Volume 24 | Number 7927 | 2 RiyalsWednesday 19 June 2019 | 16 Shawwal 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

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BUSINESS | 13 SPORT | 20

Qatar’s fighting performance‘reassuring’, says striker Ali

Getit Group eyes 40% of Qatar’s

e-commerce market share

QA voted World’s Best Airline for fifth timeTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Airways has won four pres-tigious prizes at this year’s 2019 Skytrax World Airline Awards, including the highest accolade of ‘World’s Best Airline’ – becoming the only airline in the competi-tion’s history to win it five times (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019).

The airline has been named ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’ for a third successive year, while its ‘World’s Best Business Class’ accolade is the fourth year in suc-cession that it has won that award. In retaining its ‘World’s Best Business Class Seat’ award for its patented Qsuite product, the airline beat strong compe-tition from all over the world.

Minister of Transport and Communications, H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti, who attended the Skytrax Awards ceremony in Paris, said: “This is a great day for the state of Qatar, and I am

delighted to have been here today to witness Qatar Airways being recognised as the ‘Best Airline of the Year’ for the fifth time”.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, who was accompanied by Chief Oper-ating Officer of Hamad Interna-tional Airport, Engr. Badr Al Meer, said: “The Skytrax awards are widely recognised as the most

prestigious in the airline industry, so to have won so many prizes at the 2019 ceremony is a truly memorable experience for Qatar Airways.

“We are thrilled to be globally recognised by our customers by winning these four prestigious awards. Being the first airline to be named ‘Airline of the Year’ for the fifth time is a landmark achievement and, combined with three other major Skytrax awards, is testament to the tireless efforts of the entire Qatar Airways team. It is a proud moment for the airline as our constant innovation and service standards set the benchmark in our industry.”

“The fact that the Skytrax awards are voted for by travellers makes them especially meaningful for all of us in the industry. Aviation is a competitive business, and to have received such recognition will spur us all at Qatar Airways to even greater heights and we look forward to delivering our world-

class product to millions of pas-sengers in the coming years.”

Skytrax Chief Executive Officer, Edward Plaisted, said: “To be named as the World’s Best Airline is a great recognition of Qatar Airways’ high standards, and recognises the hard work and dedication from every

member of staff to satisfy cus-tomers. To achieve this accolade for a fifth time is a remarkable achievement, and we congrat-ulate them for this unique success.”

The Skytrax World Airline Awards are independent and impartial, introduced in 1999 to

provide a customer satisfaction study that was truly global. Trav-ellers across the world vote in the largest airline passenger satis-faction survey to decide the award winners. The awards are referred to by media around the world as “the Oscars of the avi-ation industry”. �P3

Minister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker at the award ceremony.

Qatar launches aviation cyber security guidelines

THE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has released Version 1 of the “Aviation Cyber Security Guidelines” in collaboration with the Cybersecurity Affairs Sector of the Ministry of Transport a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s (MOTC).

The guidelines include standards and principles relating to securing critical aviation systems, in addition to best practices in electronic security in the field.

This has made Qatar the first country in the Middle East to have released such guidelines that focus on the deployment of the standards that aim to face and mitigate electronic threats and attacks in the civil aviation industry.

The guidelines are hoped to contribute to raising the awareness of all stakeholders and those who work in the industry in Qatar by guiding them to cybersecurity best practices.

The issuance of these guidelines complies with the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that call on all member states to apply such standards and measures and continue cooperation and mutual support at the local and universal levels.

CAA hails the efforts and support made by the MOTC’s Cybersecurity Sector in releasing these guidelines.

These guidelines will ass is t operators and stakeholders within the aviation sector to improve their cyber security posture and build a resil ient organisation.

Motorists navigate through low visibility as dust brought in by high winds covers the Doha skyline yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

Dusty winds reduce visibility

QF RDI's ‘Innovation Coupon’ funding initiative to support private sectorTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Foundation Research, Development, and Innovation (QF RDI) has marked the launch of its new funding initiative, ‘Innovation Coupon’, by signing an agreement with its first bene-ficiary, ADGS – a local private sector SME that sells a suite of products that utilise artificial intelligence (AI), behavioural biometrics, and emergent behaviour.

The signing ceremony was held at the QF RDI offices, where Dr Richard O’Kennedy, Vice-President for Research, Devel-opment, and Innovation, Qatar Foundation (QF), and Dr Salvino Salvaggio, Senior Director, Implementation and RDI Office Management, formalised the award with ADGS President, Hassan Al Ansari, and General

Manager, Christophe Billiottet.Innovation Coupon is aimed

at Qatar-based SMEs or startups in all sectors and industries that are engaged in the development of new technology-rich products and services. The fund is designed to benefit com-panies that have the needed capacity and technical knowledge to develop their product or service but require more support to resolve a spe-cific technical or business problem. The fund may award up to 50 percent of the problem-solving costs for a period of up to six months.

Dr O’Kennedy said: “It’s a historic day for us. The devel-opment of the Innovation Coupon highlights our com-mitment to foster local product innovation and support the development of SMEs in Qatar. The initiative will support

startup businesses to overcome many of the growth challenges they face and the fund can help them improve vital aspects of their business.

“We are proud to be sup-porting entrepreneurship in Qatar this way, and we are con-fident that the Innovation Coupon will act as a vehicle to push forward the growth of many more promising local startups who are producing innovative solutions for Qatar, the region, and beyond.”

Beneficiaries must use at least 25 percent of the awarded amount to cover the contracting costs of a local research institute – such as QF research institutes and QF partner universities – or other local expert company or individual, thereby taking advantage of the local innovation ecosystem in developing new products and services. �P3

Awqaf Ministry opens First Ihsan SchoolQNA DOHA

Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs H E Dr Ghaith bin Mubarak Al Kuwari and Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Dr. Mohammed Abdul Wahed Ali Al Hammadi inaugurated yesterday the First Ihsan School in Umm Ghuwailina.

The ceremony was attended by a number of officials from Edu-cation Above All Foundation (EAA).

The First Ihsan School was established in partnership between the Education Above All Foundation (EAA), the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to address financial problems and the age and educa-tional gap faced by children of

non-Arab communities in Qatar, as the school provides free education.

The school aims to ensure a good learning environment by providing children with better facilities. The school includes 36 classrooms, accommodating 400 students, prepared to work in two sessions to accommodate 800 students.

Minister of Education and Higher Education said that the school serves the community members from non-Arabic students who find it financially and socially difficult to enroll in schools.

He said the school operates in coordination and cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Min-istry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and EAA. �P3

Qatar Airways bagged four prestigious awards at this year's Skytrax. It has been voted the World's Best Airline, becoming the only airline in the competition's history to win it five times.

MME allocates QR750m for landscaping projectsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment, represented by the Public Parks Department, has allocated about QR750m for beautification and landscaping projects.

The Ministry said in a statement that the projects will be implemented in two parts in the coming years, reflecting positively on the cultural and aesthetic image of the city of Doha.

The Ministry has floated first tender of about QR250m to beautify seven main streets in the city of Doha including Anaiza, Beheira, Jalai’a, Khalifa, Al Markhia, Al Dahil and Qatifiyah.

The project includes full beautification, plantation, land-scaping, sidewalks, interlock,

pedestrian walkways, bicycle paths, electric poles and many more.

The second part of the project include projects worth about QR500m, to complete the rest of the projects in coordi-nated with the Public Works Authority. The local contractors will implement the project.

Under the plan, four projects will be implemented to build two new public parks in Al Gharafah and Umm Sanim and renovate two existing parks - Rawdat Al Khail Park and Ras Abu Abbud Park.

A special team was set up at the Public Park Department to oversee the projects of public parks and contracts for beautification in coordination with the supervisory com-mittee for the beautification of roads and public places in the country.

02 WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019HOME

Amir condoles with Ethiopian PMDOHA: Amir H H Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,

Deputy Amir H H Sheikh

Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani

and Prime Minister and Inte-

rior Minister H E Sheikh

Abdullah bin Nasser bin Kha-

lifa Al Thani sent cables of

condolences to the Prime

Minister of the Federal Demo-

cratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr

Abiy Ahmed Ali, on the death

of his father. QNA

OFFICIAL NEWSMinister attends International Paris Air ShowMinister of Transport and Communications H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti attended the opening ceremony of the 53rd International Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, which French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated in the presence of senior officials from several countries and top aircraft manufacturers. The aerospace industry’s marquee event is a chance to take the pulse of the $150-bn-a-year commercial aircraft industry. On the sidelines of the show, the Minister met with French Minister for Transport Elisabeth Borne. The two officials discussed cooperation in the fields of aviation and transportation and a number of matters of common interest between the two countries and means of further enhancing them. The meeting was attended by Qatar’s Ambassador to France, Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani, and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker.

Ehsan holds discussion to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness DayQNA DOHA

Ehsan Centre For Empowerment and Elderly Care held yesterday a panel discussion on social security and providing protection for the elderly against discrimi-nation.

The panel was held to mark the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which takes place on June 15 of every year. Experts from the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs, Qatar National Human Rights Com-mittee, and from Ehsan partici-

pated in the discussion. The event aimed to raise

awareness on the rights of the elderly and their basic needs, and introduce the role played by the center in the Qatari society, in addition to discussing the most important issues pertaining to the elderly.

CEO at Ehsan Centre Mubarak bin Abdulaziz al Khalifa said that they were committed to raising awareness on the need to care for the elderly and cele-brate international events related to them, especially the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. He noted that the world is set to

witness a significant increase in the number of elderly and elderly, with that growth more emphasized in developing nations.

For her part, the Ministry of Administrative Development’s Noura Ali Hassan said during the panel discussion that the State of Qatar has guaranteed the rights of the elderly through various means, whether in the Constitution, or through legis-lation and laws that protect and maintain their dignity, particu-larly in terms of social security, housing and employment. She highlighted that the social

security law in Qatar mentioned the elderly as their own segment in terms of financial assistance and other benefits that are offered by a number of minis-tries, include the Ministry of Interior.

For her part, NHRC legal expert Rania Jaballah spoke about the rights of the elderly in Qatar and possible mechanisms to ensure their protection and dignity. She added that new sta-tistics show that the elderly in Qatar represent about 2.2 percent of the population and are expected to increase to 27.6 percent in 2039 due to the

quality of healthcare, which requires amending the policies and laws related to them in order to protect their rights, meet their needs so they are not subjected to violence or abuse.

She also highlighted the need to intensify campaigns and efforts to sensitize current and future generations on how to deal with them and enhance the humanitarian and societal aspects of caring for this important group in society.

Jaballah also said it has been proved that educating the indi-vidual and urging them to change negative behavior is more

important than applying legisla-tions and laws.

Qatar Lawyers Association Zainab Mohammed called on the need to issue a new Qatari law that protects all Qatari retirees from all ministries, agencies and companies operating in the State, including private companies and business owners, and for this law to include members of the Qatar Lawyers Association, in recog-nition of their service to the country. She also called for a review of the pensions to provide them with adequate living services that ensure a decent life for them.

Qatar attends Arab-China forumABU DHABI: Qatar took

part in the meetings of the

16th session of the Arab-China

Cooperation Forum, which was

held in Abu Dhabi, yesterday.

Qatar’s Permanent Repre-

sentative to the Arab League,

Ambassador Ibrahim bin

Abdulaziz Al Sahlawi, chaired

the delegation. The meetings

discussed means of deepen-

ing and expanding scopes of

cooperation between the two

sides and developing them

to broader horizons. The par-

ticipants also reviewed the

various achievements made in

the framework of the Forum

since the 8th session of the

ministerial meeting. They also

coordinated on issues and files

of mutual concern. QNA

Qatar takes part in Arab Parliament Committee meets for plenary preparationsQNA CAIRO

The standing committees of the Arab Parliament held yesterday their meetings in preparation for the fourth plenary session of the third session of the second legis-lative term.

The State of Qatar is partic-ipating with a delegation from the Shura Council.

The committee on foreign and political affairs and national security discussed a draft reso-lution on the latest develop-ments in Yemen, in addition to the political and security devel-opments in the Arab countries and the developments of joint Arab action in light of the decisions of the 30th Arab Summit held in Tunis on March 31, and the extraordinary summit held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that took place on May 30.

The committee also dis-cussed the general framework and themes of the report on the political situation in the Arab world 2019, as well as the report of the sub-committee on the Arab Parliament’s vision to

achieve Arab water security.The committee on economic

and financial affairs reviewed a number of proposals concerning the requirements of achieving the common Arab market, Arab economic legislation and Arab trade exchange.

The committee also studied the drafting of work proposals for the parliament in the field of electrical interconnection between Arab countries and in the field of facilitating the digital economy in the Arab world.

The legislative, legal and human rights committee dis-cussed a draft resolution on tackling the phenomenon of Islamophobia and reviewed a memorandum on the latest developments in joint Arab action on legislative, legal and human rights issues. It also reviewed a report on the follow-up of human rights in Palestine.

The committee on social, educational and cultural affairs, women and youth reviewed a report on the plan developments to issue the Arab document on women’s rights.

Arabic calligraphy exhibition opens at KataraRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

Iranian artist Abulfadel Khuzaei creatively inscribes “Bismillah – In the name of Allah” in 30 different variations using various types of Arabic calligraphy, which are on show in his solo exhibition which opened on Monday at Katara Cultural Village.

