IOC President lauds Qatar’s sporting ambitions

BUSINESS | 21 SPORT | 32

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Volume 21 | Number 6981 | 2 RiyalsTuesday 15 November 2016 | 15 Safar 1438

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met at the Emiri Diwan yesterday with President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, and President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, who called upon the Emir to greet him on the occasion of their visit to the country to participate in the annual ANOC General Assembly, currently under way. The meeting reviewed cooperation between Qatar and IOC and means of boosting and developing them. Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) President H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani also attended the meeting.

Emir receives Olympic Committee officials

Sidi Mohamed The Peninsula

Work on the uni-fied GCC traffic fine payment sys-tem is almost

complete and Qatar, Bahrain and the UAEare ready to start implementing the project, chief of the General Directorate of Traffic at the Ministry of Inte-rior said yesterday.

The new system, once implemented, will link all the traffic departments of the GCC countries through a unified mechanism for payment of fines.

No one can escape paying the fines for traffic violations committed in any GCC state.

“The unified traffic fine payment system will be imple-mented soon. Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE are ready to imple-ment it, and 90 percent of the system is complete,” Brig Mohamed Saad Al Kharji, Director of the Department said yesterday on the sidelines of the GCC Traffic Media Strategy meeting held yesterday at Traf-fic Department headquarters.

“The aim of implementing this system is to reduce traffic violations and ensure that eve-ryone who commits violations in any GCC country pay the fine. Earlier some violators could move to another GCC country to avoid paying fine, but no one can do it anymore once the sys-tem is implemented,” he added.

Motorists can lodge a com-plaint if they have any objection to the violation report. The

system also receives reports about violations fast, which will help the vehicle owners, in case they want to sell it, said Al Kharji.

Further elaborating on the system, another senior offi-cial at the Department said:

“Normally we receive reports about traffic violations committed in other GCC coun-tries after four to five months, and transferring the money also takes time. With the new sys-tem the money will be transferred to the unified account."

He said the fines can be paid either in Qatar or in the GCC country where the viola-tion was committed based on the traffic rules of that country.

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GCC traffic fine payment system soon

Raynald C Rivera The Peninsula

Reach Out To Asia's (Rota) Gala Dinner on Saturday will feature an auction

which will offer bidders once-in-a-lifetime experience to travel to space, Rota Executive Director Essa Al Mannai announced during a press con-ference at Marwan Club in Al Shaqab yesterday.

The successful bidder of this rare trip and a companion will

have the chance to reach the edge of space on an aircraft capable of taking them to more than 100,000 feet within the layers of the planet’s atmosphere.

The space voyage, which will take five to six hours onboard a luxurious capsule lifted by a high-tech helium-filled balloon, is only one of those which will be sold at the auction to be con-ducted by world-famous Sotheby’s auction house.

Other items which will be on

sale at the biennial event are Patek Philippe’s dome table clock and a Qatari Natural Jee-wan pearl necklace offered by Al Majed Jewellery; a Hermès men’s trunk donated by Wissam Al Mana; as well as a 2017 BMW M3 30 Jahre Limited Edition donated by Al Fardan Automo-biles, in addition to a Louis Moinet Mecanograph limited edition watch.

Funds from the auction will also go to existing and future Rota education initiatives in

support of Syrian Refugees, including the ‘Longing to Learn’ programme in Lebanon, the ‘I Had a Dream’ initiative in Jor-dan and ‘Project Tomorrow’ in Turkey. Other Rota initiatives that will receive funding include the ‘Opportunities for Life’ pro-gramme in Bangladesh, the ‘Bringing Back Hope’ project in Yemen and the ‘1 in 11’ campaign in Indonesia, in partnership with Unicef and FC Barcelona Foundation.

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FATHER EMIR H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani offered yesterday his condolences to Cus-todian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, his brother Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz and the chil-dren and family of Prince Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saud who passed

away on Saturday. The Father Emir prayed Allah to bestow His mercy and eternal peace upon Prince Turki. H E Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani, H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani and members of the delegation accom-panying the Father Emir also offered their condolences.

Huda N V The Peninsula

The supermoon over Qatar yesterday turned out to be a remarkable event, with a clear sky offering a fine view of one of rare celestial

events. Sky enthusiasts all over the country made sure not to miss the rare opportunity of seeing the Earth’s only satellite in its largest and brightest form.

Last evening, many turned up at Corniche to see the magnanimity of Moon. Many had their cameras focused on to the Earth’s satellite to capture the rare phenomenon. Many dashed off to the outskirts of Doha to gawk at the sky in total darkness while oth-ers enjoyed the view from within the city. Also, various events as full moon yoga and desert safaris were organised. The social media too was abuzz with pictures of supermoon shot by enthusiasts.

Supermoon occurs when the Moon is full as it makes its closest pass to Earth on its elliptical orbit. This results in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth.

Supermoons are not a rare occurrence in itself. However, yesterday the Moon so big and so bright, that Nasa is calling it the “extra-super Moon”. The supermoon yesterday also marked the closest pass-ing of the Moon to the Earth to date in the 21st century. The next extra large supermoon will be

visible only in 2034. The phenomenon began here with moon rise at 4:58pm, when the Moon was just above the horizon. Though supermoon looked bigger with a reddish hue at this stage, slight haze made it difficult for many to witness the early stages of moonrise. The supermoon was 356,662 km from Doha with an illumination at 99.7% according to timeanddate.com.

“There was slight variation in the tide, though supermoon does not have much impact on the cli-matic conditions. However, the tides levels were higher than usual. This is because the tides are mostly generated by the Moon’s gravitational pull from one side of Earth to the other,” Abdullah Mohammed Al Mannai, Acting Director of the Department of Meteorology, Civil Aviation Author-ity, told The Peninsula..

The gravitational pull is greatest during the Full and New Moons because the Sun and Moon are aligned on the same or opposite sides of Earth. When the Moon is closer to Earth, as last night, the gravitational pull leads to larger variation between high and low tides.

“The super full moon is a unique occasion. We usually enjoy full moon yoga every month but supermoon yoga is very special for the lovers of holistic healing. There was good attendance for two events we had organised to

mark the occasion,” said Rowad Ehlela, Business development Director, Evolve, a Qatar-based well-ness company.

The Peninsula

FOLLOWING its recent decision allowing own-ers of new vehicles within the warranty period to do maintenance at workshops of their choice, the Ministry of Economy and Com-merce has clarified that car dealers have the right to exclude from the guarantee a specific part of the vehicle, if it is proved it it was dam-aged due to repairing in another workshop. Car dealers are not allowed to cancel the guar-antee for the remaining parts of the vehicle.

Workshops have the right to import spare parts from any source including the local agents and distributors.

The manufacturing company or its local agents are not allowed to include any condi-tion to control the rights of the workshops to choose the suppliers of spare parts, the min-istry said yesterday. Car dealers are not allowed to discriminate between workshops in terms of conditions and should treat all workshops equally.

The car owner can use spare parts which have the same specifications of the genuine spare parts, but they must be approved by the manufacturing company. The workshops can provide all kind of maintenance services pro-vided by the car dealers.

Space voyage on offer at Rota auction

Supermoon dazzles skygazers in Qatar

A view of the Super Moon from Doha Corniche, yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula

Unified fine payment system

90%of the system is complete

The aim of implementing this system is to reduce traffic violations and ensure that everyone who commits violations in any GCC country pay the fine.

Ministry clarifies on vehicle maintenance

Father Emir offers condolences to Saudi King

02 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 HOME

QNA

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday received a joint invitation

of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emir-ates (UAE) Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Pres-ident of the French Republic, Francois Hollande, inviting His

Highness to take part in the Pro-tection of the World Cultural Heritage Conference due to be held in Abu Dhabi on December 2 and 3 under the patronage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and cultural Organi-zation (Unesco).

The conference is held in cooperation between the Gov-ernments of the United Arab Emirates and the French Repub-lic as a new initiative for the

development of international cooperation relating to the pro-tection of the world cultural heritage, which faces conflict, terrorism and illegal trade.

The message was handed over by the UAE Ambassador to Qatar, Saleh Mohamed bin Nasra Al Amri, and Ambassa-dor of France to Qatar, Eric Chevallier, during a meeting with the Emir at the Emiri Diwan yesterday.

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani receiving an invitation to take part in the Protection of World Cultural Heritage Conference from the UAE Ambassador to Qatar, Saleh Mohamed bin Nasra Al Amri, and Ambassador of France to Qatar, Eric Chevallier, yesterday.

Emir invited to attend World Heritage meet

Consumer PriceIndex declinesin OctoberThe Peninsula

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of October 2016 has declined by 0.4 percent to 108.5

compared to September this year, driven by a fall in recrea-tion and culture, transport and food and beverages groups.

On the Year-on-Year (YoY) basis, the Index has risen by 2.2 percent in October this year compared to the same month previous year, according to the Ministry of Development Plan-ning and Statistics data released yesterday.

Month-on-month compar-ison showed that recreation and culture group declined by 2.6 percent, transport by 1.1 percent, food and beverages by 0.4 percent, miscellaneous goods and services by 0.1 percent.

An increase in prices was noticed in restaurants and hotels by 0.9 percent, clothing and footwear by 0.8 percent, furniture and household equip-ment by 0.6 percent, housing, water, electricity and other fuel by 0.3 percent and health by 0.1 percent.

The other groups - tobacco, communication, and education - have remained flat at the last month's price level.

On the YoY basis, the Index was pushed by a rise in recre-ation and culture group by 6.6 percent, transport by 4.6

percent, miscellaneous goods and services by 3.2 percent and education by 3 percent. Hous-ing, water, electricity and other fuels jumped by 2.7 percent, furniture and household equip-ment by 2 percent, clothing and footwear by 0.2 percent and communication by 0.1 percent.

There was a decrease in price levels in three groups - food and beverages by 2.7 percent, restaurants and hotels by 1.8 percent, and health by 0.8 percent while no changes were recorded for the tobacco group.

The CPI of October 2016, excluding the group of housing, water, electricity and other fuel stands at 106.5, showing a decrease of 0.3 percent when compared to the index of Sep-tember 2016, and a 2.2 percent when compared to the CPI of October, 2015.

Stars of Science finalists inspire Qatar Academy studentsThe Peninsula

The finalists of Qatar Foundation’s (QF) eighth season of Stars of Sci-

ence, the Arab world’s leading scientific ‘edutainment’ real-ity TV programme, presented their innovations to Qatar Academy Doha students yesterday.

S e v a g B a b i k i a n

from Lebanon, Abderrahim Bourouis from Algeria, Ghas-san Yusuf from Bahrain and Sadeem Qdaisat from Jordan presented their ideas through visual presentations, which explained their innovations and their applications to the young audience.

As part of their talk, each finalist drew on their own per-sonal experiences to inspire a

new cohort of talented young innovators, revealing, among other things, how the key to suc-cess lies in the importance of dreams and overcoming the fear of failure.

The four finalists will learn their fate on 19th November 2016, at 10.30pm (KSA) on MBC4, in a finale which is sure to have viewers on the edge of their seats.

Vienna

QNA

The State of Qatar attaches great importance to coop-eration with the

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as with its technical programme section.

Qatar also appreciates the IAEA's contribution in the

projects implemented over the previous years, as these projects increased Qatar's capabilities in the development of food labo-ratories and enhanced its laboratories in the fields of nuclear analysis, medical treat-ment and radiation doses and helped in the development of the national framework for the organization of radiation safety

to increase preparedness capa-bilities and emergency response.

This was stated by Qatar's Ambassador to Austria and its Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Ali Khalfan Al Man-souri before the IAEA's Technical Cooperation Committee's meet-ings currently being held in Vienna.

Qatar envoy hails IAEA's contributions

Stars of Science finalists at the Qatar Academy.

Emir receives message from Hollande

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received yesterday a

written message from Presi-dent of the French Republic Francois Hollande.

The message was related to bilateral relations and issues of joint interest. Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, along with a delegation accompa-nying her, delivered the message to the Emir during a meeting at Al Shaqab stud.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual gen-eral assembly of the Association of the National Olympic Committees (ANOC) currently taking place in Doha.

Emir meets LA Mayor

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday met at Al

Shaqab Stud with Eric Garcetti, Mayor of the city of Los Angeles in the US state of California, on the sidelines of the annual general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), under way in Doha. The meeting reviewed relations.

Emir meets outgoing envoy

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met at the Emiri Diwan yes-

terday with the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Qatar, Dr Mohammed Jawad Asayish, who called upon the Emir to greet him on the occasion of ending his tenure in Qatar.

The Peninsula

Ooredoo yesterday announced the addition of 14 new channels for

Ooredoo tv subscribers, as the company continues to invest in providing the best entertain-ment for Qatar.

Seven channels will be added for Ooredoo’s ‘Essentials’

package subscribers, and seven channels for customers sub-scribed to the Ooredoo tv’s premium packages, the company said in a press release.

New channels in the “Essen-tials” package include Arabic variety entertainment channel Roya TV, popular children’s channels Cartoon Network (Hindi) and Spacetoon (Arabic),

religious content from Huda TV and news channels DW English and DW Germany.

Ooredoo tv Extra Arabia, Extra International and Super Extra viewers can now enjoy French children’s television channel Tiji, classical music con-cert broadcasters Mezzo Live HD and the sea loving Nautical Channel.

CPI data

Index increased by 2.2% in October this year compared to the same month in the previous year.

An increase in prices was noticed in restaurants and hotels by 0.9%.

Ooredoo tv introduces 14 new channels

03TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 HOME

04 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 HOME

The Peninsula

Medical and legal experts from the MENA region and the USA convened

at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) to explore ethical and legal issues that arise in the prac-tice of medicine and biomedical research.

The two-day seminar, which looked at the law and ethics of medicine from a Middle Eastern perspective, was attended by more than 250 health and legal profes-sionals that included nurses, pharmacists, physicians, lawyers and government employees. The event featured presentations on key issues in modern medicine, such as the ethics involved in obtaining informed consent from patients and research subjects, the moral dimensions of organ

donation and transplantation, the ethics and laws relating to stem cell research, confidentiality, and Islamic perspectives of medical ethics.

The seminar was a collabora-tion between WCM-Q and the Salim El-Hoss Bioethics & Profes-sionalism Program of the American University of Beirut Fac-ulty of Medicine, and was the latest in a series of events hosted by WCM-Q that explore the intersec-tion between law and medicine.

Dr. Sunanda Holmes, Asso-ciate University Counsel and Assistant Professor of Health Pol-icy & Research at WCM-Q, said: “The significant advances in modern medicine in the past decade in areas such as organ transplantation and stem cell research present health profes-sionals with great new

opportunities for healing their patients, but they also present new ethical dilemmas which require a robust legal framework to protect patients, practitioners and communities. This seminar aimed to help enhance under-standing of these often highly complex issues and the roles of inter-professional teams such as physicians, nurses, bioethicists, lawyers among others to further patients’ interests while taking into consideration the longer term impact of medical innova-tion on humanity itself.”

Visiting speaker Dr Jeremy Sugarman, the Harvey M. Mey-erhoff Professor of Bioethics and Medicine at the Berman Institute of Bioethics and School of Med-icine at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA spoke about the ethical challenges of

obtaining informed consent. He said: “We have rules and

procedures around consent, but these alone are not sufficient because in order for them to

work they must be guided by the ethical principles of autonomous authorization and respect for persons. Dr Mohammed Ghaly, P r o f e s s o r o f I s l a m

and Biomedical Ethics at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, gave a presentation about the ethics of the physician from an Islamic perspective.

Celebrities to attendGala Dinner

→ Continued from page 1Local and international

celebrities will attend the Gala Dinner including the Lord Mark Poltimore, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby's Europe; Caroline Scheufele, Chopard Cofounder; Singer Latifa; Lojain Omran, a prominent media figure; Malek Jandali, pianist and composer, as well as chief executives and owners of Qatar’s largest companies.

“The Gala Dinner is the most important event on our social cal-endar – it’s an evening dedicated to valuing the importance of edu-cation, youth empowerment, volunteer work and of champi-oning the work of Reach Out To Asia,” said Al Mannai, adding the event marks ROTA's 10th anni-versary, which is "a milestone on our journey to achieving equita-ble education for all."

Launched 10 years ago, this

year’s Gala Dinner held under the patronage of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has the theme ‘Team up Today, Shape up Tomorrow’. It is sponsored by Al Majed Jewel-lery (Gold sponsor) and Qatar

Rail (Silver sponsor). "Education is the best mes-

sage that Qatar can export to the world since it represents a national investment and a bridge towards a better future. Thus, we are pleased to contribute to the

sustainable development of communities by investing and raising awareness about the importance of education,” said Al Majed Jewellery Deputy Chairman Jamil bin Mahdi Al Majed.

Mohammed Osman The Peninsula

The Department of Stu-dents Affairs at Qatar University (QU) has announced that the second edition of Stu-

dent Leadership Conference “Taqadam: Tanmeea, Enjaz, Qiaadah” will be held by the uni-versity with other partners.

Addressing a press confer-ence held yesterday at the QU, Dr Khalid Al-Khanji, Vice Pres-ident for Students Affairs, along with Dr Ken MacLeod, President of College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q), Dr Abdulla Hazaimeh, Dean of Community College of Qatar (CCQ), and Dr Ivan Ninov, Executive Dean of Stenden University Qatar (SUQ), announced that the two-day conference will kick off on November 26.

Al-Khanji said: “I am delighted to welcome you all at QU to announce the launch of the second edition of student con-ference which will be held under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani,

Chairperson of Qatar Museums, Doha Film Institute and Reach Out To Asia."

The idea for the student lead-ership conference “Taqadam”, which brings together students from higher education institu-tions in Qatar and the GCC, came from students who are making preparations for its implemen-tation, said Al-Khanji. But this will be with the help and under the supervision of the Depart-ment of Students Activities at QU, he stressed. The aim is to pro-vide students from QU and other higher education institutions

with opportunities that help them acquire leadership skills and uplift their talents to become future leaders.

He added that “in hosting this conference, QU is also demon-strating its ongoing efforts to raise students' awareness of the importance of gaining theoreti-cal leadership skills and the know-how to apply them in real-life situations.”

The conference is sponsored by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and will bring together students from colleges and uni-versities across Qatar to network and exchange their knowledge and experiences on leadership development in the GCC region.

Dean of CCQ, Hazaimeh said the new “transforming leader-ship” vision focuses on the ways leaders emerge from being ordi-nary “transactional” brokers and deal-makers to become real agents of major social change. This is an opportunity to learn more about transformational leadership, not only in theoreti-cal terms, but also in terms of practical application.

MacLeod pointed out that “the Taqadam student leadership

conference is a prime example of providing students with an oppor-tunity that allows them to learn from current leaders to become future leaders. The State of Qatar was born from a vision that was built by progressive leadership. There is a strong commitment to

leadership in the country, which is instinctively instilled in Qatar’s youth. The true value of leader-ship is displayed when students have the opportunity to converse with and learn from their peers.”

