02 HOME MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017

Qatar Airways starts third Emir meets Kazakh Foreign Minister

daily ight to Bali Denpasar

The Peninsula Bali Denpasar, the Dreamliner
Key destination has a two-cabin configuration,

Q
atar Airways has
announced that com-
mencing May 7, 2017,
the airline will oper-
ate a third daily
non-stop route from Dohas
Hamad International Airport to
Bali Denpasar.
Bali has long been a popular
destination for Qatar Airways
passengers, with the airline offer-
ing its first direct service in 2014,
later enhancing this to a twice
daily frequency. Prior to this
Qatar Airways served the desti-
nation via a touchdown in
Singapore, but the expanding glo-
bal reach of the airline and
significant growth in size of its
fleet has enabled the airline
increasing popularity to now offer
three daily direct non-stop flights.
Qatar Airways Group Chief
Executive, Akbar Al Baker said:
The start of triple daily non-
stop services from Doha to Bali
Denpasar offers passengers
from our global network even
Bali has long been a
popular destination
for Qatar Airways
passengers since
the service started
in 2014.
The new direct flight,
which commences on
May 7, will operate
with the Boeing 787
Dreamliner.
third frequency on this route,
offering the very latest in design
and comfort to passengers, com-
plemented by our other wide
body aircraft, the Boeing 777 and
the Airbus A330.
The new direct flight, which
commences on May 7 this year,
will operate with the Boeing 787
Dreamliner. One of the worlds
newest aircraft, the Dreamliner
will enable passengers to enjoy
Qatar Airways renowned serv-
comprising of 22 seats in Busi-
ness Class and 232 Economy
Class seats with a high standard
of comfort on board, including
individual 10.5 inch television
screens on all Economy Class
seats and a full complimentary
food and beverage service.
The additional flight is cer-
tain to be popular for those
travelling from Qatar Airways
extensive route network in
Europe, the Middle East and the
United states, with connecting
times to Bali reduced with one Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Kairat
quick international transfer at Abdrakhmanov at the Emiri Diwan yesterday. The Emir received a written message from
Dohas Hamad International President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, inviting the Emir to attend
Airport (HIA). the First Summit on Science and Technologies of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
The airline currently holds (OIC), to be held in Astana.
the title of Worlds Best Business
Class as awarded by Skytrax in
2016, and its Doha hub, HIA was
also recently given five stars at
the Skytrax World Airport
Awards and was ranked Sixth
Best Airport in the World.
Admission for children with disabilities
Qatar Airways is the national The Peninsula government schools for the aca- lear Implant, among others.
carrier of the State of Qatar, and demic year 2017/2018. Registration will continue

greater access to this popular
leisure destination with smooth
international transfers and a
variety of times to suit their own
schedules.
We are delighted to con-
firm that the Boeing 787
Dreamliner will operate the
ice, while experiencing the very
latest in international air travel
design and comfort. The route
is currently operated by a Boe-
ing 777 and Airbus A330
wide-body aircraft on its exist-
ing double-daily offering.
Flying direct to and from
is one of the fastest growing air-
lines operating one of the
youngest fleets in the world.
Qatar Airways has a modern
fleet of 195 aircraft flying to
more than 150 key business and
leisure destinations across six
continents.
T
he Special Education and
Care for Talented Students
at the Ministry of Educa-
tion and Higher Education
yesterday announced that it has
begun receiving applications
from children with disabilities
seeking admission in
The categories that can
apply include those with hydro-
cephaly, cerebral palsy,
intellectual disability, mild intel-
lectual disability, moderate
intellectual disability, Autistic
Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual
Disability Syndromes and Coch-
until May 25. Interested par-
ents need to present all
necessary documents like
passports, IDs, certificates,
Kharama bills, heath file and
health reports (translated into
Arabic) and a letter from the
parents' workplace.

QA named best regional airline by Money magazines 'Best in Travel'

Continued from page 1
Throughout ATM, guests and
visitors to the Qatar Airways
stand will be invited to experi-
ence the new Qsuite first-hand
at the airlines exhibition stand
in Hall Two ME1445. The stand
will give visitors the opportunity
to be among the first to experi-
ence the comfort, entertainment
and hospitality offered on board
all Qatar Airways flights.
Qatar Airways also recently
launched a new next generation
user interface for Oryx One, its
award-winning in-flight enter-
tainment system that features up
to 3,000 movie, television and
game options. The platform will
make it even easier to navigate the
wide selection of blockbuster and
classic movies, global music selec-
tion and the latest TV box sets;
ensuring passengers the best
entertainment experience from
the moment they step on board
and every minute in the air.
Qatar Airways Group Chief
Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said:
This is another proud moment
for Qatar Airways. In everything
that we do, we aim to go above
and beyond, to set new stand-
ards for the airline. We have a
vision of being not only a world
leader, but of providing an unfor-
gettable experience for our
passengers throughout their
entire journey; from booking
their flights, to spending time in
our impeccably appointed air-
Qatar Airways Country Manager - UAE, Rohan Seneviratne,
craft, to transiting through our
award-winning Hamad Interna- receiving the award from celebrity chef Vineet Bhatia.
tional Airport. Our focus is, and
will continue to be, on our pas- the title of Best Overall Interna- where quality, cost and value
sengers, which makes receiving tional Airline. These latest intersect. These prominent
recognition from Business Trav- awards join a number of distin- awards were bestowed upon
eller Middle East all the more guished accolades the airline has Qatar Airways for its standout
rewarding; it proves that we are recently received; including the passenger experience, with the
delivering on our promise to pro- esteemed Airline of the Year airline receiving high marks for
vide the finest possible in-flight title at the 2017 Air Transport its unmatched value, comfort
experience. Awards, one of the highest hon- and entertainment offerings in
Qatar Airways was also ours in the industry. flight, which includes smart-
named Best Regional Middle The Money magazine Best in phone connectivity and up to
East/Africa Airline in Money Travel awards is an established 3,000 viewing options such as
magazines 2017 Best in Travel annual ranking that highlights the latest blockbuster movies
and was named runner-up for the best in the travel industry and TV box sets.

Free data with new Ooredoo

Shahry Smart 55 subscriptions
The Peninsula Endless Internet Packs are users next months allowance
Ooredoos latest data service for begins and full-speed usage is

O
oredoo yesterday
announced a new promo-
tion offering all new
Shahry customers a free three
month Endless Internet Pack
subscription.
New subscribers who sign-
up to a Shahry Smart 55 and 100
subscription will enjoy the
250MB Endless Internet Pack
worth QR 20/month for three
months, whilst Shahry 150 and
above subscriptions will enjoy a
6GB Endless Internet Pack worth
QR 70/month free for three
months.
post-paid customers that come
with new ground-breaking fea-
tures to allow Ooredoo
customers to enjoy never-end-
ing internet access, with no
additional charges or surprise
bills at the end of the month.
Instead, subscribers enjoy a
high-speed connection as long
as their selected data allowance
lasts.
Once the allowance of full
speed internet is consumed it
will be followed by unlimited
internet at a reduced speed, at
no additional cost, until the
renewed.
The free endless subscrip-
tion promotion, which is part of
Ooredoos ongoing push for data
experience leadership in Qatar,
will run from today until 24 May
2017.
Customers can take advan-
tage of the offer by simply
visiting any Ooredoo Shop and
asking for the promotion.
Users can find their nearest
Ooredoo Shop using the free
Ooredoo App or searching online
via ooredoo.qa for more
information.
 MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
Croatian President reviews guard of honour
Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with President of the Republic of Croatia
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic as Croatian President reviews guard of honour. The Emir and
Croatian President witnessed the signing of an agreement on cooperation in the eld of
environmental protection and conservation of nature along with an MoU between Qatar
Chamber and the Croatian Chamber of Economy. Later, the Emir hosted a luncheon banquet
in honour of the President and her accompanying delegation.
Projects and road diversions add to traffic woes
Huda N V & Sidi Mohamed
The Peninsula
A
number of on-going
projects in and around
the city has resulted in
excessive road closures
and diversions. While,
broader roads, highways and bridges
are being constructed to solve the
traffic congestion, the problem is far
from being solved.
Trips to and from Al Wakrah
have become more fraught and con-
fusing with unending diversions and
road closures, according to
motorists.
Recently, the main Al Wakra
Street was partially closed with traf-
fic to the main street diverted
through the service lanes on either
side of the street. These closures are
unannounced and during peak
hours, the traffic is terrible, said
Ahmed, who resides in Al Wakrah.
As the roads are closed, traffic
on the service roads moves at a
snail's pace. It has also resulted in
traffic congestion on Al Wakrah
road, extending at least up to the
Barwa village traffic signal, which
was also closed yesterday,
unannounced.
Even after the opening of the
G-Ring Road two days ago, there has
been no respite from traffic on Al
Wakra Road. Many motorists who
spoke to The Peninsula complained
that the road was not opened com-
pletely as announced by the Public
Works Authority (Ashghal).
The roads were opened on
Saturday, and so we thought of
using the road from airport to Mes-
saimeer, instead of F-Ring road.
However, we followed the new
road and diversions only to find
ourselves in front of Barwa signal.
Usually, when new roads or diver-
sions are made, the authorities
publish a roadmap. This time they
havent done it, said Ravi, whose
Work in progress for a new yover above Doha Expressway as part of Ashghals Al Rayyan Road
Upgrade Project.
Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF)
H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser with President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-
Kitarovic at the Qatar Foundation office yesterday. The President awarded Sheikha Moza the
Grand Order of Queen Jelena with Sash and Morning Star, which is the highest ranking order
given by Croatia to non-heads of state.
office is located in Messaimeer.
Adding to the congestion is the
fact that some three or four lanes
from the Airport converge into just
two lanes when it reaches the newly
opened exit on G-ring road to Al
Wakrah.
Some of the motorists were
taken by surprise when a key signal
on Al Wakrah Road, near Barwa Vil-
lage, was suddenly closed to traffic
by Ashghal yesterday. Ashghal made
no prior announcement of the clo-
sure of the signal which is always
busy during peak hours.
I had planned to go to Al Thu-
mama from Al Wakrah. However,
the Barwa signal was closed in the
morning and hence I had to drive to
the airport exit to go to F Ring Road
to reach my destination. There was
Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Sheikha Moza meets Croatian President
no announcement in the media or
online about the changes in road lay-
out, said a female motorist.
"Today I saw the worst traffic
jam in years. The signal near Barwa
Village was closed and all traffic
went directly on to the airport high-
way. Most of the motorists turning
at the signal aim at F-Ring, and so
the exit from airport highway to
F-Ring was congested today," said
a motorist who lives in Wukhair.
Some of the motorist are blam-
ing poor planning in the opening of
new roads that result in traffic diver-
sion, creating more confusion. Added
to this, a surplus of sign boards and
other notices on either side of the
roads divert drivers attention,
according to some.
Mean while, ongoing drainage
HOME 03
and road works in the inte-
rior areas of Al Wakrah are
also creating difficulties to
motorists.
Some drainage works
are on-going at the round-
about and the Wukhair road
in front of Al Wakrah Health
Centre. Due to this, during
peak hours, there is traffic
congestion on the road
leading to New Wakrah
town. We see a number of
motorists jumping the traf-
fic congestion by taking a
shortcut passing through
the health centre compound
to reach Wukhair Street.
This at times creates prob-
lems for the patients visiting
the health centre, a worker
at the health centre said.
Meanwhile, in Wukhair,
traffic seems to go
smoothly, despite mega-
road and stadium works.
However, the interior
streets are dotted with pot-
holes and recent rains had
made the roads difficult to
manoeuvre, according to
some of the residents. After
the last rains, the roads had
become pathetic, and in
some areas, motorists,
drove off-road. Some of the
potholes have been closed,
though bigger ones are stil
there, a Wukhair resident
said.
The residents of Al
Rayyan also lament about
road closures and diver-
sions due to ongoing
development projects. Clo-
sures, diversions and traffic
jams have created troubles
for commuters in Al
Rayyan. It has become dif-
ficult to go outside.
Whenever I think about
going outside, I feel psycho-
logical discomfort,"
Mohamed from Al Rayyan
said.
He said the good thing
about all that trouble was
the fact that after recon-
struction works, roads
would become wider with
more lanes to accommo-
date more traffic. "But after
one week or a month of
opening of new road, they
come to make some
changes and diversions. The
roads should not be opened
until upgradation work is
fully done. They must wait
until they have finished the
complete construction and
then open it for commut-
ers," he added.
"I can give some exam-
ples of diversions and
closures like Bani Hajer sig-
nals, the area near Al
Rayyan park and the area
near Al Rayyan Municipal-
ity. And the traffic is usually
stuck at Al Furousiya
roundabout and Tilted
Roundabout."
Another resident of Al
Rayyan pointed out that the
authorities used to start
construction or upgradation
work without prior
announcement. "Due to
unannounced closures and
diversions, commuters have
to travel on unfamiliar
streets which creates a lot
of trouble for them and also
causes waste of time," he
said, adding that the biggest
problem was not only traf-
fic jam and diversions but
also the closure of passages
of shops which someone
wanted to visit.
Along with commuters,
shop keepers are also fac-
ing problems due to the
construction activity.
Our situation is diffi-
cult now. For more than a
month, our grocery store
has no entrance passage,
and no one can come to buy
anything. The business has
fallen by 70 percent. Now
we are depending only on
home delivery," said Fezan,
a shop keeper in
Al-Wakra.
He said that if the situ-
ation continued for a longer
period, he would not be
able to pay rent of his shop.
"You can see our grocery
shop is located on the main
road and now we cant even
see the road due to the big
wall and fence they have
installed, said shop owner.
The Peninsula has
learnt that a number of
companies do not coordi-
nate with Traffic Safety and
Engineering Department
and they just come and start
their work without any
coordination with the
authorities concerned, like
not giving announcement
for their work.
Earlier, Brigadier
Mohammed Marafi, Direc-
tor, Traffic Safety and
Engineering Department,
said that since January, over
130 companies have been
referred to Public Prosecu-
tion for violating the safety
rules related to construction
of roads. Salem, a citizen
from Al Rayyan, said that no
person liked the jam and
diversions but "we should
understand that all these
things are necessary as the
number of vehicles has
increased manifold in Qatar
and many areas and roads
need to be extended."
Qatars population
reached over 2.6 million at
the end of February 2017,
with an annual increase of
5 percent compared to the
same period last year,
according to a monthly
report issued by the Minis-
try of Development
Planning and Statistics.
04 HOME MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017

Reconciliation and openness 'key to facing challenges'

Continued from page 1
In order to enable the Gulf
Cooperation Council to face the
challenges, there is a need for
reconciliation and openness
between brothers and a critical
approach with open mind and
heart.
"Dealing with foreign chal-
lenges requires improvement of
the Gulf interior house and
enhance confidence," said
Sheikh Hamad.
He added that the region
needs to create a comprehensive
human development plan that
prioritizes social development
and empowerment of its citizens
to develop their lives in various
fields.
He spoke on the correlation
between the security in the Gulf
states and the security in the
Arab world drawing attention to
the impact of the issues that are
happening in the Arab world on
security in the Gulf states.
"In the post oil era, we need
to develop national and GCC
level vision to face the challenges
with success said Sheikh
Hamad, adding, In the past also,
there were differences occurring
between the GCC sister states but
these differences were being
managed in a way that didn't
affect the common understand-
able factors and were kept under
control until they were settled.
Sheikh Hamad criticized the irre-
sponsible use of social media in
addressing public affairs or rela-
tions of countries.
HE was welcomed by QU
President Dr Hassan Al Derham,
other QU officials, government
and embassy officials, represent-
atives of local and international
media, QU faculty, staff and
students.
Sheikh Hamad also high-
lighted the causes of the conflicts
in the countries that witnessed
the Arab Spring, which resulted
in the collapse of regimes and
numerous revolutions and con-
flicts between yesterdays allies
in authority and power. He noted
that the lack of effective plan-
ning and cooperation between
the Arab states has led to this
reality.
He said: Iran is the biggest
beneficiary of the collapse of Iraq
in 2003 and the many revolu-
tions of the Arab Spring. The
reaction of the Gulf states
towards these issues was not
H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, former prime minister, giving a lecture about
GCC Regional Challenges and the Future of the Relations with the Neighbouring Countries, at
Qatar University yesterday.
effective enough to deal seriously
with the latest developments on
the regional and international
arena. In this regard, it is neces-
sary to create joint institutions
between the Gulf states to offer
Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula
effective solutions to the eco- situation in Iraq, Libya, Palestine,
nomic challenges in the post gas Syria and Yemen.
and oil phase. The Arab role in the Syrian
Sheikh Hamad also spoke cause has been marginalized and
about the ongoing issues in the the issue has come under the con-
region more specifically the trol of regional and international
actors, he said, adding, there will
not be a stable Middle East with-
out rescuing the state of Syria and
its society by establishing a regime
that meets the just aspirations of
all components of the Syrian
society.
Iran is exploiting the tribal
and sectarian differences in
Yemen to achieve its strategic
goals of creating changes in the
power balance in the Arab Gulf,
he added.
In his remarks, Dr Hassan Al
Derham commended Sheikh
Hamad's speech on the current sit-
uation in the region and his vision
on the future and the latest devel-
opments in the region and their
impact on the GCC states.
"The university is committed
to provide its faculty members,
researchers and students with
opportunities to get insight into the
experiences of policy and decision
makers," said Al Derham.
Over the last four decades,
Qatar University has provided
to Qatar thousands of gradu-
ates, experts, intellectuals,
scientists and leaders, who con-
tribute to the countrys progress
and growth in many areas," he
added.

Aspire Zone announces

rst global kite festival
Amna Pervaiz Rao #Aspirekitephoto and upload on
The Peninsula
Grand prizes Instagram for a chance to win
The five-day Festival amazing prizes including two

A
spire Zone Foundation
(AFZ) yesterday
announced the first
international kite fes-
tival which will begin
at Aspire Park tomorrow.
The five-day Festival will fea-
ture 50 international kite flyers from
13 countries across the globe in what
promises to be a colourful and beau-
tiful showcase.
International Kite Festival
which will celebrate the art of kite
flying through a unique combina-
tion of sporting competitions and
fun community engagement
events. This festival is organized
by AFZ, and sponsored by Katara
Cultural Village, Qatar Airways,
Ooredoo, Nikon and Kiddy Zone.
Teams from Australia, Canada,
Colombia, France, Indonesia, Italy,
Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Singapore, UK, U.S. and Vietnam
will travel to Qatar for this momen-
tous occasion. The festival will pay
homage to the art of kite flying,
offering spectators a chance to wit-
ness some of the best international
kite flyers in action, and the oppor-
tunity to practice their own skills
through a series of creative and
skills-based workshops.
The festival will organize dif-
ferent activities which include F1
Simulators, Wind Booth, Arts and
Crafts Corner and Stilt-walkers.
will feature 50
international kite
flyers from 13
countries across
the world.
The team of 10 will
vie for a range of cash
prizes: QR30,000 for
first place; QR20,000
for second place.
a kite, How to fly a kite, Kite Dec-
orating, Kite Aerodynamics and
Kite Flying Tips and Tricks.
The Festival organisers have
designed a friendly inter-school
competition, Best School Kite
Flight which is open to all Qatari
public and private schools. Ten stu-
dents in one team (from Grade 1 to
Grade 6). Teams must create and
decorate their kites with specific
criteria; with a minimum size of
3m width x 5m length with any
type of materials.
The team of 10 will vie for a
range of cash prizes, QR30,000 for
First place, QR20,000 for Second
place and QR10,000 for Third
place.
There are also creative com-
petitions that will encourage
visitors to capture the spirit of the
Festival in a photo contest, Cap-
Business Class round-trips tick-
ets for First place, two Economy
tickets to any destination on
Qatar Airways for second place
and Nikon cameras for third and
fourth place.
A poster competition for
children will also seek out the
best illustration of a kite in the
skies above Aspire Park posted
to @aspirezone on Instagram
for a chance to win giveaways Mohamed Al Suwaidi, CEO, Aspire Zone Foundation, and Ivan Bravo, Director General of Aspire
from Kiddy Zone. Academy, addressing the media at the Torch Hotel yesterday. Pic: Qassim Rahmatullah / The Peninsula
Mohamed Al Suwaidi, CEO
at AFZ, told The Peninsula dur- We are extremely excited to Aspire Katara Hospitality and Schools and International
ing the press conference held at host this unique event in Qatar, a Head of the Events Organising Schools.
The Torch Hotel (Madar Meeting first for Aspire Zone Foundation. Committee, said: The aim of the Ivan Bravo, Director General
Room) yesterday: Safety precau- Hosting an event of this nature is event is to put Qatar on Interna- of Aspire Academy, said: Kite fly-
tions are our first priority at every further evidence of Aspire Zone tional map, we want people to ing is enormously popular around
event we host. The kites will fly Foundations commitment to travel to Doha. Next year we are the world. So we're delighted to
between 40 and 160 meters max- deliver a wide range of activities, planning to do the event before bring this unique competition and
imum, the ground is situated in offering something for everyone the summer arrives with more event to Aspire Park this week.
the heart of Aspire Park with and encouraging community par- countries participating. The pho- We hope to see families and chil-
metallic barrier around it. Keep- ticipation. It also highlights tography competition is based on dren of all ages from across Qatar,
ing in mind the safety precautions Qatars growing profile as a des- likes the picture receives on Insta- enjoy the rich and varied program
we have chosen the place where tination of choice for tourists and gram and the school competition we've developed, and try as many
there will be no neighborhood visitors, he added. is open for all schools including of the fantastic activities on offer
and far from street. Kholoud Al Hail, CEO of Independent Schools, Private as possible.
Ooredoos generous gesture wins applause
Irfan Bukhari wanted for its official tweets No need of re-tweeting it how many re-tweets it
The Peninsula in exchange of 1000 free our tweets to get free cards for needed to give me 1000 pre-
recharge cards of QR10 value. distribution among workers as paid cards to distribute among

Workshops include How to build
I
ture images of the festival using t was a pleasant surprise for
many social media enthu-
siasts yesterday when
responding to a polite chal-
lenge Ooredoo donated 2,000
prepaid recharge cards for
migrant workers for free.
On his twitter account,
Hamad Mjeghir had asked
Ooredoo on April 17 that how
many re-tweets Ooredoo
The prepaid cards, he said,
would be distributed for free
among workers to contact
their families back home.
Oordeoo replied on its
twitter account that it would
donate 2000 recharge cards
to Hamad for distribution
among migrant workers with-
out availing favour of
re-tweets.
public service is essential part
of our identity, Ooredoo said
while responding to Hamads
offer.
Yesterday, in a video mes-
sage shared on Oordeoos
official twitter account, Hamad,
holding a stack of free prepaid
mobile cards said: Thanks to
Oordeoo which accepted my
challenge in which I had asked
workers. In less than six hours,
they responded and now have
provided me 2000 cards with-
out seeking any re-tweets.
Thanks Oordeoo for the pub-
lic service.
After watching the video
of Hamad, people lauded the
generous gesture of Oordeoo
and some workers also started
asking Hamad for free cards.

