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Thursday 13 February 2020

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Volume 24 | Number 8166

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Amir chairs SCEAI’s first meeting of 2020

QNA — DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment (SCEAI), presided over the Council’s first meeting of 2020 that took place at the Amiri Diwan.

Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani, the Deputy Chairman of the Council, attended the meeting

along with Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Executive Member of the Council, and Their Excel-lencies the members of the Council.

The Council discussed topics on the meeting agenda and took the appropriate measures regarding them.

The council discussed the latest developments of energy and investment affairs. It then discussed the national food security strategy and the ways to support its most important factors. A presentation on the strategy reviewed the most important projects for increasing local production of vegetables, cattle, and fish. It

also described the plans and stages for increasing the coun-try’s strategic supply of food. The presentation touched on the role international trade can play as a pillar of food security. It also discussed the local market, and programs that looks to provide a marketing outlet for agricultural produce.

The council then discussed

the latest developments of the free zones, where a number of the world’s biggest companies started joining. Projects worth a total of QR3bn have also been approved, compared to only QR1bn last August. The majority of these projects are focused on the new economy, internet of things, sustainability, IT, big data, communications,

transport, logistics, medical services, aviation, cyberspace, and agritech.

The council lastly discussed a draft strategic partnership between Qatar Free Zones Authority and Qatar Petroleum. The partnership aims to unite efforts in attracting major com-panies in the energy, chemicals, and clean energy sectors.

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani chairing the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment Council's first meeting of 2020, yesterday.

Two more exciting attractions at NMoQ from SaturdayRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

The National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ) adds two more exciting attractions to its wide array of fascinating spots to visit as it launches two of its highly antic-ipated children’s playgrounds on Saturday.

Museum visitors specially families will now have more reasons to frequent NMoQ when The Cave of Wonders and Adventure Ship Playground opens to the public. Both play-grounds are specially created outdoor play areas, and are being launched as part of the second phase of NMoQ’s opening.

Commenting on the opening, Qatar Museums’ (QM) Chairperson, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, said: “We are com-mitted to ensuring that museums are a place of learning for all generations. From the natural formation of the land to a time where Qatar was one of the major pearl traders of Asia,

the playgrounds – similar to the permanent galleries at the National Museum of Qatar – are immersive and experiential, telling the story of Qatar and its people. As we progress towards the second phase of the

museum’s opening, we look forward to welcoming both children and adults as they explore two very important parts of our country’s heritage and culture.”

Speaking to reporters at a

press preview yesterday, Bouthayna Baltaji, Acting Head of Exhibitions Section at NMoQ, stressed that the play-grounds were designed for families to engage in intergen-erational play activities and

aim to bring the NMoQ’s col-lection and permanent gal-leries to life.

The playgrounds encourage visitors to explore not just the galleries themselves but also Qatar’s natural and cultural offerings. The carefully designed playgrounds are immersive providing children total experience with their visual, auditory and olfactory features as well as activities which promote learning and keep children engaged during their visit.

The Cave of Wonders has been constructed to replicate a dahl, or cave, with rays of light coming through openings in the roof. Inside there are glowing rocks, objects that emerge like archaeological finds from the sand, rock carvings, hanging bats and a giant gecko.

Baltaji noted that the Adventure Ship Playground was inspired by Rahmah bin Jaber, a historical figure and captain as well as a famous Arabian horse and pearl trader.

Particularly, this playground

was inspired by his famous Ghatrousha, which is a type of dhow or Qatari boat. During their exploration children can learn about sailing, pearling, fishing, trading and other occu-pations and traditions that whole families became involved in throughout the ages.

Through stories and songs, cargo and treasure, and imag-inative play opportunities the children will absorb culture and feel a sense of pride as they reconnect with Qatari history.

The NMoQ has designed and developed a wide variety of exciting and engaging learning resources for school, family and youth audiences. The two play-grounds now join hands-on interactive gallery spaces, family trails, student activity booklets and more.

A third and final playground will be launched later this year. It will focus on oil and gas and is sponsored by TOTAL, one of the top integrated oil and gas companies in Qatar.

The playgrounds will follow NMoQ’s opening hours.

A view of the Adventure Ship Playground which will open to the public at NMoQ on Saturday. PIC: QASSIM RAHMATULLAH/ THE PENINSULA

Cabinet nod to form committeeto develop real estate sectorQNA — DOHA

The Cabinet, in its meeting yesterday, approved the decision to form a committee charged with implementing a strategy on developing the real estate sector.

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani chaired the Cabinet regular meeting which was held at the Amiri Diwan. Following the meeting, Minister of Justice and Acting Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, H E Dr. Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi said that the Cabinet reviewed topics on its meeting’s agenda.

The new project will see the Min-istry of Municipality and Environment establish a temporary committee for the strategy on developing the real estate sector. The committee will be chaired by the Minister of Munici-pality and Environment, with

membership from the designated authorities.

Some of the powers of the com-mittee will be proposing a strategy to develop the real estate sector, as well as the required policies and plans required to achieve the strategy. The committee will also develop a gov-ernance system for the sector, and propose ways to support and regulate investment in real estate.

The Cabinet also took the appropriate decision on issuing a draft law on railways, after reviewing the recommen-dations of the Shura Council on the draft law. The Cabinet approved a draft agreement for aerial services between the government of the State of Qatar and the government of Jamaica. The Cabinet then reviewed a report by H E the Min-ister of Municipality and Environment on the results of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, and took the appropriate measures towards it.

The Council discussed the latest developments of energy and investment affairs, the national food security strategy and the ways to support its most important factors. The Council also discussed latest developments of the free zones, where a number of the world’s biggest companies started joining.

Qatar Center for International Finance & Banking established at King’s College LondonSATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Governor H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Saoud Al Thani announced yesterday that the recently established Qatar Center for Interna-tional Finance & Banking at the Business School in King’s College, London, will be a model for developing human capital and joint cooperation with a view to developing education and training in the field of banking and finance. It will help build capabilities for employees of QCB and the financial sector in the State of Qatar.

Delivering the opening address at “Qatar-UK Financial Services Event”, held in the presence of The Lord Mayor of the City of London, H E Alderman William Russell, the QCB Governor noted that the agreement will help achieve the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030, and the strategy of the financial sector in

Qatar, especially with regard to human resource development.

The Governor revealed that QCB is currently preparing to launch its cutting-edge financial technology strategy, with preparations for launching a Sandbox technology for computer security, which separates running programs and malware. The technology is expected to be launched soon as part of the financial inclusion strategy.

A presentation by King’s College London on Qatar Center for Global Banking & Finance described the research centre as a dedicated center to the study of central banks and the challenges they face in the global environment. It aims to develop cutting-edge research in all areas of central bank policy making, ranging from monetary policy to financial stability and prudential regulation.

The centre forms part of the Banking and Finance Group in King’s Business School. It commenced oper-ations in September 2019 and will be

fully staffed by April 2020.King’s College London and QCB

signed the donation agreement in April 2019 marking the intention to create the centre at King’s Business School.

The Center will equip current and future international banking and finance leaders with research and research-led teaching of the highest quality, to support them in their response to global financial and eco-nomic challenges.

The Center’s education and research programmes will address areas such as monetary policy, pru-dential regulation, regulatory tech-nology and the use of new data sources alongside traditional financial forecasting techniques. Particular emphasis will be placed on the tech-nical modelling skills needed to carry out advanced work in these areas. This focus reflects King’s Business School’s excellence in economic and financial forecasting and central banking.

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Amir meets Lord Mayor of City of London

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met yesterday with The Lord Mayor of the City of London in the UK, H E Alderman William Russell, and his accompanying delegation at the Amiri Diwan, on the occasion of their visit to the country. They discussed cooperation and the prospects for their development particularly in the fields of economy, investment and commercial and financial exchanges.

Qatar affirms support to IAEA in nuclear security, safety fieldQNA — VIENNA

The State of Qatar has affirmed that the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, especially in the areas of health, agri-culture, industry and the envi-ronment, are a strategic bet and part of its plan for comprehensive economic and social development within the Qatar National Vision 2030, as it has adopted appropriate legislation to enhance the safety and security of radioactive materials and is cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to enhance the Agency’s efforts in the field of nuclear security and safety.

This came in a speech delivered by Ambassador of the State of Qatar

to the Republic of Austria and its Per-manent Representative to the United Nations and international organisa-tions in Vienna, H E Sultan bin Salmeen Al Mansouri, before the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Security, organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

H E said that nuclear security is an important component of the inter-national peace and security system, so seeking full and comprehensive implementation of the obligations of states in the field of non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament will con-tribute to strengthening nuclear security.

He explained that effective

national nuclear security systems will contribute to developing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and in strengthening international efforts to combat nuclear terrorism, expressing his aspiration that the relationship between nuclear security and peace and international security be present in the discussions and in future plans to achieve the main goals and priorities in the field of nuclear security.

The Ambassador pointed out that this conference is an opportunity to assess the progress made in the field of nuclear security, to enhance it, to support the collaboration between nuclear security and safety, and to support the Agency’s efforts to

introduce further improvements to its nuclear security activities, and to maintain the highest safety and security standards in nuclear activ-ities, including facilitating the mis-sions of international advisory mis-sions to atomic energy, with the aim of reviewing frameworks and struc-tures concerned with nuclear security in states, as well as ways to protect radioactive sources worldwide.

In his speech, Al Mansouri con-cluded by stressing that great progress has been made in the field of nuclear technology security in recent years, but there is still much work to be done to spread and strengthen the culture of nuclear security on a large scale.

Ambassador of Qatar to Austria, H E Sultan bin Salmeen Al Mansouri

Three stadiums due tobe launched this yearTHE PENINSULA— DOHA

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is a vehicle to achieving the nation’s goals, said Hassan Al Thawadi, Secretary—General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), during his appearance at Qatar Foun-dation’s (QF) Education City Speaker Series (ECSS).

Speaking at Qatar National Library on the eve of National Sport Day 2020, Al Thawadi dis-cussed the country’s prepara-tions for the world’s most antic-ipated sporting event and how it is creating a legacy long before the tournament kicks off on 21 November 2022, the SC said on its website.

When discussing current progress, Al Thawadi said three stadiums are due to be launched this year, while Qatar is also gearing up to host the FIFA Club World Cup again after success-fully hosting the tournament for the first time in December 2019.

“Two stadiums have been inaugurated – Khalifa Interna-tional Stadium and Al Janoub

Stadium. Three more stadiums will become operational by the end of this year: Al Rayyan Stadium, Al Bayt Stadium and, of course, Education City Stadium – which is close to eve-rybody’s hearts here at QF.”

Al Thawadi continued: “We will also be hosting the FIFA Club World Cup again – which is another significant milestone for us. Last year’s event was a great success and we were able to test our readiness for 2022. It was a golden opportunity to run through our concepts and put our operational plans to the test.”

Al Thawadi went on to say that innovation would lie at the heart of Qatar 2022 — with support from local stakeholders such as QF.

“Every tournament has to have a unique innovative element to make it close to peo-ple’s hearts. For us, innovation

is at the core of our preparations. We want to provide the most advanced, enhanced and engaging fan experience for people from Qatar and all over the world. And we continue to work closely with Qatar Foun-dation on various elements in this regard.”

Al Thawadi ended his appearance by outlining the massive legacy benefits of the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and Arab world.

“We planned for legacy from day one,” said Al Thawadi. “A lot of host nations unfortu-nately look at legacy as an element that comes after the tournament. From the beginning, we looked at the Qatar National Vision 2030 as a guiding post. We understood the goals required and how the World Cup can help to achieve them.”

“Two stadiums have been inaugurated – Khalifa International Stadium and Al Janoub Stadium. Three more stadiums will become operational by the end of this year.”

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TIXBOX.QA

B O O K Y O U R T I C K E T S N O W

PM meets Lord Mayor of City of London

The Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, met yesterday with The Lord Mayor of the City of London in the United Kingdom, H E Alderman William Russell, and their accompanying delegation, on the occasion of his visit to the country. During the meeting, aspects of investment development and financial services were reviewed, in addition to discussing a number of issues of joint interest.

Qatar, Turkeydiscuss cooperation in educationQNA — DOHA

The joint Qatari-Turkish working group in the field of education held yesterday a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

The meeting was chaired by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Nuaimi, on the Qatari side, and by the Assistant minister of Edu-cation, Mustafa Safran, on the Turkish side. The meeting was a result of the provisions of a cooperation agreement in the field of education signed between the two countries on February 12, 2015. It dealt par-ticularly with e-learning and vocational training for teachers, as well as the possi-bility of signing twinning agreement between the two countries’ public schools.

Qatar participates in IFAD Governing Council meetingQNA — ROME

The State of Qatar participated in the meetings of the 43rd session of the annual Governing Council meeting of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The meeting held under the theme “Investing in sus-tainable food systems to end hunger by 2030”, from Feb-ruary 11 to tomorrow at the headquarters of the Council in Rome.

The Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Italy and IFAD’s Governor, H E Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Maliki, led the State’s dele-gation to the meetings.

In a speech delivered during the opening session of the Council’s meetings, Qatar’s Ambassador to Italy stressed that Qatar has established spe-cialised companies for food, animal and fish production and has presented numerous agricultural investment projects to private sector’s

investors, in addition to a number of other strategic projects for the production of

vegetables using greenhouses, new projects for the pro-duction of fodder by using

process water, and projects for fish farming projects in floating cages.

The Ambassador under-lined that the State of Qatar is taking all these measures, projects and programmes that are consistent with its pursuit and determination to achieve self-sufficiency in food, secure food supplies and ensure its safety. “The country also uses renewable energies to apply best practices for the devel-opment of the agricultural sector, better use of limited natural resources, preser-vation of the environment and stabilization of agro-food products’ markets, devel-opment of investment mech-anisms in the agricultural sector and the provision of guarantees for the private sector to invest in this field,” he pointed out.

He also clarified that the State of Qatar called from all international platforms to confront the severe challenges caused by climate change and its impact on the shortage and

scarcity of water resources, which negatively affected agro-food production, live-stock and fisheries.

Al Maliki said that the State of Qatar’s strategy and future visions aimed at achieving its food security and its national programs have placed it in the first position among Arab countries and 13th globally according to the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) data, which is introduced by The Economist magazine.

He pointed out that, despite the abundance of natural resources and human and economic capabilities in many geographical regions, there are still other regions that suffer from protracted food crises of various sources, including our region, the Near East and North Africa region.

He also noted that there is no doubt that there are many difficult challenges facing mankind, but there are also many good, tender, sincerity, determination and innovation that can be relied upon.

The Ambassador of Qatar to Italy and the Governor of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), H E Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Maliki, and his accompanying delegation at the 43rd session of the annual Governing Council meeting of IFAD in Rome.

Qatari energy companies to extend support to counterparts in ChinaTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Minister of State for Energy Affairs, and President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, H E Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, has expressed Qatar Petroleum’s solidarity with its counterparts in China as part of its government’s efforts to contain the coronavirus and to alleviate its impact on the population and the economy.

H E Al Kaabi, said, “I would like to express the support of Qatar Petroleum towards its counterpart Chinese energy companies to meet any needs that can support China’s efforts to deal with the Coronavirus and its impact.” He noted that all concerned Qatari energy companies are already working closely with their Chinese partners to assist in iden-tifying and assessing potential support areas, and that they are actively engaged in accom-modating certain rescheduling or re-routing requests for deliveries of Qatari energy products to China.

Somali PM's Adviser: Qatar is Somalia’s reliable allyQNA — DOHA

The Senior Adviser of the Somali Prime Minister for Peace and Reconciliation, Dr. Abdurahman Abdullahi Baadiyow, said that Qatar is the main reliable ally of Somalia. In a symposium, organised yesterday by the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on “Elite Culture in Somalia”, Baadiyow said that Somalia is being built again, expressing thanks and appreciation to Qatar for its unconditional support to his country. The Director of the Diplo-matic Institute, H E Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al Horr, moderated the symposium.

Baadiyow added that Qatar has spared no effort in supporting Somalia, and was a major supporter of Somalia during the civil war, pointing out that the Somali community is one of the oldest Arab com-munities in Qatar. The Senior Adviser of the Somali Prime Minister for Peace and Reconciliation under-lined Somalia’s position in rejecting the blockade of Qatar, pointing out that the blockade countries pun-ished Somalia for its stance on the blockade and deprived it of political, humanitarian, and devel-opment support.

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Chief of Staff meets Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force

The Chief of Staff of Qatari Armed Forces, H E Lieutenant General (Pilot) Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanem, met yesterday with the Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force, Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, who is currently visiting the country. They reviewed the existing military relations between the two sides and means to enhance and develop them. A number of senior officers of the Qatari Armed Forces and the accompanying delegation to the Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force attended the meeting.

QU signs MoU with Doha Institute for Graduate StudiesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar University (QU) and Doha Institute for Graduate Studies signed a MoU yesterday relating to cooperation in fields of mutual interest, exchange of experts and expertise and exchange of knowledge through publications, period-icals, studies, statistics and data.

The MoU also includes joint organisation of conferences, meetings, trainings and other relevant events. On hand to sign the MoU were QU Pres-ident, Dr. Hassan Al Derham, and President of Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Dr. Yasser Sulaiman Maali.

In order to insure the proper implementation of the MoU’s goals, teams and a working committee will be established to act as advisors, coordinating in areas within the

framework of the MoU, reviewing, and implementing its terms. There will also be regular evaluation of the results of the memorandum and the possibility of developing a program or several programs

between different adminis-trative sectors. The signing of MoU comes as part of the belief in the important role of educa-tional institutions’ in servicing the society and nation. It also comes as part of the consistent efforts to exchange information and expertise to elevate the efficiency and performance of the two parties.

Dr. Hassan Al Derham highlighted the importance of the agreement saying, “I am very pleased to be here today to sign this agreement with the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, which encompasses the finest scholars in the field of social sciences and human-ities. As a premier national institution, with the largest number of specialties in Qatar, Qatar University consistently strives to work together with other academic institutions that have leading national and

international status, and the Doha Institute is an important partner for us in achieving uni-versity goals.” Dr. Yasser Sulaiman Maali praised QU’s programmes and its advanced positioning in global rankings.

Qatar University President, Dr. Hassan Al Derham, and the President of Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Dr. Yasser Sulaiman Maali, during the MoU signing ceremony.

International accreditation for Sidra MedicineTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Sidra Medicine, a member of Qatar Foundation, has been awarded the Joint Commission International’s Gold Seal of Approval for its hospital and academic medical centre.

Sidra Medicine was commended for its efforts to become a quality improvement organisation, and demonstrating a commitment to patient safety and quality.

Dr. Mark R Chassin, President and CEO of the Joint Commission; Paula Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Joint Com-mission Resources, officially pre-sented the JCI Gold Seal of Approval to Sidra Medicine at a ceremony recently. Murat Kucukkaya, Man-aging Director for Joint Commission International, Middle East and Africa, was also present.

Dr. Chassin also presented on what it takes to become a High Reli-ability Organization as part of the next phase after becoming JCI accredited. He highlighted the importance of integrating process improvement measures, gov-ernance, financial planning, and quality strategy and priorities effectively.

The ceremonial event was chaired by Mohammed K Al Mana, Chair of the Transition Committee and Member of the Board of Gov-ernors at Sidra Medicine, and Dr. Abdulla Al Kaabi, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Lead for Sidra Medicine’s JCI Accreditation. The event also featured several board members and representatives from

partner healthcare organisations including the Ministry of Public Health; Hamad Medical Corporation including its Ambulance service; Primary Health Care Corporation and Aspetar.

The receipt of the JCI accredi-tation follows a successful survey of the hospital’s facilities, patient-safety processes and as an academic medical center in November 2019. Sidra Medicine has been preparing for JCI accreditation since opening its main hospital in January 2018.

Being JCI accredited means that Sidra Medicine is a hospital that is committed to high-quality care and a culture of safety for patients, vis-itors and staff as well as offering an

established academic program for residents, fellows and students. The accreditation also applies to Sidra Medicine’s research practices par-ticularly within clinical care pro-grams. It highlights that Sidra Med-icine’s delivery model of care is based on leading, evidence-based practices.

Dr. Abdulla Al Kaabi, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Lead for Sidra Medicine’s JCI Accredi-tation at Sidra Medicine, said, “This time two years ago, we celebrated the official opening of our main hos-pital with the world. And now we have cause to celebrate another important milestone, receiving the academic accreditation from JCI."

Mohammed K Al Mana, Chair of the Transition Committee and Member of the Board of Governors at Sidra Medicine, and Dr. Abdulla Al Kaabi, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Lead for Sidra Medicine’s JCI Accreditation, receiving the official JCIA certificate 2020.

Doha records 11 degrees Celsius temperature, lowest this winterTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

A minimum temperature of 11 degrees Celsius was recorded in Doha yesterday morning, the lowest temperature witnessed in the city so far this winter.

Minimum temperature is expected to remain in the same range next three days, Qatar Meteorology Department (QMD) tweeted. QMD said

yesterday that Doha will see a minimum temperature of 11 degrees Celsius again today while tomorrow it will be 13 degrees Celsius and 14 degrees Celsius on Saturday. “Northerly fresh to strong wind is observed in most areas. Please watch out for blowing dust and low visibility in open areas ,” the weather department urged.

Second phase of educational surveytargets parents, students & teachersSANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Schools Evaluation Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education has started conducting second phase of educational survey for all government and private schools operating in Qatar.

