SPORTS 8 @newsofbahrain OP-ED The Ukraine scandal has ... › epaper › 13-11-2019 › PDF...Dec 11, 2019 · Bahrain set to participate in Arabian Gulf Cup TDT | Manama B ahrain

Bahrain set to participate in Arabian Gulf Cup TDT | Manama

Bahrain will be participating in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup. This was announced late last night by the Bahrain Foot-ball Association (BFA).

Bahrain had initially pulled out of the tournament last July. The prestigious biennial competition is scheduled to take place from November 24 to December 6 in

Doha.The decision to participate was

taken by the BFA following the invitation from the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation.

With Bahrain now competing, the Gulf Cup is set to feature six nations. The others are hosts Qa-tar, Kuwait, Yemen, Iraq and de-fending champions Oman.

The match schedule for the tournament had already been de-

termined, but with Bahrain’s ad-dition, it is expected to be revised. Games are scheduled to be played at Khalifa International Stadium in the Qatari capital.

Prior to the Gulf Cup, Bah-rain’s senior men’s national foot-ball team, headed by Portuguese coach Helio Sousa, will be play-ing two joint-qualifying matches for the Fifa World Cup 2022 and the AFC Asian Cup 2023. Bahrain

have taken part in all but the 1972 edition of the previous Gulf Cup competitions. The Bahrainis have never won the title, but finished as runners-up four times while claiming the bronze medal thrice.

Bahrain had originally an-nounced they were pulling out along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It is not known at this time if those other two teams will now also be competing.

02Top executive showcases unrelenting passion for percussion

03Kingdom remains ‘a trendsetter’ in transforming economic landscape

04MPs approve wage increase for public sector employees

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• The Foundation’s work includes providing treatment to the sick, helping the needy, housing the homeless, educating poor children and saving them from exploitation.

• Dr Jemilah Mahmood, Dr Achyuta Samanta, and Dr Omar Ezat Salama are the previous recipients of the award.

Manama

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa pat-ronised yesterday, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Dep-uty Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, a ceremony at Isa Cultural Cen-tre to confer the 2018-2019 Isa Award for Service to Humanity, on “EDHI Foundation” in Paki-stan, for its efforts in the field of service to humanity.

On arrival, HM the King was welcomed by Deputy Premier and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Isa Award for Ser-vice to Humanity, HH Shaikh Mo-hammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa.

“It is with great pride that we celebrate with you today the pos-itive results of the Fourth Edition of the Isa Award for Service to Humanity, an award which has been advancing with confident and successful steps since we or-dered its establishment 10 years ago, and which reflects the ap-proach that sums up what our late father, may he rest in peace, believed in and worked for,” His Majesty said.

“He strove throughout his reign to carry the banner of peace, and has been known for his calls and efforts to achieve genuine fraternity among humanity, re-inforcing with this approach the human tolerance and the ability

of civilisational building, which have characterised the people of Bahrain in all times and circum-stances.

“Based on this great responsi-bility that we hold towards a great national leader who illuminated with his thought and generosity the march of our country, and re-inforced with his determination the pillars of its contemporary development, comes this Award with its distinguished memo-ry and broad scope as the best guide to explore human achieve-ments on the world stage which enhance the value of man, and which makes service to humanity and sacrifice for its protection and continuity a sacred human duty.

“We are pleased, on this occa-sion, to congratulate the EDHI Foundation of the Islamic Re-

public of Pakistan on winning the Award for its outstanding hu-manitarian services in the char-itable, medical and relief fields. We appreciate, here, the great efforts made by those in charge of the Foundation in furthering its noble message as wished for by its late founder, Abdul Sattar Edhi, whose name shall remain immortal through his sacrific-es, and whose contribution shall remain an exceptional model of outstanding humanitarian work.

“We would like also to praise with appreciation and admiration the efforts of all the institutions and individuals from different countries of the world who have applied for the Award in its Fourth Edition, particularly those whose

work stood out and competed for the Award until the final arbitra-tion stages. We are keen that the judging process is conducted by an elite panel of international ex-perts and consultants, and in ac-cordance with the most accurate scientific standards.

“In this regard, we must com-mend with great appreciation the remarkable support and outstanding management of the work of the Award since its estab-lishment by the Chairman of its Board of Trustees, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubar-ak Al Khalifa. We also praise his sincere role and achievements throughout his distinguished ca-reer, as well as his closeness to the great late Amir.”

Epitome of noble services

His Majesty hands over the award to a representative of EDHI Foundation.

His Majesty at the ceremony along with HRH the Crown Prince, HH Shaikh Nasser, HH Shaikh Mohammed, senior government officials and other dignitaries.

We are pleased, on this occasion, to

congratulate EDHI Foundation of the Islamic Republic

of Pakistan on winning the Award for its outstanding

humanitarian services in the charitable, medical and relief

fields. HIS MAJESTY

6teams will participate

in the tournament with the addition of the

Kingdom.

UNESCO honour for BahrainParis

The Kingdom has been honoured at the 40th UNESCO General Confer-ence, being held in Paris France.

Education Minister Dr Majid Al Nuaimi led Bah-rain;s delegation to the con-ference, being attended by officials representing 193 member countries.

The United Nations sec-retary-general and the UN-ESCO director-general also attended the conference, along with world leading figures, specialists and ex-perts in the fields of edu-cation, science and culture.

The delegations discuss key global issues includ-ing the UNESCO 2015-2030 strategy and the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which focuses on ensuring good, fair and comprehensive education for all and lifelong learning opportunities.

02WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

Top executive showcases unrelenting passion for percussion TDT | Manama Rajeevan Puravankara

Music and arts are an integral part of the expatriate life in the Kingdom, which has been providing a lively platform for all forms of arts and music.

Many expatriates have been pio-neering various art forms in the King-dom. And last week stage was set for a long-time resident to showcase his percussion skills and that too, for the first time.

M P Raghu, General Manager of Modern Art Studio, which is one of the longest established Rolex agents world-wide, offered a special treat for art en-thusiasts in the Kingdom as he joined leading percussion artists Mattanur Sankaran Kutty Marar and Malayalam movie actor Jayaram for a percussion show on the premises of Bahrain Ker-aleeya Samajam last Friday.

At 68, Mr Raghu has proved that age is just a number for artists, who are guided

by passion and great enthusiasm. “This was my first performance. I

was yearning for this day since the age of 13,” Mr Raghu, who performed Tim-ila, an hour-glass shaped percussion in-strument used in Kerala, told Tribune.

A Panchavadyam (orchestra of five instruments) performance is begun

with ‘Timila Pattu’ and ends with the ‘Timila Idachal thus making timila a very important component of the tra-ditional Kerala percussion ensemble.

Mr Raghu, hails from Palakkad dis-trict in the Indian state of Kerala. “I was born in a village, which had many musicians. However, I could not pursue my music interests as I relocated to the Kingdom at a young age.

“My enthusiasm for percussion did not die down. It only surged from time to time and I was only waiting for the right opportunity for the first perfor-mance,” he added.

Mr Raghu, who performed as part of a bigger team of expatriate percussion artists groomed by Bahrain Sopana Sangamam, is looking forward to “fur-ther embrace the world of percussion”.

Highly active in social circles, Mr Raghu is the current general-secre-tary of Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam. His family includes wife Santha, sons Anoop and Prashob and daughter-in-law Praseetha.

Mr Raghu

Mr Raghu performing along with his team at BKS premises.

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, received at Sakhir Palace, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, participants in the 18th Arab Businessmen and Investors Conference which is held under the patronage of HM the King under the theme “Investing in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Leadership and Innovation in Digital Economy”. HM the King welcomed the audience, lauding the pioneering and responsible role of the commercial and industrial chambers and unions in backing the trade and economic movement through their active participation in mapping out policies and making decisions.

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, yesterday received the newly-appointed Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Shaikh Thamer Al Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah, at Gudaibiya Palace. During the meeting, HRH the Crown Prince emphasised the longstanding historic ties between Bahrain and Kuwait, which continue to thrive under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and His Highness Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jabir Al Sabah, Emir of Kuwait.

BDF Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, patronised a ceremony to honour BDF’s military senior officers with Medallions of Distinction. The ceremony was attended by Defence Affairs Minister, Lieutenant-General Abdulla bin Hassan Al Nuaimi. The commander-in-chief granted the Medallions to the Chief-of-Staff, Lieutenant-General Dheyab bin Saqr Al-Nuaimi, National Security Advisor and Royal Guard Commander, Major-General HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and Commander of the Royal Guard’s Special Force, Lieutenant-Colonel HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Director of the Military Sports Association, Brigadier-General Mohammed Abdullatif bin Jalal and Bahrain football Association’s President Lieutenant Colonel Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

Social workers ‘help bust vice racket’TDT | Manama Rajeevan Puravankara

The timely involvement of so-cial workers affiliated to Indian Community Relief Fund Bahrain (ICRF) and Indian Embassy officials helped the police bust a vice racket yesterday.

