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Brexit hopes

Volume 23 | Number 7573 | 2 RiyalsSaturday 30 June 2018 | 16 Shawwal I 1439 www.thepeninsula.qa

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Qatar urges UN’s top court to end UAE ‘climate of fear’AFP

THE HAGUE: The United Arab Emirates has spread a “climate of fear” among Qataris living there, splitting families and causing “substantial pain” during a year-long blockade, the UN’s top court heard yesterday.

As the bitter Gulf crisis moves to the world tribunals, Doha is appealing to the Inter-national Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to order emergency measures to lift restrictions imposed on Qataris in June 2017 by Abu Dhabi.

“Many Qataris still resident in the UAE live in perpetual fear, they live in the shadow of the UAE’s expulsion order,” leading British barrister Peter Goldsmith, acting for Doha, told the court.

On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and other allies severed ties with Qatar and imposed punitive measures. These included banning Qatar Airways from their airspace and closing the country’s only land border with Saudi Arabia.

The Gulf states also ordered Qataris to leave within 14 days as well as calling home their own citizens.

Goldsmith told ICJ judges on the third and final day of the hearing that helplines the UAE set up to help Qataris

understand the restrictions were in fact linked to the Abu Dhabi police.

So Qataris are “too scared to call hotlines to register their presence or their families’ presence for fear of reprisals.” Goldsmith also contended that every proposed “trip to the UAE by a Qatari requires a separate approval no matter the circumstances”.

So in the case of one Qatari woman, for example, who needs regular medical treatment in Beirut, every time she leaves, “she risks being unable to return” to her family in the UAE.

Qatari students at UAE uni-versities were also sent emails telling them they had been with-drawn. Many have since dropped out of their higher edu-cation courses.

Concerns raised over the past months by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty Interna-tional have shown “compelling evidence of what has happened,

with substantial pain inflicted,” Goldsmith argued.

Doha is appealing for emer-gency measures from the court to order the UAE to “immedi-ately cease and desist from any violations of the human rights of Qataris,” said the country’s agent Mohammed Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi.

“This court is Qatar’s only hope.. to stop the deprivation of fundamental rights,” he added.

But the UAE has insisted that the ICJ has no authority to hear Qatar’s case, and stressed that the situation for Qataris living in the country today is different from a year ago.

“This has nothing to do with racial discrimination,” said lawyer Alain Pellet acting for the UAE.

The ICJ was set up in 1946 to rule in disputes against states. The judges will now have to consider their decision which could several weeks or even months.

Qatar calls for boosting international cooperation in combating terrorismTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The State of Qatar has renewed its call for strengthening cooperation at the international, regional and national levels in the field of combating terrorism, expressing the hope of finding bilateral and multilateral agree-ments to combat the abhorrent phenomenon of terrorism and confronting the most important challenges facing international cooperation in this regard.

This came in a statement delivered by Major General Abdul Aziz Al Ansari, Director

of International Cooperation Department and Chairman of National Counter-Terrorism Committee and head of the del-egation of the State of Qatar par-ticipating in the High-level Con-ference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies in the United Nations Member States, which began its work yesterday at United Nations Headquarters in New York, QNA reported.

At the first session on Oppor-tunities and Challenges for Enhancing International Coop-eration through Information Exchange, Major General Al

Ansari said that since the adoption of Security Council res-olution 1373 (2001), which requested Member States to exchange information in accordance with international and national laws and bilateral and multilateral cooperation, the State of Qatar implemented the content of the resolution and subsequent resolutions through closer cooperation and exchange of information with brotherly and friendly countries and inter-national organizations.

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Summer camps line up activities to keep children engaged

DOHA: With the start of summer vacations in schools, various timely tailored enjoyment cum education packages by summer camps are attracting parents and children alike who think that these activities prove as energy booster for children.

Numerous schools and entities are offering various activities for children at various summer camps

to keep children active in healthy activities. Whereas, few of them are teaching interesting subjects to educate teens and kids according to their interests.

An organization Engineering For Kids Qatar (EFKQ) has brought Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) for kids ages 4 to 14 in a fun and challenging way through summer camps. Engaging STEM lessons promote problem-solving, critical thinking and coop-erative learning. At Engineering

For Kids Qatar, children are intro-duced to engineering concepts through activities like building rockets, battling robots and even programming their own video games.

Talking to The Peninsula, Moureen Rahman, Managing Director at EFKQ said: “Our summer camps are filled with innovative and enjoyable activ-ities related to engineering for kids. We are done with our first week program, the next week

program starts on July 1 which will continue for five days. Second week program has two sessions; morning session will be held from 10am to 1pm and afternoon session will be held from 3pm to 6pm. The morning session is for kids aged 8 to 14 in which they can enjoy the space information and will be given ‘Astro Points’ on their per-formance. Whereas the second session will be about medieval defense for kids aged 4 to 7.”

“These sessions will continue for eight weeks till August 16. Summer camp charges are weekly QR1000 and monthly QR3600. Our camps are capacity-packed, fun-filled and imparting challenging hands-on learning experiences. This year one can stimulate their child’s natural curiosity for learning at Engineering For Kids Summer Camps,” Rahman added.

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Awareness events mark day against drug abuse

DOHA: Marking International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement organised various activities to create awareness on disastrous effects of drugs and narcotics.

On the occasion of Interna-tional Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking that falls on June 26, the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement organised many cultural and educational competitions and awareness pro-grams aimed at spreading awareness of the dangers of drugs to all sectors of society.

The activities organized at

Gulf Mall which began on Thursday and will conclude today and attracted many people especially youth. A number of brochures were distributed among people which focused on the danger of drugs and edu-cated people more about four types of commonly consumed drugs including Cannabis, Lyrica, Heroin and Captagon.

The impact of drug use in terms of its consequences on health continues to be devas-tating. With an estimated 207400 drug-related death in 2014 corresponding to 43.5 deaths per million people ages 15 to 64.

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AMNA PERVAIZ RAO

THE PENINSULA

SIDI MOHAMED

THE PENINSULA

Children participating in activities organised by the General Directorate of Drugs Enforcement on the occasion of International Drugs Prevention Day Celebrations at the Gulf Mall in Doha. PIC:SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA.

Qatar, Italy co-chair Group of Friends of Responsibility to Protect meetingQNA

NEW YORK: Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, Ambassador H E Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani and Italy’s Permanent Represent-ative to the United Nation co-chaired the meeting of the Group of Friends on the Responsibility to Protect, in presence of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The meeting is the first of its kind. Guterres briefed the meeting on his latest report on “Responsibility to Protect, From Early Warning to Early Action, submitted to the United Nations General Assembly to prevent mass atrocities, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

“Many Qataris still resident in the UAE live in perpetual fear, they live in the shadow of the UAE’s expulsion order,” leading British barrister Peter Goldsmith, acting for Doha, told the ICJ, adding that helplines the UAE set up to help Qataris understand the restrictions were in fact linked to the Abu Dhabi police.

A hazy view of Doha’s skyscrapers at West Bay from Corniche. The weather in Qatar remained humid and misty yesterday. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA

Haze envelopes West Bay skyscrapers

02 SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018HOME

Qatar and Colombia launch book ‘Story on Women Leaders Role in UN’QNA

NEW YORK: The Permanent Delegation of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and Colombia, held a ceremony at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, to launch a book Story: Celebration of Leading Women in the United Nations, prepared by the Permanent Delegation and Colombia.

The ceremony was attended by Sec-retary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, President of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly Miroslav Lajcak, and a number of Permanent Representatives to the United Nations.

The Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Ambassador H E Sheikha Alia bint Ahmed Al Thani, said that Qatar’s participation in the achievement of this book is an appre-ciation of the leading role of women in the United Nations and an opportunity to reflect important achievements through historical narratives.

The Ambassador noted that Qatar is a founding member of the Group of Friends

for Gender Parity and its sponsor of the historical HakayaPhotographic Exhibition on the leading role of women in the inter-national organization, held in December 2016.

The book provides a historical reciting of the role of leading women in the United Nations since its inception in 1945 in San Francisco until the present age.

The book lists the role of some women in the Arab and Islamic region, including H E Sheikha Hessa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who is the first woman appointed by the United Nations as special rapporteur for persons with disabilities in 2003 and her

mandate was extended from 2005 to 2009. She is now working as a Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the Arab League for Humanitarian Affairs.

It also provided an historical reciting of the impact and role of women in advancing women’s empowerment, gender equality in employment and decision-making at the highest levels of the United Nations.

The book is a testimony of the contribu-tions made by women in the reformulation of the United Nations, the promotion of the role of women in various fields and the holding of senior leadership positions in the Organization.

Azerbaijan’s FM meets Qatar’s Ambassador

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, met with the Ambassador of the State of Qatar, Yousuf bin Hassan Al Saai, in the capital Baku on the occasion of the end of his duties. They discussed relations between the two countries and ways of boosting them, in addition to issues of common interest.

Kazakhstan’s FM meets Qatar’s Ambassador

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, met with Ambassador of Qatar, Ahmed bin Ali Al Tamimi, in Astana, yesterday. They discussed relations and ways of developing them, besides issues of common interest. The Minister also presented a medal to the Ambassador, marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Three-member gang arrested for stealing items from vehiclesTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Criminal Investigation Department has arrested a gang of three African nationals, specialised in stealing items from vehicles after breaking its window glasses in a number of areas of the country.

The Department received a number of complaints of theft of items from cars and after investigation the offenders were caught who possessed some of the belonging of stolen cars, the Ministry of Interior said on its official Facebook account.

The offenders admitted to what attributed to them, and were referred to authorities concerned. The Ministry of Interior has called upon the public to take preventive measures to save their cars by following the safety instructions, including closing the car and not leaving the belongings visible in the car.

It has asked people to report about any suspicious cases and contact the emergency telephone on the number 999.

Summer camps line up activities to keep children engaged

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1Another camp, Crystal

Summer Camp located in Al Thumama offers twelve exciting activities for kids during this summer. An official at Crystal Summer Camp told The Peninsula that the camp was excited to host summer camp for the second year, after conducting summer camp successfully last year. “This year we have twelve activities which include, Classical Dance; Western Dance; Classical Music; Yoga; Keyboard; Violin; Guitar; Drawing; Kalarippayattu; Art Crafts; K a r a t e a n d Kusruthikoottam.”

First batch will start its

session on July1 and will con-tinue until July 31 and the second session is set to start on August 1 till August 30. “This summer camp concludes with a final day trip to Jungle Zone.

The kid can choose any four courses out of the twelve courses. Monthly charges are QR550 wile additional QR200 are charged in case of availing transportation facility.”

As soon as the summer vacations start parents start finding some suitable summer camp that can organise their children’s free time in a con-structive manner. Few parents register their children beforehand in summer camps to avail all the exciting activ-ities for their kids.

“Summer camps are energy boosters for kids during this vacation. Me and my husband make sure children enhance their skills during

vacations. These enjoyable yet knowledge-imparting activities help them built their confi-dence and encourage them to participate and shape up their personalities,” said a mother of three sons.

Most of the summer camps are being conducted indoors due to the weather conditions in Doha. All safety precautions are among the main factors which parents take care of before choosing any camp for their kids.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1The General Directorate of Drug

Enforcement mentioned in the brochures that the possession or abuse of Captagon is considered as crime in Qatari law and also gave more details about the harmful effects of Heroin and other types of drugs which include dysfunction of brain activity and sensory perception, destruction of liver cells and cirrhosis, disorder in speech, brain and nerve damage, fast heart rate and high blood pressure and excessive sweating.

The awareness activities include many cultural and educational competitions and other programs under the theme “Listen First”.

“Observing the day came as part of the State of Qatar’s keenness to participate with the international community in the revival of the International Day against Drugs in order to raise awareness of the dangers of drugs and to explain their devastating impact on the cohesion of societies as one of the most serious causes of family disintegration,” Said Maj. Mohammed Abdullah Al Khater, Director of the Department of Studies and International Affairs at the General Direc-torate of Drug Enforcement.

He pointed out that the danger of drugs on the future of countries by targeting young people who represent the foundation of any society and the future of the countries. Al Khater also clarified that the State of Qatar is working to address this phenomenon from a strategic reality that includes various dimensions including focus on fight against it, preventive role and treatment side in order to establish a society free from the use of narcotics.

The United Nations theme for this year anti-drug day is “Listen First” to emphasize that listening to children and young people is the first step to help them develop healthy and safe ways to reach the goal of pre-vention, which is one of the most important aspects of drug control.

Awareness events mark day against drug abuse

QNA

Doha: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held yesterday two phone calls with the Amir of State of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, and Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister H E Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah.

During the calls, the Amir checked on the health of Kuwaiti Minister of Defence. His Highness also congratu-lated the Amir of Kuwait and the Minister on the success of the surgery he underwent, wishing him health and wellness.

Amir holds telephone calls to check Kuwait Defence Minister’s health

The book provides a historical reciting of the role of leading women in the United Nations since its inception in 1945 in San Francisco until the present age. The book is a testimony of the contributions made by women in the reformulation of the United Nations, the promotion of the role of women in various fields and the holding of senior leadership positions in the Organization.

Kids enjoy summer camp with various activities.

Most of the summer camps are being conducted indoors due to the weather conditions in Doha. All safety precautions are among the main factors which parents take care of before choosing any camp for their kids.

03SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018 HOME / MIDDLE EAST

REUTERS

ANKARA: Turkey will not cut off trade ties with Iran at the behest of other countries, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavu-soglu said yesterday, after the United States told countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil.

Washington has told its allies to cut imports of Iranian oil by November, a senior State Department official said this week, as President Donald Trump looks to cut off funding to Iran. Trump in May said his administration was withdrawing from the “defective” 2015 nuclear deal agreed by Iran and six world powers.

“If the United States’ deci-sions are aimed at peace and stability, then we’ll support them, but we don’t have to follow every decision. Being allies doesn’t mean following every decision word for word,” Cavusoglu told broadcaster NTV in an interview.

“Iran is a good neighbour and we have economic ties. We are not going to cut off our trade ties with Iran because other countries told us so.”

Turkey, a NATO ally, is dependent on imports for almost all of its energy needs. In the first four months of this year, Turkey bought 3.077 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran, almost 55

percent of its total crude sup-plies, according to data from the Turkish energy watchdog (EPDK).

President Tayyip Erdogan last year said Turkey was looking to raise the volume of its annual trade with Iran to $30bn from $10bn.

Cavusoglu also said that there were no problems with the procurement of F-35 warplanes from the United States so far, and he did not think there would be any problems in the future.

A US Senate committee passed its version of a $716 billion defence policy bill last month, including a measure to prevent Turkey from purchasing

Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets.

The amendment to the bill would remove Turkey from the F-35 programme over its detention of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson. Brunson, a Christian pastor, faces up to 35 years in prison on terrorism and spying charges, which he denies.

Cavusoglu said Turkey had conveyed discomfort about the issue to Trump, who said nec-essary steps would be taken.

Meanwhile, the leader of Friday prayers in Tehran called for calm and fortitude after days of protests by the capital’s Grand Bazaar traders fuming over the plunging value of Iran’s currency

and rising prices, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Three days of protests in Tehran and other cities began on Sunday when hundreds of traders in the bazaar - the hub of merchants who backed Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted the longtime monarch - closed their shops to voice their anger at currency plunges.

Iran’s rial has lost 40 percent of its value since President Donald Trump’s decision on May 8 to pull the United States out of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimpose tough economic sanctions on Tehran.

DPS-MIS student tops gulf region in CBSE class 10th examsSACHIN KUMAR

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Malika Dikshit, a student of DPS-Modern Indian School (DPS-MIS) from Grade 1, has made her school proud by scoring highest marks in the gulf region among CBSE schools. She has obtained 99 percent in her class 10th exams.

“Scoring such marks would not have been possible without the encouragement and support of my teachers and parents. My teachers played a very important role in making me a topper,” said Malika. For most of her life she has been among the top scoring in her previous classes.

“We were expecting the same performance this time as well but we did not expect her to top the schools,” said her father. “But not only she topped the school but also surprised us by scoring highest marks in the gulf region” he added.

Malika is a prolific reader since her early childhood. The Harry Potter fan has liking for Greek mythology, fictional novels and if it is mystery novel she wont miss it.

The journey of her bonding with books began at early

childhood and gradually evolved into strong love for written words. When she is not studying for exams she is reading books.

“I never had sleepless nights before exams. I always studied in advance and was consistent with my studies” added Malika saying that she was never pres-sured before exams.

She is a badminton lover, and has played at cluster level inter school championship where she won bronze medal last year. On replying to question what motivated her to study hard, she said that “I like getting good grades and also fulfill expectations of my parents and teachers”. Malika is pursuing her

Grade XI at DPS- MIS. She has not yet decided on what she wants to do in future and has kept her options open. But she wants to explore the field of computer engineering in future.

