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BUSINESS | 11 SPORT | 17
Volume 22 | Number 7117 | 2 RiyalsFriday 31 March 2017 | 3 Rajab 1438 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com
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Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani has received a written message from Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pertaining to the brotherly relations and means of enhancing them. The message was delivered by the Saudi Ambassador to Qatar, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Aifan, during a meeting with the Prime Minister yesterday.
PM receives message from Saudi Crown Prince
Palestinian demonstrators try to remove a section of the Israeli barrier fence during a protest marking the 'Land Day' in the West Bank city of Beit Jala, yesterday.
Palestinians mark Land Day
The Peninsula
In a unique move, Qatar Airways (QA) is offering a laptop loan service to Business Class passengers of its US- bound flights as
a solution to the recently imposed electronics ban.
US recently barred passen-gers from eight countries travelling to the US from car-rying laptops, tablets and other large electronic devices as hand baggage.The airports affected by the ban are Cairo, Istanbul, Kuwait, Doha, Casablanca (Morocco) Amman (Jordan) Riy-adh, Jeddah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Qatar Airways said yester-day that it is the only airline to offer passengers a replacement laptop on all flights to the US in response to the electronics ban.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said: "By providing this laptop loan service we can ensure that our
passengers on flights to the US can continue to work while on-board. This unique ability to offer ‘business as usual’, above and beyond the competition, is yet another example of Qatar Airways justification for being the ‘World’s Best Business Class."
“Whilst other airlines have relied on their existing on board offering to comfort passengers we have not rested until we could offer a true solution to our passengers.The launch of Qsuite, our new business class product just this month, and other announcements soon to come, are testament to our ongoing passion for providing the absolute best for our cus-tomers,” he added.
The complimentary laptops will be available to Business Class passengers travelling on all US-bound flights from next week and can be collected after boarding.
→ Continued on page 2
Agencies
The number of refugees who have fled the war in Syria now exceeds five million
with millions more displaced internally, according to the UN.
Syrians have poured across their borders since anti-govern-ment protests in 2011 spiralled into a full-blown conflict between rebels, government troops, and foreign backers.
The first three months of 2017 saw more than 250,000 additional Syrians register as refugees bringing the total to 5.1 million, the UN's refugee agency UNHCR said on its website,
without providing an explana-tion for the apparent surge.
"It's not about the number, it's about the people," said UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch, noting the conflict had now lasted longer than World War II. "We're trying to look for understanding, solidarity and humanity."
Turkey continues to host the highest number of Syrians displaced by the conflict - nearly three million people. It saw an increase of 47,000 more refugees since February, Baloch said.
The five-million milestone came a year to the day after
UNHCR asked other countries to start resettling at least 10 per-cent of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees. So far only 250,000 places have been offered.
"We're asking for more legal pathways for Syrians to travel to other countries so that they don't end up dying in the seas like in the Mediterranean," said Baloch.
The total number of Syrian refugees abroad stood at 4.6 mil-lion at the end of 2015 and rose to 4.85 million by the end of last year, according to the agency's data. The agency estimated another 6.3 million people have
been internally displaced.Lebanon has more than one
million Syrian refugees, while Jordan has 657,000, with others spread across Iraq, Egypt and other North African countries.
Meanwhile, a Syrian man set himself on fire at a migrant camp on the Greek island of Chios yes-terday in despair over his bid to gain asylum, the Greek news agency ANA reported.
Video footage, posted on Twitter by the BBC's Greece cor-respondent, showed a young man holding a petrol can and addressing camp residents, and then catching fire as a policeman approached.
QNA
EMIR H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday sent cable of condolences to Pres-ident of the United Arab Emirates, H H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, on the death of Deputy Ruler of Fujairah, Sheikh Hamad bin Saif Al Sharqi, pray-ing to Allah Almighty to bless him and grant his family and loved ones patience and solace. Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani and Prime Minister and Inte-rior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Kha-lifa Al Thani have also sent similar cables.
Syrian refugees exceed 5 million: UN
Price of Diesel for a litre. It was QR1.55 in March.Source: Ministry of Energy and Industry.
QR1.70
QR1.60
QR1.60
Price of super grade petrol for a litre.
Price of premium grade petrol for a litre.
DIESEL UP BY 5 DIRHAMS
Emir condoles with UAE President and Fujairah Ruler
Qatar Airways offers laptops on US flights
The Peninsula
The new fuel price list issued by the Ministry of Energy and Indus-
try has brought relief to motorists, as the prices of petrol wi l l remain unchanged next month.
However, the prices of diesel will increase by five dirhams from April 1.
The prices of super and premium grade petrol in April will remain the same as that of March.
The price of super and premium grade petrol will remain at QR1.70 (per litre) and QR1.60, respectively.
Diesel will cost QR1.60 in April, 5 dirhams more than the March price of QR1.55, as per the list published by the Ministry.
In March the prices of petrol increased by 5 dirhams in comparison to the previous month. In
February it was QR1.55 for super grade petrol and QR1.65 for premium grade petrol.
The ministry posted the prices on its website in line with the decision to review fuel prices every month, based on international prices.
In April last year, the Ministry of Energy and Industry announced that it will start pegging the fuel prices to the interna-tional market.
When the first list was announced in June 2016, the premium petrol was QR1.20 per litre and super was QR1.30 per litre.
At the same t ime period diesel was QR1.40 per litre.
From June 2016 to April 2017, the price of super and premium grade petrol has increased by 40 dirhams and diesel by 20 dirhams.
No change to petrol prices in April
The Peninsula
The Meteorology Department has forecast a significant rise in temperature tomorrow
and on Sunday, going much above the average for the month of April.
This sudden increase has been attributed to the presence
of south-easterly to south west-erly winds, which would blow in warmer air from the south.
The weather bureau expects the maximum temperatures to go over mid 30s in most areas. The temperature will be a little less in coastal areas , close to the sea due to sea breeze
phenomenon, the bureau said. The average maximum temper-ature for Doha during April is 32 Degrees. The weather would be hazy today with scattered clouds and weak chance of light rain in some areas. The day would be relatively hotter along with blowing dust.
Mercury to soar from tomorrow
The complimen-tary laptops will be available to Business Class passengers travelling on all US-bound flights from next week and can be collected after boarding.
East
02 FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017HOME
Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah met yesterday with Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah, Deputy Minister of National Defence, Chief of Staff of People's National Army in Algeria. The Minister of State for Defence Affairs who is currently on a visit to Algeria, is leading a military delegation. During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations, bilateral military cooperation and means of developing them, as well as a number of issues of mutual interest.
Al Attiyah meets Algerian Deputy Minister
Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani participated yesterday in the 142nd session of the GCC Ministerial Council at the headquarters of the GCC General Secretariat in Riyadh.
Foreign Minister attends GCC Ministerial Council sessionQR1.5m for winners of Quran contest
The Peninsula
The Cultural Village Foundation-Katara h a s l a u n c h e d ‘Katara’s Award for Reciting the Holy
Quran’, a new award worth QR1.5m aimed at upholding the culture and religion of the Arab world.
This award seeks to encour-age, discover and recognise outstanding talents who can read and recite the Holy Quran in a tone that meets the require-ments laid out in the recitation rules of the holy book.
Katara General Manager, Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, said, “This award is a new ini-tiative by Katara aimed to enhance and emphasise the importance of reciting the Holy Quran within the community. In addition, the award will encourage and motivate the upcoming generations to adhere to their religion by turn-ing to the Holy Quran to fully understand and follow authen-
tic Islamic values.” He added, “Through this
latest annual competition, we recognise outstanding individ-uals by giving them an opportunity to showcase and present their talents to the world. Reciters will be awarded the title of “The Best Reciter” depending on certain specifi-cations announced by the committee concerned.”
Al Sulaiti explained that Katara has allocated five prizes worth QR1.5m. The first place winner wil l receive QR500,000; second place QR400,000, third place QR300,000; fourth place QR200,000 and fifth place QR100,000.
The first-place winner will also be given the opportunity to record his recitation of the Holy Quran on a CD to be pro-duced and recorded in Katara’s studios.
General Supervisor of the award, Khalid Al Sayed, said, “The initiative ‘Katara’s Award for Reciting the Holy Quran’ will start registration on April 1. Interested participants can fill out an online form at www.kataraquran.com. The contest is for male participants aged 18 years old and above. Partici-pants are expected to possess excellent knowledge of the eti-quette of proper recitation of the Holy Quran, along with the perfect pitch and tone for rec-itation. Islamic preachers, Arabic and Islamic teachers, broadcasters on various media channels, and winners of sim-ilar awards are not eligible to participate in this contest.”
Films mix with food at QIFF The Peninsula
Doha Film Institute (DFI) yesterday kicked off its open air film screenings
at the eighth Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) with the showing of short documenta-ries on a large screen at the Hotel Park.
Hundreds of festival-goers viewed the documentaries for free as part of The International Short Film Programme which will screen again on Wednes-day. The films included A Day In India- A Perennial Plate by Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine, The Heart Followers by Tord Theo-dor Olsen, Making Za’atar by Leen Al Zaben, Riceballs by Shingo Usami, Alimation by Alexandre Dubosc, and Yum Yum Yummy by Gwendoline Gamboa.
An eclectic selection of 13
family-friendly films is in store for QIFF visitors every evening at 7pm until April 7. The pro-gramme includes two feature films, the Made in Qatar Short Film Programme and the Inter-nat ional Short F i lm Programme.
Screenings of the crowd-sourced film initiative by DFI and Qatar Tourism Authority Dari Qatar by Ahmad Al Sharif will take place tomorrow and on Tuesday and Oscar winning Kiki’s Delivery Service feature film by Hayao Miyazaki tonight and on Thursday.
The Made in Qatar Short Film Programme on Sunday and on April 7 includes screenings of The Palm Tree by Jassim Al Rumaihi, Makh’bz by Aisha Al Muhannadi, Rain by Rahab Ele-waly, Shishbarak by Bayan Dahdah and Hero and the Mes-sage by Pawel Borowski. Apart
from DFI’s film screenings, Siraj-Qatar Foundation's new 3D animation 'edutainment' TV series-is also being shown at the festival every day. In addition, there are daily stage perform-ances by Baraem characters organised by Jeem TV.
The Cultural Zone also teems with entertainment as artistes from Ethiopia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, USA and Qatar stage cultural perform-ances every day.
Cooking enthusiasts flock to the Main Zone where some of the world’s top chefs are presenting live cooking demonstrations at QIFF Cooking Theatre including Food Network’s Andy Bates and Graham Elliot.
Other features at this year’s festival are the QIFF Farm which takes visitors through a food journey from farm to fork.
Taste of music: German musicians add to flavourThe Peninsula
The German Embassy and the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region have
brought German musicians and entertainers to enrich this year’s Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF).
In its eighth edition, the festival organised by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) focuses on cultural diversity and home-grown culinary talent.
Hassan Al Ibrahim, Chief Tourism Development Officer at QTA, said: “QIFF, now in its eighth annual edition, creates a shared space where the nation’s local heritage and multiculturalism is celebrated through food. Through culi-nary expressions, residents and visitors are invited to explore and exchange cul-t u r a l , s o c i a l , a n d entertainment experiences.
“In addition to food, we are delighted to have Ger-many represented through a host of German musicians, artists and performers who are taking part in QIFF under the umbrella of the Qatar Germany 2017 Year of Cul-ture. We welcome them to savour the flavours of Qatar and enjoy a taste of our coun-try’s warm hospitality.”
German Ambassador Hans-Udo Muzel, said: “Let me welcome you to this year’s Qatar International Food Fes-tival that has strong German participation in our Qatar Germany 2017 Year of Cul-ture. “Besides the possibility to try some German delica-cies at the German stand we are proud to announce the musical by-program offered by ‘Niederbayerischer Musikantenstammtisch’.
Qatar gives funds for renovating IAEA labVienna
QNA
Qatar's Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the
International Organizations in Vienna, Sheikh Ali bin Jas-sim Al Thani met with the Director General of Interna-tional Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, and his Deputy for Nuclear Sci-ences and Applications, Aldo Malavasi.
During the meeting, Sheikh Al Thani handed over to Amano a cheque of ¤300,000, which represents Qatar's contribution to the renovation of IAEA laboratory in Seibersdorf near the city of Vienna.
The cost of the renovation project is more than ¤30m.
Ministry releases revamped bus mapThe Peninsula
The Ministry of Transport and Communications has released a revamped bus
map — a new and more inform-ative map that will not only help residents to see all information about current bus services, but also improve their interaction with other future public transit services planned for Qatar.
The Ministry hopes that simple and user-friendly pub-lic transport information sources are vital to promote, enhance and influence public transport travel behaviour.
The revamped map is one of the several initiatives defined in the Qatar Public Transport Programme (QPTP) that is cur-rently being implemented. The Ministry is committed to deliv-ering an overhaul of current bus services and, in this, QPTP will fully integrate with other mul-timodal transport systems
planned for Qatar, thus sup-porting national economic and social development and provid-ing seamless travel experience and in turn realising the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The new map can be eas-ily accessed through various channels including the Minis-try’s website www.motc.gov.qa and Mowasalat’s. The map will also be available at bus stations, bus stop shelters and onboard the buses in order to help passengers get around Qatar smoothly.
This map is one of multiple initiatives being carried out to revolutionise how public trans-port is perceived across Qatar.
Big steps have been taken in the process of improving Qatar’s public transit services with the number of public buses hitting 250 in 2016, covering 51 routes, in addition to allocating some 17 areas of land for devel-oping bus-related facilities.
Recitation skills
Reciters will be awarded the title of “The Best Reciter” depending on certain specifications announced by the committee concerned.
Katara has decided to hand out five prizes worth QR1.5m.
One hour of free Wi-Fi on QA flights to USContinued from page 1
Customers will be able to download their work on to a USB before stepping on board to pick up where they left-off.
Qatar Airways is offering a spe-cial service at the gate for all passengers, whereby any elec-tronic items prohibited by the new ban will be collected and securely packaged.
These will be tagged, loaded as check-in baggage and returned safely to the customer on arrival
to the US. Once on board, passen-gers have a choice of over 3,000 entertainment options on the award-winning in-flight entertain-ment system, dedicated kids activity packs in partnership with Hasbro, luxury amenity kits, a sea-sonal menu and snack bar, are able to browse the on board magazines and newspapers, enjoy the lie-flat beds in Business Class and utilise the complimentary Wi-Fi on all flights.
In another move to guarantee
the comfort and productivity of all passengers on board US-bound flights Qatar Airways is providing one hour of free Wi-Fi for all pas-sengers and a special Wi-Fi package of US$5 to stay connected for the duration of the whole flight.
When most people’s smart phones will be the only device they can take on-board this generous offer will ensure passengers can stay connected and stay entertained.
Ashghal diversion on 7.8km stretch of Mesaieed RoadThe Peninsula
The Public Works Authority, Ashghal, will divert a 7.8 kilometre section of Mesaieed Road onto a parallel route to enable the
construction of an additional four-lane car-riageway between Al Wakra and Mesaieed.
The proposed road change, which will start five kilometres south of Al Wakra, has been designed in coordination with the General Directorate of Traffic. The northbound and southbound lanes will be shifted in two phases,
commencing tomorrow, with an expected operation period of 12 months.
The four additional lanes are being con-structed as part of the New Orbital Highway and Truck Route project and, on completion, will double the vehicle capacity on Mesaieed Road. The minor road change will divert road users heading in each direction between Al Wakra and Mesaieed onto permanent paral-lel routes. There will be no change to the existing exit points and loop ramps on the roundabout 10 kilometres south of Al Wakra.
03FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA
Amman Declaration
The Amman Declaration, stressed importance on continuing efforts by Arab leaders to re-launch serious and effective Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations that shall end political blockage.
Amman
Agencies
The 28th ordinary ses-sion of the Arab League Summit that concluded here on Wednesday, issued a
message to the world emphasis-ing importance of adhering to Arab peace initiative, rejection of foreign interference in Arab affairs and boosting Arab coop-eration in combating terrorism.
The Amman Declaration, stressed importance on contin-uing efforts by Arab leaders to re-launch effective Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations that shall end political blockage and follow a specific timetable for ending the conflict on the basis of a two-state solution.
The summit, voiced rejection of all unilateral Israeli measures aimed at altering legal and
historical situation in the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jeru-salem, calling for full implementation of relevant international legitimacy resolu-tions, most recently UN Security Council Resolutions 2334 in 2016 that condemned Israeli settle-ment and confiscation of lands.
In its final declaration, the summit stressed support for
outputs of the Paris conference on Middle East peace, which was held on January 15 and reiterated inter-national society’s commitment to two-state solution, which brings about a Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The declaration also called for implementation of all Secu-rity Council resolutions on Jerusalem, which considers all Israeli measures null and void and aimed at changing the fea-tures and identity of East Jerusalem, demanding that all world’s embassies not transfer to Jerusalem or to recognise it as the capital of Israel.
The declaration also stressed on the need to implement the decision of UNESCO Executive Council issued at the 200th ses-sion on October 18, 2016, which calls for an end to Israeli viola-tions against Al Aqsa Mosque and
to recognise the management of Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque Waqf as the “sole legal author-ity” administration and maintenance.
It stressed that peace remains a strategic Arab option as envisioned in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which is most comprehensive plan that is capa-ble of achieving historic peace.