Sources said the members of the prostitution racket were arrested after

a victim alerted a social worker, who in turn informed the Indian Embassy and the CID Department.

According to sources, the victim had only arrived in the Kingdom yesterday morning on a visit visa after being in-vited by a friend of her, who was part of the racket.

“She came to the Kingdom with an aim to take up an appropriate job to support the family back home. To her

good luck, she had obtained a SIM card at the airport itself,” sources said.

Within a few hours of her arrival, the victim is said to have realised that she had been trapped to be part of a forced prostitution ring.

“The victim’s friend was part of the vice ring. She was asked to give a re-placement to be relieved from the net-work and she successfully trapped her friend for her benefit,” the sources said.

The victim was initially taken to a beauty parlour in Manama, where she managed to obtain the contact numbers of a few social workers before alerting them, the sources said.

Police have begun a thorough probe into the incident. The Interior Ministry has been stepping up its efforts to nab the members of vice network while many suspects have been sentenced or prosecuted.

The victim’s friend was part of the vice ring. She was asked

to give a replacement to be relieved from the network

and she successfully trapped her friend for her benefit.

SOURCES


ABIC 2019

Kingdom remains ‘a trendsetter’ in transforming economic landscape

Bahrain is an emerging leader in many areas including Artificial Intelligence, say experts Manama

Bahrain has always been at the forefront in innovation by taking the lead in all ma-jor areas of regional economic transformation initiatives, thanks to the leadership’s vision and com-mitment to brave the challenges of change, experts observed.

Minister of Transportation and Telecommunication, Kamal Ahmed, who was among the pan-elists at the 18th Arab Business-men and Investors Conference 2019, told Bahrain News Agency (BNA) that Bahrain boasts having a clear vision under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Under the patronage of His

Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the 18th Arab Business-men and Investors Conference 2019 are concurrently being held in conjunction with the Third World Entrepreneurs Investment

Forum organised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in Bahrain (UNIDO).

Referring to HM King’s speech during the opening of the par-liament session, the minister

said that “we have to engage as a government and private sector in developing an maximising the benefits of the for the industrial revolution.”

“Today, everybody is talking

about the IOT, AI and others in Bahrain; to enable this develop-ment you need that the vision is there. First is the infrastructure; there is no way you can develop this AI application unless you have

the digital infrastructure. We are not talking about the airport here and the roads but I am talking about the fibre optic that covers all parts of Bahrain, mobile net-work, 5G network. That is what we have done exactly, we have focused in making sure that the backbone of this revolution exists in the Kingdom of Bahrain,” the minister said, while referring to the title of the session “An intel-ligent future for all; Innovation, Ethics and Diversification.”

“Secondly, we are working on establishing a business enabling environment. The question is how to benefit from artificial intelli-gence (AI) and new technology and the government has been working outside the regulatory areas as we want to work with the private sector; enabling them to work and no need of over-reg-ulation.

“If there is a regulation, we want to work with them and to make sure it is enabling them to do their job as well as protecting the other people’s rights.

“Thirdly, making sure that we have to build an innovative eco-system as it has to come from everywhere. You have the infra-structure, the business environ-ment, but it also needs access to capital.

“People who have ideas also need access to capital; they need a place to do their job for that we have created the accelerator or the FinTech accelerator.

“Again, we need also to im-prove our R and D centres, we need our education institutions, the higher educational institu-tions like the University of Bah-rain and Bahrain Polytechnic to start establishing the AI centres because from there, one can nur-ture all these ideas. This is the area we need to excel in and also, we need to continue to attract Foreign Direct Investment. Yes, we need Bahrainis, but we also need foreigners to accelerate the process.”

Sameer Abdulla Nass, Chair-man of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Board of Directors told BNA that BCCI has accomplished many strides since the new body was elected by the members 18 months ago.

“Our focus has been revolving around the change, innovation and facilitation of businesses by providing them a levelled playing field. The Cabinet has approved the changes to laws which was necessitated by the new board in line with its commitment to serve the business community in bet-ter, efficient and result-oriented ways,” he said.

Talking about change, he add-ed, the new board means busi-ness and we would continue with this our flagship project ‘business first.’

“As we are celebrating eight decades of serving Bahrain’s private sector since the estab-lishment of the BCCI. We will continue to work hard to uphold the commitment of the chamber to serve this sector diligently, ef-ficiently and objectively,” he said.

Finance Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa took part in a panel discussion.

‘Bahrain’s strides in FinTech to help in digitisation of economy’ Manama

Bahrain’s regulatory re-gimes meeting the re-quirements of the finan-cial technology (FinTech) such as Central Bank of Bahrain’s FinTech Sandbox, and establish-ment of region’s biggest Fintech Bay, are steps in the right direc-tion aims at transforming into digital economy, a senior official has said.

“The development of a com-prehensive national plan to meet the needs of the digital economy, through the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies in the production and service sectors and implementation of necessary systems and technical frame-works are few but important steps,” Osama Al Arayedh, Un-dersecretary of Industrial Affairs told the opening session of World Entrepreneurs Investment Fo-rum 2019.

Mr Al Arayedh, who delivered the speech on behalf of Zayed Al Zayani, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, told the audience that due to the proac-

tive policies of the government, over 600 startups had benefitted and created 86 new jobs and 11 startups got financial assistance.

“The Kingdom of Bahrain has been our Organisation’s trusted partner for many years and the opening of ITPO Bahrain in 1996 was an important building block to this longstanding and robust relationship,” Fatou Haidara, Managing Director Corporate Management and Operation UN-IDO, said in her speech.

“ITPO Bahrain and Bahrain’s government have worked to-gether on developing innova-tive programmes in the areas of investment promotion, eco-nomic empowerment of youth and women through entrepre-neurship development and in-cubation management systems. The ITPO Bahrain’s Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Programme, EDIP has been implemented in 52 countries since it started in the years 2000 as an initiative to foster start-ups and the growth of MSMEs.

“Through the EDIP pro-

gramme, our ITPO Bahrain has contributed t the creation of more entrepreneurs with “bank-able projects”. This has changed enabling them to generate pros-perity for themselves, their communities and economies. We know that entrepreneurship drives economic growth through continuous economic diversifi-cation increasing trade industrial upgrading and technological in-novation,” she said.

Referring to this year’s theme she said it was timely as it high-lights the importance of entre-preneurship and innovation in achieving sustainable develop-ment. The theme also resonates very well with us from UNIDO

as we successfully held our 18th General Conference with a sim-ilar theme, Industry 2030: In-novate, Connect, Transform our Future.

“Fostering entrepreneurship and innovation a promoting im-pact investment have been at the forefront of our work at UNIDO for many years. Its importance has progressively grown, particularly when the international communi-ty adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015. With ten more years to achieve the world that we want through the 2030 Agenda and the chal-lenges presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the role of entrepreneurs and innovators has become even more important,” she said.

“The UNIDO ITPO Network has been contributing to reduc-ing development imbalances by brokering investment and tech-nology agreements and fostering entrepreneurship in developing countries and economies in tran-sition. This worldwide UNIDO Network currently includes of-fices in the Kingdom of Bahrain,

China, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation.

Dr Hashim Hussein, Chief Ex-ecutive World Entrepreneurs In-vestment Forum, said this year’s WEIF marks a new step. “We have been successful in linking Arab Investors with Entrepreneurs through concurrently organising WEIF with the 18th Arab Busi-nessmen and Investors Confer-ence; held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bah-rain,” he said in his speech.

“In addition to that we are or-ganising three side conferences one on Educational Institutions role in promoting entrepreneur-ship and Innovation; the second on Investing in Green Industry and the third the Young Busi-ness Hub Start-up Investment Summit. During your stay in Bah-rain you will also witness the awarding of the top three Arab team winners of the Arab Entre-preneurship Rally, and have the chance to connect and network in the dedicated Smart Zone,” he said.

Mr Nass speaks at the conference.

Mr Ahmed speaks during one of the panel discussions.

A segment of the audience.

Our focus has been revolving around the

change, innovation and facilitation of businesses

by providing them a levelled playing field.