Ivan Ninov emphasized that “we believe the event will create

a foundation for strong social and professional networking amongst its participants. It is a unique platform to showcase their leadership potential and to interact with their peers from other higher education institu-tions ".

QU to host second edition of Student Leadership Conference

FROM LEFT: Dr Abdalla Hazaimeh, Dean of the Community College, Dr Ken MacLeod, President of the College of North Atlantic Qatar, Dr Khalid Mohamed Al Khanji, Vice-President for Students Affairs, and Dr Ivan Ninov, Executive Dean, Stenden University Qatar, at the press conference at Qatar University yesterday. Pic: Kammutty VP / The Peninsula

WCM-Q seminar explores ethical and legal dilemmas in medicine

Legal experts and health care professionals from across the MENA region and the USA who attended the seminar at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar.

Western Union & Alfardan launch self-service kiosksThe Peninsula

Western Union and Alfardan Exchange yesterday launched

Qatar’s first fully automated, self-service kiosks enabling 24/7 international money trans-fer. With the new service, consumers can transfer money anytime to more than 200 countries and territories in the world at their convenience through 80 kiosks strategically planned to be located across the country.

“Western Union’s cross-border platform enables an industry-leading pay-in, pay-out capability and the launch of money transfer kiosks in Qatar is part of our continuous efforts to provide consumers with additional options to send money,” said Hatem Sleiman, Regional Vice President – Mid-dle East and Philippines, Western Union during a media event at Marsa Malaz Kempin-ski, The Pearl – Doha.

“We recognise that ease of use and accessibility are key drivers of money transfer deci-sions, and through our well-established network, cou-pled with our technology and innovation, we are providing consumers with superior lev-els of convenience and service. We are delighted to announce

this strategic alliance with Alfardan Exchange to launch the service in Qatar,” he added.

“Alfardan Exchange has a series of industry firsts in Qatar and our relationship with West-ern Union over the past four years has helped solidify our market leadership in terms of brand positioning and product value proposition,” said Fahad Alfardan, President of Alfardan Exchange.

“The launch of the new kiosks provides our customers, most of whom are expatriates who have the recurring need to send money back home, with a new avenue for money transfer that is extremely simple, easy to use, always accessible and at a convenient location close to their home or workplace,” he said.

Money transfers through Western Union services can be made in seven simple steps by using the kiosk after a one-time registration at any of Alfardan Exchange locations. Ten kiosks currently provide Western Union services with an addi-tional 70 going live in the next two weeks. These kiosks will be strategically placed in shopping malls, supermarkets, residen-tial areas, banks, hospitals, government facilities, gas sta-tions, staff accommodations and other locations across var-ious areas of Qatar.

FROM LEFT: Jamil Al Majed, Vice-Chairman, Al Majed Jewellery; Essa Al Mannai, Executive Director, ROTA; and Khalifa Hassan A Al Jehani, Chief of Corporate Support, Qatar Rail, addressing the media on ROTA Gala Dinner 2016, at Marwan Club Al Shaqab, yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula

Sixth Katara Traditional Dhow Festival kicks off todayThe Peninsula

The sixth Katara Traditional Dhow Festival kicks off today with the traditional

Al-Dasha (opening ceremony) at 3.30pm on Katara Beach.

Over 230 participants from the GCC and India and more

than 100 dhows are taking part in the five-day grand maritime event which includes sideline activities comprising fish mar-ket, boat trips, traditional café and Daloub Operetta that will daily begin at 6.30pm.

This year’s edition also high-lights folkloric performances

including traditional perform-ances inspired by the maritime legacy of the region featuring per-formers from Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. The event includes action-packed traditional mari-time tournaments such as rowing, diving, Al-Ghazl, Al-Hdaq, Al-Lufah and Al-Nahmah.

Morning field trips are organised daily for schools in a bid to promote awareness about the rich maritime legacy of Qatar and the GCC countries among new generations. Sea trips will also be available from 3 to 9pm. There will be stalls selling tradi-tional handicraft.

Future leaders

Programme aims at helping students to acquire leadership skills and uplift their talents to become future leaders.

Taqadam brings together students from higher education institutions in Qatar and the GCC.

05TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 HOME

Desert rose hunting to lure touristsIrfan Bukhari The Peninsula

To make ongoing Sustainabil-ity Week more informative and interesting for the com-munity, a local tour operator has chalked out a three-day

“The Heritage” activity starting from Thursday with a sensational desert rose hunting trip.

The three-day activity to explore nature has been designed with the help of Qatar Green Building Council. On November 17 (Thursday), the enthusi-asts will be hunting desert roses with “365 Adventures” in Qatar. Desert roses are very beautiful.

Desert rose is the colloquial name given to rosette formations of the min-erals gypsum and barite with poikilotopic sand inclusions. The 'pet-als' are crystals flattened on the crystallographic axis, fanning open along characteristic gypsum cleavage planes. The under construction Qatar National Museum’s architecture has also been inspired by these desert roses.

“We have designed “The Heritage” activity on the motivation of Qatar Green Building Council to mark Sus-tainability Week. 365 Adventures has deigned three different outdoor expe-riences to discover and explore Qatar's hidden treasures and sights,” said Abdul Rehman Sajid, tour guide.

He said that the activity will pro-vide opportunity to residents from a desert dune bashing and camping expe-rience to an architectural and heritage exploration tour in the west to simply

catching the sunset on a kayak in the mangroves forest. “We are also provid-ing a guided tour to the Northern heritage sites. 365 Adventures will help people escape, explore, experience and give back in an adventurous way.”

He said desert rose hunting trip would be a family friendly day-long activity where the residents will also visit Al Dosari Zoo and /or Sheikh Fais-al's Museum. “We then head to Umm Bab where the desert roses are found. We will hunt the roses. After which, we will enjoy the sunset at Dukhan beach and visualise the night-lights at the beautiful Camel Racing Track in Shahaniya.”

He said on the second day of activ-ity (November 18), dhow cruise and Zumba at Safliyah Island will be pro-vided to tourists. “They will experience a sunset on a dhow cruise, followed by a swim to Al Safliyah Island and a Zumba activity for 40 minutes.”

On the third day, Sajid said, there would be an “Extreme Desert Show 3.0” including dune bashing for three hours at sealine, one hour extreme desert show, sunset at the inland sea (Khor Al Adaid) and swimming at the inland sea. “Our events aim to provide unique adventures to areas that have not been discovered our way yet".

GCC traffic meet discussesunified media strategy Sidi Mohamed The Peninsula

The General Directorate of Traffic Department yester-day hosted the first

coordination meeting of traffic awareness and media directors of the GCC countries at its headquar-ters in Madina Khalifa.

The meeting discussed the ini-tial concept of unified media strategy in the field of traffic aware-ness in the GCC countries. Brigadier Muhammad Saad Al Kharji, Direc-tor of the General Directorate of Traffic said that traffic was a matter of high concern in GCC that resembled in many social and environmental areas as well as in traffic laws.

“Currently, we are focusing on raising the awareness culture among all residents, and it is easy for us to unify the directives and collaboration in traffic related issues due to our similar environment", he added.

Lt Colonel Muhammed Radhi Al Hajiri, Director of Traffic Awareness and Media Depart-ment, said that the aim of the meeting was to develop a unified traffic media strategy of the GCC, in order to preserve the lives of road users, in light of recent rise in the number of victims of road accidents. Outlining the traffic department's efforts to address the cur-rent fog, Al Kharji said that the department was monitoring the roads, and sometimes banned vehicles, especially trucks, from moving in case there was no visibility.

Continued from page 1“It is not true that violators

will be stopped at the border if they try to leave the country without paying the fine. Any-one who commits traffic violation in any of the GCC states and comes back here, will find the violation regis-tered against him and he has to pay the fine here if he had not paid it before his departing that country,” he added.

Al Kharji said that the sec-ond half of this year is expected to see a decline in the number of traffic acci-dents, compared to the same period of last year.

“Last month we registered only 10 death cases, compared to 23 in the same period last year,” he added. For the first half of this year there was a 45 percent decrease compared to the same period of last year in accidents and deaths.

Fewer accidents in second half of year: Official

'Tamheed' to offer career guidance in schools The Peninsula

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has recently signed an agreement with

Silatech to implement the career guid-ance system “Tamheed” in secondary schools and centres affiliated to the Ministry.

Silatech, which is a regional social organisation and works to enable jobs and expand economic opportunities for young Arabs, is going to introduce Tah-meed programme to give guidance to individuals selected by the Ministry and schools.

The agreement was signed by Fawz-iya Al Khater, Director of Education

Institute at the Ministry of Education and Sabah Ismail Hidrous, CEO of Silatech. The Ministry is keen to guide students towards suitable academic options and prepare them for the labour market, said Al Khater about the agreement.

T h i s a g r e e m e n t w i l l

help in establishing academic guidance section to explore student’s talents, ten-dencies and guide them to choose the suitable area of specialisations, she added.

One of the major problems being faced by our youth is selection of unstudied areas of specialisation which affect their chances of getting jobs, said the Silatech CEO.

Tamheed career programme is going to prepare youth to enter the labour market by promoting large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship, access to capital and markets, and the partic-ipation and engagement of young people in economic and social devel-opment, Sabah Al Hidarous said.

Officials at the GCC traffic meet in Doha yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula

Hidden Nature

The three-day activity to explore nature has been designed with the help of Qatar Green Building Council.

06 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 HOME

67% of private firms lack plan on QatarisationThe Peninsula

Two-thirds of private sector organisations (67percent) rarely adopted Qatarisation strategies, according

to a new survey report, “Stra-tegic Qatarisation: Focusing on Meaningful Employment”, con-ducted by Oxford Strategic Consulting (OSC).

The report, which was launched at the Gulf Talent Advisory Board (GTAB) Sum-mit co-hosted by OSC and Pinsent Masons on November 10 in Doha, illustrates how focusing on meaningful employment rather than quota-filling can help the government achieve high Qatarisation rates while also reducing pressure on private sector employers, said a press release yesterday.

Qatar’s public sector has made great strides in leading Qatarisation. For example, gov-ernment or semi-government organisations were significantly more likely than private sector companies to have a high adop-tion of Qatarisation strategies (79 percent vs 15 percent).

The government also pledged to fill 9 out of 10 pub-lic sector roles with Qataris by 2026, and the National Vision 2030 aims to provide 50 per-cent of Qataris with meaningful permanent employment.

Yet if the public sector filled 90 percent of public sector roles with Qataris today, then

approximately 145,753 nation-als would be needed to fill those roles. As of 2015, there were less than 100,000 economically active Qataris, which leaves a limited labour pool available to semi-government and private sector organisations.

Based on the survey report findings, OSC has recom-mended three key steps to maximise the effectiveness of Qatarisation:

First, focus Qatarisation efforts on providing meaning-ful employment opportunities for Qataris rather than on meet-ing Qatarisation quotas. Only 33 percent of surveyed compa-nies stated that they always maximise development and involvement of national talent. Similarly, just 33 percent of companies always identify key talent managers.

Second, encourage organ-isations to proactively search for Qataris and develop talent pipelines early in all sectors and industries. Third, ensure that all Qataris that aim for public sec-tor roles receive world-class, globally-recognised training and fully accredited profes-sional qualifications.

Job Quotas

Qatar’s public sector has made great strides in leading Qatarisation, says report.

CGC officials receiving the APEx certificate

CGC receives Middle East's first APEx designationThe Peninsula

Consolidated Gulf Com-pany, CGC, a leading technology system inte-

grator, has become the first company in the Middle East to receive Audiovisual Provider of Excellence (APEx) designation awarded by InfoComm Inter-national, the global Audiovisual (AV) standards organisation.

APEx is InfoComm’s seal of approval for companies that set high standards for employee training and certification and meet their clients' needs by delivering exceptional solutions. With this mark of distinction, CGC joins an elite group of less than fifty (50) integration com-panies and AV design consulting

firms worldwide. To achieve APEx recognition, CGC demon-strated a high level of service quality and technical capability by building a team of Certified Technology Specialists, adher-ing to InfoComm standards, and proving ongoing customer sat-isfaction. InfoComm’s CTS certification is accredited by the American National Standards Institute under the International Organization of Standardization and the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) ISO/IEC 17024:2012 General Requirements for Bodies Oper-ating Certification Schemes of Persons programme.

Haitham Ahmad, General Manager, CGC, expressed hap-piness over his company’s latest

feat: “It gives us immense satis-faction to be recognised on a global platform. The prestigious APEx certification to CGC is a testimony to our commitment to the highest standards and quality that we are delivering to our esteemed clients in Qatar and overseas. This benchmark reinforces our commitment to continue to bring global stand-ard to market with optimised value for money.”

“For us, it's all about deliv-ering the best experience to our customers,” said CGC’s head of AV solutions, Vangelis Petridis. “We are a very strong team of experienced professionals who have a single goal — to place a big smile on the faces of our clients".

QRCS in deal to supportGaza varsity's emergency unitThe Peninsula

QATAR Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has signed a memo-randum of understanding (MoU) with the Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic Uni-versity of Gaza (IU Gaza) to support the Faculty's Emer-gency and Crisis Management Center (Hayat).

The $148,500 project is aimed at ensuring rapid response, minimised risk, and containment of disasters in Gaza.

The signing ceremony was attended by Dr Akram Nassar, Head of QRCS Mission in Gaza, and Dr Heba Al Mahallawy, QRCS Health Project Officer. They were received by Prof Adel M Awadallah, IUG President, Nazmi Al Masari, Vice-Pres-ident for External Relations, Dr Fadel N Naim, Dean, Fac-ulty of Medicine, and Dr Basem N Naim, Hayat Center Administrator.

Talking about the impor-tance of the 24-month project, Dr Nassar said, "Through this project, QRCS seeks to develop international-standard aca-demic and practical abilities of emergency workers, as well as draft disaster and emer-gency response national protocols for the Palestinian health sector".

He noted that in-advance preparedness, scenario pre-diction, and response techniques would create pro-ficiency in disaster management during wars or crises in Gaza, in addition to improving the assessment of disaster risks and future impact.

QU Molecular Biology Congress beginsThe Peninsula

Qatar University launched yesterday the 3rd Middle East Molecular Biology

Congress & Exhibition 2016 with an opening ceremony attended by QU officials, faculty, students and staff, and experts and researchers in molecular biology.

The event (November 14-18), the first of its kind in the region, is a collaboration between QU and

Middle East Molecular Biology Sources (MEMBS), and is spon-sored by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Qatar Biobank for Medical Research, Qatar Bio-medical Research Institute (QBRI), Qatar Genome Programme, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), Sidra Medical and Research Center, and Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q). Its aim is to pro-vide a platform for representatives of the academic and industrial communities to interact and

promote the translation of research into therapy.

The forum brings together around 500 leading biologists and biomedical engineers, including professors and their trainees from the academic, clin-ical and pharmaceutical fields to showcase their research, high-light the use of emerging technologies, and encourage interactions and new interdisci-plinary collaborations.

QU President Dr Hassan Al

Derham said: “QU is proud to host the 3rd Middle East Molec-ular Biology Congress & Exhibition 2016, which brings together leading experts to showcase the latest technolo-gies in molecular biology. During the past years, molecu-lar biology has made a progress in key areas such as genome sciences, cell therapy, cancer treatment, and diabetes, which has a positive impact on human life and health.

An official at the 3rd Middle East Molecular Biology Congress & Exhibition 2016.

Vodafone Qatar to launch 4.5G networkThe Peninsula

Vodafone Qatar, in part-nership with Huawei, yesterday announced

another milestone for their 4G network having achieved data speeds of 1Gbps in a test envi-ronment thanks to the introduction of 4.5G technology.

The necessary technology to achieve such high speeds was tested on live sites in Voda-fone Qatar’s network reaching speeds of up to 780Mbps. This speed allows the download of a typical HD movie of 3GB within around 30 seconds. Vodafone is one of the first car-riers to introduce 4.5G technology in the GCC region.

Ian Gray, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Qatar, said, “The introduction of a 4.5G net-work will enable the implementation of smart city technologies such as the Inter-net of Things (IoT) and cloud services in the country by pro-viding the mobile broadband capability that underpins any smart city initiative. Vodafone

is committed to continually investing in Qatar’s ICT sector which will play a key role in realising Qatar National Vision 2030.”

ZongYan, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Qatar, said: “We are delighted to build on our strategic partnership with Vodafone Qatar and contribute to accelerating advanced ICT services in Qatar. A 4.5G net-work enables Vodafone Qatar to offer true broadband speeds that haven’t been experienced in the region before, and pave the way for the introduction of more advanced mobile services in the near future.” Building on Vodafone’s existing 4G+ serv-ices, the new 4.5G network will be rolled out across Vodafone Qatar’s network in the next few months which will offer cus-tomers even faster mobile speeds and provide the com-pany with greater network bandwidth utilisation.

In April this year, Vodafone Qatar’s network was named Best in Test’ by international leader in mobile performance testing, P3 Communications.A Vodafone mobile tower.

07TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 HOME

Rolls-Royce Black Badge unveiled on race trackThe Peninsula

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha, the sole authorised dealership for Rolls-

Royce Motor Cars in Qatar, unveiled Black Badge Wraith and Ghost to its discerning cli-entele during a track event that took place on November 11 and 12 at the Losail International Circuit.

Ihab Allam, General Man-ager at Alfardan Automobiles said: “As a brand synonymous with luxury, the Black Badge concept presented by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars resonates well with a wide range of our clien-tele, as it complements their outgoing and edgy lifestyle.”

Black Badge is a new facet of the ultra-luxury marque’s personality, a dark and edgy lifestyle statement. A permanent new sub-brand, Black Badge was unveiled earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show and transforms the character of both Ghost and Wraith. The new sub-brand is expected to appeal to those who are elusive and defi-ant, the risk takers and disruptors who break the rules and laugh in the face of conven-tion. It is in this spirit that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has

announced that Black Badge ‘Inspired by dark edgy lifestyle’, is now available to order from Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha.

Brett Soso, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Regional Director for Middle East, Africa, Central Asia & South America com-mented on the reveal of Black Badge, “Following the launch of Wraith in 2013, many of our new customers have gravitated towards the revitalised Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, as the brand most capable of encapsulating their truly individual lifestyles. Through the introduction of Black Badge, we are able to fur-ther satisfy the demands of

these new customers for a more dark and assertive Ghost and Wraith".

Giles Taylor, Director of Design, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars commented, “In creating Black Badge, we were conscious of satisfying the different demands of these new customers. Not only did they demand an alter-native image for themselves, they demanded authentic Rolls-Royce engineering substance to underpin it. As a result, the Black Badge Spirit manifests itself through a series of carefully considered design elements which together express a darker luxury sophistication".

HMC introduces special ambulances Fazeena Saleem The Peninsula

Hamad Medical Cor-poration (HMC)’s Ambulance Service yesterday intro-duced new vehicles

designed to transport non-emer-gency patients and give them a more comfortable experience during travel.

A fleet of 20 new vehicles was launched at the Hamad Medical City in the presence of H E Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health.