Using different Arabic callig-raphy scripts, colours and Islamic designs, Khuzaei showcases his expertise in creative interpretation of the significant phrase from the Qur’an and most prevalent motif in Arabic calligraphy in an exhi-bition titled “Basmalah” which reflects the beauty of the Arabic calligraphy across the Islamic world. “This exhibition features 30 art pieces, all of which have the phrase ‘Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim.’ The artist has used six types of Arabic calligraphy such as Reqa and Thulthuth,” Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, Katara General Manager, told The Peninsula.

While lauding the artist for his impressive method and style, Dr. Al Sulaiti added that Khuzaei had also written the entire holy Qur’an by hand. “I think this is one of the best exhibitions of the year when it comes to this type of art. This artist has also written the full

Qur’an by hand so he is a great cal-ligrapher and he is a formidable artist using different types and methods for calligraphy. We are very pleased here in Katara to host and always look for artists of this kind,” he added.

Katara has forged partnership with different missions in Doha in providing platform to different artists from all corners of the world to showcase their works, and for this exhibition Katara has collaborated with the Iranian Embassy. “Katara has been

working in cooperation with almost all embassies in Qatar. Katara is the place for artists, no matter where they are from. Katara hosts artists from Asia to Africa to Europe and other conti-nents,” added Dr. Al Sulaiti.

Though the artworks bear the same phrase, they are made dis-tinct with the colours and borders inspired by Islamic art. Having been in the field of calligraphy for over 20 years, the artist said he also adorns the frames using Islamic art style inspired by deep

rooted Islamic heritage and civilisation.

Dr Al Sulaiti opened the exhi-bition along with Rida Shahrayor, Cultural Attaché at the Iranian Embassy , with diplomats and dig-nitaries in attendance including Fikret Ozer, Ambassador of Turkey; Axel Wabenhorst, Ambas-sador of Australia and Abdelsattar Al Janabi, Charge d’Affaires at the Iraqi Embassy.

The exhibition runs until June 23 and is open from 10am to 10pm at Katara Building 22.

Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara, and other officials at the opening of Basmalah Exhibition by Iranian artist Abulfadel Khuzaei held at Katara. PIC: BAHER AMIN /THE PENINSULA

Galfar Al Misnad football team defeats Shappoorji to clinch Eid Trophy 2019THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Galfar Al Misnad football team emerged as victors after defeating the Shappoorji team in the finals of the Eid Trophy 2019 that was organised by the Kenyan Football Club. The two teams were drawn

1-1 at full time and had to go into penalties. The Galfar team then went on to win by scoring 5-4, and took home the trophy.

Earlier in the year, the Galfar football team did well at the QSL Workers Cup Tournament 2019 and reached the semifinals. Galfar Al Misnad is a keen supporter of

football initiatives in Qatar. The leading Qatari con-

struction firm is also an integral partner in various nation building projects being completed for 2022, including the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.

Galfar Al Misnad recognised early on the important role that

Sports play in creating leaders, nurturing team players, and boosting company morale and unity. It was this belief that led to the creation of the Galfar Sports Club in 2003, which offers the opportunity for all employees to participate in different sporting activities throughout the year.

The Galfar Cricket Club has also made its mark on the Qatari sporting circuit with its A Division team consistently reaching the final stages of all tournaments held by the Qatar Cricket Association. In the latest QCA Twenty20 Tour-nament, Galfar Al Misnad took home the Runners Up trophy.

The captain of the Galfar cricket team, Mohammed Rizlan and fellow staff member Gayan Buddika, are also in Qatar’s National Cricket Team, and were selected to represent the country at the ACC Western Region Twenty20 Cricket Tournament in Oman in January 2019.

FAJRSHOROOK

03. 14 AM04. 44 AM

11. 35 AM02. 58 PM

06. 27 PM07. 57 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum39oC 45oC

HIGH TIDE 04:38–18:17 LOW TIDE 01:34 – 11:59

Very hot daytime with blowing dust to

dusty at some places.

03WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019 HOME

Initiative to encourage more Qataris to join nursing fieldFAZEENA SALEEM THE PENINSULA

Sidra Medicine by joining with partners is playing an active role in encouraging more Qataris to join the nursing profession. Along with the other nursing leaders in Qatar, the organisation has been working to promote the profession in Qatar, said Julie Smith (pictured), Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at Sidra Medicine.

“We are doing this through the platform created by Nursing Now, an International Campaign to enhance the understanding and profile of nursing across the world. We are always looking for opportunities to show the com-munity what nurses do and what excellent careers nursing offers,” she told The Peninsula.

Nursing Now Qatar was launched by the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an ini-tiative of Qatar Foundation. WISH has partnered with the global Nursing Now Campaign and the International Council of Nurses to train young nursing leaders from around the world to amplify their voices and positively influence healthcare policy, ahead of attending the annual World Health Assembly.

Senior representatives of Sidra Medicine including Julie, are board members of Nursing Now Qatar. “I always strive to ensure the voice of nursing is strong, understood and contributes to the progression of care and treatment of our patients at Sidra Medicine and their impact on the overall health care system in Qatar,” Julie added.

The nursing team at Sidra Medicine is made up of over 40 nationalities, with many highly trained nurses in a range of areas across specialist pediatric and women’s services, including spe-cialist nurses practitioners and

nurse educators. Qatar has more than 16,000 registered nurses and Sidra Medicine has approximately 1,500 nurses. Developing nurses to become Nurse Practitioners is also a focus for Sidra Medicine.

“Nurse Practitioners are highly trained and skilled nurses who have taken on extended roles in delivering patient care in an area of specialty. They have undertaken additional training and education at a Masters level to undertake this role. They provide the medical teams with expert input to their patient group and can undertake duties that would have historically been undertaken by junior doctors” said Julie.

“This group is highly valued by both the nursing and medical professions, providing 24/7 spe-cialist hands-on care. We have approximately 50 nurse practi-tioners at Sidra Medicine. We are very proud to have our first Qatari nurse currently undertaking her post graduate education to become our first Qatari Nurse Practitioner at Sidra Medicine,” she added.

She also said being a nurse is a privilege, to help people at their most vulnerable is very humbling and rewarding

“Nursing practice is based on evidence and science and pro-vides a progressive and rewarding career,” she said.

Qatar committed to global standards in dealing with chemicalsSANAULLAH ATAULLAH DOHA

Qatar is committed to interna-tional conventions and standers to ensure proper circulation of chemical materials for the safety of people in the country, said a senior official.

Assistant Undersecretary for Environmental Affairs at the Min-istry of Municipality and Envi-ronment Eng. Ahmed Mohammed Al Sada that the Ministry has con-verted all paper transactions in various departments of environ-mental sector into electronic ones in order to save time, effort, money and to protect the envi-ronment. This came during the first consultative meeting with chemicals companies operating in the state orgaised by the Min-istry of Municipality and Envi-ronment, represented by the Department of Radiation and Chemicals Protection yesterday at City Center Rottana Hotel.

Al Sada said that that event aims at introducing the services provided by the Department in dealing with hazardous sub-stances. “The objective of the meeting is also to find out the dif-ficulties facing companies oper-ating in the field of chemicals in order to bring about the best pos-sible solutions for them,” said Al

Sada. He added that the ministry is interested in providing the best services in the field of chemical products, in order to increase industrial output and economic growth.

Speaking to the media persons on the sidelines of the event, Director of Radiation and Chem-icals Protection Department Eng. Abdulrahman Youssef Abdul-Jabar said that the aim of this meeting was to introduce the services provided by the Department in dealing with haz-ardous chemicals in terms of cir-culation, storage, transportation and packaging. He said that during recent past the Department pro-vided over 20,000 transactions

including issuance of licenses and conducting inspections as per the international conventions singed by Qatar.

Abdul-Jabar underlined State’s commitment to the multi-lateral Rotterdam Convention designed to promote joint respon-sibility and concerted efforts among countries in the interna-tional trade of certain hazardous chemicals, in particular pesticides, industrial chemicals and haz-ardous pesticide formulations, to protect human health and the environment from potential damage. He stressed that Qatar is in a safe position in terms of the risks that might arise from the uses of these substances because of

complying to implement the requirements and standards of the relevant international conven-tions. Abdul-Jabar said that the radiological monitoring system is being developed and installed at all levels of the country on land and sea and 14 monitoring stations will be upgraded and developed.

He said that the aim of all these consultative meetings is to introduce companies to the legis-lation related to the procedures required, and to strengthen coop-eration between the public and private sectors in this field. The Department deals with hundreds of companies, and last year 22,000 shipments related to chemicals were released.

The Director of the Department of Radiation and Chemicals Protection at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Eng Abdulrahman Al Abdul Jabbar, with other officials at the meeting, in Doha yesterday. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

FROM PAGE 1Skytrax pay all costs of the

survey and awards event, and airlines do not pay any entry or registration fee.

The awards event and award presentations are supplied by

Skytrax at no charge. There are no fees or costs for airline use of the award logos and results.

More than 100 customer nationalities participated in the survey with 21.65 million eligible entries counted in the results.

Survey entries were screened by Skytrax to identify IP and user information, with duplicate, suspect or ineligible entries deleted.

More than 300 airlines are featured.

QF RDI’s ‘Innovation Coupon’ funding initiative to support private sector

FROM PAGE 1Innovation Coupon will

support its first recipient, ADGS, by supplementing their capacity to further develop their cyber security product, STROKK. The software adds an organic security layer on any system, in any lan-guage, and renders stolen pass-words useless to hackers by learning the way an individual types to clearly recognize the user. STROKK is currently being pur-chased by customers in highly cyber security sensitive industries, such as finance, banking, defense, the armed forces, and intelligence services in several countries.

ADGS is working to port its

security solution from a Windows to a Unix-based environment. The ADGS team will use QF RDI’s award to employ external support in order to allow the company to continue its expansion.

The funds were awarded after a rigorous assessment where applicants are required to specify how the money will be spent, and the major milestones to be met. Al Ansari said, “We are very proud to be the recipients of the very first coupon and it will allow us to resolve a process that will ensure we continue delivering our inno-vative product to local, regional, and international markets.”

After the completion of the

funding cycle, beneficiaries are expected to report on the progress of the innovation for a certain number of years to allow QF RDI to assess the impact of the funding provided. Commenting on the design of the fund, Dr O’Kennedy said, “The mechanics of the program allow QF to ensure the funds are supporting committed SMEs that will deliver impact in the local economy. The size of the innovation ecosystem in Qatar is such that we can allocate greater resources for a higher number of SMEs. This enables us to transfer expert knowledge from our side to the SMEs to help them innovate in the local economy.”

Awqaf Ministry opens First Ihsan School

FROM PAGE 1H E Al Hammadi said the

school operates on the special curriculum for students who speak non-Arabic, which is the Cambridge English curriculum, adding that a second school will soon be launched with an Arab curriculum.

He said the school building is one of the older schools that are over 50 years old. The building has been renovated and rehabilitated in the old style, pointing out that the ministry has provided other buildings for community schools in Qatar.

Director of the General Department of Endowments Sheikh Dr. Khaled bin Mohammed bin Ghanem Al Thani said the school is one of the pioneering educational ini-tiatives of the endowment bank for scientific and cultural devel-opment as well as a vivid embodiment of the community partnership with various sectors, noting that the school will provide basic education.

He said that school was built

at a cost over QR4m, excluding maintenance, where the Ministry of Education and Higher Edu-cation will cover most of these expenses. He noted that the school includes 354 students who were unable to afford to complete their education.

He said the school is of good quality in terms of teaching and is approved by more than one entity, giving student access to quality education. The school classrooms hold the best equipment. He said the teaching will be in English and Arabic, and will teach Shari’a and the history of Qatar, pointing out that the school is considering the deci-sions adopted by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

EAA programs director Mariam Al Mannai said EAA launched a program in part-nership with the Ministry of Edu-cation and Higher Education and Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science and has been designed, developed and implemented

under EAA. The program was designed

for children to ensure that they have equal access to quality edu-cation. The program was updated on January 1, 2017 as a program that seeks to reach children who have not previ-ously been enrolled in a school and contributes to mitigating factors that hinder access to edu-cational opportunities that meet their basic aspirations.

Managing director of the school Mohammed Khan Zadeh thanked all stakeholders for their interest in supporting edu-cation for children living in limited circumstances and pos-sibilities. He added that the number of registered students reached 350 and the registration process is still ongoing and will reopen mid-August before the next semester. He said that the curriculum model of the school is based on a comprehensive educational program, which focuses on the development of basic learning skills of students.

International Day of Yoga in Qatar on June 22THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Embassy of India in Doha is celebrating the 5th International Day of Yoga on June 22. The cele-bration is a part of global commemoration of the Interna-tional Day of Yoga and will be held at National Museum of Qatar from 5 - 6 am and in evening it will be held at Qatar Sports Club Multi Purpose Indoor Hall from 7 - 8pm on Saturday.

Inspired by the response of enthusiastic Yoga practitioners from various parts of Qatar in the past four editions of International Day of Yoga in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the Embassy of India is also organising Yoga camps & workshops at Asian Town, Al Khor and Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum on June 21. Dukhan recreational Centre will host Yoga activity on June 28. Many schools in Qatar are also organising Yoga from June 16 to 20. The events on

June 22 will not only include Yoga demonstrations by experts but also provide an opportunity for all to participate in Yoga session which will be based on the Common Yoga Protocol and will comprise of various postures and breathing techniques, followed by meditation. As a prelude to the cel-ebration of the 5th International Day of Yoga, numerous work-shops and demonstrations in col-laboration with well known Doha based Yoga Studios have been

conducted by the Embassy in last two months including workshops for students in various schools based in Doha. In addition, Yoga sessions for Indian community based in Al Khor were also organised on a regular basis.

