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www.thepeninsula.qaVolume 24 | Number 8127

FM, Rouhani discuss regional stability

QNA — TEHRAN

President H E Dr. Hassan Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran met last evening with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-rahman Al Thani.

At the beginning of the meeting, H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs conveyed greetings of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to H E the Iranian President, wishing the Iranian people further devel-opment and progress.

For his part, H E the Iranian President entrusted H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs to convey his greetings to H H the Amir, wishing him good health and happiness, and the Qatari

people further progress and prosperity.

During the meeting, they reviewed the latest develop-ments on the regional arena, especially the recent events in Iraq, as well as calm measures to maintain the security and stability of the region.

H E Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs

also met yesterday with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, H E Mohammad Javad Zarif, during His Excel-lency's visit to Iran. During the meeting, the two sides discussed the latest developments on the regional arena, especially the recent events in Iraq, as well as ways of calm to maintain col-lective security of the region.

H E the Deputy Prime Min-ister and Minister of Foreign Affairs also met with Speaker of the Shura Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, H E Dr. Ali Larijani, during His Excel-lency’s visit to Iran. During the meeting, they discussed latest developments on the regional arena, especially the recent incidents in Iraq.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, with President H E Dr. Hassan Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran, yesterday. �P2

H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs met with Iranian President, Iranian Foreign Minister and the Speaker of the Iranian Shura Council.

More than 330 publishing houses from 31 countries to participate in book fairSIDI MOHAMED THE PENINSULA

With the participation of 335 publishing houses from 31 countries, the 30th edition of Doha International Book Fair will be held from January 9 to 18 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center.

The Fair will be held under the slogan “Do you then not ponder?”, under the patronage of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

It is being organised by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, under the supervision of the Qatar Cultural and Heritage Event Center. The center is keen to utilise all its potentials to ensure the success of the upcoming edition of the exhibition.

“Around 335 publishing houses will participate in the event, among them Arab and foreign publishers and others for children books. There will be 797 pavilions in addition to participation by a number of embassies,” said Jassem Al Buainain, Director of Doha International Book Fair, in a press conference held yesterday

at the Ministry of Culture and Sports headquarters.

The press conference was attended by the Minister of Culture and Sports, H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali; Deputy Chairman of the Cultural Com-mittee of the Doha Interna-tional Book Fair, and the Ambassador of France to Qatar, Franck Gellet, and many other officials of the Ministry.

Al Buainain pointed out that the number of countries par-ticipating in this edition of the Doha International Book Fair reaches to 31 countries, which reflects that large Arab and foreign participation, with the first time participation from Belgium and Australia.

He also said that there will be discounts on books up to 25 percent, as agreed with the pub-lishing houses. The number of the pavilions of Arabic books is 559, represented by 228 pub-lishing houses, and the number of foreign pavilions is 91 pavilions represented by 35 foreign publishers, while the number of publishing houses for children reaches 72 publishing houses, he added. �P3

OFFICIAL NEWS

DOHA: The State of Qatar has strongly condemned the bombing in Mazar-i-Sharif city, northern Afghan-istan, causing death and injuries .In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reit-erated the State of Qatar’s firm stance rejecting violence and ter-rorism, whatever the motives and reasons. The statement expressed condolences of the State of Qatar to the victim’s family, the government and people of Afghanistan, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. QNA

Qatar strongly condemns blast in northern Afghanistan

02 SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020HOME

FM meets Zarif and Iran's Shura Council Speaker

LEFT: The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, H E Mohammad Javad Zarif, during His Excellency's visit to Tehran, yesterday. RIGHT: H E the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs with the Speaker of the Shura Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, H E Dr. Ali Larijani, during His Excellency's visit to Iran.

Sidra lab finds reasons for sleep problems in children

FAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

The state-of-the-art six room sleep laboratory at Sidra Medicine has received over 450 children and helped to find the underlining reasons behind sleep problems in 2019.

Children with sleep problems usually have under-lying illnesses or conditions. The sleep lab accurately studies cases of obstructive sleep apnea and other sleep-related respi-ratory disorders caused by a variety of airway diseases and conditions including large

tonsils or adenoids. It also receives children with non-res-piratory sleep disorders, according to senior experts.

“Our Sleep Disorders Program have been designed to restore a child’s normal sleep patterns. The care at our sleep lab includes providers who are specially trained in paediatric sleep medicine. Our team will

assess your child’s condition and decide which clinic is best for your child’s sleep problems,” Prof. Ibrahim Janahi, Division Chief of Pulmonology, whose department currently manages the sleep lab told The Peninsula.

Fully equipped with modern technologies, such as video and infrared monitoring, the lab will allow health experts to directly

observe the patients. The ded-icated Sidra Medicine team works closely with child life professionals to provide child-friendly and child-focused care to help the children relax and go to sleep.

“The Sleep Lab studies cases of obstructive sleep apnea and other sleep related respi-ratory disorders caused by a

variety of airway diseases and conditions including large tonsils or adenoids. In addition, the sleep lab plays a critical role in studying non-respiratory sleep disorders as a result of neurological issues like central apneas or due to behavioral abnormalities,” said Dr Muna Maarafiya, Medical Director of the Sleep Lab at Sidra Medicine.

Depending on the physi-cian’s recommendation, the sleep study will be tailored to suit each child’s medical con-dition in line with international standards. The child’s move-ments are also recorded by video with infrared to ensure the safety of the child at all times.

All recordings and test results from the child’s sleep study are then analyzed by the technologist and interpreted by the Sleep Lab team. Results are then discussed with the parents along with a treatment plan during a follow up appointment.

The highly advanced six-room dedicated pediatric sleep laboratory was officially inau-gurated in August 2019. It started to receive children few months before the official opening.

The state-of-the-art six room sleep laboratory at Sidra Medicine has received over 450 children and helped to find the underlining reasons behind sleep problems.

The sleep lab accurately studies cases of obstructive sleep apnea and other sleep-related respiratory disorders caused by a variety of airway diseases and conditions including large tonsils or adenoids.

Shop Qatar 2020 to open with a fashion show

RAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

The fourth edition of the annual Shop Qatar opens on Tuesday with a fashion show featuring creations by Qatari and French designers, Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) revealed yesterday.

Serving as a prelude to the Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture, the by-invitation fashion show will showcase on the catwalk latest collec-tions by Qatari designer Hind Al Rumaihi and French col-lective Faith Connexion.

The full details of the 25-day shopping festival was presented yesterday before the media by Jawaher Al-Khuzaei from QNTC.

The festival will be offering discounts of up to 70% and for every QR 200 spent at participating shops in any of the festival’s retail partners, shoppers will get a chance to win any of the six cars and cash prizes with a

total worth of more than QR2 million during the three raffle draws spread throughout the festival period.

For every raffle draw, five lucky shoppers will win QR10,000 each, four winners will receive QR20,000 each, two will get QR50,000 each, and one winner will bag QR100,000, one lucky shopper will win a Mini Cooper Hatchback and another winner will get to take home a BMW 730 Li.

One of the highlights of the festival are fashion-forward events including fashion shows majority of which will be held at the opulent Al Hazm

including an international fashion show on January 23, fashion show by international celebrity designer Nicholas Jebran on January 24, fashion show by local designers on January 25, Al Hazm collection fashion show on January 26 and 27 and Chinese fashion show on January 29. In addition, Mirqab Mall will be presenting a kids fashion show featuring Al Mana Group brands on January 24.

There will also be make-up masterclasses by famous beauty experts including Hanan Al Najada on January 14 January at Park Hyatt Hotel, Hanan Al Najada

on January 13 at Doha Festival City, and Dalal Al Refai on January 18 at Lagoona Mall.

Throughout the festival, all participating malls will host free roaming shows and family-friendly entertainment as well as a colourful lights and confetti show every weekend. The shows will include Masha and The Bear from January 9to 15 (three shows a day), Shaun the Sheep from January 16-22 (3 shows a day), Justice League Parade from January 21 to 31, solo musicians from January 9 to 11, 16 to 18, 24 and 31, and lights and confetti show throughout the festival.

beIN will be holding an exciting family game show at Mirqab Mall on January 23, 24, 30 and 31 at 3pm in which four families will compete through 10 levels of mental and physical challenges.

A series of concerts are in store for music lovers including the shows by Siwar Choir on January 17 at The Pearl-Qatar 9.30pm following the first raffle draw, Disney in Concert with Qatar Philhar-monic Orchestra from January 17 to 21 at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC), Sonu Nigam on January 23 at Asian Town Amphitheatre, New Year Concert at on January 25 at Katara Opera House, PK Music Festival at January 30 at QNCC and Video Games Live on January 31 at QNCC featuring the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

A new feature at this year’s festival is the Chinese New Year Celebrations comprising dragon parade at various malls from January 25 to 31, drums show at various malls from January 25 to 31, Chinse fashion shows at Al Hazm on January 29 and Chinese arts and crafts activities at various malls from January 25 to 30 which include umbrella painting, Chinese calligraphy and face painting.

In addition, the third edition of the breathtaking Aspire Lake Festival will be held on January 10 at Aspire Park under the theme “Tree of Life.” The press conference held at Al Hazm yesterday was attended by Shop Qatar 2020 partners.

Jawaher Al Khuzaei from Qatar National Tourism Council presents full details of Shop Qatar 2020 which officially opens on Tuesday. PIC: QASSIM RAHMATULLAH/THE PENINSULA

Serving as a prelude to the Qatar-France 2020 Year of Culture, the by-invitation fashion show will showcase on the catwalk latest collections by Qatari designer Hind Al Rumaihi and French collective Faith Connexion.

Earth at closest point from Sun at 10:47am THE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Earth will be at the nearest point in its orbit around the Sun (perihelion) today morning at 10:47 (Doha local time).

At this time, Earth will be approximately 147 million kil-ometres away from Sun’s centre; while it was at 152 million kilometres away from Sun’s centre on July 4, 2019. So the Sun appears larger in the sky than at any other time of year, Qatar Calendar house (QCH) said in a statement.

The astronomer expert at QCH, Dr. Beshir Marzouk, said Earth (and all planets) moves in its orbit around Sun on Ellipse (elliptical) orbit, so the distance between Earth and the Sun’s centre varies (when the Earth arrives Perihelion and Aphelion points) by approxi-mately 3 percent. Moreover, the average distance between Earth and Sun is called Astro-nomical Unite (AU), where one AU equals 149.7 million kilo-metres approximately.

As known, Earth reaches perihelion point once in a year during January, also it arrives at aphelion one time a year during July. Moreover, Earth was at perihelion last time on Thursday, January 3, 2019, while will be at perihelion next time on January 2, 2021.

Earth’s high and low tem-perature does not depend on Earth’s distance from the Sun as the Earth at the farthest point from Sun during summer, while the Earth at the nearest point from Sun during winter. The temperature in summer is higher than winter because of the tilting of Sun’s ray on the earth.

During the winter, the Sun’s rays hit the Earth at an extreme angle (Sun’s ray is tilting on the northern hemisphere), and the days are very short, while during summer the Sun’s rays hit the Earth at a more direct angle (vertical) than during winter, and also because of the days are much longer than the nights during the summer on northern hemisphere, Dr. Marzouk added.

The planet ‘Earth’ is the third planet from the Sun.

FAJR SUNRISE 04.59 am 06.20 am

W A L R U WA I S : 15o↗ 23o W A L K H O R : 19o↗ 24o W D U K H A N : 20o↗ 22o W D O H A : 21o↗ 26o W M E S A I E E D 21o↗ 27o W A B U S A M R A 15o↗ 23o

PRAYER TIMINGS WEATHER TODAY

HIGH TIDE 10:24 – 00:00 LOW TIDE 05:35 – 19:16

Misty to foggy at places at first becomes light to blowing dust and partly cloudy with a chance of rain maybe thundery at times.

Minimum Maximum21oC 26oC

ZUHRMAGHRIB

11.39 am05.00 pm

ASR ISHA

02.38 pm06.30 pm

03SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020 HOME

Shop Qatar 2020 to attract more tourists

RAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Touted as a world-class shopping event, Shop Qatar 2020 is expected to entice more tourists to visit Qatar with its well-curated shows, unbeatable shopping promo-tions and attractive travel and hospitality packages.

Opening on Tuesday, the fourth edition of Shop Qatar promises 25 days of colourful celebration of the country’s retail and entertainment offerings catered to both res-idents and visitors to explore and enjoy Qatar’s diverse retail offering including eve-rything from luxury malls and high-end boutique venues to themed, entertainment-rich

shopping centres, as well as authentic souqs and bazaars.

“With Qatar Airways and the Qatar National Tourism Council joining hands, this year in particular we have done global promotions to bring in more tourists with some packages including airline tickets and hotel accommodation,” Salam Al Shawa, Senior Vice-President of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Qatar Airways, said yesterday at a press conference held at Al Hazm to reveal the full details of this year’s Shop Qatar.

In line with Shop Qatar, it was announced that Qatar Airways Holidays is offering fly-and-stay packages to vis-itors from both Oman and

Kuwait which include return flights, two nights (plus breakfast) at 5, 4 and 3-star hotels, and a free shopping transfer tour.

Tourists travelling to

Qatar specially for the shopping festival will enjoy seamless experience and easy access as the Ministry of the Interior (MoI) is offering vis-itors a more streamlined

application process through its new Visa Portal through which applications will be processed within 24 hours for those identifying Shop Qatar as the reason for their visit.

“January promises to be one of the most exciting months of the year with this whole exercise of enter-tainment, fashion shows, master classes, and concerts. It is going to be a really world-class shopping event,” said Al Shawa, adding there are other events that will coincide with the festival such as the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2020, the 30th Doha International Book Fair and the third Aspire Lake Festival.

She added this edition of the festival “has been esca-lated and we have taken it to another level and hopefully every year it will be even more world-class shopping. We are trying to make it really an international event.”

Qatar Airways is one of the official Shop Qatar 2020 partners which also include the Ministry of Commerce, Katara Hospitality and The Ritz-Carlton Doha, Alfardan Automobiles-BMW, Vodafone, Qatar Television and Al Hazm.

Launched in 2016, Shop Qatar was aimed at enriching the country’s tourism offering while positioning Qatar as a major shopping destination in the region.

Salam Al Shawa, Senior Vice-President, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Qatar Airways, speaking at the Shop Qatar 2020 press conference, yesterday, at Dar Al Karam Restaurant in Al Hazm. PIC: QASSIM RAHMATULLAH/THE PENINSULA

Opening on Tuesday, the fourth edition of Shop Qatar promises 25 days of colourful celebration of the country’s retail and entertainment offerings catered to both residents and visitors to explore and enjoy Qatar’s diverse retail offering including everything from luxury malls and high-end boutique venues to themed, entertainment-rich shopping centres, as well as authentic souqs and bazaars.

Over 330 publishing houses from 31 countries to take part in book fairFROM PAGE 1

Al Buainain said that the Fair coincides with the launch of the Qatar-France Year of Culture 2020, which will give a greater chance for a significant presence of French participants in the fair and its diverse cul-tural presence and also to promote mutual understanding, recognition and appreciation between both sovereign nations. France is the guest of honor at Doha International Book Fair 2020.

Regarding the demand of the Fair, the Minister of Culture and Sports, H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, said that all numbers were on increase whether publishing houses or the number of pavilions therefore the organising com-mittee had rejected partici-pation of some publishers and chose only the best ones.

“In Qatar, there are no intel-lectual or political restrictions against any book, or any pub-lisher or writer, and we did not reject any book except few books where there is racial abuse or the books which promote racism. Otherwise, we would have accepted them. Even some writers whose works had criticized Qatar but we allowed their books.”

For his part, Radi Al Hajri, said: “We in the Cultural Com-mittee of the Fair will held 21 workshops, poetry activities, French musical activity, and other activities aimed at devel-oping cultural advancement and promoting culture.”

The embassy of the United States of America, Embassy of Japan, Embassy of Palestine, Embassy of Kyrgyzstan, Embassy of the Philippines and Syrian Embassy will participate

in the event, he said.Regarding the timings of the

Fair, Al Hajri said that the exhi-bition will be held from 9am until 9pm, except Friday when it will remain open from 3pm until 10pm, while on Thursday, activities will be held from 9am to 10pm.

In this edition, the Qatari

participation is the largest from the private Qatari publishing houses, with the participation of Lusail Publishing and Distri-bution House, Rosa Publishing House, Zakrit Publishing House, Al-Watad for Books and Publi-cations and others, Al Hajri noted.

The Ambassador of France to Qatar, Franck Gellet said: “I would like to express our great pleasure in hosting the France as the guest of cultural honour for the 30th Doha International Book Fair.”

The Ambassador thanked all those responsible for the Doha International Book Fair in its current edition, headed by the Minister of Culture and Sports, H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali.

The French Ambassador announced the cultural exchange between Qatar and France in this exhibition and the

selection of the enlightenment as the title of this exhibition.

A number of ministries and governmental institutions will participate in the exhibition, including the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs; the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation; the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry; the Planning and Statistics Authority; the Police College; Qatar University; the Katara Prize for the Arabic Novel; Qatar Museums; Hamad Bin Khalifa University for Publishing; the NHRC, and Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.

Also within the framework of exchanges with Gulf exhibi-tions, pavilions from GCC coun-tries will participate in the Fair from Kuwait and Oman.

On the sidelines of the exhi-bition, a number of various activities will be held that enrich

the Fair from various aspects. The activities of the “Qatar School” include a set of various programmes and activities, which combine theatre, and drawing.

Around 13 training work-shops will be held within the Fair activities. The Fair man-agement is keen to provide all facilities and services for the visitors of the exhibition. Services to be offered at the Fair include metal carts for carrying books, porter service, restau-rants and cafes, ATMs and other services.

The Doha International Book Fair is considered as one of the largest international book fairs held in the region due to the great demand witnessed in Arab and foreign countries, which has been increasing since the establishment of its first edition in the year 1972.

The Minister of Culture and Sports, H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali (third left), with Franck Gellet, Ambassador of France to Qatar (second left), and other officials at the Doha International Book Fair press conference at the Ministry of Culture and Sports, yesterday. RIGHT: The Deputy Chairman of the Cultural Committee of the Doha International Book Fair and Director of Doha International Book Fair, Jassem Al Buainain, during the press conference. PICS: ABDUL BASIT/THE PENINSULA

MoTC to hold 11 interactive sessions under DTSMEIRFAN BUKHARI THE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) will organise 11 interactive sessions starting from tomorrow to January 22 under its ‘Digital Transformation for Small and Medium Business Enterprises (DTSME)’ program.