Several opportunities for Two beaches cleaned

investment in health sector The Peninsula

Continued from page 1
According to the study, the health
sector witnessed, during the period
between 2012 and 2015, a remarkable
growth in its real output ranging between
6.5% and 14.5 %, which is higher than the
average annual growth rate of the other
economic sectors. This led to an increase
in the contribution of the health sector
in real GDP from 1 percent to about 1.3%
in 2015.
The study pointed out that despite
these remarkable developments, the
health sector is still in need of more serv-
ices due to the remarkable growth in the
population during the past years. This
shortage provides investment opportuni-
ties for the private sector to contribute to
the development and improvement of
health services.
T
he Beaches and Islands Section at the Min-
istry of Municipality and Environment
recently cleaned the port of navigation
and fishermen's port.The ministry has asked
visitors to keep beaches clean and to throw
wastes in designated places as the public clean-
ing department has installed a big number of
waste containers at all ports. Meanwhile, the
pest control unit Al Rayyan Municipality con-
ducted regular campaigns last month against
insects and rodents.

Koora Time football
move improves health
The Peninsula
T
he Qatar Football Asso-
ciation (QFA) and Qatar
Shell recently wrapped
up the fifth season of
the Koora Time initia-
tive. Since its launch in March
2013, the programme has bene-
fitted over 17,500 children across
Qatar. This years programme
again saw a significant reduction
in Body Mass Index (BMI) by 80%
of participants. BMI is a measure
of body fat based on height and
weight. Approximately 40% of
Qataris were classified as obese
in 2015, in part due to lack of
access to physical activities and
spaces to engage in sports.
Koora Time is a five-year sus-
tainable initiative designed to
improve the health and wellbe-
ing of Qatars youth through
Koora Time is developed by QFA and Qatar Shell and is
designed to improve the health and wellbeing of Qatars
youth through football.
Qatar Charity carries out relief project for famine-affected in Yemen
The Peninsula
I
n coordination with Sobol insti-
tute, Qatar Charity has carried
out a relief project for the fam-
ine-affected people in Yemen in
order to continue its relief efforts
in Yemen. It included the distri-
bution of food baskets to 2,500
families in Hajjah Governorate,
QF Recreation Center wins Eljaish
Qatar Foundation Youth Football Cup
The Peninsula
Q atar Foundation Recrea-
tion Center has won the
Eljaish - Qatar Founda-
tion Youth Football Cup, held
recently at Awsaj Academy, after
beating Evolution Sports Acad-
emy 4 1 in the final match.
Future Football Academy came
third after beating Qatar Acad-
emy Doha 6 5.
Rashid Al Kaabi, manager of
Eljaishs first team, accompanied
by Mohammed Al Saoud, Head
of Recreation Services, QF, dis-
tributed the medals to the
winning teams. Eljaish Sports
Club presented a memorial
shield to QF officials, in addition
to a jersey signed by the players
in a gesture of appreciation.
Seven teams from different
schools and sports academies
across Qatar took part in the
tournament organised as part
of the corporate social respon-
sibility strategy of Eljaish Sports
Club. The participating teams
included Qatar Foundation Rec-
reation Center, Qatar Academy
Doha, Evolution Sports Acad-
emy, Premier League Academy,
Future Football Academy, Pro
Inter Soccer, and QSports.
Mohamed Methnani, a
player at Eljaish Sports Club,
said that such competitions con-
tribute to the development of
young players. Mourad Naji,
another player at the club,
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
football. The initiative facilitates
access to additional hours of
physical activity and more oppor-
tunities and spaces to play
football. The flagship programme
IlAb WeYana, which is delivered
with the support of the Ministry
of Education and Higher Educa-
tion, provides boys and girls with
72 hours of physical activity over
its 18-week duration.
Shouq Saad, a Qatari partic-
ipant in Koora Time, initially
joined her friends on the football
pitch and has seen significant
results. I heard about Koora Time
from my friends and they told me
that I should participate, since
football is my favourite sport. I
saw how different they looked
after playing and decided to
apply, she says. Since then, I
have felt a change in my overall
health in terms of fitness and
which suffers from extreme pov-
erty resulted from the crisis in
Yemen. The aid will provide food
for 18,000 people for a month.
Running the "Emergency
Relief" project in Yemen, QC aims
at contribute to relieving famine
in the targeted area, whose pop-
ulation suffers from high poverty,
rising food prices, fostering a spirit
Winners with the Cup.
commended the interest paid by
his club to participating in com-
munity events, emphasising that
this practice will yield fruitful
outcomes for sports in Qatar
generally, and for football in
particular.
Al Kaabi commented on the
tournament, saying: What is
great about this tournament is
that we have seen many prom-
ising players from different
nationalities. We expect that
these players will have a great
future in the coming years.
The objectives of the tour-
nament were to promote the
importance of team spirit and
fair play, to spread the values of
sport, discover talented players,
HOME 05
Dr Al Attiyah meets Turkmenistan Defence Minister
tolerance, and in addition, I lost
many kilos.
In recognition for its positive
impact on the health, Koora Time
has been the recipient of numer-
ous awards including the Sports
Industry Award for Best CSR Ini-
tiative, CSR Award Qatar for Best
CSR Impact Initiative, the Dar Al
Sharq Corporate Social Respon-
sibility Award for the Best Sports
Initiative, and the 2014 and 2016
AFC Dream of Asia Award in the
area of social responsibility.
These are exciting times for
us and our partner Qatar Shell.
Since Koora Times inauguration Minister of State for Defence Affairs, H E Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, met
in March 2013, we have witnessed the Minister of Defence of Turkmenistan, Yaylim Berdiyev, yesterday. Talks dealt with
some truly fantastic results. These bilateral relations in the eld of military cooperation between Qatar and the Republic of
international awards acknowl- Turkmenistan and means of enhancing and promoting them. The meeting was attended
edge just how much we can by a number of officers of Qatar Armed Forces.
contribute to society and we hope
others are inspired to follow suit,
said Mansour Al Ansari, General
Secretary, QFA. The Koora Time
initiative is part of QFAs CSR
strategy which aims to constantly Qatar to celebrate World Immunisation Week
leverage on its existing partner-
ships to educate the communities QNA ing the weekend. million deaths annually; however,
about the positive values of play- The Ministry hosts tomorrow an additional 1.5 million deaths
ing football and inspire the youth
to play football, he added.
Qatar Shell seeks to go
beyond philanthropic donations,
Q atar to celebrates World
Immunisation Week,
which will be held from
April 24 to 30, under the theme
a three-day workshop on effec-
tive vaccine management. in
cooperation with the World
Health Organisation (WHO) with
could be avoided if global vacci-
nation coverage improves.
The World Immunisation
Week aims to promote the use of
supporting the Qatar National 'Vaccines Work.' the participation of the Ministry's vaccines to protect people of all
Vision in each of its four pillars by On the occasion, the Minis- immunisation staff at Hamad ages against disease. Immunisa-
working with Qatari partners to try of Health is organising a Medical Corporation (HMC), Pri- tion saves millions of lives and is
create and deliver long term con- number of educational and mary Health Care Corporation, widely recognised as one of the
tributions to society in line with awareness activities targeting Sidra Medical and Research worlds most successful and cost-
Qatars priorities and generating different segments of the soci- Center along with a number of effective health interventions.
measurable impact, said ety, including educational and health workers in the private Today, there are still 19.4 million
Mohammed Abu Jbara, CSR Man- awareness events in a number health sector. unvaccinated and under-vacci-
ager, Qatar Shell. shopping centres and malls dur- Immunisation averts 2 to 3 nated children in the world.
of social solidarity and securing relief project, where Qatar distrib- He explained that QC has humanitarian efforts aimed at
food needs for beneficiaries. uted 2,500 food baskets. Each plans to expand the scope of the brotherly Yemen, which depict the
"The situation in Yemen is dif- basket, which is enough for each relief work to other affected areas, real image of the generous Qatari
ficult and needs great efforts, but family for a full month, consisted and will continue to support such society. He said that helping the
there are some areas that are on of 25kg of flour, 10kg of sugar, projects, taking into account the brothers in Yemen concerning
the edge of famine, if they still 10kg of rice, oil food, and one car- humanitarian situation in Yemen, offering a shelter, food, medicine
have not fallen victim of it. Abs ton of milk, and one carton of and giving it more attention. and other basic needs embodies
District, Hajjah Governorate, is one beans, in addition to dates," said Al Kaabi expressed sincere Qatars institutions feeling of reli-
of those areas whose population Mohamed al-Kaabi, QC's Relief thanks to Qatari and expatriate gious and moral duty towards all
benefited from the emergency Department Director. donors for their great those in need in the world.
and to foster a greater aware-
ness about the importance of
leading active lives. This also
reflects QFs ethos of promoting
healthy lifestyles from an early
age and nurturing social
engagement, Al Saoud
explained.
Khamis Mubarak Al Kuwari,
Secretary General of Eljaish
Sports Club, said the tournament
observed the slogan of Play for
Glory under which it was held.
Al Kuwari said: We hope to
continue our collaboration in
the future by sharing our expe-
riences in different fields of
sports, raising awareness of the
importance of health and fitness
to all children.
06 HOME
Land Rover's new Discovery
debuts at Qatar Motor Show
The Peninsula
A I
lfardan Premier
Motors Co, the exclu-
sive retailer of Land
Rover in Qatar, has
unveiled the full-
sized, three row, seven-seat
all-new Land Rover Discovery
SUV during the 2017 Qatar Motor
Show.
Boasting unbeatable capa-
bility and versatility, the all-new
Discovery clearly embodies Land
Rovers drive to go 'Above and
Beyond', combining British
desirability with an unstoppable
spirit of adventure. The fifth-
generation model benefits from
Land Rovers strong, safe and
light full-size SUV architecture,
delivering comfort and adapta-
bility like no other.
Revealed to a selection of
key media, Qatars most notable
VIP guests in addition to loyal
Land Rover customers, the Dis-
covery was on display at Jaguar
Land Rovers stand, giving guests
a first look at the vehicles
dynamic appearance,
Arabic teachers complete online TAFL module
The Peninsula
F
ifteen teachers of Arabic
have completed the first
online Teaching Arabic as
a Foreign Language (TAFL) mod-
ule for educators in Qatar,
developed by Qatar Foundation
International (QFI) in partner-
ship with the Education
Development Institute (EDI).
The four-month TAFL mod-
ule, launched in December 2016,
provided the teachers with the
opportunity to enhance their
knowledge and expertise in
strategies for teaching Arabic as
a second or foreign language.
The online courses concluded
MEC recalls
Daihatsu
Terios & Gran
Max models
The Peninsula
T
he Ministry of Economy
and Commerce, in col-
laboration with Taleb
Trading Co, dealer of
Daihatsu vehicles in Qatar,
has announced the recall of
Daihatsu Terios 7 Seats and
Gran Max models of 2012-
2016 over a defect in the fuel
hose that could lead to a fuel
leak.
The Ministry said the
recall campaign comes within
the framework of its ongoing
efforts to protect consumers
and ensure that car dealers
follow up on vehicle defects
and repairs.
The Ministry said that it
will coordinate with the
dealer to follow up on the
maintenance and repair
works and will communicate
with customers to ensure that
the necessary repairs are car-
ried out.
The Ministry urges all
customers to report any vio-
lations to its Consumer
Protection and Anti-Com-
mercial Fraud Department
through its channels such as
call centre number 16001 and
email: info@mec.gov.qa. It
also advised customers to
contact its social media
accounts: Twitter: @MEC_
Qatar; Instagram: MEC_Qatar
and the Ministry of Economy
and Commerce mobile app
for Android and IOS:
MEC_Qatar.
The all-new SUV
Powered by Jaguar
Land Rovers efficient
six cylinder engine, the
all-new Discovery is
paired with a smooth
and responsive ZF
eight-speed automatic
gearbox.
Land Rovers
advanced 340PS
supercharged petrol
3.0-litre V6, the Si6,
provides 450Nm of
torque to deliver
relaxed performance
and capability.
sophisticated surfaces and pre-
cisely engineered details.
Speaking at the launch,
Rabih Ataya, General Manager
for Alfardan Premier Motors,
said: Since its reveal, the all-
new Discovery has been highly
anticipated by customers here
in Qatar. We have already
yesterday following a two-day
in-person workshop hosted by
QFI in Doha.
The TAFL module consists of
seven units dedicated to topics
that help teachers enhance their
knowledge and understanding
of key strategies to implement
in teaching learners of Arabic as
a second or foreign language.
The courses consist of inter-
active presentations, prompts for
reflection, readings, links to
external resources on the arabi-
calmasdar.com site, and an
online discussion forum super-
vised by Dr Mahmoud Al Batal,
an expert in the field of Arabic
language education.
HMC holds workshops for CEOs and senior leaders
The Peninsula
H
amad Medical Corpora-
tions (HMC) Hamad
Healthcare Quality Insti-
tute together with the Corporate
Quality and Patient Safety Office
has partnered with the US-based
Joint Commission International
(JCI) to organise a year-long
foundational quality manage-
ment workshops for HMCs chief
executive officers, senior lead-
ers, clinicians and other frontline
clinical staff.
The training, which gives a
boost to quality improvement
initiatives across HMC, aligns
closely with the corporations
ongoing investment in quality
improvement education and
Participants at the quality management workshop.
received a number of orders for
the vehicle mirroring the out-
standing response the new
model has received from enthu-
siasts all over the region. An
iconic Land Rover vehicle, we
expect the all-new Discovery to
continue driving traffic to our
showrooms.
Bruce Robertson, Managing
Director, Jaguar Land Rover Mid-
dle East and North Africa, added:
Created as a highly desirable,
extremely versatile and hugely
capable premium SUV, the all-
new Discovery is leading the
next chapter of the Land Rover
Discovery family with revolu-
tionary design and engineering.
A nod to our brand heritage and
DNA, this new model fully dem-
onstrates the spirit of adventure
that has always been at the heart
of the Discovery family. Intro-
ducing the all-new Discovery
here in Qatar alongside our part-
ners Alfardan Premier Motors,
we are extremely excited to offer
customers and enthusiasts the
ultimate combination of practi-
cality and sophisticated design.
Through the TAFL module,
Qatar Foundation (QF) high
school teachers of Arabic 2
learned critical topics such as
integration of assessment and
lesson planning, providing learn-
ers with comprehensible input,
learner-centered instruction
strategies, and approaches for
meeting diverse learners needs,
integration of culture, and more.
The in-person workshop
served as a follow-up to the
online module, providing the
teachers with the opportunity for
hands-on experience and guid-
ance to implement what they
learned online.
The focus of the two-day
training for staff. This is a signif-
icant priority expressed by H E
Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari,
Minister of Public Health, and
supported by the Hamad Health-
care Quality Institutes (HHQI)
Education and Training Strategy
and Corporate Quality and
Patient Safety programme.
The first cohort commenced
their training programme on
April 2, concluding the sessions
on April 6. Participants learned
about the basic principles, con-
cepts, definitions, and methods
of quality management and
improvement.
Sessions also covered the
role of leadership in promoting
quality and a culture of safety.
The second workshop will be
Powered by Jaguar Land Rov-
ers efficient six cylinder engine,
the all-new Discovery is paired
with a smooth and responsive ZF
eight-speed automatic gearbox.
workshop was applied aspects
of pedagogical strategies
addressed in the module
topics.
At the end of the second day,
the teachers left with a strong
grasp of the strategies, as well as
their own long-term professional
development plan focused on
Arabic language education, cre-
ated by their own
self-assessment and with guid-
ance from the facilitators.
QFI Arabic Teacher, Katie
Quackenbush of Boston Arts
Academy, and Dr Al Batal, QFIs
language expert and advisory
board member, guided the
teachers' reflections on each
held from May 21 to 26.
HMCs Chief Quality Officer,
Dr Ronald Wyatt, explained that
session participants engage in a
variety of tabletop group exer-
cises designed to use basic tools
and methods of quality
management.
There is also an opportunity
to learn how to use quality man-
agement tools.
He added that each didactic
session in the workshops is com-
plemented with small group
exercises to ensure participants
develop competencies in apply-
ing concepts and in using
methods and tools in a practical
setting within their hospital or
facility.
The year-long quality
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
Land Rovers advanced 340PS
supercharged petrol 3.0-litre V6,
the Si6, provides 450Nm of
torque to deliver relaxed per-
formance and capability.
chapter of the module and also
facilitated the in-person work-
shops. Additionally, Dr Al Batal
was selected as one of the speak-
ers for EDIs Teaching and
Learning Forum held at the
Qatar National Convention Cen-
tre on April 22.
Based on the success of the
first module, a second phase of
the TAFL module will be devel-
oped to provide a deep-dive into
some of the larger topics
explored in the first. The purpose
of the second phase is to impart
the educators with further
refined teaching expertise to take
back to their classrooms and
schools in Qatar.
management workshops for
HMCs CEOs, senior leaders and,
clinicians are based on the all
teach, all learn approach. HMC
staff have a lot of expertise and
experience in the areas of qual-
ity management and patient
safety which they can share with
others. This very valuable learn-
ing opportunity is offered to our
clinical staff and will soon also
be offered to non-clinical staff,
said Dr Moza Al Ishaq, Executive
Director of the Corporate Qual-
ity and Patient Safety Program
at HMC.
According to Dr Al Ishaq, the
programme aims to provide a
consistent, common, and prac-
tical understanding of quality
improvement for staff across
Georgetown
to host fourth
Indian Ocean
symposium
The Peninsula
nternational experts on the
Indian Ocean World will be
gathering at Georgetown
University in Qatar (GU-Q)
tomorrow for the Universitys
fourth annual Indian Ocean
symposium. Convened under
the theme Towards a Re-Map-
ping of Diasporic Circularities
in the Indian Ocean World, the
event aims to explore the con-
nections in this vibrant region
and initiate discussions about
the overlapping African and
Indian diasporas.
With the Indian Ocean
connecting the Red Sea to the
African continent, the Middle
East, the Asian sub-continent,
and the Far East, the region has
a long history of travel, trade,
and exchange. GU-Qs study of
the region is at the cutting edge
of theoretical and ethnographic
research, with the upcoming
event bringing together GU-Q
faculty and scholars from
around the world. The sympo-
sium will be held at GU-Qs
Education City campus tomor-
row from 8am to 5pm.
Despite a long history of
connectivity between the
countries bordering the Indian
Ocean, this vast region has not
received the same level of
scholarly attention as its coun-
terpart in the Atlantic Ocean,
said Dr Rogaia Abusharaf, a
professor of anthropology at
GU-Q and organiser of the con-
ference. Through this event
and our continuing study of the
Indian Ocean World, we aim
to increase the global under-
standing of this diverse region
and its people.
The event will feature
panel discussions on a range
of topics, including the linkages
between India and Southern
Arabia, and the historical, polit-
ical, and cultural impact of
Arabian societies on key coun-
tries in Africa.
HMC while aligning with other
quality education efforts. The
training workshops are also
intended to embed a sustaina-
ble capacity for continuous
improvement throughout the
organisation.
Each project team will
implement a priority improve-
ment project over six to twelve
months with clear goals relating
to communication, accountabil-
ity, learning and sharing. To date,
we have already completed the
HMC-JCI workshops dedicated
solely to facilitators, CEOs, sen-
ior leaders, clinicians, physicians
and other healthcare workers,
added Dr Al Ishaq.
The programme is supported
by HMCs Qatar Management
Education Program
(QMEP) faculty
Dr Moza Abdul
Latif Abdulla, Dr
Jameela Ali Al Ajmi,
Dr Adnan Moham-
med, Dr Osamma
Elfadi, Almunzer
Zakria, Dr Reham
Hassan, Dr Khawla
Ahmed Ali Atham-
neh, Dr Amal
Shaaban Abousaad
and Dr Ronald
Wyatt. The JCI con-
tingent faculty
includes Dr Richard
Wright and Dr
Mary Geary. Facil-
itators also include
HHQI representa-
tives, IHI/HMC
Fellows and Clini-
cal Care
Improvement
Training Program
coaches.
 MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017 HOME 07