On December 11, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21 as the Interna-tional Day of Yoga and on June 21, 2015, the first International Day of Yoga was celebrated worldwide.

Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs H E Dr Ghaith bin Mubarak Al Kuwari and Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahed Ali Al Hammadi during the opening of the school.

Qatar Airways voted World’s Best Airline for fifth time

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, at the award ceremony.

Students of IIS celebrate Fathers’ DayThe tiny tots of the Ideal Indian School (IIS) celebrated the Fathers’ Day recently. The KG section wore a festive look with the students, dressed in colourful clothes, impersonated ‘fathers’ from various nationalities. Speaking on the occasion, the students highlighted the greatness of fatherhood and praised the love and care fathers give. Special colouring sheets were given to students to paint and present it to their fathers.

04 WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019HOME

CRA urges landlords to grant service providers access to propertiesTHE PENINSULA / DOHA

As per the current regulations, the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) urges landlords to give consent to service providers for access to their properties, for deployment of their fibre optic networks. This comes in line with CRA’s aim and

efforts to encourage customer choice and to improve quality of service in the fixed-line market in Qatar. The landlords’ consent form is included in the Reference Infrastructure Access Offer.

The landlords’ consent enables service providers to reach the customers with their fixed fibre networks and to

enhance their mobile services. “The landlords’ consent will further support CRA’s efforts to encourage sustainable compe-tition in the fixed-line telecom-munications market in Qatar.

The service providers will be enabled to provide innovative and competitive services, which will benefit consumers, and

contribute to the development of the Information and Commu-nications Technology Sector and to the development of the coun-try’s infrastructure,” said Mohammed Ali Al Mannai (pictured), President of CRA.

During fibre deployment, service providers work with pro-fessional contractors to carry out

the work inside the landlords’ properties. The probability of damages during the work is very limited. In any case in the unfor-tunate event of damages pro-voked by the contractors, service providers are liable for the damages and responsible for compensating the affected landlord.

Qatar Charity opens mosque in SomaliaTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Charity, with the support from the people in Qatar, inaugu-rated a mosque in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, in the presence of Ambassador of Qatar, Hasan Hamza, and Ambassador of Turkey, Mehmet Yilmaz, in addition to many local officials and residents of the region.

The people attending the inauguration ceremony praised the role of Qatar Charity in imple-menting such model projects that people need in their lives, expressing their happiness at the opening of the mosque in this coastal area inhabited by a large number of Muslims, with few mosques.

The mosque, built in an area of 320 sqm , is located inside the women and children hospital known as the Yardimeli Hospital. It was built at an estimated cost of over QR350,000. The mosque,

which accommodates more than 500 people, also has a prayer space for women, in addition to toilets and places for ablutions.

The construction work of the mosque took 18 months. Now, it is available for medical staff, patients, visitors, and residents of

the areas neighbouring the hos-pitals. It is the largest mosque built by Qatar Charity in Somalia so far. Earlier, nearly 28 mosque projects have been implemented in the country.

Previously, Qatar Charity has donated an ambulance to the

hospital in early 2018 to contribute to saving lives and meeting the needs of hospitals for the ambulance.

It is worth mentioning that Qatar Charity seeks to improve education in Somalia, as it has already completed the implemen-tation of several multi-service projects, including school projects.

Recently, Qatar Charity opened the Dar es Salaam Primary School in the city of Garowe to benefit 400 students. The project aims at supporting education in Somalia, contributing to increasing the literacy rate, improving edu-cation facilities, and creating gen-erations capable of participating in the development of the country.

In 2017, Qatar Charity also opened multi-service centres in the country. In the same year, a specialised agricultural school was opened in Afgooye, a town in the southwestern Lower Shebelle region of Somalia, which is the first-of-its-kind in the region.

Ambassador of Qatar Hasan Hamza and Ambassador of Turkey Mehmet Yilmaz opening the mosque, which was built by Qatar Charity, in Somalia.

More countries added to Vodafone Passport PackTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Vodafone Passport Pack, Qatar’s widest reaching roaming pack, now covers more of the globe across 119 countries, with 15 new countries added this month including Nigeria, Zambia, Singapore, Philippines, Tunisia, Tanzania, Canada, Vietnam, Mexico and Mozambique.

Vodafone Passport Pack is the only roaming pack in Qatar enabled on all operators across these 119 countries and has the widest 4G coverage.

Vodafone Passport Pack allows customers to enjoy 1GB of data and 100 minutes of roaming calls for only QR100 per week.

Vodafone Bill Manager product automatically activates Vodafone Passport Pack for all Postpaid customers, as soon as they’re roaming in one of the

enabled countries, so they can roam free. Prepaid customers can activate Vodafone Passport Pack through the My Vodafone App or by dialling *110*110#.

Diego Camberos, Chief Oper-ating Officer at Vodafone Qatar, said: “With Vodafone Passport Pack, customers can now discover more of the world with an unmatched worry-free experience.

In time for the summer hol-idays season, we hope we’ve made it even easier for customers to enjoy priceless moments with their loved ones.”

QA touches down first time in DavaoTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The first Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Davao, Philippines, touched down yesterday at Davao International Airport, where it was welcomed with a celebratory water cannon salute. Qatar Airways flight QR936 departed Hamad International Airport (HIA) on June 18 at 02.45 and landed in Davao at 17:20 local time.

The Ambassador of the Phil-ippines to the State of Qatar, Alan Timbayan, was joined by Qatar Airways Senior Vice-President Asia Pacific, Marwan Koleilat, on board Qatar Airways’ inaugural flight to Davao. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is very proud to extend its reach into the Philippines by launching our third gateway into this beautiful country. The inclusion of Davao into our global network further

demonstrates our commitment to the Far East region, a highly important market for Qatar Airways. With 50 weekly pas-senger flights to and from the Phil-ippines, we take great pride in our role of enabling trade and con-n e c t i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l businesses.”

Commenting on the new route launch, Davao International Airport Manager, Engr. Rex A. Obcena, said: “Davao International Airport is the main airport serving

Davao City and Davao Region in the Philippines. It is the busiest air-port on the island of Mindanao and one of the busiest in the Philip-pines. We look forward to wel-coming all passen-gers on Qatar Airways’ weekly return flights.”

With numerous beaches and resorts, Davao City, on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, is a coastal com-mercial center near Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak. Davao City is the largest city outside of Manila and the fourth largest in the Philippines in terms of popu-lation, with over 1.4 million residents.

The airline will operate its Davao service once a week with a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, featuring 22 seats in Business Class and 232 seats in Economy Class. Pas-sengers will be able to enjoy the airline’s superior entertainment system, Oryx One, offering a wide variety of entertainment options.

The Philippines is an important air freight market for Qatar Airways, with the carrier’s cargo arm offering a weekly capacity of 350 tonnes each way

on the Doha-Manila-Doha route and 70 tonnes on the Doha-Clark-Doha route. With the introduction of flights from Doha to Davao on the Doha-Clark-Davao-Doha

route effective 18 June, exporters in Davao will be offered direct connection to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas via Doha.

The officials and cabin crew of Qatar Airways at Davao International Airport.

The inclusion of Davao into it’s global network further demonstrates the commitment of its team to the Far East region, a highly important market for Qatar Airways.

THE PENINSULA DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), in cooperation with Nasser Bin Khaled Automo-biles, dealer of Mercedes-Benz in Qatar, announced the recall of Mercedes-Benz GL CLASS model of 2018 due to the possi-bility of front torsion bar linkage

on the left and right does not conform to manufacturer spec-ification.

The recall campaign comes within the framework of the Ministry’s continuous efforts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

The Ministry said that it will coordinate with the dealer to

follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will com-municate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out. The Ministry urges all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Pro-tection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, which proc-esses complaints, inquires and suggestions.

MoCI recalls Mercedes-Benz GL CLASS 2018 model

Vodafone Passport Pack allows customers to enjoy 1GB of data and 100 minutes of roaming calls for only QR100 per week.

05WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019 HOME

Ooredoo Passport: Key to worry-free roaming this summerTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Ooredoo has reminded customers about the amazing benefits of its Ooredoo Passport for customers trav-elling abroad this summer. The Ooredoo Passport enables customers travelling abroad to enjoy worry-free roaming. Once an Ooredoo Passport is activated it instantly provides 1 GB data and 100 minutes, available in 104 countries. In case allowances are all used up, customers need not worry – a new Ooredoo Passport will automatically be activated, so large roaming bills will not accrue.

Should a customer forget to activate an Ooredoo Passport prior to travel, and then spend QR100 roaming in a Passport country, an Ooredoo Passport with 1 GB and 100 minutes will automatically be activated.

And again, if all allowances are used up, a new Passport

wil l automatical ly be activated.

Speaking of the quick, effi-cient and easy service, Manar Khalifa Al Muraikhi – Director PR and Corporate Communi-cations at Ooredoo – said: “We know many of our customers travel abroad during the hot summer months, but they still want to stay connected easily and cost-effectively without worrying about running up huge roaming bills.

“We’re incredibly proud of our Ooredoo Passport product as we know it ticks all the boxes; it’s great value for money; it’s very easy to use with minimal effort required, and it provides peace of mind while you travel. We wish all our customers a great summer travelling abroad.”

Customers can sign up for an Ooredoo Passport online, via the Ooredoo app or in any of our Ooredoo shops around town. Customers can also get an Ooredoo Passport card before boarding at HIA.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds announces summer offersTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one of the largest jewellery retailers globally with a strong retail network of 250 outlets spread across the globe, has unveiled a new campaign to celebrate the onset of summer.

This campaign will run at all Malabar Gold & Diamonds outlets located in Qatar until July 14, 2019.

To celebrate this season, Malabar Gold & Diamonds will showcase the latest collection of gold, diamond & pre-

cious gems jewellery in their outlets. Malabar Gold & Diamonds will

offer their customers an exclusive

chance to win gold bars with purchase of gold and diamond jewellery this summer season.

With every purchase of gold & diamond jewellery worth QR500, cus-tomers get a chance to enter raffle draws to win 100 gramme of gold each in 10 raffle draws.

Adding to the above, customers also get a Scratch & Win Coupon with every Diamond jewellery purchase for a guaranteed cash back and get a chance to win up to 100 percent cash back.

Furthermore, customers can avail

the zero deduction offer on 22K (GCC) gold jewellery exchange as well.

To add more glitter to the season, they have also unveiled the latest col-lection of jewellery in gold, diamonds and precious gems to suit the tastes of their multicultural and multinational customers.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds has incorporated these designs as a part of various brands presented at Malabar Gold & Diamonds namely Ethnix - Handcrafted Designer Jew-ellery, Era - Uncut Diamond Jewellery, Mine - Diamonds Unlimited,

Divine- Indian Heritage Jewellery, Precia - Gem Jewellery and Starlet – Kids jewellery.

This holiday season, Malabar Gold & Diamonds will provide customers with the most attractive offers, definitely not worth a miss.

Their mesmerising collection and exclusive offers can be availed in all outlets of Malabar Gold & Diamonds in Qatar.

Customers can witness a huge col-lection of gold & diamond jewellery at Malabar Gold & Diamonds and win exciting prizes.

HBKU to host information session to showcase new LLM degreesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The College of Law (CL) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) will host an information session to showcase its new LLM (Master of Laws) degrees to current and prospective students on June 26.

The pioneering degrees – an LLM in International Law and Foreign Affairs and an LLM in International Economic and Business Law – are at the inter-section of the legal, business, and entrepreneurship sectors, and designed to cross the lines of single-discipline studies.

Dr Susan L Karamanian, Dean of CL, said: “Each of the two degrees is designed to address Qatar’s current legal and business trends, and thus equip Qatari and international grad-uates with the tools to work in top level positions in gov-ernment, law firms, multina-tional organisations, and the judiciary.

“We invite prospective stu-dents with an interest in pur-suing their graduate studies in

law to attend the session to obtain detailed information about the degrees and the admissions requirements, and have their questions thoroughly answered.”

The programmes are offered in English by renowned aca-demics and practitioners recog-nised in their fields of expertise, who will be available to answer specific questions regarding the curriculum. Attendees will also have the chance to meet our admissions team to discuss pro-grammes and application requirements.

CL introduced the LLM in International Law and Foreign Affairs and an LLM in Interna-tional Economics and Business

Law degrees this May at a uni-versity-wide event, which gar-nered the interest of more than 400 potential applicants in Qatar. The college was estab-lished to provide highly selective and demanded programmes that assist and align with Qatar’s national developmental goals, as well as the aspirations of key sectors and industries.

HBKU’s College of Law offers multidisciplinary graduate pro-grammes that equip students with the skills to navigate

complex civil, common, and Sharia law systems. The college’s Juris Doctor (JD) programme is the first graduate law degree of its kind offered in the region and is now offered in parallel with the college’s LLM degrees.

The information session will be in Conference Room 1 at Minaratein from 6pm. Intrested participants can find details about the information session and to register to attend via the HBKU website at https://www.hbku.edu.qa/en

The information session will take place in Conference Room 1 at Minaratein at 6pm on June 26.

HBKU’s College of Law introduced the LLM in International Law and Foreign Affairs and LLM in International Economics and Business Law degrees at a university-wide event last month.