MR AHMED


MPs approve wage increase for public sector employees

Majority lawmakers vote for rise in wages of govt staff

• A few MPs opposed the proposal, stating that it is unjust to employees of the private sector and pensioners.

• The Shura Council had earlier rejected the proposal, which was passed by the House of Representatives.

TDT | Manama

The lawmakers yesterday voted for increasing the wages of public sector employees by 20 per cent.

The voting came after the second branch of the Legisla-tive Authority, Shura Council, rejected the proposal earlier.

The voting took place dur-ing the weekly meeting of the Council of Representatives held yesterday in Gudaibiya.

The law proposal, which has been in debate for over eight years, was previously passed by MPs, but the members of Shura Council rejected it.

It was referred back to the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee in the Council of Representatives, which amend-

ed it and approved it, before referring it to the council to vote on it yesterday.

The majority of MPs voted for the proposed law consid-ering it a necessity, taking into the account the ever-increasing expenses of life.

However, a few MPs opposed the proposal, stating that it is unjust to employees of the private sector and pensioners, who were not mentioned in the proposal.

The proposal stipulates in-creasing the basic wages of public sector employees of or-dinary, specialised, executive and educational levels by 20 per cent.

It has been referred back to the Shura Council for further review and approval.

Meanwhile, a parliamentary bloc in the Kingdom has been demanding the government to limit the majority of job catego-ries in the public sector to Bah-rainis, considering the growing numbers of unemployed citi-zens in recent years.

The “Bahrain” parliamentary bloc had announced that it has submitted a proposed law to

allow only Bahrainis to work in government jobs in different sectors, including healthcare, hospitality, legal departments, aviation and more.

According to a statement that was issued by the nine-member group, the jobs include nurs-es, accountants, engineers, teachers, physician assistants, accountant assistants, nursing assistants, recruitment staff, recruitment directors, recruit-ment specialist, procurement specialists, procurement of-ficers, auditors, hotel man-agers, reception managers, hotel chefs, flight attendants, receptionists, legal advisers, administrative jobs, dentists, dental assistants, maintenance specialists and maintenance technicians.

Hearing date set in vice trade case

TDT | Manama

The trial of a man sus-pected of running a human trafficking ring in Bahrain by “buying” wom-en and “offering” them to po-tential clients at night clubs will begin on November 19, 2019, the Public Prosecution confirmed yesterday.

This was announced by Capital Governorate Pros-ecution Chief Prosecutor Abdullah Al Thawadi, who stated that the prosecution has interrogated the man and ordered to arrest and sum-mon his suspected female ac-complice who’s still at large.

According to Mr Al Thawa-di, the victim arrived in the Kingdom to work as a wait-ress. She was received by the female suspect, who offered her a shelter and later “sold her” to the primary suspect for a certain amount.

The Chief Prosecutor ex-plained that the male suspect restricted the victim’s free-dom and forced her to sign documents that indicate she owed him large amounts of money.

In order to return the mon-ey, the victim was allegedly forced to have sexual inter-course with different men in return of money. Mr Al Tha-wadi added that the male sus-pect “offered her to clients at night clubs”.

“The Public Prosecution has started the investigation immediately after being in-

formed of the incident, where it listened to the statements of the victim and interrogated the first suspect, and ordered his remand in custody pend-ing further investigations.

“The victim was later re-ferred to the National Com-mittee to Combat Trafficking in Persons,” Mr Al Thawadi clarified, adding that an ar-rest warrant has been issued against the female suspect.

Explaining further, Mr Al Thawadi also said that po-lice investigations indicat-ed that the male defendant “buys girls and incites them to engage in prostitution by force” after making them sign contracts with large amounts in order to pressure them into Prostitution.

The investigations also showed that the female sus-pect owns and runs a pros-titution network in different parts of the Kingdom, by re-cruiting girls from an Asian country and “selling” them to pimps.

10 years jail for burglary gang members TDT | Manama

The High Criminal Court has sentenced three men to 10 years behind bars each, while another one received one year in prison for burgling homes.

A woman was tried in this case too, but she was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

According to court files, the defendants formed a gang for stealing valuables from houses.

They are said to have stolen valuables worth BD50,000 in their burglary spree.

Investigations found that the gang was formed by the first defendant, who gave each mem-ber a role while carrying out the thefts, according to Prosecutors.

The acquitted woman was

charged with hiding the stolen items, but her lawyer Manar Al Tamimi succeeded in providing sufficient evidence proving that the woman wasn’t aware of the burglaries.

And she participated in the act in good faith. She allegedly kept the items in her possession at the request of her brother (the first defendant).

One year jail for arsonist TDT | Manama

Th e H i g h C r i m i n a l Court has sentenced a 66-year-old man to one year behind bars for set-ting a caravan on fire and was ordered to cover the losses incurred by the vic-tim.

The High Criminal Court also gave a six-month peri-od for the man to pay the compensation amount.

It’s said that the defend-ant scattered pieces of pa-pers inside the caravan and he burned them deliber-ately to torch the vehicle.

The 66-year-old man claimed that he wasn’t responsible for the fire which took place at 3:30 am, alleging that police officers arrested him after he woke up, for no reason.

It was discovered that the culprit had disagree-ments with the owner’s father, as a result of which he avenged by torching the caravan.

“We moved to our new house six months ago and he (the culprit) wasn’t in peace with my father. He was troubling us.

“I was surprised to re-ceive a call from the police telling me that he torched my caravan which includ-ed many camping items such as tents, wires, a generator and many oth-er things,” the 22-year-old owner of the caravan told prosecutors. He estimated the value of the damaged items at BD800.

Toastmasters meet

The victim was received by the female suspect,

who offered her a shelter and later

sold her to the primary suspect for

a certain amount.MR AL THAWADI

The House in session.

20per cent is the proposed

rise in the salaries of public sector

employees.

The executive committee of C2A Toastmasters’ Club (exclusively for women) under the umbrella of ICAB Toastmasters held a meeting along with mentors and other members of the club.

Investigations found that the gang was formed by the first defendant, who gave each member a role

while carrying out the thefts.

PROSECUTORS

‘Garbage bags in different colours’ proposal approved TDT | Manama

Garbage bags in Muharraq will soon be coloured to classify different types of wastes after a proposal was approved.

The proposal was presented by Mu-harraq municipal councillor Saleh Bu Hazza, according to which different colours of garbage bags will be used to carry different types of wastes in-cluding plastic, glass and paper.

The move is expected to encourage recycling in the governorate.

Mr Bu Hazza explained that the move will not be expensive but the fruits of it will be many.

He said that it would help serve the environment and ultimately benefit the people of Bahrain.

He underlined the importance of achieving sustainable growth as well as utilising waste recycling pro-grammes.

The Kingdom is marching towards sustainable development as part of achieving its goals of environmental protection.

Supreme Council for Environment Chief Executive Officer Dr Moham-med Bin Daina recently highlighted that 40 per cent of household waste is plastic, which can only be effec-tively reduced through prohibition and regulation.

As part of the efforts for reducing plastic waste, the enforcement of the technical regulations which resulted in the ban of single-use plastic bags came into effect earlier this year. Proposal calls for different-colour bags for different wastes.

The voyage home: Japan’s Hayabusa-2 probe to head for EarthTokyo | AFP

Japan’s Hayabusa-2 probe will leave its orbit around a dis-tant asteroid and head for Earth on Wednesday after an unprec-edented mission, carrying sam-ples that could shed light on the origins of the Solar System.

The long voyage home would begin at 10:05 am (0105 GMT), with the probe expected to drop off its precious samples some time late 2020, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.

“We expect Hayabusa-2 will provide new scientif-ic knowledge to us,” project manager Yuichi Tsuda told reporters.

The probe will bring back to Earth “carbon and organic mat-ter” that will provide data as to “how the matter is scattered around the Solar System, why it exists on the asteroid and how it is related to Earth,” added Tsuda.

The mission took the fridge-sized probe some 300 million

kilometres (186 million miles) from Earth, where it explored the asteroid Ryugu, whose name means “Dragon Palace” in Jap-anese -- a reference to a castle at the bottom of the ocean in an ancient fable.

In April, Hayabusa-2 fired an “impactor” into the asteroid to stir up materials that had not previously been exposed to the atmosphere.

It then made a “perfect” touchdown on the surface of the asteroid to collect the samples that scientists hope will provide clues into what the Solar System was like at its birth some 4.6 billion years ago.

“I’m feeling half-sad, half-de-termined to do our best to get the probe home,” said Tsuda.