These interactive sessions are aimed at accelerating digital transformation of small and medium businesses in Qatar under initiative’s new phase.

According to information on the official website and social media pages of the Min-istry of Transport and Commu-nications, the first session will be held on January 6 (tomorrow) under the title ‘External Threats and Solutions in the Digital Age. Cyber

Security Solutions & Risk of External Threats in IT’.

‘Smart Wireless Solutions for Hospitality’ and ‘Cloud Platform to an Intelligent Enterprises’ sessions will be held on January 7 and 8, 2019 respectively.

On January 9, under DTSME, a interactive session will be held on ‘Software as a Service & Custom Devel-opment’ while another session on ‘Arab Women in Tech V.4’ will be held on January 12.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) is committed to developing and sustaining Qatar’s ICT sector through different activities. The mission of the Ministry is to support the development of Qatar’s knowledge-based economy by developing and growing a sustainable and innovative ICT eco-system, the

Ministry said on the website.Considering the national

importance given to developing the Small and Medium Business Enterprises (SME) of Qatar, it is within the mandate of the gov-ernment to initiate programs that encourage the usage of information technology in small and medium scale enter-prises, and enhancing awareness of the benefits of

using modern technology in the business sector, it adds.

A session under new phase of DTSME titled ‘Digital Adver-tising - How to effectively market your business online to increase your awareness, traffic, and sales?’ will be held on January 13 while on January 14 another session will focus on ‘Smart Communications Solu-tions for Health Care’.

Another important session titled, ‘How to Launch an Online Travel Startup in 6 Weeks’ will be conducted on January 15 while ‘eCommerce & Digital Payments Solutions - Growing SME Business’ will be the theme of another inter-active session to be held on January 16.

‘Emerging Tech - Virtual Reality – Visualization’ will be the subject of a session scheduled to be held on January

20 while ‘The Digital Road to Industry 4.0 and Beyond’ will be the theme of last session to be held on January 22.

In November last year on the sidelines of QITCOM 2019, the Digital Transformation for Small and Medium Business Enterprises (DTSME) had announced the digital accel-erator program — the next phase of its digital transfor-mation objective of trans-forming businesses in Qatar.

The digital accelerator program is an enriched version of the DTSME program, with a realigned focus on sector, business establishment segments and technology domains. It is tar-geted at increasing the overall ranking of the country in uti-lising Emerging Technologies, such as Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, Augmented

Reali ty and Arti f icial Intelligence.

With the extension of the DTSME programme, MoTC further aims to strengthen the ecosystem of business estab-lishments through digital empowerment in key sectors by creating value for all stake-holders in Qatar’s digital economy.

Officially launched in 2018, the DTSME program enabled technology partners to connect with SMEs easily over a set of interactive sessions detailed on the online portal www.GoDigital.qa. The program’s portal served a dual purpose of transferring knowledge, tools, and opportunities; and it also provides a physical and virtual space for businesses and SMEs to network. The program has executed around 250 inter-active sessions till date.

These interactive sessions are aimed at accelerating digital transformation of small and medium businesses in Qatar under initiative’s new phase.

The Fair coincides with the launch of the Qatar-France Year of Culture 2020, which will give a greater chance for a significant presence of French participants in the fair and its diverse cultural presence.

04 SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020HOME

Daily bulletin brings down fish prices by 23%: MinistrySANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has said that fish prices declined about 23 percent during the past four months compared to same period in 2018 thanks to the daily bulletin of fish prices.

The popular king-fish (locally called Kanad) witnessed an average price fall of about 26 percent during the period of study from September 9, 2019 to December 30, 2019, com-pared to the same period in 2018.

The price of Siganus rivu-latus (Safi fish) declined 30 percent, said the Ministry in its consumer report on the prices of fish and seafood, issued in January. In month to month comparison, the fish prices went down by 32 percent in October followed by 27 percent in November and 24 percent in December 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.

The Ministry started issuing a daily bulletin of the maximum prices for selling fish and seafood from September 9, 2019, which helped in stabil-ising the prices of fish and

seafood in the local market, where the compulsory price bulletin issued by the ministry on a daily basis took into account the benefit between the relevant parties (the fisherman, merchant and consumer).

The bulletin achieved a bal-anced profit margin for both the fisherman and the trader and maintained reasonable and appropriate price levels for the consumer, through conducting studies and comparisons of the types and prices prevailing during the current period and comparing them with price averages in the same period during the past years to find reasonable profit margins for both the hunter and the trader.

The Ministry indicated that it has sought through this pro-cedure to provide the types of

fish at reasonable and balanced prices, in order to limit unjus-tified price increases.

The Ministry also carried out inspection campaigns during the previous period on sales outlets and consumer com-plexes to monitor the lack of compliance by sales outlets and consumer complexes with the compulsory bulletin of fish. And seafood. These campaigns come within the framework of the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s keenness to monitor the markets and commercial activ-ities in the country in order to control prices and detect abuses in order to protect the rights of consumers.

The initiative of issuance of daily price list comes within the framework of the Ministry’s role in overseeing and regulating

markets in line with its juris-diction and taking the necessary measures to protect consumers, combat commercial fraud, promote competition and p r e v e n t m o n o p o l i s t i c practices.

Through the initiative, the Ministry aims to maintain a

balance in the relationship between consumers and sup-pliers or merchants, in order to protect the commercial and economic environment.

The initiative emphasised the importance of abiding by the maximum prices outlined in the daily bulletin, displaying

the bulletin in a prominent and clear place and providing the buyer with a detailed invoice. The initiative also compels mer-chants to comply with the storage conditions of fish and seafood in accordance with applicable health and safety standards.

Customers buying fish from a vendor at fish market.

Spring Festival at Souq Waqif concludesThe third edition of the Spring Festival concluded yesterday at Souq Waqif in Doha. The event, featuring an array of cultural programmes and entertainment activities, attracted a large number of visitors including international tourists, giving them an opportunity to enjoy various art forms. PICS: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA

The Ministry started issuing a daily bulletin of the maximum prices of fish and seafood from September 9, 2019 which helped in stabilising the prices in the local market, where the compulsory price bulletin issued by the Ministry on a daily basis took into account the benefit to the fishermen, merchants and consumers.

Ooredoo announces Silver Sponsorship for Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2020THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ooredoo announced yesterday it would continue its support for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open at the 2020 event with Silver Sponsorship.

The 28th edition of the ATP 250 tournament, a popular fixture on the tour, is set to be held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha from January 6-11.

Some of the world’s top tennis players have confirmed their attendance, including three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland and 2012 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Other contenders include 2013 champion Richard Gasquet, 2018 finalist Audrey Rublev, 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic and Doha resident Fernando Verdasco, the 2009 Australian Open semi-finalist and finalist at the

2010 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. The event serves as the opener for the tennis season, offering players the chance to warm up and prepare for the 2019 Grand Slam events such as the Australian Open, on the calendar two weeks later in Melbourne, Australia.

Manar Khalifa Al Muraikhi, Director PR and Corporate Communications at Ooredoo, said of the support: “We’re delighted to be partnering with the ATP Tour again this year, as a key part of our corporate

social responsibility strategy is an emphasis on supporting sporting events that raise awareness of health and fitness within our communities. We look forward to welcoming the world’s greatest tennis players to another exciting event with lots of great matches being played.”

Tickets for the 2020 Qatar ExxonMobil Open will be on sale online at qatartennis.org, at dedicated kiosks at Doha Festival City and City Center, and at the tournament venue.

Some of the world’s top tennis players have confirmed their attendance, including three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland and 2012 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Tickets will be on sale online at qatartennis.org, as well as at the tournament venue.

Qatar Scientific Club holds open day for cars at Lusail International CircuitQNA - DOHA

Qatar Scientific Club has organised an open day for cars at Lusail International Circuit with the participation of 35 contestants.

Vehicle inspection of the participating cars was con-ducted before the start of the race aiming to test partici-pants’ driving skills. In this field, drivers were trained to

simulate the racetracks, which the scientific club prepared for this purpose, as global circuit models and various types of cars were developed with the aim of empowering young people from the new con-testants and testing their driving skills in a realistic manner.

On the sidelines of the event, ten contestants com-peted to achieve the best time

for the scientific club car des-ignated for races, in order to unify the capabilities of the car. The contestant Hamad Al Sulaiti was ranked first, Mubarak Al Khalifa took the second place, while in the third place was Hossam Al Qatami.

In 2017, the Qatari Sci-entific Club launched an ini-tiative in order to spread the motor sport culture and

simplify the steps to enter in this field through available local opportunities and to show the correct ways to fix the car instead of costly spending on equipment and fixing that harm the car, and guide young people to enter the races in a more profes-sional manner, helping beginners in the field of cars or engines in general to e n t e r c o m p e t i t i o n s ,

and providing a safe envi-ronment for practicing motor hobby.

This initiative aims to train and develop young people who want to improve their leadership in the circuit, provide instructions and advice to them regarding the preparation and maintenance of cars required before, during and after their participation in the circuit, develop a team

capable of competition at the local and global levels, and coordinate future events or championships in the Lusail International Circuit, and highlighting their talents and the spirit of competition among them by organising events and championships in a safe environment away from the streets and places where they may cause danger to others.

Shine Gold & Diamonds announces draw winnerShine Gold & Diamonds has announced the winner of the second lucky raffle draw of the ‘Winter Shopping @ Shine’ promotion campaign. The draw for Renault Duster SUV was held at Safari Mall, Abu Hamour, on December 31, 2019. The winner, Alberto De Leon, a Filipino national (coupon number 56340), is seen with the Executive Director of Shine Gold & Diamond, Abdul Hameed, and other officials. The third raffle draw will be held on February 2, 2020, at Gold Souq - Doha.

05SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020 HOME

HMC’s Bone and Joint Center performs 100th robot-assisted knee joint replacement surgeryTHE PENINSULA - DOHA

Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Bone and Joint Center has performed its 100th robot-assisted knee joint replacement surgery using MAKOplasty advanced technology. In March 2018, the Bone and Joint Center became the first healthcare facility in Qatar and the MENA region to introduce this highly advanced surgical technology.

The surgery was performed at the Center’s Short Stay Unit by a team of orthopedic sur-geons from the Bone and Joint Center led by Dr Mohamed Mubarak Al Ateeq Al Dosari, Senior Consultant and Head of Orthopedic Surgery Department and Director of the Bone and Joint Center. The team also included Dr Issam Al Muhaireeq, Dr Shamsi Abdul Hameed and Dr Muatassim Salama. The surgery was per-formed for a 71-year-old female patient with severe knee oste-oarthritis to improve her mobility after she had tried all available conservative

treatment options. “Robot-assisted knee

arthroplasty technology offers many additional advantages compared to traditional surgery, including less damage to the tissues surrounding the knee, improved bone cutting pre-cision, shorter operative times, and less post-operative pain for the patient. This has encouraged more patients around the world to opt for robotic surgery treatment options, which in turn led to the advancement of robotic surgery technologies,” said Dr Mohamed Al Ateeq.

“Qatar has been investing heavily in the healthcare sector to ensure it can keep up with the latest medical and surgical trends and comply with the highest international standards, and this surgical advancement is one of the results of this investment. By providing high-quality and safe healthcare services to its patients, HMC’s Bone and Joint Center is playing an important role in the accom-plishment of Qatar’s health sector mission. As soon as the development of MAKOplasty joint replacement technology was announced, we strived to obtain this advanced tech-nology to enable our patients to benefit from it. We entered into lengthy negotiations to import this advanced technology to Qatar, which was at that time exclusive to healthcare facilities in the USA,” added Dr Al Ateeq.

Dr Issam Al Muhaireeq said the new technology has helped in the treatment and rehabili-tation of a large number of patients since its introduction and the surgery that was

performed last week marked the 100th surgical procedure performed using this technology.

“Medical and surgical advances and the continued improvement of nursing and allied healthcare services have meant that this kind of surgery can now be performed in a short-stay unit setting. We care-fully screen our patients before selecting them as possible can-didates for this surgery, and then we prepare them for the procedure. Patients are nor-mally discharged home on the same day of the surgery and are then referred for post-operative

follow-up in our outpatient clinics where they are provided with pain management care and treatment for any complica-tions. We also refer the patients to the Physiotherapy Department to help improve their mobility and they can usually get back to their normal daily life within three months of surgery. The impressive success rate of this new surgical technique has encouraged more patients to request to have their knee arthroplasty done at the Bone and Joint Center,” added Dr Al Muhaireeq.

The outpatient care pathway has helped reduce the

number of patients on the waiting list for knee arthro-plasty, which led to the improvement of hospital per-formance, especially on logis-tical and financial levels. This clinical pathway has led to sig-nificant improvements in peri-operative patient counseling and education.

Patient awareness and overall satisfaction have also increased, due to the encour-aging success rate of this sur-gical technique and its positive outcomes in terms of improved post-operative mobility and the reduced post-operative pain.

A team of orthopedic surgeons from the Bone and Joint Center of Hamad Medical Corporation.

Dr Mohamed Al Ateeq Al Dosari

Bedaya concludes 2019 winter campTHE PENINSULA - DOHA

Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development (Bedaya Center), a joint initiative by Qatar Development Bank and Silatech, concluded its 2019 winter camp which took place from December 24, 2019, to January 2, 2020.

The 10-day camp was held to raise awareness among the youth about entrepreneurship and witnessed huge participation from the age group 16 to 24 years old.

The camp included visits to a number of projects owned by Qatari entrepreneurs to give participants the opportunity of job shadowing at these projects to experience the work envi-ronment and familiarize with the life of an entrepreneur.

A group of workshops were also held to highlight several concepts, such as the best reasons for building a dis-tinguished team, leadership methods,

creative thinking and other related aspects that must be known to start and continue in their future projects. Moreover, recreational trips and many activities were included as well to add a fun atmosphere in the camp.

The participants also competed among each other to present ideas for different projects.

These projects where displayed in the final exhibition which took place after the camp where the first three winners were named. All participants were given “50 hours volunteer” certificates.

Commenting on the successful winter camp for 2019, Hanane Ibrahim, Business Development Manager at Bedaya Center said: “We are delighted to see the large turnout for the 2019 version of our Winter Camp, which is a continuation of the camps initiative that the Center holds twice a year during two different periods.

These camps have been designed to educate the youth and raise awareness about entrepreneurship, developing their skills and taking advantage of their holidays, and urging them to do and learn new things that will enrich their capabilities and expand their horizons to start planning for their future projects.”

“During the camp, we provided an opportunity for all participants to benefit from the most important con-cepts and foundations for entrepre-neurship through a number of educa-tional workshops.

"These workshops showed them the most important theoretical con-cepts on how to apply business skills realistically, and to build a clear vision about the values, rules and standards pursued by institutions and companies through the job shadowing opportu-nities provided to them, which was a real and tangible chance to get close to the various fields and sectors.

"We also extend our sincere grat-itude and appreciation to all institu-tions, companies and individuals who

provided support and care to Bedaya Winter Camp,” Hanane Ibrahim added.

Participants during the Bedaya Winter Camp.

06 SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020HOME

Mazzraty donates to QC’s ‘Warmth and Peace’ campaignTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Charity (QC) has received a donation from the National Group for Agricultural and Animal Production (Mazzraty) for the ‘Warmth and Peace’ winter campaign launched by Qatar Charity recently to support refugees and displaced worldwide.

Abdulaziz Jassem, Director of the Customer Service Department at Qatar Charity, received the donation cheque from Moaaz Rankoussi, executive director of Mazzraty, in the presence of many officials from both sides.

“Mazzraty, which is one of the leading groups in Qatar and the region, plays a major role in supporting the Qatari economy and local growth,” said Jassem, appreciating Mazzraty’s con-tribution to humanitarian action carried out by Qatar Charity.

He also thanked Mazzraty man-agement for the donation, emphasizing the importance of partnership in pro-moting humanitarian action to max-imize the number of beneficiaries.

He also hoped that cooperation from Mazzraty would continue to support Qatar Charity’s relief and development projects, calling on other companies to do likewise in support of charitable projects meant for those most in need worldwide.

On his part, Moaaz Rankoussi,

executive director of Mazzraty, said: “This donation comes, as part of our social responsibility towards the com-munity, to support the humanitarian and charitable work carried out by Qatar Charity,” underling that Mazzraty would constantly support Qatar Char-ity’s charitable projects that would enhance the bright face of Qatar and its people.

He added that the donation was raised within the framework of a cam-paign organized by Mazzraty to

coincide with the Qatar National Day celebrations and it has donated one riyal for each product sold during three days, expressing the keenness to par-ticipate in activities that would benefit

the local community.It is worth noting that Qatar Char-

ity’s ‘Warm and Peace’ campaign con-tinues to provide assistance to refugees, the displaced, and affected in 17

countries, including those displaced from Idlib. Some 500,000 people are expected to benefit from shelter, food, and heating aids provided within the campaign.

Abdulaziz Jassem, Director of the Customer Service Department at Qatar Charity, receiving the donation cheque from Moaaz Rankoussi, Executive Director of Mazzraty, in the presence officials from both sides.

Mazzraty, which is one of the leading groups in Qatar and the region, plays a major role in supporting the Qatari economy and local growth,” said Abdulaziz Jassem, appreciating Mazzraty’s contribution to humanitarian action carried out by Qatar Charity.

Safari names 2nd lucky draw winnersSafari Win 20 Toyota Corolla Cars Promotion’s prize handing over ceremony for the winners of 2nd lucky draw was held at Safari Hypermarket Al Khor on December 22, 2019. Safari management staff handed over Toyota Corolla car keys to the winners.

Aligarh MuslimUniversityAlumni holdsget togetherTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Aligarh Muslim University Alumni organised its get together recently at Museum of Islamic Art Park, Doha. The event was attended by over 50 expatriate alumni and guests. The added attractions of the event were the discussion of guests.

Jawed Ahmad, President of AMU Alumni Association Qatar, informed that this association is now affiliated with Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF) run under Indian Embassy Qatar, so all the reg-ulations and laws to be followed.

Ahmad informed that their governing council is working for unification to bring all alumni bodies under one umbrella and is getting full support from its members and Embassy. Many unification coordinators are assigned for

this job and election for new unified team to be notified accordingly. Dr. Nadeem Zafar Jilani; Mohammed Farman Khan; Faisal Naseem; Danish Ali Khan including the Pres-ident Jawed Ahmad and many more well-wishers started the campaign.

