family names are markers of ethnic and religious affiliation.

“The women have had to pay a higher price,” said Tanya Laskar, a lawyer working on such cases.

“They have struggled the hardest to get relevant docu-ments and many failed because they were child brides or the family did not put their names on a land document because women are not entitled to property in many homes.”

A 15-member delegation of National Conference met party President Farooq Abdullah and Vice-President Omar Abdullah, who were under house arrest since August 5, here yesterday, and sought their release.

13MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 ASIA

Pakistan rejects Indianremarks on Kashmir;hundreds march to LoCINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD,

Pakistan has rejected Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar’s remarks on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statements and on other Kashmir and Pakistan-related issues.

Kumar in a statement had termed Imran’s statements regarding the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian consti-tution as “provocative”.

Foreign Office in a statement said: “Exposing India’s egregious behaviour and state-terrorism in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir is part of our international obli-gations and our moral respon-sibility to the Kashmiri victims of Indian repression.”

It added if India feels pro-voked, it is only because India is unwilling to face the truth about its indefensible actions that are driven by the toxic mix of extremist ideology and hege-monic ambitions.”

“Equally reprehensible are India’s pretentions of casting itself as a ‘normal’ country. The international community would like to ask as to what normal country cages eight million people in an inhuman lockdown for over two months and deceives the world by claiming that “everything is fine.”

Similarly, what normal country provides space and political patronage to the perpe-trators of mob lynchings by cow vigilantes and repugnant schemes like gharwapsi and love Jihad?” it said.

The Foreign Office further said that India would be

well-advised to keep its lectures on diplomacy and normality to itself.

Meanwhile, US Senator Chris Hollen has said his country is supporting Pakistan’s demand to resolve the Kashmir issue according to the wishes of Kashmiri people.

He stated this at a meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, along with a delegation of other US senators in Multan.

Hollen said the world is well aware of the situation in Kashmir and President Trump has offered to play his role in resolving the issue.

He said politicians and jour-nalists should be allowed to visit the Indian occupied Kashmir to get first-hand information about the situation there.

Foreign Minister on the occasion said Prime Minister Imran has raised his voice against the Indian brutalities in occupied Kashmir at each and every forum in the world.

He said sixty two days have

passed but the curfew is still con-tinuing in occupied Kashmir where people are facing severe difficulties.

Hundreds of Kashmiris on the call of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) yesterday are marching towards the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between Pakistan and India.

The rally billed as “Freedom March” is protesting New Delhi’s

move to scrap the special status of Indian occupied Kashmir and the imposition of curfew in the territory since August 05. The march has been organised by JKLF, a group led by pro-inde-pendence leader Yasin Malik, who is currently in detention in IoK.

The marchers who gathered in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir, plan to cross the LoC to Srinagar, the capital of

Indian occupied Kashmir.The participants of the march

reached Garhi Dupatta, a small town in Muzaffarabad.

A day earlier, Prime Min-ister Imran Khan had said anyone crossing the LoC from Azad Jammu and Kashmir to provide humanitarian aid or support for the Kashmiri struggle against aggression will play into the hands of the Indian narrative.

Policemen block a road with containers on the second day of march towards the Line of Control (LoC), around 5km from Chakothi, a border village in the Hattian Bala District of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, yesterday.

Imran Khan to offer Pakistan Steel Mills to ChinaINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to hand over Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) to China for its revival through government to government deal and exploring options to finance multi-billion-dollar railways Mainline (ML-1) during his upcoming visit to Beijing.

Pakistan’s top leadership will give assurances to the Chinese side that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would not slow down, but its next phase would be pursued with zeal and vigour despite passing through under the IMF programme.

According to his upcoming scheduled visit of China on October 7, the prime minister has decided to take up five issues for enhancing economic cooperation under CPEC. Pakistan will offer China to get Pakistan Steel Mills, finalise deal on modernisation of ML-1, financing of Bunji hydropower project, agriculture and social sectors-related projects in and outside the ambit of CPEC.

“Yes, the government will seek assistance for construction of Bunji dam,” top official sources said.

The Chinese side wants to see progress for establishment of CPEC Authority, which the government intends to go ahead with promulgation of presidential ordinance anytime around PM Imran’s upcoming visit to China.

On the other side, parlia-mentarians have asked the gov-ernment to avoid the path of promulgation of ordinance as it would undermine the Parliament.

Now it is yet to be seen how the government finally decides to move ahead on CPEC Authority as the Chinese side does not want to make things related to CPEC controversial.

Another ordinance is also on the cards where Gwadar Port will become enabled to deal transit trade.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has agreed to grant taxation concessions to Gwadar Port and presidential ordinance will be issued anytime.

US, Taliban seek path to restart Afghan peace talksANATOLIA KARACHI

As both sides have brought new demands to closed-door meetings, the US and the Taliban are struggling to find ways to resume peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan, say both offi-cials and local analysts.

A 12-member delegation of the Afghan Taliban political office in Doha arrived in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Wednesday at the invitation of the gov-ernment, the first-ever visit of a Taliban delegation there since the insurgents established their political office in Qatar in 2013.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the special US envoy for Afghan rec-onciliation, along with his team had already arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday before the Taliban delegation.

A senior Pakistani Foreign Ministry official confirmed “at least one meeting” between Kha-lilzad and the Taliban delegation led by the militia’s deputy chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, “to discuss different ways to resume the talks.”

“The two sides haven’t reached any decision. The deadlock is still there, but both [sides] have vowed to break the deadlock,” the official said but

declined to be identified as he was not authorised to publicly speak on the matter.

“Another meeting is expected in a day or two after both sides complete their homework on different formulas discussed in the first meeting” on Friday, he added.

The two sides, he asserted, had come up with new demands, with Washington demanding a “total” ceasefire in the war-wracked country, and inclusion of the fragile Kabul government in the peace process — both con-ditions the Taliban has time and again rejected.

The Taliban, for their part,

the official said, had sought a “guarantee from the highest level” in Washington on imple-mentation of the talks’ outcome.

“The Taliban have refused to accept the two US demands, and want the process to be resumed from right where it broke off,” he said, “while Wash-ington wants a fresh start, par-ticularly with respect to its two demands.”

On September 9, US Pres-ident Donald Trump abruptly cancelled a meeting with repre-sentatives of the Afghan gov-ernment and the Taliban at the US Camp David retreat.

Trump declared the peace talks with the Taliban “dead” fol-lowing a recent attack in Afghan-istan’s capital Kabul which killed a dozen people, including a US service member.

Following the US move, the Taliban opened new battle fronts across the war-torn nation, as Afghan security forces — suf-fering casualties and desertions — struggle to beat back a revi-talized insurgency.

Meeting last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan asked Trump to resume peace talks with the Taliban.

Heavy rain in KabulVehicles drive on a road under heavy rain in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday.

Prominent Bangladesh politician snared in anti-graft crackdownAFP DHAKA

A prominent Bangladesh ruling party politician with alleged links to the capital’s underworld was arrested yesterday in a sweeping anti-graft drive cham-pioned by the prime minister, amid corruption accusations against her government.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last month launched the crackdown, saying it was nec-essary to prevent a repeat of the January 2007 coup by the pow-erful military, which said tackling corruption was one of its key goals.

The high-profile head of the Dhaka youth wing of Hasina’s Awami League party, Ismail Hossain Samrat, was arrested with one of his associates, Bang-ladesh’s elite security force said.

“Samrat was arrested over concrete charges,” the Rapid Action Battalion spokesman Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan said, but did not reveal what he was accused of. “He has been linked with operating casinos in sports clubs in Dhaka,” a senior RAB officer said, speaking on con-dition of anonymity.

Local media allege Samrat is an underworld kingpin who uses his political influence to run a network of illegal casinos and extortion rackets.

He is the most senior poli-tician to be caught in the new graft dragnet, which has also

nabbed 260 others — including at least three ruling party officials.

As part of the drive, security forces have also sealed off nearly a dozen illegal casinos in the capital.

Gambling is illegal in the Muslim majority country, but gangsters are accused of intro-ducing casino equipment such as gaming tables in some well-known sports clubs.

Immediately after his arrest, the youth wing of the ruling party expelled him for anti-social activities and breaching party discipline.

The government banned him from travel last month.

Last month, Hasina sacked two senior members of the pow-erful student wing of her party after they were accused of extorting large sums from a state-run university.

Since coming to power for the second time in 2009, Hasina has run the country with an iron fist, cracking down on oppo-sition parties and jailing her main rival Khaleda Zia, who has led Bangladesh twice.

Her government has also tried and executed top Islamist leaders over war crimes.

But in recent months, oppo-sition parties have accused Hasina’s administration and ruling party of unbridled corruption and of extorting money from gov-ernment projects and laundering billions to offshore accounts.

