Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met at Emiri Diwan yesterday with President and Chief Executive Officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical, Mark Lashier, who called on the Emir to greet him on the occasion of his visit to the country. Talks covered ties and ways of developing them. → See also page 2

Emir meets President of Chevron Phillips

Qatar’s Al Attiyah eyes fourth victory at Hungarian Baja

Minister mulls quotas for electric

cars in Germany

BUSINESS | 18 SPORT | 24

Volume 22 | Number 7247 | 2 RiyalsTuesday 8 August 2017 | 16 Dhul-Qa’Da 1438 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

3rd Best News Website in the Middle East

First Qatar Airways flight to Oman’s Sohar from todayMUSCAT: Qatar Airways will launch its inaugural flight to Sohar Airport today. Qatar Airways will be the third airline to operate from Sohar Airport. The first flight will arrive at 16.10pm at Sohar and will depart at 17.10pm.”

The new Sohar route will be served by an Air-bus A320 aircraft featuring 12 seats in Business Class and 132 seats in Economy Class. The three flights a week between Sohar and Doha will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Sohar Airport received the first International flight from Sharjah by Air Ara-bia on July 9, marking the operation of the airport as one of the regional airports managed by Oman Air-ports Management Company (OAMC).

The airport is expected to connect Oman to more interna-tional destinations.

QNA

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) has con-demned the decision of the

Israeli occupation authorities to close Al Jazeera’s office in Jerusa-lem and to withdraw the accreditation of its journalists.

The Committee described the Israeli decision as a flagrant viola-tion of the freedom of opinion and expression and right to information access. The Committee considered the decision of the Israeli authorities to close the office of Al Jazeera in Jerusalem as a dangerous precedent, ignoring the demands of the inter-national community to respect the freedom of opinion and expression and the right to information access.

NHRC condemned the provoc-ative measures taken by the Israeli authorities and the foreign minis-ters of the siege countries at the recent Manama meeting, it calls on the International organisations and journalists’ unions that they stand up to this vicious and systematic campaign targeting free media and

journalists, not only on Al Jazeera, but on all the free, professional and independent media in the world.

→ Continued on page 4

QNA

THE DIRECTORATE of Defence Communications (DDC) at the Ministry of Defence announced the conclusion of the joint maritime exercise (Rapid Response), executed by Qatar Emiri Naval Forces (QENF) and its Turkish counterpart in the Qatari territorial waters over a period of two days.

The Director of Defence

Communications Lt.Col Nawaf bin Mubarak bin Saif AlThani said that “the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF), Special Naval Force (SNF) of the Special Joint Forces, General Directorate of Coasts & Borders Security have also participated in the exercise”

Surface missile live fire also happened during the maritime manoeuvres, in addition to the participation of the visiting

Turkish TCG GOKOVA, one of Turkey’s state-of-the-art Naval assets. Naval formation com-mander Lt Col (Sea) Falah Mahdi Al Ahbabi stated that “the exer-cise consisted of two phases. The first included joint maritime combat and anti-piracy anti-ter-ror manoeuvres, while the second included joint manoeu-vers in raiding and inspection of suspected ships as well as com-bat maritime manoeuvres”.

US envoys in Kuwait to resolve crisis

NHRC condemns Israeli move to close Al Jazeera

Attack on media freedomISRAEL’S decision to close the offices of broadcaster Al Jazeera is a brazen attack on media free-dom, Amnesty International said yesterday. “The move sends a chilling message that the Israeli authorities will not tolerate crit-ical coverage,” Magdalena Mughrabi, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at the Lon-don-based group, said.

Qatar and Turkey conclude naval exercise

Mwani Qatar handled 111,380 tonnes of cargo in June & JulyIrfan Bukhari The Peninsula

Like all other state organ-isations, Qatar Ports Management Company

(Mwani Qatar) is at the fore-front of defeating the siege as it handled as many as 583 vessels in the last two months (June, July 2017) and cleared 111,380 tonnes of general cargo in the same duration. In the last two months of siege, Mwani Qatar also han-dled around 72,887 standard containers and as many as 135,006 heads of livestock.

In July, Mwani announced yesterday on its social media pages that its “performance hits a record high with gen-eral cargo in particular witnessing the highest growth up to 158% when compared to June 2017”.

According to the figures released by the company, Mwani Qatar handled 48,873 standard containers in July while the volume of general cargo handled by the com-pany in the same month reaches at 80, 275 tonnes.

Last month (July 2017), Mwani Qatar handled 4,922 vehicles, 74,148 heads of live-stock and 7,897 tonnes of gabbro and building material.

According to the figures of June 2017, the first month of siege, Mwani Qatar sup-plied markets of Qatar around 60,858 heads of livestock and handled 24,014 standard containers.

→ Continued on page 3

QNA

The Civil Aviation A u t h o r i t y h a s announced that Qatar Airways and international airlines

will begin using the new air routes for their flights, which were approved following the extraordinary meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Execu-tive Council held last week.

The ICAO Executive Coun-cil held an extraordinary session at its headquarters in Montreal, where it reviewed the State of Qatar’s technical file on the neg-ative impacts caused by the siege countries on aviation and air safety where emergency corri-dors have been facilitated to the aircraft (from and to Qatar) based on Article 54 of the Chicago Con-vention on International Civil Aviation of 1944.

The Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority, H E Abdul-lah bin Nasser Turki Al Subaie, said yesterday that an impor-tant course for Qatar Airways has been activated across the international waters for which the UAE is responsible in the Arabian Gulf.

He added that most of the routes requested by the State of Qatar from the International Civil Aviation Organization have been operated, whether in the Arabian Gulf or the Ara-bian Sea and the Gulf of Oman.

He revealed that the Civil

Aviation Authority is currently considering new routes through international waters, which are supposed to be operated once approved by all parties, includ-ing ICAO.

Al Subaie noted that the approval of the new routes was a great success for Qatar, given its ability to convince the Inter-national Civil Aviation Organization of the importance of compliance by the siege countries to the Chicago Convention.

He said the new routes that have been approved would give more comfort and further secu-rity and safety of the aircrafts used.

The meeting of the ICAO Executive Council had urged all Member States to comply with the Chicago Convention and its Annexes and to continue to cooperation in the areas of avi-ation safety, security, efficiency and sustainability of interna-tional civil aviation.

Qatar Airways to start using new air routes

Washington

Agencies

Two US envoys discussed the Gulf crisis with Kuwaiti officials yesterday.

During talks with Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kha-led Al Jarallah, the US officials reiterated support of Kuwait’s efforts to resolve the ongoing siege against Qatar by four Arab countries. US Deputy Assistant State Secretary for Arab Gulf Affairs Tim Lenderk-ing and retired US Marine Corps general and ex-CENT-COM Commander-in-Chief Anthony Zinni said the US would double its efforts in pur-

suit of the joint goal.Saudi Arabia, the United

Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and

transport ties with Qatar on June 5, and there has been no clear sign of a resolution to the dip-lomatic dispute.

The approval of the new routes for Qatar Airways and international airlines is a great success for Qatar, given its ability to convince the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on the importance of compliance by the siege countries to the Chicago Convention.

Kuwait Emir’s letter to Saudi KingKUWAIT Emir H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah’s envoys, First Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Acting Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammad Al Abdullah Al Mubarak Al Sabah, yesterday delivered a letter from the Emir to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The letter is related to the latest regional and international developments, reported Kuwait News Agency. It was handed to Saudi Deputy King Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The envoys will also visit Egypt to deliver a written let-ter to Egyptian President.

02 TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017HOME

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Qatar, Christophe Payot, who called on the Emir to greet him on the occasion of ending his tenure. The Emir wished him success in his future assignments and for the relations between the two countries further progress and prosperity. The Ambassador expressed thanks and appreciation to the Emir and officials for the cooperation he received.

Emir greets President of Ivory Coast QNA

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

ulations to President of the Republic of Ivory Coast, Alas-sane Dramane Ouattara, on the anniversary of his coun-try’s Independence Day. Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Inte-rior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Kha-lifa Al Thani also sent similar cables.

HMC unit launches online portal for researchersThe Peninsula

The Medical Research Center (MRC) at Hamad Medical Cor-poration (HMC) has launched an innova-

tive online portal for researchers in Qatar.

ABHATH — which means research — is an online research submission system that went live at HMC on July 17, ushering in a more integrated era for researchers in Qatar.

“ABHATH is available to all researchers within and outside HMC,” said Professor Ibrahim Al

Janahi, Executive Director of Research at HMC.

“It will enable researchers to self-manage their work with an easy and fast self-service platform.”

“The MRC focuses on excel-lence in healthcare through research and serves as the focal point for all research activities, including the management of all externally funded research. Developing ABHATH enables researchers to have an inte-grated and simplified approach to their work.”

“The MRC was created in 1998 with the explicit goal of

promoting good quality research. From its humble origins, it has grown into a world class facility supporting research that’s roots are in Qatar, but whose branches reach out to research and edu-cational institutions across the globe. ABHATH is a natural pro-gression of our mission,” added Professor Al Janahi.

Professor Al Janahi said the platform was developed with researchers and their needs in mind — adding that it is efficient because of the lack of actual paperwork.

“It is an enterprise-wide col-laborative research management

application environment for researchers, reviewers, and finance staff for study submis-sions, i-reviews, budgeting, approvals and monitoring throughout the pre-award and post-award lifecycle,” he said.

“It simplifies processes and also connects researchers.”

Researchers now have a sin-gle, focus point for research submission and prior to the go-live, HMC clinicians and support staff were trained in the use of the new system.

ABHATH brings the Qatar research community in line with others around the globe enabling

researchers to track and moni-tor their submissions from proposal preparation and sub-mission to reporting about ongoing projects.

“Our clinicians and research-ers at HMC and other organisations across Qatar are working on projects that will sig-nificantly improve the lives of people living in this country,” Professor Al Janahi said.

“This research is important in creating the evidence base that can be used to drive forward changes in clinical practice to improve the outcomes for our patients.”

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with Chairman of Iberdrola, Jose Ignacio Galan, at Emiri Diwan yesterday, who called on the Emir to greet him on the occasion of his visit to the country. Talks covered bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them, especially in energy and investment fields.

Emir meets Chairman of IberdrolaEmir meets outgoing Belgium Ambassador

03TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017 HOME

Hotels and resorts explore new marketsRaynald C Rivera The Peninsula

The ongoing blockade imposed on Qatar has provided hotels and resorts in the country fresh opportunities to

explore new markets, helping them to weather the negative impact of the siege.

Shifting their focus towards Kuwait, Oman and the local mar-ket as well as other foreign markets, the industry has com-pensated for the decline in business during summer season, according to some hotels The Peninsula spoke to.

“Hotels in Qatar changed their strategy and focused their efforts on the countries that have visa access in addition to increas-ing their media presence and direct sales efforts in Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. The drop in the business due to the blockade was replaced over the Eid period by the local market, as well as visitors from Kuwait and Oman,” said Thomas Fehlbier, General Manager at Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara.

Despite the blockade, Banana Island Resort kicked off summer on a high note with a good performance.

“ It has been an impressive start of the summer at Banana Island Resort, with the resort performing 27 percent over its budget and boasting 96 percent occupancy during the Eid period, making it the most successful Eid Holiday period since the resort’s opening,” said Fehlbier.

The same holds true for Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel, one of the

pioneering five-star hotels in the country. “The recent political sit-uation has prevented guests from select GCC countries to come to Qatar, however our hotel has recorded an increase in revenues and occupancy this summer. We have found new opportunities by relying on local guests and from other foreign markets. We are very pleased with the occu-pancy and revenue results of the summer as we have accom-plished a tremendous success, despite the adversity,” said Saeid Heidari, General Manager at Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel, adding the hotel enjoyed full occupancy during Eid Al Fitr.

“Fifty-percent of our guests were Qatari citizens and residents while 22% were from Kuwait and Oman, which indicates a huge demand from these two markets. Thanks to strong dining offerings and excellent facilities we were able to attract a huge number of guests,” said Heidari.

Sharad Rattan, Executive Assistant Manager at Sharq Vil-lage & Spa a Ritz Carlton Hotel, was of the same view that the opening of new business corri-dors for the industry has also created positive impact on tour-

ism sector in general.“The blockade has certainly

opened our hotel to new mar-kets, different partnerships and fresh opportunities. The hotel industry has adjusted its initia-tives to supply the new demand, which has positively influenced the overall tourism sector by inviting it to develop flexibility when adapting to change and innovation and when address-ing new requirements,” said Rattan.

Nawaf Ali Al Obaidly, Gen-eral Manager at Sealine Beach Resort, said resorts and hotels have been doing well in terms of occupancy and revenue due to a number of factors.

“Following the blockade many citizens and residents decided to do everything they can to support the country amid current challenges, one of which was to cancel any vacations planned and instead opt for a ‘staycation’ in Qatar. Many hotels responded to this with a range of exclusive offers and packages for ‘local tourists’. The result was unexpectedly healthy occupancy rates,” said Al Obaidly.

“The recent completion of our new 18-luxury-villas exten-sion, which adds to the combined rooms’ eclectic portfolio at Sea-line Beach Resort and perfectly caters to the preferences of Qatari families and travellers who value the element of pri-vacy, have also played a key role in attracting visitors and guests during this period,” he said.

He added that although the resort has many visitors from Oman and Kuwait, majority of its guests are Qatari citizens and residents.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud with Minister for Justice of the Republic of Sudan, Dr Idris Ibrahim Jamil. They reviewed bilateral relations and a number of issues of common concern. The meeting was attended by Sudanese Ambassador to Qatar, Fateh Al Rahman Ali Mohammed Omar, and a number of officials from the Cabinet’s General Secretariat.

Deputy PM meets Sudanese Minister

Shifting their focus towards Kuwait, Oman and the local market as well as other foreign markets, the industry has compensated for the decline in business during summer season.

Training on serving elderly & people with disabilities soonQNA

The Ministry of Administra-tive Development, Labour and Social Affairs will hold

its first training programme this month on excellence in serving the elderly and people with disabilities.

The programme goes in line with the state’s keenness on providing special and high-quality services to the elderly and people with disabilities that fit their needs and in implemen-tation of the directives of Prime

Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani to establish divisions at the public relations departments of all government entities and public institutions to serve the elderly and people with disabilities.