First Paris Art Saudi Royal Guard Chief meets Emiri Guard Commander

Residency
Program ends
The Peninsula

Q
atar Museums (QM)
Fire Station has suc-
cessfully completed its
first Paris Art Resi-
dency Program, which
provides Qatari artists a three-
month residency at Qatars
Studio at the Cite Internationale
des Arts-Paris in France.
Qatari contemporary artist
Ebtisam Al Saffar the first
recipient of the programme
has returned to Doha. She will
host a public talk at the Fire Sta-
tion cinema at 6.30pm on May 8
to share her journey and experi-
ence as a resident artist in Paris.
Following her talk, an exhibition
Qatari artist Ebtisam
Al Saffar, the rst
recipient of the
programme, has
returned to Doha
after a three-month Chief of the Royal Guard in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Lieutenant General Hamad bin Mohammed Al Ohali met with
residency in Paris. Commander of the Emiri Guard, Major General Hazza bin Khalil Al Shahwani. They discussed a number of issues of mutual
concern, in the framework of enhancing cooperation and exchanging military expertise between the two brotherly
art scene in the city. countries. The meeting was attended by a number of officers.
Ebitssam was the first artist
to travel to Paris for this unique
programme. As a Qatari artist in
Paris, Ebtisam could use her
location to make the most of
being in the capital of arts and
culture, by visiting museums and
Talent hunt at Aspire Football Festival
creating a great network with The Peninsula many things that you will not be
artists from all over the able to achieve unless you begin

Visitors at the studio.
will showcase her artworks cre-
ated during her time in Paris, and
will be on show at the Fire Sta-
tion until May 22.
The programme is a recur-
ring three-month residency open
to all Qatari artists, and provides
one lucky artist at a time studio
accommodation space and the
chance to experience an art res-
idency in Paris, visit museums,
galleries and be immersed in the
world. As part of the pro-
gramme, Ebtisam hosted
an open studio, at the Cit
internationale des Arts on
the from April 3 to 5, dur-
ing which members of the
public were invited to
meet her, exchange cul-
tural and artistic views
and learn about her expe-
rience and latest projects.
Khalifa Al Obaidli,
Director of the Fire Station,
said:Paris is a unique expe-
rience for any artist, and the Cit
internationale des Arts is one of
the biggest and most important
art residencies in the world, with
325 residency studios, and with
artists in residence from over 55
countries.
The programme has received
many applications from Qatari
artists for its upcoming residency.
The name of the next artist will
be announced soon.
A
spire Academy yesterday
launched its two-day
Aspire Football Festival for
Preparatory Schools as part of its
ongoing efforts to identify prom-
ising young football talent in
Qatar.
Featuring 24 government
schools, the competition is being
followed closely by members of
the coaching staff at both the
Qatar National team and local
football clubs, who are taking a
keen interest in future genera-
tions of Qatars footballers.
In the stands at the Aspire
Academys outdoor pitches were
Qatar's national football team
coach Jorge Fossati, Qatar Olym-
pic national football team coach
Felix Sanchez, Al-Sadd head
coach, Jesualdo Ferreira, and Al
Sailiya head coach, Sami Trabelsi.
Several leading local football
figures also looked on, including
the legendary Mansour Muftah,
Estad Al Doha's Editor in Chief, Majid Al Khelai, honouring
winners.
Estad Al Doha's Editor in Chief,
Majid Al Khelaifi, and Al-Sadds
Head of Football, Mohammed
Ghanem Al-Ali.
Jorge Fossati commended
Aspire Academys handling of the
tournament and its world-lead-
ing approach towards football
and its development, saying:
These participants represent the
reira, was also watching. He said:
future of Qatar and Aspire Acad-
emy has always impressed in its
diligence in finding and devel-
oping talent across all sports, not
just football. My advice to these
young players is: if you really like
football, follow the coaches
instructions and try to plan your
life in accordance with your pro-
fessional goals, because there are
planning for them now.
Felix Sanchez, Qatar Olym-
pic national football team coach,
said: Its a great initiative and
seeing all these players in one
place playing together highlights
the passion for football that exists
among local youth. Qatar is
building an impressive football
pyramid and this generation
could be playing in Qatar 2022,
if they train hard and listen to
their coaches.
Al-Sadd coach, Jesualdo Fer-
This is an excellent tournament
because there is no better place
to start developing football or
sporting talent than at school.
Al Sailiyas head coach, Sami
Trabelsi, also attended, saying:
This is great for the players
themselves but also Qatar and its
football, which benefits from
increased competition and skills
development.

Deaf and Mute International Week activities at Al Ahli Study of 502 standard specications held
QNA of the consumer and improve well as health sectors. The
the quality of commercial release stressed the Directorate

T
he Directorate of Stand- products. of Standards and Metrology's
ards and Metrology at The release said that the 502 keenness to prepare and issue
Qatar General Organiza- standard specifications and national standard specifications
tion for Standards and Metrology technical regulations included with an international or regional
has completed the study of 502 food, agricultural, construction, reference to develop the
draft standard specifications and electrical, electronic, metallur- requirements and standards of
technical regulations in prepa- gical, mechanical, chemical, goods, products and services.
ration of Qatari, GCC, Arab and textile, oil and gas, measure- These steps would serve the
international standard ment, calibration, information national economy to meet the
specifications. technology, transport, distribu- needs and requirements of the
In this regard, 53 standard tion of water and electricity as local market.
specifications and 45 tech-
nical regulations have been
submitted for approval.
In a press release, the
Qatar General Organization
for Standards and Metrol-
ogy said the issuance of
technical standards and reg-
FROM LEFT: Amir Al Mulla, Executive Director, Qatar Society for Rehabilitation of Special ulations comes to boost the
Needs (QSRSN); Jamal Hammad, Deputy CEO, Al Ahli Hospital; Dr Abdul Azim Husain, Chief significant role played by
Medical Staff, Al Ahli; Aida Al Mulla; Khalid Al Emadi, CEO, Al Ahli; at the opening of Deaf technical specifications,
and Mute International Week activities yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula standards and regulations to
maintain health and safety

AAB sponsors Being Kind Foundations community cricket

The Peninsula Present during the finals and
awarding ceremony was the dis-

A
bdullah Abdulghani &
Bros. Co. (AAB), exclusive
distributor of Toyota and
Lexus, sponsored the Being Kind
Foundations (BKF) Ceylonian
Mega Bash for the second time.
BKF is a duly-registered organ-
isation that extends scholarship
grants to underprivileged chil-
dren in Sri Lanka as well as
assist children with challenging
conditions who are based in
Doha.
Proceeds of the tournament
enable the Foundation to reach
out to more beneficiaries. Cur-
rently, there are 59 students with
full scholarship from BKF with
six students directly sponsored
Winners with the Cup.
by AAB through part of the pro-
ceeds of last years maiden
tournament. For the next school
year, the Foundation is planning
to add 20 more students in the
roster including orphans who
cannot afford quality
education.
tinguished Sri Lankan national
cricketer Nishad Tharanga
Paranavitana along with one of
the student beneficiaries of BKF
Zakee Dewangso. Zakee has
been BKFs scholar for 3 years.
Very articulate and a promising
young man, Zakee rightfully
represents his fellow scholars as
the BKF Student Ambassador.
AAB is committed to build and
develop sustainable communi-
ties through sports and
education. It has been at the
forefront of major sporting
events in Doha and has been
supporting educational and
technical training activities to
develop the youth.
08 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA
Saudi King names son as new envoy to the US
Riyadh
AP
T
he Custodian of the Two
Holy Mosques King Salman
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of
Saudi Arabia issued a decree
naming one of his sons, an air
force pilot who has taken part in
coalition strikes against the
Islamic State (IS) group, as the
kingdom's new ambassador to
the US.
The appointment of Prince
Khaled bin Salman to Washing-
ton signals the kingdom's
eagerness to strengthen bilateral
ties under President Donald
Trump. As the king's son, the
prince has a direct line to the
Saudi monarch.
Saudi Arabia is the world's
3 dead in Israeli
attack on Syria
military camp
Damascus
AFP & Reuters
A
n Israeli attack on a
Syrian training camp
near the Golan
Heights killed three
members of a pro-
government militia yesterday, an
official from the forces said.
The Al Fawwar camp in Syr-
ia's southwestern Quneitra
province is used by the National
Defence Forces (NDF), which
command some 90,000 fight-
ers across Syria.
The NDF official said that
two fighters were also wounded
in the Israeli attack, but said it
was unclear whether the dam-
age was inflicted by an air strike
or shelling.
Another Syrian source inside
the training camp told AFP that
around 6am local time. "security
guards at the camp saw what
looked like three fireballs com-
ing towards the camp."
"Then there were several
consecutive blasts because of the
explosion of ammunition
A displaced Iraqi woman and children are transported in a cart as the battle between the
Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service and Islamic State militants continues nearby, in western
Mosul, yesterday.
Hundreds return to liberated areas in Mosul
Mosul
Reuters
H
eavy two-way traffic of
carts carrying children,
clothes, and the elderly
crowded the main Baghdad-
Mosul road yesterday as hundreds
of Iraqis fled heavy fighting or
made their way back to areas lib-
erated from Islamic State (IS).
Families paid no heed to the
sound of heavy mortar, artillery
and machine gun fire raging in
the background as US-trained
third largest defence spender.
Prince Khaled's appointment
positions him as an influential
broker in deals with US
manufacturers.
Saudi-US relations had
cooled under the Obama admin-
istration after Washington
pursued a nuclear accord with
Iran. Saudi Arabia and Iran are
backing opposing sides in the
wars in Syria and Yemen.
Relations with the Riyadh
have improved since Trump took
office. King Salman dispatched
his most powerful son, Deputy
Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, who is also defence
minister, to meet Trump at the
White House last month. Saudi
Arabia was quick to praise
Trump's missile strike on a
Surprise attack
The NDF official said
that two fighters were
also wounded in the
Israeli attack, but said
it was unclear
whether the damage
was inflicted by an air
strike or shelling.
warehouses" that firefighters
worked hard to extinguish, the
source said. The source also said
that they were "Israeli rockets"
but could not specify what kind
of missiles may have been used.
The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights monitoring group
said the attack had targeted a
"weapons warehouse" in the
camp. Israel's army declined to
comment on the attack.
On Friday, the Israeli army
said it targeted positions inside
Syria in retaliation for mortar fire
that hit the northern part of the
Golan Heights.
At the time, Syria's official
Iraqi forces battled Islamic State
some two km away.
Some had walked miles to a
government checkpoint where
the men were placed in army
trucks and sent for security
screening to ensure no militant
sleeper cells get out of the city.
Women and children were put
on busses and sent to camps
housing hundreds of thousands,
some displaced since the offen-
sive to retake the IS stronghold
began in October.
We left because of
Syrian military base in response
to an apparent chemical weap-
ons attack on civilians.
Prince Khaled is a former
F-15 pilot who graduated mili-
tary-aviation training from
Columbus Air Force Base in Mis-
sissippi in 2009 and took part in
anti-IS strikes in 2014 as part of
the US-led coalition. He also par-
ticipated in flight missions over
Yemen, where the kingdom has
been bombing a Yemeni faction
aligned with Iran for more than
two years.
The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya
news website says the prince
studied briefly at Harvard Uni-
versity and Georgetown
University. The news website
says he trained at Nellis Air Force
Base in Nevada, but that a back
Smoke billows from buildings in a rebel-held neighbourhood of Daraa following reported air
strikes, yesterday.
news agency Sana said Israel had
struck a Syrian army position in
the province of Quneitra on the
Golan plateau, "causing dam-
age". The Syrian government
labels rebel groups and jihadists
fighting the regime as "terror-
ists" and accuses Israel of
backing them.
Israel seized 1,200 sq km of
the Golan from Syria in the Six-
Day War of 1967 and later
annexed it in a move never rec-
ognised by the international
community. Around 510 square
kilometres of the Golan are
under Syrian control. The two
darkness, hunger, and death.
There are bullets and air strikes.
We were injured, our children
were injured, said Younnes
Ahmed, who was fleeing Al
Thaura district with his family,
their clothes all piled on a cart.
There was a deep bullet wound
on his hand.
A group of young men fur-
ther inside the city sat on the
street as soldiers gave them back
identification cards they had
taken to conduct background
checks before letting them go.
injury forced him to stop flying.
He has been an adviser at the
Saudi Embassy in Washington
since late last year.
US officials say the Trump
administration is considering
ways to boost military support
for the Saudi-led fight against
Iran-backed rebels in Yemen.
The US already is helping the
Saudis with intelligence and
logistical support for the bomb-
ing campaign in Yemen, and
could assist with greater intelli-
gence support to counter Iranian
influence there.
Prince Khaled will be replac-
ing Prince Abdullah Al Saud, who
served in the post for just 18
months. Days before being
relieved of his post in Washing-
ton, Prince Abdullah published
countries are still technically at
war, although the border
remained largely quiet for dec-
ades until 2011, when the Syrian
conflict broke out.
The Israeli side is hit sporad-
ically by what are usually
deemed to be stray rounds, and
Israel has recently taken to
opening fire in retaliation.
The Syrian army and allied
forces advanced against rebels
in western Syria near Hama city
on Sunday, building on recent
strategic gains in the area, a mil-
itary source and a monitoring
group said. Government forces
Iran to air live
presidential
debates
Tehran
AFP
IRAN will air live debates on
state television ahead of
May's presidential election,
the interior ministry said Sun-
day, reversing a decision to
show recorded versions that
had triggered an outcry.
"After demands by the
Iranian nation and the can-
didates for a review (of the
decision), the presidential
elections campaign commis-
sion decided... that debates
may be broadcast live," the
ministry said in a statement
on official news agency Irna.
The U-turn came days
after the commission, which
sets campaigning rules ahead
of the May 19 poll, said the
debates would not be broad-
cast live as in previous
elections, sparking outrage on
social media. Moderate Presi-
dent Hassan Rowhani and his
conservative rivals Ebrahim
Raisi and Mohammad Bagher
Ghalibaf all rejected the ban.
Televised debates are a relatively
new feature of Iranian presiden-
tial elections and are believed to
have influenced the results of
votes in 2009 and 2013.
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
Prince Khaled bin Salman
an op-ed in the Wall Street Jour-
nal calling for continued U.S.
resolve to end the conflict in
Syria.
captured the town of Halfaya
and nearby villages, they said,
taking back territory that rebels
seized last year from forces loyal
to President Bashar Al Assad.
We gained control of Hal-
faya and several hills in the
area, the Syrian military source
said. The army will of course
continue its fight.
Boosted by Russian air
strikes and Iranian-backed mili-
tias, the Syrian army has pushed
into rebel areas north of Hama,
expanding its control this week
along the western highway that
links Damascus and Aleppo.
Pentagon chief in Djibouti
home to key US base
Djibouti
AP
U
S Defence Secretary Jim
Mattis yesterday visited
Djibouti to bolster ties
with the tiny and impoverished
African country that is home to
an important base for US coun-
terterrorism forces, including
drones.
Mattis, the first Trump
administration official to visit
Djibouti, planned to meet with
President Ismail Omar Guelleh
and greet US and French
troops. He was accompanied
by Marine Gen. Thomas Wald-
hauser, head of US Africa
Command.
The US operates drone air-
craft from Djibouti for
surveillance and combat mis-
sions against Al
Qaeda-affiliated extremists in
Somalia and elsewhere in the
region. China is building a mil-
itary base in Djibouti, a former
French colony in the Horn of
Africa.
For years the US has oper-
ated a fleet of armed drones,
initially from Djibouti's Camp
Lemonnier, where French
troops also are based, and now
from a separate airfield. Dji-
bouti took on added importance
Kuwait court
backs petrol
price hikes
Kuwait City
AFP
KUWAIT'S appeals court
ruled yesterday that a govern-
ment decision to raise petrol
prices was in line with the
constitution, overturning a
decision by a lower court. It
said the decision to raise
prices was within the cabi-
net's powers.
Ali Al Ali, one of several
lawyers who filed the suit
against the government, said
on Twitter the group intends
to challenge the latest ruling
in Kuwait's supreme court,
whose decisions are final.
Like other Gulf states
that are heavily dependent
on oil revenues, Kuwait has
been hit hard by a sharp
drop in crude prices since
June 2014.
The Opecc member
recorded a budget shortfall of
$15bn in the fiscal year to
March 2016. It was the first
deficit since the fiscal year to
March 1999. In response, the
government adopted auster-
ity measures including hikes
in the prices of electricity,
water and fuel.
In September, it raised the
cost of fuel by up to 80 per-
cent depending on its grade,
the first such increase since
1998. The action was met with
stiff opposition by lawmak-
ers, who this month filed
motions to question the prime
minister in parliament over
the price hike and other
issues.
7 Yemen soldiers
dead in blast
SEVEN YEMENI soldiers
were killed and 15 others
wounded yesterday when a
shipment of landmines acci-
dentally exploded in the
southern port city of Aden,
emergency and health offi-
cials said.
The blast occurred as a
lorry was unloading the
mines in the Jabal Hadid mil-
itary camp in the centre of
Aden, according to the offi-
cials. A health worker at a
local hospital confirmed the
death toll.
to the U. military after the Sept.
11 attacks, in part as a means of
tracking and intercepting al-
Qaida militants fleeing
Afghanistan after the US
invaded that country in Octo-
ber 2001.
The US has a long-term
agreement with Djibouti for
hosting American forces; that
pact was renewed in 2014.
Djibouti has a highly
prized port on the Gulf of
Aden. The country is sand-
wiched between Somalia and
Eritrea, and also shares a bor-
der with Ethiopia.
Mattis is using the early
months as defense secretary to
renew or strengthen relations
with key defense allies and
partners such as Djibouti,
whose location makes it a stra-
tegic link in the network of
overseas US military bases.
Djibouti also has been
instrumental to international
efforts to counter piracy over
the past decade.
Mattis' predecessor at the
Pentagon, Ash Carter, never
visited Djibouti during his two
years as President Barack
Obama's defense secretary.
Over the past week Mattis
has met with leaders in Saudi
Arabia, Israel, Egypt and Qatar.