The survey aims at col-lecting information about most educational aspects to bring a close picture of education in schools of Qatar and to ensure the achievement of strategic goals of educational process. The survey data helps in taking appropriate decisions for the development of the education sector.

“The second phase of com-prehensive educational ques-tionnaire’ which began in Feb-ruary targets parents, students and teachers seeking their opinions about schools and education,” said Director of Schools Evaluation Department at the Ministry, Muna Al Kuwari, in a press conference at the Evaluation Sector of the Ministry.

She said that the Department started sending the questionnaire forms in Arabic and English from yesterday.“The survey will be conducted for all students of public and private schools from grades 6 through grade 12. The students will fill the question-naires at computer room of the school in the presence of eval-uation experts,” said Al Kuwari.

She said that the student will open the survey link, after entering user name, he will fill the form of questionnaire. “For teachers, the survey targets all school and kindergarten teachers, where the survey link

is sent through the official email to the teacher to open the link and answer the survey questions,” said Al Kuwari.

She said that the survey also targets all parents of school and kindergarten stu-dents, where the survey link is sent through an SMS to the mobile number of parents reg-istered in the Ministry’s database to open the link and enter the verification code first and then fill out the survey form.

The Director of Schools Evaluation Department urged parents, students and teachers to participate in the survey and to follow accuracy and

transparency in answering questions.

The first phase of the survey, which was imple-mented in November 2019, tar-geted principals of schools and kindergartens to know their views and suggestions about education because of their direct link with students and their educational experience.

The survey also aimed at obtaining information about the school, such as its structure, functions and facilities, in order to help improve educational outcomes and the quality of school performance.

Some statistics of the com-prehensive educational survey

which was conducted last year revealed a decrease in the teacher’s satisfaction with the students ’motivation towards learning in government schools compared to private schools.

The teacher’s satisfaction rate in government schools was 71%, while in private schools 88%, the survey recommended that this percentage may have a negative impact on the edu-cational process in government schools.

The survey also suggests that the percentage of parents’ satisfaction with the quality of school curricula is 83% in gov-ernment schools, 79% in inter-national and Arabic private schools.

The percentage of school principals response to question-naires of the first phase of the comprehensive educational survey reached 88%, where 343 principals out of 392 of the tar-geted sample participated in the survey, while the school response rate reached 82%, with 323 schools out of 392 tar-geted samples.

FROM LEFT: Muna Mohamed Al Kuwari, Director of School Evaluation Administration; Nasser Al Yafi, Head of Government School Evaluation; and Noora Taher, Head of Private School Evaluation, during the press conference at the Evaluation Department of the Ministry. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT/THE PENINSULA

The survey aims at collecting information about most educational aspects to bring a close picture of education in schools of Qatar and to ensure the achievement of strategic goals of educational process. The survey data helps in taking appropriate decisions for the development of the education sector.

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Al-Ahli Hospital mobilised NSD to promote physical activity and team competitionsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Al-Ahli Hospital enjoyed an action-packed Qatar National Sport Day at the Sports Hall and football pitch of the Arabic International Academy.

Al-Ahli staff teams com-peted against each other in a variety of sports, including football, basketball, tennis, vol-leyball and handball. Healthy competition between teams ensured a spectacle for partic-ipants and spectators.

Khalid Al Emadi the Chief Executive Officer of Al-Ahli Hospital said, “We are thankful to Qatar and Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for always giving importance to sporting activities, encour-aging physical activity and promoting health and well-being.”

“The ambition to compete and the importance of sports helps bring communities together and helps motive eve-ryone for a healthier lifestyle.

“We at Al-Ahli Hospital are keen to contribute to Qatar National Sport Day by organ-ising and participating in a range of events and activities. Sports represent the energy and the building of a healthy society, whose individuals are fit and enjoy an active life,” he added.

Jamal Saleh Hammad, Deputy CEO of Al-Ahli Hos-pital, said, “To encourage the noble values and objectives of sports, Al-Ahli Hospital con-tributes to the organsation of the Qatar National Sport Day activities not only this year but every year, bringing together

team members from across Al-Ahli Hospital.”

“Our events create mile-stones in supporting sport and encouraging everyone to par-ticipate in Al-Ahli Hospital sporting events, based on each individual’s ability, energy, and attitude.”

“In addition to the partic-ipation of the Al-Ahli Hospital team members in the activities of Qatar National Sport Day each year, the Hospital encourages them to engage in sporting activities throughout the year. This enhances the interaction between the employees of the Hospital and contributes to adopting sports as a lifestyle, which is con-sistent with the social trends that encourage sports and physical activity for all,” he said.

Al-Ahli Hospital staff pose for a group photo during the National Sport Day activities.

Ooredoo celebrates a successful National Sport DayTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar’s leading telecommuni-cations company celebrated 2020 National Sport Day with a packed schedule of activities at MIA Park and a host of exciting promotions, both of which were a resounding success.

Ooredoo hosted a fun fitness day in MIA Park with a wide range of activities for all the family and all ages and abilities,

including ball games, team sports, individual activities and fun group exercise sessions.

The telecoms leader also laid on a range of special pro-motions in honour of the day,

designed to offer customers even better value for money with their Ooredoo products and services. Smart watches and vouchers for Sports Corner were given away in the 2020 National Sport Day Quiz, while customers were encouraged to get active with the Walk To Win promotion; reaching 10,000 steps meant they were rewarded with 2020MB data and a voucher for Sports Corner. Customers were also given 500 Nojoom points free simply for scanning the special 2020 National Sport Day QR code hidden in the park.

Taking part in all the pro-motions meant even more ben-efits; customers who took part in the quiz, walked to win and scanned the special QR code were given an extra 500 Nojoom points.

The 2020 National Sport Day quiz received more than 140,000 entries, while almost 2,000 customers scanned the special QR code and a total of almost 54,000,000 steps were taken by those attempting the Walk To Win challenge.

Speaking of the celebrations, Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed

bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, said: “We were delighted to see such an incredible turnout at MIA Park yesterday, and to see so many citizens and residents of all ages enjoying the activities on offer. We’re committed to supporting initiatives that promote a healthy, active lifestyle as part of

our corporate social responsi-bility strategy, and our annual National Sport Day celebrations offer the ideal opportunity for all sectors of the community to get involved. Of course, complete customer satisfaction is also a key aim, and we’re pleased to say our special promotions were very well received.”

Ooredoo officials during the Qatar National Sport Day 2020 activities at MIA Park.PIC: QASSIM RAHMATULLAH/THE PENINSULA

Residents participating in sports activities at MIA Park.

Ooredoo hosted a fun fitness day at MIA Park with a wide range of activities for all the family and all ages and abilities, including ball games, team sports, individual activities and fun group exercise sessions.

Ooredoo Group holds Meet & Greet with Leo MessiTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ooredoo Group, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators, recently held a Meet and Greet event in Barcelona, where lucky customers from all over the company’s global footprint got to meet their football hero Leo Messi.

The football fans got to meet Messi after having entered the Messi Quiz contest on social media as part of the Ooredoo Group’s global brand campaign, with weekly prizes on offer and a grand final draw that was held to find the winners of the Meet and Greet with Messi himself. An Ooredoo Group delegation welcomed the lucky winners in Barcelona and accompanied them through their visit, during which they had the chance to meet with Messi, take photos with him and get their jerseys signed.

Contest winners were then taken on an exciting tour of major football attractions in the city. As part of the tour, they got a taste of Ooredoo’s VR fan experience – wearing the VR goggles to watch a video that included highlights from a football match showing players and cheering fans, which made them feel as if they were part of the whole event.

Ooredoo Group noted the campaign - reinforcing Ooredoo’s brand promise to enrich people’s digital lives and highlighting the key role it plays in enabling people to better enjoy the Internet through its world-class networks — as one of its most suc-cessful digital activations.

Leo Messi, Ooredoo Group’s global brand ambassador since 2013, is the glo-bally recognised star forward for FC Bar-celona and Argentina’s national team. As the only football player holding six FIFA

Ballons d’Or, he is often described as the world’s greatest footballer.

Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Group Chief Executive Officer, said of the contest and the ongoing partnership with Messi: “This social media contest was a great way to engage the many football fans we have amongst our customer base, and have them enjoy the digital experiences made possible by our incredible networks. We were

delighted to have given our customers the opportunity to meet their football hero and live the VR experience as part of the com-petition. As Ooredoo Group’s global brand ambassador, Leo Messi has inspired many of our young football fans across the markets we serve and we can’t wait to launch the exciting new campaign that we’re currently working on with him, the likes of which have never been seen before.”

Fans with Ooredoo Group’s global brand ambassador Leo Messi.

Forum for authors discusses ArabicLanguage and Artificial IntelligenceTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Qatari Forum for Authors recently held symposium titled ‘Arabic Language and Artificial Intelligence: Reality Challenges and Future Prospects’ at the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The symposium came as part of a campaign launched by the Forum last December in coop-eration with the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science and in line with the theme of the celebration of the International Day of the Arabic Language for 2019, where the Unesco chose the theme of the festive ‘Arabic language and artificial intelligence’.

Addressing the Forum, Director General of the Qatari Forum for Authors, Mariam Yassin Al Hammadi, said: “The Arabic language faces chal-lenges, especially in a time of globalization and cultural openness that affected them.”

“This is something that we must reinforce and preserve, which is what the Qatari Forum seeks hand in hand with the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science to achieve, as a campaign to cel-ebrate the Arabic language was launched on December 18, 2019.”

She added that the sym-posium also reflects the spirit of the Law on the Protection of the Arabic Language, and to achieve

Qatar National Vision 2030 to preserve the linguistic identity of the state as stipulated in the country’s constitution.

Al Hammadi said that the campaign activities will continue until next March within the framework of celebrating the Arabic language and within the executive programs of the mem-orandum of understanding that was signed in September 2019.

Dr. Karim Darwish, Senior

Researcher at the Arabic Lan-guage Technologies Group (ALT) at the Qatar Institute for Com-puting Research, spoke about the concept of artificial intelligence and its importance in developing the Arabic language in globali-sation era.

He also discussed the latest technologies used by the Qatar Computing Research Institute for the automatic processing of the Arabic language.

The Qatari Forum for Authors symposium discussing the relationship of Arabic Language and Artificial Intelligence.

The symposium came as part of a campaign launched by the Forum last December in cooperation with the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science and in line with the theme of the celebration of the International Day of the Arabic Language for 2019, where the Unesco chose the theme of the festive ‘Arabic language and artificial intelligence’.

Awareness workshop on Scientific Excellence Award for private schoolsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Scientific Excellence Award Organising Committee held yesterday an awareness workshop for the Scientific Excellence Award for private schools

Dr. Hamda Al Sulaiti, CEO of the Scientific Excellence Award who is also Secretary General of the Qatari National Committee for Education, Culture and Science, and members of the award committees.

The workshop aimed to clarify the importance and objectives of the Scientific Excellence Award held and to provide the most important instructions that motivate can-didates from private schools to participate.

Dr. Hamda Al Sulaiti, said: We strive with our best through the Scientific Excellence Award to create the spirit of compe-tition between individuals and educational institutions in the field of scientific excellence and to promote this among private schools.”

She pointed out the con-cepts of excellence and crea-tivity through adopting inter-national standards and imple-menting quality programs and achieving integration of indi-vidual and institutional efforts

to improve the educational process outcomes in the State of Qatar.

Dr. Al Sulaiti said that Sci-entific Excellence Award has nine categories namely: the Sci-entific Excellence Award for Primary Stage Students, the Scientific Excellence Award for Middle School Students, the Scientific Excellence Award for Secondary Certificate Students, the Excellence Scientific Research Award, the Scientific Excellence Award for Uni-versity Graduates, and the Sci-entific Excellence Award for Masters Degree holders, Scien-tific Award for Doctorate Degree, Distinguished Teacher Award, and Outstanding School Award.

The Scientific Excellence Award for Distinguished Teacher is awarded to the Qatari teacher who performs teaching tasks in government education or Private in the State of Qatar, which is a great opportunity and includes every aspiration of teachers in any school on the land of Qatar, as is the case for the Distinguished School Award that specializes in the partic-ipation of every school on the territory of the State of Qatar provided that it meets the evaluation criteria by 80% as a minimum.

07THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 HOME

KidZania Doha and Landmark Group launch ‘Shukran Mondays’ programme for customers THE PENINSULA — DOHA

KidZania Doha, a multi award-winning learning and enter-tainment brand, and Shukran, Qatars’s most successful retail loyalty programme rewarding over 1.5 million Landmark Group customers, launched a programme called ‘Shukran Mondays’ which is beneficial to both of their customers.

Landmark Group is one of the largest retail and hospitality organizations in the Middle East, Africa, and India. Cur-rently, the group operates over 2,300 outlets, encompassing over 30 million square feet across 22 countries.

KidZania Doha is operated by Qatar Entertainment Tasali W.L.L., a National Qatari joint venture of Sharaka Holdings and Aspire Zone Foundation. It provides a unique educational and entertainment experience, offering 42 establishments where children aged between two and fourteen years will be able to role play up to 60 ‘adult

jobs’ while learning a variety of values including self-reliance, teamwork, honesty, integrity and society awareness.

This partnership between the two well-known brands provides exclusive benefits through “Shukran Mondays” – where Landmark Group cus-tomers who use the Shukran application can now avail a Buy 1 Get 1 Free Entry every Monday and enjoy the activities in the city of KidZania Doha.

Additionally, B.KidZanian CitiZens will be able to enjoy more benefits not only at Kid-Zania but also at selected Landmark Group outlets by presenting their B.KidZania paZZports. Kids can enroll as B.KidZanian Citizens at the Kid-Zania Doha facility where they will also receive their B.KidZanian paZZport.

Commenting on the part-nership, Clive Freeman, COO of Landmark Group Qatar said, “We are always looking at ways to better our retail offerings to our loyal customers. Strategic

partnerships like these ensure that Shukran can extend addi-tional value to our large cus-tomer base, beyond the realm of our offerings. We’re com-mitted to providing them with the best services.”

Victor Jabbour also men-tioned that, “This strategic part-nership between KidZania and Landmark Group offers great benefits to both Shukran cus-tomers and our guests. We are highly committed in delivering an excellent service to our guests as they will not only receive benefits from us but also in selected Landmark outlets.”

Shukran’s application can be downloaded from App Store or Google Play. Customers can use their virtual card to keep track of their transactions, to check their Shukran balance, to get the latest offers and to locate nearby stores. With this fast, easy, and user-friendly application, customers can enjoy big benefits and freedom through cashless transactions.

KidZania Doha and Landmark Group officials pose during the launch of 'Shukran Mondays'.

HMC warns residents about danger of burning charcoal, wood inside homeTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

As the temperatures continue to drop, Dr. Galal Saleh Al Essai, Consultant, Emergency Medicine at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is warning about the health risks of burning charcoal and wood in enclosed spaces.

“During the colder months, some people seek ways to keep their homes warm and resort to burning coal or wood inside. When charcoal and wood burn without oxygen they produce fossil fuels that release carbon monoxide - a colourless, tasteless, and odourless gas. Carbon monoxide is very hard to detect, leading to people inhaling it and being poisoned. This can happen very quickly and is extremely dangerous,” said Dr. Al Essai, who is also Vice-Chairman of Corporate Affairs at HMC’s Emergency Department.

Dr. Al Essai said carbon monoxide poisoning is so

dangerous because the signs and symptoms can be easy to miss. He said many people dismiss the symptoms of mild carbon mon-oxide poisoning thinking they have food poisoning or the flu.

“Symptoms of carbon mon-oxide poisoning can start to appear within five to 20 minutes of exposure. Lower concentra-tions may lead to a delay in the onset of symptoms. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can include a headache, diz-ziness, nausea, shortness of breath, weakness, and con-fusion. Anyone who develops symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning should immediately get fresh air and seek emergency medical care,” said Dr. Al Essai.

He said that severe cases of carbon monoxide poisoning can result in muscle cramps, fainting, loss of consciousness, and death due to a lack of oxygen to the heart and brain. He says the effects of carbon monoxide poi-soning are particularly

dangerous for children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with chronic heart disease, res-piratory problems, or anaemia. Dr. Al Essai said that because carbon monoxide poisoning affects people differently, depending on the duration and frequency of exposure, it can be challenging to recognise.

“If you suspect carbon mon-oxide poisoning, get help

immediately. Open doors and windows to allow fresh air into the space and call for help. Carbon monoxide poisoning is so dangerous …… most patients with suspected carbon mon-oxide poisoning will remain under clinical observation for up to 48 hours,” said Dr Al Essai.

To help prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, Dr. Al Essai recommends never using a gas-powered generator indoors, including inside a camper or tent, ensuring battery-operated electronic heating appliances are approved; approved appli-ances will include an authori-sation number or mark, and never burning charcoal or wood indoors unless it is in an approved indoor wood-burning or charcoal-burning appliance. He also says residents should never use a gas range or oven for heating as this can cause a build-up of carbon monoxide inside the home, cabin, or camper.

Dr. Galal Saleh Al Essai

Best Buddies Qatar takes part in National Sport DayTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Best Buddies Qatar, along with other organisations under the umbrella of Qatar Foundation for Social Work associated offi-cials and groups of persons with disabilities, joined the National Sport Day activities on the Green Spine in Qatar Foun-dation.

On this occasion, Laalei Abu Alfain, Executive Director of Best Buddies Qatar, said: “The country pays great attention to the people with disabilities. Numerous sports events and activities developed to suite different disabilities Best Buddies Qatar has contributed to providing and allocating of many modified and improved kinds of sports for persons with disabilities to ensure their active participation in the cel-ebration of the National Sports Day.”

“People with disabilities demonstrate a distinctive par-ticipation in various sports, national forums, events and occasions. The majority of the organizations, attending the Sports Day, hold activities for persons with disabilities and their families.”

Laalei Abu Alfain under-lined the significance to aware the families about the impor-tance of sports, its positive effects on persons’ psycho-logical, physical, social and mental state.

Laalei Abu Alfain also highly valued the attendance and the participation of Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, the Founder of Qatar Foundation for Social Action, in the activities of the Qatar Foundation for Social Work and the organisations under its umbrella.

People with disabilities demonstrate a distinctive participation in various sports, national forums, events and occasions.

Laalei Abu Alfain underlined the significance about the importance of sports, its positive effects on persons’ psychological, physical, social and mental state.

Triumph Thruxton, Thruxton R model of 2019 recalledTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Alfardan Motorcycles, dealer of Triumph motorcycles in Qatar, announces the recall of Triumph Thruxton, Thruxton R model of 2019 due to the side stand spring’s possibility to crack.

The recall campaign comes within the framework of the Ministry’s continuous efforts to protect consumers and ensure that dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs. The Ministry said that it will coordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with cus-tomers to ensure that they carried out the necessary repairs.

The case which Gambia brought before the court has focused narrowly on the violent events of 2016 and 2017. However, it is crucial to see this group destruction in the proper context which began under the false pretext of Myanmar’s attempts at cracking down on the “illegal immigration” across Myanmar-Bangladesh borders which stretch 270 miles.

08 THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020VIEWS

CHAIRMAN

SHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDm.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED OSMAN ALI osman@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

QATAR’S real estate market remained buoyant, last year. The real estate sector witnessed deals valuing more than QR22.77bn in 2019 that demonstrates the strong interest of investors in country’s growing real estate market.

Deals worth QR1.58bn were done during December last year, compared to QR1.55bn in November, showing a growth of around two percent, according to the Qatar Monthly Statistics report released recently by the Planning and Statistics Authority.

October emerged as the busiest month as it wit-nessed deals worth QR4.36bn, making it the month with highest value of deals during the year.

All the verticals of real estate sector witnessed increased activity during 2019. According to ValuStrat, a real estate consultancy firm, with an addition of 1,750 units during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2019, the total housing stock in Qatar was estimated at 297,650 units by end 2019. Around 90 percent of the added supply comprised of apartments handed over in Lusail (Fox Hills, Al Kharaej and Marina District), The Pearl, Al Sadd and Al Mirqab.

Till November 2019, 1.86 million visitors arrived in Qatar, which is an increase of 14 percent compared to the same period in 2018.

Construction of an estimated 700,000sqm Gross Leasable Area (GLA) of office space was completed in 2019, bringing the total office supply to an estimated 4.8 million sqm GLA. Five office projects were added during Q4 2019 in Lusail, Al Mirqab, C-Ring Road (Al Mansoura) and Al Sadd comprising 160,000 sqm GLA.

Hospitality sectors also witnessed expansion last year. A total of 1,050 rooms to the hospitality sector were added during the last quarter.

Park Hyatt (187 keys) in Musheireb Downtown, Saraya Town Hotel (310 keys) in Al Ghanim, Double Tree by Hilton Doha (139 keys) in Al Sadd and Hilton Doha The Pearl Residences (414 keys) in The Pearl were unveiled during the last quarter.

Countrywide occupancy of hotels for the same period stood at 64 percent, up five percent compared to 2018.

Organised retail supply increased five percent during 2019, reaching up to 1.89 million sqm GLA. An esti-mated 462,000sqm spread over five shopping centres is in the pipeline for 2020. The retail market continues to remain tenant friendly where landlords offer lucrative incentives to retain existing retailers and attract new leases.

With the help of the proactive policies of the gov-ernment, the real estate sector will reach new heights this year.

Growing real estate sector

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Quote of the day

Today, allied ministers ... agreed in principle to enhance Nato's Iraq training mission. In the first instance, this will consist of taking on some of the global coalition's current training activities.