One good thing that helped her to focus more is indifference to social media. At the time when kids have developed addiction for computer games and youtube and other social media apps, she doesn’t even have a facebook account. Instead she has used technology positively to her advantage.

For those who want to score like her, her advice for them is “give equal importance to all the subjects, be consistent in studies and solve previous years’ question papers,” said Malika.

Giving subject wise tips, she says that practice problem from text books, and look for more practice questions from other books and past years’ question papers. For English, her advice is to read thoroughly and practice grammar which will help students to get maximum marks. Malika has scored 100 percent marks in Social Studies and French, 99 percent in Science, and 98 percent in Mathematics and English.

Malika Dikshit

Qatar calls for boosting international cooperation in combating terrorismCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

In this context, Al Ansari pointed out to the cooperation of the State of Qatar with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committees and its subcommittees, including Al-Qaida Sanc-tions Committee under the relevant Security Council resolu-tions, and the Counter-Terrorism Committee established by Security Council resolution 1373 and its Executive Directorate.

He added that the State of Qatar had facilitated the urgent exchange of information in the International Criminal Police Organ-ization (INTERPOL) in accordance with the methods of a special tribunal in light of the diversity and expansion of the activities of terrorist groups.

He said that at the regional level, the State of Qatar, through the League of Arab States and the Gulf Cooperation Council, has been keen to exchange information as quickly as possible with sister countries to prevent terrorists from obtaining safe places, pointing out that the State of Qatar provided the database of terrorist fighters of the Arab Group with the necessary data.

On the bilateral level, the Chairman of the National Coun-terterrorism Committee said that the State of Qatar has signed a number of agreements, memorandums of understanding and bilateral letters of intent with friendly countries to enhance the exchange of information on counterterrorism and terrorists and the use of specialised programs in the pursuit of terrorists.

He hoped that agreement would be reached on the impor-tance of concerted efforts among all members to address the most important challenges facing international cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

He also stressed the importance of bilateral and multilateral agreements, as well as cooperating with countries and organiza-tions that have databases to create a network of information shared by everyone in order to speed the circulation of information and the prosecution of foreign fighters wherever they are and reduce their risk.

Qatar Fan Zone announces new opening timingsTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatar Fan Zone at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena will open its doors to the public at 4pm and close at midnight. The Fan Zone’s new opening times accommodate the different match schedule for the remaining two weeks of the tournament and will be open only on days when matches are being played.

After a short break yesterday, the Fan Zone re-opens today with an interactive show by female football free-styler, Raquel Bennett at 4pm. The Bra-zilian internet sensation’s show

will be followed by a fluorescent performance by an LED drummer troupe before the live screening of the 5PM match.

Qatar Fan Zone has wel-comed more than 43,963 visitors so far, with fans benefiting from the Fan Zone’s unique ability to show two matches at the same time thanks to dual screens. Matches featuring the Arab nations recorded the highest number of visitors, and football fans added music enthusiasts to their rank as they enjoyed live music performances by Moroccan star Hatim Ammor and world-renowned Rai icon Cheb Khaled.

Upcoming free music per-formances will begin at the quarter-finals stage of the

month-long tournament, and will feature Iraqi singer Mohammed Al Fares on Friday

6 July and Lebanese artist Ziad Bourji on July 7, both at 7:30 PM.

Kuwaiti star Essa Almarzoug is also expected to take the stage during the semi-finals on July 10 at 7:30 PM, followed by his com-patriot star Ibrahim Dashti at the same time the next day (July 11).

Qatar Fan Zone is part of this

year’s Qatar Summer Festival, which kicked off on the first day of Eid Al-Fitr. Organised by the Qatar Tourism Authority, the 11-week fes-tival is a nationwide celebration of the country’s diverse retail and hos-pitality offerings, complemented by a host of entertainment and sports activities.

Qatar Fan Zone is powered by Vodafone Qatar as the official telecommunications partner and supported by The W Doha Hotel & Residences, the official hospi-tality partner. For the latest news from Qatar Fan Zone follow the SC (@roadto2022) and Qatar Cal-endar (@QatarCalendar) on social media.

Audience enjoys live match at Qatar Fan Zone at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena.

After a short break yesterday, the Fan Zone re-opens today with an interactive show by female football free-styler, Raquel Bennett at 4pm.

Turkey says will not cut off trade ties with Iran at behest of others

ANATOLIA

GAZA: A Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli forces yesterday amid months of mass demonstrations against Israeli occupation of Pales-tinian land in Gaza and the West Bank.

According to Ashraf Al Qidra, spokesman of Pales-tine’s Health Ministry, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by Israeli forces in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on the 14th week of “right of return” march.

Since the rallies began on March 30, more than 130 Pal-estinian demonstrators have been martyred —and thou-sands more injured — by Israeli army gunfire.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Pal-estine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel. They also demand an end to Israel’s decade-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.

Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian teenager in Gaza

NABLUS: Extremist Jewish settlers yesterday set fire to Palestinian farmland in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to a Palestinian official.

“A group of settlers from the Itamar settlement east of the West Bank city of Nablus set fire to farmland adjacent to the [Palestinian] town of Beit Foreek,” Ghassan Douglas, a Palestine Liber-ation Organization (PLO) official, told Anadolu Agency yesterday. The fire, he said, had destroyed “dozens” of donums of Palestinian land.

Jewish settlers torch West Bank farmland

Illegal migrants receive meal

04 SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Turkey arrests ex-opposition MP over alleged Gulen links

AFP

HARARE: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said a hand grenade was to blame for the election rally blast that killed two people last week, state media reported yesterday.

Mnangagwa, 75, narrowly avoided the explosion, which came weeks before the election on July 30, the first poll since the ousting of long-time ruler Robert Mugabe.

“You might be aware about the events that took place Saturday when a hand grenade was thrown at me. But since you see me here that means I am now fine,” Mnan-gagwa who was in Tanzania on a two-day visit was quoted as saying

by the Herald newspaper.“That was a minor incident, we

are going to proceed with elec-tions,” he added.

The paper reported that Vice President Kembo Mohadi and Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, who were injured in the blast, have been transferred to a hospital in South Africa. Their condition is described as stable.

Investigations are underway into the blast, but security agencies have declined to say if any arrests have been made. Mnangagwa, who took power from Mugabe last November after a brief military take-over, has accused aggrieved supporters of Mugabe’s wife Grace

of being behind the attack.About 50 people were injured

in the blast which occurred as Mnangagwa left the podium after addressing supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party in Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city.

Mnangagwa, who replaced Mugabe in a bloodless coup in November, told the BBC on Wednesday he believed the attack had been carried out by the G40 group — a faction in the ruling ZANU-PF party which wanted Grace Mugabe to succeed her husband.

He did not accuse Grace Mugabe of being involved in the plan but said he expected arrests to be made soon.

Mnangagwa: Hand grenade caused rally blast in Zimbabwe

REUTERS

BAMAKO: Islamist militants raided the headquarters of a regional military taskforce in central Mali yesterday afternoon, opening fire with rockets and guns and attempting to infiltrate the base, the defence ministry said.

There were no immediate details on casualties at the compound in Sevare used by the G5 Sahel, a mission created last year to root out jihadist violence in West Africa’s semi-arid Sahel region, ministry spokesman Boubacar Diallo said.

He added that Malian forces were securing the site. A UN source in Sevare said that the compound was also hit by a car bomb but that gunfire had died down by mid-afternoon.

AP

SANA’A: Yemen’s warring parties have confirmed their willingness to restart negotia-tions after a two-year hiatus, the UN special envoy for Yemen said even as fighting raged along the country’s west coast over a key port city.

Martin Griffiths told the UN radio late on Thursday that he plans to bring Yemen’s Shia rebels, known as Houthis, and the country’s internationally recognised government backed by a Saudi-led coalition to the negotiating table within the next few weeks “at the very latest.”

He said he hopes the UN Security Council will come up with a plan next week and present it to the Yemenis.

Griffiths has been talking to both sides to prevent an all-out bloodbath in Hodeida, which is a lifeline for Yemen’s popu-lation. He visited Yemen’s Pres-ident Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in

the southern city of Aden. He also met with the Houthis’ chief negotiator Mohammed Abdul-Salam. He said he expects more talks with the Houthi side to take place within the next few days over the start of negotiations.

Griffiths attributed a lull in the fighting yesterday “to the discussions we have been having with the parties.”

Earlier this month, Yemeni forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive to retake Hodeida. Fighting has been concentrated at and around the city’s airport, threat-ening to worsen Yemen’s humanitarian situation.

Aid groups have repeatedly voiced fears that a protracted fight could shut down the port and potentially tip millions of people into starvation.

Recently, the Houthis offered to have the United Nations manage Hodeida’s port,

pending an “overall cease-fire” in the rebel-held city. This has been accepted by both sides, Griffiths said, adding that the UN role would begin “as soon as the parties” formally agree.

The civil war in impover-ished Yemen has raged una-bated since March 2015.

Yesterday, thousands gathered in the capital, Sana’a, to protest the coalition’s offensive on Hodeida. The protest lasted about an hour and demonstrators chanted slogans condemning the assault and called on the international com-munity to stop the war. The Houthi rebels seized Sana’a in September 2014 and drove out Hadi’s government.

Yemen has been devastated and pushed to the brink of famine by the stalemated war that has left around two-thirds of Yemen’s population of 27 million relying on aid, and over 8 million at risk of starvation.

UN envoy: Yemen’s warring parties willing to restart talks

REUTERS

AMMAN: A Jordanian official source said yesterday there were confirmed reports of a ceasefire in southern Syria that would lead to “reconciliation” between opposition and government forces whose battles have stirred fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.

The source did not elab-orate further on the reports of an agreement in the territory where Syrian government forces have been waging a campaign to regain rebel-held territory since last week.

Earlier government spokes-woman Jumana Ghunaimat told state news agency Petra that Jordan backed a “ceasefire and calm that would protect civilian lives, especially children and women.”

The Syrian army offensive has driven tens of thousands of people towards the border with Jordan and thousands more to the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israel and Jordan say they will not let refugees in.

“The search and engagement has not stopped with all the parties to make a success of the efforts to stop the military escalation,” Ghunaimat added. “Jordan welcomes any solution to end bloodshed and prevent the displacement of more civilians from our Syrian brothers.” the spokeswoman and cabinet minister said.

Jordan has been faciliating talks between groups of Free Syrian Army rebels and the Russians over a deal that would end the fighting in return for the re-establishment of state sov-ereignty in Deraa province.

Ghunaimat again reiterated the kingdom’s refusal to allow Syrian refugees to cross into the country, saying Jordan’s limited

resources prevented it from bearing any additional burden. The kingdom already hosts over 666,000 UN registered refugees

Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader said yesterday his organ-isation will work with the Syrian state and Lebanon’s General Security agency to help return Syrian refugees who want to go back to their country.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose Iran-backed movement fights alongside Damascus, also said a “very big victory” was coming in south Syria, where an army offensive has made rapid gains against insurgents.

As Syrian government forces and their allies retake more territory, Lebanese offi-cials have stepped up calls for refugees to go back to parts of Syria where violence has died down. In a televised sppech, Nasrallah said Hezbollah was establishing a mechanism to return “the biggest possible number” of Syrians refugees who want to go home safely and voluntarily.

“We are ready to help ... and we will continue helping until this matter is settled politically and officially between the Leb-anese and Syrian govern-ments,” he added.

Jordan says truce agreed in southern Syria

AFP

BAGHDAD: Iraq said yesterday it executed 13 death row mili-tants after Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi vowed a forceful retaliation to calm public anger over the Islamic State group’s (IS) murder of abducted civilians.

While Iraqis have grown accustomed to the atrocities committed by IS, the killing of the eight civilians shocked the nation and doused hopes the jihadists had been defeated.

For the first time, the author-ities released photographs of the hangings, which came after Abadi on Thursday ordered the

“immediate” executions of hun-dreds of convicted jihadists.

The justice ministry said that the 13 convicts put to death at a prison in southern Iraq “had par-ticipated in armed operations with terrorist groups, in kidnap-pings, bombings and murders of civilians”.

Abadi’s office had earlier announced the execution of 12 convicts whose appeals were exhausted.

More than 300 people, including around 100 foreign women, have been condemned to death in Iraq and hundreds of others to life imprisonment for membership of IS, a judicial source said in April.

Abadi, who has faced charges of failing to respond in force to IS, ordered “the imme-diate punishment of terrorists condemned to death” whose appeals have been exhausted, his office said. A photograph released by the justice ministry showed a group of blindfolded and handcuffed men sitting on the floor waiting to be executed.

Another showed several con-victs being hanged at the prison in Nasiriyah.

Abadi vowed to avenge the deaths of the eight civilians held captive by IS, a day after their bodies were found along a highway north of Baghdad.

“Our security and military forces will take forceful revenge against these terrorist cells,” he told senior military officials and ministers. “We promise that we will kill or arrest those who com-mitted this crime,” he added.

Six of the abductees —civilians working in the logistics department of the Hashed Al Shaabi paramilitary force that helped defeat the jihadists -- had appeared in an IS video released on Saturday with badly bruised faces.

IS had threatened to execute their captives unless Baghdad released Sunni Muslim women held in its prisons.

Iraq declared victory over IS

in December after expelling the jihadists from all major towns and cities in a vast offensive.

But the Iraqi military has kept up operations targeting mostly remote desert areas from where jihadists have continued to carry out attacks.

Iraq, which has repeatedly faced criticism over the high number of death sentences handed down by its anti-terrorist courts, hanged at least 111 con-victs in 2017.

Around 20,000 people were arrested in the three-year battle by Iraqi forces to drive out IS, which had seized swathes of western and northern Iraq in 2014.

Iraq executes 13 death row militans to avenge killings

Houthi supporters attend a rally to denounce the Saudi-led coalition’s offensive on the Red Sea coast areas, in Sana’a, Yemen, yesterday.

African migrants who were arrested in Algeria while illegally attempting to get to Europe, have meal before leaving the refugee camp located in the Zeralda region, suburb of the city of Algiers after Algerian government has started the process of expelling thousands of migrants.

Militants attack base of military force in Mali

Jordan has been faciliating talks between groups of Free Syrian Army rebels and the Russians over a deal that would end the fighting in return for the re-establishment of state sovereignty in Deraa province.

ANATOLIA

ANKARA: A former Repub-lican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker was jailed in Turkey yesterday over terrorism charges.

Eren Erdem was arrested in Ankara after the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul issued a warrant on charges of “being a member of an armed terrorist organization.”

Erdem was charged with illegally distributing voice recordings during terror group Fetullah Terrorist Organization’s December 17-25, 2013 coup attempt.

FETO is accused of attempting to overthrow the Turkish government in late 2013 through the release of allegedly fabricated voice recordings linked to an anti-corruption case.

Erdem is charged with “being a member of armed terrorist group”, “willingly helping a terrorist organi-zation” and “violating the privacy of an investigation” and could be jailed for nine and half years to 22 years.

Istanbul’s 35th Heavy Penal Court sent Erdem to jail pending trial.

The FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

05SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018 ASIA

Illegal Swiss bank deposits to face penal action: JaitleyIANS

NEW Delhi: Indians who have illegally stashed unaccounted money in Swiss banks would face harsh penal proceedings under the black money law after Switzerland starts sharing details of accounts from next year under a bilateral agreement on auto-matic exchange of information, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said yesterday.

Referring to media reports based on the latest data released by the Swiss National Bank showing a rise in Indian deposits last year and casting doubt on the efficacy of the government’s anti-black money measures, Jaitley described these as “mis-informed reaction”.

“A news item has appeared today (Friday) indicating an increase of money by ‘Indians’ in the Swiss banking system. This has led to misinformed reaction

in certain circles, raising a query whether the government’s anti-black money steps have yielded results,” Jaitley, who is currently convalescing, said in a blog.

The data released on Thursday showed that after falling for three years in suc-cession, money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose 50 percent in 2017 over the previous year, to Swiss Francs 1.02bn.

Jaitley said that Switzerland has amended its domestic laws involving all disclosures and entered into a treaty also with India on real-time flow of account information.

The agreement for automatic

exchange of information was signed between Switzerland and India last November under which both countries would start collecting data in accordance with the global standards in 2018 and exchange it from 2019.

“The flow of information is starting in January 2019. Any illegal depositor knows that it is a matter of months before his name becomes public and he will be subjected to the harsh penal provisions of the black money law in India,” Jaitley wrote.

In this regard, he underlined that “those who participate in a public discourse must under-stand these basic facts before

expressing an opinion which may be ill-informed”.