Modi govt presents
three-year action plan
New Delhi
IANS
N
ITI Aayog Vice
Chairman Arvind
Panagariya yester-
day presented a
draft of the three-
year action agenda for the
nation's development at the
planning body's Governing
Council meeting here.
The NITI (National Institu-
tion for Transforming India)
Aayog Vice Chairman said inputs
from the states as well as central
ministries and subject experts
were incorporated in the agenda.
Panagariya invited further inputs
and support of the states in tak-
ing the vision forward.
"The action agenda is co-
terminus with the 14th Finance
Commission's award. This gives
stability to the funding estimates
of both the Centre and states,"
he said. Panagariya said that
apart from the action agenda,
there would be a seven-year
strategy and a 15-year long-term
vision that will replace the erst-
while Five-Year Plans for the
nation's planning framework.
Tamil Nadu farmers call off protest till May 25
New Delhi
IANS
F
armers from Tamil Nadu,
holding a protest at the
Jantar Mantar here from
the last 41 days to draw atten-
tion to their plight, yesterday
suspended their protests till May
25 after state Chief Minister K.
Palaniswami assured them that
he will take up their demands
including that of loan waiver
Kerala Minister draws ak
for abusing women workers
Thiruvananthapuram
IANS
K
erala Power Minister M
M Mani (pictured) yes-
terday drew flak for
allegedly calling an IAS officer
"mad" and made disparaging
remarks about women planta-
tion workers. Opposition leaders
attacked Mani, with two lead-
ers of the BJP and the Congress
demanding his resignation.
On Saturday evening, the
Minister first took on IAS officer
Sreeram Venkitaraman, who
was involved in clearing
usurped government land of
encroachments in Mani's home
district Idukki.
"In Idukki, most religious
establishments are located on
land that do not have clear title
deed. He (Venkitaraman) is a
mad man and should be sent to
Oolampara (mental hospital in
Thiruvananthapuram)," said
Mani, who has waded into con-
troversies with his uttrances in
the past as well.
Free homes spur Mumbai's Bhendi Bazaar revamp
Mumbai
AFP
F
arida Kachwala is vacat-
ing her family's cramped
home of eighty years, one
of thousands receiving mod-
ern apartments through a
project that hopes to transform
Mumbai's historic Bhendi
Bazaar from a dilapidated
ghetto into a slick Singapore-
like enclave.
Six hundred million dollars
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
States support urged
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said
the action agenda
was just a draft and
that all suggestions
by the Chief Ministers
of various states
would be taken into
account before
finalising it.
The 12th Five-Year Plan
ended on March 31. During the
meeting, Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi said the action agenda
was just a draft and that all sug-
gestions by the Chief Ministers
of various states would be taken
into account before finalising it.
Talking to reporters after the
meeting, Panagariya said the
15-year vision document pegs
the Indian economy's growth
from Rs137 lakh crore in 2015-
16 to Rs469 lakh crore by
2031-32 at 2015-16 prices.
This projection is based on
growth estimate of 8 percent per
annum, he said.
Panagariya said the
with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
However, the agitation
would be resumed if promises
are not fulfilled, said P.
Ayyakannu, president of the
National-South Indian Rivers
Linking Farmers Association,
who was leading the protest.
These farmers had held a
rally from the India Gate to the
Jantar Mantar before the
announcement.
Later, addressing a public
meeting in Idukki on Saturday
night, Mani, a CPI-M leader,
said he knew what all went on
during the strike by 'Pembulai
Orumae' (Women's
Collective).
"It was a stage-managed
protest led by vested interests.
I know what all happened.
When the strike was on, other
activities were taking place in
nearby forests," Mani said.
Angered by Mani's remarks,
women plantation workers'
leader Gomathy said they had
launched a protest in Munnar
town from yesterday.
is being spent to demolish hun-
dreds of rundown low-rise
buildings in the dirty colonial-
era market and replace them
with shiny skyscrapers that will
house 20,000 Dawoodi Bohras,
a sect of Shia Muslims, who
have made the area their home
for decades.
"We have many problems
here. It's smelly because there's
sewage and garbage every-
where and the wooden stairs
are really steep and dangerous.
three-year agenda has been
divided into seven parts, with
each part having a number of
specific action points. Over 300
specific action points have been
identified covering the whole
gamut of sectors, he said.
"In part one, a revenue and
expenditure exercise is under-
taken to illustrate how we can
begin to shift our expenditure
based on set priorities within a
three-year period like
increasing expenditure on
health, infrastructure, agricul-
ture, and rural economy," he
said. The NITI Vice-Chairman
said subsequent parts deal with
major sectors, growth enablers,
governance, social sectors and
sustainable development.
"Part two deals with agricul-
ture, industry and services; part
three with transport connectiv-
ity, digital connectivity, public
private partnership, energy, and
science and technology.
"Part four focuses on inno-
vation and entrepreneurship;
part five on governance, tax pol-
icy and administration, rule of
law, and pro-competition poli-
cies and regulations.
"We have been holding pro-
tests here from 41 days, during
which we met the President,
(Union) Finance Minister, Agri-
culture Minister, and Minister of
State for Transport.
They all assured us that our
case will be considered. How-
ever, we have not received any
help so far. Today, Chief Minis-
ter said he will write off our
loans, taken from both nation-
alised and cooperative banks. So
Jaitley raises visa issue with US authorities
New Delhi
AFP
T
he vexed issue of the Trump
administration mulling
curbs in H-1B visas has
been taken up with by Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley with the
American authorities during his
ongoing visit, an Indian official
said yesterday. The issue was
raised by Jaitley during his meet-
ing with US Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin here on
Three men thrashed for transporting buffaloes
New Delhi
AFP
T
hree men who were trans-
porting buffaloes in their
truck to a slaughterhouse
were attacked by vigilantes in
the heart of Indian capital New
Delhi, the police said yesterday.
The latest attack comes amid a
wave of rising tensions over cow
slaughter in Hindu-majority
I'm so happy that we're mov-
ing," says Kachwala. The
rehousing project aims to
replace the decrepit structures
and maze-like narrow streets,
where hawkers sell everything
from sunglasses to sweets as
goats meander docilely, with
gleaming towers and polished
shopping arcades.
It is also hoped the scheme
will help cleanse the neigh-
bourhood of its underworld
image. Dawood Ibrahim, who
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and family members after voting.
Exit polls show BJP clean sweep in Delhi
New Delhi
IANS
T
he BJP will make a clean
sweep in yesterday's
municipal elections in
Delhi while the Aam Aadmi
Party and the Congress will lag
far behind, said an exit poll.
The Exit Poll by ABP News-C
Voter claimed that the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
we have decided to suspend our
agitations till May 25,"
Ayyakannu told media.
He also said that DMK Work-
ing President M K Stalin had
asked these farmers to return to
the state.
The farmers were on protest
sit-in seeking loan waivers,
drought relief packages and for-
mation of a Cauvery
Management Board to resolve
their irrigation issues.
Saturday, an Indian Finance Min-
istry statement said.
"Finance Minister Arun Jait-
ley raised the issue of H-1B visas
for skilled professionals from
India and highlighted the contri-
bution which Indian companies
and professionals are making to
US economy," it said. The issue
stems from recent executive
orders signed by US President
Trump which indicate a possible
tightening of the H-1B visas.
"Issues related to terror
India, where the animal is con-
sidered sacred and its slaughter
is a punishable offence in many
states.
There have been a spate of
attacks in the recent months by
'cow protection' vigilante groups,
who roam some highways
inspecting livestock trucks for
any trace of the animal.
A Muslim man died in one
such attack earlier this month
carried out the 1993 Bombay
bomb blasts, lived in Bhendi
Bazaar during the 1980s and
Bollywood films often portray
the area as a gangster hangout.
In India, it is common for
tenants to stall development
projects by refusing to move, or
for homeowners to hold out for
more cash, but this project is
unique in that it is being driven
by residents' faith as much as
their desire for 21st century Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai, which is being redeveloped by the
amenities. Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust.
which has ruled the three MCDs
for 10 years, will get a landslide
victory in all three municipal
corporations with 218 of the
total 270 seats for which polls
were held yesterday. The AAP
and the Congress will get 25
seats each, the exit poll said.
In East Delhi Municipal Cor-
poration, the poll said, the BJP
is expected to get 48 of the 63
seats while the AAP and the
Ayyakannu threatened to
restart the agitations from May
25 if their demands are not met
with by then.
"We will review the situation
after a month. If the government
fails to fulfill its promises, we will
agitate again," he said, adding
that farmers from several states,
including Punjab, Gujarat, Har-
yana, Assam, and Odisha have
extended their support to their
agitation.
funding were also discussed and
the US Secretary appreciated the
role of India in this regard,
including Indo-US cooperation
in FATF," the statement said.
"Critical economic issues like
Indo-US Investment Initiative,
infrastructure collaboration,
National Investment and Infra-
structure Fund, collaboration
with USA for smart cities devel-
opment, etcetera, were
deliberated upon during the
meeting," it added.
after the truck carrying cows
was attacked by one such vigi-
lante group in western Rajasthan
state.
"This incident has nothing to
do with any cow protection
(group) but is linked to an ani-
mal rights' group which has been
working in Delhi for long," Ramil
Baniya, deputy commissioner of
police told journalists.
"Around 14 buffaloes were
ASIA 09
Congress may not even reach
double-digit mark with seven
and eight seats, respectively.
The exit poll said that in
North Delhi Municipal Corpo-
ration, the BJP is expected to get
87 of the 103 seats while the
Congress is expected to get
seven and the AAP eight seats.
In South Delhi Municipal Cor-
poration, the exit poll put the
tally at 83 of the total 104 seats.
12-year-old
murders
friend over
cricket bet
Kolkata
IANS
A
12-year-old boy in
West Bengal's How-
rah district allegedly
killed his friend following
a dispute over a bet of Rs
250 placed on a cricket
match, police said yester-
day. The accused has been
taken into custody, police
said.
The accused and the
victim, both resident of
Daspara under Liluah
police station, had bet
Rs250 on the result of a
cricket match. The victim
- also a 12-year-old - won
the bet, but the accused
refused to pay the amount,
triggering a quarrel.
"They had bet Rs 250
on the match. My son won
the bet and demanded the
money. But he (the accused)
refused to pay the amount.
being taken for slaughter when
the team of animal rights' activ-
ists intercepted and stopped
them, and they had some scuf-
fle and arguments," Baniya
added.
The police have since
launched two investigations, one
over the alleged illegalities in
transportation of buffaloes and
the other over attack on cattle
truck.
10 VIEWS MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017

E S TA B L I S H E D I N 1 9 9 6

CHAIRMAN
SHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
DR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI
editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR

MOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED
msalim@pen.com.qa

EDITORIAL

Caught in a bind

T
ension is continuing to build up in the
Korean peninsula with North Korea
firing off fiery rhetoric against its

Paris attack raises questions about

adversaries, putting the US and its allies
like Japan and South Korea in a bind on
how to react to the mad utterances and actions of a
maverick regime. Kim Jong-un upped the ante in
the face-off with Washington by detaining a
Korean-American man in his fifties in Pyongyang
on Friday, bringing the total number of US citizens
held by Pyongyang to three. North Korea also said
media coverage of urban terrorism
it was ready to sink a US aircraft carrier to verify, verify and verify. That is what accused the mainstream media of
Thembisa Fakude guides journalism amongst many other Islamophobia.
demonstrate its military might.
Al Jazeera things. Verification of sources and exact The mislabeling of Timothy
The threat was in response to US President information prevents retractions of sto- Mcveigh as a Muslim terrorist in April
Donald Trump ordering the USS Carl Vinson ries and increase trust in journalism. 1995 forced many news organisation
carrier strike group to sail to waters off the Korean However the traction that acts of terror- to exercise care when reporting acts of
peninsula to deal with rising tension over the ism has impacts on that principle. terrorism. The terrorist act in Okla-

T
Norths nuclear and missile tests and its threats to he presidential candidates in Most media organisations break acts homa City which killed 168 people and
attack the United States and its Asian allies. Frances upcoming elections wasted of terrorism before obtaining sufficient injured over 600 people went on for
The Korean peninsula has always been tense no time in scooping political oppor- confirmation on the causes. This is to an hours in most media organisations as
due to the nuclear tests and ambitions of North tunities from the terrorist attack in extent due to competition, news media the act of Islamic terror, only to dis-
Korea, but the situation has come to a head with Champs Elysees on 20 April 2016. especially television thrive on scooping cover it was an act on a non Muslim
Trump threatening to Almost all of them have suggested more strin- each other. This unfortunately put American domestic terrorist.
thwart Kim Jong-uns gent strategies in dealing with terrorism. immense pressure on police who are There are a number of questions that
plans, with military The biggest winner in all of this has been often forced to make premature state- are being asked not only by terror
Another missile strikes, if necessary. Marine Le Pen whose extreme views on ments. In trying to prove their experts but also those monitoring the
equating terrorism with immigration is most preparedness the police often succumb media coverage of terrorism. Impor-
test by North But Pyongyang
likely to gain traction within the undecided to pressure and make statements laced tantly is to what extent is the media used
Korea could remains defiant and
voters in this election. with a language seeking not to contra- by terrorist organisations in furthering
instead of backing out,
trigger a conict The terrorism attack in Champs Elysees dict the prevailing narrative. their objectives? What can the media do
has chosen to ratchet up came at the very critical time in Frances his- The media dictate and own the nar- to avoid this trap?
if all sides dont tension with more tory and indeed that of the European Union rative from the beginning to the end. According to many terrorism experts
exercise restraint. provocative actions. (EU). The unimaginable win of Marine Le Pen Having said that there has been a great there is a growing trend of idolisation of
China, the superpower might lead to what has become known as level of care and improvement in lan- those who commit crimes of terror in
in the region, is fully Frexit ie France leaving the EU. guage used in most news coverage of certain terrorist websites, most of the
aware of the perilous At the beginning of the presidential cam- terror attacks. footage used in those websites is
consequences of the current turn of events. paign certain candidates were touted as Most of it has been obtained from the mainstream media
Speaking during a visit to Greece, Chinese Foreign possible winners, however over the months due to the backlash organisations. It proves the importance
Minister Wang Yi said there were already enough France has not stopped talking about Le Pen that emanated mainly of the mainstream media in their
shows of force and confron-tation at present and who was not promised any victory by most from Muslim com- strategy.
appealed for calm. We need to issue peaceful and polls and political commentators. The tone munities who have What must the media do, how can
rational sounds, Wang said. has changed most are now beginning to the media protect itself against this trap-
entertain the possibility of Le Pen winning the ping? There has been a number of
The choice of words speaks of the huge
elections especially after the events of 20 suggestions, first is to deprive terrorists
challenges ahead. Everybody is in the dark on how
April 2017. Many suggest that she stand to The terrorism attack in coverage of their heinous crimes. Less
to deal with the Kim Jong-un regime without gain more support than any of the candidates coverage of terrorist acts might reduce
pushing the region into a nuclear war, so the best from the undecided voters. Champs Elysees came at the stardom that some seem to enjoy in
possible option is to be careful about the choice of However the purpose of this piece is not the very critical time in their parallel universes.
words issue peaceful and rational sounds, as about the elections in France but about how Frances history and indeed Moreover, less coverage of terrorist
Wang Yi puts it. the media responded to the events in Champs acts could also impact on the recruit-
Two Japanese navy ships have joined the US
that of the European Union
Elysees and how their reaction plays into the ment drive of terrorists. Finally the
carrier group for exercises in the western Pacific. hands of terrorists. The media attention and (EU). The unimaginable win media should give the police enough
Japans show of naval force reflects growing coverage of the terrorist attacks require a of Marine Le Pen might time to do their work and investigation,
concern that North Korea could strike it with rethink particularly as terrorist organisations lead to what has become the police must determine the narrative
nuclear or chemical warheads. change their tactics. not the media in such cases.
Unlike in the Middle East where terror
known as Frexit ie France
North Korea is likely to stage another nuclear
attacks still involve a number of casualties, leaving the EU. The writer is a Researcher at Al Jazeera
test at a time of its convenience. That test could
become the trigger for a conflict if all sides dont the trend outside the region has changed. This Center for Studies.
is to a large extent due to security measures
exercise restraint. North Korea is the biggest
that have been implemented including coop-
challenge of Trump, and while he has clear ideas eration between countries in Europe. The
about dealing with other crises, he has no clue on lone wolf attacks is a new strategy of inflicting
this one, being pitted against a maverick leader terror and creating turmoil. It is no longer
against him. about numbers but more about the attention
their act receive in the media.
Media is therefore becoming key in their
strategy of furthering their objectives of ter-
rorism. Urban acts of terrorism often trigger a
rolling coverage from most 24 hour news
QUOTE OF THE DAY media organisations. This is regarded as a
breather by many journalists, the only way
they can slow down the rat race which domi-
nates most newsrooms particularly television
newsrooms.
The four nations that Big events have their own attention in
make up our great newsrooms, concentrating on one story
country have rarely reduces pressure on other journalists cover-
been more divided ing or specialising on certain types of
coverage. The 24 hours news channels are
due to the damaging like a beast that is fed continually but never
and divisive policies gets satisfied.
of this Conservative However what has become very concern-
ing when the breaking news involving
government. terrorism occurs is the reaction of the media
and the subsequent coverage of the story. The
Jeremy Corbyn People stand on the place du Trocadero with the Eiffel tower in the background
first lesson most journalists receive as they
UK Labour leader in Paris, during a gathering in support to police.
begin their careers contains three words,
 MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017 OPINION 11

Why is Venezuela in crisis again?

Javier Farje
The Washington Post

The current crisis

I
n 2002, Hugo Chavezs Bolivarian revolution in
Venezuela almost died in its infancy. On April 11
of that year, a general strike took place and a
massive demonstration called by the unlikely
alliance of the main Venezuelan business
organisation, Fedecamaras, and the biggest trade
union confederation, the CTV, marched on the streets
of Caracas towards the Palacio of Miraflores, the
presidential palace.
On April 12, the head of the army, General Efrain
Vasquez Velasco, ordered the arrest of Hugo Chavez,
who had refused to resign as president of Venezuela.
The now deposed head of state was sent to a military
base on the Venezuelan Caribbean coast.
A day later, Pedro Carmona, the president of Fed-
ecamaras, was sworn in as president. The United
States recognised the new government. Washington
had good reasons to dislike the fiery lieutenant colo-
nel: Chavez had criticised the US intervention in the
Middle East and established a close relationship with
Cubas Fidel Castro and Iran.
By the April 13, the coup had failed. A group of
generals and soldiers loyal to Chavez and thousands
of his followers took control of the Miraflores palace.
The members of the new government left the palace
in haste. Chavez returned to Caracas triumphantly.
In many ways, the latest confrontation between
the opposition and the government of President
Nicolas Maduro can be explained by the events of
April 2002. When Chavez was elected president in
1999, he called for a constituent assembly to draft a
new Bolivarian magna carta, and was re-elected
under the new Constitution.
Chavez had challenged the establishment like
nobody before in the history of Venezuelas
democracy. The 2002 strike and coup were a
reaction to Chavezs new way of doing politics.
The establishment, comprising the business sector,
the old trade union bureaucracy and the tradi-
tional political parties, did not like Chavezs way.
After Chavez returned to power, the relationship
between the Bolivarian government and the oppo-
sition deteriorated even further.
The president consolidated his control over the
According to Hinterlaces, a
respected pollster, 61% of
Venezuelans want a solution
to the current economic crisis
and only 33% want to replace
the current government.
Furthermore, all attempts by
the opposition to involve the
armed forces in the removal
of Maduro from power have
turned out to be futile,
because the military have
reiterated their loyalty to the
government.
Demonstrators rally against Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.
army, and his anti-US rhetoric became even more
bellicose. From then on the opposition, by then an
informal coalition of parties from the right and the
far left, made it its lifes mission to get rid of Chavez.
When he died in March 2013, Chavezs heir,
former bus driver Nicolas Maduro, was elected. His
rise to power coincided with the fall of oil prices in
the international markets. In an economy that has
failed to diversify and an excessive dependency on
oil revenues, the slump in crude prices has caused
hardship and hyperinflation.
Throughout his government, Chavez nationalised
at least 1,200 private companies, many of them in the
agricultural sector. Many people believe that the
inefficient control the state has over the means of
production has contributed to the shortages of basic
products from corn flour to toilet paper. Many distri-
bution companies which have remained in private
hands, however, have resorted to speculation, by
hiding basic produce in clandestine warehouses in
order to provoke an increase in prices.
It is easy to understand why then, in 2015, Vene-
zuelans gave the opposition control of the National
Assembly.
It is war
The opposition is trying to use their majority in
the Assembly to crush every reform implemented by
the Chavez government. As soon as they took over
the National Assembly, for instance, the opposition
tried to put an end to a vast project of social housing
created by Chavez, to help the poor and the victims
of natural disasters, by privatising it.
The National Assembly has also tried to block
joint ventures between PDVSA, the state-owned oil
company, and Russian investors. And on more than
one occasion, parliament has tried to pass legislation
disavowing the authority of the president, in spite of
the fact that they do not have the mandate to do so.
The response from the supreme court, controlled
has forced many
Venezuelans to put in
practice an economy
of survival.
distribution network.
Unfortunately, the same can-
not be said about the health
service, where hospitals suffer an
acute shortage of basic medicines.
In the meantime, opposition activ-
ists and Chavista militants settle
their differences in the streets of
Venezuela.
The talks between the gov-
ernment and the opposition,
sponsored by the former prime
minister of Spain, Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero, and the
former presidents of Panama,
Martin Torrijos, and Dominican
Republic, Lionel Fernandez,
have been abandoned because
by judges close to the government, was expeditious. the opposition is not prepared
In late March, it decided to strip away from the to make concessions. And many
National Assembly some of its powers. This decision Venezuelans feel that neither
was rejected by the attorney general, Luisa Ortega, a side is prepared to listen to the
staunch supporter of the Bolivarian process. very people they claim to
Later, the powerful Defence Council asked the represent.
court to restore the powers of the National Assembly.
The supreme judges duly obliged and returned the The writer is a Peruvian-born British
powers to the National Assembly. Furthermore, the journalist based in London. He is an
government has banned prominent leaders of the analyst with TV networks from Latin
opposition, like former presidential candidate, Hen- America and the Middle East.
rique Capriles (who supported the 2002 coup
attempt), from public life, and other leaders are in
prison, accused of promoting violence to depose the
president.
The opposition insists that the country wants
Maduro out of power. But, according to Hinterlaces, a
respected pollster, 61 percent of Venezuelans want a
solution to the current economic crisis and only 33 D-RING ROAD
percent want to replace the current government.
POST BOX: 3488
Furthermore, all attempts by the opposition to
involve the armed forces in the removal of Maduro DOHA - QATAR
from power have turned out to be futile, because the editor@pen.com.qa
military have reiterated their loyalty to the
government.
The current crisis has forced many Venezuelans EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OFFICE
to put in practice an economy of survival. From the TEL: 4455 7741 / 767
moment one enters Venezuela, the visitor is accosted FAX: +974 4455 7758
by people who want sell you Bolivares, the local cur-
rency, at a much better rate than in the official Casas MANAGING EDITOR
de Cambio.
To cope with the shortages of foodstuffs in super-
TEL: 4462 7505
markets, many Venezuelans are replacing
DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR
unavailable products, like corn flour and pasta, with
TEL: 4455 7769
produce in which the country is self-sufficient: fruits
and vegetables, mainly plantains and potatoes.
They have created Local Provisioning and LOCAL NEWS SECTION
Production Committees (CLAPs), in conjunction TEL: 4455 7743
with local communities and with the support of
the government to provide an alternative food BUSINESS NEWS SECTION
TEL: 4462 7535

SPORT NEWS SECTION

Impact of globalising on Qatari youth TEL: 4455 7745

ONLINE SECTION
TEL: 4462 7501
info@pen.com.qa
English word, but with an Arabic twist to it. family, such as their grandparents. There would be a lack
AlDana Al-Athba Arab youth use such words in their everyday of communication between the two generations, which
PUBLIC RELATIONS
conversations and added them to their dictionary. leads to missing many aspects of the authentic culture.
This word is taken from the English word Hello, Globalisation is the main reason behind the facilitating TEL: 4455 7613
where Arab people start their phone conversations of the interaction and the access to media from different pr@pen.com.qa