Jens Stoltenberg, Nato Secretary-General

A file picture of Rohingya refugees taking part in a prayer as they gather to mark the second anniversary of the exodus at the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

The International Court of Justice’s January 23 interim order in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar is designed to protect the Rohingya and preserve the crime sites. It has brought a sense of vindication to several million Rohingya victims - in the diaspora, inside Myanmar, and in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

It was by far the most signif-icant act the international com-munity has taken since the Rohingya have been subjected to a national policy of discrimi-nation, disenfranchisement, dis-placement and destructive depor-tation by various organs of the state in Myanmar.

The case which Gambia brought before the court has focused narrowly on the violent events of 2016 and 2017. However, it is crucial to see this group destruction in the proper context which began under the false pretext of Myanmar’s attempts at cracking down on the “illegal immigration” across Myanmar-Bangladesh borders which stretch 270 miles.

As a matter of fact, today (Feb. 12) marks the 42nd anni-versary of the first violently gen-ocidal purge -- centrally organized by the then military dictatorship of General Ne Win in Rangoon involving various agencies, not only the gov-ernment troops and police force but also departments or minis-tries of religious affairs, customs and various branches of intelli-gence Paradoxically, this is also the date which Myanmar cele-brates “Union Day” -- when the country’s majority Buddhist Burmese public and several national minorities along the borders of colonial Burma agreed to merge their regions volun-tarily to form a single federated independent nation in 1947.

On the very same day, in Rakhine, a state in western Myanmar that borders Bang-ladesh, Myanmar launched the first-ever violent deportation of literally hundreds of thousands of Rohingya -- the majority of whom were born and raised in the region and had official IDs and documentation that proved their Myanmar nationality. The purges were carried out in two phases under military-style operations collectively known as Operation Dragon King.

The first phase was launched in Rakhine state’s capital Sittwe

on February 12, 1978 and lasted only a week, involving 200 inter-agency forces which resorted to various acts of violence and terror. The second phase was carried out in the northern Rakhine towns of Buthidaung and Maungdaw with 400 intera-gency security forces.

Myanmar troops resorted to arson, slaughter, rape and other terror methods in the region where the population was peaceful, unarmed and com-pliant as evidenced in the news-paper reports of the time from Bangladesh, Pakistan and other Asian regions.

The “terror” or “panic” run resulted in the first-ever large-scale Rohingya exodus -- about 250,000 according to Myanmar intelligence records -- across the borders into the new nation state of Bangladesh which emerged victorious from its civil war of liberation from West Pakistan in 1971.

In his Burmese language book “The Problem at Myan-mar’s Western Gate” (2016), Khin Nyunt, a former general, chief of Myanmar’s military intelligence services and prime minister, recorded the number of Muslim residents who could not prove their nationality or legal resi-dency -- or “(immigration) law breakers” in his words -- as 643 (out of the total residents of 108,431) in Buthidaung town and 458 (out of the total residents of 125,893) in Maungdaw town.

The minuscule numbers of those found without any proper Myanmar national identification papers indicated the drastic achievement in Myanmar’s attempts to control its porous borders with Bangladesh, one of the world’s largest predomi-nantly Muslim populations.

In 1959, the Myanmar mil-itary had conducted a similar immigration crackdown in the same northern Rakhine region.

According to “Myanmar’s Journey Towards Democracy and Thura U Tin Oo,” a two-volume authorized Burmese lan-guage biography of ex-General Tin Oo, the former commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s Armed Forces (published in Yangon in 2016), the then Lt. Col. Tin Oo, in his capacity as the regional com-mander of Rakhine, rounded up and deported 11,380 illegal migrants residing in the Rohingya region of Northern Rakhine to East Pakistan.

Tin Oo recounted that he set up two expulsion points along the two countries’ land borders from where all the East Pakistani resi-dents without any legal docu-ments were made to walk across the borders into Teknaf in Chit-tagong district in batches of several hundred each. In his words, “many of these illegals

were dragging their feet upon order to cross the borders. And Myanmar troops had to load the guns and point at them as if we were going to fire unless they started crossing the borders as ordered. Under the real threats of violence, these mobs all of a sudden ran into East Pakistan.” Both of these prominent veterans from Myanmar’s armed forces had first-hand experience as mil-itary commanders tasked with taking care of illegal immigration from across East Pakistan (until 1971) and Bangladesh (since 1971).

The number of illegal migrants from across Myanmar’s western borders had verifiably nosedived from 11,380 in 1959 to 1,100 in 1978. Despite these well-documented numbers, Myanmar governments since the 1970s, particularly the Ministry of Defense and the state-controlled mass media, have continued to fuel the myth that Myanmar is under the very real threat of a large and uncontrolled incessant influx of “Bengali” who take “our Buddhist women,” grab “our Buddhist lands” and overwhelm “our Buddhist villages.” In their respective books linguistically inaccessible for international journalists and Myanmar watchers, not once did either general Tin Oo or Khin Nyunt -- who knew the region in question expertly -- use the words “ter-rorist threats” “secession by Muslims” or “territorial grabs,” for neither Rohingya nor Ben-galis from across the borders pose any threats to predomi-nantly Buddhist Myanmar -- neither demographically nor cul-turally nor economically.

Despite Myanmar’s official and popular discourses on the “Bengali threat at the Western Gate of Myanmar,” the illegal immigration of unwanted Muslims from East Pakistan or Bangladesh has long stopped being a real issue on the ground. The real issue is the Myanmar military’s attempts to remake the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in line with their ideo-logical vision, according to which the region was once “purely Buddhist.” In his intro-duction to the aforementioned book “The Crisis at Myanmar’s Western Gate,” ex-general Khin Nyunt spelled out this historical myth which has long guided the military’s policies of persecution -- and destruction -- of the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim community: “Rakhine chroniclers have prominently characterized their nation and region as an absolutely Muslim-clean, Bengali-absent region.”

The writer is a Burmese coor-dinator of the Free Rohingya Coalition and a fellow of the Genocide Documentation Center in Cambodia.

A glimpse into the genesis of Myanmar’s genocide

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Qatar’s diplomatic missions celebrate National Sport DayQNA — DOHA

Qatar’s diplomatic, consular and representative missions abroad organised various sporting events on the occasion of Qatar National Sport Day amid great partici-pation and interest.

IN NEW YORK, the per-manent delegation of the State of Qatar to New York organized an event on the occasion of National Sport Day, with the participation of the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, Ambassador H E Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani.

H E the Permanent Repre-sentative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations stressed in a speech on this occasion that National Sport Day is an oppor-tunity to bring communities together through sport, based on the principles of team building, inclusion, unity, participation, fitness and health.

Her Excellency expressed her pride that the State of Qatar is one of the few countries to devote a day to sports, expressing her belief that such initiatives are of critical importance to raising awareness of the role of sport in improving people’s health, well-being and creating a healthy community.

IN ANKARA, the Embassy of the State of Qatar in the Republic of Turkey organised a sporting event on the occasion of National Sport Day, with the participation ofthe Ambassador H E Salem Mubarak Al Shafi, members of the embassy, the military attache and a large number of Turkish students and citizens. The event included organizing a friendly football match with a team com-posed of the heads of sporting federations and heads of football clubs in the Turkish Super Lig.

IN LONDON, the Embassy of the State of Qatar in the United Kingdom organised sports events on the occasion of National Sport Day, with the participation of the Ambassador, H E Yousef bin Ali Al Khater, members of the embassy and local employees. The event included competitions in football, tennis, table tennis, climbing activities and other exercises.

IN MOSCOW, the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Russian Federation organized sporting events on the occasion of National Sport Day, with the participation of delegated Ambassador H E Waleed Mohammed Al Emadi, diplomats and members of the embassy and local officials. The activities included a number of sports activities, including Swedish exercises, yoga, fencing and light gymnastics.

IN PARIS, the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the French Republic organised a sporting event on the occasion of the National Sport Day, with the par-ticipation of the Ambassador, H E Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani, diplomatic staff and the embassy employees.

The programme included a walking event that started from the embassy premises in Champs-Elysées Avenue to the historic “Parc Monceau”, as well as a marathon race in the park. On this occasion, the Ambassador of Qatar highlighted the impor-tance Qatar attaches to sport at all levels, pointing to the ongoing preparations for hosting the 2022 World Cup, which will be a global event for peace and rap-prochement between peoples.

IN ROME, the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Italian Republic held sporting events on the occasion of the National Sport Day, with the participation of Qatar’s Ambassador, H E Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Malki,

the diplomatic staff, the Qatari Defence Attaché and the local employees.

IN KUWAIT, the Qatari Embassy in Kuwait organised sporting events on the occasion of the National Sport Day, with the participation of the Ambas-sador, H E Bandar bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, the dip-lomatic staff and embassy employees.

IN VIENNA, the State of Qatar’s Embassy to the Republic of Austria and Permanent Mission to the United Nations and inter-national organisations in Vienna held sporting events on the occasion of the National Sports Day, with the participation of Qatar’s Ambassador to Austria, and the Permanent Represent-ative to the UN and international organizations in Vienna, H E Sultan bin Salmeen Al Mansouri, members of the diplomatic corps and embassy staff. The events included competitions in football, basketball and volleyball.

IN BRUSSELS, the Qatari Embassy to Belgium organised various sporting events on the occasion of the National, with the participation of the Ambassador, H E Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al Khulaifi, the diplomatic staff and the embassy employees.

IN CANBERRA, Australia, the embassy’s activities were attended by Qatar’s Ambassador to Australia, H E Saad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud, diplo-matic and administrative staff. The events included competitions in various sports as well as indoor lounge exercises.

IN NEW DELHI, the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Republic of India held various sporting events on the occasion of the National Sport Day, with the participation of the Ambas-sador, H E Mohamed Khater Al Khater, the diplomatic staff and

local employees, in addition to a number of Arab and foreign dip-lomats and Indian friends. The events included competitions in football, handball, cricket, walking, and some games and exercises.

In a speech on the occasion, the Ambassador of Qatar stressed that the National Sport Day pro-motes Qatar’s keenness and interest in sport as a message of love, brotherhood and respect for all members of society, noting that Qatar has become a sporting tourism destination capable of hosting major sporting events.

IN BERLIN, the Qatari Embassy to Germany organized various sporting events on the occasion of the National Sport Day, with the participation of the diplomatic and administrative staff of the embassy, along with a number of Arab ambassadors and diplomats, German friends and Qatari citizens.

IN THE HAGUE, the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Kingdom of the Netherlands organized a sporting event to mark National Sport Day, with the participation of the Ambas-sador, H E Abdullah bin Hussein Al Jaber and the diplomatic and administrative staff of the embassy. The program included competitions in bowling, walking and various exercises.

IN KUALA LUMPUR, the Qatari Embassy held sporting events to mark the National Sport Day, with the participation

of the Ambassador, H E Fahd bin Mohammad Kafoud, and a number of officials in the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ambassadors and dip-lomats accredited to Malaysia.

IN BEIRUT, the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Lebanese Republic held sporting events on the occasion of the National Sport Day, with the participation of the Ambassador, H E Mohamed Hassan Jaber Al Jaber and the diplomatic and administrative staff of the embassy. The events included competitions in football, basketball, table tennis and various sporting activities.

IN BARCELONA, the General Consulate of the State of Qatar in Barcelona organized sporting events on the occasion of the country’s Sports Day, with the participation of the Consul General of the State of Qatar in Barcelona, H E Eisa bin Jaber Al Kuwari, diplomats, and employees of the consulate and their families.

IN MUNICH, the General Consulate of the State of Qatar in Munich organised a sporting event on the occasion of the country’s sports day, with the participation of diplomats and workers at the consulate. The consulate held a wide range of sporting activities.

IN LOS ANGELES, the General Consulate of the State of Qatar in Los Angeles organized sporting events on the occasion of the country’s sports day. The

Consul General of the State of Qatar in Los Angeles, H E Khaled bin Youssef Al Sada, and diplomats all participated in the event. The consulate organized a football match.

IN JAKARTA, the Qatari Embassy to Indonesia organised sporting events on the occasion of the National Sport Day, with the participation of Qatar’s Ambas-sador to Indonesia, H E Fawzia bint Idris Salman Al Sulaiti, a lineup of dignitaries, ambassadors of sisterly and friendly countries, embassy staff and employees of the Qatari institutions in Indo-nesia. The events held at the National Stadium included com-petitions in football, table tennis, badminton, walking, and a range of different sports. H E the Ambas-sador of Qatar stressed, in a speech on this occasion, the State of Qatar’s keenness to uphold sport with its ethical and human values. Her Excellency also reviewed the achievements of the State of Qatar in the field of sport during the past years.

IN ISLAMABAD, the Qatari Embassy to Pakistan organised sports events on the occasion of the country’s National Sport Day with the participation of the dip-lomatic staff and embassy employees. The events included jogging and walking activities, a soccer match and a number of other games and competitions.

IN KHARTOUM, the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Sudan organised sporting events to mark Qatar Sports Day. Participating in the event where the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Sudan, H E Abdulrahman bin Ali Al Kubaisi, diplomats and embassy staff, the assistant of the military attache and the employees of the Qatari military attache, in addition to representatives of Qatari institu-tions operating in Sudan. The

ambassador said that the Sports Day reflects the importance of staying active, noting that the idea behind the holiday is to promote the importance of exercise and carrying out sports.

IN TOKYO, the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Japan organised sporting events on the occasion of the country’s Sports Day, with the participation of members of the diplomatic mission and all members of the embassy. The program involved various activities centred around hiking.

IN COLOMBO, the Embassy of the State of Qatar to Sri Lanka organised sporting events on the occasion of the national sport day. The event was attended by Qatar’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka, H E Jassim bin Jabor Jassim Al Suroor, a number of heads of Arab and foreign diplomatic mis-sions accredited to Sri Lanka, dip-lomats and embassy staff, and the Qatar Charity office in Colombo. The events included walking, football, volleyball and tennis.

IN MANILA, the Embassy of the State of Qatar in the Republic of the Philippines celebrated the national sport day, with the par-ticipation of Acting charge d’affaires, H E Ali bin Abdullah Al Abdullah, and the staff of the Embassy. The program included several sports activities, such as football, volleyball, basketball, tennis and badminton, as well as some recreational competitions.

IN OTTAWA, the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Canada organized a sporting event on the occasion of the National Sport Day with the participation of Qatar’s Ambassador, H E Saud bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud and the diplomatic and adminis-trative staff of the embassy. The program included walking and running along the plateau of the Parliament in the Ottawa.

09THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 HOME

The Ambassador of Qatar to Turkey, H E Salem bin Mubarak Al Shafi, with members of the embassy, the military attache and a large number of Turkish students and citizens during sporting event on the occasion of National Sport Day.

The Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the French Republic, H E Sheikh Ali bin Jassim Al Thani, diplomatic staff and the embassy employees celebrating National Sport Day in Paris. RIGHT: Members of the diplomatic mission and all members of the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Japan on the occasion of the National Sport Day in Tokyo.

The Ambassador of Qatar to Kuwait, H E Bandar bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, the diplomatic staff and embassy employees celebrating National Sport Day in Kuwait. RIGHT: An activity during the Embassy of the State of Qatar in the Russian Federation’s National Sport Day celebrations.

The Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, H E Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, stressed in a speech that the National Sport Day is an opportunity to bring communities together through sport, based on the principles of team building, inclusion, unity, participation, fitness and health.

10 THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020HOME

Total’s water management workshop promotes innovative treatment methodsTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Total recently organised a workshop, hosting experts from across the country to brain-storm on new innovative ways to treat produced wastewater.

The workshop, which focused on ‘how to overall improve, and treat wastewater better, particularly in the oil, gas, and petrochemical domains’, was held on 3rd and 4th February in Total’s Research Center-Qatar (TRC-Q), and pro-moted interactions between representatives from QAPCO, Qatargas, Dolphin Energy, Conoco Philipps, Shell, SUEZ, Gas Processing Centre (GPC) at Qatar University, AgriGreen Qatar, Qatar Energy and Envi-ronment Research Institute (QEERI), Texas A&M University

at Qatar, and North Oil Company.

“Total’s commitment to sus-tainability has strengthened its efforts to find new and inno-vative ways within our industry to benefit from the produced water”, said Marie France Benassy, Total’s HSE Research Program Manager, who was joined by other Total experts from its Headquarters in France. “This workshop is a platform to share strategies and

best practices among players in industry for the most efficient reuse of generated water.”

The workshop promoted exchanges on existing methods and processes for water treatment and water reuse in Qatar, tackled challenges relating to it, and summarized proposed solutions and future o u t l o o k f o r w a t e r management.

Total has a proven record of implementing environmen-tally safe best practices for the management of produced water coming from Al-Khalij field, in collaboration with Qatar University.

“Our Sustainable Devel-opment Research program aims to monitor and reduce the impact of our industrial activ-ities on water quality

and biodiversity”, said Yousef Al-Jaber, Director of Total Research Center-Qatar (TRC-Q).

“We are continuously resolving and exploring new and efficient wastewater treatment processes with our local and international partners and stakeholders," he added.

“Today in the field of sus-tainable development we have various projects for environ-mental and societal devel-opment, such as Carbon storage, Microalgae, Coral Reef Restoration, Air Quality and Valvometry. We are also estab-lishing new projects for envi-ronmental and societal devel-opment which will increase our portfolio”, added Anne Basseres, Senior Research Project Leader at TRC-Q

Officials and experts pose for a group photo at the water management workshop organised by Total.

Galaxy S20 series available on pre-order from Vodafone QatarTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Vodafone Qatar announced yesterday that the all-new Samsung Galaxy S20 will be available to pre-order in-store and online at www.vodafone.qa/s20 until March 5, 2020.

Stocks are limited and pre-orders are fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis – so don’t miss your chance to be among the first in the country to own the new Galaxy S20 featuring unprec-edented 5G and AI camera technologies.

The Galaxy S20 series — including the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+ 5G and Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G – introduces a brand-new camera architecture that combines AI with Samsung’s largest image sensor yet for stunning image quality. Along with the camera, the Galaxy S20 makes the experience of everything we love to do with our phones, easier and better—enjoy personalized music for every moment of the day, watch videos the way they are meant to be seen and play console-style games on the go.

Osman Albora, Head of Mobile Division at Samsung Gulf Electronics said: “Pre-paring for the next era of smartphone connectivity, we have focused on developing our first, full 5G flagship lineup built for the future of commu-nications. Galaxy S20 is Sam-sung’s way to offer our cus-tomers a next-generation device with 5G technology and an AI-powered camera system that helps them to capture

more and connect more.” Diego Camberos, Chief

Operating Officer at Vodafone Qatar said: “We are delighted that our customers will be amongst the first to own the powerful new Samsung Galaxy S20 featuring the latest in 5G technology. Vodafone has been leading the deployment and commercial availability of 5G in Qatar.

Our GigaNet 5G network covers key areas across the country with many customers enjoying phenomenal 5G speeds at home and on the go. We now look forward to our customers enjoying the new Samsung Galaxy 20+ 5G and S20 Ultra 5G powered by Vodafone’s world-class GigaNet 5G network.”

In addition to solving con-nectivity challenges, the bold, 5G-ready Galaxy S20+ 5G and Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G devices enable continuous, integrated experiences between work, life, and play. Apart from offering a world of connected possibil-ities, Galaxy S20 Series features Space Zoom, which allows users to zoom in up to 100x and capture the world in perfect clarity during any situation and at any time.

Vodafone Qatar customers pre-ordering the Samsung Galaxy S20 series will also receive six months of free unlimited games on Gamester worth QR120 and a 35% clear coat discount voucher.

Vodafone Postpaid cus-tomer will receive 24GB addi-tional data and Prepaid cus-tomer will receive 8GB data valid for 90 days.

Ahlibank celebrates NSD with employees, familiesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Ahlibank celebrated Qatar National Sport Day in Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) annual walking event at Doha Corniche.

Acting CEO Mahmoud Malkawi and senior man-agement also participated in the walk which started from the QCB and proceeded to the pre-vious Ministry of Interior building, before returning to the starting point.

Ahlibank also hosted a range of sports activities at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club. Mohamed Al Namla, Deputy CEO-Business Support, Services & Human Resources and Senior Management members joined Ahlibank’s employees and their families in an array of activities that suited all ages.

“As part of our vision to be at the heart of the community, we are committed to encour-aging and engaging our

employees in a healthy life-style.” said Mohammed AlNamla. “We believe that sports and adopting a healthy lifestyle is a crucial part of maintaining our employees' wellbeing and we are very pleased that all our employees and their families came together on this day to enjoy so many sports activities,” he added.

The indoor activities at the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club included horseback riding, volleyball, badminton, archery

and obstacle challenges. Younger kids also had many fun activities waiting for them including archery, inflatables and sports challenges. To further celebrate the occasion a lucky draw was held on many prizes for many lucky winners.

Hosting Qatar National Sport Day activities is a testament to our commitment to raising awareness of the importance of sport and physical activity in maintaining the health of indi-viduals and reducing the risks

of many diseases, which comes in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 with regards to

human development and empowering the people to be able to support country’s growth.

Ahlibank officials during Qatar National Sport Day activities.

Bedaya Center takes part in National Sport Day activitiesTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Bedaya Center for Entrepre-neurship and Career Devel-opment (Bedaya Center), the joint initiative by Qatar Devel-opment Bank and Silatech, in celebration of National Sport Day on Tuesday, took part in activities held at Katara and Qatar Foundation.