Sirisena to not contest Sri Lanka pollsAFP COLOMBO

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has decided not to stand for re-election in November polls as the politically influential Rajapaksa family nominated two candidates by final registration yesterday.

Sirisena’s name was not on a list of 41 candidates who paid deposits by yesterday’s noon deadline to contest the November 16 presidential poll, according to Election Commission records.

It means Sirisena will leave office the day after the election,

cutting short his five-year term by 52 days. A spokesman for Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) confirmed he was not seeking re-election.

Sirisena caused a constitu-tional crisis last year when he sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with former president Mahinder Rajapaksa.

The Supreme Court later ruled against Sirisena’s action and reinstated Wickremesinghe.

Two of Rajapaksa’s brothers, younger sibling Gotabhaya and elder Chamal, have paid deposits to be candidates and challenge

Sajith Premadasa, the deputy leader of Wickremesinghe’s United National Party.

Gotabhaya, a former secretary to the Ministry of Defence during his brother’s decade in power, is the front-runner, but faces several court cases over corruption alle-gations and the validity of his Sri Lankan citizenship.

He says he has renounced the US citizenship he obtained in 2003.

However, with doubts over his eligibility, the family is also fielding elder brother Chamal, a former speaker of parliament, as a backup.

US Senator Chris Hollen has said his country is supporting Pakistan’s demand to resolve the Kashmir issue according to the wishes of Kashmiri people.

14 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019ASIA

N Korea: No more talks until US ends hostile policyAP SEOUL

North Korea said yesterday that it won’t meet with the United States for more “sickening nego-tiations” unless it abandons its “hostile policy” against the North, as the two countries offered different takes on their weekend nuclear talks in Sweden.

After their first talks in more than seven months in Stockholm on Saturday, the chief North Korean nuclear negotiator said the discussions broke down “entirely because the US has not discarded its old stance and attitude” and came to the nego-tiating table with an “empty hand.” But the US said the two sides had “good discussions” that

it intends to build on with more talks in two weeks.

North Korea’s Foreign Min-istry issued a statement yes-terday night accusing the US of trying to mislead the public and “spreading a completely ungrounded story that both sides are open to meet” again.

The statement said the Stockholm talks “made us think they have no political will to improve (North Korea)-US rela-tions and may be abusing the

bilateral relations for their own partisan interests” at home.

It said North Korea isn’t willing to hold “such sickening negotiations” as those in Stockholm until the US takes “a substantial step to make com-plete and irreversible withdrawal of the hostile policy toward” the North.

The statement didn’t say which US policies it was referring to. But North Korea has previ-ously accused the United States

of plotting an invasion of the country and maintained that US-led sanctions against the North are stifling its economy.

Kim Myong Gil, the main North Korean negotiator at the Stockholm talks, said that since the first summit between Pres-ident Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June 2018, the US has been threatening his country with fresh unilateral sanctions and military exercises with South Korea.

When it entered talks with the US last year, North Korea said it was willing to deal away its advancing nuclear arsenal in return for outside political and economic benefits. But many foreign experts doubt whether

North Korea would completely abandon a nuclear program that it has built after decades of struggle. Before the Singapore talks, North Korea had long said it would denuclearise only if the US withdraws its 28,500 troops from South Korea, ends military drills with the South and takes other steps to guarantee the North’s security.

Saturday’s talks were the first between the sides since the second Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam in February collapsed due to squabbling over how much sanctions relief should be given to North Korea in return for dismantling its main nuclear complex. The two leaders held a brief, impromptu meeting at the Korean border in late June and

agreed to restart diplomacy. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said the chief North Korean negotiator’s com-ments about Saturday’s talks did “not reflect the content or the spirit” of the “good discussions” that took place over 8 ½ hours. She said the US delegation “pre-viewed a number of new initia-tives that would allow us to make progress in each of the four pillars” of a joint statement issued after Trump and Kim’s first summit in Singapore in June 2018. Ortagus also said the US accepted an invitation from Sweden to return to Stockholm in two weeks to continue talks. Because the US does not have official diplomatic relations with North Korea,

Philippines’ Duterte reveals new health problemAFP MANILA

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has disclosed that he suffers from an autoimmune disease that can potentially have serious complications, the latest condition for a leader whose health has been subject to spec-ulation.

Duterte, 74, was the oldest person to be elected president of the country and questions about his health have swirled since taking office in 2016.

His occasional skipping of events and meetings, as well as he discussing his ailments, has only added to the speculation. Duterte revealed the condition, myasthenia gravis, at an appearance before the Philippine community late on Saturday

during a visit to Russia. “One of my eyes is smaller. It roams on its own,” he said, according to a

transcript released yesterday by his office. “That’s myasthenia gravis. It’s a nerve malfunction.

I got it from my grandfather,” he added.

The condition causes muscle weakness, and can result in drooping of eyelids, blurred vision as well as weakness in one’s extremities, according to the US National Institutes of Health. The condition can gen-erally be managed with treatment, but up to 20 percent of people who have the disease experience at least one “crisis” that requires them to use a ven-tilator to help breathe, the NIH said. Duterte gave no indication as to whether he has had any serious incidents as a result of the disease.

His administration gives out very little information about his health and consistently says the president is in good shape. Duterte himself, however, has

discussed his ailments in his fre-quent, rambling speeches. In October 2018 he told an audience how he was awaiting the results of a cancer screening.

His comments sparked immediate concern and specu-lation, but days later he said the tests had come back negative.

Duterte has also said previ-ously that he suffers from daily migraines and ailments including Buerger’s disease, an illness that affects the veins and the arteries of the limbs, and is usually due to smoking. He has cited his ill health as the reason for skipping events during summits abroad.

The president, known for his deadly crackdown on drugs, also revealed in 2016 that he used to take fentanyl, a powerful pain-killer, because of a spinal injury from motorcycle accidents.

This file picture shows Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaking with an official at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China.

Chinese soldiers in Hong Kong warn protestersREUTERS HONG KONG

Chinese soldiers issued a warning to Hong Kong protesters yesterday who shone lasers at their barracks in the city, in the first direct interaction with mainland military forces in four months of anti-government demonstrations.

The stand-off with the Peo-ple’s Liberation Army (PLA) came after rallies attended by tens of thousands of protesters earlier yesterday ended in violent clashes in several loca-tions. Police fired tear gas and baton-charged the crowds, while some demonstrators threw bricks and petrol bombs at police as night fell.

Protesters concealed their

faces in defiance of colonial-era emergency laws invoked by the authorities on Friday, which banned face masks. Protesters face a maximum of one year in jail for breaking the mask ban.

Police made their first arrests under the new rules, detaining scores of people. Officers tied their wrists with cable and unmasked their faces before placing them on buses. Some protesters lay in foetal positions on the ground, their wrists tied behind their backs, after being subdued with pepper spray and batons.

“The anti-mask law just fuels our anger and more will people come on to the street,” Lee, a university student wearing a blue mask, said yesterday, as he marched on Hong Kong island.

“We are not afraid of the new law, we will continue fighting. We will fight for righteousness. I put on the mask to tell the gov-ernment that I’m not afraid of tyranny.” China’s Hong Kong

military garrison warned a crowd of a few hundred pro-testers they could be arrested for targeting its barracks walls in the city with laser lights. It was the first direct interaction between

the PLA and protesters. In August, Beijing moved thousands of troops into Hong Kong in an operation state news agency Xinhua described at the time as a routine “rotation”.

Anti-government protesters run away from tear gas during a demonstration in Wan Chai district in Hong Kong, China, yesterday.

China’s research vessel sets sail for western Pacific OceanQNA BEIJING

China’s research vessel KEXUE, or Science, departed for the western Pacific Ocean from a pier of east China’s coastal city of Qingdao on a research mission of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) During the expected 80-day voyage, 44 scientists from 12 research institutes and universities aboard the vessel will conduct 40 research projects in various fields such as marine physics and marine geomatics.

This will be the first time for the NSFC research mission to expand to the central Pacific. The mission will research the turbulence of the western Pacific Ocean, the multi-scale variations of the Western Pacific Warm Pool and its influence on the environment. The western Pacific, a gateway to vast oceans, is an ideal region to carry out earth system science and related research into the environment due to its complicated and changeable ocean current and immense warm pool.

Australia denies extradition of Iranian academic to USREUTERS/MELBOURNE

Australia will not extradite an Iranian academic to the United States, Australia’s attorney-general said over the weekend, following a 13-month detention of the researcher for allegedly exporting American-made military equipment to Iran.

The Attorney-General

Christian Porter said in a statement that “in all the circum-stances of this particular case” the academic, Reza Dehbashi Kivi, should not be extradited.

“My decision was made in accordance with the require-ments of Australian domestic legal processes and is completely consistent with the powers pro-vided to the commonwealth

attorney-general under our law,” Porter said. The statement came hours after Iran had agreed to free an Australian couple from a Tehran prison who were held on spying charges. Later on Sat-urday, Iranian media reported that Dehbashi Kivi had already returned to Iran.