The statement also voiced the Arab countries’ deep concern of mounting Islamophobia and attempts to link terrorism with Islam, saying such attempts serve terrorist groups which have nothing to do with Islam and its tolerant teachings. The statement said Arab countries will mobilise all resources to fight terrorism and defeat ter-rorists on all fronts be they military or ideological. It added that terrorism must be uprooted to defend Islam and the values
of tolerance, peace and respect of life. On Syria, the statement said Arab countries will inten-sify efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis, in order to achieve the aspirations of the Syrian people, preserve the unity of Syria, protect its sover-eignty and independence and eradicate all terrorist groups.
As for Yemen, the statement renewed support for the Arab coalition’s efforts aimed at sup-porting the legitimate leadership in this Arab country and end its crisis based on the GCC initiative.
On Iraq, the statement reaf-firmed that Iraq’s security, stability, cohesion and territorial integrity are cornerstones of regional security and stability, pledging full support to that Arab country in its efforts to eliminate terrorist gangs and recapture the city of Mosul from the ISIS group,
Petra news agency reported.On Libya, the statement
stressed the need to achieve secu-rity and political stability in the North African Arab nation through a national reconciliation that is based on the Skhirat agreement in order to preserve the country’s territorial unity and cohesion.
Additionally, the statement condemned violence and human rights violations against Myan-mar’s Muslim Rohingya minority, urging the international commu-nity to act and put an end to such violations.
The final declaration empha-sized that Arab countries remain keen on having good-neighbour-liness and cooperation with regional countries to serve peace, security and development in the region. It voiced rejection of all attempts designed to destabilize the region and foment sectarian strife.
Ankara
AFP
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said yesterday the fate of President
Bashar al-Assad was up to the people of Syria, in the clearest indication yet of the new admin-istration’s policy in the war-torn country.
He also insisted during a visit to Turkey there was no differ-ence between Ankara and Washington over fight against the Islamic State group, even as his Turkish counterpart reiter-ated a key point of discord.
“I think the... longer term sta-tus of president Assad will be decided by the Syrian people,” Tillerson told a news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Under Barack Obama’s administration, the US made Assad’s departure a key policy goal, but new President Donald Trump has put the accent firmly
on defeating IS in Syria and Iraq.Tillerson’s trip comes the
day after Turkey announced the end of “Euphrates Shield”, its own military offensive in northern Syria launched in August, but did not say if its
troops had been withdrawn.Ties between the Nato allies
were strained under Obama, par-ticularly over US cooperation with the Syrian Kurdish militia fighting against IS, and the issue of a US-based Turkish preacher blamed
by Ankara for orchestrating the attempted coup last year.
Ankara views the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as a “terror group” linked to Kurdish separatists waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984, but Washing-ton regards them as the best force fighting IS. Turkey has sug-gested it wants to join any operation to capture Raqa, but without the Kurdish militia.
Tillerson hailed Turkey as a “key partner” in the fight against IS jihadists. “There’s no space between Turkey and the US and our commitment to defeat Daesh, to defeat ISIS,” he added, using other names for IS.
He said options to defeat IS “anywhere Daesh shows its face” were difficult.
“What we discussed today were options that are available to us... These are not easy deci-sions. There are difficult choices that have to be made,” Tillerson said, without elaborating.
However, Cavusoglu said Ankara expected “better coop-eration” with the Trump administration regarding the YPG. “It is not good or realistic to work with a terror group while fighting another terror group,” he said.
Numerous diplomatic efforts have failed to end the Syrian conflict, which has killed more than 320,000 people and dis-placed millions since it erupted in March 2011 with protests against Assad’s regime.
A fifth round of UN-spon-sored peace talks is taking place in Geneva but no breakthrough has been reported and they are scheduled to end today.
Tillerson during his visit, also met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for over two hours and held talks with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
Yildirim’s office said he and Tillerson discussed the next steps that should be taken for Gulen’s return to Turkey.
Dubai
AFP
A BAHRAINI court yesterday sentenced three Shia Muslims to jail and stripped them of their citizenship over terror-ism-related charges, as the Gulf kingdom toughens its stance against dissent.
One of the defendants was jailed for 15 years while the two others were sen-tenced to 10 years in prison each, said a judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The three were found guilty of forming a terrorist cell and receiving Iranian funding aimed at destabilis-ing Bahrain, the source said.
They were also convicted of training with Iraq’s Ketaeb Hezbollah, one of the main groups in that country’s Hashed Al Shaabi umbrella organisation.
Since the outbreak of pro-tests in Bahrain, Sunni authorities have accused Shia Iran of mobilising anti-gov-ernment protests among the country’s majority Shia pop-ulation. Iran has consistently denied involvement.
Yesterday's trial came a day after two Shias were handed death sentence and 20 others jailed in connection with a 2015 bombing that killed two police officers in Sitra, south of the capital Manama.
A Bahraini court last week sentenced three people to death over another string of bombings that targeted police patrols in the majority-Shiite village of Kurayat, west of Manama.
Johannesburg
AFP
South African President Jacob Zuma has vowed to sack his respected finance
minister, a government coalition party confirmed yesterday, in a move which could split the Afri-can National Congress (ANC).
Zuma has been at logger-heads with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan for months, and this week abruptly ordered him to return home from a foreign investment trip as speculation rose of a dramatic political showdown.
Gordhan is supported by sev-eral senior ministers and many international investors, as well as
being widely admired by ordinary South Africans and veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle.
He has campaigned for con-trolled spending and against corruption, but Zuma’s allies have accused him of thwarting the president’s desire to enact “radical economic transforma-tion” tackling racial inequality.
“The president informed us of his intention to affect a cabinet reshuffle replacing both the min-ister and deputy minister of finance,” Solly Mapaila, of South African Communist Party (SACP), told reporters in Johannesburg.
“We recorded our objection to the intended reshuffle.”
Zuma met with the SACP, which is a junior coalition
partner of the dominant ANC, on Monday. Gordhan’s fate has become a battleground over the future of the ANC, which Nelson Mandela led in the fight against apartheid and when it won the country’s first democratic elec-tions in 1994.
Zuma is due to step down as head of the party in December, ahead of the 2019 general elec-tion. He is seen as favouring his ex-wife, former African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to succeed him ahead of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“The battle for control of ANC will... culminate in defeat of Cyril Ramaphosa, Gordhan and their faction at the December confer-ence,” the Eurasia consultancy
predicted in a briefing note.“This group is then very
likely to split off from the ANC in a possible major realignment of South African politics.”
Zuma’s planned sacking of Gordhan may have been put on hold due to death of celebrated anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada, 87, on Tuesday.
Kathrada was a fierce critic of Zuma, and his funeral became something of a rally against the president, who did not attend at the request of the family. Gord-han was given a standing ovation at the event. In December 2015, Zuma unexpectedly sacked finance minister Nhlanhla Nene and replaced him with a little-known lawmaker.
Addis Ababa
AFP
ETHIOPIA’S parliament yes-terday approved a four month extension of a state of emer-gency that was first imposed in October to quell nearly a year of anti-government protests.
“The House unanimously voted to extend the state of emergency,” said a report carried by state media.
Defence Minister Siraj Fegessa said the “extension is needed so as to take prevail-ing relatively good peace and security situations to the point of no return,” the Fana Broad-casting Corporate reported.
Prime Minister Hailemar-iam Desalegn declared a six-month state of emergency in October after months of protests in different parts of the country that were met with a strong security response that killed hun-dreds, according to human rights groups.
The protesters also tar-geted foreign farms and businesses, especially in Oro-mia region close to the capital where unrest began in Novem-ber 2015. A key complaint of the protesters is the domination of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front party, in power since 1991
Arab Summit rejects foreign intervention
Assad’s fate up to Syrian people: Tillerson
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) shaking hands with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, yesterday.
Bahrain jails and revokes three of citizenship
Zuma plans to sack finance minister: AllyEthiopia state of emergency extended by four months
UN chief presses leaders to reconcile after Mosul winBaghdad
Reuters
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres yesterday urged Iraq’s
leaders to reconcile the coun-try’s religious communities once Islamic State is defeated in Mosul, the last major Iraqi city under the militants’ control.
Guterres, who met Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, made his trip as aid agencies struggle to cope with an exodus of resi-dents from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city. He said protecting civilians was an “absolute priority”.
He called on Iraq’s leaders
to build “a State in which all communities respect each other and reconciliation becomes something natural”, according to a UN statement.
Iraq’s Sunni Arabs resent the control of Shia majority over state bodies including military, established after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
IS overran about a third of Iraq in 2014, benefiting from the Sunni-Shia rift that weakened the army.
Iraqi forces have won back control of most cities that fell to the ultra-hardline Sunni group, and have been battling to recap-ture Mosul since October, with the
backing of a U.S.-led coalition.The militants have been dis-
lodged from nearly three quarters of the city but they remain in control of the densely populated old centre.
Antonio Guterres called on Iraq’s leaders to build “a State in which all communities respect each other and reconciliation becomes something natural”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (centre) being welcomed at Baghdad's international airport, yesterday.
04 FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017ISLAM
SpiritualityThe Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘Wealth does not come from having great riches; (true) wealth is contentment of the soul.’ (Sahîh Bukhârî, Sahîh Muslim)
CognizanceThe Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘The similitude of the one who contemplates his Lord versus the one who does not is that of the living versus the dead.’ (Sahîh Bukhârî, Sahîh Muslim)
SincerityThe Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Actions will be judged according to their intentions.’ (Sahîh Bukhârî, Sahîh Muslim)
MercyThe Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Show mercy to those on earth so that He who is in heaven will have mercy on you.’ (Sunan Al Tirmidhî)
GentlenessThe Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Whoever is deprived of gentleness is deprived of all good.’ (Sahîh Muslim)
Forgiveness
The Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Whoever suffers an injury done to him and forgives (the person responsible) , Allah will raise his status to a higher degree and remove one of his sins.’ (Sunan Al Tirmidhî)
VirtueThe Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well, and that if they do wrong you will do wrong. Instead, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong if they do evil.’ (Sunan Al Tirmidhî)
SAYINGS OF THE PROPHET
Dr Mamadou Bocoum
The Quran advocates many val-ues that shape one’s intellectual and spiritual journey to God; but most importantly, these values also enable adherents to
be more tolerant as they consider them-selves vicegerent of God.
Unfortunately, it appears that some Muslims do not give due consideration to these values. Following are some val-ues that the Quran highlights related to the value of life, respecting differences; justice and forgiveness.
When your Lord said to the angels, “I am appointing someone as my dep-uty on earth,” they said (almost protesting), “Are you going to appoint one who will commit corruption and bloodshed therein, even though we (are the ones who) commemorate Your Name and glorify You?” The Lord said, “I know that which you do not know”. (Quran 2:30).
I find this passage from the Quran extremely important. It helps me appre-ciate mankind but also my journey towards understanding God and his relationship with mankind. For instance, the verse indicates that mankind enjoys the most privileged state amongst all God’s creations. Furthermore, the verse tells us that mankind is God’s viceroy on earth. God could have chosen the angels (but he seemingly rebuked them) or other beings but did not.
Humans occupy a unique position in the divine scheme of things, and safe-guarding the sanctity of life is paramount. It is for this reason that the Quran considers murder one of the greatest sins. The Quran informs Mus-lims that murdering one person is akin to murdering all mankind; but helping to preserve individual life is the equiv-alent of helping to preserve the life of all humankind.
If anyone kills a person not in retal-iation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land – it would be as if he kills all mankind, and if anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saves the life of all mankind. And indeed, there came to them Our Messengers with clear proofs, evidences, and signs, even then after that many of them continued to exceed the limits (e.g. by doing oppres-sion unjustly and exceeding beyond the limits set by God by committing the major sins) in the land!. (Quran. 5:32).
Indeed, if murder was a customary practice among humankind, it would not take long for the human race to van-ish into extinction. Here the Quran informs Muslims that the survival of all humankind depends on everyone respecting and protecting others. One concludes from this noble verse that we are an interdependent species and our survival and prosperity is dependent on the value we place on the lives of others.
Respecting difference in the Quran, including difference of belief Diversity, especially in the sense of difference of belief, is part of divine will. The Quran helps me to understand and appreciate this fact quite well as it states the fol-lowing verses.
And if your Lord had willed, He could have made [all] mankind one commu-nity; but they will not cease to differ. (Quran 11:118)
And had your God willed, those on earth would have believed all of them entirely. Then, would you compel the people in order that they become believ-ers? (Quran 10:99).
O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you into diverse nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you (Quran 49:13).
Looking at these verses one can see
that God in fact wills mankind to be diverse including differences in beliefs. I personally find this extremely impor-tant. These verses clearly stand against any Muslim who proselytises and holds Islam as the only true faith and sees other religions as null, or sees people of non faith as irrelevant. Conversion is God’s work, and he willed that all man-kind would not exist in a single community or hold one identical mes-sage. Even Mohammed did not have the power to convert people to Islam but Mohammed was rather asked to con-vey the message for conversion as one of the above quoted verses indicate is God’s work. God wills human difference and Muslims ought to see this difference as being part of the moral teaching of the Quran.
O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God; even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor,
God is a better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you may avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, God is ever well acquainted with what you do. (Quran 4:135).
O you who have believed, be persist-ently standing firm for God , witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear God; indeed, God is acquainted with what you do.
(Quran 5:8).Arguably, it is almost impossible to
enjoy or appreciate any values or even the meaning of life in the absence of jus-tice. Hence why the concept of justice is paramount in the teaching of the Quran.
As the above verses demonstrate, God commands Muslims to be just and practice justice wherever they are in spite of how difficult the situation may
prove. Furthermore, the Quran makes the call for righteous behaviour and the practice of justice between Muslims; but also to follow the above when dealing with non-Muslims. To not follow this path is to go against the teaching of the Quran.
The value of forgiveness, widely associated with Christianity, can play a central role in a Muslim’s spiritual jour-ney towards God. Hence it would be just and fair to conclude this short chapter with quotes from the Quran.
Those who spend [charity] in pros-perity and in adversity, who repress anger, and who forgive men; verily, God loves the good doers (Quran.3:134).
And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [bad] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend. (Quran 41:34)
www.islamcity.org
Values to live by according to the Quran
“When My slaves ask you about me, tell them I am near; I respond to the call of the caller when he calls upon Me…” (Holy Quran 2: 186)
Why then has my dua (sup-plication) not been answered?!
Below is a translated conversa-tion that Ibn Al Jawzi (d. 597H), a legendary spiritual cardiologist, and arguably the most prolific author in the history of Islam, had with himself regarding dua. It has forever clung in my psyche, reflect-ing how their blessed lives and immortal impact stemmed directly from making time to sharpen their reliance on Allah, and polish their good assumptions of Him. He says:
“One time, I was struck by a particular hardship, and I made profuse dua appealing for comfort and a way out. The response from Allah was delayed, and so my soul was consumed by worry and anx-iety. I shouted at it, ‘What is with you?! Think of your condition; are you an owner or one that is owned? Are you a planner or one that is planned for? Don’t you know that this worldly life is but a land of tri-als and tribulations? If you request your wants, and are not patient with whatever outcomes don’t match your preferences, then where is the test? Are trials anything except the denial and opposition of one’s desires? Realise what it means to be accountable, and only then will the hardships become eased, and only then will the calamities appear trivial.’ When my soul thought over
what I said, its panic slightly sub-sided. I then told it, ‘And I have another answer; you demand from Allah your wants, yet don’t demand from yourself its duties, and that is the epitome of ignorance. What is more appropriate is the very oppo-site; since you are owned by Him, the sound-minded slaves demand from themselves the rights of the master and know that the master is not obligated to fulfil the slave’s wishes.’
My soul calmed more than it had before. I then told it, ‘And I have a third answer; you are the one who delayed the response and blockaded its path with your sins. Had you opened the roads, it would have been hastened upwards. It’s as if you don’t know that the ingredi-ent for comfort is taqwa (being observant of Allah). Have you not heard His words, the Exalted, ‘And whomever has the taqwa of Allah, He will make a way out for him, and provide for him,’ and ‘whomever has the taqwa of Allah, He will place for him ease in his affairs’? Don’t you understand that the opposite of taqwa results in the opposite? Oh, how the drunkenness of being heed-less prevents the water from reaching the lands of our wishes.’
My soul then knew that this was truth, so it became calm. I then told it, ‘And I have a fourth answer; you are asking for that which you are unaware of its aftermath. Per-haps you are requesting that which will harm you. The example of you is that of a fevered child asking for sweets, while your caretaker is
more aware of what benefits. How not, when He has said, ‘And per-haps you hate a thing, and it is better for you…’’ When the correct (perception) ultimately crystallised for my soul with this answer, its calmness further increased. I then told it, ‘And I have a fifth answer; your request subtracts from your reward and lowers from your sta-tus, so His depriving you is in fact a gift from Him to you. Had you requested what would amend your Hereafter instead, this would be better for you. And it is better for you that you understand what I have explained.’ My soul said back, ‘I have strolled through the gardens of your explanations and finally understood.’”
Similarly, Ibrahim bin Adham (d. 162H) was once asked why we feel stranded with our dua (sup-plication), not receiving any response for it. He said,
“It is because you know Allah but not obey Him, you know the Messenger but do not follow his
Sunnah (example), you know the Quran but do not live in accordance to it, you consume the favours of Allah without thanking Him, you know Paradise but do not seek it, you know the Hell-fire but do not flee from it, you know Satan but you comply instead of defy him, you know death but do not prepare for it, you bury the deceased but do not take a lesson from it, and you ignore your faults and preoccupy yourself with the faults of others.”