“To assume that all the deposits are per se tax evaded money or that Switzerland in the matter of illegal deposits is what it was decades ago, is to start on a shaky presumption.”

Jaitley pointed out that past investigations by the Income Tax Department have shown that such deposits include funds held by persons of Indian origin who now hold foreign passports, as well as money belonging to non-resident Indians (NRIs).

These funds include “also monies belonging to resident Indians who have made legit-imate investments abroad, including transfer of money under the liberalised remittance schemes,” he said.

Jaitley also said that the NDA government had initiated a cam-paign involving various steps to flush out black money.

Earlier yesterday, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who holds temporary charge of the Finance portfolio, said Indian deposits in Swiss banks have been decreasing in recent years due to the various measures of the Central gov-ernment against black money.

Goyal said that 40 percent increase in foreign remittances are on account of the Reserve Bank of India’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme brought during the pre-vious UPA government under which a resident Indian can remit $250,000 per year.

Over the last three years, among the measures taken by the Indian government to combat black money include the enactment of Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, the Income Dec-laration Scheme in 2016 and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana last year.

Protest in Assam against Citizenship BillIANS

GUWAHATI: A total of 28 organisations yesterday staged a demonstration here, protesting against the Citi-zenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) called for a ‘Jan Satyagraha’ yesterday and thousands of people repre-senting different organisa-tions and individuals took part in the programme.

The event was intended to “send a strong message to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led gov-ernments in Delhi and Dispur against the proposed constitu-tional amendment Bill”.

Thousands of people took out a huge protest rally from Latasil playground to Assam Engineering Institute Ground at Chandmari, shouting slogans against the Bill.

“The agitation against the Bill will continue until the government decides to scrap it. The Bill must be scrapped, the BJP-led government in Assam must ensure sealing of the India-Bangladesh border and implementation of the Assam Accord,” said AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattach-aryya, addressing the rally.

Bhattacharyya said that the government must take up the issue of infiltration from Bang-ladesh with the neighbouring country, and both must sign a bilateral agreement to ensure there is no infiltration from Bangladesh.

AASU General Secretary Lurin Jyoti Gogoi also expressed his displeasure regarding the Central and the state government’s move to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016.

A Kashmiri man transports passengers during rainfall on Dal Lake in Srinagar, yesterday.

Rainy boat ride

Bihar Deputy CM rules out petrol and diesel under GSTIANS

NEW DELHI: GST Council Member and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi yesterday outright ruled out bringing petroleum products under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in near future, citing loss of revenue both to central and state governments.

He added there was no con-sensus in the GST Council on the issue yet and if such a decision was effected in a hurry, both the Central and the state governments would incur huge revenue losses.

Modi, the Bihar Finance Minister, added that even if petroleum products are brought under GST, there is no guarantee

that they would attract a tax rate within 28 per cent and states may levy additional taxes for want of more revenue.

His statement comes days after NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said in an interview that petrol and diesel can’t be brought under GST any time soon since the total state and Central taxes on petrol put together are around 90 per cent right now.

He had said that no state will be willing to take a cut so huge and opening a new slab under GST would be an enormous exercise.

However, Modi said the Council could positively con-sider bringing in natural gas and aviation turbine fuel within the purview of GST.

Govt transforming health infrastructure for New India: ModiIANS

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said his government is transforming the country’s health infra-structure that is fit for “New India”.

Speaking after inaugurating five projects worth Rs1,700 crore at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Safdarjung Hospital, Modi said: The gov-ernment is building a suitable health infrastructure across the country for a New India that will have quality and adequate hos-pitals, more beds, better facil-ities and best doctors.”

“The health sector in the

country has got a new direction with major policy interventions by the government in the last four years. The Centre with the help of states is putting up an advanced health infrastructure in the country including in tier 2 and tier 3 cities,” he said.

The Prime Minister said his government wants to provide quality healthcare to the citizens at lowest possible cost as the burden of disease is the major cause of poverty. For this, his government has initiated more AIIMS-like hospitals in the last four years than done in the last 70 years, he said.

“Thirteen new AIIMS have been announced in the last four

year, of which work has started on eight of them. Apart from this, construction of super-specialty hospitals at 15 medical colleges across the country is underway,” he said.

“New avenues for medical education are being introduced. Our government is upgrading hospitals as medical colleges in 58 districts. In this budget, the government announced setting up of 24 new medical colleges. We aim to have at least one medical college in three Lok Sabha seats.”

The Prime Minister said about 25,000 new under-graduate and graduate seats have been added in medical col-

leges in the last four years.Earlier, Modi laid the foun-

dation stone for National Centre for Ageing, and inaugu-rated the underground tunnel between AIIMS and Trauma Centre and Power Grid Vishram Sadan at AIIMS. He also inau-gurated new emergency and super-specialty blocks at Safdarjung Hospital.

“Facilities at Safdarjung Hos-pital have been made more advanced with an investment of over Rs1,300 crore. A super-spe-cialty block and an emergency block have been dedicated to the nation. Safdarjung Hospital has become the country’s biggest emergency care hospital with

500-bed capacity just for medical emergency,” he said.

The National Centre for Ageing will provide state of art clinical care to the elderly pop-ulation and play a key role in guiding research in geriatric medicine and related specialties. The Centre will provide multi-specialty healthcare, will have 200 general ward beds and will be developed at a cost of Rs 330 crore by February 2020.

The Power Grid Vishram Sadan, built at a cost of Rs 32.67 crore, has a 300-bedded night shelter facility meant for the patients and their relatives vis-iting AIIMS and Trauma Centre at a nominal cost.

Municipal officers, who are part of a plastic eradication squad, speak to a business owner as others check for plastic bags inside a showroom at a market in Mumbai, yesterday.

For a plastic-free Mumbai

Delhi Minister sends legal notice to BJP leaders over ‘defamatory’ statementIANS

NEW DELHI: Delhi Envi-ronment Minister Imran Hussain yesterday sent a legal notice to the BJP’s Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta and MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa as well as rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra for allegedly making “false and defamatory allegations” against him regarding cutting of trees in the national capital.

Imran sought written unconditional apologies from these leaders who had allegedly accused him of accepting Rs 23 crore as commission to approve cutting of trees in Delhi.

The notice sent through lawyer B S Joon directed the three to hold a press conference and apologise to the Minister and retract their allegations.

“If Gupta, Sirsa and Mishra

failed to apologies within seven days, Imran Hussain shall be constrained to take civil as well as criminal action against them,” said the legal notice.

The notice was sent in the backdrop of the blame game over felling of trees for the Cen-tre’s redevelopment project in south Delhi.

On June 26, Gupta had staged a protest outside the Sarojini Nagar police station and accused the Aam Aadmi Party government of “lying on the issue”, while claiming that the Arvind Kejriwal government itself accorded approval for the felling of trees, but is now accusing the Union government of it.

The government-run NBCC India Ltd, that is redeveloping infrastructure in south Delhi that required axing of thousands of

trees, had sought approval from the Delhi government for the felling of trees, which was rec-ommended and approved by Environment Minister Imran Hussain, the BJP leader had alleged.

“NBCC also made an advance payment of Rs 22,54,35,000 to the Delhi gov-ernment towards security deposit for the creation and maintenance of compensatory plantation for the Netaji Nagar and Nauroji Nagar projects,” Gupta had claimed.

In the legal notice, the Delhi Environment Minister said that Gupta had under a criminal con-spiracy made false allegation that he took Rs23 crore as com-mission to approve the cutting of trees, which was broadcast on several TV channels and pub-lished in newspapers.

Three militants and youth die in Kashmir gunfightIANS

SRINAGAR: Three militants were killed in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district yesterday, while a youth also died in clashes as protesters pelted the security forces with stones while the operation was underway, police said.

Three local militants were killed in the gunfight with security forces in Thamuna village of Pulwama, said a police officer.

A 15-year-old, identified as Faizan Ahmad Khan, who had sustained a bullet injury during clashes between pro-testers and the security forces succumbed to his injuries in hospital, hospital sources said.

The data released on Thursday showed that after falling for three years in succession, money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose 50 percent in 2017 over the previous year, to Swiss Francs 1.02bn.

06 SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018ASIA

Police commander gunned down as Afghan truce endsAP

KABUL: Gunmen shot and killed a senior police special forces commander who was known as a dogged anti-Taliban warrior barely 24 hours before President Ashraf Ghani’s unilateral cease-fire was to end at midnight yestrerday, the Defence Ministry said.

Azizullah Karwan was gunned down as he picnicked with his family in the Afghan capital Kabul, said ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish.

Karwan is among dozens of Afghan Security Forces per-sonnel killed in brazen assaults around the country since the Taliban ended their three-day truce two weeks ago, even as Ghani extended the govern-ment’s cease-fire.

The combatants had inde-pendently observed a cease-fire to celebrate Eid Al Fitr. It was the first truce in Afghanistan’s brutal 17-year war and both Taliban and government officials embraced the reprieve from fighting with joint celebrations.

In cities throughout the country, Taliban and Afghan government security personnel were seen laughing together and in some cases taking selfies as they embraced. Taliban on motorcycles roared through the cities, visiting family and friends.

Enthused by the response, Ghani announced a unilateral cease-fire extension which expired at midnight yesterday.

The Taliban, however, flatly refused and some among the Taliban leadership were angered by the scenes of insur-gents and government officials together.

In the days following Eid celebrations, an audiotape pre-pared by the son of the late Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, circulated among insurgents. On the tape Yaqoub, Mullah Omar’s son, used harsh language as he chas-tised Taliban fighters for their cavorting with the enemy.

Since the Taliban ended their cease-fire, attacks against Afghan security forces have been relentless and particularly deadly. On Thursday, 16 security forces were killed in northern Takhar province. Earlier in the week, a Taliban suicide bomber killed eight police and wounded another four in eastern Kunar province. Before that, 16 militia loyal to the government were killed in northern Badghis province and another 10 in northern Kunduz province.

The frequency and ferocity of the attacks seemed intended to dispel hopes that the Eid cel-ebrations were a harbinger of

peace.Ghani, meanwhile, has been

pressing the Taliban to come to the negotiation table to end the protracted war. The Taliban have repeated their demand for direct talks with the United States, something the US admin-istration has indicated it might be willing to consider, although not without the Afghan gov-ernment at the same table.

Karwan, the special forces commander killed on Thursday, was stationed in Afghanistan’s restive eastern province of Paktika, where he worked closely with U S special forces, said Mohammad Nader Katawazi, a member of parliament from the province. He said Karwan’s death is a blow to the battle against insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, noting he had cleared hundreds of Taliban from the area.

In a telephone interview, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed the militant group had carried out the attack. Mujahid also said the Taliban had no plans for any cease-fire beyond the earlier Eid truce.

Mohammad Zekria Sawda, a member of parliament from northern Badakhshan province, said the Taliban — who already control dozens of districts in the country — benefited from the cease-fire.

“It had no benefit for the people,” he said, accusing Ghani of offering the truce as a ploy to boost his image ahead of pres-idential elections next year.

Jawed Kohistani, an analyst in the Afghan capital, said Ghani miscalculated with the uni-lateral cease-fire, which he said has played into Taliban hands, improving their morale as they struck security forces with impunity.

A Pakistani man rides on a donkey cart through a flooded street after heavy rains in Lahore, yesterday.

Rain wreaks havoc in Lahore

Pakistan court lifts former premier’s disqualification in latest election twistREUTERS

LAHORE: A Pakistani high court yesterday overturned a tribunal decision disqualifying outgoing Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from running in his home constituency, yet another dramatic twist ahead of general elections due to be held next month.

Abbasi is running for election in two constituencies, and the ban had applied to his home constituency in the Murree hill district close to the capital, Islamabad, where he will contest cricketer turned politician Imran Khan.

“We have got the ban sus-pended from the high court,” Abbasi’s lawyer, Khawaja Tariq Raheem, said.

Disqualification of candidates is one of the challenges his former ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has faced ahead of the July 25 elec-tions, which party founder Nawaz Sharif - who was ousted by the Supreme Court last year — has termed a “pre-poll rigging”.

The Supreme Court on Thursday disqualified a former privatisation minister for the PML-N, Daniyal Aziz, from running for election for con-tempt of court over his criticism of Sharif’s removal as political.

Sharif has argued that the Pakistani military, aided by top members of the judiciary, backed a series of decisions which banned him from politics for life.

An election commission tri-bunal had ruled that Abbasi did not declare an accurate value of his assets in his nomination papers.

Abbasi denies the charge. “I declared an actual value of my property at the rate which my father bought it in 1974,” he has said. “It is an election for the par-liament. They have made it a joke.” He said the nomination papers required a candidate to disclose an actual value of a property instead its present market price.

Abbasi was named prime minister last year after the Supreme Court disqualified then-premier Sharif, who had served twice as prime minister before and was ousted both times.

BNP-M & PPP form electoral alliance in BalochistanINTERNEWS

QUETTA: The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have entered an alliance to contest the upcoming general elections from one National Assembly seat and three provincial assembly seats, it is learnt.

The development came after a delegation of BNP-M, headed by its chief Akhtar Jan Mengal, met PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari last week.

Mengal and Zardari agreed on seat-to-seat adjustment on various con-stituencies of Balochistan and pledged to work for the development of Balochistan after coming to power.

PPP Provincial President Haji Ali Madad Jattak and BNP-M Information Secretary Agha Hassan Baloch announced BNP and PPP’s electoral alliance in a joint news conference at the Quetta Press Club on Friday.

Jattak and Baloch said, “Dialogue between Zardari and Mengal ended on one unan-imous agenda - development of Balochistan and its people.”

Sharing details of constit-uencies on which both the parties formed an alliance, they said, “PPP will support BNP-M candidates of NA-272 Lasbela-Gwadar and PB-51 Gwadar.”

On the give and take policy, the BNP-M announced that it will support PPP can-didates of PB-39 and PB-50.

Baloch said, “Following the democratic tradition, we will welcome all political parties seeking formation of an alliance with the BNP-M.

Military’s shadow darkens media coverage of Pakistan pollsAFP

ISLAMABAD: Facing abductions, censorship and financial ruin, journalists in Pakistan say they are under unprecedented pressure from authorities ahead of nationwide polls, sparking allegations the military is over-seeing a “silent coup”.

Media houses describe a sus-tained campaign by the security establishment ahead of the July 25 election to curb their coverage.

Those who refuse to toe the line are increasingly targeted while their employers face financial blowback, sparking widespread self-censorship.

“We have never witnessed the censorship which we are

facing today,” said Afzal Butt, president of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.

Pakistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists and activists, and there have long been red lines, but the uptick in pressure is seen as brazen and extraordinary.

The country’s largest broad-caster Geo TV was partially forced off air for weeks this year until it reportedly cut a deal with the military to adjust its cov-erage, according to local and international media.

And Pakistan’s oldest news-paper Dawn complains its sellers are being “threatened and coerced by state institutions” fol-lowing an interview with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in

May, where he suggested Paki-stani militants were behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people.

Such pressure on two of Paki-stan’s most powerful media houses is a clear message, says Waseem Abbasi, a correspondent for The News: “Other outlets have no chance. So basically they’re also falling in line.” Foreign envoys have also privately aired concerns, fearing for stability in the polarised country as polls approach.

“There is clearly a concerted effort to muzzle the media in Pakistan,” a diplomatic source requesting anonymity said. “This is deeply concerning.”

Much of the tension centres around the stand-off between Sharif and the powerful military,

which has ruled Pakistan for roughly half its 70-year history.

Sharif, who at times appeared to seek a better rela-tionship with arch-enemy India, was ousted by the Supreme Court last year following cor-ruption charges and banned from politics for life.

He has since repeatedly accused the military of wanton political interference.

His quotes on the Mumbai attacks during an interview with Dawn journalist Cyril Almeida approached a widely acknowl-edged taboo in Pakistan: crit-icism of the armed forces’ alleged policy towards militant proxies in India and Afghanistan.

Journalists now face pressure

to cease favourable coverage of Sharif and his incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said Abbasi.

It is hard to quantify the extent of censorship, and how it might hamper voters’ ability to make informed choices between the PML-N and other parties -- namely the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, led by former cricketer Imran Khan.

The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, a think tank, said the electoral process appeared “unfair”.

Journalists believe they are “facing restraints at the hands of a silent coup in place by the mil-itary and its intelligence affiliate, the ISI,” it reported recently.

Sikh pilgrims gather as they pray at the mausoleum of Maharaja Ranjit Singh during commemorations for his 179th death anniversary in the eastern city of Lahore, yesterday. Hundreds of Sikh pilgrims arrived in Pakistan to attend a ceremony marking the 179th death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh empire.