A
loo ... what language do
you think this is? If you
think this is English than
you are wrong. Arab
youth are highly exposed
to the western culture and media, which
makes them try to mix between the two
cultures, the Arab and west-
ern cultures. So this word is
actually a mixture of the
two languages, Arabic and
English. It is originally an
The Arab youth have
created a new identity for
themselves, to be identied
with, due to the global
world we are living in and
the easy access of media, as
they want to cope with the
modern world, by trying to
manage between the two
cultures.
with it. parts of the world, as the youth are highly exposed to
The Arab youth have created a new identity media from different regions, the western media in partic- ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
for themselves, to be identified with, due to the ular, as it is the most dominating among the different TEL: 4455 7837 / 780
global world we are living in and the easy access media. FAX: 4455 7870
of media, as they want to cope with the modern Due to this, the youth are facing uncertainty, where adv@pen.com.qa
world, by trying to manage between the two they are trying to cope between the two cultures, and the
cultures. difference in lifestyles. They are dispersed between the two CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT
The Arab youth are following a new lifestyle, cultures, which led them to create their own identity to be TEL: 4455 7857
that is different from that of their ancestors, so they defined with. adv@pen.com.qa
are almost creating a new culture. In Qatar specifi- There is a significant impact by the media on Arab
cally, some children are now raised or depend on youth that is still expanding on a huge level and reaching to
SUBSCRIPTION & DISTRIBUTION
the western culture and lifestyle, as they join Eng- more people. This impact is not only on the cultural level,
TEL: 4455 7809 / 839
lish schools from a very young age. but also on the social, economic, political, and religious
Many Qatari children talk in English, and feel level, as they are trying to change their own identity and FAX: 44557819
hesitation when they speak in Arabic, which is lifestyle, to a whole new one. info@tawseelqatar.com
the common language in their country. They By creating a new identity that is mixed between the
start listening to English songs, following west- two cultures, the Arab youth are trying to mix between the
ern news, TV series, movies, and many are not global and the local at the same time. In other words, their All thoughts and views
interested in Arabic media, on which they prefer identity has been glocalized.
the foreign as they cannot understand it. This As referred to by Wank and Farrer Glocalization
expressed in these columns
shows how they are trying to develop a new shows the relationship between the global and the local, are those of the writers, not
identity. where they try to adapt a global phenomenon on a local of the newspaper.
Some young Qataris grew up speaking in Eng- level. Which is exactly what is happening to the Arab youth
lish, and find it hard to talk in Arabic language, with creating a new identify due to the significant impact All correspondence
which is their families mother tongue. So most of of the western media on them. .
regarding Views and
them find it hard to communicate with their family
Opinion pages should be
members who are not able to speak in English, and The writer is communication student at Northwestern University
in most of the times, it is the elder members of the in Qatar. mailed to the
editorinchief@pen.com.qa
12 ASIA
US warship starts drills with Japan destroyers
Tokyo
AFP
T
he US aircraft carrier
Carl Vinson and other
warships started joint
exercises with Japan
yesterday, the Ameri-
can navy said, as regional
tensions rise over North Korea's
missile and nuclear
programmes.
"The exercises -- also involv-
ing a US guided-missile cruiser
and guided-missile destroyer --
are being held in the Philippine
Sea," the navy said, as the naval
strike group "continued its
northern transit in the Western
Pacific".
Confusion has clouded the
carrier group's whereabouts in
recent days after President Don-
ald Trump suggested the
"armada" was steaming towards
North Korea when in fact it was
sent towards Australia.
On Saturday, US Vice-Pres-
ident Mike Pence said in Sydney
the strike group would arrive in
the Sea of Japan (East Sea) "in a
matter of days".
Pence has vowed an "over-
whelming and effective"
Rights advocate
stabbed to death
in Maldives
Colombo
AP
POLICE in the Maldives said
yesterday that they're investi-
gating the stabbing death of a
prominent blogger and social
media activist.
Police said in a statement
that Yameen Rasheed was
found yesterday morning
with multiple stab wounds in
a house in the capital, Male.
He died at a hospital.
The motive for his killing
was not immediately known.
Rasheed was an advocate
of human rights and freedom
of speech.
He discussed politics and
other social issues on the
internet, including health,
migrant labor rights and
policing.
He was a friend of jour-
nalist Ahmed Rilwan, who
went missing in the year
2014 after being abducted,
and has been in the forefront
in the campaign to locate
him.
The opposition Maldivian
Democratic Party called for
an investigation with foreign
assistance into Rasheed's
death, saying that the coun-
try's police do not have the
capacity or impartiality to
conduct such an
investigation.
It said Rasheed had
recently filed a case against
the police over their inaction
in determining Rilwan's fate.
Baby dead after parents
ght over Facebook use
Yangon
Anatolia
A
Myanmar man was
arrested yesterday for
beating his one-month-
old baby son to death after a
man fight with his wife over her
use of Facebook, according to
police.
The suspect Nay Lin Htet
was a resident of North Oka-
lapa Township in Yangon, ,
Myanmars largest city.
Police officer Tin Tun Aung
said the man used to repeatedly
accuse his wife of neglecting
their son by using Facebook on
her phone all the time ever since
response to any North Korean
attack as fears grow it may be
preparing for another nuclear
test.
The Carl Vinson carrier strike
group and the Japanese navy
"commenced an at-sea bilateral
exercise in the Philippine Sea"
yesterday, the US Navy posted
on its Facebook page.
The joint drill is designed to
"ensure maritime forces remain
ready to defend the region when
called upon", it said.
"Seeing the threats we are
facing now, it is no surprise that
Japan and the United States con-
duct joint exercises," Toshimitsu
Motegi, a senior ruling party law-
maker, said, adding the exercises
would send a "strong
message".
The Carl Vinson drills,
expected to last several days,
involve two Japanese warships,
Japan's defence ministry said.
Pence, during a regional tour
last week that ended in Australia,
and other US officials have
warned that "all options are on
the table" to curb the North's
nuclear ambitions.
Pence and Trump have also
renewed calls for China to use
South Korea presidentiables
The South Korea presidential candidates before a televised debates for upcoming May
9 election in Seoul, yesterday.
NZ to tighten security on Mideast flights
Dubai
Reuters
N
ew Zealand is considering
additional security checks
on flights from countries
in the Middle East, its transport
minister said yesterday.
The new rules would follow
similar measures introduced last
month by the US, Britain and
Australia.
the baby was born last month.
The incident happened
after their fight over use of
social media, Tin Tun Aung
said by phone.
He then beat the baby
when he lost his mind.
Police arrested the 23-year-
old suspect yesterday after his
wife reported their sons death
to authorities.
Mobile phone users in
Myanmar have rapidly
increased following the reform
process started in 2011.
According to recent data
released by GSMA Intelligence,
Myanmar has over 37.5 million
mobile phone connections.
Heightened tension
The joint drill is
designed to ensure
maritime forces
remain ready to
defend the region
when called upon.
Washington is
sending a senior
envoy on the nuclear
standoff with North
Korea to Tokyo this
week for talks with
his Japanese and
South Korean
counterparts.
its influence to bring Pyongyang
to heel.
The North has ramped up its
rhetoric in recent weeks, threat-
ening to hit back against any
provocation.
It has also renewed threats
against regional US allies, includ-
ing Japan and South Korea,
which both host large American
military contingents.
Even Australia has been
cautioned.
New Zealand's civil aviation
authority "is assessing the evi-
dence to determine what is
appropriate," Transport Minis-
ter Simon Bridges said.
Additional security measures
would affect passengers flying
from Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates and Doha, Qatar,
where carriers Emirates and
Qatar Airways, respectively, fly
direct to New Zealand.
Showing skills
Temporary police personnel recruited for the upcoming local polls during training in
Kathmandu, yesterday.
N Korea issues warning
on US aircraft carrier
Seoul
Reuters
N
orth Korea said yester-
day it was ready to sink
a US aircraft carrier to
demonstrate its military might,
as two Japanese navy ships
joined a US carrier group for
exercises in western Pacific.
"Our revolutionary forces
are combat-ready to sink a US
nuclear-powered aircraft car-
rier with a single strike," the
Rodong Sinmun, the newspa-
per of North's ruling Workers'
"If Australia persists in fol-
lowing the US's moves to isolate
and stifle North Korea... this will
be a suicidal act," a North Korean
foreign ministry spokesman said
after Australian Foreign Minis-
ter Julie Bishop called the nation
a "serious threat".
Bishop responded yesterday
Bridges said a decision to
add new checks would be made
independent of the government
by the aviation authority .
He declined to say when a
decision could be made. He did
not say what measures were
being considered.
On March 25, the United
States banned electronic devices
larger than a mobile phone from
passenger cabins of direct flights
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
Party, said in a commentary.
The paper likened the air-
craft carrier to a "gross animal"
and said a strike on it would
be "an actual example to show
our military's force".
The commentary was car-
ried on page three of the
newspaper, after a two-page
feature about leader Kim Jong
Un inspecting an animal farm.
North Korea has conducted
five nuclear tests, two of them
last year, and is working to
develop nuclear-tipped mis-
siles that can reach the US.
that the North "should invest in
the welfare of its long-suffering
citizens, rather than weapons of
mass destruction".
Washington is sending a sen-
ior envoy on the nuclear standoff
with North Korea to Tokyo this
week for talks with his Japanese
and South Korean counterparts.
Pyongyang arrests
another US citizen
Pyongyang
AP
N
orth Korea has detained
a US citizen, officials
said yesterday, bringing
to three the number of Ameri-
cans now being held there.
Tony Kim, who also goes by
his Korean name Kim Sang-
duk, was detained on Saturday,
according to Park Chan-mo, the
chancellor of the Pyongyang
University of Science and
Technology.
Park said Kim, who is in his
50s, taught accounting at the
university for about a month.
He said Kim was detained
by officials as he was trying to
leave the country from
Pyongyang's international
airport.
The Swedish Embassy in
Pyongyang said it was aware of
a Korean-American citizen
from eight countries in the Mid-
dle East, North Africa and
Turkey, including Qatar and the
UAE.
Britain followed the same
day with similar measures,
including banning larger elec-
tronics on flights from some
Middle East countries but not
Qatar and the UAE where it
instead requested additional
security checks.
China calls for
Korea peninsula
denuclearisation
Athens
AFP
CHINA'S foreign minister called
yesterday for the complete
denuclearisation of the Korean
peninsula amid rising tension over
North Korea's missile and nuclear
programmes.
"China is firmly supporting
the denuclearisation of the area
in the name of stability and
peace", Wang Yi said.
"China may not have the key
to this solution ... but we are
happy that more sides are accept-
ing our point of view", he added.
US President Donald Trump
urged China to take stronger steps
to press the North to curb nuclear
and missile programmes.
During a regional tour last
week, Vice-President Mike Pence
warned that "all options are on
the table" to curb North's nuclear
ambitions, as fears grow it may
be planning another atomic test.
being detained recently, but
could not comment further.
The embassy looks after
consular affairs for the United
States in North Korea because
the two countries do not have
diplomatic relations.
Park said Kim had taught at
the Yanbian University of Sci-
ence and Technology in China
before coming to Pyongyang.
He said he was informed that
the detention had "nothing to
do" with Kim's work at the uni-
versity but did not know further
details.
As of yesterday night, North
Korea's official media had not
reported on the detention.
Though no details on why
Kim was detained have been
released, the detention comes
at a time of unusually height-
ened tensions between the
United States and the North
Korea.
12-year-old boy
arrested after
driving solo
across Australia
Sydney
AFP
A 12-year-old boy trying to
drive from coast-to-coast
through the vast Australian
outback was stopped by traffic
police more than a thousand
kilometres into the epic road
trip, authorities said yesterday.
The child was picked up
by local police in the mining
city of Broken Hill, around a
14-hour drive from his start-
ing point in the village of
Kendall in the east of
Australia.
He had been planning to
travel some 4,000km to Perth
in the country's far west, but
was caught out by a broken
bumper, which was dragging
across the ground, according
to a statement from New
South Wales state police.
"Checks revealed the
driver to be a 12-year-old boy
(who) was travelling from
Kendall NSW on his way to
Perth," it said, adding that the
boy had been arrested.
Police are conducting fur-
ther inquiries and no further
details were available, a
spokeswoman said.