The moves also complies with Circular No. 2 of 2017 issued by the Minister of Admin-istrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs.

The training programme aims to provide participants with the skills to offer

distinguished services for the elderly, and using sign language to enable them to communicate with people with hearing and visual disabilities at a compe-tent level.

The first edition of the pro-gramme is expected to launch on August 13, with training set to include 95 employees who are candidates for work at these divisions.

The Ministry’s Institute of Public Administration super-vises the program in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior.

Mwani handled 31,105 tonnes of cargo in June

→ Continued from page 1The quantity of general cargo handled by Mwani

Qatar in June was 31,105 tonnes, while in the same month Mwani had handled 6,409 tonnes of gabbro and building material. In June, Mwani also handled as many as 4,322 vehicles.

Mwani Qatar has also witnessed a “phenome-nal 75% increase in the number of vessels handled during July 2017 (total 371 vessels) compared to June 2017”, the company has announced on its social media platforms. In June, the first month of block-ade, Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) had handled 212 vessels across its different ports in the country. These 212 vessels were hosted at Hamad Port, Doha Port and Ruwais Port.

In a recent statement to QNA, the Director of Hamad Port, Captain Abdul Aziz Al Yafei said that Hamad Port’s new lines connect directly to several ports in the region and beyond such as Sohar and Salalah in Oman, Mundra and Nhava Sheva in India, Izmir in Turkey and other ports served by these inter-national companies from all over the world.

Mwani Qatar and Muntajat sign MoUQNA

Qatar Chemical and Petrochem-ical Marketing and Distribution Company (Muntajat), the mar-

keting branch of Qatar Petroleum, and its subsidies have signed a memoran-dum of understanding (MoU) with Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Qatar) to benefit from Hamad Port services for a renewable five-year period.

The signing took place in the pres-ence of Minister of Transport and Communications and Mwani Qatar Chairman, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, and Qatar Petroleum President and CEO Eng. Saad Sherida Al Kaabi.

According to the MoU, which was signed by Mwani Qatar’s CEO, Cap-tain Abdulla Al Khanji and Muntajat CEO Abdulrahman Ali Al Abdulla, Muntajat will export a number of its shipments via Hamad Port to its final destinations around the world, while Mwani Qatar will be in charge of pro-viding the shipping and unloading services for Muntajat containers from Hamad Port quays, including prod-uct-loaded as well as empty containers. Mwani Qatar will also facil-itate and develop the required support services for containers and trunks.

Al Sulaiti said the MoU will act as a basis of close cooperation between Mwani Qatar and Munta-jat that would enhance the contribution of Hamad Port to national economy and supports the plans aiming to achieve the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.

The Minister added the cooper-ation is a model for joint work between local institutions in support of the national economy and the superior objectives of the country under the wise leadership of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Minister added Hamad Port has accomplished major achievements on the regional and international fronts in a limited time, providing mul-tiple global maritime transport lines

and will progress towards achieving economic diversification by opening new global lines to help in achieving its goals in terms of improving Qatar’s competitiveness in the region by turn-ing it into a regional commercial hub.

Al Kaabi said the MoU is a signif-icant step towards promoting petrochemical exports via Hamad Port, which stand at 2.2 metric tonnes (equal to 150,000 containers annu-ally), which makes up to 75% of Qatar’s container exports.

Al Kaabi said this accomplishment does not only help in achieving Qatar National Vision 2030 but also is an implementation of the directives of HH the Emir in relying on local abilities and developing capacities in order to reach global markets and enhance the global trust in Qatar and the quality of it products.

Al Abdulla said the MoU is a begin-ning for a long-term relationship to benefit from Hamad Port capacities and enhance integration among Qatari companies in order to offer distin-guished services for their clients around the world. Al Abdulla added that the agreement will give Muntajat access to directly ship to its 2,000 cli-ents in more than 135 countries. He added that the MoU is a start for direct

shipping from Hamad Port to six main destinations; Shanghai in China, Mun-dra and Nhava Sheva ports in India, Sahar and Salalah ports in Oman, and Derince port in Turkey.

Al Khanji, meanwhile, said the agreement will contribute to enhanc-ing Hamad Port capacities in the field of re-exporting and consolidating its status as a major commercial gateway.

He stressed Mwani Qatar’s keen-ness on building strong and fruitful partnerships with domestic and inter-national companies in order to support the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030 and enhance commercial exchange between Qatar and foreign countries.

Al Khanji said the cooperation with Muntajat would help in achiev-ing the goals of Mwani Qatar and its plans to establish itself locally and enhance its presence regionally and internationally as a leading company in offering integrated port and logis-tic services.

Minister of Transport and Communications and Mwani Qatar Chairman, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, and Qatar Petroleum President and CEO Eng. Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, watch the signing of MoU by Mwani Qatar’s CEO, Captain Abdulla Al Khanji, and Muntajat CEO Abdulrahman Ali Al Abdulla.

According to the MoU, Muntajat will export a number of its shipments via Hamad Port to its final destinations around the world, while Mwani Qatar will be in charge of providing the shipping and unloading services for Muntajat containers from Hamad Port quays, including product-loaded as well as empty containers.

04 TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017HOME

QFC commits to shaping future youth leadersQNA

Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) has reiterated its commitment to investing in Qatar’s youth and shaping

future leaders through compre-hensive training programmes that it launches in this regard to provide Qatari youth with the necessary tools to succeed in the private sector.

QFC Authority CEO Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida made the remarks as the centre hosted 30 participant students in the sum-mer camp for high school and university students, which is held by Bedaya Centre for Entrepre-neurship and Career Development. The visit aimed to raise awareness on existing organisations and companies in

Qatar. “We constantly look to assist in shaping future leaders and have developed a 360 internship programme to pro-vide Qataris with the necessary tools to succeed in the private sector. I am confident that with your perseverance and determi-nation, you will all play an integral part in securing a brighter, more promising future for Qatar, by continuously grow-ing and enhancing our private sector,” Al Jaida said during his welcome address.

Bedaya General Manager Reem Al Suwaidi said QFC directly supports Bedaya’s mis-sion. “We focus on inspiring and encouraging students to learn. To acquire the necessary basic skills, instil the value of their own work and communication skills, break the barriers of fear, take respon-sibility through a range of integrated solutions, and provide them with the ability to deal with the needs of the market and com-modities and develop their skills by taking advantage of their time during the summer period.”

The students were shown around QFC to learn about the entity and its activities. They were also given a chance to speak to senior management in different departments to gain a better idea of the workings of the centre.

QFC’s youth engagement programme comes in line with the human and economic devel-opment pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030. In 2009, the entity established the Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA) to raise the financial services industry standards and help organisations and profes-sionals achieve their learning and business objectives.

Last year, QFC launched the region’s first ever Hearing

Impaired Program, which aimed to ensure that students with hearing impairment have equal access and an equal opportunity at higher education programmes and services to better equip them for life after graduation and ease their transition to the workforce.

QFC is a business and finan-cial centre that provides a platform for firms to do business in Qatar and the region. It offers its own legal, regulatory, tax and

business environment, which allows 100 percent foreign own-ership, 100 percent repatriation of profits, and charges a compet-itive rate of 10 percent corporate tax on locally sourced profits.

Meanwhile, Bedaya works to empower, support and guide Qatari youth to launch their busi-ness and start their career, while helping them discover their path by providing them with practi-cal skills that contribute to their success.

Senior Qatar Financial Centre representatives with 30 students from Bedaya as part of their summer camp for high school and university students.

QFC management gives 30 Bedaya students in-depth look into various departments.

PHCC’s mobile screening unit celebrates first anniversary The Peninsula

The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) has marked the 1-year anni-

versary of its specialised mobile screening unit, which has played a crucial role in the National Breast and Bowel Cancer Screen-ing ‘Screen For Life’ campaign to drive cancer awareness levels across Qatar.

The mobile screening unit had a successful first year of operation, as it facilitated breast cancer screening services for people residing in communities that are not within easy reach of

the three dedicated ‘Screen For Life’ facilities at Al Wakra Health Center, Lebaib Health Center and Rawdat Al Khail Health Center.

The mobile unit is considered as a moving clinic as it is spacious enough and air conditioned securing high levels of comforts

to patients, manned by highly skilled healthcare female pro-fessionals trained to efficiently operate the faci l i ty ’s

state-of-the-art equipment offering eligible women free breast screening in total privacy. The mobile unit is also a wheel chair friendly moving clinic for ladies with special needs.

Throughout the past 12 months the mobile screening unit conducted numerous successful awareness and screening tours, in both the public and private sec-tors, visiting various health centres, government entities and corporations across Qatar, offer-ing breast cancer screening and enhancing awareness levels across the country. It was also utilised for awareness and screening purposes

during high-profile events such as Qatar National Day, Qatar Cancer Society Breast Cancer Conference, Al Khor Housing Community and others, highlighting its versatility and crucial role in the fight against cancer.

“The mobile screening unit has been invaluable in our efforts to reach people with our message, raise awareness and ultimately provide eligible women with free screening,” Dr Shaikha Abu Shaikha, Cancer Program Man-ager, PHCC, said. “Moving forwards, the unit will continue to form a crucial part of the ‘Screen for Life’ strategy and approach.”

NHRC criticises decision to shut Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem office

→ Continued from page 1

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) affirmed that it would hold a wide inter-nat ional act ion with international partners, in the international conference on threats facing freedom held recently in Doha, to curb vio-lations of freedom of expression by the Israeli occu-pation and the siege countries and activate the recommen-dations of this conference.

The National Human Rights Committee pointed out that the decision of the Israeli occupa-tion authorities to close the office of Al Jazeera in Jerusa-lem came at a time when

international human rights organisations, journalists’ unions around the world and major media gathered to con-demn the demands of the siege countries and their arbitrary measures to close Al Jazeera and affiliated offices, and demand to respect for freedom of expression, right to infor-mation access and protection of journalists.

The Israeli decision came at a time when the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression con-demned the attacks by the siege countries on those freedoms and considered them a flagrant

violation of human rights.The National Human Rights

Committee noted that the deci-sion of the Israeli occupation authorities was also issued fol-lowing the Doha international conference on threats facing freedom of opinion and expression held on 24 and 25 July 2017, and the widespread condemnations of violations of freedom of opinion and expression in general, the demands of the siege countries that violate these freedoms and rights, as well as the solidarity stand with Al Jazeera, carried out by representatives of 200 international organisations that participated in the conference.

Ooredoo unveils Hala Pakistan Telenor PackThe Peninsula

Ooredoo has announced the launch of its latest Pakistan offer – the Hala Pakistan Telenor Pack – as the company continues

to provide low cost international calling options.The new pack was designed after strong

demand from the large Pakistani expat popula-tion in Qatar.With the new pack, subscribers can enjoy the lowest rates to Pakistan Telenor num-bers in Qatar with 100 minutes to Pakistan Telenor network numbers, as well as 150 MB of local data for just QR10 per week, meaning a rate of just 10 Dhs per minute.

Ooredoo customers can subscribe to the packs by logging in to the Ooredoo App or sending the SMS “PT” to 121.

The subscription will automatically renew every week, so that customers can continue to enjoy the benefits of the packs.

To cancel the service, customers can SMS “STOP PT” to 121.

05TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017 HOME

The Peninsula

Five aspiring scientists took an important step towards building successful careers

in research recently when they graduated from the Biomedical Research Training Program for Nationals of Weill Cornell Med-icine–Qatar (WCM-Q).

Kholoud Al Najdi, Fatima Al Dasim, Amal Saif, Wadha Al Marri and Shaikha Al Abdul Jab-bar spent six months working alongside WCM-Q’s world-class scientists in the college’s state-of-the-art laboratories.

In addition to learning a comprehensive range of research competencies, includ-ing practical lab skills, how to conduct clinical research and knowledge of research admin-istration, the interns were also able to gain hands-on experi-ence of biomedical research by contributing to ongoing scien-tific studies carried out at WCM-Q.

In recognition of their suc-cessful mastery of these skills and competencies, the interns were presented with certificates of graduation at a special cere-mony held at WCM-Q.

Dr Khaled Machaca, Asso-ciate Dean for Research at WCM-Q, said: “All of us at WCM-Q have been truly impressed by the dedication, enthusiasm and raw talent of these young scientists during their time here with us. Through the Biomedical Research Train-ing Program for Nationals these young people have gained essential skills and experiences to become outstanding mem-bers of Qatar’s new generation of researchers and innovators, as well as leading contributors

to the growing R&D sector of the Qatari economy toward the 2030 vision of a knowledge-based economy.”

This is the seventh annual cycle of the Biomedical Research Training Program for Nationals, which was launched in 2011 and to date has helped 33 graduates take the first step on the path to a successful career in research. The internship cycle runs from January to July each year. In addition, this year the program expanded its robust interaction with the SIDRA Nationals Devel-opment Program by hosting two SIDRA trainees as full-time par-ticipants in the program and four additional trainees who participated in the didactic parts of the program. Close collabo-rations among different biomedical institutions to enhance research training nationally goes a long way toward preparing the next gen-eration of researchers.

All of the interns who com-pleted the Biomedical Research

Training Program for Nationals this year are graduates of lead-ing universities in Qatar. This year’s cohort graduated from Qatar University, Carnegie Mel-lon University in Qatar and Texas A&M University at Qatar.

Texas A&M University at Qatar chemical engineering graduate Kholoud Al Najdi spent her six months at WCM-Q interning in Research Adminis-tration. Kholoud said: “Transitioning from being a uni-versity student to a working professional can be intimidat-ing, so this programme was the ideal opportunity for me to make a smooth transition. I got to work in a comfortable and welcoming environment as part of the research training team in research administration. Although the program was chal-lenging in the beginning, the research training team was always there to help me. They cared about what we had to say and were always open to suggestions.”

Five biomedical trainees graduate research programme at WCM-Q

The Peninsula

Ooredoo yesterday announced a new offer for all customers want-

ing to buy a Samsung Galaxy S8 or Samsung Galaxy S8+ device.