Cross-border devotion

Australian PM distances govt from spy prosecutionAP

CANBERRA: Australia’s prime minister yesterday distanced his government from a decision to prosecute a former spy and his lawyer who accuse Australia of illegally bugging the East Timorese Cabinet while nego-tiating a deal to share oil and gas revenue.

The Australian Secret Intelli-gence Service spy, who cannot be identified, and his lawyer Bernard Collaery will appear in the Can-berra Magistrates Court on July 25 charged under the Intelligence Services Act with conspiracy to communicate ASIS information.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said while his Attorney General Christian Porter had approved the charges, it was Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Sarah

McNaughton who decided the men should be charged.

“The attorney general gave his consent and he advised me that he was considering the matter, so I was certainly aware that he was giving his consent to it, but it was... consenting to a prosecution recommended by the DPP,” Turnbull told reporters.

Turnbull said he would not comment on the case because it was before the courts.

Collaery said he and the former spy, who is known as Witness K, were victims of a vindictive prosecution by Turn-bull’s conservative Liberal Party because they had exposed illegal spying on the East Timor government in 2004.

“I will survive these rats who are pursuing me at the moment,” Collaery told reporters on Thursday.

Azizullah Karwan was gunned down as he picnicked with his family in Kabul, said ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish. Karwan is among dozens of Afghan Security Forces personnel killed in brazen assaults around the country since the Taliban ended their three-day truce two weeks ago.

07SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018 ASIA/EUROPE

Seoul to tighten refugee laws as hundreds of Yemenis arriveREUTERS

SEOUL: South Korea will tighten laws governing the arrival of refugees, the Justice Ministry said yesterday, after a rapid rise in the number of Yemeni asylum seekers sparked anti-refugee sentiment in the racially homo-geneous country.

More than 552 people from Yemen arrived on the southern resort island of Jeju between January and May, the ministry said.

The country has granted refugee status to just over 800 people since 1994. The sudden surge in Yemeni arrivals has fuelled concern that many could be seeking economic advantage rather than protection and that they could lead to an increase in

crime and other social problems.More than 540,000 South

Koreans have signed an online petition to the presidential Blue House in the past two weeks, asking the government to abolish or amend no-visa entries and the granting of refugee status to applicants.

The Justice Ministry said it will revise the Refugee Act to prevent abuses.

South Korea will also increase the number of officers

reviewing refugee applications so as to “quickly review and thoroughly verify identities so as to meticulously review potential for problems including terrorism and violent crime”.

South Korea has already blocked asylum seekers in Jeju from leaving the island and on June 1 dropped Yemen from the list of countries that would not require a visa when entering the country.

The reason the asylum

seekers have chosen Jeju can be traced to a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur, established by budget carrier AirAsia X in December, a Justice Ministry official said.

“A few Yemenis started to enter the country in early December and the news about the new flight spread among the 2,800 Yemenis in Malaysia,” the official said, declining to be iden-tified by name.

South Korea began accepting refugee applications in 1994 after acceding to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1992. The country also enacted the Refugee Act in 2013, becoming the first Asian country to pass its own refugee legis-lation which allows protection for refugees that have sufficient

grounds for fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, social group or political view.

A total of 40,470 people have applied for asylum in South Korea since 1994. The gov-ernment has so far granted refugee status to just 839.

Yemen has been locked in civil war for the past three years, with aid agencies warning earlier this year that the country is in danger of tipping into famine if fighting continues to disrupt imports of food aid.

A blogger has called a rally for Saturday in Seoul, under a banner reading “Fake Refugees GET OUT”, with mothers of young children posting online they intend to join to raise con-cerns about crime and loss of jobs.

Indonesian ferry spotted at bottom of lake: OfficialsAFP

SIMALUNGUN, INDONESIA: An Indonesian ferry that capsized and sank with scores of people aboard has been found by search teams combing the depths of one of the world’s deepest lakes, authorities said yesterday.

The vessel was believed to be operating illegally with no manifest and an insuffi-cient number of life jackets when it went down on Lake Toba, a picturesque tourist destination in Sumatra.

Authorities have struggled to pinpoint the exact number onboard when it went down nearly two weeks ago, in one of Indonesia’s deadliest mar-itime accidents.

Remotely operated vehicles found the boat Thursday night some 420 metres below the surface of the lake, the national search and rescue agency said.

Grainy video and photo footage showed several bodies and motorcycles, which the boat had been car-rying, on the lake bed.

“We saw bodies, pas-sengers’ belongings such as helmets, shoes, ferry seats, rope. We’ve seen them clearly. I’ve seen them with my own eyes through the monitor,” Nugroho Budi Wir-yanto, a spokesman for the agency, told reporters.

The vessel, he added, was at a depth of 420 metres (1,380 feet), with some of the bodies further down at 455 metres.

Just three passengers have been confirmed dead in the accident, with 21 sur-vivors. Official estimates listed 164 others — including children — as missing.

They are presumed dead, with many bodies thought to be trapped inside the sunken ferry. Two trawlers are being used to try to haul the boat to the surface, but the vast depths are posing problems for rescuers.

Unable to find lost boys, Thai police drop survival packages into caveREUTERS

CHIANG RAI, THAILAND: As a search in Thailand for 12 boys and their soccer coach missing inside a flooded cave entered a sixth day yesterday, police dropped survival packages through a shaft drilled in the mountainside not knowing if anyone was there.

The fate of the boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year old coach has gripped the country since they went missing on Saturday after they decided to explore the 10km long Tham Luang cave complex in Chiang Rai province, despite warnings that the maze of pas-sages and chambers is prone to flooding.

Bicycles and soccer shoes belonging to the boys were found near the entrance, and rescue workers think muddy handprints inside the cave could have been left by the group.

But the search has yielded no other trace.

International rescue teams, including one sent by the United States Pacific Command, are helping the Thai military and police in a search that has been hampered by heavy rain.

Police have been scouring mountain slopes above the cave in search of other ways in as divers tried to find their way through the flooded passages.

Twenty packages filled with water, food, medicine, flashlights and a note for the missing team were dropped down a fissure in the cave, police said.

Unsure of the boys’ location, they hoped the boxes would reach them.

“If the children find this box we want them to float the box out of the cave,” police Colonel Kraiboon Sotsong told reporters.

“The note says: ‘If received, then reply and show on the map where you are. Everybody will quickly help’.” There has been an outpouring of support for the missing 13.

Prime Minister Prayuth

Chan-ocha visited the site yes-terday to urge on the rescuers and assure relatives keeping vigil that every effort was being made.

“Whatever can be done, do it, the government will back it,” said Prayuth. “I’ve come to give everyone encouragement.” A group of school children has posted a video on Facebook

featuring a song they wrote for the missing boys.

“Heavens please have mercy... Please let them be safe, I pray to Mae Nang Non, please have mercy,” the children sang, pleading to a deity, known as Mae Nang Non, who is believed to protect the Tham Luang cave.

Thailand is predominantly

Buddhist and while it is hurtling toward modernity, animist beliefs and superstitions exert a strong influence over many people.

Several hashtags have appeared on Twitter in support of the 13 including “don’t give up”, “stay strong” and “13 Hope”.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha (second left), meets family members of missing children and their coach camping out at Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Chiang Rai province during rescue operation in Tham Luang cave, yesterday.

A Belarus’ choir attends a ceremony for the unveiling of the monument to the victims of the Second World War on the grounds of the former Nazi concentration camp in Trostenets outside Minsk, yesterday.

Paying tributes to World War victims

Japan quake battered most powerful microscopesAFP

TOKYO: Two of the world’s most powerful microscopes suffered severe damage from a deadly earthquake that hit the western Japanese city of Osaka, causing delays in cutting-edge cell and atomic-level research, a scientist said yesterday.

The two damaged units, both with price tags of 2.3bn yen ($20m), at Osaka Uni-versity may not come back online until next year.

One 12-metre-high unit, captures 1,600 images of atomic-level substances per second, a capacity greater than any other microscope, said Hidehiro Yasuda, professor at the university’s Research Center for Ultra-High Voltage Electron Microscopy.

The other “three Megavolt ultra-high voltage electron microscope”, built in 1995, allows researchers to look at tiny biological material.

The microscopes have been used by a wide range of scientists, including those who analyse iPS cells, which could be used to make new drugs and in regenerative medicine.

The engineers who designed and built the unit in 1995 are unable to help in its reparation as they have long since retired or died, Yasuda said.

New fears in Russia as researcher of Stalin purges arrestedAP

MOSCOW: Russian authorities this week brought fresh legal action against an acclaimed researcher into Stalin’s purges, accusing him of sexual misconduct towards his underage daughter, in what human rights groups see as a trumped-up attempt to shut down his work at a time when the government is seeking to gloss over Soviet-era crimes.

Yuri Dmitriyev denies wrongdoing. His arrest Wednesday comes as Russia is hosting the World Cup and trying to showcase cleaned-up cities and stadiums and play down its repressive reputation.

Dmitriyev’s older daughter, Ekaterina Klodt,said yesterday she believes her father is being persecuted for his research and activism. “Somebody doesn’t like the work that he does,” Klodt said.

The arrest was the latest step in a lengthy legal case. Dmitriyev had already spent over a year in jail before being acquitted this spring on child pornography charges, but the acquittal was later overturned.

The initial charges against Dmitriyev, who heads the local branch of the Memorial human rights group, centered on nine pho-tographs of Dmitriyev’s adopted daughter discovered on his home

computer. Dmitriyev said he was regularly photographing the girl to document her health.

Investigators in the northern region of Karelia, near the border with Finland, said that Dmitriyev, 62, now faces new accusations of sexually abusing his daughter in 2012-2016. It was unclear what brought on the new accusations and investigators declined to comment.

The European Union ques-tioned the “dubious charges”

against him. The case has shocked the Russian human rights community, which sees it as an attempt to discredit his work commemorating Stalin’s victims. The country’s best-known writers, historians and other public figures have cam-paigned in his defense. Earlier this year, just released from prison, Dmitriyev was given a prestigious human rights award by the Moscow Helsinki Group.

Mattis vows ‘strong defensive stance’ on North KoreaAFP

TOKYO: US Defence Secretary James Mattis pledged yesterday to maintain and strengthen the US security alliance with Japan amid fears that talks with North Korea could water down Wash-ington’s longstanding security commitments in the region.

Mattis said the United States and its regional allies will maintain a “strong collaborative defensive stance” on North Korea, and that Japan will remain a “cor-nerstone” of regional stability.

In meetings with Japanese officials, Mattis sought to address Tokyo’s worries that its security interests could be left behind in President Donald Trump’s push to reach a denu-clearisation deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“We’re in the midst of very unprecedented negotiations right now with North Korea, but in this dynamic time, the long-standing alliance between Japan and the US stands firm,” Mattis insisted next to his Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera.

“There is absolute reas-surance between the two of us that we stand firm,” he pledged.

Regional allies were caught wrong-footed by Trump’s unex-pected announcement on June 12 to suspend joint military exer-cises between the US and South Korea that had previously been seen as a vital measure to contain the North Korean threat.

Mattis said the decision was taken “to create space for our dip-lomats to negotiate strongly and increase the prospect for a peaceful solution on the peninsula.”

More than 540,000 South Koreans have signed an online petition to the Presidential Blue House in the past two weeks, asking the government to abolish or amend no-visa entries and the granting of refugee status to applicants.

Palestinian sources said that Kushner and Greenblatt, who just wrapped up a tour of the region, have been told by Arab leaders — in no uncertain terms — that any peace deal must include a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

BLOOMBERG

08 SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018VIEWS

US peace plan fails to meet key Arab demands

Washington’s so-called “Deal of the Century” can be summarized in three phrases: a political

“entity” in the Gaza Strip, a degree of “autonomy” in the West Bank, and a Palestinian “capital” in parts of Jerusalem.

Since US President Donald Trump began dropping hints about the deal last year, his adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has reportedly been working on the plan’s details, a number of which have been leaked to the press.

According to Israeli political analyst Yoni Ben-Menachem, what has been leaked regarding the plan appears to be largely in line with long-standing Israeli policy objectives.

“Israel’s current political lead-ership rejects the notion of a Pales-tinian state but has shown its read-iness to accept a Palestinian ‘entity’ in parts of the Palestinian territories,” Ben-Menachem said.

But such an “entity”, Ben-Men-achem said, would lack a capital in East Jerusalem, would not include the strategic Jordan Valley, and would not be allowed to take in Palestinian refugees.

“With the help of the Jewish lobby in the US, Trump’s advisers -- Kushner, Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman — have convinced the pres-ident to draw up a plan that suits the interests of Israeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu,” he said.

Last week, Israeli political analyst Amos Harel, for his part, wrote in Israeli daily Haaretz that such a deal would fail to meet basic Palestinian demands.

According to Harel, the US adminis-tration also plans to offer the Pales-tinians a package of economic incentives partially funded by the oil-rich Gulf States.

Harel believes the US adminis-tration will

offer the Palestinians a “capital” in East Jerusalem’s Abu Dis district while the Israelis would be expected to withdraw from a handful of Arab vil-lages on Jerusalem’s eastern and northern outskirts.

Jerusalem’s Old City, meanwhile, including the flashpoint Al Aqsa Mosque complex, would remain entirely under Israeli sovereignty, Harel said.

What’s more, according to Harel, Trump’s “Deal of the Century” would not call on Israel to relinquish any of its illegally-built West Bank settle-

ments blocs. What’s more, the Jordan Valley

would remain under full Israeli control, while the new Palestinian “state” would remain completely dis-armed, lacking any military capacity.

Such a plan is unlikely to be met with acceptance by the Palestinians, some of whom have derisively described it as the “Slap of the Century”.

According to Ben-Menachem, the general outline of the Trump peace plan appears to include a Palestinian political “entity” in the Gaza Strip and in some parts of the West Bank, while security control over everything else — including Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley — would remain in Israel’s hands.

Millions of Palestinian refugees, meanwhile, whose forebears were driven from their homes in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel, would not be allowed to return to the new Palestinian “state”.

While some isolated settlement outposts might be dismantled, Ben-Menachem explained, Israel’s sprawling network of West Bank set-tlement blocs would remain largely intact under the plan.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians would be given a “capital” in Abu Dis and four districts of East Jerusalem (Jabal Al Mukaber, Al Zaim, the Shuafat refugee camp and Al Issawiya), along with financial inducements funded in part by the Gulf States and the interna-tional community.

In regards to the thorny issue of the Al Aqsa, the deal would also call for construction of a “corridor” linking Abu Dis to Al Aqsa, giving Palestinians limited access to the mosque, Ben-Menachem said.

Late last year, the Palestinian

leadership in Ramallah halted all contact with the US administration after Trump announced his intention to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Washington’s decision earlier this month to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council -- due to the council’s alleged “anti-Israel bias” -- only alienated the Palestinians further.

“Israel is very comfortable with the US administration’s current positions,” Ben-Menachem said. “The common assessment is that Israel-US relations will remain strong in the long term.”

By contrast, he added, US-Pal-estine relations “will likely remain a source of tension”.

Ultimately, however, it remains unclear whether the Trump adminis-tration will go through with its contro-versial peace plan.

Palestinian sources said that Kushner and Greenblatt, who just wrapped up a tour of the region, have been told by Arab leaders — in no uncertain terms — that any peace deal must include a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The same sources, who spoke anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media, said the Trump administration was now mulling devel-opment schemes in Gaza following the failure of its political project.

Ben-Menachem, however, disa-greed with these assertions.

“Washington’s interest in Gaza is temporary and won’t affect the ‘Deal of the Century’, details of which are still being ironed out,” he said.

Kushner’s and Greenblatt’s tour of the region (which took the pair to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Qatar) wrapped up on Sunday. Results of the tour have not been made public.

ABDUL RAOUF ARNAOUT

ANATOLIA

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I will present the European point of view. I don’t like this idea ... the American administration

(wants) to divide the European Union ... when

it comes to trade. This is a competence of the

European Union.

Jean-Claude Juncker European Commission Chief

Trust the facts on genetically engineered foods

The US Department of Agri-culture has come up with cheerful new labels for geneti-cally modified foods. The

bright green and yellow circles depict a happy sun, a winking smiley face or a verdant landscape stamped with the letters “BE,” for “bioengineered” - rather than the familiar “genetically modified” or “genetically engineered.”

It’s a shame the government is unwilling to let the facts speak for themselves.

Science has affirmed that GM foods - grown from seeds whose genes have been altered to make them resistant to insects or herbicides, for instance - are safe. There’s no need to dress up the labels to suggest that genetic

modification makes foods somehow better. That risks misleading the public, just as Greenpeace and other groups have done with their baseless claims that GM crops are dangerous.

A straightforward description, not propaganda, is what American con-sumers want. And new evidence sug-gests that plain labels can help build acceptance for GM foods.