In today’s fast-paced world, the greatest treasure we fumble is our perception of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala (glorified and exalted be He). Our age of instant-gratification has produced a sense of entitlement in us all. Its ugliest manifestation is the increased denial of God altogether, but for the Muslims: it’s the fact that we wonder if God is with us, not whether we are with Him, and why He doesn’t answer our call, not why we don’t answer His call.
Countering this mutated men-tality is simple, but requires a commitment to change and seri-ous planning. In essence, it’s a mission that summarises the believer’s life journey: bridging the gap between what we know and what we practice. As we do that, this weakness (that feeling of hypocrisy) begins to leave us, both in our perceptions (of Allah and ourselves) and our behaviour. That is how we tap into our potential strength, activate our dua, and become the change our bleeding ummah direly awaits. Let’s get started, shall we?
Unanswered supplications
It is almost impossible to enjoy or appreciate any values or even the meaning of life in the absence of justice. Hence, why the concept of justice is paramount in the teaching of the Quran. God commands Muslims to be just and do justice wherever they are in spite of how difficult the situation may prove.
You know Allah but not obey Him, you know the Messenger (PBUH) but do not follow his Sunnah, you know the Quran but do not live in accordance to it, you consume the favours of Allah without thanking Him.
05FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017 ASIA
South Korea Court to decide on Park's arrestSeoul
Reuters
A South Korean judge was expected to deliberate into the early hours today
whether to arrest ousted presi-dent Park Geun-hye, the country's first democratically elected leader to be thrown from office, in a corruption scandal that has dominated politics for months.
Park, who could become the South Korea's third former leader to be jailed, is accused of colluding with a close friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure big businesses to contribute to now-defunct foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.
She gave about eight hours of testimony at Seoul Central District Court yesterdat and was
being held at the prosecutors' office next door while the judge studied evidence and arguments to rule on whether to an issue an arrest warrant.
"The decision was not expected to come until the early hours today," a court official said.
Park arrived expressionless at the court to plead her case that she should not be arrested or held while prosecutors investi-gate the scandal.
Park argues that she does not pose a flight risk and will not try to tamper with evidence.
If Park is arrested, prosecu-tors will then have up to 20 days to file formal charges and put her on trial.
Park's ouster capped months of paralysis and turmoil over the corruption scandal that also landed the head of the Samsung
conglomerate in detention and on trial.
If she is arrested, Park will likely be given a bigger cell than other inmates in a Seoul
detention facility but be subject to the same rules on everything from meals to room inspections, former prosecution and correc-tional officials have said.
HK activists appear in court after summonsHong Kong
Reuters
Nine leaders of Hong Kong's 2014 democracy protests appeared in
court yesterday after their sur-prise summons, charged with inciting the street occupation that paralysed parts of the city for months in what some expect to be a long legal battle.
The nine were charged on Monday, just a day after a new Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, was chosen as the city's next leader, seen by many as a worrying sign after she had vowed to heal divisions in the
Chinese-ruled city and unite society.
The protest leaders, includ-ing the "Occupy Central trio" of Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, entered the magistrates' court smiling and shaking hands with a few dozen supporters.
The "Occupy Central trio" each face charges including conspiracy to commit public nuisance and inciting others to commit public nuisance.
Six others, including two legislators and two former stu-dent protest leaders, were also charged with crimes related to public nuisance.
Hanoi
Reuters
Vietnam yesterday criti-cised a US State Department award to
detained blogger and
environmental activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh.
Quynh, detained in October for anti-state propaganda, was one of 13 women worldwide to receive an International Women of Courage Award.
The awards were presented by First Lady Melania Trump on Wednesday.
Foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said making an award to someone being inves-tigated for breaking Vietnam's
law was "not suitable and ben-eficial to the development of the two countries' relationship".
In an award citation, the State Department said Quynh, 37, "has blogged extensively on environmental and human rights
issues in Vietnam, publishing principled arguments to inspire c h a n g e a n d g r e a t e r transparency".
Quynh is known by her pen name of "Me Nam" - which trans-lates as Mother Mushroom.
Despite sweeping reforms in Vietnam's economy and increas-ing openness towards social change, the Communist Party retains tight media censorship and zero tolerance for criticism.
Anti-abattoir drive
All the delegates supported the Chief Minister on the drive launched by the government against illegal abattoirs.
Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-hye (centre) leaves after a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, yesterday.
From left: Academic Chan Kin-Man, academic Benny Tai, former lawmaker Lee Wing-Ta and former student leader Tommy Cheung Sau-yin stand outside the Eastern District Court, in Hong Kong, yesterday.
Vietnam criticises US award for environmental activist
No handbags stamping at Indian airports from April 1New Delhi
IANS
THE CISF has decided to do away with stamping of hand baggage tags at seven major airports in the country from April 1.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has cho-sen airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hydera-bad, Cochin and Ahmedabad for the new system to "upgrade" the security system for the convenience of passengers.
"The present system of stamping of hand baggage tags at pre-embarkation security check points for these seven airports shall be dispensed with from April 1, 2017," CISF Director General O.P. Singh said.
The CISF chief said the step would enhance the pas-senger experience and provide hassle-free security environment at airports with-out compromising with the security requirements.
Singh said the paramili-tary force, responsible for the security of 59 airports across India, had taken appropriate measures to "upgrade the security system by adopting this new system for the con-venience of passengers".
"The new system will speed up the security check procedure and will give more time to personnel for check-ing of suspected baggage".
Traders meet Adityanath; end strikeLucknow
IANS
A meat traders delega-tion met Uttar Pradesh Chief Min-ister Yogi Adityanath yesterday amid pro-
tests over closure of slaughter houses.
Sirajuddin Qureshi, one of the delegates, later said the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere and that they had withdrawn their strike.
All the delegates supported the Chief Minister on the drive launched by the government
against illegal abattoirs and said they were in support of the move to weed out illegal meat trading.
Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, who briefed the media after the meeting said the Chief Minister assured the del-egation that any action against legal slaughter houses will not be tolerated and that action would be initiated against offi-cials indulging in such activity.
No discrimination will be allowed against anyone on the basis of community, caste or religion, the Chief Minister told the delegation.
The Allahabad High Court has also sought a response from the government vis-a-vis the action against slaughter houses in the state and has slated the next hearing on the matter for April 3.
Government records suggest that Uttar Pradesh has more than 375 illegal slaughter houses while the state pollution board says there are 185 abattoirs in the state of which 140 were operating illegally.
The action against shops selling meat and slaughter houses has led to a huge scar-city of meat in the state, leading
to protests at many places.The situation came to such
a pass earlier this week that the world famous Tunde Kebab shop in old Lucknow was forced to down shutters, a first in more than 100 years, for lack of buf-falo meat.
Rattled at the growing pro-tests in the state against the action, BJP mandarins in New Delhi are learnt to have con-veyed to the state government to "soften its stand" and "clarify the position" after which a meet-ing between Yogi Adityanath and the traders association was arranged.
New jail term for Cambodia exiled oppn leaderPhnom Penh
AFP
SELF-EXILED opposition leader Sam Rainsy was sen-tenced to 20 months in prison by a Cambodian court yes-terday for accusing the government of assassinat-ing a prominent critic.
The verdict is the latest legal case to hamper an oppo-sition movement struggling to break Prime Minister Hun Sen's 32-year grip on power.
The defamation charge centred around the brazen daylight murder of political commentator Kem Ley in July, whose killing sent shud-ders through Cambodia's h a r d - p r e s s e d r i g h t s community.
Many feared the assassi-nation was orchestrated by forces loyal to Hun Sen, who has been cracking down on critics ahead of elections in 2018.
Former opposition leader Rainsy, Hun Sen's top foe, called Kem Ley's murder an act of "state terrorism" and said "the government was behind the assassination."
The strongman premier hit back with a defamation charge.
Yesterday, a Phnom Penh court sentenced Rainsy to 20 months in jail in absentia, with Judge Y Thavrak declar-ing him guilty of "public defamation and inciting unrest".
Court denies request to halt Ikata N-plantTokyo
Reuters
A local district court in west-ern Japan yesterday denied granting an injunction against Shikoku Electric Power Co's Ikata No. 3 nuclear reactor, the operator said, a move that backs the continued operations of the reactor that's been gen-erating power since August.
The ruling by the Hiro-shima District Court is a relief for Japan's nuclear operators at a time when they face the risk of further delays in firing up mostly idled atomic gen-erators if judges side with local residents worried about safety.
Kim's body sent to North KoreaKuala Lumpur
Reuters
Malaysian Prime Minis-ter Najib Razak said yesterday that the
body of Kim Jong Nam, half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has been released to North Korea, bringing an end to a diplomatic spat that escalated over nearly seven weeks.
Najib said nine Malaysians barred from leaving North Korea had been allowed to
board a plane to leave Pyongyang, adding on Twitter that the plane was expected to reach Kuala Lumpur at 5am Malaysian time.
The Malaysians left Pyongyang in a Royal Malay-sian Air Force business jet, which headed immediately west out of North Korean air-space before turning south towards Malaysia, according to flight tracking website planefinder.net.
"Following the completion of the autopsy on the deceased
and receipt of a letter from his family requesting the remains be returned to North Korea, the coroner has approved the release of the body," Najib said.
A joint statement by the North Korean government released simultaneously said both countries managed to "resolve issues arising from the death of a DPRK national" in Malaysia.
DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Cherry blossoms
Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said Adityanath assured that any action against legal slaughter houses will not be tolerated.
A man takes pictures of a doll with cherry blossoms in a park, in Tokyo, yesterday.
06 FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017ASIA
Lawmaker pushes for Duterte impeachmentManila
Reuters
A Philippines lawmaker filed supplementary charges yesterday to an impeach-
ment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte, accusing him of taking a "defeat-ist stance" by doing nothing to challenge Beijing's activities in the South China Sea.
Opposition Congressman Gary Alejano said Duterte had made a slew of remarks that proved he had no intention to protect Philippine sovereignty and had alienated key allies like the United States through "rants and unstoppable outbursts".
The complaint adds to a laundry list of what Alejano says are impeachable offences that amount to high crimes, abuse of power and betrayal of public trust.
He submitted the initial com-plaint two weeks ago, just as Congress went into a recess, a
move aimed at keeping it in the public spotlight and preventing Congress from dismissing it right
away. It reconvenes on May 2.Duterte is frequently accused
of abuse of power, though none of the allegations have so far stuck. The populist former city mayor commands a legislative majority and enjoys huge public support.
Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Alejano's additional complaint was groundless propaganda and part of a coordinated conspiracy by Duterte's opponents.
Alejano said Duterte had failed to act on a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration last year that invalidated China's nine-dash line claim to most of the South China Sea, its justifi-cation for building man-made islands in Manila's exclusive eco-nomic zone.
He said Duterte's recent comments that he could do nothing to stop China if it were to build structures at the dis-puted Scarborough Shoal indicated his unwillingness to
defend the country's rights.The criticism comes as
Duterte intensifies his charm offensive to encourage China to invest billions of dollars in the
Philippines, including its flagging infrastructure, an approach that contrasts sharply with his open hostility towards the United States.
He last week railed against Washington for allowing China to construct and arm its artificial islands, but placed no blame on Beijing.
Sydney
AFP
A powerful cyclone that smashed into northeast-ern Australia could have
caused further damage to the under-pressure Great Barrier Reef, turning parts into an "underwater wasteland", sci-entists warned yesterday.
There are already fears for the survival of corals in the cen-tral and northern areas of the World Heritage-listed marine ecosystem that stretches 2,300km off Queensland state coast, after two consecutive years of mass bleaching from warming sea temperatures.
While storms can bring relief through rain and cloud cover to corals suffering from
heat stress, Tropical Cyclone Debbie, which barrelled through the region this week, mostly struck the reef's south-ern parts, which have not been as seriously impacted by bleaching.
"It basically came through the southern threshold where you get a transition from the severely bleached reefs to healthy reefs, so it's hit another part of the reef which half-escaped (the mass bleaching) this year," James Kerry, a marine biologist at James Cook University, said.
"It would have done a lot of damage in the corridor that it came through, perhaps over a range of something like 100km, so quite a substantive area," he added.
Philippine leader warns media over drug reportsManila
AFP
Philippine President Rod-rigo Duterte (pictured) yesterday insulted two
major media outlets and warned them of karmic repercussions for their critical coverage of his deadly drug war.
Duterte's verbal attacks on top television broadcaster ABS-CBN and the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper came in a pair of speeches in which he also lashed out at the European Union for criticising him over alleged human rights abuses.
"I'm not threatening them
but someday their karma will catch up with them," Duterte said of the two media outlets.
"They're shameless, those journalists."
Duterte named the Prieto and Lopez families that own the Inquirer and ABS-CBN respec-tively, calling them "oligarchs" who use the media to promote their chosen political candidates.
"That is what ails the Phil-ippine society: it is the corrupt media, the face of Prieto and Lopez and their money and the church," he said.
He also threatened to use the government TV station to
shame those two families."I will give you your due
also. I will go through your lives and those of your children," on government television, he said.
In a statement late yester-day, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said it took "exception" to his accusation that it was unfair in its coverage.
"Since its founding in 1985 the Inquirer has upheld the highest standards of excellence in journalism".
"Even as we've courageously pursued the truth in our cover-age, we've endeavoured to get the administration's side on any controversy."
Pakistan seeks apology from TV host over hate speechIslamabad
AP
PAKISTAN'S media watchdog has imposed a fine and sought an on-air and written apology from a preacher-turned TV host for accusing five bloggers and human right activists of committing blasphemy in his show in January.
In a statement, the Paki-stan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, or PEMRA, said Amir Liaquat was found guilty of making a hate speech against the five activists.
Liaquat works at the country's BOL television and PEMRA wants him to offer an apology to all the bloggers before March 31 to avoid a ban.
The five men briefly went missing in January amid alle-gations some of them were linked to the sharing of con-tent against Islam and the Pakistan military.
Pakistan is still conduct-ing an investigation of material insulting to Islam on social media sites.
It has approached both Facebook and Twitter to dis-allow material considered blasphemous in Pakistan.
On Tuesday, a Pakistan minister said that Facebook started blocking blasphemous content posted on its Pakistan website. "The company has already blocked 62 blasphe-mous webpages, and 45 in the past several days alone".
US embassy in Kabul fires staff over drugsWasgington
AP
Six people working at the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, have been
fired for using or possessing illegal drugs.
A State Department offi-cial says the firings followed an investigation into allega-tions of misconduct.
The official said recently that those who were embassy employees have been fired and others who were con-tractors for the embassy have
been removed from the contract.
The official is declining to provide details about what led to the investigation. But the infractions are particu-larly troubling given the yearslong effort by the US to address the narcotics trade in Afghanistan.
Opium production is a major source of income for insurgents and the Taliban.
The official wasn't authorized to discuss person-nel situations publicly and requested anonymity.
Experts fear damage to Great Barrier Reef
Pakistan to prioritise girl's educationIslamabad
Internews
In what could be a significant step towards addressing gen-der inequalities in Pakistan,
lawmakers representing major political parties in the four pro-vincial assemblies and senators joined hands yesterday for mak-ing girls’ education a political priority.
They aligned the cause of girls’ education with a pro-poor and equitable system of taxation.
The provincial lawmakers and senators had gathered at the launch of a research report, titled Domestic Resource Mobi-lisation in Pakistan: Exploring Avenues for Financing Girls’ Education.
The report was prepared by Oxfam in Pakistan (OiP) and Institute of Social and Policy Sci-ences (I-SAPS).
In the context of girls’ edu-cation service delivery, explained I-SAPS research fel-low Ahmad Ali, Pakistan at the movement is facing a serious challenge with approximately 24 million out of school children
of whom a majority are girls, the huge backlog on the provision of missing facilities in schools, and declining quality of education.
Girls’ net enrollment rates stood at around 50 percent only, which was much lower when compared to that of the male net enrolment rate.
Similarly, he added that the Pakistan had the world’s third-highest number of new-born deaths (194,000 in the year 2010).
The maternal mortality in the rural areas was nearly twice as much as in urban areas with 319 women out of every 100,000 dying due to preg-nancy-related complications in rural areas in contrast to 175 in urban areas.
Amnesty slams Fiji daily sedition caseSuva
AFP
Sedition charges brought against executives at Fiji's oldest newspaper are
"absolutely outrageous", Amnesty International said yes-terday, while accusing the government of trying to intim-idate the media.
Three staff members at the Fiji Times -- occasionally a feisty critic of the regime -- are facing up to seven years in jail for pub-lishing a letter to the editor last year containing inflammatory comments about Muslims.
"To charge people with sedi-tion over something that's printed by an outside contribu-tor in a newspaper is extremely
heavy handed," Amnesty's New Zealand chief Grant Bayldon said.
"Fiji has a really sad history of suppressing freedom of expression and we really have to wonder if the motivation here is to intimidate one of the few media outlets that is still inde-pendent in Fiji."
The letter in question was printed in a low-circulation Fijian-language supplement of the Times, which remains the Pacific nation's oldest newspa-per established in 1869.
The executives -- editor-in-chief Fred Wesley, publisher Hank Arts and supplement edi-tor Anare Ravula -- initially stood accused of inciting com-munal antagonism but the
charges were upgraded to sedi-tion last week.
Bayldon said the matter could have easily been dealt with by a media regulator rather than the courts and was likely to have a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression in Fiji.
"Just because something's distasteful doesn't mean that it's criminal and doesn't mean that it's sedition," Bayldon said.
Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama seized power in a 2006 military coup and ruled by decree until he won a gen-eral election in 2014.
Military censors in news-rooms were among the measures Bainimarama imple-mented before the country's return to democracy.
