All eyes on Noren as players tee off at DGC

BUSINESS | 17 SPORT | 22

QIIB records QR1.7bn total

revenue in 2016

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Volume 21 | Number 7053 | 2 RiyalsThursday 26 January 2017 | 28 Rabia II 1438

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with the fourth batch of students at Al Zaeem Mohamed Bin Abdullah Al Atiyyah Air College during their graduation ceremony, at Al Udeid Air Base, yesterday. The Emir will patronise today the graduation ceremony of the 12th batch of candidates of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior at Ahmed bin Mohammed Military College. →Full report on page 2

Visitors enjoy ice carving at the fourth Katara Winter Festival at Katara Cultural Village, yesterday.

Emir patronises graduation of Al Zaeem Air College

Ice sculpture

Included with today’s edition

is an 8-page supplement

Included with today’s edition is a special supplement

Today’s edition features a 4-page

supplement

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017

Travel & TourismQatar Airways

prepares to land in Las Vegas

HIA becomes world's sixth 5-Star Airport

PAGE | 4 PAGE | 7

SPONSORS

Shop Qatar: Showcasing

the best

PAGE | 2

26 JANUARY 201726 JANUARY 2017

Pramod Prabhakaran The Peninsula

In addition to the regular food guide, which The Peninsula brings out every quarter, we have decided to publish a special pull out every month. The explosion

seen in food industry, with more out-lets and products to choose from, gives us an opportunity to publish this monthly, which should satiate your appetite for food-related reading. 2017 looks to be a happening year for food lovers in Qatar. There are many new outlets opening all around Qatar – in malls, hotels and stand-alone. We have new cuisines and new concepts from all around the world coming to Qatar and setting up shop.

People are now ready to experiment and try out new concepts This new atti

home. This will unleash many small-scale food-related start-ups as many talented cooks will get a chance to show-case their specialties from their home. As Qatar boasts of expats from all over the globe, we can expect a boost in tra-ditional cuisines from their home countries getting a boost through these new home-outlets.

Many new 5-star hotels and malls are also opening up in the next few months. This means we will have more high-end restaurants for fine dining and new joints in food courts of various new malls for a quick bite.

More and more people are eating out than before. Cooking a full meal from scratch has become a luxury for many families due to time constraints.

This is not a bad thing entirely. Most new food outlets are aware of healthy food habits and they use the best ingre-dients available in a clean environment

Exciting year ahead for Qatar foodies

THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017

Sanaullah Ataullah The Peninsula

Qatar Development Bank (QDB) has launched a unique scheme for financing small and medium

enterprises (SMEs) with amounts up to QR1m and shar-ing their profit and loss as a partner.

So far, QDB had been pro-viding funds and supporting entrepreneurs to establish busi-nesses without having partnership with them.

The scheme named Ithmar is a unique financing pro-gramme being implemented first time in Qatar, Qatar News Agency reported yesterday. It will encourage entrepreneurs to start their projects in a bid to increase the power and effi-ciency of private sector. It will help several innovative ideas to be turned into reality in a bid to diversify the national economy.

The new scheme will allow QDB to become a partner from financier, Abdul Aziz bin Nasser Al Khalifa, CEO of QDB was quoted as saying. The entrepre-neurs will keep benefiting from the support of the bank and the guidance of its officials, he added.

Ithmar will be flexible by large in dealing with entrepre-neurs by cutting short the routine procedures of financ-ing. They will see great flexibility in the way of funding as per their need for the projects.

The new scheme is meant to attract entrepreneurs who have ideas and want to convert them into projects. The bank will work with the entrepre-neurs hand in hand from the launch of the project to help them make success. Ithmar scheme is a complementary program of several previous initiatives launched by QDB.

→ Continued on page 4

The Peninsula

The State Cabinet yesterday took the necessary meas-ures to issue a draft law

regulating the dealing in subsi-dised commodities, after it was briefed about the Advisory Council recommendations on the draft law.

The draft law identified sub-sidised commodities as foodstuff and feed that are supported by the state and prohibits any nat-ural or legal person dealing in such goods prior to obtaining a

licence from the competent department.

The draft law also set the terms of obtaining the license and the process of applying for licenses and the duration. The draft law stipulated that the sub-sidized commodities and the maximum prices and categories of beneficiaries will be deter-mined by a decision of the cabinet. Trade controls licensing the sale of those commodities non-beneficiaries categories and the maximum prices will be deter-mined by a decision of the Minister

of Economy and Commerce.Those licensed to deal in

subsidised commodities are pro-hibited from the sale of subsidised commodities or offering to sell them at a higher price than the specified one, the sale of subsidised commodities for less than the specified weight by the competent administra-tion and replacing subsidised commodities to other commod-ities of lower quality with the intention of selling or taking advantage of price differences.

→ Continued on page 5

Raynald C Rivera The Peninsula

Tickets for the Doha Com-edy Festival (DCF) — one of the live entertainment

offerings at Shop Qatar— are selling fast with the third show already sold out, proving the rising popularity of standup comedy in Qatar, said organisers.

The third and final show called “International Day” which will feature The Daily Show host Trevor Noah and America’s Got Talent winner Paul Zerdin was sold out since last week.

“As a result of the success of DCF’s previous editions, we expected the tickets to sell out but we did not expect it to sell as quickly as it did, so this is just a measure of how DCF is add-ing to the diversity of shows offered in Doha,” said Qatari comedian Hamad Al Amari, who will be the opening act of the sold-out show.

Al Amari, also known as ‘The Qatari Guy’, was speaking at a press briefing held yester-day at Lagoona Mall to update local media on Shop Qatar festival.

“Around 1,000 people

watched the first DCF. The second edition saw over 3,000 people and for this edition we are hop-ing to have 5,000 to over 6,000 people,” said AlAmari, high-lighting the growth in following of standup comedy in the country.

He lauded Qatar Tourism Authority’s (QTA) strong sup-port to local companies like The Social Studio which is organis-ing and producing the show.

“In some occasions we face criticism like comedy is some-thing that shouldn’t be done in Qatar and we’ve always been open to these criticisms but as of this moment we’ve sold 4,500 tickets, some of which are not cheap,” said The Social Studio’s Managing Director, Hamzeh Zahr.

The cheapest ticket for the shows costs QR70 while the most expensive is priced QR995.

“Surprisingly we’ve noticed the most expensive tickets are sold first, and this is what keeps us going,” said Zahr, who was optimistic on the growing inter-est and reception in the community of comedy shows as Doha aspires to be a global city.

→ Continued on page 5

The Peninsula

THE MINISTRY of Economy and Commerce has ordered a recall of Ikea’s Mysingsö Beach Chair following reports that it can collapse and cause injury . The ministry has urged all cus-tomers who have the beach chair to replace it or obtain a full refund from the store.

The move, in collaboration

with Hamad Medical Corpora-tion and Ikea, is due to the risk of falling and finger entrapment when folded improperly.

Meanwhile, Ikea has issued a global recall for the faulty beach chair and has urged its customers to bring back the piece of furniture to the store for replacement or a full refund.

→ Continued on page 5

Law on subsidised commodities soonQNA

LEBANESE President Gen-eral Michel Aoun praised the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani's supportive stance towards Lebanon.

In his opening speech at the Lebanese cabinet meeting yesterday, Aoun praised the hospitality he received during his recent visit to Qatar with a delegation.

The President described the outcome of the visit as "positive," commending the profound ties between Qatar and Lebanon.

Aoun praises Emir's support to Lebanon

IKEA beach chair recalled

Doha Comedy Festival final show sold out

QDB launches new scheme to support SMEs

The unique scheme named Ithmar for financing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with amounts up to QR1m and sharing their profit and loss as a partner, is being implemented for the first time in Qatar.

CPI: Qatar retains impressive scoreQATAR has ranked second among the Gulf, and Arab countries in the annual Cor-ruption Perception Index (CPI), published by Transpar-ency International. The Transparency International has released the results of the Corruption Perception Index for 2016, yesterday.

02 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017HOME

Emir honours Air College graduates

QNA

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani patronised the gradu-ation ceremony of the fourth batch of students

of Al Zaeem Mohamed Bin Abdul-lah Al Atiyyah Air College at Al Udeid Air Base yesterday.

On the arrival of the Emir to the main podium, the national anthem was played and the com-mander of the parade came forward to request the Emir to review the graduates’ parade, which included 23 graduates.

The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister and Inte-rior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani and number of their excellencies and ministers as well as senior ranking armed forces officers and Interior Ministry officials.

The Emir honoured outstand-ing graduates: the first in total grades and first (helicopter)

Abdullah Mohammed Khalaf Al Sheikh Al Kuwari; the second in total grades Ali Nasser Eid Jassim Al Muhaizea; the third in total grades Ali Hassan Mohammed Turki Al Sebaiee, the first in avi-ation (Fighter), competence, and physical fitness Rashid Moham-med Ali Mohammed Al Kubaisi; and Commander of the Parade Mohammed Jamal Nasser Al Awami Al Hajeri.

The Emir watched an airshow by helicopters of the Emiri Air Forces and the College.

The fourth batch handed over the flag to the fifth batch. An order for promotions was read out and the graduates took the oath.

Addressing the ceremony, College Commander Brigadier (Pilot) Salim Hamad Al Nabit said that Al Zaeem Air Collage has been keen, since its establish-ment, on preparing its graduates professionally and scientifically. The years of study were a well-spring of science in line with the

requirements of the recent time and modern technology in the fields of aviation. He said the Col-lege has focused that its outputs be fully compatible with the needs of the Qatari armed forces in general, and the Air Force in particular, in the fields of combat and vertical aviation, and the sup-porting disciplines, to be the first air college to provide two disci-plines to students for a bachelor's degree in flights science.

The College has made great strides in the field of theoretical and practical training with the best global talent in the field of pilot training, he said, adding that the College has started the prep-aration of national cadres for pilot training by holding training courses for coaches and super-visors, as well as advanced courses on the (PC-21) aircraft and the electronic warfare courses for pilots. The graduates performed the military parade.

Meanwhile, Minister of State

for Defence Affairs H E Dr Kha-lid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah stressed Qatar's keenness under the wise leadership of the Emir, the general commander of the armed forces, to constantly develop the different branches of the armed forces, particularly the air forces, at all levels.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the graduation cere-mony, the minister said the Qatari armed forces will continue to prepare Qatari youth to shoulder the responsibility of defending their homeland by constantly working to modernise and cope with the latest technologies in arming and managing in addition to developing equipment and

improving the proficiency of fighting soldiers as well as aca-demic curricula.

The minister expressed his delight at the graduation of the fourth batch of Qatari fighter jet aviators and helicopter aviators, wishing them success in their duties and to preserve the home-land and protect its territories.

As part of developing its training mechanism, the college's administration chose Super Mushshak aircraft to add to the college's fleet in mid 2017.

The college also managed to gain the ISO 9001 certification in early January and become the first military college in the region to attain the accreditation.

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the Al Zaeem Mohamed Bin Abdullah Al Atiyyah Air College at Al Udeid Air Base yesterday. The Emir attended the graduation ceremony of the fourth batch of students with the Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah. They also watched an airshow (right) of the Emiri Air Forces and the College.

Qatar to take part in Astana Expo 2017QATAR has signed a contract to participate in the Expo 2017 in Astana, which will take place from June 10 to Sep-tember 1, under the theme of future energy.

Qatar's Ambassador in Kazakhstan Ahmed bin Ali Abdulrahman Altamimi signed the contract on the Qatari side. The Ministry of Economy and Commerce released a statement yester-day from the committee charged with preparing for the Expo and said it has fin-ished its preparation for the international event.

The committee was formed in December 2015 and has placed many plans and programmes for the event. It held a series of meetings with different authorities to discuss what should the Qatari sec-tion have during the event.

The Qatari section will be 457 square metre and will show a number of successful experiments in the energy and new energy fields. More than five million visitors are expected to visit the Expo this year.

Qatar condemns Somali hotel attackQATAR strongly condemned the attack at a hotel in Mogad-ishu, capital of Somalia, killing and injuring several people.

The Foreign Ministry said Qatar stands by the Somali Republic and supports pro-cedures made to fight violence, extremism and ter-rorism to bring safety, stability and establish a state of institutions.

03THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 HOME

QSTP to launch Arab Innovation Academy

The Peninsula

In a new initiative, Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) is preparing to launch an Arab Innova-tion Academy (AIA) aimed

at university students in Qatar and the region. Through the ini-tiative, QSTP, a member of Qatar Foundation, endeavours to fos-ter an innovation ecosystem in Qatar and the region.

The AIA is a two-week boot-camp for aspiring college students in pan-Arab countries, presenting them with real-life experience in how to develop and launch new tech-based ventures. Students from top uni-versities in Qatar and across the region will take part in the pro-gramme, which enables participants to leverage a net-work of global experienced mentors to advance their star-tup ideas. QSTP and the European Innovation Academy (EIA) have signed an agreement to establish a long-term collab-oration for the AIA.

Dr Maher Hakim, Managing Director of QSTP, said, “We are excited to join forces with the EIA to bring their coveted inno-vation capacity building programme and network to the Arab world for the first time. The initiative aims to import inter-national best practices to boost an innovation mind-set locally

and regionally, in addition to attracting, retaining, and assist-ing budding Arab tech entrepreneurs.”

"We strive to level the play-ing field to empower the region to compete with other global innovation hubs, such as Silicon Valley. The Arab Innovation Academy will work on mentor-ing as many young talents as possible through a multidiscipli-nary approach that will determine the best means of launching new tech-based products and services relevant to our markets.”

The AIA, which is intended to be a yearly programme organised by QSTP and the EIA in collaboration with other part-ners, will open its doors to students in selected universities around the Arab world to raise awareness around tech entre-preneurship and spur new business ventures.

Alar Kolk, President of EIA, said: “Students from Qatar Foun-dation partner universities have participated in our European programmes in the past, so we are fully aware of the passion and skills of students in Qatar. We are excited about the AIA’s potential to scale this effort within Qatar and the Arab world, and we could not have asked for a better partner than QSTP.”

Within the framework of the agreement, EIA will tap into its extensive global network of men-tors, speakers and investors, including those from Silicon Val-ley, assist in marketing and student recruitment efforts, and facilitate the logistics with which to conduct the programme in Qatar. In addition, EIA will develop study materials and tools, including playbooks, a mentor handbook, an online platform, and a mobile application.

