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Delay to Fed hikes would be harmful:

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BUSINESS | 11 SPORT | 18

Volume 22 | Number 7160 | 2 RiyalsSaturday 13 May 2017 | 17 Sha'baan 1438 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

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THE STATE OF QATAR has strongly condemned the sui-cide attack that took place in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province yester-day, killing and injuring dozens of people.

In a statement, the Minis-try of Foreign Affairs reiterated Qatar's firm posi-tion rejecting violence and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations regardless of the motives or reasons.

The statement expressed Qatar's condolences to the Pakistani government and people and to the families of the victims.

Irfan Bukhari The Peninsula

The Ministry of Transport and Communications has asked residents to go to

“trusted shops to get their cell phones' problems fixed” to avoid possible hacking of data.

“If you want to fix your phone, always go to trusted places to avoid exposing your data to hack-ing, even if you took the required precautions,” the ministry writes in its cyber security awareness campaign (#secure4safety) being run for many months on its social media platforms.

In a recent post of the

ministry appeared the other day it said that fewer than 10% youth in Qatar have reported being bullied online. "18% youth report being exposed to inappropriate content while 42% reported receiving friend requests from unknown people," the ministry said in a post titled "Online Social Networking Risks".

To protect residents from pos-sible cyber threats particularly “digital identity theft” cases, the Ministry of Transport and Com-munication’s campaign #secure4safety is a laudable effort to create awareness among peo-ple to avoid cyber threats.

The awareness campaign

gives valuable tips to social media users which can save them from blackmailing and other internet related crimes. “To be safe while using public Wi-Fi, always access secure websites & apps, and avoid inserting any sensitive informa-tion,” another post of the ministry asks the residents.

"A good number of pieces of information or advice shared by the ministry in #secure4safety campaign are apparently small and IT-literate people already know them but they are useful for the general public who usually either neglect them or unaware of those facts which can expose

them to cyber blackmailing," said Neros, a resident working with a private company.

Few months back, Lieuten-ant-Colonel Ali Hassan Al Kubaisi, Head of Economic Crimes Combating Section at the Criminal Investigation Depart-ment (CID) of the Ministry of Interior, had also said that the modes of cyber-crimes were constantly changing with the advancement of technology and cyber-criminals were altering the shape of their crimes. He had said that fraud and blackmail were considered the most dan-gerous cyber crimes.

→ Continued on page 2

Sidi Mohamed The Peninsula

Several pharmacies across the country claim shortage of two common drugs used

to treat vomiting and dizziness due to lack of supply.

Navidoxine and Vominore are two common drugs used to treat nausea, vomiting and dizziness caused by motion sickness, inadequate dietary intake or pregnancy and these are not available for a period of more than two months, according to industry sources.

Several pharmacies The Peninsula visited also con-firmed the shortage of drugs.

“Both drugs are out for stock for a long time. Vominore is out of stock since two months, and Navidoxine is not available for a period more than that," said a pharmacist in Al Wakra area.

He said that the shortage was due to lack of supply by the distributor of the drugs.

“In Qatar there is only one supplier for Navidoxine and two suppliers for Vominore. Actually more suppliers must be there, otherwise we will con-tinue facing the problem,” he added. Some pharmacists claim that a number of customers come seeking for the drugs as it is

essential for pregnant women with morning sickness.

A pharmacist in Old Airport area said: “These two drugs are very helpful for travellers with motion sickness and one of the best solutions for pregnant women with morning sickness during the first trimester of pregnancy. There are alterna-tive drugs but the quality is not similar to Navidoxine and Vominore.”

→ Continued on page 2

Ministry cautions against social networking risks

Supply woes lead to drug shortage

Navidoxine and Vominore are two common drugs used to treat nausea, vomiting and dizziness caused by motion sickness, inadequate dietary intake or pregnancy and these are not available for more than two months, according to industry sources.

Qatar strongly condemns Pakistan blast

QNA

QATARI INVENTOR Mohsen Al Shaikh (pictured), who is tak-ing part in the 28th International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition (ITEX) held in Malaysia, won a gold medal in the ITEX Malaysia Innovative Product Award Competition for his invention "Oxy Water Tank Cooler".

In remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA) Mohsen Al Shaikh expressed pleasure at this achievement. He said that his invention "Oxy Water Cooler" works to cool the tanks water at high speed, explain-ing that the idea is based on using the nano technology in circulating and cooling the air inside the tank.

Mohsen Al Sheikh said that his invention is the fastest water cooling system, pointing out that it can reduce the temperature of the entire contents of a tank with 800 gallons of water from 40 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius in three hours.

ITEX is one of the largest annual exhibitions on inventions. This year more than 850 inven-tors from 25 different countries participated in the exhibition's various scientific and technical fields.

Qatari inventor wins gold at ITEX Malaysia 2017

Three hospitals for workers soon

A protester throws a stone at Israeli security forces during a demonstration in support of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, in Nablus, West Bank, yesterday. A 20-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire during clashes near Ramallah.

Sanaullah Attaullah The Peninsula

Workers in the Industrial Areas will have their "own hospital very

soon" and access medical facil-ities there within 10 to 15 minutes, said Dr Sheikh Moham-med bin Hamad Al Thani, Director Public Health at the Ministry of Public Health.

He said that very soon every body would have their "Health ID" and better chance for hos-pitals. "We are opening three hospitals for male migrant work-ers that will help and provide bed for every worker," Al Thani further announced.

"Every year workers condi-tions are getting improved. A lot of workers have new technol-ogy, new mobile phones and every body is connected with internet. The embassies now have more capability to commu-nicate with you in an easier way. I see always embassies' websites are updated that provide you better communication," Al Thani said while addressing a cere-mony to mark Labour Day organized by Indian Community Benevolent Forum, Embassy of India at Asian Town.

He futher said: "We are fol-lowing our vision at the ministry of public health to move forward for better awareness to provide better health services to the work-ers and their children in future."

He said that there were large number of people in the

Industrial area and "soon they will have their own hospital". "They will be able to access hos-pital in 10 to 15 minutes. In the same manner health centers will be established in Al Shamaal and Umm Said," Al Thani added.

Various departments of the

Ministry of Interior including Public relations, Human Rights, Traffic, Civil Defence were present there through their offi-cials to create awareness among workers particularly regarding new labour law.

→ Continued on page 2

Artistes perform during the International Labour Day celebrations hosted by ICBF at the Asian Town, yesterday. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula

Palestinian shot dead during rally for hunger strikers

02 SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017HOME

Raynald C RiveraThe Peninsula

Close to 100 venues across Qatar are now available at the Acces-sible Qatar app and website which pro-

vide people with disabilities information on how accessible a venue is.

Launched last year by Sasol, Accessible Qatar enables the dis-abled community to view public and tourist locations and outlets, know whether they are accessi-ble and in what way.

“It’s the first app and website of its kind in the region which provides the disabled commu-nity with instant and reliable

information about the accessi-bility of public and private venues across Qatar. With the support of trained accessibility

auditors, Accessible Qatar has audited around 100 venues across Qatar including venues in retail, hospitality, tourism and public parks,” Phinda Vilakazi (pictured), President of GTL Ven-tures of Sasol, said recently at the inaugural Accessible Qatar conference.

“Combined with user reviews, the Accessible Qatar app has provided the disabled com-munity with essential information as well as raised public awareness on the need for places to be accessible,” added Vilakazi.

Inspired by the “Definitely Able” conference held in 2015, the app was developed by Sasol in partnership with the Ministry

of Municipality and Environ-ment, Qatar Tourism Authority and Hamad Bin Khalifa Univer-sity, among other institutions.

“We and many of our part-ners believe that there was real opportunity to improve the qual-ity of public information on accessibility of public and pri-vate venues across Qatar. The voices of the disabled commu-nity were key to understanding the impact that accessibility has on the lives of those with disa-bilities. It was in response to the Definitely Able conference that Sasol launched the Accessible Qatar app in 2016,” he explained.

Recently, the Accessible Qatar app won Sasol the World Summit Award in the Inclusion

& Empowerment Category.Vilakazi stressed the “pend-

ing need for accessibility to be incorporated into all sectors of

the Qatari economy in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.”

The first Accessibility Qatar conference ran in parallel with Project Qatar, one of the largest construction exhibitions in the region.

“With the presence of many project developers, contractors, and construction managers, Project Qatar gives us a unique opportunity to connect, to inspire, and to engage to make existing and future venues acces-sible to all,” he ended.

To further encourage venues to be accessible to the disabled, Sasol has launched awards rec-ognising the most accessible venues in Qatar for the mobility impaired.

100 venues available at Accessible Qatar appJoint effort

Accessible Qatar app and website provide people with disabilities information on how accessible a venue is.

App developed by Sasol in partnership with Ministry of Municipality and other bodies.

Hundreds of workers benefit from HERO medical missionThe Peninsula

Hundreds of workers from various expatriate com-munities benefited from

HERO Qatar Medical Mission 2017 held at Al Aamal Services Camp in Al Shahaniyya yester-day. A total of 392 expats, mostly housekeeping staff who hail from Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, availed of the free medical services conducted by 52 volunteer doctors and nurses from the Filipino Medi-cal Association Qatar (FMA-Q), Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) and the Philippine Nurses Association-Qatar (PNA-Q).

Among the free medical services offered were vital signs

check, blood glucose test, cho-lesterol test, and Basic Life Support (BLS) training.

The activity, which ran from 8am till noon, was the third medical mission conducted by HERO Qatar, a non-profit Fili-pino organisation. This annual activity is held in labour camps on the outskirts of the city aimed at providing free medical serv-ices not only to Filipinos but also members of other expatriate communities.

“We are very happy to once again take the lead in reaching out to expats based in labour camps. Through our sponsors and partners we were able to offer free check-up and consul-tations. Many also received free medicines. In fact, there were

about 11 remaining boxes of medicines that we turned over to PNA-Q so they can use them in their next mission,” said Henry Dimaano, founding chair-man of HERO Qatar.

He thanked the volunteer doctors and nurses as well as the different groups who partnered with HERO Qatar in making this year’s medical mission a success.

This year’s medical mission was held in collaboration with PNA-Q, FMA-Q, Bayanihan ng Mga Manggagawa sa Konstruk-siyon ng Qatar (BMKQ) and QRCS, and was supported by the United Filipino Organizations in Qatar (UFOQ) and the Alliance of Filipino Journalists in Qatar (AFJQ).

A worker availing free medical check-up at the annual HERO Qatar Medical Mission held at Al Aamal Services Camp in Al Shahaniyya yesterday.

Congress on musculoskeletal

and physical medicine opensFazeena Saleem The Peninsula

With an increasing number of cases seen with injuries and pain

related to muscles, bones, nerves and joints, a first of its kind congress on musculoskel-etal and physical medicine opened in Doha yesterday.

Qatar International Muscu-loskeletal Medicine and Rehabilitation Congress, the first leading platform for muscu-loskeletal and physical medicine in the GCC region, aims to improve the quality and effec-tiveness of rehabilitation and discuss the latest updates in the prevention and management of musculoskeletal health problems.

The two day event being held at the City Center Rotana Hotel is organized by the Al Ahli Hospital.

The congress cover various aspects of Musculoskeletal Med-icine and Rehabilitation including neuro muscular med-icine, pediatric rehabilitation, chronic pain rehabilitation and the use of latest technology by regional and international experts, says Dr Ahmed Al Khayer, Chairman of the Qatar International Musculoskeletal Medicine and Rehabilitation Congress.

“This meeting is first of its kind in the Gulf to discuss about musculoskeletal disorders and rehabilitation. Musculoskeletal is a very important topic as about 85 percent of population in gen-eral will suffer from back pain, knee pain or any other condition related to musculoskeletal

disorder. Experts from Qatar, UAE, Kuwait as well as Europe are here to discuss about latest and efficient developments in musc-uloskeletal care,” he told The Peninsula.

The congress also accred-ited for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activity for healthcare professionals, by the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners.

“The various presentations scheduled for two days will help the clinicians in updating their knowledge in best evidence based practices in musculoskeletal medicine and rehabilitation,” said Dr Al Khayer.