Opposition Filipino lawmaker Gary Alejano, a former military officer, arrives to file his supplemental impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte at the Philippine Congress, yesterday.
Integrity at stake
Congressman Gary Alejano said Duterte had made a slew of remarks that proved he had no intention to protect Philippine sovereignty and had alienated key allies through "rants and unstoppable outbursts".
Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Alejano's additional complaint was groundless propaganda and part of a coordinated conspiracy by Duterte's opponents.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull looks at damaged and flooded areas from aboard an Australian Army helicopter, yesterday.
Gender inequality
"Pakistan at the movement is facing a serious challenge with approximately 24 million out of school children of whom a majority are girls".
07FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017 EUROPE
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, receives a paddle from former canoeist and Olympic athlete Ivan Patzaichin, at the Village Museum during day two of his visit in Bucharest, Romania, yesterday.
A novel gift
Battle lines drawn
The row came as some of the EU’s top leaders fleshed out their strategy for hard talks ahead as the bloc reels from the blow of one of its biggest members to start withdrawal from 60-year-old union.
NEWS BYTES
LONDON: Five people were killed when their helicopter crashed in poor conditions in a mountainous part of Wales, rescuers said yesterday after a major search operation.
Authorities found the wreckage of the privately-owned Twin Squirrel chopper in Snowdonia, a national park in north-west Wales, after it went down en route to Dublin. The bodies are being recovered from what local police said was “very dif-ficult and challenging terrain”.
“Local conditions were described as atrocious, with visibil-ity down to less than 10 metres (33 feet) in places,” said Gareth Evans from the North Wales Police force.
“The terrain where the aircraft has been located is remote and, in places, hazardous.”
He said details of those on board would not be revealed until their bodies had been formally identified, and specialist family liaison officers were supporting the relatives.
Greece flayed on migrant workers ATHENS: Europe’s top human rights court accused Greece yesterday of failing to protect migrant workers who had been subject to “forced labour” and shot at by security guards when they protested over unpaid wages.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Athens to pay €16,000 each to the workers whose case had triggered outrage across the country. Greek authorities, it said, had been fully aware of the circumstances.
Foremen at a strawberry farm in the town of Manolada opened fire on dozens of migrant workers protesting over unpaid wages in 2013. More than twenty migrants were wounded.
A year later, a Greek court acquitted their employers of human trafficking ordering them to pay €43 to each of the 35 workers who were recognised as victims. It also gave one armed guard and one employer suspended sentences in a ruling that prompted angry protests from unions and rights groups.
The migrant workers had been forced to work 12-hour days under the supervision of armed guards and went on strike on three occasions for back pay. Their employers warned them they would get paid only if they continued to work, the ECHR said.
Dutch doctors against euthanasia THE HAGUE: Dutch doctors have come out against a con-troversial proposed law that would allow assisted suicide for those who feel their lives are complete, and not just for peo-ple in unbearable suffering.
“Such a radical proposal is not desirable for practical rea-sons and for reasons of principle,” the Dutch Doctors Federation, representing some 59,000 practitioners and students, said in a statement early yesterday.
The Netherlands and neighbouring Belgium became the first countries in the world to legalise euthanasia in 2002. But it is car-ried out under strict conditions, and only after at least two doctors have certified that there is no other reasonable solution for the patient, and that their suffering is “unbearable and without any hope of improvement”. In October, the now outgoing government proposed broadening the law to give elderly people, who are not sick but feel their lives are complete, the right to assisted suicide.
Arrested scribe's plea for releaseBERLIN: Lawyers for a German-Turkish journalist detained by Ankara on terrorism-related charges have lodged an appeal for his release with Turkey’s highest court, his employer said, early yesterday.
A court in Istanbul on Monday ordered provisional detention for Deniz Yucel, 43, a correspondent of the German newspaper Die Welt who holds dual German and Turkish nationality. Yucel has been in custody since February 18 over reports on an attack by hackers on the email account of Turkey’s energy minister Berat Albayrak, who also is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law.
His employer said a month ago he had been charged with spreading terrorist propaganda and inciting hatred.
Die Welt said his lawyers had demanded his release while stressing “his right to a fair trial,” as well as “respect for presump-tion of innocence.”
5 dead in British chopper crash
London
AFP
Britain sought to down-play a row over future security ties with the EU yesterday, as Lon-don and Brussels drew
up the first battle lines at the start of their two-year divorce.
France and Germany also put up a common front against Prime Minister Theresa May’s call to negotiate the exit and the new relationship at the same time, set-ting up a major stumbling block before negotiations even begin.
But a day after May formally notified the EU of Britain’s inten-tion to leave, it was her warning that failure to clinch a deal on trade would weaken the fight against terrorism that rankled.
“It’s not a threat,” Brexit min-ister David Davis told BBC radio after warnings from Brussels against using security as a bar-gaining chip in the talks.
He said the “simple truth” was that without a “parallel deal” with the EU, Britain would no
longer be a member of the Europol crime-fighting agency or take part in the European Arrest Warrant system.
Interior minister Amber Rudd said: “If we left Europol, then we would take our infor-mation... with us”.
Guy Verhofstadt, the Euro-pean Parliament’s chief Brexit negotiator, hit back saying that “citizens’ security was far too serious a subject” to be held hos-tage to negotiations.
The row came as some of the EU’s top leaders fleshed out their
strategy for the hard talks ahead as the bloc reels from the blow of one of its biggest members becoming the first state ever to start withdrawal from the 60-year-old union.
French President Francois Hollande yesterday followed Ger-man Chancellor Angela Merkel in snubbing May’s proposed struc-ture for negotiations, saying the exit agreement should come first.
“First we must begin discus-sions on modalities of withdrawal, especially on rights of citizens and the obligations arising from the commitments that the United Kingdom has made,” Hollande said.
The fate of three million EU citizens living in Britain and one million British people within the bloc’s nations is at the top of leaders’ agenda.
Also looming large is the so-called “exit bill” Britain will have to pay, estimated to be as much as €60bn ($64bn, £52bn).
A first response from the EU to Britain handing in its notice will come from Tusk today when
he issues draft “negotiating guidelines”. Leaders of the 27 remaining EU countries will hold a special summit on April 29 to rubber stamp the plans.
While the bloc has tried to show a united front in the face of Brexit, celebrating the EU’s 60th anniversary earlier this month, in Britain the prime min-ister is struggling to unite her own country.
Britons last year voted 52 percent to 48 percent in favour of Brexit after a bitterly divisive campaign. In Ireland and neigh-bouring Northern Ireland, a once-troubled British province, the result has also raised fears about a return of border checks and an impact on the delicate peace process. The referendum result has also led to a renewed campaign for independence in Scotland, after a majority of Scots voted for Britain to stay in the EU.
“Dear Donald Tusk, We’ll see EU soon” read yesterday's head-l i n e o f S c o t l a n d ’ s pro-independence newspaper, The National.
Berlin
Reuters
GERMANY has deported 10 potential attackers since Jan-uary as part of a tougher approach towards failed asy-lum seekers after one of them killed 12 people in an attack on a Berlin Christmas mar-ket, security sources said yesterday.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and other top offi-cials have been pushing for quicker deportations of those denied asylum,.
Tunisian Anis Amri, a supporter of IS, attacked the Berlin market in December after being denied asylum. He was shot dead by Italian police days later.
Shortly after the incident, German’s Joint Terrorism Prevention Centre, reviewed open cases of all other “potential attackers” like Amri, the sources said.
“A total of 10 potential attackers have since been successfully deported in a joint effort with affected Ger-man states,” said a source.
The suspected militants were sent back to mainly North African countries, the source said.
The change in approach was agreed by de Maiziere and Justice Minister Heiko Maas at a meeting on January 10, where both men agreed that the Amri case must not be repeated.
Rome
AFP
Three men from Kosovo and an unidentified minor have been arrested in Venice on
suspicion of plotting to blow up city’s celebrated Rialto Bridge, Italian police said yesterday.
“With all the unbelievers there are in Venice, you put a bomb under the Rialto and you go straight to heaven,” one of the alleged jihadist plotters said in a wiretapped conversation, said Adelchi d’Ippolito, the Venice prosecutor in charge of the case.
“That was one the most worrying and alarming remarks we heard,” he said at a press
conference, revealing that the group had been under surveil-lance since last year.
The suspects were detained in an overnight sweep carried out after it was established that they had undergone “religious radicalisation”, according to a police statement.
Raids were conducted at 12 locations in the historic centre of the city, which is a magnet for millions of visitors from around the world.
D’Ippolito said the suspects appeared to have been study-ing how to build explosives but did not have the necessary com-ponents for making a bomb.
“There was a lot of talk
about unconditional support to ISIS (the Islamic State group). It wasn’t just theory and dogma,” d’Ippolito said of the wiretaps.
They were also envisioning moving on to “planning and projects”, he said.
Interior Minister Marco Min-niti praised the police for what he called “an important success in our terrorism prevention effort.”
The Rialto Bridge is oldest of the four bridges that span Ven-ice’s Grand Canal, first built at the end of the 12th century. The cur-rent bridge, an arched stone construction which dates from late 16th century, is one of the best-known landmarks in the floating city.
Paris
Reuters
Two left-wingers in France’s presidential race refused to call a truce yesterday in
a battle that looks sure to knock them both out of a contest that polls say will be won by centrist Emmanuel Macron (pictured) in a runoff versus far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Socialist Benoit Hamon vowed to fight to the end despite being deserted by key members of his party while hard left rival Jean-Luc Melenchon, buoyed by a poll surge, ruled out a merger with him that could put the Left back in play.
With the left-wingers locked
in a seemingly suicidal combat, Macron relished announcements by several right- and left-wing politicians, including Socialist defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Socialist ex-prime min-ister Manuel Valls, that they would vote for him instead of Hamon.
“I have a problem in politics at the moment: there are lots of
people backing me,” joked Macron, who promises to tran-scend Left-versus-Right divide of politics in France.
“That said, there’s some con-solation in the fact that for others the problem is people are leav-ing them,” he said at a meeting between candidates and farm-ing sector representatives.
Hamon’s struggle — his potential score of votes is hov-ering slightly above 10 percent - is complicated by the defec-tions of Socialist party grandees, not to mention competition out-side his party from Melenchon, who has overtaken him in sev-eral polls of voting intentions.
Furious at Valls’ decision to defect to Macron, Hamon told
public service radio channel franceinfo: “Of course I will stay through to the finish.”
Melenchon, whose potential election score in polls has risen to as high as 15 percent in the past few days, said he was not going to bow out in favour of a single Hamon candidacy.
“I will negotiate with nobody,” he told a rally in the city of Le Havre. His spokesman said the Socialist Party, long split between moderates and hard-liners, was now as good as dead.
Only two top candidates in the April 23 opener go on to May 7 runoff. Opinion polls put Macron and Le Pen in the mid-twenties, way above those of Melenchon Hamon and Francois Fillon.
Brexit: Britain downplays security row with EU
London
Reuters
The British government set out yesterday how it will handle the mam-
moth task of converting European Union laws into domestic legislation in prep-aration for its exit from the bloc, seeking to ease business uncertainty about life after Brexit.
Yesterday, her ministers set out how they intend to unpick that complex legisla-tive web by initially converting the entire body of EU law into British law - a step seen as necessary to ensure continu-ity for businesses trading across EU borders.
The plan centres around a “Great Repeal Bill” due to be laid before parliament in May. The bill will transpose EU law, repeal the 1972 European Communities Act which for-malises Britain’s EU membership, and give minis-ters the power to change existing laws to make sure they work after Brexit.
“The bill will convert EU law into United Kingdom law, allowing businesses to con-tinue operating knowing the rules have not changed over-night, and providing fairness to individuals, whose rights and obligations will not be subject to sudden change,” Brexit minister David Davis told parliament.
Government working on ‘Great Repeal Bill’
Germany deports 10 'militants' after Berlin attack
Italy foils plot to blow up Rialto Bridge
Leftists locked in rivalry as Macron leads race
08 FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017VIEWS
E S T A B L I S H E D I N 1 9 9 6
QUOTE OF THE DAY
On the basis of the progress made, we could open discussions on the framework of future relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Francois HollandeFrench President
Commemoration of Land Day is an emblematic reminder of the count-less human rights violations that have characterised half a century of Palestinian land confiscation and
dispossession.During the first Land Day in 1976 Palestin-
ian citizens of Israel protested against the Israeli government’s expropriation of 2,000 hectares of land surrounding Palestinian vil-lages in the Galilee. Six Palestinians were killed and more than 100 were injured when Israeli forces crushed the protests.
Every year since, Palestinian communities in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Terri-tories (OPT) have gathered on March 30 to commemorate these events to highlight Isra-el’s ongoing seizure of Palestinian land, and to reaffirm their connection to the land.
This year’s Land Day will be marked with a march between Deir Hana and Sakhnin in northern Israel, as well as demonstrations and events across central Israel and the Negev/Naqab region, and in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The protests are often met with brutal and excessive use of force by Israel. In Umm Al Hiran, one of the unrecognised Bedouin villages in the Negev/Naqab region, protesters are planning to plant trees and rehabilitate some of the structures demolished earlier this year by the Israeli authorities, after residents lost a long legal battle against eviction orders to enable gov-ernment construction of a new community for Jewish residents.
In the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, concerts, marches and olive tree planting events are planned in acts of protest against Israel’s continuous occupation and aggressive land-grab policies. The first few months of 2017 alone have seen an alarming surge in illegal settlement activity and home demoli-tions in the occupied West Bank.
Surge in illegal settlement activitySince January the Israeli government,
emboldened by President Donald Trump’s inauguration, has authorised the construction of more than 6,219 illegal settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, including 719 in East Jerusalem. These announcements not only mark a shift from the Israeli government’s more cautious approach under the Obama adminis-tration but also fly in the face of UN Security Council resolution 2334, passed in December last year, which calls on Israel to immediately cease all settlement activities in the OPT.
In recent weeks a number of Israeli Knes-set members have proposed a law to annex the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem, along with other settlements in close proximity to the city.
Although the bill has been temporarily blocked by Prime Minister Netanyahu, the proposal is alarming. In addition to flagrantly violating international law, such a move would have potentially catastrophic conse-quences. Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem are connected by the contentious E1 area, a 12sq km piece of land that provides a vital passage
Land Day 2017: Israel’s relentless land grab continuesRachel Borrell Al Jazeera
between the northern and southern West Bank. Should Israeli construction take place on this land, a continuous Israeli settler presence will be estab-lished from occupied East Jerusalem to the Jordan Valley, effectively cutting the West Bank in half and severing East Jerusalem from the remainder of the occupied West Bank.
Recent months have also seen a marked increase in demolitions of Palestinian homes. At least 24 Bedouin homes and other structures
around the Ma’ale Adumim settlement were demolished in the first two months of 2017, compared with an average of 32 total demolitions per year between 2013 and 2015.
In another push to consolidate their land confiscation, on February 6, the Israeli Knesset also passed a law that ret-roactively legalises the seizure of private Palestinian land on which settlements have already been established. The law prevents Palestinian landowners from laying claim to their land if Israeli settlers are living on it, despite the fact that the settlers’ presence in occupied territory is illegal under international law.
It has been estimated that the law will retroactively legalise 53 settlements and outposts - allowing for the expropri-ation of about 8,000 dunams (80 hectares) of private Palestinian land. The law also risks galvanising the confisca-tion of yet more private Palestinian land by providing a basis for further retroac-tive legalisation of land grabs.
Fifty years of indifferenceThe recent acceleration in home
demolitions, combined with the push to expand settlements and moves to legal-ise prior land grabs, gives a damning indication of the Israeli government’s intention to continue and accelerate its land-grab policies 50 years on from its initial capture and occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
Fifty years of indifference from the international community has only served to spur on the Israeli government in its expropriation of Palestinian land and expansion of illegal settlements. In a speech last Friday UN special coordina-tor for the Middle East peace process Nikolay Mladenov confirmed that no steps have yet been taken to cease settle-ment activities in the OPT in order to comply with UN resolution 2334. The fact that Mladenov’s update was not delivered in a written report by the UN secretary general himself has been inter-preted by some as a lack of commitment by the UN to implement the resolution.
As long as the world continues to turn a blind eye to Israel’s relentless land grab and settlement expansion, both serious violations of international humanitarian law, the human rights of Palestinians will continue to be trampled on with impunity and UN resolutions such as resolution 2334 or the resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Council last week calling on states to regulate trade with illegal set-tlements, will remain little more than empty gestures.
The international community must take a clear stand and show that it will no longer tolerate Israel’s illegal policies of annexation and settlement. Otherwise, Palestinians will continue to have plenty to protest about at annual Land Day demonstrations.
What is land day? In March 1976, Israel ordered the confiscation of land that belonged to Palestinian citizens of Israel. How much land? 2,000 hectares. On March 30, Palestinians demonstrated from across Galilee in the north all the way to the Negev in the south. 6 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 were injured. This day came to known as Yom Al Ard or Land Day. Palestinians commemorate it to demonstrate their commitment to the right and ownership of their land. They hold vigils and plant olive trees in an act of collective resistance to Israel’s occupation.
E S T A B L I S H E D I N 1 9 9 6
CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI
ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED
After weeks of wrangling, Malaysia has decided to send the body of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un home. The dramatic murder of Kim Jong Nam at
Kuala Lumpur Airport made global headlines with the crime resembling the script of famous Hollywood thrillers. The repatriation of the body will likely bring closure to an issue that has plagued ties between the countries that once enjoyed good relations.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak declared yesterday that nine Malaysians who were stuck in North Korea were allowed to leave. The two nations had barred each other’s citizens from leaving their countries of residence during the ugly spat that took a heavy toll on ties.