Dr Maher Hakim (right), Managing Director of QSTP, with Alar Kolk, President of EIA.

The AIA is a two-week boot-camp for aspiring college students in pan-Arab countries.

Continued from page 1The bank keeps updating its

programmes to provide full-fledged support to entrepreneurs and the businessmen with inno-vative ideas, said Al Khalifa.

QBD will provide funds upto

QR1m based on ideas floated by entrepreneurs and cost of start-ups, said Mohamad Al Khatir, Head of Investment Department at QDB. The bank has asked entrepreneurs to mobilise 10 per-cent of amount required to

finance the project in a bid to ensure the ir ser ious involvement, he added.

“The new scheme aims at removing hin-drances facing the entrepreneurs. This is the first pro-gramme in Qatar that provides funds for merely floating an innovated idea as

the percentage of risk for bank in such cases is very high,” said Al Khatir.

The bank will follow up entrepreneurs and their compa-nies for two years and afterward, follow up time will be extended as per need. The funds could be converted into shares in name of the bank in beneficiary company after assessing the market value of the company, said Al Khatir.

QDB will target 25 projects in the first year, said Ibrahim Hasan, Head of direct loan disbursal department at QDB. The scheme aims only to support entrepre-neurs at the beginning of startups. Young entrepreneurs are expected to be attracted to this scheme more than any other pro-gram, he added.

The Peninsula

Ten films supported by the Doha Film Institute(DFI) have been chosen for the 45th International

Film Festival Rotterdam which runs from January 25 to Feb-ruary 5, marking the largest contingent of films supported by Qatar to be screened at the renowned festival.

Two feature narratives have been selected for in-com-petition programmes including the prestigious Harvest in Hivos Tiger and Bright Future Award, while a short experi-mental film screens in the Picture Palestine segment.

Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief Executive Officer of DFI, said: “This is truly historic as 10 films supported by the insti-tute are marking their presence at the prestigious Rotterdam festival. The selec-tion underl ines our commitment to supporting high quality projects both from the Arab world and globally.

“Over the past few years,

we have seen a remarkable increase in the number of films supported by the Institute making headlines at interna-tional festivals. We will continue to encourage emerg-ing talents who make impressive contributions to film, thereby enhancing the pride of the Institute and Qatar.”

Chosen for the Harvest in Hivos Tiger Competition is Rey, directed by Niles Atallah. The film is based on a true story about a 35-year-old French-man, who explores Araucania, an autonomous region of southern Chile in 1860, and is elected as king by the people.

Vying for the Bright Future Award is Cactus Flower, directed by Hala Elkoussy. The film is about Aida, a struggling actress who comes to Cairo from the Delta as a university student, and her extraordinary friendships. Rey and Cactus Flower mark their World Pre-miere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Within Bright Future, four films supported by the Institute

are screening out-of-competi-tion. These include Burning Birds by Sanjeewa Pushpakumara, By the Time It Gets Dark by Ano-cha Suwichakornpong, The Last of Us by Ala Eddine Slim, and Mimosas by Oliver Laxe. Cho-sen for the main programme of the Voices segment is The Idea of a Lake by Milagros Mumenthaler.

Two films will be screened in Voices (Limelight) segment: Tramontane by Vatche Boul-ghourjian, and White Sun, directed by Deepak Rauniyar. Screening in the Picture Pal-estine segment is short experimental film In the Future They Ate from the Finest Por-celain directed by Larissa Sansour.

04 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017HOME

South African President Jacob Zuma received the credentials of Qatar’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to South Africa, Abdulla Hussein Al Jaber in Pretoria, yesterday. Al Jaber conveyed Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s greetings and wishes for health and happiness to the South African President and his further greetings of progress and prosperity to the government and people of South Africa.

Qatar envoy presents credentials to Zuma

Aiming innovation

Challenge 22 aims to attract innovators and entrepreneurs to support and nurture ideas that could potentially serve as innovative solutions for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

The Peninsula

Out of 937 submitted propos-als from first round of “Challenge 22” programme, which aims at developing innovative solutions for the

2022 FIFA World Cup, 76 submissions have qualified for the second round.

The Supreme Committee for Deliv-ery and Legacy (SC) yesterday announced it saying the submissions qualified following an extensive audit-ing and review process of a total of 937 submitted proposals, from Round 1.

Challenge 22 is a programme launched by the SC to promote a culture of innovation within the Arab world. As part of its ongoing mandate, Challenge 22 aims to attract innovators and entrepre-neurs to support and nurture ideas that could potentially serve as innovative solu-tions for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, as well as contributing to the organisation of other major events and their sustaina-ble impact on Arab societies.

In its second cycle, Challenge 22 reached out to innovators and entre-preneurs in 10 Arab countries to submit their ideas in four categories: Tourism Experience, which received 308 sub-missions; the Internet of Things, 269 submissions; Sustainability, 217 submis-sions; and the Health and Safety Challenge, which received 143 submis-sions, in first round.

Submissions from Qatar came top of the list, with 17 going through to Round 2. This was followed by submis-sions from Egypt with 11 submissions, Saudi Arabia 10 submissions, Jordan nine, UAE eight, Tunisia six, Kuwait,

Morocco, & Oman four submissions each and lastly three from Bahrain. The qual-ified submissions per category are as follow: 27 from Internet of Things, 23 from Sustainability, 21 from Tourism Experience, and 5 from Health & Safety.

Commenting on the submissions and review process, Communications Direc-tor at SC Fatma Al Nuaimi, said: “The organisers and reviewers were keen to choose most viable submissions – on both technical and financial merit – in addition to their potential for contrib-uting to the legacy of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.”

Al Nuaimi added: “Challenge 22 rep-resents the strategic vision of Qatar and its commitment to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which goes beyond basic execu-tion and translates into a catalyst for social, economic and cultural develop-ment processes."

Qualifying proposals have time until March 7th to fine-tune their submissions before submitting for the second round of reviews; after which, the finalists will be announced. The 60 successful submis-sions will also have access to Challenge 22 network of mentors, along with two training workshops, provided by pro-gramme partner AstroLabs, to help

develop their proposals for Round 2. Finalists will then be invited to Doha

to take part in interactive trainings, mentorship sessions, and workshops, which are designed to help develop their ideas and present to judging panel. The final event will also include “Summit 22” – bringing together regional and international innovators and entrepre-neurs to share their experiences.

Challenge 22’s second edition was launched in cooperation with SCDL’s stra-tegic partners: Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF); Wamda; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Enterprise Forum Pan-Arab; Facebook; Programme Partners; Qatar Science and Technology Park; Qatar Business Incubation Center; Qatar Development Bank; Qatar Airways; AstroLabs and FbStart; along with more than 32 regional partners.

Winning teams or individuals will receive $15,000 in cash prizes and will then be given the opportunity to work with scientists and researchers in the region to begin building their ideas further. Win-ning ideas will also have the opportunity to receive a grant of up to $100,000 to develop a proof of concept and explore the commercial viability of the product.

Through FbStart, winners with app-based ideas will gain access to mentoring and the tools needed to build up their iOS or Android based apps, receive cred-its for Facebook ads and Parse, plus have access to free tools and credits from partners to help with product testing, recruiting, customer care, video confer-encing, legal services, and more.

More information on Challenge 22 can be obtained from website www.challenge22.qa.

76 submissions qualify for 'Challenge 22' programme

Rotterdam screening for ten DFI films

A still from film Burning Birds.

QDB updates programmes for clients

QNA

Marma Festival 2017 will con-tinue today Sabkhat Marma in the Sealine area.

Nine competitors will take part today in the festival held under the auspices of H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani and Katara. Marma

festivals sees a number of falcon-based challenges. Yesterday’s car race saw only split seconds that separated the top three of today’s challenge. UAE won first place, with Said Hilal finishing in 20.38 sec-onds. Qatar won second and third places. Mohammed Saleh Hamad and Marma team finished in 20.44 seconds and 20.67 seconds respectively.

Marma Festival in Sealine today

05THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 HOME

Focus on workers

All member states agreed on the importance of the need of comprehensive information and orientation programmes for migrant workers.

Mohammed Osman Colombo

Eighteen member coun-tries of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) have adopted the Colombo declaration on Labour

recruitment. The fourth minis-terial consultation meeting of the ADD held in Colombo on Janu-ary 24 with participation of 18 Foreign Employment Ministers of the ADD member countries.

A Qatari delegation repre-senting the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs attended the meeting.

All member states agreed on the importance of the need of comprehensive information and orientation programmes for migrant workers.

The Colombo Declaration stated that member countries agreed to cooperate on the design and implementation of coordinated pre departure and post arrival orientation pro-grammes, in addition to cooperation on promoting fair and transparent labour recruit-ment practices and in the field of skill development and skill recognition.

The declaration emphasised that members have agreed to cooperate in the use of technol-ogy and to engage their region in the Global Dialogue on Migra-tion Governance.

The ADD member countries include eleven manpower exporting countries; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indo-nesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Philip-pines and seven countries receiving expatriate workers; which are the six GCC states and Malaysia.

G.S Withanage, Secretary of Foreign Employment told The

Peninsula that countries export-ing manpower and sending labour to the GCC countries needed to have strong regula-tory mechanism that will ensure migrant workers safety in the recruitment sector.

“The process of recruitment should be regulated by regula-tory authority and strong regulatory mechanisms. If workers will be going through such regulatory procedures, there will be no problem in recruitment,” he said, adding: “Migrant workers will have the option to either choose govern-ment agency or any private agency to find overseas job but in both conditions, they will be safe and secure”.

Asked his view on the latest legislative measures taken by some GCC countries including Qatar to improve the work and living conditions of the migrant workers William Lacy Swing, Director General of International Organisation for Migration told this daily, “The establishment of Abu Dhabi Dialogue and the Min-isterial Meeting here in Colombo are interesting aspects of an atti-tude to bring improvement. GCC countries and countries from South Asia can manage all these issues together through dialogue without compromising their interests and national sovereignty.

Dialogue process should continue on regular basis.”

The Colombo Declaration has recognised a large degree of progress in enhancing tempo-rary contract employees and quality of lives, Swing added.

Swing emphasised that the member countries have adopted some significant guidelines, and the group will endorse ILO infor-mation report and labour recruitment.

The clear guideline is to expand the orientation and infor-mation programme. Cultural and other orientations will be very helpful for them in having a rea-sonable comfort as migrants coming to new societies.

The guideline put together partners from the ADD and the Colombo process to design and

implement the expansion of the cultural and orientation and programme.

The Ministerial Consultation discussed four thematic areas namely, Labour Recruitment, Skills driven labour market pol-icies, The use of technology in the governance of labour mobil-ity and Global compact on labour migration.

Jaber Al Ali, Public Relation Officer at the Public Authority of Manpower in Kuwait told The Peninsula that ADD started in 2008 and the Abu Dhabi Dia-logue got its beginning in Abu Dhabi. It is a forum that brings together countries sending migrant workers and those receiving them.

It is consultative mechanism which is not mandatory. The

meetings always result in bilat-eral or collective activities to conduct studies in collaboration with international organizations like ILO, World Migration Organ-isation to implement pilot p r o j e c t s o n l a b o u r recruitments.

“Our aim is to solve chal-lenges facing the country of origin and destinations through bilateral or collective coopera-tion,” Al Ali said.

Main challenges include recruitment process, awareness of law skilled workers, problems facing the expatriate workers with manpower agencies based in countries of their origin which sale fake job opportunities, send workers without signing job con-tracts upon verbal promises.

It is good forum to explain

the role being played by the GCC states as countries of destina-tions, amendments of legislative, and these challenges can be solved without having bilateral or collective cooperation between the concerned countries.

In regard to some voices demanding inclusion of domes-tic helps in labour law said Kuwait has recently issued a law regulating the work and rights of these workers including work-ing hours, payments and annual leave and other aspects.

The Colombo meeting was inaugurated by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The chair in office of the ADD transferred to the Minister of Foreign Employment in Sri Lanka from Kuwait.

18 ADD countries adopt Colombo declaration

Representatives of ADD countries at the fourth ministerial consultation meeting in Colombo.

Continued from page 1DCF will kick off with “Arab”

themed show featuring Nemr (Lebanon), Rajae Qawas (Jordan), Nikolas Khoury (Jordan), Moha-nad Al Hattab (Syria), Wonho Chung (Korea) and Mohammad Salem (Egypt).

The second day will feature a “Khaleeji” show with Saudi comedians Bader Saleh, Ibra-heem Al Khairallah and Moayad Al Nefaie along with Kuwaiti comedians Ahmad Al Shammari, Abdallah Al Saidan and Bashar Al Jazzaf .

Tickets are on sale at Virgin Megastores and through the store’s website, in addition to Shop Qatar booths at malls par-ticipating in the festival.

DCF to kick off with Arab themed show

FROM LEFT: Mashal Shahbik, QTA's Festivals and Tourism Events Director; The Social Studio’s Managing Director, Hamzeh Zahr and Qatari comedian Hamad AlAmari at a press briefing at Lagoona Mall, yesterday.

Continued from page 1The company said it

received five reports – from Finland, Germany, the US, Denmark and Australia – that users had received injuries to their fingers that needed medical treatment. In a state-ment, Ikea said the chair posed a risk to users of fall-ing or finger entrapment.

“After washing the fabric seat it is possible to re-assem-ble the chair incorrectly leading to risks of falls or fin-ger entrapments,” it said.

“Ikea has received five incident reports in which a Mysingsö beach chair col-lapsed during use due to incorrect re-assembly. All five reports included injuries to fingers, three of which r e q u i r e d f i n g e r t i p amputation.”

Continued from page 1They are also prohibited from

mixing subsidised commodities with other goods or changing their specifications and posses-sion after that with the purpose of trading, refusing the sale of subsidized commodities or sell-ing them in quantities exceeding the prescribed limits.

Hiding subsidised commod-ities or closing shop with an intention to refrain from selling them, imposing purchase of cer-tain quantities of subsidised commodities or buying another commodity with it or suspending purchase on a requirement con-trary to the law are also banned.

The draft law also prohibits sale of subsidised commodities or storing them outside licensed shop, sale of subsidised commodities for non-beneficiary categories unless licensed to do so.