06 WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Egypt’s ex-president Mursi buried in Cairo

AFP CAIRO

Egypt’s first democratically elected president Mohamed Mursi was buried yesterday, after he collapsed in a Cairo courtroom. The leader, who was removed in 2013 after a year of rule and later charged with espi-onage, was buried at a cemetery in eastern Cairo’s Medinat Nasr, one of his lawyers said.

Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud said family members had washed Mursi’s body and prayed the last rites early yes-terday morning at the Leeman Tora Hospital.

That lies near the prison where Egypt’s first civilian pres-ident, a prominent Muslim Broth-erhood member, had been held for six years in solitary

confinement and deteriorating health. The prosecutor general’s office said the 67-year-old leader had collapsed and “died as he attended a hearing” on Monday over alleged collaboration with foreign powers and militant groups. Abdel Maksoud said that only around 10 family members and close Mursi confidants were present at the funeral, including himself.

A reporter saw a handful of mourners entering the cemetery complex, accompanied by police officers, but journalists were pre-vented from entering the site.

The graveyard is in the same suburb as the largest massacre in Egypt’s modern history, the

August 2013 crackdown on Islamist sit-ins at two Cairo squares, weeks after Mursi’s ouster by the military.

Over 800 people were killed in a single day as security forces moved against protesters demanding Mursi’s rein-statement. The attorney-gen-eral’s office said Mursi, who appeared “animated”, had addressed the court on Monday for five minutes before falling to the ground inside the defendants’ glass cage. The Brotherhood’s political wing — the Freedom and Justice Party — accused Egyptian authorities of “deliberately killing him slowly” in solitary confinement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses mourners during a symbolic funeral ceremony for the former Egyptian president, yesterday, at Fatih Mosque in Istanbul.

Erdogan condemns inaction before deathANATOLIA ANKARA

Turkey’s president yesterday condemned “the Western world and humanity” for looking on as former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi died after being toppled and tortured in prison.

Speaking at a rally in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday’s upcoming mayoral election of the city’s metropolitan

municipality shows there were those who were “reminiscent of [the fate of] Mursi” on the one hand, and those who would “walk the just way” on the other.

Mursi, Egypt’s first democrat-ically-elected president, died on Monday during a court appearance.

In a local elections re-vote slated for June 23 in Turkey, Peo-ple’s Alliance candidate Binali Yildirim and Nation Alliance

candidate Ekrem Imamoglu will again vie for the Istanbul mayor’s seat after the country’s top election authority ordered a re-run of the March 31 Istanbul polls. The results of the March vote were cancelled after the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) appealed to the election council, citing irregularities and violations of the elections law.

UN calls for probe ANATOLIA/ANKARA

The UN human rights office called yesterday for an independent investigation into the death of former Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi. “Any sudden death in custody must be followed by a prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an independent body to clarify the cause of death,” said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. At the time of his death, Morsi faced a host of legal charges, which he, along with numerous human rights groups and inde-pendent observers, said were politically motivated.

US sends troops to Mideast amid tensionsAGENCIES WASHINGTON

The US is sending 1,000 more troops to the Middle East as tensions in the Arab Gulf mounted yesterday over Iran’s announcement it will not comply with the international agreement that keeps it from making nuclear weapons. At the same time, Iran insisted it was not seeking war.

Iran’s announcement on Monday that it could soon start enriching uranium to just a step away from weapons-grade levels challenged President Donald Trump’s assurances to allies that the US withdrawal from the deal last year made the world a safer place.

In the meantime, the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said yesterday that the United States will maintain its pressure campaign on Iran and continue to deter aggression in the region but does not want the conflict with Tehran to escalate. “We have been engaged in many messages, even this moment right here,

communicating to Iran that we are there to deter aggression,” Pompeo said at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.

The Pentagon responded by ordering 1,000 more troops to the Middle East, including security forces for additional surveillance and intelligence-gathering. The escalation of American military might was aimed at deterring Iran and calming allies worried about the safety of strategic shipping lanes. Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, insisted yesterday that while “we do not wage war with any nation,” Ira-nians will withstand mounting US pressure and emerge victorious.

After Trump withdrew from the deal signed by President Barack Obama, he reinstated stiff economic sanctions, leaving the European and other partners in the accord struggling to keep Iran on board. Iran’s announcement that it would not abide by a limit on uranium stockpiles established under the 2015 agreement puts the US in the awkward position. “We con-tinue to call on the Iranian regime not to

obtain a nuclear weapon, to abide by their commitments to the international com-munity,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said on Monday.

The US accuses Iran of attacking two tankers near the Arab Gulf; the Iranians deny responsibility. With details murky and no one owning up to the attacks, the Pentagon released new photos intended to bolster its case.

Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the forces are “for defensive purposes to address air, naval, and ground-based threats” in the Mideast.

“The United States does not seek con-flict with Iran,” Shanahan said, describing the move as intended “to ensure the safety and welfare of our military personnel working throughout the region and to protect our national interests.” He said the US.will continue to adjust troop levels as needed. Russia urged restraint by all parties and worries that the additional forces could “bring in extra tensions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Iran dismantles US spy networkAFP TEHRAN

Iran said yesterday that it had dismantled a US spy network, after Washington announced it would deploy 1,000 more troops to the Middle East and as key powers expressed concerns about regional tensions.

“Following clues in the American intelligence services, we recently found the new recruits Americans had hired and dismantled a new network,” Iran’s state news agency IRNA said, quoting an intel-ligence ministry official.

It said some members of the alleged CIA network had been arrested and handed over to the judiciary, while others s t i l l r e q u i r e d “ a d d i t i o n a l investigations”.

Syrian clashes kill 45 fightersAFP BEIRUT

Clashes between pro-government forces and militant-led groups that control Syria’s northwest killed at least 45 combatants yesterday, a war monitor said.

The fighting flared on the edge of Hama province when militant group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham launched a dawn attack on regime positions, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. At least 14 pro-gov-ernment forces died in ensuing clashes, said the Britain-based monitor. “Regime forces foiled the attack,” Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman said.

State news agency SANA also said the offensive had been thwarted.

Hama’s northern coun-tryside lies on the edge of a mil-itant-controlled region including most of Idlib province. The frontline had been relatively calm since clashes on Saturday killed more than 35 combatants, including militants and regime forces, Abdul Rahman said.

Regime airstrikes on northern Hama and neigh-bouring Idlib had also paused for more than 24 hours, before resuming yesterday following the latest bout of fighting, according to the monitor.

The bombardment killed one civilian in southern Idlib, it said.

Those who oppose military are enemies of Algeria: Army headAFP ALGIERS

Military chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah said yesterday that those who oppose the army were “enemies of Algeria”, as the country’s protest movement demands an overhaul of the entire regime.

Those with “grudges and animosity towards the army and its command... are undoubtedly enemies of Algeria”, said Gaid Salah, the country’s strongman since longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika was ousted in April. “Those who are knowingly trying

to circumvent... terms of the consti-tution, do they realise what it means to suppress all state institutions?” he asked in a speech. Gaid Salah said a constitutional void would amount to “the destruction of the foundations of the Algerian national state”.

“It is unthinkable to proceed in the name of the people with the destruction of the achievements of the Algerian people, that is to say... the constitution.” Street protests of the type that led to Bouteflika’s ouster have carried on with demonstrators demanding the fall of regime insiders and the establishment of independent institutions.

300,000 flee Congo violence, complicating Ebola fight: UNREUTERS GENEVA

More than 300,000 people have fled inter-ethnic violence in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo since early June, complicating the tracing and treatment of patients at risk from Ebola, UN aid agencies said yesterday.

At least 161 people have been killed in a northeastern province of Democratic Republic of Congo in the past week, local officials said on Monday, in an apparent resurgence of ethnic clashes between farming and herding communities. “Violence

in northeastern parts of the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo is reported to have displaced more than 300,000 since early June. The situation in Ituri province has deteriorated since the middle of last week, with multiple attacks involving the Hema and Lendu groups,” the UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch told a news briefing.

The UNHCR fears that the esca-lation could engulf large parts of the province, amid reports of killings, kidnappings and violence unleashed against civilians, he said. The gov-ernment is trying to bring the clashes under control, he added. As

Congolese flee violence at “this massive scale”, fears are that more people will try to seek safety in Uganda, crossing Lake Albert, Baloch said. An Ebola epidemic in Congo, which spread to Uganda last week, has caused 2,168 infections since August, including 1,449 deaths, with Ituri accounting for about 10 percent of cases and deaths, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said.

“We are always saying the mobility of the population in North Kivu and Ituri is a risk factor,” Jas-arevic told the briefing. “It is more complicated to do the work of follow-up, contact tracing.”

The leader, who was removed in 2013 and later charged with espionage, was buried at a cemetery in eastern Cairo’s Medinat Nasr, one of his lawyers said.

07WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019 ASIA

BJP picks Rajasthan MP Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker candidateIANS NEW DELHI/JAIPUR

Om Birla, BJPs two-time MP from Rajasthan, is the NDAs nominee for the post of Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha and is set to be elected today, with at least 10 parties, including outside the BJP-led coalition, committing their support to his candidature.

The name of 56-year-old Birla was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi told reporters in Delhi.

He said 10 parties have com-mitted their support to his can-didature and that even the main opposition Congress may not oppose him.

The parties include NDA constituents Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, JD(U), LJP, AIADMK, Apna Dal, National People’s Party (NPP) and Mizo National Front (MNF).

From outside the NDA, the parties which have committed their support are YSRCP and BJD, Joshi said.

He had also sought support from Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and felt the party may not oppose Birla.

Birla will succeed 76-year-old Sumitra Mahajan, who did not contest the Lok Sabha election this time.

The candidature of Birla, elected for a second successive term from Kota Lok Sabha con-stituency, is a surprise as there are BJP leaders like Maneka

Gandhi and Virendra Kumar who have been elected to the lower house of Parliament mul-tiple times.

However, this is not the first such case. Manohar Joshi of Shiv Sena had become the Speaker in his very first term in 2002.

Birla, a Masters in Com-merce, has earlier been a member of the Rajasthan Assembly thrice from 2003.

Born on November 23, 1962, he started his political career as a student and is known to be close to the Rashtriya Swayam-sewak Sangh (RSS).

He has also been the Akhil Bharatiya Janata Yuva Mocha national Vice-President as well as the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha state President in Rajasthan.

Birla made a strong con-tribution to the BJP particu-larly when he was the Parlia-mentary Secretary in the Rajasthan government from 2004 to 2008.

Meanwhile, supporters of Birla gathered outside his house yesterday to celebrate his nom-ination as the Lok Sabha Speaker.

Many of Birla’s supporters also burst crackers on the occasion at his residence.

He will be the fifth leader to take up the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post during his second tenure as an MP.

Birla served as an MLA in 2003, 2008, 2013 for the 12th, 13th and 14th Rajasthan Assem-blies and thereafter he won the parliamentary election in 2014 and became an MP.

He won the recent parlia-mentary polls again by beating Congress’ Ramnarayan Meena by over 2.79 lakh votes. Birla got over eight lakh votes in the election.

Overall, he has contested five elections and won them all.

His wife Amita Birla said it was a happy and proud moment for the family.

For the last 35 years, Birla had been working from the booth level to strengthen the party, Rajasthan BJP spokes-person Amit Goyal said, adding he had leadership qualities.

Through his nomination, the Prime Minister had given a message that anyone working for the party honestly and with dedication shall be given the highest position, BJP MLA in Rajasthan Satish Punia said.

Punia said that Birla was the second leader from Rajasthan after Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, former Vice-President of India, to be given such a big Constitu-tional post.

“This gives a strong message to party cadre — work hard and you shall be rewarded,” he added.

Members of Bharatiya Janata Party felicitate Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Working President Jagat Prakash Nadda (centre) at the party headquarters in New Delhi, yesterday. BJP appointed former health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda as its Working President.

Nadda elected BJP Working President

Owaisi counters shouts of BJP MPsIANS NEW DELHI

The second day of the 17th Lok Sabha was brought into sharp focus by slogans raised during the oath-taking ceremony of the new lawmakers.

All India Majlis-e-Itte-hadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s swearing-in got all the attention as he responded to the shouts of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ by Bharatiya Janata Party MPs with ‘Allahu Akbar’.

As the Hyderabad MP walked towards the Speaker’s podium to take oath, chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ were raised by almost all members on the treasury benches.

A smiling Owaisi waved at them and proceeded to take oath.

Soon after going through the procedure, Owaisi responded to the slogans with ‘Jai Bhim’, ‘Nara-e-takbeer Allah Hu Akbar’ and ‘Jai Hind’.

Reacting to slogans by pro-Hindutva side, Owaisi said, “It is good that they (BJP MPs) remember such things when they see me. I hope they will also remember the Constitution and deaths of children in Muz-affarpur.” Most BJP MPs raised ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogans when they took oath.

An exchange of sarcasm was visible between Congress Pres-ident Rahul Gandhi and Lakhimpur Kheri MP Ajay Kumar when the BJP legislator raised ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogans.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi then intervened,

indicating Rahul Gandhi not to make any comment.

The BJP MPs raised the slogans whenever any Tri-namool Congress (TMC) MP took oath.

TMC’s Kakoli Ghose gave back to the BJP MP’s slogans with ‘Jai Hind’ and ‘Jai Bengal.’ Sonia Gandi admired her strong reaction with thumpings on her table.

An Independent MP from Amravati, Navneet Rana, reacted to the sloganeering and said: “This is not the right place, temples are there for it.

“All gods are the same, but targeting someone and taking that name, is wrong.” Slogans of ‘Mandir vahin banayenge’ were raised in the Lower House as Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj took oath as a Member of Parliament in Sanskrit.