Kim Jong Nam was the son of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s second leader, and Sung Hye Rim, an actress who it is believed was forced to divorce her first husband to live in secret with the future leader in 1970, a year before their son was born.
After Kim Jong Il’s death in 2011, Kim Jong Nam complained that Kim Jong Un, the country’s new leader, did not give him respect and send him enough money.
It is said that Nam lost the opportunity to become North Korean president when he was caught entering Japan on a fake passport some years ago.
Malaysia and North Korea fought an intense diplomatic battle over the murder that was purportedly executed by the Pyongyang regime. Two women smeared the deadly nerve agent VX on Nam’s face when he was waiting to catch a flight to Macau at the airport. Nam died on way to hospital in an ambulance.
Pyongyang never acknowledged that the murdered person was the half-brother of its leader. However, a seri-ous diplomatic standoff ensued when it
demanded the body and Kuala Lumpur refused to oblige citing laws that only allowed the remains to be handed over to relatives.
After weeks of sparring, it is not clear what made the Malaysian government to concede to North Korea’s demand. But it is certain that the decision would cool down tempers and let good sense prevail in the relationship. Malaysia didn’t have much to lose because of the bilateral spat but North Korea, which is a secluded state under strict sanctions, did.
The decision to send Nam’s body to his home country would bring closure in the rift, but Kuala Lumpur shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the mur-der committed on its soil doesn’t go unpunished. In the name of improving bilateral ties and bringing closure, North Korea shouldn’t be allowed to get away with the crime if it is found involved.
Conciliatory move
Malaysia’s decision to send Nam’s body to North Korea shouldn’t distract it from zeroing in on the murder culprit.
ED ITOR IAL
Palestinians hold banners during a rally marking Land Day near Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday.
09FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017 OPINION
If you are a high-school or a university student, you just don’t have a choice: You wouldn’t vote for any of the people who headed their parties even before you were born and are still repeating the same slogans (this is applicable to all main “opposition” parties, too). In this sense, Navalny is Russia’s Bernie Sanders, who started as an activist with the reputa-tion of an uncompromising fighter, who does not want to integrate into the political establishment.
But Navalny is not the whole story. This generation is different from previous ones because it doesn’t watch TV. Not necessarily for political reasons, but because it simply doesn’t find it interesting. In fact, there is a bit of a vicious circle in that: The youth watches TV less and less, while heads of TV channels continue to turn more and more towards the 60+ audience, pushing away the few young viewers they have. There is no spectacle more depressing than TV programming on a holiday: Botoxed variety stars of the Soviet era, bland jokes with orchestrated laughter, a gaudy carnival-style studio - all of this seems to be purposefully set up to repulse.
The political shows are no better: inviting the same guests who shout over each other, castigating Ukraine and the US State Department. From year to year the ratings of Russian TV channels are falling; they still might compete over housewife viewership, but they’ve lost for ever the youth audience.
For the Kremlin this is a big problem and they know that. Recently the Projector Paris Hilton, in which popu-lar comedians discuss the latest news, came back on air. The show is indeed popular among the youth. Despite all the censorship and thoroughly vetted news stories that they are discussing, the show does go against the political establishment. Soon after the release of Naval-ny’s investigation the show did a sketch on Medvedev
Why the words we use about terrorism matter
The phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” has been the subject of renewed debate in recent weeks. During his first address to Congress last month, President Donald Trump said that his administration “is tak-
ing steps to protect our nation from radical Islamic terrorism.” The president’s national security adviser, HR McMaster, warned that the expression could alienate allies within the Muslim community, while the deputy assistant to the president, Sebastian Gorka, tweeted that the words “radical Islamic ter-rorism” are “key to Victory against Global Jihadism.”
Where all three agree and are correct is that words have meaning and consequences for both policy decisions and audiences. This issue is typically approached in US policy debates in terms of the lan-guage and concepts which Americans use to describe jihadists.
What is less commonly considered are the internal debates on the same topic among both jihadists and Muslim scholars involved in discred-iting them. Identifying how jihadists exploit Islamic traditions brings us to a clearer understanding of these groups’ appeal and vulnerabilities, to smarter policies of defeating them and to closer
relationships with our Muslim allies on the front lines of these efforts.
It is not enough to simply accept that jihadists belong to a political ideology known as Islamism. Rather, it is more productive to appreciate how jihadists such as the Islamic State cultivate a unique and deep “Islamic” appeal to their recruits through their claims to authenticity, their theological lan-guage and the sources they use.
In other words, unlike the political project of Muslim Brotherhood-style Islamists (who care only that Islam is in a place of prominence), jihadists such as the Islamic State care deeply about the kind of Islam, as well.
Looking at the Arabic publications produced by the Islamic State since 2014, a good number of medieval treatises are not only not violent or jihadist, but belong to the mainstream Islamic curriculum on topics such as grammar, eloquence and poetry. Sometimes, the books are published with no changes, such as the Islamic State’s edi-tion of the 13th century grammar treatise, the “Ajrumiyya.”
On other occasions, however, the group would insert overt jihadist themes into otherwise unrelated material — for example, a letter from Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, founder of Al Qaida in Iraq (the Islamic State’s predecessor), to his followers placed into a children’s textbook amid selections from poets known to anyone familiar with classical Arabic poetry.
By manipulating the Islamic literary canon in this way — something the Islamic State continues to pur-sue, publishing medieval texts as it defends its territorial strongholds in Iraq and Syria— the group aims to define its version of an ideal Muslim, and not just a fighter.
It is through this sustained effort of creating a curriculum that the group hopes to continue to gain recruits when it finally loses all of its terri-tory, since it is there that it proves its religious credentials.
The question of who is and is not Muslim is something Muslim scholars and community leaders do not take lightly, and in fact shy away from
passing judgment on both today and historically. It is because determining one’s Muslim status is so sensi-tive that then-Secretary of State John F Kerry’s depiction of Islamic State fighters as “apostates” received criticism.
Excommunication is the core of jihadist doc-trine, which cites a minority school of Islamic theology that states that one’s faith is reflected in one’s actions. Jihadists take this view one step fur-ther and view any actions that do not align with their narrow understanding of Islam as one’s explicit dissociation with Islam, and then justify violence on that basis.
Most of the world’s mainstream Muslims follow what has become the dominant Islamic theological position that one’s faith is ultimately in one’s heart (which is known only to God) and that verbally affirming one’s faith is sufficient to consider one a Muslim.
This context affects intra-Islamic conversa-tions about Islamic State fighters and jihadists. In 2014, an “open letter” to the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, was signed by 126 Muslim scholars from a range of Sunni orienta-tions. The letter refrains from calling members of the Islamic State non-Muslims. Rather, it surveys concepts that the Islamic State promotes and demonstrates why the group’s understanding of these is flawed.
The letter’s style and tone reflect those of other Sunni voices seeking to discredit the Islamic State by focusing on how they misun-derstand Islam, but rarely — if ever — describing the group’s members as not being Muslim, preferring instead to call them “devi-ant” or “wayward.”
Muslim communities fear that by excommuni-cating Islamic State fighters and jihadists they appear no different from them and thereby feed their narrative and appeal.
What about the American debate? Jihadists have become uniquely sensitised to
both the doctrinal and political stakes in their own names. They keep up with Western com-mentary and have been quick to adapt their
Last Sunday mass demonstrations took place in almost 100 Russian cit-ies. They were the biggest since the 2011-2012 protest wave, called the “snow revolution”. But if the last
time election fraud was what provoked the people’s anger, this time it was an investiga-tion into Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev’s alleged corruption practices. The investigation was conducted by the Anti-Corruption Foun-dation headed by Alexey Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition figure who has announced his intention to run in the 2018 presidential elections.
Just a few months ago, no one would have believed that a corruption investigation could provoke mass protests across the country. Not expecting such a massive turnout, the authori-ties tried to stop the protesters from gathering. State media and law enforcement warned against going out into the streets, but this encouraged people even more to do so. As pro-testers started gathering, the police launched a massive crackdown campaign (more than 1,000 people were arrested in Moscow alone), which attracted even more attention.
In the demonstrations there was an unusu-ally high number of youth — not only university but also high school students. Photos from the protests showed the brawny bodies of police-men towering over 14 to 15-year-olds. These children were born during the Putinera and despite their “patriotic upbringing” actively enforced in schools and in the media, they came out wanting change.
The internet generationJust before the protests, the release of a
recording of a high-school discussion between a teacher and students about the annexation of Crimea and anti-corruption protests caused a lot of controversy in Russia. The students in the recording were talking very confidently about these issues, while the teacher was responding with discomfort.
The mobilisation of the youth could be explained partially by the fact that Navalny — in contrast to previous protest leaders — is the hero of the internet generation. He could publish his numerous investigations into government corruption not on traditional media outlets, but on social media and his blog. He has almost two million followers on Twitter. He would win any internet vote on any topic.
Russia’s new protest generation
Russian riot policemen detain a demonstrator during an opposition rally in Moscow.
on a different occasion from the documentary, but still Navalny and his followers immediately shared it on social media.
Lack of propaganda optionsState TV channels are the main support lever of Vladimir
Putin’s power; they are even more important than the court and the parliament he controls. Literally a few weeks after Putin’s first inauguration, Vladimir Gusinsky, the head of the biggest independent TV channel, was arrested (he was released after allegedly conceding to give up control over his channel). At that time regular internet users did not exceed 2 percent of the Rus-sian population. Today 70 percent of Russians use the internet; among the youth, this percentage is closer to 100.
The Kremlin managed to take under its control the most popular news websites, but it never managed to turn the inter-net into a propaganda machine because the way the internet works is different from traditional media. TV presupposes pas-sive reception of information: A housewife is cooking dinner as the news on Channel One runs in the background; the husband puts on football and at half-time he gets fed news about the “fascist junta” in Ukraine.
But online this doesn’t work. There, users choose what to look at. Loyalist websites did not mention anything about Nav-alny’s documentary, but it nevertherless went viral on social media and messenger apps. Some 150,000 were watching the live broadcast of the protests simultaneously, while news reports on what was going on brought independent news sites record traffic.
The very psychology of a person growing up in the internet era is different: S/he is used to being a subject, not an object and choosing what sources of information to consume from. There are, of course, negative aspects to that as well: Populists used the internet, too, to spread fake news and encourage Brexit and Trump’s electoral popularity. But in Russia under authoritarian rule, this new culture of information consumption is the main challenge to the regime.
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strategies in response to both US policy labels such as “terrorism” and “extremism,” as well as locally sensitive labels such as “Islamists,” “Salafists” and “jihadists.”
The most savvy, and there-fore successful, jihadist groups rarely refer to them-selves as “Islamists” or “jihadists” or, for that matter, as “Salafists,” choosing instead terms such as “Sunni,” “Muslim” and “monotheist” which have more historical resonance with local populations.
This use of the term “Sunni” - as well as terms such as “Muslim” and “monotheist” — rather than “Salafist” and “jihadist” carries historical and religious overtones that are meaningful, and there-fore uniquely problematic, for other Muslims, which is why they should matter to US policymakers as well.
Rather than inconsistently using words such as “militants” and “fighters” or avoiding the connection to Islam altogether with phrases such as “violent extremism,” the United States and its partners could adopt lan-guage that accurately reflects the ideological tendencies of jihadist groups.
The writer serves as special adviser on Middle East policy and Syria country director at the Defense Department.
Roman DobrokhotovAl Jazeera
Jacob Olidort The Washington Post
Rather than inconsistently using words such as “militants” and “fighters” the United States and its partners could adopt language that accurately reflects the ideological tendencies of jihadist groups.
10 FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017AMERICAS
Tweet attack
In a Twitter post, Trump took aim at the Freedom Caucus, a bloc of the most conservative Republicans in US House of Representatives, indicating he would try to defeat them in next year’s congressional elections.
Washington
Reuters
US President Donald Trump declared war on members of his own party yesterday by
threatening the political careers of conservative Republicans who helped torpedo healthcare legislation he backed, but was quickly told the lawmakers will not bow to “bullying.”
In a Twitter post, Trump took aim at the Freedom Cau-cus, a bloc of the most conservative Republicans in the US House of Representatives, indicating he would try to defeat them in next year’s con-gressional elections if they continued to defy him.
“The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!” Trump said on Twitter.
Because Trump faces uni-fied opposition by Democratic lawmakers, he cannot afford to lose many Republicans as he tries to get his legislative agenda through Congress,
including healthcare, tax cuts and infrastructure spending. But keeping Freedom Caucus members happy without losing the votes of Republican mod-erates has proven tough.
Representative Justin Amash, a Freedom Caucus member from Michigan, shot back immediately at Trump in remarks outside the U.S. Capitol.
“Most people don’t take well to being bullied,” Amash told reporters. Asked if Trump’s comments were constructive, Amash added: “It’s constructive
in fifth grade. It may allow a child to get his way, but that’s not how our government works.”
Since launching his presiden-tial bid in 2015, Trump has shown little reluctance to assail fellow Republican political adversaries as well as Democrats, often in scathing terms.
Trump, a real estate magnate who touted his skills as a deal-maker in his White House campaign, previously accused Freedom Caucus lawmakers of snatching “defeat from the jaws of victory” with their opposition to Republican healthcare legisla-tion he supported to replace Democratic former President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Trump went farther
yesterday. He equated members of his own party with the oppo-sition Democrats, reflecting the extent to which he felt betrayed by the conservative lawmakers after the collapse of his first major legislative initiative.
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters, “I understand the president’s frus-tration,” adding that he shared the frustration. Ryan said he was encouraging Republican lawmak-ers “to keep talking to one another.”
The mistrust between the White House and hardline con-servatives in Congress has called into question the next big item on Trump’s agenda, sweeping tax cuts.
Ohio Representative
Jim Jordan, a co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, offered a more measured response to Trump’s remarks and avoided direct criti-cism of the president. Jordan said Republicans need to figure out how to work together to confront looming battles including the fed-eral budget, appropriations and raising the U.S. debt ceiling.
“Look, I’m not here to assign blame to anyone,” Jordan told the “Fox & Friends” program. “I actu-ally think we better get this right because there are a lot of big things coming.”
“We better get it right now, figure out how we’re going to work together to do what we told the American people we were going to do, and not just pass a bill that no one supports.”
Washington
Reuters
THE Trump administration will seek changes to the North Amer-ican Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allowing it to reimpose tariffs if a flood of imports from Canada and Mexico causes “a threat of serious injury” to US industry, according a draft docu-ment sent to Congress.
The administration also will seek to eliminate a requirement in the 23-year-old trade deal that anti-dumping and anti-subsidy disputes be settled via a special dispute panel. Some US indus-tries including lumber have complained that the mechanism is ineffective in stopping unfair subsidies.
The objectives are contained in a draft notification letter cir-culated by the US Trade Representative’s office to mem-bers of Congress for review. The letter, seen by Reuters, is part of the legal process required to launch negotiations to revamp the Nafta.
President Donald Trump called Nafta a “disaster” throughout the 2016 election campaign, but the plan outlined in the letter would keep many of its provisions in place, including a settlement system for other disputes that circumvents local courts.
Caracas
AFP
President Nicolas Maduro and his allies tightened their grip in Venezuela
yesterday as the Supreme Court seized legislative powers from the opposition-majority National Assembly, whose speaker declared a “coup.”
The high court, whose judges have staunchly backed the leftist president in a power struggle with the legislature, based its decision on an earlier ruling that the opposition major-ity was in contempt of court.
“As long as the National Assembly’s contempt of court and invalidity persist, parlia-mentary powers shall be exercised directly by (the Supreme Court’s) constitutional chamber or by the body it des-ignates to safeguard the rule of law,” it said early yesterday.
Political analysts warned the ruling was a sharp authoritarian
turn for the oil giant, where a crushing economic crisis has caused food shortages, riots and an epidemic of violent crime.
The speaker of the National Assembly, Julio Borges, called the decision “rubbish.”
“Nicolas Maduro has staged a coup in Venezuela,” he said in a fiery speech outside the National Assembly. He urged the army, which has thus far sup-ported Maduro, to take a stand.
“The Venezuelan armed forces cannot remain silent as the constitution is breached,” he said, appealing to soldiers who are also suffering through what he called the “chaos” of the eco-nomic crisis.
The court’s argument cited its own ruling in January 2016 that the National Assembly lead-ership was in contempt for swearing in three lawmakers who were banned over alleged electoral fraud.
The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable condemns the
fraud charges as a trumped-up bid to curb its power after it won a landslide in legislative elec-tions in December 2015 with a promise to oust Maduro.
The elections forced the president and his allies in the United Socialist Party of Vene-zuela (PSUV) to share power for the first time since its founder, the late Hugo Chavez, launched Venezuela on the path of leftist “revolution” in 1999.
But the Supreme Court scut-tled the opposition’s powerful two-thirds majority when it sus-pended the three investigated lawmakers. Since then, the court has overturned every law passed by the legislature.
Venezuelan political analyst Carlos Romero warned that “democracy is in danger” in the country.
“We’re talking about an indiscriminate and illegal use of the Supreme Court’s powers to do away with the legislative branch,” he told reporters.
Washington
AFP
US senators warned yes-terday of Russia’s “unprecedented” threat
to American and European democratic institutions Thurs-day as they opened their first public hearing into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presi-dential election.