Bedaya’s participation during this nationwide event was through 10 start-up projects working in sports, health and ecofriendly sectors.

Bedaya Center’s partici-pation comes in support of entrepreneurs and start-ups to showcase to the public their products in the fields they represent.

The activities of Bedaya Center during the National Sports Day aimed at raising awareness among the people regarding the exhibited projects and promoting them in the best way possible.

The projects were exhibited at Katara through specially pre-pared kiosks while at “Qatar Foundation” the projects were displayed through the Dukan Bedaya. Bedaya Center made

it possible for specific cate-gories of projects to participate in the Sport Day event.

The participants who took part in the event have been engaged in local projects relating to manufacturing or design. Priority was also given to the emerging projects which have been operating for two years or less since their estab-lishment, and the ones that have a home license or a com-mercial registration and do not have an existing shop or restaurant.

Bedaya Center also partic-ipated in the various Sport Day activities by collaborating with the Qatari initiative “Original Fitness Club” for fusion of circuit training, boot-camp incorporated with trampolines, kettle-bells, dumbbells, resistance bands and strength ropes.

Commenting on the Sport Day activities, Hanane Ibrahim, Business Development Manager at Bedaya Center, said, "We are thrilled to partic-ipate this year through a group of sporting events and activ-ities in addition to 10 startups projects."

Children participating in Sport Day activities.

Qatargas brings winning spirit to National Sport DayTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatargas employees brought energy and a winning spirit with their participation in this year’s ‘Qatar National Sport Day’ held on Tuesday.

For Qatargas, sports are an obvious and natural way to bring people together with fun activities that, if practiced regularly, translate to healthier lives.

Speaking on the occasion, Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chief Executive Officer, Qatargas, said: “It cannot be emphasised enough the benefit of adopting and main-taining a healthy lifestyle. This highly antic-ipated annual event is an integral part of the company’s commitment to promoting the health and well-being of its employees and their families.”

The company celebrated Qatar National Sport Day at both Aspire Zone in Doha, and Al Khor Community sports facility.

It showcased a wide variety of sporting options to appeal to all age groups.

In Doha, the day began with a walkathon. The activities included football, volleyball, basketball, kickboxing, aerobics and sta-tionary exercise bikes.

For younger participants, activities included a dribble challenge, jumping sacks and tug of the war. Similar activities were hosted in Al Khor, but also included bad-minton, cricket, a cycling race, 100m run, children’s swimming and a martial arts demonstration.

As a way to motivate participants to strive for sporting excellence, Qatargas has spon-sored Ibrahim Al Harami.

Al Harami, from the Environment

Regulatory & Compliance Division within Qatargas is sponsored by the company to take part in Samla Race 2020 in April.

Last year, he secured second place in Samla Race — an extreme desert trek that challenges even the most athletic sportsmen.

Building a healthy and productive society is a key objective of the Human Development Pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030 as well as an integral objective of Qatargas’ Cor-porate Social Responsibility initiatives.

Qatargas officials taking part in National Sport Day activities.

QFBA celebrates Sport Day in collaboration with CNA-QTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

Qatar Finance and Business Academy (QFBA) in partnership with Northumbria University celebrated National Sport Day in collaboration with the College of North Atlantic Qatar (CNA-Q) with a series of sports-related festivities.

The event was celebrated with a day filled with various athletic programmes from 8am to 1pm, including a fun race, gym sessions, tennis and swimming, with the participation of QFBA

faculty, departmental heads, stu-dents and their families. The cel-ebration further solidified the power of sports in building com-munities of different cultures and nationalities to further develop the progression of Qatar’s society.

The event was also attended by Dr Khalid Al Horr, President of Qatar Finance and Business Academy.

The celebration of Qatar National Sport Day came into fruition of a part of QFBA and its partnership with Northumbria

University’s corporate social responsibility effort to support young and talented youth in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030 and to raise awareness to the importance of sports to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.

Dr Khalid Al Horr, president of Qatar Finance and Business Academy, said: “Fitness and and active lifestyle is an integral part of our students and members of the QFBA. We are proud to have the capacity to provide high level educational and professional

training opportunity and also build a well-rounded experience for our students.”

“We would like to thank the College of North Atlantic Qatar for the partnership and to host the celebration National Sport Day, in addition to Stenden Uni-versity Qatar and all the students, faculty, and families that made the celebration a success. We hope that we begin to under-stand that sports play an integral role in our daily lives and can lead to feeling of well-being,” he added.

The workshop promoted exchanges on existing methods and processes for water treatment and water reuse in Qatar.

Baghdad bridge reopened

President of Turkey and leader of Justice and Development (AK) Party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, attending party’s group meeting at Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara, yesterday.

Erdogan: Turkey to hit Assad regime anywhere if troops harmed againANATOLIA — ANKARA

If Turkish soldiers in Syria are again targeted, Turkey will strike at Assad regime forces regardless of the 2018 Sochi deal with Russia, Turkey’s president said yesterday.

“If any harm comes to our soldiers in observation posts in Idlib or anywhere in Syria, I declare from there that we will hit regime forces everywhere regardless of the Sochi deal,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his party’s parliamentary group.

Turkey is determined to push back Syrian regime forces from Turkey’s observation posts in Idlib by the end of February, said Erdogan. The observation posts were established in 2018 under the Astana peace process.

To push back the Syrian

forces, Turkey “will do what is necessary via land and air without hesitation,” added Erdogan. The Syrian people’s fight for freedom is also Turkey’s fight, he said.

Erdogan’s remarks came after five Turkish troops were martyred and five injured in an attack by Assad regime forces in Idlib, northwestern Syria on Monday, following a similar attack last week martyring seven soldiers and a civilian contractor working with the Turkish military.

The Turkish troops are in

Idlib — nominally a cease-fire zone, under a deal between Turkey and Russia —as part of an anti-terror and peace mission. Turkey has since retal-iated for both attacks, hitting scores of targets and killing some 200 Assad regime troops.

Erdogan drew the attention of the international community to Syria, saying: “Nobody is safe where the blood of Turkish sol-diers is shed. Turkey will use its full force.” “At this point, we will not shut our eyes to excess, rad-icalism, treason and provocation of someone [in Syria],” he said.

Idlib has been a stronghold of the opposition and anti-gov-ernment armed groups since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

But more than 1,800 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces since then, flouting both the 2018 cease-fire and a new one that started on January 12.

Meanwhile, the Russian and Turkish presidents dis-cussed the latest developments in Idlib, yesterday. The conver-sation between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan came after five Turkish troops were martyred and five injured in an attack by Assad regime forces in Idlib, on Monday, following a similar attack last week mar-tyring seven soldiers and a civilian contractor working with the Turkish military.

Turkey has since retaliated

for both attacks, hitting scores of targets and killing some 200 Assad regime troops.

“We assessed the situation in Idlib with Putin,” Erdogan told reporters after his party’s parliamentary group meeting. “We talked about the harm done to our soldiers by the regime forces and even by Russia,” he added.

The two presidents agreed to hold additional consultations via proper channels, the Kremlin said in a statement published on its official website. “The two leaders con-tinued discussions of various aspects of resolving the Syrian crisis, primarily in the context of the worsening situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

“The importance of full implementation of the existing Russian-Turkish agreements, including the Sochi memo-randum of September 17, 2018, was noted. For this purpose, it was agreed to conduct addi-tional contacts through the rel-evant departments,” said the statement.

Members of a Syrian family fleeing attacks by pro-regime forces, drive past a burning shop in the town of Abin Semaan, west of the northern city of Aleppo, yesterday.

Iran denies US allegation about satellite programmeAFP — TEHRAN

Iran’s government yesterday rejected US allegations that the Islamic republic’s satellite programme has a military dimension, days after the failed launch of its latest satellite.

“The subject of satellite launch vehicles and satellites is a civilian matter,” Defence Minister Amir Hatami was quoted as saying by state news agency Irna.

“We could use a satellite for defence purposes, but the satellite launcher is a com-pletely non-defensive subject and it’s the definite and absolute right of the Iranian nation. “There is no prohi-bition in the world” against this satellite programme, he said.

Iran attempted on Sunday to launch a satellite dubbed the Zafar — Farsi for “Victory” — but it failed to reach orbit.

Washington on Tuesday accused Tehran of using sat-ellites as a cover to develop its missile programme.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the technology involved to launch satellites was “virtually identical” to the know-how for long-range bal-listic missiles. But Hatami said Iran was only doing the same as “all other countries” with satellite programmes. Iran would press ahead with its sat-ellite programme and planned to launch a new version of the Zafar by early next year, he added. “The Zafar 2, given its weight, will be launched with the Simorgh launcher,” Hatami said, referring to the rocket used in Sunday’s launch.

Oman, Switzerland sign pact to study meteoritesQNA — MUSCAT

Omani Ministry of Heritage and Culture signed an agreement with Natural History Institute of Bern, Swit-zerland, to survey, document and study meteorites.

The agreement was signed by Omani Heritage Undersec-retary Salim bin Mohammed Al Mahrooqi, while Head of Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum of Bern, Beda Hofmann, signed the agreement on behalf of the Swiss side, Oman News Agency (ONA) reported.

Consultant in the field of meteorites at the Omani Min-istry of Heritage and Culture Dr. Ali bin Farah Al Kathiri said that the agreement is an extension of cooperation between the Swiss team of researchers and its Omani counterpart operating in meteorites research since 2011, with support from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The meteorites unearthed in cooperation with the Omani-Swiss team were divided into large pieces that remain in the Sultanate, while portions of these have been sent to Switzerland for further study, said Al Katheri, noting that the Ministry is in the process of installing cameras to observe the sky in some areas with a view to detecting any meteorites and tackle them as soon as they fall in Omani territories and conduct studies on them.

Palestinians hail UN report on firms with Israeli settlement tiesREUTERS & AP — RAMALLAH

The Palestinian foreign minister hailed the release yesterday of a UN Rights office report on companies with Israeli settlement ties and urged the international community to press the businesses to cut their links with the enclaves.

“The publication of the list of companies and parties oper-ating in settlements is a victory for international law,” said a statement issued by Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki’s office. Maliki urged UN-member states and the UN

Human Rights council to “issue recommendations and instruc-tions to these companies to end their work immediately with the settlements.”

After repeated delays, the UN human rights office released a list of more than 100 com-panies it says are operating in Israel’s West Bank settlements — a first ever attempt to name and shame businesses that has drawn fierce criticism from Israel and the US.

In its report, the office said the companies’ activities “raised particular human rights concerns.”

The list is dominated by Israeli companies, including banks and construction firms. But it also lists a number of international firms, including travel companies Airbnb, Expedia and TripAdvisor, tech giant Motorola, consumer food maker General Mills and con-struction and infrastructure companies including France’s Egis Rail and British company JC Bamford Excavators.

Over US objections, the council in 2016 instructed the UN’s human rights office to create a “database” of com-panies deemed to be linked to

or supportive of the settlements, which are considered illegal by the vast majority of the inter-national community.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, called the publi-cation of the list a “shameful surrender” to countries and organisations that want to hurt Israel.

Israel has in the past con-demned what it called the looming UN “blacklist.” It claims the settlements are built in dis-puted territory and says their status should be finalised in negotiations.

In recent weeks, Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex Israel’s more than 100 settle-ments in the West Bank, but under American pressure, he has put the plan on hold until after March 2 elections.

The rights council, which is made up of 47 governments, had never before requested such a list scrutinising corporate activities.

The release of the report - a politically fraught document that could cast a shadow over firms doing business in Pales-tinian areas—has been repeatedly delayed.

US to renew Iraq sanctions waiver for 45 daysAFP — BAGHDAD

The United States will grant Iraq a brief 45-day extension to a waiver allowing Baghdad to continue importing Iranian gas despite American sanctions, an Iraqi official said.

The US slapped tough sanc-tions on the Iranian energy sector in late 2018 and initially granted Iraq a 45-day waiver before repeatedly extending it for 90 or 120 days.

Baghdad relies on gas and electricity imports from its neighbour Tehran to supply about a third of its power grid, crippled by years of conflict and poor maintenance.

“The extension this time will be for just 45 days, with some strict conditions,” the senior Iraqi official said.

The two countries were still in talks over what exactly those conditions were.

Washington has repeatedly insisted Iraq wean itself off Iran by partnering with American companies to capture natural gas to use for its power plants and to improve transmission of electricity into homes to reduce waste.

Iraq signed a memo-randum of understanding with US powerhouse General Electric last year and has been in talks with other energy firms, but contracts have not yet been signed.

Both American and Iraqi officials said the US was

frustrated with Baghdad’s slow progress.

The latest waiver was set to expire this week but the US did not want to create additional pressure on prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi, who is trying to form a new cabinet at a time of turmoil in Iraq.

“Washington didn’t want to hamstring Allawi just as he was starting out,” the official said.

Failing to renew the waiver could have exposed Iraq to sec-ondary sanctions for dealing with Iran’s energy sector and central bank, both blacklisted by the US.

The waiver has allowed Iraq to continue importing about 1,400 megawatts of elec-tricity and 28 million cubic metres (988 million cubic feet) of Iranian gas over the last 15 months.

Baghdad pays for the imports by depositing Iraqi dinars into an account at the state-owned Trade Bank of Iraq, which Iran is technically allowed to use to purchase non-sanctioned goods.

A few payments have been made but Iran had been unable to access the funds due to ongoing technical disputes.

TBI chairman Faisal Al Haimus said last month that if the waiver was not renewed, his bank would be forced to stop processing the payments.

French academic held in Iran ends hunger strikeAFP — TEHRAN

French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah yesterday ended a six-week hunger strike in a prison in Iran as she awaits trial on charges including conspiring against national security, her lawyer said.

“Adelkhah responded to a written request from civil and political activists and ended her hunger strike at midday today,” lawyer Said Dehghan said.

Dehghan expressed relief that Adelkhah had ended the hunger strike that she began on December 24, but said she

remained fragile.“Her mental and physical

condition is not good, she has been weakened,” he said. “Her voice was difficult to hear and she has difficulty walking.”

Adelkhah, a specialist in Shiaism and a research director at Sciences Po University in Paris, was arrested in June and is being held in Evin prison in Tehran.

Adelkhah’s French col-league Roland Marchal was detained at the same time while visiting her, according to Dehghan, who represents both academics.

A Paris-based group that has organised gatherings in the French capital in support of the pair welcomed her decision to end the hunger strike.

“This is a great relief because we were increasingly concerned about her health,” the support committee said in a statement.

“But obviously, mobilisa-tions are more necessary than ever to get Fariba and Roland out of Evin and we are trying our best to widen our actions,” it added. According to the com-mittee, Adelkhah had stopped taking food to demand the

release of Marchal amid con-cerns about his health.

Iran has dropped espionage charges against Adelkhah but she is still accused of spreading “propaganda against the political system” and “con-spiracy against national security”.

Marchal is accused of “col-lusion against national security”, according to the lawyer. The detention of Adelkhah and Marchal has raised tensions between Iran and France, which has called for them to be released as a “gesture” of goodwill.

Iraqi security forces reopened Baghdad's Sinak bridge, after it was shut down by protesters, in Baghdad, Iraq, yesterday.

To push back the Syrian forces, Turkey “will do what is necessary via land and air without hesitation”, added Erdogan. The Syrian people’s fight for freedom is also Turkey’s fight, he said.

11THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 GULF / MIDDLE EAST

IS militants kill five Nigerian security personnel in three attacksAFP — MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA

Militants aligned with the Islamic State (IS) group have killed five security personnel in three attacks in northeast Nigeria, sources said yesterday.

In the first incident, truck-loads of fighters from the Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) group attacked a mil-itary post in Tungushe, a village near the Borno state capital Maiduguri, killing a soldier and injuring another, a military officer said.

“The terrorists attacked around 6pm (on Monday), leading to a gun battle in which a soldier was killed and another one was injured,” said the officer, who asked not to be identified.

He said two insurgents were killed while a gun truck was recovered along with weapons.

The militants withdrew and attacked troops in nearby Gaji-ganna, where they killed a second soldier and seized a gun truck, according to anti-mili-tiaman Ibrahim Liman.

Tungushe, which lies 22km from Maiduguri, has been repeatedly targeted by ISWAP and fighters from the rival Boko Haram faction, attacking troops and raiding the village for food and livestock.

Around the same time on Monday, insurgents on motor-cycles and in four trucks fitted with machine guns stormed into the town of Rann near the border with Cameroon, attacking troops and militia positions.

“We lost three of our col-leagues in the Rann incident,” Liman said. “Our consolation is that several terrorists were killed in the fight, including their com-mander, and one of their trucks was recovered,” he said.

ISWAP on Tuesday issued

a statement claiming responsi-bility for three attacks, including the ones in Tungushe and Rann, resulting in the “killing and wounding” of several troops and the burning of 20 public buildings.

The militants have recently

stepped up deadly assaults in the restive northeast.

On Sunday, militants killed at least 30 people in an over-night raid on Auno village along the highway leading to Maid-uguri where travellers had stopped to comply with a nighttime curfew.

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday made a rare visit to Maiduguri to express his condolences over that attack and called for better cooper-ation with local communities to provide intelligence on the fighters.

The decade-long militant uprising has killed 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in northeast Nigeria.

The military has repeatedly claimed that the insurgency has largely been defeated but attacks against civilians and sol-diers continue on a near daily basis. The army last year launched a new strategy that saw it withdraw troops from remote bases into larger so-called “super camps”.

The military says the tactic has helped to stem jihadist vio-lence but local residents and aid workers say it appears to have bolstered the jihadists by leaving vast swathes of territory unprotected.

Kenya pledges 'valley of peace' legacy as veteran leader Moi buried

REUTERS — NAIROBI

Kenya’s deputy president pledged to unite the country in honour of Daniel arap Moi, its longest-ruling president, who was buried at his sprawling estate in the Rift Valley yesterday.

Moi, who died last week at 95, won praise for keeping Kenya mostly stable during his 24-year rule but criticism for a legacy of corruption that still haunts the East African nation to date.

His coffin was flown by military helicopter early in the morning to the estate, some 185km northwest of Nairobi, before it was transferred by a gun carriage into a large tent for a religious service and speeches by politicians.

Deputy President William Ruto told the mourners that Moi had worked to ensure that the vast Rift Valley region was home to all of Kenya’s 45 ethnic communities, which have periodically been riven by bitter divisions over land and politics.

“Rift Valley will continue to be the valley of peace, and from the valley, we will con-tinue to build so that it is the fountain of politics of uniting Kenya and all communities in our country,” said Ruto, who also hails from the region.

“Moi taught us that hate is big burden to carry, and told us tribalism is stupidity; let us not give stupidity a chance. That is why we are going to be steadfast and firm in ensuring that our great country shall continue to be knit together.”

The Rift Valley, rich with fertile land used to produce tea and other commodities, has been the epicentre of election violence.

Tribal clashes broke out there during the 1992 and 1997 elections, as Moi’s Kalenjin tribe sought to kick out oppo-sition supporters who were perceived as outsiders because they had settled there after independence from Britain in 1963.

Violence flared again during the 2007 presidential election campaign and Ruto himself was accused of being behind it.

He was charged at the International Criminal Court at The Hague before the court dropped the charges later.

Moi came to power in 1978 when he was serving as vice-president, after the nation’s first leader President Jomo Kenyatta died.

Protesters gather in front of Libya’s National Oil Company against the renegade commander Khalifa Haftar of Libyan National Army, who stopped oil production in order to pressure the embattled government in Tripoli, Libya, yesterday

UN slams stoppageof Libya flightsby Haftar’s forcesAFP — TRIPOLI

The United Nations condemned yesterday the obstruction of its flights into conflict-hit Libya by forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, warning of “severe consequences” to its humanitarian efforts.

The UN “regrets that its regular flights, which transport its staff to and from Libya, are not granted permission by the LNA (Haftar’s self-proclaimed army) to land in Libya,” the UN mission in the country, UNSMIL, said in a statement.

UNSMIL, the majority of whose staff are based in Tunis, added that “this practice has been repeated on several occa-sions in the past weeks”.

Mitiga airport, the only func-tioning airport in the capital Tripoli, has been regularly closed due to strikes blamed by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) on pro-Haftar forces.

Jean Alam, UNSMIL

spokesman, said that the agency was “not receiving security assurances from the LNA for landing of aircraft in western Libya”.

The UN said it was “very concerned that preventing its flights from travelling in and out of Libya will severely hinder” its work, in particular to “provide the much-needed humanitarian assistance to the

most vulnerable” civilians.Libya, Africa’s most oil-rich

nation, has been mired in chaos since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Pro-Haftar forces have faced off with GNA troops at the

gates of Tripoli since the eastern Libya-based strongman launched an offensive in April last year to seize the capital, the seat of the GNA.

A fragile ceasefire was established on January 12 and at an international summit in

Berlin a week later, world leaders agreed to end all foreign interference in Libya and to uphold a weapons embargo.

But there are still near-daily clashes near Tripoli and arms continue to flow into the country.

Malawi elections chief defends use of correction fluid in disputed voteAFP — LILONGWE, MALAWI

Malawi ’s e lectoral commission chief yesterday defended the use of results sheets that had been altered with correctional fluid in last year’s disputed presidential elections.

The Constitutional Court last week annulled the May results that gave President Peter Mutharika a narrow win, citing wide-spread irregularities, espe-cially the “massive” use of correction fluid on ballot sheets.

The court ordered a fresh election within 150 days and an investigation

into the conduct of the electoral commission.