Non-emergency transfers include moving patients from one HMC hospital to another as well as transporting patients with mobility problems from their homes to a hospital for appointments. HMC’s Ambulance Service transfers more than 50,000 non-emergency patients annually.

The Ambulance Service also introduced a fleet management system and replaced the exist-ing paper based patient clinical records system with a new elec-tronic Clinical Information System (CIS), applicable to both emergency and non- emergency patient transfers.

“The life-saving nature of the Ambulance Service’s emergency response teams is well docu-mented, but less known is the role that the non-emergency

teams fulfill. I am delighted to officially launch this new vehi-cle fleet and both the management and patient record technology,” said Dr Al Kuwari.

In the new patient transport vehicles, wider windows with lower frosting allows patients get a better view, fridges to keep water are installed — especially beneficial to dialysis patients, USB charging and WiFi hot spots are available. Also, patients will be having a choice either to lie on the stretcher or sit on a wheel chair during travel, says Brendon Morris, Chief Operating Officer, Ambulance Service, HMC.

“These patients are known to us for a long time. So we invited them to have a voice to tell us what is important to them inside the vehicle that would carry them every day. Most patients would like to see out-side the vehicle as they are being driven, since this is one of the opportunities they are able to get out of their homes,” said Morris.

“These vehicles have the

ability to transfer two patients together mainly because some told us that they prefer to travel together,” he added.

A ‘Stay Chair Stretcher’ is available in the vehicle to carry the patient easily on stairs if there is no elevator. Vehicles are also fitted with medical equip-ment including multiple oxygen sources.

The advanced fleet manage-ment system of the Ambulance Service controls all calls, triag-ing and dispatching for services

involving patient transport and mobile healthcare service home visits across the country.

CIS was introduced as part of the system being implemented across the HMC and Primary Health Care Corporation, which will ensure that all clinical infor-mation on patients is available at the point of care.

“With the go live of the man-agement system, we are able to track our ambulance units more accurately, assign staff and vehi-cles efficiently,” said Thomas

Reimann, Executive Director of the Healthcare Coordination Service at HMC.

“The electronic patient clin-ical record enables clinical information about the patient’s condition to be sent through our paramedics to the hospital receiving team while the patient is still being transported in the ambulance. Then on arrival at the hospital, the patients’ data is automatically added to the Clin-ical Information System,” he added.

Special Care

Twenty newly designed vehicles to transport non-emergency patients are meant to provide more benefits to them.

Minister of Public Health H E Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, and other officials being briefed about the new technology introduced by the Ambulance Service yesterday.

Al Abeer launches Diabetic Foot ClinicThe Peninsula

About 16 percent of the adult Qatari population between the ages of 20 and 79 suffers from

diabetes, according to a statement issued by Action on Diabetes.

Dr Laxman D G, Internal Medicine Specialist at Al Abeer said that diabe-tes causes blood sugar levels to rise higher than normal in the body. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. If one has type 2 diabetes the body does not use insulin properly. Type 2 diabetes develops most often in middle-age and among older peo-ple. People who are overweight and inactive are also more likely to develop

type 2 diabetes. Dr Ranga Prasad Raju, Medical Director & General Surgeon at Al Abeer said that people with diabe-tes are at increased risk of peripheral arterial disease and neuropathy, as well as having a higher risk of developing infections and decreased ability to recover from infections.

Therefore, people with diabetes are prone to frequent and often severe foot problems and a relatively high risk of infection, gangrene and amputation. Al Abeer Medical Center has launched an exclusive Diabetic Foot Clinic that will manage conditions including foot ulcers, calluses, corns and skin changes including pigmentation.

On the occasion of World Diabetes

Day 2016, Dr Nazeem Shamsuddin, Head – Operations, Al Abeer Medical Center, Qatar, inaugurated the ‘Dia-betic Foot Clinic’ at the Center and launched the Diabetes Screening Package.

He said that Al Abeer has designed an exclusive and highly discounted Dia-betes Screening Package that includes a series of laboratory investigations and consultations by a team of physicians including internist, ophthalmologist and diabetic foot evaluation by a general surgeon. Dr Nazeem urged the residents of Qatar to take advantage of the Dia-betes Screening Package which will be available at the Center until December 31, 2016.

Dr Nazeem Shamsuddin (Head-Operations), Al Abeer Medical Center, inaugurating the Diabetic Foot Clinic on the occasion of World Diabetes Day 2016.

Mitsubishi Lancer 2004-09 models recalled The Peninsula

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in collab-oration with Qatar

Automobiles Company, dealer of Mitsubishi vehicles in Qatar, has announced the recall of Mit-subishi Lancer model year

2004-2009 over a potential defect in the passenger airbag.

The ministry said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing efforts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

The Ministry said that it will

coordinate with the dealer to fol-low up on the maintenance and repair works and will commu-nicate with customers to ensure that repairs are carried out. The Ministry has urged customers to report violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commer-cial Fraud Department.

Rolls-Royce Black Badge cars at the Losail International Circuit.

IBM scientist to visit Doha for workshopThe Peninsula

IBM Watson’s chief data sci-entist Romeo Kienzler is to visit Qatar this week to conduct a workshop on Watson, a ques-tion-answering platform that can “think like a human”.

Kienzler will be a guest of the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), a research institute at Hamad bin Khalifa University, which is jointly holding a new event called QCRI-IBM Data Sci-ence Connect.

Tomorrow, he will intro-duce a session on the Cognitive Internet of Things using Watson and will then run a hands-on workshop on cognitive IoT using Watson and ApacheSpark.

THE third online auction for fancy car number plates will start today at 12 noon for 22 fancy plates. The auction will be held through Metrash 2 for three days until 10pm on November 17, an official at the General Directorate of Traffic said.

Fancy car number plate auction starts today

08 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 MIDDLE EAST

IS ousted from Yazidi villages west of MosulErbil

Reuters

A mixed Kurdish and Yazidi armed force said yesterday it had dislodged Islamic State (IS) militants

from five Yazidi villages west of Mosul in an offensive that began on Saturday.

It coincided with a larger, ongoing Iraqi government and Kurdish offensive to recapture Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, from IS with aerial support from the US-led military coalition. Iranian-backed Shi’ite Muslim militias are also in the Mosul campaign, battling IS to the west of the city.

IS overran the five villages in 2014 when it swept over Sin-jar mountain and the surrounding region inhabited by Yazidis, killing, capturing and enslaving thousands from the Iraqi religious minority.

US-backed Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish forces took back Sinjar in 2015 but the area south of the mountain remained in the hands of the ultra-hardline militants.

The offensive launched by the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) aims to take back all Yazidi vil-lages south of Sinjar, the group’s administrative chief, Hassan Saeed, said. Saeed, a Yazidi, said the offensive had not been coor-dinated with Shia militias known as the Popular Mobilisa-tion. The YBS is affiliated with Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its military operations could upset Ankara, which has said it will not allow Sinjar to become a base for the group.

The PKK has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and is classified as a terrorist group by Ankara, the European Union and the United States.

Yazidis speak Kurmanji, the same language as the Kurds of

Syria and Turkey. Their beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions. The Nineveh region surround-ing Mosul is a mosaic of ethnic and religious communities — Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, Sunnis, Shi’ites - though Sunni Arabs comprise

the overwhelming majority. Meanwhile, Iraqi soldiers

began painstaking work on Monday to secure the remains of the 3,000-year-old city of Nimrud, a day after driving out Islamic State militants who overran and ransacked the ancient Assyrian capital.

Nimrud’s palace and tem-ples, once at the heart of an empire which stretched across the Middle East, were razed by the ultra-hardline zealots after they swept through northern Iraq in 2014, destroying historic sites they declared idolatrous.

Whether any treasures at Nimrud can be rescued will be hard to assess until archaeolo-gists can get there. That will take time because of fears the mili-tants have left bombs or even fighters concealed in tunnels among the ruins.

Tehran

AFP

Iran shut schools and apolo-gised to tourists Monday as its cities were hit by choking

levels of air pollution. A blanket of brown-white

smog descended on the capital Tehran on Sunday, blocking views of the mountains that line its northern edge and forcing many of its 14 million residents to retreat indoors or don face masks in the street.

The pollution in Tehran hit 156 on the Air Quality Index of deadly airborne particles, over

the 150 considered "unhealthy" for the general public. In tourist hotspot Isfahan the level hit 167.

Officials apologised to for-eign visitors for the bleak conditions.

"We hope our people's hos-pitality wipes the grey image of Tehran's beautiful attractions from their minds," the capital's tourism boss Rajab Ali Khosro-abadi told the Isna news agency.

Kindergartens and primary schools in Tehran were ordered to stay closed Monday and Tues-day, and traffic restrictions were tightened.

Ambulances were deployed

to wait in the busiest and dirti-est areas amid warnings that children, the elderly and those with existing health conditions were at particular risk.

"Since no one does anything, every year the problem gets worse. The government should block old cars. We must improve public transport," Zeynab Nazari, a first-year sociology student, said.

Every year, Tehran suffers some of the worst pollution in the world when cool autumn temperatures cause an effect known as "temperature inversion".

Geneva

Reuters

YEMEN is at risk of a signif-icant cholera outbreak with the number of suspected cases doubling within 12 days to over 4,000, the World Health Organization said.

The outbreak in a coun-try ravaged by a 20-month war that has killed thousands was declared by Yemen’s Health Ministry on Oct. 6. By Nov. 1 there were 2,070 sus-pected cases, rising to 4,119 by Sunday. “The numbers of cholera cases in Yemen con-tinue to increase, sparking concerns of a significant out-break,” the WHO said in a report. Cases confirmed as cholera by laboratory testing rose to 86 from 71 on Nov. 1. Eight people have died in the outbreak, as well as 56 from acute diarrhoea.

Yemen is already beset by humanitarian problems aris-ing from the war between a Saudi Arabia-led coalition and the Iran-aligned Houthi group which controls much of north-ern Yemen, including the capital Sana'a. The war has destroyed much of Yemen’s infrastructure, killed more than 10,000 people and displaced millions. The United Nations says only 45 percent of health facilities are functional and two-thirds of the population has no access to safe drinking water or sanitation.

Two Emiratis jailed for up to 10 years for Islamist linksABU DHABI: A UAE court yesterday jailed two Emiratis up to 10 years for their links to a "terrorist" organisation seen as a branch of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, media said.

The first defendant was handed a 10-year jail term after he was convicted of playing a "leading role" in a "banned secret group," the official Wam news agency reported.

The local Gulf News daily said in its online edition that he was found guilty of joining the outlawed Al Islah group, which author-ities accuse of activities aimed at overthrowing the government and seizing power.

He will remain under surveillance for three years after serv-ing his prison term, both sources said.

The same Abu Dhabi-based Federal Supreme Court sentenced another Emirati to seven years in prison after it convicted him of joining the same organisation, running one of its offices in the Gulf country, and promoting its ideology, the sources said.

Under Trump, Israel can reset Middle East: Right-wing leader

JERUSALEM: Donald Trump’s election as the next US president presents Israel with a unique opportunity to recast its Middle East policies, a far-right Israeli cabinet member and staunch opponent of Palestinian statehood, said yesterday.

Naftali Bennett, leader of the religious-nationalist Jewish Home party and a staunch proponent of Israeli settlement building, said it was now up to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to commu-nicate to the US administration and the world what he wanted and push for it.

Referring to his own past as a high-tech entrepreneur, Ben-nett said not making the goals clear would result in failure.

“The combination of changes in the United States, in Europe and in the region provide Israel with a unique opportunity to reset and rethink everything,” Bennett, 44, told members of the For-eign Press Association.

“We have a chance to reset the structure across the Middle East. We have to seize that opportunity and act on it.”

Relying on “old paths”, he said, would be a mistake.Bennett would not be drawn on what actions he thinks Netan-

yahu should take. But in the past, Bennett has called for the annexation of most of the West Bank, which the Palestinians want for a state together with Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Muscat

AFP

US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks yester-day with officials in

Oman on efforts to end Yemen's 19-month conflict, state media in Muscat said.

Kerry and Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi dis-cussed the "peaceful and humanitarian role played by the sultanate in Yemen," ONA state news agency reported.

Kerry is also expected to meet ruler Sultan Qaboos, in one of his last trips as secretary of state before President Barack Obama's administration ends on January 20.

The US chief diplomat has been pushing for a settlement of Yemen's deadly conflict, which escalated with the mili-tary intervention of a Saudi-led coalition to support the govern-ment against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in March 2015.

Oman, one of the few Arab states to have good relations

with Iran, has used its links to mediate peace talks between the insurgents and Yemen's UN-rec-ognised government of president Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

It is also the only Arab nation in the Gulf not part of the Saudi-led coalition, although it maintains good relations with regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia.

More than 7,000 people

have been killed and nearly 37,000 wounded in Yemen since March 2015, and the UN says millions are in need of food aid. Another 21 million people urgently need health services, according to the UN health agency.

Yesterday, 12 civilians, including a child, were killed in an air raid that targeted a con-voy of three lorries in the central Ibb province, while nine rebels

15 dead in IS suicide bombingsBaghdad

AFP

Suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State (IS)group killed 15 people yesterday in an oasis town south of Bagh-dad and the city of Fallujah to its west, officials said.

The attacks come as Iraqi forces battle IS in the northern city of Mosul, the last major population centre the jihadists hold in the country. IS has carried out a series of attacks in other areas since the operation to retake Mosul was launched on October 17 in an apparent bid to draw attention and possibly troops away from the city.

Masum Al Tamimi, a member of the Karbala provincial coun-cil, said six suicide bombers armed with light weapons as well as explosives tried to infiltrate Ain Al Tamer early yesterday. But they clashed with security forces before withdrawing to the Al Jihad area and detonating explosives there, Tamimi said, putting the death toll at eight, a figure confirmed by a doctor.

The attack also wounded at least six people, officials said.The interior ministry said security forces killed five of the

bombers while the sixth detonated explosives inside a house.But IS issued a statement claiming the attack in which it said

that there were only five bombers, identified with noms de guerre indicating two were from Mosul and three from Syria.

The jihadist group said the bombers, who were armed with automatic weapons and grenades as well as explosive belts, bat-tled security forces until running out of ammunition and then blew themselves up.

Kerry holds Yemen talks in Muscat

Lavrov & Kerry agree to continue consultations on SyriaMOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed Syria by phone yesterday and agreed to continue experts’ consultations to try to resolve the crisis, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

It said Lavrov told Kerry Washington had failed to stick to its pledge to encourage “moderate” Syrian rebels to separate themselves from “terrorist” groups in Aleppo.

Lavrov also expressed “indignation” at the US decision not to issue an entry visa to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), who will miss the World Chess Championship in New York as a result.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (left) with Omani Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, in Muscat, Oman, yesterday.

Heavy pollution shuts schools in Tehran

An Iranian man wearing a face mask to protect against the pollution sits on his scooter in the traffic in Tehran as the first of the winter's heavy pollution hit the capital Tehran, yesterday.

Yemen’s cholera cases double to 4,000: WHO

Anti-IS offensive

IS overran the five villages in 2014 when it swept over Sinjar mountain and the surrounding region inhabited by Yazidis, killing, capturing and enslaving thousands from the Iraqi religious minority.

KANO: At least 10 people were killed and several injured yes-terday when police opened fire during clashes with pro-Iranian Shia outside the northern Nige-rian city of Kano, witnesses and police said.

Violence broke out when police tried to disperse thou-sands of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) who were marching from Kano to Kaduna for the Ashura religious festival.

"The police arrived and started firing teargas canisters on the procession of Shiites to disperse them," grocer Ilyasu Ammani said.

"I saw 15 bodies sprawled on the ground before the police evacuated them," said Ammani.

NEWS BYTES

At least 10 dead in police-Shia clash

09TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 ASIA / AFRICA

Diplomatic bowShekau warns Trump 'war has just begun'Kano

AFP

The leader of the jihad-ist group Boko Haram has reacted to the election of Donald Trump to the White

House with a warning that "the war has just begun" against the West.

"Do not be overwhelmed by people like Donald Trump and the global coalition fighting our brethren in Iraq, Syria, Afghan-istan and everywhere," Abubakar Shekau said in an audio message posted on YouTube late Sunday.

"We remain steadfast on our faith and we will not stop," he

said in the hour-long message. "To us, the war has just begun."

Boko Haram is waging a seven-year-old uprising against the Nigerian state that has claimed more than 20,000 lives, with the insurgency spilling over the West African nation's bor-ders into neighbouring states.

Boko Haram, which last year pledged allegiance to the IS group, has been in the grip of a power struggle since late last year.

The IS high command said in August that Shekau had been replaced as leader by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the 22-year-old son of Boko Haram's founder Mohammed Yusuf.

Shekau claims he is still in charge, however, as rival fac-tions vie for control.

During a visit to Nigeria in August, US Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated the government for reclaiming swathes of territory and releas-ing thousands of hostages from Boko Haram, while warning against the use of excessive force to fight extremists.

Kinshasa

AFP

Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata (pic-tured) resigned yesterday

to make way for an opposition figure to take his place follow-ing a controversial deal that effectively extends the presi-dent's term in office.

The decision to delay presi-dential polls until at least late 2017 was part of a deal agreed in October by the government and fringe opposition groups that has been boycotted as a

sham by the mainstream opposition.

The deal, which followed a "national dialogue", was aimed at calming soaring political tensions.

"I have offered my resigna-tion as well as those of the members of my government... to respond to the spirit and the letter of the accord," said Matata as he left a meeting with Presi-dent Joseph Kabila.

The opposition has accused Kabila, who has been in office since 2001, of manipulating the electoral system to stay in power after his second term ends on December 20.

Kabila will address the situ-ation today when he speaks to parliament to discuss "the state of the nation", according to a statement read on state media.

Vital Kamerhe, who led the fringe opposition bloc that par-ticipated in the national dialogue, is the favourite to suc-ceed Matata as prime minister.

Following a meeting with Kabila, Kamerhe said that the nomination of a new premier was "imminent" and the forma-tion of a new opposition-led government would be complete within a week.

He added that the opposition groups which boycotted the "national dialogue" could still "get on board at any moment. We are still open".

Wellington

Reuters

New Zealand faces billions of dollars in damage from the powerful

earthquake that hit the coun-try yesterday, but the government's strong balance sheet means it will have little trouble footing the bill, officials and economists said.

Central New Zealand was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earth-quake just after midnight, killing at least two people, destroying road and rail links and damaging hundreds of buildings. Strong aftershocks cont inued throughout yesterday.

"You've got to believe it's in the billions of dollars to resolve," Prime Minister John Key said.

Despite the widespread damage, the financial fallout would pale in comparison to the 2011 quake in the city of Christchurch that killed 185

people and required a $28bn rebuild that is still being completed.

"This hit largely rural areas in small towns so it's not really comparable to Canterbury, which hit the biggest city in the South Island," said Ilan Noy, chair of disaster economics at Victoria University.

The small South Island tourist town of Kaikoura, a pop-ular spot for whale watching, appeared to have borne the brunt of the latest quake. The town was cut off by landslips that covered road and rail links in both directions.