4 soldiers lost in one day as key Pulwama attack suspect killedIANS SRINAGAR

The Indian Army yesterday killed yet another militant linked to the Pulwama attack that took away the lives of 40 CRPF troopers earlier this year. Despite losing four soldiers in past 24 hours in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army was successful in killing the Jaish man whose car was used in the February 14 attack.

The Jaish-e-Muhammad militant whose car was used in the Lethpora terror attack was killed on Tuesday in a gun fight with the security forces in the Anantnag district, police said.

Sajad Ahmad Bhat, JeM mil-itant, whose car was used in the suicide bombing in the Lethpora area of Pulwama which killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers and put the two neigh-bours on the brink of a major showdown, was among the two militants killed in Waghama.

“Sajad Ahmad Bhat alias Afzal Guru had joined militancy days before the Lethpora terror attack. He belonged to Marhama village,” police sources added.

A soldier was also killed and two others injured in the Waghama gunfight, the police said.

Centre retires 15 senior indirect tax officials for misconductIANS NEW DELHI

Days after a dozen senior Income Tax officials were shown the door for alleged misconduct, the axe has now fallen on 15 senior revenue officials dealing with indirect taxes on charges ranging from demanding bribe and criminal conspiracy to financial impropriety, sources said.

The axe fell on Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) officials in the rank of Principal Commissioner, Com-missioner and others under Clause (j) of Rule 56 of the Fun-damental Rules.

A Finance Ministry statement, however, said that the President of India has retired the officers in “public interest” with immediate effect on com-pleting 50 years of age.

“All these 15 officers will be paid a sum equivalent to the pay and allowances for a period of three months calculated at the same rate at which they are sup-posed to be withdrawing imme-diately before their retirement,” the statement said.

This is yet another major clean-up drive by the Modi gov-ernment after coming to power for a second consecutive term last month.

The officers retired, include Anup Srivastava, Principal Com-missioner, Pr ADG (Audit) Delhi, Atul Dikshit, a commissioner who was under suspension and G Shree Harsha, Commissioner, ADG DGPM Chennai.

Srivastava was booked by the CBI in 2012 for demanding and accepting bribe from an importer to cover up a case of duty evasion. He was also fined Rs20 lakh by the Estate office for non-vacation of a gov-ernment flat.

According to sources, some officials were forcibly shunted out for having disproportionate assets, as in the case of Atul Dikshit, who was charged by the CBI in a dis-proportion assets case to the tune of 78.46 percent in excess of his known sources of income.

Assistant Commissioner of Mumbai GST Zone Vinod Kr Sangha, Assistant Commissioner of Bhubaneswar GST Zone S S Bisht and Deputy Commissioner of Delhi GST Zone Amresh Jain were also among the 15 compul-sorily retired officials.

Assistant Commissioner of CC(AR) - Allahabad Mohd Altaf was retired for being involved in smuggling of red sanders. He was a co-noticee in two case of smuggling and was fined Rs 2.05 crore by the adjudicating authorities.

Heatwave kills 90 people in BiharIANS /PATNA

Severe heatwave killed 12 more people in Bihar in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll over the past three days to 90, official said yesterday.

However, unofficially, the heatwave has claimed more than 250 lives in three days across a dozen districts. Deaths were

reported from Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada and Jamui districts, where temperatures hovered around 45.8 to 42 degrees Celsius on June 15, 16 and 17.

According to the State Dis-aster Management Department website, some 90 deaths had been recorded till yesterday. In a first, prohibitory orders have been imposed under Section 144

of the Code of Criminal Pro-cedure (CrPC) in Gaya, Begusarai , Darbhanga, Gopalganj, Madhubani and Sita-marhi districts. Bihar Chief Sec-retary Deepak Kumar said that the government will conduct an enquiry into how intense the heatwave was between 3-5pm on June 15 that it resulted in the highest number of deaths.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister said 10 parties have committed their support to his candidature and that even the main opposition Congress may not oppose Om Birla.

“It is clear that the responsibility lies with the Transitional Military Council (TMC) as the authority in charge of protecting the population,” a group of European Union foreign ministers said in a statement, which hailed the “historic opportunity” posed by the protest movement and added to the calls for an independent investigation.

BLOOMBERG

08 WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019VIEWS

The warlord wrecking Sudan’s revolution

For the first time since April, Sudan’s ousted strongman, Omar Hassan Al Bashir, made a public appearance. On

Sunday, the former dictator emerged from prison clad in his trademark white robes and was taken by police to court, where he faced corruption-related charges, including embez-zlement and the possession of foreign currency. But glaringly absent from the allegations were the far worse crimes associated with Bashir’s three-decade rule. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide charges related to his regime’s vicious coun-terinsurgency more than a decade ago in the Darfur region.

That veneer of accountability sums up the grim state of Sudan’s fragile political moment. Bashir was brought down in April after protesters took to the streets for months, clamouring for his exit and a transition to a civilian government in the country. Their pressure compelled Bashir’s former allies in Sudan’s security apparatus to remove him from power. But in the weeks since, the junta that replaced Bashir has cracked down on the protest movement and political oppo-

sition with brutality reminiscent of the horrors unleashed in Darfur, where gov-ernment-backed militias carried out hideous slaughters of predomi-nantly non-Arab com-munities between 2003 and 2008.

On June 3, soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces, or the RSF, a noto-rious para-military group, attacked pro-testers in

Khartoum, ransacking a central site that the pro-democracy movement had occupied for months. At least 128 were killed, according to the main protest organization. Reports continue to surface of militia forces dumping bodies in the Nile, while subjecting

protesters to rape, beatings and other acts of torture. A nationwide clampdown on the Internet followed, shutting off many of the avenues the opposition had to share information with each other and the outside world. “Now that the sit-in site . . . is in ashes, there is an overwhelming feeling of isolation,” journalist Zeinab Mohammed Salih wrote in a BBC dis-patch this week. “Not only are the demonstrators no longer able to gather, but they have found it difficult to communicate and share their disap-pointment, frustration and anger at the turn of events.”

The junta’s de facto leader is Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who’s also known as Hemeti. Hamdan is no would-be democrat - he’s the head of the RSF, which, before being rebranded, rampaged through Darfur as the infamous Jan-jaweed militia. Now, as Declan Walsh of the New York Times reported, Hamdan is trying to present himself as a savior. Over the weekend, he took an armed convoy to a rally 40 miles outside the capital, where sup-porters greeted him with chants cele-brating army rule.

“If I did not come to this position, the country would be lost,” Hamdan told the Times, denying responsibility for the slaughter of protesters while also blaming the opposition for goading security forces. “People say Hemeti is too powerful and evil,” he added. “But it’s just scaremongering. My power comes from the Sudanese people.”

In public remarks, Hamdan has panned the protesters and appeared to renege on earlier deals made between the junta - known as the Transitional Military Council - and the main oppo-sition groups. A central sticking point remains the composition of a transi-tional legislative body that would eventually pave the way for fresh elections.

Activists fear Hamdan and Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the more senior face of the junta, may move to appoint a parallel body and further erode what hope there is for a civilian-led democracy. Ethiopian attempts to

broker a way forward appear to have made little headway.

“There is a total impasse. The negotiations have been suspended, Internet services remain blocked, and the Ethiopian mediations apparently did not make progress,” Dura Gambo, an activist with the Sudanese Profes-sionals Association, the lead protest group, told the Associated Press. Despite the violence, the opposition is planning on reviving its campaign with nighttime vigils and marches in the country’s cities. International pressure is slowly mounting on the junta. Western governments are demanding it account for the killings this month.

“We believe very strongly there has to be an independent, credible investigation to figure out what exactly happened, why it happened, who gave the orders, how many victims there were,” US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Tibor Nagy told jour-nalists in Ethiopia last week.

“It is clear that the responsibility lies with the Transitional Military Council (TMC) as the authority in charge of protecting the population,” a group of European Union foreign min-isters said in a statement, which hailed the “historic opportunity” posed by the protest movement and added to the calls for an independent investigation.

Hamdan and his allies have so far rebuffed those demands. In their camp are a conspicuous crop of Arab autoc-racies - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The two Gulf monarchies, in particular, are invested in preserving the military regime; Hamdan recently visited Riyadh and met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are instead driven by their own fear that should a major Arab country transition to democracy, it would lead to upheavals at home,” Iyad El-Bagdhadi, an Arab pro-democracy activist, wrote earlier this month. He added that “as long as the military junta has political and financial support from the Saudis and the Emiratis, it will have little reason to back down.”

ISHAAN THAROOR THE WASHINGTON POST

QUOTE OF THE DAYI am deeply concerned

about the escalation of the fighting in

Idlib. Even in the fight against terrorism

there needs to be full compliance

with international human rights and humanitarian law.

Antonio Guterres UN Secretary-General

May’s sad legacy is bigger than Brexit

Theresa May will be remem-bered as the prime minister who couldn’t deliver Brexit. But she also leaves her suc-

cessor another testing legacy: her failure to confront what she has called the UK’s “burning injustices.”

Britain is a rich country by any def-inition, but it scores badly on a range of social measures. Income inequal-ity is higher than in many comparable nations, and economic mobility is lower. Pockets of deep poverty persist. There are pronounced regional disparities in education and health, and “deaths of despair” have been rising.

May has acknowledged these prob-lems, but has done little to solve them. During her brief tenancy of 10 Downing Street, many have grown worse. Cuts to local-government budgets have under-mined social care for the elderly and vulnerable, for instance. Efforts to curb substance abuse have faltered. A once-promising welfare reform, known as Universal Credit, was bungled, a failure

that contributed to the recent surge of homelessness. Assuming that semi-func-tioning government is one day restored in the UK, these issues will demand to be addressed, not just named. To be sure, there’s no single over-arching remedy for this nexus of ills. And public funds aren’t limitless. It will be crucial to set priorities - and to pair additional spend-ing, where needed, with reform.

Start with health care. Government health spending in the UK, at 7.6 per-cent of GDP, is about half that in the US and far beneath Germany, France and other rich countries. At first sight, genu-inely universal health insurance at such modest outlay is a success. But the strains on the system are now painfully clear. May pledged an extra 20 billion pounds annually for the National Health Service by 2023. Even that is unlikely to suffice, given rising costs and a rapidly aging population. The NHS is already lean, so the scope for savings from greater effi-ciency is small. If Britain wants to retain its fully funded public system, it will need to raise taxes to pay for it.

Elsewhere, opportunities abound for

spending more intelligently. For instance, funding for early-years development has been shown to have health and educa-tion benefits for children in poorer areas. In time, those benefits mean lower pub-lic outlays (on health interventions and control of crime) and higher tax revenues (from a more productive workforce and economy). Programs of this kind have been slashed by two-thirds over the past dec-ade - a patently false economy, proving that “austerity” and fiscal responsibility aren’t always the same thing.

The divide between Britain’s pros-perous southeast and the rest of the country continues to widen. Address-ing this is increasingly urgent, because the rupture is poisoning the country’s politics. Throwing money at the issue has been tried and doesn’t work. Brit-ain needs to rethink the management of these resources. Local authorities are often best placed to design programs that meet local needs. They should be given the power and budgets to over-haul provision of transportation, health services, training and social care in the areas they know best.

It’s all well-known fact that the country’s health sector has undergone enormous expansion in recent years and provides a full range of high-quality healthcare services to its people.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI

osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIAL

Care for allQatar’s healthcare system is top of the world. It matches

with the best in the world. It also got several acco-lades and praises from all over the world for its

advanced systems and the care it provides to all its citizens and residents. But Qatar never stops there as it is always in the process of moving to the next best available healthcare system in the world. Minister of Public Health H E Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari stressed said that the health system in Qatar is always focused on providing quality services according to international standards to meet the aspirations of the people of the country, in line with the ren-aissance of Qatar and its resulting increase in population.

The Minister announced a number of projects that will contribute to further development of the health system. The projects include the construction of a number of new spe-cialised hospitals, both in the public or private health sector, in addition to the creation of new services that will further improve the existing system, which was ranked fifth best globally.

It’s all well-known fact that the country’s health sector has undergone enormous expansion in recent years and

provides a full range of high-quality healthcare services to its people. Qatar is always expanding its healthcare system to meet growing patient needs. In 2018, it opened Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital and a dedicated Surgical Specialty Center. Last year also saw the official opening of the Tobacco Control Center, a new Stroke Service Unit, and the launch of a number of new services that are improving patient care. The health sector authorities such as the Ministry of Public Health, Qatar Foundation, Hamad Medical Corporation, Primary Health Care Corporation, and World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) jointly push all possible efforts to improve the healthcare facilities and researches in the country.

The Minister of Public Health stressed that the health sector enjoys great support from Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in order to develop a comprehensive system with high-quality services that improves the health of the Qatari society.

The number of patients who visited Hamad Medical Cor-poration (HMC) last year was 1.7 million. The addition of specialised services in primary healthcare units will help reduce the load on HMC, which will in turn lead to less waiting times. The draft law on the new health insurance system will soon be presented to the Shura Council.

In the last three months itself, the number of beds in hos-pitals increased by 200. That is in addition to the 1,200 new beds added between 2016 and 2018 after the opening of eight new hospitals, with a total number of beds currently at 2,121. There are also plans to increase the number of beds in the private sector by 25 percent, while there is also a thought to convert dental services for residents who cur-rently hold health insurance to the private sector to reduce the pressure on public dental clinics, which has seen a major developments in terms of expanding its services.