Appearing before a special parliamentary committee, the chair-woman of the Malawi Elec-toral Commission (MEC) Jane Ansah said she saw nothing wrong in her com-mission accepting sheets that were altered with a correction fluid known as TippEx.

She claimed the results on the tally sheets were not altered but corrected. “There is no evidence to show that TippEx was used to favour one candidate,” she said. The Constitutional Court also found that less

than a third of the results from the more than 5,000 polling stations had been certified by the auditors by the time Ansah declared Mutharika winner of the presidential race.

Another MEC member Mary Nkosi, who appeared before the committee on Monday, admitted that the commission mishandled the contentious elections.

Nkosi claimed Ansah went behind the commis-sioners’ back and authorised altered result sheets. “I did not see the justification to this. But there was an apparent rush to have the results put

together and announced,” she said. “It was a big let-down”.

The southern African nation’s leader and the electoral commission have gone to court seeking to suspend the landmark court order that over-turned Mutharika’s re-election.

It is the first time a presidential election has been challenged on legal grounds in Malawi since independence from Britain in 1964, and only the second African vote result to be cancelled after the 2017 Kenya presidential vote.

Muhammadu Buhari (centre), the President of Nigeria, arrives in Maiduguri yesterday, to console the people of the Auno community where over 30 lives were lost, 40 houses burnt and 18 vehicles set alight during an attack by insurgents on Sunday.

Leaders of Somalia, breakaway Somaliland meet for first timeAP — MOGADISHU

The current leaders of Somalia and the breakaway territory of Somaliland have met for the first time in the latest diplo-matic effort by Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister.

Somali presidential spokesman Abdinur Mohamed confirmed Tuesday’s meeting, saying it was brokered by Ethi-opian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.

“It was behind closed doors and no communique is being released. It was an ice-breaking one,” the spokesman said. Ethiopia’s government has not commented publicly on the talks, which occurred on the sidelines of an African Union gathering.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 as the country collapsed into warlord-led conflict, and it has seen little of the violence and extremist

attacks that plague Somalia to the south. Despite lacking international recog-nition, Somaliland has maintained its own independent government, currency and security system.

Somalia considers Somaliland as part of its territory. Several rounds of past talks over possible unification have failed to reach a breakthrough.

This week’s meeting is the first since Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Somaliland leader Muse Bihi Abdi took office in 2017.

Somali officials have blamed Soma-liland leaders over the failure of past talks, accusing them of failing to show seriousness. Somaliland leaders have dismissed the allegations and insisted that their sovereignty is nonnegotiable. Since taking office in 2018, Ethiopia’s leader has worked to achieve a number of diplomatic breakthroughs in the long-turbulent Horn of Africa region.

The UN “regrets that its regular flights, which transport its staff to and from Libya, are not granted permission by the LNA (Haftar’s self-proclaimed army) to land in Libya,” the UN mission in the country, UNSMIL, said in a statement.

Sudan to continue to subsidise bread but with 'justice': MinisterREUTERS — KHARTOUM

Sudan will continue to subsidise bread prices during transitional rule after Omar Al Bashir’s ouster but wants to achieve “justice” in distributing income supports, its trade and industry minister said yesterday.

Bread shortages, caused by difficulties in raising hard cur-rency to import wheat, triggered mass protests which - with the

help of the military - toppled the veteran autocrat last April after three decades in power.

The new civilian gov-ernment, ruling together with the armed forces for three years and three months, has been trying to address bread and fuel shortages that have led to lengthy queues outside bakeries and petrol stations.

The bread queues are caused at least in part by

problems in ensuring supplies of subsidised flour to bakeries.

Trade and Industry Min-ister Madani Abbas Madani told reporters Sudan had suf-ficient wheat reserves until May and was in talks for deals to ensure enough stocks until year-end.

“The state is committed to subsidising bread during the transition period, but aims to ensure justice in distributing the

subsidies,” Madani said.He added that within 45

days the government would also launch commercial bak-eries which will sell non-sub-sidised bread drawing on com-mercial stocks.

He said the Khartoum gov-ernment ultimately aimed to shift from subsidising wheat to subsidising bread, but that this required “infrastructure arrangements”.

That could allow bakeries to sell bread for more than the current fixed price of one Sudanese pound per loaf (2 US cents at the official rate, or 1 US cent on the parallel market) which has made it hard for bak-eries to make money.

During the recent bread crisis, “resistance committees” have kept watch at bakeries to monitor supplies and crack down on what they say is cor-

ruption and leakages of subsi-dised flour.

From next week an elec-tronic monitoring system will be introduced to track supplies and a hotline established for people to report malpractices, Madani said.

He said a newly formed police unit would be deployed to monitor flour and bread trade, alongside the resistance committees.

12 THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020AFRICA

13THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 ASIA

Cruise ship barred by4 governments set todock in CambodiaREUTERS — HANOI/BANGKOK

Cambodia has agreed to let a cruise ship that has been turned away by five countries over fears that someone aboard may have the corona-virus dock and disembark its passengers, the Holland America Line said yesterday.

For nearly two weeks, the MS Westerdam, a ship of healthy passengers, had been sailing throughout Asia after being turned away by Japan, Taiwan, Guam and the Phil-ippines over fears that someone on the cruise could have the new flu-like virus that has killed more than 1,100 people, almost all of them in China.

“We will immediately begin making our way to Sih-anoukville in Cambodia,” Westerdam captain Vincent Smit told passengers, according to a recording of the announcement.

“There will be a brief health inspection on board by the Cambodian authorities which will take place at anchor just before we arrive alongside,” said Smit.

The ship is expected to arrive in Cambodia around 7am today, he said.

The latest country to shun the ship, which has 1,455 pas-sengers and 802 crew on board, had been Thailand, where the health minister refused to grant the West-erdam permission to dock.

“The staff has tried to bolster spirits but you can only play so many games of trivia,” Angela Jones, a business con-sultant from the US state of Georgia, said in a video recording sent before the news that Cambodia would take the ship.

“I’ve asked others who say they are napping a lot.”

Like many on board, Jones

had embarked in Hong Kong for a much-anticipated cruise through the region in early February. It was scheduled to be a two-week cruise, but with that period running out this week, there had been worries about fuel and food supplies. Many on board are elderly and there was also concerns they could be running out of medicines.

To kill time and break up the monotony of endless ocean scrolling past cabin windows, the ship’s crew have organised dozens of activities to keep people occupied, tourists on board the vessel told Reuters.

People could be seen playing chess and doing puzzles yesterday, in some of the first pictures published by media of life aboard the ship.

Other activities on offer included colouring-in for adults; teeth whitening; poker tournaments; a lecture on modern China which delved into the economics of col-lective farming, according to passengers on board and a copy of the ship’s activity pro-gramme seen by Reuters.

Passengers on board the ship have been subjected to regular health checks, according to Holland America, the ship operator and a unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp. There have been no reported cases of the coronavirus on board.

Stoking fears of authorities

in countries on the ship’s route has been the ongoing quar-antine in Japan of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, also managed by a unit of Car-nival Corp.

A total of 175 out of the 3,700 people on board the Diamond Princess have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Late yesterday, the West-erdam changed its course away from Bangkok and began heading towards Cam-bodia, according to data pub-lished by the Marine Traffic ship tracking website.

Earlier, the Thai Navy “Bhumibol Adulyadej” warship could be seen escorting the Westerdam in waters just off the Thai coast, according to passengers and Marine Traffic.

Despite the uncertainty, crew members had staged a farewell ceremony for pas-sengers on Wednesday morning, singing to the tune of the 1979 hit “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge.

Elsewhere on board, the patience of some passengers has been tested by the pro-longed uncertainty, Jones said, as some people pushed and shoved for access to one of the ship’s only available com-puters and printers, to re-book flights home.

“Hard to imagine these senior cruisers coming to blows but guess that hap-pened,” said Jones. “It’s funny and sad at the same time”.

Indonesia slams US study over coronavirus casesAFP — JAKARTA

Indonesia has criticised a US study questioning why the world’s fourth most populous nation had not yet recorded a case of coronavirus, calling the findings an insult and insisting it was on high alert.

The virus has killed more than 1,100 people in China and spread to dozens of countries around the world — but the Southeast Asian nation of more than 260 million has not reported a confirmed case since the outbreak.

A study by Harvard Uni-versity public health researchers this week found Indonesia should have reported a corona-virus outbreak and could have undetected cases given its extensive air links to China and the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

Indonesian health minister

Terawan Agus Putranto called the Harvard report “insulting” on Tuesday and said the country had proper testing equipment.

“They can be baffled but it’s a fact” there are no cases, he told reporters in Jakarta.

“I am just telling you like it is.

“Hopefully there won’t be any cases and we will keep praying, but we’re being vigilant at the highest level.” The Harvard study also added that Indonesia’s surveillance efforts should be “rapidly strengthened”.

The country — which attracts more than two million Chinese tourists a year and hosts thousands of guest workers -- has shut down all flights to and from mainland China in response to virus fears.

And the government has said it tested dozens of sus-pected cases, but none were

positive.“The bottom line is that

we’re following international standards,” Putranto said.

“We’re not hiding anything.” The World Health Organisation said earlier this month it is par-ticularly concerned about high-risk nations with weaker health systems, who may lack the facil-ities to identify cases.

More than a decade ago, Indonesia was hit hard by an avian influenza outbreak, but it avoided a more recent Zika virus outbreak unlike neigh-bouring Singapore, a health expert said.

“It’s not the same in every country,” said Chairul Anwar Nidom, a biochemistry researcher at Indonesia’s Air-langga University.

“Is it possible that Indonesia has coronavirus cases? of course... But it’s also possible that it doesn’t.”

A bus leaves a hotel in Katsuura in Chiba Prefecture, where people who returned from the central Chinese city of Wuhan have stayed in quarantine, in Japan, yesterday.

Ship with 19 crew from Shanghai quarantined

IANS — KOLKATA

A ship coming from Shanghai was quarantined for a few hours yesterday at Sagar island, about 150km from Kolkata, in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, before the 19-member crew was allowed to enter the Kolkata Port in view of the coronavirus scare, an official said.

“The captain of the ship, Zhou Yingde, and 18 other members of the crew were quarantined at Sagar island where the doctors examined them. The ship was later allowed to enter the Kolkata port,” he said.

Godhra convicts begin unusual sentenceIANS — JABALPUR/INDORE

Seven convicts of the Godhra carnage of Gujarat have reached Jabalpur yesterday under the order of the Supreme Court for social service.

The Supreme Court has granted bail to 17 convicts serving life imprisonment in a rioting case in Gujarat after the 2002 Godhra riots on the con-dition that they live in two cities (Indore and Jabalpur) of Madhya Pradesh and serve the community.

The other 10 have already reached Indore on Monday, but their identity has not been revealed after they were ill-treated by some people.

The seven convicts who reached Jabalpur have reported in the Civil Lines Police Station. They are ordered to serve for 6 hours a week.

Japanese quarantine facility

Philippine military backs scrapping of defence agreement with the USREUTERS — MANILA

The Philippine Military yesterday stood by the president’s decision to scrap a security agreement with the United States, saying the country could now develop its own defence capabilities and alliances, and would do fine without it.

The military chief backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s ter-mination of the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and said doing so would allow the Philip-pines to expand its moderni-sation programme and its engagement with Australia and Japan — both US allies.

Armed forces commander, General Felimon Santos, said planes and ships were being pro-cured from countries other than the United States, such as South

Korea, while Filipinos were now “doing the leg work” on intelli-gence gathering on Islamist extremists.

“You know these sentiments of soldiers, we are all high morale,” he told reporters.

“It will make us more eager to build up our own capabilities.”

Despite his defence and foreign ministers last week speaking favourably of the VFA, Duterte’s decision was not a complete surprise given his disdain for the Philippines’ close ties with Washington and what he sees as subservience to an abusive and hypocritical former colonial ruler.

He has been determined to build a strong relationship with China, despite a history of diplo-matic friction, and some unease

among a US-leaning defence apparatus wary about Beijing’s militarisation and island-building in the South China Sea.

Duterte’s spokesman Sal-vador Panelo said US disa-greement with the firebrand president’s move was motivated by its own strategic interests, and that it was time for the Philip-pines to be militarily independent.

“Reliance on another country for our own defences against the enemies of the state will ultimately weaken and stagnate our defence mechanisms,”

Panelo said in a statement. “We must stand on our own and put a stop to being a parasite to another country in protecting our independence and sovereignty.”

For nearly two weeks, the MS Westerdam, a ship of healthy passengers, had been sailing throughout Asia after being turned away by Japan, Taiwan, Guam and the Philippines over fears that someone on the cruise could have the new flu-like virus that has killed more than 1,100 people, almost all of them in China.

Record crowd expected for Trump at India cricket groundAFP - AHMEDABAD

More than 100,000 people are expected to pack into the world’s biggest cricket stadium later this month when it is formally opened during a visit to India by US President Donald Trump, officials said.

Workers in Ahmedabad are rushing to finish the 110,000-capacity Sardar Patel Stadium, which will overtake the 100,000-seater Melbourne Cricket Ground as the world’s biggest cricket venue.

Trump is due for a two-day visit to India on February 24, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to host him in his home state of Gujarat.

The spectacle has been dubbed “Kem Chho Trump”, or “How Are You Trump”, according to officials.

Last year Trump was guest of honour at Houston’s NRG Stadium in Texas at a rally for the Indian premier called “Hello Modi”, attended by 50,000 people from the sub-continent’s vast diaspora.

Radio show in Indian town givesrare voice to child workersREUTERS — GORAKHPUR

Balloon seller Nisha, 9, said purple was her favourite colour as she spoke into the micro-phone on a radio show in north India dedicated to highlighting the voices of child workers.

Nisha was among a group of children working and living on the streets of Gorakhpur, an impoverished town where child labour remains rampant, who stormed into the radio studio on a winter afternoon to recite poems, sing or talk about their day.

“I am told you give away balloons for free to some children,” disc jockey (DJ) Jyoti Singh asked Nisha on radio channel Loudspeaker that was set up last year by an anti-traf-ficking charity to focus on chil-dren’s issues.

“Yes, I do that when I see them cry,” said Nisha, rocking on a swivel chair as she took part in a newly-launched hour-long weekly show featuring child workers.

“Children on the streets are child workers but they are not victims of trafficking who have been separated from their

families,” said Vishwa Vaibhav Sharma, founder of Safe Society that launched the Loudspeaker radio channel last year.

The charity launched the weekly radio show on child workers four months ago to give children a medium to express themselves and to give the town a lesson on empathy and child labour laws.

Mithai Lal Gupta, member of Gorakhpur’s Child Welfare Committee, said putting child street workers into shelters was not the solution as they just started work again once out.

“We have a shelter but it is not an ideal arrangement for children working on the streets. What do we have to offer them?” said Gupta.

Safe Society employs teachers to encourage parents to allow their children to study, which Sharma said was showing results.

Among the dozen children who walked into the radio studio with Nisha, more than half had quit working.

Singh said the radio show on loudspeaker focuses on the children, not their work.

Health workers wearing protective gear taking part in an exercise in handling a suspected patient at Sanglah hopital in Denpasar, Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, yesterday.

14 THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020ASIA

Coronavirus cases drop, but world still scaredREUTERS — BEIJING/SINGAPORE

China reported yesterday its lowest number of new corona-virus cases in two weeks, bolstering a forecast by Beijing’s senior medical adviser for the outbreak in the country to end by April - but fears of further international spread remained.

The 2,015 new confirmed cases took China’s total to 44,653. That was the lowest daily rise since January 30 and came a day after epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said the epidemic should peak in China this month before subsiding.

The World Health Organi-sation (WHO) has likened the epidemic’s threat to terrorism and one expert said that while it may be peaking in China, this was not the case beyond.

“It has spread to other places where it’s the beginning of the outbreak,” Dale Fisher, head of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network coordinated by the WHO, said in an interview in Singapore. “In Singapore, we are at the beginning.”

Singapore has 50 cases,

including one found at its biggest bank, DBS, yesterday that caused an evacuation at head office.

Hundreds of infections have been reported in dozens of other countries and territories, but only two people have died outside mainland China: one in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.

China’s latest figures also showed that the number of deaths on the mainland rose by 97 to 1,113 by the end of Tuesday.

But doubts have been aired on social media about how reliable the data is, after the gov-ernment last week amended guidelines on classification.

The biggest cluster outside China is on a cruise ship quaran-tined off Japan’s Yokohama port, with about 3,700 people on

board, of whom 175 have tested positive. China’s state news agency Xinhua called the epi-demic a “battle that has no gun-powder smoke” and chided some officials for “dropping the ball” in some places.

There was no lack of zeal, however, in the city of Chongqing where prosecutors brought charges against a man who strapped on firecrackers, doused himself with gasoline and held up a lighter to defy a ban on public gatherings.

He had planned a birthday banquet, Xinhua said.

The outbreak has been named COVID-19 —CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for the year that it emerged. It is suspected to have originated in a market illegally

trading wildlife in Hubei prov-ince’s capital of Wuhan in December.

The city of 11 million people remains under virtual lockdown as part of China’s unprecedented measures to seal infected regions and limit transmission routes.

Moves by Washington and others to curb visitors from China

have offended Beijing, which says they are an over-reaction.

Anti-Chinese sentiment has also reared on social media.

A Xinhua commentary chided some Western media for “racist reporting” on the corona-virus and ignoring “the unswerving efforts and huge sac-rifice China and its people have

made”.“Just as the H1N1 influenza

outbreak in the US in 2009 should not be called an ‘American virus’, the NCP (novel coronavirus pneumonia) is neither a ‘China virus’ nor ‘Wuhan virus’,” it said, in a ref-erence to the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

Workers wearing face masks walk outside their dormitory in an electronics manufacturing factory in Shanghai, China, yesterday.

Daunting task: Doctors in Wuhan overworked, unprotectedAFP — BEIJING

Doctors on the frontline of China’s new coronavirus epidemic are facing a daunting task: Treat an ever-growing number of infected patients and risk getting infected themselves due to a drastic shortage of masks and other protective equipment.

Tired and understaffed, medical workers have had to deal with thousands of new cases per week in Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the outbreak that first emerged late last year.

Many doctors have had to see patients without proper masks or protective body suits, resorting to reusing the same equipment when they should be changed regularly.

Some have even worn diapers to avoid having to take off the equipment and make it last longer, according to a health official.

One doctor at a community clinic in Wuhan said he and at least 16 other colleagues were showing symptoms similar to the new virus, including lung infec-tions and coughing.

“As doctors, we do not want to work while being a source of infection,” he said, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisals.

But “right now, there is no one to replace you,” the doctor explained, adding that all medical staff without a fever are expected to work.

“What would happen if there was no one working on the frontline?” Some 44 percent of the 42,600 cases nationwide — and the majority of more than 1,100 deaths — have been in Wuhan, home to a wild animal market where the virus is sus-pected of having originated before spreading between humans.

The risks medical staff are

facing was highlighted on Friday after Li Wenliang, a whistle-blowing doctor in Wuhan, suc-cumbed to the disease more than a month after he first raised alarm about a new SARS-like virus in the city.

His death unleashed an out-pouring of grief and anger on Chinese social media, with 10 academics in Wuhan circulating an open letter calling for political reform and freedom of speech.

The deputy mayor of Wuhan said on Friday the city faced a daily shortage of 56,000 N95 masks and 41,000 protective suits.

Medical staff in protective suits will “wear diapers, reduce how much water they drink, and reduce how many times they use the bathroom,” said Jiao Yahui, a top official at China’s National Health Commission.

Some of them will wear the same protective suit for six or

even nine hours, when they should not be worn for more than four hours in a quarantined ward, she said last week.

“Of course, we don’t advocate this method, but medical staff really have no alternative,” she admitted.

The Chinese government has responded by mobilising the entire country to increase pro-duction of masks and suits.

As of Monday, three-quarters of mask and suit producers had resumed work following an extended Lunar New Year holiday, said Cong Liang, an official at China’s top economic planner.

China has also imported more than 300m masks and about 3.9m articles of protective clothing since January 24, an official said last week.

The Red Cross Society of China too has received over 900m yuan in donations for

epidemic relief —though it has drawn scrutiny for its lack of transparency and efficiency.

“Even if we receive more masks, the number of patients increases even faster,” said a doctor at a major Wuhan hos-pital, who requested anonymity because she was not authorised to speak with media.

Each doctor or nurse uses two to four masks each day, she explained.

“The consumption of masks in the hospital is enormous,” she emphasised.

“They have a permanent lack of masks.”

Doctors have also been forced to don makeshift hazmat suits, which are not adequate protection against the virus, said Xu Yuan, a 34-year-old in the US who donated $5,000 in pro-tective equipment to former classmates working at Wuhan hospitals.

A Vietnamese health worker checks a farmer’s temperature at a checkpoint of a village in Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam, yesterday.

Healthy move

Australia scraps policy to end indigenous disadvantageAP — CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA

The Australian government has scrapped a 12-year-old timetable for ending indigenous disad-vantage, declaring yesterday that the policy had failed.

A new centre-left Labour Party government launched the ambitious Closing the Gap initi-ative in 2008 aimed at achieving equality for indigenous Aus-tralians in health and life expectancy within a generation.

Prime ministers have pre-sented to Parliament a report every year since then quantifying progress made in seven areas.

Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison used his annual report yesterday to note only two

of the seven measures were on track — closing the gap between indigenous and other Australians in finishing high school and getting 4-year-olds enrolled in early education.