The Cabinet approved a draft law on decorations and military medals, and its draft executive reg-ulations and a decision of Council of Ministers amending organisa-tion of some of the administrative units that comprise General Sec-retariat of Council of Ministers and set their terms of reference.

The Cabinet also approved a draft Trust Fund Agreement (co-financing) between Qatar and the United Nations Population Fund.

The Cabinet reviewed the draft decision to extend the lease contracts for some places and parts of the leased premises for non-residential purposes.

The Cabinet condemned Israeli government for approving to build 2500 new settlement home in West Bank; which comes after already approving permits of building 566 settlement homes in East Jerusalem.

Cabinet guidelines on subsidised items

Ikea receives report from five countries

06 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017HOME

Huge demand

QTA will be holding the fireworks display again from February 2 to 4 at Sheraton Doha Park on popular demand.

The Peninsula

Qatar Airways is celebrat-ing Chinese New Year by serving a special Spring

Festival inspired menu on board flights to popular Asia destina-tions on Saturday.

Guests to both Qatar Airways’ Al Safwa First Lounge and Al Mourjan Business Lounge will also have an opportunity to sample fragrant Asian cuisine and cele-brate turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar in Hamad International Airport (HIA) between Saturday and Monday.

First Class passengers flying to and from Guangzhou on board Qatar Airways’ A380, and Business Class passengers trav-elling to and from Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Chengdu can select from an à la carte menu that will feature Cantonese style roasted chicken with mapo sauce, sautéed Asian vegetables and steamed jasmine rice with black sesame seed or grilled prawn with stir-fried noodles and Jiangxi style sauce, braised lotus root, ginkgo and Chinese kale. Dessert options include tofu cheesecake with a sesame tuile and mango coulis, and Mandarin orange and chocolate torte with raspberry coulis.

Guests travelling in Economy Class can enjoy roasted chicken with sesame hoisin sauce, steamed jasmine rice and sau-téed vegetables followed by Chinese tea cheesecake or

Mandarin orange and vanilla torte. Travellers on select flights will also receive a customary red envelope gift on board their flight to Doha, containing choc-olate gold coins that celebrate the spirit of good fortune and prosperity.

Qatar Airways’ Premium guests travelling via HIA will also have the opportunity to cele-brate this festival through an exclusive feast served in Al Safwa First Lounge and Al Mour-jan Business Lounge. Chinese New Year dishes will be created upon request by Al Safwa’s in-house chef and include dishes such as Peking duck and

pan-fried Chinese pancakes accompanied by bok choy, scal-lions, cucumber and pickled radish. Desserts will include a traditional baked red bean coco-nut cake and a favourite dish of sago and coconut milk, Sai Mai Lo pudding. Business travellers to Al Mourjan lounge can enjoy a festive buffet-style menu including Peking duck noodle salad, hot and sour chicken soup, yang chow shrimp and egg fried rice, festive golden five spice chicken, as well as a range of delectable desserts.

Qatar Airways Senior Vice-President Customer Experience, Rossen Dimitrov, said: “Food,

and sharing a meal together is both an important tradition and a symbolic part of Chinese New Year, believed to bring good luck for the coming year, and Qatar Airways recognises the impor-tance of celebrating such customs with its passengers, whether they are on board or enjoying our lounge hospitality in HIA. As our travellers go places together with Qatar Air-ways this Chinese New Year, we hope that they enjoy this special occasion and the delicious dishes our celebrated chefs have cre-ated for them as they revel in holiday festivities, observe tra-ditions and enjoy family reunions.”

Qatar Duty Free (QDF) and China UnionPay International are also offering special Chinese New Year promotions to passen-gers travelling through HIA throughout the Spring Festival. UnionPay card holders shopping in QDF boutiques within HIA until February 9 will have the opportunity to win instant retail vouchers.

Passengers purchasing QDF fragrances, cosmetics, skincare, confectionery, and other gift items above the value of QR1500 using a UnionPay International credit card, can participate in a lucky draw, and will be rewarded with a traditional Chi-nese red envelope containing a shopping voucher of either QR100, QR150 or QR200 to enjoy at QDF retail outlets until February 9.

Raynald C Rivera

The Peninsula

Looking at the popular demand, Qatar Tour-ism Authority (QTA) is bringing back its three-day Shop Qatar

weekend outdoor festivities featuring stunning fireworks display at the Sheraton Doha Park from February 2 to 4.

The outdoor festivities which were held from January 12 to 14 was a huge success, prompting the organizers to hold a second edition which will again feature the popular food trucks in addition to the pyrotechnic show.

“We will be holding the fire-works display again from February 2 to 4 at Sheraton Doha Park because people loved it as well as the food trucks,” Mashal Shahbik, QTA’s Festivals and Tourism Events Director, told local media yesterday.

Providing an update of Shop Qatar festival, she said tourism and hospitality industry is so far satisfied with the outcome.

“The whole sector is really happy, from Qatar Airways on their discounted air travel offers to the hotels on their accom-modation packages to the shopping malls on their promo-tions,” she said, adding they have received feedback has been very positive on the var-ious offerings such as entertainment.

A rich line-up of live enter-tainment including a concert, comedy shows and an acclaimed Broadway musical will be held in the coming days, kicking off

tomorrow night with the “Kha-leeji Night” concert of popular Emirati superstar Hussain Al Jas-smi at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC).

“We will have lots of activi-ties in the coming week like Shop Qatar fashion show on February 2 at Lagoona Mall. It will be an outdoor fashion show where invited Qatari fashion designers to showcase some of their latest creations,” said Shahbik.

Ten Qatari fashion design-ers along with five international designers from Kuwait, Paki-stan, India and Hong Kong will display a selection of 100 of the latest designs in Arabian and oriental fashion ranging from abayas and kaftans to bridal couture and ready-to-wear outfits. The diverse lineup of upcoming Shop Qatar enter-tainment offerings includes the original production of the famous Broadway musical Cats from February 1 to 4 and the Doha Comedy Festival from February 2 to 4 which will both be held at the QNCC.

“We are happy with the outcome of the festival and we think that we are achieving our goals. We believe that our KPIs will be met at the end of the fes-tival,” added Shahbik.

QTA to restart Shop Qatar outdoor events

The Peninsula

Qatar Charity (QC) has drilled an artesian well equipped with a pump

powered by solar energy to pro-vide drinking water to more than 6,000 people living in Hodh El Gharbi, southern part of Mauritania.

It is part of water projects launched by QC at a cost of QR600,000 in Mauritania.

The artesian well was drilled in Kotwal Village located in Tin-tane, 700 km away from the capital, Nouakchott.

This well is currently fetch-ing about 6,000 people living in Katoyl village. The project aimed at providing drinking water to villagers of katoyl and those residing in its surrounding areas.

The artesian well was equipped with a water tower

built of reinforced concrete with a capacity of 15 cubic meters. A pump was installed and pre-pared to fit the well water level to prevent pump damage.

The well was also equipped with solar power system con-sisting of 10 solar panels with a capacity of WC200 and other necessary requirements includ-ing wires and cables.

A concrete water tank with a capacity of six cubic meters (dimensions 2x3 m2) was built for watering castles. It was con-nected to the water tower with a 90 mm underground water pipe. It was also connected to a three-outlet water tap adjacent to the livestock tank, a meter and a water valve to provide drink-ing water to people and to control the flow of water 300 m away from the tank. This is in addition to installing a fence

fixed to reinforced concrete col-umns to protect the solar system.

QC has also begun drilling another artesian well at Em Lehiad Municipality in Hodh El

Gharbi Region and it will be equipped with a solar-powered pump and a large water tank to serve 4,000 people. The total cost of these two wells would be approximately QR 600,000.

QNA

The sixth annual Thimun Qatar conference kicked off yes-terday at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). The three-day conference is organised by Qatar Foun-

dation’s (QF) Qatar Academy schools and Thimun Foundation is witnessing participation of more than 1,800 Model United Nations (MUN) students from over 80 international schools and 36 local schools, representing 87 nationalities.

Students taking part in the three-day Model United Nations (MUN) conference engage in a simulation of the United Nations (UN), designed to educate them about current world events, topics in international relations, and diplomacy.

Participants take on roles as diplomats, discuss and debate international issues, and then develop solutions to challenges facing global community through imitation sessions of UN com-mittees, such as the Security Council or the General Assembly.

On the occasion, Buthaina al-Nuaimi, president of Pre-University Education, Qatar Foundation said, “The Thimun conference is now in its sixth year. Through this event, we, at Qatar Foundation, are demonstrating our ongoing commit-ment to equipping young men and women with the skills and tools to excel, both personally and academically.” Students have been preparing for the conference for nearly five months, conducting sessions and carrying out research in order to be able to represent their countries.

Over the next few days, students will be given the oppor-tunity to participate in a variety of committees addressing a number of topics, including disarmament, human rights, and the environment.

Bahia Tahzib-Lie, ambassador of the Kingdom of the Neth-erlands , said: “Thimun Qatar is a fantastic event where students are taught leadership qualities and given the opportunity to openly practice those qualities. It’s superb training from where to experience what the UN is about, and to contribute actively and offer fresh solutions.”

The Peninsula

THE General Authority of Customs will mark International Cus-toms Day today and will showcase its talent as well as remarkable achievement in a ceremony at Doha Sheraton.

Annually held on January 26, International Customs Day (ICD) recognises the role of custom officials and agencies in maintain-ing border security. It also focuses on the working conditions and challenges that customs officers face in their jobs.

The General Authority of Customs will organise a number of diverse activities in the event to promote authority’s mission. An event themed “Data Analysis for Effective Border Management,” will be held to discuss ways of use of data and information to further develop existing mechanisms and to facilitate customs procedures.

International Customs Day today

QA to serve Spring Festival menu

A Chinese New Year menu that will be served on board select Qatar Airways flights and in both Qatar Airways’ Al Safwa First Lounge and Al Mourjan Business Lounge to celebrate this special festival.

QC drills artesian well in Mauritania

Villagers collecting water from a water project built by Qatar Charity in Mauritania.

Thimun Qatar 2017 meet begins

07THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Ramallah/Berlin

Reuters & AFP

Germany, in unusually strong criticism of Israel, said plans to build 2,500 more settlement homes in

the Israeli-occupied West Bank put in doubt Israel’s stated com-mitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

Israel announced the plans on Tuesday in the second such declaration since US President Donald Trump took office sig-nalling he could be more accommodating toward such projects than his predecessor Barack Obama. Martin Schaefer, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, said the announcement went “beyond what we have seen on it in the last few months both in terms of its scale and its political significance”.

He said the German govern-ment doubted whether the Israeli government still stood by its offi-cial goal of a peace agreement under which Palestinians would get a state in territory now occu-pied by Israel and co-exist peacefully with it.

If Israel were to move away from this goal, the basis of the whole Middle East peace proc-ess would be thrown into question, Schaefer added. The last round of US-brokered peace talks collapsed in 2014.

The European Union has also warned that Israel’s settlement plans threaten to undermine the chances of peace with the Palestinians.

Germany went to great lengths to make amends for the Nazi era genocide of Jews, including establishing strong relations with Israel, which now considers Germany to be among its most important European

allies. Israeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu told parliament yesterday to expect more announcements on settlement-building and earlier this week told senior ministers that there were no more restrictions on construction.

“We can build where we want and as much as we want,” an official quoted Netanyahu as

telling the ministers. Most coun-tries consider settlements illegal and an obstacle to Israeli-Pales-tinian peace, as they reduce and fragment the territory Palestin-ians need for a viable state.

Israel disagrees, citing bibli-cal, historical and political connections to the land - which the Palestinians also assert - as well as security interests.

A senior Palestinian official said yesterday he was "shocked" by the White House's silence on Israeli settlement expansion and called on US President Donald Trump's administration to clar-ify its policy.

"We used to hear condem-nations, we used to hear American positions saying '(Israel) should stop settlement activities, it's an obstacle to peace,'" Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary general Saeb Erekat said. "Not comment-ing, does that mean that

President Trump is encourag-ing... settlement activities? We need an answer from the Amer-ican administration," he said.

Since Trump's inauguration last week, Israel has approved some 3,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank and in annexed east Jerusalem, signal-ling a sharp change of pace from such projects during the Barack Obama years.

In a telling break with the previous administration, the Trump White House did not con-demn Israel's latest settlement announcements. Erekat said he was "shocked" that the White House did not comment on the settlement announcements.

Settlements are viewed by much of the world as illegal and major stumbling blocks to peace efforts as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. Speaking in the Knesset, Israel's parliament,

Netanyahu said the latest spate of building decisions are just the start of a new wave made pos-sible by the changing of the guard in Washington.

"We have seen eight not easy years," he said in response to lawmakers' questions, recalling that on his first visit with Obama in Washington he was told bluntly to halt all settlement expansion.

"Not a brick," he said, switch-ing from Hebrew to English.

"We have left that era," he said. "There has been one round (of new construction) and there will be more rounds."

Following Israel's approval on Tuesday of plans for 2,500 settler homes in the West Bank, the United Nations expressed "grave concern" and the Euro-pean Union said the move would "further seriously undermine" prospects for a two-state solution.

Beirut

AP

Al Qaeda-linked militants attacked a prison Wednesday where its

fighters are held by other Syr-ian rebels in escalating violence in northern Syria after Russian-led talks urged mainstream insurgents to break with the extremists.

The infighting, some of the worst in recent years, is likely to weaken the rebellion but also could help isolate the extremist group. The fighting pits the

al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front against several other groups, including its former ally, Ahrar al-Sham, one of the most powerful insurgent organiza-tions in Syria's nearly 6-year-old civil war.

Some of the rebels involved in the fighting were represented at talks this week in Astana, Kazakhstan, which were bro-kered by Russia and Turkey and aimed at shoring up a shaky Dec. 30 cease-fire with President Bashar Assad's forces. The talks brought the armed rebel factions face-to-face with Assad's rep-

resentatives for the first time.The two-day talks ended

Tuesday with an agreement among Russia, Turkey and Iran to consolidate the cease-fire, take joint action against extrem-ist groups and jumpstart peace negotiations.

Charles Lister, a senior fel-low at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said that if the al-Qaida-linked group comes out on top in the fighting, the rebels would be more inclined to cooperate with calls for dissociating with its militants.

Dakar

AFP

THE Gambia's new president will return to the capital today, aides said, ending a prolonged political crisis sparked by disputed elections that forced him to flee to neighbouring Senegal.