Musculoskeletal disorders are injuries or pain in the mus-culoskeletal system, including the joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support limbs, neck and back.

Around 150 participants at the event includes physical

medicine and rehabilitation physicians, orthopaedic consult-ants, pain medicine consultants, physiotherapists, chiropractic therapists, neurologists, occu-pational therapists, general practitioners and orthopaedic surgeons.

The presentations and dis-cussions aims at improving the participants’ competency in managing important muscu-loskeletal conditions, use of ultrasound in musculoskeletal conditions and understand the assessment, diagnosis, and man-agement of the most common pediatrics’ conditions.

Among the speakers Dr Stanley Jones, consultant ortho-pedic surgeon specialized in pediatric care at Al Ahli Hospi-tal will be discussing today about the importance of diag-nosing and treat ing musculoskeletal conditions among children in most effec-tive and simplified methods.

Dr Ahmed Al Khayer speaking at the Congress held at City Center Rotana Hotel, yesterday. Pic: Kammutty VP / The Peninsula

People urged to use strong passwords→ Continued on page 2

The Ministry of Transport and Communications also encourages users to install anti-m a l w a r e s o f t w a r e . “Anti-malware is a software designed to prevent, detect and remediate malicious program-ming on devices and IT systems. It is important to install it on your smart devices.”

Another message says: “Some people may not be con-cerned about the privacy and

security of their photos. But what if someone stole them! Could you imagine seeing a social account with your data and pho-tos?! This is what's called digital identity theft.”

One message of the cam-paign tells people to always have backup data. “Don't forget to backup your smartphone data & never keep critical informa-tion on it.” Another post advises people to avoid sharing sensi-tive information on social media

accounts. “Even if your account is private and even if you trust your followers, don't share any personal or sensit ive information.”

The #secure4safety cam-paign has everything to teach from a third party application to anti-theft software. “Anti-theft software is security software which specializes in providing security against smartphone theft, and can make you swipe your phone remotely in case it's

lost or stolen. So make sure you have one of these applications on your phone.”

Internet criminals, one post of the ministry says, “will make you think something happened that requires your reaction. So always double check before reacting.”

The campaign asks people to “use strong passwords, multi-factor authentication & set different passwords for each account”.

→ Continued on page 4The pharmacist added,

“Many customers ask for Navi-doxine, at least six or seven times every week. Some customers come repeatedly as the drugs are not available for more than two months.” However, he was una-ware of the reason behind the shortage of the drugs.

The lack of drugs used to treat vomiting and dizziness has also created difficulties to trav-ellers as well as for pregnant women.

“For two weeks I am visit-ing many pharmacies looking for Navidoxine but to no avail.I am pregnant and vomit when I eat something, it’s very difficult. I have visited a few pharmacies and all of them told me that the drug was unavailable and gave an alternative pill which was not as helpful as Navidoxine. One of the pharmacists also advised to get the drug from any neighboring country,” said Mona, a Syrian resident in Doha.

Shortage affects travellers

A chemist at a pharmacy in Doha. Pic: Kammutty VP / The

Peninsula

→ Continued from page 1They told the workers that

under new law, once a worker completes tenure of his contract, he would have no two-year bar to join some other job in Qatar and he would be able to come and join another job any time.

They also told workers about grievance committee, exit

permit, and other related topics. The officials of MoI told work-ers that sponsors could not keep employees passports and the penalty for this violation of law had been increased from QR10,000 to QR25000.

P Kumaran, Ambassador of India to Qatar, said: "We are always keen at the embassy to

solve the problems of Indian expatriates in Qatar and ready to help them. We will take more initiatives to provide you better support and services."

He said the embassy had plans to launch another help line within few weeks so the work-ers could call whenever they want and their problems will be

registered in a mother portal and "they will remain under process until they were solved".

The ambassador said: "We are also thinking to do new arrangement for passport and visa services. Either to outsource it or set up a visa application center at Industrial Area and Freej bin Hilal .

Indian embassy plans to launch another helpline

03SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Israeli security forces clash with Palestinian protesters during a demonstration in support of hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, in Nablus, West Bank, yesterday.

West Bank protest

Kiir seeks to assert authority after sacking army chiefJUBA: South Sudan's presi-dent insisted yesterday that the security situation was "normal" and that people had no reason to worry, three days after dismissing power-ful army chief Paul Malong.

President Salva Kiir's dis-missal of Malong on Tuesday night has raised concern among the population who fear confrontation between soldiers loyal to each man.

Speaking at the presiden-tial palace in Juba, Kiir presented Malong's dismissal as "routine work".

However, Kiir berated Malong who he said had erred by failing to thank him for the job he held and by not con-gratulating his successor, James Ajongo, on his new appointment.

Norwegian union votes to boycott IsraelOslo

AFP

Norway's biggest trade union voted yester-day in favour of a boycott against Israel, a decision

immediately condemned by Israeli diplomats who judged it "immoral".

The Norwegian Confedera-tion of Trade Unions (LO) went

against a recommendation from its leadership and voted 197 to 117 in favour of an international economic, cultural and academic boycott against Israel because of the current impasse over the Pal-estine issue.

LO, which also called for Norway to recognise a Palestin-ian state according to the 1967 borders, was criticised by the government. "Norwegian gov-ernment strongly opposes Norw

Labour Union's decision: #boy-cott of #Israel. We need more cooperation and dialogue, not boycott," Foreign Minister Borge Brende wrote on Twitter.

Israel's embassy in Oslo said it "condemns in the strongest terms" the boycott. "This immoral resolution reflects deeply rooted attitudes of bias, discrimination and double standard towards the Jewish state," ambassador Raphael

Schutz wrote in an email to AFP.Noting that LO had also called

for the dismantling of a barrier erected by Israel separating it from the Palestinian territories, Schutz said that "by adopting these posi-tions LO placed itself shoulder to shoulder with the worst enemies of Israel".

Norway hosted Israeli-Pal-estinian peace talks in the early 1990s that led to the now-defunct Oslo accords.

Riyadh

AFP

The government of war-rav-aged Yemen yesterday rejected a self-proclaimed

autonomous body in the formerly independent south whose

formation is seen as an open chal-lenge to the president's authority.

An official statement issued after President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi met his advisors in the Saudi capital "categori-cally rejected" the South Transition Council whose 26

members include the governors of five southern provinces and two government ministers.

The body was announced on Thursday by Aidarous al-Zoubeidi, the recently fired governor of the southern prov-ince of Aden.

Damascus

AFP

More than 1,200 people including rebels left two opposition-held

districts of Damascus yester-day under an agreement that will bring Syria's government closer to exerting full control over the capital.

For more than two years, the government of President Bashar Al Assad has touted such "reconciliation deals" as the best way to end the country's brutal war. Yesterday's evacu-ations were part of the first such deal for the Syrian capital itself.

According to Syrian state news agency Sana, 718 rebels were among a total of 1,246 people evacuated from the Damascus districts of Barzeh and Tishrin.

"The exit of armed fighters and their families will be com-pleted in several waves in the coming days until the district is completely free of any signs of armed people," the agency said.

Earlier yesterday, Sana said

that 664 people including 103 rebels had left the northern dis-trict of Barzeh, but it did not give a number for Tishrin.

A source from the pro-gov-ernment National Defence Forces confirmed the same number of evacuees from Barzeh and said they left on 12 buses. "The evacuations are part of the deal reached first in Barzeh, to which the neigh-bouring northeastern district of Tishrin was later added," the source said. The Syrian Observ-atory for Human Rights said that months of negotiations had been held to secure the evacu-ations of three rebel districts of Damascus: Barzeh, Tishrin and Qabun, also in the northeast.

The deal for Barzeh was agreed first and the evacuations began on Monday, with 1,022 people including 560 rebels leaving the district and head-ing to the country's north.

Talks over Tishrin contin-ued in secret throughout the week until Friday, according to Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Over 1,200 'quit Damascus rebel zones' under deal

Yemeni govt rejects autonomous council

The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) went against a recommendation from its leadership and voted 197 to 117 in favour of an international boycott against Israel.

Congo announces 9 Ebola casesKINSHASA: One person has been confirmed dead from Ebola in an outbreak in a remote corner of northern Congo as health authorities look into a total of nine suspected cases, including two other deaths, the country's health minister and the World Health Organization said yesterday.

One case of the hemor-rhagic fever was confirmed out of the five tested since the outbreak emerged April 22 in Bas-Uele province, Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga said. He said the confirmed case was of the Zaire strain of the virus. The outbreak could test a recently developed experimental Ebola vaccine that WHO says could be used in emergencies.

04 SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017ASIA

New Delhi IANS

The Election Commis-sion yesterday ruled out any possibility of the EVMs being tam-pered with in

elections even as it announced that all future elections will be held with VVPAT (Voter-veri-fiable paper audit trail) slips to prevent any doubts while the AAP demanded 'hackathon', a view others were not appar-ently enthusiastic about at an all-party meeting convened to discuss worries over the machines.

At the end of the day-long meeting, Chief Election Com-missioner Nasim Zaidi that the poll panel will hold a "chal-lenge" for political parties to prove their allegations that the machines were or could be tampered with.

"All future elections will be mandatorily held with VVPAT," he said.

"The Commission will hold a challenge and offer an oppor-tunity to political parties to demonstrate that the EVMs used in the recently-concluded assembly elections were tam-pered or the EVMs can be tampered with even under the laid down technical and administrative safeguards," he added.

The meeting, which lasted over seven hours, was attended by representatives of seven political parties and 35 state parties.

Zaidi said the commission

has taken note of all the views of the parties and assured that their concerns and apprehen-sions regarding EVMs would be duly considered and addressed through the challenge and fur-ther necessary action.

At the meeting, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, which had sought to demon-strate in the assembly earlier this week that EVMs can be manipulated to rig results in favour of party, made a demand that the commission should provide them the EVMs used in the recent assembly elections in five states so that they could prove their point.

"Provide us the EVMs, we will show that these can be hacked. We have shown it in the assembly," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said and demanded a hackathon.

Congress demanded "more steps" to ensure trustworthi-ness of EVMs, the CPI-M said that all EVMs should have paper trail and BJP said that the machines were reliable.

Indian electionsChief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi that the poll panel will hold a "challenge" for political parties to prove their allegations that the machines were or could be tampered with.

Paper trail voting in future elections: EC

Colombo

AFP

Indian Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi declared yesterday his desire for a "quantum

jump" in relations with Sri Lanka, as New Delhi jostles with regional rival Beijing for influ-ence in the island nation. India had always considered its smaller neighbour to be within its sphere of influence but watched Sri Lanka drift closer to China under former strongman President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Modi's visit to Sri Lanka —his second since coming to power in 2014 — is being seen as New Delhi's attempt to win back support and counter Bei-jing's push for closer ties with the Indian Ocean nation.

"I believe we are at a moment of great opportunity in our ties with Sri Lanka. An opportunity to achieve a quan-tum jump in our partnership across different fields," Modi told a Buddhist conference in

Colombo. His comments came as Sri Lanka rebuffed a Chinese request to dock a submarine at one of its ports.

Chinese-backed projects soared under Rajapakse, who relied heavily on Beijing for eco-nomic and diplomatic support as Western nations threatened his administration with sanc-tions over atrocities committed during the decades-long civil war which ended in 2009.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in January 2015 promis-ing to review Chinese-funded projects signed by his predeces-sor and rebuild ties with India.

Modi pledged India's com-mitment to their "Sri Lankan brothers and sisters" and the "indivisible" ties between the two neighbours.

"We will continue to invest in driving positive change and economic growth to deepen our development co-operation," he said. As Modi touched down in Colombo for a two-day visit

Thursday, a top Sri Lankan defence official confirmed Bei-jing had been denied permission for a port call by a Chinese sub-marine. In Beijing, China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuan said they were aware of the reports, but stressed both sides maintained "good cooperation".

"China and Sri Lanka enjoy good friendship," he said. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office announced he will travel to Bei-jing tomorrow to participate in China's maritime silk route ini-tiative of economic diplomacy.