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani (third left) prays for the victims of April 21's attack on an army headquarters during his visit in Mazar-i-Sharif. RIGHT: Activists pay tribute to the victims
of the attack at a memorial on the Wazir Akbar Khan hilltop, in Kabul.
Afghanistan mourns death of 140 soldiers
Act of sympathy
The Afghan President
held a live video
conference with the
top officials in all 34
provinces, directing
them stern actions
against the militants,
and declared a day of
mourning on Sunday.
Duterte orders troops to attack militants behind foiled attempts
Manila
AP
P
hilippine President Rodrigo
Duterte (pictured) warned
yesterday that he could be
"50 times" more brutal than mil-
itants who stage beheadings and
said he could even "eat" the
extremists if they're captured
alive by troops.
Duterte has repeatedly
threatened drug suspects with
death, but he raised his shock
rhetoric to a new level as presi-
dent when he said in a speech
Pakistan 525MW
power plant
begins test run
Lahore
Internews
THE government of Paki-
stan has started running the
525-megawatt Nandipur
power plant on trial basis
after it was finally converted
to Regasified Liquefied Nat-
ural Gas (RLNG).
The Nandipur thermal
power plant has been con-
verted to gas. And the officials
concerned have launched a
test run after we started pro-
viding gas to it from
Thursday, Sui Northern Gas
Pipelines Limited (SNGPL)
Managing Director (MD)
Amjad Latif said.
Since the plant is running
on trial basis, we are provid-
ing 10 to 30MMCFD of RLNG
to it according to demand.
And once the plants commer-
cial operation starts, its total
demand will be 100MMCFD".
When questioned regard-
ing suspension of various
power plants, including
412MW Rousch in Khanewal
district due to shortage of gas,
the SNGPL chief claimed that
none of the plants was closed
due to a shortage.
We have sufficient gas.
Some of the plants, including
Rousch, are on scheduled
outages. And once they
demand after ending the
scheduled outages, we will
surely provide them gas".
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
Kabul
Anatolia
A
fghanistan declared
a day of mourning
yesterday, two days
after at least 140
people were killed in
a Taliban attack on the Afghan
National Army headquarters.
Fridays terror attack in
Mazar-i-Sharif is being billed as
one of the deadliest ever assault
during the opening of a national
sports tournament what he could
do to terrorists who have staged
beheadings and other gruesome
attacks.
Duterte ordered troops to kill
fleeing militants behind a foiled
attack in the central resort prov-
ince of Bohol and not bring them
to him alive, calling the extrem-
ists "animals."
"If you want me to be an ani-
mal, I'm also used to that. We're
just the same," Duterte said. "I
can dish out, go down what you
can 50 times over."
Abu Sayyaf rebels behead
kidnapped Filipino soldier
Manila
Reuters
A
Filipino soldier kidnapped
last week in the southern
Philippines by Abu Sayyaf
militants was found beheaded,
the military said yesterday,
hours after government troops
killed three more members of
the IS-linked group in a clash
elsewhere.
"The head of Sergeant Anni
Siraji of the Army's 32nd Infan-
try Battalion was found 50
metres away from his body in
Patikul town in Sulu," Brigadier
General Cirilito Sobejana, com-
mander of the Joint Task Force
Sulu, said.
Sobejana said Siraji was
Pakistani student elected Kings College London president
Islamabad
Internews
A
Pakistani student has
made history by becom-
ing the first ever
non-European national to
become President of the pres-
tigious Kings College London
Students Union for one year
after a fiercely fought
election.
Momin Saqib, who originates
from Lahore, is the first non-EU
President of the Kings College
on the Afghan army by Taliban
militants.
A group of Taliban militants
had stormed the armys
209-Shaheen Corps in the prov-
ince at a time when soldiers were
either having lunch or saying
their Friday prayers in a mosque
inside the heavily-guarded
compound.
The hours-long clash ended
late in the evening, leaving dead
bodies all over the mosque and
The president said that if a
terrorist was presented to him
when he's in a foul mood, "give
probably abducted and executed
because of his involvement in
peace initiatives in Sulu.
"He is involved in peace
efforts. He is not actually a com-
batant. We are using him to
engage stakeholders because he
is a Tausog (like most Abu Sayyaf
militants)," he said.
Earlier yesterday, the mili-
tary said government troops had
killed three more Abu Sayyaf
militants on the resort island of
Bohol where they were hiding
after a failed attempt to kidnap
tourists.
The military was pursuing
two or three more militants still
at large in Bohol, a long way to
the north of their strongholds in
the far south of the country.
London Students Union in the
144 years long history of the
renowned college.
Momin is a student of BSC
Computer Science and Manage-
ment at Kings College London
and will be representing 30,000
students in his role as President
of the union.
Around 6,200 students voted
in the elections and Momin got
more than 2,200 votes and
gained victory against 7 compet-
ing candidates.
Momin will be taking a year
the dining hall at the base.
President Mohammad Ashraf
Ghani rushed to the site of the
attack on Saturday.
After rounds of talks with the
local army and civilian leader-
ship, the Afghan president held
a live video conference with the
top officials in all 34 provinces,
directing them stern actions
against the militants, and
declared a day of mourning on
Sunday.
me salt and vinegar and I'll eat
his liver."
The crowd broke into laugh-
ter, but Duterte cut in, "It's true,
if you make me angry."
Duterte, a longtime city
mayor who built an image as a
deadly crime-buster, won the
presidency in May last year on a
promise to battle illegal drugs,
corruption and terrorism. Thou-
sands have died under his
anti-drug crackdown, which has
alarmed Western governments
and human rights groups.
He has warned he may place
Soldiers head to an area where gunmen have engaged
government troops in Bohol province, yesterday.
"We have reports indicating
that they were also ounded and
running out of supplies," Colonel
Edgard Arevalo, chief of the mil-
itary's public affairs office, said.
A group of about 10 militants
off from studies to perform his
duties for the full time role as the
President of the KCL Students
Union.
The union will sponsor his
visa and international travel to
represent Kings College.
He said I will be the voice
and representative of 30,000
students nationally and within
Kings College London at all plat-
forms. Its a great privilege for
me to be elected to such a pres-
tigious position.
I will be part of the college
Mohammad Ibrahim, head
of the provincial assembly in
Balkh province where the attack
took place, told Anadolu Agency
that at least 140 soldiers have lost
their lives and at least 50 soldiers
were wounded in this well-
planned attack.
The Ministry of Defence has
so far only confirmed over one
hundred casualties including
dead and wounded.
The fact that hundreds of
the southern Philippines, scene
of a decades-long separatist
rebellion, under martial rule if
terrorism threats spin out of
control.
He recently offered a reward
for information leading to the
capture of Abu Sayyaf and other
militants behind a foiled attack
in the central province of Bohol.
Eight militants, three sol-
diers, a policeman and two
villagers have died in clashes in
Bohol, which lies far from the
southern jungle bases of the
militants.
infiltrated Bohol this month.
Western countries have issued
travel warnings about visiting
the island. Six of them were
killed in a clash on April 11 and
one last week.
council which is the highest gov-
erning body of the university
representing and being the voice
of 30,000 students.
The personal secretary of
the Queen of England is the
council chair. Since I got elected
as the Vice President of the Stu-
dents Union last year, I have want to take with me the skills
been on international trips to the
Arizona State University in USA
and University of New South
Wales in Australia on behalf of
Kings College London.
The purpose of these trips
ASIA 13
unarmed soldiers busy in Friday
prayers were idle targets for the
well-equipped attackers, local
sources believe the casualties are
much higher.
The Taliban have shared an
image of the 10 attackers wear-
ing security forces uniform, and
had the support of at least one
infiltrator from within the Corps
headquarters. The Taliban
claimed the attack has killed
over 500 soldiers.
Govt to counter
oppn's plan
to oust Sharif
Islamabad
Internews
OPPOSITION parties in Senate
and National Assembly ham-
mered out a joint strategy to
show strong reaction to force
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
to resign. While the govern-
ment also chalked out a plan
to counter oppositions move
in order to release pressure.
Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP) has signed on requisi-
tion to summon sessions of
Senate and National Assem-
bly under the joint strategy of
opposition parties. The par-
ties which show willingness
for strategy include Jamaat-
e-Islami (JI) and PML-Q,
while PTI has also agreed in
this regard.
On the other hand, the
government thrashed out
plan to counter opposition
parties strategy and decided
not to come under any pres-
sure in this regard.
According to reliable
sources, Imran Khan, Sirajul
Haq and Chaudhry Shujaat
have decided to make alli-
ance in both the houses of
Parliament and these leaders
are also discussing to make
joint strategy to hold agita-
tion outside the Parliament.
There is also likelihood
that the opposition parties will
agree on one point agenda
outside the Parliament.
was to strengthen our alliance
and increase student engagement
with these respective
universities
Momin saqib said: Now that
I have been active in students
politics in UK which is the old-
est democracy of the world, I
and experiences that I have
gained to bring about the posi-
tive change that is needed in
Pakistan.
He said the issue of Islamo-
phobic racism has gone up.
14 EUROPE
OSCE staffer dead in
Ukraine landmine blast
Kiev
AFP
T
he Organization for
Security and Cooper-
ation in Europe said
yesterday one of its
staff was killed after
an observer mission patrol vehi-
cle hit a landmine in rebel-held
east Ukraine.
It marked the first loss for
the security body's Special Mon-
itoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine
since Europe's only war began
more than three years ago.
"Tragic news from Ukraine:
SMM patrol drove on mine. One
OSCE patrol member killed,"
Austrian Foreign Minister and
the OSCE's current Chairman
Sebastian Kurz wrote on
Twitter.
The OSCE mission added
later that "two members have
been taken to hospital for fur-
ther examination" but did not
give details on their condition.
An official from the organi-
sation in Kiev said they could
not disclose the victims' nation-
alities because their next-of-kin
were still in the process of being
notified.
The incident occurred close
to Ukraine's volatile frontline
near the village of Pryshyb in the
Russian-backed eastern rebel
fiefdom of Lugansk.
"Obviously, the blast was
strong enough to penetrate an
armoured vehicle," the OSCE
official said. "All of our vehicles
are armoured."
Group chairman Kurz
demanded a "thorough
Official says
migrant charity
boats colluding
with traffickers
Rome
AFP
A
n Italian prosecutor
claims charity boats
rescuing migrants in
the Mediterranean are in
direct contact with people
traffickers in Libya, reignit-
ing a bitter row over what
the aid groups defend as
vital, life-saving
operations.
In an interview with Ital-
ian daily La Stampa,
Sicily-based prosecutor Car-
melo Zuccaro made his most
specific claims yet over non-
government organisation
(NGO) activities off Libya,
which the EU border agency
Frontex recently described as
tantamout to providing a
"taxi" service to Europe.
Non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) active
in the rescue effort include
long-established groups such
as Doctors without Borders
and Save the Children, and
smaller, newer operations
such as the Malta-based
MOAS.
They have all dismissed
suggestions of de facto collu-
sion with traffickers as a
baseless slur on volunteer
crews whose only mission is
to save lives in the absence of
EU governments acting effec-
tively to do so.
Over 1,000 migrants are
feared to have died in waters
between Libya and Italy so far
this year, according to the UN
refugee agency. Nearly
37,000 have been rescued
and brought to Italy.
"We have evidence that
there are direct contacts
between certain NGOs and
people traffickers in Libya,"
Zuccaro was quoted as say-
ing by La Stampa.
Volatile east
The incident
occurred close to
Ukraine's volatile
frontline near the
village of Pryshyb in
the Russian-backed
eastern rebel
fiefdom of Lugansk.
investigation" into the incident
and insisted that "those respon-
sible will be held
accountable".
The OSCE team's 600 mem-
bers in eastern Ukraine
comprise the only independent
monitoring mission in the indus-
trial war zone. They provide
daily reports on fighting and
have drawn criticism from the
warring sides.
'Anti-tank mine'
Lugansk rebel police force
spokesman Alexander Mazeikin
said that two OSCE vehicles
were travelling in the rebel-run
region when "one of them hit an
anti-tank mine".
A statement issued by the
Lugansk separatists on their
news site said the OSCE team
had veered off the main road
and was travelling along an
unsafe route.
"We know that this patrol
team deviated from the main
route and was moving along
secondary roads, which is pro-
hibited," the separatists said.
"We have repeatedly drawn
the OSCE SMM's attention to the
need to follow security
Germany to push Israel for two-state solution: Minister
Berlin
Reuters
D
eep and unbreakable
ties between Germany
and Israel are part of Ger-
manys national identity and
pillars of its foreign policy, but
Berlin will continue to press for
a two-state solution, Foreign
Minister Sigmar Gabriel
(pictured) said yesterday.
With respect to the Middle
East conflict, our solidarity with
Israel also means working to
ensure that Israel and Palestine
can live side by side in dignity
and peace, Gabriel said in a
statement released as he
departed for the region.
Only a two-state solution
will be sustainable, he said.
Gabriels visit, his first since
The Day of the Rose
People stand in front of Gaudi's "Casa Batllo" facade decorated with roses in Barcelona
yesterday. Traditionally men give women roses and women give men a book to celebrate
the Catalan holiday known as "The Day of the Rose" or "The Day of the Book".
measures while travelling on its
monitoring missions."
The insurgents' claim could
not be immediately
confirmed.
Ukraine's military said no
fighting was occurring in the
area because the sides were
honouring a temporary truce
agreement that went into effect
on April 1.
"At the time of the explosion,
the ceasefire was being
observed by both the Ukrainian
forces and the illegal rebel
groups," Kiev's armed forces
said in a statement on
Facebook.
The war between Kiev's pro-
Western troops and the
Moscow-backed insurgents has
claimed the lives of more than
10,000 people and driven at
least two million from their
homes since 2014.
Daily casualties have fallen
substantially since the height of
the fighting in the industrial
heartland but sporadic clashes
drag on as a peace plan has
stalled.
But the low-level hotilities
have been accompanied by reg-
ular casualties from civilians
and fighters either stepping or
driving on mines.
Ukraine's defence ministry
said Thursday it had defused
150,000 explosive devices since
the war began.
But it added that only 3,000
of the 700,000 hectares (7,400
of the 1.7 million acres) along
which the war is being waged
had been cleared of the various
types of landmines.
becoming foreign minister in
January, comes as German con-
cerns about Israeli settlement
building have dragged ties to
their lowest point in years.
German governments have
made strong relations with Israel
a top priority ever since World
War Two, going to great lengths
to make amends for the killing
of six million Jews by the Nazis.
Gabriel will visit the Yad
Vashem Holocaust memorial
today and meet with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-
yahu and Israel and Palestinian
government officials, his spokes-
man Martin Schaefer told
reporters on Friday.
We do not believe that the
current situation is sustainable,
Schaefer said. We think its nec-
essary to make another attempt
Alexander Gauland (right) of Germany's anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany
(AFD) shakes hands with AFD co-leader Frauke Petry as co-leader Joerg Meuthen looks on
during a party congress in Cologne, Germany, yesterday.
AfD picks Sept election duo
Cologne
AFP
G
ermany's anti-immigra-
tion AfD wrapped up a
fractious party congress
yesterday by choosing a new
team to lead it into a September
general election, after dramat-
ically sidelining its most
prominent personality.
Capping two days of often
bitter debate on its platform and
personnel, the Alternative for
Germany appointed two chief
candidates: 76-year-old Alex-
ander Gauland, a hardline
defector from Chancellor Angela
Merkel's CDU, and Alice Weidel,
38, a former investment banker.
The party's telegenic co-
leader Frauke Petry had already
announced last week she would
to revive talks and negotiations
in the framework of the Middle
East process.
Lack of progress on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict poses
a long-term threat to Israel, Nor-
bert Roettgen, head of Germanys
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
not join the campaign squad,
following weeks of bitter
infighting between populists and
more radical, hard-right forces.
Weidel told cheering dele-
gates that the AfD was the only
party that could protect Germa-
ny's borders and ensure public
security.
Referring to an attack on a
Berlin Christmas market that
claimed 12 lives committed by
a failed asylum seeker, she
called it a "scandal" that "in our
country, Christian holidays have
to be protected by police with
machine guns and barriers for
trucks".
"As a woman I should be
able to take the last train home
in safety," she added.
Earlier, the party now rep-
resented in 11 of Germany's 16
parliamentary foreign affairs
committee, told broadcaster
Deutschlandfunk yesterday.
He said relations between
the two countries remained deep
and important, but also cited
grave differences of opinion.
Roettgen said Israel was
profiting from tensions else-
where in the region, which had
shifted the focus away from the
Israeli-Palestinian issue, and in-
fighting among Palestinians.
That had short-term secu-
rity advantages, but the
underlying situation was grow-
ing worse and more negative, he
said, adding, That is a real threat
for Israel in the longer term.
Merkel in March cancelled a
summit with Netanyahu that was
due to occur in Jerusalem in May,
and said she was worried that
Canary Islands battle
3km diesel slick
Madrid
AFP
S
panish coast guard crew
worked yesterday to clean
up a 3km long diesel slick
off the holiday island of Gran
Canaria after a passenger ferry
slammed into a pier.
The ferry carrying 140 pas-
sengers smashed into a
breakwater late Friday in the
port of Las Palmas, the capital
of Spain's Canary Islands off the
northwest coast of Africa.
Thirteen people were
injured and the crash damaged
underwater fuel pipes, the
regional government said in a
statement. Video footage on
Spanish television showed
chunks of concrete falling onto
the port.
Emergency crews managed
on Saturday to collect half of the
states, signed off on a pro-
gramme that it hopes will pave
the way for it to enter the
national parliament for the first
time in its four-year history.
It included calls to stop fam-
ily unification of refugees
already in Germany, and strip-
ping immigrants convicted of
"significant crimes" of their Ger-
man passports.
The AfD has seen its support
plummet as the refugee influx
to Germany has slowed in recent
months. Petry, a 41-year-old
former chemist pregnant with
her fifth child, was handed a
stinging setback Saturday at the
gathering in the western city of
Cologne, which drew several
thousand protesters and
required a security detail of
4,000 police officers.
Israels building of settlements
in the occupied West Bank was
undermining progress towards
a two-state solution.
Peace talks between Israel
and the Palestinians have been
frozen since 2014 and settle-
ments are one of the most heated
issues. Palestinians want the
West Bank and East Jerusalem
for their own state, along with
the Gaza Strip.
Ceremonies took place
across Germany over the week-
end to mark Holocaust-related
events, including the liberation
of the womens concentration
centre in Ravensbrueck.
An estimated 250,000 to
500,000 Jews live in Germany,
and attitudes toward Jews have
improved dramatically since the
1990s.
roughly 60,000 litres of diesel
that spilled into the ocean, the
regional government said.
Three coast guard boats
were yesterday working to
break up the slick which is
three kilometres long and half
a kilometre wide to help the
diesel evaporate, it added.
"Work on the spill is con-
tinuing and we hope that it will
have evaporated before Mon-
day. Experts do not believe
there is risk to the environ-
ment," Fernando Clavijo, the
president of the regional gov-
ernment, said in a tweet.
Beaches around Las Palmas
and Telde, the two main towns
on Gran Canaria, were closed
yesterday as a precaution, the
regional government said.
Repairing the pier will cost
around 2m ($2.1m) and take
six months, it added.
 MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017 EUROPE 15

From Left: Francois Fillon, member of the Republicans political party and election candidate, casts his vote in Paris, yesterday. Candidate for the far-left coalition, Jean-Luc Melenchon, arrives
for a meeting in Paris. Candidate for the far-right Front National party Marine Le Pen, votes at a polling station in Henin-Beaumont, north-western France.

Macron and Le Pen seen winning rst leg

French presidential vote
The result, if confirmed, will
mean a face-off between
politicians with radically
contrasting economic
visions for a country whose
economy lags that of its
given 22 percent by both institutes.
Three further pollsters all projected
broadly similar results. Macron: Off the
Though Macron, 39, is a compar-
ative political novice who has never
held elected office, opinion polls in the
beaten track
run-up to the ballot have consistently Paris
seen him winning the final clash AFP
against the 48-year-old Le Pen

neighbours and where a
quarter of young people are
unemployed.
Defeated Socalist candidate
Benoit Hamon urged voters
to rally behind Macron in
the second round, as did
senior conservative
lawmaker Francois Baroin
from the camp of defeated
right-wing candidate
Francois Fillon
Paris
Reuters
easily.
Defeated Socalist candidate Benoit
Hamon urged voters to rally behind
Macron in the second round, as did sen-
ior conservative lawmaker Francois
Baroin from the camp of defeated right-
wing candidate Francois Fillon.
Harris gave both Fillon and far-left
contender Jean-Luc Melenchon 20 per-
cent, which will mean their elimination
from the race.
Fillon had consistently been poll-
ing third in surveys leading up to the
election. French senator and key Fil-
lon supporter Roger Karoutchi told
reporters: The first indications are not
good.
The result, if confirmed, will mean
"N
either of the right, nor the
left" in his own words,
Emmanuel Macron is a
39-year-old former banker whose
sensational political career, unortho-
dox marriage and promises to
modernise France have captivated
the country.
Running in his first ever election,
he was projected to win about 24
percent in the first round of the pres-
idential poll yesterday, guaranteeing
him a place in a run-off vote on May
7, for which he is favourite against
far right National Front leader Marine
Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche ! and Le Pen. "We're turning a page in
candidate for the presidential election, casts his ballot in Le Touquet, French political history," Macron said
shortly after the estimates were

C
entrist Emmanuel Macron and
far-right leader Marine Le
Pen are set to face each other
in a May 7 runoff for the
French presidency after com-
ing first and second in yesterdays first
round of voting, early projections
indicated.
In a race that was too close to call
up to the last minute, Macron, a pro-
European Union ex-banker and
economy minister who founded his own
party only a year ago, was projected to
get 24 percent by the pollster Harris and
23.7 percent by Elabe.
Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigra-
tion and anti-EU National Front, was
a face-off between politicians with rad-
ically contrasting economic visions for
a country whose economy lags that of
its neighbours and where a quarter of
young people are unemployed.
That in turn reduces the prospect of
an anti-establishment shock on the scale
of Britains vote last June to quit the EU
and the election of Donald Trump as US
president.
Early indications from Reuters data
showed the euro currency jumping to a
four-week high around $1.09 in
response to the early projections, from
$1.0726.
Macron favours gradual deregula-
tion measures that will be welcomed by
northern France, yesterday.
global financial markets, while Le Pen
wants to ditch the euro currency and
possibly pull out of the EU.
Whatever the outcome on May 7, it
will mean a redrawing of Frances polit-
ical landscape, which has been
dominated for 60 years by mainstream
groupings from the centre-left and cen-
tre-right, both of whose candidates
faded.
Macron ally Gerard Collomb said
the defeat of the mainstream centre-
left Socialists and the centre-right
Republicans showed a deep malaise
in French society. The final outcome
on May 7 will influence Frances
standing in Europe and the world as a
nuclear-armed, veto-wielding mem-
ber of the UN Security Council and
founding member of the organisation
that transformed itself into the Euro-
pean Union.
Marine Le Pen's campaign director
David Rachline said the National Front
candidate's qualification for the May 7
runoff vote turned the second round of
France's presidential election into a ref-
erendum on globalisation.
National Front lawmaker Marion
Marechal-Le Pen, said separately that
her aunt's qualification was a "victory
for patriots".
released. Macron would be the
youngest French leader in modern
history, upending tradition that has
usually seen voters favour experi-
ence in their powerful presidents.
The result of yesterday's vote is a
vindication of his decision to quit the
government of unpopular Socialist
President Francois Hollande in August
last year to concentrate on building
up his own centrist political movement
"En Marche" ("On the Move").
"We can't respond with the same
men and the same ideas," Macron
said as he launched his presidential
bid in November.

Key proposals by Seven twists in the presidential race

the frontrunners Paris
AFP
polling better than Fillon with
his bid to shake up French pol-
itics as a candidate of "neither

Paris encourage companies to hire
AFP jobseekers from underprivi-
leged neighbourhoods
T
he first round of France's the left nor the right". The former
presidential election, one investment banker hoping to
of the closest in recent become France's youngest post-
memory, came after a roller- war president was once

C
entrist Emmanuel Macron
and hard-right leader
Marine Le Pen will con-
test the May 7 runoff for the
French presidency, according
to early projections published
after first-round voting closed
yesterday.
Here is a snapshot of their
policy programmes:
Macron: Economic
'liberation'
Cut the corporation tax rate
from 33 percent to 25 percent
and give bosses more flexibil-
ity to negotiate working time
with staff at the company level
- Give all workers, includ-
ing the self-employed, access
to unemployment benefits
Accelerate integration in the
eurozone by giving it a central
parliament, finance minister
and budget. Organise demo-
cratic conventions in all EU
member states to discuss
reforming the bloc
Create tax incentives to
Introduce one month's oblig-
atory military service for all
18- to 21-year-olds
Le Pen: France first
Negotiate France's exit from
the eurozone and return to the
franc. Immediately suspend
membership of the European
passport-free Schengen area
and restore border controls.
Hold a "Frexit" referendum
after six months of negotiations
with Brussels.
Reduce legal immigration to
10,000 people per year, require
refugees seeking asylum in
France to apply in their home
region, hold a referendum on
reforms including introducing
a French-first policy on jobs
and housing
Impose a 35 percent tax on
products from companies that
offshore factory jobs
Lower the minimum retire-
ment age from 62 to 60.
Pull France out of NATO's
central command.
coaster campaign with multiple
twists and turns.
Here are seven key moments
that have defined the contest:
Primary upset
The first came in November
when 63-year-old former pre-
mier Francois Fillon pulled off a
come-from-behind victory in
the right-wing primary, defying
pollsters who had for months
predicted a win for Alain Juppe,
71. Fillon's upset was put down
to strong performances in TV
debates, as well as what was
then a scandal-free image com-
pared with Juppe and his other
key rival, former president Nico-
las Sarkozy.
Hollande ducks out
The spotlight quickly shifted
to turmoil on the left, which was
waiting impatiently for President
Francois Hollande to decide
whether to stand for re-election
despite disastrous approval rat-
ings. Hollande finally ducked out
An official counts votes yesterday.
on December 1.
Scandal hits Fillon
In mid-January, the race for
the presidency seemed to be a
duel between Fillon and anti-
immigration far-right leader
Marine Le Pen.
On January 25, the satirical
and investigative newspaper Le
Canard Enchaine dropped a
bombshell on Fillon and
"Penelopegate" was born.
Revelations that the former
prime minister had put his wife
Penelope on the public payroll
with very little work to show for
it would eventually lead to crim-
inal charges being brought
against Fillon for abuse of pub-
lic funds.
Socialists reject Valls
A new surprise was in store
as the ailing Socialists held their
primary contest in late January
which many analysts tipped pro-
business former prime minister
Manuel Valls to win.
Instead, 49-year-old Benoit
Hamon, a diehard leftist who
advocates a universal basic
income, trounced his former
boss in the two-round contest.
Macron breaks through
By early February, the
39-year-old Macron began
dismissed as a flash in the pan
but has gone on to consolidate
his status as the man to beat.
Leftist Melenchon surges
In the past three weeks,
Communist-backed Jean-Luc
Melenchon -- who has stead-
fastly refused to join forces with
Hamon to form a united front
for the left -- has surged in the
polls. The charismatic 65-year-
old, who has tapped into
widespread disillusionment with
the political class, has bounded
ahead after strong debate
appearances and quirky cam-
paign stunts such as the use of
holograms.
Terror strikes
Just as candidates were
making their final pitches to vot-
ers in a televised interview show
on Thursday evening, 39-year-
old Karim Cheurfi shot dead a
policeman on Paris's iconic
Champs Elysees before he him-
self was shot dead by police.
16 EUROPE MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017

Opinion poll
UK opposition lures voters with sops shows half
Britain can expect to Corbyn says he would of Britons
hear more promises
in the weeks before suspend Syria air strikes back May
the election, but with
London security and foreign policies, London
May way out ahead in Reuters saying he would look again AFP
the polls, it is unclear at Britains nuclear deterrent

T H
what impact they he leader of Britains and was against using alf of Britons back
will have. main opposition nuclear weapons. Prime Minister
Labour Party Jeremy His comments were Theresa May's Con-
Corbyn said yesterday he pounced upon by the Con- servatives ahead of a snap
could suspend British servatives, who said that general election in June,
London involvement in air strikes Corbyn posed a threat to according to a new opinion
Reuters against Syria if he was British security and was the poll published yesterday.
elected prime minister at a best reason for sticking Polling company ComRes,

M
ore holidays, a
burqa ban and an
end to hard Brexit
just some of the
policies Britains
opposition parties hope will pre-
vent an overwhelming election
victory by Conservative Prime
Minister Theresa May in June.
With some polls giving May a
more than 20 point lead before
the June 8 vote, the main oppo-
sition Labour Party pledged
yesterday to introduce four new
public holidays to try to unite a
country left deeply divided by the
Brexit vote.
The Liberal Democrats, who
were a distant fourth in the last
election, reiterated their message
that they were the only decent
opposition to a government it
says is pursuing a hard Brexit,
while the eurosceptic UK Inde-
pendence Party said it would ban
The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn,
speaks on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show in London, yesterday.
full veils worn by some Muslim
women.
The early election, which
stunned British politicians, could
redraw the political landscape
after Brexit exposed deep fault-
lines in Britain, with Scotland and
northern Ireland voting to remain
in the EU while England and
Wales supported an exit.
Some commentators see a
dominant Conservative Party
crushing left-leaning Labour - an
all but coronation of May, who
was appointed prime minister
shortly after Britain voted to leave
the EU in June last year, giving her
a free hand in the talks.
The four nations that make
up our great country have rarely
been more divided due to the
damaging and divisive policies
of this Conservative govern-
ment, Labour leader Jeremy
Corbyn said, announcing his plan
to add new national holidays for
the four patron saints of the Brit-
ish Isles.
His pitch was overshadowed
by his comments on suspending
Marathon
June 8 election.
The veteran peace cam-
paigner, whose Labour Party
is around 20 points behind
the ruling Conservatives in
opinion polls, set out his
position on a range of
air strikes on Syria, and offered
the Conservatives another
chance to air its election catch-
phrase that May is the only
chance for strong and stable
leadership.
The Liberal Democrats, the
only party to criticise Britains
departure from the EU, said
they would offer a second ref-
erendum on any Brexit deal,
while UKIP denied it had
tacked to the right with its pro-
posal to ban face veils.
Tim Farron, leader of the
Liberal Democrats, said voters
with the strong leadership
of (Prime Minister) Theresa
May. Corbyn told the BBCs
Andrew Marr Show that he
believed that the only solu-
tion in Syria is going to be a
political one.
would get a chance to reflect
on whether they like the (Brexit)
deal and to change the coun-
trys direction.
Britain can expect to hear
more promises in the weeks
before the election, but with
May way out ahead in the polls,
it is unclear what impact they
will have.
The Conservatives were
also seen making inroads in
Scotland, with pollster Surva-
tion saying they had opened up
a 10 percentage point lead over
the Scottish Labour Party.
which conducted the survey
for the Sunday Mirror tabloid,
said it was the first time the
Conservatives had reached
the symbolic 50 percent sup-
port mark since January 1991.
The online poll put the
Tories up four points on the
previous week, while the
main opposition Labour party
was unchanged on 25
percent.
The smaller centrist
opposition Liberal Demo-
crats, campaigning on a
pro-European ticket, were
unchanged on 11 percent.
Other surveys published
this weekend recorded a
smaller but still significant
lead for the Conservatives,
putting their support between
40 and 48 percent, with
Labour on between 25 and 29
percent.
With almost seven weeks
to go until the June 8 election,
however, ComRes chairman
Andrew Hawkins warned of

Russia hacked Danish participant

the risk that Conservatives'
supporters may become
complacent.

defence: Minister helps runner

Copenhagen Russian government, and it
Reuters is a constant battle to keep
them away, Frederiksen told
"That is a nice problem
for a party to have, but it is
nonetheless a particular chal-
London lenge in an election which
AP may well be marked by low
turnout and thus bring about

R A
ussia has hacked the
Danish defence and
gained access to
employees emails in 2015
and 2016, Nato member Den-
marks defence minister told
newspaper Berlingske
yesterday.
The report comes at a
time when several Western
governments, including the
United States, France and
Britain, have accused Russia
of resorting to hacking to
influence elections allega-
tions Moscow has repeatedly
dismissed as baseless.
A report from the Danish
the newspaper.
A spokeswoman from the
Danish Defence Ministry
confirmed that the minister
had been quoted correctly
but said he would give no
further comments for the
time being. Spokespeople at
the Kremlin were not avail-
able to comment yesterday.
Frederiksen told Berling-
ske the hacking had been
possible due to insufficient
security around emails with
non-classified material,
something that has since
been improved.
The group behind the
runner who carried an some unpredictable and pos-
exhausted fellow ath- sibly surprising individual
lete over the London constituency results," he said.
Marathon finishing line says May, who took office after
helping him to the end was the EU referendum last year,
more important than the race surprised Britain by calling a
time. snap vote on Tuesday, saying
Matthew Rees encoun- she wanted a mandate to take
tered the staggering racer as the country into Brexit.
the pair rounded the final
stretch in front of Bucking-
ham Palace yesterday. Boy dies in
To raucous cheers, the
29-year-old Rees put his karting crash
fatigued rival's arm around
his neck and hauled him to Madrid
the end of the 42.2km course. AFP
The pair then separated.