Thanks to the new promo-tion, anyone who purchases a Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ from Ooredoo will enjoy a host of free add-ons including a phone cover, wireless charger, Level U (Bluetooth headset), a 15 GB Data Recharge Card, Samsung Speaker, and one year screen insurance.

The super bundle is availa-ble in Ooredoo Shops only and

stocks are limited. Device prices start at just QR 2,599 for the Samsung Galaxy S8 bundle, and QR 2,949 for the Samsung Gal-axy S8+ bundle.

The Galaxy S8 and S8+ include a stunning Infinity Dis-play, a 12MP rear camera and 8MP front camera, the world’s

first 10nm processor, and the ability to expand storage.

Ooredoo is an official part-ner of Samsung phones in Qatar, and the strong connection between the two companies means that customers can enjoy the latest devices, as well as guaranteed authorised products.

Full details of the Ooredoo’s plans, pricing, and offers are available at www.ooredoo.qa. For more information on the Samsung, please visit: www.samsung.com/ae. Customers can find out prices for the latest device launches at http://www.ooredoo.qa/eshop. w

Ooredoo launches Samsung Galaxy S8 offer

The Peninsula

Doha Festival City, the largest entertainment, retail and hospitality des-

tination in Qatar, managed and operated by Al Futtaim, gives families a unique experiences this month with a numerous beachside adventures organised inside the Mall away from the heat. Visitors will have the best of a summer holiday getaway brought to them through activ-ities and workshops from 3pm – 9pm daily.

Ships Ahoy!Dive for treasure, walk the

plank and sail the high seas at Doha Festival City’s Pirate themed adventure ball pit. Set to be sure hit with children of all ages, the colourful ball pit will provide hours of fun for them in their own pirate themed world.

It is available daily till August 26. Age: 4 – 12 years;

Location: Centre Court; Cost: Free of charge

Desert Dune Dash For the high energy adven-

ture lovers, test your racing skills at the remote control (RC) Car Race Track. Families and friends can compete for free, by driving their high-speed remote control cars through various tight turns on our sand dunes to the finish line! Age: Suitable for all ages; location: Axis Node; Cost: Free of charge

Seaside Works of Art With a different seaside

theme each weekend in August, children can have their faces painted, decorate stones, paint shells or personalise their own T-shirts. All creations can be kept, taken home and shown off to friends and family!

Weekend 2 (August 10-12): Stone Art

Weekend 3 (August 17-19): Shell Art

Weekend 4 (August 24-26): T-Shirt Personalising. On all Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays,

Age: 4 – 12 YearsLocation: Cloud Node Cost: Free of charge

Summertime Modelling Enhance children’s creativ-

ity with interactive play at Summertime Modelling. With sparkly ocean coloured Play-Doh as well as kinetic sand. Children will be able to create their own beach scene and show off their creations to family and friends!

Doha Festival City, the first retail mall in Qatar for Al Fut-taim, celebrates the best in entertainment, retail and hos-pitality. With a gross building area of 433,000sqm, and a Gross Leasable Area of 244,000 sqm, the QR6bn mixed-use development includes the big-gest mall in Qatar and one of the largest entertainment and retail developments in the Gulf.

Indoor fun thrills visitors at Doha Festival City

One of the activities at Doha Festival City.

Dr Khaled Machaca, Associate Dean for Research at WCM-Q, presenting a certificate to one graduate.

QNA

Qatar Red Crescent Soci-ety (QRCS) is funding a project to support phe-

nylketonuria (PKU) patients in Gaza Strip.

The project covers an underserved group of 250 patients in Gaza, who suffer serious complications like behavioral problems and men-tal disorders. QRCS said in a statement Monday that the project includes the supply of 3,700 milk and 5,000 flour packs, holding health

education workshops, and launching media campaigns to raise public awareness about this humanitarian cause.

Health Projects Officer in QRCS Mission in Gaza Heba Al Mahallawi said that the project saves many lives by minimiz-ing the complications.

“We make home visits and psychological support for the patients and their families. Our medical interventions are patient-oriented. This $224,000 project helps 120 beneficiaries from different parts of Gaza,” she noted.

QRCS supports PKU patients in Gaza

06 TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017HOME

A view of the second Local Dates Festival on the 11th day yesterday. The festival, which attracted 3,500 visitors, witnessed sales of 11.280 tonnes of different type of dates.

Over 11 tonnes of dates sold on 11th day

The Peninsula

Maserati, the world-renowned manufacturer of luxury automobiles, is

a name synonymous with sophistication, racing perform-ance and attention to design detail. Beyond these world famous qualities is an array of services and amenities provided by Alfardan Sports Motors that ensures that the ownership experience comes with peace of mind and real value.

Alfardan Sports Motors, the official dealer of Maser-ati in Qatar, delivers these luxury services via an exclu-sive warranty extension known as the ‘Premium Service Programme’.

The programme covers all genuine Maserati components and consumables, including air, pollen and oil filters, as well as their replacement and techni-cal inspections, for 3 years or 60,000km, whichever comes first. Now for the first time, Maserati is taking a step beyond this exceptional offering to introduce ‘Premium Service Plus’, delivering even greater value reassurance than before.

Coverage under Premium Serv-ice Plus is extended to include brake pads, brake discs and wiper blades, ensuring no Maserati owner has to accept l e s s t h a n o p t i m a l performance.

In addition, Maserati own-ers will enjoy warranty of their vehicle for 3 years with limita-tions on mileage. They can choose to extend the warranty for further one or two years, to enjoy half a decade of first-class service and protection. In an unprecedented move, Alfardan is now providing a further two year extension, allowing own-ers to enjoy seven years of coverage with some terms and conditions.

Commenting on the Maser-ati Premium Services, Charly Dagher, General Manager, Maserati Qatar, Alfardan Sports Motors, said: “We continuously strive to prove the exquisite standards of Italian design and excellence through our range of premium and exclusive serv-ices. We aim to understand the needs of every client and their vehicles, in order to offer tai-lored solutions that go beyond their expectations. All our serv-ice and maintenance programs are conducted by highly qual-ified and technically advanced personnel, and are designed to achieve impeccable safety and performance while on the road.”

Alfardan Sports Motors offers exclusive Maserati services

The Peninsula

As smart cities become a reality in the GCC, smart buildings are increasingly

becoming more prevalent because of the optimised effi-ciency and convenience they offer, for both operators and tenants.

However, wider adoption of smart building technology should stimulate corporations and governments to ensure that they are adequately prepared for potential cyber risks, stated in a comprehensive report titled ‘Cybersmart Buildings’ co-authored by Booz Allen Hamilton and Johnson Controls.

Smart buildings operate as a link between the physical and digital world and leverage data to optimise operations and lower facility costs, while increasing safety and sustaina-bility. However, unlike cyber risks in other industries, smart buildings are not just suscepti-ble to data breaches and IT interference, they are also vul-nerable to disruptions that could negatively impact several aspects of daily life.

Cyber threat actors have

demonstrated capability and intent in hacking building auto-mation systems, safety systems, and critical environmental tech-nology. Smart system network designs must be secured, if inte-grated with IT systems and networks, to make sure inter-nal systems are not exposed to new threat vectors from build-ing automation systems. For example, hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in Heating, Ven-tilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems as the entry point into a corporate network, or hack into IoT devices to breach the privacy of residents.

One of Qatar’s most ambi-tious construction plans for smart cities, Lusail, aims to deliver smart solutions to its stakeholders, in line with the country’s National Vision 2030 strategy.

With real estate players looking to reduce costs and meet sustainability and effi-ciency goals, smart buildings have become increasingly rel-evant and the wider adoption of such smart technologies across the country is resulting in an increase in the number of sensors and devices talking to

one another. Therefore, as automated

systems control more of our environment, it is no longer enough for a building to be smart – it must now be cybersmart.

Dr Adham Sleiman, Vice-President, Booz Allen Hamilton says, “There is tremendous business value in embracing building automation, including their cost savings, energy effi-ciency and the security and convenience they offer to their dwellers. Smart buildings are an essential component of a smart city, pushing the power of

digital optimization into the offices and homes.”

Wayne Loveless, Principal, Booz Allen Hamilton, says: “As the world evolves to smart neighbourhoods and smart cit-ies, potential challenges around cyber security will be inevita-ble. It is important to have a plan and be prepared to contin-ually evolve. Cybersecurity isn’t a tax on the business, it is not simply an IT issue, and it cer-tainly shouldn’t be a scare tactic. It is a business enabler and, when executed effectively, it is about insuring your investment and generating returns.”

Call to safeguard against potential cyber risks

The Peninsula

More than 500 people benefited from the “Book Reading” pro-

gramme organised by Eid Charity.

Dr Abdullah Al Hattar,

Professor of Arabic and Quranic Studies at Qatar University, attended the programme held at the end of the third Science Sessions.

The programme aimed to disseminate the habit of read-ing and Islamic culture in the

society by hosting one of the renowned scalars. Al Hattar spoke in three sessions about the miracles of the Holy Quran and Prophetic rhetoric. The programme is attracting more participants and followers in the social media.

500 benefit from ‘Book Reading’ initiative

The Peninsula

Arabic Scrabble and eSports will make their way to the fourth Mind-

sports World Championships for the first time, competition organisers Mindsports Academy (MSA) has announced.

These exciting additions to the championships are expected to make a unique edition of the tournament hosted by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) and due to be held at the Doha Exhi-bition and Convention Center (DECC) from August 19 to 27.

eSports are a form of com-petition that is facilitated by electronic systems, in particu-lar video games, and in which players participate as individu-als or as part of a team. Over the

course of four days at the cham-pionships, eSports gamers will battle it out for FIFA and Call of Duty titles and a total prize pool of $20,000.

And, later on during the nine-day championships, word game enthusiasts of all levels are invited to take part in the Ara-bic Scrabble events and a chance to become the first MSA Arabic Scrabble Champion and MSA Arabic Junior Scrabble Champion.

Participants will play in seven rounds; those who make it to the top eight will return on the second day to play in knock-out rounds and ultimately be crowned Champion and win a share of the dedicated prize pools. “Mindsports such as Scrabble supports the teaching

of teamwork, improves confi-dence and attention span and helps to sharpen and strengthen skills. Esports is an extremely popular mindsport amongst younger players and we are pleased to be running these tournaments,” said Mindsports Academy.

Arabic Scrabble and eSports added to Mindsports contest

Participants during the ‘Book Reading’ programme organised by Eid Charity.

These additions are expected to make a unique edition of the tournament hosted by QTA. It is to be held at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) from August 19 to 27.

QNA

Shafallah Center for People with Special Needs, part of Qatar Foundation for Social

Work, organised a sport pro-gramme for 50 of its people with multiple disabilities in cooper-ation with Police Sports Federation.

The programme included

various sports activities com-mensurate with the participating groups, their abilities and the nature of their disability. A team of trainers of the Police Sports Federation and a number of the centre’s staff supervised the programme.

Through these programmes, Shafallah Center seeks to break the deadlock and encourage

people with disabilities to inte-grate into society and participate with other members of the society.

The programme, which was implemented at the centre’s headquarters in West Bay, is part of the summer activities that were launched by Shafal-lah Center for the first time this year.

Shafallah Center holds sport event

Dr Adham Sleiman (left), Vice-President, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Wayne Loveless, Principal.

07TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017 HOME

The Peninsula

The summer scout camp organised under the theme “Scout and Youth Participation” saw the participation

of 370 scouts from Qatar, Oman and other GCC countries.

The Qatar delegation, included 10 students and a number of supervisors, partici-pated under the supervision of the Qatar Scouts and Guides Association of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

The scout camp, included several scientific, cultural, scout, technical, sports and social activ-ities, along with activities enhancing the culture of volun-tary work, training sessions and creative youth nights.

The closing ceremony was held under the patronage of Dr

Hammoud bin Khalfan Al Harthi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Educa-tion, in the presence of Laila bint Ahmed Al Najar. Director Gen-eral of the Scout and Guides Girls and a number of officials from the Ministry of Education.

The activities and training programs of this GCC scout camp had provide a platform for the participants to share experi-ences, build relations, introduce them to new scouting experi-ences, and raise their awareness about environment and the need

for its protection, said Moham-med bin Abdullah al Hannae, Director of Scout Department at the Ministry of Education, in his closing speech.

The scout camp is a chance to invest in the youth’s energy and change it into product power contributing to self development and the society, he added.

The youth need to be trained and their skills to be enhanced by making them acquire life skills, experiences and build rela-tions, he said.

The under secretary of the ministry distributed certificates and memorial shields to the par-ticipants. The scout camp was also accompanied with an exhi-bition aimed to reflect all activities of the camp and repro-grams implemented during the week. The camp took place in Jabal Ashore in Dhofar province of Oman.

GCC summer scout camp in Oman concludes

A certificate being issued to a participant.

The Qatar delegation, including 10 students and a number of supervisors, participated in the camp.

Tensions between Russia and United States have acquired new overtones during Donald Trump’s presidency. While the maverick Trump dithered to sign on the new sanctions bill so enthusiastically passed by lawmakers, the rest

of the Republican establishment struggles with the fallout of allegations that their leader colluded with Russians to win the presidential election.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday struck a conciliatory note by saying in Manila that Washington doesn’t want ties with Moscow to worsen just because there is a probe into alleged Russian meddling in US presidential polls. It is probably for the first time that Trump’s top diplomat hasn’t issued a statement not completely unaligned to his boss’s publicly declared intent. That Trump and Tillerson seem to be in the same room over the issue comes as a salve to the bruised American foreign policy establishment.

Offering a hand of friendship to Moscow comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to send tens of thousands of troops to eastern borders of Nato states for military exercises with ally Belarus.

Moscow has been known to intimidate the three Baltic Nato members — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania by flying fighter jets close to their borders. The US-led military alliance’s proclivity to quote Article 5 of its treaty has, however, never been able to dent Moscow’s bid to keep needling countries in its former sphere of influence.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was virtually cold shouldered by Kremlin when he earlier visited Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The warmth was missing and it showed as Tillerson and Lavrov sat across the table to discuss Syria. An intriguing uncertainty over Tillerson’s

meeting with Putin loomed, but in the end the Russian leader decided to hold talks with the top US diplomat.