Two years of budget sur-pluses and low government debt meant the cost of the quake was unlikely to hit the economy hard or require the government to issue bonds, according to analysts.

"It does look like at this early stage - it is early, aftershocks are still occurring - economic con-sequences look relatively manageable," said ANZ senior economist Philip Borkin.

DR Congo prime minister resigns

Floating basket festival muted as Thailand mourns kingBangkok

Reuters

Celebrations for Thailand's Loy Krathong "floating basket" festival were

muted yesterday as the country mourns late king Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The festival is usually a time when millions of Thais celebrate the end of the so-called rainy season by floating small rafts decorated with candles, incense and flowers.

But the mood in the Thai capital Bangkok was sombre yesterday as mourners marked

the end of the first month of one year of official mourning for the king, who died on October 13.

King Bhumibol was seen by many Thais as a stabilising force through an era of rapid change and social upheaval in the Southeast Asian nation.

"We have asked for celebra-tions to be muted this year because this is a sensitive time for the country," Patarut Dard-arananda, permanent secretary at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, said.

"City hall has asked that people not set off fireworks and firecrackers to respect the mourning period."

At Bangkok's famed Lumpini Park, vendors selling the float-ing baskets were scarce.

"This year is not like most years, we have to be respectful" said vendor Kwanjai Weelai recently.

The festival is normally a time when Thailand's rivers, lakes and seas are filled with glittering candle-lit floats. It is said to originate from an ancient ritual that paid respects to the water spirits.

Some festival-goers also believe that adding nail clip-pings or locks of hair to the floats will help to get rid of bad luck.

Earthquake: Widespread damage in New Zealand

A house damaged by an earthquake as it sits on the fault line at Bluff Station near Kaikoura on the South Island's east coast.

German President Joachim Gauck and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bow as they review the guard of honour before their meeting, in Tokyo, yesterday.

Lack of school drives girls into armed groups in eastern Congo Dakar

Reuters

Girls in conflict-ravaged eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are

joining armed groups because they cannot afford to go to school, while former girl soldiers struggle to return to class amid stigma from their communities, a charity said yesterday.

Many girls in the region join militia groups to obtain food and money, to seek protection against violence, or because their families cannot afford to pay their school fees, according to a report by Britain-based Child Soldiers International (CSI).

Eastern Congo is plagued by dozens of armed groups that prey on locals and exploit mineral reserves. Millions died between 1996 and 2003 as a regional conflict caused hunger and disease.

Around a third of all chil-dren in armed groups in the country are estimated to be girls, who are often married off to militants and vulner-able to abuse, activists say.

"It is deeply shocking that, because their families cannot afford to pay school fees, some girls see joining an armed group as their only option, and decide to throw themselves in harm's way," said Isabelle Guitard, direc-tor of programmes at CSI.

"While primary education

is free and compulsory by law, most schools charge fees for books and uniforms".

"Despite the horrific abuse the girls go through while with armed groups, it is the rejection from their families and communities which distresses many of them the most," Guitard said.

"If we leave the group, we're going to be targeted ... so many girls accept and continue to live with their bush husband," said one of the 150 former girl soldiers.

CSI said it was working with local partners to help former girl soldiers go back to school, provide catch-up sessions and literacy classes for those who have never been educated.

People release floating lanterns during the festival of Yi Peng (coincides with Loy Krathong), in Chiang Mai, Thailand, yesterday.

Insurgency

Do not be overwhelmed by people like Donald Trump and the global coalition fighting our brethren. We remain steadfast on our faith and we will not stop: Boko Haram leader.

TAIPEI: Statues donated by pro-Beijing actor Jackie Chan to a top Taiwanese museum and later defaced by anti-China protesters have been removed from display, officials said yesterday.

Workers began to move the set of 12 zodiac animal sculp-tures from the garden of the National Palace Museum's southern branch in the pres-ence of several lawmakers from the ruling Beijing-sceptic Dem-ocratic Progressive Party (DPP), who had backed their removal.

The sculptures are copies of historic artefacts from China's Qing Dynasty and are seen as emblematic of the country's suf-fering under foreign invaders.

Museum removes statues donated by Jackie Chan

International efforts are again gaining momentum to find a solution to the 19-month Yemen conflict. US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Muscat yesterday for talks expected to focus on efforts to

end the crisis. A solution still seems distant with both sides sticking to their rigid positions, but there is a realisation that it’s time to start negotiations as a continuation of the conflict for an indefinite period is a scary prospect. The talks have become all the more important with the victory of Donald Trump. Trump’s policies on Yemen and the region haven’t been outlined yet, and with several pressing issues at home and abroad, it’s unlikely that Yemen will be treated as a priority. The situation is dire considering that Kerry too has only a couple of months to work on a peace plan and an outgoing secretary is unlikely to have much time to devote to peace-making efforts.

Last week, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed presented his roadmap for peace to the warring parties. The roadmap was the result of months of tough negotiations, but it failed to elicit a positive response from the Saleh loyalists on the

ground that it didn’t address their concerns adequately. The terms of the roadmap would see the Houthi militia and Saleh loyalists withdraw from areas they have occupied, including the capital Sana’a and the cities of Taiz and Hodeidah. In return, a new Vice-President acceptable to both sides will be appointed who will oversee the formation of a new

Government of National Unity. The national government will have the duty of taking forward the political transition. Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi rejected the roadmap saying the thoughts presented in it only “carry seeds of war”. Hadi’s concerns need to be addressed because his government is still recognized by the international community. But both sides must make compromises to achieve a breakthrough. Differences must be put aside to end this horror and guarantee a better future for the people of Yemen. The UN estimates that the conflict has resulted in up to 10,000 Yemeni deaths. There are over 21 million in need of humanitarian assistance with 7 million facing severe food shortages.

The peace efforts have also been made urgent by the spread of disease in a country ravaged by a 20-month war. The World Health Organization (WHO) says Yemen is at risk of a significant cholera outbreak with the number of suspected cases doubling within 12 days to over 4,000. killed thousands was declared by Yemen’s Health Ministry on October 6. By November 1, there were 2,070 suspected cases, rising to 4,119 by Sunday.

10 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 VIEWS

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

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

msalim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORHUSSAIN AHMAD

hussain@pen.com.qa

Peace efforts in Yemen

Differences must be put aside to end the conflict and guarantee a better future for the people of Yemen.

As a new US leader makes his way to the White House, the question on most minds in Iraq is: How will the next US

administration deal with the huge challenges left behind by President Barack Obama in the war- battered country?

This is especially true in light of Iraq’s dire need for American assistance in its military campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), and the president-elect’s vague vision on Iraq during the run-up to the Oval Office.

In that sense, much will depend on whether Donald Trump, whose presidential campaign was pegged on upending decades-old Washington policies, will initiate drastic changes

in the US strategy in Iraq, largely shaped by Obama and his predecessor George W Bush.

During the presidential race, Trump struggled to

distance himself from the 2003 war in Iraq launched by Bush (though evidence abounds that he had supported the war). He has also questioned the outcome of the invasion while suggesting he could have done better had he been US president.

Trump’s top priority in Iraq should be working to ensure that Iraq will not fall apart after the battle of Mosul, increasingly seen as a turning point.

The only relevant pledge the New York tycoon-turned-politician made during his largely noisy and politically sour campaign was to step up the fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, though he failed to articulate a clear strategy if he wins.

What is Trump’s next move in Iraq?Salah Nasrawi Al Jazeera

Yet, among all other pressing foreign policy issues, which Trumps should confront when he takes office in January, is Iraq where there are already some 6,000 US forces on the ground engaged in a war that many believe its outcome may be a make or break for the country.

Rhetoric and inconsistency of the campaign aside, there is no question that the US’ new commander-in-chief will face the daunting task of tackling Iraq, which is expected to remain a pillar of Washington’s Middle East strategy and one with significant real-world geopolitical importance.

But while Iraq remains a myriad challenge, the question is how the Trump administration will be realistically engaged there in a way that helps fix Iraq’s troubles that are largely the creation of the US invasion and the consequent policies of the two former administrations.

One may fill a book with the catastrophes both the Bush and the Obama administrations brought upon Iraq. If the stupidty of the invasion and regime change by a foreign power is oblivious, the failure to rebuild a post-Saddam Hussein’s inclusive, fair and stable political system, undisputedly, ranks as America’s top sin in Iraq.

How would Trump approach Iraq’s problems and how much his administration will be involved is not clear, but here is what he must do to deal with the challenges inherited from Obama whose strategy in Iraq was like that of his predecessor: Using military power and avoid all attempts at national reconciliation and nation-building.

The biggest question is what is going to happen to Iraq after retaking Mosul and ISIL’s threat is eradicated. While driving ISIL from the city appears to be all but assured, the biggest threat to Iraq remains the ethnosectarian split, which has shaken the country to the core.

Trump’s top priority in Iraq should be working to ensure that Iraq will not fall apart after the battle of Mosul, increasingly seen as a turning point in view of the conflicting agendas and interests of national and regional stakeholders who have been active in reshaping the geopolitical environment there.

Much of that will depend on whether the Trump administration will be able to work out a constructive policy in Syria and forge a coherent strategy to deal with major regional actors who vie for influence in post-Mosul Iraq, such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and also check Kurdish aspirations of independence.

Trump’s other main priority in Iraq must be dealing with the key issue of clearing the mess of a visibly failed state, left over from eight years of US occupation and deep communal divisions that have produced a sectarian-based and dysfunctional governing system.

While the Bush and Obama administrations have ignored nation building in Iraq, which is responsible for much of the country’s disasters, the new administration should capitalise on the liberation of Mosul and the ensuing stabilisation and rebuilding efforts to push for a national settlement in Iraq.

In order to launch a successful state-and nation-building process, Iraq’s communities, political groups and civil society should come up with a historic compromise, or a grand bargain. The new deal should create a cross-national bloc that would agree on a new holistic approach not only to sharing power and wealth, but also to the larger objective of living together in a united, free, democratic, inclusive, and prosperous country.

In recent weeks, the Iraqi National Alliance, the ruling Shia bloc, has endorsed the proposal and presented its own draft for a “national settlement” for debate. The document which the alliance said it will present for national discussions after the liberation of Mosul has been cautiously welcomed by Sunni groups pending negotiations of its details.

The United Nation’s mission in Iraq (UNAMI), mandated to help in national reconciliation, has supported the idea of a “historic compromise” to “promote an inclusive reconciliation process that upholds respect for Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and constitutional order.”

But much of the success of the proposal that should initiate a transition of political rebuilding and reconstruction will depend on support from Washington which had conditioned its help in the war against ISIL to Baghdad’s fostering reconciliation as complementary to the military effort to finish off the group.

Iraq’s invasion and its disastrous aftermath had affected the thinking of the Republican President Bush to the extent that he dumped the occupation on his Democratic successor Obama who himself missed all opportunities to correct the terrible mistakes of his predecessor.

With the humiliating defeat of the powerful Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the election, the danger of course is that Obama will be leaving the unfinished war against ISIL and the quagmire in Iraq to Trump to wrestle with. History has already made its judgment on Bush and Obama, both seasoned politicians elected with two core mandates, who will be remembered for their catastrophic failure in Iraq.

Will the billionaire property developer, whose victory over the Washington establishment has stunned the world, be able to avoid his two predecessor’s missteps in Iraq by nudging things forward towards this blueprint for a political settlement in the war-torn nation? It remains to be seen.

Bush and Obama administrations have ignored nation building in Iraq, which is responsible for much of the country’s disasters, the new administration should capitalise on the liberation of Mosul and the ensuing stabilisation and rebuilding efforts to push for a national settlement in Iraq.

ED ITOR IAL

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Donald Trump, as I’ve said before, is a dealmaker and I think that could be a good thing for Britain but it can also be a good thing for Europe.

Boris JohnsonBritish Foreign Secretary

Why resistance to strongmen crumbles so quickly

The election of Donald Trump, whose campaign trafficked in racism and misogyny, as president

of the United States is a calam-ity. But for those who experienced in 2014 the election of Narendra Modi, proud member of a minor-ity-baiting alt-right organisation, as India’s prime minister, Trump’s ascent induces deja vu. And to those who have witnessed the subse-quent radical makeover of India under Modi, the prospect of Trump assuming supreme power brings on acute foreboding.

For what is threatened now in

the US is not just free trade, liberal-ism or a technocratic and professional class of politician accused of being out of touch with ordinary people. It is democracy itself -- the central project of the modern world, in which people come together to form a political community that defines its shared laws, ensuring dignity and equal rights for each citizen, irrespective of ethnicity, race, religion and gender.

Anguish and despair must quickly give way to a fuller reckon-ing with the deeper reasons behind Trump’s empowerment. We must ask: Where do we stand, and where do we go from here?

Here the Indian experience can be instructive, if not uplifting. For over a decade, Modi was on the fringes of India’s political and intel-lectual life. Accused of supervising mass murder and gang rapes in the state of Gujarat in 2002, he was blocked from travelling to the US and Europe. Journalists and pundits hailed technocrats such as former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an Oxford-educated economist, for their secular outlook as well as eco-nomic wizardry.

Modi’s moment came only when economic growth, which had been largely jobless, began to falter. Corruption scandals exposed the liberal technocrats as a self-aggrandising and inept elite, and the political party most identified with them — the Congress Party — was engulfed by a devastating crisis of legitimacy.

The stage was then set for Modi

to rise. And so he did, eerily antici-pating Trump with the accusation that his country was run by a for-eigner (the Italian-born Congress leader Sonia Gandhi) and traitorous liberals, and overrun by Muslims and immigrants. To complete the analogy with Trump, Modi also boasted about the size of a male body part — his chest — while promising to make his country great again.

Modi’s electoral base was among Indians who felt cheated out of nearly double-digit but unevenly distributed growth. He managed to persuade them that the choicest fruits in India were being stolen by an arrogant and deceptive elite that promised meritocracy but perpetu-ated dynastic rule.

As Tocqueville pointed out long ago, people in the democratic age “have an ardent, insatiable, eternal, invincible passion” for equality, and “will tolerate poverty, enslavement, barbarism, but they will not tolerate aristocracy.” And so in the eyes of the aggrieved, the commonplace liberal accusation against Modi -- that he was menacingly authoritarian -- turned into an asset.

Two years of Modi in power have confirmed that he is a dema-gogue of a particular kind: one that has periodically emerged, since the 19th century, from a radically disil-lusioning experience of liberal democracy, from the latter’s failure to confer dignified citizenship or distribute equitably the benefits of economic growth.

It is now Trump’s turn to benefit from this angry disillusionment with oligarchic dynasts. His advent,

astoundingly simultaneous with that of other demagogues, confirms that the US has reentered the his-tory of the modern world after its long 20th-century exemption from the extensive political chaos that almost all other countries suffered. What happens next depends greatly on how America’s democratic insti-tutions respond to Trump. And, here, India’s example is severely discouraging.

Hindu nationalists are coloniz-ing state and society in India with contemptuous ease, staffing politi-cal and cultural institutions with loyalists. “Hinduize all politics and militarize Hindudom,” V D Savar-kar, the chief ideologue of Hindu supremacism and Modi’s hero, once exhorted. This old fantasy of upper-caste Hindus is now finally being realized under the leader with a 56-inch wide chest. Clamor-ing for retributive violence against Kashmiri Muslims and Pakistan, the media is “falling like nine pins,” as former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said last month.

In many ways, the electoral apotheosis of a Hindu supremacist in 2014 has proven to be less shocking than the zeal of many affluent Indians, including former fans of the uber-technocrat Man-mohan Singh, to rally to his side. Tocqueville may have been right to say that a “taste for well-being eas-ily comes to terms with any government that allows it to find satisfaction.” In the US, much hope rests with those who refuse a simi-larly craven accommodation with a white supremacist.

11TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 OPINION

Pankaj MishraBloomberg

Donald Trump has been pro-claimed an honorary Cossack in St Petersburg. Russia Today editor Margarita Simonyan is driving around Moscow in a

car decorated with an American flag, and the crypto-fascist ideologist of Russian neo-imperialism, Aleksandr Dugin, has called for dumping anti-Americanism now that Trump has won. Russia has been root-ing for the US president-elect throughout the campaign, so naturally, it is now cele-brating his victory.

But it doesn’t mean that we are in for an era of reset and reconciliation between the US and Russia. Putin needs Trump not as a friend but as an ideal enemy, who will help him to mobilise his constituency and keep domestic opposition at bay.

Yes - at the beginning, it will look like the start of a beautiful friendship. Putin won’t be himself if he doesn’t try and dupe Trump into concessions on Ukraine and Syria. In exchange, he might hand over Edward Snowden to the US. He will have no qualms about it because he views Snowden as a traitor who is now biting the hand that feeds him by openly criticising internet censorship in Russia.

But ultimately the Kremlin has other designs for Trump. The pillar that supports the political regime in Russia is the besieged fortress mentality; it is natural for

Donald Trump: Putin’s best frenemy

Modi’s moment came only when economic growth, which had been largely jobless, began to falter. Corruption scandals exposed the liberal technocrats as a self-aggrandising and inept elite, and the political party most identified with them — the Congress Party — was engulfed by a devastating crisis of legitimacy.

For Putin and his entourage, Trump is not an extravagant and experimental choice. It’s a conservative choice driven by the same kind of thinking that made Americans vote for Trump. It takes the world back into the good old Cold War times, when years of arms race and proxy wars were alternated with grandiose summits and nuclear treaties. It makes Russia feel great again.

a people who have seen nothing but misery and genocide for most of the previous century.

To maintain this worldview, it’s vital to have a powerful enemy that attacks Russian interests across the globe, an omnipotent alien force which ordinary Russians can blame for their misfortunes and bleak, unhappy life. Apart from coming across as cynical and ruthless, the enemy should be suitably cartoonish and capable of feeding Russian prop-aganda with ridiculous gaffes and bizarre escapades. George W Bush suited this description ideally. Barack Obama, on the other hand, was problematic - too clever, too cautious and surrounded by people who actually understand what mod-ern Russia is. Obama was hard to hate.

Now Trump is even better than Bush. Rude and ruthless, but also clueless on so many issues, self-con-tradicting, mind-bogglingly disingenuous - he is an epitome of an American oligarch. To someone who grew up in the USSR, Trump is a twin brother of “Mister Twister, ex-minis-ter”, a character from a Soviet children’s poem by Samuil Marshak,

who satirised American capitalism in the 1930s. Millions of Russians still remember it by heart. Trump is a walking caricature of America, a gift to the Russian propaganda machine which the Kremlin couldn’t even dream of.

The ideological proximity of Trump and Putin shouldn’t fool any-one. Yes, they are both members of the global populist movement that has almost completely erased the 20th-century left-right division. They also have very similar constituencies.

In the past week, I’ve driven 3,000 kilometres through the Mid-west swing states, talking to Trump supporters in small towns and vil-lages. The parallels with Russia are striking. Just like Putin’s, Trump’s constituency comprised those who have lost in the process of globalisa-tion and liberalisation, who find it hard to live in this new strange world and compete with those who are better fit for it.