But indigenous men con-tinued to die almost nine years younger than other Australian men and indigenous women died almost eight years younger than other women.

The gap is widening in the measure of child mortality, which is twice rate in the indig-enous community than in the wider Australian society.

Morrison said successive governments’ top-down approach to Closing the Gap “hasn’t worked.”

“For 12 years, I have sat in

this chamber and listened to Closing the Gap speeches. It’s a tale of hope, frustration and dis-appointment,” Morrison told Parliament.

“The results are not good enough.”

“Over decades, our top-down, government-knows-best approach has not delivered the improvements we all yearn for,” he added.

Morrison foreshadowed new measures of progress that focused on local problems and priorities involving local indig-enous communities. Those new steps would be agreed within months.

“I want the gaps to be defined by indigenous Australians,” Mor-rison said.

The 2,015 new confirmed cases took China’s total to 44,653. That was the lowest daily rise since January 30 and came a day after epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said the epidemic should peak in China this month before subsiding.

US-Taliban breakthrough appears closer as Ghani reports progressAFP — KABUL/ BRUSSELS

The US and the Taliban appeared closer yesterday to sealing a deal for an American troop withdrawal from Afghan-istan, after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reported “notable progress” in negotiations and a senior Taliban official said violence could be slashed in the coming days.

Washington and the insur-gents have been locked in gru-elling talks that have stretched over more than a year for an agreement that would see the US pull thousands of troops from Afghanistan in a bid to end America’s longest war.

In return, the Taliban would provide various security guar-antees and launch eventual talks with the Kabul government.

Ghani said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had called him to inform him of develop-ments in the talks, which are taking place in Doha.

“Today, I was pleased to receive a call from @SecPompeo, informing me of the notable progress made in the ongoing peace talks with the Taliban,” Ghani said on his official Twitter account late Tuesday.

“The Secretary informed me about the Taliban’s proposal with regards to bringing a

significant and enduring reduction in violence.”

A Taliban source in Pakistan said that negotiators was to meet again yesterday, while in Afghanistan another senior Taliban official suggested the group was poised to reduce attacks.

“If the deal is signed, the Taliban will start a reduction of violence on Friday,” the official in Afghanistan said, adding that the insurgents were working to bring any Taliban splinter groups into line.

Citing Afghan and US offi-cials, the New York Times reported that US President Donald Trump had given con-ditional approval to a deal with the Taliban.

The two foes have been on the brink of a breakthrough before, with a deal all but com-plete in September before Trump nixed it at the last moment amid continued Taliban violence.

Meanhwhile, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg yesterday wel-comed apparent progress towards a US-Taliban deal in Afghanistan but warned the mil-itants must reduce attacks.

“We would welcome any step that can lead to the reduction of violence,” Stoltenberg said.

Pakistan unveils$64.8m subsidyto tackle risingfood pricesAFP — ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s government has approved a hefty subsidy package in a bid to offset the spiralling costs of basic food staples that threaten to undermine Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The move comes as the gov-ernment already faces mounting pressure over inflation, tax increases, the devaluation of the rupee and other woes.

Khan’s finance adviser Hafeez Sheikh said yesterday the government had approved a five-month, $64.8m package to alleviate the “soaring prices” of basic commodities, including food items such as wheat flour and sugar. Under the package, some five million poorer Paki-stanis would be able to buy dis-counted basics through the state-run Utility Stores Corpo-ration (USC), which operates stores across the country.

The stores “will drastically bring down prices of at least 19 food items including wheat flour and sugar during the holy month of Ramadan” starting late April, Sheikh said.

Khan’s opponents have seized on the food issue to attack him, who is about 18 months into his premiership.

Haj under govtscheme to costRs490,000 in Pakistan

INTERNEWS — ISLAMABAD

As inflation has hit every activity, performing Haj has also become costlier this year, but the government of Pakistan claims that it has curtailed Haj expenses to the maximum extent.

The federal cabinet has approved Haj Policy 2020 under which Haj under gov-ernment scheme will cost Rs490,000 to each pilgrim with 7.35 percent increase as compared to the cost of Haj in 2019.

However, Minister for Reli-gious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri said at a press conference that the government had curtailed Haj expenses to the maximum possible extent otherwise it could have cost Rs540,000 to each pilgrim.

“Devaluation of rupee, inflation and increased air fares and accommodation expenses in Saudi Arabia are the main factors behind the slight increase in the cost of Haj,” he added.

He said this year every pilgrim from any country had to pay additional 410 Riyals to the Saudi government because 300 Riyals would be charged at the time of issuance of visa and 110 Riyal as health insurance.

Hafiz Saeed convicted in two casesINTERNEWS — LAHORE

Anti-terrorism court convicted Jamatud Dawa leader Hafiz Saeed in two terror-financing cases yesterday.

He was slapped with a prison sentence of five-and-a-half years and a fine of Rs15,000 in each case. The sentences of both cases will run concurrently.

The court also granted him

the benefit of Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure (reduction of period of sentence of imprisonment).

He was convicted under the anti-terrorism law, pertaining to membership, support and meetings relating to a proscribed organisation.

The court directed author-ities to keep Saeed under custody until further orders.

15THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 EUROPE

Italy Senate gives go-ahead to Salvini's migrant trialAFP — ROME

Italian far-right leader Matteo Salvini is to stand trial on charges of illegally detaining migrants at sea, after senators voted yesterday to strip him of his parliamentary immunity.

A court in Sicily recom-mended that former interior minister Salvini stand trial for blocking migrants from disem-barking from a coast guard boat last July.

But ministers cannot be tried for actions taken while in office unless their parlia-mentary immunity is revoked.

The Senate’s decision sends the chief of the anti-immigrant League party to trial for abuse of power and illegal detention, charges for which he faces up to 15 years in jail.

“I have defended Italy. I have full and total faith in the justice system,” Salvini told ANSA news agency after the vote.

“I am not worried at all, and I’m proud of what I’ve done,” he said, adding he would “do it again when I get back into power”.

Salvini had refused to allow 116 rescued migrants to leave the Gregoretti coast guard boat — where they had been

languishing for about a week in insalubrious conditions — until a deal was reached with other European states to host them.

A Catania court accused him of “abuse of power” in blocking them on board from July 27 to July 31 last year, and of illegally detaining them.

Salvini insists the decision had the backing of the gov-ernment and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

Before the debate began, Salvini took to Facebook to say he had his “head held high, with the calm conscience of those who have defended their land and people”.

“If a man is not ready to fight for his ideas, either his ideas are worthless, or he is’,” Salvini wrote, quoting Ezra Pound, a 20th-century American poet known for his fascist sympathies.

The Gregoretti on July 25

took on board 140 migrants who were trying to make the perilous crossing from war-torn Libya to Europe — the same day 110 migrants drowned off the Libyan coast.

Some migrants in need of urgent medical care were taken from the coastguard vessel but 116 of them remained on board for almost a week.

The then-interior minister’s “closed ports” policy, aimed at stopping migrant arrivals from Libya, saw his popularity numbers shoot up.

Italy has long complained that its European partners have abandoned it to deal alone with migrant arrivals.

Under Italy’s constitution, parliament can block legal pro-ceedings if lawmakers feel the minister was performing his job and in the national interest.

The interior minister can limit or forbid entry into or transit through Italy’s waters on public security grounds —except in cases involving mil-itary vessels or ships in non-commercial governmental service like coast guard boats.

Salvini’s League party joined a coalition government as the Five Star Movement’s junior partner in 2018 but gained pop-ularity largely thanks to his

tough anti-immigrant stance. Conte, who has remained

prime minister while Salvini provoked his own ousting from government in August last year, says he was not the one to decide whether the migrants should be allowed into port.

“The minister (Salvini) had a new decree approved which strengthened his powers,” Conte said in January. “He claimed the right to decide if and when to disembark the people aboard the Gregoretti.”

Salvini managed to avoid trial in a similar episode, in which he prevented 177 rescued migrants aboard the coast guard vessel Diciotti from disem-barking for several days in August 2018.

Then, the League-M5S gov-ernment agreed it was a joint decision and the Senate subse-quently blocked Salvini from facing trial.

Salvini, whose party recently lost a key regional election in Emilia Romagna,

faces yet another hurdle on February 27.

A Senate committee is to decide on lifting his immunity for forcing the charity rescue vessel Open Arms to remain at sea for days off the coast of Lampedusa in August last year.

Given the slow pace of the Italian justice system, Salvini faces no immediate risk.

However, if he is eventually convicted he would be barred from politics for six to eight years.

Italian Lega party far-right leader Matteo Salvini addressing the Senate, in Rome, yesterday.

Facebook purges more accounts linked to Russia in crackdownREUTERS — LONDON

Facebook yesterday said it had suspended a network of accounts used by Russian military intelligence to seed false narratives online targeting Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe.

“Although the people behind this network attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation found links to Russian military intelligence services,” Facebook said in a statement.

Facebook, which has struggled to stop governments and political groups using its p l a t f o r m t o s p r e a d

false or misleading information, regularly announces it has shut down disinformation cam-paigns from countries including Russia.

The Russian Defence Min-istry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Moscow has previ-ously denied Western allega-tions of political meddling, including findings by US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller that it used social media accounts in an attempt to sway the 2016 US presidential vote.

Facebook’s head of cyber-security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said the latest Russian operation used more than 100

accounts on Facebook and its Instagram photo-sharing platform to create fake per-sonas, often posing as jour-nalists in the targeted countries.

These accounts then con-tacted local media and politi-cians to plant false stories about politically divisive issues, such as corruption allegations, ethnic tensions in the Russian-annexed peninsula of Crimea and the downing of a Malaysian airliner in Ukraine in 2014.

“We’ve known for a long time that these people look for authentic voices to amplify their narratives,” Gleicher said. “It is more of a classic intelligence

operation, trying to manipulate key individuals to achieve a high impact.”

Researchers at social media analytics firm Graphika, who reviewed the accounts before they were suspended by Facebook, said most of the activity dated back to 2016 and 2017, although some accounts were active as recently as this year.

The network failed to gather more than a few thousand fol-lowers but was able to get articles published in some local media outlets, said Ben Nimmo, Gra phika ’s hea d o f investigations.

The fake journalist personas

also conducted interviews with Kremlin critics, tricking them into making unguarded com-ments and then sharing the messages online, he said.

“The operation tried to poison the well of information by using false personas to plant pro-Kremlin and anti-Western narratives online and in local news outlets,” said Nimmo.

Facebook said it had also suspended two other groups of accounts, unconnected to the Russian operation. One was linked to a previously-identified Iranian network that has tar-geted the United States and the other to a PR firm in Vietnam.

“I am not worried at all, and I’m proud of what I’ve done,” Matteo Salvini said, adding that he would “do it again when I get back into power”.

Russian prison’ former bosscommits suicide in courtAFP — MOSCOW

A former top official in the Russian prison service shot and killed himself in a Moscow court yesterday shortly after being jailed for extortion, a court spokeswoman said.

Viktor Sviridov, who pre-viously headed the prison s e r v i c e ’ s t r a n s p o r t department, “committed suicide in the courtroom by shooting himself in the chest”, a spokeswoman for Moscow City Court said.

She did not provide further details.

The pistol Sviridov used was given to him as an award, his lawyer Alexander Koteln-itsky said.

Sviridov had pleaded guilty to extorting $159,000 from a former deputy director of the

prison service. The Chertanovo district court sentenced him to three years in a penal colony.

His sentence was less than the maximum possible term of 15 years because he had been diagnosed with advanced cancer, Russian media reported.

It was unclear how the former official, who had been living at home while subject to a travel ban, managed to bring a gun into a court with metal detectors at the entrance.

The Moscow City Court spokeswoman said investi-gators were “looking into the circumstances”.

Investigations into cor-ruption in the prison service have uncovered rampant vio-lations involving officials and several have ki l led themselves.

Letter bombs explode in Dutch offices, no injuriesREUTERS — AMSTERDAM

Two letter bombs exploded yesterday at two separate loca-tions in The Netherlands but nobody was hurt in the inci-dents, which police blamed on an extortionist who had demanded payment in bitcoin.

Both explosions were minor, one at an ABN Amro bank mail-sorting office in Amsterdam and the other 225 km (140 miles away) in a mail room of Japanese electronics group Ricoh, police said. No arrests have been made.

“The police believe the most likely scenario is that the letter discovered on Wednesday was one of several letter bombs sent to locations across the country,” they said in a statement, referring to the Amsterdam incident.

An employee in the Amsterdam sorting office heard a hissing sound as they were about to open a letter, city police said.

“The employee threw the letter away and there was a small explosion,” they said on Twitter.

“Payment of bitcoins is required in the extortion letter”.

Bitcoin is a digital currency whose payments can be dif-ficult to trace.

ABN’s chief executive, Kees Van Dijkhuizen, said he had spoken to the employee who had handled the letter at the sorting centre on the western outskir ts of Amsterdam.

“Good news is that he is not wounded, bad news of course is that these things happen and that our people have to deal

with it,” Dijkhuizen told journalists.

The second explosion in the southern town of Kerkrade, on the border with Germany, was at the offices of Ricoh.

“Thankfully there were no injuries, but those involved are of course very shocked,” Ricoh said in a statement. The blast caused some damage and the facility was closed for forensic analysis, police said.

Dutch police have been investigating a spate of letter bombs since January 3, which they said appeared to have been sent by the same person. The previous letter bombs were all intercepted before they could go off.

Previous targets have included a hotel, a gas station, a garage, a real estate agent and a bill collection service.

A view of an office building where a suspected letter bomb went off in the mail room, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, yesterday.

Kosovo PM, Cabinet agree to halve salariesREUTERS — PRISTINA

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti (pictured) and Cabinet ministers will accept a halving of their salaries in an attempt to demonstrate that the new government plans to tackle wage inequality.

Kurti ’s predecessor, Ramush Haradinaj, doubled his salary two years ago from 1,500 euros ($1,637) to 2,950 euros, a move that drew strong criticism in a country where one third of the population is unemployed. His ministers also got big pay increases.

“I propose to undo the (pre-vious) government decision and for salaries (of ministers) to return to where they were before,” Kurti said before the cabinet approved his decision.

Kurti had promised during last year’s election campaign to

take a salary cut and push for greater wage equality if his leftist party Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) won.

He reached a coalition agreement with a centre-right party after lengthy talks and the new government took office on February 3.

Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but is still not recognised

by Belgrade, remains one of the poorest countries in Europe and is dogged by corruption and nepotism.

Kosovo’s statistics office said that the average salary in the private sector was 401 euros in 2018, but 573 euros in the bloated public sector, where having political connec-tions or enough money to bribe officials is required to land a job.

The International Monetary Fund has said the gap between private and public sector sal-aries is undermining Kosovo’s f inancial health and competitiveness.

Kosovo, a country of 1.8 million people, expects eco-nomic growth of around 4 percent this year but econo-mists say this would not be enough to tackle unem-ployment and poverty.

33% of EU citizens hit by cyberattacks in 2019: DataANATOLIA — ISTANBUL

Last year, around 33% of EU citizens aged 16 to 74 had problems with security-related incidents, according to data released by bloc’s statis-tical authority (Eurostat).

Password harvesting via fraudulent messages, known as phishing, and pharming, the use of fake websites to steal personal information, were the most frequent security inci-dents in the EU.

In 2019, 25% of all attacks in the bloc were phishing inci-dents, while 12% were listed as pharming.

The highest share of people who experienced security-related problems in the bloc was in Denmark, with 50%. They were followed by France with 46%, Sweden with 45%, Malta and the Nether-lands with 42% each, Bulgaria with 13% and Greece with 13%.

Meanwhile, on February 11 Safer Internet Day 2020, the European Commission released a statement saying: “Strengthening cybersecurity and combatting harmful content such as illegal hate speech, terrorist propaganda, child abuse content online and disinformation are key prior-ities for the European Union.”

It noted that the EU would continue to focus on making the internet safer and better.

Several studies have shown that cyberattacks have dealt huge damage to the world economy, which lost $3 trillion in 2015 due to cyberattacks — expected to rise to $6 trillion in losses this year.

16 THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020EUROPE

Slovakia expels Vietnam diplomat over kidnappingAFP — BRATISLAVA

The Slovak foreign ministry yesterday said it has expelled a Vietnamese diplomat over the 2017 kidnapping of a Viet-namese oil executive in Berlin who was secretly spirited back to Hanoi via Slovakia.

The ministry informed the Vietnamese ambassador on February 5 that one of his dip-lomats was persona non grata and had 48 hours to leave the EU member.

“Slovakia decided to take this serious step in connection with the final decision of a German court of appeal on the abduction of a Vietnamese national,” the Slovak foreign ministry said in a statement.

Local media reported that Vietnam had denounced the unnamed diplomat’s expulsion as out of line with the “tradi-tional friendship” between the two countries.

The foreign ministry had said in 2018 that bilateral rela-tions between Slovakia and Vietnam “will be frozen” unless the Asian country explains the kidnapping of Vietnamese citizen Trinh Xuan Thanh from Germany in July 2017.

On February 2, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice upheld the conviction of Vietnamese citizen Long N H, a Czech res-ident involved in Thanh’s kidnapping.

A senior Communist party member facing corruption charges, Thanh had been seeking political asylum in Germany.

After the abduction, Thanh was taken back to Hanoi via Slovakia and was sentenced to two life terms on charges of cor-ruption during his time as the head of state-run PetroVietnam Construction, a subsidiary of the country’s largest oil firm.

In August 2018, the leading Slovak daily Dennik N pub-lished testimonies of unnamed Slovak policemen claiming that “a seemingly drunk and bruised individual” joined an official Vietnamese delegation at Bra-tislava airport in 2017 and was dragged onto a Slovak gov-ernment plane.

Slovak officials then flatly denied having knowingly par-ticipated in the kidnapping. The interior ministry described the Dennik N article as “a fabri-cation and sci-fi”.

Vietnam’s Communist gov-ernment has taken aim at bankers, businessmen and pol-iticians it accuses of misman-agement as it vows to stamp out corruption.

The unprecedented anti-graft campaign has seen scores of people jailed in the Southeast Asian country.

London police begin using live facial recognitionANATOLIA — LONDON

London’s Metropolitan Police began using live facial recog-nition technology as part of routine police operations, despite critics’ objections.

The technology was oper-ationally deployed for the first time yesterday at a shopping center in Stratford, east London.

A blue police van with sur-veillance cameras on top was parked near the centre’s entrance with signs telling civilians live facial recognition was in use. Some protestors gathered to demonstrate against the use of the technology.

Police said it was “part of a proactive policing operations to focus on violent and other serious offenses.”

Live facial recognition analyses facial patterns of passers-by and cross-refer-ences the data with digital images of wanted criminals. If there is a match, police verify the identity of the suspect before an arrest is made.

Police have been moving towards implementing live facial recognition for some time, and insist 70% of offenders walking past would be caught and the false positive rate was only one in 1,000. But an independent review cited by local media said just 19% of matches were correct.

Big Brother Watch, a privacy campaign group, said that the use of live facial recog-nition threatens civil liberties. “We don’t accept this. This isn’t what you do in a democracy. You don’t scan people’s faces with cameras,” said the group’s director Silkie Carlo.

Local media reported that Vietnam had denounced the diplomat’s expulsion as out of line with the “traditional friendship” between the two countries.

North Macedonia House backs Nato accessionANATOLIA — BELGRADE

The North Macedonian Assembly on Tuesday approved accession protocol to Nato.

At a session held in the 120 seat-parliament, the law on rat-ifying the country’s Nato accession protocol was adopted with 114 votes in favor.

The law will enter into effect after Spain approves it as the accession protocol must be approved by all member states’ parliaments.

Due to the parliament’s ter-mination before the early general elections on April 12 in North Macedonia, the gov-ernment approved the agreement early.

North Macedonian Pres-ident Stevo Pendarovski said the final stage of North Mace-d o n i a ’ s f u l l - f l e d g e d

membership to the alliance has begun with the approval of the Nato accession protocol.

“The obligation and respon-sibility of our generation of pol-iticians to complete this process have undeniable historical sig-nificance,” said Pendarovski.

Prime Minister Oliver Spas-ovski said they are experiencing a historic day as North Mace-donia has become part of the security shield of the world’s most important military alliance.

“It was not easy to go through the process of renaming the state and pro-tecting our identity problems. With agreements with Greece and Bulgaria, we opened the pages of friendship, broke the wall that separated us and established friendship between the two peoples. Greece was the

first Nato member country to ratify our Nato membership agreement,” said Spasovski.

After the session, Nato flag was hoisted in front of the par-liament building.

North Macedonia received an invitation from Nato to begin accession negotiations at the Brussels Summit on July 12, 2018, and Nato member states signed the protocol for alliance membership in Feb-ruary 2019.

Since then, the process of adoption of the accession pro-tocol in the councils of Nato member countries has begun.

The agreement, ratified by 28 member states, must also be ratified by Spain.

According to state officials, North Macedonia is expected to become a full member of Nato in March.

North Macedonia Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi hands over the Nato flag to an army officer after the lawmakers ratified the Nato accession agreement, in front of the Parliament building in Skopje, on Tuesday.

Johnson questions ‘imbalanced’ extradition treaty with USBLOOMBERG — LONDON

Boris Johnson criticised the UK’s “imbalanced” extradition treaty with the US and said his government continues to demand the return of an American diplomat’s wife who fled the country following a fatal car crash.

The prime minister was asked about the case in Par-liament yesterday by opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who called for John-son’s administration to seek an

“equal and balanced extradition relationship” with the UK’s closest ally.