The Cold war rivals have clashed on numerous occasions after the emergence of a unipolar order following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The countries, which inherited thorny ties from the days of Communism in the USSR and the resulting policy of containment by Washington, have tried to hit the reset button multiple times, but it stubbornly keeps bouncing back.

The eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) has been the key sticking point between the West and Russia, which had been portraying itself as a victim in the aftermath of the Cold War. Though it was never laid down in black and white, a stop to the gradual creeping of the trans-Atlantic military alliance towards Europe’s eastern borders was the unwritten rule in the days when the Soviet Union crumbled and Russia emerged from its remnants as the flag-bearer of an order that had been emasculated.

The vagaries of Russia’s domestic politics led by strongman Vladimir Putin had made it too dangerous for the external world. Now, Moscow is trying to push back against the West with war games.

Given Trump’s naivete on foreign policy, it is well nigh impossible to predict how ties will shape up. It is, however, certain that the churning could lead to new cross-currents in relations.

08 TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017VIEWS

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

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

msalim@pen.com.qa

Toning it down

QUOTE OF THE DAY

When the conditions are right, then we can sit and have a dialogue around the future of North Korea so they feel secure and prosper economically.

Rex Tillerson US Secretary of State

Tillerson’s offer of talks to Moscow throws up new possibilities in US-Russia ties.

The present attempt by the govern-ment of Israel to close down Al Jazeera’s offices in Jerusalem reflects a potentially far-reaching shift in the perceived power and role of critical

media, not just in the Israeli occupation of Pal-estine, but across the Arab world and larger Middle East and North Africa.

The move is particularly odd since Al Jazeera and Israel have long had a symbiotic, if often adversarial, relationship. Despite long-standing and often harsh criticism of the Israeli occupation and its policies, Israel has afforded the channel relatively wide lati-tude in its coverage. There have been repeated grumblings over the years, and threats to close down its bureaus, but it hasn’t prevented coverage and commentary by Al Jazeera’s staff and contributing writers.

Al Jazeera’s offices — like other media organisations — have been located for years in the same complex as the Government Press Office. Showing up for press creden-tials from the network has never caused any more trouble than I’ve experienced when I requested credentials for US news organisa-tions, for example. In fact, it often felt like the relationship with Al Jazeera was a source of pride for Israeli media and press officials, one that reflected the unique set of circum-stances that served each side well.

For Israel, Al Jazeera, particularly the original Arab network, provided the govern-ment unprecedented opportunities to speak to Arab citizens across the region, beginning in the 1990s — at the height of the Olso peace process. The fact that Al Jazeera allowed Israeli officials and, through its reports, ordi-nary citizens to speak unfiltered was an unprecedented opening for Israel to the out-side world, an opening worth what it perceived as negative coverage.

On the other hand, Al Jazeera’s access to Israeli officials and commentators gave the network a chance to expand on the usual narrow set of viewpoints presented in other Arab networks and to challenge - on the air - the official Israeli narrative.

So why, after allowing Al Jazeera to oper-ate during some of the most intense violence of the occupation (including the sieges of Nablus and Jenin and the various and increasingly deadly attacks on Gaza), would the Israeli government suddenly feel it’s so important to terminate Al Jazeera’s presence in Jerusalem?

Is it to push attention away from the two corruption investigations of Benjamin Netanyahu — a scandal that some media have called “the most serious political crisis” for the Israeli PM? Perhaps Al Jazeera is a convenient scapegoat for Netanyahu’s fail-ures and his increasing lack of popularity at home.

Or perhaps Israel is jumping on the bandwagon of the campaign against Al Jazeera launched by Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

What is behind Israel’s attempt to ban Al Jazeera?Mark LeVineAl Jazeera

It could be that Israeli media experts sense that the attacks on Qatar and Al

Jazeera by so many other Arab gov-ernments are beginning to gain steam in the Arab public sphere, and thus Israel is trying, in its own twisted way, to support them, as a way of gaining favourable coverage in their official media.

Israeli Communications Minister Ayoub Kara has tried to justify the move by accusing Al Jazeera of causing Israel “to lose the lives of the best of our sons”, adding “when we see that all these countries have determined as fact that Al Jazeera is a tool of the Islamic State [group], Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, and we are the only one who have not determined that, then something ludi-crous is happening here.”

The ludicrousness of the charge that Al Jazeera is enabling the killing of Israeli soldiers is not relevant here; what matters is how Israel is trying to position itself as part of a larger, Arab-led, coalition against terrorism.

It also could be that the Israeli gov-ernment has developed such good, and more or less open, relationships with Arab governments across the region that it no longer needs access to Al Jazeera’s viewers. Perhaps the Israeli government has decided that it simply

can do without communicating with Arab people directly, since both the rise of intense illiberalism, censorship and sectarianism have rendered such poli-cies superfluous, and the changing mood in the Arab and official public spheres mean that many Arabs no longer even care about Israel or the occupation have equally rendered the exposure Al Jazeera afforded Israelis no longer important.

There is one other possibility, how-ever: That Al Jazeera has become more dangerous than ever. The rise of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement to global prominence as a mechanism of worldwide resistance to the occupation has occurred, in good measure, because of the constant nega-tive media coverage of Israel’s intensifying grip on Palestine.

Among mainstream or major media outlets, few have been as successful and focused on placing the realities of the occupation before the court of world opinion as Al Jazeera and The Guardian.

Thus, the attempt to shut it down now could be the result of a determina-tion that its coverage is, in fact, seriously harming Israel’s standing internationally, and, perhaps even more worryingly, that the government plans on engaging in actions in the near future — from another all-out assault on Gaza to the de facto or de jure annexation of significant territory in the West Bank — that it cannot afford to have covered in the critical manner that Al Jazeera would provide.

Whatever the reasons for the change in policy, the decision to force Al Jazeera from Jerusalem hints at a shift in Israeli strategic calculations that should worry anyone who cares not just about freedom of the press, but about the explosion of yet another Israeli-Pal-estinian war.

The writer is a professor of Middle Eastern

history at the University of California,

Irvine, and a distinguished visiting profes-

sor at Lund University.

The decision to force Al Jazeera from Jerusalem hints at a shift in Israeli strategic calculations that should worry anyone who cares not just about freedom of the press, but about the explosion of yet another Israeli-Palestinian war.

ED ITOR IAL

A view of Qatar-based news network and TV channel Al Jazeera in Jerusalem.

09TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017 OPINION

commitment by developed countries to the goal of mobilising jointly $100 billion per year by 2020, and their intention to continue this through 2025”.

Despite this, there are question marks over the financial support that may be forthcoming from at least some other developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

These countries have consistently aligned with the US position in past climate negotiations since the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. Now there are strong voices within these coun-tries, warning that the US would effectively become a “free rider” if everybody else paid to combat climate change.

On their part, large developing countries including China, India, Brazil and South Africa made an informal decision not to seek further GCF funding, at least till the situation becomes clearer. This was not a part of any communiqué, but climate negotiators confirmed the develop-ment, saying these emerging economies had left the field open for Less Developed Countries (LDCs) to apply for the bulk of GCF funding. That will be a big help, and the GCF does have the

Trump’s immigration plan hurts working families

Whatever part of America President Donald Trump was making great again when he set the goal of reducing immigration by half, it wasn’t the part with working par-

ents. It’s great to have immigrants with advanced degrees who can program in five coding lan-guages. But his proposal to slash legal immigration and admit applicants based on skills instead of family ties leaves out a lot of useful workers — among them, people who take care of young children.

Access to high-quality, affordable and flexi-ble child care is already inadequate in much of the US for all but the well-off, and government spending on child-care and early education is among the lowest of all developed nations. These failings have huge costs: Decades of research have established the link between quality child care and lifelong benefits from academic performance to health outcomes and earning potential.

Not only does high-quality child care benefit children and families, it also brings wider eco-nomic benefits, as former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke once noted:

“Economically speaking, early childhood programmes are a good investment with inflation-adjusted annual rates of return on the funds dedicated to these programmes, estimated to reach 10 percent or higher. Very few alternative investments can prom-ise that kind of return.”

Trump’s ideas would only make the situation

for working parents worse — and poorer families would lose the most. In 2015, 1.8 million people worked in early-childhood care and education in the US compared to 1.1 million in 1990, an increase of 56 percent, according to the Migra-tion Policy Institute. Nationally, 18 percent of those workers are immigrants; in California, it’s one in four.

I have spent most of my adult life in Europe and Britain, where child-care options are more plentiful and often more affordable than in the US In part due to an abundance of European migrants — but also more government spending in the area — the UK in particular has enjoyed fairly high standards of child care. And yet, thanks to Brexit, Britons may soon get their own taste of the kind of medicine Trump is proposing for the US.

The consequences of inadequate child-care provisioning can already be seen in London. While UK parents generally have more options than American parents, child-care costs in London are a third higher than the national average and there is a chronic undersupply, with only 32 places for each 100 children under age 5. For those who can afford to pay, London offers a wide range of options at every price point, from basic mother’s

helpers to uber-nannies with advanced degrees. But costs are also growing faster than wages. That’s one reason that maternal employment in London is the lowest of any region in the UK — with 40 percent of mothers citing child care as a key barrier.

A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research concluded that if London could bring maternal employment up to the UK average of 69 percent, then there would be a net gain of 90 mil-lion pounds ($106 million) to the Exchequer and 2,200 families would be lifted out of poverty. Trump’s policies would probably reduce already below-average levels of maternal employment in the US, too.

There are no hard figures yet on how many EU migrants are deterred from coming to Brit-ain to take up nannying or child-care jobs, but if the number of EU nurses applying to work in the UK is any guide, there is going to be a drop-off. And the effect will be felt across the sector: Almost 6 percent of the UK’s 300,000 nursery care workers (not including managers and teachers) are EU migrants. Non-UK nationals make up nearly 9 percent of the total workforce.

Neither in the UK nor the US is anything set in

The disagreement between the US and the other 19 countries at the G20 summit at Hamburg has put a question mark over the sustainability of the Green

Climate Fund (GCF), the primary tool to help developing countries move away from fossil fuels and adapt to climate change impacts.

Now that the US has walked out of the Paris Climate Agreement, it is not clear if other developed countries will continue to give $100 billion to the GCF every year from 2020, as they had pledged to do way back in 2009. The $100 billion per year figure is unlikely to be reached any way, because the US part of that commitment, $3 billion per year, now stands withdrawn.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear during the G20 summit that her country would continue to meet its financing commitment. In the official communiqué released after the summit, these 19 countries reiterated “the impor-tance of fulfilling the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Cli-mate Change) commitment by developed countries in providing means of implementation including financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaptation actions in line with Paris outcomes”.

The G20 Hamburg Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth that was launched by these 19 countries at the summit also emphasised “the

Uncertainty over global climate fund may impact adaptation

US President Donald Trump is flanked by Arkansas senator Tom Cotton and David Perdue, senator for Georgia, at the White House in Washington DC.

money in its account to fund the current round of project proposals it is receiving, but not for a long time beyond that.

The Hamburg Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth makes it clear that developed country governments are not in a position to provide any-thing close to $100 billion a year through public financing. The commitments are based largely on the hope of raising finances through public-pri-vate mechanisms and on multilateral development banks such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and so on.

Not surprisingly, this worry about long-term financing as well as the gap between pledges and actual payments by developed countries figured prominently at the GCF board meeting, held at its headquarters in Songdo, South Korea, just a cou-ple of days before the G20 summit.

The gap between a pledge and actual payment is most glaring in the case of the US, which has so far signed up to actually pay $0.5 billion out of the $3 billion it had pledged in 2016. Even that pledge had said the money would be paid “subject to the availability of funds”. Larry McDonald, the US member on the GCF board, clarified that the US had actually paid $1 billion so far.

But other developed countries are not inno-cent either. There are huge differences between publicly stated pledges and privately provided “signed amounts”, which is the money that actu-ally reaches the GCF bank account. Current signed amounts total $10.1 billion, a far cry from the $100 billion pledge.

Many of the GCF board members from devel-oping countries are worried because it is not very clear if the secretariat is counting the pledges as money that will be in the bank. Most observers feel there is an urgent need for the entire interna-tional climate financing process to become more transparent.

The writer is an Indian journalist who has been writing

on environmental issues since covering the Bhopal

disaster in 1984. For his contributions to environmen-

tal journalism, he won the 2012 Green Globe Award at

the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.

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stone. While Brexit may well be irreversible, Prime Minister Theresa May could recognise that ensuring adequate child-care provisions, like ensuring that the National Health Service has access to sufficient numbers of nurses, doctors and other staff, will require higher levels of immigration and at different skill levels, and adjust her hard-line policy to reflect that.

In the US, it’s unlikely that Congress will pass Trump’s plan. Plenty of lawmakers in the presi-dent’s own Republican Party oppose such strict limits on legal immigration. But lawmakers should do more than simply reject the proposal: They should explain to American families why it would leave them worse off.

The author writes editorials on

European politics and economics

for Bloomberg View. She was edito-

rial page editor of the Wall Street

Journal Europe.

Therese RaphaelBloomberg

It’s unlikely that Congress will pass Trump’s plan. Plenty of lawmakers in the president’s own Republican Party oppose such strict limits on legal immigration. But lawmakers should do more than simply reject the proposal: They should explain to American families why it would leave them worse off.

Joydeep GuptaIANS

Many of the GCF board members from developing countries are worried because it is not very clear if the secretariat is counting the pledges as money that will be in the bank. Most observers feel there is an urgent need for the entire international climate financing process to become more transparent.

Trump’s ideas would only make the situation for working parents worse — and poorer families would lose the most.

10 TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Gaza City Anatolia & AFP

A delegation of lead-ing Hamas members met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad

Zarif in Tehran yesterday, the Palestinian resistance group has said in a statement.

“The visit has opened a new page in our bilateral relations with Iran aimed at confronting the common enemy and sup-porting Palestine, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the resistance against Israeli occupation,” the statement read. It also quoted Zarif as saying that Iran planned to “maintain relations with the Palestinian factions, led by Hamas, and maintain its support for the Palestinian resistance”.

At yesterday’s meeting, the statement noted, Zarif had described his country’s rela-tions with Hamas as “stable”, stressing Tehran’s desire to “overcome all differences with a view to supporting Palestine, the Palestinian people and Mus-lim unity”.