The announcement capped days of anxious wait-ing in the tiny former British colony that was thrown into chaos when long-time pres-ident Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after losing elections.

New President Adama Barrow is coming "tomorrow at 4pm (1600 GMT)," a senior government official told AFP. "It is important for him to come to avoid the void."

The official said the pri-ority would be "putting into place the pillars of reform and human rights," adding "peo-ple are very happy and it's elating."

Barrow's aide Mai Fatty confirmed the president would be arriving "tomorrow afternoon."

Diplomats had urged Bar-row to return quickly to ensure the tourist-reliant economy, already in a fragile state, does not fall into fur-ther disrepair.

And residents in the cap-ital Banjul said Barrow's arrival would mark the begin-ning of the healing process after divisions created by Jammeh's regime.

"Not only the government has to change but all the Gambian people have to change, working hand in hand, and change our atti-tude," said one Gambian, who declined to give his name.

Emirati spy suspect dead in LibyaTRIPOLI: An Emirati arrested in Libya's capital in 2015 on suspi-cion of espionage has been killed by a member of the intelligence services who was himself shot dead, Tripoli's state prosecutor said.Seddiq Al Sour told a news conference that the detained man was arrested in November 2015 and awaiting trial on charges of links to Dubai's police force. "He claimed to be a businessman with no ties to Dubai police but intelligence agents found photographs of sensitive sites on his phone, including of the Turkish embassy," Sour said. "A member of Libyan intelligence killed the Emirati cit-izen before being gunned down be security forces," the prosecutor added, without giving a date for the incident. Police in Dubai, a member of the United Arab Emirates, have denied links to the unnamed man but said he had served as a sergeant with the force until five years ago.

Gambia leader returns home today after crisis

Battles escalate between Syria rebels and Al Qaeda affiliate

Germany slams Israel’s plans for more settler homes

Kuwait hangs seven people KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait yesterday hanged seven people includ-ing a member of the ruling family and a woman who burned dozens of people to death at a wedding party, the authorities said. The three women and four men are the first to be executed in the oil-rich Gulf state since mid-2013.

They included two Kuwaitis, two Egyptians and one each from Bangladesh, the Philippines and Ethiopia, a statement by the pub-lic prosecution office said. Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al-Sabah, the first royal to be executed in the emirate, was convicted of shoot-ing and killing his nephew, another member of the ruling family, in 2010 over a dispute. Nusra Al Enezi, the other Kuwaiti, set fire to a tent in 2009 during a wedding party in an apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a second wife. Many of the 57 people killed were women and children.

Enezi, who was 23 years old at the time, threw petrol on the tent, where people were celebrating inside, and burned it down in one of the most devastating crimes in the history of Kuwait.

The Filipina and Ethiopian women were domestic helpers convicted of murdering members of their employers' families in two unrelated crimes. The two Egyptians were also convicted of premeditated murder while the Bangladeshi was convicted of abduction and rape. Kuwait resumed executions in 2013 after a moratorium of six years.

BAGHDAD: Islamic State fighters have taken up sniper positions in buildings on the west bank of the Tigris river ahead of an expected government offensive into that side the city, locals said yesterday. Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi said on Tuesday his forces had taken complete control of eastern Mosul, and the com-mander of the campaign to retake Islamic State’s last major stronghold in Iraq has said preparations to cross the Tigris are under way. IS fighters have moved in recent days into Mosul’s main medical complex made up of a dozen buildings located between two of the city’s five bridges - positions that can be used for observation and sniper fire, local residents said.

ScepticalGerman government doubts whether Israel still stood by its official goal of a peace agreement under which Palestinians would get a state in territory now occupied by Israel and co-exist peacefully with it.

IS fighters redeployed in west Mosul

A train travels through Aleppo's devastated eastern districts for the first time in more than four years, yesterday. It is the train's first such trip since rebels overran east Aleppo in the summer of 2012, effectively dividing the northern city into a regime-held west and a rebel-controlled east.

Only walls cannot stop illegal immigrants. But the new US president doesn’t know this. He promised to build one to stop Mexicans from crossing the border during his vaunted

election campaign that brought him to power. And now he is going to live up to his promise of cutting off US’ southern neighbour with a 2000-mile wall that will purportedly thwart tens of thousands of Mexicans from illegally crossing into the United States.

The brash billionaire had launched his campaign with the promise that shocked most around the world. A wall to stop people entering the United States in the 21st century? It sounded like an essentially ‘brick’ idea in a brick and click world. While countries resort to fight illegal immigration with effective legislation, stricter law enforcement, better border control and logistics, curbing corruption in the border police and taking confidence-building measures to improve ties with neighbours, the most powerful nation in the world is resorting to an outdated and absurd step to do the same. If it were as simplistic to build a wall and keep it up in modern times, wouldn’t the Berlin Wall still be standing?

Trump’s obsession with the wall has not endeared him with rest of the world and definitely

not Mexico. As a republican nominee, Trump visited Mexico and met President Pena Nieto who has made no secret of his determination not to pay for the wall. However, Trump has been blowing hot and cold about who is going to pay for the estimated $8bn structure. One of his favourite refrains that Washington is to be reimbursed by Mexico hasn’t found many takers.

Republican Senator John McCain, who said it takes more than a wall to stem migration, has been against the idea for a long time. So have been many other Republicans and almost all Democrats.

The resistance against Trump’s idea of building the wall doesn’t stem from the absurdity or the monstrosity of the idea in an age when physical barriers are frowned upon and greater integration leads to better prospects for the country and its citizens. In fact, one should fear the step as it would be the first of Trump’s actions that will lead to him taking more far-fetched measures in the future.

Former US president Barack Obama’s action to legalise close to a million illegal migrants who had stayed on for years and called America their home, was a prudent move. It remains to be seen how Trump’s move against illegal immigration by erecting a wall sits with Americans and the world.

08 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017VIEWS

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

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

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

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

msalim@pen.com.qa

Writing on the wall

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I set out that bold plan for a global Britain last week andI recognise there is an appetite in this house to see that planset out in a white paper.

Theresa MayBritish Prime Minister

US President Donald Trump seems to be getting closer to his controversial wish of building a wall on the Mexico border.

WWith the world’s attention on Washington and the new administration’s open assault on the media and journalists, whom Donald Trump

described as “among the most dishonest human beings on earth”, few eyes are turned to Egypt, where “alternative facts” have been a reality for some time, and its continued clampdown on the press and civil society.

Among the recent victims to fall afoul of the regime’s crackdown was Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein, who was detained earlier this month on the boilerplate charge of “broad-casting false news with the aim of spreading chaos”.

Another victim was Hossam Al Naggar, a union activist and member of Strong Egypt Party, who was taken from his home to an undisclosed location in yet another “forced disappearance”, according to his party. Although Strong Egypt was established by Muslim Brotherhood dissi-dent and former presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Aboul Fotouh in declared oppo-sition both to his former party and the military, Hussein reportedly stands accused of belong-ing to a “banned organisation”, which is often code for the Brotherhood.

As the Muslim Brotherhood is now regarded by the regime in Egypt as a terrorist group, al-Naggar runs the risk of being added to a “terror list”, which involves a ban on travelling abroad and the freezing of personal assets, as occurred to the legendary retired Egyptian footballer Mohamed Aboutrika, who is alleged to have pro-vided funding to the Brotherhood.

Strong Egypt’s Al Naggar is also accused of calling for protests, which is a democratic and constitutional right (article 73). However, pro-tests are effectively outlawed by Egypt’s draconian anti-protest law, parts of which, though not all, were recently deemed uncon-stitutional by the Supreme Constitutional Court.

Crackdown on civil societyAnd Al Naggar is not an isolated case. Last

month, for example, authorities arrested and subsequently released on bail the prominent feminist and grassroots activist Azza Soliman, who, like many other activists, was already the victim of a travel ban and the freezing of her assets. The unfolding case against Soliman was described as “a chilling escalation against inde-pendent civil society in Egypt” by Mohamed Lotfy of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms. Egypt is experiencing a continued and intensifying war of attrition against oppo-sition figures, revolutionaries, grassroots activists and NGO workers — not to mention journalists and media professionals - in a bid to deprive civil society of its most vital resource: its dedicated and hard-working human resources. This has led to fears that Egypt’s once-vibrant civil society is under “existential threat”.

“The state of civil society today is infinitely worse than during the early days of the revo-lution, or even during [Hosni] Mubarak’s dark years,” asserts Khaled Fahmy, the prominent Egyptian historian who was not only an active

The war of attrition against revolutionariesKhaled DiabAl Jazeera

participant in the revolution of January 25, 2011 but also led efforts to document it for future generations.

“Civil society cannot be shut down,” the acclaimed novelist and activist Ahdaf Soueif told me defiantly. “Civil society is myriad. And it will continue to resist and

to proliferate.”Souef has an intimate

awareness of this. Her family has sacrificed a great deal for the revolu-

tion, with numerous members in and out of prison. Her nephew Alaa Abdel Fattah, one of the icons of the revolution, still lan-guishes behind bars.

Souef points to media organisations which refuse to be intimidated or silenced, such as Mada Masr and El Badil, and human rights groups which refuse to shut their doors even after they have been shut down and had their assets frozen, such as the Nadeem Centre.

And speaking truth to power in peri-ods of severe repression and deception is, in and of itself, a revolutionary act, as

George Orwell once suggested. But why is the state cracking down so ferociously? “The overall logic is to eviscerate these organisations and to subject society in gen-eral to the state agencies, and to allow the army and its companies a bigger role to play in society and the economy,” Fahmy told me.

This crackdown, as well as the rise of Abdel Fattah Al Sisi as a kind of Mubarak-on-steroids, has led to widespread disillusionment and disenchantment among revolutionaries, as well as the pop-ulation at large. “Before, I was ready to die for this country, now I just want to leave,” one Egyptian who took part in the Janu-ary 25 demonstrations was quoted as saying. His words are echoing a sentiment I have heard from quite a number of Egyp-tians who took part in the revolution.

This despondency, coupled with the weakening of civil society and the disar-ray it has created, mean that Egypt is unlikely to experience, though it is still pos-sible, on the sixth anniversary of the revolution the kind of mass mobilisation it witnessed in 2011 and 2013.

However, even without a public upris-ing, the writing appears to be on the wall for the status quo. Not only is Egypt’s econ-omy in tatters and its currency in dire straits, but the regime is proving to be its own worst enemy.

“What the army and intelligence are doing by getting at the forefront of the political scene is similar to what happened to the Muslim Brotherhood during their year in power,” Fahmy points out.

He adds, “More and more people are seeing the state for what it is: corrupt, inef-ficient, and deeply despotic. And this is happening without any significant work from the opposition.”

In short, Fahmy is convinced that the army and its allies are “shooting them-selves in the foot”.

These self-inflicted wounds are likely to pave the way to the next chapter of the Egyptian revolution and, though weakened, civil society is ready to retake the reins when the dams break once again.

Egypt is experiencing a continued and intensifying war of attrition against opposition figures, revolutionaries, grassroots activists and NGO workers — not to mention journalists and media professionals — in a bid to deprive civil society of its most vital resource: its dedicated and hard-working human resources. This has led to fears that Egypt’s once-vibrant civil society is under “existential threat”.

ED ITOR IAL

A general view of Tahrir Square during the sixth anniversary of the 2011 uprising, at Tahrir Square in Cairo, yesterday.

Todd Stern The Washington Post

09THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 OPINION

any number of major corporations, not to mention the leading lights of the US and global scientific establishment.

The good news, though, is that while meeting the challenge of transitioning to clean energy is for-midable, it is also doable as a matter of innovation, policy and financing. We know what we need to do, and we can do it — if the political will is there.

Which brings us back to Trump and those good cards he has been dealt. First, he has the Paris agreement itself. Climate change is a global prob-lem, so it can’t be solved without a global regime to drive joint action, and the landmark Paris accord finally delivered that regime, after 20 years of try-ing. It is built to work both for the United States and for others. It has a bottom-up structure based on countries devising their own climate plans and tar-gets; it applies to all, including China and India; it renews itself every five years as countries update and augment the ambition of their efforts; and it includes binding commitments for full transpar-ency, so all countries can have confidence that others are acting.

Second, we have entered a period of explosive growth in clean energy, led by the genius of US

China ignores US to play leadership role

China is calmly mapping out global leader-ship aspirations from trade to climate change, drawing distinctions between President Xi Jinping’s steady hand and new US President Donald Trump, whose first

days have been marked by media feuds and protests.Just days ahead of Trump taking office, a self-

assured Xi was in Switzerland as the keynote speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, offering a vigorous defence of globalisation and signalling Bei-jing’s desire to play a bigger role on the world stage.

Even on the thorny issue of the South China Sea, Beijing did not rise to the bait of White House remarks this week about “defending international territories” in the disputed waterway. Instead, China stressed its desire for peace and issued a restrained call for Washington to watch what it says.

“You have your ‘America first’, we have our ‘community of common destiny for mankind’,” Retired Major-General Luo Yuan, a widely read Chi-nese military figure best known for his normally hawkish tone, wrote on his blog this week.

“You have a ‘closed country’, we have ‘one belt, one road’,” he added, referring to China’s multi-bil-lion dollar new Silk Road trade and investment programme.

And while China has repeatedly said it does not want the traditional U.S. role of world leadership, a senior Chinese diplomat accepted this week it could be forced upon China.

“If anyone were to say China is playing a leader-ship role in the world I would say it’s not China rushing to the front but rather the front runners have stepped back leaving the place to China,” said Zhang Jun, director general of the Chinese Foreign Minis-try’s international economics department.

That message was reinforced this week when Trump formally withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, distancing America from its Asian allies. Several remaining TPP members said they would now look to include China in a revised pact, or pursue Beijing’s alternative free trade agreements.

“At many important multilateral forums, China’s leader has put forward Chinese proposals, adding positive impetus to world development,” Su Xiaohui a senior researcher at the Foreign Ministry-backed China Institute of International Studies, wrote of the US TPP decision in the overseas edition of the Peo-ple’s Daily.

“In the economic integration process of the Asia Pacific, compared to certain countries who con-stantly bear in mind their leadership role, what China pays even more attention to is ‘responsibility’ and ‘stepping up’,” Su said.

China’s hosting of an international conference on its “One Belt, One Road” initiative in May is one opportunity for Beijing to showcase its leadership of global infrastructure and investment.