Porter would not say whether the two cases were

related. “The Australian Gov-ernment does not comment on the details behind its consider-ation of particular cases,” Porter said in his e-mailed statement.

The US sought to extradite him on six charges, including conspiring to export special amplifiers classified as “defence articles” under the US munitions list, according to ABC News.

Xi and Kim hail ‘immortal’ China-North Korea relationshipAFP BEIJING

The Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised to promote a “long-term, sound and stable” relationship with North Korea, state news agency Xinhua said yesterday, as the two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic

relations. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also sent a message to Xi saying their countries’ “invincible friendship will be immortal on the road of accom-plishing the cause of socialism,” said Pyongyang’s state news agency KCNA yesterday.

North Korea was among the first countries to recognise the

People’s Republic of China after it was founded in 1949.

Xi said the relationship between the Asian neighbours had played an “important and positive role in maintaining regional peace and stability,” said Xinhua. Since March 2018, Xi and Kim have met five times.

Xi was the first Chinese

leader to visit the reclusive North in 14 years when he made a highly symbolic trip to the nuclear-armed state in June.

Kim said the two countries would “steadily defend the cause of socialism and preserve peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the world,” according to KCNA. The warm

words from Beijing follow its huge military parade on Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding a Communist China, and come a day after the latest round of nuclear talks between the US and North Korea ended in Sweden. Pyongyang said the talks broke down as the US “disappointed us greatly”.

Duterte says police chief to maintain post while under probeAGENCIES MANILA

The President of the Philip-pines, Rodrigo Duterte, said yesterday that Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde will be given due process in an investigation over allegations he protected officers who recycled illegal drugs.

The Department of Interior and Local Government is looking into accusations that Albayalde intervened to prevent the dismissal of officers involved in a controversial 2013 drug raid in Pampanga, which happened when he was the province’s chief of police.

The probe comes on the heels of a similar Senate inquiry. Albayalde has denied interfering in the case.

“He’s still there, otherwise I would have told him — just go out,” Duterte said in his arrival speech in Davao City yesterday, when asked if Albayalde still has his trust. “You have to hear before you condemn.”

In the meantime, there were reports that Duterte rejected millions of dollars in aid to defend drug war. The President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte said the Phil-ippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde must be given “due process and allow him time to answer, the right to be heard,” adding that he’ll await the Interior Department’s probe before deciding on the case “with finality.” Duterte said he has yet to find a replacement for Albayalde, who is set to retire in November.

Duterte, 74, was the oldest person to be elected president of the country and questions about his health have swirled since taking office in 2016. His drug war hit international headlines and also there was a growing ire among rights organisations against it.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement yesterday night accusing the US of trying to mislead the public and “spreading a completely ungrounded story that both sides are open to meet” again.

15MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 EUROPE

People set up a banner with the Extinction Rebellion (XR) symbol at a makeshift camp of climate activists in Berlin, Germany, yesterday.

Climate activists occupy Parismall as global protests beginAFP PARIS

Hundreds of climate activists barricaded themselves into a Paris shopping centre for hours ahead of a planned series of protests around the world by the Extinction Rebellion movement.

Campaigners faced off against police and some incon-venienced shoppers as they occupied part of the Italie 2 mall in southeast Paris all day on Sat-urday, staying put into the early hours yesterday.

They unfurled banners with slogans like “Burn capitalism not petrol” above restaurants and the window displays of fashion boutiques.

The protest comes ahead of planned disruption to 60 cities

around the world from today in a fortnight of civil disobedience, from Extinction Rebellion (XR), which is warning of an environ-mental “apocalypse”.

As the centre tried to close up on Saturday evening, security forces ordered the protesters to leave the area, activists said.

The demonstrators said they eventually chose to leave at around 4am (0200 GMT).

Non-violent protests are chiefly planned by XR from today in Europe, North America, Australia, but events are also set to take place in India, Buenos Aires, Cape Town and Wellington.

Another protest was held in Berlin on Saturday, with cam-paigners setting up camp near the parliament building.

France admits ‘failings’ over Paris police attacker’s radicalisationAFP PARIS

France’s interior minister acknowledged yesterday that officials should have kept a closer eye on the Paris police employee who stabbed four colleagues to death last week, after investigators found evidence he showed signs of radicalisation.

“Obviously, there were failings,” Christophe Castaner told TF1 television, but he said he would not resign over the matter as some right-wing oppo-nents have said he should.

Castaner has come under fire after initially claiming that Mickael Harpon, a 45-year-old

computer expert at the Paris police headquarters, had never given the “slightest reason for alarm” ahead of Thursday’s attack. Investigators later revealed that Harpon had in fact been in contact some ultra-conservatives.

He had defended “atrocities committed in the name of that religion,” anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said on Saturday.

Castaner said yesterday that Harpon had caused alarm among his colleagues as far back as 2015, when he defended the massacre of 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper by two brothers vowing allegiance to Al-Qaeda. But even though a police

official charged with investi-gating suspected radicalisation among the force questioned the colleagues, none of them wanted to file an official complaint.

“Apparently they decided not to make a report,” Castaner said. “The failure occurred at this moment.

“There was nothing in his personnel file that indicated he might be radicalised... If there had been a sign, maybe we could have avoided this,” he said.

Castaner will face ques-tioning by parliament’s intelli-gence commission on Tuesday over the attack, its president Christian Cambon said yes-terday. “We’re going to try to find out what these failings

were,” Cambon said.Ricard, the prosecutor, also

revealed on Saturday that Harpon had begun wearing tra-ditional Islamic garments for mosque visits, and had started refusing “certain kinds of contact with women”.

It also emerged that Har-pon’s personal life had been subject to an extensive back-ground check early in his career, since he worked with classified information as part of the Paris police’s intelligence division.

And while he did not have a criminal record, he was given an official sanction in 2012 over a case of domestic violence three years earlier. Harpon’s wife has been taken into

custody after officials found they had exchanged 33 text messages shortly before the attack, ending the conversation with “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”).

Harpon was shot dead after killing four people with a 33-centimetre kitchen knife and an oyster knife during the lunchtime attack.

French police have often been targets of militant groups such as the Islamic State since 2015, from large, synchronised assaults to isolated knife and gun attacks. In June, a parlia-mentary report on radicali-sation within the public services spoke of 30 suspected cases.

Spain poll showsSocialistsfalling short ofmajority againBLOOMBERG MADRID

Spain’s Socialists would once more be the most voted party in an electoral rerun but would still fall short of a majority, according to an IMOP Insights poll published by El Confi-dencial.

The Socialists have almost exactly the same support they garnered in April’s vote, with the survey giving them 28.3 percent versus the 28.7 percent at the time.

Their traditional rivals, the conservative People’s Party, stand to gain the most from fresh elections, rising to 20.1% from 16.7%. Ciudadanos would plunge to 10.7% from 15.9% while Podemos would fall to 12%, the survey found.

Spain is set for elections on Nov. 10 after acting Prime Min-ister Pedro Sanchez failed to secure enough support in par-liament to form a new government.

He won April’s vote but fell well short of an overall majority, and his effort to form an alliance with anti-austerity group Podemos ultimately failed due to disagreements over ministerial posts.

The new elections will be the fourth Spain holds in as many years.

The nationwide poll of 1,277 computer-assisted telephone interviews was carried out from October 1 to October 3 and has a margin of error of 2.9 per-centage points.

4,800 strandedThomas Cooktourists to flyhome to BritainREUTERS / LONDON

The final contingent of holiday-makers stranded overseas after the collapse of tour company Thomas Cook last month will return to Britain on flights departing yesterday, bringing to an end the country’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched “Operation Matterhorn” on September 23 to bring home 150,000 people, just hours after the world’s oldest travel company failed to secure the creditor deal it needed to keep flying.

The CAA said 4,800 people were due to return on 24 flights soon, with the final flight in the operation — a service from Orlando, Florida to Manchester — due to land in the morning today.

CAA Chief Executive Richard Moriarty said: “In the first 13 days we have made arrangements for around 140,000 passengers to return to the UK and we are pleased that 94% of holiday-makers have arrived home on the day of their original departure.”

British Transport Minister Grant Shapps has said the gov-ernment will try to recoup some of the costs of the repatriation, both from third parties such as insurers and from the failed company’s assets.

Johnson renews vow to leave EU by October 31AP LONDON

British Prime Minister yesterday renewed his vow to take the country out of the European Union by the Brexit deadline, in an apparent contradiction of a government pledge in court days earlier to ask for an extension if there’s no withdrawal deal.

“We will be packing our bags and walking out on” October 31, Boris Johnson wrote in The Sun on Sunday and Sunday Express newspapers.

“The only question is

whether Brussels cheerily waves us off with a mutually agreeable deal or whether we will be forced to head off on our own.”