"Attention will be paid to the collective benefits for the coun-tries participating in the initiative of President Xi Jin-ping," Wickremesinghe's office said in a statement Friday. Pro-China Rajapakse's political allies had called for a black flag pro-test during Modi's visit to Sri Lanka, accusing India of trying to grab land in a strategic port district.

NEWS BYTES

NEW DELHI: In a close call for 152 passengers, an Air India Delhi-Pune flight AI-849 overshot the runway after land-ing here yesterday evening, officials said. The AI and airport authorities immediately evacuated all the 152 passengers on board from the airliner and no injuries were reported. The incident occurred around 6.30 p.m. and efforts were under-way to clear the blocked runway which was expected to be operational soon.

Air India flight overshoots runway

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures to bystanders as he arrives with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to address a public rally in Colombo, yesterday.

Modi for deeper ties with Sri Lanka

New Delhi Reuters

India's most populous state must immediately re-issue licences to abattoirs closed in

a recent crackdown led by Hindu hardliners that angered the country's Muslim minority, a court ruled yesterday.

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, a Hindu priest who has in the past been accused of fiery anti-Muslim rhetoric, ordered the closure of unli-cenced slaughter houses after he was appointed by Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi in March.

The crackdown was wel-comed by right-wing Hindu

groups who want to end the slaughter of cows, considered holy in Hinduism, but hit the Muslim community hard. The minority accounts for almost a fifth of Uttar Pradesh's popula-tion and dominates the meat industry.

The election of Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in 2014 has embold-ened many Hindu groups to press harder for protection of the cow, and several Muslims trans-porting cattle have been killed by vigilante groups. India's his-tory is pockmarked by bloody Hindu-Muslim communal clashes.

Allahabad High Court ruled

yesterday that the state should start re-issuing licences to the abattoirs in Uttar Pradesh, allowing them to re-open. "The court has instructed the govern-ment to renew the licence of all the slaughter houses and also allow butchers to start business in India," B.K. Singh, a lawyer representing 800 meat shop owners, told Reuters.

Many of the closed meat shops were unlicensed after their permits had lapsed under the previous government. Most of the beef produced in India comes from buffalo rather than cattle.

The court has also asked all departments relevant to the

issue to come before it with information on the matter on July 17.

There has been a lot of furore ever since the state gov-ernment ordered a crackdown on slaughterhouses. In its state assembly election manifesto, the BJP had promised to close all illegal slaughterhouses in the state.

However, when the crack-down began, the authorities began targeting anybody and everybody selling meat. Many small-time vendors of mutton and chicken were forced to close down, following which non-veg-etarian food lovers have been facing a lot of inconvenience.

New Delhi IANS

In a jolt to the Congress first family in the National Herald case, the Delhi High Court

yesterday declined to entertain a plea by Young Indian Pvt Ltd, in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul are the main stakehold-ers, challenging Income Tax notices served to the company -- clearing the decks for an IT probe against them.

The case stems from a com-plaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who had alleged criminal conspiracy and cheating in the acquisition of The Associated Journals Limited (AJL ), the publisher of National Her-ald, by Young Indian -- a firm in which Sonia and Rahul Gandhi each have a 38 per cent stake.

Swamy had alleged that the Congress gave an unsecured loan to Young Indian (YI) to acquire AJL.

The company withdrew the plea after a division bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Chander Shekhar asked it to approach the Income Tax assessing officer concerned.

The court was of the view that the company has not approached the assessing officer for its griev-ances, and it should first approach the IT Department and in case the YI was still not satisfied, it can move the court thereafter. The bench dismissed the plea as with-drawn. The plea had sought quashing of two Income Tax notices sent to YI in January and March with regard to the assess-ment year 2011-12. The plea also urged the court to give a direction

to the IT Department to not take further action against it on the basis of these notices.

Besides the Gandhis, Con-gress leaders Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and YI are accused in the case. Swamy had accused them of allegedly conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by just

paying Rs 50 lakh, by which YI obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore which AJL owed to the Congress. The High Court on December 7, 2015 had dismissed the plea of the Gandhis to quash the summons issued by the trial court on Swamy's complaint and asked them to appear before the trial court.

SC declines Justice Karnan's pleaNEW DELHI: The Supreme Court yesterday declined to con-sider the plea for an immediate hearing on Calcutta High Court Justice C S Karnan's review petition seeking stay of top court's order sentencing him to undergo six months jail for its con-tempt. Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, heading the five judges bench hearing challenge to the validity of triple talaq, told Justice Karnan's counsel Mathew J. Nadumpara that they had permitted him to file whatever he wanted in the regis-try. However, Chief Justice Khehar did not say anything on Nadumpara's plea seeking an immediate hearing of the plea to stay the May 9 order sentencing Karnan to undergo impris-onment for criminal contempt.

RSS leader hacked to death in KannurKANNUR : An RSS office bearer accused in the murder of a CPI-M worker last year was hacked to death near here yes-terday. The state BJP leadership has accused CPI-M activists of the crime. The RSS worker, Biju, in his early 30s, is the 12th accused in the murder of CPI-M worker Dhanaraj, that took place near Payyanur here in July last year. Biju was out on bail. The police have cordoned off the area and probe has begun.

Ahmadabad

AP

The western Indian city of Ahmadabad yester-day launched its first air

quality monitoring system that will be used to send out pollution alerts.

The system will also inform city residents of the health risks of high pollution.

For the last few years dis-cussions about India's soaring air pollution levels have focused largely on the abys-mal quality of the air in the country's capital, New Delhi. But experts have long warned that other cities aren't likely any better and just don't have monitoring mechanisms to measure how their pollution levels compare.

The new air quality index and pollution alert system in Ahmadabad was set up by the city's municipal corporation with help from several health and environmental advocacy groups. Air quality monitors installed across the city will collect data on pollutants.

Anjali Jaiswal of the envi-ronmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, which worked with the city on the project, said in a state-ment that its aim is to "to protect and increase aware-ness among residents on air pollution."

India, like neighboring China, has seen pollution grow as its economy has boomed and it has continued to rely on coal to generate electricity. The number of vehicles on the road has skyrocketed.

Air quality monitoring system in Ahmadabad

HC directs UP govt to issue new abattoir licences

Jolt to Congress in National Herald case KOLKATA: Border Security Force personnel seized 4.9 kg

of silver ornaments worth more than Rs 2 lakh from West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, an official said yester-day. Acting on a tip off about silver smuggling, the troopers of Dublia border outpost under North 24 Pargana district's Swarupnagar set up an ambush and seized the silver orna-ments from a bike on Thursday evening, said BSF's Deputy Inspector General, South Bengal Frontier, R.P.S. Jaswal. "The BSF seized silver bracelet, chain and other ornaments worth Rs 2.13 lakh wrapped in a packet in the bike while the rider managed to flee from the spot," he added. The BSF has so far seized a total of 58.83 kg of silver worth more than Rs 22 lakh and apprehended three smugglers so far in 2017.

BSF seizes 4.9kg silver ornaments

The Herald House at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi.

05SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017 ASIA

Balikatan exercises

Royal Ploughing Ceremony

Putin ready to help resolve N Korea nuclear issueSeoul

Reuters

Russia's President Vladimir Putin told his newly elected South Korean coun-terpart, Moon Jae-in,

in a phone call yesterday that he is ready to play a "constructive role" in resolving North Korea's nuclear threat, the South's pres-idential office said.

Putin made the comment after Moon said the foremost task to boost cooperation between the two countries was to strengthen strategic bilateral communication to find a solu-tion to curb North Korea's nuclear threat, the Blue House said in a statement.

"We hope for Russia to play a constructive role in order for North Korea to stop with its nuclear provocations and go the way of denuclearisation," Moon was citing as saying to Putin in the 20-minute conversation.

"I, too, aim to find a way to begin talks quickly between North and South Korea as well as the six-party talks," Moon

said, referring to talks aimed at denuclearising North Korea involving the United States, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas.

The talks collapsed in 2008 after North Korea launched a rocket.

Tension has been high for months on the Korean peninsula over North Korea's nuclear and missile development and fears it will conduct a sixth nuclear test or test another ballistic

missile in defiance of UN Secu-rity Council resolutions.

Moon is a liberal who advo-cates a more conciliatory approach to North Korea com-pared with his conservative predecessor.

"Moon also expressed hopes the two countries would be able to cooperate in developing East Asia, including extending a nat-ural gas pipeline from Siberia to South Korea," the Blue House said.

"Putin said he was ready to help in all of the matters they discussed and the two leaders invited each other for state

visits," the Blue House added yesterday.

Moon said he would send a special envoy to Russia soon and Putin said he would welcome the envoy.

The two leaders said they looked forward to meeting at the Group of 20 summit meeting in Germany in July.

Earlier in the day, Moon spoke with British Prime Minis-ter Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Blue House said. He asked them to help in curbing North Korea's nuclear programme and both promised to.

North Korea sends protest to US Congress over sanctionsSeoul

Reuters

North Korea sent a rare letter of protest to the US House of Representa-

tives yesterday warning that a new package of tougher sanc-tions would only spur its development of nuclear weap-ons, North Korea's state media reported.

The protest was lodged by the recently revived Foreign Affairs Committee of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, which said the US House of Representatives was "obsessed" with a sense of dis-approval and warned it of dire consequences.

"The US House of Repre-sentatives should think twice," the committee said in its letter, a copy of which was published by the KCNA state news agency.

The House of Representa-tives overwhelmingly approved legislation this month to tighten sanctions by targeting North Korea's shipping industry and companies that do business it.

The US legislation was intended to cut off supplies of cash that help fund North Korea's nuclear programme, and increase pressure to stop human rights abuses such as the use of slave labour, the bill's sponsor said.

The North's committee said it would fail.

"As the US House of Repre-sentatives enacts more and more of these reckless hostile laws, the DPRK's efforts to strengthen nuclear deterrents will gather greater pace, beyond anyone's imagination," the committee said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name.

Azerbaijan blocks access to independent news sitesBaku

AFP

A court in Azerbaijan yes-terday approved the government's request to

block websites of a US-funded broadcaster and several news outlets critical of the country's President Ilham Aliyev.

The Baku district court backed the claim of ministry of transport and communications that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Azerbaijani branch, Radio Azadlyg, poses a "threat to the legitimate interests of the state and society".

The court, held in normal open session, also blocked internet-based Azerbaijan Saati TV, Turan TV, and Meidan TV.

The outlets' lawyers con-demned the ruling as unlawful

and unfounded."The verdict violates inter-

national legal norms," lawyer Samed Ragimov said.

"No publication referred to in the Azerbaijani authorities' lawsuit contained a breach of laws and public interests."

In April, Ganimat Zahid, the director of Turan TV denounced legal action against online media as "a move against free-dom of speech."

The country ranked 162 in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index released in April by media advocacy group Report-ers Without Borders.

Aliyev took over in 2003 after the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and communist-era leader who had ruled Azerba-ijan with an iron fist since 1993.

Myanmar closes second refugee camp in RakhineYangon

Anatolia

A refugee camp housing dis-placed Buddhist families in Myanmar’s Rakhine state was closed, officials said.

The camp is the second to be closed in recent weeks as part of the government’s effort to resettle people dis-placed by communal violence since 2012.

The authorities started relocating 65 ethnic Rakhine Buddhist households from Ka Nyin Taw camp in the south-ern part of Rakhine to the nearby village of Pyin Phyu Maw late last month.

The Kyauk Phyu Town-ship administrator, Nyi Nyi Lin, said that the camp was completely closed.

“Relocation of displaced people in the camp has now completed,” he said.

"The regional government provided the refugees with land, houses and other assistance."

“We are also planning to provide small loans so that they can restart their fishing work.”

As an initial step in reset-tling about 120,000 people, a commission led by former UN chief Kofi Annan recom-mended the immediate closure of three camps.

Nepal to vote in local polls after two decadesKathmandu

Reuters

NEPAL votes in local elec-tions tomorrow for the first time in 20 years, a major step in the young republic's diffi-cult transition to democracy more than a decade after the end of its civil war.

The government hopes the elections, staggered over two phases, will lead to a gen-eral election later in the year.

Nepal has suffered from years of political instability since emerging from a dec-ade-long Maoist insurgency that ended in 2006 and the abolition of the monarchy two years later.