Supporters of Sudanese General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Himediti, raise up their sticks during a meeting with the General in Khartoum, yesterday.

09WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019 ASIA

Pakistan saves climbers hit by avalancheAP ISLAMABAD

A Pakistani army helicopter rescued yesterday four Italian and two Pakistani climbers stranded at an altitude of around 5,300 metres in the country’s north, after an avalanche struck the team the previous day, a mountaineering worker said. A Pakistani member of the team was killed.

The expedition was hit while descending a peak in the Ishkoman Valley, located in the northern district of Ghizar.

Karrar Haidri, head of Pakistan’s Alpine Club, said that the six sur-viving climbers were taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Gilgit for the treatment of injuries. “Sadly, one Pakistani mountaineer was killed, but six other members of the expedition

are being treated at a hospital,” he said.

“A Pakistan army helicopter was used for this complicated but successful rescue operation, despite the fact that the stranded mountaineers were present at an altitude of around 5,300 metres,”

he added. Ashraf Aman, a Paki-stani tour operator who arranged the expedition, confirmed that Pakistan’s military had dis-patched the helicopter earlier yesterday morning to rescue the climbers. He said the body of the Pakistani mountaineer, Mohammad Imtiaz, would be brought down later.

Aman said none of the sur-viving team had life threatening injuries. The four Italian climbers involved are expedition leader Tarcisio Bellò, Luca Morellato, David Bergamin and Tino Toldo. Bellò said they were “very lucky”

that they survived. “I think glacier collapsed and millions tons come down. We were very up at the mountain,” he said.

In a separate incident on Monday, two Chinese moun-taineers were reported missing in another area in northern Pakistan, said Haidri. He said a rescue mission was planned to find them.

Mountaineers from across the world travel to Pakistan every year to try scaling its high northern mountains. Harsh weather and conditions often prove a test for the most

experienced of climbers. Earlier this year, two European climbers -Italian Daniele Nardi and Briton Tom Ballard - were killed during bad winter weather on Nanga Parbat, which is the world’s ninth-tallest mountain at 8,126 metres (26,660 feet).

Nardi, from near Rome, had attempted to scale the peak in winter several times. Ballard’s disappearance hit his homeland particularly hard as he is the son of Alison Hargreaves, the first woman to scale Mount Everest alone. She died at age 33 descending the summit of K2.

Karrar Haidri, Head of Pakistan’s Alpine Club, said that the six surviving climbers, including four Italians and two Pakistanis, were taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Gilgit for the treatment of injuries. One Pakistani mountaineer was killed.

Siraj ul Haq, head of Pakistan’s political and religious party Jama’at e Islami, leads the funeral prayers in absentia for the former Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, in Peshawar, Pakistan, yesterday.

Pakistan’s leaders pay homage to MursiANATOLIA KARACHI

Leaders of Pakistan’s ruling and opposition parties yesterday expressed grief over the martyrdom of former Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi and said the Muslim world has lost a true hero.

In a statement, Senator Siraj ul Haq, chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, the country’s main-stream religious party, said

Mursi had refused to bow to dic-tatorship and withdraw support for the Palestinian struggle for freedom and independence, which were his only “crimes”.

“Mursi stood tall in the face of all pressures aimed at forcing him to withdraw from his struggle for the fundamental rights of the people of Egypt and his support to Palestine,” Haq noted, adding, “the dictatorial regime failed miserably to break his resolve”. He announced that

the party held funeral prayers in absentia yesterday for Mursi across Pakistan.

“Indeed — sad news. What hope there was and how tragi-cally it all ended. RIP,” Shireen Mazari, Pakistan’s human rights minister, said on Twitter.

Ahsan Iqbal, leader of the main opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and former interior minister, said Mursi wi l l be remembered.

Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan urge support for refugeesANATOLIA ISLAMABAD

Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and the UNHCR urged the interna-tional community to support countries hosting millions of refugees.

The demand came during the Sixth Quadripartite Steering Committee Meeting in Islamabad, where the issue of repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran was dis-cussed. Participants reaffirmed their assurance to the principle of voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity and called for joint efforts to create an envi-ronment conducive to phased, gradual and orderly voluntary return and sustainable reinte-gration in Afghanistan, as well as to continue to more appro-priately support host commu-nities in Iran and Pakistan, within the SSAR framework, according to the state-run Asso-ciated Press of Pakistan.

The regional multi-year Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) provides a framework for cooperation between humanitarian and development actors to address

the needs of Afghan refugees.“We urged the international

community to fulfil their pledges and provide support to all those countries who are hosting mil-lions refugees,” said Shehryar Khan Afridi, the federal minister for States and Frontier Regions Division (SAFRON) dealing Afghan refugees.

Pakistan hosted more than one million Afghan refugees in line with the spirit and prece-dence set by the Ansaar of Madinah who sacrificed their lives and assets by sharing eve-rything with migrants from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, who migrated along with Prophet Muhammad, he added.

“For the last 40 years we are hosting the Afghan refugees. Now the time has come that the global community should fulfil their promises and help Pakistan and Iran to resolve Afghan ref-ugees problems” he said.

The UN refugees agency, UNHCR, praised Islamabad and Tehran for hosting Afghan ref-ugees and said it would support host communities in refugees’ host countries. The legal stay of 1.4 million registered Afghan ref-ugees would end June 30.

UN gives Myanmar aid cut warning over Rohingya row AFP YANGON

The UN has warned it will pare back aid to thousands of Rohingya Muslims left destitute as Myanmar’s government closes camps in Rakhine state, over fears its continued support “risks entrenching segregation”.

Aid agencies are facing an increasingly sharp dilemma in the region as they balance relief for desperate communities with

leverage over the government. The majority of Myanmar’s Rohingya were driven into Bang-ladesh by a 2017 army crackdown, but around 400,000 remain inside conflict-battered Rakhine. Those include nearly 130,000 held since 2012 in squalid camps, currently sup-ported by UN agencies and humanitarian groups.

As part of its strategy to address the crisis, Myanmar has closed several camps holding

around 9,000 Rohingya. But they have not been allowed to return to their former homes and remain dependent on handouts. Instead, they are being settled in new accommodation close to the former camps.

That has sparked fears aid agencies are effectively being used to prop-up a policy that fails to address the fundamental needs of the Rohingya, including housing, work, food and security. The camp closure plan “risks

entrenching segregation”, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar Knut Ostby wrote to the government in a leaked letter, dated 6 June.

The letter, also written on behalf of aid groups, warned support “beyond life-saving assistance” at the closed sites would in future be linked to “tan-gible” progress made on “the fundamental issue of freedom of movement”. “Life-saving” support includes food, health and

water, but site planning, shelter construction and education facil-ities could be phased out, aid agency sources said.

The UN has faced criticism for a slow response to violence against the Rohingya, which escalated after 2012 riots between Muslim Rohingyas and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists. A UN report released yesterday admitted “systemic failures” in its handling of the build-up to the Rohingya crisis.

Visitors pose for a picture inside an upside-down cafeteria in Dhaka yesterday.

Upside-down

Sri Lankan police officer disobeys president to testify at attack probeAFP COLOMBO

A Sri Lankan police officer yesterday defied President Maithripala Sirisena and testified before a parliamentary investigation into the Easter Sunday suicide bombings that killed 258 people.

Sirisena has come in for major criticism after ordering top brass not to allow police, military or intelligence per-sonnel to take part in hearings into the attacks being held by a parliamentary committee.

The president, who has said the hearings could reveal clas-sified information, is accused by critics of presiding over a security and intelligence appa-ratus which ignored warnings that could have prevented the attack on three churches and luxury hotels.

Yesterday the committee heard evidence — much of it in camera — from Inspector N B Kasthuriarachchi, who had

been in charge of an area where the bombing mas-termind was based before he went underground in the months prior to the attack.

Deputy parliamentary speaker Ananda Kumarasiri opened the hearing with a warning to public servants that refusing to cooperate with the committee could lead to a 10-year jail term.

“Anyone who refuses to appear... or withholds any evi-dence, will be violating the par-liamentary privileges act and will be liable to punishment,” he said.

The state telecommuni-cation service provider, which previously broadcast live pro-ceedings of the hearing on cable TV, stopped doing so after a presidential order two weeks ago.

They can still be followed, however, on the parliament website as well as private news channels broadcasting pro-ceedings on social media plat-

forms such as Facebook.Two weeks ago Sirisena

sacked national intelligence chief Sisira Mendis after he tes-tified that the attacks could have been prevented.

Mendis said the president had failed to hold regular security meetings to assess the threat from Islamic radicals who carried out the bombings.

Defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando and police chief Pujith Jayasundara also sug-gested Sirisena did not follow proper protocol in dealing with a specific intelligence warning from India.

Fernando was forced to resign, while Jayasundara has been suspended from duty.

According the reports available, New Delhi shared detailed information about the targets and method of attack as early as April 4, gleaned from a militant in Indian custody, but the intelligence was not acted on.

INTERNEWS / ISLAMABAD

The Gilgit-Baltistan government in north of Pakistan has set up four new districts in the region.

The government has issued a notification about creation of the new districts in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The number of districts in Gilgit-Baltistan reached 14 after the notification. It said that on approval of competent authority, the government of Gilgit-Baltistan in exorcise of powers, conferred upon it under Section 5 of Land Revenue Act, 1967, was

pleased to notify the four subdi-visions as separate districts having same territorial juris-diction, boundaries as earlier. The new districts include Gupis-Yasin in Gilgit division, Rondu in Baltistan division, Deral and Tangir in Diamer division.

Four new districts set up in Gilgit-Baltistan

ECP seeks reply over Maryam’s appointment as party’s VP INTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) sought a reply from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) over a petition challenging the appointment of Maryam Nawaz as party vice-president, Express News reported.

A three-member bench of the ECP, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Muhammad Raza heard the petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad. During the hearing, Jehangir Jadoon represented PML-N, Barrister Zafarullah represented Maryam and Hassan Maan represented PTI.

The lawyer of the PML-N and Maryam asked for a copy of the petition from the ECP and said they would submit a response after going through it.

Directing the authorities concerned to provide a copy of the petition to PML-N, ECP asked them to submit their reply in the next hearing on June 25. Parliamentary Sec-retary for Law Maleeka Bukhari said PML-N counsel took a U-turn before the election com-mission when he stated that Maryam Nawaz is not party vice-president.

Bukhari stressed being a convicted person; Maryam cannot hold any party office, according to Radio Pakistan.

In a major party reshuffle in May, Maryam was made one of the 16 vice-presidents of the PML-N along with Hamza Shehbaz, who is also the Oppo-sition Leader in the Punjab Assembly. Former prime min-ister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was appointed as the senior vice-president, while Ahsan Iqbal was made the general secretary.

10 WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019ASIA / EUROPE

13 dead, around 200 injured in China earthquakeAFP BEIJING

The toll from a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China rose to 13 dead and 199 injured yesterday as rescuers pulled bodies and survivors from wrecked buildings.

More than 8,000 people were relocated as a large number of structures were damaged or collapsed after the quake struck late on Monday near Yibin, in Sichuan province, according to the city government.

State broadcaster CCTV aired footage of rescuers bringing a survivor out of a building’s rubble on a stretcher overnight. Other images were of a woman being helped out of another collapsed structure.

P h o t o g r a p h s f r o m Changning county showed an electricity pole knocked down on the roof of a building, a hole in a brick home and broken windows on the street.

Cracks appeared in several roads, and a major highway con-necting Yibin and Xuyong county was closed, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Mud and rock slipped from the side of a hill, blocking a road and wrapping around a truck, CCTV footage showed.

More than 12,000 homes were moderately damaged, while 73 buildings have col-lapsed, Yibin authorities said.

The possibility of thunder and showers over the next two days could complicate the rescue efforts, Xinhua noted.

An early warning alarm system was triggered in the pro-vincial capital Chengdu about one minute before the earth-quake struck, the news agency said. The alert rang 10 seconds before it hit Yibin.

A three-second headstart before a tremor hits can prevent 14 percent of casualties, Xinhua said.

Nine people died in Changning county and four others in Gong county, the Yibin city government said on its Twitter-like Weibo account, up from a death toll of 12 earlier in the day.

Rescuers have pulled at least 20 people from the wreckage, and more than 100 people are receiving treatment at hospitals, it said.

More than 500 firefighting teams have been dispatched to the scene. Rescue personnel were also sent with more than 5,000 tents, 10,000 cots and other emergency supplies.

The area was hit by a series of at least four aftershocks, the largest of which had a magnitude of 5.1.

The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the main quake at 5.8, although the China Earthquake Networks Centre, the government seis-mology authority, put the quake at 6.0.

Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble after earthquakes hit Changning county in Yibin, Sichuan province, China, yesterday.

Japan tsunami advisory lifted following strong earthquakeAFP TOKYO

A strong 6.4-magnitude earth-quake rocked Japan yesterday, sparking a tsunami advisory that was later lifted with no reports of major damage or injuries.

The nation’s meteorological agency warned that a wave of one metre (three feet) could hit the coast of the Sea of Japan, north of Tokyo, but only small ripples of 10 centimetres were recorded. The agency cancelled

the tsunami advisory around two and a half hours after the quake.

The earthquake registered six on the Japanese scale, which goes up to a maximum of seven and was felt in the capital, which is more than 300km away. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 6.4.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters his government would be “on the maximum alert” to prepare for possible rescue operations in the region.