Johnson’s comments are in line with his past repeated asser-tions on the key question of whether Britain, if it can’t finalize a divorce deal with the bloc, would leave without an agreement.

But they’re at odds with a UK government document quoted in a Scottish court on Friday indi-cating Johnson intends to comply with a law Parliament passed this month requiring the prime

minister to ask for a delay if there’s no deal with the EU in place by October 19.

It’s not clear how the gov-ernment will resolve the dif-ference between Johnson’s public stance and the position taken in court.

Johnson’s op-ed appeared aimed at adding pressure on the EU to agree to his latest Brexit proposals as the deadline nears. He urged EU negotiators to join the British side to agree on a deal the UK Parliament can support.

Also yesterday, Johnson pre-sented his proposals to French

President Emmanuel Macron, who said EU negotiators will determine in the coming days whether an amiable divorce deal is possible.

The two leaders spoke about Johnson’s proposals for an accord to soften the blow of Brit-ain’s pending exit from the EU, Macron’s office said in a statement.

Macron, who has resisted a potential extension, told the British prime minister “negotia-tions should pursue quickly in the coming days” with EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, his

office said. Macron said they will determine at the end of the week “whether an accord is possible in the respect of European Union principles” of the single market and stability in Ireland.

Johnson’s proposals focus on maintaining an open border between the UK’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland, which has been the key sticking point to a Brexit deal.

The UK proposes to do that by keeping Northern Ireland closely aligned to EU rules for trade in goods, possibly for an extended period.

Costa leads Portugal vote but may need allies: Exit pollsAFP LISBON

Portugal’s incumbent Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s Socialists took the lead in a general election yesterday after presiding over a period of solid economic growth following years of austerity, exit polls showed.

The Socialist Party (PS) gar-nered 34-40 percent of the vote followed by the centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) with 24-31 percent, according to the exit polls for television stations RTP, TVI and SIC.

That would give the Socialists between 100 to 117 seats in the 230-seat parliament, up from 86, compared with 68 to 82 seats for the PSD, which has been riddled by internal divisions.

A party needs at least 116 seats to have an absolute majority.

If confirmed the results buck the trend of declining centre-left fortunes and the rise of far-right populist forces seen else-where in Europe.

Former Lisbon mayor Costa, a shrewd strategist, will most likely need the support of other formations to govern.

After the last general election in 2015 in which the PS finished second, Costa con-vinced two smaller hard-left parties — the Communists and the Left Bloc — to support a minority Socialist government, an unprecedented alliance that foes nicknamed the “gerin-gonca”, or odd contraption.

The Left Bloc won 17 to 26 seats while the Communists won seven to 14, according to the exit polls, meaning Costa could ally with the two parties again to pass legislation.

But reaching an agreement this time around will likely be more difficult as the hard-left parties are demanding more public spending which Costa, who has presented himself as the guardian of sound pubic finances, has up until now opposed.

The election gives Costa, 58, another potential governing

partner as the exit polls indicate the upstart People-Animals-Nature party (PAN) won two to six seats, up from just one when it first entered parliament in the last election in 2015.

After coming to power in 2015, Costa undid some of the unpopular austerity measures introduced by the previous PSD-led government in return for a ¤78bn ($85 billion) inter-national bailout that kept finances afloat after Portugal was clobbered by the eurozone debt crisis.

Taking advantage of the global economic recovery, he reversed cuts to public sector wages and pensions while still managing to bring the budget deficit down to nearly zero this year — the lowest level since Portugal’s return to democracy in 1974.

On his watch Portugal’s eco-nomic growth was higher than

the European Union average in recent years — 2.4 percent in 2018 — while the jobless rate fell to 6.4 percent, the level before the debt crisis, but critics com-plain of low salaries, job pre-carity and soaring property prices amid a tourism boom.

The PS had enjoyed a double-digit lead over the PSD for many months but the gap between Portugal’s two main

parties shrunk in the final stretch of the campaign, espe-cially after a scandal concerning former defence minister Jose Azeredo Lopes resurged.

Lopes was charged last week with abuse of power and denial of justice over his role in the alleged cover-up of an arms theft from a military depot in June 2017.

The normally affable Costa

made a misstep on Friday during the last day of the campaign.

When an elderly voter chal-lenged him during a final cam-paign appearance on Friday in Lisbon over the government’s handling of wildfires in central Portugal in June 2017 that killed more than 60 people, Costa lost his temper in images that quickly went viral.

Portugal’s Prime Minister and Socialist Party (PS) candidate, Antonio Costa, casts his ballot at a polling station during the general election in Lisbon, Portugal, yesterday.

The incumbent Socialist Party (PS) garnered 34-40 percent of the vote, according to the exit polls. That would give the Socialists between 100 to 117 seats in the 230-seat parliament, up from 86. A party needs at least 116 seats to have an absolute majority.

16 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019EUROPE

Protesters in Ukraine rally against election in rebel eastAFP KIEV

About 10,000 people including Ukraine’s former president Petro Poroshenko gathered in central Kiev yesterday to protest a plan for broader autonomy for sepa-ratist territories ahead of a high-stakes summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The protesters, who descended on Kiev’s Inde-pendence Square known locally as Maidan, chanted “No to sur-render!”, with some holding placards critical of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky’s predecessor Poro-shenko, who was trounced in an April election, joined the crowd towards the end of the rally and several thousand demonstrators later marched towards the pres-idential administration and the parliament building.

“Together we will win!” said the 54-year-old former pres-ident, who was accompanied by his wife Maryna. He thanked Ukrainians for taking to the streets as some supporters hugged and kissed him.

Writing on Twitter, Poro-shenko thanked “tens of thou-sands” of Ukrainians who he said gathered in Kiev and more than 20 other cities to protest.

Zelensky is gearing up to hold his first summit with Putin

in an effort to revive a stalled peace process to end the five-year separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian, Russian and sepa-ratist negotiators agreed this week on a roadmap that envisages special status for sep-aratist territories if they conduct free and fair elections under the Ukrainian constitution.

Zelensky’s critics fear that Putin will push the 41-year-old comedian-turned-politician to make damaging concessions in order to retain Moscow’s de-facto control of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.

Protesters in Independence Square said that agreeing to give broader autonomy to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic would mean surren-dering Ukraine’s interests.

“We are against a betrayal,” protester Sergiy Lezvinsky, 58, said. “We want to put an end to the occupation, to the decisions that are being fast-tracked.”

The provisional agreement of a roadmap was a key con-dition set by Moscow for a meeting that will be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and also involve German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The plan has been dubbed “the Steinmeier formula”, after the former German foreign min-ister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who proposed it.

But many critics say the pro-posal favours Russia.

Zelensky’s predecessor Poro-shenko has called it “Putin’s formula,” claiming it will endorse the Russian annexation of Crimea and Moscow’s de-facto control of eastern Ukraine.

“The Steinmeier formula is a Putin project,” said protester Mykola Chepiga.

He said elections could take place in eastern Ukraine only if Kiev restores control of the country’s borders in the east.

Some of the demonstrators later marched towards the pres-idential administration where they chanted “Get out!” and “Monica”. The crowd then reached the parliament building where a protest coordinator

threatened to set up barricades in the Ukrainian capital if Zel-ensky submits legislation offering concessions to Putin.

“Friends, do we know how to erect barricades? Yes, we do! Do we know how to fight? Yes, we do!” he said.

“There are enough of us and we all want one thing -- to kick out the occupiers from our land!”

In an address to the nation this week Zelensky said he respected the right of Ukrainians to protest but called on people not to “give in to provocations”.

He pledged not to betray the country’s interests.

The ex-Soviet country of 45 million people has gone through two popular uprisings in two decades. More than 100 people

were killed during a 2014 revo-lution that toppled a pro-Russian president and saw protests descend into street battles. After the uprising Russia annexed Crimea and supported a separatist insurgency in Ukraine’s industrial east. The conflict has become the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War and has claimed some 13,000 lives.

Demonstrators wave Ukraine national flags as they gather in central Kiev, yesterday, to protest broader autonomy for separatist territories, part of a plan to end a war with Russian-backed fighters.

Kosovo votes amid pressure to reboot talks with SerbiaAFP PRISTINA

Kosovo voted yesterday for new leaders who will be under pressure to tackle corruption at home and resolve lingering tensions with former war foe Serbia, a nagging source of insta-bility in Europe.

A decade after it declared independence from Serbia, former province Kosovo is still struggling for full recognition on the world stage.

Belgrade denies its inde-pendence and Brussels has been unable to get the neighbours to make progress in talks to resolve their conflict.

The West is hoping Sunday’s poll will offer a chance to re-energise the deadlocked dialogue.

But Kosovo’s 1.9 million elec-torate is far more concerned with issues like high unemployment, widespread graft and poor healthcare.