“Ryugu has been at the heart of our everyday life for the past

year and a half,” he added.‘New destination’Hayabusa-2 will receive its

orders to head for home on Wednesday, break free of the asteroid’s gravity on November 18 and fire its main engines early next month en route to Earth, JAXA said.

Tsuda said the six-year mis-sion, which had a price tag of around 30 billion yen ($278 mil-lion), had exceeded expectations but admitted his team had to overcome a host of technical problems.

It took the probe three-and-a-half years to get to the asteroid but the return journey should be significantly shorter because Earth and Ryugu will be much closer due to their current po-sitions.

Hayabusa-2 is expected to drop the samples off in the South Australian desert, but JAXA is negotiating with the Australian government about how to ar-range it, Tsuda said.

The probe is the successor to

JAXA’s first asteroid explorer “Hayabusa”, which means falcon in Japanese.

The earlier probe returned with dust samples from a small-er, potato-shaped asteroid in 2010 despite various setbacks during its epic seven-year odys-sey, and was hailed as a scientific triumph.

The first generation probe re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and burned out.

Under the current plan, Hay-abusa-2 will boldly continue its journey in space after dropping off its capsule to Earth, and might “carry out another aster-oid exploration,” JAXA spokes-man Keiichi Murakami earlier said.

“The team has just started to study what can be done (after dropping off the capsule),” but there is no concrete plans about a new destination, Tsuda said.

05

world

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019

Trump says Baghdadi successor in US crosshairsAFP | New York

US President Donald Trump placed the Islamic State group’s new chief in the crosshairs Monday as he marked Veterans’ Day by celebrating the killing of the jihadists’ former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

While US presidents tradition-ally mark the day by laying a wreath at a vast military cem-etery in Arlington, near Wash-ington, Trump traveled to New York where he made an address ahead of the city’s annual parade of veterans.

Trump was widely criticised after announcing a full with-drawal of US troops from Syria last month, with opponents and even some allies saying it could allow Islamic State to rebuild as well as leaving US-allied Kurdish fighters vulnerable to a Turkish invasion.

But the US president used his speech in New York to claim that

the IS leadership was running scared in the wake of Baghdadi’s death in a raid in the northwest-ern Syrian province of Idlib on October 26.

“Just a few weeks ago, Amer-ican special forces raided the ISIS compound and brought the world’s number one terrorist leader to justice,” he said.

“Thanks to American warri-ors, al-Baghdadi is dead, his sec-ond in charge is dead, we have our eyes on number three.

“His reign of terror is over, and we have our enemies running very, very scared. Those who threaten our people don’t stand a chance against the righteous might of the American military.”

After the death of Baghdadi and Islamic State’s main spokes-man, Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, in a raid the following day, the organization named the little known Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi as its new leader.

Following the uproar over his

announcement of a full troop withdrawal, Trump said that he would leave some troops in the region to protect valuable oil fields.

General Mark Milley, chair-man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview at the week-end that US troop levels in north-ern Syria would probably stabi-lize around 500.

Trump got a cool reception from some in New York, a staunchly Democratic city.

In the windows of one of the glass office towers loom-ing above Madison Square Park where he spoke, large letters were taped in the windows spelling out, one one floor, “IMPEACH,” and, several floors above, “CONVICT.”

Anti-Trump banners were suspended from overlooking apartment windows as he kicked off the parade and people on the street chanted “lock him up.”

US President Donald Trump, pictured at a wreath laying ceremony at a Veterans Day event November 11, 2019, in New York; Trump has placed the Islamic State group’s new chief in the crosshairs

Two lawyers, gunman killed in Thai courtroom shootout: policeBangkok

Three people were killed in a shootout at a Thai court-room yesterday during a hearing into an inheritance dispute, ac-cording to police, who said two of the victims were lawyers.

The gunman opened fire on the opposing side in the dispute in Chanthaburi provincial court before a guard shot back and fatally wounded him.

National police office spokes-man Krissana Pattanacharoen said three people including the assailant were confirmed dead, while others were injured in the melee.

“Two are lawyers another one is the shooter,” he said, adding that they are still investigating why the courtroom feud turned deadly.

The identities of the victims

were not released.Gruesome images of the

bloody courtroom scene, some

250 kilometres (160 miles) southeast of Bangkok, circulat-ed on social media.

Thailand has high rates of gun ownership and petty personal disputes, romantic and business rivalries are often resolved with bullets.

But the incident is the lat-est in a series of high-profile courthouse shootings that have exposed flaws in the legal sys-tem’s security.

A week ago three drug sus-pects -- including an American -- shot and stabbed their way out of a court in the seaside town of Pattaya before being tracked down by police.

Early last month a Thai judge in the insurgency-battered south shot himself in the chest in front of a packed court af-ter acquitting several murder suspects and decrying the judi-cial system in an impassioned speech.

The gunman opened fire on the opposing side in the dispute in Chanthaburi provincial court before a guard shot back and fatally wounded him

The samples collected by Japan’s Hayabusa-2 probe could provide clues to the origins of the Solar System

Germany detains three Islamic State suspects over attack planReuters | Frankfurt

German police detained three people in the west-ern city of Offenbach yester-day on suspicion of planning a bomb attack for the Islamic State militant group, prosecu-tors said.

The three suspects wanted to kill as many “infidels” as possible in the planned attack in the Rhine-Main region, Frankfurt prosecutor Nadja Niesen said.

No specific attack targets were yet known but evidence seized from raids of three homes in Offenbach should shed some light, she added.

German intelligence agen-cies and police have been on high alert for potential attacks

by Islamist militants since a rejected asylum seeker from Tunisia killed 12 people by ramming a truck into a Berlin Christmas market almost three years ago.

The main suspect arrested on Tuesday is a 24-year-old German of Macedonian origin who wanted to manufacture explosives and tried to buy a weapon online. His two sus-pected accomplices are Turk-ish nationals aged 22 and 21.

The suspects are believed to have told people they were IS supporters, Niesen said, add-ing she thought all three were known to police.

Substances that could be used to make explosives and equipment were found at the main suspect’s home, she said.


Sikhs celebrate founder’s 550th birthdaySultanpur Lodhi | India

Sporting saffron and blue turbans and headscarves, hundreds of thousands of devotees braved hazardous smog to pack the city of Sultan-pur Lodhi in India for the 550th birth celebrations of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak.

Guru Nanak, born in 1469 to a Hindu family in a present-day Pakistani city east of Lahore, is believed to have gained en-lightenment in Sultanpur Lodhi in the northern Indian state of Punjab, making it one of the key pilgrimage sites for the religion.

People rode on tractors, mo-torbikes and in cars -- and some even walked barefoot -- to reach the Sri Ber Sahib temple, or gu-rudwara, where they honoured the Guru with prayers.

Others took a dip in a pond on the temple’s premises believed to contain holy water with heal-ing powers.

“I’m feeling very blessed to be here. To be with our first guru. I think our first Guru is still present here,” Sukhjeet Singh, a Sikh devotee at the gurudwara in Sultanpur Lodhi, said.

“My whole being has been soaked in this spiritual situation. It’s a very momentous occasion.”

The religion’s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Punjab’s Amritsar some 70 kilometres (44 miles) from Sultanpur Lo-dhi, was lined with lights to mark the occasion.

Across India, Sikh and Hindu communities prepared feasts known as langars to mark the anniversary. Food is distributed to the community, including the poor.

This year’s celebrations took on special significance due to the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor -- a secure land link allowing Indian Sikhs to visit the gurdwara in the Pakistani town where Guru Nanak died.

Sikhism is a monotheistic re-ligion born in the 15th-century in Punjab –- meaning the land of five rivers, a region spanning parts of what is now India and Pakistan.

Five and a half centuries later, Sikhs number up to 30 million worldwide, with a rich diaspora in places such as Canada, the US and Europe -- although the vast majority remain in India.

Once rulers of the Punjab, they were considered a martial

race by the British colon-isers.

Men, in particular, are instantly recog-

nis-

able by their colourful turbans, used to cover their hair, which they must leave uncut.

That is one of the five articles of their faith they must carry all the time, known as the Five Ks: the Kesh (uncut hair), Kara (a steel bracelet), Kanga (a wood-en comb), Kaccha (cot- t o n underwear), and

Kirpan (a curved

dagger).Sikhs worship God, known to

them as Waheguru, or “wonder-ful teacher”, inside gurdwaras, or “doorways to God”. The word “Sikh” means the “seeker”, or the “learner”.

Male Sikhs bear the name “Singh”, which means lion; while women go by “Kaur”, or princess.