A diplomatic source familiar with preparations said China was likely to hold it at the same glitzy convention centre used to host the Asia Pacific Eco-nomic Cooperation summit in 2014, setting the stage for Xi’s most high profile diplomatic event of the year.

“China’s pretty much inviting everyone,” the dip-lomat said.

Another area where China is keen to be seen as leading the way is climate change. Trump has in the past dismissed climate change as a “hoax” and vowed during his presidential campaign to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Li Junhua, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Organisations and Con-ferences, said world was worried about climate change and whether countries would honour their Paris commitments.

“As far as China is concerned, my president has made it extremely clear, crystal clear, China will do its part,” Li told reporters.

It’s not always been this way. China has been

As President Donald Trump takes the reins of power, anxi-ety and uncertainty are the order of the day for those con-cerned about the threat of

climate change. Trump has ranged from disbelieving (climate change is a Chinese “hoax”) to dismissive (we should “cancel” the 2015 Paris agreement) to open (“I’m looking at it very closely. . . . I have an open mind to it”) on the issue.

The truth is that the climate challenge Trump faces is large and the stakes are high, but he has been dealt a very good hand if he is willing to play it.

The challenge is that achieving the cli-mate goals endorsed by all the countries in Paris — especially holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared with prein-dustrial levels — will take a concerted commitment centered on rapidly transi-tioning from a high- to a very-low-carbon global energy system. A global economy that currently runs more than 80 percent on fossil fuels will have to cut that habit dramatically by 2050 and eliminate or capture all carbon emissions by the 2060s or 2070s. Nor can the Paris goals be shrugged off as an excess of zeal that we can comfortably revise upward. With average temperature having risen by only 0.9 degrees Celsius so far, we already see rapidly accumulating evidence of rising sea levels, stressed water supplies and “100-year” events such as extreme droughts, floods and storms. As these and other effects worsen, we will face risks to health, safety, economic well- being and national security that we have never toler-ated in any other context. If you doubt this, just consult the published views of the Pentagon, the intelligence community and

The deal of the century on climate change

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on January 17, 2017.

innovation both in technology and in business models, and by the massive markets being created worldwide for pollution-free energy. The costs of wind and solar generation have been plum-meting and are already near the cost of fossil fuel, and sometimes cheaper. More than 60 percent of new electricity capacity in the United States in the past two years has come from these sources.

And innovation is blossoming all over the clean-tech landscape, from storage technology to open the door for expanding use of renewables, to electric vehicles, to a smarter grid that will ena-ble more work to be done with less energy.

Plus, there are jobs - for example, more solar jobs now in the United States than in the oil, gas and coal extraction industries combined. And clean energy is hugely popular with both Democratic and Republican voters.

We still, crucially, need strong policy support and research and development, but the change is gathering speed.

Globally, the economic potential of the clean-energy transition is staggering, amounting to trillions of dollars. No one has more to gain than the United States by jumping into this new “great race” with both feet, given our unparalleled culture and infrastructure of innovation. It’s the deal of the century, and a presidential dealmaker should pursue it with gusto. None of this would prevent generous treatment for those, such as coal miners, who helped build the industrial backbone of our nation. Or, indeed, for full-on R&D and other support for technologies such ascarbon capture and storage.

Is it plausible that Trump could recognize the climate challenge and embrace this opportunity? The key lies in that “open mind” of his. If it is open, then he will listen to knowl-edgeable advisers — from the military, big business, Wall Street, the scientific community — and he’ll come quickly to understand the risk of climate change and the reward of tak-ing it on.

With an open mind, Trump can make history. He has a Nixon-to-China capacity to bring Congress, the American public and the rest of the world with him on climate. He should seize it.

The writer is a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School, was US special envoy for climate change from 2009 to 2016.

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through a long, tough learning process to become a more respon-sible power.

In 2013, China, angered with Manila over the long dispute on the South China Sea, only stumped up meagre aid to the Philippines after it was hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan, prompting rare dissent in the influential Chinese state-run tabloid the Global Times that Bei-jing’s international image would be hit.

It also will not be plain sailing. On certain key core issues includ-ing the self-ruled island of Taiwan, China will not back down.

In its first official reaction to Trump taking office, China’s For-eign Minister urged his administration to fully understand the importance of the “one China” principle, which Trump has called into doubt and under which Wash-ington acknowledges China’s position of sovereignty over Taiwan.

China also expects that under the Trump administration it will be left alone on one issue that has long dogged ties with Washington - human rights.

The WeChat account of the overseas edition of the ruling Com-munist Party’s official People’s Daily noted with approval on Sat-urday that Trump’s inaugural speech neither mentioned the words “democracy” nor “human rights”.

“Perhaps looking back, these things have been hyped up too much” by US politicians, it added.

Ben BlanchardReuters

“You have your ‘America first’, we have our ‘community of common destiny for mankind’,” Retired Major-General Luo Yuan, a widely read Chinese military figure best known for his normally hawkish tone, wrote on his blog this week.

The El Bonillo Solar Plant in El Bonillo, Spain.

10 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017ASIA

US bolsters military presence in AustraliaSydney

Reuters

The United States will send extra military aircraft to Australia's tropical north this year, a US Marine

Corps spokesman said yester-day, bolstering its military presence close to the disputed South China Sea.

The Marines' deployment in the strategic city of Darwin, agreed in 2011, was a critical part of former US President Barack Obama's "pivot" to Asia amid China's increased assert-iveness in the region.

The move also cemented close ties with staunch ally Aus-tralia and gave the US a foothold in the area.

President Donald Trump's new administration has struck a hawkish tone over Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea Asia, but it has aban-doned the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact negoti-ated by Obama.

Marine Corps spokesman

Major Chris Logan said there would be an increase in aircraft this year, including sending four MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor planes, which boost the range of the marine force and five AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters.

Logan added that Marine numbers would remain at 1,250.

"The size and composition of each Marine rotation to Aus-tralia is mutually determined ...

and is balanced against other resource commitments and respective national priorities".

The number of soldiers sent to Australia's north has stalled well behind plans for a force of 2,500 by 2020, a goal that was delayed last year from 2017 as originally intended.

Australia and the US agreed last October to share more than $1.5bn in infrastructure invest-ment and other costs linked to the 25-year deployment.

They have also discussed basing US long-range B-1 bomb-ers in Darwin, a move which drew concern from China's for-eign ministry.

Australia's defence depart-ment did not respond to a request for comment, but said in October that both nations intend to reach 2,500-marine target "over the coming years".

Euan Graham, director of the International Security Program at Sydney-based think tank the Lowy Institute said the delay in ramping up troop numbers was unsuprising, given slow progress in negotiations on costs.

Court chief urges rapid ruling on ParkSeoul

AFP

SOUTH Korea's top judge urged his colleagues to come to a quick verdict on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye yesterday, at his last hearing before step-ping down.

The rapidly dwindling number of judges at the coun-try's Constitutional Court could throw Park a lifeline, after mil-lions of people have taken to streets to demand her resigna-tion and was impeached by parliament last month.

Pak Han-Chul will retire as the court's chief justice next week at the end of his six-year term, with another of his colleagues following suit on March 13.

That will leave the court with only seven sitting judges, but by law six votes will still be needed to uphold Park's removal from office.

Bangkok

Reuters

Thailand's military govern-ment has approved $380m to buy a submarine from

China after putting the purchase on hold last year, Thai officials said yesterday.

While the Thai army will purchase 10 tanks and auxiliary vehicles from China, in addition to 28 main battle tanks ordered from China last year.

Relations have been

strengthening between China and America's oldest ally in Southeast Asia, particularly since ties with the United States cooled after a 2014 coup.

The purchase of the subma-rine was put on hold last year in the face of public criticism and questions as to whether Thailand really needed a submarine.

Thai navy officials said nego-tiations with the Chinese government were nearly final-ised and the budget had been earmarked to pay for the sub-

marine over six years."We are in the process of

negotiating but this year there will definitely be a signing agree-ment as we have the budget," Navy spokesman Admiral Jumpol Loompikanon said.

Jumpol said the submarine would allow the navy to study tactics and how submarine war-fare may be used against Thailand.

Maritime security is a hot issue in Southeast Asia given competing claims over the South China Sea, but Thailand is not involved in that dispute.

The Thai army has also set aside two billion baht over three years to buy 10 tanks and auxil-iary vehicles from China, according to General Chatudom

Thittasiri, the deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defense.

The purchase is in addition to 28 main battle tanks ordered from China last year.

China was the first major power to acknowledge Thai-land's ruling junta following a 2014 coup.

The United States responded to the coup by freezing $4.7 mil-lion of security-related aid and cancelling some security agreements.

Indonesia probes arms smuggling by soldiersJakarta

Reuters

Indonesia will yesterday send a team to Sudan to investigate allegations that

its peacekeepers stationed there with the United Nations tried to smuggle arms out of the country, officials said.

Authorities in Sudan last week stopped 139 Indonesian police officers from flying out of the Darfur region after secu-rity scans found guns and ammunition in luggage believed to belong to them.

Indonesian police have denied their officers were try-ing to smuggle arms.

"What's clear is the bags that contained the weapons did not belong to the Indone-sian unit," police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said in a text message.

"An investigation is ongo-ing involving the UN, Sudan authorities and Indonesian police," he said.

Trump and Kim impersonators hit HKHong Kong

AFP

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

might never be best buddies, but convincing impersonators are giving Hong Kongers a glimpse

of what their improbable friend-ship might look like.

Describing themselves as political satirists, the pair hugged and pretended to kiss as they posed for photos outside the US consulate in Hong Kong yesterday.

Kim -- a Hong Konger who

gave his name as Howard -- was dressed all in black and sported the North Korean leader's trade-mark swept-back hair.

Next to him a pouting Trump -- played by man named Den-nis from Chicago -- showed off an orange tan and a brushed blonde thatch.

Thai junta to buy submarine worth $380m from China

Philippines apologises over Korean's murder Manila

AP

The Philippine govern-ment apologised to South Korea for the

reported killing of a South Korean man at the coun-try's main police camp, a crime that has tainted law enforcers carrying out the president's controversial anti-drug crackdown.

President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman, Ernesto Abella, offered the government's condolences to the widow of Jee Ickjoo and pledged to ensure that justice is served and not delayed.

"We apologise to the South Korean government and people for this irrepa-rable loss," Abella said at a news conference.

"To the Korean people, please accept our sincerest and deepest regrets."

South Korean officials have expressed alarm over the killing of Jee, the latest in a growing number of

Koreans who have been targeted by criminals and m i l i t a n t s i n t h e Philippines.

National police chief Ronald Dela Rosa has said policemen, including two who belonged to an anti-drug task force, kidnapped Jee and his Filipina house helper at his house in Ange-les city north of Manila using a fake arrest warrant with the intent of obtaining a ransom, but killed him the same day.

They then extracted a ransom payment from Jee's wife without telling her he was dead. The house helper was later freed, said Dela Rosa, who has also apolo-gised for the involvement of his men in the crime.

Two police suspects are in custody and are among those charged with Jee's kidnapping and killing, offi-cials said.

Dela Rosa has faced calls for his resignation but Duterte has continued to back him.

New deployment

An official confirmed that there would be an increase in aircraft this year.

Euan Graham, director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute said the delay in ramping up troop numbers was unsuprising, given slow progress in negotiations on costs.

Howard, 37, an Australian-Chinese who is impersonating North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and Dennis Alan of Chicago, 66, who is impersonating US President Donald Trump, pose on a street in Hong Kong, yesterday.

Maritime security

The purchase is in addition to 28 main battle tanks ordered from China last year.

11THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 ASIA

Trump invites Modi to visit USNew Delhi AFP

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged yesterday to work closely with Donald Trump after the new US president

invited him to Washington, look-ing to ensure an upturn in ties survives a change at the White House.

After their first phone call since Trump's inauguration, the leaders of the world's two larg-est democracies both indicated they had had a warm conversa-tion and extended mutual invitations to their respective capitals.

But while both leaders share similar backgrounds as estab-lishment outsiders, analysts say their two governments could clash on issues such as trade and

visas for Indians wanting to work in the United States.

Statements issued after Tuesday night's phone call indi-cated both men are keen to build on the recent improvement in ties that began under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.

Writing on Twitter, Modi said he "had a warm conversation" with the new US president and they had "agreed to work closely in the coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties".

"Have also invited President Trump to visit India," Modi added after the White House revealed Washington had extended a similar invitation.

A surprisingly convivial con-versation in November between Trump and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif caused alarm within Modi's administra-tion which has been portraying

its rival regime in Islamabad as the "mothership of terrorism".

But during the call, Trump emphasised the United States "considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world," according to a White House readout of the call.

"The two discussed oppor-tunities to strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defence.

"President Trump looked forward to hosting Prime Min-ister Modi in the United States later this year."

Several commentators have argued that Modi and Trump should have a natural affinity as political outsiders who have risen to power in part by casti-gating the traditional ruling elite on a nationalist platform.

Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon described Modi's victory

in India's 2014 general election as the first phase in a "global revolt" against the existing order that culminated with Trump's victory in November.

Rajrishi Singhal, a Mumbai-based geopolitical analyst, said other potential problem areas included Trump's reservations over an existing visa scheme allowing high-skilled foreign workers into the US.

"There are also issues with the pharma industry -- the US thinks our patent regime is too lenient -- and the US wants access to the Indian agriculture market," he said.

"These issues have been on the boil for the last few years. It won't result in trade war right away as leaders will gauge each other first. Later, maybe a year down the line, we will have to see."

Pakistani doctor among WHO top job contendersIslamabad

Internews

A 34- member executive board of the World Health Organisa-tion will be selecting the top five candidates for the post of WHO director general in Geneva yesterday.

Pakistan’s candidate for the post, former health min-ister Dr Sania Nishtar, on Sunday managed to secure 41 percent votes in the pre-polls and has a good chance of be-ing among the five candidates to be chosen yesterday.

Dr Nishtar has extensive experience in public health-care within and outside the country and has also had a career as a civil society leader.

She founded the non-governmental organisation HeartFile in 1999.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) said Dr Nishtar had become one of the strongest candidates after receiving 41 percent of the votes in the pre-polls.

“We were not hopeful that the Pakistani candidate will be considered by board members but Dr Nishtar secured 41 percent of votes due to her credentials. The second highest votes were 26 percent".