By voting for Trump or Putin, they want to rein in time, make it move slower so they can catch up with those who they see as bigmouth upstarts getting money for nothing.

The term “silent majority”, which Trump supporters are so fond of using, evokes the memory of the “aggres-sively obedient majority” - a 1990s term describing those Russians who didn’t accept democratic changes and paved the way for the advent of Putin.

But the fact that the two politicians lead similar constituencies doesn’t mean that they won’t hate each other. Quite the opposite: They will enjoy mutual hatred. They will feed off it in a happy, political symbiosis.

Putin will love to hate Trump in the same way he loves to hate East European nationalists who might be outwardly anti-Russian, but really appear on the same side of the global political barricade as the Kremlin. Russian TV propaganda takes an utmost pleasure in circulating Russo-phobic statements by Ukrainian, Baltic and Polish nationalists. They help prove that Russia is surrounded by enemies who will strike as soon as it becomes weak and disunited.

But the Kremlin has a major prob-lem with genuine liberals in these countries when they come to power. This is why in Ukraine the pro-Rus-sian Party of Regions was funding the vehemently Russophobic Svoboda

party, according to recently pub-lished fiscal documents.

A Ukraine engulfed in archaic nationalism and Russophobia will never become a successful alterna-tive to Putin’s Russia, it would never be a better place for Russian-speakers to live than Russia itself. A successful and liberal Ukraine, on the other hand, presents an exis-tential risk for Putin’s regime, which is why it decided to start a war there in 2014.

The other benefit of Trump and his likes in other countries, say Brexiteers in Britain, is that they create internal strife, which weak-ens the West and distracts everyone’s attention from what Russia is doing, while at the same time allows the Kremlin to present Russia as an island of stability to TV audiences at home. They also help to undermine Western suprana-tional institutions, such as the EU and Nato, giving Russia free reign in its neighbourhood.

Finally, a billionaire who was extremely reluctant to disclose his tax returns is extremely unlikely to go after the Western assets of his fellow billionaires in the Kremlin, thus greatly reducing the risk of regime change in Russia.For Putin and his entourage, Trump is not an extravagant and experimental choice. It’s a conservative choice driven by the same kind of thinking that made Americans vote for Trump. It takes the world back into the good old Cold War times, when years of arms race and proxy wars were alternated with grandiose summits and nuclear treaties.

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12 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 ASIA / PHILIPPINES

Japan & South Korea sign 'military' dealTokyo

Reuters

Japan and South Korea signed a preliminary pact to share and safeguard sensitive information on North Korea's missile and nuclear

activities yesterday, a move that had already prompted anger among opposition lawmakers in Seoul.

The signing of the General Security of Military Information Agreement had originally been expected in 2012, but South Korea postponed it amid domes-tic opposition against concluding such a security pact with Japan, a one-time colonial ruler.

Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that discussions in the third round of the talks had reached an agreement and that a provisional signing had taken place.

Discussions would continue ahead of a final signing, which Kyodo news agency said could take place by the end of November.

Reclusive North Korea,

which is still technically at war with the South because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, has carried out repeated nuclear and mis-sile tests in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions.

Tokyo's ties with Seoul, plagued by a territorial dispute and Japan's past military aggres-sion, have warmed after reaching a landmark agreement

last December to resolve the issue of Korean girls and women forced to work in Japan's war-

time brothels.South Korean opposition par-

ties had warned against signing

the agreement, threatening to dismiss or impeach Defence Min-ister Han Min-koo.

Nepal finds wreckage of missing aircraftKATHMANDU: The wreck-age of an ultralight aircraft that disappeared in Nepal last year with two people on board has been found, an aviation official said yesterday.

The aircraft went missing shortly after taking off from the popular mountain resort town of Pokhara on October 8 with a Russian pilot and a South African tourist on board.

Search teams were dis-patched to the area after debris was spotted from the air, Pokhara's airport chief Bhola Prasad Guragain said recently.

"The team recovered wreckage of the ultralight craft and bones from the site,"

"The marks on the wreck-age confirm it is the missing craft but we have handed the remains to authorities for tests."

Ultralight flights are pop-ular among tourists in Pokhara for panoramic views of the majestic snow-capped Annapurna mountains.

Duterte ready to set aside human rights to fight terrorismManila

Reuters

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned yesterday that Islamic State militants

driven out of Syria and Iraq could set up in his country, and if that happened he would forego human rights obligations to keep his people safe.

Duterte said the southern Philippine province of Mindanao was already a hotbed of rebel-lion and banditry and he was worried about "looming terror-ism" and an influx of extremists who could exploit the insecurity.

"Once the terrorists of the Middle East are deprived of the land area, the real estate area

where they can sleep ... they will wander to other places and they will come here and we have to prepare for that," he said.

"Remember, these guys, they do not have an iota of what is human rights, believe me. I will not just simply allow my people to be slaughtered for the sake of human rights."

Human rights have been a touchy subject for Duterte, who has vented daily fury at activists and Western governments that have shown concerns about his war on drugs and the high death toll.

A native of Mindanao and mayor of Davao City for 22 years, Duterte said there was a "very strong" Islamist rebellion there and Abu Sayyaf rebels were tak-ing hostages almost every day.

Abu Sayyaf is holding 21 captives and despite an ongo-ing military offensive to wipe them out, its piracy and kid-nappings continue unabated.

Duterte said the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia were working closely to keep foreign extremists at bay.

The president's office

yesterday issued a statement saying Duterte was giving a stern warning to those behind violent acts that he could take "more drastic action" to stop them.

Manila fire leaves many homeless

Seoul

AFP

South Korean prosecutors yesterday questioned two former key presidential

aides over allegations they helped a shadowy confidant of President Park Geun-Hye med-dle in state affairs and secretly visit her office.

Ahn Bong-Geun and Lee Jae-Man, who served as Park's key advisors until last month, are accused of helping Choi to visit the presidential office.

They also allegedly reported

state affairs or leaked confiden-tial documents to her.

TV news footage showed the pair separately entering the Seoul prosecutors' office yester-day morning.

The two, who served as Park's aides for decades, were described by local media as "doorknobs" to the president who wielded enormous power over policymaking.

Two other presidential aides have been arrested in the snow-balling influence-peddling scandal.

Ruling and opposition law-makers, meanwhile, agreed Monday to appoint an independ-ent team of prosecutors to probe the widening scandal.

Under the agreement, a spe-cial prosecutor will be recommended by the opposition

parties, a spokeswoman for main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said.

The deal comes after oppo-sition parties said they were not satisfied with the existing investigation.

The new, larger team -- con-sisting of more than 60 prosecutors and other investi-gators -- will be given 120 days to look into allegations against Choi and a handful of presiden-tial aides mired in the scandal.

The spokeswoman said the agreement would be passed at a plenary session scheduled for Thursday.

Park's former aides questioned over scandal

Manila

Reuters

A fire that raged for seven hours through a crowded Manila slum community

killed two people and left close to 1,500 families homeless, fire authorities said yesterday.

More than 5,000 people were temporary housed in four public schools in Mandaluyong City, to the east of downtown

Manila, as fire protection offi-cials investigated the cause of the fire, which destroyed more than 500 houses on Sunday.

Damage was estimated at $203,800. A blaze destroyed 800 houses in the same com-munity last year.

"The fire spread rapidly because the houses were made of light materials and the roads were so narrow," a fire official said, adding the two casualties had been trapped in their homes.

Protesters shout slogans during a rally against a preliminary signing of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) between South Korea and Japan, in Seoul, yesterday.

Pact

Japan and South Korea signed a preliminary pact to share and safeguard sensitive information on North's missile and nuclear activities.

Seoul's opposition parties warned against signing the agreement, threatening to impeach Defence Minister Han Min-koo.

Leaked papers

The two aides are accused of helping Choi to visit Park's office and allegedly reported state affairs or leaked confidential documents to her.

Manila & Jakarta grant nationality to nearly 3,000 stateless peopleKUALA LUMPUR: After years of living in legal limbo, nearly 3,000 stateless people in the southern Philippines have been granted nationality by Manila and Jakarta this year, UN offi-cials said yesterday.

The 2,957 people are part of a group of some 9,000 people of Indonesian descent who have for generations lived in southern Mindanao in the Philippines.

Seafaring communities have crisscrossed the seas between the Indonesian part of Borneo island and the southern Philippines for centuries.

The group was given Phil-ippine or Indonesian nationality this year in a move welcomed by the UN refugee agency UNHCR as a step toward an ambitious global goal to end statelessness by 2024.

"The cooperation between Indonesia and the Philippines is a good example of how states can work together to resolve this global problem," UNHCR's assistant high com-missioner for protection Volker Türk said.

UNHCR estimates there are about 10 million stateless people worldwide, with large populations in Myanmar, Thailand, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast.

About 40% of them live in Southeast Asia, according to the UN agency.

Residents take shelter at a sports gym after a fire in the residential district of Addition Hills in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, yesterday.

Call to release 'saddest polar bear'Beijing

Reuters

Animal rights groups have called for the permanent return home of "the sad-

dest polar bear in the world" on display in a shopping mall in southern China after the mall aquarium announced the bear would temporarily be

moved during an upgrade.The three-year-old female

polar bear, named Pizza, has become a focus of global media attention since Hong Kong-based Animal Asia posted in July an online video of the bear lying on her side in a glass-walled enclosure in the city of Guangzhou.

"Pizza the polar bear will temporarily leave Guangzhou

and return to her birthplace," the Grandview Mall Aquarium said.

"The move was part of ongoing upgrades and "minor alterations" to the mall and the aquarium would remain open during Pizza's absence".

Animal right groups have called for the move to be made permanent saying that condi-tions in the mall are unsuitable.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech during the 80th National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) founding anniversary at the NBI headquarters in Metro Manila, yesterday.

Former Bhutto aide Badr passes awayPAKISTAN People’s Par-ty’s senior leader Jehangir Badr, who died of cardiac arrest late on Sunday night, was buried here yesterday. He was 72.

A close aide to the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto and a die-hard PPP worker, Badr was admit-ted to a private hospital in Defence after he suf-fered a heart attack in the evening.

According to a PPP leader, doctors tried their best but couldn’t save his life. Badr had been ill for quite some time as he was suffering from kidney complications.

He had reduced his political activities because of his deterio-rating health.

Born in 1944 in Lahore, Badr started his political career as a student leader from the Punjab University. He was imprisoned during Gen ZiaulHaq’s dictato-rial regime. He served as a federal minister and a senator and also assumed various party offices.

Forests in KP lose 74% densityTHE forests in Paki-stan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have lost around 74 per-cent density over the years due to incessant deforest-ation, officials here claim.

As a consequence, the province has had to con-tend with the ill effects of climate change, lead-ing to disastrous flooding and soaring temperatures.

Due to the unavailabil-ity of alternative sources of income, forests stand to be the sole source of livelihood for people in mountain-ous regions. According to the Research and Develop-ment (R and D) directorate, a wing at the Forest Depart-ment that checks pressure on forests, people in K-P burn wood worth Rs75bn annually. The wood mainly comes from forests in mountainous areas.

NEWS BYTES

13TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN

Islamabad

AFP

The Pakistani military accused India yester-day of killing seven soldiers in cross-bor-der fire in disputed

Kashmir, in what appeared to be an unusually high toll after months of surging tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

"Seven (Pakistani) soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) at the Line of Control (LoC) in Bhimber sector in a crossfire LoC violation by Indian troops late last night," the military said in a state-ment. "Pakistani troops while responding to Indian unprovoked firing targeted Indian posts effectively."

Following the incident Paki-stan summoned the Indian High Commissioner to protest the kill-ing of the soldiers.

"The Foreign Secretary deplored the increasing Indian

ceasefire violations at the LoC and the Working Boundary, especially in the last two months," said a statement issued by the foreign office.

"The Foreign Secretary asked the Indian High Commissioner to convey to his government that it must stop the provocative firing and observe the ceasefire. Paki-stan is pursuing a policy of restraint, which should not be construed as a sign of weakness,"

the statement said.However the Indian army

alleged that the ceasefire viola-tion was initiated by Pakistan.

"There was a brief ceasefire violation, initiated by Pakistan in Naushera sector, which was effectively retaliated last night," Col N N Joshi, Indian Army spokesman in the Kashmir region told AFP.

Tensions across the long-dis-puted de facto Himalayan border reached dangerous levels in Sep-tember, when India blamed Pakistani militants for a raid on an army base that killed 19 sol-diers. India said it had responded by carrying out "surgical strikes" across the heavily militarised bor-der, sparking a furious reaction from Islamabad, which denied the strikes took place. There have since been repeated outbreaks of cross-border firing, with both sides reporting deaths and inju-ries including of civilians, though the deaths of seven soldiers in what appeared to be one such incident is relatively high.

The border skirmishes come against the backdrop of months of protests against Indian rule of Kashmir, sparked by the killing of a popular rebel leader in July.

Nearly 90 people, most of them young protesters, have been killed in clashes with security forces in Kashmir since then.

Pakistani Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif accused India of carrying out the latest cross-bor-der skirmishes in an effort to distract the world's attention from the violent protests.

Seven soldiers dead in cross-border fire

Army Chief Raheel Sharif and military officials offer funeral prayers for soldiers, who were killed in cross-border firing at the Line of Control (LoC), in Bhimber sector, in Jhelum, yesterday.

Surging tensions

After the incident Pakistan summoned the Indian High Commissioner to protest the killing of the soldiers.

However, the Indian army alleged that the ceasefire violation was initiated by Pakistan.

Islamabad

Internews

Pakistan has approached US president-elect Don-ald Trump through one of

his close aides, seeking to develop an ‘understanding’ with the new administration on issues ranging from war on ter-ror to the complex nature of geopolitics in South Asia.

The development came just days after Trump’s stunning victory in the US presidential election shook the entire world, including Pakistan, where pol-icymakers are now discussing options on how to deal with the enigmatic leader given his rad-ical stance on international and regional issues.

Since Trump being the next president of the US is now a reality, Pakistan has decided to follow a ‘proactive’ approach to reach out to the Republican leader.

A senior official with the knowledge of that ‘proactive’ approach told The Express Trib-une that Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington Jalil Abbas Jilani wrote a letter to Trump on behalf of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to congratulate him on his victory, as well as his gov-ernment’s desire to work with his administration.

But, apart from these dip-lomatic manoeuvres, the government is also relying on ‘unconventional’ approaches, such as reaching out to the Trump administration through his advisers.

One of his advisers that have been approached by Paki-stan is SajidTarar, a Pakistani-American, who came to the limelight after he founded a movement in the US seeking support of Muslims for Trump in the run up to the race for the White House.

It was a bold and to some extent unpopular move on his part due to the fact that the majority of American Muslims as well as those of Pakistani ori-gins supported Trump’s rival Hilary Clinton.

With Trump’s unexpected victory, Tarar has now emerged as the most sought after person in the US. He was one of the 36 advisers appointed by the Republican candidate for the hard fought election campaign. Tarar, who originally hails from MandiBahauddin, is expected to be given a key role in the Trump Administration.

Tarar confirmed that he was approached by the Govern-ment of Pakistan as part of its efforts to reach out to Donald T r u m p a n d h i s administration.

Lahore

Internews

The Punjab Archives Department of Pakistan’s most populous province

which has been indirectly denied land for a purpose-built building having the capacity to safely keep its treasure trove of records of the past several cen-turies, has now been allowed to have at least digitalised his-tory with an estimated Rs100m.

The digitalisation of the records will be the task of the Punjab Information Technol-ogy Board (PITB) and the chief minister has approved the project, sources say. The PITB will recruit technical staff and purchase equipment to digital-ise the entire record in two years.

The project includes mak-ing scanned copies of the original records and catalogu-ing, allowing online access to

it, especially to students and researchers.

And sources say the digital-isation is still not the answer to the question of how to keep the original records in safe custody. There still is a need to have a purpose-built place for the pro-tection of the records otherwise they will vanish sooner or later.

The story of the struggle for getting such building has a his-tory of at least four decades. And it appears to be having its conclusion now.

Sources say there has always been a need to keep the record at a single place because it is a link to the past of Punjab. The hope re-emerged when Archives Department’s library was declared dangerous after it developed cracks some years ago.

It was housed in the for-merly stables of Ranjeet Singh’s French General Ventura whose residence is now the Chief Sec-retary Block.

Kabul

Reuters

Afghanistan’s president asked the United Nations yesterday to add the Tal-

iban’s new leader to its sanctions list, in a further blow to efforts to revive the stalled peace process.

Afghan forces have strug-gled to contain the Taliban insurgency, with two deadly sui-cide bombings claimed by the group at the Nato air base in Bagram and at a German

consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif in just the past week.

“We want the UN to add names of terrorists including Taliban leader Mullah Haibat-ullah (Akhundzada) to its sanctions list,” President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement after meeting with members of the UN sanctions committee in Kabul.

Akhundzada was named leader of the Taliban after the death of his predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in a US drone strike in May.

One of the Taliban’s main demands for peace talks is for their senior commanders to be taken off the UN blacklist that imposes asset freezes and travel bans. The peace process broke down last year almost immedi-ately after preliminary talks began in Pakistan.

Since then, there have been various efforts to get it started again, including a series of talks involving the United States, Pakistan, China and Afghani-stan, but none has so far had any success.

Afghan president asks UN to add Taliban leader to sanctions list

Members of the Taliban at the site of the execution of three men accused of murdering a couple during a robbery in Ghazni province, Afghanistan.

Pakistan government reaches out to Trump

Islamabad

Internews

Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Reg-ulatory Authority (Ogra) has warned the govern-

ment that it would be legally bound to notify an across-the-board increase of 12 percent in the natural gas tariff for all con-sumers today.

In a letter to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, the regulator told the government that it had for-warded the prescribed price for the two state gas utilities - Sui Northern (SNGPL) and Sui Southern (SSGCL) - on October 6, on the basis of their revenue requirements for the current fis-cal year.

The letter reminds the gov-ernment that under section 8(3)

of the Ogra Ordinance, it was bound to set minimum charges and the sale price for each cat-egory of retail consumer within 40 days of the determination.

Section 8(4) of the law makes it binding on Ogra to “notify in the official Gazette the prescribed price as determined by the authority to be the sale price for the said category of retail consumers for natural gas” if the federal government fails to notify the same within those 40 days.

However, in a case before the Islamabad High Court, the ministry has adopted the stance that it is the purview of the reg-ulator to notify the gas tariff 40 days after it determined the pre-scribed price. If the regulator had not increased the consumer tariff in the past, then Ogra was responsible for the lapse.

Separately, Petroleum Minister ShahidKhaqanAbbasi said last week the government would not increase the gas prices.

This position has put Ogra in a bind. In its letter, a copy of which was also sent to the Cab-inet Division, the regulator told the government that it would be left with no other option but to notify the prescribed price as the consumer tariff with effect from November 16 unless it was given written advice on how to proceed. A senior Ogra official confirmed it had issued a reminder to the government, but said the government still had two days to take a decision.

“If the government doesn’t want to increase prices, it needs to convey its decision in writing and Ogra would maintain the status quo,” the official said.