Who was Guru Nanak?Guru Nanak was the first of

ten gurus who developed the Sikh faith and community over the next centuries.

Guru Nanak was born in 1469 to a Hindu family at Nankana Sa-

hib, a Pa-

kistani city about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the eastern city of Lahore.

Some legends say there were signs of divinity around him from the start, such as the time a cobra was found rearing over his head -- not to attack him, but to shade him from the sun as he napped.

As he grew older the Guru be-gan travelling, preaching a faith based on equality and one God.

He died in 1539 in the Punja-bi town of Kartarpur, in mod-ern-day Pakistan, where his re-mains are buried.

Nine gurus followed Guru Nanak and

there is no living human succes-sor, but the Guru Granth Sahib -- the Sikh holy book -- is consid-ered the 11th and eternal.

What happens on his birthday?Sikhs around the world, but

especially on the subcontinent, come together to sing, pray, eat and hold sprawling processions to different gurdwaras.

Some of the biggest celebra-tions happened on the site of one of their holiest shrines, the Gold-en Temple in Amritsar, India.

Why is this year special? Apart from it being the 550th

anniversary, this year

also saw the opening of the Kar-tarpur Corridor -- a secure land link allowing Indian Sikhs to visit the gurdwara in the Paki-stani town where the Guru died.

The gurdwara at Kartarpur is so close to the India-Pakistan frontier that its white dome and four cupolas can be seen from across the border.

India has long been asking for Sikhs to be given access to Kar-tarpur, and last weekend their wish was finally granted with the opening of the corridor just days ahead of the birthday cel-ebrations.

Devotees carry the Sikh holy book during a procession in Amritsar

Male Sikhs bear the name ‘Singh’, which means lion, while women go by ‘Kaur’, or princess

Young devotees take a holy dip on the occasion of the 550th birthday of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak

There are more than 20 million Sikhs worldwide, with the vast majority in India

People rode on tractors, motorbikes and in cars -- and some even walked barefoot -- to reach the Sri Ber Sahib temple

Across India, Sikh and Hindu communities

prepared feasts known as langars to mark the

anniversary. Food is distributed to the com-munity, including the

poor


Hong Kong protests hit universities, business district

Hong Kong

Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters clashed with riot police in the city’s upmar-ket business district and on university campuses yesterday, extending one of the most vi-olent stretches of unrest seen in more than five months of political chaos.

The confrontations followed a particularly brutal day on Monday, when police shot a protester and a man was set on fire, prompting calls from western powers for compro-mise but further fury in Chi-na against the challenge to its rule.

“Hong Kong’s rule of law has been pushed to the brink of total collapse,” police spokes-man Kong Wing-cheung told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon as he denounced the latest rounds of violence.

In Central, a district that is home to many blue-chip in-ternational firms and luxu-ry shops, thousands of office workers occupied roads for hours on Tuesday chanting: “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong!”.

Hundreds of hardcore pro-testers, dressed in their signa-ture black clothes and masks, then used a passenger bus to barricade a key road in the area.

They threw bricks and other

objects before retreating when riot police fired tear gas in the shadows of high-end stores.

The scenes in Central were a vivid illustration of how mod-erate people are continuing to back the pro-democracy movement even as their more radical allies adopt more vio-lent tactics.

Meanwhile, universities emerged as a new battleground with sustained clashes at ma-jor campuses for the first time.

At China University of Hong Kong, police fired multiple volleys of tear gas and rub-ber bullets in the afternoon at hundreds of protesters, who had built barricades afters an hours-long stand-off between the two sides.

Protesters responded with bricks and petrol bombs, while a vehicle used in a barricade was set alight.

At City University, protest-ers used a three-person sling-shot to fire bricks at police from a footbridge.

Masked activists also built barricades and blocked roads at Hong Kong University while at Polytechnic Univer-sity, clashes broke out as police tried to arrest a female student.

During the morning rush hour hardcore protesters blocked roads, threw objects onto rail tracks and held up subway trains, sparking yet an-other bout of transport chaos throughout the city.

There were clashes between protesters and the police at universities

16 dead as trains collide in Bangladesh

Dhaka

Two packed trains rammed into each other in Bangla-desh on Tuesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring nearly 60 others, police said.

Three coaches were sent crashing off the tracks at Mondobhag station in the town of Kasba when a Dha-ka-bound train and a loco-motive bound for Chittagong collided.

“At least 16 people have been killed. And another 58 were in-jured. We have sent the injured to different hospitals in the re-gion,” local police chief Anisur Rahman told AFP.

Cranes and other lifting gear were brought in to rescue trapped passengers, many of whom were asleep when the

early morning crash took place.“There was a loud noise, then

I saw the train was completely ripped apart,” one injured pas-senger told Somoy TV.

“All the people around me were crying. There was blood everywhere. Some people had broken hands and legs,” another told the broadcaster.

“My son was with me. I still don’t know what happened to

him,” the man added.Hayat ud Doula Khan, a gov-

ernment official in the district, said the Dhaka-bound Turna Nishitha train, hit the Chit-tagong-bound Udayan Express at about 3:00 am (2100 GMT Monday) as the Udayan was about to go through Mondob-hog station.

Khan said that the Turna Nishitha should have waited

outside the station to let the other train pass and that an in-vestigation had been started. A Bangladesh railway official told reporters faulty signals could be to blame.

“Three coaches were badly mangled and the victims are from these coaches,” Khan said, adding that train services out of Dhaka had been halted because of the accident.

The accident took place around 3 am when a train bound for Dhaka collided head on with another train going to Chittagoing. (Courtesy of Reuters)

Former US president Jimmy Carter was hospitalized for treatment after suffering a fractured pelvis due to a fall in October

Evo Morales leaves for Mexico as military pledges to tackle violenceLa Paz

Bolivia’s Evo Morales was en route to exile in Mexico yes-terday, leaving behind a country in turmoil after his abrupt resig-nation as president.

As the nation suddenly found itself without a leader, the mil-itary agreed to help police take back streets lost to violence from disgruntled supporters of Bolivia’s first indigenous pres-ident.

The senator set to succeed Morales as interim president, Jeanine Anez, pledged to call fresh elections to end the polit-ical crisis.

Bolivia appeared increasing-ly rudderless after dozens of officials and ministers resigned along with Morales, some seek-ing refuge in foreign embassies.

Morales left the country on a military plane sent for him by Mexico, which granted him political asylum for his safe-ty. Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed Mo-rales was on the plane.

“It pains me to leave the country for political reasons, but I will always be watching. I will be back soon with more strength and energy,” Morales tweeted.

His plane landed in Para-guay’s capital Asuncion to refuel early yesterday, that country’s interior minister Euclides Ace-vedo told reporters.

The crisis touched off by his resignation Sunday -- after three weeks of protests over his dis-puted re-election -- deepened Monday as gangs unhappy with his departure attacked police stations and civilians, triggering panic in the streets.

On Monday night hundreds of Morales supporters who trav-eled to La Paz from nearby El Alto protested outside the pres-idential palace.

Overwhelmed police asked

for help from the army.“The military command of the

armed forces has arranged for joint operations with the police to prevent bloodshed and fight-ing amongst the Bolivian fami-ly,” said chief General Williams Kaliman in a televised address.

Three people have died in clashes since the disputed elec-tion.

Morales supporters arrestedMorales claimed on Twitter

late Monday that two of his homes had been attacked by “vandalism groups.”

Opposition leader Carlos Mesa claimed on Twitter that “a violent mob” was heading for his home to attack it.

Photographers saw civilians making arrests after tussling with Morales supporters in La Paz, sometimes assisted by police. Some of those detained were made to kneel in the street, hands behind their backs, and some were bloodied.

Shops and offices in La Paz were shuttered on Monday in

the wake of looting that broke out late Sunday in parts of La Paz and El Alto.

The police -- largely confined to barracks since riots broke out on Friday, with many units join-ing the protests -- were return-ing to the streets, police chief Vladimir Yuri Calderon said.

Several of Morales’ ministers and top officials resigned after his announcement -- including many who sought refuge at the Mexican embassy -- raising the question of who was in charge, given that vice president Alvaro

Garcia Linera had also quit.Under the constitution, pow-

er then passes to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the lower house of Congress, in that order. But they have re-signed too.

Anez stepped in on Sunday to say she would assume the presidency, given her position as deputy senate leader.

The 52-year-old is likely to be tasked by Congress to oversee fresh elections and a transition to a new government by Janu-ary 22.