“We need freedom, a state governed by the rule of law, prosperity,” voter Mentor Nimani, 47, said in Pristina shortly after casting his ballot.

“I would like to have more social stability, employment,” and better “basic primary services like healthcare and edu-cation,” added Fat Limani, a

30-something voter in the capital.

For the past decade Kosovo has been dominated by members of the guerrilla forces who waged an insurgency against Serbian repression in the late 1990s — a war that cost 13,000 lives, mostly Kosovo Albanians.

The snap poll was called after then-Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, a former guerilla commander, resigned in July to face questioning by a special court in The Hague inves-tigating war crimes from that era.

Opposition parties hope to block him and other ex-fighters from regaining power by har-nessing frustration with the graft and poverty that have blighted Kosovo’s first decade of independence.

Analysts say two opposition camps — the centre-right LDK and the leftist, nationalist Vetev-endosje — have a shot at coming out on top.

But they would likely need to join forces to oust the PDK, which has been in power since 2007.

With no party expected to carve out an absolute majority, coalition talks could last for days or weeks.

At noon turnout was 19 percent, up from the 13 percent seen at that time in the last 2017

poll, according to a coalition of NGOs monitoring the poll.

Kosovo has been recognised by around 100 countries but it needs Serbia — and its allies Russia and China — to accept its statehood so it can get a seat in the United Nations.

Serbia is also under pressure to make peace with Kosovo in order to move forward with its EU accession process.

Yet their EU-led dialogue has been at a standstill for more than a year, with frequent diplomatic provocations, souring efforts to build goodwill.

One of the core obstacles to resuming talks is the 100-percent tariff that Haradinaj slapped on Serbian goods a year ago.

Having resisted heavy Western pressure to remove the tariff, the former commander is hoping voters will reward his tough stance with re-election.

All the other top candidates, however, have shown a will-ingness to reconsider the tariff for the sake of dialogue.

Kadri Veseli, leader of the PDK, which was part of the coa-lition with now-rival Haradinaj, has condemned the tariff move as “amateur”, and said he would honour Washington’s calls to remove it.

Opposition party candidates

Vjosa Osmani, from the LDK, and Albin Kurti, from Vetevendosje, also seem willing to lift the trade barrier to resume talks.

If the dialogue with Belgrade does resume, one of the most sensitive issues will be settling what powers to grant Serb-majority administrations in Kosovo.

There are approximately 40,000 Serbs living in the north and 80,000 scattered in and around a dozen enclaves in other parts of Kosovo, whose popu-lation is overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian.

Serbs have 10 reserved seats in parliament, a bloc that could b e d e c i s i v e i n coalition-building.

The dominant Serb party is Srpska Lista, which considers itself an extension of Belgrade.

Serbian President Ale-ksandar Vucic has been urging Kosovo Serbs to vote for the party, leading critics to decry an atmosphere of intimidation.

For the first time Pristina has required voters there to show Kosovo documents, causing some tensions in the afternoon but no serious incidents.

Many there are also weary of the so-called “frozen conflict”.

“Let them negotiate, but I don’t believe in it. Nothing will come of it,” Jokic Svetomir, a 70-year-old Serb in the north, remarked.

Kosovo Albanians vote for the parliamentary election at a polling station in Pristina, yesterday.

Five murdered in Austria townREUTERS ZURICH

Austrian police are investigating the suspected murder of five people in the ski town of Kitz-buehel, police said yesterday.

The murders had occurred overnight, a spokesman for the regional Tirol police said.

The suspected perpetrator had been detained, Austrian press agency APA reported, citing police.

Local media, citing police information, reported the perpe-trator was a 25-year-old man who had entered the family home of his former girlfriend and shot five people — the young woman and a man, as well as her parents and brother.

He later turned himself over to the police and confessed to the murders, media reported. The spokesman declined comment.

Police officers stand in front of a house where, according to police, five people were found dead in Kitzbuehel, Austria, yesterday.

EU powers push for uptake of migrant relocation pilot schemeAFP LUXEMBOURG

EU powers France, Germany and Italy, along with smaller member Malta, will tomorrow (Tuesday) seek to rally the rest of the European bloc to a joint scheme they have come up with to distribute migrants saved at sea.

But it was unclear, ahead of the meeting of EU interior min-isters in Luxembourg, how many other states would sign on to the so-called Malta declaration reached two weeks earlier.

Migration remains a hot-button issue in the EU in the wake of a massive 2015 influx of mostly Syrian refugees fleeing war.

While the numbers have fallen to just a fraction since — under contentious EU deals done

with Turkey and Libya to hinder migrants’ onward travel — no progress has been made in three years of efforts to reform the EU’s refugee policy.

The Malta declaration is an attempt at a stop-gap measure pending efforts by the incoming European Commission taking charge next month to unblock the refugee policy impasse under a vice president specifically tasked with “Protecting the European Way of Life”.

The text urges EU countries to take a share of the asylum-seekers crossing the Mediter-ranean, who are arriving mostly in Italy and Malta either in over-crowded boats or rescued by ships run by NGOs.

However the document’s language is deliberately vague to avoid raising hackles.

It makes no mention of intake quotas, for instance, or punishment for EU states that do not participate, or how economic migrants with no right to asylum might be weeded out and returned to their country of origin. The mechanism has just a six-month period lifespan, renewable if there’s sufficient support.

“The beauty of this text is that you can’t be against it. But also you can maybe not be totally in favour of it. Because there are things lacking,” one European diplomat said. “There’s hardly anything in there that describes the disembar-kation, the disembarkation pro-cedure and the relocation scheme afterwards.” Since the start of this year, 13 percent of irregular migrants have arrived in Europe through Italy or Malta.

Bulgarian TV star vows to take on the establishmentBLOOMBERG SOFIA

Hot on the heels of Ukraine’s comic-turned-president, another showman wants to take on the political establishment — this time in nearby Bulgaria, the European Union’s poorest member-state.

Stanislav Trifonov, whose satirical TV shows are the eastern European country’s most popular, held his political party’s founding congress on Saturday. He vows to fight against the “thick line dividing the party aristocracy and the Bulgarian people.”

Called “There’s No Such State,” his movement has enough support to enter par-liament as the fourth-largest party, according to a survey by the Alpha Research pollster last month. But he’ll have to wait — the next elections are planned in early 2021.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is serving his third term since 2009 and is pushing for the Balkan nation to adopt the euro. But not enough has been done to fight corruption, prompting workers to leave and making the population one of the world’s fastest shrinking.

Ukrainian President is gearing up to hold his first summit with the Russian President in an effort to revive a stalled peace process to end the five-year separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.

17MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019 AMERICAS

Second whistle-blower in Trump inquiry emergesAFP WASHINGTON

A second whistle-blower has come forward, this one with first-hand information of the events that triggered an impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump for alleged abuse of power, the informant’s lawyer said yesterday.

“I can confirm this report of a second whistleblower being represented by our legal team,” Mark Zaid said on Twitter. “They also made a protected disclosure under the law and cannot be retaliated against. This WBer has first-hand knowledge.”

Earlier yesterday, Zaid’s co-counsel, Andrew Bakaj, said his firm and team “represent mul-tiple whistleblowers” in the case accusing Trump of using the powers of his office to pressure Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

It was unclear whether Bakaj was using “multiple” to refer to more than two whistle-blowers. Typically, several officials would listen in on a call between the president and a foreign leader, while others would have access to a written transcript or summary.

The existence of a whistle-blower claiming first-hand knowledge would make it harder for the president and his sup-porters to dismiss the original complaint as hearsay, as they

have repeatedly done. Trump pushed back at the allegations in two tweets early yesterday, though he made no mention of the second whistle-blower.

He repeated his assertion that Hunter Biden had been “handed $100,000 a month (Plus,Plus) from a Ukrainian based company, even though he had no experience in energy...and separately got 1.5 Billion Dollars from China despite no experience and for no apparent reason.”

He added that as president, “I have an OBLIGATION to look into possible, or probable, CORRUPTION!”

Other reports have said Hunter Biden was paid up to $50,000 a month as a member of the board of a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.

No evidence has been found that either Biden did anything illegal. A bit unusually for a Sunday, Trump was staying in the White House rather than traveling or playing golf.

“On one of the most critical news weeks of the last three years,” CNN said in a tweet

quoting anchor Jake Tapper, “the White House did not offer a guest, the President’s personal lawyers and Congressional GOP leaders either declined to be on the show or did not respond.”

But one Republican senator, Ron Johnson, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and rejected the sug-gestion that Trump had withheld military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.

“When I asked the president about that,” he said, “he com-pletely adamantly, vehemently, angrily denied it.”

The House committees issued subpoenas on Friday — including to the White House —as evidence mounted that Trump attempted to withhold US mil-itary aid to pressure Zelensky into seeking damaging infor-mation on Biden.