Ogra may increase natural gas tariff by 12% today

History to be digitalised

14 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 INDIA

TEENAGE paralympic swimmer Kumari Revathi Nayka and chess player Dev Shah were among the recipients of the National Child Awards, which Pres-ident Pranab Mukherjee conferred yesterday at Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Children's Day.

The awards were given to 31 children, three individuals and five insti-tutions in the categories of 'National Child Award for Exceptional Achieve-ment 2016', 'National Award for Child Welfare (Institution) 2015', 'National Award for Child Welfare (Individual) 2015' and 'Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award 2016'. The National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement was presented to 31 chil-dren in recognition of their exceptional abilities a n d o u t s t a n d i n g achievements.

The gold medal was given to Nayka, 16, for excellence in swimming. Dev Shah, 9, is the youngest to be awarded for excellence in chess.

The other 29 children received the awards for excelling in fields like academics, innovation, arts, sports and music.

The five institutions and three individuals were honoured for out-standing performance in the field of child develop-ment and welfare for 2015. The Rajiv Gandhi Manav Seva Award was presented to Devesh Nath Dikshit from Bihar, Ban-dana Kumari from Jharkhand and Yesu S. from Kerala. Women and Child Development Min-ister Maneka Gandhi was present on the occasion.

President confers awards on Children's Day

A carcass of a wild elephant, who according to the forest officials died due to electrocution by the low-tension electric wires, is pushed into a grave at a tea estate in Nagaon district in the Northeastern state of Assam, yesterday.

Elephant cremation

30% rise in ocular and respiratory complaints in DelhiNew Delhi

IANS

With arrival of winter and increase in smog, Delhi hospitals have

witnessed a 30 percent rise in respiratory and ocular com-plaints in the last two-three weeks.

According to the hospitals, the major cases were of skin and eye allergies, followed by con-junctivitis lung and chest infection. "Certainly, there is sudden rush of patients with res-piratory, ocular and skin problems. Though the exact fig-ure can't be given but there is a rise of at least 20-30 percent patients in our respiratory and ophthalmology OPDs," AK Rai, Medical Superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital, said.

According to Rai, the data will be more precise at the end of the month as it is being compiled.

Rai said it's not just lungs and heart that get affected by pollution but eyes too are sen-sitive and prone to irritation from allergies, chemicals and pollutants in the air. "In fact, high levels of pollutants and rise in PM 2.5 levels is leading to a number of eye conditions rang-ing from simple eye irritation to

severe allergy," said Rai, an Otorhinolaryngologist.

Other government hospitals such as All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hos-pital also witnessed a surge in patients with respiratory and ocular problems, which con-sisted mostly of allergy patients.

"This year it's quite more than what we experience every winter season. In fact, the arrival of asthma patients with extreme complications is quite early in comparison to the later part of the winter season," Rajesh Samaria, a respiratory expert at RML, said.

Rakesh Chawla, Senior Con-sultant of Respiratory Medicine at Saroj Super Speciality Hospi-tal, said: "The number of patients in the OPD has increased dras-tically in the past week."

"The thick layer of smog and the increasing level of air pollu-tion have led to wheezing, difficulty in breathing and chok-ing. Inhaling this polluted air is very dangerous especially for children whose lungs are still developing."

Saroj Super Specialty Hos-pital has reported at least over 300 patients with respiratory and ocular problems in the last one week.

Exams heldafter months in KashmirSrinagar

IANS

Tens of thousands of students sat for their Class 12 annual exams yesterday after four months of unrest dur-

ing which schools remained shut across the Kashmir Valley.

Officials said nearly 95 per-cent of 45,000 students appeared on the first day of the examinations across 484 centres in the valley.

"The Class 12 examinations were conducted smoothly," Zahoor Ahmad Chatt, Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (BOSE), said

here. "The percentage of stu-dents taking this exam is normal given the averages over the last

many years. There are no reports of any untoward incident from anywhere during the conduct of the exams."

Authorities made elaborate arrangements of security at all these exam centres where police and paramilitary security forces were deployed in strength.

Parents ferried children to the exam centres using different modes of private transport as a separatist-sponsored shutdown continued. Examination of Class 10 are to begin today for which some 55,000 students have been enrolled.

Chatt said 98 percent of Class

10 students have already taken their admit cards.

Since all educational institu-tions, including schools, have remained closed since July 9, the authorities decided to allow a 50 percent cut in the syllabus for those students willing to take the exams.

Kashmiri students leave after sitting for secondary school exams at an examination centre in Srinagar yesterday.

Tough test

Nearly 95 percent of 45,000 students appeared on the first day of the Class 12 examinations across 484 centres.

Examination of Class 10 are to begin today for which some 55,000 students have been enrolled.

Nitish Kumar interacts with people on total prohibitionPatna

IANS

On the first day of his 'Lok Samvad' programme, Bihar Chief Minister Nit-

ish Kumar yesterday made it clear that total prohibition with the stringent new Bihar Excise & Prohibition Act, 2016, will con-tinue in the state, an official said.

Principal Excise Secretary Amir Subhani told media here that Nitish Kumar interacted with 37 persons on Bihar Prohi-bition and Excise Act, 2016 during the programme.

"Interaction was positive with several people coming up with suggestions," he said.

Subhani said hundreds of

people have also sent their feed-back on prohibition by e-mails, SMSes and letters to the state government.

Nitish Kumar said the gov-ernment will not compromise on the stringent provisions meant to punish violators of total pro-hibition as "consuming liquor and its manufacturing are not fundamental rights".

Officials said Nitish Kumar told people that he strongly believes in having discussion and debate on any issue with them. He reiterated that over 16,000 people, mostly those engaged in manufacturing illicit liquor, have been arrested and sent to jail for violating the prohibition that came into effect in April 2016.

NItish Kumar also said that he is against innocent being harassed, arrested and punished under the stringent prohibition law.

Excise Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan said there will be no relief to violators of prohibition. "Some people have demanded more stringent provisions and increase of imprisonment term against violators of prohibition," he said. However, some people have suggested that the govern-ment should amend the act. "They have suggested to change the provisions like all adult members of the family would be arrested if liquor is found stored in any household and collective fine will be imposed on the village."

News channels paint Kashmir black: MehboobaJAMMU and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti lashed out at some television news channels for bringing a bad name to the Kashmir Val-ley in their race for TRP ratings.

Mehbooba Mufti said: "The role of these news chan-nels has not been positive at all during the present unrest in the Valley. They get some guests from Pakistan and also some from our country, on their TV shows and for 24 hours they exhibit anger."

"It hurts to see what they say... Nobody talks about the local youth saving army sol-diers from a truck that met an accident. Nobody shows how a shikarawallah gave his life saving tourists," she said.

India sees over 30 million rise in diabeticsNew Delhi

IANS

In the last one decade, the number of diabetes patients in India increased by over 30

million due to sedentary lifestyle and erratic schedule mostly common in the age group of 20-40 years, said the country's leading diabetic experts.

Their statistics stated that in the early 2000, there were around 31.7 million persons

diagnosed with diabetes and by 2015, the figure increased to 62 million. "This change is due to the erratic food timings, sleep, unhealthy lifestyle, physical inactivity and other erratic pat-terns of lifestyle. Such changes in lifestyle leads to insulin resist-ance wherein body does not use insulin properly," said Abhay Vispute, Diabetologist at Mum-bai-based SRV Hospital.

Though genetic factors con-tributed to diabetes, Vispute said:

"Urban migration and obesity due to rising social standards were the other reasons."

India has been declared as the "world diabetic capital", with cases to touch 70 million by 2025. "Not only youngsters, even children between the age group of 12-16 years are detected with Type 2 diabetes.

It is essential that they understand the importance of modifying their lifestyle, also, for those who are detected

with diabetes, their siblings or children must also conduct reg-ular check-ups," said Tejas Shah, Diabetologist at the Holy Spirit Hospital, Mumbai.

The experts also said that 10 per cent of the pre-diabetic patients become diabetes patients every year.

Pradeep Gadge, Chief Dia-betologist at Gadge Diabetes Centre, said an increase of 31 million among diabetes patients within 15 years was alarming.

A 'supermoon' rises behind a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Marina Beach in Chennai yesterday.

'Supermoon' in Chennai

15TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 INDIA

Sikh women pray near the offerings inside a Gurudwara on the occasion of the 547th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikhism, in Jammu, yesterday.

Sikh ritual

Currency woes across country continueNew Delhi IANS

Common people across India continued to suffer yesterday with millions scrambling for cash to meet basic

needs even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended the ban on high value notes, saying the move had given sleepless nights to those with ill-gotten wealth.

Addressing a public rally in Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said that as a result of demone-tising 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, the poor were sleeping well and those who had unaccountd money were buying sleeping pills. But on the streets of Delhi and elsewhere in the country, common people continued to bear the trauma of cashlessness for a sixth day after the surprise decision was announced on November 8 night.

Many fear that the cash cri-sis, despite Modi on Sunday asking people to be patient for 50 days, may continue longer than that. Going by the rate at which fresh currency is being disbursed to banks, at least four months are needed to replace demonetised notes, experts said.

The hardships of the com-mon people deepened yesterday as most banks in northern India were shut on account of Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti. Partly as a result, many ATMs could not be refurbished with fresh cash. And the machines which had money ran dry quickly as people waited in long queues.

Rajesh Kumar, a private

company's employee in Noida near Delhi, said he withdrew Rs 2,500 — the maximum allowed — from an ATM "almost mirac-ulously" after two days of managing his life with little cash.

"While I was coming down from the Sector 16 metro station, I saw a cash loading van approaching an ATM. I ran and was the first person to wait," Rajesh Kumar said.

"Others gathered in no time and it became a long queue. Someone from the van announced that only Rs. 1 lakh was being loaded in the ATM which meant only the first 40 in the queue would be able to draw

Rs2,500 each. Others left disappointed."

But most others were not as lucky as him.

Anand Tokas, a south Delhi resident and a father of three, said he somehow managed to survive the last few days on Rs2,000 in smaller denomina-tions his kids had saved from their pocket money. "Now I have nothing. If I don't withdraw cash today, I will have nothing to buy even basic essentials," said Tokas, a gym owner.

The demonetisation also hit businesses hard across the nation. According to the Confed-eration of All India Traders,

post-demonatisation trade in markets across the country had plunged to "25 per cent in com-parison to normal days".

Anil Chopra, 42, who runs a departmental store in Greater Noida, said his losses were more than the estimate.

He said sales at his store had fallen 50 per cent because peo-ple didn't have cash and "not everyone is able to pay through credit and debit cards".

The situation was no better in other major cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad as well as innumerable smaller towns where the ATM ratio is very poor.

Opposition trains guns at Modi New Delhi IANS

As people across India continued to queue outside banks and

ATMs for money, a splintered opposition yesterday showed the first signs of coming together against Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi since he took power in 2014 — over the demonetisation move.

As they launched separate but sharp attacks on the Modi government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Ban-erjee continued her efforts to bring together select parties against the decision.

And even as Modi justified the demonetisation drive and claimed the poor were sleep-ing in ease, opposition parties took turns to lambast him for the hardships and suffering of the common people and some called for its rollback or sus-pension. The Congress blamed the government for what it said was an "economic anar-chy" while the CPI-M vowed to pin down the Modi govern-ment in Parliament.

Trinamool Congress chief Banerjee, who has urged the

opposition to fight jointly, termed the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes a "killer" for the common peo-ple and accused Modi of insulting the poor by saying they were sleeping peacefully. "The economy has already lost a staggering Rs 1.5 lakh crore in only six days," she said.

Banerjee warned that the currency spike, which has led to millions thronging banks to deposit or exchange the now worthless currency and also to withdraw money, could lead to economic recession.

And in a bid to drum up support against the Centre, Banerjee yesterday tele-phoned Sitaram Yenchury, whose CPI-M is her biggest and long-standing rival in West Bengal.

Yechury said the Centre's move won't help tackle cor-ruption and black money.

"Our agenda is to pin the government on the floor of the house," said Yechury and demanded that the demone-tised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes should be accepted by public utilities and hospitals till alternate arrangements were made by authorities.

Customers queue outside an ATM to withdraw money in Siliguri yesterday.

Kerala CM meets Jaitley over cash crunchNew Delhi IANS

As long queues continued in front of banks and ATMs for the sixth day,

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (pictured) and his cab-inet colleague Finance Minister Thomas Issac called on Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi yesterday and con-veyed to him the difficult situation on account of spiking of high value currencies.

"We met him and told him our problems. He has not given any assurances, but said he will look into the issues that we raised demanding increased sup-ply of new currencies and also to include the needs of the

cooperative banks in our state," Vijayan told reporters in Delhi.

However, the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi (KVVES), the largest trade organ-isation with over a million members, called off its protest following assurances that the state government will address t h e i r i s s u e s o v e r demonetisation.

The KVVES had decided to go on an indefinite strike from today to protest the collapse in business in the wake of demon-etising Rs500 and Rs1,000 currencies.

Meanwhile, a delegation led by Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, former Chief Min-ister Oommen Chandy and their UDF colleagues called on the

head of the Reserve Bank of India regional office in the Ker-ala capital and apprised him of

the grave situation prevailing in the state.

"We have asked him to see that the spiked currencies are accepted from people who seek medical treatment besides at tourism destinations and in hotels, and briefed him on the need for the RBI to favourably consider the needs of the coop-erative banks in the state," said Chennithala.

The State Lotteries depart-ment has decided to stop printing of lottery tickets for the time being as the daily draws are not taking place, following the demonetisation and the huge shortage of currencies that are legal tender.

The Congress-led UDF has decided to observe on Thursday

as a "black day" to protest the manner in which the spiking of currencies was done, without ensuring proper supply of fresh currencies. "We do not wish to put our people into more stress, and hence the UDF workers will wear a black badge on Thurs-day. The only protest that we will stage would be in front of the Accountant General's office here. We will not put anyone to incon-venience due to our protest," added Chennithala.

Baseless things were being said about the thousands of cooperative banks, Chennithala told the media. "The cooperative banks are for the ordinary peo-ple in our state and they do not have any sort of black money..." he said.

No parking fee at airports till November 21THE government extended the suspension of vehicle park-ing charges at all airports till the midnight of November 21.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the move to extend the suspension is expected to facilitate the smooth movement of passengers.

"This has been done in order to facilitate the smooth movement of passengers," the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Monday, the government had extended the suspension of the fee collec-tion at all the toll plazas on National Highways till November 18.

Will masses still back you, Shiv Sena asks ModiTERMING the demonetisation as "a betrayal" of the people, the Shiv Sena asked whether the people would still support Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Comparing the govern-ment's secret mission to an "economic civil war", the Sena, a member of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, said Modi had already dropped one bomb by the demonetisation. Questioning Modi's claims that the people of the country have "blessed" him for the demonetisaton step, the Sena said it was "sheer betrayal of the masses". "In order to extract the black money from a handful of industrialists, the Modi gov-ernment has thrown 125 crore people on the streets. They are crowding outside banks, ATMs to get back their own money, waiting in long queues with-out food, water and some have even died in the process."

Congress dares PM to disclose BJP transactionsNew Delhi IANS

The Congress dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make public the bank

transactions of the BJP's national and regional accounts from March to September 2016, following allegations of a spike in deposits in some bank accounts in September.

The Congress also attacked the government for allegedly leaking the demonetise move to a "selected few" and ques-tioned how the BJP's Kolkata unit had deposited Rs1 crore on November 8, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation. "In September 2016, as against August 2016, there was a spike in deposits of Rs 5,88,600 lakh crore in banks across the coun-try," Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here.

"According to RBI figures, money deposited in all the banks in July 2016 was Rs96,196bn, whereas in Sep-tember 2016, this rose to Rs1,02,082bn," he added.

"In July 2015, the money deposited in all the banks was Rs88,301bn. In September 2015, the money deposited in the banks was Rs89,462bn, which means around Rs1-lakh crore extra money was deposited," said Surjewala.

"But, in July 2016, Rs 96,196 billion was deposited and in September 2016, it became 1,02,082bn, which shows that the increase in the deposits dur-ing this period was around Rs14-lakh crore," he added.

He also termed as a "lame duck excuse", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley clarifying that in September the arrears of the Seventh Pay Commission was paid leading to increase in bank deposits.

Marrakesh, Morocco AFP

The year 2016 is on track to be the hottest on record, the UN forecast yesterday,

while the World Bank calculated that 26 million people slip into poverty annually due to natural disasters, reflecting the risks posed by climate change.

Scientists, meanwhile, reported that greenhouse-gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, the main driver of global warming, remained constant for the third year running in 2015.

All three reports were issued on the sidelines of high-level UN climate talks in Marrakesh still reeling from news that Donald

Trump, who denies climate change, had captured the White House.

The fact that economic growth and CO2 pollution no longer move in lock-step is an encouraging sign, the scientists said.

But a steady pace of emis-sions still puts Earth on a collision course with deadly superstorms, droughts, heat-waves and other extreme weather events.

Unless carbon pollution is slashed quickly and deeply, they warned, humanity will exhaust its “carbon budget”—the total amount of CO2 that can be emit-ted without crossing the redline of dangerous warming—within a few decades.

“We have already used more than two thirds of the emissions quota to keep climate change well below two degrees,” the annual Global Carbon Budget report said.

Also yesterday, the UN fore-cast average global temperatures in 2016 will “very likely” be 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.16 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial era, the benchmark for global warming. Sixteen of the 17 hottest years on record will have occurred this century, according to the World Meteor-ological Organisation (WMO).

The world is already more than halfway to the upper limit of “well under” 2C agreed, the limit set in the 196-nation Paris Agreement that went into force

earlier this month. In parts of Arc-tic Russia, temperatures were 6 C to 7 C higher than the long-term average, the WMO reported.

In a separate report, the World Bank found that natural disasters drive at least 26 mil-lion people into poverty each year and cause more than $500bn in lost consumption, far exceeding the value of damage to property alone. Those num-bers will be driven up in the coming decades as climate change amplifies the destructive power of cyclones, flooding and drought.

“Severe climate shocks threaten to roll back decades of progress against poverty,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement.

UN forecast

26m

16

26 million people slip into poverty annually due to natural disasters, reflecting the risks posed by climate change.

Sixteen of the 17 hottest years on record will have occurred this century, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

16 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 EUROPE

Policemen walking in front of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft for the next International Space Station crew of Peggy Whitson of the US, Oleg Novitskiy of Russia and Thomas Pesquet of France as it is transported from an assembling hangar to the launchpad ahead of its upcoming launch, at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, yesterday.

Full moon appears behind the Messeturm tower in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, yesterday.

On way to launchpad

Supermoon

Sofia

AFP

EU member Bulgaria headed yesterday into fresh political turbu-lence after a former airforce commander

seen as more sympathetic to Russia triumphed in presiden-tial elections, prompting Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to quit.

In his victory speech, Rumen Radev reiterated his opposition to EU sanctions on Russia and praised new US President-elect Donald Trump for “seeking more dialogue” with President Vladimir Putin.