Unification Coordinator

Farman informed that there are three other alumni bodies expecting to be unified. Members were apprised of the Constitution and Rules & Reg-ulations of which are in con-formance with the established rules of the Indian Embassy (Qatar) and local government regulations of Qatar.

Members of Aligarh Muslim University Alumni during their get together at Museum of Islamic Art Park.

Qatar Red Crescent Society deploys medical convoy to BangladeshTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has deployed a medical convoy to Bangladesh, under the Little Hearts program. Over 10 days, a specialist medical team will perform cardiac cath-eterizations for 100 children with congenital heart defects. They include physicians and assistants from the United States, Jordan, Palestine, and Qatar.

The mission is coordinated with Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), and Sidra Medicine. The total budget is $202,157 (QR 737,873).

Most of the medical equipment and consumables were procured from HMC and

medical suppliers in Doha, while the remaining were pro-cured from the authorized sup-plier of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) in Dhaka, which will host the procedures. “The medical convoy is planned to perform diagnostic and inter-ventional cardiac catheteriza-tions to correct heart abnormal-ities in 100 children. We seek to help them to regain their normal lives and bring relief to the parents that their little kids are safe,” said Dr. Khaled Alamelhoda, QRCS’s Medical Convoy Program Coordinator.

He said that focus will be on the critical cases from the poorest families. “The cost is too high, and there are few physi-cians in the country who can

perform such procedures. The Medical Convoy program is funded exclusively by individual and institutional donors in Qatar. This shows how your donations are key to save the lives of many ill children in underserved countries,” said Dr. Alamelhoda.

He urged the donors in Qatar to extend help to humanity by supporting this noble program. “We appeal to your sense of solidarity and altruism,” he said.

Later this month, another medical convoy is set to launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, to treat 35 poor children born with heart problems. The mission at the cost of $105,591 will be coordi-nated with the Indonesian Red Cross Society (PMI).

The members of a medical convoy to Bangladesh, under the Little Hearts programme launched by Qatar Red Crescent Society.

AZF’s 3rd Lake Festival on January 10THE PENINSULA — DOHA

Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) announced the 3rd Lake Festival with the show titled “Tree of Life”. The event is scheduled to take place on Friday, (January 10, 2020) starting 7pm at Aspire Park - the gates will open for public at 5pm and will close at 6:30pm.

The 3nd Aspire Lake Fes-tival is set to take spectators through half-hour topnotch performances which will showcase series of stories about Peace, Love, Family and Hap-piness. Magnificent Fireworks are also set to light up the sky of Aspire Park during the show finale.

AZF organises such inter-nationally celebrated events at its world-class indoor and outdoor facilities, as part of its commitment to support Qatar’s Sports and Entertainment sectors.

Through its events, AZF seeks to engage with as many community members as pos-sible and encourage them to go out with their friends and fam-ilies to enjoy the outdoors and

Qatar’s lovely weather during this time of the year.

AZF is committed to boosting the tourism and leisure sectors in Qatar by introducing new activities to attract and excite visitors. Due to this innovative approach, Aspire Park has become one of the most popular destinations for both recreational and sporting events.

The tickets categorized into Gold and Silver are available for purchase at Aspire Park next to Burgeri, major restaurants in Katara and via online booking through Q-Tickets website.

The event is organised by Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) in partnership with Vodafone Qatar, Qatar Airways, Ali Bin Ali Holding and Qatar Tourism Authority.

Al Khor and Al Zakhira Municipality removes encroachment in state propertyTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Al Khor-and-Al Zakhira Munic-ipality in cooperation with the Department of Mechanical Equipment and Internal Security Force, Lekhwiya, carried out an operation to remove the encroachment in the state property in Ras Meridija area.

The violation was recorded under building without a license within the geographical scope of the Municipality of Al Khor and Al Zakhira, in vio-lation of the provisions of Law No. 10 of 1987 regarding public and private property

The municipality appeals to the citizens and residents to visit the its headquarters to obtain the necessary approvals and licenses in the case of building the buildings, according to the conditions and specifications specific to each case. In case of any inquiries or complaints, they can call 184.

Meanwhile, The Ministry of Municipality and Environment has called upon the animal farms recently to adhere to the regulations and to avoid all kind of violations. The Ministry noted that its authorities con-cerned will implement inspection drives on the sites of

animal farms during the coming period to ensure compliance with the terms of the contract. The inspectors will also monitor and remove all existing viola-tions and take the necessary actions against the violators.

The Ministry asked animal farms to cooperate with its inspectors and rectify all viola-tions in compliance with the laws, regulations and require-ments regulating farming activ-ities, so that whoever violates the norms will be subjected to legal accountability in accordance with the provisions of the laws applicable in this regard.

07SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020 HOME / MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

HBKU Press to launch over 100 new titles at Doha International Book FairTHE PENINSULA - DOHA

As part of its commitment to promoting a vibrant literary and scholarly community across Qatar and the Middle East, Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press) will have a robust presence at Doha Inter-national Book Fair 2020.

For a 10th consecutive year, HBKU Press will partic-ipate in this book fair and launch during this coming edition an eclectic long list of books spanning all genres. Between January 9 and 18, the HBKU Press booth will showcase over 100 new titles including a mix of original lan-guage works in Arabic and

English as well as translated works from other languages. These include A Beautiful Balance: A Wellness Guide to Healthy Eating and Feeling Great. Written by health coach and nutr i t ionist Zoë

Palmer-Wright, the book reflects HBKU Press’ growing interest in the health and wellness genre.

A number of authors will also visit the booth over the course of the Fair to sign copies and read extracts from their publications.

On January 13, HBKU Press will host Dalal Ghanim Al Romaihi, the author of Where Is My Teacher? The 14-year-old Qatar Academy student follows in her mother’s footsteps – Muneera Saad Al Romaihi - to become the second published author in the family. Other readings include Balsem Amura’s My Happy Language and Sadia Mir’s and Summer Al

Jarrah Bateiha’s Spring Bloom. The HBKU Press booth will also stage a series of seminars and signing ceremonies.

Speaking ahead of the Fair, Rima Ismail, Outreach and Special Projects Manager, HBKU Press, said, “We always look forward to participating

at the Doha International Book Fair. Qatar’s premier literary event provides the ideal opportunity to underline HBKU Press’ commitment to pro-moting a love of reading and writing at home and abroad. From fiction and non-fiction for adults and children,

to academic and reference materials, and more, our new titles amply demonstrate that we publish something for eve-ryone. We’re undoubtedly looking forward to continuing our participation at the Doha International Book Fair over the years ahead.”

For a 10th consecutive year, HBKU Press will participate in this book fair and launch during this coming edition an eclectic long list of books spanning all genres.

Syria death toll tops 380,000 in almost nine-year war: MonitorAFP — BEIRUT

Almost nine years of civil war in Syria has left more than 380,000 people dead including over 115,000 civilians, a war monitor said in a new toll yesterday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of sources across the country, said they included around 22,000 children and more than 13,000 women.

The conflict flared after unprecedented anti-gov-ernment protests in the southern city of Daraa on March 15, 2011.

Demonstrations spread

across Syria and were brutally suppressed by the regime, trig-gering a multi-front armed con-flict that has drawn in militants and foreign powers.

The conflict has displaced or sent into exile around 13 million Syrians, causing billions of dollars-worth of destruction.

The Britain-based Observ-atory’s last casualty toll on the Syrian conflict, issued in March last year, stood at more than 370,000 dead.

The latest toll included more than 128,000 Syrian and non-Syrian pro-regime fighters.

More than half of those were Syrian soldiers, while 1,682 were from the Lebanese

Shia group Hezbollah whose members have been fighting in Syria since 2013.

The war has also taken the lives of more than 69,000 opposition, Islamist, and Kurdish-led fighters.

It has killed more than 67,000 militants, mainly from the Islamic State group and Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), a group dominated by Syria’s former Al Qaeda affiliate.

The total death toll does not include some 88,000 people who died of torture in regime jails, or thousands missing after being abducted by all sides in the conflict.

With the support of

powerful allies Russia and Iran, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has inched his way back in recent years to controlling almost two-thirds of the country.

That comes after a string of victories against rebels and mil-itants since 2015, but also his forces being deployed to parts of the northeast of the country under a deal.

Several parts of the country, however, remain beyond the reach of the Damascus government.

They include the last major opposition bastion of Idlib, a region of some three million people that is ruled by the

militants of HTS. An escalation in violence there in recent weeks has caused 284,000 people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.

In the northeast, Turkish troops and some other groups control a strip of land along the border after seizing it from Kurdish fighters.

Kurdish-led forces control the far east Syria, where US troops have been deployed near major oil fields.

Syria’s conflict is estimated to have set its economy back three decades. It has destroyed infrastructure and paralysing the production of electricity and oil.

A December 12, 2019 file photo shows tents at a camp for displaced Syrians at Khirbet Al Joz in the west of the northwestern Idlib province near the border with Turkey. Residents survive mostly on aid and barely have enough money to buy food and clothes to keep them warm.

Istanbul hosts less Syrians under protection in 2019ANATOLIA — ANKARA

The number of Syrians under temporary protection living in Turkey’s metropolis Istanbul dropped by over 78,200 to 479,420 people in 2019 compared to 2018, the city governor said yesterday.

“Besides this, 97,255 Syrians registered in other provinces left Istanbul,” Ali Yerlikaya said on Twitter alongside statistics of the past four years on migrants and refugees in the city.

Since the eruption of the

bloody civil war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has taken in millions of Syrians who fled their country, making Turkey the world’s top refugee-hosting country.

Ankara has so far spent $40bn on the refugees, according to official figures.

Yerlikaya said that some 118,432 irregular migrants were caught in Istanbul during the year, while the number had been 28,364 in 2018.

The figures showed that the number of irregular migrants held in 2019 in the metropolis was more than the total during

the previous last three years.Yerlikaya also underlined

that 37,582 irregular migrants had been deported from Istanbul in 2019, while this figure had been 11,292 during the previous year.

Turkey has been a key transit point for irregular migrants aiming to cross to Europe to start new lives, espe-cially those fleeing war and persecution.

In 2018, 268,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey, according to the Interior Ministry.

Netanyahu clings to power as corruption cases loomANATOLIA — JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first leader in his country’s history to be accused of corruption during his tenure.

Netanyahu, however, unlike former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, did not resign when faced with formal cor-ruption cases. He rather decided to go head first against the attorney general’s decision and run for another term.

Ten years ago, Netanyahu, a prime minister immersed in allegations of corruption, had no “public or moral mandate to make fateful decisions for the state of Israel.” Media reported that Netanyahu informed associates he would not repeat the mistakes of Olmert nor allow early pri-maries in his Likud Party to choose a successor.

According to Palestinian political analyst Anton Shalhat, Netanyahu’s decision not to step down is based on two main factors. The first is his 10-year alliance with media and venture capitalists in Israel.

“Netanyahu is a charismatic figure in Israeli society and he used this feature to forge alli-ances with influential people that helped him remain in his position for such a long time,” Shalhat said.

In the past 10 years, the

analyst said, “Netanyahu was able to build a circle of an alliance in the Israeli media that would defend him against anyone and anything.” The second is more important and is that Netanyahu’s ability to change the popular metaphor of Israeli society.

According to Shalhat, on the one hand, Netanyahu strengthened the rule of the Israeli right, particularly set-tlers, securing hundreds of thousands of voters.

“On the second hand, Netanyahu opened the Israeli market to foreign investment and during his rule, the state witnessed economic growth,” he said. “Unlike Olmert, who was weak and did not have a popular base, Netanyahu has the support of half of Israeli society and the media and the capitalists,” he said.

“He believes that he can keep the prime minister’s port-folio even if he defies the standards that have controlled political life in Israel since its establishment,” Shalhat said.

Last November, Netanyahu was accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cor-ruption cases.

Jalal Rumaneh, another expert, also believes Netanyahu was able to control Israel by intimidation, by keeping the public surrounded by fear of internal or external threats.

Families continue protest against PKK for over 120 days in Turkey

ANATOLIA — DIYARBAKIR

On its 124th day, many families took part in an ongoing months-long sit-in protest outside the provincial office of a political party in south-eastern Turkey against the PKK group, also known as YPG.

Dozens of mothers started the protest on September 3 outside the Diyarbakir offices of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a party accused by the government of having links to the terrorist PKK group, when Fevziye Cetinkaya, Remziye Akkoyun, and Aysegul Bicer said their children had been forcibly recruited by PKK terrorists.

Since then, the number of families in front of the building is growing as they demand the return of their children, who, they claim, were deceived or kidnapped by terrorists.

Yildiz Balli, who joined the protests from the central Konya province, said the fam-ilies are determined to con-tinue the protest.

They will not leave although it is winter and cold outside.

Her daughter Yasemin was taken away six years ago, Balli said, and that she smells her daughter’s shirt everyday.

“I can’t stand it anymore, let them give me my child. I want mine and all the mothers’ children to come back,” she said.

Fahrettin Akkus, a father protesting for the return of his son, Erkan, said that no state-ments were made yet by the HDP.

Akkus claimed that the top management of the political party, as well as its’ deputies escape meeting him.

“This isn’t gonna work. You can’t save yourself by escaping,” he said.

He said the families “cry day and night” for their children. “We won’t leave even if it takes 124 years,” Akkus said, adding that the families have not grown up their children for the terrorists.

Roadside bomb kills children on bus in Burkina FasoAFP — OUAGADOUGOU

Fourteen civilians, mostly schoolchildren, died yesterday when a roadside bomb blew up their bus in northwestern Burkina Faso, a security source said.

Four people were seriously hurt in the blast in Sourou province near the Mali border, the source added, as children returned to school after holidays.

“The vehicle hit a homemade bomb on the Toeni-Tougan road,” a second security source said. “Most of the dead are schoolchildren.” Mean-while, the army reported an attack against gendarmes at Inata in the north on Friday, saying “a dozen terrorists were neutralised”.

Security sources said the bus was carrying high school students returning from the Christmas holiday There was

no immediate claim of respon-sibility for the attack but jihadist violence in Burkina Faso has been blamed on militants linked to both Al Qaeda and Islamic State groups.

The deaths came the week after 35 people, most of them women, were massacred in an attack on the northern city of Arbinda and seven Burkinabe troops were killed in a separate attack on their army base nearby.

Burkina Faso, bordering Mali and Niger, has seen fre-quent militant attacks which have left hundreds of people dead since the start of 2015 when Islamist extremist vio-lence began to spread across the Sahel region.

The north of the country has been worst hit, with the capital Ouagadougou not immune to attacks.

In a televised address on Tuesday President Roch Marc Christian Kabore insisted that “victory” against “terrorism” was assured.

The entire Sahel region is fighting jihadist insurgency with help from Western countries, but has not managed to stem the bloodshed.

Five Sahel states — Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad — have joined forces to combat terrorism in the fragile region that lies between the Sahara and Atlantic.

Backed by former colonial power France, the G5 Sahel was

created to great fanfare in 2014.The centre piece of its

strategy has been an initiative, launched in July 2017, to pool 5,000 troops from the five countries to wrench back control from ruthless militant groups.

But, hamstrung by insuffi-cient funds, training and equipment, the force has only now reached a complement of 4,000 troops, and for many analysts seems to be losing the battle. The nimble rebels have spread from Mali to Burkina Faso and Niger, as well as Chad.

Their hit-and-run raids are inflicting a mounting human, economic and political toll, sparking fears that the coastal countries to the south are next in line. Since 2015, increasingly deadly Islamist attacks in Burkina have killed more than 750 people, and forced 560,000 people from their homes according to UN figures.

Guinea-Bissau losing candidate condemns vote as fraudulentAFP — BISSAU

Guinea-Bissau’s losing presi-dential candidate yesterday said the number of ballot papers cast in two rounds of voting exceeded registered voters by tens of thousands, a day after appealing to the Supreme Court to annul the result.

Domingos Simoes Pereira has already rejected the result, telling party activists on Wednesday the vote was “full of irregularities, annulment and manipulation”.

Pereira, who heads the his-toric ruling party PAIGC, told a news conference yesterday, the number of ballot papers exceeded those registered by 30,000.

“The results announced by the National Electoral Com-mission do not correspond to

what happened at the ballot boxes,” he said.

Some 700,000 voters reg-istered for the presidential election in the former Portu-guese colony.

Pereira received 46.45 percent of the votes in last week’s presidential runoff, trailing opposition leader Umaro Sissoco Embalo’s 53.55 percent.

The PAIGC on Friday filed an appeal against the election result to the Supreme Court, which judges will consider on Monday.

Pereira said that votes “were changed” to favour Embalo.

“The people must have a guarantee that the one who presides over their destiny is the one they actually voted for,” he added, appearing visibly annoyed.

Burkina Faso has seen frequent militant attacks which have left hundreds of people dead since the start of 2015

It is still questionable, however, whether the anticipated new relationship will ever materialise and, perhaps even more importantly, whether Africa will be able to benefit from it if and when it does.

08 SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

THE death of the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani on Friday in a US airstrike in Baghdad, along with nine others has marked a dramatic escalation in tensions between the US and Iran.

The killing of Soleimani triggered strong reaction especially from the Iranian top officials, where Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who last year honoured Soleimani with Iran’s highest honour, vowed “severe retaliation” in response to Soleimani’s killing. The US is also deploying more troops in the region to enhance security of its forces and defend its missions and interests.

This is one of the most serious developments since the US decided to unilaterally withdraw from a 2015 nuclear pact signed by major world powers with Iran, and the US applied the maximum pressure policy on Iran.

Many countries in the region called on Iran and the US to exercise restraint and avoid further escalation that will fuel tension. These calls for calm came from the fact that the current situation in the region is not likely to bear any further escalation. As well many countries in the region already suffer from wars and instability and hun-dreds of thousands have lost their lives in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq where the operation took place. Others have witnessed political transformations such as Sudan and Algeria and countries like Lebanon and Iraq are still under pressure of public demonstrations.

The State of Qatar, which is well aware of the dangers of this development, has warned of the continuation of the manifestations of escalation in Iraq, saying that could lead to unfortunate results.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged all parties “to exercise restraint to spare Iraq, its people and the people of the region, the vicious cycle of violence and the consequences of direct and indirect armed escalation”. The statement further called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards the region.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani yes-terday discussed with the President of Islamic Republic of Iran, H E Dr. Hassan Rouhani; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, H E Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Tehran the latest developments on the regional arena, especially the recent events in Iraq. The two sides also discussed ways of calm to maintain collective security of the region.