The impeachment investi-gation saga began after the original whistleblower — an intelligence official — filed a formal complaint to the intelli-gence community inspector general about Trump’s alleged pressuring of Zelensky.

A rough transcript of the phone call later released by the White House, as well as a series of text messages between US diplomats, appeared to corrob-orate the original complaint.

Zaid recently told the Wash-ingtonian magazine that he hoped the identity of the original whistleblower would never become public.

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and his wife Susan enjoy a walk in the Plaka neighbourhood in Athens, Greece, yesterday.

Pompeo: State Department will follow lawAP WASHINGTON

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the State Department intends to follow the law in the House impeachment investi-gation and vigorously defended President Donald Trump, dismissing questions about the president’s attempts to push Ukraine and China to investigate a Democratic political rival.

The Trump administration and House Democrats often dis-agree about what the law requires, leaving open the question of how Pompeo may interpret Democrats’ demands for key information about Trump’s handling of Ukraine.

Pompeo, speaking on Sat-urday in Greece, said the State Department sent a letter to Con-gress on Friday night as its initial response to the document request and added, “We’ll obvi-ously do all the things that we’re required to do by law.”

He has allowed Democrats to interview a series of witnesses next week. Among them is Gordon Sondland, the US Ambassador to the European Union, another key figure in the probe.

The administration has struggled to come up with a unified response to the quickly progressing investigation. Dem-ocrats have warned that defying their demands will in itself be

considered “evidence of obstruction” and a potentially impeachable offense.

Pompeo has become a key figure in the Democrats’ inves-tigation. He was on the line during the July phone call.

Pompeo had initially tried to delay a handful of current and former officials from cooper-ating with the inquiry and accused Democrats trying to “bully” his staffers. Pompeo did not back off his defense of Trump’s call with Ukraine. “There has been some sug-gestion somehow that it would be inappropriate for the United States government to engage in that activity and I see it just pre-cisely the opposite,” he said.

Aide: Perry pushed Trump for Ukraine call, for energy issuesAP WASHINGTON

Energy Secretary Rick Perry encouraged President Donald Trump to speak to Ukraine’s president — but on energy and economic issues, Perry’s spokes-woman said yesterday, addressing Perry’s role in a tele-phone call that’s at the center of a congressional impeachment probe for Trump.

“Secretary Perry absolutely supported and encouraged the president to speak to the new president of Ukraine to discuss matters related to their energy security and economic

development,” Perry’s Energy Department spokeswoman, Shaylyn Hynes, said in an email.

Hynes’ remark comes as Perry becomes the latest admin-istration official drawn into inquiries in a House impeachment probe of Trump. Trump pressed Ukrainian Pres-ident Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the July 25 call to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter — sparking a whistle-blower complaint and now the impeachment inquiry.

Trump on Friday evening told House Republicans that it was Perry who had teed up the July call with Ukraine, according

to a person familiar with Trump’s new comments who was granted anonymity to discuss the private conference call.

But Trump did not suggest that Perry had anything to do with the pressure on Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, or a US holdup in military aid to the country, the person said. Trump’s remarks on the late Friday call was first reported by Axios.

Perry, the former governor of Texas and up to now a lower-profile but active member of Trump’s Cabinet, has made repeated trips to Ukraine and met often with Ukranian offi-cials, including Zelenskiy. Perry

and his agency say his involvement with Ukraine was part of US policy, predating the Trump administration, to increase US natural gas, coal and other supplies to Eastern Europe to lessen Russia’s control of the region’s energy market.

“He continues to believe that there is significant need for improved regional energy security,” Hynes said. Perry was heading to Lithuania again yes-terday night, where he was to meet with nearly two dozen European energy officials, including those from Ukraine, she said.

Hynes did not immediately

answer questions yesterday about whether Perry had dis-cussed the Trump administra-tion’s push for help investigating Trump’s Democratic rivals in his meetings with Ukraine.

But Perry told CBN News, in an interview aired on Friday that he had never heard anyone in the administration bring up Biden or Biden’s son, who served on a board of a Ukraine natural gas business, in dealings with Ukrainian officials.

“Not once, as God as my witness, not once was a Biden name — not the former vice president, not his son — ever mentioned,” Perry told the outlet.

Four dead, 5 injured in Kansas shootingREUTERS NEW YORK

Four people were killed and five wounded in Kansas early yesterday when one or two suspects opened fire inside a Kansas City bar, and police were hunting for the shooters, local authorities said.

Authorities believe the

suspects had been involved in a dispute at Tequila KC Bar, a private club, earlier in the night and left before returning around 1:30am and opening fire with handguns, the Kansas City Police Department said in a statement.

The four people killed were all Hispanic men and ranged from their mid 20s to late 50s. The five people injured were

hospitalized and are in stable condition, police spokesman Thomas Tomasic told reporters.

Police arrived at a scene of chaos when they were alerted to the incident, as the few dozen people who had been in the bar were running out, the suspects had fled and there was blood on the street, he said. Authorities have not identified the victims.

US top court to review Kansas’ lack of insanity defenseAP TOPEKA, KANSAS

The US Supreme Court is preparing to consider how far states can go toward eliminating the insanity defense in criminal trials as it reviews the case of a Kansas man sentenced to die for killing four relatives.

The high court planned to hear arguments today in James Kraig Kahler’s case. He went to the home of his estranged wife’s grandmother about 20 miles south of Topeka the weekend after Thanksgiving 2009 and fatally shot the two women and his two teenage daughters.

Not even Kahler’s attorneys have disputed that he killed them. They’ve argued that he was in the grips of a depression so severe that he experienced an extreme emotional distur-bance that disassociated him from reality.

In seeking a not guilty verdict due to his mental state, his defense at his 2011 trial faced what critics see as an impossible legal standard. His attorneys now argue that Kansas violated the US Constitution by denying him the right to pursue an insanity defense.

The nation’s highest court previously has given states broad latitude in how they treat

mental illness in criminal trials, allowing five states, including Kansas, to abolish the traditional insanity defense.

Kahler’s appeal raises the question of whether doing so denies defendants their guar-anteed right to due legal process.

“Maybe they will establish some ground rules,” said Jeffrey Jackson, a law professor at Washburn University in Topeka. “They’ve been vague about what the standard is, and maybe now they’re going to tell us.”

Until 1996, Kansas followed a rule first outlined in 1840s England, requiring defendants pursuing an insanity defense to show that they were so impaired by a mental illness or defect that they couldn’t understand that their conduct was criminal.

Now Kansas permits defendants to only cite “mental disease or defect” as a partial defense, and they must prove they didn’t intend to commit the specific crime. Karen Kahler and their three children were spending the Thanksgiving 2009 weekend at the home of Karen’s grandmother, Dorothy Wight, in Burlingame. James Kahler shot the women, then found his daughters and killed them. His young son, Sean, fled to a neigh-boring house and later testified at his father’s trial.

Suspect in New York homeless men’s murder chargedREUTERS/AP NEW YORK

New York police have charged a man with murder for using a metal pipe to beat four fellow homeless men to death as they slept in the city’s Chinatown district, authorities said yesterday.

Randy Santos, 24, was charged with four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, said New York City Police Department spokesman Martin Brown.

Santos was taken into custody on Saturday after officers responded to a report of an attack and found the bodies of four victims in Man-h a t t a n ’ s C h i n a t o w n neighborhood.

The suspect’s mother, Fio-raliza Rodriguez, told The New York Daily News that she had kicked her son out of her house three years ago because he was addicted to drugs, assaulted her and his grand-father and stole from the family.

“I never thought he would kill someone,” Rodriguez told the newspaper.

“I was afraid of him, though, because he punched me. That’s when I told him to get out of my house.”

The police department’s chief of detectives for Man-hattan South, Michael Bald-assano, told reporters on Sat-urday that the victims had appeared to be sleeping and a fifth victim was in the hospital. The condition of the fifth victim was not immediately known yesterday.

Santos’ relatives told The New York Daily News he had a history of drug use since his arrival to the United States from the Dominican Republic a handful of years ago.

It was unclear if he had an attorney to speak for him.

The existence of a whistle-blower claiming first-hand knowledge would make it harder for the President to dismiss the original complaint as hearsay.

Planting trees on campaign trail Liberal leader and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a tree planting event with his sons Xavier and Hadrien during an election campaign visit to Plainfield, Ontario, Canada, yesterday.

18 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019AMERICAS

Russia’s Deputy PM in Venezuela to support MaduroREUTERS CARACAS/MOSCOW

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov met Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday to underline Moscow’s support for the leftist leader that has helped him stay in power despite intense Western pressure to quit.

Moscow has acted as a lender of last resort for Venezuela, with the government and oil giant Rosneft providing at least $17bn in loans and credit lines since 2006.

With dozens of Western and Latin American nations regarding Maduro as illegitimate, due to allegations he rigged a 2018 election, the support of Russia and China has been crucial.