The Hamas delegation arrived in Tehran this weekend to participate in a Saturday swearing-in ceremony for Ira-nian President-elect Hassan Rowhani, who beat out hard-line rival Ebrahim Raisi in May 19 polls.

Hamas-Iran ties appear to be enjoying a thaw after six years of relative estrangement due to their opposing positions

on the conflict in Syria, where Iran supports the regime of Syr-ian President Bashar Al Assad.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Abdullah II offered support to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas during a rare visit to the occupied West Bank following tensions with Israel over a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site.

Abdullah’s first trip to the West Bank in five years was seen as a message to Israel and the United States over the sen-sitive Al Aqsa mosque compound and the stalled peace process. It came less than two weeks after the end of a standoff at the holy site over new security measures, includ-ing metal detectors, imposed by Israel following an attack that killed two policemen.

Abdullah stressed to Abbas “the full Jordanian support for the legitimate rights of its brothers the Palestinian people and support for the establish-ment of an independent Palestinian state with its capi-tal in east Jerusalem”, a statement from Jordan’s royal palace said.

Ankara

Reuters

Tu r k i s h P r e s i d e n t RecepTayyip Erdogan accused Germany yester-

day of assisting terrorists by not responding to thousands of files sent to Berlin or handing over suspects wanted by Turkish authorities.

“Germany is abetting terror-ists,” Erdogan told a conference in the Black Sea province of Rize, in comments likely to further escalate tensions between the two countries. “We gave (Ger-man Chancellor Angela) Merkel 4,500 dossiers, but have not received an answer on a single one of them,” he told members of his ruling AK Party. “When there is a terrorist, they can tell us to give that person back. You won’t send the ones you have to us, but can ask us for yours. So

you have a judiciary, but we don’t in Turkey?” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said yes-terday that the Turkish republic, its official language, capital, national anthem and identity of the state have been clearly laid down in our constitution and rep-resent the values of Turks., Bozdag’s remarks came follow-ing statements by a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) member who said Turkey was forming a new state headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Now we are founding a new state. Whether you like it or not, this new state’s founding leader is Tayyip Erdogan,” Ayhan Ogan told private news channel CNN-Turk last week.

Speaking at a news confer-ence at THE general directorate of the Turkish Radio and Tele-vision (TRT) in capital Ankara,

the deputy premier distanced the government and the ruling party from Ogan’s televised comments. Bozdag said the key features of the Turkish repub-lic, its official language, capital, national anthem and identity of the state “are not only in our constitution but also represent the common values of 80 mil-lion Turkish citizens”.

He said the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party contin-ues to adhere to these core principles. “Our president’s opinions are very clear: ‘One nation, one country, one govern-ment, one flag’. “After our president became the head of AK Party, these principles were also added to the AK Party’s bylaws,” Bozdag said, adding the AK Party was the only political party that added these principles to its bylaw. “We have a state and its name is the Turkish state.

Kinshasa violence leaves 12 deadKINSHASA: Twelve people were killed yesterday by stray gunfire in a wave of violence in Kinshasa, said a spokesman for the national police. The toll was a provisional estimate, Pierrot Rombaut Mwanamputu said in an emergency broad-cast that interrupted programming on public tele-vision. Sustained gunfire had been reported earlier close to the central prison in the Con-golese capital, residents and activists said.

Gunmen kidnap 16 in NigeriaLAGOS: Gunmen abducted 16 people from a passenger bus near southern Nigeria’s oil city of Port Harcourt yester-day, witnesses said. “They blocked the road and opened fire on the bus as it approached the Emohua area, thereby forcing the driver to a stop,” said witness Tamuno George. “There were 16 peo-ple including the driver.” A staff member of the company which operated the bus said the gunmen then marched the passengers into the bush.

Amman

Reuters

The Syrian army intensified shelling and air strikes on the last rebel enclave in the Syrian capital yester-

day, its heaviest bombardment in a two-month military campaign, rebels and witnesses said.

From the strategic Qasyoun Heights that overlooks Damascus, elite units of the army struck Jobar district, some 2km (1.2 miles) east of the Old City wall and Ain Terma just to the south.

The offensive has dented a Russian-sponsored ceasefire announced two weeks ago in the Eastern Ghouta area to the east of Damascus.

Scores have been injured and at least

ten civilians killed in three days of bom-bardment, civil defence sources said. Less intense shelling hit Zamalka, Harasta and Kafr Btna, also in Eastern Ghouta.

If successful, the campaign would help the army in its eventual goal of regaining Eastern Ghouta, which has been under opposition control for much of the six-year conflict.

Jobar is in northeast Damascus and borders the Eastern Ghouta district of Ain Terma.

The army is also using more ele-phant rockets - inaccurate improvised munitions often made from gas canis-ters and fired on a high trajectory - insurgents said.

“The elephant rockets are not having mercy on us. We have dug tunnels and

fortified our positions so they are unable to advance,” said Abu Obada al Shami, a commander from Failaq al Rahman, the rebel group whose fighters are drawn from the area.

The rebel battle to keep their last foot-hold in Damascus follows the loss earlier this year of Qaboun and Barzeh districts, located north of Jobar, after intense bombardment.

Before the war began in 2011, more than half a million people lived in East-ern Ghouta, a sprawling mix of towns and farmland.

Two residents said Ain Terma was now a ghost town, with only a few hun-dred families taking shelter in basements after most former residents fled to other towns in Eastern Ghouta.

“Life is non-existent. Permanent ter-ror and people are not coming out of their basements,” said Abdullah Al Khatib, a former electrician, who lives there with his eight-member family.

Rebels accuse the Syrian army and its Iran-backed allies of breaking the Rus-sia-brokered truce in Eastern Ghouta to throw its full weight against Jobar and Ain Terma.

The government has said it will abide by the truces Russia has brokered but says it continues to target Islamist militant fac-tions not covered by the agreement.

“This truce is a lie. The regime has not implemented it. They are shelling us with-out interruption using all types of weapons,” Abu Hamza, another rebel fighter said.

Abuja

AFP

Nigerian protesters demanded yesterday that President Muhammadu

Buhari, receiving treatment in London for an undisclosed ail-ment for more than three months, either return or resign.

Buhari left for the British capital on May 7 on what is his latest medical trip, appointing Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to act on his behalf.

Dozens of protesters marched in heavy rain to the presidential villa in Abuja with banners urging that the 74-year-old retired general, who headed a military regime in the 1980s, return. “Resume or resign, Nige-rians say enough is enough,” one

said, with others stating: “If president Buhari cannot return to Nigeria after 90 days, then he should resign and go home”, and “Buhari, where are you? Nige-rians want full disclosure. What is wrong with our president?”

The peaceful march was organised by a coalition of civil society groups under the super-vision of security agents.

“We are here today because the president of Nigeria has absconded from duty,” said Deji Adeyanju, one of the organisers.

“He has not only absconded, he has continued to lie to us. This year alone the president has been away for 144 days.

“He was away for 52 days in January and he has been away again today for 92 consecutive

days. This cannot continue.”Buhari has been dogged by

speculation about his health since June last year when he first went to London for treatment of what the presidency said was a persistent ear infection.

He then spent nearly two months in London in January and February and said on his return in early March that he had “never been so ill”.

Last month, members of the ruling party and the opposition went to see him in London and even took pictures in an attempt to douse public anxiety.

The health of Nigeria’s lead-ers has been a sensitive issue since the death in office of pres-ident Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2010 after months of treatment abroad.

Nigerian protesters demand sick president return or quit

Zuma confidence vote will be secretCAPE TOWN: A parliamen-tary vote of no confidence in South African President Jacob Zuma will be held by secret ballot, the national assembly Speaker said Monday, a move that could encourage some ANC lawmakers to vote to oust him. “I... determine that voting on the motion of no confidence in the president on the 8th of August 2017 will be by secret ballot,” Baleka Mbete announced in a deci-sion that took many analysts by surprise.

Johannesburg

Reuters

A South African deputy minister apologised yesterday after footage

appeared to show him assaulting a woman at a night club over the weekend.

The incident sparked out-cry from civil society and opposition parties. South Africa has a high rate of vio-lent crime and a string of grisly murders of women and children earlier this year sparked outrage. President Jacob Zuma called the vio-lence against women and children a national “crisis”.

The incident happened on Sunday morning at a nightclub in Johannesburg, a few days before National Women’s Day on Wednesday, commemorating the 1956 women’s protest march under the apartheid govern-ment. “I should have exercised restraint. That shameful incident should not have happened,” said Dep-uty Minister Mduduzi Manana in a statement, adding that he will cooperate with police.

Zuma said he had been disturbed by the incident involving Manana. “The South African Government has made violence against women a pri-ority crime,” Zuma said in a statement. “Women have a right to safety and security and must not be attacked or abused by anyone, anywhere in the coun-try, regardless of the position of the either the perpetrator or victim. South Africa must be safe for all women.”

Hamas gets reassurance from Iran

Army increases strikes on Damascus’s last rebel enclave

Erdogan accuses Germany of abetting terrorists

Zarif described his country’s relations with Hamas as “stable”, stressing Tehran’s desire to overcome all differences with a view to supporting Palestine, the Palestinian people and Muslim unity.

A disabled protester shows a placard in the rain to demand that ailing President Mohammadu Buhari resume work or resign, in Abuja, yesterday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during the provincial advisory council’s meeting in Rize, Turkey, yesterday.

SA minister apologises for woman assault

11TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017 ASIA

North Korea vows to bolster nuclear arsenalSeoul

AP

North Korea vowed yesterday to bolster its nuclear arsenal and gain revenge of a “thousand-fold”

against the US in response to tough UN sanctions imposed fol-lowing its recent intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

The warning came two days after the UN Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions to punish North Korea, including a ban on coal and other exports worth over $1bn.

The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, called the US-drafted resolution “the single largest economic sanctions package ever leveled against” North Korea.

In a statement carried by the North’s state-run Korean Cen-tral News Agency, North Korea’s government said the sanctions were a “violent infringement of its sovereignty” that was caused by a “heinous US plot to isolate and stifle” the country.

“We will make the US pay by a thousand-fold for all the hei-nous crimes it commits against the state and people of this coun-try,” the statement issued said recently.

The North said it would takean unspecified “resolute action of justice” and would never place its nuclear program on the negotiating table or “flinch an inch” from its push to strengthen its nuclear deterrence as long as US hostility against North Korea persists.

N o r t h K o r e a n

Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho made similar comments during an annual regional security con-ference in Manila yesterday.

South Korea’s government said the North would face stronger sanctions if it doesn’t stop its nuclear and missile provocation.

Lim Eul Chul, a North Korea expert at South Korea’s Kyung-nam University, said the comments by the North demon-strate how angry it is over the UN sanctions, but that the coun-try is not likely to launch a pre-emptive strike against the United States.

He said the North could still carry out further missile tests or a sixth atomic bomb test in the coming months under its broader weapons development timetable.

North Korea test-launched two ICBMs last month as part of its efforts to possess a long-range missile capable of striking any-where in the mainland US Both missiles were fired at highly lofted angles, and analysts say the weapons could reach parts of the United States such as Alaska, Los Angeles or Chicago if fired at a normal, flattened trajectory.

The centerpiece of the UN sanctions is a ban on North Korean exports of coal, iron, lead and seafood products — and a ban on all countries importing those products, estimated to be worth over $1bn a year in hard currency.

The resolution also bans countries from giving any addi-tional permits to North Korean laborers, another source of

foreign currency for the North, and prohibits all new joint ven-tures with North Korean companies.

Analysts say that North Korea, already under numerous UN and other international sanc-tions, will feel some pain from the new sanctions but is not likely to return to disarmament negotiations anytime soon because of them.

Shin Beomchul of the Seoul-based Korea National Diplomatic Academy said sanctions that can force a change from North Korea would include a ban on China’s annual, mostly free shipment of 500,000 tonnes of crude oil to North Korea and the deporting by UN member states of the tens of thousands of North Korean workers currently dispatched abroad.

Beijing & Manila urged to abide by sea rulingZamboanga City

Anatolia

The US, Japan and Australia called on the Philippines and China yesterday to

abide by the ruling of an inter-national tribunal which invalidated Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea.

Rappler, an online news por-tal, reported that a joint statement made clear the three foreign ministers wanted Beijing and Manila to “to abide by the Arbitral Tribunal’s 2016 Award in the Philippines-China arbitra-tion, as it is final and legally binding on both parties”.

The three countries also said

that they “will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows,” ignor-ing China’s call for foreigners to keep out of the disputed waters.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague con-cluded in July 2016 that Beijing’s claims to areas of the resource-rich sea have no legal basis in an arbitration launched by the Philippines, whose “sovereign rights” it said China had violated.

The foreign ministers also “expressed serious concerns over maritime disputes in the South China Sea (SCS)” and noted their “strong opposition to coercive unilateral actions

that could alter the status quo and increase tensions”.

They also “urged South China Sea claimants to refrain from land reclamation, con-struction of outposts, militarization of disputed fea-tures, and undertaking unilateral actions that cause permanent physical change to the marine environment in areas pending delimitation.”

In a joint communique issued by Asean on Sunday evening, the regional bloc expressed concerns over Chi-na’s land reclamation activities and called for the non-militari-zation of the disputed waters.

Call to halt Malaysia migrant crackdownKuala Lumpur

AFP

Southeast Asian lawmakers yesterday urged Malaysia to halt a crackdown on

migrant workers that has seen more than 6,000 foreigners detained and sparked alarm among rights groups.

Relatively developed Malay-sia is a magnet for migrant workers from across Asia in sec-tors ranging from construction to agriculture, but several mil-lion are believed to be undocumented.

Authorities started round-ing up illegal workers after an official programme to register undocumented foreigners ended on June 30.

The latest official figures show 6,038 undocumented workers have been arrested in raids.

MPs from a group that brings together Southeast Asian lawmakers pushing for better human rights visited Malaysia on a fact-finding mission, and at the end of the trip made a plea for authorities to end the crackdown.

“This inhumane action must be halted,” Philippine Congress-woman Emmi De Jesus said yesterday.