The State of Qatar is particularly concerned because any further escalation and instability will lead to a new conflicts in the region, therefore it is making full use of diplomacy to maintain regional peace.

Sanity must prevail

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The cycle of violence, provocations and retaliations which we have witnessed In Iraq over the past few weeks has to stop.

Charles Michel, President of the European Council

Britain’s then-Prime Minister Theresa May, and Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, give a joint press briefing after meeting at State House in Nairobi, Kenya on August 30, 2018.

In August 2018, then-Prime Minister Theresa May became the first British leader in five years to visit sub-Saharan Africa, making a three-day trip that included meetings with the presidents of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. May was on the continent to boost post-Brexit trade and convince African leaders that the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union would provide their nations with new and lucrative trade and investment partnerships with the UK.

In a speech in Cape Town, she pledged four billion pounds ($5.3bn) in support for African economies, to create jobs for young people. She also pledged a “fundamental shift” in aid spending to focus on long-term economic and security chal-lenges rather than short-term poverty reduction.

May’s promise to create a “global Britain” that views Africa as a primary trade partner trig-gered excitement and expec-tation on the continent. However, her May 2019 resignation and Boris Johnson’s rise to power put the realisation of a stronger rela-tionship between post-Brexit Britain and Africa into question.

Unlike May, Johnson barely showed any interest in Africa, instead focusing his attention solely on convincing the British public that he is the right man to “get Brexit done”.

Nevertheless, African leaders, especially the ones from former British colonies who already have significant trade relations with the UK, doubled down on

their efforts to charm Britain into making them primary trade partners after Brexit.

Following Boris Johnson’s stunning electoral victory on December 12, for example, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari swiftly sent him a con-gratulatory message, wishing the prime minister well and expressing his hopes for stronger ties between Nigeria and the UK.

Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo also offered his congratulations to Johnson, saying, “we have an opportunity, together, to renew and strengthen the relations between our two countries, focusing on enhancing trade and investment, and scaling up pros-perity for our peoples”.

Buhari and Akufo-Addo’s statements were not empty pleasantries, rather they were expressions of an ever-growing belief across the continent that post-Brexit Britain could provide a quick fix for stagnating African economies. It is still questionable, however, whether the antici-pated new relationship will ever materialise and, perhaps even more importantly, whether Africa will be able to benefit from it if and when it does.

First of all, it is highly unlikely that Johnson is going to give pri-ority to securing new deals with African nations following his country’s imminent exit from the EU. After all, the populist prime minister never embraced his predecessor’s dreams for a “global Britain” and focused instead on building closer ties between London and Washington.

Moreover, many African countries currently have prefer-ential access to the UK because of trade deals hashed out over the years with the European Union, such as Economic Part-nership Agreements (EPAs) and the Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative. Following Brexit, it

may take considerable time for each nation to replace these with equivalent or better deals, and they may be forced to pay increased tariffs for their exports to the UK in the process.

But even if a new partnership between the UK and African nations does miraculously take shape soon after Britain’s exit from the EU, it will not be easy for a continent weighed down by multiple domestic challenges to make immediate gains.

A significant percentage of any gain African nations may make from a lucrative trade partnership with post-Brexit Britain, for example, will imme-diately be cancelled out due to their existing debt to the conti-nent’s mega-investor, China. While Chinese debt cannot stop Africa from forming new part-nerships, it will indeed make any future deal less profitable.

But beyond the debilitating effects of the Chinese debt-trap Africa is currently in, there are other, and entirely home-grown reasons why Africa will likely not be able to capitalise on Britain’s imminent exit from the EU.

In the recent past, African countries have signed countless cooperation agreements with nations across the world, from the EU to the US and Turkey. Every country in the world, after all, wants a share of Africa’s rich resources. But, despite the plethora of investments, African countries sank ever deeper into poverty. Today, Africa is the world’s second-fastest-growing region, and yet 100 million more Africans live in extreme poverty today compared with the 1990s. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, is home to the largest share of people living in extreme poverty.

The main reason behind African nations’ inability to reap the rewards of international cooperation and investment is corruption.

As a new decade begins, I see five big questions facing macroeconomists, which I’ve listed in a roughly increasing order of difficulty.

Why not make full use of our productive resources? Inflation has been stuck below the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% for much of the past decade. It is expected to remain low for at least another year or two. The low rate of price increases is sending a clear message: there’s too little demand for goods and services relative to the supply of resources - especially human resources! - that can be used to produce those goods and services. So, why doesn’t the Fed respond to low inflation by easing

monetary policy so as to boost demand, and make use of available supply?

How can governments take advantage of low interest rates? The 30-year yield on US Treasuries is just over 2% - about half what it was a decade ago and about a third of what it was two decades ago. It would seem like a lot of public investments would be profitable if financed at this remarkably low interest rate. Shouldn’t the US gov-ernment issue (a lot) more long-term bonds to finance increased subsidies to higher education? Increased sub-sidies to research by univer-sities and corporations?

What are the lessons of China for Africa? Per capita GDP for the 1 billion people of sub-Saharan Africa was about $1,500 in 2018. In 1998, China

had about same per capita GDP (and population). In the intervening two decades, per capita GDP has quintupled in China. What lessons, if any, can sub-Saharan Africa learn from China’s experience to enable the same kind of rapid growth? In particular, China has contradicted basic neo-classical economics by making many kinds of gov-ernment interventions in its economy. Which (if any) of those interventions have helped lead to its unusually rapid growth? Could those be replicated by the individual governments in Africa?

What are the policy conse-quences of a falling world population? At least since Malthus, we’ve known that it is hard to make accurate long-run predictions about popu-lation. But the best current

forecast is that, because of falling fertility rates, the world’s population will be essentially flat by 2100. The combination of falling fertility rates and rising life expectancy means that we should expect that the world’s population to be much older in 2100 than today. Can an old and shrinking population be the basis for a dynamic economy?

Is growth still good? The world’s climate seems likely to change, and possibly rapidly, over the next hundred years. Should gov-ernments of developed coun-tries around the world be working to slow economic growth to help reduce the pace of climate change? How would it be possible to build the needed international popular support for this approach?

Can Africa really benefit from Brexit?

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Five big macroeconomic questions for 2020 and beyond

Established in 1996

RASHID ABDALLAH AL JAZEERA

NARAYANA KOCHERLAKOTA BLOOMBERG

09SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020 OPINION

While the last decade has arguably been defined largely by trends and series of events - the Arab Spring, the rise of Trump, Brexit and nationalism, growing strains between the West, Russia and China - the first decade of the century is remembered much more for its twin shocks, 9/11 and the 2008 financial crash.

Whether the world is prepared for any of these trends remains a very open question. The first two decades of the century have proved rather different to what many expected. The next looks at least as unpredictable.

In recent years, the United States has launched several risky military operations to kill individuals it viewed as posing a direct threat to US national security, including raids against the leaders of the Islamic State and Al Qaida.

But analysts warned that Friday’s airstrike on a two-vehicle convoy near the Baghdad airport that killed senior Iranian military com-mander Qasem Soleimani and several other people differs greatly from earlier strikes on extremist operatives and puts the United States - and the Middle East - in dangerously uncharted territory.

“This is a very different level of escalation,” said

Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. After targeted killings of extremists, he said, the greatest cause for concern “might be a brief intensifi-cation of fighting or some kind of limited reprisals against the US military.”

After the killing of Sole-imani, the United States could face direct Iranian reprisals, including potential cyberattacks, analysts said. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayat-ollah Ali Khamenei, threatened “severe revenge” but gave no indication of what could come.

Barbara Slavin, the director of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said Trump is “trying to do a victory lap here and beat his chest and somehow show this is like killing Baghdadi.” She was referring to the October raid on the hideout of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi in northwestern Syria. “But it’s

not. It’s much more serious,” she said.

Like Baghdadi’s, other tar-geted killings carried out by the United States have typi-cally struck at extremist leaders without affiliations to a powerful state such as Iran.

In 2011, a drone strike killed the US-born Al Qaida operative Anwar Al Awlaki, marking the first acknowl-edged case of the United States tracking and killing one of its own citizens with a drone abroad. Three years later, a federal court released a Justice Department memo that had previously been secret, which outlined the government’s legal justifi-cation for the killing. The doc-ument claimed that Awlaki’s ties to Al Qaida put him “within the scope” of military force approved by Congress following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Earlier in 2011, then-Pres-ident Barack Obama announced that Navy SEALs had raided a compound in Abottabad, Pakistan, and killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaida who plotted the 9/11 attacks. And last year, a US military operation in northwestern Syria led Islamic State leader Baghdadi to detonate a suicide vest, killing himself and three of his children.

“He didn’t die a hero. He died a coward,” Trump said about the raid.

But in those cases, Cord-esman said, “you were killing a leader in a context of an ongoing operation against an extremist movement which did not have a major state sponsor.”

“Here you’re talking about . . . somebody who was recog-nized throughout the gulf region, for good or bad, as a figure sponsoring groups and supporting countries with a great deal of popular support,” he said.

Soleimani joined Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its early days after the 1979 revolution in Iran and grew into one of the most influential military com-manders in the region, even-tually taking control of the elite Quds Force, a branch of the Revolutionary Guard, in the late 1990s. The group aligned itself with Shiite militias in Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003, and

the Pentagon has accused militias linked to Iran of killing hundreds of US troops there. Iraqi militia com-mander Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, also known by the name Abu Mahdi Al Mohandis, was also killed in Friday’s airstrike near Baghdad’s airport.

The Trump administration has defended the attack, which came amid escalating tension between Iran and the United States, with Iraq among the venues where the confrontation is unfolding. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNN on Friday that the attack on Soleimani was necessary to avert an “imminent attack” against Americans.

But the strike alarmed European allies of the United States, which urged restraint to avoid a full-blown conflict. Analysts also warned that the 2015 nuclear deal could now completely fall apart.

Other recent attacks against Iranians include the killings of four scientists affil-iated with Tehran’s nuclear program between 2010 and 2012. Iran blamed the United States and Israel for the attacks, and in 2017 sentenced an Iranian citizen to death in relation to the killings, calling the unnamed individual a “Mossad agent.” The United States denied involvement. And in 2008, a car bomb in Syria killed Imad Fayez Mughniyeh, a Lebanese Hez-bollah leader closely tied to Iran.

But Soleimani was an outsize figure in Iran and across the Middle East. If Iran chooses to retaliate swiftly, Slavin said, “there are just myriad ways in which we’re likely to see chaos flowing.”

The United States has ordered Americans to leave Iraq immediately. Oil prices spiked, and protests broke out in Iran. The Pentagon announced that an additional 3,500 US troops would be deployed to the Middle East.

Iran has “enormous resources at its power,” Slavin said. “I think Trump has no idea what he’s done.”

Why Soleimani’s killing is different from other targeted attacks by US

As a new decade begins, the first century of the new millennium will already be a fifth over. The last 10 years have seen the world’s most powerful states increasingly at loggerheads, with rising political divisions in almost every country on earth. The next may well see at least some of those trends produce a crisis, perhaps even a major turning point in global affairs.

While the last decade has arguably been defined largely by trends and series of events - the Arab Spring, the rise of Trump, Brexit and nationalism, growing strains between the West, Russia and China - the first decade of the century is remembered much more for its twin shocks, 9/11 and the 2008 financial crash. The next decade may well see another financial shock of similar, perhaps even greater, mag-nitude - hitting a world in many ways much less pre-pared or coordinated to ride it out.

What is also becoming more likely, however, is another defining 9/11-type event of geopolitical vio-lence, possibly involving nuclear force or some other form of mass destruction, perhaps even a devastating cyber attack that kills large

numbers through crippling critical national infra-structure such as water sup-plies or power plants. Like 9/11, that could come from a non-state actor - but it could also be an act of state-on-state violence at a time of growing international tension, potentially igniting a devastating wider conflict.

At the very least, politics looks set to become more idi-osyncratic and unpredictable. In the short term at least, populist forces - whether pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong or leftist, right-wing and environmental movements in the West - are unlikely to go away. Raised geopolitical tensions will also flow through into interna-tional business and markets - as the US-China trade war and headwinds faced by China’s Huawei already show. So too will the growing strains between governments and the world’s largest tech firms - Google, Facebook, Amazon and others. That will be supercharged by techno-logical change, perhaps in the form of electric vehicles and other robots that could throw millions out of work.

Next year’s US election will set much of the tone for the coming decade. An unex-pected defeat for President Donald Trump might be seen as the beginning of the end for a new generation of dem-ocratic, often right-wing populists that also includes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. But what seems at least as likely for now, however, is that even amid impeachment

proceedings against him, whoever emerges from the fractured Democratic field will be unable to defeat the American president.

What a Trump second term might look like is even harder to predict than the first - the president would in many senses be more unfet-tered and more at home in a government system from which he has already dis-missed most of those advisers like former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis previ-ously seen to have con-strained him. At the same time, however, his inability to run for a third term might simply leave him bored or looking for a legacy, whatever that might mean.

A Democratic victory could put the United States in almost equally uncharted territory, particularly if the candidate were a left-wing challenger such as Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Even without that, like other left of centre parties around the world, the Democrats will continue to be divided between left-wing, environ-mentalist forces favoured by younger activists and a more centrist, conservative track - a battle that will likely con-tinue through the decade and beyond.

In Europe, the two elec-tions that will set the tone will be Germany’s federal elections between August and October 2021 and France’s presidential vote the following year. In both, the greatest question will be how well the far right performs. As in the United States, each election will also be closely

watched for pointers on the future of the left and centre-left. Such parties performed unexpectedly well in 2019 in Spain, Portugal, Finland, Denmark and elsewhere - although catastrophically in Britain. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will also face a close race to keep her job in the second half of 2020.

Even bigger questions, however, linger over the world’s more autocratic states. By the end of the decade, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Xinping will be in their late seventies, facing greater competition from younger rivals. Both appear likely to become more authoritarian, but Xi looks set to face ever greater challenges in Hong Kong and perhaps elsewhere.

How that is handled could set the tone for much of the rest of the decade - already, China’s internment of more than 1 million ethnic Muslim Uighurs is attracting growing condemnation, and a highly public crackdown in Hong Kong would do so even more. Beijing also still clearly has ambitions to restore control over Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province. Both Moscow and Beijing look set to continue ramping up their sabre-rat-tling against neighbours and the West, potentially raising the prospect of new Cuban Missile Crisis-style standoffs that might lead to something worse.

Even without that, the early years of the coming decade look set to see a

Legacy of 2010s will be growing international and political divisions

SIOBHÁN O’GRADY THE WASHINGTON POST

PETER APPS REUTERS

In 2011, a drone strike killed the US-born Al-Qaida operative Anwar Al-Awlaki, marking the first acknowledged case of the United States tracking and killing one of its own citizens with a drone abroad.

The strike alarmed European allies of the United States, which urged restraint to avoid a full-blown conflict. Analysts also warned that the 2015 nuclear deal could now completely fall apart.

Mourners gather during the funeral procession of slain Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani and eight others in the Iraqi central city of Karbala, yesterday.

further escalation of many of the proxy confrontations that have driven the bloodiest wars of recent years, particularly Syria, Yemen and Ukraine. Last week saw China, Russia and Iran announce joint naval drills in the Gulf and stepped-up US military action against Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria. Moscow’s military intervention in Syria from 2015 took many in the West by surprise, and the coming decade could yet see Beijing too take a more assertive path overseas.

Whether the world is prepared for any of these trends remains a very open question. The first two decades of the century have proved rather different to what many expected. The next looks at least as unpredictable.

10 SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020GULF / MIDDLE EAST/ AFRICA

Tens of thousands march in Baghdad to mourn Soleimani, othersREUTERS — BAGHDAD

Tens of thousands of people marched in Baghdad yesterday to mourn Iran’s military chief Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, killed in a US air strike that has raised the spectre of wider conflict in the Middle East.

The US Embassy in Baghdad urged American citizens to leave Iraq following the strike at Baghdad airport that killed Soleimani. Dozens of American employees of foreign oil com-panies left the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Friday.

Close US ally Britain warned its nationals yesterday to avoid all travel to Iraq, outside the autonomous Kurdistan region, and to avoid all but essential travel to Iran.

Soleimani, a 62-year-old general, was Tehran’s pre-eminent military commander and — as head of the Revolu-tionary Guards’ overseas Quds Force — the architect of Iran’s spreading influence in the Middle East.

Muhandis was the deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) umbrella body of paramilitary groups. A PMF-organised pro-cession carrying the bodies of Soleimani, Muhandis and other

Iraqis killed in the US strike took place in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.

Mourners included many militiamen in uniform for whom Muhandis and Soleimani were heroes. They carried por-traits of both men and plastered them on walls and armoured personnel carriers in the procession.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and Iraqi militia com-mander Hadi Al Amiri, a close Iran ally and the top candidate to succeed Muhandis, attended.

Mourners later brought the bodies of those killed in the strike by car to the city of Kerbala south of Baghdad. The procession was to end in Najaf, where Muhandis and the other Iraqis killed will be laid to rest.

Soleimani’s body will be transferred to the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan that borders Iraq. It will be taken to Mashhad in Iran’s northeast today, and from there to Tehran and his hometown Kerman in the southeast for burial on Tuesday, state media said. The US strike followed a

sharp increase in US-Iranian hostilities in Iraq since last week when pro-Iranian militia attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad after a deadly US air raid on the Kataib Hezbollah militia, founded by Muhandis.

On Friday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to retaliate and said Soleimani’s death would intensify the country’s resistance to the United States and Israel.

In Iran, some people worried that Soleimani’s death might push the country into ruinous war with a superpower. “I feel so sad for Soleimani’s death but what if America and Iran start a war? I have children. What if they send my (university student) son to war?” said Monireh, a retired teacher.

Mohamed Raad, a political leader in Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbollah movement, said retaliation by the Iran-backed “axis of resistance” — militia groups in countries from Lebanon to Yemen — would be decisive, Al Mayadeen TV reported yesterday.

Many Iraqis condemned the US attack, regarding Soleimani as a hero for his role in defeating Islamic State militants who seized large swathes of north and central Iraq in 2014.

“It is necessary to take revenge on the murderers. The martyrs got the prize they wanted — the prize of mar-tyrdom,” said one of the marchers, Ali Al Khatib.

Many Iraqis also voiced fear of being engulfed in a major US-Iranian conflict, and of militia reprisals against those involved in months of street protests against the Iranian-backed Baghdad government over alleged misrule and corruption.