“To be frank I think the hon-ourable gentleman has a point in his characterisation of our extradition arrangements with the United States,” Johnson replied. “There are elements of that relationship that are imbal-anced and I certainly think that it is worth looking at.”

The comments are the latest indication of Johnson’s will-ingness to stand up to US Pres-ident Donald Trump, even as he

seeks a free-trade deal with the world’s largest economy fol-lowing the UK’s split from the European Union.

Johnson gave the green light for Huawei Technologies Co to be involved in Britain’s next-generation broadband net-works last month in the face of strong US pressure to ban the Chinese company. Plans to introduce a digital tax on US technology companies have also angered the White House.

UK politicians have long complained about the

extradition treaty with the US, which came into force under Tony Blair’s Labour government in 2007.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab sought to reform the treaty “to strengthen the pro-tection of British citizens” when he was a rank-and-file back-bencher in December 2011.

The matter was raised by Corbyn because the UK has failed to secure the extradition of Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US diplomat involved in a car crash that killed teenage

motorcyclist Harry Dunn. The Labour leader also cited media reports suggesting Sacoolas was a former spy and the UK gov-ernment had withheld that fact from Dunn’s family.

“We have tirelessly sought the extradition of Anne Sacoolas for justice in this country and we will continue to do so,” Johnson said. “Anne Sacoolas was notified to the UK gov-ernment as a spouse with no official role, and we will con-tinue without fear or favor to seek justice for Harry Dunn.”

Britain’s COP26 climate talks ‘can’t fail’: MinisterAFP — PARIS

The world can’t afford for crunch climate talks this year to fail, Britain’s energy minister said yesterday, despite the government not having named a leader for the summit starting in November.

Speaking at an Interna-tional Energy Agency (IEA) event in Paris, Kwasi Kwarteng said that the COP26 climate negotiations would be the “top international priority” for his government despite it occurring just weeks before the Brexit negotiation period is due to expire.

“We can’t guarantee success,” Kwarteng told country and industry repre-sentatives at the IEA. “What I can commit to is that this is absolutely our number one pri-ority as a government.

“I’m confident it will be a success because we really can’t afford it to be a failure, not just on a global level. It’s also on a national level given where we are with Brexit and other issues,” Kwarteng added.

The COP26 talks in November are the final nego-tiating session before the landmark 2015 Paris climate deal goes into effect.

The accord saw nations pledge to limit global temper-ature rises to “well-below” two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and to work towards a safer cap of 1.5C.

To do so greenhouse gas emissions need to fall sharply — 7.6 percent annually by

2030, according to the latest United Nations estimate.

The IEA said on Tuesday that emissions from energy, which account for the majority of manmade carbon pollution, had flatlined in 2019 after two successive annual increases.

“2019 is potentially an inflexion point but we have to work very hard to ensure it rep-resents a peak number and not simply a staging post to even more emissions,” said Kwarteng.

He was speaking several days after Britain’s original choice for COP26 president, former energy minister Claire O’Neill, was removed from the role.

She responded with scathing criticism of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cabinet’s handling of preparations.

In a letter to Johnson leaked to the Financial Times, she warned: “We are miles off track. You promised to ‘lead from the front’ and asked me what was needed ‘money, people, just tell us!’. Sadly, these promises and offers are not close to being met.”

O’Neill said that a COP26 planning sub-committee had not met once in the months since she was appointed, and said she believed Johnson “really doesn’t understand” climate change.

With just 1C of warming above pre-industrial levels so far, the world is already expe-riencing record heatwaves, wildfires and storm surges made worse by rising seas.

37 Maltese traffic cops arrested for overtime fraudREUTERS — VALLETTA

Over half of Malta’s traffic police force, including its chief, have been arrested for suspected overtime fraud, after an anonymous tip off from a whistleblower.

Officials said 37 of the coun-try’s 50 traffic cops had been detained on suspicion they had filed for hundreds of hours of non-existent overtime over at least a three-year period.

The small Mediterranean island has been struggling with an image problem in recent years, following allegations of widespread corruption, cro-nyism and financial wrong-doing amongst the political and business elite.

The head of the traffic police force, Walter Spiteri, is suspected of himself claiming for motorcycle-related allow-ances even though he used a chauffeur-driven car.

“The superintendent in charge of the traffic section submitted his resignation yes-terday, and it has been accepted,” the police said in a statement yesterday.

Some of the traffic police also face accusations they mis-appropriated fuel and used it for their own private vehicles.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said it was good that the police were investigating their own people. “This confirms that we have a functioning police force. If these investi-gations lead to people being taken to court or to disci-plinary action being taken, then that is what will happen.”

Duchess Catherine in Northern IrelandBritain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, holding a snake as she visits the Ark Open Farm in Newtownards, Northern Ireland, yesterday. The Duchess is on a tour of the UK to promote a nationwide survey focused on improving conditions for the country’s children. She is expected to go to Scotland next, having already visited projects in England and Wales.

Macron to get hybrid car as France steps up climate fightAP — PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron’s government announced a raft of plans to curb its carbon emissions, including getting a new hybrid-engine armoured car for the French leader.

Other new steps include an annual bonus of $220 for civil servants who switch to bicycles or car-sharing for their rides to work. The ecology minister, Elisabeth Borne, said that

measure will start in July.The state will also stop

buying throwaway plastics from July and use at least 20% organic ingredients in civil servants’ can-teens, the minister said after a government meeting that was focused on reducing the envi-ronmental footprint of France’s large state sector.

All government ministers will be switched over to electric or hybrid-engine rechargeable vehicles, and they’ll be encouraged to take trains

instead of planes for non-emer-gency trips under four hours, Borne said. She was taking the train for a visit on Friday to northern France.

Macron’s hybrid-engine armoured car will have a rechargeable battery, she said.

The French president is expected to announce rein-forced efforts to protect the Alpine glory of Mont Blanc, western Europe’s highest peak, today. He’ll also visit a glacier that, like others across the Alps,

is shrinking dramatically.Borne is going with Macron

on that visit to the Alps. She said they’ll travel by plne.

Scientists say global emis-sions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants have to start falling rapidly as soon as possible to meet the Paris climate accord’s goal of keeping global warming by the end of the century well bellow 2 degrees Celsius, and ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Macron has made a priority of tackling climate change.

17THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 AMERICAS

Sanders, Buttigieg emerge as front runners in Democratic raceAFP — MANCHESTER, US

Bernie Sanders and Pete Butt-igieg stepped forward yesterday as undisputed frontrunners in the race to take on President Donald Trump in November after finishing first and second in the New Hampshire primary.

The 78-year-old leftist senator from neighboring Vermont and the young former mayor of South Bend, Indiana took 26 and 24 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s voting.

Last week in Iowa’s cau-cuses they also finished as the top two — with Buttigieg nar- rowly beating Sanders.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden tried to sound optimistic after his sagging campaign took another awful hit with a fifth-place showing, behind Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator whose star also has dimmed.

The candidates left in the race will now turn their attention to primaries in Nevada on February 22 and South Carolina on the 29th. Looming is the big prize of so-called Super Tuesday on March 3, when 14 states hold their primaries.

“Our victory in New Hamp-shire isn’t about me. It’s about us. It’s about the movement our supporters, volunteers and grassroots donors built, which will transform this country,” Sanders tweeted.

On Tuesday night he told jubilant supporters his win marked “the beginning of the end for Donald Trump.” Still, Sanders’ margin of victory was leaner than polls had predicted. In the 2016 campaign he took a whopping 60 percent of the votes in New Hampshire, fin-ishing far ahead of Hillary

Clinton. The race for the nom-ination is long and unpre-dictable, but for now Sanders is a source of worry for those in the party who fear that, with his sweeping and expensive health care reform proposals, he is too far to the left to beat Trump.

The race to represent the centrist wing of the party is up for grabs among Buttigieg, Senator Amy Klobuchar, who finished a solid third in New Hampshire, and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who entered the race late and skipped Iowa and New Hamp-shire. He is paying for his cam-paign with his vast personal fortune.

Then there’s Biden, the one-time frontrunner in the race banking on his instant name recognition as Barack Obama’s vice-president and his 50 years of public service. He got only eight percent of the votes.

A new Quinnipiac Uni-versity poll said this week that Biden has skidded nationally from 26 to 17 percent support since the end of January.

Biden insisted on Tuesday night the primaries are just getting started and he is stronger than his rivals among Latinos and blacks.

“Nobody told me the road would be easy, but together we can and will win,” he tweeted

yesterday. Buttigieg is lan-guishing at 10 percent in the latest national polls and has negligible support among African-Americans in upcoming states with more diverse populations.

Asked about this yesterday morning on CNN, he said: “Well, certainly there is another hill to climb each time, and we’ve got more work to do to demonstrate the breadth of our support.”

“Just as we came from zero to top-two finishes in the first two states, we believe we’ll be able to develop, build and grow a fantastic base of support in South Carolina and Super Tuesday is not far behind.”

Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders arrives to speak at a Primary Night event at the SNHU Field House in Manchester, New Hampshire on Tuesday.

Democratic battle narrows as Deval Patrick bows outAFP — WASHINGTON

Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick announced yesterday he was giving up his fight for the Democratic presi-dential nomination, marking the departure of the last African-American left in the once-crowded field. Patrick threw in the towel after doing poorly in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, the second state contest in the battle to become the Democrats’ pick to challenge President Donald Trump in November.

His exit came a day after Asian-American entrepreneur Andrew Yang quit the race, leaving only one person of non-white ethnicity left in the Democratic field, part-Samoan Tulsi Gabbard, a congresswoman from Hawaii.

“The vote in New Hampshire last night was not enough for us to create the practical wind at the campaign’s back to go on to the next round of voting,” Deval said in a statement.

“So I have decided to suspend the campaign, effective imme-diately.” The original field of 28 Democratic hopefuls included seven from ethnic minorities.

A file photo of former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick

Trial team quits Roger Stone case in dispute over sentenceAP — WASHINGTON

The four lawyers who prosecuted Roger Stone quit the case after the Justice Department overruled them and said it would take the extraordinary step of lowering the amount of prison time it would seek for President Donald Trump’s longtime ally and confidant.

The departures on Tuesday raised immediate questions over whether Trump, who earlier in the day had blasted the original sentencing recom-mendation as “very horrible and unfair,” had at least indirectly exerted his will on a Justice Department that he often views as an arm of the White House.

The department insisted the decision to undo the sentencing recommendation was made on Monday night — before Trump’s tweet — and prosecutors had not spoken to the White House about it.

Even so, the departures of the entire trial team broke open a simmering dispute over the punishment of a Trump ally whose case has long captured the Republican President’s attention. The episode was the latest to entangle the

Justice Department, meant to operate free from White House sway in criminal investigations and prosecutions, in pres-idential politics.

The four attorneys, including two who were early members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia team, comprised the entire Justice Department trial team that won convictions against Stone last fall.

Each had signed onto a Monday sen-tencing memo that recommended between seven and nine years in prison for Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordi-nated with Russia to tip the 2016 election. None lent their names to a Tuesday memo that called the original recom-mendation excessive.

The departures leave in limbo the resolution of a case that was one of the signature prosecutions of Mueller’s team and that cut to the heart of his mission – to determine whether the Trump team had access to nonpublic information about Democratic emails hacked by

Russian operatives and provided to WikiLeaks.

Trump was back on the attack late Tuesday, slamming the original sen-tencing recommendation and ques-tioning the judge overseeing the Stone case. And by early yesterday, he had

tweeted a congratulations to Attorney General William Barr “for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have been brought,” suggesting the prosecutors had gone rogue.

Barr, the Justice Department’s leader, has been a steady ally of the President’s since taking the position. Barr last year cleared the president of obstruction of justice even when Mueller had pointedly declined to do so, and has declared that the FBI’s Russia investigation, which resulted in charges against Stone, had been based on a “bogus narrative.”

It’s unclear what sentence the department will ultimately seek — a new sentencing memo filed on Tuesday evening indicated that the original rec-ommendation was too harsh but pro-posed no specific punishment of its own.

A Justice Department official said authorities decided to step in and seek a shorter sentence because they had been taken by surprise by the initial rec-ommendation. He said prosecutors had told the department to expect a recom-mendation for a shorter sentence.

A file photo of Roger Stone, former campaign adviser to US President Donald Trump

Protesters block the Halifax port railway in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on Tuesday.

Anti-pipeline protests spread across CanadaAFP — OTTAWA

Indigenous protests against a new pipeline in westernmost Canada scaled up across the country on Tuesday with major train disruptions, port blockades and sit-ins at government offices.

Over the past several days, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police moved in to enforce a court injunction and clear the original protest blocking work on the Coastal Gas Link natural gas pipeline opposed by Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia.

That provoked others in solidarity with the chiefs to try to “shut down Canada,” leading

to major transportation disrup-tions and dozens more arrests by police.

On Tuesday, a major rail line connecting Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal was shut down, forcing more than 20,000 Via Rail passengers to cancel trips.

Canadian National Railway told local media it would also close “significant” parts of its Canadian network unless rail lines were cleared.

Dozens were arrested on Monday for trying to block access to the Pacific port of Vancouver, while on Tuesday another protest set up at the Atlantic port of Halifax.

In Toronto, meanwhile, a

few dozen protestors took over Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett’s con-stituency office, demanding that the “RCMP back down” and that the Can$6bn (US$4.5bn), 670-km pipeline be scrapped.

In Ottawa, a group occupied the lobby of the Justice Department.

Transportation Minister Marc Garneau said the gov-ernment was concerned by the “illegal” and “significant dis-ruption” to rail services.

“We hope this will get resolved as quickly as possible because it’s having an important impact on the economy of the country,” he said.

Jury finds Mar-a-Lago intruder not guilty of trespassingAP — WEST PALM BEACH, US

A Florida jury yesterday acquitted a Chinese woman of trespassing at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort after she testified she didn’t understand a security guard who told her to leave.

However, jurors did find Jing Lu, 56, guilty of resisting a police officer without violence during her December 18 arrest. The incident marked the second time in 2019 that a Chinese national was charged with illicitly entering Trump’s Florida resort.

Prosecutors told jurors that Lu purposely intruded in a “cal-culated” and “planned” manner. She has been in custody since her arrest because her visa to remain in the United States has expired.

Prosecutors said she ignored a warning to leave the grounds and returned through a side entrance and continued taking pictures. Mar-a-Lago is now Trump’s official residence, moving there from New York City last year, but he was not in Florida when Lu was arrested.

Lu, testifying through a Mandarin interpreter, said she paid $200 for a Chinese guide to drop her off at various South Florida locations. She said her language barrier prevented her from understanding a security officer’s orders to leave the property.

Security guard Murray Fulton told jurors he used hand

gestures to make his warnings clear to her.

Lu’s tour guide then took her to Palm Beach’s Worth Avenue shopping district, where she was stopped by two Palm Beach police officers. They testified that she wouldn’t consent to being questioned and resisted when they tried to handcuff her.

Lu testified that she was scared when the officers approached her, adding that she didn’t know why she was being handcuffed.

Palm Beach County Judge Mark Eissey set Lu’s sentencing for Friday. She faces up to one year in jail on the misdemeanor charge.

Mar-a-Lago has had a rash of security breaches, with at least three trespassing events over the past 14 months, two of them involving Chinese nationals.

Last March, Yujing Zhang, a 33-year-old Shanghai busi-nesswoman, gained access to Mar-a-Lago by telling Secret Service agents she was there to swim.

Club staff then confused her for a member’s daughter and admitted her before she was stopped in the lobby by a sus-picious clerk who alerted other agents.

Zhang was carrying a laptop, phones and other elec-tronic gear, which led to initial speculation that she might be a spy, but she was never charged with espionage.

Trump asks Senate not to approve war powers resolutionREUTERS — WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump yesterday warned the Senate against adopting a resolution that would curb his ability to wage war against Iran, saying it would send “a very bad signal” and allow Tehran to act with impunity.

“It is very important for our Country’s SECURITY that the United States Senate not vote for the Iran War Powers Resolution. We are doing very well with Iran and this is not the time to show weakness,” Trump, a Republican, tweeted.

Democrats last month said they had the votes in the R e p u b l i c a n - c o n t r o l l e d chamber to approve the measure, which would require the president to seek congres-sional authorization for mil-itary action against Iran.

Accused El Paso shooter appears in federal courtREUTERS — EL PASO, TEXAS

A Texas man accused of delib-erately targeting people of Mexican heritage in a shooting rampage that killed 22 at a Walmart store in El Paso last year made his first court appearance yesterday for new federal hate crime charges.

Patrick Crusius, 21, was charged last week with 90 counts of hate crimes. He appeared before Judge Miguel Torres wearing a suit but in shackles, and was informed of his rights by the magistrate. No plea was entered and the defendant did not speak during the hearing.

Crusius’ court-appointed lawyers in the federal trial — David Lane and Rebecca Hud-smith — declined to comment after the hearing.

The defendant is already facing a separate capital murder trial in state court. He has pled not guilty.

Crusius was charged by the Justice Department last week with the hate crimes.

He is accused of driving 11 hours to El Paso from his hometown of Allen, near Dallas, on August 3 last year, and firing at shoppers with an AK-47 rifle inside the Walmart store. He surrendered to officers who confronted him outside. Crusius confessed while surrendering and told police he was targeting Mex-icans, according to police.

After topping Iowa primary last week, Sanders and Buttigieg took 26 and 24 percent of the votes respectively in Tuesday’s voting in New Hampshire.

18 THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020AMERICAS

Clashes in Venezuela as opposition leader Guaido returns home AFP — CARACAS

Opposition leader Juan Guaido returned to Venezuela on Tuesday after an international support-building tour and called on the people in the crisis-wracked nation to keep pushing back against President Nicolas Maduro.

Guaido — who had defied a travel ban to visit Colombia, the United States, Canada and several European nations — was greeted by a throng of cheering supporters at the international airport outside the capital Caracas.

“We’re in Caracas now. I bring back with me the com-mitment of the free world, ready to help us regain democracy and freedom,” Guaido wrote on Twitter, before tweeting a picture of himself at passport control that was cap-tioned “HOME.”

Shortly before his arrival, fighting broke out between his followers — including several lawmakers — and Maduro’s supporters.

“Guaido, fascist!” shouted employees of the state-run airline Conviasa — which was subjected to US sanctions last week — who had entered the area where the 36-year-old’s backers were waiting for him.

Several diplomats were present.Videos circulating on social

media appear to show Guaido sprayed with soda by an airline worker. The opposition leader seemed to laugh it off.

Security escorts flanked the opposition leader as he got into a white vehicle to head to Caracas.

After his trip abroad —including a meeting with US President Donald Trump, who threatened to “smash” Maduro’s regime — Guaido promised new sanctions “against the dicta-torship” would be coming soon, and called for renewed protests. “We came to work and leave the rest, to do what is necessary to accomplish the goal” of pushing Maduro from office, Guaido

later told a rally attended by about 500 people.

His office said late Tuesday that a relative traveling with Guaido had vanished after being held by airport officials.

In a veiled reference to Guaido’s return, Maduro called on his supporters to focus on “defending Venezuela.” “Let’s not get distracted by stupidities, by dummies, by traitors to the homeland,” he said at a cer-emony broadcast on state television.

Guaido rose to prominence in January 2019 when he declared himself the country’s acting president in a direct chal-

lenge to Maduro.He derived such authority

from his position as the speaker of the National Assembly, after the legislature declared Maduro’s 2018 re-election invalid following a poll widely denounced as rigged.

Lawmakers called Maduro a “usurper” while more than 50 countries recognized Guaido as interim president.

However, Maduro retains the support of Venezuela’s pow-erful military and has resisted Guaido’s challenge, even as the United States ramps up the pressure.

The international trip was

the second time Guaido had flouted the travel ban.

Maduro’s number two Diosdado Cabello said on Monday that he didn’t expect much of anything to change after Guaido’s travels, which he called a “tourism trip.” “He is nothing,” Cabello said.

But Guaido tweeted Tuesday: “A new moment has begun that won’t accept set-backs and in which we need everyone to do what they have to do. The time has arrived.” “Now more than ever, we need unity, confidence and political discipline. Look out for new announcements.”

A supporter of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (centre) assaults a reporter while Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido arrives at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, on Tuesday.

El Salvador's Bukele says he will obey court on militaryAP — SAN SALVADOR

President Nayib Bukele said on Tuesday he will obey a Supreme Court order that he stop pressuring lawmakers to approve a $109m loan he is seeking to bolster El Salvador’s fight against gangs, lowering tensions after military and police were deployed to the Congress over the weekend.

“Although we do not agree with what was resolved by (the court)... we will obey the order that was issued,” Bukele said in a statement.

The ruling on Monday evening ordered the president not to use security forces in

“activities contrary to estab-lished constitutional ends,” after he went to the Legislative Assembly building the previous day accompanied by hundreds of supporters as well as heavily armed officers and troops, including some special forces and sharpshooters who were posted on rooftops.

The scene provoked crit-icism both home and abroad, and calls for Bukele to respect democratic institutions.

The Supreme Court also ordered the defense minister and the head of national police not to deploy their forces for activities outside what’s in their legal purview.

Spanish police arrest former oil executive sought by MexicoAP — MEXICO CITY

The former head of Mexico’s state oil company was arrested yesterday in Spain on a international warrant issued by Mexico, authorities said.

Mexican Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero told Radio Formula that Emilio Lozoya was arrested in the southern port city of Malaga and that the goal was his extradition to Mexico.