Defence Intelligence Serv-
ices unit for cyber security
said a foreign player had
spied against Danish author-
ities and gained access to
non-classified documents.
It did not name the coun-
try behind the espionage, but
Foreign Minister Claus Hjort
Frederiksen told Berlingske
it was Russia. It is linked to
the intelligence services or
central elements in the
attack went under the name
APT28 or Fancy Bear and
was one of two groups which
allegedly gained illegal
access to US democrats
emails last year, according to
Berlingske. Frederiksen said
in January that Denmark
plans to increase military
spending in response to Rus-
sian missile deployments in
the Baltic region that it per-
ceives as a threat.
"I took the final corner
thinking 'right, it's nearly done,
time to sprint', and I saw this
guy and his legs just crumbled
below him," Rees said. "I saw
him try to stand up again and
his legs just went down again,
and I thought, 'This is more
important, getting him across
the line is more important
than shaving a few seconds off
my time.' "He was really
grateful, but he wasn't very
coherent."
A
n 11-year-old boy died
yesterday from injuries
sustained during a
karting accident at two-time
Formula One world cham-
pion Fernando Alonso's track
in northern Spain, the Span-
ish racing federation said.
Spanish media said the
boy's kart crashed with
another kart and flipped over,
Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine trapping him underneath.
(right), Duchess of Cambridge, hand out water to a runner The federation said it was
during the 2017 London Marathon, yesterday. probing the accident.

Croatia honours victims of notorious WWII death camp

Jasenovac The camp, some 100km southeast association Franjo Habulin said. at Jasenovac, a group of anti-fascist
AFP of Zagreb, was run by the country's Nazi- Anti-fascists, ethnic Serbs and Jews activists displayed a large banner that
allied Ustasha regime which persecuted in particular are incensed by a plaque read "Remove the Ustasha Salute".

C
roatia honoured yesterday the vic-
tims of its most brutal World War
II death camp, an event again
snubbed by ethnic Serbs, Jews and anti-
fascists who accuse authorities of
tolerating a pro-Nazi ideology.
Conservative Prime Minister Andrej
Plenkovic, several ministers and foreign
diplomats attended a commemoration
ceremony at the site of the Jasenovac
camp which was dismantled 72 years
ago.
Letters by survivors of the camp
known as "Croatia's Auschwitz" a ref-
erence to the German World War II
death camp in Poland were read dur-
ing a ceremony that concluded with a
A memorial at Jasenovac
multi-denominational service and lay-
concentration camp, yesterday.
ing of wreaths.
and killed hundreds of thousands of eth-
nic Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist
Croatians.
But for a second straight year, rep-
resentatives of those groups boycotted
the official commemoration, denounc-
ing what they see as a resurgence of
pro-Ustasha sympathies and instead
organised their own separate events.
On Saturday, several thousand peo-
ple including survivors of the camp,
victims' relatives and foreign diplomats
attended a ceremony organised by anti-
fascists and ethnic Serbs.
"We cannot and will not accept the
reluctance of authorities regarding ...
the Ustasha regime's character and
(the) policy of non-reaction to its sym-
bols," the head of an anti-fascist
with a slogan unveiled at Jasenovac in
November.
It was created as a memorial by
former paramilitaries to honour fellow
fighters killed in the region at the start
of Croatia's independence war in the
1990s.
Jews in Croatia are to hold their sep-
arate commemoration today.
Plenkovic, who took power after
snap elections in October, has pledged
to move away from the climate of intol-
erance seen under his centre-right
predecessors.
But critics say his administration has
not done enough to tamp down extrem-
ism and expressions of nostalgia for the
country's pro-Nazi past.
During yesterday's ceremony
Meanwhile, Serbian Prime Minister
Aleksandar Vucic paid respect to the
camp's victims in neighbouring Bosnia
where part of the Jasenovac complex
was located.
"The killings were official and wel-
comed, it was a state crime," Vucic told
a gathering that included other Serbian
and Bosnian Serb officials, Serbian
Orthodox Church Patriarch Irinej and
camp survivors.
"We are witnessing attempts to res-
urrect the Ustasha ideology," Vucic said.
Jasenovac was the largest and most
notoriously brutal of Croatia's death
camps, where many inmates were killed
by hammers, knives and stones.
The total number of people killed
there remains disputed.

Airline apologises for onboard stroller spat
New York
AP
A
nother day, another
cellphone video of a
conflict on an aero-
plane. American
Airlines (AA) said it
grounded a flight attendant who
got into a verbal confrontation
with a passenger on a Friday
flight from San Francisco to Dal-
las-Fort Worth.
Spokeswoman Leslie Scott
says the airline is looking into
whether the male flight attend-
ant violently took away a stroller
from the female passenger just
before she boarded a Friday
flight from San Francisco to Dal-
las. He has been removed from
duty in the meantime.
In an age of cellphone vid-
eos and social media, airlines are
learning the hard way that it is
essential to deescalate tense sit-
uations that occur during air
travel, even as there are more
passengers, less room and fewer
flight attendants than ever
before.
The incident comes less than
two weeks after video of a man
being violently dragged off a
United Express flight sparked
widespread outrage.
United initially blamed its
Obama re-emerges in Chicago where it all began
Chicago
Reuters
F
ormer US president Barack
Obama made his first
major appearance since
leaving office, having chosen
Chicago, the city where his polit-
ical career started, to emerge
from a three-month hiatus from
the public eye.
Obama aims to meet youth
leaders and promote commu-
nity organizing near the same
South Side neighborhoods where
his own activism blossomed and
propelled him to two terms in
the White House that ended with
Donald Trumps inauguration on
January 20.
Chicago Mayor Rahm
Emanuel, who served as
Obamas first White House chief
of staff, said that he was proud
that Obama picked Chicago to
Sculpting a future
A Cuban yawns as he leans on a monument in a street
of Havana. In Raul Castro's Cuba it seems time stood
still in the sixties. The reforms undertaken a decade ago
changed the Cuban scene without imposing a new rhythm
on the island.
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
Opens investigation
In an age of
cellphone videos and
social media, airlines
are learning the hard
way that it is
essential to
deescalate tense
situations that occur
during air travel.
Smartphone cameras
and social media are
shifting power to
consumers who can
share customer
relations gaffes with
the world.
passenger, Dr David Dao, before
finally apologizing days after the
incident, fanning the publics
fury. American, by contrast,
seems to have learned from Unit-
eds mistakes: It immediately
said it was sorry, that it had
grounded the flight attendant
while it investigates the incident,
and that it had upgraded the pas-
senger involved and her family
to first class.
American doesnt want to
become the next United, but
then, United didnt want to
make his last speech as presi-
dent and the first in his
post-presidency.
I think it reflects his emo-
tional, as well as his intellectual,
commitment to this city and see-
ing this city as his home, he said.
Obamas continued connec-
tion to Chicago is important to
the city, which has global aspi-
rations as well as a palpable
insecurity about its place in the
world. During the last year of
Obamas second term, Chicago
laid claim to its share of his leg-
acy by beating out Hawaii and
New York as the site of his pres-
idential library.
Obama, who still owns a
home in Chicago, was raised in
Hawaii. The former president
and his wife Michelle are
expected to move from Wash-
ington to New York once their
younger daughter, Sasha, grad-
become the next United, said
Henry Harteveldt, travel indus-
try analyst at Atmosphere
Research Group. No airline
wants to be seen as being anti-
consumer or anti-passenger.
Smartphone cameras and
social media are shifting power
to consumers who can share cus-
tomer relations gaffes with the
world. Theyre increasingly mak-
ing confrontations with
customer-facing staff headline
news, making it harder for com-
panies to sweep complaints
under the rug. The faster com-
panies own up to mistakes, the
quicker they can start to do dam-
age control.
Americans fast reaction to
the incident could be helpful,
said brand consultant Allen
Adamson, CEO of BrandSimple.
The quick reaction will prevent
it from escalating further, but it
wont mitigate the perception
among flyers that flying is
becoming a less enjoyable expe-
rience every day, he said.
Overall, airlines must start to
put more of an emphasis on cus-
tomer service, he said. Its
another example of airlines
struggling to treat their passen-
gers with the traditional
customer is always right atti-
tude, he said. Good customer
uates from high school.
David Axelrod, a former top
political adviser to Obama, said
the decision to house the library
in Chicago should have eased
any concerns that its residents
may have had about the former
Democratic presidents commit-
ment to the city.
But Mondays event, he said,
is another important sign of the
former presidents strong links
to Chicago.
Hes going to be more visi-
ble moving forward, he said. I
think this is clearly a
coming-out.
Reverend Michael Pfleger, a
social justice activist who heads
a large South Side Roman Cath-
olic church, said a prominent
Obama presence could help the
nations third-largest city con-
front some of the thorny
problems it faces.
Ignore Trump on
climate: Bloomberg
New York
AP
N
ew York billionaire
Michael Bloomberg urged
world leaders not to fol-
low President Donald Trumps
lead on climate change and
declared his intention to help
save an international agreement
to reduce carbon emissions.
Bloomberg, who considered
a presidential bid after serving
three terms as New York Citys
mayor, addressed his intensi-
fying focus on climate change
in an interview with The Asso-
ciated Press. He said there was
no political motive tied to last
weeks release of his new book,
Climate of Hope: How Cities,
Businesses, and Citizens Can
Save the Planet, co-authored
by Sierra Club executive direc-
tor Carl Pope.
Im not running for office,
the 75-year-old Bloomberg
said. Instead of helping to re-
ignite his political career, he
said the new book offered a
specific policy objective: To
help save an international
agreement, negotiated in Paris,
to reduce global carbon emis-
sions. The Trump
administration is debating
whether to abandon the pact as
the president promised during
American Airlines aircrafts at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.
service is finding a way to dees-
calate a situation and he (the
flight attendant) was throwing
petrol on it.
Days after Dao was dragged
off the United Express flight from
Chicago to Kentucky to make
room for airline crew, his law-
yer spent a good part of a news
conference railing against what
he said was the industry-wide
shabby treatment of airline pas-
sengers. Dao lost teeth, suffered
a broken nose and received a
concussion in the incident, which
also was captured on video.
In the case of the American
Chief among them is a spike
in gun violence, an issue that
Trump has highlighted as a sign
of lawlessness and the failure of
the Democratic politicians who
have long run Chicago.
Its his life, and hes not in
elected office right now, so he
can do what he wants, Pfleger
said. But Id love to see him
engage in his home of Chicago.
He could make a huge
difference.
Civil Rights activist Jesse
Jackson said Obama could use
his powerful platform to address
stark inequalities in Chicago
schools, housing and employ-
ment, and to advocate for
reinvestment in blighted
neighborhoods.
The event takes place on the
South Side campus of the Uni-
versity of Chicago, where Obama
once taught constitutional law.
his campaign. Under the agree-
ment, the U.S. pledged that by
2025 it would reduce its annual
greenhouse gas emissions by
26 to 28 percent below 2005
levels, which would be a reduc-
tion of about 1.6 billion tons.
Bloomberg said he believed
the U.S. would hit that goal
regardless of what Trump does
because of leadership at the
state level and market forces
already at play in the private
sector.
Washington wont deter-
mine the fate of our ability to
meet our Paris commitment,
he said in an email Saturday to
the AP. And what a tragedy it
would be if the failure to under-
stand that led to an unraveling
of the agreement. We hope this
book will help to correct that
wrong impression and help
save the Paris deal.
Bloomberg already plays a
significant role in shaping some
of the nations fiercest policy
debates, having invested mil-
lions of dollars in one advocacy
group that pushes for stronger
gun control and another that
promotes liberal immigration
policies. In the new book, which
follows what a spokeswoman
described as $80 million in
donations to the Sierra Club in
recent years.
AMERICAS 17
it away from the woman. Mor-
gan, an executive with an
education-related nonprofit, said
when she complained about the
womans treatment, the flight
attendant pointed his finger in
her face and yelled, You stay out
of it.
Traveling is stressful under
any circumstance, and conflict
resolution training is an essen-
tial part of being a flight
attendant, Harteveldt said.
If airlines arent going to
improve staffing or restore leg
room for customers, they should
at least provide flight attendants
with better, more relevant train-
ing about how to handle these
types of situations, he said.
flight on Friday, a video that pas- At the same time, passengers
senger Surain Adyanthaya posted should also be respectful of flight
on Facebook shows the sobbing attendants who often work
woman holding a small child and long hours on multiple flights
saying, You cant use violence as well, he said.
with baby. A union that represents
Later, an unidentified male American Airlines flight attend-
passenger confronts the flight ants said in a statement that not
attendant, telling him, You do all of the facts are known about
that to me and Ill knock you flat. the incident so there shouldnt
The flight attendant responds be a rush to judgment. If a pas-
with, Hit me. Bring it on. senger threatened a flight
Another passenger on the attendant, that would be a vio-
flight, Olivia Morgan, told the lation of federal law, said Bob
New York Times that the flight Ross, president of The Associa-
attendant nearly hit the baby tion of Professional Flight
with the stroller when he jerked Attendants.
NEWS BYTES
Two Mexico drug traffickers
shot dead near US border
MEXICO CITY: Two top drug traffickers have been killed
in pre-dawn shootouts on Saturday with federal forces in
the northern Mexico border state of Tamaulipas, authorities
reported. The Tamaulipas security spokesmans office said
the men were killed in separate confrontations, which left
highways littered with burned-out vehicles. Julian Loisa Sali-
nas, better known as Comandante Toro and also known as
Juan Manuel Loisa Salinas, was killed in a clash with marines
in Reynosa, a city across the border from McAllen, Texas.
Loisa Salinas reportedly was the Gulf cartels local leader in
Reynosa. Authorities had tried to capture him a number of
times, leading to gunbattles with his gang. In early April, two
US citizens were reported wounded in one such gunfight. On
Saturday, photos showed burned-out cars, trucks and buses
littering streets in Reynosa. State authorities said his support-
ers had set fires and tried to block roads in an unsuccessful
effort to help him escape.
Sessions praises NYPD after
soft on crime controversy
NEW YORK: US Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the New
York Police Department has developed some of the best
policing techniques ever and should be studied, just days after
the Justice Department chastised New York City for a soft
on crime stance. The Republican Sessions said yesterday on
ABCs This Week that the Justice Department statement was
in reference to the citys so-called sanctuary city policy that
limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities, but
praised the citys law enforcement for efforts to make the city
safer. City officials had strongly criticized the statement, with
NYPD Commissioner James ONeill saying that it was abso-
lutely ludicrous and noting that violent crime is continuing
to fall and the number of shootings last year was the lowest
since records began being kept.
Two groups arrested in
Coachella cellphone thefts
INDIO: Police have arrested five people in the theft of more
than 40 cellphones, cash and credit cards at the Coachella
music festival in the Southern California desert. Indio police
say multiple festival-goers reported the thefts, and investi-
gators identified two separate groups of suspects who had
multiple phones on them Saturday. The Desert Sun reported
that five people were booked into Riverside County jail on
theft and conspiracy charges. Police believe two women,
35-year-old Angela Trivino of New York City and 38-year-old
Viviana Hernandez of Los Angeles, were working together.
Six bodies found buried in ditch
outside Mexicos Acapulco
ACAPULCO: The remains of at least six bodies were found in
a ditch on Saturday just outside the seaside resort of Acapulco
in Guerrero, Mexicos bloodiest state, an official said. The bod-
ies had been buried between 5 and 20 days ago in a ditch that
fed rain water into one of Acapulcos main bays, according
to Acapulco prosecutor Ricardo Quevedo. Sparsely popu-
lated Guerrero has led the nation in firearm killings for most
of the past six years as heroin production for the US market
has spiked in an area that is being fought over by a growing
number of drug gangs. Violence has also been fed by turf wars
over the distribution of drugs like cocaine and methamphet-
amine in cities like Acapulco.
18 AMERICAS
More Venezuelans
struggling in the US
Miami
AP
P
eople crowd outside a
church near Miamis
international airport,
chatting about family
and friends left behind
in Caracas, Valencia and Marac-
aibo as they wait more than an
hour to receive rice, beans,
yogurt and other food for their
families.
At a storage space not far
away, about 60 other Venezue-
lans line up for free sheets,
towels, cookware and other
goods donated to help them get
on their feet in their new
country.
Volunteers at South Florida
social service organisations say
they have seen an increasing
number of Venezuelan seeking
help. Its a reflection of the dete-
riorating situation in Venezuela,
where the opposition has held
massive protests against Presi-
dent Nicolas Maduro for his
handling of the economy and a
Supreme Court decision that
briefly stripped the opposition-
led congress of most of its power.
I never thought I would
need to receive food but the time
has come and I dont have a
Sweet Quinoa
An Aymara woman shows food and drinks made with
quinoa during the sweet quinoa promotion at the Canaviri
district in La Paz, Bolivia, yesterday.
Hillary makes surprise appearance at Tribeca Fest
New York
AP
T
he premiere of a virtual
reality short by Oscar-win-
ning director Kathryn
Bigelow was already a high-pro-
file event at the Tribeca Film
Festival on Saturday night. And
then Hillary Clinton walked
onstage.
Clinton was an unannounced
panelist, there to discuss the
scourge of elephant poaching
the subject of Bigelows
eight-minute film The Protec-
tors: Walk in the Rangers Shoes,
about park rangers trying to save
elephants in Garamba National
Park in the Democratic Repub-
Stressed out
Volunteers at South
Florida social service
organisations say
they have seen an
increasing number of
Venezuelan seeking
help.
Venezuelan economy
is now in freefall due
to a plunge oil prices.
choice, said 26-year-old Ven-
ezuelan lawyer Alejandra Mujica,
who was among about 80 peo-
ple waiting outside Our Lady of
Guadalupe Catholic church one
recent afternoon.
Venezuela was once among
Latin Americas most prosper-
ous countries, with the worlds
largest proven oil reserves. Dur-
ing good times, Venezuelans who
came to the United States largely
did so as tourists or to go
shopping.
But the Venezuelan economy
is now in freefall due to a plunge
oil prices and poor economic
planning under the socialist gov-
ernment created by the late
President Hugo Chavez, who
lic of the Congo.
She spoke about her work to
save elephants from poachers
slaughtering them for their ivory
tusks, both as secretary of state
in the Obama administration,
and later with her family foun-
dation, the Clinton Global
Initiative.
Weve got to bust this mar-
ket so it cant come back, she
said of the illegal ivory market.
Before Clinton and the three
other panelists were interviewed
by Bigelow, the audience donned
virtual reality headsets at their
seats and experienced in 360
degrees what its like to be one
of the 200 rangers fighting well-
armed poachers in the park the
took office in 1999, and contin-
ued under his successor, Maduro.
The situation has grown worse
because of capital flight and a
crime rate that is among the
highest in the world.
Venezuelas economy shrank
18 percent in 2016 and is
expected to contract another 8
percent this year. It has the high-
est inflation of any country and
its people scrounge for basic
necessities.
About 18,000 Venezuelans
applied for political asylum in the
U.S in 2016, the largest group by
nationality and more than dou-
ble the 7,300 applications
Venezuelans filed in 2015. Many
of them are expected to be
denied.
The Venezuelans who came
to United States during the
Chavez years tended to be
wealthier, often members of the
elite whose businesses had been
seized in expropriations or
whose economic clout was per-
ceived as a threat. In the US, they
often obtained legal residency
with investment visas, opening
enterprises in South Florida,
where most have settled.
Many of the Venezuelans
now seeking food and other
assistance in South Florida were
California moves toward
resuming executions
Sacramento
AP
C P
alifornia has long been
what one expert calls a
symbolic death penalty
state, one of 12 that has capital
punishment on the books but
has not executed anyone in
more than a decade.
Prodded by voters and law-
suits, the nations most populous
state may now be easing back
toward allowing executions,
though observers are split on
how quickly they will resume,
if at all. Corrections officials
expect to meet a Wednesday
deadline to submit revised lethal
injection rules to state regula-
tors, trying again with technical
changes after the first attempt
was rejected in December.
The California Supreme
Court, meanwhile, is expected
to rule by August on challenges
to a ballot initiative narrowly
approved by voters in Novem-
ber that would speed up
executions by reducing the time
allowed for appeals.
Still, it is a far cry from the
situation in Arkansas, which
carried out its first execution
size of Delaware. The film gives
the viewer both the experience
of being in the grass and search-
ing for poachers, and up in the
air looking down. A wrenching
scene shows the rangers arriv-
ing at the carcass of a slaughtered
elephant.
I realized that there was an
intersection between poaching
and terrorism, which led me to
this project, Bigelow said. The
director of The Hurt Locker
and Zero Dark Thirty directed
the short along with Imraan
Ismail, a virtual-reality veteran,
who also was on Saturdays kind of terroristic activity that
panel. Theyre outmanned and these and other groups were
outgunned and theyre putting
themselves in the line of fire,
People watch as police officers work in a looted bakery at El Valle neighbourhood, in Caracas,
after demonstrations against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro yesterday.
once middle class professionals
who decide they could no longer
tolerate increasing misery, crime,
food shortages and lack of med-
ical care in their homeland.
Venezuela has become unli-
vable, said Javier Corrales, a
Venezuelan professor of Latin
American studies at Amherst
College in Massachusetts. Mujica,
the young lawyer seeking help
at the church, said she barely
survived back in the city of
Valencia, waiting in two-day
lines to buy whatever was avail-
able in the supermarket. After
she was robbed of her phone at
gunpoint, she and her husband
decided to flee in September with
since 2005 last week after try-
ing to put eight inmates to death
this month in an unprecedented
series of double executions.
Courts have blocked three of
them. Legal rulings have put at
least one other in doubt.
California could come close
to resuming executions in the
next year, said law professor
Robert Weisberg, co-director of
the Stanford Criminal Justice
Center, though others say too
many variables and challenges
remain to make a prediction.
California has by far the
nations largest death row with
nearly 750 inmates, about dou-
ble that of No. 2 Florida.
The states proposed lethal
injection regulations are pat-
terned after a single-drug
process that already passed
muster with the U.S. Supreme
Court, Weisberg said.
Corrections officials submit-
ted the regulations only after they
were forced to act by a judges
ruling on behalf of crime victims
angered at the states three-year
delay. But the regulations replac-
ing Californias old three-drug
method are likely to be approved
at some point, Weisberg said.
Deborah Denno, a professor at
Ismail said of the rangers.
Clinton told the audience that
she first became focused on what
she called the horrific slaugh-
ter of elephants when she was
secretary of state.
It became clear to everyone
that this was not just a terrible
crisis when it came to the ele-
phant population, it was a trade,
a trafficking that was funding a
lot of bad folks, a lot of bad
actors, she said.
It was being used to take understanding the intricate rela-
ivory and sell it in order to buy
more weapons, and support the
ularly large mammals like
elephants, who have a role to
engaged in.
Clinton noted that while
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
savings of $3,500 and not much
else. There was no way to go
on, she said.
At the storage space, 29-year-
old Carmen Elena Rodriguez also
found herself in unfamiliar terri-
tory. She earned a masters
degree in education in Caracas
and now sells drinks at a farmers
market to support herself. Its not
easy what we are going through,
but this assistance makes the road
a little easier, she said as she
picked up donated dishes, a lamp
and other items.
Often the economic and
political motivations Venezue-
lans give for leaving their
homeland are hard to separate.
Fordham University School of
Law and an expert on lethal
injections, was among those who
said recent revisions to the states
proposed regulations still dont
cure underlying problems that
can lead to botched executions.
For instance, the proposed
rules now give executioners 10
minutes to administer each round
of lethal drugs. The first batch is
supposed to kill, but if that initial
dose doesnt work, executioners
would administer four more sim-
ilar doses, each with a 10-minute
countdown clock to make sure
the process doesnt drag on for
hours as critics said was a possi-
bility under the original rules. If
the inmate is still alive after five
massive doses, the San Quentin
Warden shall stop the execution
and summon medical assistance
for the inmate.
The regulations still call for
letting the warden at San Quentin
State Prison pick from among four
powerful barbiturates amobar-
bital, pentobarbital, secobarbital
or thiopental depending on
which one is available as manu-
facturers try to limit the use of
their drugs for executions. Inmates
could also choose to die in the gas
chamber.
China was the biggest market for
illegal ivory, the United States
was the second-biggest. So
China is going to be a key player
but we are, too, she said.
The former Democratic
presidential candidate noted
that Saturday was Earth Day,
and we are marching on behalf
of science, referring to marches
throughout the US on
Saturday.
And part of science is
tionships that we share with all
those on this planet and partic-
play both in reality and in our
imaginations, she said.
Andreina Molina, 34, said she
and her husband sold their elec-
tronics store and moved to the
US last year in part because of
the economic deprivation and
the crime, but also because she
belonged to an opposition party
and had been threatened for par-
ticipating in anti-government
marches.
I came because of the inse-
curity, because of the political
persecution, the lack of food and
for my kids, she said.
They spent their $10,000 in
savings on the birth of a baby and
other medical care. Her husband
now drives a tow truck and she
sells homemade pastries.
Temer vows
Brazil will
survive graft
scandal
Braslia
AFP
resident Michel Temer
insists that a growing
corruption scandal in
his government will not par-
alyse Brazil as it struggles to
emerge from its deepest
recession in history.
Brazil doesnt stop, he
said in an interview broadcast
Saturday on Spanish televi-
sion TVE ahead of a visit
Monday by Spains Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy. So
it wont be corrupt acts that
paralyze the country.
Temerwho is alleged to
have chaired a meeting where
the corruption-riddled engi-
neering giant Odebrecht
agreed to pay a huge bribe to
his PMDB partysaid the accu-
sations were unfortunate.
However, he took pains to
voice support for the investi-
gative judge, Sergio Moro,
who is leading the massive
probe known as Car Wash.
Moro is fulfilling his role,
Temer said, adding that he
would avoid criticising a wave
of new investigations because
it could be construed as want-
ing to shut down Car Wash.
Eight of Temers ministers
were placed under investiga-
tion last week for alleged
participation in a sprawling
embezzlement and bribery net-
work in which Odebrecht and
other companies paid politi-
cians to get them contracts with
the state oil company Petro-
bras. A third of the Senate and
39 lower house deputies were
also singled out for probes.
The developments are
complicating Temers push for
Congress to approve far
reaching austerity reforms,
including a shrinking of the
countrys hugely expensive
pension system. The scandal
has also contributed to inves-
tor nerves. One of the worlds
biggest emerging markets,
Brazil is forecast to exit a
more than two-year recession
this year, although only just.