“This gives a lot of hope for reducing (the risk) of confron-tation, particularly in Syria” where Russia and the US are backing opposite sides in a bloody civil war, the fighter pilot said. He won 59.4 percent of the vote, well ahead of the more Western-leaning Tsetska Tsacheva, Borisov’s uninspiring hand-picked candidate, who garnered just 36.2 percent,

near-complete official results showed yesterday.

The outcome was mirrored in Moldova, a small ex-commu-nist nation wedged between Ukraine and Romania, where the pro-Russian Igor Dodon beat his pro-European rival Maia Sandu to the presidency.

“The results clearly show that the ruling coalition no longer holds the majority,” Bori-sov said on Sunday evening as he threw in the towel.

“I apologise to those who supported us. I thought I was doing the right thing... If Bulgar-ians want a political crisis then they shall have one,” the burly 57-year-old told reporters.

Bulgaria is now set for months of political inertia. Bori-sov yesterday formally handed his resignation to parliament. An interim government will govern until fresh elections, which are not expected until March at the earliest and could well be incon-clusive. Radev, 53, due to take office on January 22, has no political experience and was

little known before being backed by the opposition Social-ists to run for president.

Like other anti-establish-ment politicians—not least Trump but also populists around Europe—he struck a chord with voters by attacking the status quo and stressing issues like national security and immigration.

Experts also saw his victory as a protest vote at Borisov’s failure to improve the lot of ordinary Bulgarians—the aver-age monthly is just 480 euros ($535) -- and to tackle rampant corruption. Radev’s clear sup-port for the lifting of sanctions on Russia and ambivalent state-ments about the EU, NATO and Crimea have prompted specu-lation that Bulgaria could lean more towards Moscow.

This could further under-mine unity within the EU, already reeling from June’s Brexit vote, in its stance towards Russia just as Trump’s surprise election victory raises worries about the future of Nato.

Berlin

AFP

Germany’s ruling coa-l i t ion backed Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Stein-meier (pictured) as

the country’s next president yes-terday, paving the way for an outspoken critic of Donald Trump to become head of state.

Party leaders have been wrangling for months over whom to nominate as a succes-sor to President Joachim Gauck, a 76-year-old pastor from the ex-communist East Germany who is stepping down due to his advanced age.

Yesterday, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc agreed on Germany’s most popular politician, Steinmeier, whose name had been put for-ward by his Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Merkel, who was unable to put forward a viable conserva-tive candidate, called the choice of Steinmeier a “sensible deci-sion” that would stand for “stability, particularly in these uncertain times”, during a con-ference call with party leaders, participants said.

SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel, who is also Germany’s vice-chancellor and economy minister, told reporters Stein-meier was the right candidate “to uphold the good traditions of statesmanship that Germany has maintained since World War II”.

The new president—a figure who is meant to transcend party politics and serve as a moral standard bearer for the nation—will be elected on February 12 by a special assembly of MPs, delegates from the 16 federal states, and other notables.

Steinmeier, 60, has emerged in recent months as the German government’s most strident detractor of US president-elect Donald Trump.

He warned a day after Trump’s shock election that transatlantic relations would become “more difficult”.

“I think we must expect that American foreign policy will become less predictable for us and we must expect that the United States will be more inclined to make decisions on its own,” he said.

During the US campaign, Steinmeier was even more damning, saying the prospect of a Trump presidency was a

“frightening” prospect for the world. He compared Trump to a “hate preacher”, saying he had much in common with “fear-mongers” in Germany’s right-wing populist AfD party as well as advocates of Britain’s exit from the EU.

A veteran of the German political scene and a familiar face in world capitals, Stein-meier served as Merkel’s vice-chancellor and chief dip-lomat during her first “grand coalition” government from 2005 to 2009.

In his second stint as foreign minister beginning in 2013, he has at times drawn fire for attempting to keep the lines of communications open with Rus-sia despite deteriorating relations over Ukraine.

Steinmeier tapped as next German president

Pristina

AFP

Kosovo will finally get its own international tele-p h o n e c o d e i n

mid-December after six years of talks with neighbouring Ser-bia, authorities in Pristina announced on Sunday. The tiny Balkan territory unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move consist-ently denied by Belgrade.

The two sides have been

negotiating to improve ties since 2011 under guidance from the European Union but several issues had remained unresolved including disputed state prop-erty and, until now, the dialling code. “Kosovo will have its own international dialling code, +383,” said Edita Tahiri, Kosovo’s chief negotiator with Serbia.

The International Telecom-munication Union will officially launch the code on December 15, she added. Kosovo landlines currently use the same dialling

code as Serbia, +381.Under a bizarre arrange-

ment, mobile phone users trying to reach Kosovo from abroad must first dial the code for Monaco or Slovenia. According to Pristina, the lack of a dialling code has cost it some $217m.

Serbian negotiator Marko Djuric welcomed the deal.

“It’s an important agreement which will certainly have posi-tive consequences for our relations with Pristina and with the EU,” he said.

Record heat in 2016 but no drop in CO2 emissions

Chisinau

AFP

PRO-RUSSIAN candidate Igor Dodon yesterday emerged as winner of Moldova’s pres-idential runoff, viewed as an East-West choice in the impov-erished ex-Soviet country.

With 99.9 percent of bal-lots counted, Socialist Party chief Dodon had 52.3 percent of the votes, according to the electoral commission, with pro-European rival Maia Sandu on 47.7 percent.

“We have won, everyone knows it,” Dodon told a press conference overnight. The full results are expected to be announced later this week.

The vote marks the first time in 20 years that Moldova—wracked by cor-ruption scandals in recent years—is electing its leader by national vote instead of hav-ing parliament select the head of state. Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, the tiny nation of 3.5 million peo-ple is caught in a political tug-of-war between Russia and the West.

Dodon had come out top in the first round of voting on October 30 with 48 percent ahead of Sandu, a centre-right former education minister who worked for the World Bank, with 38 percent. They have diametrically opposed visions for Moldo-va’s future.

Dodon—who served as economy minister under a communist government between 2006 and 2009 -- has called for deeper ties and boosting trade with Moscow. Sandu meanwhile had urged a path towards Europe, calling for the withdrawal of thou-sands of Russian troops from the Russian-speaking separa-tist region of Transdniester.

Kosovo to get dialling code

Bulgaria in turmoil after PM quits

Igor Dodon wins Moldova presidency

Next candidate

Party leaders have been wrangling for months over whom to nominate as a successor to President Joachim Gauck.

Merkel, who was unable to put forward a viable conservative candidate, called the choice of Steinmeier a “sensible decision” that would stand for “stability".

17TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 EUROPE

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits a youth fire brigade at Wedding in Berlin, Germany, yesterday.

Little firefighters

London

AFP

Prosecutors were ques-tioning WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadoran embassy in London

yesterday, the latest twist in the long-running legal battle over an abuse allegation against him. Swedish prosecutor Ingrid Isgren, due to be present while Assange faced a grilling by an Ecuadoran prosecutor, entered the embassy behind the famous Harrods department store shortly before 1000 GMT, wit-nesses said.

Assange’s lawyer Per Samu-elsson said the questioning is expected to last several days at the embassy where the founder of the secret-spilling website has been holed up for four years, refusing to come out over fears he could be extradited to the United States.

“I am very hopeful,” Samu-elsson told Sweden’s TT news agency. “Objectively, there is no doubt that everything happened as Assange said it did.”

Assange, a 45-year-old Aus-tralian, sought refuge in the embassy in June 2012 after Swe-den sought his arrest over allegations of abuse and assault. He has always denied the claims, saying they were politically motivated.

The former computer hacker

insists his encounters with the two women, who he met on a 2010 trip to Sweden, He has refused to travel to Sweden for questioning, fearing he could be extradited over WikiLeaks’ explosive release of 500,000 US secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Swedish prosecutors dropped the assault probe last year after the five-year statute of limitations expired. But they still want to question him about the 2010 abuse allegation, which carries a 10-year statute of limitations.

A small group of protesters gathered outside the embassy to greet the prosecutors, waving banners reading “Free Assange” and “You Won’t Stop WikiLeaks”. “Freedom Loving People of the World Say Thank You Ecuador!” read another banner hung under

the balcony from which Assange has sometimes addressed supporters.

But Elisabeth Fritz, the law-yer for Assange’s alleged victim, said: “My client has been wait-ing six years for justice... It is time for this to go to trial.”

She added in a statement: “We are expecting that the pros-ecutor will announce charges after this questioning and that these charges lead to a trial in a Swedish court.”

A Swedish police inspector was also due to attend the ques-tioning and investigators planned to take a DNA sample from Assange, subject to his agree-ment. The grilling has been delayed in the past because of diplomatic disagreements between Ecuador and Sweden, making this the first time Assange has been interviewed over the matter since initial questioning by Swedish police at the time of the allegation.

Speaking through his lawyer, Assange has said he welcomes the “chance to clear his name” and hopes the investigation will subsequently close.

In May, a Swedish court reaf-firmed the arrest order, rejecting the finding of a UN working group that his confinement in the Ecuadoran embassy amounted to arbitrary detention.

In the days since the US elec-tion, supporters have launched a petition calling on

WikiLeaks’ Assange questioned by prosecutors

A supporter of Julian Assange holds posters after prosecutor Ingrid Isgren from Sweden arrived at Ecuador's embassy to interview him in London, yesterday.

President-elect Donald Trump to pardon Assange by “absolv-ing him of any crimes alleged against him”—an apparent ref-erence to the military leaks. The petition on the change.org web-site, which has gathered more than 17,700 signatures, hails Assange as a “hero” for exposing the “corruption of those who

presume to rule us”.Assange’s lawyer said he had

made “repeated requests” for an interview with police to address the rape claim, though Ecua-doran prosecutors say a hearing scheduled for October was post-poned at the Australian’s request.

“Julian Assange has always wanted to tell his version to the

Swedish police. He wants a chance to clear his name,” Sam-uelsson said. The grilling comes after WikiLeaks returned to the spotlight with the leak of tens of thousands of emails from the US Democratic Party and presiden-tial candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign in the final weeks of the race for the White House.

Brussels

AFP

Sharp differences surfaced yesterday as EU foreign ministers debated ambi-

tious plans to boost the bloc’s military role, amid fears Donald Trump’s election jeopardises Washington’s historic security guarantee.

US president-elect Trump has shocked Europe by casting doubt over US commitments to Nato unless European allies increase defence spending, sparking calls for the European Union to press ahead on its own.

Britain has long opposed any

such plans as undermining Nato, but after its shock June Brexit vote, France and Germany jumped in with plans to boost defence cooperation that have now gained extra urgency with Trump’s election victory.

“There is a need to strengthen our security profile, it’s what our citizens need,” EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said as she went into an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to discuss the recom-mendations, which include an EU military headquarters and a central planning unit.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he

expected the ministers, joined by their defence colleagues, to approve the proposals and so show that in an “increasingly uncertain world (Europe)... is able to take important decisions for its security.”

“This is an essential step for-ward, we will re-affirm in the final statement our ambition of strategic autonomy,” Ayrault said, citing Mogherini’s catch phrase. However British Defence Secretary Michael Fal-lon bluntly told the EU to stop “dreaming”.

“Instead of planning expen-sive new headquarters or dreaming of an European army,

what Europe needs to do now is to spend more on its own defence, that is the best possible approach to the Trump Presi-dency,” Fallon said.

British foreign secretary Boris Johnson, a leading Brexit supporter, said Trump’s election offered a “moment of opportu-nity” and they should wait to see what he actually wants.

“Donald Trump, as I’ve said before, is a dealmaker,” he said, warning: “You shouldn’t under-mine the fundamental security architecture that’s looked after us for the last 70 years.” John-son had snubbed special talks on Trump’s election hosted by

Mogherini over dinner on Sun-day, saying the meeting risked sending the wrong message to the new president. Sources in Germany meanwhile said the ruling coalition is backing For-eign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a sharp Trump critic, as the country’s next president.

Steinmeier, 60, warned a day after Trump’s shock election that transatlantic relations would become “more difficult”.

Mogherini insisted after Sun-day’s session that ministers backed a “very strong partner-ship” with Trump, but that the EU would have to move on with its own plans nonetheless.

EU split on defence plans after Trump win

Madrid

AFP

Spain’s recently ousted foreign minister hit out at a series of legal chal-

lenges made by the central government against pro-independence Catalan politicians, saying it should favour dialogue instead.

“The path which consists of applying the law and tak-ing all issues before the courts—that is to judicialise political life—leads us to a disaster, to conflict, and this is what we must avoid,” Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said during an interview with Cadena Ser radio.

“In politics, as in life, you should always avoid confron-tation,” he added.

The government should “talk a lot” with Catalans about their concerns that their region pays more taxes to the central government than it should or that Catalo-nia’s distinctive language is at risk, he added.

The former minister was speaking a day after some 80,000 people rallied in Bar-celona in support of several Catalan politicians who are facing court cases by the Spanish government for tak-ing steps toward secession.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dropped Garcia-Mar-gallo, 72, from his new cabinet which was sworn in earlier this month. He was replaced by Alfonso Dastis, a more discreet technocrat.

Geneva

AFP

Russian diamonds that reputedly helped broker peace between warring

empires three centuries ago will go to the highest bidder at the Geneva jewel auctions this week. The Swiss city’s twice-annual sales of rare jewels are often dominated by stones the size of door-stoppers.

But this week, gems enriched by the weight of his-tory will share centre-stage with those valued by their weight in carats.

Christie’s begins the auction season on Tuesday at the lux-ury Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues on Lake Geneva, where a line of Bentleys or Porches typically builds in the runup to the autumn sale. Rival Sothe-by’s takes its turn Wednesday across the road at the five-star Hotel Beau Rivage.

Among Sotheby’s showcase offers is a parure featuring dia-monds once owned by Russian empress Catherine I that were given to her by her husband, Czar Peter the Great, who led Russia until his death in 1725.

In 1711, Catherine was wor-ried that a raging conflict with

the Ottoman Empire posed an existential threat to Russia and ordered her husband—in the middle of the night—to draft a peace treaty, Sotheby’s said, cit-ing historical records.

Without telling Peter, Cath-erine sent the peace proposal and all the jewels she was trav-elling with to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III.

The Sultan “accepted these and was obviously delighted, and the truce was given and the (Russian) empire was saved”, David Bennet, head of Sothe-by’s International Jewellery Division, told AFP.

The parure featuring Cath-erine’s diamonds is expected to sell for between $3m (¤2.8m) and $5m.

In an auction heavy on Rus-sian imperial treasures, Sotheby’s is also offering a dia-mond necklace with a detachable clasp owned by Empress Catherine II—Cathe-rine the Great, who ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796. It is similarly valued at up to $5m.

For bidders enticed by size, Christie’s is auctioning two enormous white diamonds weighing 52.55-carat and 50.47-carat, valued at $20-$30m.

Rome

AFP

The number of divorces in Italy surged by more than half last year after the enactment of legislation making it eas-

ier and quicker to end failed marriages. Statistics body ISTAT said there were 82,469 divorces in 2015, a 57-percent rise compared with 2014. But the data experts cautioned

that Italian couples had not suddenly become more prone to hurling pasta ladles at each other and storming out. Instead, the rise reflects the impact of two laws: one enacted at the end of 2014 simplifying separation and divorce procedures and one from May 2015 which reduced the delay between couples separating and being able to divorce.

Until the latter law was passed, couples had to be officially separated for three years

before they could start divorce proceedings. Now only one year is necessary, or six months in the case of a separation by mutual consent. ISTAT expects the impact of the reforms to keep divorce numbers high for the next couple of years before they revert to the previous trend. In fact, the number of registered separations rose only 2.7 percent in 2015. The number of marriages also rose last year.

Legal battle

Assange’s lawyer Per Samuelsson said the questioning is expected to last several days at the embassy.

Assange sought refuge at the Ecuadoran embassy in London in June 2012.

Former Spain foreign minister slams Rajoy

Divorce Italian style up 50% after quickie law

Historic gems to star at Geneva jewel auctions

18 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 AMERICAS

The "supermoon", the closest the moon comes to Earth since 1948, rises over the Power and Light building in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, US yesterday.

Damage is seen at the Municipal Palace building after it was set on fire on Saturday by protesters following the disappearance of municipality priest Jorge Luis Sanchez, also known as Sanchez Ruiz, in Catemaco, Veracruz state, Mexico yesterday.

Supermoon rising

Blaze damage

Washington

AFP

Barack Obama will travel to Greece and Germany in a final official visit designed, in a strange bit of

political contortion, at reassur-ing worried Europeans about a man he once warned was “unfit” for the presidency: Donald Trump.

The irony is cruel: In the name of a peaceful transition, the American president, having thoroughly denounced the bil-lionaire Republican during the recent campaign, must now do his best to reassure his European counterparts about the future of American democracy under a President Trump.

“I think the design of the trip was meant to just give every-body some reassurance that we made it through this campaign and we’re going to come out of it all right,” said Heather Conley of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in Wash-ington. “We just have a different scenario now.”

The bombastic populist, whose victory over Hillary Clin-ton surprised virtually everyone, has given Europeans ample cause for concern.

He has questioned the rele-vance of some of America’s paramount alliances, starting with Nato; put the Paris climate-change accord in doubt by calling global warming “a hoax,” and sharply criticised the stren-uously negotiated pact that Washington and five other countries signed with Iran to curb its nuclear program.

Trump’s attitude toward Russian President Vladimir Putin—the New York mogul called him “a leader, far more than our president has been a

leader”—is deeply concerning in Europe, particularly in small countries like the Baltic nations living in Russia’s shadow.

Beyond the many concerns over the future of American for-eign policy, many European Union countries are bracing for a possible ripple effect of the outspoken Republican’s victory.

“They are very worried, because the same populist, nationalist expressions” that Trump exposed in America on immigration and trade could amplify the already “very strong political currents within Europe,” Conley said.

She noted that several Euro-pean countries have important elections coming up, not least of them the French presidential election next spring.

In Greece today for his first visit there, Obama is set to meet with President Prokopis Pavlo-poulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. He is expected to thank them for the “remarkable gen-erosity” the Greek government and people have shown to the thousands of immigrants who

have poured into the country from Africa and the Middle East.

During a day heavy with symbolism, Obama on Wednes-day will visit the Parthenon in Athens, then deliver a speech—sure to have considerable resonance, given the recent US elections—on the challenges of globalisation.

His advisers, pointing to the results of that election but also to the equally stunning British vote to leave the European Union, said the US president would offer his thoughts on the reasons so many people in the world feel “like decisions are made beyond their control.”

Speaking at the United Nations in September, at a time when the US presidential cam-paign was in full stride but a Trump victory seemed anything but certain, Obama had called on his fellow leaders to come to grips with the rising frustrations fueling populist movements. He warned them against succumb-ing to a “soulless capitalism that benefits only the few.”

“Twenty-five years after the Cold War, the world is less vio-lent and more prosperous,” he said, “and yet there is uncer-tainty and strife.”