Graffiti sprayed on the walls of Evo Morales’s home in Cochabamba, Bolivia

As the country suddenly found itself without a leader, the military agreed to help police take back streets lost to violence from disgruntled supporters of Bolivia’s first indigenous president

Bolivian President Evo Morales resigned on November 10, 2019, a day after this pictured address

Jimmy Carter hospitalised for procedure to relieve brain pressure

Washington

Former US president Jim-my Carter was hospitalised on Monday for a procedure to relieve brain pressure after recent falls, The Carter Center said.

The 95-year-old “was admit-ted to Emory University Hos-pital this evening for a proce-dure to relieve pressure on his brain, caused by bleeding due to his recent falls,” The Cart-er Center said in a statement, adding that the procedure

would take place on Tuesday morning.

“President Carter is resting comfortably, and his wife, Ros-alynn, is with him,” it said.

He was hospitalised for treatment after suffering a fractured pelvis due to a fall in October.

President from 1977 to 1981, Carter also injured his head in a fall earlier in the month, but turned up the next day to vol-unteer at a Habitat for Human-ity site with a black eye and a bandage covering 14 stitches.


Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Chairman & Managing Director P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 38444692, Email: [email protected] | Newsroom: Tel: 38444680, Email: [email protected] & circulation: Tel: 36458394 | Email:[email protected] | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

ALBADER ALSHATERI

For nearly a month, Leb-anese citizens have been thronging the streets, mak-ing demands against what they view as a corrupt political class. While it might seem a familiar lament, this time the people are demanding a radical overhaul, not just of the government but the en-tire political system. The majority are fed up of the sectarian edifice of the state that is responsible, from the protesters’ perspective, for the predominance of a mere-tricious political class.

But it is imperative any reforms are carried out while avoiding breaking the political system or causing its collapse. Rule num-ber one is “do no harm”. If one cannot fix it, at least do not break it. Rule number two is to beware of the historical process that has given rise to the current system. Political systems are products of a historical process – or, to quote Karl Marx, “the tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living”.

Rule number three is if you have segmented society, the re-forms have to be all-inclusive. You cannot afford to alienate cer-tain groups. And rule number four is whatever reforms might be offered, they have to be based on what you got, with the neces-sary changes to keep the system

stable enough for reforms to be implemented. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater would be perilous.

These rules are integral to any reforms because Lebanon is an amalgam of 18 sects, a product of its colonial legacy. Lebanon’s foremost historian, the late Ka-mal Salibi, called it “a house of many mansions”, which was also the title of his book.

In that respect, Lebanon is not unique. Many Arab countries were the creation of a colonial past, such as Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Salibi argues that Leba-non was unique because it was “willed into existence by a com-munity of its own people, albeit one community among others”. It was at the insistence of the Maronite Christians that the cre-ation of Greater Lebanon was ac-quiesced by the French mandate authority on May 25, 1926, with its constitution. The first Repub-lic of Lebanon was thus born.

Two decades later, the para-mount chief of the Sunni Mus-lims, Riyad Al Solh, struck an unwritten deal with Maronite Christian Bechara El Khoury, known as the National Pact, which laid the foundation for power-sharing between different sects. The Christians (Greek Or-thodox, Maronite, Greek Catholic and others), then a majority, and Muslims (Sunni, Shiite, Druz, Alawite) – who, according to the

French census of 1932, constitut-ed a minority - would divvy up power in a ratio of 6:5 in favour of the former. The Maronites, thought to have a plurality, would assume the presidency, the prime minister would be a Sunni Mus-lim, and the Shiite sect would head the parliament.

The formula ushered in what is known as a multi-confessional or consociational democracy; name-ly, one based on power-sharing. Arend Lijphart, a leading author-ity on consociationalism, out-lined a few aspects that applied to Lebanon. One was an elite agreement on a power-sharing

formula; another was the pro-portional representation of dif-ferent groups within society; a third was consensus and mutual veto among major groups; and a fourth was autonomy for the con-stituent parts to exercise cultural or religious practice freely.

Lebanese ingenuity and re-

sourcefulness transformed the country into a prosperous and stable one. However, what looked like a boon for the country later proved to be a bane. The rigidity of the system, plus the vested in-terests of the elite, who to borrow TS Eliot’s line, were as focused on citizens’ progress as foxes “have a

HONEST COMMUNICATION IS BUILT ON TRUTH AND INTEGRITY AND UPON RESPECT OF THE ONE FOR THE OTHER.BENJAMIN E. MAYS

QUOTE OF THE DAY

A century of sectarianism cannot be scrapped overnight – but it can be transformedIt is imperative any reforms are carried out while avoiding breaking the political system or causing its collapse

HUSSEIN IBISH

All governments are divided but the Trump adminis-tration has developed a set of schisms unlike any of its predecessors.

The House of Representatives’ investigation into the Ukraine scandal has revealed a govern-ment that is divided, not only in familiar, virtually inevitable ways but along unprecedented lines that have often rendered both policy and implementation con-tradictory.

Obviously, there will be a vast division between any White House and the Congress, par-ticularly when some or all of it is controlled by the opposition. And there is usually considerable space between political appoin-tees at the top of the policymaking structure in the executive branch and career public servants who mostly implement those policies. Add to that ideological factions and institutional and personal rivalries.

There has never been a gov-ernment anywhere that didn’t have such internal rifts and con-sequent infighting. Still, the US administration is not only split along these familiar lines but between senior politically ap-pointed officials who are trying

to implement stated policy versus those following presidentDon-ald Trump’s personal agenda and most capricious impulses.

That is not the same as any of the traditional schisms. It is the difference between officials who take policy seriously and those who are almost entirely inter-ested in Mr Trump’s personal political agenda.

The Ukraine policy is the most dramatic example but not the only one.

In that case, now mostly former officials such as Mr Trump’s two ambassadors to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovich and William Taylor, as well as national security ad-viser John Bolton and National Security Council staffers such as Fiona Hill and Alexander Vind-man, among many others, strug-gled to implement long-standing and stated Ukraine policy. That included promoting an anti-cor-ruption campaign in co-ordi-nation with various European countries and others, and sup-port for Ukraine’s resistance to a separatist push by pro-Russian insurgents.

As they sought to implement these policies according to the law, these officials found them-selves confronting another group, led not by a rival official but the president’s private lawyer Rudy

Giuliani.He was directing a troika con-

sisting of Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker, energy secretary Rick Perry and European Union spe-cial envoy Gordon Sondland in an effort to pressure the Ukrain-ian government to initiate or at least publicly announce a crimi-nal investigation into a company associated with US presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son and another into a long-debunked conspiracy theory suggesting that foreign interference in the 2016 election came from Ukraine on behalf of Democrats.

To secure Mr Trump’s po-litical agenda, this faction was willing to sacrifice stated policy and allegedly try to circumvent the law. After initially denying it, Mr Sondland now acknowl-edges he told Ukrainian leaders that a White House meeting with Mr Trump and $400 million in emergency military aid would not be forthcoming without such an announcement.

It’s easy to see why Mr Trump wanted that. However, insisting on a politically motivated crim-inal investigation runs directly counter to decades of US anti-cor-ruption policy, which is why none of this was ever shared with the international Ukraine anti-cor-ruption coalition. Moreover,

Congress had appropriated the military aid pursuant to Ukraine’s obviously dire needs and the legal requirement to transfer it was consistent with policy to support Ukraine.

So the Giuliani faction was pur-suing a political agenda directly at odds with the stated policy of

the Trump administration. Con-siderable outrage when these activities became widely known within the government prompted the whistleblower complaint that initiated the House investigation and yielded such testimony.

The law and policy faction, meanwhile, sought to mitigate

political pressure on Kiev as much as possible and find a way to provide the military assistance anyway. Armed with a legal find-ing that the appropriated aid could not be lawfully withheld or even delayed without a set of formal actions that were never taken, this group allegedly went

The Ukraine scandal has split the US administration in unprecedented ways Senior officials are not only divided by internal rifts but how to implement stated policy



ALBADER ALSHATERI

For nearly a month, Leb-anese citizens have been thronging the streets, mak-ing demands against what they view as a corrupt political class. While it might seem a familiar lament, this time the people are demanding a radical overhaul, not just of the government but the en-tire political system. The majority are fed up of the sectarian edifice of the state that is responsible, from the protesters’ perspective, for the predominance of a mere-tricious political class.

But it is imperative any reforms are carried out while avoiding breaking the political system or causing its collapse. Rule num-ber one is “do no harm”. If one cannot fix it, at least do not break it. Rule number two is to beware of the historical process that has given rise to the current system. Political systems are products of a historical process – or, to quote Karl Marx, “the tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living”.