18 dead after ferry sinks in IndonesiaAFP JAKARTA

The death toll from an Indo-nesian ferry sinking has risen to 18, authorities said yesterday, the latest maritime accident to hit the archipelago nation.

The overloaded passenger boat was carrying more than 60 people when it overturned Monday in rough seas near Madura island, off Java’s north coast.

Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said 18 people had died, including several children, with 39 survivors.

A fleet of rescue vessels, a plane and local fishing boats are searching the waters for at least four others still missing, author-ities said.

But local reports have sug-gested that there could be more victims who were not listed on the official manifest.

“It’s suspected that the boat was overloaded,” East Java Police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said.

“The boat was hit by a large wave, overturned and sank.” The 10-metre long traditional vessel was found by fishermen shortly after it was swamped, he added.

Marine accidents are common in Indonesia, an archi-pelago nation of more than 17,000 islands, where many use ferries and other boats to travel despite poor safety standards.

More than 160 people died when a passenger ferry sunk into the depths of one of the world’s deepest lakes on Sumatra island last year.HK leader apologises for extradition crisis, vows to stay on

AFP HONG KONG

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam apologised yesterday for the political unrest that has shaken Hong Kong, but the pro-Beijing chief executive refused to bow to demands for her resignation.

The semi-autonomous ter-ritory has been plunged into its biggest crisis in decades, with millions of people taking to the streets to demand the with-drawal of proposed legislation that would have allowed extra-ditions to mainland China.

Lam suspended the bill on Saturday after two massive rallies that saw isolated bouts of violence between the police and some protesters.

But that failed to quell public anger, and an even bigger rally on Sunday drew over two million people, organisers said — more than a quarter of the population.

“I personally have to shoulder much of the responsi-bility. This has led to contro-versies, disputes and anxieties in society,” Lam told a press conference.

“For this I offer my most sincere apology to all people of Hong Kong.” Activists have demanded the bill be withdrawn fully, for Lam to step down, and for police to be investigated for using tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters.

They have also asked for all charges to be dropped against

anyone detained during the protests.

But Lam gave no indication she was prepared to step down,

saying instead she wanted to “continue to work very hard... to meet the aspirations of the Hong Kong people”.

Lam tacitly suggested, however, that the extradition bill was unlikely to be revived given the public sentiment.

“I will not proceed again with this legislative exercise if these fears and anxieties could not be adequately addressed,” she said.

“If the bill... (does) not make the legislative council by July next year, it will expire... and the government will accept that reality.”

Protest organisers were unmoved by Lam’s latest public statement, and slammed her for failing to address their demands.

“Her attitude is arrogant,” said Jimmy Sham of the Civil Human Rights Front, an umbrella organisation of various groups participating in the protests.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a press conference at the government headquarters in Hong Kong, yesterday.

Activists display anti-China placards and flags during a protest at a park in Manila yesterday, after a Chinese vessel last week collided with a Philippine fishing boat which sank in the disputed South China Sea and sailed away sparking outrage.

New Zealand man jailed for sharing mosque shooting videoAFP WELLINGTON

A New Zealand man was jailed for 21 months yesterday for distributing gruesome livestream video of the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 Muslim worshippers, local media reported.

Philip Arps, 44, was arrested in Christchurch four days after alleged gunman Brenton

Tarrant’s March 15 rampage at two mosques in the South Island city resulted in the worst mas-sacre in modern New Zealand history.

Arps pleaded guilty to two charges of distributing objec-tionable material for sharing footage that was livestreamed to social media during the attack.

Christchurch District Court heard Arps distributed the raw footage to about 30 people and

had another version that was modified to include crosshairs and a “kill count”, the New Zealand Herald reported.

“This was in effect a hate crime against the Muslim com-munity,” judge Stephen O’Driscoll said. He said it was “particularly cruel” to share the video in the days after the attacks, when relatives were still waiting to hear news of their loved ones.

O’Driscoll found that Arps had set out to “glorify” the deaths of Muslims and any punishment other than imprisonment was inappropriate, Radio New Zealand reported.

New Zealand’s chief censor David Shanks classified the video from the mosque shooting as objectionable content soon after the shooting, making sharing the footage a crime punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

10 fishermen abducted by militants off Borneo islandAFP KUALA LUMPUR

Suspected Islamic State-linked militants kidnapped 10 fish-ermen off Borneo island yesterday and took them to the southern Philippines, police said, the latest abductions in the strife-torn waters.

The heavily armed assailants snatched the group of nomadic sea gypsies in the early hours as they sailed in two boats off eastern Sabah state, in the Malaysian part of Borneo.

Six others escaped.Sabah police chief Omar

Mammah confirmed that the fishermen had been kidnapped. Philippine kidnap-for-ransom gang Abu Sayyaf is thought to be responsible, and the fish-ermen were taken to islands in the south of the country, reported Malaysia’s official news agency Bernama, citing police.

The southern Philippines is home to numerous armed groups, and Abu Sayyaf is noto-rious for kidnappings of for-eigners. The militants, who demand large ransoms and have beheaded several hos-tages, have pledged allegiance to IS group.

EU decision on North Macedonia, Albania membership delayed AFP LUXEMBOURG

The European Union yesterday delayed a decision on whether to open accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia until October, dealing a fresh blow to the Balkan states’ hopes.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said last month that both countries had carried out reforms demanded by Brussels and formal membership talks should be launched. But some countries, notably France and the Nether-lands, are reluctant to admit new members, while Germany has yet to get parliamentary approval it needs to back talks, so the decision by ministers meeting in Luxembourg was widely expected. “In light of the

limited time available and the importance of the matter, the Council will revert to the issue with a view to reaching a clear and substantive decision as soon as possible and no later than October 2019,” the European Council, which groups member states, said after the talks.

Albanian and Macedonian leaders have been shuttling through Brussels in recent weeks to push their cases ahead of yesterday’s meeting, but top EU officials including Council President Donald Tusk and Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker publicly warned them to expect disappointment.

Critics say enlarging the EU further risks importing problems, pointing to ongoing corruption and justice issues in Romania and Bulgaria.

Europe’s oldest person dead at 116: ReportAP MILAN

A 116-year-old Italian woman who authorities say was the oldest person in Europe and the second oldest in the world has died.

The Italian news agency ANSA said Giuseppina Robucci died yesterday in the southern Italian town of Poggio Impe-riale, where she was born on March 20, 1903. She lived 116 years and 90 days.

Robert Young of the US-based Gerontology Research Group said Robucci was the last European born in 1903. She was just two months younger than the current oldest living person, Kane Tanaka of Japan, who was born on Jan. 2, 1903.

Robucci is No 17 on the list of people who lived the longest lives.

Known locally as Nonna Peppa, Robucci had five children, nine grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. ANSA said she ran a coffee bar with her husband for years.

An early warning alarm system was triggered in the provincial capital Chengdu about one minute before the earthquake struck, and it rang for 10 seconds before it hit Yibin.

Anti-China protest in Philippines

11WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019 EUROPE

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) upon Zelensky’s arrival at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, yesterday.

Merkel says she’s OK after shaking at ceremonyAP BERLIN

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared unsteady and was visibly shaking yesterday as she greeted the new Ukrainian leader in the hot sun in Berlin, saying later that she clearly hadn’t drunk enough water.

Merkel’s whole body visibly shook and she pursed her lips as she tried to contain the situation as she stood with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the 28-degree Celsius heat

while a military band played their national anthems outside the chancellery.

But following the anthems, Merkel seemed better, walking quickly along the red carpet with Zelenskiy into the building, pausing to greet the military band and take a salute.

About an hour later, fol-lowing their meeting, Merkel told reporters at a joint news conference that they had dis-cussed bilateral issues and the Minsk peace process during Zel-ensky’s first visit to the German

capital as president. Merkel, who turns 65 next month, smiled broadly after a reporter asked whether her shaking was cause for concern. She replied that she was fine.

“Since then I’ve drunk at least three glasses of water, which I apparently needed, and now I’m doing very well,” she said. She laughed and gave Zel-ensky a smile when he assured reporters the chancellor had been secure at his side.

“She was totally safe,” he said.

Berlin to freeze rents for 5 years to curb rocketing ratesAFP BERLIN

Berlin’s government yesterday moved to freeze rents in the booming German capital for five years from 2020 in their latest bid to halt runaway gentrifi-cation.

Once described as “poor, but sexy”, Berlin has seen its housing

costs double over the last decade as employees lured by the strong job market move into the city.

The sharp rent hikes have led some residents to ponder radical solutions, including pushing for the seizure of housing stock from powerful landlords.

Alarmed by the trend, Ber-lin’s city government agreed yes-terday on the outlines of a draft

law that would include a tem-porary freeze on rents for five years from 2020, with a bill now to be drafted. The cap means “protection against rent increases for 1.5 million apart-ments,” tweeted the Berlin gov-ernment’s department for urban development and housing. Under the plan, landlords who seek to raise rates because of renovation

work will also have to seek official approval for any increases above 50 cents ($.56) per square metre.

Only social housing and private property that has not been let out would be exempt.

The move, by Berlin’s coa-lition government of the centre-left SPD, the Greens and far-left Linke party, is being closely

watched across Germany, where a backlash is growing over fears that residents are being priced out of key cities. In an indication that the Berlin example could snowball into something wider, the SPD, which is also the junior coalition partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s federal coalition, has pledged to champion such rent controls nationwide.

Russia says victim of US cyberattacks ‘for years’AFP MOSCOW

The Kremlin yesterday said Moscow had been the victim of US cyberattacks “for years” following a New York Times report that Washington was stepping up digital incursions into Russia’s power grid.

“We — I’m talking about several of our financial and media organisations, state insti-tutions and critical infra-structure — have been under attack for several years,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The cyberattacks “come from various Western coun-tries, including the US,” he added.

Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin had “several times suggested to Washington and his American counterpart to work together in the field of cyber security. These sugges-tions have been rejected by our American colleagues.” The Times at the weekend reported current and former government officials describing the clas-sified deployment of American computer code inside Russia’s power grid and other targets.

Eight EU countries to phase out coal by 2030AFP BRUSSELS

Eight of the EU’s 28 countries have pledged to phase out coal for electricity production by 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, officials said yesterday.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, received the pledges as contributions to the bloc’s efforts to deliver on the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

“More and more member states are making the political commitment to phase out coal in the next decade,” EU Climate

and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said.

Canete said that among the European Union countries intro-ducing or confirming such time-lines, France intends to phase out coal by 2022 — before Italy and Ireland by 2025. Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Finland aim to do so by 2030, the Spanish commissioner told a press conference in Brussels. Standing by Canete, Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic called the pledges “quite a significant signal coming from quite an important number of member states.” The

commission added that Germany, the EU’s most pow-erful economy and biggest pol-luter, has also indicated it will set “an end date” for coal-based electricity.

An EU official said the remaining 20 countries, including coal-dependent Poland, had not submitted time-lines for weaning themselves off fossil fuel. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the commission was also waiting for the initial eight countries to detail how they will achieve the goal. Not only must they show how they will finance the shift

but what green energy source they will use to replace coal, according to the official.

Under the 2015 Paris treaty, the EU pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

During its review yesterday, the commission said the bloc was on track to meet that goal but was falling short on its target for renewable energy use and energy savings. Referring to coal plants, Canete said it was “pretty clear” that fossil fuels have no place in a carbon-neutral economy the commission hopes EU countries endorse for 2050.

An aerial view shows the 53rd International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France.

EU top court rules German motorway toll illegalAFP LUXEMBOURG

A hotly-contested German road toll that targets foreigners is in violation of EU law, the bloc’s highest court ruled yesterday.

The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice ruled in favour of Austria, which opposed a “vignette” or payment sticker costing up to ¤130 a year for private vehicles on German motorways.

Under the scheme Germans would essentially be refunded the levy with a reduction in their annual motor vehicle tax.

The measures have been the subject of a furious row for years with plans to launch the toll in October 2020 for all cars.

“The charge is discrimi-natory since the economic burden of the charge falls, de facto, solely on the owners and drivers of vehicles registered in other member states,” the ECJ said in a statement.

As the neighbouring coun-tries argued, the toll is “likely to hinder access to the German market for products from other member states,” the court added. Germany is obliged to comply with this judgement as soon as possible or face financial sanctions, it said.

Berlin’s plans, a pet project of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political allies in Bavaria, had also angered other neighbours including Belgium and the Netherlands. With the decision, the toll and refund scheme as it was proposed must be scrapped, German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer admitted, without saying what would replace it. The judgement must be “respected and accepted”, Scheuer told reporters in Berlin. Charges to use motorways, based either on the amount of time spent or dis-tance travelled, are already in place in many European coun-tries. Anyone driving on Aus-trian motorways, including Austrians, has to buy a vignette toll sticker valid for a certain time period.

Captain in Budapest boat crash was sober at the time: PoliceREUTERS BUDAPEST

Hungarian police said yesterday that they had found no evidence of alcohol or drug abuse by the captain of a cruise ship that struck and sank a small tourist vessel last month, killing 28 mostly Korean people on board.

The Mermaid boat sank in seconds on May 29 after the Viking Sigyn cruise liner hit it from behind under a bridge in the Hungarian capital during heavy rain, the worst disaster on the river in more than half a century.

“We launched the investi-gation as soon as we got on board (the Sigyn),” Budapest police spokesman Soma Csecsi told a news conference.

“As a first step we took samples from the captain. He had not consumed alcohol, nor taken drugs.”