“Three candidates will be selected from the five short-listed yesterday and the DG of WHO will be elected from these three in May."

"All the 198 members of the World Health Assembly will be casting their votes in the upcoming final poll”.

The current WHO Direc-tor General is Dr Margaret Chan who was appointed in May 2012 and her term will end on June 30.’

Taipei

AFP

Three eastern Europeans were jailed for five years in Taiwan yesterday over

a $2.6m cyberheist that used malware to hack into a major local bank's ATM network.

The attack, the first of its kind in Taiwan, targeted the First Commercial Bank's ATM net-work in July and saw money

withdrawn from dozens of machines in three cities.

The suspects had uncovered a security loophole in a server at the bank's London branch office and used it to plant the malware, according to authorities.

Latvian Andrejs Peregudovs, together with Mihail Colibaba from Romania and Niklae Penkov from Moldova, were convicted of causing damage to the public by breaching

computer security, said the Tai-pei district court.

They were also each fined $19,000 and will be deported after completing their sentences, the court said. They can appeal the ruling.

Prosecutors had sought 12-year jail terms, saying their multiple actions had "seriously disrupted financial order and caused public panic". But court spokesman Liao Chien-yu said

the judges had considered the illegal bank withdrawals as one case, which carries a maximum five-year sentence.

Prosecutors said it was the first case of a multinational crime ring hacking into a bank's computer system to plant malware.

Police arrested the trio in Tai-pei and northeastern Yilan several days after the heist and recovered most of the stolen money.

Work harder for common benefit: Indian President

Taliban to Trump: It's time to leave KabulKabul

AP

IN a long rambling letter, the spokesman for the Taliban is telling US President Donald Trump that it's time to leave Afghanistan.

The letter was written on behalf of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Zabi-hullah Mujahid, the Taliban's spokesman, warns Trump that peace will be elusive as long as foreign troops are on Afghan soil.

He adds that independ-ence from foreign dominance is "the only asset" that an impoverished nation like Afghanistan truly has.

Written in English, as well as Dari and Pashto, the four-page letter waxed on about Afghanistan's history, its numerous defeats of invad-ing armies and the reported corruption widespread in Afghanistan today.

Pakistani female lawmaker harassed in parliamentKarachi

AFP

A Pakistani female law-maker threatened to self-immolate after she

was harassed by male colleagues in parliament, saying that the widely-publicised incident

shows how laws to protect women are not being enforced.

Nusrat Sahar Abbasi, an MP in Sindh province, spoke of her fury after provincial minister Imdad Pitafi invited her to his private chambers on the floor of the assembly on Friday in com-ments seen as harassment in

conservative Pakistan.She said she protested

strongly but the deputy speaker of the assembly, also a woman, refused to take any action.

A frustrated Abbasi was then pictured on Saturday holding a small bottle said to be of petrol and threatening to self-immo-

late if action was not taken.Federal party chiefs were

forced to intervene as the incident exploded on social media, with Pitafi finally caving to the pres-sure and apologising in assembly while offering Abbasi a chador, or veil, as a mark of respect.

Abbasi said that the incident

was now "over", but that it poses a question on the implementa-tion of laws protecting women from such harassment.

"Their implementation is still a dream," Abbasi said.

"Even us, the parliamentar-ians are not safe from gender biases and harassment".

Three foreigners jailed in Taiwan over ATM heist Five including soldier die in Kashmir avalanchesSrinagar

AFP

Avalanches killed five people in Kashmir yes-terday -- four

members of a family whose home was buried under snow and a soldier stationed at a military base.

The four family members died when an avalanche ripped through the small vil-lage of Badugam in the Gurez area, close to the unofficial border with Pakistan-con-trolled Kashmir, while they were asleep in their home.

Police and rescuers man-aged to pull an 18-year-old from the mounds of snow but he was the sole survivor.

"The avalanche struck the village at 4:00am, killing four members of a family. One survivor was rescued," inspector general of police for the region, Javid Gillani, said.

The victims were a 17-year-old boy, his 19-year-old sister and both their parents. The soldier was killed when another ava-lanche hit an army barracks in the northern area of Sonmarg.

Kashmiri villagers look on during heavy snowfall in Gund, some 70km northeast from Srinagar, yesterday.

China's Xi orders military reform

New Delhi

IANS

President Pranab Mukher-jee yesterday called for working harder to realise

the dreams of fighting poverty and terrorism and to redeem the promises made to the people.

"In a fiercely competitive world, we have to work harder than ever to redeem the prom-ises that we make to our people," said Mukherjee addressing the nation on the eve of India's 68th Republic Day.

"We have to work harder to keep at bay the dark forces of terrorism. These forces have to be dealt with firmly and deci-sively. The forces inimical to our interests cannot be allowed to grow," he said.

While observing that the war on poverty was not yet over, Mukherjee lamented that one-fifth of the country's people remain below the poverty line.

"Our economy is yet to grow at over 10 percent for an extended period of time to make a significant dent on poverty. Gandhiji's mission to wipe every tear from every eye still remains unfulfilled," he said.

"The competitiveness of the domestic industry has to be improved by focusing on qual-ity, productivity and efficiency," he said stressing on the need for creating world-class manufac-turing and services sectors.

"We have to work harder to change our consumption pattern which has resulted in environ-mental and ecological

de-gradation. We have to appease nature to prevent it from unleashing its fury in the form of floods, landslides and droughts".

"We have to work harder to provide safety and security to our women and children.

"We have to work harder to

ensure the well-being of our sol-diers and security personnel who protect us from internal and external threats," he added.

Bilateral ties

Modi said he "had a warm conversation" with the new US president and they had "agreed to work closely in thae coming days to further strengthen our bilateral ties".

According to a White House readout of the call, Trump emphasised the US "considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world.

Students form the national flag during an event on eve of Republic Day in Chennai, yesterday.

Beijing

Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping has used a traditional visit to outlying regions before

the Lunar New Year to urge the military to ensure they are free from corruption and following party orders on reform and training.

Chinese leaders generally use the time around the festival to make inspection trips around the country where they flag important policy initiatives or areas of concern for year ahead.

The week-long holiday, starting on the eve of the new year, tomorrow, is the most important in the Chinese calen-dar, when millions of people travel home, many for the only time in the year.

Visiting troops based in Zhangjiakou, a city in Beijing's neighbouring Hebei province, Xi pressed home his message about the importance of fight-ing corruption, especially in the armed forces.

"Fully and thoroughly purge the pernicious influence of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou," state

television paraphrased Xi as saying, referring to two senior former officers felled in the gov-ernment's fight on graft.

Xi said China should build a strong military by improving its political awareness, pushing ahead with reform and making sure it follows the law, state tel-evision said, showing pictures of him chatting with soldiers in their barracks and asking them about their living conditions.

Xi also underscored the importance of improving com-bat readiness through training, the report said.

12 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017EUROPE

Clarity sought

Many lawmakers want to see May's Brexit plans laid out in a formal ‘white paper’, which sets out the government’s proposals for future legislation.

People walk during a snowfall in a street of Montelimar, southeastern France, yesterday.

Snow flurry on street

NEWS BYTES

MOSCOW: The Russian parliament yesterday gave its over-whelming backing to a draft law that would ease some penalties for domestic violence, alarming women’s rights campaign-ers who fear it will encourage abuse.

The law, which the State Duma or lower house of parlia-ment, passed in its second of three readings by 385 votes to two, would reduce battery of a relative to a civil offence instead of a criminal offence in first instances, when the victim suffered no serious harm. Those who support the proposed change, includ-ing members of President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, say they want to protect parents’ right to discipline their chil-dren and to reduce the state’s ability to meddle in family life.

Bulgaria’s PM promises stability SOFIA: Bulgaria’s newly appointed interim prime minister has pledged to maintain political stability and continuity as he leads the Balkan country towards a parliamentary elec-tion on March 26, its third since 2013.

On Tuesday President Rumen Radev named Ognyan Ger-dzhikov, to head an interim cabinet following the resignation of Bulgaria’s centre-right government late last year.

“An interim government at first glance does not have a lot of tasks - its key task is to organise fair elections,” Gerdzhikov, 70, told BNT state television. “Of course, the state must be run in such a way as to ensure calm. What has been done by those before us must be built on and shortcomings must be tackled,” he added.

EU urged to extend border controls BRUSSELS: The EU should prolong border controls in the passport-free Schengen area for another three months as the bloc is still working on steps to deal with the migrant crisis, the European Commission said yesterday.

Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and non-EU Nor-way first introduced the checks in 2015 as a record wave of refugees and migrants. The current measures were imposed in November and are due to lapse in mid-February.

Seven held in hunt for militantsBRUSSELS: Security officers detained seven people in Brus-sels yesterday as part of an investigation into whether militants were returning from Syria, prosecutors said.

The people were held for questioning after police searched houses in about eight locations around the Belgian capital, author-ities said. No explosives or weapons were found, they added.

“The investigation relates to the issue of possible return-ing Syria fighters,” federal prosecutors said in a statement.

Prosecutors said the raids and detentions were not linked to ongoing investigations into the November 2015 attacks in Paris and March 2016 bombings in Brussels, when sui-cide bombers killed 32 people at Brussels Airport and the city’s metro system.

Russian parliament okays draft law against domestic violence

London

Reuters

Britain said it would publish legislation today seeking parlia-ment’s approval to begin formal divorce

talks with the European Union as Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured) agreed to lawmakers’ demands to publish her Brexit plan.

The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that May must give par-liament a vote before she can invoke Article 50 of the EU’s Lis-bon Treaty, with Brexit minister David Davis promising a “straight-forward” bill within days.

Many lawmakers said they wanted to see May's Brexit plans laid out in a formal ‘white paper’, which sets out the gov-ernment’s proposals for future legislation, to facilitate greater scrutiny before a parliamen-

tary vote on triggering Brexit.“I set out that bold plan for a

global Britain last week and I recognise there is an appetite in this house to see that plan set out in a white paper,” May, whose government had previously

declined to publish such a paper, told parliament yesterday.

“I can confirm to the house that our plan will be set out in a white paper.”

Later her spokeswoman said the government would publish its Article 50 legislation today , but did not give any details of the likely timeframe for its progress through parliament.

The Institute for Govern-ment, a think tank, has predicted the earliest an Article 50 bill could pass through both houses of parliament is the end of Feb-ruary, but expects that early March is more likely.

Several opposition parties have said they will seek to

amend the legislation, but the government has said it still expects to be able to stick to May’s timetable of triggering Article 50 by the end of March.

It is not clear whether the white paper will be published and debated before the legisla-tion is voted on. The spokeswoman said only that it would be published “in due course”.

While lawmakers hope a white paper will force the gov-ernment to give more detail on its Brexit plan, there are no rules about what it must include and any such document could sim-ply repeat the contents of May’s speech.

Berlin

AFP

GERMAN authorities yester-day carried out dawn raids against far-right suspects accused of plotting attacks on refugees, Jews and police, federal prosecutors said.

Police swooped on 12 homes and other sites in six states “as part of a federal investigation on suspicion of forming a right-wing extrem-ist organisation”, the prosecutor’s office said.

Six suspects, “connected primarily via social media”, are accused of founding the group “and in early 2016 beginning plans for armed attacks against police offic-ers as representatives of state, asylum seekers and members of the Jewish community”.

Another seven people are believed to have offered assist-ance to the group including acquiring weapons.

“The aim of today’s raids is to gather evidence of for-mation of a group as well as suspected crimes and poten-tial material for use in those crimes,” it said. Around 200 police officers took part in the coordinated raids.

News agency DPA said the group was believed to belong to “Reichsbuerger” (Citizens of the Reich) movement, a shad-owy far-right outfit blamed for shooting dead one police officer and wounding three others during a raid in Geor-gensgmuend in October.

Paris

AFP

French investigators launched a preliminary probe yesterday into

claims presidential frontrun-ner Francois Fillon gave his wife a fake job for years, pay-ing her €500,000 ($538,000).

The investigation for “mis-use of public money” was triggered by the Canard Enchaine newspaper, which claimed that British-born Pene-lope Fillon had a fictitious role as a parliamentary aide to her husband, a conservative MP for the northern Sarthe region.

The paper, which mixes sat-ire and investigative reporting, said it had been unable to find

anyone who remembered her working in parliament.

Fillon said the claims, which dominated headlines throughout the day, were “ m u d s l i n g i n g ” a n d “misogynistic”.

“I see that the mudslinging season has started,” he told reporters at a campaign event in Bordeaux.

“I won’t comment because there is nothing to comment on and I would like to say that I am outraged by the disdain and misogyny in this article.”

Fillon’s spokesman Thierry Solere confirmed reporters that Penelope had worked for her husband, an arrangement he said was “common” among French MPs.

Berlin

Reuters

GERMANY’S cabinet yester-day approved plans to introduce a highway toll for cars after resolving a dispute with European Commission that had said the planned charge would discriminate against foreign drivers.

Under the new plans, Ger-many will introduce a highway toll for cars registered abroad with prices linked to environ-mental criteria. Cars that pollute less will pay a lower rate. The maximum annual cost for a foreign vehicle would be €130.

Vehicles registered in Germany will pay the toll but will get corresponding tax deductions which will decrease for less environ-mentally friendly cars.

The toll was championed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative allies in Bavaria.

German Transport Min-ister Alexander Dobrindt said the new system was a major change. For domestic drivers, there will be no extra cost. Anyone who has a particu-larly environmentally friendly vehicle will pay a bit less,” he said.

The European Commis-sion in Brussels had said the original plans, approved by German parliament in 2015, were discriminatory and therefore violated EU rules. The two sides settled their differences last month.

The new charge will take effect after Germany’s federal election in September.

Merkel’s cabinet also gave the nod to plans for self-driv-ing cars under which the car manufacturer will be liable for system failures that result in accidents.

Farindola

Reuters

Rescuers yesterday pulled more bodies from the ruins of an Italian hotel

razed by an avalanche as peo-ple who lost homes and livelihoods in deadly quakes last year protested in Rome.

Rescuers using pickaxes and mechanical diggers pulled six bodies from the rubble of Hotel Rigopiano a week after it was flattened by a wall of snow, rais-ing the death toll to 24.

No one has been found alive since early Saturday and hopes of finding more survivors are fading. Five people are still missing after the January 18 ava-lanche struck in the wake of heavy snow storms and a flurry of powerful earthquakes.