Economists who looked at pre-vailing attitudes in Vermont before and after a state labeling requirement went into effect there in July 2016 have found that the state’s no-non-sense labels - no logos, just the words “produced with genetic engineering” or “partially produced with genetic engineering” - led to a 19 percent drop in opposition to GM foods.

Views shifted abruptly in Vermont even as general distrust of GM foods

continued its steady rise everywhere else in the US Earlier research had suggested that food labels give con-sumers a greater sense of control, and Vermont seems to bear this out. One thing’s for sure: Straightforward labels didn’t scare people, as some food makers and scientists had feared they might.

The Vermont requirement was short-lived, because a federal labeling law preempting state rules was passed soon after it came into effect. Public comment on the proposed national labels is open until July 3.

USDA officials should pay attention to the new evidence from Vermont and simplify their labels to convey information, not spin. Once they’re in use, more Americans will come to accept that GM foods are safe.

Hassad has diversified investments in Qatar, Australia and Oman with potential future investments in several other places.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI

osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

Strategic investment

After performing a laudable role in ensuring unin-terrupted food supply to local markets after impo-sition of siege against Qatar last year by taking a

number of initiatives swiftly, Hassad has now announced its $500m investment plans in Sudan’s agricultural and food sectors.

Hassad, a fully owned subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority, is embarked on the mission to identify and invest in attractive assets in the global food and agri-culture value chains as well as build a strong portfolio through Hassad’s sector expertise, lasting partnerships, and long-term investment approach.

Hassad has diversified investments in Qatar, Aus-tralia and Oman with potential future investments in several other places. Through its various subsidiaries, the company produces livestock, grains, fodder, poultry products, vegetables, rice, dates and many other products.

According to newly announced plan, Hassad will invest $500m in the Sudanese agricultural and food sectors over the next three years. The announcement

was made after signing a memorandum of under-standing (MoU) with a Sudanese company spe-cialised in the field of agri-culture and food.

Hassad CEO Mohamed Al Sadah commented on this occasion, “We have signed the Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with the Sudanese side in line with Hassad’s new vision and strategy to become a suc-cessful strategic investor in the global food and agri-culture value chains.”

“Over the next three years, we plan to invest around $500m in the

Sudanese food sector, by entering into partnerships with a number of local Sudanese companies. We are currently working on identifying suitable business opportunities, as well as signing agreements, which are in line with Hassad’s new strategy,” Al Sadah added.

A report appeared in March 2018 indicates that the local food production of Hassad has increased signifi-cantly as the company is producing 16 million chickens, 120 million eggs and 8,000 tonnes of vegetables in a year to ensure the food security in the country.

For the vegetables’ sector, Hassad has increased the cultivated land since the beginning of the blockade, to reach 8,000 tonnes of vegetables per year. For fodder sector, Hassad increased the cultivated lands in Has-sad’s fodder farms, to increase the production up to 10,000 tonnes annually.

Hassad Food CEO, Mohamed Al Sadah, recently said, “We aim to support the country’s food security efforts, by expanding our local and international investments. We conducted an in-depth research on the local market needs from the three sectors, developed suitable plans and started implementing them to support in satisfying those needs.”

Ethiopia’s new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, had extended an olive branch to his country’s longtime enemy by stating that Ethiopia is finally ready to fully accept and implement the terms of an 18-year-old peace agreement between the two countries. Last week, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki acknowledged his Ethiopian counterpart’s peace offer.

09SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018 OPINION

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Rising disaster risk but little insurance interestin Pacific islands

Eritrea and Ethiopia: ‘Beginning of a beautiful friendship’

JARED FERRIE

REUTERS

ABRAHAM T ZERE

AL JAZEERA

Pacific island nations are some of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, yet only a handful have signed up to an

insurance scheme that dispenses rapid payouts in a crisis - a situation experts hope to change.

The United Nations says only about 8 percent of disaster losses are

covered in the Asia-Pacific region.But just five of 15 eligible island

nations have joined the Pacific Catas-trophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), while one country withdrew in the test phase.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is trying to drum up more interest in risk coverage, organising a New York event in April that brought together Pacific nation officials and private insurers.

“They (insurers) have something to offer, but the offer has to be met by demand,” said Tiziana Bonapace, director of the disaster risk reduction division at ESCAP.

Creating that demand is a chal-lenge, she said, noting that dialogue between governments and insurers is key to “sensitise countries to what disaster risk finance has to offer”.

The limited appeal so far has much to do with small island nations’ reluctance to foot the bill for the effects of climate change, said Simon Young, an advisor with Willis Towers

Watson, which is the reinsurance broker for the PCRIC.

“The Pacific islanders don’t feel they are responsible for the majority of their climate risk,” said Young, who was a consultant on the World Bank-run pilot phase of the project.

Richer countries developed through industrialisation that spewed greenhouse gases into the atmos-phere, fuelling global warming that is intensifying cyclones in the Pacific, among other impacts.

“They have always felt that insurance of the kind we are trying to develop should be paid for by the pol-luting countries,” Young said.

The PCRIC payouts are not large enough to cover all losses caused by a disaster - and they are not meant to, he added. Instead, a disaster triggers a payment that is dispatched within two weeks, intended to keep the gov-ernment running until external aid comes through.

Tonga received the first payout of $1.2m following Cyclone Ian in 2014, during the pilot period. The country received a $3.5m payout from the PCRIC in February this year, just seven days after Cyclone Gita struck.

Tonga’s finance minister said in April the funding had “substantially improved” his country’s ability to respond swiftly to the most pressing needs of affected people.

In 2015, the pilot scheme paid $1.9m to support Vanuatu’s emer-gency response after it was hit by Cyclone Pam.

But according to a 2015 World Bank review, the Solomon Islands withdrew after experiencing two dis-aster events that were not eligible for a payout.

An earthquake in 2013 was not large enough to trigger a payment, neither did the plan cover floods from heavy rains in 2014, as the rainfall was unrelated to a cyclone.

The PCRIC should add coverage for excess rainfall as well as a lack of rain, said Maybelline Andon-Bing of the Ministry of Finance in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

“This is what the RMI currently gets affected by,” she said in an email.

The state has PCRIC cyclone cov-erage, but has yet to receive a payout, as it rarely gets hit by cyclones, she added.

Officials from the four other coun-tries participating in the PCRIC - the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu - did not respond to requests for comment, nor did the Solomon Islands.

In mid-2016, the PCRIC graduated from its pilot phase, and the company is now registered in the Cook Islands. It is owned by a foundation, and the risk pool is financed by participating nations and donors.

“It would be great to get or receive additional support from the richer nations,” said RMI’s Andon-Bing.

For the 2017-2018 cyclone season, the PCRIC secured more protection for its five member nations, with $45m available in the risk pool, up from $38m for the previous season, the World Bank said.

A similar scheme in the Caribbean - which is mostly comprised of small island nations facing similar threats - has had far more buy-in.

The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility has made payouts to 13 countries totalling $130.5m since 2007, it said in a mid-June statement announcing the addition of two gov-ernments, bringing the total to 19. Insurance expert Young, who also works on risk management in the Caribbean and Africa, said Caribbean states are less adamant than Pacific countries that polluting nations should cover the costs of damage from extreme weather worsened by global warming.

On June 26, a high-level Eri-trean delegation led by Foreign Minister Osman Saleh arrived in the Ethi-

opian capital, Addis Ababa, for talks on ending the decades-long conflict between the two countries.

Earlier this month, Ethiopia’s new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, had extended an olive branch to his coun-try’s longtime enemy by stating that Ethiopia is finally ready to fully accept and implement the terms of an 18-year-old peace agreement between the two countries. Last week, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki acknowledged his Ethiopian counter-part’s peace offer.

The Eritrean delegation arrived in Ethiopia only yesterday, but signif-icant progress has already been made - Ahmed announced that Ethiopian Airlines would restart flights to Eritrea for the first time since 1998.

The positive steps taken by Eri-trean and Ethiopian leadership to achieve sustainable peace have been applauded by regional and global organisations and powers, including the UN, EU, US and the African Union. More importantly, the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia, who had been suffering the most as a result of the ongoing conflict, are now ready for peace and normalisation.

All in all, Eritrean delegation’s visit to Addis Ababa - to borrow a line from the classic film Casablanca - is expected to be “the beginning of a

beautiful friendship”. Yet, for both countries, there are many roadblocks ahead in this path to peace and reconciliation.

Ahmed’s domestic reforms and reconciliatory attitude towards Eritrea have already started to bear fruit at home. Some Ethiopians, who have been living in exile in Eritrea as a result of their government’s repressive policies towards them, are returning home. The armed oppo-sition group, Gimbot 7 - whose fighters had mostly been based in Eritrea - announced that it will cease armed attacks on Ethiopia following reforms announced by the government.

However, a recent attack on a political rally signalled that not eve-ryone in Ethiopia is happy about the new prime minister’s reconciliation efforts and progressive reform agenda. On June 23, as thousands gathered in Addis Ababa’s Meskel square to attend a rally in support of the new government, a blast left more than 150 injured and at least two dead. The grenade attack, for which no group has yet claimed responsi-bility, clearly demonstrated that there still is a tough road before for the reformist prime minister.

In addition to such security threats, Ahmed is also likely to face multiple challenges from within the state, especially from the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

The TPLF, a faction of the ruling

coalition that dominated Ethiopian pol-itics for more than two decades prior to Ahmed’s rise to power, had been sending mixed signals about the new prime minister’s attempts to end hostil-ities with Eritrea. The Tigray people of Ethiopia are the most affected by the conflict, and as their representative in Addis Ababa, the TPLF feels responsible for making sure Tigray interests are protected throughout this new peace process. Moreover, the TPLF is threatened by Ahmed’s reform agenda and do not want to give up its dominant position within the state.

There are also reports suggesting that some groups living in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are already rejecting the peace proposal. This is partly because they feel Ahmed did not consult them before making a move that would inevitably affect their lives.

They want a return to the non-conciliatory tone of the previous administration. The Tigray region’s negative response to recent develop-ments may eventually encourage the TPLF to increase its pressure on the prime minister and hinder peace efforts. Despite these difficulties, Ahmed already made a name for himself as a peacemaker and many Ethiopians seem to support him in his effort to advance the peace initiative. Of course, any success Ahmed may achieve would be dependent on the developments on the other side of the border.

Expectations and hopes about the peace process are even higher in Eritrea. Eritreans at home, who have been forced to live in a police state for decades, want normalisation. Eri-treans abroad, who had been forced to flee their homeland, want to be able to go back. And most Eritreans believe peace with Ethiopia can make their wishes come true.

It won’t be easy for the Eritrean government to suddenly reverse course and tacitly acknowledge its own chronic wrongdoings, but peace with Ethiopia will eventually force Asmara to implement reforms and loosen its grip over its citizens.

The Eritrean government has long been using “the Ethiopian threat” to justify systemic militarisation, oppression and censorship. With the disappearance of the Ethiopian threat, Afwerki’s government will be forced to start the process of demilitarisation and the rest will hopefully follow through.

The areas most affected by the perpetual “no peace, no war” between

The United Nations says only about 8 percent of disaster losses are covered in the Asia-Pacific region. But just five of 15 eligible island nations have joined the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC), while one country withdrew in the test phase.

Ethiopia and Eritrea are the border settlements that have been effec-tively reduced to ghost towns and villages.

Once Ethiopian troops leave the area, the Eritrean government will have no excuse for not investing in these towns and villages. Partners and stakeholders, such as the EU, that have been significantly affected by the migration waves caused by Eritrea’s long, despotic rule, will likely extend a helping hand.

Eritrea’s economy is in a dire state, mostly as a result of the state’s self-defeating policies. The situation became even worse in January when the border with neighbouring Sudan was closed. Ever since, Eri-treans inside the country have been suffering from acute shortages of basic goods. Now that a peace process with Ethiopia has started, Asmara has no excuse for keeping the borders closed.

It will soon need to allow trade with neighbouring countries to resume which would help busi-nesses thrive once again. This would wake up the desperate pop-ulation and allow it to raise demands for reform.

Over the last decade and a half, Eritrea has gradually been trans-formed into a penitentiary state, with tens of thousands of prisoners rotting in underground prison centres, mostly run by military commanders. The peace process, and Ethiopia’s decision to free thousands of prisoners, is putting pressure on Asmara to do the same.

President Afwerki’s landmark decision to send a delegation to Ethiopia got many Eritreans’ hopes high. While there are forces within both countries that continue to try and block normalisation efforts, sustainable peace between seems closer than ever before.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed welcoming Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh and his delegation at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

10 SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018EUROPE

EU reaches migration deal after marathon talksREUTERS

BRUSSELS: European leaders reached a deal on migration in the early hours of yesterday after tortuous talks, but details were vague, and German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel conceded differences remained on an issue that threatens her political career.

After nine hours of often stormy talks, EU leaders agreed to share out refugees arriving in the bloc on a voluntary basis and create “controlled centres” inside the European Union to process asylum requests.

They also agreed to share responsibility for migrants rescued at sea, a key demand of Italy’s new prime minister, Giuseppe Conte.

“Italy is not alone anymore,” he said.

Conte, whose government includes the anti-establishment 5-Star movement and far-right League, had earlier refused to endorse a summit text on security and trade until other leaders had pledged to help Italy manage Mediterranean arrivals.

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, whose League party campaigned to bar migrants fleeing Africa and expel those already in Italy, said he was “sat-isfied and proud of our govern-ment’s results in Brussels”.

“Finally Europe has been forced to discuss an Italian pro-posal... (and) finally Italy is no longer isolated and has returned to being a protagonist,” he said in a statement.

The summit underscored how Europe’s 2015 spike in immigration continues to haunt the bloc.

Although the traffic has slowed in recent years, there are still daily stories of disasters as migrants make the perilous

crossing from Africa to Europe. The Libyan coastguard said around 100 were thought to have drowned off Tripoli on Friday.

United Nations aid agencies gave the EU deal a cautious welcome.

“We will welcome any outcome that leads to a more col-laborative and harmonised approach to asylum, also one that has at its core and priority saving lives at sea,” said Charlie Yaxley of the refugee agency UNHCR.

The EU summit took place in an atmosphere of political crisis, with Merkel under intense pressure at home to take a firmer stance on migration.

Speaking to reporters at 5am (0300 GMT), she said it was a good signal that leaders had been able to agree a common text, but acknowledged the bloc still had “a lot of work to do to bridge the different views.” French Pres-ident Emmanuel Macron, who has sharply criticised Italy for refusing to allow a migrant rescue ship into its ports, said European cooperation had “won the day”.

In a final statement full of convoluted language designed to appease the divergent views, the leaders agreed to restrict migrant moves within the bloc but made clear virtually all of their pledges would be carried

out on a “voluntary basis” by member states.

They also agreed to tighten their external border and increase financing for Turkey, Morocco and other North African states to prevent migration to Europe.

Merkel’s coalition partner, the Christian Social Union (CSU), which has threatened to shut Bavaria’s border to migrants - something that could trigger the collapse of her three-month-old government as well as the EU’s Schengen free-travel zone - gave the summit deal a cautious welcome.

CSU lawmaker Hans Michelbach told ARD television areas of the deal would be “dif-ficult to implement” and that Merkel would have to discuss it with CSU leader, Horst Seehofer, in the coming days.

But he underlined the impor-tance of the CSU’s ties with Mer-kel’s CDU: “We want to work together. The alliance with the CDU has absolute priority”.

Diplomats described a tense, tortuous meeting with small groups of leaders huddled together in a desperate bid to break the deadlock and avert the humiliation of heading home without an agreement.

Early in the evening, Merkel and Conte set aside 45 minutes for a chat, only to break it off after 20 minutes when the Italian rejected the German leader’s overtures, according to diplomats.

“It is so toxic. They go into the room, clash, storm out, go back again, clash again. With no end in sight,” said one exas-perated diplomat as dawn approached.

“It’s pure politics driving this, emotions are flying as high as back in 2015,” another EU dip-lomat said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left), speaks with Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz, during the last day of the European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels, yesterday.

Give us ‘workable’ Brexit proposals, EU tells MayREUTERS

BRUSSELS: The European Union’s chief negotiator urged Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday to come up with “workable” proposals for Brexit and overcome “huge and serious” differences to prevent Britain from crashing out of the bloc without a deal.

On the second day of a summit more focused on migration than Brexit, leaders of the other 27 EU countries discussed Britain’s departure without May, united in turning up the pressure on her to overcome rifts in the government and move forward.

May has so far been reluctant to spell out detailed Brexit plans because of deep divisions in her ruling Conservative Party over the terms of Britain’s biggest foreign policy shift in almost half a century.