Rule number three is if you have segmented society, the re-forms have to be all-inclusive. You cannot afford to alienate cer-tain groups. And rule number four is whatever reforms might be offered, they have to be based on what you got, with the neces-sary changes to keep the system

stable enough for reforms to be implemented. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater would be perilous.

These rules are integral to any reforms because Lebanon is an amalgam of 18 sects, a product of its colonial legacy. Lebanon’s foremost historian, the late Ka-mal Salibi, called it “a house of many mansions”, which was also the title of his book.

In that respect, Lebanon is not unique. Many Arab countries were the creation of a colonial past, such as Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Salibi argues that Leba-non was unique because it was “willed into existence by a com-munity of its own people, albeit one community among others”. It was at the insistence of the Maronite Christians that the cre-ation of Greater Lebanon was ac-quiesced by the French mandate authority on May 25, 1926, with its constitution. The first Repub-lic of Lebanon was thus born.

Two decades later, the para-mount chief of the Sunni Mus-lims, Riyad Al Solh, struck an unwritten deal with Maronite Christian Bechara El Khoury, known as the National Pact, which laid the foundation for power-sharing between different sects. The Christians (Greek Or-thodox, Maronite, Greek Catholic and others), then a majority, and Muslims (Sunni, Shiite, Druz, Alawite) – who, according to the

French census of 1932, constitut-ed a minority - would divvy up power in a ratio of 6:5 in favour of the former. The Maronites, thought to have a plurality, would assume the presidency, the prime minister would be a Sunni Mus-lim, and the Shiite sect would head the parliament.

The formula ushered in what is known as a multi-confessional or consociational democracy; name-ly, one based on power-sharing. Arend Lijphart, a leading author-ity on consociationalism, out-lined a few aspects that applied to Lebanon. One was an elite agreement on a power-sharing

formula; another was the pro-portional representation of dif-ferent groups within society; a third was consensus and mutual veto among major groups; and a fourth was autonomy for the con-stituent parts to exercise cultural or religious practice freely.

Lebanese ingenuity and re-

sourcefulness transformed the country into a prosperous and stable one. However, what looked like a boon for the country later proved to be a bane. The rigidity of the system, plus the vested in-terests of the elite, who to borrow TS Eliot’s line, were as focused on citizens’ progress as foxes “have a

HONEST COMMUNICATION IS BUILT ON TRUTH AND INTEGRITY AND UPON RESPECT OF THE ONE FOR THE OTHER.BENJAMIN E. MAYS

QUOTE OF THE DAY


HUSSEIN IBISH

All governments are divided but the Trump adminis-tration has developed a set of schisms unlike any of its predecessors.

The House of Representatives’ investigation into the Ukraine scandal has revealed a govern-ment that is divided, not only in familiar, virtually inevitable ways but along unprecedented lines that have often rendered both policy and implementation con-tradictory.

Obviously, there will be a vast division between any White House and the Congress, par-ticularly when some or all of it is controlled by the opposition. And there is usually considerable space between political appoin-tees at the top of the policymaking structure in the executive branch and career public servants who mostly implement those policies. Add to that ideological factions and institutional and personal rivalries.

There has never been a gov-ernment anywhere that didn’t have such internal rifts and con-sequent infighting. Still, the US administration is not only split along these familiar lines but between senior politically ap-pointed officials who are trying

to implement stated policy versus those following presidentDon-ald Trump’s personal agenda and most capricious impulses.

That is not the same as any of the traditional schisms. It is the difference between officials who take policy seriously and those who are almost entirely inter-ested in Mr Trump’s personal political agenda.

The Ukraine policy is the most dramatic example but not the only one.

In that case, now mostly former officials such as Mr Trump’s two ambassadors to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovich and William Taylor, as well as national security ad-viser John Bolton and National Security Council staffers such as Fiona Hill and Alexander Vind-man, among many others, strug-gled to implement long-standing and stated Ukraine policy. That included promoting an anti-cor-ruption campaign in co-ordi-nation with various European countries and others, and sup-port for Ukraine’s resistance to a separatist push by pro-Russian insurgents.

As they sought to implement these policies according to the law, these officials found them-selves confronting another group, led not by a rival official but the president’s private lawyer Rudy

Giuliani.He was directing a troika con-

sisting of Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker, energy secretary Rick Perry and European Union spe-cial envoy Gordon Sondland in an effort to pressure the Ukrain-ian government to initiate or at least publicly announce a crimi-nal investigation into a company associated with US presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son and another into a long-debunked conspiracy theory suggesting that foreign interference in the 2016 election came from Ukraine on behalf of Democrats.

To secure Mr Trump’s po-litical agenda, this faction was willing to sacrifice stated policy and allegedly try to circumvent the law. After initially denying it, Mr Sondland now acknowl-edges he told Ukrainian leaders that a White House meeting with Mr Trump and $400 million in emergency military aid would not be forthcoming without such an announcement.

It’s easy to see why Mr Trump wanted that. However, insisting on a politically motivated crim-inal investigation runs directly counter to decades of US anti-cor-ruption policy, which is why none of this was ever shared with the international Ukraine anti-cor-ruption coalition. Moreover,

Congress had appropriated the military aid pursuant to Ukraine’s obviously dire needs and the legal requirement to transfer it was consistent with policy to support Ukraine.

So the Giuliani faction was pur-suing a political agenda directly at odds with the stated policy of

the Trump administration. Con-siderable outrage when these activities became widely known within the government prompted the whistleblower complaint that initiated the House investigation and yielded such testimony.

The law and policy faction, meanwhile, sought to mitigate

political pressure on Kiev as much as possible and find a way to provide the military assistance anyway. Armed with a legal find-ing that the appropriated aid could not be lawfully withheld or even delayed without a set of formal actions that were never taken, this group allegedly went



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4TWEETS

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Not just the poor, the middle-class in In-dia too has little or no ac-cess to affordable health-care. Private healthcare in India is mostly thug-gery - like real estate and a lot of private education. That’s why India des-perately needs govt-run, govt-funded healthcare system FOR ALL.

@HindolSengupta

The traditional India or Bharatiya idea of education is to respect all life as sacred and learn to meditate to contact the deeper reality within us. It is not about mere enti-tlement or political agita-tion but includes a sadha-na for self-improvement. Should not be forgotten.

@davidfrawleyved

Thinking of my experi-ence at a public hos-pital in Paris less than 2 months ago, and I’m dying of shame, rage and despair. How utterly broken is healthcare in our country! You may have the money to pay for services but even that doesn’t ensure that the ailing will be cared for.

@TedhiLakeer

Disagree with him all you want. Support him or don’t. But after 4 years of Trump rallies, watching this @JoeBiden townhall feels like chicken soup for the soul. The man is decent, authentic and gives a damn about other humans. How refreshing.

@ananavarro

Disclaimer: (Views expressed by columnists are personal and need not necessarily reflect our

editorial stances)

sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry” did not bode well for the country. In less than two decades, the system faced its real reckoning in 1958 when different factions collided over Lebanon’s identity and civil war was barely averted.

The accumulated burdens of the past, in addition to unpro-pitious regional politics and the presence of armed Palestinians, were too much for the system to bear. Lebanon had become a tin-derbox waiting for the strike of the flint. That duly came in 1975 and the whole country exploded in civil warfare. Lebanon’s first republic came tumbling down.

Thanks to war fatigue and a helping hand from Saudi Arabia, the warring factions negotiated the Taif Agreement in 1989. The deal revised the National Pact

of 1943. Christians and Muslims would now share power equally. Moreover, the post of the prime minister, still allocated to Sunni Muslims, gained more gravitas than had previously been the case. Lebanon’s second republic, then, saw the light of day.

After weeks of street protests by multi-confessionalists and groups, the second republic is now over a barrel. The demon-strators are not letting up until their demands are met in full. Simply revamping the system will not do for the young people gathered in public squares.

So what is the solution? Politi-cal systems have elective affinity with social structures. No one can bypass them. Genuine re-forms will have to take this into account. A century of sectarian politics cannot be disposed of at the drop of a hat. It is possible, however, to transform it to suit the new circumstances.

Lebanon’s third republic is now in gestation. It can incorporate the strength of consociationalism with majoritarian democracy. There are quite successful con-sociational democracy examples that Lebanon can borrow from. The late Lebanese-American po-litical scientist Iliya Harik once pointed to Switzerland’s model for a possible post-war settle-ment. The Lebanese need not copy-paste from different polit-ical systems – but it can draw

some lessons from a stable multi-ethnic country like Switzerland all the same.