Prime Minister Paolo Gen-tiloni said he would launch an

emergency decree next week and add to money already set aside to rebuild after the area was devas-tated by tremors last year.

His government has ear-marked €4bn in this year’s budget and Gentiloni said he had told Jean Claude Juncker, the president of the European Com-mission which oversees national finances, that they would allo-cate more.

“It is up to us to make sure that once the disaster is past, further injustice is not created,” he told parliament.

He has said he wants to give more power to disaster manage-ment authorities and the earthquake response will require “billions more” euros, but has given no further details.

As the premier spoke, resi-dents of quake-struck towns including Amatrice, where 300 people died last August,

marched towards parliament to protest handling of the crisis.

“No one has done anything,” protester Maria Domenica D’Annunzio said. “A thousand cows have died. The firemen had to take them away with cranes. There are all these aban-doned farmers who are still living in caravans surrounded by 2.5 metres of snow.”

Eleven guests and hotel workers survived avalanche in Gran Sasso national park. Snow on the road had prevented many from leaving the hotel.

Prosecutors in nearby Pes-cara have opened an investigation which Gentiloni said would estab-lish whether emergency response had malfunctioned and if anyone was responsible for the tragedy.

“I share desire to find truth but I don’t share a certain desire which I see spreading, for scape-goats and avengers,” he said.

Three survivors embrace as people from earthquake-ravaged zones of central Italy demonstrate against slow bureaucracy of the government in sending economic help to the area during a protest in Rome, yesterday.

May to put Brexit plan before MPsGermany raids suspects 'plotting attack' on refugees

France’s Fillon faces probe into wife's ‘fake job’ row

Rescuers pull more bodies from Italian hotel; protests in Rome

German govt to introduce highway toll

13THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 AMERICAS

Washington

AP

President Donald Trump will begin rolling out executive actions on immigration, beginning with steps to build his

proposed wall along the US-Mex-ico border, according to two administration officials. He’s also expected to target so-called sanc-tuary cities and is reviewing proposals that would restrict the flow of refugees to the United States.

The president is expected to sign the first actions — including the measure to jumpstart con-struction of the wall — during a trip to the Department of Home-land Security. Additional actions will be announced out over the next few days.

Trump is said to still be weigh-ing the details of plans to restrict refugees coming to the US. The current proposal includes at least a four-month halt on all refugee admissions, as well as temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries, according to a representative of a public policy organization that monitors refugee issues.

On his personal Twitter account on Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: “Big day planned on National Security tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” Trump cam-paigned on pledges to tighten US immigration policies, including strengthening border security and stemming the flow of refugees. He also called for halting entry to the US from Muslim countries, but later shifted the policy to a focus on what he called “extreme vet-ting” for those coming from countries with terrorism ties.

While the specific of Trump’s orders were unclear, both admin-istration officials said the actions would focus in part on the pres-ident’s plans to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. He’s also expected to move forward with plans to curb funding of cities that don’t arrest

or detain immigrants living in the US illegally, — localities dubbed “sanctuary” cities — which could cost individual jurisdictions mil-lions of dollars.

Trump’s insistence that Mex-ico would pay for the wall was among his most popular propos-als on the campaign trail, sparking enthusiastic cheers at his raucous rallies. Mexico has repeatedly said it will not pay for any border wall.

Earlier this month, Trump said the building project would initially be paid for with a con-gressionally approved spending bill and Mexico would eventually reimburse the US, though he has not specified how he would guar-antee payments.

Trump will meet with Mexi-can President Enrique Pena Nieto at the White House next week.

In claiming authority to build a wall, Trump may rely on a 2006 law that authorized several hun-dred miles of fencing along the 2,000-mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The Secure Fence Act was signed by then-president George W. Bush and the majority of the fencing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California was built before he left office. The last rem-nants were completed after

President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

The Trump administration also must adhere to a decades-old bor-der treaty with Mexico that limits where and how structures can be built along the border. The 1970 treaty requires that structures can-not disrupt the flow of the rivers, which define the US-Mexican bor-der along Texas and 24 miles in Arizona, according to The Inter-national Boundary and Water Commission, a joint US-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.

It appeared as though the ref-ugee restrictions were still to be finalised. The person briefed on the proposals said they included a ban on entry to the US for at least 30 days from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Soma-lia, Sudan and Yemen, though the person cautioned the details could still change.

There is also likely to be an exception in the refugee stoppage for those fleeing religious perse-cution if their religion is a minority in their country. That exception could cover Christians fleeing Muslim-majority nations.

As president, Trump can use an executive order to halt refu-gee processing. President George W. Bush used that same power in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the US homeland.

Refugee security vetting was reviewed and the process was restarted several months later. Other executive actions expected include bolstering border patrol agents and ending what Repub-licans have argued is a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immi-grants caught crossing the border illegally are given notices to report back to immigration offi-cials at a later date.

If Trump’s actions would result in those caught being immediately jailed, the adminis-tration would have to grapple with how to pay for jail space to detain everyone and what to do with children caught crossing the border with their parents.

Curbs likely on flow of refugees to US

Washington

Reuters

The US Senate voted almost unanimously yesterday to confirm South Carolina

Governor Nikki Haley as ambas-sador to the United Nations, sending a rising Republican star to represent President Donald Trump at an institution he has criticised. Haley was backed by 96 senators, with only four opposed. She impressed law-makers during her confirmation hearing this month. Haley, 45, promised to press for UN reforms but also fight for human

rights and support international institutions, often breaking from Trump’s positions.

“American values that we all hold dear and want to promote around the world are things that she has the ability to communi-cate and cares deeply about,” said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker. The “No” votes came from Democratic Senators Tom Udall, Chris Coons and Martin Heinrich, and Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

“Like many Americans, and many of our allies, I am

concerned about Trump’s erratic statements and positions on for-eign policy, and that concern is only deepened by the fact that his nominee to be ambassador to the UN has no real diplomatic experience,” Udall said.

Haley has only held office in the state where she has been governor since 2011. The daugh-ter of immigrants from India, Haley attracted national atten-tion in 2015 when she secured the removal of the Confederate battle flag from South Carolina’s capitol grounds after a white supremacist killed nine black churchgoers in Charleston.

Haley confirmed as UN envoy

Washington

AP

President Donald Trump is asking for a review of America’s methods for

interrogating terror suspects and the possible reopening of CIA-run “black site” prisons outside the United States, according to a draft executive order.

The order would also reverse America’s commitment to clos-ing the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The document instructs top national security officers to “rec-ommend to the president whether to reinitiate a program of interro-gation of high-value alien terrorists to be operated outside the United States and whether such program should include the use of deten-tion facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency.”

The document says US laws should be obeyed at all times and explicitly rejects “torture.” But its reconsideration of the harsh interrogation techniques banned

by president Barack Obama and Congress is sure to inflame pas-sions in the United States and abroad. While some former gov-ernment leaders insist the program was effective in obtain-ing critical intelligence, many others blame it for some of the worst abuses in the “war on ter-ror” after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

The AP obtained the draft order from a US official, who said it had been distributed by the White House for consulta-

tions before Trump signs it. On the campaign trail, Trump

spoke emphatically about tough-ening the US approach to fighting the Islamic State group. He spoke he would interrogate terror sus-pects with the outlawed practice of waterboarding, which simu-lates drowning, and a “hell of a lot worse".

Since becoming president, however, he has tempered those calls, noting his Defense Secre-tary James Mattis’ advice that torture is ineffective.

Washington

Reuters

US President Donald Trump said yesterday he would seek an investiga-

tion of what he believes was voter fraud in the November election, despite overwhelming consensus among state officials, election experts and politicians that voter fraud is rare in the United States.

The new Republican presi-dent has bristled at references to losing the popular vote to Dem-ocrat Hillary Clinton and said he would have won it if not for fraud. Trump, a real estate mogul and reality television star, has never substantiated his fraud claim.

“I will be asking for a major investigation into Voter Fraud, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are ille-gal and....even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time),” Trump said on Twitter. “Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting pro-cedures!” He did not elaborate beyond the two Twitter posts.

Trump complained even before the Nov. 8 election that its outcome was being rigged against him and has said 3 mil-lion to 5 million illegal immigrants voted against him.

He lost the popular vote to Clinton by more than

2.9 million votes but won the state-by-state Electoral College tally that decides the presidency.

The popular vote and alle-gations of Russian meddling in the election have led to criti-cism that his victory was not legitimate.

Trump initially rejected US intelligence findings that Rus-sian President Vladimir Putin ordered cyber attacks that hurt Clinton’s campaign to Trump’s benefit.

State officials have said they found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the election and there is no history of it in US elections. Leading Republicans also have rejected fraud claims with House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan saying he had seen no supporting evidence. Republican Senator John McCain said Trump’s assertions were unsubstantiated. “There’s no evi-dence of that and I think that those who allege that have to come up with some substantia-tion of the claim,” he told MSNBC.

Trump’s announcement on Twitter follows a White House news briefing yesterday in which his spokesman, Sean Spicer, con-firmed Trump continued to believe that millions of illegal immigrants voted in the election. Spicer did not provide any evidence to sup-port those beliefs.

Washington

AP

President Donald Trump is on the verge of nominating a Supreme Court justice who could serve

until the middle of the century. Trump said yesterday he expects to make a decision in the coming days and announce it next week.

A person familiar with the proc-ess said the president has narrowed his choice to three federal appellate judges ranging in age from 49 to 54. They all were on the list of 21 poten-tial high court picks Trump announced during his presidential campaign. The leading contenders — who all have met with Trump — are William Pryor, Neil Gorsuch and Tho-mas Hardiman, the person said.

Trump to seek ‘major probe' on voter fraud

Draft order seeks review on terror interrogations

Three judges eye for Supreme Court vacancy

Greenpeace protesters unfold a banner reading "Resist" from atop a construction crane behind the White House in Washington, DC yesterday.

Resistance to Trump

Immigration steps

The president is expected to sign the first actions during a trip to the Department of Homeland Security.

Other executive actions expected include bolstering border patrol agents and ending what Republicans have argued is a catch-and-release system at the border.

14 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017AMERICAS

NEWS BYTES

CUBA: A US military judge at Guantanamo Bay paused pre-trial hearings yesterday for the alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks after the lead attorney for one defendant had broken her wrist. Cheryl Bormann, the “learned counsel” for Walid bin Attash, broke her arm in a fall over the weekend, which prevented her from flying to the US naval base on the eastern tip of Cuba. Because it’s a death penalty case, each defendant has the right to a learned counsel, or capital expert, during every step of the process. The delay means almost the entirety of court action scheduled to last two weeks has been postponed until March, yet another delay in one of the long-est prosecutions in US history. Accused of plotting America’s deadliest terror attack, it was the first court appearance of the so-called “9/11 Five” since President Donald Trump was sworn in less than a week ago.

LOS ANGELES: Two Los Angeles police officers acted in self-defense and will not face criminal charges after fatally shooting a mentally ill black man during a struggle over an officer’s gun in 2014, prosecutors said. The finding from the Los Ange-les district attorney’s office comes more than a year after a police oversight board found the officers had no legal reason to stop 25-year-old Ezell Ford, violating department policy. But prosecutors said Los Angeles Police Department officers Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas were in fear for their lives and acted lawfully when they shot Ford on August 11, 2014 as Ford struggled with Wampler over the officer’s hol-stered gun. The shooting happened days after that of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and led to a series of Black Lives Matter protests in Los Angeles.

NEW YORK: A US judge has ordered that Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman appear by video link at his next court hearing to avoid unnecessary transfers for one of the world’s most notorious criminals. The 59-year-old Guzman, accused of running one of the world’s biggest ever drug empires, was extradited to the United States on January 19 after twice escaping from prison in Mexico. US media say he is being incar-cerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York, a 3km drive from the federal court house across the river in Brooklyn. Judge Brian Cogan ordered that Guzman appear by video link on February 3 because the scheduled hearing is expected to be “brief and non-substantive” in order to “min-imize disruption from physical transportation.” Prosecutors and the defense have until January 30 to lodge an appeal.

SANTIAGO: A fourth firefighter died yesterday while battling vast forest blazes in central Chile, the emergency services said. The man died after getting stuck while trying to help a family escape from their home near the city of Constitucion, a source in the fire service said. Three others have died and another three were injured fighting the wildfires over the past week, authorities said earlier. The multiple blazes have ravaged 190,000 hectares, the National Forestry Corpora-tion said. Frantic locals have been joining in efforts to tackle the blaze to save their homes, animals and farmland. Presi-dent Michelle Bachelet yesterday ordered extra funds to fight what she called the country’s worst forest fires ever.

BRASILIA: Brazil’s top labour prosecutor said President Michel Temer’s proposals to modernize the country’s labour laws were illegal in a report published yesterday that pro-vided ammunition to workers’ unions fighting the reforms. Updating outdated labor laws to allow outsourcing and more flexibility in contracts and work hours is part of Temer’s plan to reduce business costs and pull Brazil from its worst reces-sion on record. But his proposal has come under fire even before it was discussed in Congress. “In times of crisis, work-ers need more protection not less,” Prosecutor-General for Labor Ronaldo Fleury, whose office in responsible for chas-ing labour law violations from slavery to child labour, said.

Gitmo judge pauses hearings after lawyer’s accident

No charges for 2 LAPD officers in death of black man

Judge plea to ‘El Chapo’

Fourth firefighter dies in Chile

Temer's labour reforms 'illegal'

Columbia

AP

A South Carolina state lawmaker accused of beating his wife bloody resigned rather than be expelled

from the Statehouse.But Rep. Chris Corley still faces a fel-

ony aggravated domestic violence charge that could put him in prison for up to 20 years.

House Speaker Jay Lucas read Cor-ley’s one-sentence resignation letter yesterday to his colleagues, which came as he was preparing to introduce legisla-tion forcing Corley from his House seat.

“I am grateful that the House did not have to take such extraordinary meas-ures,” said Lucas, R-Hartsville.

While the state constitution gives the House authority to remove a member for disorderly conduct, the House hasn’t expelled one of its own since the 1870s, according to the speaker’s office.

Corley, a Republican best known for his defense of the Confederate flag, was easily re-elected with no opposition to a second term in November. But his trou-bles at home became public record through a desperate 911 call the day after Christmas.