They said Soleimani and Muhandis had backed the use of force against unarmed anti-government protesters last year and established militias that demonstrators blame for many of Iraq’s social and economic woes.

A placard bearing an image of slain Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani (left) with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is carried by protesters during an anti-US rally over the killings during a US air strike of Soleimani and others, in Tehran, yesterday.

Nato suspends training missions in IraqAFP/REUTERS — BRUSSELS

Nato has suspended its training missions in Iraq, a spokesman for the alliance said yesterday, following the US killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Sole-imani.

The Nato mission in Iraq, which consists of several hundred personnel, trains the country’s security forces at the request of the Baghdad government.

“Nato’s mission is con-tinuing, but training activities are currently suspended,” said the spokesman, Dylan White.

He also confirmed that Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had spoken by telephone with US Secretary of Defence, Mark Esper, “fol-lowing recent developments”. A US defence official told AFP

earlier yesterday that US-led forces helping Iraqi troops fight militants have scaled back operations.

Established in Baghdad in October 2018 after three years of war against Islamic State, Nato mission is a ‘train-and-advise’ mission to help Iraqi security structures and insti-tutions fend off future insurgencies.

Separately, the German military said in a letter on Friday that the United States and its allies had suspended training of Iraqi forces.

In a letter, a senior German officer said US Lieu-tenant General Pat White had decided to further increase the level of protection for forces deployed in Iraq under the Operation Inherent Resolve, which he commands.

Mourners attend the funeral of the Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, and the Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, in Baghdad, Iraq, yesterday.

Erdogan speaksto Rouhaniand SalihANATOLIA/QNA — ISTANBUL

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held phone talks with Iranian and Iraqi counterparts yesterday, according to presidential sources.

In talks with Iran’s Hassan Rouhani and Iraq’s Barham Salih, the leaders discussed latest developments in the region as well as bilateral rela-tions, the sources said on con-dition on anonymity.

According to a statement by the Iraqi presidency, the Turkish President stressed his country's keenness to stabilise Iraq, support its unity, and protect its sovereignty and independence. He stressed the importance of enabling Iraqi national institutions to address their role in protecting Iraq's security and stability.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni walks during the first day of a six-day trek, covering a distance of 195km, in Galamba, about 30km North of Kampala, Uganda, yesterday.

Chad troops leave Nigeria with Boko Haram mission overAFP — N’DJAMENA

Chad has ended a months-long mission fighting Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria and withdrawn its 1,200-strong force across their common border, an army spokesman said yesterday.

“It’s our troops who went to aid Nigerian soldiers months ago returning home. They have finished their mission,” spokesman Colonel Azem Ber-mandoa said. “None of our sol-diers remains in Nigeria,” he added, without specifying whether they might be replaced following Friday’s pullout.

“Those who have come back will return to their sector at Lake Chad,” Bermandoa said.

However, Chad’s general chief of staff General Tahir Erda Tahiro said that if countries in the region which have con-tributed to a multinational anti-militancy force were in agreement, more troops will likely be sent in.

“If the states around Lake Chad agree on a new mission there will surely be another contingent redeployed on the ground,” Tahiro said.

Boko Haram began the

insurrection in Nigeria a decade ago, leading to at least 35,000 deaths with violence spilling over into Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

A Boko Haram faction aligned with Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) mili-tants is highly active around Lake Chad where the group has training bases on the Niger border and regularly carries out raids on military bases and regional security forces.

Last month saw 14 people killed with 13 more listed as missing after an attack on a fishing village in western Chad.

Countries in the region have banded together to fight Boko Haram and ISWAP with support from civilian defence committees leading to Chad contributing 1,200 troops.

Those troops have now pulled back across the border to be “deployed in the Lake Chad region to strengthen security along the border,” a senior local official said.

Cameroon says it is battling an upsurge in Boko Haram attacks and, according to an Amnesty International report, 275 people were killed there last year.

Ugandan President begins march through jungleAFP — KAMPALA

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni yesterday began a six-day march through the jungle to re-trace the route through which his guerrilla forces seized power three decades ago, which critics dismissed as a bid to rally support ahead of 2021 elections.

Museveni is one of Africa’s

longest-ruling leaders, having seized power in 1986 after taking part in rebellions to end the brutal rule of Idi Amin and Milton Obote, and is expected to seek a sixth term in office in the next elections.

He began the walk from Galamba, and will end on January 10 in Birembo where his rebel army faced one of its toughest battles in the fight to

overthrow Obote. “The great trek started today and will last six days. This is a journey that the president is leading, a journey through the past to appreciate the present,” Musev-eni’s senior press secretary, Don Wanyama, said.

“The journey will take a week through the jungle, a route the liberators led by Museveni took to liberate the country.”

Turkey says two foreigners involved in Ghosn flightAFP — ISTANBUL

Turkey yesterday said two foreigners were involved in businessman Carlos Ghosn’s transit through Istanbul as he fled Japan on his way to Lebanon.

“There are two foreigners involved in the transit,” Turkish Justice Minister Abdul-hamit Gul told CNN’s Turk broadcaster during an interview. He did not provide further details on their nation-ality or exactly what role they played.

Ghosn, the former Nissan boss, is accused of financial misconduct but he claimed his upcoming trial was rigged before he made his escape from Japan before New Year’s Eve. There is already an official Turkish probe into Ghosn’s apparent transfer between private jets at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.

After seven people were detained earlier this week in Turkey including four pilots, five were formally arrested, Gul said. The minister also said that there had been no formal judicial request from the Jap-anese authorities in relation to the incident.

UN chief calls for ceasefire in LibyaANATOLIA — ANKARA

The head of the UN urged yesterday an “immediate ceasefire” in war-weary Libya where the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) fights forces affiliated with General Khalifa Haftar.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants a “return to political dialogue by all parties,” the UN said.

The slain commander will be laid to rest in his hometown Kerman on Tuesday.

Missiles hit Green Zone and Iraq base housing US troops: SourcesAFP/ANATOLIA — BAGHDAD

Two mortar rounds hit the Iraqi capital’s Green Zone yesterday and two rockets slammed into a base housing US troops, security sources said, a day after a deadly American strike.

The precision drone strike outside the Baghdad airport on Friday killed Iranian com-mander Qassem Soleimani, top Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis and a clutch of other Iranian and Iraqi figures.

In Baghdad, mortar rounds yesterday evening hit the Green Zone, the high-security enclave where the US embassy is based, security sources said.

The Iraqi military said that one projectile hit inside the zone, while another landed close to the enclave.

Sirens rang out at the US compound, sources there said.

A pair of Katyusha rockets then hit the Balad air base north of Baghdad, where American troops are based, security sources and the Iraqi military said.

Security sources there reported blaring sirens and said surveillance drones were sent above the base to locate the source of the rockets.

The US embassy in Baghdad as well as the 5,200 American troops stationed across the country have faced a spate of

rocket attacks in recent months that Washington has blamed on Iran and its allies in Iraq.

One attack last month killed a US contractor working in northern Iraq, prompting retal-iatory American air strikes that killed 25 militia fighters close to Iran.

Tensions boiled over on Friday when the US struck Sole-imani’s convoy as it drove out of the airport and US diplomats and troops across Iraq had been bracing themselves for more rocket attacks.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah, a militia group, urged the Iraqi security forces in a written statement yesterday to stay away from areas where

the US military bases are located, amid recently escalated tension in the region.

The security forces were told to stay at least a 1,000 metres away from the US mil-itary bases from today evening onwards.

Missile attacks took place near the US Embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad late yesterday.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the missile attacks. The deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Washington had asked Tehran to respond “in pro-portion” after US forces killed Soleimani.

The Americans “resorted to

diplomatic measures... on Friday morning”, the Guard’s Rear-Admiral Ali Fadavi said on Iranian state television.

They “even said that if you want to get revenge, get revenge in proportion to what we did”, he said, as quoted on the broad-caster’s website.

Fadavi did not specify how Iran had received the message, even though Tehran and Wash-ington have had no diplomatic relations for four decades.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in separate television interview on Friday night that “Switzerland’s envoy transmitted a foolish message from the Americans this morning”.

11SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020 ASIA

Thousands march inHyderabad to protestagainst citizenship lawREUTERS — HYDERABAD

Over one hundred thousand protesters, many carrying the Indian tricolour flag, took part in a peaceful march in the southern city of Hyderabad yesterday, chanting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new citi-zenship law.

The protest, dubbed the ‘Million March’, was organised by an umbrella group of Muslim and civil society organisations. More than 40 percent of Hyderabad’s estimated population of nearly 7 million are Muslims.

Demonstrators were still pouring into the protest site late yesterday afternoon, according to a witness, despite police saying no march would be

allowed and that permission had only been granted for a 1,000-person gathering.

The Indian government has faced weeks of acrimonious

and, at times, violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was passed by Modi’s gov-ernment in December.

The Hyderabad protesters held placards with slogans including “Withdraw CAA immediately,” and “India’s only religion in Secularism.” The Reuters witness said the protest remained peaceful, and esti-mated that more than one hundred thousand people were in attendance.

The new law eases the path for non-Muslim minorities from the neighbouring Muslim-majority nations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to gain Indian citizenship.

But, if combined with a pro-posed national register of

citizens, critics of the CAA fear it will discriminate against minority Muslims in India and chip away at India’s secular constitution.Modi’s government maintains the new law is nec-essary to help minorities facing persecution in Muslim-majority nations, and it has called the

pan-India protests politically motivated. At least 25 people have been killed in protest-related clashes with police since early December.

Protests against the CAA also went ahead in several other Indian cities yesterday with hun-dreds turning out for protests in

cities in the southern state of Kar-nataka. Hundreds of men and women gathered at a rally in the tech hub of Bengaluru, with some accusing Modi’s government of trying to divide India along com-munal lines, to distract from a sharp domestic economic slowdown and job losses.

Demonstrators hold placards and flags as they attend a protest rally in Hyderabad, yesterday.

Kota kids died from hypothermia; hospital lacked equipment: ReportIANS — JAIPUR

The sorry state of Kota’s JK Lon Hospital is reflected in a government-appointed panel’s report which shows that around 105 children died in a span of over a month due to cold shiv-ering in the hospital as it lacked everything a normal hospital should have.

The committee formed by the Rajasthan government to probe the lacunae in the hos-pital resulting in the deaths of kids has confirmed in its report that infants died due to hypo-thermia, a medical emergency that occurs when the body tem-perature falls below 95 F (35 C). The normal body temperature is 98.6 F (37 C).

Even as the kids in the hos-pital continued to die in the biting winter cold, the hospital did not have enough stocks of lifesaving equipment, said the report. The newborns should have body temperature of 36.5 degree celcius; therefore they were kept on warmers where their temper-ature stays normal. However, as the hospital lacked functional

warmers, their body temperature continued to plummet.

The report said that 22 neb-ulisers out of 28 were dysfunc-tional, 81 infusion pumps out of 111 were not working and the same was the story with para monitors and pulse oxymeters.

What made the matters worse was the absence of oxygen pipeline in the hospital due to which oxygen was sup-plied to kids with the help of cylinders.

Surprisingly, the ICU was not fumigated for months, the report said.

“The children continued to die in December as Chief Min-ister Ashok Gehlot celebrated the launch of ‘Nirogi Rajasthan’ campaign in the state,” said former health minister Rajendra Rathore. Hospital officials said most paediatricians of JK Lon Hospital have been posted at Kota’s New Medical College.

“The nursing employees, already under-staffed, prefer to stay idle while ward boys rule the roost in the J.K. Lon Hos-pital,” said an official.

Also, the hospital staff

continued with the whitewash in wards where infants suffering from pneumonia were admitted for oxygen.

According to sources, there was no record of 40 heaters pur-chased for kids. A hospital official said despite Rs 6-crore funds lying with the hospital, no purchase has been made.

On Friday, when state Health Minister Raghu Sharma visited the hospital, a green carpet welcome was given to him, a gesture hardly suited for the grim situation prevailing in the hospital. After drawing severe criticisms, the carpet was rolled back.

A five-month-old girl suf-fering from pneumonia died the same day when Sharma visited the hospital as the officials were busy getting the walls cleaned.

Former Health Minister Rajendra Rathore said rampant transfer of specialists on political grounds has deprived the patients of availing the best medical services.

Rathore said that during BJP’s rule, “we ensured that all specialists were kept at one

place irrespective of any political leaning.”

He said the present gov-ernment has not had annual repair contracts of the equipment purchased under its tenure. “There is no medical inspection arrangement for the equipment purchased,” Rathore said. Gehlot in December cele-brated one year of the formation of his government and launched the ‘Nirogi Rajasthan’ campaign. He also announced Janata Clinics and spoke about intro-ducing Right to Health.

“How can Right to Health be launched when there is no homework done by the state government?” questioned Rathore.

“The Nirogi campaign is only on papers as there has been no discussion on it with panchayats or other stake-holders,” Rathore said. “In a sit-uation when 11,000 posts of doctors are lying vacant, how can the government talk about Janata clinics”? he asked.

State Health Minister Raghu Sharma when contacted by IANS was not available for comment.

Ruddy shelducks fly over the Rapti River in Chitwan National Park, some 150km southwest of Kathmandu, Nepal, yesterday.

In flight

Former Speakerof Tamil Nadupasses away

IANS — CHENNAI

Senior AIADMK leader and former Speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly PH Pandian died here in a private hospital yesteday morning owing to illness.

Pandian, a lawyer by pro-fession, had served as the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Leg-islative Assembly from 1985 to 1989.

He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly from his native Cheranmadevi in 1977, 1980 and 1984.

Pandian hit the news head-lines in 1987 when he said the Speaker has ‘sky high powers’ in the case of jailing Tamil mag-azine Ananda Vikatan pro-prietor S Balasubramanian for contempt of legislature over a cartoon published in the magazine.

Pandian refused to accept the summons issued by the Madras High Court saying he was the Speaker of the Assembly.

He was one of the two can-didates who got elected in 1989 as part of late Janaki Ramach-andran faction of AIADMK.

Actor Dileep’s plea in actress abduction case dismissedIANS — KOCHI

In a setback, the trial court here yesterday dismissed actor Dileep’s petition seeking a discharge in the actress abduction case.

The court’s decision came after the prosecution, during the hearing, requested the court to reject the petition of Dileep, an accused in the case.

Dileep will have to face the trial in the case that has begun recently. Sources revealed that following Saturday’s setback, the actor will move the Kerala High Court.

According to the allegations, an actress was abducted and assaulted in a moving car on February 17, 2017. Dileep was

arrested in connection with the case in July 2017 and after being lodged in jail for several weeks, he secured bail.

Dileep was named as a con-spirator in the case and charged with revenge crime.

After securing bail, Dileep has been trying to delay the trial in the case, through legal sub-missions, even before the apex court. Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that Dileep would not get a copy of the memory card containing footage of an alleged sexual assault.

After that he approached the trial court which refused his demand for a copy of the records, but it allowed that he and his representative could examine the records.

28th New Delhi World Book Fair opens

IANS — NEW DELHI

The 28th edition of the nine-day New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) opened at Pragati Maidan here yesterday, and saw Lt Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi launch a book written on her.

Registering a sizeable footfall on the first day, the fair saw the launch of ‘Where Kindness Spoke’, a book on Bedi’s work in Puducherry and her leadership style, written by author Shivani Arora.

Answering a question on the North-South linguistic divide in India, she said a way to national integration is through teaching one region’s languages in the other, till the primary school level.

“You can opt for German, French, Spanish, why not Telugu?” she said at the event.

The 2020 Fair was inau-gurated by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokkhriyal ‘Nishank’, who said it will soon be the world’s biggest book fair.

“We are in the midst of ocean of books,” he said, adding that this ‘Mahakumbh’ of books is filled with thoughts, the thoughts which give power to humanity.

This year, the book fair is themed Gandhi: Writer’s Writer.

“We are celebrating 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi, in times when we need him the most. The world today is facing several challenges including terrorism.”

Social outfit says govt implicating it in false cases

IANS — NEW DELHI

A social organisation has alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government wants to implicate its people in false cases of violence during the December 19 anti-CAA protests in Lucknow.

Rajiv Yadav, General Sec-retary of the ‘Rihai Manch’ said that “the December 19 protest call was made by many organ-isations and ‘Rihai Manch’ also called for the protest but at the venue at Parivartan Chowk in Lucknow there was no inci-dence of violence till noon but in the afternoon the police without any provocation started firing. Our President Mohd Shoeb was at his house and later was arrested by the police.”

He said: “We have made a documentary film against Yogi government and this is why our organisation was targeted.”

The office-bearers of Rihai Manch said that the head of the organisation was picked up from his home by the police who later claimed that he was arrested from the Clark Awadh Road.

PM has assured Central aid to Karnataka: YediyurappaIANS — BENGALURU

Under attack by the opposition Congress for raw deal from the Centre to the state, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa yesterday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him and the people of all help, including Central aid to the flood-hit.

“Modi has personally assured me of all help, including funds to the state from the Centre. He also told me to meet him and other central ministries in Delhi soon for approvals to pending projects and addressing any issue,” Yedi-yurappa said in a statement here.

The Congress and the Janata

Dal-Secular (JD-S) criticised Modi for not announcing additional funds to the state’s coastal and northwest districts, which are reeling in the aftermath of the August floods during his two-day visit to the southern state on Thursday and Friday.

“The Centre has given Rs 1,200 crore in early October as contingency funds to the state from the National Disaster Relief Fund to compensate the flood-hit people and undertake relief work, including rebuilding houses, roads, and other infra-structure that were damaged by heavy rains and floods for a fort-night in August,” recalled the chief minister.

The state government had also spent additional amount from its resources and funds raised through the chief minis-ter’s relief fund and donations from the people and institutions.

“The PM has also told me to prepare a report on issues pending with the Centre and funds required for the devel-opment of the state,” he asserted.

He reminded Modi on Thursday that the state was waiting for additional funds from the Centre in response to its rep-resentation for completing infra-structure and irrigation projects across the southern state.

“As a chief minister of a state

in a federal set up, it is my duty to seek Central funds for our projects, relief works, remuner-ative price for farmers and greater allocation of Central funds to the state,” reiterated Yediyurappa.

Accusing Modi of diverting the public attention by raising national issues like CAA, abro-gation of Article 370 and surgical strike in Pakistan in his public rallies, Congress leader and former chief minister Siddara-maiah said the prime minister had betrayed the people in mul-tiple ways.