“This is the paradox that defines our world today,” he said, stressing that a world in which one percent of the peo-ple control as much wealth as the other 99 percent can never be stable. For his sixth visit to Germany since coming to power in 2009, the Democratic presi-dent will again meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel, long one of his closest foreign part-ners, according to Ben Rhodes, the US national security adviser.

The day after his election, the chancellor pointedly reminded Trump of the criteria that have long bound the two countries in close cooperation.

Obama on farewell tour fearful of ‘Trump effect’

Caracas

AFP

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Sun-day rejected early

elections as a way out of a spi-raling crisis that has led to widespread shortages, soaring inflation and mass protests.

“An electoral way out? Way out to where?” he said on his weekly television program. “Nobody should get obsessed with electoral processes that are not in the constitution.”

His comments came a day after his leftist government and the opposition agreed on a “road map” for negotiations to defuse

a potentially explosive crisis.No reference to early elec-

tions was made in the joint statement issued at the end of the Vatican-backed talks, but leaders of the main opposition coalition portrayed it as open-ing the way to elections as a solution to the political impasse.

Carlos Ocariz, a negotiator for the opposition’s Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), said Saturday that the coalition would remain in the dialogue “until it obtains the most important thing: national elec-tions and a recall referendum.”

But Maduro mocked that statement on his television show. “It makes me very happy that the MUD will continue in the dialogue until December 2018,” he said,

referring to the end of his term.An opposition signature

drive for a referendum to recall Maduro was stopped in its tracks earlier this year by a regime-dominated National Electoral Council and Supreme Court, leading to the current impasse.

Only half of the roughly 30 groups that belong to the MUD back the dialogue, seeing it as an attempt to deflect their demands for a leadership change. “The dia-logue between the regime and a sector of the opposition began as a consequence of the theft of the recall referendum, but today we ask ourselves: What happened to the right of Venezuelans to vote that originated the dia-logue,” said Voluntad Popular.

New York

AFP

IMPRISONED transgender soldier Chelsea Manning, who is serving 35 years behind bars for leaking classified US doc-uments, has asked President Barack Obama to reduce her sentence before he leaves office, reports said.

Originally called Bradley, Manning was convicted in August 2013 of espionage and other offenses after admitting to handing classified docu-ments to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

Manning, who has already spent half a dozen years in prison, said she is not asking for a pardon and understands that the convic-tion will stay on her record, according to a statement accompanying the petition, which was published by the New York Times on Sunday.

“The sole relief I am asking for is to be released from military prison after serving six years of confine-ment as a person who did not intend to harm the interests of the United States or harm any service members,” she said.

Manning, whose suicide attempt last month was her second while in prison, spoke of the hardships she has undergone while serving in the military as a person com-ing to terms with her gender identity.

Atlanta

AP

The number of hate crimes reported to police increased by about 6.7 percent last

year, led largely by a 67 percent surge in crimes against Muslims, according to FBI statistics released yesterday. Civil rights groups had been raising concerns about an anti-Muslim backlash in the U.S. even before the ter-ror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, late in the year. The reporting period covers calendar year 2015, but comes at a time of heightened tensions following last week’s presidential election.

There have been reports of racist and anti-religious instances since Tuesday that have sparked outrage, includ-ing students at one school who chanted “white power” and a videotaped assault in Chicago that showed black men beating a white man as onlookers screamed, “You voted Trump!” In 2008, after Barack Obama was elected as the nation’s first black president, there were also suspected cases of alleged hate crimes tied to the election.

In 2015, there were 257 inci-dents of anti-Muslim bias compared to 184 incidents the prior year. The total is second only to the surge in hate crimes follow-ing the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

Washington

AP

An oil billionaire, a North Dakota lawmaker and a former Bush administra-

tion official are being considered to run Donald Trump’s Energy Department, according to transi-tion planning documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The documents, which are being closely scrutinized by energy lobbyists in Washington, also out-line early policy priorities for a Trump administration. Topping the

list is repealing the Clean Power Plan, an Obama administration effort to limit carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. Implementation is currently on hold awaiting a court ruling.

Those under consideration for energy secretary include Harold Hamm, an Oklahoma oil tycoon and leading proponent of fracking, and North Dakota Rep. Kevin Cramer, an early Trump supporter from a major oil drill-ing state. Venture capitalist Robert Grady, who worked in President George HW Bush’s administration, is listed as a

contender to lead both the Energy and Interior Departments.

It’s unclear whether the list is exhaustive or has been reviewed by Trump. The Republican is in the early stages of setting up his administration, having named only his White House chief of staff and chief strategist thus far.

The Trump to-do list targets recent Obama administration efforts to reduce air and water pollution that have been opposed by Republicans and industries that profit from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, including the “waters of the United States”

rule and ozone regulations.Trump calls climate change a

“hoax” perpetrated by China and others and has said he will rescind the Clean Power Plan — the linch-pin of President Barack Obama’s strategy to fight climate change.

A coalition of conservative states has challenged the Clean Power Plan and also has chal-lenged an EPA rule that expanded the definition of waters protected under the Clean Water Act to smaller non-navigable waters and seasonal tributaries.

The Obama administration says the rule would safeguard

drinking water for 117 million people, but Republicans and some Democrats representing rural areas say the regulations are costly, confusing and amount to a government power grab. Federal courts have put the rules on hold as judges review lawsuits.

On his campaign website, Trump called for rescinding “all job-destroying Obama executive actions” and has vowed to unleash an American energy revolution, allowing unfettered production of oil, coal and nat-ural gas.

Trump eyes oil billionaire for energy secretary

Hate crimes against Muslims up by 67%

Europe tour

In Greece today, for his first visit there, Obama is set to meet with President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Obama will also meet in Germany with French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister Theresa May, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Maduro rejects early elections

Chelsea Manning asks Obama for reduced sentence

19TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 AMERICAS

New York

AFP

President-elect Donald Trump (pictured) has vowed to move aggressively on a con-servative agenda in

filling Supreme Court vacancies, cracking down on immigration and cutting taxes, but also sought to reassure worried Americans they have nothing to fear from his presidency.

Setting aside the strident tone of his campaign, the 70-year-old assumed a gentler manner in his first television interview since his shock elec-tion, saying he was “saddened” by reports of harassment of Mus-lims and Hispanics, and telling the perpetrators: “Stop It.”

The interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” which was taped Fri-day and aired in full Sunday, offered Trump an opportunity to reintroduce himself after an ugly, name-calling campaign and sur-prise victory that sparked protests in cities across the United States.

“I just don’t think they know me,” the billionaire real estate mogul said at one point, of the thousands of protesters who

have massed in streets below his Trump Tower headquarters with signs that read “Not our president.”

Told that many Americans are scared of his presidency, Trump said: “Don’t be afraid. We are going to bring our country back.”

Millions were expected to tune in to Trump’s interview for

clues on how the billionaire will govern, and how far he intends to convert his slogans into policy.

Trump earlier On the issues, however, Trump made it clear he intends to aggressively push a right-wing agenda, pledging to name justices to the Supreme Court who are against abortion and for gun rights.

“The judges will be pro-life,” Trump told CBS. “In terms of the whole gun situation,” he added, “they’re going to be very pro-Second Amendment.”

He will have an immediate opportunity to fill a vacancy on the court left by the death of arch conservative justice Antonin Scalia. President Barack Obama’s attempt to fill the seat was b l o c k e d b y t h e

Republican-controlled Senate.On immigration, Trump reaf-firmed his signature campaign pledge to build a wall on the bor-der with Mexico, although he conceded parts of it may be just a fence.

And he said as many as three million undocumented immi-grants with criminal records would be deported or incarcerated.

“What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers,” he said.

“We have a lot of these peo-ple, probably two million, it could be even three million, we are getting them out of our coun-try or we are going to incarcerate,” he said.

He left the door open, how-ever, on the fate of the millions of other immigrants in the coun-try illegally.

“After the border is secured and after everything gets nor-malized, we’re going to make a determination on the people that you’re talking about who are ter-rific people,” he said.

Immigration, he said, was one of three top legislative pri-orities he has discussed with House Speaker Paul Ryan, the others being action to undo

Obama’s signature health care reform and a bill to cut taxes and simplify the tax code.

Trump had previously indi-cated he would keep some aspects of Obamacare, includ-ing a ban on insurance companies denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

There were other concilia-tory notes as well. He signaled that he would not seek to over-turn the legalization of same-gender marriage in the United States.

“It’s law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done,” Trump said when asked if he supports marriage equality. “And I’m—I’m fine with that,” he added.He also confirmed he would forgo the $400,000 sal-ary that comes with the office of US president. “I’m not going to take the salary. I’m not taking it,” he said. “I think I have to by law take $1, so I’ll take $1 a year,” he added.

The choice of Bannon and Priebus as Trump’s first high-level appointments suggest he intends for his new administra-tion to preserve the populist edge that won him the White House, tempered by polit ical pragmatism.

Priebus, head of the

Republican National Committee, is a seasoned political operative with close ties to Ryan, the House speaker.But Bannon, the cam-paign chairman in the final months of the Trump campaign, is CEO of the right-wing, conspir-acy-mongering Breitbart News website known for withering attacks on the Republican elite.

It has railed against every-thing from women who seek abortions to Muslim immigrants, and once told females facing internet harassment to “go back to bridge tournaments, or well-ness workshops, or swapping apple crumble recipes” and stop “screwing up the Internet for men.” In the “60 Minutes” inter-view, Trump made no promises to tone down his own rhetoric as president.

“I don’t want to be just a lit-tle nice monotone character,” he said. Trump was joined by his wife and adult children includ-ing Ivanka who was named to Trump’s transition team but rules out joining his administration.

“There’re a lot of things that I feel deeply, strongly about,” she said, naming wage equality, childcare and more opportuni-ties for women. “But not in a f o r m a l a d m i n i s t r a t i v e capacity.”

New York

Reuters

Facebook Inc Chief Execu-tive Mark Zuckerberg again rejected the idea that the

social network affected the US presidential election, saying late Saturday it is “extremely unlikely” news hoaxes changed the outcome.

Ensnared in a string of con-tent controversies in recent months, Facebook has insisted that it is a technology company, not a media firm. But scrutiny of

the site has heightened since the surprise election of Republican Donald Trump on Tuesday, with critics alleging the site helped spread lies via fake news stories and hoaxes. Zuckerberg has vehemently defended the net-work against such criticism, calling the idea that Facebook affected the election “crazy” at a conference on Thursday. He echoed that stance in his late Sat-urday post, though he said the company would do more to pre-vent fake news.

Such hoaxes represent a sliver of content shared on

Facebook and because they are not limited to partisan views or politics, it is unlikely they could have changed the election’s out-come, Zuckerberg said.

“Of all the content on Face-book, more than 99 percent of what people see is authentic,” he said, noting the network’s goal is to “give every person a voice.”

Still, Facebook has launched work to enable people to flag hoaxes and fake news, the state-ment said. Facebook has faced a number of content controver-sies this year, including international outcry after it

removed an iconic Vietnam War photo due to nudity, a decision that was later reversed. The thorniest content issues are decided by a group of top exec-utives at Facebook.

Questions over content policing have returned to the fore in the tense days since the election, which has led to pro-tests against Trump and his proposed policies in major US cities. Ahead of the November 8 election, Facebook users saw fake news reports erroneously alleging that Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump and that

a federal agent who had been investigating Democratic candi-date Hillary Clinton was found dead.

Senior management have launched a conversation to examine Facebook’s involve-ment in affecting opinions and votes, The New York Times reported on Saturday, saying a group of vice presidents and executives began discussing late Tuesday the company’s role in the election’s outcome.

Facebook representatives were not immediately available to comment on the report.

Americans have nothing to fear: Trump

Bogota

Reuters

Colombia’s government published a revised peace accord with

Marxist FARC rebels yester-day in a bid to build support to end a 52-year war, after the original draft was rejected last month in a referendum amid objections it was too favorable to the rebels.

The expanded and highly technical 310-page document appears to make only small modifications to the original text, such as clarifying private property rights and detailing more fully how the rebels would be confined in rural areas for crimes committed during the war.

The government and Rev-olutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which have been holding talks in Havana for four years, said the new document incorporated pro-posals from the opposition, religious leaders and others to end a conflict that has killed more than 220,000 and displaced millions.

Substantial changes, such as jail terms for rebel leaders and banning them from pub-lic office, were not included. That is likely to anger former President Alvaro Uribe.

President Juan Manuel Santos hopes to unite the divided nation behind the new deal after the peace process was endangered by its rejection in an Oct. 2 pleb-iscite. Colombian voters were deeply split, with many wor-ried the FARC would not be punished and others hopeful the deal would cement an end to violence.

“We are convinced that reading the entire document will allow integral and genu-ine comprehension of what has been agreed and to see that the changes, precisions and adjustments in the new accord strengthens it and answers concerns and sug-gestions made by different sectors of society,” the gov-ernment and FARC said in a joint statement.

Clearing concerns

Told that many Americans are scared of his presidency, Trump said: “Don’t be afraid. We are going to bring our country back.”

Trump reaffirmed his signature campaign pledge to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

Trump confirmed he would forgo the $400,000 salary that comes with the office of US president.

New York

AFP

President-elect Donald Trump named anti-estab-lishment firebrand Steve

Bannon his top strategist and top Republican Reince Priebus his White House chief of staff Sun-day, blending pragmatism with a rabble-rousing edge in the first appointments of his new administration.

Trump’s choices came as he reaffirmed plans to immediately deport or jail as many as three million undocumented immi-grants, in his first television interview since his election.

Millions were expected to tune in to Trump’s full interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” for clues on how the populist bil-lionaire will govern, and how far he intends to convert his stri-dent slogans into hard and fast policy.

Trump’s two sides—the practical dealmaker and the anti-establishment provoca-teur—were on display in his appointments of Bannon, the CEO of right-wing, conspiracy-mongering Breitbart website, and Priebus, a seasoned Repub-lican operative with close ties to House Speaker Paul Ryan.

“Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. Now I will have them both with me in the White House as we

work to make America great again.” The appointments to Trump’s inner circle are seen as key to setting the tone of an administration led by a 70-year-old political novice

Since Tuesday’s shock elec-tion triumph, Trump had appeared to tone down his rhet-oric, notably suggesting he might be willing to reconsider a pledge to scrap President Barack Obama’s signature health reform. But he made clear in excerpts of Sunday’s interview that he still intended to crack down on the undocumented, focusing on people with crimi-nal records.

“What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where

a lot of these people—probably two million, it could be even three million—we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate,” Trump said. Experts estimate there are as many as 11 million foreigners living illegally in the United States, many of them Central and Southern Americans long-established in the country.

Trump also said he stood by his pledge to build a wall on the Mexican border—although he said it could include some fencing.

His stance stood in opposi-tion with comments by House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said Sunday the focus under a Trump administration would be on securing the border, not round-ing up immigrants.

Trump names media firebrand & top Republican to key posts

Republican National Convention Chairman Reince Priebus (left) and Donald Trump's campaign Chief Executive Officer Stephen K Bannon.

Colombia publishes new peace accord to end war

Zuckerberg again rejects claims of Facebook impact on polls

Baltimore

AP

The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops, meeting just days after Donald Trump was elected president, urged him yesterday to adopt humane policies toward immigrants and refugees.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops said serving people flee-ing violence and conflict “is part of our identity as Catholics” and pledged to continue this work. Pope Francis has made helping immi-grants one of the core issues of his pontificate.

“We stand ready to work with a new administration to continue to ensure that refugees are humanely welcomed without sacrific-ing our security or our core values as Americans. A duty to welcome and protect newcomers, particularly refugees, is an integral part of our mission to help our neighbors in need,” the bishops said.

Roman Catholic bishops call for humane policies

Visitors look over a display case at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, in New York.

20 TUESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2016 HOME

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The Peninsula

GMC unveiled the all-new 2017 Arcadia models at a festive ceremony at the Westin Hotel. The reimag-ination of the 2017 GMC

Acadia – which comes in three distinct trim levels including SLE, SLT and Denali – offers customers a midsize crossover positioned between the compact GMC Terrain and full-size Yukon. During the official launch event in Doha, Mohammed Helmy, Group General Manager, Mannai Auto said, “Built on a new, lighter body structure, the 2017 Acadia is completely rede-signed to appeal to the Medium SUV market. It inspires confidence, has a finely crafted interior and segment-leading performance and safety specifications.”

Depending on the model, it is avail-able with five-, six- or seven-passenger seating, while offering greater maneu-verability and enhanced driving dynamics over the outgoing model. The all-new Acadia delivers a more refined experience.

It is lighter and equipped with a powerful and more efficient V6 engine, coupled with a new, available, 3.6L V-6 engine certified at 310 horsepower, delivering fuel efficiency of 11.2 L/100km on the combined cycle for the FWD models and 11.7 L/100km for AWD.

The new V6 features direct injec-tion, variable valve timing as well as Active Fuel Management (Cylinder Deactivation), that is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission and a drive mode selector.

As a contemporary crossover designed for families on the go, the 2017 Acadia offers the latest active safety features, as well as the latest

technologies to stay connected. The active safety features – such as Front Pedestrian Braking and Surround Vision Camera – are designed to help make drivers more aware of their sur-roundings and potential crash situations.

The vehicle is also equipped with a new, standard rear seat alert that can remind the driver when an item may have been left in the second- and third-row seats.

Built on a new, lighter body struc-ture, the 2017 Acadia’s driving dynamics are more responsive, while its shorter length and narrower width enable greater manoeuvrability, for easier turning in parking decks and easier parking in home garages. The new Acadia retains a front-drive lay-out with available all-wheel drive. All

models feature a new drive mode selector, which allows the driver to alter chassis and powertrain attributes to suit a variety of driving conditions.

The AWD disconnect mode effec-tively disconnects the rear axle from the drive system to save fuel. On-demand AWD capability can be reapplied on the go by switching the drive mode selector to 4x4 mode. The combination of the most efficient V6 powertrains in the marketplace, with a considerably lighter body structure and a modular, highly connected inte-rior, make the Acadia a compelling package for individuals and families on the go.

The 2017 GMC Acadia lineup goes on sale in Qatar – starting from QR139,000.

Acadia SLE and SLT come stand-ard with a three-year/60,000km scheduled service package, while the Acadia Denali benefits from a four-year/80,000km schedule service package. All trims are complemented by a three-year/100,000km manu-facturer warranty, as well as four years of 24/7 Roadside Assistance.

Accompanying the launch of the 2017 Acadia will be GMCmemories. An invitation to past and current GMC cus-tomers aimed at sharing memorable moments they have experienced with their GMC across the brand’s social media channels in the region and on http://gmc.mannaiautos.com/ Entrants with the most interesting and emo-tionally impactful #GMCmemories can enter the competition to win a unique 360-degree camera from GMC.

GMC unveils all-new 2017 Acadia models

Mahmoud Skhiri (third left), General Manager- Sales at Mannai Trading Co; Markus Leithe, (third right) Managing Director, Middle East Commercial Operations at General Motors; and other officials during the launch of the All New GMC Acadia at Westin Hotel yesterday. Pic by: Kammutty VP / The Peninsula