“Please stop” can be heard repeatedly in the recording released by the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office. “Just stop daddy. Just stop. ... Daddy, why are you doing this?” their children say.

Legislative leaders had called on the 36-year-old attorney from Graniteville to resign ahead of the session that started Jan. 10.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Mas-sey, whose district includes much of Corley’s, said state leaders had to make clear that “it’s not OK to beat up your wife.”

While Corley is legally innocent until proven guilty, “there’s a big difference between the criminal and political side,”

said Massey, R-Edgefield. “It’s a bad thing and we ought to be calling it out.”

He and others also said Corley’s con-stituents deserve representation. Lucas suspended Corley from his seat Jan. 4 shortly after the indictment.

Corley said his wife tried to punch him after accusing him of cheating, and the police report noted a scratch on his fore-head. Corley’s wife told deputies he stopped hitting her on Dec. 26 only after noticing she was bleeding and hearing the screams of two of their three children, ages 2 and 8.

He was initially charged with first-degree domestic violence, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and pointing a firearm. The grand jury returned a more serious charge of “domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature,” punishable by up to 20 years. The gun charge is pun-ishable by five years.

Prosecutors said in court that Corley threw his wife on their bed and began

hitting her in the head, once even biting her nose as their young children stood in the doorway. Corley took away his wife’s cellphone so she couldn’t call for help, but she managed to make the 911 call on her Apple Watch, assistant attorney general Kinli Abee said.

The attack ended with Corley point-ing a gun at his wife and then going to a bathroom, which allowed her to run with her children to her mother’s house across the street, Abee said.

Corley’s attorney did not dispute the facts in court.

A judge set Corley’s bail at $50,000 on the upgraded charge last week, and he spent a night in jail. The pro-gun law-maker was also ordered to turn in his weapons and passport and not contact his wife or their children without permission.

Lawmakers said hearing the children’s screams on the 911 recording compelled them to speak out.

Lawmaker accused of beating his wife resigns

Boise, Idaho

AP

For buildings in parts of the snow-covered US West, it has become a winter where the weak do not survive.

The accumulated weight of snow has crushed an old lum-ber mill in Oregon, the main grocery store in a small Idaho town, a sports complex in Alaska and a conference center in Colo-rado, among others.

They have led to some inju-ries and at least one death, when the roof of a woman’s snow-laden porch in northern Idaho fell while she was underneath it, officials say. Authorities fear more collapses will come.

Storms this month have blanketed the West and kept dumping more snow on top of it. Experts say the rare combi-nation of greater snowfall at lower elevations and prolonged

cold temperatures that allowed the snow to accumulate without melting away is partly to blame for the collapses.

The combination builds up an amount of snow that exceeds building codes set for weather expected only twice a century, said Dell Winegar, president of the Idaho Onion Growers Asso-ciation, whose industry has felt the pain at its facilities.

Nearly 20 buildings that

store and package onions have crashed down in Idaho and Ore-gon, leading prices to spike from $3.50 to $6.50 for a 50-pound bag of yellow jumbo onions.

“It’s been a heartbreak for a lot of folks,” Winegar said. “It’s hard to prepare for something that has never happened before.”

While lower elevations are getting record snow, mountains in the West are only somewhat above average, forecasters say.

But “that snow hasn’t been melting,” said Troy Lindquist of the National Weather Service. “We’re ending up with snow loads on roofs that we typically don’t see around here.”

Another possible reason behind the collapses is that set-tling snow does not look as substantial because it’s not as deep, fooling building owners about the weight that’s pressing on shingles and tiles. But experts say the water density in the snow is increasing, meaning a roof that

that does not appear to be hold-ing much powder can be straining under thousands of pounds.

“They may look at the roof and say, ‘There’s not as much snow there because it settled,’” said Ron Abramovich, a water supply specialist with the Natu-ral Resource Conservation Service who analyzes the snow-pack in mountains. “But it really comes down to the amount of water in the snowpack.”

Abramovich said 20 inches of snow can weigh about 10 pounds per square foot. That means a portion of a 20-by-20 foot roof with that amount of snow would be supporting about 4,000 pounds.

A former factory was bear-ing much more weight than that when it collapsed this month in the upscale Old Mill District of Bend, Oregon. The building, cov-ering 7.5 acres with nearly 30 inches of snow on its roof.

Havana

Reuters

A Cuban trade delegation arrived in the United States this week to visit

four states and six ports, even as the Trump administration pondered what to do with a fragile detente initiated by its predecessor.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to scrap the move to normalize relations between Washington and Havana, one of former Presi-dent Barack Obama’s signature foreign policy initiatives, if he doesn’t get “a better deal”.

Port authorities along the US Southern coast are strong

proponents of increased trade and travel with Cuba, and some have expressed interest in using Mariel, located on the north-west coast of the Caribbean island, as a transshipment hub.

“We’re hopeful that when the Trump Administration con-ducts a thorough review of US-Cuba policy, they will see how enhanced cooperation between our port terminals and the Port of Mariel, would be very beneficial to US export industries, US ports with access to Mariel’s shipping lanes and could create jobs across the country,” said James Williams, president of the Engage Cuba coalition that helped facilitate the trip.

Chicago

Reuters

An Illinois man was sen-tenced to nine months in federal prison yes-

terday for breaking into the email and online storage of celebrities to obtain their pri-vate photos and videos, according to the US Attorney’s office. Edward Majerczyk, 29, who pleaded guilty to felony computer hacking charges last year, will begin serving his sentence on Feb. 27, said Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokes-man for Zach Fardon, US Attorney for the Northern Dis-trict of Illinois.

Majerczyk’s attorney, Thomas Needham, could not immediately be reached for comment. While no victims were named in court docu-ments, the investigation began after Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and other celebri-ties, including actresses Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union and model Kate Upton, complained in interviews about having their private photos end up publicly dis-seminated online.

“At the time of the offense, Mr. Majerczyk was suffering from depression and looked to pornography websites and Internet chat rooms in an attempt to fill some of the voids and disappointment he was feeling in his life,” Need-ham wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed on Jan. 19.

Needham added that Majerczyk had “consistently expressed remorse,” for the hacking.

Washington

AFP

Nearly two-thirds of Americans have expe-rienced some kind of

data theft or fraud, leaving many mistrustful of institu-tions charged with safeguarding their informa-tion, a poll showed yesterday.

The Pew Research Center survey found 41 percent of Americans have encountered fraudulent charges on their credit cards, and 35 percent had sensitive information like an account number compromised.

Smaller percentages said their email or social media accounts had been compro-mised or that someone had impersonated them in order to file fraudulent tax returns.

Taken together, the sur-vey found 64 percent said they had some form of per-sonal data stolen or compromised.

Following the epidemic of data breaches and hacks, “many Americans lack faith in specific public and private institutions to protect their personal information from bad actors,” the study authors wrote. Those surveyed were concerned about telecom firms, credit card companies and others, but especially wary of the government and social media companies.

Snow-covered buildings collapsing

Illinois man sentenced to nine months in hacking case

Cuban trade delegation begins visit to US

Americans distrustful after hacking epidemic

Rare weather

Storms this month have blanketed the US West and kept dumping more snow on top of it.

Nearly 20 buildings that store and package onions have crashed down in Idaho and Oregon.

Presidents and representatives of the Fifth Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Bavaro, Dominican Republic, yesterday.

CELAC summit

15THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017 MORNING BREAK

Employees of Japanese weather forecasting company Weathernews display pollen detector spherical robots called the "Pollen-robot" at the company's headquarters in Chiba, suburban Tokyo, yesterday. The wireless LAN compatible robots will be set up at about 1,000 points across the nation to observe pollen levels and send reports and observation data on pollen-scattering to the company through the Internet.

Pollen detectives

FAJRSHOROOK

05.00 am

06.19 am

ZUHRASR

11.46 am

02.52 pm

MAGHRIBISHA

05.15 pm

06.45 pm

PRAYER TIMINGS

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Madonna in Malawi to adopt two more childrenBlantyre

AFP

US pop superstar Madonna (pictured) appeared in person at a court in the M a l a w i a n c a p i t a l Lilongwe yesterday to

apply to adopt two more local chil-dren, a court spokesman said.

Madonna, who runs a charity called Raising Malawi in the southern African nation, adopted Malawian chil-dren David Banda in 2006 and Mercy James in 2009.

Local media reports said the singer appeared before Justice Fiona Mwale amid tight security, accompanied by two unidentified children and several other people, before being driven away in an SUV vehicle.

"The court is looking at the appli-cation now to determine whether Madonna can adopt these two

children," said Mlenga Mvula, spokes-man of the Lilongwe High Court.

"The... process requires the court to make a ruling on the adoption."

The 58-year-old singer last visited

Malawi in July, taking her two adopted Malawian children with her.

She also inspected her charity's work, including progress at a surgical unit for children at the Queen Eliza-beth hospital in the commercial capital Blantyre.

She was stripped of VIP status by former president Joyce Banda's gov-ernment in 2013 and accused of being "uncouth" and wanting eternal grati-tude from the impoverished country for adopting the two children.

But Banda was ousted in 2014 elec-tions and the new president, Peter Mutharika, moved to repair relations, saying "my government has always been grateful for the passion Madonna has for this country".

Last July, Madonna said she would not revive plans for a $15m academy for girls in Malawi, which was can-celled amid allegations of mismanagement — leading to her tiff

with Banda.The singer, who divorced film

director Guy Ritchie in 2008, report-edly landed in Malawi by private jet and was staying at an exclusive lodge outside Lilongwe.

Madonna, who has four children, is reportedly among the biggest indi-vidual donors to children's projects such as orphanages in Malawi, which is ranked by the UN Human Develop-ment Index as one of the world's 20 least developed countries.

On Saturday, she made an unan-nounced appearance in Washington at a rally protesting against US Presi-dent Donald Trump a day after his inauguration.

Madonna had campaigned for Hil-lary Clinton to become America's first woman president, and told Billboard Magazine after the Democrat's loss that women had a "tribal inability" to accept a female president.

Russian woman pulls two tram cars in SiberiaIrkutsk

Reuters

RUSSIAN strongwoman Oksana Kosheleva dragged two 18-tonne tram cars full of passengers along a short track in sub-zero Siberia in her latest public power stunt.

The 33-year-old’s show of strength, which required six months of training, took place on Monday in her home town of Irkutsk, where tem-peratures dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

“I had some (doubts) because of the cold. We were promised minus 11,” she told reporters after pulling the cars approximately 5 metres.

Kosheleva had dragged a one-car tram and a helicop-ter in previous summer power performances.

Tram driver tells his tale in Hungary filmBudapest

AFP

On posters around Budapest right now is the determined face of an African-born tram driver

with a doctorate, the star of a poign-ant new Hungarian film about immigration, integration and xenophobia.

"A stranger ran up to me one day after I finished my shift and asked if I wanted to be in a movie about refu-gees," Marcelo Cake-Baly, a former teenage soldier from Guinea-Bissau, told AFP at a tram stop on the outskirts of Budapest.

"I said 'yes' on the spot."That stranger was Hungarian film

director Roland Vranik, whose well-received "The Citizen" tells the story of an African refugee's quest to obtain Hungarian citizenship and premieres on Wednesday.

Filmed just before Europe's migra-tion crisis hit in 2015, the movie highlights the plight of non-European migrants trying to settle in the predom-inantly white country.

Cake-Baly, 58, came to Hungary in 1976 after the army in Guinea-Bissau offered him the chance to study in neighbouring Senegal, where he won a scholarship to study in then-commu-nist Hungary.

He only gained Hungarian citizen-ship in 1994, however, and says the struggles experienced by the film's lead

character, Wilson, mirror his own.Wilson encounters casual racism,

grapples with bureaucratic hurdles and helps a fellow refugee in trouble, all the while trying to hold down a secu-rity guard job and get by in the Magyar language, one of Europe's trickiest tongues.

In the opening scene, he is told by an official to "come back in a year" after failing yet another citizenship exam, which included a grilling on the Hun-garian constitution and medieval history.

Cake-Baly, who holds a doctorate in economics, lost his job in a bank in 1989 because he did not have citizen-ship. For years he struggled to find work, in part due to his skin colour, he suspects.

"I had so much rejection in the job market I threw away my pride. I couldn't tell you where my economist diploma certificate is, at the back of a drawer probably," he said ruefully.

Since 2005 he has worked as a tram driver and sometimes gets abuse, with people shouting at him to "go home" — despite having a Hungarian passport and proficiency in the language.

The temptation to pull his passport from his coat pocket is strong, he says, but he always resists.

"Most people here are friendly, but there's always one who's not. Still there is no point in getting into conflicts," Cake-Baly said.

Hungary is home to around 5,000 Africans, a tiny percentage of the for-eign-born population of 150,000, itself mostly Europeans and 1.5 percent of the 10-million-strong country.

According to surveys, hostility to non-whites in Hungary has grown during Europe's migration crisis, which swept through the country two years ago.

Hungarian polling firm, Tarki, said recently that xenophobic attitudes were at their highest in 25 years.

Over 400,000 people trekked through Hungary in 2015 to reach richer countries further west and north. In response, the hardline anti-immigration Prime Minister Viktor Orban built border fences and put up billboards warning foreigners not to take jobs from Hungarians.

These days, "migrant" is used as a term of abuse that Cake-Baly hears more and more.

"Someone at a bus stop blew

smoke in my face recently, and said it would have been better if I'd been drowned in the sea like the other migrants," said Cake-Baly, who has three children with his Hungarian wife.

Vranik said he began working on the film's screenplay in 2012, well before the refugee crisis erupted and the government's anti-migrant "prop-aganda got going".

"It wasn't so hard to predict what might happen... I wouldn't change the movie if I started writing it today," the 48-year-old told AFP.

"I was just curious about the life of a vulnerable African refugee trying to integrate in Hungary," he added.

Vranik approached Cake-Baly on the street after spotting him in a driv-er's uniform as "it is not easy to find a middle-aged African who speaks Hungarian".

Critics have called the movie "one of the best and important Hungarian films" made to date.

Cake-Baly Marcelo of Guinea-Bissau sits in his tram-cab in Budapest.

HIGH TIDE 04:45 - 15:15 LOW TIDE 11:45 - 21:30

Expected poor horizontal visibility at places at first. Hazy to misty/fog-gy at places at first becomes mild daytime with some clouds and cold by night.

Minimum Maximum14oC 23oC

16 THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2017HOME