But she has promised to thrash out an agreement with her

top team of ministers at a meeting next week and intends to present a policy document, or white paper, setting out the govern-ment’s aims for a future part-nership after that.

With only nine months to go before Britain leave the EU, it cannot come too soon for chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

“We want a deal and (are) working for a deal. The time is short,” Barnier told reporters.

The white paper will set out Britain’s vision for its future rela-tionship with the EU, something that has hobbled attempts to settle a divorce agreement espe-cially over pledges on both side to prevent a return to a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The lack of a proposal on how to keep an all but invisible border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland has stalled Brexit talks,

increasing frustration among the other leaders.

“On Brexit we have made progress but huge and serious divergences remain in particular on Ireland and Northern Ireland,” Barnier told reporters in Brussels.

The summit’s conclusions also underlined the leaders’ con-cerns “that no substantial progress has yet been achieved on agreeing a backstop solution for Ireland/Northern Ireland” but they again held out the possibility of flexibility if “the UK positions were to evolve”.

After a marathon dinner to try to hammer out a deal on a crisis over migration, Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, summed up the agreement on Brexit with a tweet: “Almost 9 hours to approve MigrationEU conclusions, not even 1 minute to approve Brexit conclusions. EU can still work together.”

Italy to close ports to NGO migrant ships ‘all summer’AFP

ROME: Italy’s hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini announced yesterday that Italian ports would be closed “all summer” to NGO ships which rescue migrants trying to cross the Mediter-ranean from Africa to Europe.

“The NGOs will only see Italy on a postcard,” quipped Salvini, who is also the new deputy prime minister and head of the far-right League party. “The ports will be closed all summer,” he said on Italian radio.

He added that the ban would concern not only access to ports but also “the furnishing of fuel to the NGOs.” “As the Italian military tells me as well as the Libyans, the NGOs help traf-fickers, consciously or not,” said Salvini.

But he stressed that Italy with other states “would con-tinue to save all those who need to be saved.” Salvini’s comments come on the day that a European Union summit reached a deal on migration after Italy had threatened to scupper it if its demands for help were not met.

“Finally Europe has been forced to accept the argument of Italy’s proposal,” Salvini commented, noting that past Italian governments had been ignored by Brussels.

“Our numerous demands have been accepted. Italy is coming out of its isolation and playing a new role.”

Camp cleared as Italy puts spotlight on Roma communityREUTERS

ROME: It may be a coincidence, but Rome’s city authorities are clearing 450 people out of an official Roma camp weeks after the new far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, said Italy’s Roma should be counted and, if they are foreign, expelled.

The authorities say the clearance is routine; that the lease for the land has expired and it has tried without success to get the residents, also known as “gypsies” or “nomads”, to move elsewhere, including to migrant shelters.

The residents, though, say the camp — where they have lived in pre-fabricated cabins provided by the municipality —is their home and that the alter-natives offered either do not work or would divide families. And they blame Salvini.

“While I was sleeping with my children and my wife this morning, the police knocked at my door. They woke me up, to get us out of the container that belongs to the city,” said Zarko Hadzovic, 44.

“They offered me a shelter to go to, without my wife and without my children. I said I do

not accept it.” Since coming to power in a coalition government on June 1, Salvini, head of the far-right League, has been making waves by turning away human-itarian ships that have picked up migrants from North Africa in the Mediterranean.

But long before migration became a European humani-tarian and now political crisis, Salvini was taking aim at Italy’s 26,000 Roma, calling for their camps to be bulldozed because he says they are hotbeds of crime.

Although he says he wants to deport hundreds of thousands

of irregular migrants living in Italy, he cannot take the same approach with Roma, many of whom are Italian citizens.

“Unfortunately, we will have to keep the Italian Roma because we can’t expel them,” he said this month, throwing the spotlight back on the Roma.

Many of Italy’s Roma live in squalid shantytowns isolated on the outskirts of cities.

The camp being cleared on the edge of Rome this week, which has no running water, was home to 450 people in more than 100 families, about half of them children.

It is one of 148 official camps under the oversight of local gov-ernments, which exist alongside an unknown number of unof-ficial ones set up by the Roma themselves.

Police evicted families and then destroyed their pre-fabri-cated homes as they looked on. Though the decision was not directly tied to the new gov-ernment, residents feel more vulnerable then before.

“Salvini... did this,” said Rasema Halilovic, 33, mother of seven. “This camp was in order and they destroyed it, they left us in the middle of the road.”

French farmer Armand Duteil checks bags of organic corn seeds near Bourdeilles, southwestern France. Some producers use only the seeds produced by other farmers to protect biodiversity and to stay independent from industrial seed companies.

Keeping industrial seed companies at bay

German spy agency acknowledges employing Himmler’s daughterREUTERS

BERLIN: Germany’s intelligence service acknowledged yesterday that it had employed the daughter of top Nazi Heinrich Himmler in the 1960s, although she never renounced her father or Nazism, and remained active in far-right extremism.

The revelation that Himmler’s daughter Gudrun Burwitz had worked for the BND spy agency — confirmed by the BND after it was reported by Bild newspaper— could add to public soul-searching over the tolerance of some Nazis after the Second World War.

Himmler, who as com-mander of the SS was one of the most powerful Nazis and a prin-cipal architect of the murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust, killed himself in British custody in 1945. His daughter Burwitz died last month in Munich at 88.

“The BND confirms that Ms. Burwitz was a member of the BND for a few years until 1963 under an assumed name,” Bodo Hechelhammer, the head of the BND’s history department said.

“The timing of her departure coincided with the onset of a change in the understanding and the handling of employees who were involved with the Nazis,” Hechelhammer said.

Germany’s intelligence services have come under criticism in recent years for failing to root out right-wing extremists in the post-war era. Critical historians say ex-Nazis and far right sympa-thisers working inside the security agencies of then-West Germany may have protected others.

At the time Burwitz worked for the BND, it was led by Reinhard Gehlen, a former Nazi military intelligence commander who went on to run West Ger-many’s spy agency until 1968.

After nine hours of often stormy talks, EU leaders agreed to share out refugees arriving in the bloc on a voluntary basis and create “controlled centres” inside the European Union to process asylum requests.

Ford assumes office as Ontario’s PremierDoug Ford shakes hands with Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell as he is sworn in as Premier of Ontario during a ceremony at Queen’s Park in Toronto, yesterday.

11SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018 AMERICAS

Maryland shooting suspect denied bailREUTERS

ANNAPOLIS: A Maryland man charged with rampaging through a newsroom in Annapolis with a pump-action shotgun and killing five people was denied bail yesteray after one of the dead-liest attacks on journalists in US history.

Jarrod Ramos, 38, from Laurel, 40 km west of Annapolis, is not cooperating with investi-gators, authorities said, and did not speak as he appeared by video link from a detention facility for a brief court hearing at Anne Arundel County criminal court.

Ramos had a longstanding grudge against the newspaper that was targeted and unsuccess-fully sued it for defamation in 2012 over an article that reported how he harassed a former high school classmate, court records showed. He is accused of entering the Capital Gazette office on Thursday afternoon and opening fire through a glass door, hunting for victims and spraying the newsroom with gunfire as reporters hid under their desks and begged for help on social media. Prosecutors said he bar-ricaded a back door to stop people from fleeing.

“The fellow was there to kill as many people as he could,” Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare told a news

conference, adding that the suspect was identified using facial-recognition technology.

Altomare said evidence found at the suspect’s home showed he planned the attack, and that the pump-action 12 gauge shotgun used by the shooter was legally purchased about a year ago.

Rob Hiaasen, 59, Wendi Winters, 65, Rebecca Smith, 34, Gerald Fischman, 61, and John McNamara were shot and killed. All were journalists except for Smith who was a sales assistant, police said. Hiaasen was the brother of best-selling author Carl Hiaasen.

The Capital newspaper, part of the Gazette group, published an edition yesterday with photo-graphs of each of the victims and a headline “5 shot dead at The Capital” on its front page.

The newspaper’s editors left the editorial page blank with a note saying that they were speechless.

Photographs that were widely shared on social media showed newspaper staffers working on

laptops in a parking garage to produce Friday’s edition while they waited to learn the fate of colleagues after the shooting.

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said he was so proud of the journalists who had “soldiered on.” “These guys, they don’t make a lot of money. They do jour-nalism because they love what they do. And they got a news-paper out today,” Buckley told Fox News.

A vigil for the victims was planned for 8:00 p.m. EDT on Friday. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan ordered state flags to be lowered to half-staff.

Ramos brought a defamation lawsuit in 2012 against Eric Hartley, a former staff writer and columnist with Capital Gazette, and Thomas Marquardt, then its editor and publisher, a court filing showed.

Neither Hartley nor Mar-quardt is still employed by the paper or were at its office on Thursday.

An article by Hartley had con-tended that Ramos had harassed a woman on Facebook and that he had pleaded guilty to criminal harassment, according to a legal document.

The court agreed the article was accurate and based on public records, the document showed. In 2015 Maryland’s second-highest court upheld the ruling, rejecting Ramos’s suit.

Ramos tweeted at the time that he had set up a Twitter account to defend himself, and wrote in his biographical notes that he was suing people in Anne Arundel County and “making corpses of corrupt careers and corporate entities.” According to a WBAL-TV reporter who said she spoke with the woman who was harassed, Ramos became “fixated” with her for no apparent reason, causing her to move three times, change her name, and sleep with a gun.

Phil Davis, a Capital Gazette crime reporter, recounted how he was hiding under his desk along with other newspaper employees when the shooter stopped firing, the Capital Gazette reported on its website.

The newsroom looked “like a war zone,” he told the Baltimore Sun. “I don’t know why he stopped.” Authorities responded to the scene within a minute of the shooting, and Ramos was arrested while also hiding under a desk with the shotgun on the floor nearby, police said.

He will face either a prelim-inary court hearing or grand jury indictment within the next 30 days.

Capital Gazette runs several newspapers out of its Annapolis office. They include one of the oldest newspapers in the United States, The Gazette, which traces its origins back to 1727.

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley speaks to the media near the Capital Gazette the day after five people were shot and killed by a gunman, in Annapolis, Maryland.

Board announces new austerity measures for Puerto Rico AP

SAN JUAN: New austerity measures are looming for storm-battered Puerto Rico after local legislators refused to alter labor laws as demanded by a federal control board that said changes would stimulate the US terri-tory’s economy amid an 11-year recession.

The board that is overseeing the island’s finances said yes-terday it will eliminate a $25m scholarship fund for Puerto Rico’s largest public university, as well as a $50m annual fund for cities and towns struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The board said it also will scrap an annual Christmas bonus for all government employees starting next fiscal year.

The measures were a blow to Gov. Ricardo Rossello, who

had originally promised that Puerto Rico legislators would agree to at-will employment, which means private employers would be able to dismiss workers at any time without having to prove just cause. A spokesman for Rossello did not return a message for comment.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, who campaigned against changing labor laws, issued a strongly worded statement on Friday defending his position and criticizing the board.

“They threaten without any justification or economic foun-dation with eliminating the Christmas bonus, vacations, employment security of the private sector worker, scholar-ships for students, funds for infrastructure projects and eco-nomic development, among

other important items,” he said. “They threaten to be worse than Hurricane Maria!”

The board said that changing labor laws would attract sorely needed investors to the US territory.

Hurricane Maria caused more than an estimated $100bn in damage when it hit Puerto Rico on September 20, and the island is still struggling to recover. More than 2,300 cus-tomers remain without power, and tens of thousands of busi-nesses closed after people fled to the US mainland.

While Puerto Rico is expected to see brief economic growth as a result of federal reconstruction dollars allocated in the aftermath of the Category 4 storm, economist Jose Cara-ballo told The Associated Press that the island would again have

an economic depression if no additional measures aimed at d e v e l o p m e n t a r e implemented.

He warned that Puerto Rico would feel the effects of the board’s cuts immediately, adding that they would further depress the island’s fragile economy as it struggles to restructure a portion of its more than $70bn public debt load.

“The contraction and social impact will be much greater than before,” he said. “It’s not equi-table. It’s basically directed at the middle class and the lower class.”

The disagreement between the board and certain legislators over changing labor laws comes as Puerto Rico’s government is expected to approve an $8.7bn proposed budget yesterday, which contains $69m for the December bonus.

Melania visits Arizona migrant shelter as protests mountREUTERS

PHOENIX: First lady Melania Trump made a second trip to view facilities housing children brought illegally across the border with Mexico and who have yet to be reunited with their parents after the Trump adminis-tration reversed its separation policy.

She also got a glimpse of the anger that erupted over the break-up of families due to the crackdown on migrants at the southern border. Dozens of sign-waving pro-testers briefly ran beside her motorcade and others chanted from nearby buildings.

Melania Trump’s first trip to a Texas shelter was over-shadowed by images of a jacket she wore on and off the plane, which had the words: “I really don’t care, do u?” scrawled on the back.

Melania Trump had urged her husband to change his approach after images of dis-traught immigrant children dominated headlines.

Army’s role under spotlight in NicaraguaAFP

MANAGUA: The presence of armed and hooded paramili-taries on the streets of Nica-ragua has sparked calls for the army to intervene to end two months of unrest that has killed more than 200 people.

Human rights groups have consistently denounced the shady pro-government forces which are accused of being involved in the killing of scores o f a n t i - g o v e r n m e n t protesters.

“You cannot have two armies in this country. Under the constitution, the Nicaraguan army should disarm the para-militaries,” said a former ambassador to the US, Carlos Tunnerman, now a member of a civil society delegation in talks with the government to end the unrest.

The protests began in April as demonstrations against now-scrapped social security reforms, but a heavy-handed police reaction transformed them into demands for justice for those killed, and for the exit of President Daniel Ortega and his wife Vice President Rosario Murillo.

The military has publicly committed itself not to take part in repression of anti-gov-ernment protests, and called for dialogue and an end to the vio-lence. But its attitude has been criticized as ambiguous. When Ortega appeared in public for the first time since the beginning of the protests, he was accompanied by the army chief, General Julio Cesar Aviles. And residents in flashpoint areas have reported the presence of soldiers or ex-sol-diers siding with riot police during clashes.

“If the army is claiming to contribute to a peaceful solution through dialogue, it must disarm paramilitary groups,” said Edmundo Jarquin, a former presidential candidate and member of a dissident wing of Ortega’s leftist Sandinista party.

Several analysts told AFP that the army’s main aim is to defend its own economic interests. Through an offshoot financial arm, the military con-trols construction, real estate

and financial companies, as well as a hospital, and has investments in the New York Stock Exchange, said military analyst Roberto Orozco.

“That could be one of the factors that could tip the balance. When your corporate interests are threatened or when you reach a situation of total ungovernability,” he said.

Defense and security spe-cialist Elvira Cuadra said “the position of the army with respect to the Ortega-Murillo government has been more of an alliance than of subordination.”

The army has played a crucial role in the recent history of this poor Central American country, fighting two wars in the 1970s and 1980s and many believe that if it wanted to, it could intervene to stop the vio-lence and politically pressure Ortega to resign.

The 13,000-strong force grew out of the former FSLN guerrilla movement that over-threw dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979. According to a 2016 review by the Security and Defense Network of Latin America, it operates on an annual budget of $75m.

Ortega has kept the rela-tionship sweet over his years in power by changing the length of service and the retirement age to benefit the Sandinista old guard.

As a result, says Orozco, “the army is divided. The High Command is loyal to Ortega, not only for business reasons, but also because he kept them in their commands.” But the rank and file are “discontent” because the power rests with the old guard and promotions are frozen.

But for now the army is walking a fine line. If it gets directly involved with Ortega and directly suppresses pro-tests, it will expose itself to sanctions, such as those Wash-ington imposed on police chiefs involved in a deadly crackdown on protesters.

Former guerrilla com-mander Luis Carrion called on the army to abandon its “passive complicity” and disarm the paramilitaries.

But others have been more cautious.

The Capital Gazette published yesterday announces the victims of the June 28 shooting at the media oulet’s offices.

The Capital newspaper, part of the Gazette group, left the editorial page blank with a note saying that they were speechless.

New tropical storm forms in Pacific off MexicoAP

MEXICO CITY: Tropical Storm Emilia has formed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico, though forecasters said that it was expected to stay far out to sea and pose no threat to land.

The US National Hurricane

Center said the storm’s maximum sustained winds had risen to 45 mph (75 kph) by midafternoon.

Its center was about 605 miles (970 kilometers) south-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula and was moving to the west-

northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).The center said Emilia could

strengthen a bit more over the next 24 hours but was likely to keep moving in the same general direction farther out into the Pacific before beginning to weaken during the weekend.