Presiding over a meeting of the Russian-Venezuelan inter-governmental commission in Caracas with Borisov, Vene-zuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami thanked Moscow, espe-cially for facilitating oil ship-ments despite US sanctions.

“Russian-Venezuelan rela-tions are at their best moment and we’ve shown that in the middle of difficulties we can advance together, with efficient political and diplomatic coordi-nation between both govern-ments against the imperial siege and aggression which Russia also

suffers,” he said. Borisov reit-erated Moscow’s support for Maduro, even though many other nations regard him as an autocrat and have recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s president.

Increasing bilateral trade “is a demonstration that President Nicolas Maduro’s government is legitimate,” Borisov was quoted as saying by Venezuelan state media. After later meeting Borisov at the Miraflores presi-dential palace in Caracas, Maduro said it had been “an extraordinary day” revising blos-soming bilateral relations, espe-cially in the oil, agriculture and military sectors.

Russia’s agreements with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to regulate the global energy market “are going perfectly” and have promoted market

equilibrium and price stability despite the recent attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, Maduro added in comments carried by state TV.

The Venezuelan leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin had briefly discussed Caracas’s debt obligations to Russia during Maduro’s visit to Moscow last

month. The meeting between Maduro and the Russian official happened days after Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited Cuba, an ally of Venezuela.

Medvedev said Moscow would find ways to help Cuba secure supplies of oil and petroleum products.

A flotilla of shipments from Venezuela gave Cuba some respite this week. But the support from two of its closest allies looks unlikely to resolve Cuba’s pressing fuel problems, which have seen the government extend many of the energy-saving measures it has intro-duced over the past month.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro (foreground, right) walking with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister for Defence and Space Industry, Yury Ivanovich Borisov (left), after holding a meeting at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, yesterday.

Officials at Chile’s ENAP to face charges over toxic fumesREUTERS SANTIAGO

Chilean prosecutors will press charges against six executives of state energy company ENAP in relation to noxious fumes that caused hundreds to seek hospital treatment in 2018, the prosecutors’ office said on Saturday.

The highest profile incident took place in August of last year in the industrial port city of Quintero, where a strong smell in the air caused local residents to complain of nausea, head-aches and vomiting.

The local prosecutor’s office said it would soon press charges against officials from ENAP’s refineries and port facilities for violating a Chilean law that pro-tects human health.

Local prosecutors said they would also pursue charges against an ENAP contractor.

Cristian Muga, an attorney who represents ENAP workers, said the prosecutor´s decision was expected, but unjustified.

“The ENAP executives and workers are innocent of the charges against them,” Muga said. “It´s not fair to hold them responsible for a situation that has been going on for years and

that is the result of many activ-ities taking place on the Bay.” Environmental activists have long labeled the town of Quintero and its surroundings a “sacrifice zone” for the suc-cessive pollution episodes that have caused public health emergencies.

The coastal port city is home to coal-burning power plants, an oil refinery and a copper smelter, some of which operate very near to residential areas.

Chilean prosecutors in late 2018 investigated a potential link between the noxious fumes and ENAP’s transfer of Iranian crude oil between the ports of Talcahuano and Quintero.

The prosecutors office did not comment on the conclusion of that investigation. ENAP has denied any connection between the delivery of the Iranian crude and the toxic fallout.

Activists have ramped up pressure on the government to find the culprit and resolve issues at Quintero and at other so-called “sacrifice zones” ahead of the COP25 United Nations climate change summit in December, when tens of thou-sands of environmentalists are expected to visit the Andean nation.

Colombians show support to UribeSupporters of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe attend a rally in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia, yesterday. Hundreds marched in different parts of Colombia and in Miami yesterday in support of Uribe, summoned at the Supreme Court of Justice for alleged witness tampering on Tuesday.

Mexican judge defends honour for Jared KushnerAP MEXICO CITY

A Mexican judge has said it was OK for Jared Kushner to get a top national award despite derog-atory comments about Mexican migrants that were made by his father-in-law, President Donald Trump.

A non-profit group in

Mexico, the Center Against Dis-crimination, said on Saturday that the judge rejected its argument that Mexico should recall the award given to Kushner.

In 2018, Mexico’s previous government gave the Order of the Aztec Eagle to Kushner, a White House adviser, for contri-butions toward negotiating a

new free trade agreement between Mexico, the US and Canada. The award is the highest honor that Mexico gives to foreigners.

Trump is widely disliked in Mexico for references to Mexican migrants as rapists and crim-inals, as well as promises to build a border wall between the countries.

Protests continue in Ecuador against govt’s austerity measuresREUTERS QUITO, ECUADOR

Ecuadorean indigenous and union organizations kept protests going on Saturday and promised no let-up in their push to overturn austerity measures by President Lenin Moreno’s government that have convulsed the nation for three days.

Demonstrations had turned violent and were shaping into a major challenge for Moreno, who won election in 2017 and has set his oil-producing nation on a centrist track after years of socialist rule under predecessor Rafael Correa.

But he got a reprieve on Friday night when transport unions called off their strike after paralyzing roads for two days in opposition to the end of fuel subsidies.

Indigenous groups, however, continued on Saturday to block some roads around the Andean nation of 17 million people. Bar-ricades of burning tires, rocks and branches were erected in some places, witnesses said, as police urged demonstrators to disperse.

“The indigenous movement is mobilizing indefinitely in the whole country,” Jaime Vargas, president of the CONAIE umbrella indigenous group, told Reuters.

“With or without jail, our resolve is firm.” Moreno, 66, has declared a two-month state of emergency and authorities have arrested 379 people after pro-testers hurled stones and battled police on Thursday and Friday during Ecuador’s worst unrest for years.

Struggling with a large

foreign debt and fiscal deficit, Moreno’s government recently reached a three-year, $4.2bn loan deal with the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), contingent on belt-tightening economic reforms.

As well as ending fuel

subsidies, the government is reducing the state workforce and planning some privatizations. Moreno says the fuel subsidies, in place for four decades, had distorted the economy and cost $60 billion.

“These are tough but indis-pensable decisions which the government thinks will have a positive impact in the medium and long term,” Foreign Minister Jose Valencia told reporters, saying benefits for the poor had been raised.

With rising food prices adding to the social pressure, protesters have called for a national strike on Wednesday.

“The Ecuadorean people are indignant at this package, which is a prize for businessmen and bankers, to comply with the IMF’s recipe,” said Mesias Tatamuez, head of the Workers’

United Front umbrella union.Despite such militancy in

other sectors, transport services were gradually returning on Sat-urday, with taxis back on the streets of Quito though there were still no buses.

It was unclear why the transport unions called off their strike, though leaders said they were satisfied the government had heard their complaints. Offi-cials have promised a revision of fare tariffs to compensate for fuel price rises.

Moreno’s popularity has sunk to below 30% compared with above 70% after his 2017 election, but he has the support of the business elite, the military appears loyal, and the political opposition is weak.

Protests toppled three pres-idents in the decade before Correa took power in 2007.

People block a road during protests after Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno’s government ended four-decade-old fuel subsidies, in Lasso, Ecuador, yesterday.

Brazil Presidentorders police and navy to probe oil spillsAP RIO DE JANEIRO

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has instructed federal police and the navy to join an investigation of oil spills that have contaminated parts of the northeast coast in recent weeks.

The order, published in an official gazette on Saturday, escalates a probe into the pol-lution that environmental offi-cials say has affected coastal waters and dozens of beaches.

Authorities say they have not determined the origin of the oil, which has killed some turtles and forced bathers and fishermen to stay away from contaminated areas.

State oil company Petrobras has conducted an analysis and says the spilled oil isn’t the type that it produces.

Bolsonaro is urging security forces involved in the investi-gation to provide a preliminary assessment early next week.

Domingo absent for Mexico music prize eventAFP MEXICO CITY

Placido Domingo was honored on Saturday with Mexico’s Batuta prize but the Spanish tenor was absent from the ceremony amid a flood of harassment accusations.

The opera superstar has been accused by 20 women in incidents going back to at least the 1980s.

He was chosen in May to receive the first edition of the prize along with 15 other hon-orees, but two days before the award ceremony, organizers said they had decided to withhold the award until the scandal was “clarified.” They reversed course on Friday but announced Domingo would not appear in person, instead addressing the gala in a recorded video.

“I am very sorry I cannot be present with you tonight, but I send this greeting with all my love, and I thank the organizing committee,” said Domingo, without refering to the allega-tions against him.

The award comes after Domingo, 78, resigned on Wednesday as general director of the Los Angeles Opera, effec-tively ending his career in the United States.

He also withdrew last week from all performances at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

With dozens of Western and Latin American nations regarding Maduro as illegitimate, due to allegations he rigged a 2018 election, the support of Russia has been crucial for his government.