Analysts say the absence of local-level elected govern-ment bodies has delayed development work, boosted corruption and undermined efforts to rebuild areas dev-astated by two earthquakes in 2015, which killed nearly 9,000 people and displaced three million.

Survivors of the country's worst disaster on record still languish in temporary shel-ters made from tarpaulin sheets and bamboo. The gov-ernment has been criticized for failing to spend $4.1bn pledged for rebuilding.

The final phase of the local polls is set for June 14.

Malaysia deports Turkish nationals over Gulen linksKuala Lumpur

Reuters

Malaysia said yesterday it had deported three Turkish men to Ankara

over suspected links to a group blamed by Turkey for a failed coup last year.

Human rights groups con-demned the deportations and the United Nations said Malay-sia's action raised serious concern for the safety of Turk-ish nationals in the region.

Authorities detained school principal Turgay Karaman, 43, businessman Ihsan Aslan, 39, and academic Ismet Ozcelik, 58, last week, saying they posed a threat to national security.

Rights groups said they were concerned the action had

been taken against the men because of pressure from Turkey.

At the time the men were detained, authorities did not say whether they were suspected of having ties to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen

Malaysian Inspector-Gen-eral of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the three were deported on Thursday on suspicion of being involved in FETO, a group of Gulen supporters that the Turkish government also calls the "Gulenist Terrorist Organisation".

"The Malaysian police investigation found that the three men had been involved in FETO activities and were listed as individuals wanted by Turkish authorities".

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun and Princess Bajrakitiyabha during the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony in central Bangkok, yesterday.

A Filipino soldier lifting up a mock victim during the Philippines and US annual Balikatan (shoulder to shoulder) exercises inside the Fort Magsaysay military headquarters, in Nueva Ecija, the Philippines, yesterday.

Indonesia calls to respect blasphemy verdictTuban

Anatolia

Indonesia yesterday asked international community to respect its court’s decision

against Jakarta governor over blasphemy charges.

A statement issued by Indo-nesian Foreign Ministry responds to the criticism over

a two-year jail term handed down to Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.

Purnama -- a Christian of Chinese descent - was con-victed on charges of insulting clergy and the Holy Quran dur-ing a speech in September last year that triggered uproar across Indonesia.

"All parties must respect the

legal mechanisms in Indone-sia," a local news website detik.com quoted the foreign minis-try's spokesman Arrmanata Nasir as saying.

Nasir said President Joko Widodo's has called on all cit-izens to respect the court's decision as well as the gover-nor’s move to challenge the verdict.

Nevertheless, Nasir said, the government accepts all inputs from other countries that want Indonesia to review the law on religious blasphemy.

"We have to be careful in looking at the statements made by various parties over the past week, and we are certainly not-ing the statements made by them," he said.

The Putin and Moon looked forward to meeting at the Group of 20 summit meeting in Germany in July.

Putin said he was ready to help in all of the matters they discussed and the two leaders invited each other for state visits: Blue House

Phone call

Vladimir Putin (left) and Moon Jae-In

06 SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017ASIA

Daily life

UN condemns police torture in PakistanIslamabad

AFP

A UN committee has con-demned the "widespread practice of torture" in Paki-stan by police, the military and intelligence agencies in a report published yesterday, and called on Islamabad to implement urgent reforms to the law.

"The police engage in the widespread practice of tor-ture throughout the territory, ... with a view to obtaining confessions from persons in custody," the UN Committee against Torture wrote.

"The Committee is seri-ously concerned at reports that members of the State party's military forces; intelligence forces and paramilitary forces have been implicated in a sig-nificant number of cases of extra-judicial executions involving torture and enforced disappearances."

Australia PM considers Afghan troops requestSydney

Reuters

Australian Prime Min-ister Malcolm Turnbull said yes-terday he is considering a Nato

request for more troops in Afghanistan, as US President Donald Trump considers whether to expand the Nato-led mission there by several thousand.

Turnbull did not specify the details of the request from Nato's military authorities, which he received during a visit to Afghanistan late last month, although he said he was "open" to the idea.

"We are certainly open to increasing our work there, but we've obviously got to look at the commitments of the Austral-ian Defence Force in other parts of the region and indeed in other parts of the world".

"It is very important that we continue - we and our other allies in the effort in

Afghanistan - continue to work together."

Australia currently has nearly 300 troops stationed in Afghanistan, training and advis-ing Afghan forces.

The top US intelligence offi-cial said on Thursday security in Afghanistan would deterio-rate even further without a modest increase in troops from the United States and its allies for the Nato-led force.

Afghan forces being trained by their Nato allies have only

tenuous control in Afghanistan almost 16 years into the intrac-table war against the Taliban, the remnants of Al Qaeda, IS and other groups.

In February, US General John Nicholson, commander of foreign troops in Afghani-stan, told a Congressional hearing he needed several thousand more international troops to break a stalemate with the Taliban.

Reuters reported in late April that Trump's administra-tion was carrying out a review of Afghanistan and that conver-sations were revolving around sending between 3,000 and 5,000 more US and coalition troops to Afghanistan.

US and Nato allies have since been receiving requests for more troops to boost the Reso-lute Support mission, which currently stands at about 13,450 troops, including about 6,900 US military personnel training and advising the Afghan armed forces to take over Afghanistan's defence and security.

25 dead in Balochistan bomb attackQuetta Reuters

A bomb exploded next to a convoy of the deputy chairman of the Pakistan

Senate yesterday in the vio-lence-plagued province of Balochistan, killing at least 25 people, officials said.

Islamic State claimed

responsibility for the bombing. The group's Amaq news

agency said a bomber wearing an explosive vest carried out the attack.

At least 35 people were wounded in the blast near the town of Mastung, 50km from the provincial capital of Quetta. Tel-evision footage showed a vehicle mangled by the blast.

Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, the deputy chairman of the upper house of parliament, said that minutes after the explosion he believed he was the target and he had sustained minor injuries.

"There are many casualties as there were many people in the convoy," he said by telephone.

Afghan forces reclaim Zebak districtKabul

Anatolia

Afghan security forces claimed to have recap-tured a strategically

important northern district from the Taliban amid deadly clashes on multiple fronts across the country.

Two weeks ago, the Taliban overran the Zebak district in the Badakhshan province, which

borders Tajikistan and China.Local authorities acknowl-

edged the development, but the central government in Kabul was not confirming.

On Thursday, however, it announced that this district in northeastern Afghanistan had been reclaimed from the mili-tants after 13 days of fighting.

Gen Dawlat Waziri, spokes-man for the Ministry of Defence, said in a statement that the

Taliban insurgents had managed to capture key government installations following a group attack on April 28.

“The security forces have been able to retake the district with a complete coordination."

Faisal Baigzad, governor of the province, said that up to 100 Taliban fighters had either been killed or wounded. “Among those killed are 20 foreign militants”.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed the death of a total of 35 militants while six security personnel are pronounced dead and 8 other wounded.

Local officials said the Tali-ban militants had retreated to Warduj and Yamgan districts that remain in their control.

The capital of the northern Kunduz province, had briefly fallen twice to the Taliban in the past two years.

WHO may allow Taiwan to attend global health meetGeneva

AP

The World Health Organi-sation yesterday left open the possibility that Taiwan

could still attend its upcoming annual assembly, saying talks are continuing despite China's insistence that a delegation from the island must be excluded for

the first time since 2009.For now, WHO Director-

General Dr Margaret Chan, who is from Hong Kong, "is not in a position to issue an invitation for Taiwanese observers to attend to the World Health Assembly" that starts May 22, said Dr Tim Armstrong, who heads the WHO department of governing bodies.

But Armstrong said that "negotiations are still ongoing," adding, "Anything is possible."

China has used its clout as one of five veto-wielding mem-bers of the UN Security Council to exclude Taiwan from the United Nations and other world bodies that require sovereign status for membership.

China insists that the island

is part of its territory.Armstrong said this year, no

"cross-strait understanding" exists between Taiwan and China like those that allowed Taiwan to send delegates since 2009, but that he had no details on why that was.

Other UN member states have been supportive of Tai-wan's attendance.

Officials in Beijing have said repeatedly over the last week that no Taiwanese observer del-egation will be allowed to attend the WHA this year.

They said that's because Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has declined to endorse Beijing's view that Taiwan and China are part of a single Chi-nese nation.

Indonesia deports Japanese film teamJayapura

AFP

Six Japanese documentary makers have been deported from Indonesia

after being caught trying to make a film in the sensitive province of Papua without the correct visas, an immigration

official said yesterday.The men, who were work-

ing for Nagano Production House, were flown out of the country on Thursday after being arrested while filming a documentary about tribespeo-ple in the town of Wamena, said local immigration chief Yopie Watimena.

Indonesia is deeply sensi-tive about journalists covering the easternmost province, where a low-level insurgency against the central government has simmered for decades, and rarely grants visas for foreign-ers to report independently in the region.

Intelligence agency officials

reported the documentary makers to immigration author-ities after noticing them filming and they were sent to Jayapura for questioning before being deported.

"The filmmakers only had tourists visas they had obtained on arriving in Indonesia," Watimena said.

Security officers investigate crime scene after a bomb exploded next to a convoy of Senator Ghafoor Haideri in Mastung, yesterday.

Taiwanese gets life sentence for murderTaipei

AFP

A Taiwanese man who decap-itated a three-year-old girl in public on a busy Taipei street escaped the death penalty yes-terday he was sentenced to life in prison.

Wang Ching-yu, 34, had pleaded guilty to killing the child in a crime that shocked the generally peaceful island after overpowering her mother near a metro station.

He beheaded the girl with a kitchen knife as horrified bystanders tried to stop him.

Prosecutors had called the crime "extremely cold-blooded" and called for the death penalty.

But judge Tsai Shou-hsun told a Taipei district court yesterday that he would instead be jailed for life as he had a "mental handicap".

Wearing black-framed glasses, a white T-shirt and track pants, his head shaved, Wang remained calm as he listened to the verdict, responding: "I understand".

The victim's family were not in court.

We are certainly open to increasing our work there, but we've obviously got to look at the commitments of the Australian Defence Force in other parts of the region and indeed in other parts of the world: Turnbull

Defence ties

Youth play football in a field on the outskirts of Kabul, yesterday.

07SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017 EUROPE

North Rhine-Westphalia State Premier and Social Democrats (SPD) candidate Hannelore Kraft reacts during the final election rally in Duisburg, Germany, yesterday.

Final election rally

Paris

AFP

Tensions over French p r e s i d e n t - e l e c t Emmanuel Macron's bid to redraw France's political

map burst into the open yester-day as a key ally was left furious ahead of crucial parliamentary elections next month.

Macron angered fellow centrist Francois Bayrou and faced mockery from his oppo-nents after his La Republique En Marche (REM, Republic on the Move) party unveiled more than 400 candidates for crucial parliamentary elections in June.

"It's a big recycling opera-tion for the Socialist party," Bayrou told L'Obs magazine, adding that candidates from his MoDem party had been offered only 35 constituencies instead of the 120 he expected.

Bayrou, a veteran centrist and presidential candidate, threw his support behind Macron at the end of February at a crucial time when the 39-year-old president-elect's campaign needed new momen-tum. "When I offered him my support, he was at 18 percent," Bayrou added bitterly.

Macron, who will be inau-gurated tomorrow, has promised to refresh France's parliament and his party unveiled 428 out of 577 candi-dates on Thursday.

Half of them have never held elected office, including a

retired female bullfighter and a star mathematician, and half of them are women.

The initial reaction from three out of four voters was positive, a survey published yesterday by the Harris Inter-active poll ing group suggested.

"Probably the biggest suc-cess of Emmanuel Macron is having motivated so many peo-ple who were outside of politics to have committed themselves to try to renew things," his spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said on Friday.

But as well as angering Bay-rou, REM was forced to correct its list after around 10 people said they had not agreed to stand for the party or had never applied to be a candidate.

One was Mourad Boudjel-lal, the wealthy president of Toulon rugby club, who said that while he was flattered about being approached, "it is not my ambition" to enter politics.