“Modi has cheated our people by not yet sending the financial package he promised to do soon

after the central teams assessed the damage caused by floods and submitted a report to the central government for releasing funds,” thundered Siddaramaiah.

“Modi also had not visited the flood-hit people in the state or announced Bharat Ratna to Sidd-aganga Mutt seer Shivakumar Swamiji at Tumukuru on Thursday.

“Though the ruling BJP bagged 26 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state during the April-May general elections and 12 assembly seats in the November by-elections, the BJP-led NDA government had let down the state on all fronts,” added Siddaramaih.

The new law eases the path for non-Muslim minorities from the neighbouring Muslim-majority nations. But, if combined with a proposed national register of citizens, critics of the new law fear it will discriminate against Muslims.

12 SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020ASIA

US to resume military training programme in PakistanINTERNEWS — WASHINGTON

United States President Donald Trump has authorised the resumption of the International Military Education and Training Programme (IMET) in Pakistan in order to strengthen military to military cooperation between the two countries and advance US national security.

The announcement was made in a message on Twitter on Friday by the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the US Department of State and signed by United States Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells.

“To strengthen military to military cooperation on shared priorities and advance US national security, President Donald Trump authorised the resumption of International Mil-itary Education and Training

(IMET) in Pakistan. The overall security assistance suspension for Pakistan remains in effect,” the State Department said.

The announcement comes two weeks after the US State Department had publicly acknowledged that the US would resume military training pro-gramme for Pakistan, and just a few hours after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar Bajwa spoke to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The conversation between the COAS and the top US dip-lomat had focused on the regional security situation fol-lowing the US drone strike in Baghdad that had resulted in the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, sparking global outcry.

“Pakistan’s Chief of Staff General Bajwa and I spoke today about US defensive action to kill Qassem Soleimani. The Iran regime’s actions in the region are destabilizing and our resolve in protecting American interests, personnel, facilities, and partners

will not waver,” Pompeo had tweeted. Last month, it had been reported that the Trump admin-istration had approved a resumption of Pakistani partici-pation in the coveted US military training and educational pro-gramme more than a year after it was suspended, the State Department said.

The decision to resume Islamabad’s participation in the IMET, which was for more than a decade a pillar of US-Pakistani military ties, underscored the warming relations that have fol-lowed meetings this year between the US president and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

A State Department spokes-woman said in an email that Trump’s 2018 decision to suspend security assistance authorised “narrow exceptions for pro-grammes that support vital US national security interests.” The

decision to restore Pakistani par-ticipation in IMET was “one such exception,” she said.

The programme “provides an opportunity to increase bilateral cooperation between our coun-tries on shared priorities,” she added. “We want to continue to build on this foundation through concrete actions that advance regional security and stability.”

The start of the programme, however, is subject to approval by Congress. Republican and Democratic aides for the Senate and House of Representatives committees with jurisdiction over the process did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The State Department administers IMET. It was a small facet of US security aid pro-grammes for Pakistan worth some $2 billion that remain sus-pended on orders that Trump abruptly issued in January 2018 to compel the nuclear-armed

South Asian nation to crackdown on militants

IMET affords spaces to foreign military officers at US military education institutions, such as the US Army War College and the US Naval War College. A second US official said on con-dition of anonymity that Pakistan was in the process of selecting officers to send to the United States.

Pakistan’s suspension from the programme in August 2018 prompted the cancellation of 66 slots set aside that year for Paki-stani military officers in one of the first known impacts of Trump’s decision to halt security assistance.

The US military traditionally has sought to shield such educa-tional programmes from political tensions, arguing that the ties built by bringing foreign military officers to the United States pay long-term dividends.

Afghan shopkeepers warm themselves during a snowy day in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Warming up

Pakistan Army chief and top USdiplomat discuss security issuesINTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reached out to Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa in the aftermath of assassination of commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen Qassem Sole-imani.

The conversation, which was part of the secretary’s telephonic contacts with leaders around the world, was disclosed by Pompeo on Twitter hours after the Foreign Office expressed “concern” about peace and sta-bility in the Middle East.

Secretary Pompeo tweeted: “Pakistan’s Chief of [Army] Staff General Bajwa and I spoke about US defensive action to kill Qassem Soleimani. The Iran regime’s actions in the region are destabilising and our resolve in protecting American interests, personnel, facilities, and partners will not waver.”

The Inter-Services Public Relations later said the dis-cussion was about the possible implications of recent esca-lation in the Middle East.

Gen Bajwa, it said, called for “maximum restraint and con-structive engagement” for peace and stability. He hoped that the new situation would not take the focus away from the Afghan peace process.

Analysts believe that Pompeo, besides explaining and defending the US action, could have sought protection for US interests in Pakistan.

Iran’s supreme leader Aya-tollah Khamenei has vowed to avenge the killing of his top

commander. In his message, he said that “severe revenge awaits the criminals who have stained their hands with his and the other martyrs’ blood last night. Martyr Soleimani is an interna-tional figure of resistance and all such people will seek revenge”. The message sug-gested that the response could be asymmetric.

It should be recalled that Pakistan had recently tried to mediate between Tehran and Washington on President Trump’s request.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had at a conference in Islamabad in November said he “tried his bit” after President Trump asked him to facilitate dialogue with the Iranian lead-ership. “Hope it works out,” he had then wished.

The Foreign Office in its statement worried about insta-bility in the Middle East. “Pakistan has viewed with deep concern the recent develop-ments in the Middle East, which seriously threaten peace and stability in the region,” said the mildly worded statement that did not even clearly state which particular incident it was referring to.

Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari was, however, more specific about the incident and its possible repercussions.

She tweeted: “Killing of General Soleimani by US has in an instant upped the military ante in the region as Iran has declared it an act of war. It is in no one’s interest to have a war in an already volatile region.”

Pakistan, Iran ink deal to resolve border issuesINTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan and Iran have signed an agreement to jointly resolve border issues, including terrorism, unlawful trade, drugs smuggling, illegal border crossing and human trafficking.

The agreement was signed at the end of the three-day 23rd Pakistan-Iran Joint Border Commission meeting.

The Pakistani delegation was headed by Balochistan Home Minister, Mir Ziaullah Langove and Chief Secretary

Capt (retd), Fazeel Asghar, while Sistan-Balochistan Deputy Governor for Security Affairs, Muhammad Hadi Marshi led the Iranian side. Senior civil and military offi-cials were also present on the occasion.

Both the countries have resolved to boost trade and security arrangements at the border. Many decisions were taken to prevent illegal border crossing, stop illegal supply of Iranian diesel and petrol, curb border violations and terrorist

activities on both sides of the border.

On the occasion, Chief Sec-retary Asghar, said, “It is imper-ative to implement all the deci-sions taken during the three-day meeting for increasing trade and strengthening border security.

He urged the Iranian dele-gation to encourage the people living near the border on their side to create a peaceful atmos-phere and assured the visiting team of the same measures to be taken by the Pakistani side.

Two persons indulge in a pillow fight on a pole as Myanmar celebrates its 72nd Independence Day on the outskirts of Yangon, yesterday.

Pillow fight

Pakistan Army Act amendments to be passed by voice vote

INTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

A voice vote will be held to pass the proposed amend-ments in the Army, Navy and Air Force Acts by both the National Assembly and Senate as per the rules of procedure governing the proceedings of the two parliamentary chambers.

However, if the result of the open voice vote is chal-lenged, division between those favouring and opposing any legislative piece will take place. Under the rules, no secret ballot is held on it.

The Fifth Schedule to the National Assembly rules pro-vides the mode of division. It says when the minority desires a division and the Speaker is satisfied that the demand is not abuse of the rules, he will order a division to be held; and shall direct that the division bells be rung for two minutes to enable members not present in the chamber to return to their places.

Immediately after the bells stop ringing, all the entrances to the lobbies will be locked and the staff posted at each entrance will not allow any entry or exit through these entrances until the division has concluded.

The Speaker will then read the terms of the motion before the National Assembly and put the question for second time. If the division is still demanded, he will say “Aye” to the right, “No” to the left; divide.

Those who wish to vote will proceed to the “Ayes” or the “Noes” lobbies and pass in single file before the tellers appointed by the Speaker. On reaching the desk of the teller, each member will, in turn, call out the division number, which will be allotted to him for this purpose.

The tellers will then mark off this number on the division list simultaneously calling out the name of the member.

1 million trees to be planted in IslamabadINTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Office have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for mutual cooperation to plant one million trees in Islamabad during 2020 under ICCI’s Go Green Islamabad campaign.

Deputy Commissioner Office constituted a team under Waseem Ahmed, Additional Deputy Commissioner Islamabad to cooperate with ICCI in Go Green Islamabad drive.

According to the MoU, DC Office Islamabad in collaboration with MCI and CDA would identify and allocate land to ICCI for tree plantation. ICCI in cooperation with DC Office would plant 100,000 trees of flowers orchards in January.

The DC Office would support

ICCI in levelling and landscaping of the area for tree plantation and cooperate with Chamber for maintenance of planted trees. The DC Office would also facil-itate ICCI in engaging the rel-evant ministries and organisa-tions in Go Green Islamabad campaign.

Speaking at the occasion, Hamza Shafqaat, Deputy Com-missioner Islamabad said making Pakistan an environment-friendly country was the key pri-ority of the current government.

He said that ICCI was the first Chamber of the country that has come forward to support the ini-tiative of Prime Minister’s Clean and Green Pakistan by launching Go Green Islamabad campaign.

He said that this drive would help in improving the envi-ronment of the federal capital and assured that ICT adminis-tration would provide all possible

support to make this drive successful.

Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Prime Minister Imran Khan has set a target of planting 10 billion trees in the country during five years and that Go Green Islamabad campaign was launched to support this mission of the prime minister.

He said that local markets, schools and other organisations would also be engaged in this drive to make Islamabad green er and beautiful. He said that ICCI would welcome any institution to join hands in this noble cause.

At this occasion, Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, President ICCI and Hamza Shafqaat, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad and others also planted trees in the ICT Complex, Islamabad to promote Go Green Islamabad drive.

Pakistan energy giant SNGPL to refund Rs513m to consumersINTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s state-owned energy giant Sui Northern Gas Pipe-lines Limited (SNGPL) yesterday announced that it will refund Rs513m to its consumers in cases where the site pressure was lower than the billing pressure.

According to a notification, the SNGPL’s board of directors, on the advice of Prime Min-ister Imran Khan and after critically examining the matter has directed the management to arrange physical cross-checking of actual delivery pressure and in this respect, cases are being identified

where the current site pressure is less than the billing pressure. The measure comes after fluctuating gas pressure due to different technical parameters, including supply and demand situation and sea-sonal impact.

The gas supplier further said that as a result, the

company was processing a refund totalling Rs513m to the consumers, out of which the amount already refunded in February/March, 2019, stands at around Rs50m, while the amount being refunded now, stands at approximately Rs463m.

The company further said

that the exercise of physical cross-checking and subse-quent adjustment of amount will continue.

In March 2019, the prime minister had also directed the Sui Southern Gas Company to refund the excess amount charged from customers under the pretext of gas charges.

The decision to resume Islamabad’s participation in the IMET, which was for more than a decade a pillar of US-Pakistani military ties, underscored the warming relations that have followed meetings this year between the US president and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

13SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020 ASIA

Bushfires rage out of control across AustraliaREUTERS — SYDNEY

Bushfires burned dangerously out of control on Australia’s east coast, fanned by high temper-atures and strong winds that had firefighters battling to save lives and property, as a change in wind conditions merged several large fire fronts.

By late yesterday evening, Victoria had 14 fires rated at emergency or evacuate warning levels, and New South Wales had 11 rated emergency, with more than 150 others burning across the states. New fires had started, and others had broken containment lines.

“There are a number of fires that are coming together — very strong, very large, intense fires that are creating some of these fire-generated thunderstorms,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said at an evening briefing.

“And unfortunately we’ve still got many hours to go of these elevated and dangerous conditions.”

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said conditions were deteriorating rapidly as a gusty southerly wind change pushed up the coast and smoke plumes from the fires triggered storms.

Authorities are worried the fires could turn out to be worse than New Year’s Eve, when they burnt massive tracts of

bushland and forced thousands of residents and summer holi-daymakers to seek refuge on beaches.

In Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews said while conditions were difficult, the job of fire-fighters had been made easier by tens of thousands of people following advice to evacuate.

It may be later before damage assessments can be made. Prime Minister Scott Morrison put the national death toll from the current fire season, which began in September, at 23. Twelve of those are from this week’s fires alone.

In updates, the NSW RFS repeatedly delivered the same blunt advice to those who had

not evacuated at-risk areas: “It is too late to leave. Seek shelter as the fire approaches.”

Residents used social media to post photos of the sky turning

black and red from the smoke and glare of the fires, including in the Victorian town of Malla-coota, where around 1,000 people were evacuated by sea on Friday.

The first of those evacuees arrived near Melbourne yes-terday morning after a 20-hour journey by boat and a second ship with about 1,000 people landed in the afternoon.

The federal government announced an unprecedented call up of army reservists to support firefighters as well other resources including a third navy ship equipped for disaster and humanitarian relief.

Andy Gillham, the incident controller in the Victorian town of Bairnsdale, said the area had avoided the worst of the fires yesterday but stressed this was an exceptional fire season.

“In a normal year, we would start to see the fire season kick off in a big way around early January and we’re already up towards a million hectares of burnt country. This is a mar-athon event and we expect to be busy managing these fires for at least the next eight weeks,” he said.

Temperatures topped 45C (113F) in much of the Sydney metropolitan area, with Penrith

recording a high of 48.9C (120F) according to the BOM. Can-berra, the national capital, recorded a temperature of 44C just after 4 pm, which the chief minister said was a record for the territory.

As the fires have flared, many towns have been isolated as major and minor roads are closed. Some fires are gener-ating their own storm systems, which create the risk of lightning strikes generating new fires.

Six people remain unac-counted for in Victoria, Premier Andrews said yesterday, down from 28 reported on Friday.

A landslide area at Pasir Madang village in Bogor district, yesterday.

Landslides, floods leave 60 dead in JakartaAP — JAKARTA

Landslides and floods triggered by torrential downpours have left at least 60 people dead in and around Indonesia’s capital, as rescuers struggled to search for people apparently buried under tons of mud, officials said yesterday.

Monsoon rains and rising rivers submerged a dozen dis-tricts in the greater Jakarta area and caused landslides that buried at least a dozen people.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo said most of the fatal-ities included those who had drowned or been electrocuted since rivers broke their banks early Wednesday after extreme torrential rains hit on New Year’s Eve. Three elderly people died of hypothermia.

It’s the worst flooding in the area since 2007, when 80 people were killed over 10 days.

Rescuers recovered more bodies as flash floods and mud-slides destroyed several villages in Lebak, a district in neighboring Banten province, Wibowo said. Rescuers were still searching for two villagers reportedly missing in the landslide, he said.

The number of fatalities was expected to increase, with rescuers and villagers also searching for at least three people believed to be buried in another landslide in Cigudeg village in Bogor district, said Ridwan, the village’s secretary, who goes by a single name.

Ridwan said bad weather, blackouts and mudslides were hampering rescue efforts. He said rescuers on Saturday managed to reach eight hamlets

that had been isolated for days by cut-off roads and mudslides and rescued more than 1,700 villagers in weak condition.

Four days after the region of 30 million people was struck by flash floods, waters have receded in many middle-class districts, but conditions remain grim in narrow riverside alleys where the city’s poor live.

Government data showed that some 92,200 people were still unable to return home and were crammed at damp emer-gency shelters.

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said that more down-pours were forecast for the capital in the coming days, and that the potential for extreme rainfall will continue until next month across the vast archi-pelago nation.

US pop singer Pinkto donate $500,000AP — SYDNEY

American pop singer Pink said she is donating $500,000 to help fight the deadly wildfires that have devastated parts of Australia.

“I am totally devastated watching what is happening in Aus-tralia right now with the horrific bushfires,” Pink tweeted yes-terday to her 32.2 million Twitter followers. “I am pledging a donation of $500,000 directly to the local fire services that are battling so hard on the frontlines. My heart goes out to our friends and family in Oz.”

The death toll in the wildfire crisis is now up to 23 people. The fires are expected to be particularly fierce throughout the weekend.

“There are a number of fires that are coming together — very strong, very large, intense fires that are creating some of these fire-generated thunderstorms,” RFS Commissioner said at a briefing.

China names new Hong Kong liaison director after protestsBLOOMBERG — BEIJING

China appointed a new top liaison official for Hong Kong, replacing the former director amid months of protests in the financial hub.

Luo Huining will take over from Wang Zhimin as the Hong Kong liaison office director, the government said in a two-sen-tence statement that didn’t elaborate on the changes.

Wang was former director of China’s liaison office in Macau before he was appointed the top representative in Hong Kong in 2017. Luo served as Shanxi party secretary from 2016 until November last year. He was made deputy chairman

of the financial and economic committee of the National Peo-ple’s Congress a month later.

Hong Kong has been gripped by more than six months of often-violent protests by activists demanding greater autonomy from Beijing. China’s government has consistently backed Chief Executive Carrie Lam, including on a visit to Beijing she made to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in mid-December.

Wang last month didn’t respond to a Reuters report that he could be replaced.

“Me, my team and col-leagues in the China Liaison office will continue to perform faithfully the duties granted by

the central government,” Wang said then.

"The liaison office will also firmly support Hong Kong’s police in strictly enforcing the law, and the judiciary in pun-ishing violent crimes in accordance with rules," he said.

With support for the pro-testers undiminished after months of violent unrest, spec-ulation of Wang’s removal from the position has been growing, particularly after the pro-gov-ernment candidates suffered a resounding defeat in district council elections in November.

“Wang’s dismissal was long predicted because he appeared to be associated too closely with the pro-Beijing elites and

business leaders, without reaching out widely to all social sectors especially the poor and the needy,” Sonny Lo, a Hong Kong based political commen-tator, said yesterday. “Also, his miscalculations of Hong Kong” may have led to his downfall, “especially after the 2019 Dis-trict Council elections,” he said.

Lam’s administration pro-posed a bill last year that would allow extraditions to China for the first time. While she has since withdrawn the legislation, she refused to meet additional demands including an inde-pendent inquiry into police vio-lence and direct leadership elections.

Xi used his New Year’s Eve

address to defend China’s system for running Hong Kong, in an unusually high-profile acknowledgment of the Asian financial center’s political turmoil.