With the main House probe in political disarray, the Senate Intelligence Committee took the lead investigating how Russia allegedly sought to skew the election in favour of President Donald Trump.
The hearings opened with testimony by academic experts on Russia’s history of political meddling, and will include more than 20 witnesses as the com-mittee delves into allegations of collusion with Moscow.
On the witness list are top figures from Trump’s election team suspected of communi-cating with Russian officials during the campaign.
“The American public, indeed, all democratic societies need to understand that malign actors are using old techniques with new platforms to under-mine our democratic institutions,” said Republican committee chair Richard Burr.
“This is not innuendo or a false allegation. This is not fake news. This is what actually hap-pened to us,” said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the com-mittee’s vice chairman.
Just before the hearing began, Russian President Vladimir Putin again dismissed the US intelligence charge that he masterminded the election disruption effort.
Such charges are “absurd” and “irresponsible,” Putin said in the northern city of Arkhan-gelsk at an international forum on the Arctic.
But US senators warned that Europe is now experiencing the
same type of computer hacking and disinformation campaign that the United States did.
“Some of our close allies in Europe are experiencing exactly the same kind of interference in their political processes. Ger-many has said its parliament has been hacked. French pres-idential candidates right now have been the subjects of Rus-sian propaganda and disinformation,” he added.
The hearing opened amid worries that any inquiry could be stifled by Republicans seek-ing to protect the White House from the scandal.
Trump has branded the Russia story “fake news” and has said Democrats are trying to undermine the legitimacy of his victory in the November 8 election.
The House Intelligence Committee cancelled planned hearings this week with intel-ligence and justice officials after the Republican chair, Devin Nunes, said he had new infor-mation that Trump aides were “incidentally” picked up in sur-veillance of foreign agents.
The probe “is about holding Russia to account for this unprecedented attack against our democracy,” said Warner.
“I would hope that the pres-ident is as anxious as we are to get to the bottom of what happened.”
Los Angeles
AFP
FBI agents have arrested a Mexican prosecutor sus-pected of involvement in the production and trafficking of illegal drugs including heroin and cocaine into the United States, authorities said yesterday.
Edgar Veytia, attorney general in state of Nayarit, was arrested at the US bor-der in San Diego. He was detained on a warrant from a New York state court.
Veytia was believed to have been detained on the bridge between San Diego and the Tijuana airport.
“This is a development that we were not expecting,” Nayarit Governor Roberto Sandoval said without addressing the alleged high-level crime.
In the US indictment seen by media, prosecutors said Veytia is facing three counts: conspiracy to produce and distribute heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and mar-ijuana, conspiracy to import those substances into the US, and conspiracy to distribute them. The indictment said he engaged in drug activity from January 2013 until last month.
One of his aliases was Diablo, or devil, according to the indictment.
It said the amounts of drugs involved were at least one kg of heroin, five kgs of cocaine, 500 grams of meth-amphetamine and 1,000 kgs of marijuana.
Nayarit is on Mexico’s Pacific north coast and shares a border with states of Jalisco and Sinaloa, where drug car-tels are powerful.
Some Mexican officials have faced trial for drug traf-ficking in the United States, including Mario Villanueva, former governor of the state of Quintana Roo on the Car-ibbean coast.
Trump declares war on party conservatives
Trump seeks tariff ‘snap-back’ provision in Nafta revamp
Mexican prosecutor arrested over drug trafficking
US Senators voice alarm over Russian interference in polls
With the main House probe in political disarray, the Senate Intelligence Committee took the lead investigating how Russia allegedly sought to skew the election in favour of President Donald Trump.
Maduro tightens grip with high court 'coup'
US President Donald Trump speaks at a Women’s Empowerment Panel at the East Room of White House in Washington, yesterday.
President of Venezuela's National Assembly Julio Borges (centre), speaks at a press conference in Caracas yesterday. Venezuela's Supreme Court took over legislative powers from the opposition-majority National Assembly, whose speaker accused leftist President Nicolas Maduro of staging a "coup."
BUSINESSBUSINESS7,369.52
-4.20 PTS0.06%
FTSE100
The interior of Lloyd's of London, the centuries-old insurance market, is pictured in the City of London yesterday. Lloyd's of London will open a Brussels subsidiary in early 2019, the historic insurance market said yesterday, the first company to respond to Britain's decision to trigger Brexit. Lloyd's, which employs 700 people in the British capital, will start work at the Brussels office from January 1, 2019.
Brexit Impact
PAGE | 12PAGE | 12
Mexico's governors tap investors in China
Inflation slows down in
GermanyDow & Brent before going to press
$50.25 $50.25 +0.74+0.74
BRENT
20,712.70 +53.38 PTS
0.26%DOW
Friday 31 March 2017
10,390.60 -26.23 PTS
0.25%
QE
London
QNA
Xavier Rolet (pictured), CEO of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has
expressed conviction in Qatar's ability to become a regional financial hub thanks to its posi-tion and distinct influence in Asia and Africa. This makes Qatar close to Britain, which plays the same role due to posi-tion and influence in Europe and around the world, he said.
In a statement to QNA, Rolet said that the Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum held in Britain this week highlighted the rapprochement between the two countries, adding that bilateral relationship praising the advanced level of bilateral ties.
He added the Forum held in London and Birmingham stressed the high level of
bilateral relations, pointing out to the two countries' keenness to strengthening cooperation, especially that Britain can pro-vide Qatari financial institutions with tailored programs and services in order to meet Qatar's needs to play such an important regional pivotal role.
Britain has also an edge with its financial technology along
with the traditional financial capabilities it already offers, he went on saying. Areas of coop-eration could include retail finance sectors from a macr-oeconomic perspective in order to provide of global services, he added.
In this context, the British official stressed that the serv-ices that can be undertaken by Britain and Qatar at the level of macro-financial sector could also contribute in reducing pov-erty around the world through providing individuals with financial services at lower prices and higher quality.
London Stock Exchange Group CEO also expressed delight over the high level of the 'historic' Qatar's represen-tation at the Forum, confirming the deeply-rooted relations between the State of Qatar and the United Kingdom.
London
QNA
Qatar-UK Business and Investment Forum held over the past two days in London and Birmingham has res-
onated widely in British political and economic circles.
In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Dr Catherine Raines, Undersecretary of the British Ministry of International Trade, confirmed the success of the Forum in consolidating the distinguished economic and trade relations between Qatar and the United Kingdom.
Raines stressed Britain's
desire to become stronger to establish a distinct trade rela-tionship with countries outside the European Union, especially after Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on the exit of her
country from the European bloc. She pointed out that her coun-try is an encouraging environment for Qatari invest-ments, praising the advantages of establishing the business pro-vided by the UK at the level of laws and services.
The British official said that Qatari companies can invest and make leaps from Britain, adding that in 2015, the UK exported £500bn of goods and services.
The United Kingdom is the world's first in the G-7 countries in cross-border banking services and that the British market rep-resents the double of the US market in this area.
In a related context, she
pointed to the legal foundations set by Britain in the field of investment in order to facilitate the business environment, explaining that the current cor-poration tax rate is 20%, the lowest in the G-7, while in April it will be about 19%.
Raines revealed the UK's intention to provide further dis-counts and tax exemptions in the coming period, pointing out that this will give greater incentive to Qatari companies wishing to invest in the United Kingdom.
For his part, the Director General of the Institute of Direc-tors in UK Stephen Martin affirmed the great successful of the forum that gives
the opportunity to the British companies wishing to invest in the state of Qatar to know about the nature of the Qatari market.
Martin stressed that British companies will change their des-tination after Britain's exit from the European Union and will seek to reach new markets and new partners in the State of Qatar and other countries around the world.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of Al Rayan Bank (one of the largest Islamic banks in Brit-ain) Sultan Choudhury praised the success of the forum in bring-ing together senior officials, d e c i s i o n - m a k e r s a n d
businessmen in Qatar and the UK to discuss the strengthening of economic relations between the two countries.
He said that Al Rayan Bank has made a lot of profits in 2016 worth £1.4bn.
On the second day of the Qatar-UK Business and Invest-ment Forum, British Prime Minister Theresa May empha-sised on the strength and depth of the two countries' relation-ship in all fields, pointing out that she will seek to strengthen economic relations with Qatar and all GCC countries in the light of Britain's openness to the world after the exit from the European Union.
Washington
AFP
German car maker Volkswagen AG said yes-terday it reached a
settlement with 10 US states on environmental and consumer claims stemming from its emis-sions cheating scandal.
The company has agreed to pay $157.5m to the states, includ-ing New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, resolving suits by the states against VW for violat-ing emissions standards. “The agreement avoids further
prolonged and costly litigation as Volkswagen continues to work to earn back the trust of its cus-tomers, regulators and the public,” VW said in a statement.
Volkswagen so far has agreed to pay out more than $20bn in the US, including crim-inal penalties, to federal and state authorities, as well as con-sumers and car dealers, to resolve its “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal which has rocked the company since 2015.
Regulators discovered Volkswagen diesel cars sold as clean were in fact emitting as
much as 40 times the permissi-ble levels of nitrogen oxide during normal driving but were configured to hide this during emissions testing.
As many as 11 million vehi-cles sold worldwide were configured to cheat emissions testing. The company in June 2016 reached a $603m agree-ment with 44 US states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to resolve consumer pro-tection claims. This did not address claims concerning 3.0 liter vehicles which were included in the latest settlement.
VW has seen strong performance despite the crisis, recording $5.4bn in profits last year after a nearly $2bn loss in 2015. The 10 states in the settlement had adopted the same emissions standards set by California, which are more stringent than federal law requires.
The Trump administration vowed to roll back requirements for to increase fuel efficiency set by the previous Democratic administration but for now Cal-ifornia, the country’s biggest auto market, retains the right to set tougher standards.
London
Reuters
Oil prices rose further yes-terday, building on two days of increases after
Kuwait gave its backing for an extension of Opec production cuts in an attempt to reduce global oversupply.
Brent crude oil was up 20 cents at $52.62 a barrel by 1330 GMT. US crude oil was 45 cents higher at $49.96 a barrel.
Both benchmark crude con-tracts rose more than $1 a barrel y e s t e r d a y t o t h e i r
highest levels for two weeks, rebounding from four-month lows. The futures contracts appeared to be searching for a new trading range, brokers said.
Kuwait oil minister Essam Al Marzouq said yesterday his country was among several nations supporting the exten-sion into the second half of the year of a deal between The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other exporters to limit production, state news agency KUNA reported.
Qatar-UK business forum a huge success
VW reaches $157.5m settlement with US states
Qatar can become a regional financial hub: LSE chief
High profile event
The United Kingdom is the world's first in the G-7 countries in cross-border banking services and that the British market represents the double of the US market in this area.
Oil prices move higher
12 FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017BUSINESS
US economic growth boosted by consumer spending Washington
Reuters
US economic growth slowed less than previously reported in the fourth quar-ter as robust
consumer spending spurred the largest increase in imports in two years.
Gross domestic product increased at a 2.1 percent annu-alised rate instead of the previously reported 1.9 percent pace, the Commerce Department said yesterday in its third GDP estimate for the period. The economy grew at a 3.5 percent rate in the third quarter.
The government also said that corporate profits after tax with inventory valuation and
capital consumption adjustments increased at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter after rising at a 6.7 percent pace in the previous three months.
Profits were held back by a $4.95bn settlement between the US subsidiary of Volkswagen AG and the US federal and state governments for violation of environmental regulations.
Data on trade as well as con-sumer and construction spending suggest that economic growth moderated further at the start of 2017. The Atlanta Federal Reserve is forecasting GDP ris-ing at a rate of 1.0 percent in the first quarter.
With the labor market near full employment, the data likely understate the health of the economy. GDP tends to be
weaker in the first quarter because of calculation issues the government has acknowledged and is trying to resolve.
A separate report from the Labour Department yesterday showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 258,000 for the week ended March 25.
Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated
with a healthy labour market for 108 straight weeks. That is the longest stretch since 1970 when the labour market was smaller.
The economy grew 1.6 per-cent for all of 2016, its worst performance since 2011, after expanding 2.6 percent in 2015.
Prices of US government debt fell after the data. US stock index futures pared losses, as did the US dollar against a basket of currencies.
The moderate economic expansion poses a challenge to President Donald Trump, who has vowed to boost annual growth to 4 percent by slashing taxes, increasing infrastructure spending and cutting regulations. The Trump administration has offered few details on its eco-nomic policies.
Growth in consumer spend-ing, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity, was revised up to a 3.5 percent rate in the fourth quar-ter. It was previously reported to have risen at a 3.0 percent rate.
Some of the increase in demand was satiated with imports, which increased at a 9.0 percent rate. That was the big-gest rise since the fourth quarter of 2014 and was an upward revi-sion from the 8.5 percent pace reported last month.
Exports declined more than previously estimated, leaving a trade deficit that subtracted 1.82 percentage point from GDP growth instead of the previ-ously reported 1.70 percentage points.
There was an upward
revision to inventory investment. Businesses accumulated inven-tories at a rate of $49.6bn in the last quarter, instead of the pre-viously reported $46.2bn. Inventory investment added 1.01 percentage point to GDP growth, up from the 0.94 percentage point estimated last month.
Business investment was revised lower to reflect a more modest pace of spending on intellectual property, which increased at a 1.3 percent rate instead of the previously esti-mated 4.5 percent rate.
There were no revisions to spending on equipment. Invest-ment in nonresidential structures was revised to show it falling at a less steep 1.9 per-cent pace in the fourth quarter.
Mexico City
Reuters
Mexico’s states are turn-ing to Asia and beyond as some US companies
put investment plans on hold south of the border following President Donald Trump’s calls to bring jobs back home.
A delegation of three Mex-ican state leaders, headed by the National Confederation of Governors (Conago), travelled to China this week to meet with business leaders and discuss investment opportunities.
“Conago is developing an agenda with China’s provinces to build investment projects in our country,” Conago tweeted on Wednesday.
“China and Conago agree
on building bridges for busi-ness, not walls.”
Fears of a hit to foreign investment ran high when Ford Motor Co canceled a $1.6bn plant in Mexico’s central state of San Luis Potosi in January.
Trump, who had railed against US manufacturers investing in Mexico, hailed the decision as a major victory, but
Ford put it down to declining demand for small cars.
“We’re not going to sit here with our arms crossed. We’re going to turn to Asia, like we’ve been doing. We want the Chi-nese to come invest in Hidalgo,” state Governor Omar Fayad (pictured) said in an interview. Fayad was speaking on the sidelines of an event organized by China’s Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co Ltd (JAC Motors) and Mexico’s Giant Motors, which presented a new line of passenger vehicles that will be assembled in Mexico.
The Hidalgo government is also reaching out to European, Canadian, South American and Middle Eastern companies, and expects to announce several more investments this year, he
said. Fayad said the Hidalgo investment plans of some US companies, which he declined to name, had recently been sus-pended indefinitely. “Obviously other countries are seeing this as an opportunity in Mexico,” he said.
In February, JAC Motors and Giant Motors, along with distributor Chori Co Ltd, said they would invest some $210m in an existing plant to build SUVs in Hidalgo.
“Mexico is a strategic mar-ket for JAC,” said David Zhang, head of international markets for JAC. “If the products and service are accepted by cus-tomers and there is a lot of market demand of course we will increase production capacity.”
Mexico's governors tap investors in China Inflation slows in GermanyBerlin
Bloomberg
Inflation in Europe’s largest economy decelerated more than forecast in March.Consumer-price growth in
Germany slowed to 1.5 percent from 2.2 percent the previous month, the Federal Statistical Office said yesterday, marking the first weakening since August 2016. Economists had forecast inflation of 1.9 percent.
The decline partly reflects the timing of the Easter holiday, which was in March in 2016, and may be a precursor to softer euro-area numbers, which are due today. Consumer-price growth in Spain also weakened more than expected in March, according to data published yes-terday, with a slowdown to 2.1 percent from 3 percent last month. A drop in the overall
euro area rate probably won’t surprise the European Central Bank, which predicted it would peak in the first quarter. The euro fell 0.3 percent to $1.0735 at 2:32 pm in Frankfurt, after declining 0.9 percent over the previous two days.
While a pickup in inflation in the past year has kickstarted a discussion about the central bank’s monetary policy stance, President Mario Draghi (pic-tured) has said he’s waiting for assurances that the improve-ment is broad based and sustainable.
Robust spending
Gross domestic product increased at a 2.1 percent annualised rate instead of the previously reported 1.9 percent pace.
Yesterday’s answer
13FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017 BREAK TIME
Yesterday’s answer
SHOWING ATVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER
BABY
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ES
ALL IN THE MIND
AMAZON, ARKANSAS, COLORADO, CONGO, DANUBE, ELBE,EUPHRATES, GANGES, HUDSON, INDUS, JORDAN, LIMPOPO, LOIRE, MEKONG, MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, MURRAY, NILE, ORINOCO, RHINE, RIO GRANDE, SEINE, SHANNON, THAMES,TIBER, TIGRIS, VOLGA, YANGTZE, YUKON, ZAMBEZI.
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Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku is a number-
placing puzzle based on a 9×9 grid. The object is to
place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so
that each row, each column and each 3×3 box
contains the same number only once.