Harvest festival

24 MONDAY 7 OCTOBER 2019MORNING BREAK

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: SC signs MoUwith Arab Federation for Voluntary ActivitiesTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Arab Federation for Voluntary Activities (AFVA) to support the development and engagement of volunteers on the road to hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The MoU was signed by Nasser Al Khater, CEO, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC, and Dr Yousef Ali Al Kathim, President of the AFVA, and reflects the vision of both organisations to provide vol-unteering opportunities for people across the region in preparation for Qatar 2022, the SC said on its website.

Al Khater said the agreement underlined the SC’s commitment to engaging with volunteers and helping them develop key skills. “We rec-ognise the vital role volunteers will play in organising suc-cessful events in the lead-up to Qatar 2022 and also the tournament itself. Our volun-teers will be engaged in crowd management, safety and security, ticketing, hospitality, marketing and communica-tions, media services and many other areas.”

Al Khater highlighted the

SC’s Volunteering Programme, which was launched in Sep-tember last year and has attracted more than 250,000 applications. “We were over-whelmed by the response of people from all over the world and are happy to have already engaged with some of those applicants. During the launch of Al Janoub Stadium in May, more than 1,000 volunteers helped us deliver the event while developing their own

skills, such as planning, teamwork and management.”

Al Khater also said 400 SC volunteers supported the AR Rahman concert at Khalifa International Stadium, while 350 worked during the CAF Super Cup final, which was recently held in Qatar for the first time. Al Kathim said AFVA was delighted to join hands with the SC to support prepa-rations for Qatar 2022.

“The AFVA is excited to be

part of this momentous global event, the FIFA World Cup Qatar, which His Highness, The Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said was a tournament for everyone.”

Al Kathim continued: “The AFVA has an abundance of experience in voluntary activ-ities for event and tournament organisation. We also have two training hubs, one in Asia and another in Africa, to equip volunteers with the necessary

skills to support VIP hospi-tality services, crisis man-agement, relief, field work and many others.”

The AFVA, which was launched in 2003 and has also struck up a partnership with the United Nations Volunteers programme, will support the SC in the delivery of work-shops and ensuring volunteers are prepared to help Qatar deliver the biggest single-sport event in the world.

Nasser Al Khater (centre), CEO, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC, and Dr Yousef Ali Al Kathim (second right), President of the Arab Federation for Voluntary Activities (AFVA), with other officials after signing the MoU.

Ginger Baker, drummer with rock legends Cream, dies at 80

AFP/LONDON

Legendary British drummer Ginger Baker, a founding member of British psychedelic band Cream, died yesterday aged 80, it was announced on his Twitter account. “We are very sad to say that Ginger has passed away peacefully in hospital this morning,” a message posted on his page on the social media website stated.

“Thank you to everyone for your kind words over the past weeks.” Baker was admitted to hospital several weeks ago after becoming “critically ill”, according to posts on his Twitter account. He had previously been known to suffer from breathing problems. Baker helped to found the supergroup Cream in 1966 alongside guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce.

He emerged in the 1960s at the same time as other leg-endary rock drummers Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones and Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Described by the BBC as “a temperamental and argumen-tative figure, whose behaviour frequently led to on-stage punch-ups”, Baker was con-sidered one of the most inno-vative and influential drummers of his generation.

Born Peter Edward Baker in southeast London in 1939, he adopted the nickname Ginger due to the flaming red hair of his youth. He embraced a career in music after initially trying to become a professional cyclist, hoping to compete in the Tour de France, but aban-doned the plan after an accident. He first emerged in the burgeoning blues scene of early 1960s London, before helping to create Cream.

Baker soon stood out for his endless solo rifts and his unique style, which merged the mel-lifluence of jazz with the harder edge of rock. After the band’s break-up in 1968, he joined another mythical, ephemeral group, Blind Faith, alongside Clapton and Steve Winwood, before founding the 10-piece Ginger Baker’s Air Force.

A woman walks past a grain harvester combine during the Golden Autumn festival at Red Square in downtown Moscow, yesterday.

‘Joker’ laughs its way to October box office recordAP/LOS ANGELES

The filmmakers and studio behind “Joker” have reason to put on a happy face. Despite concerns over its violent themes and ramped up theater security, audi-ences flocked to the multiplex to check out the R-rated film this weekend resulting in a record October opening.

Warner Bros. said yesterday that “Joker” grossed an estimated $93.5m in ticket sales from 4,374 screens in North America. The previous October record-holder was the Spider-Man spinoff “Venom” which opened to $80m last year. Internationally, “Joker” earned $140.5m from 73 markets, resulting in a stunning $234m global debut.

“This was a much larger result at the box office than we had ever anticipated globally,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.’ president of domestic distri-bution. “Putting records aside, we’re just thrilled that audiences are embracing the movie as strong as they are.”

Since debuting at the Venice Film Festival where it won the prestigious Golden Lion last month, “Joker” has been both praised and criticized for its dark spin on the classic Batman villain

played by Joaquin Phoenix. The film from director and co-writer Todd Phillips was always seen as a bit of a gamble with one of the studios’ most valuable pieces of intellectual property, hence its modest-for-a-comic-book-film $55m budget.

But in the weeks leading up to its release, hype and uneas-iness intensified beyond how audiences would react to placing this character in a realistic and unambiguously adult setting with “Taxi Driver” undertones. Responding to anxiety that the film might have the potential to inspire violence, multiple theater chains banned cos-tumes or reaffirmed earlier pol-icies regarding masks and authorities in numerous cities said they were stepping police patrols around theaters. Some relatives of the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting even asked Warner Bros. to commit to gun control causes - the studio said it always has.

While some worried this would impact the box office, it did not ultimately detract audi-ences from turning out opening weekend; the box office sur-passed industry expectations and may rise even higher when weekend actuals are reported

Monday. Although the film got a B+ CinemaScore from opening night audiences, the studio is optimistic about its long-term playability.

“Sixty-six percent of the audience was under the age of 35,” Goldstein said. “That tells you that the audience will expand out with that younger group as time goes on.” The younger audience also gave the film a more favorable A- Cin-emaScore. Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for box office tracker Comscore, said that the convergence of critical acclaim and contro-versy actually helped the film become bigger than expected at the box office.

“It’s the ultimate water-cooler movie right now,” Derga-rabedian said. He added that it was important that “Joker” was always marketed as a “very dark, R-rated film.”

“It always had an element of mystery and danger sur-rounding it,” Dergarabedian said. “If it were a G-rated film, controversy like this would not be a good thing.” In the land-scape of R-rated comic book films, “Joker” is nestled between “Deadpool” and its sequel, both of which opened over $125m,

and “Logan,” which launched with $88.4m.

“Joker” was the only new wide release this weekend, which is down from last year when both “Venom” and “A Star is Born” opened. Holdovers populated the top 10: The more family friendly “Abominable” landed in second place with $12 million in its second weekend and “Downton Abbey” took third in its third weekend with $8 million. With awards buzz behind it, the Judy Garland biopic “Judy,” starring Renee Zellweger, added nearly 1,000 screens this weekend and placed seventh with $4.5m from 1,458 locations.

And in limited release, Pedro Almodóvar’s critically acclaimed “Pain and Glory” launched on four screens to a solid $160,087. Less fortunate was the Natalie Portman-led astronaut drama “Lucy in the Sky” which earned only $55,000 from 37 theaters resulting in a dismal $1,500 per screen average.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures

will be released today.1.”Joker,” $93.5m ($140.5m

international).2.”Abominable,” $12 million

($24.6 million international).3.”Downton Abbey,” $8m

($6.6m international).4.”Hustlers,” $6.3 million

($1.9 million international).5.”It Chapter Two,” $5.4 m

($5.6m international).6.”Ad Astra,” $4.6m ($7.3m

international).7.”Judy,” $4.4m ($1.9m

international).8.”Rambo: Last Blood,” $3.6

million ($4.3m international).9.”War,” $1.5m ($2.9m

international).10.”Good Boys,” $900,000.Estimated ticket sales for

Friday through Sunday at inter-national theaters (excluding the US and Canada), according to Comscore:

1. “Joker,” $140.5m.2. “My People, My Country,”

$100.7m.3. “The Captain,” $100.4m.4. “The Climbers,” $30.1m.5. “Abominable,” $24.6m.6. “Ad Astra,” $7.3m.7. “Gemini Man,” $7m.8. “Downton Abbey,” $6.6m.9. “The Most Ordinary

Romance,” $6.6m.10. “It Chapter Two,” $5.6m.

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum33oC 35oC

HIGH TIDE 01:07 – 12:38 LOW TIDE 04:28 – 21:16

Relatively hot daytime with scattered

clouds and chance of rain at places, rela-

tively humid by night.

FAJRSHOROOK

04. 12 AM

05. 28 AM

11. 22 AM

02.44 PM

05. 17 PM

06. 47 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

amir to patronise qu graduation ceremony today · 2019-10-06 · graduation ceremony of this year...

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