“Many migrants are living in constant fear. Poor treatment by law enforcement, including indefinite detention in abysmal conditions, are urgent concerns.”

The group, Asean Parlia-mentarians for Human Rights, urged all Southeast Asian gov-ernments to adopt a binding regional treaty on migrant workers, aimed at protecting workers and their rights.

Thunderstorms batter NE China Beijing

Reuters

THUNDERSTORMS have bat-tered northeastern China’s Liaoning province for several days, killing three people and prompting the evacuation of almost 190,000, state news agency Xinhua said yesterday.

The storms, which began on Thursday, have hit seven cities including the major port city of Dalian, Xinhua said yesterday.

Three deaths were reported in Xiuyan county in Anshan city, the report added, without giving details.

A total of 188,000 local residents had been evacuated to safer ground, while more than 1,000 homes had col-lapsed and 66,400 hectares of cropland had been dam-aged, Xinhua said.

Two journalists shot dead in PhilippinesZamboanga City

AFP

TWO journalists have been shot dead in two days in separate incidents in the Philippines, reinforcing the country’s image as one of the world’s most dangerous for media workers, officials said.

Broadcaster Rudy Alica-way and columnist Leo Diaz were the third and fourth journalists to be killed since President Rodrigo Duterte, a vocal critic of the press, took office last year, said Dabet Panelo, secretary-general of the National Union of Jour-nalists of the Philippines (NUJP).

In both cases, the victims were riding motorcycles when gunmen on another motorcycle came up behind and shot them dead.

Malaysia scraps mandatory death penalty for drugsKuala Lumpur

AFP

The Malaysian government has agreed to scrap the mandatory death penalty

for drug traffickers, a minister said yesterday, in a move cau-tiously welcomed by rights groups.

Parliament must still approve the decision, taken by the Cabinet, to allow judges to impose sentences other than capital punishment on drug smugglers, but it is expected to do so.

Azalina Othman Said, a minister in the prime minister’s department, revealed the deci-sion to overhaul colonial-era drug-trafficking legislation from the 1950s in response to a question in parliament.

“We welcome the move as a recognition that the manda-tory death penalty is an egregious form of punishment,” said Amnesty International Malaysia executive director

Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu.But she added that it “must

only be considered a first step towards total abolition.

The imposition of the death penalty, including the manda-tory death penalty, is a violation of the right to life.”

Malaysia imposes the man-datory death penalty for other crimes, including murder and terrorism-related offences.

Neighbouring Singapore passed legal reforms in 2012 abolishing mandatory death sentences for some drug traf-ficking and murder cases.

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s government said: “We will make the US pay by a thousand-fold for all the heinous crimes it commits against the state and people of this country.”

Sanctions

South Korea’s government said the North would face stronger sanctions if it doesn’t stop its nuclear and missile provocation.

Duterte dismisses media questions on human rightsManila

Anatolia

Philippine President Rod-rigo Duterte met yesterday with Ameri-

ca’s top diplomat, where he voiced solidarity with the US amid global concerns over North Korea’s nuclear pro-gramme and angrily dismissed media questions about human rights abuses by his government.

Duterte and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met in Manila at a regional Asia gathering.

It was the highest-level interaction to date between

a member of President Don-ald Trump’s administration and Duterte, accused by human rights groups of fla-grant abuses in his bloody war against illegal drugs.

If the two leaders dis-cussed those or other US concerns about Duterte’s government, they didn’t do so in public.

Instead, the two focused on the alliance between the two countries and on the North Korea issue as report-ers were allowed in briefly for the start of their meeting.

Entering an ornate, wood-paneled hall in the Philippine leader’s palace.

HK beaches begin clean-up operationHong Kong

AFP

A clean-up operation was under way in Hong Kong yesterday after a massive

palm oil spillage from a ship col-lision in mainland Chinese waters clogged some of its most popular beaches.

The coast was coated with rancid-smelling sticky white clumps of the oil as it washed in Sunday, with 11 beaches still closed to swimmers yesterday at the height of a heatwave.

There are still lumps of the solidified oil on the beaches and the sea water in some areas is greasy.

Hong Kong comprises more than 200 islands with glittering bays, but there are increasing concerns about pollution and rubbish blighting its shores.

On Pui O beach, on the island of Lantau, cleaners raked through the famous black sand yesterday retrieving lumps of palm oil mixed with other trash.

Protesters hold banners criticising the Asean as they attempt for a march to the US embassy, in Manila, yesterday.

A cleaner rakes palm oil residue from the sand on a beach, in Hong Kong, yesterday.

A minister revealed the decision to overhaul colonial-era drug-trafficking legislation from the 1950s in response to a question in parliament.

12 TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017ASIA

Milli Muslim League forms political partyIslamabad

Reuters

A Pakistani charity that the United States accuses of being a front for anti-India militant group that

staged the 2008 Mumbai attacks has entered politics by forming a new party, charity officials said yesterday.

The new Milli Muslim League party will follow the ideology of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which the US says is a front for banned militant group Lashkar-e-Tayy-aba (LeT) and is run by Hafiz Saeed, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 attacks that killed 166 people.

“We have decided to make a new political party, so that Paki-stan is to made a real Islamic and welfare state,” said Milli Muslim League President Saifullah Khalid.

Tabish Qayoum, a JuD activ-ist who will work as spokesman for Milli Muslim League, said the charity had filed registration papers for a new party with Paki-

stan’s electoral commission.“It is now need of the hour to

get your message to the grass-roots,” Qayoum said. JuD officials have always denied the charity is a front for LeT, and tout the

group’s humanitarian work as an example of Islamic charity.

Qayoum said Saeed, who missed the launch event as he remains under house arrest in Lahore, and other senior JuD fig-ures are unlikely to be involved in the new party that will adhere to JuD’s ideology.

“We demand an immediate release of Hafiz Saeed. Once he is released we will seek his guid-ance and ask what role he wants in this political party,” added party chief Khalid.

In the past, Saeed has often denounced democracy and the electoral process, saying it is not compatible with Islam.

The United States has offered $10m for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who Reuters could not contact for comment.

But he has always denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks of 2008 that brought the neighbours Pakistan and India to the brink of war.

In the attacks, 10 gunmen swarmed across targets includ-ing two luxury hotels, a Jewish

centre and a train station in a rampage that lasted several days.

Saeed has been under house arrest since January after years of living freely in Pakistan, one of the sore points in the coun-try’s fraying relationship with the United States.

The US State Department’s country report on terrorism for

2016 issued last month said the LeT and its wings continued to make use of economic resources and raise funds in Pakistan.

Ayesha Siddiqa, a security analyst, said the new party was designed to give militants better cover amid pressure from the international community on Pakistan to crack down on LeT

and JuD. “The making of a party indicates the need of JuD to hide itself further so to avoid criti-cism,” Siddiqa said.

Western countries have for decades accused Pakistan of har-bouring militant groups and using them as proxies to project power in the region. Islamabad denies having such a policy.

Taliban deny link with IS group in Afghan massacreKabul

Reuters

THE Taliban rejected reports they used foreign fighters and cooperated with IS group in fighting at a remote village in northern Afghanistan this weekend where officials said dozens of local police and civil-ians were killed.

The Taliban, fighting to install sharia in Afghanistan and drive out foreign forces, said the claims were intended to discredit it. The movement sees IS group, which is fight-ing to create a global caliphate, as a hostile force.

However, Afghan govern-ment officials quoted villagers as saying as many as 600 fighters, who appeared to include both Taliban and IS militants, had overrun Mirza Olang village in the northern province of Sar-e Pul on Saturday.

They said that many of the fighters appeared to be foreigners, speaking Turk-men, Uzbek and Punjabi, a language spoken in the Pun-jab region of Pakistan.

The reports appeared to offer support to claims that the Taliban have been using foreign fighters, but in a region with a patchwork of different ethnicities and national borders close by, establishing a true picture is difficult.

Suu Kyi touts peace efforts to villagers

Sydney

AFP

Rights groups called yes-t e r d a y f o r a n independent inquiry after

another refugee was found dead at a detention camp in Papua New Guinea in a tragedy they said was preventable.

Australia sends anyone who tries to enter by boat without a visa to remote processing facil-ities in Nauru and on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island. Even those subsequently found to be genuine refugees are barred from settling in Australia.

PNG Police Commissioner Gari Baki said in a statement Hamed Shamshiripou, 28, was found hanging from a tree by children near their school.

He said there were “no sus-picious circumstances surrounding the death of the Iranian who was known to have previously attempted to com-mit suicide”.

“This death is yet another bleak tragedy to arise out of the ongoing suffering and tensions on Manus Island,” Amnesty International Australia said.

“There must be an inde-pendent, impartial, prompt and effective investigation into his death.”

Australia’s Human Rights Law Centre said the man was the fifth held on Manus to die since Canberra’s offshore regime began in July 2013.

“This man deserved to be treated with basic decency and respect. He deserved a chance to rebuild his life in freedom and safety,” Daniel Webb, its director of legal advocacy, said yesterday.

“Instead, our government chose to be cruel, imprisoning him indefinitely on a remote island in truly awful conditions.”

Conditions in the camp, and the other one on Nauru in the Pacific, have been widely crit-icised by refugee advocates and medical professionals, with reports of widespread abuse, self-harm and mental health problems.

A PNG court ruled last year that holding people on Manus was unconstitutional, and Can-berra is set to shut the camp in October.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull struck a deal with the Barack Obama administration for the US to resettle hundreds of those being held, although Donald Trump has not appeared keen to honour the pact.

Australia’s immigration department said it was aware of the death. “PNG authorities are investigating the matter,” a spokesperson said.

The law centre said ten-sions were high on Manus as Canberra attempts to close the camp’s biggest compound and force those living there to move into a transit area.

May Tain Kan Village

Reuters

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi told villagers at the heart of the country

yesterday that talks with ethnic rebels must be a priority, after putting peace negotiations ahead of economic reforms in her first months in power.

Suu Kyi inherited the long-running ethnic conflicts when she came to power last year amid a transition from decades of military rule that wrecked rural economies.

“I want all my citizens to

consider that the peace process is a matter for everybody... We can maintain development only when we get peace,” Suu Kyi told a crowd of hundreds in Myaetinekan village, Mandalay region.

“We don’t have peace in our country because there is no mutual trust, love and (there is) conflict among our citizens or ethnicities.”

Local and international media were invited by the gov-ernment to follow Suu Kyi’s visit and watch the event dubbed a “peace talk”, the third such exchange with villagers she has

held. The event was simultane-ously broadcast on state television. Suu Kyi declined sev-eral opportunities to answer reporters’ questions.

“Our national priority is peace,” Mandalay region chief minister Zaw Myint Maung said. “It’s a peace talk... The context is peace, and then development.”

Those who had the oppor-tunity, however, asked Suu Kyi about agricultural concerns like irrigation and the recent elec-trification of some parts of the village, which had left out some villagers.

34 injured in Lahore bomb blast

“We have decided to make a new political party, so that Pakistan is to made a real Islamic and welfare state,” said Milli Muslim League President Saifullah Khalid.

New vocation

Ayesha Siddiqa, a security analyst, said the new party was designed to give militants better cover amid pressure from the international community on Pakistan to crack down on LeT and JuD.

Saifullah Khalid (second left), President of Milli Muslim League (MML) political party during a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, yesterday.

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi during a peace talks conference, in May Tain Kan village, Wundwin, in Mandalay Division, Myanmar, yesterday.

Probe calls after Manus refugee camp incident

Lahore

AFP

A truck bomb injured at least 34 people yes-terday in Pakistan,

officials said, in the latest bombing to rattle the east-ern city of Lahore.

“The explosive material was planted inside a truck which was loaded with fruit,” Abdullah Khan Sum-bal, a top government official in Lahore, said.

“At least 34 people have been injured, most of them

were passer-bys,” Sumbal said, adding that the injured have been taken to two hospitals.

Authori t ies have launched an investigation to

determine how and when the truck arrived in the area, Sumbal said.

Jam Sajjad Hussain, a rescue service spokesman, said that at least three of the injured were in a critical condition.

The powerful explosion destroyed a nearby building and damaged several vehi-cles, he added.

Rai Ijaz, a senior police officer at the site, told reporters that the explosion created a big crater.

The blast came weeks

after a bombing claimed by the Pakistani Taliban killed at least 26 people and injured dozens at a vegeta-ble market in Lahore.

The city has been hit by significant militant attacks in Pakistan’s more than decade-long war on extremism, but they have been less frequent in recent years.

Lahore, a city of around six million, is Pakistan’s cul-tural hub and the capital of its most powerful province, Punjab. Security officials inspect the site of an explosion, in Lahore, yesterday.

The powerful explosion destroyed a nearby building and damaged several vehicles

13TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017 EUROPE

UK denies media report on Brexit billLondon

Reuters

Britain does not recog-nise media reports that the government is willing to pay $47.21bn to exit the

European Union, Prime Minis-ter Theresa May’s spokesman said yesterday.

The so-called “exit bill” is one of the first issues on the Brexit negotiating agenda, and also one of the most contentious. The EU has floated a figure of $70bn, while Britain has not indicated how much it would be prepared to pay.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that Britain would be willing to pay up to $47.21bn, cit-ing three unnamed sources familiar with Britain’s negotiat-ing strategy.

“In terms of this figure, I don’t recognise it,” May’s spokes-man said.

“The prime minister made clear in the letter triggering Arti-cle 50 (the EU exit process) that the UK and the EU need to dis-cuss a fair settlement of both our rights and obligations as an EU

member state.”Britain has less than two

years to negotiate the terms of its exit from the EU - an unprec-edented untangling of more than 40 years of legal, economic and political ties. Early rounds of talks have made little progress, with the EU’s negotiating team demanding more clarity from Britain on what it wants.

When asked whether Britain and the EU were expecting to come up with a firm figure for the exit bill at this stage in the talks, or a less precise agreement covering the rules which would be used to calculate it, the spokesman said:

“I’m not getting into a run-ning commentary on the negotiations or the precise struc-ture of them.”

He repeated that answer when asked whether the 40

billion euro figure was lower than the government was will-ing to accept, or whether the government had actually calcu-lated an amount it was prepared to pay.