CROSSWORD
CONCEPTIS SUDOKU
Yesterday's answer
MALL
LANDMARK
ROYAL PLAZA
ASIAN TOWN
NOVO — Pearl
ROXY
Get Out (2D/Horror) 10:30am, 12:45, 3:00, 5:15, 7:30, 9:45, 11:55pm & 12:00midnightSmurfs: The Lost Village (Animation) 3D 10:00am, 2:00, 6:00 & 10:00pm 2D 12:00noon, 4:00, 8:00, 11:50pmChips (2D/Action) 10:15am, 12:30, 2:45, 3:00, 5:00, 7:15, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:45pm Power Rangers (2D/Action) 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:00pmKong: Skull Island (2D/Action) 1:30, 6:30 & 11:30pmLife (2D/Thriller) 10:30am, 2:50, 7:10 & 11:30pm Autobahn (2D/Action) 12:40, 5:00 & 9:20pm Killing Ground (2D/Thriller) 10:15am, 4:10 & 10:10pm El Qerd Beytkalem (2D/Arabic) 12:05, 6:00pm & 12:00midnight Daylight’s End (2D) 2:00 & 8:00pm Logan (2D/Action) 10:25am, 3:00, 7:35pm & 12:00midnight 30 Days of 3Izz (2D/Arabic) 1:00, 5:35 & 10:10pm Sleepless (2D/Action) 10:00am, 2:30pm & 12:00midnight Beauty And The Beast Kong (2D IMAX/Fantasy) 10:00am, 2:45, 7:30pm & 12:00midnight 2D 12:00noon, 4:30, 7:00 & 9:30pm Life (2D IMAX/Horror) 12:35, 5:20 & 10:00pm
Naam Shabana (2D/Hindi) 2:30 & 11:00pmSmurfs: The Lost Village (2D/Animation) 2:15, 3:45 & 5:30pm Honey Bee 2 (2D/Malayalam) 5:00pm Dora (2D/Tamil) 11:15pm Northern Lights: A Journey To Love (2D/Tagalog) 7:30pm Killing Ground (2D/Thriller) 9:15pm Beauty & The Beast (2D/Family) 3:00 & 7:15pm Guru (2D/Telugu) 4:45pm Chips (2D/Action) 7:15pm 30 Days of 3Izz (2D/Arabic) 9:00pm Daylight’s End (2D/Action) 9:30pm Get Out (2D/Horror) 11:00pm
Honey Bee 2 (2D/Malayalam) 2:30pm Beauty & The Beast (2D/Family) 2:15 & 7:00pm Chips (2D/Action) 4:30 & 11:30pmSmurfs: The Lost Village (2D/Animation) 2:30, 4:00 & 5:45pm 30 Days of 3Izz (2D/Arabic) 5:00pm Daylight’s End (2D/Action) 7:00pmNorthern Lights: A Journey To Love (2D/Tagalog) 6:15pm Barbie Video Game Hero (2D/Animation) 8:00pm Get Out (2D/Horror) 9:00pm Guru (2D/Telugu) 8:00pm Get Out (2D/Horror) 9:00pm Kavan (2D/Tamil) 10:30pmKilling Ground (2D/Thriller) 11:00pm
Smurfs: The Lost Village (2D/Animation) 2:30, 4:15 & 6:00pm Honey Bee 2 (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 8:30pm Chips (2D/Action) 5:00pmNorthern Lights: A Journey To Love (2D/Tagalog) 7:45pmBeauty & The Beast (2D/Family) 2:00 & 6:30pm Kavan (2D/Tamil) 10:45pmPower Rangers 4:15pm Chips (2D/Action) 5:00 & 8:45pm30 Days of 3Izz (2D/Arabic) 6:45pm Killing Ground (2D/Thriller) 9:30pm Get Out (2D/Horror) 11:00pm Daylight’s End (2D/Action) 11:15pm
Honey Bee 2 (Malayalam) 3:15, 6:00, 8:45 & 11:30pm & 01:45am Kavan (Tamil) 12:30, 6:15pm & 01:45pm Dora (Tamil) 12:30, 3:30, 11:00pm & 01:45am Guru (Telugu) 12:30 & 3:15pm Naam Shabana (Hindi) 6:00 & 11:30pm Ezra (Malayalam) 12:30, 3:15, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30pm & 01:45am
Power Rangers 2:00, 4:30pm Ezra 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pmChips 2:00, 4:15, 6:30, 8:45 & 11:00pm Beauty & The Beast 7:30 & 10:00pm Dora 5:10 & 11:10pm
AL KHORSmurfs 11:00am, 1:00 & 3:00pm Ezra 11:30am, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm
Kavan 10:30am, 5:15 & 11:00pm Dora 2:30 & 8:15pm Honey Bee 2 1:15 & 11:30pm
Chips 4:00 & 9:15pm Naam Shabana (Hindi) 6:15pm
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SPORT16 FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017
Fawad HussainThe Peninsula
Relegation-threat-ened Al Shahania can expect no mercy from Al Arabi as the
Osvaldo Olivera’s side is tar-geting a victory against the struggling team, eyeing a strong finish in the prestig-ious Qatar Stars League (QSL), which resumes tomorrow.
Both the teams will meet at Al Arabi Stadium in one of the four battles tomorrow, with Olivera hoping his team will give a strong perform-ance at their home venue.
Al Arabi are currently on eighth position after accu-mulating 27 points from eight victories and three drawn games. They have lost 12 matches.
Expressing satisfaction on his side’s overall show this season, team’s boss Olivera predicted tough matches for his team in April.
“All of our last games have been a battle. I find that the games at the end of the
season will always be tough,” he said a pre-match p r e s s c o n f e r e n c e yesterday.
“We have lots of obsta-cles to face, our staff and our players have behaved so professionally. We have done very well to maintain our status in the first divi-sion,” Olivera added.
The coach was optimis-tic ahead of the clash with Al Shahania, who are des-perate to secure points in order to stay in the coveted league.
“We know what Al Sha-hania will bring to this game they need the points but I am sure my side can come away with a positive result.”
Al Shahania, who have 17 points from 23 games are ahead of bottom-placed Muaither SC (16) and Al Wakrah (14), but the Oryxes are still in the battle to avoid relegation.
However, their coach Igor Stimac was upbeat about his team’s chances in the upcoming games.
“The players were very positive in training (during the break) and we
are getting back to the QSL challenge with confidence,” he said ahead of the match.
“In these final games we hope to take our chances in front of goal and improve defensively to get the points we need to survive.”
The Croatian, though warned his ranks to give their best against Al Arabi, which he rated as ‘most pop-ular side in Qatar’.
“Al Arabi have great
individuals in the side, and we need to be at our best to win. I told my players that we need to run, fight and be at every second ball if we are to win against Al Arabi, we cannot give them time to realise their individual abilities.”
“All I expect is good football, I want my players to give 100% only then will be able to get the result we need,” he concluded.
QSL: Al Arabi offer no mercy to struggling Al Shahania
Al Ahli eye win as Al Kharaitiyatlook to avoid relegation woesChinthana WasalaThe Peninsula
Al Ahli will be looking to avoid late troubles and collect full points against
Al Kharaitiyat as the 24th round of Qatar Stars League (QSL) action kicks-off today.
Seventh placed Al Ahli will have the advantage of playing on their home turf against Al Kharaitiyat and will be aiming to end the season on a high note. On the other hand, Al Kharaiti-yat will put every effort to get out of the danger zone, being placed 10th in the QSL stand-ings, with only three more rounds left in the season.
The Brigadiers suffered a number of injury blows this sea-son, but they have proved that they are no easy prey. A
spirited 3-2 win against Al Shaniyah in their last time out lifted them to the seventh position.
Head coach Yusef Adam revealed his thoughts to the local media ahead of the game during a pre match press con-ference held yesterday.
“I hope that the restart will be positive for my side. We are looking for a win to officially put the relegation issue to bed. We need to play with determi-nation and take our chances against Al Kharaitiyat.”
“We know Al Kharaitiyat well, they are a strong side. They are in trouble also so we must be focused; Whoever wins it will be a big three points pull-ing either side further away from relegation” added the Qatari coach.
Adam revealed that they will be missing the services of their Ghanaian defender, John Benson due to fitness issues.
“John Benson will be miss-ing for the side, but will be back in two games. We are playing for the final three games in the league, and then the cup competitions.”
Al Kharaitiyat, despite hov-ering above the drop zone, are just two points behind Al Ahli, having accumulated 25 points.
A win for Al Ahli today will add more woes to Al Kharaiti-yat, but if the opposite happens, they have the opportunity to rise above the Brigadiers. They have done well during their last five games, claiming three vic-tories, meaning that they have a good chance of beating the drop to the Qatar Gas League.
Thunders coach Ahmad Al Ajlani explained that the tie will be a real challenge for his side.
“This is going to be a tough game, in a decisive part of the season. We will be playing Al Ahli, this will be difficult for both sides and we know that three points for both sides will pull us further away from trouble.”
“We used the break to improve the fitness and relax the players, we have been focusing on the mental side of the game; We have many personalities in our squad who have been shoul-dering the pressure we have been under from relegation” added Al Ajlani when asked about his preparations during the international break.
The game will kick-off at 6.20pm.
Workers’ Cup 2017 set for exciting final between two SC contractors The Peninsula
The stage is set for the final of the Supreme Commit-tee for Delivery & Legacy
(SC)-sponsored Workers’ Cup 2017 today.
The fifth edition of the com-petition will culminate in a contest between two teams involved in SC projects for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.
Favourites Nakheel Land-scapes, who upset 2016 champions Taleb Group in the quarter-finals, will take on Al Asmakh Facilities Management at Qatar Sports Club Stadium in Doha.
Nakheel Landscapes are favourites to win today's Work-ers' Cup 2017 final.
“It is a matter of great pride for my team and the whole organisation to be in the final of this great competition,” said Nakheel Landscapes coach Sami Majzoub.
“Our managing director, Ghassan Oueijan, has attended almost all our matches, which indicates the importance of the tournament for us. I am thank-ful to the SC and the Qatar Stars League (QSL) for showing their commitment towards the work-ers of Qatar through this tournament.”
The teams will kick-off at 7:00p.m., but thousands of watching football fans will feel the passion long before the whistle, as they hope for another spectacular Workers’ Cup final.
The QSL-sponsored competi-tion was decided by penalty shootouts in both 2015 and 2016.
There will be excitement and passion in the stands dur-ing the final.
Those watching the action will be anticipating a high-scor-ing match as both teams have shown a stunning ability to find the back of the net.
Al Asmakh Facilities Man-agement recorded an incredible 20-0 win against Al Balagh ear-lier in the cup, having opened their tournament with an 8-0 victory.
Nakheel Landscapes, who have 3,500 employees and an 18-year record in Qatar’s land-scaping sector, also began Workers’ Cup 2017 with an 8-0
win – in front of almost 6,000 fans.
However, there have been some closer games for the team since, including a penalty shoot-out win over 2016 semi-finalists Larsen & Toubro.
Al Asmakh Facilities Man-agement have scored freely during the group stage of the Workers' Cup 2017
The final will be preceded by the third place play-off and the final of the Plate Shield, a knockout tournament for the 16 teams who finished third and fourth in their groups.
The 80-match Workers’ Cup was contested by 32 teams this year – eight more than in 2016 – with over 600 football-lov-ing workers from around the
world showcasing their football skills. 15 of these teams have a connection with the SC – with four involved in the organisa-tion’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, Gen-eration Amazing.
The Workers’ Cup has emerged as an integral part of Qatar’s domestic football cal-endar, with the final day last year on 8 May drawing a crowd of 11,000 to Al Ahli Stadium.
This year’s edition will enter local history books as it included the last football match to be played at the QFA Technical Fields in Al Thumama.
The next match in Al Thu-mama will take place once the locality’s brand new 2022 FIFA World Cup stadium is ready.
WORKERS CUP 2017
Nakheel Landscapes take on Al Asmakh Facilities Management in the final at Qatar Sports Club Stadium in Doha today.
Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC)-sponsors the tournament. The final kicks-off at 7.00p.m.
Last year's final drew a crowd of 11,000 to Al Ahli Stadium.
Al Arabi coach Osvaldo Olivera attends a press conference ahead of their Qatar Stars game against Al Shahania.
Al Ahli players celebrate after scoring a goal in this file photo.
17FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017 SPORT
Nadal on track for Federer showdown
Miami
AFP
Rafael Nadal took a step closer to a pos-sible final against long-time rival Roger Federer in the Miami
Open after a straight sets win over American Jack Sock on Wednesday at Key Biscayne.
Nadal's 6-2, 6-3 win over the 13th-seeded Sock sets up a semi-final meeting with unseeded Italian Fabio Fognini who upset second ranked Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-2 earlier in the day.
The Spaniard's forehand was ominous as he neutralised Sock in one hour and 22 minutes.
Nadal was able to save six of seven break points earned by Sock as he kept control of the contest.
He broke Sock in the Amer-ican's first service game and swiftly established a 3-0 advan-tage and a second break at 5-2 wrapped up the opening set.
The American showed his spirit though as he broke Nadal at the start of the second but was unable to take advantage of a double break that could have put him 3-0 up.
Instead Nadal pulled back to 2-2 and with Sock failing to make the most of a chance of further break points it was com-fortable in the end.
The 30-year-old Spaniard has never won in Miami despite being a four-time finalist and he expects plenty of work to get past Fognini and make it a fifth appearance.
"We know each other very
well. He has beaten me a couple of times and so it will be a good test. I am happy to be the semi-finals but it will be a tough one and I will need to play my best," said Nadal.
Fognini has three wins from ten meetings with the Spaniard, the most recent coming on clay in Rio de Janiero in 2015.
The 29-year-old world number 40 showed plenty of confidence as he took the game to his Japanese opponent from the outset.
It was the Italian's first vic-tory in three attempts over Nishikori and his first Masters
series quarter-final win since 2013, when he reached the last four in Monte-Carlo.
Nishikori earlier said he had not felt fully in top shape for the contest.
"I wasn't 100%, physically, I mean, it was tough conditions for me," he said, referring to the heat on the mid-afternoon Key Biscayne centre court.
"But it was also same for him, too. He was playing a lot of the long matches, but I think he still played good enough to beat me today," he added.
Fognini, who was cheered on by his friend, former Italy footballer Christian Vieri, said he had come through a demand-ing test.
"It wasn't easy and I was just focused on my game. I am very happy, I'm in the semifinal."
Federer takes on Czech tenth-seed Tomas Berdych while the last quarter-final pits Ger-many's Alexander Zverev against Australia's Nick Kyrgios.
Men's Quarter-finalsRafael Nadal (ESP x5) bt Jack Sock (USA x13) 6-2, 6-3
Fabio Fognini (ITA) bt Kei Nishikori (JPN x2) 6-4, 6-2
Women's Quarter-finalsVenus Williams (USA x11) bt Angelique Kerber (GER x1) 7-5, 6-3
Johanna Konta (GBR x10) bt Simona Halep (ROM x3) 3-6, 7-6 (9/7),
6-2
MIAMI OPEN RESULTS
Venus downs Kerber to set up Konta clash Miami
AFP
Venus Williams rolled back the years to send world number one
Angelique Kerber crashing out of the Miami Open on Wednes-day and advance to a semi-final showdown with Britain's Johanna Konta.
Williams, at 36 the oldest woman in the field, downed Kerber in straight sets, winning 7-5, 6-3 while Konta fought back to beat Romania's Simon Halep 3-6, 7-6(9/7), 6-2.
Both results had the ele-ment of surprise about them with Kerber the top seed and Halep the third and in good form, but they set up what should be a fascinating contest on Thursday.
The other semi-final pits Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki against second-seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
With the local crowd behind her, Williams, a
three-time winner at Miami clearly believed she could top-ple the German but the first set saw both players struggle to hold their serves.
The American broke Ker-ber four times while Williams failed to hold serve twice, but the contest was more one-sided in the second set.
Williams raced to a 4-1 lead before Kerber broke back and started to produce some great shots as she battled in vain to save the match.
The victory over Halep means Konta becomes the first British woman to reach the last four at Miami. Halep settled well in the opening set, with her powerful forehand dominant, but Konta fought back well in the second.
The Australia-born Konta broke early to establish a 3-0 lead but the gritty Romanian clawed her way back winning the next three games while her opponent failed to make the most of her openings in what was an error-strewn contest.
Venus Williams of the United
States hits a backhand
against Angelique Kerber of
Germany (not pictured) on day nine of the 2017 Miami Open on
Wednesday.
' Johnson the player to beat at Augusta' New York Reuters
World number one Dus-tin Johnson is playing the "best golf in the
world" and will start as the favourite to win the Masters next month, Jordan Spieth has said ahead of Houston Open.
Johnson maintained his impressive form by winning the WGC-Dell Match Play in Austin last weekend to mark his third victory in as many starts in 2017.Spieth, who has a victory and two runner-up finishes at Augusta in the last three years, said he would have to be on top form to defeat Johnson at the
first major of year, which starts on April 6.
"I think Dustin Johnson is the guy to beat in golf no matter where you are," Spieth said at a news conference.
"If I play my best golf, I believe that I can take down anybody, and you have to believe that.
"But I think that he is the guy that everyone is saying he's play-ing the best golf in the world right now.
"Major championships have huge weight and I'm not focused on trying to win majors to get to number one any more," the 23-year-old added.
"So, that side of things,
getting number one isn't the pressure that I feel, but that's the only way to really take big
strides towards him because I don't think he's letting up any time soon."
Dustin Johnson
NHL: China to stage first pre-season matches Beijing
AFP
The NHL will play its first-ever pre-season games in China this autumn, its
commissioner announced Thursday, as Beijing pushes winter sports ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The Los Angeles Kings and the Vancouver Canucks will square off on September 21 in Shanghai and on September 23 in Beijing, where the deal between the NHL and Chinese biotechnology group Bloomage International was announced.