London

Bloomberg

British hospitals urged peo-ple with non-emergency conditions to stay away

after a cyber attack affected large parts of the country’s National Health Service. Sixteen NHS organizations were hit in the UK yesterday, while a large number of Spanish companies were also attacked using ran-somware. It’s not yet clear if the attacks were coordinated.

“The NHS has experienced a major cyber attack, we are work-ing with law enforcement and our advice will follow shortly!” Action Fraud, the UK’s central cyber-crime unit said on Twitter. The National Cyber Security Center said: “We are aware of cyber inci-dent and we are working with NHS Digital and the National Crime Agency to investigate.”

Hospitals in London, North West England and Central Eng-land have all been affected, according to the BBC. Mid-Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, which runs hospitals and ambu-lances in an area east of London, said on Twitter that it had “an IT issue affecting some NHS computer systems,” adding “Please do not attend Accident And Emergency unless it’s an emergency!”

The impact on services is not due to the ransomware itself, but due to NHS Trusts shutting down systems to prevent it from spreading, said Brian Lord, a former deputy director of Gov-ernment Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the U.K.’s signals intelligence agency, who is now managing director of cybersecurity firm PGI Cyber. Lord, who described an attack of this type as "inevitable," said

the impact was exacerbated because most NHS Trusts had "a poor understanding of net-work configuration meaning everything has to shut down."

A screen-shot of an appar-ent ransom message, sent to a hospital, showed a demand for $300 in bitcoin for files that had been encrypted to be decrypted.

Workers across the NHS have since been sent emails from the health service’s IT teams warn-ing not to open or click on suspicious attachments or links.

Spain’s National Cryptologic Center, which is part of the country’s intelligence agency, said on its website that there had been a “massive ransomware attack” against a big number of Spanish organizations affecting Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system. El Mundo reported that the attackers sought a ransom in bitcoin.

London

AFP

BRITONS are not finished severing their ties with Europe, according to a new poll yesterday showing a majority would support leav-ing the Eurovision Song Contest. The online poll by YouGov showed that 56 per-cent would be in favour of leaving and 44 percent in favour of staying, excluding those who did not know or would not vote.

Britain has won the Euro-vision five times since it was first staged in 1956, making it joint third on the list of win-ners along with France and Luxembourg.

But many Britons com-plain that in recent decades their contestants have been unfairly overlooked and left near the foot of the leader-board and the dreaded "nul points".

"The British public is not done attempting to disconnect the country from European institutions," the polling com-pany said in a statement.

In last year's EU member-ship referendum, 52 percent of Britons who cast their bal-lots voted to leave the European Union while 48 percent wanted to stay.

The poll found roughly the same dividing lines. Those who wanted to leave Eurovi-sion included 76 percent of people who voted for Brexit.

Brussels

AP

European governments are holding urgent talks with the US Department of

Homeland Security, alarmed at a proposed expansion of the US ban on in-flight laptops and tab-lets to include planes from the EU.

Such a move, which some airline officials expect will hap-pen, would create logistical chaos on the world's busiest cor-ridor of air travel — as many as 65 million people fly on trans-Atlantic routes a year.

The current ban, in place on 10 mostly Middle Eastern cities since March, affects about 50 flights per day.

Chief among the concerns are whether any new threat prompted the proposal, said

European Commission transport spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itko-nen, who confirmed the talks. She said the EU had no new information about a specific security concern.

US officials have said the decision in March to bar laptops and tablets from the cabins of some international flights, mostly from the Mideast, wasn't based on any specific threat but on longstanding concerns about extremists targeting jetliners.

The US Department of Homeland Security organized a telephone conference with "key European partners" — France, Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy. It will be a ministerial level call. The French attendee is expected to be Louis Gautier, secretary general for defense and national security.

A French official with direct

knowledge about Friday's meet-ing said France planned to push back against the measure, say-ing there was no information to suggest a significant increase in the terror threat.

Yesterday marks the final working day of the current French administration. The offi-cial spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss the plan.

Jenny Burke, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said no final decision has been made on expanding the restriction.

But Homeland Security offi-cials met Thursday with high-ranking executives of the three leading US airlines — American, Delta and United — and the industry's leading U.S. trade group, Airlines for Amer-ica, to discuss expanding the laptop policy to flights arriving from Europe.

Two airline officials who were briefed on the discussions said Homeland Security gave no timetable for an announcement, but they were resigned to its inevitability. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to dis-cuss the meeting publicly.

The US airlines still hope to have a say in how the policy is put into effect at airports to min-imize inconvenience to passengers.

The initial ban on passengers bringing large electronics devices into the cabin hit hard-est at Middle Eastern airlines. Emirates, based in Dubai, cited the policy in hurting demand and leading to its decision to reduce flights to the US.

Alain Bauer, president of the CNAPS, a French regulator of private-sector security agents,

including those checking bag-gage and passengers in France's airports, predicted "chaotic" scenes initially if the ban was instituted.

"Imagine the number of peo-ple who carry their laptops and tablets onto planes — not just adults, but also children," he told the AP.

He said it would slow pas-sage through security checks as people try to negotiate a way of keeping their laptops.

"It's not like losing your water bottle or your scissors. It will take more time to negoti-ate," he said.

"You need a lot of time to inform them and a lot of time for it to enter people's heads until it becomes a habit," he said. "After a week of quite big difficulties, 95 percent of people will under-stand the practicalities."

Vienna

AFP

Austria's squabbling cen-trist coalition looked increasingly on the

brink yesterday as Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz made clear he would pull his cen-tre-right People's Party (OeVP) out of the government if he becomes its new chief.

The 30-year-old rising political star is tipped to take over the OeVP following Wednesday's shock resigna-tion of current boss Reinhold Mitterlehner after months of internal power struggles.

If Kurz's party pulled out of the government, the snap parliamentary elections that might result could herald the

return to power of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), which is riding high in opin-ion polls. "I think early elections are the right way," Kurz said.

"There's an offer on the table for me to continue in the current government, swap a few heads and act as if noth-ing had happened," he told a press conference in Vienna.

"But I think we'd end up in the same situation we've been stuck in for a long time. Small compromises would be struck which wouldn't lead to any changes." Deep rifts have been plaguing the "grand coa-lition" between the OeVP and the Social Democrats (SPOe) led by Chancellor Christian Kern, spurring speculation

that the unhappy union will dissolve long before the next scheduled vote in autumn 2018.

Like other centrist fac-tions in Europe, the SPOe and OeVP have suffered the wrath of disgruntled voters over ris-ing unemployment and an influx of migrants. The par-ties, which have dominated Austrian politics since 1945, were dealt a disastrous blow in the 2016 presidential bal-lot when both their candidates were booted out in the first round.

Instead the race pitted the FPOe's Norbert Hofer against ex-Green party chief Alexan-der Van der Bellen, who ended up winning the drawn-out, scandal-plagued contest.

US and EU in talks on expanding laptop ban on flights

Macron's pick for parliament angers ally

Macron angered fellow centrist Francois Bayrou and faced mockery from his opponents after his party unveiled more than 400 candidates for crucial parliamentary elections in June. Cyber attack forces hospitals

in UK to turn away patients

An ambulance waits outside the emergency department at St Thomas' Hospital in central London, yesterday.

Britons would vote to leave Eurovision: Poll

Austria's coalition on the brink of collapse

European MP visits Turkey hunger strikersANKARA: A European law-maker yesterday visited an academic and a teacher in Turkey who have been on a hunger strike for more than two months to protest their d i s m i s s a l b y t h e government.

Both were fired under state of emergency decrees declared after last July's failed coup attempt aimed at oust-ing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Italian Gianni Pittella, a member of the European Par-liament who also heads the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group in the legislature, addressed a crowd of some 200 people in Ankara in sup-port of the pair.

"Turkey deserves a full democracy and I am here to share their struggle," he said.

Former primary school teacher Semih Ozakca and academic Nuriye Gulmen began their hunger strike 65 days ago and have been sur-viving on water alone.

08 SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017VIEWS

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

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The Good Friday or Belfast Agreement was formulated on the assumption that both countries were part of the EU ... Some of the language will therefore require amendment because of Brexit.

Tony Blair Former British prime minister

Too many so-called “progressives” still don’t get it.

There they were on Twitter and in instant coffee-quick columns - joined by their titular intellectual

leader, David Frum (yes, him) - mimicking Dylan Thomas’ verses to rage against the dying of the light while Donald “Nero” Trump plays the proverbial fiddle as the Constitution and the lingering shreds of the rule of law turn to ashes. This latest spasm of cable-TV-stoked hysteria was triggered by Trump’s jarring decision late Tuesday afternoon to sack the ripe-for-the-sacking FBI director, James Comey.

Donald Trump’s loyal minions insisted that Comey had to go because the cocky G-man had suddenly and conveniently earned an F over his handling of Hillary Clin-ton’s curious handling of her emails. On cue and in unison, “progressives” shouted “cover-up” and crowed that a constitutional “crisis” was afoot after Saint Comey got the boot.

You’ll recall - since they apparently forgot - that days earlier many of these same “pro-gressives” were sticking their rhetorical knives gleefully into the hapless and now unemployed FBI director after his snide remark that he was rendered “mildly nau-seous” by the suggestion that his late-day election intervention had tilted the tight pres-idential race in Trump’s favour.

If you’re trying to keep score, among weathervane progressives Comey has gone from devil to saint to devil and back to saint over the past eight months. It’s a dizziness-inducing career trajectory, isn’t it?

Still, in the wake of Comey’s departure, progressives are also, once again, revisiting the willowy ghost of Richard Nixon and, drum roll, Watergate - the facile, all-purpose short-hand for a potentially combustible and politically fatal scandal. The ultimate intent, I suspect, of resurrecting these familiar tropes in the context of Comey’s abrupt dismissal is to suggest that Trump has committed an impeachable offence in order, ironically, to stave off impeachment.

This is a self-defeating delusion that has not only gripped progressives like a coiled snake but reveals how they remain blissfully wedded to their cockeyed faith in - for want of a better term - American “democracy”.

Here’s the usually restrained CNN legal analyst, Jeffery Toobin, channeling his fellow progressives’ angst in a fit of anguished hyperbole. “It is a grotesque abuse of power by the president of the United States”, Toobin told the ever mesmerised-looking, Wolf Blitzer. “This is the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies.”

Clearly, Toobin doesn’t subscribe to Noam Chomsky’s prescient view that America has long forfeited the right to describe itself as a “democracy” and, instead, has morphed, over successive Democratic and Republican regimes, into what more accurately can be defined as an authoritarian state that serves

Comey’s sacking will not be the end of President TrumpAndrew Mitrovica Al Jazeera

the parochial interests of the few at the expense of the many.

It’s daffy to think that Trump’s army of nihilists will do a stunning volte face and deem him unfit to serve as presi-dent simply because he fired a cop – whatever the timing and cynical motivations.

But, of course, it’s understandable that Toobin’s unflinching fidelity to the anachronistic notion of America’s sup-posed democratic exceptionalism went unchallenged, since Chomsky - or any-one sympathetic to his understanding of US history or politics - is effectively out-lawed from appearing on a news network that, not too long ago, treated Trump, the perpetual TV star, with such fawning deference and respect.

Turns out, Toobin and company are loath to acknowledge, let alone address, the prickly fact that more than 63 mil-lion Americans voted enthusiastically for an illiterate strongman who canned a guy most Trump supporters couldn’t pick out of an FBI line-up and, in all likelihood, couldn’t name the seven original Articles of the US Constitution Toobin et al so desperately want them to defend.

It’s much easier for progressives to blame Vladimir Putin or Julian Assange for Trump’s success and tin pot despot-like behaviour rather than the millions of Americans who voted for, and rejoice in, his authoritarian disposition and actions. The blunt upshot is: James Comey’s FBI wasn’t going to save Trump’s America from itself. Predicta-bly, other progressives rushed with Usain Bolt-like speed to praise Toobin’s punditry as “authoritative and riveting.” You see, it’s not the pollyannaish mean-ing of what he says that’s important, but how brashly he says it.

Not done applauding Toobin’s glib defence of democracy and, by exten-sion, the FBI, progressives embarrassed themselves by appealing to “patriotic” Republicans finally to choose the repub-lic over party and agree to appoint an independent prosecutor to probe the metastasizing links between Trump and

Moscow before, during and after the election.

Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell promptly answered the gooey,

flag-waving overtures by telling gullible progressives and Democrats that Trump was right to show Comey the exit door and he wasn’t going to anoint a mod-ern-day Eliot Ness to find out whether Trump is a “traitor” or not.

McConnell will, no doubt, quickly extinguish the tepid disquiet within the Republican ranks over Trump’s Comey gambit since he and the Republican powers-that-be consider the possible real-life Manchurian Candidate an indispensable and pliable asset serving, as I said, the parochial interests of the few at the expense of the many – and damn the Constitution.

In due course, Trump will name a successor to Comey. The Republican-controlled Congress will fall dutifully into line and approve whomever their malleable man in the White House nominates long before the mid-term elections in 2018. That, Mr. Toobin, is American “democracy” at work.

‘Trump will not be impeached’Finally, and perhaps most absurdly,

progressives are clinging like halluci-nating shipwreck survivors to the fantasy that Trump’s impeachment is in the offing just over the horizon.

Note to raving progressives: It’s 2017, not 1974. Trump will not be impeached now, nor will he be in the foreseeable future. Republicans enjoy a firm, recalcitrant hold on Congress and, given their gerrymandering, vote-sup-pressing ways, flipping the House next year may be a bigger challenge than most progressives suspect.

The more salient point is this: Trump’s legion of followers has not only permitted him to cross so many tradi-tionally uncrossable “red lines”, but they’ve cheered all along and encour-aged him to erase those previously sacrosanct norms beyond recognition.

It’s daffy to think that Trump’s army of nihilists will do a stunning volte face and deem him unfit to serve as presi-dent simply because he fired a cop – whatever the timing and cynical motivations.

Meanwhile, Fox News, the de facto PR arm of the Republican party, will continue to give Trump all the time he needs to preach in rambling non-sequiturs to the converted about how the “fake news” business is intent on thwarting his devout mission to make America great again.

The “we report, you decide” charla-tans will happily inoculate Trump against calls for his impeachment and, true to obsequious form, the Sean Hannity-led mob will ferociously impugn the motives, aims and reputations of his adversaries. Poor, beleaguered Nixon didn’t have an omnipotent 24/7 all-news channel that he could count on and seek comfortable refuge in to rewrite history and convince the nation that he wasn’t a crook.

Trump does. And this time the presi-dent of the United States will say: “I’m not a traitor” and Fox News viewers will believe him.

In due course, Trump will name a successor to Comey. The Republican-controlled Congress will fall dutifully into line and approve whomever their malleable man in the White House nominates long before the mid-term elections in 2018.

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-SHAFIeditorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMEDmsalim@pen.com.qa

The firing of James Comey, the F.B.I. director, by President Donald Trump has stunned America. Sections of the media said it has echoes of Watergate, when President

Richard M Nixon, in 1973, ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor looking into the so-called burglary that eventually brought Nixon down. And not since Watergate has an American president dismissed the person leading an investigation that has a bearing on him. It seems that Comey was ousted for leading an investigation into the depth of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential elections on behalf of Trump. But in the process, Trump has fired a man who may have helped make him president by announcing, during the final days of campaigning, an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. The president’s explanation for firing Camey is funny – that the FBI director’s alleged bungling of the probe into Clinton’s private email server violated Justice Department policy and deeply undermined public trust in the agency.

While the US can continue to debate the extraordinariness of Trump’s decisions and its con-sequences, keen observers of American politics abroad will see the decision as another blow to American democracy, which despite its intriguing peculiarities, is thought to have enough inbuilt checks and balances to stop a reckless president

from amassing power or violating rules. Here is a president firing an official in the middle of an investigation against him, thus skewing the possible outcome of the investigation. American people have the right to know the truth, the whole truth, about the extent of Russia’s role Trump’s election. Where is the guarantee that Comey’s successor,

to be chosen by Trump, will continue the investiga-tion with the same seriousness? Trump still has the capacity to shock and a few more disastrous steps from him like this will undermine American democ-racy, and the country’s political and moral power abroad. American democracy and politics is going through tense and uncertain times.

The controversy triggered by Comey’s dismissal will continue with more tenacity. Trump is under siege and is lashing out at the media and his oppo-nents for the bad press he received. Yesterday he warned the sacked FBI director not to talk to the press about the conversations he had with him. “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Trump said. He even threatened to scrap the traditional White House briefings that have existed in some form for almost a century.

American institutions are still strong enough to resist Trump.

Firing of James Comey

Trump has fired a man who may have helped make him president.

ED ITOR IAL

09SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017 OPINION

Thanks to his previous experience at the Inter-national Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), he is part of a global network of transitional justice experts, whose skills he now wants to call on as he embarks on reforms.

“We have inherited a broken criminal justice system and we need to fix that before we can move forward with any other plans,” he stressed.

The case of the “NIA Nine” -- the trial of the former head of the Jammeh-controlled National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and eight subordinates from the feared security service -- is seen as a warning against haste.

A lack of evidence and calls for more time by lawyers have repeatedly delayed the case against the men accused of killing opposition political activ-ist Solo Sandeng last year.

His death sparked a reform movement that eventually unseated Jammeh, who was forced from office in January by west African powers after he refused to accept defeat in a December election.

“It doesn’t seem like the judicial system is ready for serious trials,” said Reed Brody, a US-based law-yer, who helped the victims of Chad’s former dictator Hissene Habre prosecute him successfully more than a quarter century after leaving power.

“It’s not enough to have victims. You need to have people who can prove the individual responsi-bility of a higher-up,” he added, after a recent visit to Banjul, saying this was doubly important if the state ever decided to prosecute Jammeh himself.

German state tests Merkel in last poll warmup

For someone who’s rooting for Angela Mer-kel’s election opponent, labor-union official Josef Huelsduenker has a lot of respect for the chancellor.

Sitting in a cafe in the town hall of Gelsenkirchen, a rust-belt town in Germany’s Ruhr Valley industrial heartland, the longtime Social Dem-ocrat said Merkel’s relationship with the unions “improved hugely” after the financial crisis during her first term. He finds her far more approachable than any of her fellow Christian Democrat cabinet ministers.

“A win for Merkel in North Rhine-Westphalia would help her enormously, since it would consoli-date her position in the party,” Huelsduenker said ahead of elections in the state on Sunday. Among the Social Democratic membership, meanwhile, “there’s a yearning for an SPD leadership figure, and that will continue beyond the regional elections.”

The last state contest before the national vote on September 24 illustrates the dilemma facing the SPD across the country: Merkel has occupied so much of the middle ground -- often at the expense of main-stream opinion in her party -- that there’s little room for her national challenger, Martin Schulz, to distin-guish himself.

The strain is already showing in Schulz’s fizzling poll ratings. After two state election defeats in a row, he faces a make-or-break moment in his home state of 18 million people. The outcome will give the

clearest sense yet of the national mood as voters in Europe’s biggest economy weigh whether to give Merkel, 62, a fourth term as chancellor.

“North Rhine Westphalia always is a miniature federal election, given that we have almost a quarter of Germany’s population,” state premier Hannelore Kraft told Bloomberg.

Kraft, once considered a possible 2017 contender for the chancellorship, now is the SPD’s last line of defense against a disastrous defeat that would cast a shadow over Schulz’s campaign. As she struggles to win a new mandate for her Social Democrat-Green government, polls suggest an upset is within reach for Merkel’s party.

The chancellor, written off last year for her refu-gee stance, is on the attack in the local campaign. In eight visits over six weeks, she’s hammered away at the state government’s record on debt, crime and highway maintenance, giving critical support to the CDU’s candidate for premier, Armin Laschet. To top it off, she’ll hold her closing rally on Saturday in Schulz’s hometown of Aachen.

Kraft fought back this week in Bochum, a former coal-mining hub where General Motors Co.’s Opel unit closed a 52-year-old car plant in 2014. The Social Democrats stand for workers’ rights, free child

care and a new startup culture in the state, the pre-mier told supporters. “We’re the party that cares,” she said.

That may not be enough on Sunday.A week earlier, the Social Democrats lost elec-

tions in the smaller state of Schleswig-Holstein. With Schulz, 61, in charge as national chairman and aspir-ing chancellor, party officials say the defeat left them even more concerned about the outcome in North Rhine-Westphalia, which has been governed by Social Democrats for 45 of the last 50 years.

“Ultimately, the SPD won’t be able to deliver much of a positive signal,” said Manfred Guellner, head of the Forsa polling company in Berlin. Surveys suggest that even if they hold the state, “the Social Democrats will lose votes and the CDU will gain,” he said.

Depending on how the vote breaks down, the Social Democrats may need help from Merkel’s party to form the next state coalition. While the SPD and Greens won the last election in 2012 with a combined 50.4 percent, they’re now polling about 10 percent-age points lower.

Merkel’s Christian Democrats are at about 30 percent, compared with 26.3 five years ago. While Kraft this week ruled out allying with

Gambians want swift justice for the crimes of fallen dictator Yahya Jammeh’s regime but the new government faces an uphill battle to jail the most prolific

abusers. Silenced for 22 years, victims shot or tortured by Jammeh’s security services are now speaking out, along with families whose loved ones have been pulled from recently found unmarked graves.

But the cash-strapped government refuses to put anyone else in the dock, burnt by a high-profile, politically charged case this year that has run into procedural and systemic problems.

“In terms of prosecutions, we are not at that stage yet,” Justice Minister Abu-bacarr Tambadou said in his dimly-lit office in central Banjul, reams of paper-work covering his desk. An overhaul of The Gambia’s beleaguered courts, where judges were long accused of following the will of the president, not the law, is needed to ensure “successful prosecutions”, the softly-spoken Tambadou said.

Gambia’s justice system struggles with victims’ ire

German Chancellor Angela Merkel talking with chief editor of Rheinische Post Michael Broecker, at the ‘Staendehaus Treff’ panel discussion in Duesseldorf, yesterday.

Demonstrators holding a banner reading ‘April 10/11 commemoration - Never Again’ in remembrance of victims of the Gambia’s former regime, in Serekunda.

Switzerland has extended the detention of former Gam-bian interior minister Ousman Sonko over a crimes against humanity probe, but has ruled out extradition on the grounds the country maintains the death penalty and lacks the legal capacity to try him. Souleymane Guengueng, a Chadian who campaigned for almost 25 years before seeing Habre con-victed in 2016, travelled with Brody to advise the Gambian victims.

“Even if you have all the right conditions, the documents, everything, you have to consider the political aspect. You have to look at the economic aspect,” he told AFP, warning it could be a long process.

But tensions are rising over when justice will be delivered and the pressure on Tambadou and President Adama Barrow grows by the day, as those with a newfound right to exercise their freedom of speech hold press conferences and marches for justice in a country where, until January, protests were all but illegal. For some, the urgency is not for psychological clo-sure but something more practical: constant medical bills to manage a permanent disability dealt them by the security forces. Yusupha Mbye was just 18 when he was shot in the spine by a soldier as he passed a student march in 2000 that was brutally put down by Jammeh’s forces, killing 14.

He has constantly struggled to pay his medical expenses and provide for his family, with his legs paralysed.

“My life was destroyed because that was when my schooling stopped,” he said at a march organised by the newly formed Committee for Victims of Jammeh’s Atrocities.

“I didn’t get anything from the government. I want the new government to help me get my treatment. I want my health first, and then justice,” he added.

At his compound in a Banjul suburb, Malleh Jagne describes meeting other victims and helping raise awareness for their plight through media appearances, although he has yet to win justice for his family. In March, Jagne found him-self standing over the hastily dug grave where his brother was thrown after being accused by the regime of involve-ment in a December 2014 coup attempt.

“I straight away identified him because he was in the uni-form trousers”, Jagne said, referring to the US army fatigues his brother Lamin was given while serving as a captain.

Since then, he has pushed for answers. “I wanted to know how my brother was killed: was he shot? Was he beaten to death? The question wasn’t answered. It’s something that’s disturbing my mind,” he said.

Jagne himself was detained by the NIA for 35 days once he was identified as a close relative of Lamin, and recalls being whipped, slapped, refused permission to relieve him-self, and given dry rice to eat until he was weak from illness.