“Without a harmonious and stable environment, how can people live in peace and enjoy their work?” Xi asked. “I sin-cerely wish Hong Kong well. Hong Kong’s prosperity and sta-bility is the wish of Hong Kong compatriots and the expectation of our motherland.”

Luo worked for the Anhui government between 1982 and 1999. In 2010, he was appointed governor of Qinghai before being made party secretary in the province in 2013.

China’s FM urges US‘not to abuse force’AFP — BEIJING

The United States should not “abuse force” and instead seek solutions through dialogue, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a call with his Iranian counterpart yesterday.

“The dangerous US military operation violates the basic norms of international relations and will aggravate regional tensions and turbulence,” Wang told Javad Zarif according to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry, referring to the killing in Iraq on Friday of top Iranian com-mander Qasem Soleimani.

A US drone strike killed Soleimani — head of the Quds Force, Iran’s foreign operations arm — before dawn on Friday in Baghdad, an attack that has sparked fears of a war between Washington and Tehran.

Iran promised “severe revenge” in response, as a number of nations — including China — urged restraint.

“China opposes the use of force in international relations. There is no way out for military means, nor for extreme pressure,” Wang said in his call with Zarif, according to the ministry.

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is a key partner of Tehran and major buyer of Iranian oil.

Iran, China and Russia held joint naval drills in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman last week and the Iranian foreign minister visited Beijing earlier this week.

China and Russia are also parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, from which US Pres-ident Donald Trump withdrew in May last year.

Europe helps secure release of N Koreans held in VietnamREUTERS — SEOUL

A group of 11 North Koreans who were detained in Vietnam while seeking to defect to South Korea have been released thanks to the help of European institutions, a Seoul-based activist group said yesterday.

The eight women and three men were caught by border guards in northern Vietnam in late November after crossing from China, and had been held in the northeastern border city of Lang Son.

Peter Jung, who heads the group helping the refugees, Justice for North Korea, said they were freed and on their

way to South Korea last month.Multiple European organi-

sations played a key role, he said. He declined to identify them due to the diplomatic sen-sitivity but said they included a non-government group.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that US offi-cials, including diplomats engaged in denuclearisation talks with North Korea, intervened to secure the defectors’ release, citing unidentified sources. But Jung said he was unaware of any US contribution.

South Korea’s foreign min-istry said the government made immediate efforts to prevent the defectors from being

forcibly repatriated, but refused to elaborate.

“The European institutions acted after we published a video of the refugees making des-perate appeals for freedom,” Jung said. “The South’s foreign ministry got also involved later.”

Jung had distributed a video of some of the 11 protesting against deportation before appearing to faint.

About 33,000 North Koreans have resettled in the affluent, democratic South. Most risked their lives to cross the border in a journey that may entail persecution and slave labour, if caught and repatriated.

Evacuees disembarking from MV Sycamore at Bluescope Wharf in Hastings, Victoria state, yesterday.

Toll reaches 7 as two more bodies found in Cambodia building collapseAP — PHNOM PENH

Search and rescue teams in Cambodia found two more bodies yesterday in the rubble of a collapsed building in the coastal province of Kep, raising the death toll in the disaster to seven, officials said.

By yesterday morning, 18 people had been rescued, injured but alive, and crowds watched in the afternoon as two more survivors were pulled out and rushed to ambulances more than 20 hours after the accident.

Kep provincial authorities said in a statement that in addition to the seven people who died, 20 were injured in the disaster.

The website of the National Police reported that the Cam-bodian couple who owned the property and hired the con-struction workers were detained by provincial police for questioning yesterday.

Prime Minister Hun Sen went to the coastal province of Kep on Friday “to lead the rescue team,” he announced on his Facebook page. He also visited the provincial hospital where the injured were being treated.

Several of the hospitalised survivors were reported to be in critical condition.

Nguon Samet, deputy police chief of Kep province, said yesterday morning that it was believed some people were still trapped under rubble, but he could not say how many.

Relatives of some of those still missing gathered outside the site to pray, he added.

14 SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020EUROPE

Pedro Sanchez makes new bid to govern Spain

Russia to resume limited oil supplies to Belarus amid talksAP — MINSK

Belarus has reached an agreement with Russia for limited oil supplies after Moscow earlier this week stopped supplying crude amid stalled talks on strengthening economic ties between the neighbouring countries.

Belarusian state-run oil company Belneftekhim, said yesterday it was in the process of finalising an agreement with a Russian oil company for a

batch of crude oil sufficient to ensure “non-stop operation of the country’s refineries in January 2020.”

Russian pipeline operator Transneft confirmed it would transfer 133,000 tonnes of oil to Belarus “in the nearest future.”

According to a statement from Belneftekhim, the oil would come at a discounted price while negotiations for resuming regular imports continue.

Russia stopped supplying oil to its post-Soviet neighbour after December 31, as the two countries failed to renegotiate oil prices for this year amid stalled talks on further strength-ening economic ties.

The suspension did not affect oil transit to Europe or the supply of natural gas but had consequences for Belarus. which relies on Russia for more than 80% of its overall energy needs.

The country’s two refineries

were operating at low capacity, running on reserves. On Friday, Minsk announced it was sus-pending its own oil exports, which contribute up to 20% of annual GDP.

The Kremlin has recently increased pressure on Belarus, raising energy prices and cutting subsidies. It argues that Belarus should accept greater economic integration if it wants to continue receiving energy resources at Russia’s domestic prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held two rounds of talks in December but failed to reach an agreement on the closer ties and on oil and gas prices.

Putin said Russia was not ready to “subsidise” energy sup-plies without more economic integration with ally Belarus. Lukashenko insisted he would not sign off on the integration until the issues with oil and gas supplies were resolved.

Serbia President cancels visit to MontenegroAP — BELGRADE

Serbia’s president canceled a private visit to Montenegro he’d planned amid a row between the two former Balkan allies over a new law that Serbs say discriminates against the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Serbian President Ale-ksandar Vucic said he would not go to Montenegro as scheduled next week because of concerns Montenegrin offi-cials might claim his presence fueled ethnic tensions and jeopardised the country’s independence.

“I decided not to go, and that was agreed with (Serbian Patriarch) Irinej,’’ Vucic said. “ W e r e s p e c t t h e i r independence.”

Vucic previously said he would visit Serb churches in Montenegro on Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated on January 7. Montenegrin

officials had said the visit would add fuel to the existing tensions in the small Adriatic state.

At a news conference yes-terday, the Serbian leader accused Montenegrin and unspecified Western officials of launching “a hysteric cam-paign of lies” when he first announced the visit.

He said he canceled it because of possible “clashes” that would “hurt the Serb people in Montenegro.”

Montenegro split from Serbia in 2006. One-third of its 620,000 citizens declare them-selves as Serbs.

Serb protesters have alleged a religion rights bill that was adopted last month by the Montenegrin Parliament will lead to the impounding of Serbian Orthodox Church property in Montenegro. Mon-tenegrin officials have repeatedly denied the claim.

Children army

Quim Torra toappeal banfrom public officeAFP — BARCELONA

Catalan separatist president Quim Torra said yesterday that he would ask Spain’s Supreme Court to strike down a decision by the electoral board to disqualify him as a lawmaker, thereby making him illegible to be Catalonia’s leader.

The electoral board announced its decision on Friday after Catalonia’s High Court of Justice last month convicted Torra of disobedience for failing to remove separatist symbols from public buildings during an election campaign and banned him from holding public office for 18 months.

Catalonia’s autonomy statute specifies that the head of the region’s government must be a lawmaker in regional assembly and Torra has appealed against the High Court ruling to Supreme Court.

However, the electoral board went ahead pronouncing in favour of right-wing parties seeking Torra’s disqualification as member of the Parliament, even though the Supreme Court has yet to decide on Torra’s initial appeal.

Torra, who denounced the move as a “coup”, said yes-terday he would immediately present a petition to the Supreme Court seeking “the protection of fundamental rights” and suspension of the electoral board decision.

Louvre's record numbers fall as museum tries to limit visitorsAFP — PARIS

The hordes flocking to the Louvre in Paris fell to 9.6 million in 2019 as the museum tried to limit overcrowding, its director said.

After numbers rocketed by a quarter the previous year to a record 10.2 million, the most-visited museum in the world said it set out to actively dis-courage tourists in the peak summer months.

“The real change was in June, July and August,” Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez said, when it “purposely” cut visitor numbers by 600,000.

“We tried to limit the numbers so that there would not be more than one million visitors a month, which hap-pened in 2018.”

To do that, the museum shut

down completely for some days during the peak summer season, Martinez said, when the French capital was also hit by a heatwave.

“We are the only cultural institution in the world to do this and we are very clear with people,” he added.

“We do this because we want to welcome people better and not just take more and more visitors.”

The Louvre is by far the most visited museum in the world, ahead of the National Museum of China in Beijing on 8.6 million visitors, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which attracted 7.3 million people in 2018.

Internet reservations, which now account for half of Louvre visits, have helped regulate the numbers, Martinez said.

Advance booking is oblig-atory for its blockbuster Leonardo da Vinci show but Martinez said he did not want to force all visitors to book their visits far ahead.

Some 180,000 people booked their tickets for the “once in a lifetime” Leonardo show in the week before it opened at the end of October.

The sell-out show pushed visitor numbers up by 14 percent in November, with the museum now laying on six additional late-night openings to cope with the demand before it closes at the end of February.

“The message we want to get across is that only by making a reservation are you guaranteed entry into the museum within a 30-minute window,” Martinez insisted.

He said the almost weekly “yellow vest” anti-government street protests in the French capital during 2019 had little effect on numbers.

“Seventy-five percent of our visitors come from abroad”, with Americans and Chinese the most numerous.

“We have managed to open every day, although sometimes a little later,” and the museum’s website has warned that some rooms may remain closed because of staff shortages.

“Around a fifth of our staff have not been able to get in” because of the lack of trains, buses and metro, Martinez added.

Its satellite museum in Lens in northern France has also passed the half-million visitor mark for the first time this year, he added.

Boys driving models of Russian WWII legend Soviet tank T-34 at the Sokolniki Park, in Moscow, yesterday.

Migrant granted residency in Spain for rescuing man with disability

AFP — MADRID

Spain granted residency to an undocumented migrant from Senegal who was hailed as a hero after he rescued a disabled man from a burning building last month.

Gorgui Lamine Sow, a 20-year-old street vendor who arrived in Spain in 2017, was walking down a street in Denia on Spain’s eastern Mediter-ranean coast on December 6 when he heard screams and saw smoke pouring from a first-floor window.

He climbed the iron bars of the front door before entering the burning apartment from the balcony, and then emerged with the man who uses a walker slung over his shoulder, carrying him down a ladder that had been set up by a neighbour.

Denia city hall quickly asked Spain’s central gov-ernment to give Sow a resi-dents permit, a request backed by nearly 90,000 people who signed a petition hailing him as a “model citizen”.

Spain’s labour and immi-gration ministry said it had granted Sow residency in rec-ognition of his “act of courage and service to community”.

Sow told Spanish media that he lives in a crowded room in the seaside town of Gandia with his partner and their seven-month-old daughter, and travels 40 km by bus every day to Denia to sell bracelets and necklaces on the streets.

BLOOMBERG — MADRID

Pedro Sanchez began his bid yesterday to form a new government with assistance from a Catalan separatist party as he urged Spain’s parliament to help him end the country’s political deadlock.

Sanchez, Spain’s acting Prime Minister, needs to win the endorsement of the 350-seat chamber in a voting process that will continue until Tuesday.

He is likely to lose a first vote slated for today, but after 13 deputies from the pro-inde-pendence Esquerra Repub-licana de Catalunya agreed to abstain, victory in a second vote on Tuesday looks assured.

“Spain is not going to break up, the Constitution is not going to break up,” Sanchez, 47, said in the opening remarks of his speech lasting almost two hours that kicked off the parlia-mentary debate. “What will break up is the blockade of the progressive government that Spaniards democratically elected.”

Spanish politics has been in stalemate since Sanchez dis-solved parliament to spark the first of two inconclusive general elections in April. With the

parliament divided among five major parties and a medley of smaller regional groups after a second vote in November, Sanchez turned to Esquerra to make the arithmetic work in his favor after signing a coalition pact with Podemos.

Sanchez sprinkled his speech with pledges to resolve the dispute in Catalonia sparked by the failed attempt in 2017 by separatist parties to split from Spain. He promised to set up mechanisms for negotiating with the pro-independence Catalan government to “put an end to the conflict” within the b o u n d s o f S p a i n ’ s constitution.

“Today there exists in a wide sector of the Catalan pop-ulation a sense of grievance at

central institutions,” Sanchez said, adding that many in Cata-lonia also feel let down by the region’s pro-independence politicians.

“It’s clear that in our country there does not exist a single way of living or feeling national identity,” he said. “We need to start again.”

He also outlined the main terms of the political pro-gramme he struck with Podemos under their planned coalition, a form of government not tried in Spain since before the country’s 1936-1939 civil war. His pact with Podemos

commits him to tax increases for the highest earners and large companies, a higher minimum wage and tighter protection for workers, rolling back some of the labor reforms enacted in 2012 at the height of a financial crisis.

As Sanchez tries to steer his government project through Parliament, he has been coming under fierce attack from the conservatives of the PP and Vox, a far-right party, who accuse him of betraying the constitution.

“He has positioned himself taking on the rhetoric and the

goals of the seditionists, of people that have attacked Spain’s democratic and consti-tutional order,” Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo, the PP’s par-liamentary spokeswoman, said.

The investiture debate marks the latest attempt to mend a political system that fractured in 2015 when former People’s Party Premier Mariano Rajoy lost the parliamentary majority he had won four years earlier. Sanchez ousted Rajoy in a 2018 confidence vote but has struggled to impose his authority at the head of a minority government.

Spanish caretaker Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, during the first day of a Parliamentary investiture debate to vote for a premier at the Spanish Congress (Las Cortes) in Madrid, yesterday.

Sanchez, Spain’s acting Prime Minister, needs to win the endorsement of the 350-seat chamber in a voting process that will continue until Tuesday.

Minor clashes break out at Paris protest against pension reformsREUTERS — PARIS

French police fired tear gas yesterday in low-level clashes in the centre of Paris with demonstrators protesting government plans to overhaul the country’s pension system.

Police briefly used the tear gas in the city’s Bastille area and at the Gare de l’Est railway station after demonstrators, who were joined by “Yellow Vests” anti-government activists, tried to enter the station complex.

President Emmanuel Macron has said reforms are essential to simplify the current convoluted pensions system, but his opponents say they will result in many French people

having to work for longer. “People have to think a bit

about what kind of society they want in general and, on a more personal level, whether you’re 20, 30, 40 or 50, one day you’ll retire,” said Jean-Gabriel Maheo, an industrial technician who said he was in his fifties.

“If the currently proposed system passes in the way it is laid out, it will be a social catas-trophe. Already, the previous reforms are seeing people retire with measly pensions,” added Maheo, as he took part in the demonstration yesterday.

Much of France has been crippled by a national transport strike since the anti-pensions protest first began in early December.

15SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020 EUROPE / AMERICAS

Greens overwhelmingly back Austrian coalition with ConservativesREUTERS — SALZBURG

Austria’s Greens yesterday formally approved a coalition deal with conservatives led by Sebastian Kurz, backing their leader’s argument that it would keep the far right out of power and bring ambitious environ-mental reforms despite misgivings.

The parties struck the deal on New Year’s Day, paving the way for Kurz to return to power three months after winning an election and for the left-wing environmentalists to enter gov-ernment for the first time.

The awkward alliance is being closely watched in Germany, where the electoral balance is similar, at a time of growing calls for urgent action on climate change.

Many Greens have balked at elements of Kurz’s law-and-order agenda, despite their leader Werner Kogler saying the deal had to reflect their party’s smaller share of the vote. The Greens won 13.9% com-pared to 37.5% for Kurz’s Peo-ple’s Party (OVP), whose last coalition was with the far-right

Freedom Party (FPO).“The future is made of

courage. Yes but also of the force of will, of a plan,” Kogler told a party congress whose approval he needed to seal the coalition deal. He added that it “makes a difference” whether Kurz governs with the Greens or the FPO.

He received a standing ovation and repeated applause before 93% of delegates backed the deal in a show of hands.

Kurz has made a hard line on immigration and “political Islam” his trademark, and the deal includes extending a ban on headscarves in schools until the age of 14 from around 10 currently.

The OVP-FPO coalition col-lapsed in May when FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache was caught in a video sting offering to fix state contracts. A provi-sional government of civil servants has been in place since June.

The new coalition deal res-urrects some of the previous Kurz government’s ideas such as preventive custody for people deemed a threat to

public safety, proposed after a fatal stabbing apparently com-mitted by an asylum seeker.

Many Greens expressed misgivings.

“It is not enough to say that we blocked the FPO,” Flora Lebloch from the party’s youth wing said, calling Kurz’s OVP “an authoritarian right-wing party”.

The dominant mood, however, was one in favour of compromise.

“Sometimes you have to work with the Klingons,” one delegate from the eastern province of Burgenland said in a Star Trek-themed speech, arguing the party should “boldly go where no Greens have gone before”.

Another contentious point is that the Greens’ plan to overhaul taxation to better price in planet-warming carbon emissions has been put off until 2022.

“What will happen in 2022? I don’t know yet either,” said Kogler. “But we will work on it and fight for it to move forward.”

Rod Stewart, son face battery charges in New Year’s Eve fightAP — FORT LAUDERDALE

Rock icon Rod Stewart (pictured) and his son are facing simple battery charges after an altercation with a security guard during a private event in a children’s area at The Breakers hotel in Palm Beach on New Year’s Eve, according to court records.

Security guard Jessie Dixon told Palm Beach police officers that Stewart’s group was at the check-in table for a private party that they weren’t authorised to

attend, a police report said.Dixon said the group

became loud and began causing a scene. Dixon, 33, told inves-tigators he put his hand on the younger Stewart’s chest and told him to back up and make space, the report said.

Sean Stewart then shoved Dixon backwards. Rod Stewart, 74, punched Dixon in his “left rib cage area” with a closed fist, the report said.

The police report said Sean Stewart told investigators he became agitated when they were not able to attend the event “due to Dixon’s interaction with

him and his family.”Two Breakers employees

who were working the private event told police police they saw Sean Stewart push Dixon and Rod punch the guard.

The officer said he viewed security footage at the hotel and determined that the Stewarts were the “primary aggressors.”

Dixon signed an affidavit saying that he wanted to press charges against the Stewarts.