12 SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018AMERICAS

Mike Pence to Central Americans: Stay putAFP

GUATEMALA CITY: US Vice President Mike Pence urged Central American leaders to halt what he called an exodus of people that has triggered a humanitarian crisis at the US border with Mexico.

Pence met with the presi-dents of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and insisted that few of the tens of thousands of people who have made the dan-gerous trek through Mexico this year are fleeing persecution even though many claim asylum.

Aid groups in those coun-tries and at the border insist that many of the travelers report fleeing death threats and other rampant violence from powerful street gangs.

Pence said the flow of people includes MS-13 members and human traffickers.

But most of the migrants are

simply seeking a better life in the US and are “driven by the mis-guided belief that they can ignore the laws of the United States and enter our nation without consequences.”

“I say with great respect to the presidents gathered here: this exodus must end. It is a threat to the security of the United States. And just as we respect your borders and your sovereignty, we insist that you respect ours,” Pence said at a joint news conference.

Pence was dispatched here amid a global furor over Pres-ident Donald Trump’s “zero tol-erance” policy of detaining and referring for prosecution anybody who crosses the border without papers, even those seeking asylum.

Trump has now suspended the much criticized policy of sep-arating children from their parents, although more than 2,000 kids, some just toddlers or

even infants, remain in the care of US authorities. A judge this week gave the government a month to reunite the families.

Pence met in Guatemala City with presidents Jimmy Morales of Guatemala, Juan Orlando Hernandez of Hon-duras and Salvador Sanchez Ceren of El Salvador.

Central America is one of the most dangerous regions in the world. Its countries endure the scourge of violence from drug trafficking rings and brutal street gangs.

Pence bluntly urged Central American families not to travel to the United States without papers.

“Don’t risk your lives or the lives of your children by coming to the United States on the road run by drug smugglers and human traffickers,” he said. “Hold on to your homes and your homeland. Hold on to your children.”

FROM LEFT: El Salvador’s President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, US Vice-President Mike Pence, Guatemala’s President Jimmy Morales and Honduras’ President Juan Orlando Hernandez on the sidelines of a meeting at the National Palace of Culture in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

US candidate loses race to lead UN migration agencyREUTERS

GENEVA: Ken Isaacs, the US nominee to lead the UN migration agency, was knocked out of the race yesterday after coming third behind Portugal’s Antonio Vitorino and Costa Rica’s Laura Thompson in a secret ballot of member states in Geneva, delegates said.

After four rounds of voting, Vitorino, a former European Commissioner and Portuguese deputy prime minister, was declared the winner by accla-mation, and will lead the Inter-national Organization for Migration for a five-year term.

Isaacs, vice president of US evangelical charity Samaritan’s Purse, had caused controversy after being forced to apologise for tweets and social media posts in which he disparaged Muslims.

The leadership race comes at a crucial time for global migration politics, as US Pres-ident Donald Trump attracts criticism for his “zero tol-erance” policy on the Mexican border and the European Union struggles to find unity on how to deal with the influx of mainly African migrants across the Mediterranean.

The job has traditionally gone to an American, but before the election some dip-lomats predicted that the changing status of IOM, which joined the UN family in 2016, and the wide-open election might cause governments to challenge that assumption.

The White House had strongly backed Isaacs, despite US withdrawal from other international bodies and agree-ments, such as the UN Human Rights Council.

“The choice of who will be the new director of the Inter-national Organization for Migration will be extremely important for UN action in respect of migration,” Elspeth Guild, a migration expert and law professor at Queen Mary University of London, told Reuters earlier this week.

“And I think that it will also be terribly important in seeking to resolve and perhaps take some of the sting out of some the migration politics that are perturbing international rela-tions at the moment.” Keith Harper, who served as US human rights ambassador under President Barack Obama, said in a tweet that Isaacs’ rejection was “yet another sign that US power, authority and prestige has been so dramati-cally diminished”.

The election continued after Isaacs dropped out, with the winner needing two-thirds of the votes.

Delegates said the first three rounds were led by Vitorino. Thompson, currently deputy head of IOM, came second, while Isaacs’ share of the vote shrank in each suc-cessive round.

During the 1990s, Vitorino was a minister in the Portu-guese government of Antonio Guterres, now UN Secretary General.

Brazil’s Vale to pay for Samarco damage in 2018REUTERS

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian miner Vale said on Thursday it would pay 557.7m reais ($144.42m) in the second half of the year to restore the environment and commu-nities damaged by a 2015 disaster at Samarco, a joint venture it has with BHP Billiton.

The money, Vale said, will come from a separate pro-vision made by the company in the second quarter of 2016.

Brazil’s worst environ-mental catastrophe ocurred when a dam designed to hold back mine waste burst in November, 2015, killing 19 people and leaving a trail of destruction for hundreds of kilometers.

Samarco’s operations have been halted ever since.

On Monday, Samarco, Vale, and BHP Billiton said they had signed a deal with Brazilian authorities that settled a $5.30bn lawsuit related to the accident.

Still looming over Samarco and its parents is a separate lawsuit, work 155 billion reais. BHP said on Monday that the settlement set a two-year timeline to reach a settlement over that case.

Vale, the world’s largest iron ore producer, also said on Thursday it planned to give a short term credit line worth $53m to debt-plagued Samarco to cover operational and repair work in the second half of 2018. BHP announced a similar credit line and pay-ments on Thursday.

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Mnuchin slams report that Trump wants to exit WTO

Gold rebounds on profit-taking and dollar

Mideast gas demand set to grow further: IEATHE PENINSULA

DOHA: China is set to dominate the rising gas demand. Global demand for natural gas is forecast to increase at an average 1.6 percent over the next 5 years with emerging Asian markets as the main engine for demand. China alone accounts for a third of global demand growth to 2022, International Energy Agency’s (IEA) ‘Gas 2018-Analysis and forecasts to 2023’ report noted.

The Middle East sees con-tinuous growth throughout the forecast period, primarily led by increasing needs in industry, power generation and seawater desalination.

Driven by continuous eco-nomic growth and strong policy support to curb air pollution, China accounts for 37 percent of the global increase in natural gas consumption between 2017 and

2023, more than any other country. As domestic production cannot keep pace, China becomes the world’s largest natural gas importer by 2019 and with 171 billion cubic metres (bcm) of imports by 2023, is mostly supplied by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

In the United States, the abundance of local natural gas supply encourages further use of gas in chemicals and other industry sectors. The rebound in natural gas availability and use in Egypt plays a large part in the increase in consumption in Africa, while Latin American markets are reforming to develop the role of domestic pro-duction. Consumption in Eurasia slightly decreases due to sluggish economic growth. Mature net importing markets such as Europe, Japan and Korea are expected to see their natural gas demand stagnate.

Compared with the previous decade, the industrial sector takes the lead from power gen-eration as the main driver of global growth in demand for natural gas. Emerging markets, primarily in Asia, account for the bulk of this increase with uses as a fuel for industrial processes as well as for feedstock for chem-icals and fertilisers. Industrial gas demand also grows in major pro-ducing regions, such as North America and the Middle East, to support expansion of their pet-rochemicals sectors.

The United States is the source of much of the growth in natural gas production and most of the additional LNG exports. The United States, already the world’s top producer, accounts for almost 45 percent of the growth in global production and nearly three-quarters of LNG export growth. The development of destination-free and gas-indexed US LNG

exports provides additional flex-ibility to the expanding global LNG market.

2017 was a year of strong growth for natural gas, mainly driven by China. Global natural gas demand grew by 3 percent, the highest increase since 2010. China, where demand grew 15 percent, accounted for nearly a third of the global increase, driven by a determined policy effort to improve air quality through coal to gas boiler con-versions in the residential and industrial sectors. This led to an unprecedented surge in LNG imports, placing China as the world’s second largest LNG importer after Japan. The global natural gas market passes the 4 trillion cubic metres (tcm) mark by 2022, with an expected average annual growth rate of 1.6 percent throughout the forecast period. Emerging Asian markets, led by China, account

for more than half of the growth in global natural gas con-sumption to 2023. China becomes the largest natural gas importing country in the world by 2019, leading emerging Asian gas market growth. An increasing role for natural gas – defined as a clean energy source – in every sector of China’s economy is backed by strong policy support from the 13th Five-Year Plan.

China’s demand grows at an average of 8 percent per year

throughout the forecast period, accounting for over a third of global demand increase. The share of imports in China’s supply rises from 39 percent to 45 percent over the forecast period. Other emerging Asian economies increase their natural gas consumption for industry, including fertilisers and petro-chemicals and power generation, and develop their domestic markets and infrastructure to import more LNG.

Oliver Cann (left), Head of Media World Economic Forum (WEF); Elsie Kanza Head of strategy at WEF Africa (centre) and South African Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene (right) talk to the media at a press conference ahead of a roundtable bringing global business leaders to South Africa to discuss the government’s reform agenda in Johannesburg.

Sterling rallies on UK GDP revision, Brexit hopesREUTERS

LONDON: The pound rallied on Friday to a two-day high after a better-than-expected revision to Britain’s first-quarter economic growth raised hopes of monetary policy tightening in the coming months.

Adding to the bounce, the European Union’s chief nego-tiator Michel Barnier (pictured) said that EU leaders had made progress in Brexit talks, though “huge” differences remained.

The British economy grew 0.2 percent in the January to

March quarter, against a prelim-inary number of 0.1 percent, pro-viding some ammunition to a hawkish Bank of England.

The data also showed Brit-ain’s services sector gathered steam in April, raising expecta-tions of a second-quarter pick-up after a sluggish start to 2018 that has stopped the Bank of England raising interest rates so far this year.

“You could argue that the fact the GDP number is stronger plays into the hand of the Bank of England hawks,” said Jane Foley, an analyst at Rabobank.

“That said, it still a weak figure. The room for celebration could be limited unless we get strong data for Q2.” Market expecta-tions for an August rate rise grew to 60 percent after Friday’s data release from 50 percent earlier this week.

With momentum in Britain’s economy still fragile and uncer-tainty over Britain’s future rela-tionship with the European Union, most traders remain cau-tious about the prospect of rate hikes and the pound.

The EU issued British Prime Minister Theresa May a final

Brexit warning yesterday - put your cards on the table, offer

ways to overcome “huge” differ-ences and prevent Britain from crashing out of the bloc without a deal.

The British economy per-formed relatively poorly in the first quarter after cold weather hit retail demand and the con-struction industry.

After a bruising week and month for sterling as worries about the lack of progress in Brexit talks and weakness in the British economy hit the currency, the pound rallied to $1.3153 yes-terday, up 0.6 percent on the day.

EU’s Juncker says trade ties with US could do with less dramaREUTERS

BRUSSELS: Europe’s trade ties with Washington could do with less drama, the EU’s chief executive said yesterday, ahead of his trip there next month to seek to resolve a spat over US metals tariffs.

Jean-Claude Juncker spoke after a summit of EU leaders who showed a united front on challenging the US measures at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), an approach the administration of US President Donald Trump is unhappy with.

Striking a pessimistic tone ahead of the trip, Juncker said he was not sure he would resolve the issue and chided

the Trump administration for seeking to deal with member states on a bilateral basis rather than the bloc as a whole.

“I will go to Washington and... I will present the European point of view. I don’t like this idea... the American administration (wants) to divide the European Union... when it comes to trade. This is a competence of the European Union,” Juncker told reporters, referring to the fact that the European Com-mission handles all the bloc’s trade negotiations. “We should d e - d r a m a t i s e t h e s e relations...I am not sure we will find an agreement between the US and the EU but we’ll try,” he said.

Investors bet for short duration bondsBLOOMBERG

NEW YORK: With the yield curve flattening and the Federal Reserve determined to continue raising interest rates, exchange-traded fund investors have been laying bets on bonds that mature sooner than later.

The iShares 0-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF, or SLQD, took in $245m combined on Wednesday and Thursday, the most ever for the nearly five-year-old $1.1bn fund. On Wednesday, one investor bought a massive block of 2.8 million shares worth $141m, which accounted for 90 percent of SLQD’s volume for the day. It’s averaged about $6.5m in turnover a day over the past year.

Investors also poured record cash into the Van-guard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF, or VGIT, as almost $185m flowed into the fund, which tracks inter-mediate-term Treasury bonds, over the previous two days. Its average daily volume over the past year is $10.6m. Near-term bonds are less sensitive to rising interest rates, since the shorter the duration, the less time they have to be affected by the increase.

15SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018 BUSINESS

9,024.03 +95.29 PTS1.07%

QSE FTSE100 DOW BRENT7,636.93 +21.30 PTS0.28%

24,468.16 +252.11 PTS1.04% Dow & Brent before going to press

$74.17 +0.72

MarketWatch

Gold rebounds on profit-taking and dollarREUTERS

LONDON: Gold prices recovered on yesterday from six-month lows as speculators took profits amid a weaker dollar, but some analysts said more losses were likely.

Spot gold added 0.2 percent to $1,250.81 an ounce by 1400 GMT. On Thursday, it touched $1,245.32, its lowest since December13, 2017. US gold futures edged up 0.1 percent at $1,252.50 an ounce. “We’re receiving only a couple of dollars bounce on the back of a pretty decent weakening of the dollar, so gold’s not showing any signs of strength,” said Ole Hansen (pictured), head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

“The shorts are still in control and the momentum is negative. The dollar and US treasuries have taken over the role of safe haven this month and as long as the trade war is creating uncertainty then that will probably prevail.”

Gold was on track for a third straight weekly decline, having slipped 1.4 percent so far this week. Spot gold was down about 3.6 percent for the month, heading for its biggest monthly drop since November 2016.

Hansen said the downtrend would likely accelerate unless gold held above multiple layers of support slightly below $1,240. “If that area breaks, the shorts and momentum sellers will have a field day.”

The euro jumped more than a half cent after European Union leaders reached an agreement on migration. A stronger euro potentially boosts demand for gold by making dollar-priced bullion cheaper for European investors.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies slipped 0.6 percent, having risen to about a one-year high on Thursday. Gold demand improved this week in India as prices fell to their lowest level in nearly three months, while demand elsewhere in Asia remained tepid as investors waited for prices to fall further.

Mnuchin slams report saying Trump wants to exit WTOREUTERS

WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (pictured) said yesterday a report by the Axios news website, that cited sources as saying President Donald Trump wanted the United States to withdraw from the World Trade Organization, was wrong.

“There’s no breaking news here... it’s not right,” Mnuchin told Fox Business Network, calling the report “fake news.”

Axios reported earlier yes-terday, citing people who were involved in discussions with the president, that Trump frequently told advisers he wanted the United States to quit the WTO, a move with potentially disas-trous implications for global commerce.

“This is an exaggeration,” Mnuchin said. “The president has been clear, with us and with others, he has concerns about the WTO, he thinks there’s aspects of it that are not fair, he thinks that China and others

have used it to their own advantage, but we are focused on free trade. That’s what we’re focused on - breaking down barriers.”

One person who has dis-cussed the subject with Trump, according to Axios, said the president frequently told advisers: “I don’t know why we’re in it. The WTO is designed by the rest of the world to screw the United States.”

The 164-member WTO is the only international organi-zation that deals with the rules of trade between countries and

states its key purpose as opening trade “for the benefit of all.”

A US withdrawal from it would require an act of the US Congress, and Trump was unlikely to persuade lawmakers to carry out his wish, the Axios report said.

“Sources with knowledge of the situation say the Trump administration will continue to call attention to various ways in which the US encounters what some Trump advisers perceive is unfair and unbalanced treatment within framework of the WTO,” the report said.

Last Friday, the United States told the Geneva-based WTO that appeals rulings in trade disputes could be vetoed if they took longer than the allowed 90 days.

The statement by US Ambassador Dennis Shea threatened to erode a key element of trade enforcement at the 23-year-old WTO: binding dispute settlement, widely seen as a major bulwark against protectionism.

Ethiopia touts nascent oil, gas industry

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s nascent energy industry is gath-ering pace, with a unit of China Poly Group Corp. starting test output of crude oil in a volatile border region and the government estimating initial annual income of $1.2bn when gas exports begin from the area.

Oil and gas income will be

a major boost to the landlocked Horn of Africa nation’s economy, bringing in much-needed foreign exchange as well as saving on imported fuels, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said late Wednesday in a televised address.

Earnings from estimated natural gas reserves of 8 trillion cubic feet from the Ogaden Basin may be as much as $7bn

a year once it can produce at full capacity, Abiy was cited by the state-owned Ethiopian Herald as saying on Thursday.

Beijing-based China Poly that day began crude testing in three areas of the Hilala and Calub localities of Ogaden, which borders war-torn Somalia.

Ethiopia’s economy -- the fastest-growing on the

continent -- is state-planned and focused mostly on agri-culture, export-led manufac-turing and large-scale infra-structure projects.