The bill is expected to be made up of money Britain has already committed to the multi-year EU budget, ongoing financial risks it agreed during its membership to help cover, and a contribution to the pen-sion scheme for EU officials.

The size of the bill will also heavily depend on the shape of Britain’s transitional agreement - a staggered exit process which could see the government pay-ing into EU regulatory schemes while new domestic ones are established.

Britain has yet to set out what kind of transitional deal it is seeking, making estimates of

the final bill difficult to calculate.

As well as finding a deal that satisfies both an EU establishment keen to deter other members from trying leave, and the strained purse-strings of the Brit-ish budget, May must also reach an amount her own political party is prepared to swallow.

Some eurosceptics within her own party argue Britain should not have to pay anything at all, and any settlement per-ceived to be generous to Brussels could prompt revolt within the Conservative ranks.

After May lost her majority in a national election earlier this year, a rebellion of more than a dozen or so Conservatives would endanger her chances of getting the Brexit deal, and all the nec-essary supporting legislation, approved by parliament.

The prime minister made clear in the letter triggering Article 50 (the EU exit process) that the UK and the EU need to discuss a fair settlement of both our rights and obligations as an EU member state: Spokesman

Article 50

Millions of hens face cull after egg scandalBrussels

Reuters

Millions of hens may need to be culled in the Neth-erlands after traces of a

potentially harmful insecticide were found in eggs, a Dutch farming group said, ratcheting up the strain on a sector still reel-ing from a bird flu outbreak.

Retailers in several Euro-pean countries have pulled millions of eggs from supermar-ket shelves as the scare over the use of insecticide fipronil wid-ened, though Dutch industry group LTO said consumers were

no longer at risk.“For consumers this is pretty

much over, but that is not the case for the farmers. It will take weeks if not months before they can resume production,” LTO’s Johan Boonen said.

The World Health Organi-sation considers fipronil to be moderately toxic and says very large quantities can cause organ damage. Dutch and Belgian authorities have pinned the source of the insecticide to a supplier of cleaning products in the Netherlands.

Farmers in the Netherlands have already culled hundreds

of thousands of hens in the wake of the fipronil scare but they can only regain market access once there are no traces of the insec-ticide in their eggs.

The latest health scare fol-lows a bird flu epidemic that swept northern Europe late last year and forced poultry farm-ers to cull flocks as well.

LTO, the Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture, said 150 Dutch companies had been closed because traces of the insecticide had been found.

The size of the country’s hen population could not be imme-diately determined.

Belgian Prince likely to lose annual allowanceBrussels

AFP

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel is taking action that could cut

Prince Laurent’s allowance after the tearaway younger brother of King Philippe met Chinese officials without offi-cial consent, government sources said yesterday.

Prince Laurent, 53, was photographed wearing a mili-tary uniform last month while attending the 90th anniversary of the Chinese army at Beijing’s embassy in Brussels -- a photo he himself tweeted.

Michel, who met with the king yesterday, “announced he would launch a sanction pro-cedure” against Prince Laurent which could lead to a reduction in his annual allowance of

$363,000, a government source said.

Royal family members are required to obtain consent from the Belgian government for any meetings with foreign dignitaries, something the source said the prince had not received.

“It is in cooperation with the king that Charles Michel took the decision to ask for a penalty,” the royal palace said.

Sometimes referred to as the “Prince Maudit” -- the Cursed Prince -- Laurent is widely reported to suffer from depression.

Fined several times for speeding and chided for frater-nising with African leaders without the government’s con-sent, Laurent has long been considered the “enfant terrible” of the Belgian royal family.

Investigators open criminal case against Russian mineMoscow

AFP

Rescuers yesterday des-perately tried to contact eight miners missing in

a flooded Siberian diamond mine as investigators opened a probe into suspected viola-tions of safety rules.

The accident on Friday at the mine in the Sakha region some 4,000km east of Mos-cow saw water flood in from a disused crater.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said yester-day it had opened a criminal case over suspected breaches of safety procedures at the mine, owned by the country’s largest diamond producer Alrosa, punishable by up to three years in jail.

Specialised climbers were working yesterday to try to establish communications with the section where the remaining eight men are believed to be trapped by sending a signal through a drainage pipe, Alrosa said in a statement.

The company’s president Sergei Ivanov said Sunday that rescuers were trying to reach a location where the miners may be trapped, but the company denied a report that their exact whereabouts had been identified.

Specialist rescuers were also working inside the mine to clear tunnels blocked by mud from the flooding and rock fragments from the min-ing process, Alrosa added.

The emergency situations ministry said rescuers had already explored along tun-nels stretching almost seven kilometres and had cleared 200 metres of blocked tunnels.

187 migrants storm Spanish border postMadrid

AFP

More than 180 migrants stormed a border post between Morocco and

the Spanish territory of Ceuta yesterday, careering through with agents unable to stop them, authorities said.

“They entered at five in the morning running through,” a

spokesman for the central gov-ernment’s representative office in Ceuta said yesterday, add-ing there were 187 people in total.

Footage of the incident broadcast on local television showed the migrants from sub-Saharan Africa sprinting over the border from the Moroccan side while it was still dark.

Once on Spanish soil, they celebrated, raising their hands in joy to the camera, one man kneeling on the floor.

A police spokesman, how-ever, said this type of border-crossing attempt -- sprinting through manned posts -- was very rare.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had any attempt of this kind here,” he said.

Sicilian volunteers ‘started fires for cash’Rome

Reuters

A Sicilian volunteer fire-fighter who started fires and made fake emer-

gency calls to earn a stipend for responding to them has been arrested, Italian police said yesterday.

Soaring temperatures and a prolonged drought are scorch-ing swathes of Italy and wildfires in some areas have been blamed on arsonists.

The government declared a state of emergency yesterday to tackle drought conditions in the central regions of Umbria and Lazio, and two women were found dead in forest fires around Tivoli, some 30km east of Rome.

Sicilian police placed 15 peo-ple under investigation near the southeastern town of Ragusa who they suspected of conspir-ing to set or report non-existent fires to make sure they received the $11.80 hourly rate paid to them if they went out to deal with the emergencies.

Suspicions were raised when the group responded to 120 inci-dents, compared with the 40 dealt with by other groups in the same time period, police said in a statement.

Only the ringleader, name as D D V, was considered sufficiently dangerous to be placed under house arrest, because he contin-ued starting the fires after the others had stopped, police said.

In collusion with the others, D D V left the base in his car, lit fires or made a false report, then came back to the fire station and waited to be called out to deal with it.

British govt proposes new data protection regulationLondon

Reuters

Britons will be able to make social media platforms like Facebook delete

information, including content published in their childhood, under government proposals that will bring data laws into line with new European regulations.

Individuals will have more control over their data by hav-ing “the right to be forgotten” and ask for their personal data to be erased in the measures announced by Digital Minister Matt Hancock yesterday.

Companies will also have to ask people for permission to collect personal data rather then rely on pre-selected tick boxes, which are largely ignored, he said.

The new rules will bring British law into line with the European Union’s general data protection regulation (GDPR),

which tightens and extends the scope of data protection law.

The GDPR becomes enforceable from May 2018.

Lawyers and tech industry experts have said Britain will have to continue complying with GDPR after Britain leaves the European Union in 2019 to avoid disruption to the data traffic that is essential to inter-national business.

Hancock said the rules would give Britain one of the most robust, yet dynamic, set of data laws in the world.

“It will give people more control over their data, require more consent for its use and prepare Britain for Brexit,” he said.

The data protection regu-lator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), will be given the power to issue higher fines, of up to $22.2 m or 4 percent of global turnover, in cases of very serious data breaches, he said.

A file photo of fire rescue vehicle in the Annunziata district of Messina, northeastern Sicily, as a fire rages.

Animal activists stage a protest at a poultry farm in Witteveen, Netherlands, yesterday.

14 TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017AMERICAS

Activists march towards the German Consulate during a rally to support two Filipina domestic workers in their lawsuit against a German diplomat, in New York City, yesterday. The two workers are suing German diplomat Pit Koehler and his wife for being in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Venezuela hunts for attackers as tensions rise

Caracas

AFP

Venezuela’s military yesterday hunted a group of “mercenar-ies” who made off with weapons in an

attack on an army base carried out against what they called the “murderous tyranny” of President Nicolas Maduro.

Twenty men led by a dissident army officer, who deserted sev-eral years ago, battled troops for three hours early Sunday at the base in the city of Valencia, offi-cials said.

The raid ended with two of the attackers killed and eight cap-tured, Maduro said on state television.

The other 10 escaped with weapons taken from the facility, according to officials who said an “intense search” was underway for them.

Maduro claimed the “terror-ist” group had ties to Colombia and the United States.

The incident heightened fears that Venezuela’s intensifying

political and economic crisis could explode into greater violence, per-haps open armed conflict.

Officials insisted afterwards that all was normal across the country, but social networks were full of discussion about the attack, with speculation that it was car-ried out by former Venezuelan soldiers.

The armed forces said in a statement the base was assaulted

by “a group of civilian criminals wearing military uniforms and a first lieutenant who had deserted.” Maduro said the lieutenant was among those captured, and was “actively giving information and we have testimony from seven of the civilians.”

Maduro praised the army for its “immediate reaction” in putting down the attack.

Venezuela’s opposition has

repeatedly urged the military to abandon Maduro.

But Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino, the head of the armed forces, has said the military’s loy-alty was unshakable.

In a video posted online just before the attack, a man present-ing himself as an army captain named Juan Caguaripano declared a “legitimate rebellion... to reject the murderous tyranny

of Nicolas Maduro.” Speaking with 15 men in cam-

ouflage standing by him, some of them armed, he demanded a tran-sitional government and “free elections.”

It was not known if he was the lieutenant referred to in the mil-itary statement, demoted for deserting, or whether he was another renegade officer and was still free.

The military’s statement said the lieutenant had deserted three years ago and taken refuge in Miami, Florida.

Venezuela has become increasingly isolated internation-ally as Maduro tightens his hold on power through a contested loy-alist assembly that started work last week.

The opposition, which con-trols the legislature, has been sidelined. Its leaders are under threat of arrest after organising protests — fiercely countered by security forces — that have left 125 people dead in the past four

months. The new Constituent Assembly, packed with Maduro allies including the president’s wife and son, has moved quickly to clamp down on dissent.

Its first act was to dismiss the attorney general, Luisa Ortega, who had broken ranks with Maduro to become one of his most vociferous critics.

It has also created a “truth commission” that Maduro wants to use to prosecute opposition lawmakers and leaders for alleged “crimes.”

After Russia sanctions, Tillerson pulls punchesManila

Reuters

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (pictured) said yesterday he believes Washington and Russia

can find a way to ease tensions, saying it wouldn’t be useful to cut ties over the sin-gle issue of suspected Russian meddling in the US election.

Tillerson said Russia had also expressed some willingness to resume talks about the crisis in Ukraine, where a 2015 ceasefire between Kiev’s forces and Russian-backed separatists in the east-ern part of the country is regularly violated.

“We should find places we can work together... In places we have differences we’re going to have to continue to find ways to address those,” Tillerson told

reporters. Tillerson met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of an interna-tional gathering in Manila on Sunday, where he was also asked about Mos-cow’s retaliation against new US sanctions.

Tillerson said he told Lavrov the United States would respond to the Kremlin’s order for it to cut about 60 percent of its diplomatic staff in Russia by September 1. “We have not made a decision on how we will respond to Russia’s request to remove US diplo-matic personnel. I asked several clarifying questions...I told him we would respond by September first,” Tillerson said.

The meeting was their first since

President Donald Trump reluctantly signed into law the sanctions that Russia said amounted to a full-scale trade war and ended hopes for better ties.

Lavrov on Sunday said he believed his US colleagues were ready to continue dialogue with Moscow on complex issues despite tensions.

Tillerson said he discussed Russia’s suspected meddling in the 2016 US pres-idential election with Lavrov to “help them understand how serious this inci-dent had been and how seriously it damaged the relationship” between the two nations.

But Tillerson said that should not irre-

versibly damage ties.“The fact that we want to work with

them on areas that are of serious national security interest to us, and at the same time having this extraordinary issue of mistrust that divides us, that is just what we in the diplomatic part of our relation-ship are required to do,” Tillerson said.

The United States sent its special rep-resentative on Ukraine, Kurt Volker, a former US envoy to NATO, to Ukraine last month to assess the situation in the former Soviet republic.

Washington cites the conflict as a key obstacle to improved relations between Russia and the United States.

“We appointed a special envoy to engage with Russia but also coordinating with all parties. This is full visibility to all parties. We are not trying to cut some kind of deal on the side,” Tillerson said.

Chicago

AP

Mayor Rahm Emanuel (pictured) said Chi-cago is taking his fight

against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies to court, becoming one of the first cities yesterday to sue the government over what many US cities argue are illegal bids to withhold public safety grants from so-called sanctuary cities.

The 46-page lawsuit was filed in US District Court in Chi-cago, a day after Emanuel announced the litigation and said the city won’t “be black-mailed” into changing its values as a welcoming city. He argued it’s unconstitutional for a city “to be coerced on a policy.”

Chicago officials say there are new qualifications for a grant that requires cities to share information with US

immigration authorities, which they allege are unconstitu-tional. Chicago has received the grant funds since 2005, includ-ing $2.3m last year. They were used for buying police vehicles, radios and SWAT equipment.

“These new conditions — which would give federal officials the power to enter city facilities and interrogate arres-tees at will and would force the City to detain individuals longer than justified by probable cause, solely to permit federal officials to investigate their immigration status — are unauthorised and unconstitutional,” the complaint

read. “These new conditions also fly in the face of longstand-ing City policy that promotes cooperation between local law enforcement and immigrant communities, ensures access to essential city services for all res-idents, and makes all Chicagoans safer.”

Those grant amounts of money are relatively small, but Chicago leaders say they fear more impactful restrictions could be coming and so they hope to establish in court that such government measures are illegal.

It is the latest round in a battle between several major US cities that opt to limit coop-eration with federal government efforts to enforce immigration law and the Trump administration, with federal officials threatening for months to withhold funding for sanctuary cities, saying they don’t comply with federal laws.