Many Chinese firms have invested in China's sports industry in recent years, often in an attempt to curry favour with the government, which has made promoting the country's sporting prowess a national objective.
"We look forward to our first games in China and to a variety of initiatives that will inspire generations of Chinese players and fans," NHL Com-missioner Gary Bettman said.
"We recognise the impor-tance of helping China build a strong national hockey pro-gramme," he said.
Curry sparks Warriors, Westbrook sets record Los Angeles AFP
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson led the Golden State Warriors to a mag-
nificent come-from-behind victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday on a record-breaking night for Okla-homa City 's Russel l Westbrook.
Curry and Thompson – the fabled "Splash Brothers" of the Warriors offense – combined for 52 points as the Dubs over-turned a 29-7 deficit to secure a 110-98 win over their West-ern Conference rivals.
The win saw Golden State tighten their grip on the top seed position in the conference standings, improving to 61-14 as second-placed San Antonio slipped to 57-17. The Warriors victory hands the Oakland fran-chise a psychological boost as they head into the playoffs next month, where they could ulti-mately face San Antonio for a
place in the NBA Finals. In Orlando meanwhile,
Oklahoma star Westbrook was feted with loud chants of "MVP, MVP" by Orlando Magic fans after an electrifying perform-ance. Westbrook finished with 57 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists as the Thunder rolled to a 114-106 win in overtime at Orlando's Amway Center.
It was Westbrook's fourth consecutive triple-double and his 38th of an incredible sea-son. It also set a new record as the highest-scoring triple-dou-ble in NBA history.
LA Clippers 133 Washington 124
Utah 112 Sacramento 82
Golden State 110 San Antonio 98
Memphis 110 Indiana 97
New Orleans 121 Dallas 118
Milwaukee 103 Boston 100
Charlotte 110 Toronto 106
Miami 105 NY Knicks 88
Atlanta 99 Philadelphia 92
Oklahoma City 114 Orlando 106
NBA RESULTS
ICC mulling bid for Games inclusionLondon
Reuters
The time is right for cricket to return to the Olympics and a decision on apply-
ing for inclusion in 2024 will have to be made within months, the head of the sport's govern-ing body said yesterday.
The founder of the modern Olympics, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, was enthusiastic about cricket, a sport domi-nated by Britain and former British colonies such as Aus-tralia and India, but it has only once featured in a Games - in Paris in 1900.
"We need to make a deci-sion by, I guess, July of this year so that we can submit an appli-cation by September," Dave Richardson, chief executive of the International Cricket Coun-cil (ICC), told reporters.
"And of course it’s not what cricket wants, its whether the IOC wants us."
The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) will choose between 2024 bid cities Paris and Los Angeles at a meeting in Lima in September, with new sports also under consideration. Baseball and softball are set to return in Tokyo in 2020.
Richardson said it did not matter which city won the bid.
"Both (cities) would ... prob-ably be opportunistic for us, especially the US option, but also in Europe," Richardson
said at the SportsPro Live con-ference at Wembley Stadium.
"You’d have to spend a lit-tle bit more money on cricket pitches in France than in the U.S. but it's not impossible."
"I think the majority of the members, and certainly myself, think the time is right," Rich-ardson added.
"I think we've come to the conclusion that the overall ben-efit to the game of helping to
globalise it and grow will out-weigh any negatives," he further said.
Richardson said any approach would be for cricket's shortest Twenty20 format.The IOC had already made clear that there were limitations on athlete numbers, which would mean a competition of six to eight national sides at elite level.
There have been concerns that Olympic inclusion could damage the sport's own events, while clearing the calendar at a busy time of the cricket year would be another headache.
The problems that golf suf-fered, with many top players not attending, could also count against cricket. Golf returned to the Games last year in Rio for the first time since 1904.
England and West Indies could not compete as such. Britain represents England and the other home nations at the Olympics. Jamaica and other Caribbean nations compete individually.
Dave Richardson
18 FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017SPORT
Van Gaal in talks over Dutch FA role Amsterdam
Reuters
The Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) have started talks with Louis van Gaal as they begin their search for a new coach but
want the veteran trainer to take on a senior role in the organisation rather than at the helm of their national team.
The 65-year-old Van Gaal, who led the Dutch to third place at the 2014 World Cup, was being earmarked for a major role in the KNVB, its chair-man Michael van Praag told Dutch media as the body continues the process of overhauling its infrastructure.
Van Gaal, whose last job was at Manchester United, would also help with the selection of a new coach after Danny Blind was fired on Sunday.
The Dutch have slumped to an all-time low of 32nd in the FIFA rankings and are in crisis after losing to Bulgaria last Saturday, slipping to fourth place in their World Cup qualifying group, six points off leaders France at the halfway stage.
Blind was fired less than 24 hours after the loss in Sofia and the process of appointing a replacement formally began on Wednesday, added KNVB commercial director Jean-Paul Decossaux.
South Korea set tolet women's team play in North Seoul
AFP
South Korea plans to allow its women's foot-ball team to make a rare visit to the North next week, it said yesterday, raising the pros-
pect of the South's flag flying in Pyongyang.An AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifying group
will take place in the North's capital from Mon-day, with the rival Koreas due to meet today.
It would be the first full competitive football match between the two Koreas in the North, rather than friendlies, for either the men's or women's team.
The neighbours remain technically in conflict after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armi-stice rather than a peace treaty, and relations between them have plunged in recent months.
But Asian Football Confederation (AFC) offi-cials have told AFP that the Pyongyang matches will be played according to FIFA protocol rules -- which normally require that both countries' flags fly at the stadium and their anthems are played before kick-off.
Seoul requires its citizens to obtain permis-sion before going to the North, giving it a veto on trips.
It had demanded a security guarantee from the North before approving the women's team journey and the unification ministry, which over-sees relations with Pyongyang, said it had complied in an email to football authorities.
As well as the two Koreas, the AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifying Group B includes Uzbekistan, India and Hong Kong. The group winner will go through to the finals next year in Jordan.
The North are ranked 10th in the world by FIFA, ahead of the South in 17th place, and with home advantage throughout will be the favour-ites to qualify.
On Wednesday, Seoul's unification ministry granted the North's women's ice hockey team per-mission to play in the South next week, a positive sign ahead of next year's Winter Olympics.
North and South are due to face off against each other in Gangneung in division II group A of the women's world ice hockey championships on Thursday, a day before the football match between them in Pyongyang.
Self-taught sculptor defends grinning Ronaldo bustMadeira
Reuters
Self-taught sculptor Emanuel San-tos defended his grinning bust of Cristiano Ronaldo yesterday, tell-
ing his thousands of online detractors he had followed the soccer star's instructions down to the last wrinkle.
Santos, a 40-year-old former air-port cleaner, said the Real Madrid striker had asked him to make the por-trait more jovial, and had praised his efforts.
"It's impossible to please the Greeks and the Trojans, and even Jesus couldn't please everyone ... It's a mat-ter of taste and not as simple as it seems," Santos told Globo Esporte.
Officials unveiled the bronze bust at Madeira's airport on Wednesday, triggering an onslaught of online abuse and ridicule.
Some focused on the sculpture's toothy smile, others on its close-set, bulging eyes. All questioned the accu-racy of its depiction of the Portugal captain, known for his model-like looks, who was there at the unveiling.
"Cristiano was one of the last peo-ple to arrive, but I spoke with him in the VIP room," Santos said after the unveiling. "I asked him what he thought of the result and he said he liked it."
Santos said Ronaldo had sent in suggestions while he was working on the sculpture.
"He only asked for some wrinkles that give him a certain expression to his face when he laughs to be changed," the Madeira native added.
"He said it made him look older and asked for it to be thinned out a bit to make it smoother and more jovial."
The sculpture was unveiled to mark Madeira's decision to name its airport "Aeroporto Cristiano Ronaldo" after its hometown star.
Ronaldo, who scored his 71st international goal for Portugal in their 3-2 defeat by Sweden on Tuesday, helped the national side to their first international title when they defeated France in the European Champion-ships final last summer.
Mourinho 'totally against' international friendlies London
AFP
Manchester United manager Jose Mour-inho says he is "totally against" international friend-
lies following injuries to key central defenders Chris Smalling and Phil Jones on England duty.
Mourinho expects to be with-out five first-team players against West Bromwich Albion on Satur-day, including the injured Paul Pogba and suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
"I am totally against the friendly matches," Mourinho told Sky Sports, after Jones had to withdraw from the England squad with a toe injury suffered in a training ground clash with Smalling, who pulled out after sustaining a leg injury in the Germany friendly.
Both defenders missed Eng-land's 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Lithuania, leading Mour-inho to question the need for friendlies during the season.
"I think friendly matches for the
national team only make sense before the final phases," he said.
"A couple of weeks before the Euros or a couple of weeks before the World Cup makes sense. But mid-season friendly matches mixed with qualification matches, I don't think that makes sense."
"On top of that the matches
are not really big matches so I am not a big fan. But I think one day I will be there so I cannot be very critical."
M o u r -inho, who had 13 play-ers away on international duty, believes his side will be at a disadvantage when they resume Premier League action at Old Trafford this weekend.
"If you compare our situation with our oppo-nents, West Brom, only one player on international duty," Mourinho told this week's Soccer Saturday programme, underesti-mating the number of Baggies players who joined up with their national teams in the past fortnight.
"They had time to work, time to rest and prepare. It's going to be hard."
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Schweinsteiger eager to start MLS career Chicago
AFP
German star Bastian Schweinsteiger said he is ready to make
an immediate start to his Major League Soccer career with Chicago Fire at a for-mal presentation before journalists on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old former Bayern Munich and Man-chester United midfielder told reporters he was avail-able to make his debut in Chicago's clash with Mon-treal Impact tomorrow if selected.
"I am 32 years old. I am ready, but of course I need more training sessions to have the right rhythm, to be where I want to see myself," Schweinsteiger said.
"My head is more than 100 percent. I feel quite comfortable. The session was pretty intense today and I could do it, so that was good. I was preparing before I came here and, of course, I need some days more training but I feel I am ready whenever the coach needs me."
Schweinsteiger, a key member of Germany's 2014 World Cup-winning team, confirmed his move to MLS last week after struggling to find a role at Manchester United.
Schweinsteiger said his
swift departure from the Premier League giants after just under two years with the club meant he was unable to say a proper goodbye to his Old Trafford teammates.
"It was not so easy because the decision was a bit late so I couldn't say a proper goodbye to the
team," Schweinsteiger said."Also they had an away
match, so I couldn't really tell them because I didn't want the focus on me, but on the team. I had a great time there, especially with the teammates and the staff."
Schweinsteiger is reported to have signed a one-year deal with Chicago as a designated player, meaning he can be paid out-side of MLS salary restrictions. He is set to earn $4.5m for his season in the Windy City.
Chicago coach Veljko Paunovic was coy about whether Schweinsteiger would play this weekend.
"Obviously, he is going to be available. We are not going to reveal our plans here. But we still have a talk to have and discuss how he feels and more things about the team and how we want to play. So be ready."
Wednesday's news con-ference, meanwhile, saw one awkward exchange where a reporter asked Sch-weinsteiger whether he felt that the "World Cup was a realistic expectation" for Chicago Fire.
Chicago general man-ager Nelson Rodriguez promptly stepped into clar-ify the question, stating: "We as a club don't play for the World Cup, we play for the MLS Cup."
I am 32 years old. I am ready, but of course I need more training sessions to have the right rhythm, to be where I want to see myself. It (leaving Manchester United) was not so easy because the decision was a bit late so I couldn't say a proper goodbye to the team: Bastian Schweinsteiger
A couple of weeks before the Euros or a
couple of weeks before the World Cup makes sense.
But mid-season friendly matches
mixed with qualification
matches, I don't think that makes sense.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho
Chicago Fire midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger practices with his new team at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois on Wednesday.
Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (right), Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa (centre) and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa take part in a ceremony where Madeira's airport in Funchal was renamed after Cristiano Ronaldo, on Madeira island, on Wednesday.
19FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017 HOME
20 FRIDAY 31 MARCH 2017MORNING BREAK
Visitors carry their dogs in pet strollers during Interpets in Tokyo, Japan, yesterday.
Puppies day out
French Alphajets flying over the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida yesterday, as part of the Patrouille de France's US Tour 2017. French astronauts and former Air Force pilots Jean-Loup Chretien and Patrick Baudry are taking part in the tour.
Cruising with colours
FAJRSHOROOK
04.10 am
05.27 am
ZUHRASR
11.38 am
03.07 pm
MAGHRIBISHA
05.52 pm
07.22 pm
PRAYER TIMINGS
HIGH TIDE 06:45 - 19:45 LOW TIDE 01:15 - 13:00
Hazy and scattered clouds with
weak chance of light rain at places
at first becomes relatively hot day-
time with slight dust.
WEATHER TODAY
Minimum Maximum
Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department
23oC 33oC
Potatoes on Mars? Now they grow in PeruLima
AP
In a lab in the Peruvian capital of Lima, a simulator mimicking the harsh conditions found on Mars
now contains a hint of life: a nascent potato plant.
After experimenting in the Andean nation's dry, desert soil, scientists have successfully grown a potato in frigid, high carbon-dioxide surroundings.
Though still in early stages, inves-tigators at the International Potato Center believe the initial results are a promising indicator that potatoes might one day be harvested under con-ditions as hostile as those on Mars.
The findings could benefit not only future Mars exploration, but also arid regions already feeling the impact of climate change.
"It's not only about bringing pota-toes to Mars, but also finding a potato that can resist non-cultivable areas on Earth," said Julio Valdivia, an astro-biologist with Peru's University of Engineering and Technology who is working with NASA on the project.
The experiment began in 2016
— a year after the Hollywood film "The Martian" showed a stranded astronaut surviving by figuring out how to grow potatoes on the red planet.
Peruvian scientists built a simula-tor akin to a Mars-in-a-box: Frosty below-zero temperatures, high car-bon monoxide concentrations, the air pressure found at 6,000 metres (19,700 feet) altitude and a system of lights imitating the Martian day and night.
Though thousands of miles away from colleagues at NASA's Ames Research Center in California provid-ing designs and advice, Peru was in many ways an apt location to experi-ment with growing potatoes on Mars.
The birthplace of the domesticated potato lies high in the Andes near Lake Titicaca, where it was first grown about 7,000 years ago. More than 4,000 varieties are grown in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, where potatoes have sprouted even in cold, barren lands.
The Peruvian scientists didn't have to go far to find high-salinity soil sim-ilar to that found on Mars, though with some of the organic material Mars lacks: Pampas de la Joya along the
country's southern coast receives less than a millimeter of rain a year, mak-ing its terrain somewhat comparable to the Red Planet's parched ground.
International Potato Center researchers transported 700 kilos (1,540 pounds) of the soil to Lima, planted 65 varieties and waited. In the end, just four sprouted from the soil.
In a second stage, scientists planted one of the most robust varieties in the even more extreme conditions of the simulator, with the soil — Mars has no organic soil — replaced by crushed rock and a nutrient solution.
Live-streaming cameras caught every tiny movement as a bud sprouted and grew several leaves while sensors provided around-the-clock monitoring of simulator conditions. The winning potato: A vari-ety called "Unique."
"It's a 'super potato' that resists very high carbon dioxide conditions and temperatures that get to freezing," Valdivia said.
NASA itself also has been doing experiments on extraterrestrial agri-culture, both for use on spacecraft and
perhaps on Mars.Ray Wheeler, the lead for advanced
life support research activities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, said plant survival in the open on Mars would be impossible given the plan-et's low-pressure, cold temperature and lack of oxygen, but showing plants could survive in a greenhouse-type environment with reduced pressure and high carbon-dioxide levels could potentially reduce operating costs. Most research on growing plants in space has focused on optimising envi-ronments to get high outputs of oxygen and food.
"But understanding the lower lim-its of survival is also important, especially if you consider pre-deploy-ing some sort of plant growth systems before humans arrive," he said.
In the next stage of the experiment, scientists will build three more simu-lators to grow potato plants under extreme conditions with the hope of gaining a broader range of results. They will also need to increase the car-bon dioxide concentrations to more closely imitate the Martian atmosphere.
Radiation linked to nerve diseaseParis
AFP
Pilots, welders and other workers who are persist-ently exposed to high
levels of electromagnetic fields may be at higher risk of devel-oping deadly motor neurone disease, according to a study published yesterday.
Research in The BMJ drew a link between such exposure and amyotrophic lateral scle-rosis (ALS), a progressive degeneration of the motor nerve cells in the brain and spi-nal cord.
There is currently no cure, and those affected usually die within a few years of diagnosis.
The disease is very rare, occurring on average among two new cases per 100,000 people every year, most typi-cally among individuals aged between 55 and 65.
"Those whose jobs had exposed them to high levels of extremely low electromagnetic
fields were more than twice as likely to develop ALS as those who had never been exposed," according to researchers led by Roel Vermeulen, a professor at the Institute for Risk Assess-ment Sciences at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. Low-frequency electromag-netic fields are generated by electrical appliances and elec-trical tools and the power grid. Earlier studies have suggested ALS may be associated with close workplace exposure to these fields, but the link has proven very difficult to establish.
Other suspected sources of the nerve disease are electric shocks, solvents, metal and pes-ticides. Researchers reviewed medical records of about 120,000 men and women who were monitored for 17 years starting from the age of 55 to 69. Seventy-six men and 60 women who died of ALS dur-ing this time were compared to a control group of about 4,000 randomly selected people.