Rod and Sean Stewart were issued notices to appear in court on February 5.

Bolivia to hold presidentialvote on May 3: TribunalAFP — LA PAZ

Bolivians will choose a new president on May 3, more than six months after a disputed election sparked violent street protests and the resignation of Evo Morales.

Interim leader Jeanine Anez has been overseeing a caretaker government since then, after Morales fled the country for Mexico.

The new presidential election will be “the first Sunday of May, I can let you know that much,” said the vice-president of the Supreme Electoral Tri-bunal, Oscar Hassenteufel.

Once complete, the elec-toral schedule will include dates for registration of candidates, the campaign timeframe, rules on advertising, and rules on a potential second round.

Bolivia has been in turmoil since presidential voting on October 20. Morales’ insistence after 14 years in power that he had been elected to a fourth term in a widely disputed vote prompted massive and violent street protests.

On November 10, after losing the army’s backing, Bolivia’s first indigenous pres-ident resigned and fled to Mexico, before moving on to Argentina.

Morales, a socialist, said on December 24 that he was forced from power by a US-backed coup d’etat aimed at gaining access to the South American country’s vast lithium resources.

Demand for lithium is expected to grow globally as it is one of the key components in batteries used in high-tech equipment such as laptops and electric cars.

Bolivia does have the largest confirmed lithium resources in the world, but they are widely thought to be of poor quality, and the country lacks the infra-structure to exploit them profitably.

Morales’ Movement for Socialism (MAS) party has named him campaign chief for the upcoming poll.

Morales said a new MAS candidate will be picked during a party assembly on January 15, which could be held in either Bolivia or Argentina.

Whoever the candidate is, Morales says he wants the next election to be monitored by international organisations.

So far, there are several pre-candidates for the May vote.

A survey in late December by the newspaper Pagina Siete found the young coca leaf grower Andronicus Rodriguez, considered Morales’ political

heir, was leading with 23 percent of voter preference, fol-lowed by conservative Carlos Mesa, with 21 percent.

Rodriguez is still awaiting a final decision from his party and from Morales.

Former foreign minister David Choquehuanca also wants to be a MAS candidate.

On Friday, Evo Morales promised that the families of 10 victims of a military-police operation near the Bolivian

capital he would not rest until justice is secured.

Morales said on Twitter that the families met him in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he was granted asylum, and asked for justice for the dead and injured.

I promised that I will not rest until the de facto gov-ernment is tried for these crimes and compensated victims," Morales vowed and called what happened a massacre.

Police and military forces crackdown November 19 on protesters supporting Morales in the Senkata neighborhood of El Alto left 10 civilians dead and more than 60 protesters injured.

Public demonstrations have yet to subside, with mostly rural and indigenous pro-Morales supporters taking to the streets, including La Paz, as well as Sacaba and Cochabamba, since he left the country saying his ouster was a coup.

Autopsy finds man fatally shot by two Texas troopers struck 16 times

AP — DALLAS

The autopsy of a man fatally shot by two state troopers following a Dallas traffic stop shows he had 16 gunshot wounds, including shots to the head, front and back torso and both legs.

The Dallas Morning News obtained the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report for 27-year-old Schaston Hodge. Troopers Joshua Engleman and Robert Litvin shot Hodge on August 17 last year following what police described as a short pursuit after the troopers attempted to stop Hodge for failing to use a turn signal.

“They killed my son like he was an animal. They shot my son 16 times, they almost blew his head off,” Hodge’s mother, Shandra Brackens-Hodge said in a statement.

Lt Lonny Haschel, a spokesman with the state’s Department of Public Safety, said Texas Rangers investigated and turned a report over to the Dallas County District Attor-ney’s office and a grand jury declined to indict the troopers.

“The entire incident, cap-tured on video, was presented to a Dallas County Grand Jury and returned a No Bill,” Haschel said in an e-mail, the newspaper reported.

DPS has declined to release videos of the shooting incident.

The pair were working in Dallas as part of Gov Greg Abbot’s decision to send troopers to help Dallas police during an increase in violent crime.

The troopers from Parker County were placed on paid leave after the shooting. They are both white, and Hodge was black, documents show.

Mexico’s former security chief pleads not guilty in drug caseAP — NEW YORK

Mexico’s former top security official pleaded not guilty on charges he accepted a fortune in drug-money bribes from kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s notorious Sinaloa cartel to let it operate with impunity.

Genaro Garcia Luna, 51, was indicted in New York on three counts of cocaine trafficking conspiracy and a false state-ments charge.

During his brief appearance in a Brooklyn courtroom, Garcia Luna shook his head “no” as prosecutors outlined the

charges against him.A judge ordered him

detained after Assistant US Attorney Erin Reid argued that he would pose an “unacceptable risk of flight” if released. Garcia

Luna’s lawyer, Cesar de Castro, said he would ask the court at a later date for his client to be granted bail.

Garcia Luna was viewed as the point man in then-President Felipe Calderon’s 2006-2012 war on drugs. As public safety secretary, he was one of the most feared members of Cal-deron’s government, but for years was dogged by allegations about his ties to drug traffickers.

Calderon’s government was criticised for not going after the Sinaloa cartel with the same energy as the cartel’s rivals. Cal-deron always rebuffed that

criticism.US prosecutors said in a

court filing this month that Garcia Luna had accepted “tens of millions of dollars” in bribes — often briefcases full of cash - to protect the cartel.

“Because of the defendant’s corrupt assistance, the Sinaloa Cartel conducted its criminal activity in Mexico without sig-nificant interference from Mexican law enforcement and imported multi-ton quantities of cocaine and other drugs into the United States,” prosecutors wrote.

They added that Garcia Luna “prioritised his personal greed

over his sworn duties as a public servant and assured the con-tinued success and safety of one of the world’s most notorious trafficking organisations.”

De Castro declined to comment on the charges.

During Guzman’s 2018 New York trial, jurors heard former cartel member Jesus Zambada testify that he personally made at least $6 million in hidden payments to Garcia Luna, on behalf of his older brother, cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

It’s alleged that during the time Garcia Luna protected the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for

bribes, the cartel, at the direction of Chapo Guzman, Mayo Zambada and other leaders, sent multi-ton drug loads to New York and other American cities, including the federal district covering Brooklyn and Queens, a c c o r d i n g t o c o u r t documents.

Garcia Luna lived in Miami, Florida, before his arrest last month in Texas. From 2001 to 2005, he led Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency and from 2006 to 2012 served as Mexico’s secretary of public security before relocating to the US, authorities said.

A judge ordered Genaro Garcia Luna be detained after the Assistant US Attorney argued that he would pose an “unacceptable risk of flight” if released.

Werner Kogler, leader of the Austrian Green party, with its party members during the party congress, in Salzburg, yesterday.

Past decade UK’s second hottest in last centuryANATOLIA — ANKARA

The past decade saw the second warmest temperatures in the last century in the UK, as the country’s climate is getting warmer, the UK’s Met Office announced yesterday.

“The 2010s have been the second warmest and second wettest of the ‘cardinal’ decades (those spanning years ending 0-9) over the last 100 years of UK weather records,” the agency said in a statement.

The last decade currently holds eight high temperature records, it said.

“Witnessing the highest UK temperature for the months of February, July, and provisionally December, 2019 was a year of multiple records, concluding a record-breaking decade,” it added.

The UK experienced the warmest February day on record, with a temperature of 20.6 degrees (69 F) while the hottest July with a temperature of 38.1 degrees (100.5 F) was recorded July 25.

In the last month of 2019, the UK has its warmest December ever with the tem-perature topping 18.7 (65.6) degrees.

In 2019, it was warmer, wetter, and sunnier than average and the statement stressed it was the eleventh warmest year on record with an average increase of 9.42 Celsius degrees.

“It is notable how many of these extreme records have been set in the most recent decade and how many more of them are reflecting high-rather than low-temperature extremes: a consequence of our warming climate,” said Mark McCarthy, head of the National Climate Information Centre.

The country’s hottest year on record was in 2014, according to the UK Met department.

A file photo of riot police clashing with supporters of Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales during a protest against the interim government, in Sacaba, Bolivia.

16 SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2020AMERICAS

Trump seeks to shore up evangelical support in FloridaAFP — MIAMI

US President Donald Trump wooed crucial evangelical voters on Friday with a speech in Florida where he told them God is “on our side” ahead of this year’s elections.

Trump — who despite con-troversies has made himself a champion of right-wing Chris-tians — promised “another monumental victory for faith and family, God and country, flag and freedom.”

“I really do believe we have God on our side,” Trump told the crowd at the King Jesus International Ministry mega church in Miami.

This was Trump’s first cam-paign rally of the year and sets him up for what will be a tough fight against his Democratic challenger in November.

Trump, who also faces a looming impeachment trial in the Senate, arrived on stage at the church to be blessed by several television pastors.

“Every demonic altar that has been raised against him will be torn down,” prayed Paula White, frequently portrayed as

Trump’s spiritual advisor.According to a recent poll

conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), 77 percent of white evangelical Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing at the White House. That’s in marked contrast to the steady majority of the country disap-proving of Trump’s performance.

And when it comes to impeachment over Trump’s alleged abuse of office, those evangelicals are even more united. A crushing 98 percent majority oppose his removal.

“We have not really seen throughout Trump’s presidency any discernible cracks,” PRRI chief executive Robert Jones said. “Our polling shows that they have been largely unfazed by the impeachment pro-ceedings,” said Jones, the author of “The End of White Christian America.”

Friday’s event at the King Jesus International Ministry, also known as El Rey Jesus, aimed to lock down support for Trump in the key demographic.

In 2016, Trump won election thanks to victories in several crucial swing states, despite trailing Hillary Clinton by nearly three million ballots in the overall popular vote.

So any bleeding of evangel-icals — especially in battle-ground states like Florida — could doom a repeat of the feat.

Team Trump was taken by surprise when evangelical mag-azine Christianity Today pub-lished a scathing editorial before Christmas in favor of the president’s removal from office, calling his behavior “profoundly immoral.” But allies rallied to Trump’s side.

Franklin Graham — one of the sons of the celebrated late pastor Billy Graham, who

popularized televangelism in the 1950s and founded Christi-anity Today — lent his support.

Graham said his father “would be very disappointed” with the magazine’s editorial.

Tony Perkins, president of the ultra-conservative Family Research Council, said the edi-torial represented an “isolated voice.” “I see the support just as strong now as it was in 2016, if

not stronger,” Perkins said in an interview.

Evangelicalism is the primary form of Protestantism in America and the main reli-gious group in the country, ahead of Catholics (21 percent) and traditional Protestants.

One of every four Amer-icans identifies as evangelical, according to the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based

think tank. Jones says Trump’s appeal also rests in his wider ability to reassure a group that feels increasingly vulnerable in a changing, increasingly mixed race America.

“This election is about the survival of our nation,” Trump told the rally, talking at length about a supposed “war on religion” that he had managed to stop.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Miami, Florida, on Friday.

US Democratic contenders condemn Iran strike, warn of warREUTERS — WASHINGTON

Democratic presidential contenders on Friday condemned the air strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, saying President Donald Trump’s decision was reckless and could lead the United States to another war in the Middle East.

“President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox,” said former Vice- President Joe Biden. His cam-paign released a 30-second online ad that portrayed Biden as “tested and trusted around the world” against Trump’s “erratic, unstable” presidency.

“We’re on the brink of yet another war in the Middle East,” said liberal US Senator Eliz-abeth Warren. “We’re not here by accident. We’re here because a reckless president, his allies and his administration have spent years pushing us here.”

The overnight killing of Soleimani was a dramatic esca-lation of hostilities in the Middle East between Iran and the United States.

A protracted conflict could reshape an election that has so far been dominated by domestic

issues, such as health care and money in politics, strategists said. While that could be a plus for the leading Democratic can-didates such as Biden, who has stressed his foreign policy expe-rience and credentials, lesser-known contenders could have a harder time being heard.

“The ultimate beneficiary in the Democratic race could be the four candidates in front,” said Democratic strategist Steve

Elmendorf, referring to Biden, Warren, US Senator Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

“Nobody behind them will have a chance to reset the race or change things,” said Elmendorf, a Buttigieg sup-porter who served as chief of staff for former House Demo-cratic leader Dick Gephardt.

The Democratic contenders

are set to face voters for the first time in a month, when Iowa kicks off the nominating battle on February 3.

Public opinion polls show Americans in general are opposed to US military inter-ventions overseas.

A survey last year by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found only 27% of Amer-icans believe military interven-tions make the United States safer, and nearly half said they make the country less safe.

“There are serious questions about how this decision was made and whether we are pre-pared for the consequences,” said Buttigieg, a former Navy Reserve officer who served in Afghanistan.

Trump said the strike aimed to disrupt “imminent and sin-ister attacks” on Americans. His fellow Republicans praised the president for restoring American strength and leadership.

“At a time when the pres-ident is under impeachment by the Democrats, there’s nothing wrong with him showing strength and resolve in the face of a foreign threat,” said Repub-lican strategist Ron Bonjean, who is close to the White House.

Anti-war activists protest in front of the White House in Washington, DC, yesterday.

Democratic presidential candidate and former vice-president Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Independence, Iowa, on Friday.

Pompeo: Europe not ‘helpful’ as could be over Iraq strikeAFP — WASHINGTON

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that Washington’s European allies had not been “as helpful” as he hoped over the US killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.

Pompeo called officials worldwide to discuss the attack, which was praised by US President Donald Trump’s Republicans and close ally Israel, but elsewhere met with sharp warnings it could inflame regional tensions.

“I spent the last day and a half, two days, talking to partners in the region, sharing with them what we were doing, why we were doing it, seeking their assistance. They’ve all been fantastic,” Pompeo said in an interview.

“And then talking to our partners in other places that haven’t been quite as good. Frankly, the Europeans haven’t been as helpful as I wish that they could be,” he said.

Biden campaign event

Appeals court weighs Mueller grand jury access for CongressAP — WASHINGTON

Democrats in Congress are seeking access to secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, arguing in court on Friday that it is relevant to President Donald Trump’s impeachment and could even be a basis for additional accu-sations against him.

A three-judge panel that heard the argument, including a Trump appointee, appeared divided and did not immedi-ately rule on the case. It was one

of two separation-of-powers fights between Congress and the Justice Department argued on Friday before judges on Wash-ington’s federal appeals court.

At issue is whether House Democrats can obtain grand jury testimony outlined in Muel-ler’s 448-page report, which examined the Trump cam-paign’s ties to Russia and whether the president sought to obstruct that investigation. The Justice Department appealed a judge’s order from the fall directing it to produce that material.

A Justice Department lawyer argued on Friday that the grand jury material bore no relevance to the impeachment inquiry, which centers on Trump’s efforts to press his Ukrainian counterpart to inves-tigate a political rival and con-cerns activities that occurred after the Mueller investigation had concluded.

“The House has now adopted two articles of impeachment that have nothing to do with this case,” Mark Freeman told the court.

But Douglas Letter, the

House’s general counsel, said the Russia material is on point, given the momentous stakes of deciding a president’s fate in impeachment proceedings.

“There’s nothing more important than determining whether the president of the United States should remain the president of the United States,” he said.

Letter said the House was seeking a “discrete” disclosure, noting that lawmakers weren’t seeking access to all grand jury testimony but only to testimony that Mueller made reference to

in his report and therefore con-sidered relevant to his investigation.

“It’s limited because it’s what special counsel Mueller decided to put in his report,” Letter said. “This is already vastly more limited than us just coming in and saying, ‘Impeachment, we get everything.”

Freeman said Congress has over time changed its argu-ments for why it needs the tes-timony. He also questioned the House’s need for the testimony.

Conservatives in Canada to pick leader in JuneAFP — MONTREAL

Canada’s Conservative party announced on Friday that it will choose a new leader on June 27 following Andrew Scheer’s surprise resignation.

“We have an obligation as the opposition party to be ready as quick as we can and this quickness puts us in that position,” party official Dan Nowlan told CBC, indicating the vote would take place in Toronto.

In October legislative elec-tions, the Conservatives won 121 seats, 26 more than they had in the last legislature. This helped deny Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals an absolute majority in the House of Commons.

Scheer, whose leadership has been contested since his defeat in the legislative elec-tions, announced his resig-nation on December 12.

It came on the heels of an internal report on the results of the legislative campaign.

It also happened the day Global News revealed that the Conservative party had paid part of the tuition fees for Scheer’s children at a private school in Ottawa.

Scheer has led the con-servative party since May 2017.

Mississippi Senator qualifies for re-electionAP — JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

Republican US Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi filed papers on Friday to run for re-election, emphasising her loyalty to President Donald Trump on border security and other issues.

Speaking to more than 100 supporters at the state GOP headquarters, Hyde-Smith recalled how she backed Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court in 2018, when Kavanaugh faced accusations of sexual misconduct as a young man.

“Guys, we got through that, and right won,” Hyde-Smith said. She said Trump told her that she “went through the fire” for Kavanaugh, and she said she told the President that he goes through fire all the time.

“You know what we’ve got to do? We’ve got to march through that fire,” Hyde-Smith said. “We cannot let the lib-erals win.” Hyde-Smith was the state agriculture commis-sioner when Republican Gov-ernor Phil Bryant appointed her in early 2018. She is the first woman to represent Mis-sissippi in Congress.

According to a recent poll, 77 percent of white evangelical Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing at the White House.

US deportations of Guatemalansdouble over the past decadeREUTERS — GUATEMALA CITY

US President Donald Trump’s administration stepped up deportations of Guatemalans in 2019, doubling the number of migrants sent back from the United States a decade earlier, data from the Central American country showed on Friday.

Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a major policy focus and has con-tinued to press the issue in the run-up to the November US presidential election.

Last year, the United States deported 54,547 people to Gua-temala on 486 flights, the highest since at least 2007, according to data from the Guatemalan Institute of Migration. In 2009, the year T r u m p ’ s D e m o c r a t i c

predecessor Barack Obama took office, there were 27,222 deportations.

“We associate the increase with migration policies of the United States,” Alejandra Mena, a spokeswoman for the Guate-malan Institute of Migration, said. She expected 2020 to follow a similar pattern.

There were more than 400,000 deportations to Gua-temala during the decade through 2019, the institute’s data show.

Deportations increased steadily in the first half-dozen years of Obama’s two terms as president, peaking at 51,157 in 2014, and then fell sharply the following year. In 2017, the year Trump took office, 32,833 Gua-temalans were deported from the US.