Trump says working hard at golf club

US military bases can down drones

Washington

AFP

Three days into a two-week golf getaway at his New Jersey country

club, President Donald Trump assured Americans via Twit-ter yesterday that he remains focused on managing the country.

“Working hard from New Jersey while White House goes through long planned renovation,” Trump said as part of a long batch of tweets mostly aimed at bashing crit-ics. “Going to New York next week for more meetings,” he added.

With critics assailing him over the frequency of his golf outings six months into his presidency, Trump insisted Saturday that he was not on holiday.

Washington

AFP

The Pentagon has issued new guidance to the military allowing instal-

lations in the United States to shoot down commercial or private drones deemed a threat, officials said yesterday.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the various branches of the military had received the new guidance on Friday, and this would be passed on to bases.

While details of the new policy remain classified, Davis said personnel on bases designated no-fly areas can now tackle unmanned air-craft that are deemed a threat.

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Venezuelan pro-government activists rally to express their support to the Constituent Assembly in Caracas, yesterday. An anti-government activist shows bullet cases during a protest in Venezuela’s third city, Valencia. New chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab attends a news conference in Caracas.

President Nicolas Maduro praises the army for its “immediate reaction” in putting down the attack as world watches with concern the political upheaval in the Latin American nation.

Chicago sues Trump govt over ‘sanctuary city’ fund

Parading their rights

15TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017 BREAK TIME

Yesterday’s answer

SHOWING ATVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

BABY

BLU

ES

ALL IN THE MINDABAFT, ANCHOR, BALLAST, BEAM, BELOW, BINNACLE, BOOM, BRIDGE, CATAMARAN, CLIPPER, COMPASS, CROSSJACK, CUTTER, DECK, FELUCCA, GAFF, GUNWALE, HALYARD, HELM, HULL, JIGGER, KEEL, KETCH, KNOTS, MARINA, MAST, MIZZEN, MOORING, NAVIGATION, PORT, PORTHOLE, PROW, RIGGING, RUDDER, SAILS, SAILOR, SCHOONER, SEAFARER, SLOOP, SPARS, SPINNAKER, STARBOARD, STERN, TACK, VESSEL, VOYAGE, YACHT, YARDARM.

07:00 News

07:30 The Stream

08:00 News

08:30 Counting the Cost

09:00 Al Jazeera World

10:00 News

10:30 Inside Story

11:00 News

11:30 The Stream

12:00 News

12:30 AJ Selects

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 The Big Picture

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 The Stream

18:00 Newsgrid

19:00 News

19:30 Rebel Education

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 The Stream

10:10 Kings Of The Wild

10:55 Treasure Quest:

Snake Island

11:40 Legend Of Croc

Gold

12:25 How Do They Do

It?

13:10 Gold Rush

13:55 Running Wild With

Bear Grylls

14:40 Gold Divers

15:25 Fast N' Loud

16:10 Wheeler Dealers

17:00 How Do They Do

It?

18:20 Storage Hunters

18:50 Running Wild With

Bear Grylls

20:35 How Do They Do

It?

21:00 Blowing Up History

21:50 Strip The City

23:05 Made By

Destruction

23:30 Fast N' Loud

01:05 Blowing Up History

11:00 Man-Eating

Super Snake

11:55 Catching

Monsters

12:50 Lair Of The Killer

Crocs

13:45 Bad Dog

14:40 Mutant Planet

15:35 Untamed & Uncut

16:30 Treehouse

Masters

17:25 Dog Rescuers

18:20 Guardians Of

Rescue

19:15 Bad Dog

20:10 Untamed China

With Nigel

Marven

21:05 Dog Rescuers

22:00 Guardians Of

Rescue

22:55 Mutant Planet

23:50 Untamed & Uncut

00:45 Treehouse

Masters

01:40 Bad Dog

13:05 Star Darlings

15:15 Whisker Haven

Tales With The

Palace Pets

16:10 Liv And

Maddie

18:20 Disney Mickey

Mouse

18:25 Alex & Co.

18:50 Best Friends

Whenever

19:15 Sunny Bunnies

19:20 Liv And Maddie

19:45 Mako Mermaids

20:10 Jessie

20:35 Cracke

20:40 Bizaardvark

21:05 Austin & Ally

21:30 Stuck In The

Middle

21:55 Tsum Tsum

Shorts

22:00 Bunk'd

22:25 Miraculous Tales

Of Ladybug And

Cat Noir

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku is a number-

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

place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so

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

contains the same number only once.

CROSSWORD

CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

Yesterday's answer

MALL

LANDMARK

ROYAL PLAZA

ASIAN TOWN

NOVO — Pearl

ROXY

Jawab Leteqal (2D/Arabic) 10:00am, 12:20, 2:40, 5:00, 7:20, 9:40pm & 12:00midnight 6 Days (2D/Action) 1:30, 5:30 & 9:30pmThe Dark Tower (2D/Action) 11:00am, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:00, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm Atomic Blonde (2D/Thriller) 10:00am, 2:40, 7:20pm & 12:00midnightBaby Driver (2D/Action) 12:20, 5:00 & 9:40pmFirst Kill (2D/Action) 11:30am, 3:30, 7:30 & 11:30pmMamnoun Min El Ektirab (2D/Arabic) 10:00am, 2:40, 7:20pm & 12:00midnightBling (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:50, 2:40 & 4:30pmWar For The Planet of The Apes (2D/Action) 6:40, 9:40 & 11:40pm Jab Harry Met Sejal (2D/Hindi) 10:00am, 3:10 & 8:20pm Baywatch (2D/Comedy) 12:50, 6:00 & 11:20pmBoyka: Undisputed (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight The Big Sick (2D/Comedy) 12:10, 4:50 & 9:30pmDunkirk (2D IMAX/Action) 11:00am, 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50pm & 12:00midnight Boyka: Undisputed (2D/Action) 2:30, 7:00 & 11:30pm

Bling (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:00pm Jab Harry Met Sejal (2D/Hindi) 2:15, 7:00 & 11:15pm 6 Days (2D/Action) 3:00 & 5:30pm The Dark Tower (2D/Action) 3:00, 9:30 & 11:45pm The Big Sick (2D/Comedy) 5:00pm Mamnoun Min El Ektirab (2D/Arabic) 5:00 & 9:30pm Finally Found Someone (2D/Tagalog) 5:30, 7:15 & 9:30pm First Kill (2D/Action) 7:45 & 11:30pm

Mamnoun Min El Ektirab (2D/Arabic) 2:45 & 9:30pm The Big Sick (2D/Comedy) 2:30 & 5:00pm Bling (2D/Animation) 3:00 & 4:30pm Finally Found Someone (2D/Tagalog) 5:00 & 8:45pm Jab Harry Met Sejal (2D/Hindi) 6:00 & 11:00pm Huroob Ezterari (2D/Arabic) 7:30pm First Kill (2D/Action) 7:30 & 11:30pm The Dark Tower (2D/Action) 9:30 & 11:30pm

Bling (2D/Animation) 2:00, 3:30 & 5:30pm The Big Sick (2D/Comedy) 2:30 & 6:30pm Mamnoun Min El Ektirab (2D/Arabic) 4:30 & 9:30pm Jab Harry Met Sejal (2D/Hindi) 2:15, 8:45 & 11:15pm First Kill (2D/Action) 2:30, 7:30 & 11:30pm Finally Found Someone (2D/Tagalog) 5:00 & 7:30pm The Dark Tower (2D/Action) 9:45 & 11:30pm

Jab Harry Met Sejal (Hindi) 6:00, 6:30, 8:45, 9:00, 9:15, 11:30pm & 12:00midnight

Sunday Holiday (2D/Malayalam) 9:15pm & 12:00midnight

Vikram Vedha (2D/Tamil) 6:30pm

Chunkzz (Animation) 12:00noon, 3:00 & 6:00pm The Dark Tower 5:00, 7:00, 9:00, 11:00pm & 01:00amFirst Kill (Thriller) 12:00noon, 2:20, 4:30, 6:50, 9:00 & 11:10pm

Jab Harry Met Sejal (Hindi) 12:00noon, 2:50, 5:40, 8:30 & 11:20pmDunkirk (2D/Thriller) 9:00 & 11:15pm Atomic Blonde 12:00noon & 2:30pm

AL KHORJab Harry Met Sejal (Hindi) 11:15am, 2:15, 5:15, 8:15 & 11:15pm

Dark Tower (2D/Action) 2:30, 7:00, 9:15 & 11:30pm Bling 11:45am & 1:30pmFinally Found Someone (Tagalog) 3:45, 9:00 & 11:30pm

Dunkirk (2D/Thriller) 12:15 & 4:45pm Sunday Holiday (Malayalam) 6:15pm

16 TUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017MORNING BREAK

A bird seems to seek relief from the heat by flying around a water fountain at the Museum of Islamic Art Park in Doha yesterday. Pic: Kammutty VP / The

Peninsula

Cooling down

FAJRSHOROOK

03.41 am

05.04 am

ZUHRASR

11.40 am

03.08 pm

MAGHRIBISHA

06.17 pm

07.47 pm

PRAYER TIMINGS

A view of the partial lunar eclipse in Doha sky yesterday. Pic: Kammutty VP / The Peninsula

Lunar spectacle in Qatar

Los Angeles

Agencies

The estate of Michael Jack-son says a 3D version of the late singer’s iconic

“Thriller” video is set to debut at the Venice Film Festival more than 30 years after its original premiere.

The estate says the “latest available technology” was used to convert the 14-minute short film from an original 35mm negative to 3D.

Although the film wasn’t reedited or recut in any way, director John Landis says he was able to “use the 3D crea-tively” and promises “a rather shocking surprise.”

“Michael Jackson’s Thriller” debuted in theaters and on

television in 1983. An hour-long documentary detailing the making of the video will also screen at the Venice festival, which runs from August 30 to September 9. Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50.

The plans regarding it’s release have not yet been revealed so far by the officials concerned. This 3D version of the 14-minute short film was conceived originally as a back-drop during Jackson’s planned This Is It tour.

However, Landis and the singer’s estate soon became embroiled in a legal battle, shortly before Jackson’s death, over the ownership of the film. However, his fans across the world are eagerly waiting to watch it.

Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ set for debut in 3D form

CRA reviews spam regulations QNA

The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has reviewed the

spam regulation issued in December 2016 and made amendments that align it more closely with the Data Privacy Law published by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Decem-ber 2016.

The revised regulation is designed to reduce the number of complaints about spam, direct marketing, and cybercrime lodged with service providers and CRA and enhance the overall

experience of consumers in Qatar.

The amendment also takes into consideration that unsolicited electronic mes-sages or spam messages continue to be a cause of frus-tration for many consumers in Qatar, considering the large number of complaints received on the subject.

Furthermore, some of these communications take the form of fraudulent emails which claim to be from repu-table companies and are designed to convince individ-uals to reveal personal information. The amended regulation sets out

the particular obligations on service providers, senders and users of electronic communi-cations for the purposes of direct marketing in relation to consumer privacy, personal data and cybercrime, in accordance with the relevant regulatory frameworks in Qatar.

In line with Regulatory Authority’s open and transparent regulatory processes, it has initiated a public consultation on the draft amended spam regulation and invited all stakeholders and interested parties to provide their comments in writing on the

new regulation by October 1. CRA will also be hosting a

workshop for stakeholders on September 17 to gather feedback to assist service providers and the wider public in understanding their obligations.

Findings of a brief survey conducted via CRA’s social media channels also provide a direct insight into consumer’s feedback on spam and how they want it to be addressed.

These findings will be taken into consideration while finalising the regulation.

“One of CRA’s core roles is to protect consumers and

improve the experience of telecoms customers in Qatar. The amended regulation aims to do just that by bringing it more in line with the Data Privacy Law and thereby increasing consumer data protection and significantly improving consumer experience of communications services across Qatar,” said CRA Consumer Affairs Department Manager Amel Salem Al Hanawi. “As ever we follow a rigorous Public Consultation process that allows us to take into account, the needs of all stakeholders in an open and transparent manner,” she added.

Los Angeles

AP

Chris Pratt and Anna Faris have announced they are separating after

eight years of marriage.The actors announced

their breakup on social media on Sunday night in a joint statement confirmed by Pratt’s publicist.

“We tried hard for a long time, and we’re really disap-pointed,” the actors wrote. “Our son has two parents who love him very much and for his sake we want to keep this situation as private as possi-ble moving forward. We still have love for each other, will always cherish our time together and continue to have the deepest respect for one another.”

Pratt, who stars in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise and Faris, who stars on CBS’ comedy “Mom,” mar-ried in 2009. They have a

4-year-old son. They were one of Hollywood’s most pop-ular couples and publicly supportive of each other in their work and on social media. Pratt guest-starred as Faris’ love interest on “Mom” earlier this year, and the cou-ple laughed and kissed in April when Pratt was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Their breakup quickly became a worldwide trend-ing topic on Twitter, where the pair had frequently shared messages about each other and their family.

Pratt, 38, has become an international superstar in recent years and is the face of two major franchises: Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” films and a new slate of films based on the “Jurassic Park” universe. He spoke about bal-ancing home and his career in an interview with The Asso-ciated Press earlier this year before the release of “Guard-ians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2,”

which went on to become a blockbuster.

“For the first part of our relationship, we put our careers at the top,” Pratt said of Faris. “We were like, ‘Honey, if you get a job and you have to go to Istanbul for six months, you’re going. I’ll help you pack. I’ll Skype with you every day. You’re living your dream, I’m living my dream. That’s what we do.’”

He said, at the time, that starring in two major fran-chises made it easier for them to strategize what roles they would take.

Faris, 40, has starred in “Mom” for five seasons oppo-site Emmy-winner Alison Janney. The actresses play mother-daughter who are both recovering drug addicts and are trying to navigate sobriety and relationships together. She is also the voice of the Jailbreak character in recently-released “The Emoji Movie.”

Chris Pratt and Anna Faris announce separation

This file photo shows, Actors Anna Faris and Chris Pratt arriving at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California,

HIGH TIDE 04:30 – 18:00 LOW TIDE 00:30 – 10:30

Hazy to misty at places at first be-

comes hot daytime with some

clouds and humid by night.

WEATHER TODAY

Minimum Maximum32oC 42oC

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department