Another of Jagne’s brothers was shot in the stomach by Jammeh’s men and survived and his wife died while he was living in exile in neighbouring Senegal. “If justice is delayed, the pain is still there,” he said.

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the anti-capitalist Left party, the resurgent Free Democrats offer the CDU a coalition option. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, shunned by the main-stream parties, is polling at 9 percent.

Created by British occupation authorities after World War II out of former Prussian provinces and other areas, North Rhine-West-phalia struggled for decades to shift to a postindustrial economy. More recently, crime has put the Social Democrats on the defensive. In her stump speech, Merkel blamed state officials for mishandling the 2015 mass sexual assaults on women on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, an event that galvanized sentiment against her open-borders refugee policy.

While diving into local politics, Merkel also plays on her advantage as the experienced incumbent who defends German interests and European values on the global stage. That was the message by Christian Democratic lawmaker Oliver Wittke at a rally alongside the chancellor this week in Haltern am See, a town of 38,000 north of the Ruhr Valley.

“It’s a very good thing to have such an anchor of stability in charge of the government,” Wittke told the crowd framed by gabled houses and a brick church. “This Sunday in North Rhine-Westphalia is impor-tant for our country.”

Jennifer O’Mahony & Emil TourayAFP

Patrick Donahue, Birgit Jennen & Arne Delfs Bloomberg

The last state contest before the national vote on September 24 illustrates the dilemma facing the SPD across the country: Merkel has occupied so much of the middle ground — often at the expense of mainstream opinion in her party — that there’s little room for her national challenger, Martin Schulz, to distinguish himself.

10 SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017AMERICAS

Washington

AFP

Donald Trump warned his sacked FBI director not to talk to the press yester-day, in a morning

Twitter tirade that painted a pic-ture of a president under siege and lashing out.

Capping a week in which Trump faced a slew of criticism for firing the man investigating his campaign's possible ties to Russia, Trump warned James Comey there could be retribu-tion if he speaks to the press a b o u t t h e i r p r i v a t e conversations.

"James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" Trump said.

Furious with the news cov-erage of the White House's shifting explanations on Comey's sacking, Trump lashed out, sug-gesting the media was wrong to expect his spokespeople to be 100 percent accurate.

"As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!" he tweeted.

Trump then went on to sug-gest scrapping the traditional White House briefings that have

existed in some form since the Woodrow Wilson administration almost a century ago.

"Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future 'press briefings' and hand out written responses for the sake of a c c u r a c y ? ? ? " T r u m p suggested.

Again, Trump brought the issue back to Russia, referenc-ing a former head of intelligence's assertion that Trump was, to his knowledge, not colluding with Moscow.

"When James Clapper him-self, and virtually everyone else with knowledge of the witch hunt, says there is no collusion, when does it end?" Trump tweeted.

Trump's bareknuckle

comments immediately fueled fresh comparisons between his administration and that of dis-graced president Richard Nixon, who famously recorded his con-versations -- a fact that sped his downfall during the Watergate scandal.

"Presidents are supposed to have stopped routinely taping visitors without their knowledge when Nixon's taping system was revealed in 1973," tweeted the presidential historian Michael Beschloss.

The White House initially asserted that Comey's dismissal had nothing to do with the Rus-sian investigations, which continue to be an albatross around the neck of Trump's presidency.

Instead, they said, the pres-ident fired Comey on the advice of senior members of the Justice Department, who worried about his handling of a 2016 investiga-tion into Trump's election rival Hillary Clinton.

But Trump shattered that explanation himself on Thurs-day when he said he had always intended to fire Comey and that his decision was linked to the ongoing investigation into his campaign's ties with Russia.

In an interview with NBC on Thursday, Trump also revealed that he had asked Comey on three occasions whether he was

personally under investigation."I actually asked him, yes. I

said, 'If it's possible would you let me know, am I under investiga-tion?' He said, 'You are not under investigation,'" Trump recounted, repeating an assertion made when the White House announced Comey's firing Tuesday.

"All I can tell you is, well I know what, I know that I'm not

under investigation. Me. Person-ally. I'm not talking about campaigns. I'm not talking about anything else. I'm not under investigation." The other two times Trump said he asked Comey whether he was under investigation were in telephone conversations.

Trump also revealed that he had the Russia investigation in

mind when he fired Comey."When I decided to just do it,

I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story."

That startling admission fanned suggestions that Trump may be interfering with the investigation and promoted Comey allies to refute Trump's account of events.

Trump warns James Comey over media leaksRetribution

Trump warns James Comey there could be retribution if he speaks to the press about their private conversations.

President says media wrong to expect his spokespeople to be 100 percent accurate.

People take pictures with President Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as members of 'Refuse Fascism' protest the firing of FBI Director James Comey by Trump, in Los Angeles.

Sao Paulo

Reuters

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's combative testimony

before a federal judge this week did little to dismantle the graft case against him and improve his chances of securing a new term in office.

Lula, a founder of the left-ist Workers Party (PT) that controlled Brazil's presidency from 2003 until last year, can only run in next year's presi-dential election if he avoids a conviction that is upheld on appeal.

Steady questioning by cru-sading Judge Sergio Moro on Wednesday uncovered no bombshell revelations to shake supporters' steadfast belief that Lula is innocent and the victim of a political witch hunt. Nor did it do much to knock down cor-ruption charges that stand between Lula and a third shot at the presidency.

"Lula left the courtroom the same size as he went in. His tes-timony will not legally save the former president," said the cen-trist Green Party congressman Alvaro Dias.

"But politically, there was a repercussion that both fuels the PT's followers and enrages his opponents, as he tried to trans-form a legal procedure into a political show."

In recent polling, Lula sits atop surveys of potential can-didates for the 2018 election

but he also has the highest rejection rate, showing strong opposition to him among many Brazilians.

Lula's case is part of an investigation known as "Oper-ation Car Wash" which unearthed how Brazilian con-struction firms paid billions in political kickbacks and bribes in return for contracts at state-run oil company Petrobras and other g o v e r n m e n t - c o n t r o l l e d companies.

The investigation has seen more than 90 prominent busi-nessmen and politicians

convicted. Scores of sitting fed-eral congressmen across the political spectrum as well as one-third of conservative Pres-ident Michel Temer's cabinet are being investigated.

Prosecutors allege Lula was given a beach apartment by con-struction firm OAS in exchange for helping it win lucrative gov-ernment contracts.

Lula portrayed himself dur-ing his testimony as a victim of a vengeful, elitist media that wanted to get him "dead or alive."

He also said Brazil's upper

class could not stomach his social welfare programs that helped lift millions out of pov-erty during his eight years in office.

Still beloved by many work-ing class Brazilians, Lula stepped down in 2011 with an 83-per-cent approval rating.

A former union leader who led strikes in the early 1980s that helped dismantle a two-decade military dictatorship, Lula rose from poverty to the presidency on the back of his ability to elec-trify crowds at campaign rallies.

Washington

AP

Attorney General Jeff Ses-sions is directing federal prosecutors to pursue

the most serious charges pos-sible against the vast majority of suspects, a reversal of Obama-era policies that is sure to send more people to prison and for much longer terms.

The move has long been expected from Sessions, a former federal prosecutor who cut his teeth during the height of the crack cocaine epidemic and who has promised to make combating violence and drugs

the Justice Department's top priority.

"This policy affirms our responsibility to enforce the law, is moral and just, and pro-duces consistency," Sessions wrote in a memo sent Thurs-day night to US attorneys and made public early yeserday.

Advocates quickly criti-cized the move as a revival of the worst aspects of the drug war that would subject nonvi-olent, lower-level offenders to unfairly harsh sentences.

"It looks like we're going to fill the prisons back up after finally getting the federal prison population down," said

Kevin Ring, president of Fam-ilies Against Mandatory Minimums. "But the social and human costs will be much higher."

The move is an unmistak-able undoing of Obama administration criminal justice policies that aimed to ease overcrowding in federal pris-ons and contributed to a national rethinking of how drug criminals were prosecuted and sentenced.

Sessions contends a spike in violence in some big cities and the nation's opioid epi-demic show the need for a return to tougher tactics.

"The opioid and heroin epidemic is a contributor to the recent surge of violent crime in America," Sessions said in remarks prepared for a Thursday speech in Charle-ston, West Virginia. "Drug trafficking is an inherently violent business. If you want to collect a drug debt, you can't, and don't, file a lawsuit in court. You collect it by the barrel of a gun."The policy memo says prosecutors should "charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense" — something more likely to trigger mandatory minimum sentences.

Graft testimony fails to lift Lula's presidential hopes Trump signs order to upgrade cyber defencesWashington

Reuters

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to bolster the

government's cyber security and protect critical infrastruc-ture from cyber attacks, marking his first significant action to address what he has called a top priority.

The order seeks to improve the often-maligned network security of US government agen-cies, from which foreign governments and other hackers have pilfered millions of personal records and other forms of sen-sitive data in recent years.

The White House said the

order also aimed to enhance protection of infrastructure such as the energy grid and financial sector from sophisti-cated attacks that officials have warned could pose a national security threat or cripple parts of the economy.

The directive, which drew largely favorable reviews from cyber experts and industry groups, also lays out goals to develop a more robust cyber deterrence strategy, in part by forging strong cooperation with US allies in cyberspace.

White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said the order sought to build on efforts undertaken by the former Obama administration.

New York mayor criticised New YorkReuters

New York City public defenders criticized a proposal by Mayor Bill

de Blasio to deny free legal counsel to immigrants in deportation hearings if they had been convicted of serious crimes in the past, saying the plan would deny them due process.

In his proposed annual budget, De Blasio allocated $16.4m to legal services for

immigrant New Yorkers, citing concern about U.S. President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigrants living in the coun-try illegally.

Lawyers, local lawmakers and civil rights activists wel-comed the funding proposal, which sharply increases legal aid for immigrants.

But they gathered on the steps of City Hall to criticize a provision they said would unfairly deprive some people of the right to due process under the law.

US prosecutors told to push for harsher punishmentsVenezuela opposition seeks foreign support Lima

Reuters

Venezuela's opposition is asking other Latin Amer-ican countries to

pressure President Nicolas Maduro's government into implementing a "democratic agenda," opposition leader Julio Borges said on Thursday.

Borges, the president of Ven-ezuela's opposition-led National Assembly, traveled to Lima to meet with Peruvian legislators and President Pedro Pablo

Kuczynski, who has been one of Maduro's most vocal critics among Latin American leaders.

He said the humanitarian crisis and strong protests against Maduro's socialist government had crossed Venezuela's borders because of a wave of refugees across the region.

"It's important - fundamen-tal - that we get several governments in the region to unite in the short term to make sure in Venezuela there exists nothing other than a popular and democratic agenda," Borges said.

Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva carries a Brazilian flag as he arrives at Federal Justice, for a testimony in Curitiba, Brazil.

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Yesterday’s answer

15SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017 BREAK TIME

Yesterday’s answer

SHOWING ATVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

HAGA

R TH

E HO

RRIB

LE

ALL IN THE MINDADAPTATION, AUTHOR, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, BIOGRAPHY, BOOK,CHRONICLE, COMPOSITION, DIARY, DISSERTATION, DOCUMENT, DRAFT, EDITORIAL, EPIC, EPISTLE, ESSAY, ISSUE, JOURNAL, LEDGER, LETTER, LIMERICK, LITERATURE, MANUSCRIPT, MEMO, MEMOIRS, NOTATION, NOTE, NOVEL, PAPER, PLAY, POEM,PROSE, PUBLICATION, RECORD, SCRIPT, SCRIPTURE, SONNET,TEXT, THESIS, TOME, TREATISE, VERSE, VOLUME, WRITER, WRITINGS.