Police are also looking into whether the captain may have been too tired to head up a ship, he added, without offering conclusions.

The Viking captain was detained on suspicion of mis-conduct in waterborne traffic leading to mass casualties. He was released on a 15m forint ($52,000) bail last week.

Police have identified him as 64-year-old C Yuriy from Odessa, Ukraine.

His lawyers have said he is devastated but did nothing wrong. He now wears a location transmitter and is confined to Budapest.

The liner’s owner, Swiss-based Viking Cruises Ltd, has said it is cooperating with Hun-garian investigators.

Asked whether the Viking captain was solely responsible or whether the Mermaid may also have made a mistake, Csecsi said thus far there was only suf-ficient reason to suspect one person, the Ukrainian captain.

The investigation continues, with 60 detectives and experts working on it. The search con-tinues for three victims and will continue as long as there is any hope of finding the bodies, Csecsi added.

US announces $250m military aid to UkraineAFP/WASHINGTON

The United States announced yesterday a $250m military aid package for war-torn Ukraine to strengthen the former Soviet

republic’s naval and land capa-bilities. The amount is part of a series of Pentagon payments now totalling $1.5bn to the country since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and a

conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of backing the pro-Moscow rebels across the border. Moscow denies the alle-gations.

Nigel Farage’s milkshake attacker to pay compensationREUTERS/LONDON

A man who threw a milkshake over Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s Brexit Party, has been ordered to pay him compen-sation to cover his suit-cleaning bill after pleading guilty to common assault and criminal damage. Paul Crowther, 32, threw the milkshake over Farage at an event in the northern English city of Newcastle before the European elections last month. Crowther, who lost his job after the incident, was ordered to pay Farage £350 in compensation to cover the cost of damage to a lapel microphone and his suit cleaning. He was also ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

UK leadership race narrows to 5, Johnson favouriteAFP LONDON

The UK leadership race narrowed to five yesterday as Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson prepared to defend his runaway favourite status in his first tele-vision debate.

Johnson expanded his lead over his remaining rivals in a second secret ballot held by 313 lawmakers from the ruling Con-servative party in the lower House of Commons.

The former foreign minister and London mayor picked up 126 votes while former Brexit minister Dominic Raab got knocked out after falling three short of the 33-vote threshold.

Moderate International Development Minister Rory Stewart continued his against-the-odds challenge by expanding his support base from last week’s 19 to 37.

Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt picked up 46 votes and Environment Minister Michael Gove 41. Interior Minister Sajid Javid scraped through with exactly 33.

Britain is frantically searching for a leader after Prime Minister Theresa May stepped down last month as Conservative party chief over

her repeated failure to deliver Brexit. The island nation is now due to split away from the other 27 European Union member states on October 31.

But how and when the chaos paralysing UK politics — and frightening business leaders — ultimately resolves itself may only be decided by who becomes the next prime minister.

Further rounds of voting scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday will whittle the list of contenders down to just two.

The finalists will face the ruling party’s 160,000 grass-roots members in a vote next month to decide the winner.

Johnson’s lead is so sub-stantial that some UK media say the others are simply fighting for a good spot in his future gov-ernment. Their attacks on him have been measured and the race itself has been distin-guished most by revelations about various contenders’ past drug use.

Further rounds of voting scheduled for today and tomorrow will whittle the list of contenders down to just two.

Packed tarmac at Paris air show

12 WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE 2019AMERICAS

Trump threatens mass deportation from next weekAP WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump is threatening to remove millions of people living in the United States illegally on the eve of formally announcing his re-election bid.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement next week will “begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States,” Trump said in a pair of tweets.

“They will be removed as fast as they come in,” he wrote.

An administration official said the effort would focus on the more than 1 million people who have been issued final depor-tation orders by federal judges but remain at large in the US. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to explain the presi-

dent’s tweets.Other US officials with

knowledge of the preparations have said that the operation was not imminent, and that ICE offi-cials were not aware the pres-ident would make public sen-sitive law enforcement plans on Twitter.

It is unusual for law enforcement agencies to announce raids before they take place. Some in Trump’s admin-istration believe that decisive shows of force — like mass arrests — can serve as effective deterrents, sending a message to those considering making the journey to the US that it’s not worth coming.

A senior Mexican official said on Monday that, three weeks ago, about 4,200 migrants were arriving at the US border daily. Now that number has dropped to about 2,600.

New York okays driving licences for undocumented immigrantsAFP NEW YORK

New York State passed a law allowing undocumented migrants to obtain their driving licence, a controversial move by the Democratic stronghold intended to thwart the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policy.

“This legislation will not only provide undocumented immigrants with a legal solution to obtain a driver’s licence, but its positive impacts will include significant economic growth, improved road safety, and it will keep hardworking families

together,” Senator Luis Sepulveda, one of its leading proponents, said in a statement.

“In a time when immigrants are being scapegoated for every ill in our country, this is our opportunity for New York State to show our courage and strength, and stand up for the marginalised communities,” said Sepulveda.

In practice, the “Green Light Bill,” passed by the New York Senate last week and signed into law by Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, gives everyone the right to a driver’s license if they pass the test, regardless of immigration status.

Candidates will no longer need to present a US Social Security number or a visa, as had been the case since 2001, and will be able to simply present a valid passport or a foreign driver’s licence as ID.

Several provisions of the bill, welcomed by migrants’ rights associations, also prohibit com-munication of the candidate’s data to the immigration author-ities, except at the express request of a judge.

Republican Senator Jim Tedisco said passage of the bill “sends wrong message that cit-izenship and rule of law don’t matter.”

World population to reach 9.7 billion in 2050: UNAFP UNITED NATIONS

The world population is expected to climb to 9.7 billion in 2050 from 7.7 billion today, with the population of sub-Saharan Africa doubling, a United Nations report said.

The population could then grow to 11 billion by 2100, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs’s “World Popu-lation Prospects” report.

The study paints a picture of a future in which a handful of countries see their populaces

surge as life expectancy lengthens while the global growth rate slows amid declining fertility rates.

By 2050, more than half of the world’s population growth will be concentrated in just nine countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States.

Meanwhile, the world’s most-populous country China will see its population drop by 2.2 percent, or around 31.4 million, between 2019 and 2050.

All told, 27 countries or ter-ritories have experienced a reduction of at least one percent in the size of their populations since 2010 due to low levels of fertility.

The report also says deaths are outpacing new births in Belarus, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine, but that population loss will be offset by an inflow of migrants.

The overall global fertility rate, which declined from 3.2 births per-woman in 1990 to 2.5 in 2019, is expected to fall further to 2.2 in 2050.

That’s close to the minimum of 2.1 births needed to ensure the replacement of generations and avoid long-term population decline in the absence of migration, according to the United Nations.

The report also projects growing life expectancy gen-erally, including in poor coun-tries where it is now seven years less than the global average.

Global average life expectancy should reach 77.1 years in 2050 against 72.6 years currently, the report says.

In the year 1990, the average life expectancy was 64.2 years.

Venezuela receives new Red Cross aidAFP CARACAS

Venezuela has received a second shipment of Red Cross humanitarian aid, including 24 tonnes of medical supplies and generators provided by Panama, intended for hospitals to help address the country’s acute health crisis.

In a statement, the Venezuelan Red Cross said it had received “medicines, medical sup-plies and power generators” that will be dis-tributed in hospitals across the country, which is experiencing the worst crisis in its recent history.

Six trucks moved the supplies to a Red Cross warehouse in Caracas, a journalist confirmed yesterday.

The shipment seeks to mitigate a severe shortage of drugs and hospital supplies in

Venezuela, which has suffered more than four years of recession and hyper-inflation marked by shortages of basic necessities such as food and medicine.

The United Nations said that a quarter of its 30 million population is in urgent need of aid.

The oil-rich South American nation has suf-fered the collapse of its vital crude production and runaway inflation that the IMF projects at 10 million percent this year.

Socialist President Nicolas Maduro authorised entry of the first Red Cross shipment in April after signing an agreement with the Inter-national Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the middle of a power struggle with opposition leader Juan Guaido.

The Red Cross said it sent the second shipment from its logistics centre in Panama to the Venezuelan capital Caracas.

A worker unloads the power generators received as part of humanitarian aid through the Venezuelan Red Cross, in Caracas, yesterday.

Arrests made after four shot during Raptors’ celebrationREUTERS TORONTO

Four people sustained non-life-threatening gunshot wounds at rally celebrating the Raptors’ championship, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said.

Three arrests were made, according to Saunders, who added that the investigation was ongoing.

A reported 1.5 million parked Toronto’s downtown for the Raptors’ parade and subse-quent rally at City Hall. The shootings occurred at Nathan Phillips Square, adjacent to City Hall. Addition people sustained minor injuries attempting to flee the scene after the shots were heard.

Mayor John Tory said in a statement, “It is disappointing and I’m sure a source of anger for more than just me that anyone would carry a gun and discharge it at what was oth-erwise a joyous celebration.

“I hope those responsible will be held to account to the full extent that the law permits. I want to commend and thank the millions of other people who happily and peacefully cel-ebrated our beloved Toronto Raptors.”

Pentagon chief nominee quitsAP WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump announced yesterday that Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan is with-drawing his nomination to lead the Pentagon.

The abrupt announcement came in a tweet from the pres-ident, who said Shanahan had done “a wonderful job” but would step aside to “devote more time to his family.”

The president added that the Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper, will be the new acting secretary.

“I know Mark, and have no doubt he will do a fantastic job!” Trump said in a second tweet on the subject.

The post atop the Pentagon has not been filled permanently since Gen James Mattis retired in January following policy dif-ferences with Trump.

Trump announced in May that he would nominate Shanahan but the formal nom-ination process in the Senate had been inexplicably delayed

Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, has been leading the Pentagon as acting secretary since January 1, a highly unusual arrangement for arguably the most sensitive Cabinet position.

In his tenure at the department he’s had to deal with a wide array of interna-tional hotspots, ranging from missile launches by North Korea to the sudden shift of military ships and aircraft to the Middle East to deal with potential threats from Iran.

Trump launches 2020re-election bid in FloridaREUTERS WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump was yesterday to formally launched what may be an uphill battle to persuade voters to give him four more years in office, as he bets a strong US economy will outweigh voter concerns about his unorthodox style and polar-izing policies.

At an evening rally in Orlando, Florida, Trump, who has long made it known he is running for re-election, was to begin making his case with gusto for a second term.

The Trump of 2020 most certainly will bear a strong resemblance to the Trump of 2016 — brash and eager to bash opponents and promote tough policies on trade and immigration.

Two-and-a-half years into his tenure, Trump sees plenty of positive factors, led by a growing e c o n o m y w i t h l o w unemployment.

“If the economy stays strong, he is very likely to get re-elected,” said Trump confidant Newt Gingrich, a former Repub-lican speaker of the US House of Representatives.

But an investigation of

Russian interference in the 2016 election, coupled with a presi-dential style marked by name-calling and eye-popping tweets, has undermined some Amer-icans’ confidence in Trump before the November 2020 election.

He also has stirred division with his hard-line policies on immigration and unsettled business and farm groups with his use of tariffs in trade disputes with China and some allies.

Democrats cite a string of broken promises in Trump’s first term, from lowering drug prices to closing corporate tax loop-holes and stopping plant closures.

In a media call yesterday, Democratic Party officials focused on his moves to weaken the signature healthcare law of

his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, without pro-viding an alternative.

“The thing that is working to our advantage is that this pres-ident now has a record to run on,” said Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on June 11 gave Trump a 40% job approval rating, compared with 57% who disapproved. Other opinion polls have shown him running consistently behind his main Democratic challengers, such as former vice-president Joe Biden, in key battleground states.

Republican strategists say the fundamentals favour Trump as he heads into his election but that he faces challenges given his bare-knuckled approach, which he refuses to temper.

“His support with his base is as strong as it’s ever been for any Republican incumbent president. The challenge is adding to that and building the coalition he needs for re-election,” said Republican strategist Ryan Wil-liams, a former adviser to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

In a Twitter post before his trip, Trump said: “Republican enthusiasm is at an all time high.

Look what is going on in Orlando, Florida, right now!”

The Orlando Sentinel, however, welcomed the pres-ident visit with an editorial titled: “Our endorsement for president in 2020: Not Donald Trump.”

Trump supporters with tents and sleeping bags started camping out at the rally venue on Monday and thousands had gathered by yesterday afternoon in a torrential downpour. “It was like a big Trump party,” said Maureen Bailey, who slept in a tent with her twin sister, Laureen Vartanian.

Local Democratic Party offi-cials planned a “Win With Love” rally a few blocks from the Trump rally.

Starting his 2020 push in Florida, which the former New York businessman considers his second home, shows how important the state is to Trump’s re-election hopes. He would like to recreate the state-by-state electoral victory map he assembled to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.

That election included Trump victories in Florida, Penn-sylvania, Michigan and

Wisconsin, and he thus far faces challenges in all those states, along with North Carolina.

Democrats vow to win back industrial states like Pennsyl-vania and Michigan that flipped to Trump in 2016 after decades of voting Democratic in presi-dential elections, and they believe his behaviour and pol-icies will generate strong turnout among Americans eager to turn him out of office.

Trump campaign advisers wave off the polls at this stage, saying Trump had trailed in most polls in 2016 and still won.

People stand in line at a rally for US President Donald Trump at the Amway Center in Orlando, yesterday.

The Trump of 2020 most certainly will bear a strong resemblance to the Trump of 2016 — brash and eager to bash opponents and promote tough policies on trade and immigration.