Trump at 100 days: Its a different kind of presidency
Washington
AP
F
or nearly 100 days,
President Donald
Trump (pictured) has
rattled Washington and
been chastened by its
institutions. Hes startled world
leaders with his unpredictabil-
ity and tough talk, but won their
praise for a surprise strike on
Syria. Hes endured the steady
drip of investigations and a
seemingly endless churn of pub-
lic personnel drama.
Its a different kind of a
presidency, Trump said in an
Oval Office interview with The
Associated Press, an hour-long
conversation as he approached
Saturdays key presidential
benchmark.
Trump, who campaigned on
a promise of instant disruption,
indirectly acknowledged that
change doesnt come quickly to
Washington. He showed signs
that he feels the weight of the
office, discussing the heart
required to do the job. Although
he retained his signature bravado
and a salesmans confidence in
his upward trajectory, he dis-
played an awareness that many
of his own lofty expectations for
his first 100 days in office have
not been met.
Its an artificial barrier. Its
not very meaningful, he said.
President heads into tough week
with budget & health care battles
Washington
AP
P
resident Donald Trump
heads into one of his most
challenging weeks, juggling
a renewed health care push and
a looming budget deadline, and
readying for a potential show-
down with Democrats over
paying for a border wall.
The symbolic 100-day mark
for the administration is Satur-
day the same day government
could shut down without a
budget deal. Trump has
announced a rally in Pennsylva-
nia that day. Aides stressed on
talk shows yesterday that fund-
ing a wall along the U.S.-Mexican
border and a vote on an effort to
repeal and replace President
Barack Obamas health care law
were priorities. But they also
expressed optimism that a shut-
down could be avoided.
I dont think anyone fore-
sees or expects or would want a
shutdown, said budget director
Mick Mulvaney on Fox News
Sunday.
Trump would like to revive
a failed effort by House Repub-
licans to replace the Affordable
Care Act, or Obamacare. He
also hopes to use a $1 trillion
Painful past
Members of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo human rights
organisations and thousands of demonstrators in a gathering to commemorate the 41st
anniversary of the 1976 coup. The Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo organisation announced
the nd of the 122nd grandson abducted during the dictatorship in Argentina, yesterday.
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
Report card
Since taking office
on January 20,
Trump's approval
rating has hovered
around 40 percent in
most polls.
Stylistically, Trump
remains much the
same as during the
campaign.
Trump waffled on whether he
should be held accountable for
the 100-day plan he outlined
with great fanfare in his cam-
paigns closing days, suggesting
his Contract with the American
Voter wasnt really his idea to
begin with.
Somebody put out the con-
cept of a 100-day plan, he said.
One hundred days are just a frac-
tion of a presidents tenure, and
no president has quite matched
the achievements of Franklin D.
Roosevelt, who set the standard
by which all are now judged.
A deeply divisive figure, he
lost the popular vote to Demo-
crat Hillary Clinton and had one
of the narrower Electoral Col-
lege victories in history. Since
taking office on January 20, his
approval rating has hovered
catchall spending bill to salvage
victories on his promised U.S.-
Mexico border wall, a
multibillion-dollar down pay-
ment on a Pentagon buildup, and
perhaps a crackdown on cities
that refuse to cooperate with
immigration enforcement by
federal authorities.
But so far, negotiations have
proven difficult, with disputes
over the border wall and health
law subsidies to help low-income
people afford health insurance.
House members received little
information from leaders on a
conference call Saturday. A one-
or two-week extension might be
needed to prevent a shutdown.
White House chief of staff
Reince Priebus said on NBCs
Meet the Press that he believes
the spending bill will include
something satisfactory to
reflect Trumps desire to build a
wall. The legislation would keep
the government running through
Sept. 30, the end of the budget
year.
We expect the priorities of
the president to be reflected,
Priebus said, citing ongoing talks
with the House and the Senate.
He added that itll be enough ...
to move forward either with con-
struction or the planning, enough
around 40 percent in most polls.
Trumps early presidency has
been dogged by FBI and congres-
sional investigations into
whether his campaign coordi-
nated with Russians to tilt the
race in his favor. Its a persistent
distraction that Trump would not
discuss on the record.
Furthermore, his three
months-plus in office have
amounted to a swift education
in a world wholly unfamiliar to
a 70-year-old who spent his
career in real estate and reality
television. For his example, his
two disputed travel ban execu-
tive orders are languishing,
blocked by federal judges.
On Capitol Hill, majority
Republicans muscled through
for us to move forward through
the end of September, to get
going on the border wall and
border security.
House Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi of California
described a border wall as
immoral and expensive when
asked if there was any scenario
in which Democrats will agree
to money for a wall to avoid a
shutdown.
Democrats do not support the
wall, she said, speaking also on
NBC. Republicans on the border
states do not support the wall.
The Republicans have the
votes in the House and the Sen-
ate and the White House to keep
government open. The burden
to keep it open is on the Repub-
licans, Pelosi said. She noted
that when Trump promised to
build a wall during his campaign,
he never indicated he would
pass billions of dollars of cost of
the wall onto the taxpayer.
On Obamas health law, Prie-
bus said hed like to have a vote
on the GOP replacement bill in
the House this coming week. But
he insisted it didnt make too
much difference to the White
House whether the vote came
next Friday or Saturday or Mon-
day. Its a marathon, not a
Trumps nominee for the
Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gor-
such, but had to blow up
long-standing Senate rules to do
so. Then there was the legisla-
tive debacle when Trumps own
party couldnt come together to
fulfill its long-sought promise of
repealing President Barack
Obamas health care law.
H W Brands, a history pro-
fessor at the University of Texas
at Austin, said Trump is learning
that the world is the way it is for
a whole bunch of complicated
reasons. And changing the guy
at the top doesnt change the
world. Trump wont concede
that point. But he acknowledged
that being commander in chief
brings with it a human
Protesters demonstrate against President Donald Trump and his plans to end Obamacare
outside the White House in Washington.
sprint, he said.
Trump tweeted a warning at
Democrats on Sunday, saying:
ObamaCare is in serious trou- principles, some guidance, also
ble. The Dems need big money
to keep it going - otherwise it
dies far sooner than anyone
would have thought.
Trump is also planning to
outline a tax cut plan on Wednes-
day. He told The Associated Press
on Friday that it would include
a massive tax cut for both indi- is eager to tout progress on the
Police block farmers protest
against Nicaragua canal
Juigalpa
AFP
P
olice in Nicaragua blocked
thousands of farmers and
rural residents from hold-
ing a march against a
government plan to build a canal
across the country, potentially
carving up their land.
They are closing off all the
roads. Its pitiful whats happen-
ing in Nicaragua, said one of the
leaders of the demonstration,
Francisca Ramirez.
Police preventing buses and
trucks carrying protesters from
converging in the town of
Juigalpa, east of the capital Man-
agua, said the demonstration
was illegal.
AMERICAS
responsibility that he didnt
much bother with in business,
requiring him to think through
the consequences his decisions
have on people and not simply
the financial implications for his
companys bottom line.
When it came time to, as an
example, send out the 59 mis-
siles, the Tomahawks in Syria,
Trump said of his decision to
strike a Syrian air base in retal-
iation for a chemical weapons
attack. Im saying to myself,
You know, this is more than just
like 79 (sic) missiles. This is death
thats involved because people
could have been killed. This is
risk thats involved.
Here, everything, pretty
much everything you do in gov-
ernment involves heart, whereas
in business most things dont
involve heart, he said. In fact,
in business youre actually bet-
ter off without it.
As for accomplishments,
Trump cited tremendous suc-
cess on an undefined strategy
for defeating the Islamic State
group. He promised a tax over-
haul plan that would give
Americans a tax cut bigger than
any tax cut ever.
A man accustomed to wealth
and its trappings, Trump has
embraced life in the Executive
Mansion, often regaling guests
with trivia about the historic
decor. With the push of a red
viduals and corporations.
On Fox, Mulvaney said to
expect some specific governing
some indication on what the
rates are going to be. He added:
I dont think anybody expects
us to roll out bill language on
Wednesday.
Speaking to the AP, Trump
dismissed 100-day markers as
artificial. Still, his White House
A police statement said
officers faced down groups of
people behaving with hostility,
armed with clubs, machetes,
rocks and firearms.
A lawyer for the protesters,
Monica Lopez, said 20 of them
were temporarily detained, but
police did not confirm that.
The farmers are angry that
President Daniel Ortega in 2013
organized for a Chinese consor-
tium, HKND, to build the $50
billion canal in return for a con-
cession to run it for at least 50
years.
Ortega: thief, traitor, sell-
ing our country, yelled the
protesters. Im afraid they will
take my land away, said one of
them, Adolfo Jarquin, 56, who
19
button placed on the Resolute
Desk that presidents have used
for decades, a White House but-
ler soon arrived with a Coke for
the president.
Its too soon to say whether
the presidency has changed
Trump in substantive ways. Hes
backpedaled on an array of
issues in recent weeks, includ-
ing his critiques of Nato and his
threats to label China a currency
manipulator. But his self-pro-
claimed flexibility means he
could move back to where he
started just as quickly.
Stylistically, Trump remains
much the same as during the
campaign. He fires off tweets at
odd hours of the morning and
night, sending Washington into a
stir with just a few words. Trump
still litigates the presidential cam-
paign, mentioning multiple times
during the interview how diffi-
cult it is for a Republican
presidential nominee to win the
Electoral College.
For the moment, Trump
seems to have clamped down on
the infighting and rivalries among
his top White House staffers that
have spilled into the press and
created a sense of paranoia in the
West Wing. He praised his
national security team in partic-
ular and said his political team in
the White House doesnt get the
credit it deserves for their work
in a high-pressure setting.
litany of agenda items he prom-
ised to fulfill in his first 100 days,
despite setbacks including court
bans on his proposed immigra-
tion limits and the high-profile
failure in repealing and replac-
ing Obamas health law.
The president said Friday he
spent his first 100 days laying the
foundation for progress later
in his administration, including
by building relationships with
foreign leaders.
owns more than 100 hectares.
Many of them have found it
impossible to obtain bank loans,
and municipal works along the
canals path have come to a
standstill, Ramirez said.
An opposition politician at
the protest, Henry Ruiz, said the
canal was an unconditional
handover of Nicaraguan land.
The plan calls for between
30,000 and 120,000 rural
inhabitants along its 276km
length to be displaced and land
to be expropriated.
The canal is meant to rival
the century-old Panama Canal.
Thus far there has been no exca-
vation, however, despite HKND
saying it was meant to start at
the end of last year.
20 HOME
PRAYER TIMINGS
FAJR
SHOROOK
03.44 am
05.03 am
Ezdan Real Estate introduces new app
ZUHR 11.32 am MAGHRIB 06.03 pm
ASR 03.01 pm ISHA 07.33 pm
WEATHER TODAY
26oC 39oC
Minimum Maximum
The Peninsula
E
zdan Real Estate Company,
a subsidiary of Ezdan Hold-
ing Group, has launched the
Ezdan EDC - My Book, a
smartphone application that
enables customers to enjoy free offers
in more than 300 commercial outlets
such as hotels, restaurants, cafes and
fitness centres, among others.
Customers can enjoy these serv-
ices through few clicks, by
downloading the App through Apple
Hazy at places at rst becomes hot
Store or Google Play.
daytime with slight dust.
This initiative aims to boost Ezdan
HIGH TIDE 03:00 - 16:00 LOW TIDE 09:45 - 21:30
Real Estate's customers services, by
Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department offering 900 buy-one-get-one-free
vouchers in a variety of products,
LATEST NEWS including food & drinks, beauty & spa,
pleasure & leisure, services & retails
UPDATE and health & fitness.
Customers Care Team in Sakin
www.thepeninsulaqatar.com centres, Doha and Al Wukair, are to
make the application available to the
'Ezdan EDC - My Book' is
a smartphone app that
enables customers to
enjoy free offers in more
than 300 outlets such
as hotels, restaurants,
cafes and tness centres,
among others. Customers
can enjoy these services
through few clicks, by
downloading the App
through Apple Store or
Google Play.
new customers of Ezdan Real Estate
Company.
On the launch of the Ezdan EDC -
My Book app, Acting General Manager
of Ezdan Real Estate, Omar Al Yafei,
said: "The launch of the Ezdan EDC
MONDAY 24 APRIL 2017
- My Book App stems from our close
attention we pay to our customers'
needs to provide them with cutting
edge services and opportunities, which
make Ezdan Real Estate unique in its
field.
He added: "The exceptional serv-
ices we offer to our customers reflect
our commitment to providing modern
lifestyle for the tenants of our residen-
tial compounds, which we were keen
to equip with all necessary services and
facilities, including but not limited to
playgrounds, gyms, swimming pools,
mosques and supermarkets, as well as
24-hour maintenance and security
services. We seek to enhance commu-
nication channels with our esteemed
customers to ensure their comfort and
convenience."
"It is in fact the first of its kind
move for a real estate company in
Qatar, and is an added value to the
other communication services we pro-
vide, such as Ezdan WhatsApp, Sakin
centre in Doha and Al Wakrah, which
provides leasing and contracting serv-
ices. In addition, our social media
pages and e-mail, and Ezdan Customer
Services Call Center have attained
record achievement in terms of inter-
action with customer requests and
inquiries, he said.
Al Yafei further explained: Ezdan
Real Estate is preparing to launch a
range of other smart phone applica-
tions, as part of an integrated plan for
the optimal use of modern technolo-
gies, within the framework of
expanding ERE customers base, as well
as raising their level of satisfaction.
Ezdan Real Estate Company has
earlier initiated Ezdan Discount Card
Program (EDC), which allows Ezdan
customers and tenants to enjoy dis-
counts on a variety of products from
100 destinations, including restaurants,
hotels, shops, training services, Hajj
and Umrah, health care, beauty cen-
tres, insurance services and others.