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8:30 Wildlife Warzone

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13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

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15:00 The Guantanamo 22

16:00 NEWSHOUR

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17:30 UpFront

18:00 newsgrid

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19:30 Fault Lines

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21:00 NEWSHOUR

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22:30 The Listening Post

09:20 Lost In

Transmission

10:10 Leepu And

Pitbull

11:00 Shipping Wars

11:25 Shipping Wars

11:50 Ice Road

Truckers

12:40 Ax Men

13:30 Lost Worlds

14:20 101 People That

Made The 20th

Century

16:50 Big Easy

Motors

17:15 Big Easy

Motors

17:40 American

Restoration

19:20 American

Pickers

20:10 Alone

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21:50 Mummies

Alive

22:40 Search

RICHES

10:05 Speed Of Life

11:00 Wild Ones

11:25 Wild Ones

11:55 Bondi Vet

12:50 Dogs/Cats/Pets

101

13:45 Dogs/Cats/Pets

101

14:40 Dogs/Cats/Pets

101

15:35 Cats 101

16:30 Cats 101

17:25 Dogs/Cats/Pets

101

18:20 Rugged

Justice

19:15 Wildest Africa

20:10 Dr. Jeff: Rocky

Mountain Vet

21:05 Pit Bulls &

Parolees

22:00 Rugged

Justice

22:55 Tanked

23:50 Tanked

10:15 Bizaardvark

10:40 The Emperor's

New Groove

12:05 Welcome To The

Ronks

12:20 Bizaardvark

16:10 Elena Of

Avalor

16:35 Liv And

Maddie

17:00 Girl Meets

World

17:25 The Little

Mermaid: Ariel's

Beginning

18:45 Welcome To The

Ronks

19:00 Star Darlings

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19:55 Bunk'd

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Avalor

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Lodge

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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

AL KHOR

ROXY

King Arthur: Legend of The Sword (Action) 2D 11:30am, 12:00noon, 1:30, 2:00, 4:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 9:30, 11:00, 11:30, 11:45pm & 12:00midnight 3D 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:00pmGuardians of The Galaxy 2 (Action) 3D 10:00am, 3:30 & 9:00pm 2D 12:45am, 3:00, 6:15, 8:45 & 11:45pm Spark: A Space Tail 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 & 8:00pm The Rezort 10:00pm & 12:00midnight The Dinner 10:00am, 2:30, 7:00 & 11:30pm Kalb Balady (Arabic) 12:30, 5:00 & 9:30pm Fast & Furious 8 (Action) 11:00am, 4:10 & 9:10pm Bank Alhaz (2D/Arabic) 1:40, 6:40 & 11:50pmRevenger (2D/Thriller) 11:00am, 3:15, 7:30 & 11:45pm Bashtery Ragel (2D/Arabic) 1:00, 5:15 & 9:30pm The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 11:00am, 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00 & 9:00pm Guardians of The Galaxy 2 (3D IMAX/Action) 11:30am, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30 & 11:30pm

Spark: A Space Tail (2D/Animation) 2:00 & 3:45pm Meri Pyaari Bindu (2D/Hindi) 2:00pm Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen (2D/Tamil) 2:30pm Radha (Telugu) 4:15pm Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen (2D/Tamil) 4:15pm The Dinner (Drama) 4:45pm The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 5:30pm Sarkar 3 (2D/Hindi) 6:00 & 11:15pm Bashtery Ragel (2D/Arabic) 7:00pm King Arthur: Legend of The Sword (2D/Action) 7:15, 8:30 & 11:00pm Kalb Balady (2D/Arabic) 9:30pm The Rezort (2D/Horror) 9:15pm Georgettan (2D/Malayalam) 11:00pm

Meri Pyaari Bindu (2D/Hindi) 2:15pm The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 2:30pm Spark: A Space Tail (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:15pm Bashtery Ragel (2D/Arabic) 4:30pm The Dinner (Drama) 6:00pm Sarkar 3 (2D/Hindi) 4:30, 6:30 & 8:30 pmKalb Balady (2D/Arabic) 9:00pm King Arthur: Legend of The Sword (2D/Action) 7:00 & 9:15pm Georgettan (2D/Malayalam) 11:00pm The Rezort (2D/Horror) 11:30pm

The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:30pm Spark: A Space Tail (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 6:30pm Sarkar 3 (2D/Hindi) 2:15, 4:45 & 8:30pm Bahubali 2: The Conclusion (2D/Hindi) 4:00pm Radha (Telugu) 4:30 & 11:00pmKing Arthur: Legend of The Sword (2D/Action) 7:00 & 9:15pm The Dinner (Drama) 7:15pm Bashtery Ragel (2D/Arabic) 9:30pm The Rezort (2D/Horror) 11:30pm Kalb Balady (2D/Arabic) 11:30pm

Georgettan (Malayalam) 12:30, 5:45, 8:30, 11:15pm Baahubali 2 (Hindi) 6:30 Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen (2D/Tamil) 1:00, 3:30,

6:00, 11:00pm Radha (Telugu) 3:15pm

Spark: A Space Tail 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 & 8:00pm Georgettan 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 2:00, 4:40, 7:20, 10:00pm & 12:30am Meri Pyaari Bindu 2:00 & 5:00pm Guardians of The Galaxy 10:00pm & 12:40am

Baahubali 2(Tamil) 11:15am, 5:15 & 11:15pm Baahubali 2 (Hindi) 2:45 & 8:30pm

Baahubali 2 (Malayalam) 2:15 & 7:45pm Georgettan (Malayalam) 2:15 & 8:15pm

Meri Pyaari Bindu (Hindi) 11:45am, 5:15 & 10:45pm Sarkar 3 12:00noon, 5:45 & 11:30pm

New York

Reuters

Actress Melissa McCarthy took her impersonation of Sean Spicer, the White

House press secretary, to the streets of New York City yester-day, rolling through midtown traffic on a motorized lectern in an apparent shoot for "Saturday Night Live."

McCarthy is due to host the NBC television show on Satur-day, when she is expected to revive her portrayal of Spicer as a gum-chewing shouter who berates and threatens journal-ists for asking probing questions.

The hour-long skit show has been broadcast live since it began in 1975.

Cellphone videos posted on social media showed McCarthy suited up shouting at cars to get out of the way as she cruised through the buslting traffic.

Spicer said in an interview with the news magazine show Extra in February that the impression was "funny," although he also suggested she "could dial back" the perform-ance somewhat.

He has also referred to McCarthy's tendency, when dressed as Spicer, to drive a

motorized lectern rapidly toward a reporter who asks an aggravating question.

"Don't make me make the podium move," he said to laugh-ter at a news briefing in March in response to a pointed ques-tion about the latest employment figures.

Spicer's boss, US President Donald Trump, has been a guest host on "Saturday Night Live" twice, in 2004 and 2015. He now takes a dim view of the show, which has also regularly fea-tured an unflattering portrayal of him by Alec Baldwin wearing orange make-up.

Austria's Nathan Trent performs the song 'Running On Air' during the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Semi-Final 2 at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine.

In the air

19SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017 MORNING BREAK

FAJRSHOROOK

03.26 am

04.50 am

ZUHRASR

11.30 am

02.57 pm

MAGHRIBISHA

06.12 pm

07.42 pm

PRAYER TIMINGS

HIGH TIDE 05:30 - 19:00 LOW TIDE 01:15 - 11:30

Hazy at places at first becomes hot

daytime with slight dust and partly

cloudy with light rain, weak chance

of thundery cells at time.

WEATHER TODAY

Minimum Maximum

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

29oC 41oC

Washington

AFP

Visitors to the White House can now visit the cloak-room-turned-movie theater

where Dwight Eisenhower used to sneak off to watch westerns and where Jimmy Carter screened "All The Pres-ident's Men."

The decision to open up the private presidential theater -- set up in a large cloakroom by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1942 -- was made by Melania Trump, the presi-dent's wife.

"The White House belongs to the people of this country," the first lady said.

"I believe everyone who takes the time to visit and tour the White House should have as much access to its rich his-tory and wonderful traditions as possible. It is my hope that our visitors truly enjoy the newest piece of the tour."

Among the biggest movie buffs to have occupied the Oval Office were Eisenhower, a fan of westerns and Gary Cooper flicks in particular and Richard Nixon, who liked black-and-white musicals such as "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

An even bigger cinephile was Carter, who held two or three movie nights a week.

Carter watched 480 mov-ies while in the White House, more than any other presi-dent. His first White House movie showing was "All The President's Men," the story of the Watergate scandal that toppled Nixon.

Despite being a former actor, Ronald Reagan was not such a big viewer, although he did like to watch his own movies with his wife Nancy on his birthday, according to the White House Museum website. He did however remodel the screening room

to have 51 tiered seats.George W. Bush's tastes

ran more to the Austin Pow-ers spy spoof series, although -- as the wars he launched in Afghanistan and Iraq ground on for years -- he was said to have turned more to gritty combat movies like "Black Hawk Down" and the Vietnam film "We Were Soldiers."

Barack Obama screened "To Kill a Mocking Bird" to mark the 50th anniversary of the film about racial prejudice in the US South.

The first movie put on by Donald Trump when he came to office in January was "Find-ing Dory," the animated tale

of a fish looking for its parents.

It was screened the same weekend that protests broke out across the US over Trump's travel ban on visi-tors entering the US from seven predominantly Mus-lim states.

The theater is located in the East Wing of the White House, which also feature Roosevelt's WWII bomb shelter.

The first movie ever screened in the White House was "Birth of a Nation," a 1915 movie about the Civil War that sparked controversy for glo-rifying the Ku Klux Klan.

London

AFP

Sotheby's, one of the world's oldest auc-tion houses, is

holding its first ever sale of modern and contem-porary African art in London in response to a surge in demand.

African artists cur-rently account for just 0.01 percent of the interna-tional art market but the auctioneers are confident they are tapping into a fast-growing market.

Some 115 artworks by 63 artists from 14 coun-tries across the continent are going under the ham-mer on Tuesday next week.

They include works by Ghana's El Anatsui and William Kentridge and Irma Stern from South Africa, all of whom have sold for more than $1m before.

"Sotheby's has been watching this market grow for several years," said Hannah O'Leary, head of modern and

contemporary African art at the auction house established in 1744.

"We're on the verge of African art finally being acknowledged and represented in the inter-national art scene," she said. "In recent years, I've seen an exponential increase in market demand," she said. The sale is expected to fetch £ 2 . 8 m - £ 4 m ($3.6m-$5.1m; 3.3m-4.7m euros).

The main countries represented are South Africa and Nigeria, but there are also works from Angolan, Malian and Ugandan artists, among others.

Six of the artists have never had their work sold in an auction before.

"There's a real gulf in representation of Africa in the art market that really needs to be addressed," O'Leary said.

"There are great opportunities, while the market is young, to really start collecting in this field.

'Awesomesauce', saysastronaut on spacewalkMiami

AFP

So what is it like to float out into the vacuum of space?

"Ginormous fondue pot, bubbling over with piping hot awesomesauce," said Amer-ican astronaut Jack Fischer as he embarked on his first-ever spacewalk outside the Interna-tional Space Station yesterday.

The comments by Fischer, 43, were carried live on Nasa television as he and his col-league Peggy Whitson, 57, made the 200th spacewalk to build and maintain the orbiting out-post. The spacewalk was briefly delayed after Nasa discovered a "small leak of water" in equip-ment that helps power their spacesuits.

The glitch affected equip-ment known as the servicing and cooling umbilical (SCU), which supplies power and oxy-gen to the spacesuits,

discovered as the astronauts were seated in the airlock inside the space station.

"This is the connection point of the component in the airlock itself that provides power, oxygen, cooling water and communications lines to the two crew members while they are in the process of bid-ing their time, pre-breathing pure oxygen, in the airlock itself," Nasa commentator Rob Navias said.

But the spacewalk was allowed to go ahead because according to NASA procedures, the astronauts can share one functioning SCU.

Spacewalks usually last about six-and-a-half hours, but yesterday's was "abbreviated" due to the late start and lasted four hours and 13 minutes, Navias said.

The pair completed all the major work scheduled for the day, with the exception of a couple of minor tasks, he said.

White House theatre opens to public

Melissa McCarthy stands on a mobile lectern as she is filmed portraying White House spokesman Sean Spicer for an upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live on the west side of midtown Manhattan, in New York City, New York, yesterday.

Melissa McCarthy motors through New York dressed as Sean Spicer

Sotheby's holds debut African modern art sale

20 SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017HOME