In this scheme, Lebanon’s third republic would have a bicameral legislature with an upper house featuring two representatives of each of the 18 officially recog-nised sects, and a lower house with proportional representation. Any legislation would have to pass both houses to become law. The majority party, or parties, in the lower house, would form a government. There would be no sectarian qualification for the post of the prime minister, who would serve as chief executive.

The 36-members of the upper house, which represents all sects, would nominate five of their num-ber to form a presidential council. The chair of the council would rotate among members every two years. The chair would serve as the president of the republic but the council would be responsible for ratifying laws, calling parlia-ment to session, declaring war and other constitutional respon-sibilities. They would be individ-ually and collectively answerable to the upper house and could be impeached and removed only by the upper house.

As such, Lebanon can preserve minority rights while moving the ball forward on the sectarian issue. Lebanese institutions are too brittle to withstand a total transformation.

1989Hans-Adam II, the present Prince of Liechtenstein, begins his reign on the death of his father.

1990In Aramoana, New Zealand, David Gray shoots dead 13 people in a massacre before being tracked down and killed by police the next day.

1994In a referendum, voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union.

2000Philippine House Speaker Manny Villar passes the articles of impeachment against Philippine President Joseph Estrada.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

Wide Angle

JOEL INDRUPATI

Lincoln’s legacy versus Trump’s temerity

In the summer of 2013, my family and I stood near the base of Lincoln’s statue, in the beautiful Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, DC. But, sadly, we were unable to see the statue itself.From its portrayal in many movies and documen-

taries, we were already familiar with that large white solitary marble figure of Abraham Lincoln, sitting in contemplation, disseminating a strange and special aura of dignity and authority.

But, when we stood there however, it was covered with white sheets. And the area, around the base, was cordoned off by the police, with tape.

A notice nearby said the statue was being restored after an attack of vandalism. Just three or four days earlier, a mentally unstable lady had splashed green paint on the statue.

I was reminded of that incident now, as I read that, on this day, 6 November 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States. He was the first Republican President.

The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump is the 19th from the same Republican Party.

Many political commentators today discuss the con-trast between both the presidents of the same party. The diversity in their ideology and in their leadership style.

Sidney Blumenthal wrote: “President Trump extem-poraneously speaks about Abraham Lincoln as if he were his rival. He has boasted that his poll numbers are

greater than Lincoln’s, though there were no opinion polls in the 19th cen-tury”. (‘Donald Trump’s Republican Party is not the party of Lincoln’, 4 Sep 2019, The Washington Post).

The writer opines that the party of Trump is the antithesis of the party of Lincoln, because it had veered off the course set by the great man who had once spearheaded it. In fact, Repub-licans have embraced all that Lincoln loathed, he says.

“Lincoln created the Republican Party out of the fragments of disinte-grating parties amid the political chaos of the 1850s. He had to overcome a powerful tide of anti-immigrant na-tivism advanced by the Know Nothing Party, which he loathed. He faced a

reactionary Supreme Court, which in Dred Scott v. Sandford declared that blacks were an “inferior class” who had “no rights the white man is bound to respect,” a decision intended to smash the new Republican Party”, Blumenthal argues.

We all know that the lasting legacy of Abraham Lin-coln will, of course, not only be his deft handling of the bloody civil war, but also, mainly, his ‘Emancipation Proclamation’ which abolished slavery.

The American Civil War (1861 to 1865) almost broke the country into two - as the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) fought a bloody war against one another.

Despite his great reputation as a military hero, the commander of the Confederate States Army, Gener-al Robert E Lee had to finally give in to the Union’s strength under Lincoln’s leadership.

And by his welding of the Northern and Southern states together, Lincoln earned for himself the title of the ‘Saviour of the Union’.

His opening words from the famous Gettysburg ad-dress, are now immortalised: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposi-tion that all men are created equal”. Are they equal? Now?

From abolishing slavery to the passing of the Civil Rights act that ended segregation, USA is definitely greater than what it was in 1860s. But in Trump’s Amer-ica, the equality may still be wanting.

Currently, as Donald Trump is battling calls for his impeachment, trying to retain his image, we can be certain of one thing about Lincoln.

No one can deface the legacy, or tarnish the image, that Lincoln left.

(The writer’s twitter handle: @joelindrupati)

From abolishing slavery to the

passing of the Civil Rights act that

ended segregation, USA is definitely

greater than what it was in 1860s. But in Trump’s

America, the equality may still

be wanting.


The accumulated burdens of the past, in addition

to unpropitious regional politics and the presence of

armed Palestinians, were too much for the system to bear. Lebanon had become a tinderbox waiting for the

strike of the flint.

behind the back of White House acting chief of staff and budget director Mick Mulvaney, who was continuing to enforce a hold or-dered by Mr Trump, and released at least $141 million to Ukraine. So what was the Ukraine policy anyway?

When Mr Giuliani and his

cohorts were in action or Mr Trump was on the phone to Kiev, apparently it was to withhold all forms of co-operation pending political favours. Otherwise, it was to continue to strongly back Ukraine against Russia and sup-port genuine anti-corruption efforts.

Similar tussles over immigra-tion policy have riven various agencies in the department of Homeland Security, such as im-migration and customs enforce-ment, and customs and border protection. An extraordinary number of senior officials have been ousted because they resisted draconian anti-migration meas-ures that are politically useful

to Mr Trump but are contrary to stated policies and in many cases probably unlawful.

Family separation, long-term detention of children, denial of the right to apply for asylum, summary deportations and oth-er harsh policies are still being fought over between officials seeking to implement stated policy and follow the law versus those focused on advancing Mr Trump’s nativist political agenda.

Mr Trump has reportedly even suggested obviously unlawful measures such as shooting at the legs of would-be migrants and summarily seizing privately owned land for his border wall.

There are many other areas of foreign and domestic policy where similar extraordinary divi-sions have emerged. The ongoing struggle over the US role in Syria and disputes over North Korea are two other obvious examples among many. All this is new.

It may be unique to the Trump administration because until now there has never been a US presi-dent who consistently and strong-ly privileged a personal political agenda over stated policies. But it leaves everyone at home and abroad wondering what agenda at any given moment this admin-istration is really pursuing and what it might do next.


There are many other areas of foreign and domestic

policy where similar extraordinary divisions

have emerged. The ongoing struggle over the US role in Syria and disputes over North Korea are two other obvious examples among

many.

10

business


DP World to develop business park in NamibiaReuters | Dubai

Dubai’s DP World has signed a preliminary agreement with the Nara Namib Free Economic Industrial Zone to develop a dedicated business park in the Namibian port town of Walvis Bay.

The park will be a ‘free eco-nomic zone’ for industry and logistics and initially cover an area of 50 hectares, according to a statement on Dubai’s gov-

ernment media office website yesterday.

The park could eventually be spread across 1,500 hec-tares, it said.

A free economic zone is of-ten a dedicated area that has different laws or rules, such as fewer or no taxes, designed to attract investment.

DP World and Nara Namib aim to reach a final agreement in the second quarter of 2020, the statement said.

Gulf Air gets four-star major airline rating at FTE-APEXTDT | Manama

Gulf Air yesterday re-ceived a four-star official airline rating at the Fu-ture Travel Experience – APEX Expo which is being held in Singapore. The rating is based solely on certified passengers’ feedback.

More than one million flights were rated by passengers across nearly 600 airlines from around the world.

Passengers rated their over-all flight experience and were allowed to provide anonymous ratings in subcategories such as seat comfort, cabin service, food and beverage and enter-tainment.

The awards ceremony took place during FTE-APEX Asia Expo 2019, which attracts more than 5,000 industry profession-als, including representatives

from more than 100 airlines, and showcases the most compre-hensive display of airline related technologies, products and

services.At t h e c e re m o ny, G u l f

Air’s Chief Executive Officer Krešimir Kucko received the

award. He commented: “We are proud to be rated by many pas-sengers around the globe as a Four-Star Major Airline.”

Gulf Air officials receive the four-star official airline rating award at the Future Travel Experience – APEX Expo

Zimbabwe issues fresh banknotes to ease cash shortagesAFP | Harare

Cash-strapped Zimbabwean

Documents

SPORTS 8 @newsofbahrain OP-ED The Ukraine scandal has ... › epaper › 13-11-2019 › PDF...Dec 11, 2019 · Bahrain set to participate in Arabian Gulf Cup TDT | Manama B ahrain