Ethiopia plans a natural gas pipeline from the Ogaden to a port complex on the Red Sea in neighboring Djibouti. Abiy said on Wednesday that construction will start in September and exports will begin in 2021.

BLOOMBERG

Trade war risks may have larger impact

BLOOMBERG

BRUSSELS: European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned European Union leaders that an esca-lating trade war between the US and the world’s biggest economies may have a larger impact than policy makers and investors currently expect.

Rising tensions could erode confidence to an extent that is difficult to gauge, Draghi told the 27 heads of government from the bloc at a summit in Brussels yes-terday. The complexity of intertwined global supply chains could magnify the impact on the world economy, he said, according to a person familiar with the discussion.

Draghi’s latest comments come days after US president threatened to deal what could be a damaging blow to the German economy by imposing a 20 percent tariff on car imports from Europe.

BREAK TIMEVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTERCROSSWORD NOVO Pearl Qatar

MALL

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

LANDMARK

ROXY

AL KHOR

ASIAN TOWN

Ocean’s Eight (2D/Thriller) 10:00am 12:15pm 02:30pm 04:45pm 07:00pm 09:30pm 11:45pm 8:00pm 10:15pm 12:20amSicario 2: Day Of The Soldado (2D/Action) 11:00am 01:30pm 04:00pm 06:30pm 09:00pm 11:30pm; The Incredibles (2D/) 10:00am 12:30pm 3:00pm 5:30pm; Leilet Hana Wa Srour (Arabic) 10:00am 2:00pm 6:00pm 10:00pm 11:59pm; Abla Tamtam (2D/Arabic) 12:000 04:00pm 8:00pm; Book Club (2D/Thriller) 11:00am

04:00pm 09:00pm; Deadpool 2 (2D/Action) 1:15pm 6:15pm 11:15pm; Sgt. Stubby: Anamerican Hero (2D/Animation) 10:00am 12:00pm 2:00pm 4:00pmBlood Money (2D/Thriller) 6:00pm 8:00pm 10:00pm 11:59pmJurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2D/Action) 10:00am 2:45pm 7:30pm 11:59pm; Adrift (2D/Action) 12:45pm 5:30pm 10:10pmEscape Plan 2: Hades (2D/Action) 10:00am 12:10pm 2:20pm 4:30pm 6:40pm 8:50pm 11:00pm; The Incredibles (2D/IMAX) 10:00am, & 6:00pm

Asuravadham (Tamil) 2:30; The Incredibles 2 (2D/Animation) 4:45pm; Sanju (2D/Hindi) 2:00, 4:30 & 9:00pm; Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2D/Animation) 3:00pm;Kuttan Pillayude Sivarathri (2D/Malayalam) 4:45 & 11:30pm; Karma (2D/Arabic) 7:00 & 9:00pm; Ocean’s Eight (2D/Thriller) 7:00, 9:00 & 11:45pm. Escape Plan 2: Hades (2D/Action) 7:15pm; Sicario 2: Day Of The Soldado (2D/Action) 9:30pm.

ROYAL PLAZA

The Incredibles 2 (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 5:00pm; Sanju (2D/Hindi) 4:30, 6:00 & 11:15pm; Kuttan Pillayude Sivarathri (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 11:30pm; Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2D/Animation) 3:00 & 4:30pm; Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2D/Action) 4:45pm; Escape Plan 2: Hades (2D/Action) 7:15pm; Ocean’s Eight (2D/Thriller) 7:15 & 9:15pm. Karma (2D/Arabic) 8:45pm; Sicario 2: Day Of The Soldado (2D/Action) 9:00pm; Blood Money (2D/Thriller) 11:15pm

Sanju (2D/Hindi) 2:00 & 11:30pm; Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 3:45pm; The Incredibles 2 (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 5:15pm; Karma (2D/Arabic) 4:45 & 9:00pm; France vs Argentina (Live) 5:00; A Woman In The Time Of Blockade - Qatari (2D) 7:15pm Ocean’s Eight (2D/Thriller) 7:30 & 11:30pm; Escape Plan 2: Hades (2D/Action) 7:15 & 9:30pm; Uruguay vs Portugal (Live) 9:00; Sicario 2: Day Of The Soldado (2D/Action) 11:30pm; Kuttan Pillayude Sivarathri (2D/Malayalam) 11:30pm

Sanju (2D/Hindi) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00, 10:30pm & 1:00amAbraham’s Santhathikal (2D/Malayalam) 12:30, 3:00, 5:30, 8:00, 10:30pm & 1:00am Kuttan Pillayude Sivarathri (2D/Malayalam) 1:00, 3;30, 6:00, 8:30, 11:00pm & 1:15am; Asuravadham (Tamil) 12:30, 3:00, 8:00pm & 1:15am; Tik Tik Tik (Tamil) 5:30pm

Sanju (2D/Hindi) 6:00, 9:00 & 12:00amThe Incredibles 2 (2D/Animation) 1:00 & 3:30pmAsuravadham (Tamil) 1:00; 6:15 & 11:30pmEscape Plan 2: Hades (2D/Action) 4:30 & 11:45pmKuttan Pillayude Sivarathri (2D/Malayalam) 3:45 & 9:00pm; Sicario 2: Day Of The Soldado (2D/Action) 2:00 & 9:15pm.

Escape Plan 2: Hades (2D/Action) 8:30, 5:30; 3:00; Karma (2D/Arabic) 9:40; The Incredibles 2 (2D/Animation) 3:00; Kuttan Pillayude Sivarathri (2D/Malayalam) 3:40; Ocean’s Eight (2D/Thriller) 3:00pm 1; Sanju (2D/Hindi) 8:00pm

Sanju (Hindi) is a Indian biographical film directed by Rajkumar Hirani and written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi. It was jointly produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

FLIK Mirqab

SANJU

Dead Pool 2 (2D/Action) 2:40, 5:05, 9:30 & 7:35; 07:05 pm; 12:20 amIncredibles 2 11:00, 1:30, 4:00, 6:30 & 7:00pmJurrasic World: Fallen Kingdom (2D/Action) 12:35, 3:10, 5:45, 6:30; 8:20, 11:00, 11:30; Karma 3:55 & 10:00pm; Kuttan Pillayude Sivar-athri (2D/Malayalam) 10:35, 1:10, 3:45, 6:20, 8:55 & 11:30pm; Maya The Bee 11:20am; Ocean’s Eight (2D/Thriller) 10:50, 1:05, 10:00, 9:05,11:20pm; Sanju (2D/Hindi) 5:10pm

16 SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2018MORNING BREAK

HIGH TIDE 05:00 – 19:00 LOW TIDE 01:45 – 11:00

Misty at places at first becomes hot day-

time and humid by night.

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum 32oC 39oC

FAJRSHOROOK

03. 17 AM

04. 47 AM

11. 37 AM

03. 00 PM

06. 30 PM

08. 00 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS ‘Flying brain’ blasts off toward space stationAFP

TAMPA: A ball-shaped arti-ficial intelligence robot nick-named the “flying brain” because it is trained to follow and interact with a German astronaut blasted off yesterday toward the Inter-national Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon cargo ship.

A spare hand for the sta-tion’s robotic arm, an exper-iment to measure plant stress and a study of a new cancer treatment were also on board as the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 5:42 am (0942 GMT).

“We have ignition and liftoff! The Falcon 9 rocket powers the Dragon spacecraft toward the International Space Station,” said a Nasa commentator as the white rocket fired its engines and lit up the skies on a dark, Florida morning.

The unmanned Dragon capsule carried 2,700 kilo-grams on its 15th supply mission to the orbiting lab, as part of a $1.6bn contract with Nasa.

Both the capsule and the rocket have flown before. The Dragon sent cargo to space in 2016 and the Falcon blasted off a Nasa satellite two months ago.

The California-based aer-ospace company headed by Elon Musk is intent on re-using rocket parts and space-craft to lower the cost of spaceflight.

About 10 minutes into the flight, SpaceX confirmed that the Dragon had successfully deployed from the rocket’s second stage and was in a “good orbit.” The capsule is scheduled to reach the station on July 2. A key piece of cargo is a basketball-sized device called Cimon, or Crew Inter-active MObile CompanioN.

It has been described as a “flying brain” by Manfred Jaumann, head of micro-gravity payloads at Airbus.

Cimon’s activation will mark “a historical moment,” becoming the first robot of its kind to interact with people in space, said Christian Kar-rasch, Cimon project manager at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), during a Nasa press briefing Thursday.

Cimon has been trained to recognize the voice and face of Alexander Gerst, 42, a geo-physicist with the European Space Agency.

When Gerst calls to Cimon, the floating robot will acoustically sense where Gerst is calling from, orient itself that way, and zoom over.

Hovering at the astro-nauts’ eye level, its front camera can detect if the person in front of it is indeed Gerst, or someone else. It is also designed to interpret his emotional state.

Cimon will be powered by more than a dozen propellers to help it zip around and avoid bumping into things inside the Columbus module of the space lab.

“This is designed to work in English. It understands Alexander,” said Bret Green-stein, global vice president of Watson Internet of Things Offerings at IBM.

“It will come to him when he speaks.” All six crew members at the orbiting outpost can speak to Cimon, though it has been taught to work best with Gerst.

The goal for this flight is mainly to demonstrate the technology works.

The robot should be able to guide Gerst through various science procedures, showing videos or pictures as needed.

Gerst can also ask the robot questions beyond the

simple procedure at hand. Cimon is equipped with a microphone on back, an infrared camera on the front, two batteries, and perhaps most importantly, an “offline” button. Once toggled to “offline,” Gerst can be sure nothing he is saying is streamed down to the IBM server on Earth. Once back on, voice recordings are activated again. Other experiments on board the Dragon include a new robotic hand, or latching end effector, for the space sta-tion’s Canadian-made robotic arm. It will serve as a spare at the station.

Astronauts repaired the arm’s current hand -- which

was growing arthritic after 17 years of use -- during a series of spacewalks in recent months.

Also among the cargo is a project to measure water stress in plants on Earth and how sertain regions may respond to climate change.

Another experiment aims to help scientists learn how cells that line blood vessels grow in space in order to inform a novel cancer treatment.

The Dragon will stay at the space station until August, when it will return to Earth with more than 3,800 pounds of research, hardware and crew supplies, Nasa said.

Bret Greenstein of IBM (left) and Christian Karrasch of the German Aerospace Center, brief reporters on an artificial intelligence bot named CIMON, during a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, U.S

Hemingway’s legacy inspire new JFK Museum displayAP

BOSTON: A new Ernest Hemingway exhibition puts a fresh spin on the author’s colorful life and legacy by displaying his own books and belongings alongside pop culture items from his time.

“Ernest Hemingway: A Life Inspired” opened Thursday at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, which has become the leading research center for Hemingway studies.

Visitors to the expanded show will see manuscripts for

“A Farewell to Arms,” ‘’The Sun Also Rises,” ‘’For Whom the Bell Tolls” and other Hemingway works - but they’ll also glimpse popular paperback books from the first half of the 20th century, as well as magazines, photo-graphs and other mementos pulled straight from his world.

“It is now our pleasure to present a permanent Ernest Hemingway exhibit that tells the writer’s story by weaving together his literary master-pieces with his worldly inspi-rations,” said James Roth, the JFK Library’s deputy director.

“The exhibit places the viewer in Hemingway’s shoes, seeing the people and places that inspired his greatest works,” he said.

It includes many of the papers, photos, fishing rods, mounted animal trophies and other quirky personal belongings that Hemingway’s widow, Mary, retrieved from the author’s former estate in Cuba with help from JFK after her husband died in 1961. She later offered a trove of items to Jacqueline Kennedy for safekeeping and display at the Boston library, which opened in 1979.

Portuguese tech firm uncorks a smartphone made using corkREUTERS

CORUCHE: A Portuguese tech firm is uncorking an Android smartphone whose case is made from cork, a natural and renewable material native to the Iberian country.

The Ikimobile phone is one of the first to use materials other than plastic, metal and glass and represents a boost for the coun-try’s technology sector, which has made strides in software development but less in hardware manufacturing.

A Made in Portugal version of the phone is set to launch this year as Ikimobile completes a plant to transfer most of its pro-duction from China.

“Ikimobile wants to put Por-tugal on the path to the future and technologies by empha-sizing this Portuguese product,” chief executive Tito Cardoso told Reuters at Ikimobile’s plant in the cork-growing area of Coruche, 80 km west of Lisbon.

“We believe the product offers something different, something that people can feel good about using,” he said. Cork is harvested only every nine years without hurting the oak trees and is fully recyclable.

Portugal is the world’s largest cork producer and the

phone also marks the latest effort to diversify its use beyond wine bottle stoppers.

Portuguese cork exports have lately regained their peaks of 15 years ago as cork stoppers clawed back market share from plastic and metal. Portugal also exports other cork products such as flooring, clothing and wind turbine blades.

A layer of cork covers the phone’s back providing thermal, acoustic and anti-shock insu-lation. The cork comes in colours ranging from black to light brown and has certified

antibacterial properties and pro-tects against battery radiation.

Cardoso said Ikimobile is working with north Portugal’s Minho University to make the phone even “greener” and hopes to replace a plastic body base with natural materials soon.

The material, agglomerated using only natural resins, required years of research and testing for the use in phones.

The plant should churn out 1.2 million phones a year - a drop in the ocean compared to last year’s worldwide smartphone market shipments of almost 1.5

billion. Most cell phones are pro-duced in Asia but local manu-facture helps take advantage of the availability of cork and the “Made in Portugal” brand appeals to consumers in Europe, Angola, Brazil and Canada, Cardoso said.

In 2017, it sold 400,000 phones assembled in China in 2017, including simple feature phones. It hopes to surpass that amount with local production this year. Top-of-the-line cork models, costing ¤160 to ¤360 ($187-$420), make up 40 percent of sales.

A technician shows a piece of cork at the Ikimobile factory in Coruche, Portugal (left). A technician works on one of the Ikimobile phones.

Courts & DNA help Chile mothers search for ‘stolen babies’AFP

SANTIAGO: Prosecutors are revisiting one of the darkest chapters of Chilean history, when under the Pinochet dicta-torship hundreds and possibly thousands of babies were stolen from their mothers and given away just after being born.

On July 9, 1977, Margarita Escobar gave birth to a baby girl a t Sant iago’s Paula Jaraquemade hospital. She saw her daughter for only a few moments before staff took her away.

Four decades, Escobar hasn’t given up on meeting the grown woman her daughter may have become, buoyed by the prosecutors’ push for the truth about Chile’s stolen babies, and under-the-table adoptions. She said hospital staff kept her sedated back then. “Every time I woke up I asked about her again, until a midwife told me, ‘you’re baby was stillborn.’”

She wasn’t allowed to see the body. “Nobody even gave me a document. They sent me home. I don’t know how I got there. I was totally doped.”

Fast forward almost 10 years, to February 1985, and Maria Orellana gave birth in the same hospital to a boy she named Cristian. “I heard that he was a boy, then they gave me an injection and that was the last I knew about it,” she told AFP.

Like other mothers, she was told her baby had died and, as it would be “too cruel” for her to see the body, the hospital took care of the burial. “Keep the memory that you had of your little boy,” she recalls being told. Like Escobar, Oreland was given no documentation “There is nothing. It is as if I had never even been in that hospital,” she recalls now, determined like thousands of other mothers to find a child she never held.

Tasked with helping thou-sands of mothers in the same situation, Chile’s Special Judge

for Human Rights Mario Carroza has been investigating the kidnappings since January. Most occurred during the dic-tatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) but others have been reported as recently as 2000.

Carroza has ruled out the state using child stealing as a means of repression, a tool commonly used by the military dictatorship in Argentina. The first trial in a case of “stolen babies” under Francisco Franco’s 1939-75 regime has just begun. The practise in Spain continued there long afterward for monetary gain.

According to official figures, 26,611 adoptions were regis-tered in Chile between 1973 and 1987, but no register exists for how many children went to families abroad.

Carroza has determined that at least 2,021 children were adopted in Sweden between 1971 and 1992. Thousands more went to Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Switzerland, the United States, Uruguay and Peru. Each adoption was worth between 3,000 and 5,000 dollars.

Without supporting docu-ments, many mothers have maintained a painful silence for decades. But as the first cases were made public and search groups were formed on the internet, they realized thou-sands of women shared their experience.

One of these groups, the “Sons and Mothers of Silence,” has 3,000 members on Facebook, children seeking their biological parents, and mothers grasping for any clue that could lead them to the baby who was snatched from them.

In three years, the group has achieved almost 90 mother-and-child reunions.

The best way is through DNA testing, which despite the cost, many mothers undertake so their information is put into international gene banks.