Lozoya was director of Pemex between 2012 and 2016 during the administration of former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Mexico issued international arrest war-rants for Lozoya last year as a result of cor-ruption investigations, including into his alleged ties to Odebrecht, the Brazilian con-struction company that secured contracts across Latin America through a network of bribes.

Officials are also investigating Pemex’s purchase of a fertilizer plant in 2015 at an allegedly inflated price.

Lozoya has repeatedly denied wrong-doing. Gertz said that prosecutors had been pursuing multiple investigations against Lozoya for months. He called it an “iconic

case” that was nearly a year in the making with authorities across Europe.

After Gertz confirmed the arrest, Loz-oya’s lawyer in Mexico, Javier Coello Trejo, said that the news “hit me like a bucket of cold water.” He told Radio Formula that Lozoya was convinced the investigation was baseless and was open to turning himself in. He said he hadn’t yet spoken to his client since the arrest.

In late 2016, Odebrecht, reached an agreement with American, Brazilian and Swiss justice officials to pay millions of

dollars in penalties. As part of that accord, Odebrecht divulged details of bribes across several countries. It said it paid $10.5m to officials at Pemex between 2010 and 2014. Lozoya has denied taking bribes.

The scandal grew in late 2017 when a series of videos of statements of former Odebrecht executives were released, including its former Mexico director, Luis de Meneses. They directly implicated Lozoya, who in 2012 had been a key member of Peña Nieto’s presidential campaign.

While the Odebrecht revelations led to a wave of corruption investigations and arrests across Latin America, there had been no arrests in Mexico.

Mexican authorities declared in May 2019 that Lozoya could not hold public positions for 10 years and later the gov-ernment froze Lozoya’s bank accounts.

Meanwhile, Spanish police arrested Alonso Ancira Elizondo, then-president of Altos Hornos de México also in May 2019. His extradition case is still before Spain’s National Court. At the time, Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said Ancira’s arrest was based on allegations that he had defrauded Pemex.

A file photo of Emilio Lozoya `

Anger in Bolivia as anti-Morales bloc splinters before May electionAFP — LA PAZ

A few months ago, protesters flooded the streets of Bolivia, helping to push former pres-ident Evo Morales from power. Now, they are up in arms again — against those they once hoped would replace him.

Demonstrators feel the country’s center-right politi-cians have let them down by failing to rally around a single candidate to take on Morales’s Movement for Socialism (MAS) party in May’s election.

“It’s shameful that there are people and politicians hungry for power who only look out for

their own personal interests,” activist Pablo Alba said.

The leftist Morales — who first took office in 2006 —resigned in November following three weeks of protests against his controversial re-election in polls that were widely derided as rigged.

Bolivia’s constitution limits a president to two successive terms but in October’s election, Morales stood for a fourth con-secutive mandate, after an already questionable third term.

The 60-year-old stood down under pressure from the country’s military, and now lives in exile in Argentina.

But in the latest opinion polls ahead of the May 3 election, his political heir apparent, Luis Arce, is in first place with 26 percent.

The center-right is fielding seven candidates for now — which protesters say could deal a fatal blow to their hopes of keeping the MAS out of office.

Once of Arce’s closest com-petitors is former president Carlos Mesa, who ran against Morales in October and who many thought would have run a run-off has the leftist not claimed outright victory in the first round. Mesa and right-wing protest leader Luis Fernando

Camacho are tied at 17 percent in the latest polls.

Conservative interim Pres-ident Jeanine Anez, whose can-didacy is controversial after she previously claimed she wouldn’t stand, was fourth at 12 percent.

Evangelical pastor Chi Hyun Chung stood at six percent and former president Jorge Quiroga at three percent.

That means the anti-MAS bloc could attract more than the 50 percent required for an out-right victory in May — were it to field one candidate.

We’re “disappointed, totally disappointed, disillusioned, defenseless,” said the 29-year-

old Alba, who is a lawyer.Alba is part of a group of

protesters camping outside the Mexican ambassador’s resi-dence, where some top MAS officials fled after Morales stepped down.

The group is trying to prevent those ex-officials from escaping and leaving the country, believing they should be brought to justice for alleged offenses committed while in office. Those protesters also say the center-right needs to put their supporters before their own ambitions and focus on defeating the MAS in May, when 36 senators and 120 deputies

will also be elected.“They’re not thinking about

the people’s struggle, about the people’s request,” said Alba.

Bolivia remains quite divided — the MAS still com-mands huge popular support, particularly amongst indig-enous communities. Morales was the country’s first indig-enous president.

Many of those party faithful believe Morales’s claim that he was the victim of a US-orches-trated coup d’etat.

For many indigenous people a future without MAS in gov-ernment is one that generates fear.

Nicaragua creates new fuel firms after US sanctionsAP — MANAGUA, NICARAGUA

Nicaragua’s Parliament has approved the creation of four state companies that will handle the importation, storage, distribution and sales of oil and gas, two months after the country’s main energy company was sanc-tioned by Washington for allegedly laundering money for family members of Pres-ident Daniel Ortega and then sold to the government days later.

The measure passed without debate, analysis in committee or consultation with other government or business entities under rules for urgent legislation in a Par-liament controlled by Ortega’s Sandinista party.

Wálmaro Gutiérrez, a Sandinista who heads the leg-islature’s economic com-mission, called the decision “wise” and said it would “guar-antee better service, high-quality and efficiency,” through specialization by the different companies.

Members of the opposition, who have accused Ortega of running the petroleum sector without being accountable to Parliament, saw self-interest behind the measure.

Creation of the new com-panies is an attempt “to evade the US Treasury Department sanctions, in case they sanction them again,” said lawmaker Jimmy Blandón of the opposition Liberal Consti-tutionalist Party.

Treasury levied the sanc-tions on December 12 on the fuel distributor DNP, accusing it of being used by members of the Ortega family for their personal enrichment.

DNP, along with Albanisa, had commercialized crude from Venezuela since 2007, the year Ortega returned to power. Albanisa was founded the same year and was linked to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, also sanc-tioned by Washington in 2019.

Days after the December sanctions were announced, Ortega’s government nation-alized the company and took over its assets - a move that was also fast-tracked by Parliament.

The four new entities are known as Enigas, Eniplanh, Enicom and Enih, the latter of which focuses on exploration and exploitat ion of hydrocarbons.

Maduro has called on his supporters to focus on “defending Venezuela”. “Let’s not get distracted by stupidities, by dummies, by traitors to the homeland,” he said at a ceremony broadcast on state television.

Brazil indigenous people protestIndigenous people take part in a protest against a new bill that would open indigenous lands to mining in front of the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, yesterday.

Woman's murder sparks fury in Mexico CityREUTERS — MEXICO CITY

The gruesome murder of a 25-year-old woman in Mexico’s capital has unleashed outrage among authorities and rights groups after leaked photos of her mutilated body appeared on the front page of a newspaper.

Prosecutors will seek the maximum punishment for Ingrid Escamilla’s murder, the capital’s mayor said on Tuesday, adding a suspect had been arrested for the crime that took place at an apartment north of the city center at the weekend.

Marches to protest vio-lence against women have intensified in recent months, with demonstrators setting government buildings on fire and daubing monuments with graffiti. An average of 10 women were killed a day in Mexico in 2018, the year with the highest number of murders of women in three decades, according to official data.

Escamilla’s murder was a particularly horrific display of brutality in a country accus-tomed to regular violence.

A man identified by media as the detained suspect, appeared in a video, streaked with blood, talking to police. A police spokeswoman referred questions about the case to the prosecutor’s office.

A photograph of the victim featured on the cover of Pasala newspaper. The Mexico City prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday it was investigating six civil servants to determine who leaked the images.

The National Women’s Institute of Mexico condemned the publication of the photo-graph and the crime.

19THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020 HOME

CROSSWORD

WCM-Q, QMA unlock the healing power of music

THE PENINSULA — DOHA

A course by Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) and Qatar Music Academy has taught healthcare professionals how to use music therapy to treat a variety of conditions, including anxiety, depression, autism, Alzheimer’s, cerebral palsy, and stroke.

The course, which was com-posed of 10 online modules and four practical workshops held at Qatar Music Academy, used evi-dence-based sources to explain how music causes physiological changes in the listener and how this effect can be used therapeu-tically in clinical scenarios.

The course covered topics such as music therapy for people with special needs, the history of music therapy in the Middle East and the West, how to tailor music therapy approaches to individual patients and the theory and practice of neurologic music therapy. The workshops were led by Dr. Ghizlane Bendriss, lecturer in biology and neurosciences at WCM-Q, Rula El Barghouthi, a qanun instructor and music ther-apist in the music schools

“Crescendo” and “Action for Hope” as well as UNICEF pro-grams in Jordan, and Abdalla Mhoul, an oud and voice instructor at QMA. In the final workshop, the group discussed breathing and singing techniques before taking part in a drum circle and analyzing the activity’s phys-iological and cognitive effects.

Dr Bendriss said, “Research has demonstrated conclusively that music therapy approaches can be extremely effective at treating an extremely wide range of conditions, particularly neu-rological conditions. Despite the MENA region having a rich musical culture and also a history of using music therapy, it is not widely practiced in the region today. With this certificate program we aim to equip local

healthcare professionals with a foundation of skills and knowledge so that they can use music therapy to help their patients.”

QMA Director Dr. Abdul Ghafour Al Heeti said: “In the past, QMA has been able to suc-cessfully collaborate with other entities on the subject of music therapy, and we hope to be able to include music therapy as a unit in our curriculum in the future. All of us at QMA are delighted to have been able to work with WCM-Q to share the gift of music and the extraordinary power it has to not only lift our mood and inspire us but also to bring comfort and healing to people who are unwell.”

The online modules of the course provided participants

with a foundation of knowledge in the anatomy of the brain and nervous system, basic music theory, music therapy for treatment of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, stress, depression and pain man-agement, music therapy in the Middle East, medical ethics, and instructions on how to refer, assess and write reports for patients undergoing music therapy.

The course, titled Certificate in the Fundamentals of Music Therapy, was accredited locally by the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners-Accred-itation Department (QCHP-AD) and internationally by the Accreditation Council for Con-tinuing Medical Education (ACCME).

Participants take part in a drumming exercise at a music therapy workshop held as a collaboration between Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar and Qatar Music Academy.

At QNL, experts discuss influence of football in politics and societyTHE PENINSULA — DOHA

A panel discussion between sporting greats at Qatar National Library addressed a subject close to the hearts of many. “Football: Beyond Sports” on February 10 highlighted the increasingly visible power of the politics of football.

A talk by Matthias Krug, author of Journey on a Football Carpet, traced the history of football in Qatar and the process of bidding for the FIFA World Cup 2022. He high-lighted how football wields considerable political influence today.

His talk was followed by a

lively panel discussion featuring Bora Milutinovic, the only man to have coached five nations at the FIFA World Cup, which explored the role of football in politics and society.

Rafael Garcia was among the participants at the event and said: “Coming from Spain, a football-crazy nation, we don’t

really see these kinds of events happening in public spaces. Bringing in football to a public space like a library makes it very accessible to everybody. With the World Cup coming to Qatar in two years, such discussions give a chance to people to see football from another point of view.”

The course covered topics such as music therapy for people with special needs, the history of music therapy in the Middle East and the West, how to tailor music therapy approaches to individual patients and the theory and practice of neurologic music therapy.

CROSSWORDCROSSWORD

Oh My Kadavule ( transl. Oh My God) is an upcoming 2020 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Ashwath Marimuthu on his directorial debut.

OH MY KADAVULE

MALL ROYAL PLAZA

Frozen II (2D/Comedy) 2:15pmBloodline (2D/Crime) 4:00pmAyyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 2:00, 6:00, 8:00, 11:00pmLove Aaj Kal (2D/Hindi) 9:00 & 11:30pmNaan Sirithal (2D/Tamil) 11:30pmSonic: The Hedgehog (2D/Action) 2:30, 4:15 & 7:30pmFantasy Island (2D/Comedy) 6:00 & 9:30pm Varane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 5:00pm

Varane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 11:30am & 5:30pm; Sonic: The Hedgehog (2D/Action) 11:45, 2:00, 4:15, 6:30, 8;45 & 11:00pm; Love Aaj Kal (2D/Hindi) 11:45, 5:15 & 11:15pm; Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 2:15, 8:15 & 11:30pm; World Famous Lover (Telugu) (2D/Malayalam) 2:15, 8:15pm

LANDMARK

AL KHOR

Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 12:30, 2:45, 3:45, 5:45, 7:00, 8:45, 10:00, 11:45pm, 1:30am, 2:45amWorld Famous Lover (Telugu) 2:15, 8:15pmVarane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 6:00, 9:00pm & 12:00amLove Aaj Kal (2D/Hindi) 6:30pmOh My Kadavule (2D/Tamil) 9:15pmNaan Sirithal (2D/Tamil) 12:30pm

ASIAN TOWN

ROXY

FLIK Mirqab Mall

Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 5:20, 11:35pmBad Boys For Life (2D/Action) 12:50, 3:15, 5:40, 8:05pm & 0:30amBloodline (2D/Crime) 9:00 & 11:00pmDolittle (2D/Comedy) 11:45am, 10:45am & 12:25pmFantasy Island (2D/Comedy) 12:40, 2:50, 5:00, 7:10, 9:20 & 11:40pm; Birds Of Prey (2D/Action) 10;15am, 12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 7:00, 9:10 & 11:20pm; Joker 11:55pmJumanji: The Next Level 1:45, 4:10, 6:35pmLove Aaj Kal (2D/Hindi) 2:30 & 8:40pmMiracle In Cell No.7 (2D/Hindi) 9:35pmOrdinary Love (2D/Drama) 10:55am, 1:50, 3:45, 5:45 & 7:40pmSonic: The Hedgehog (2D/Action) 10:20am, 11:30, 12;20, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 2:20, 4:20, 6:20, 7:20, 8:20, 9:30, 10:20, 11:30pm & 0:20amSpies in Disguise (2D/Animation) 10:25am & 11:50amThief Of Baghdad (2D/Arabic) 10:30pm

Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 11:00am, 2:30 & 10:30pm; Bad Boys For Life (2D/Action) 10:30pmBloodline (2D/Crime) 9:00 & 11:00pmDolittle (2D/Comedy) 12:45, 4:40 & 6:50pmFantasy Island (2D/Comedy) 1:30 & 8:00pmLatte And The Magic Waterstone (2D/Animation) 11:00am & 2:45pm; Oh My Kadavule (2D/Tamil) 7:30pm; Love Aaj Kal (2D/Hindi) 11:00am, 2:00 & 8:00pm; Sonic: The Hedgehog (2D/Action) 10:30am, 11:30, 12:30, 3:00, 3:40, 5:10, 5:50, 7:30, 9:00, 10:00 & 11:10pmVarane Avashyamund (2D/Malayalam) 5:00 & 10:50pm

Frozen II (2D/Comedy) 2:15pmSonic: The Hedgehog (2D/Action) 2:30 & 4:30pmAyyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 4:30, 8:30 & 11:30pmOrdinary Love (2D/Drama) 7:30pmFantasy Island (2D/Comedy) 9:15pmOh My Kadavule (2D/Tamil) 11:15pm

World Famous Lover (2D/Telugu) 2:00pmVarane Avashyamund (2D/Drama) 4:45pmFantasy Island (2D/Comedy) 7:30 & 9:30pmBloodline (2D/Crime) 11:30pmAyyappanum Koshiyum (2D/Malayalam) 2:00, 8:00, 8:30, 11:00 & 11:30pmSonic: The Hedgehog (2D/Action) 5:00 & 6:45pmLatte And The Magic Waterstone (2D/Animation) 2:15pmFrozen II (2D/Comedy) 3:45pmLove Aaj Kal (2D/Hindi) 5:30pm

20 THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2020MORNING BREAK

AFP — TOKYO

A 112-year-old Japanese man has been crowned the world’s oldest male, claiming that smiling is the key to longevity.

Chitetsu Watanabe, who was born on March 5, 1907 in Niigata, north of Tokyo, was officially given the title at his nursing home in the city, Guinness World Records said yesterday.

The previous record holder, Masazo Nonaka, also

Japanese, died last month at 112 years and 266 days.

Watanabe, who is married with five children, said the secret to longevity is to “not get angry and keep a smile on your face.”

He admitted a penchant for sweets such as custard pudding — but it appears to have done him no harm.

The oldest living person is also Japanese, Kane Tanaka, a 117-year-old woman.

Japan has one of the

world’s highest life expect-ancies and has been home to several people recognised as among the oldest humans to have ever lived.

They include Jiroemon Kimura, the longest-living man on record, who died soon after his 116th birthday in June 2013.

The oldest verified person ever — Jeanne Louise Calment of France — died in 1997 at the age of 122, according to Guinness.

In this picture released by Guinness World Records LTD, yesterday, Japanese Chitetsu Watanabe, aged 112, poses next to the calligraphy reading in Japanese ‘World Number One’ after he was awarded as the world’s oldest living male in Joetsu, Niigata prefecture.

World’s oldest man, aged 112, crowned in Japan

Wanted explorers: Nasa seeks next generation of astronautsAFP — HOUSTON

Wanted: The next generation of astronauts to walk on the Moon and journey to Mars.

You’ll need a relevant Mas-ter’s degree, be prepared to live and work 400km above Earth on the International Space Station, and be a US citizen.

Nasa announced yesterday it was seeking to boost its astronaut corps, which currently stands at 48 active personnel, as part of plans to dramatically expand its crewed space mis-sions in the coming years.

“We’re celebrating our 20th year of continuous presence aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in low-Earth orbit this year, and we’re on the verge of sending the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024,” said Nasa A d m i n i s t r a t o r J i m Bridenstine.

“For the handful of highly talented women and men we will hire to join our diverse astronaut corps, it’s an incredible time in human spaceflight to be an astronaut. We’re asking all eligible Amer-icans if they have what it takes to apply beginning March 2.”

The requirements for a Master’s degree in science, engineering or mathematics

(STEM) can also be met by being two years into a STEM PhD, or by being a test pilot, one of the most well-worn paths to the astronaut corps. A medical degree — or one in osteopathic medicine —also works.

The candidates will need at least two years’ professional experience, or, in the case of pilots, 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time. And, for the first time ever, candidates will be asked to complete a two-hour online test.

The process is competitive. The last class of 11 Nasa astro-nauts, which graduated in January, were picked from a record-breaking 18,000 applicants.

Their resumes are stellar: One of them, Jonny Kim, is an emergency physician and a veteran of 100 combat opera-tions with the Navy SEALs, where he earned a Silver Star. He also has a mathematics degree and doctorate in med-icine from Harvard.

Nasa expects to select the next class by mid-2021, and the candidates will then embark on a two-year training program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. It will include classes in spacewalking at Nasa’s underwater Neutral Buoyancy Lab, robotics, the

systems of the International Space Station and piloting the T-38 training jet, Russian lan-guage lessons, and the building blocks of the Artemis program to return to the Moon by 2024.

The privileged few will join the 500 or so people who have ventured into space, as Nasa looks to resume sending US astronauts to the ISS on private US rockets, go back to the Moon and head onward to Mars in the 2030s. Traditionally, about half of new recruits have come from the military, especially test pilots who fly dangerous experimental aircraft, including the likes of Alan Shepard, the first American in space and Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon.

And the pay? For civilian candidates, it starts at the 11th grade for federal workers at $53,800 to $70,000.

Meanwhile, the White House on Monday asked Con-gress for $25.2bn for Nasa in 2021, the agency's biggest budget in decades, calling for steady increases over five years to meet President Donald Trump's goal of landing astro-nauts on the moon and Mars.

The request would boost the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's budget by 12 percent for the fiscal year that starts on October. 1.

World Mobile Congress cancelled over coronavirus fearAFP — BARCELONA

Organisers of the World Mobile Congress said yesterday they have cancelled the world’s top mobile trade fair due to fears stemming from the coronavirus, following an exodus of industry heavyweights.

The mobile fair is one of the biggest events worldwide to be cancelled so far owing to the virus that has killed more than

1,100 people to date. The announcement came after the GSMA, the mobile trade associ-ation that organises the annual show, held a meeting to decide the fate of the event that had been planned to run in Bar-celona from February 24-27.

“The GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances,

make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event,” a statement said. It said the decision was made with “due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host country,” adding that host city parties understood the cancel-lation. Just hours before the meeting took place, Vodafone, Nokia, Deutsche Telekom, Brit-ain’s BT and Rakuten of Japan had pulled out, following in the

footsteps of Intel, Facebook, Cisco and China’s Vivo.

A source close to the event had said that organisers were wary of being left with a can-cellation bill of about $110m. They faced resistance from authorities about declaring a health emergency in Spain which would allow insurance to cover the costs. So far, Spain has only registered two con-firmed cases of infection. The

annual Barcelona-based con-gress normally draws more than 100,000 people, including between 5,000 and 6,000 par-ticipants from China, organisers say. But this year, participation has been hit by the viral out-break which has infected around 44,600 people.

The decision is certain to be a major blow for Barcelona, as the huge trade show was forecast to bring in almost 500

million euros, organisers said. “It’s the high point of the

year,” said Ignacio Arias, manager of the AC Som Mar-riott hotel which lies very close to the venue where the con-ference has been held since 2006. “During the four days of the congress, the hotel is fully occupied with the highest rates of the year. There’s no other week like it,” he said, with his words echoed by fellow hoteliers.

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