Volume 24 | Number 7925 | 2 RiyalsMonday 17 June 2019 | 14 Shawwal 1440 www.thepeninsula.qa

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BUSINESS | 13 SPORT | 18

Clinical India crush rivals Pakistan at World Cup

Two permanent vegetable markets to open soonSANAULLAH ATAULLAH THE PENINSULA

The Ministry of Municipality and Environment represented by the Agricultural Affairs Department will open two air-conditioned farmers’ markets in Al Mazrouh and Al Wakra during forth-coming agricultural season. These markets, which will sell locally grown fresh vegetables, will remain open throughout the year, unlike current seasonal markets which operate only during the winter.

“The new facilities, the per-manent farmers’ markets will be an addition to the existing five farmers’ markets which offer fresh vegetables from local farmers to the costumers directly without middlemen and brokers at reasonable prices,” said Yusuf Khalid Al Khulaifi, Director of Agriculture Affairs Department talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of an event held yesterday.

He said that the existing farmers’ markets will be upgraded to meet the rising demand of marketing platforms with growing local agricultural produce. He said that new markets will enable local farmers to sell their produce from greenhouses, even during off season when seasonal vege-table markets are closed.

“The greenhouses and shaded farms, which have been set up with the support of the Ministry, are producing

vegetables in large quantity during summer and throughout the year,” said Al Khulaifi.

The greenhouses are equipped with the latest farming technologies and advanced irri-gation system to reduce water consumption helped extend the agricultural season in the country.

Speaking about the goal set up by the Ministry to achieve self-sufficiency in vegetable pro-duction up to 70 percent by 2023, Al Khulaifi said that the target will be achieved by developing the existing farms and launching new giant agricultural projects.

The winter vegetable markets in Al Mazrouha, Al Wakra, Al Khor Al Zakhira, Al Shamal and Al Sheehania helped market over 30 percent of total vegetables produced by local farms during the season. Over 7,288 tonnes of local vegetables were sold out at these markets during the last

season (2018-19).Al Khulaifi was speaking to

media persons on the sidelines of a workshop on ‘National Training Course on Marketing Strategies and Channels for Small and Medium Farms’.

The four-day event is being organised by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment represented by the Agricultural Affairs Department in collabo-ration with the Arab Organi-zation for Agricultural Devel-opment (AOAD) at the head-quarters of Agricultural and Fish Affairs Sector of the Ministry.

The course, which is held for the first time in the field of mar-keting for farms, comes within a series of courses held by the Min-istry in cooperation with AOAD, in order to educate the trainees about agricultural marketing process.

The employees from Agricul-tural Affairs Department, Food Security Department and Agri-cultural Research Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment are participating in the training course. Representa-tives from the Ministry of Com-merce and Industry, Planning and Statistics Authority and Hassad Food Company are also attending the course.

“The course on marketing of small and medium farms, comes within the programmes of the Ministry to support and encourage owners of local farms, which began in 2012 with the establishment of winter vegetable markets,” said Al Khulaifi. �P3

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the State of Qatar Omar Ahmed Al Barazanchi. They discussed bilateral relations and ways of developing and strengthening them in various fields.

Qatar and Iraq review bilateral ties

Qatar’s hotels benefit from rising tourismSACHIN KUMAR THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s Hospitality sector is benefiting from surge in tourists coming to the country. Hotels and resorts are doing brisk business as their occupancy ratio has risen significantly this year compared to last year, helped by sharp increase in tourist inflow to the country.

Occupancy ratio is a crucial gauge of hospitality industry as high occupancy rate shows high turn out of guests for hotels and resorts. The first quarter has

been proved busy for the sector as occupancy has increased during January, February and March.

The occupancy rate of hotels in Qatar jumped from 62 percent in March 2018 to 68 percent in March this year, according to the Planning and Statistics Authority data.

A similar trend was wit-nessed a month before, as occu-pancy rate jumped from 60 percent in February 2018 to 67 percent in February this year. Likewise, hotels witnessed occu-pancy rate increasing from 58

percent in January 2018 to 64 percent in January this year.

The increase in guest numbers was witnessed by all categories of hotels, shows the data. Five-star hotels saw their occupancy rate going up to 68 percent in April this year com-pared to 61 percent in same month last year. Occupancy rate of four-star hotels jumped from 62 percent in April 2018 to 70 percent in April this year while occupancy rate of three-star hotels jumped to 80 percent in April 2019 from 68 percent in April 2018. �P3

QMC Chairman meets Chinese AmbassadorQNA DOHA

Qatar Media Corporation (QMC) Chairman H E Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani met yesterday with Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Qatar Li Chen, on the occasion of the end of his term in the country. During the meeting, they discussed the media relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them.

Kuwait calls for action to protect watercoursesQNA KUWAIT

Kuwait called on to take necessary measures to protect watercourses and to hold accountable those responsible for criminal acts in the Arabian Gulf, including attacks of ships and oil tankers.

Kuwait’s Permanent Repre-sentative to UN Ambassador Mansour Al Otaibi, in remarks to KUNA late on Saturday, said, “Kuwait had, in numerous occa-sions, strongly condemned those attacks.”

All UNSC members

unanimously called the incident a criminal act and violation to international law, Al Otaibi told reporters following the Coun-cil’s consultations session on latest agendas regarding the attack in the Gulf of Oman last Friday.

“We would want to see thorough, impartial, and objective investigation to take place, and know who stands behind these actions,” he pointed out.

Last Thursday, explosions ripped through two oil tankers, Norwegian and Singaporean, in the Gulf of Oman.

Expanded Surgical Intensive Care Unit at HGH set to openTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Hamad General Hospital has been completed the third and final phase of the hospital’s Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU). The completion of the SICU expansion marks the final phase in the Hamad General Hospital Operating Theater Expansion project, which began in 2013, according to a senior official.

“The SICU features a direct link to both the Hamad General Hospital Operating Theater

Suites and the new Surgical Spe-cialty Center. It has 27 beds, four isolation rooms, including three negative pressure rooms, and family waiting rooms. The com-pletion of the final phase of the SICU expansion project saw the Unit’s capacity to care for patients almost doubled, moving from 15 to 27 beds.

"In addition to supporting HMC’s general surgical services program, the SICU will play a vital role in ensuring Trauma Center patients receive the best possible care and will com-plement the 19-bed Trauma Intensive Care Unit (TICU),” said

Dr Abdulla Al Ansari, Acting Chief Medical Officer.

In addition to the 27-bed SICU, the 10,000 square metre Operating Theater Expansion project saw the commissioning of 20 state-of-the-art surgical theaters, a 19-bed TICU, the addition of a da Vinci Xi surgical robot, and real-time imaging capabilities through CT, MRI, Brain Lab and Artis Zeego imaging technology.

Dr Al Ansari said earlier this year HMC further expanded its surgical capacity by opening the first phase of a new specialised surgery center at the former

Women’s Hospital building. He said the new Surgical Specialty Center will be completed in the coming months and is also part of HMC’s long-term plan to reduce wait times and increase access to specialised surgical services.

“The expansion of our sur-gical services facilities, which includes completion of the final phase of the SICU, is part of our long-term strategy to accom-modate the growth of Qatar’s population and in turn, our sur-gical, trauma, emergency care, a n d o r g a n d o n a t i o n programs.

"We are working hard to improve access to specialiaed services and to provide our patients with the most advanced medical facilities built to cater to the specialized healthcare needs of our population and on par with the world’s best hospitals,” said Dr Al Ansari.

“We are committed to hiring the best medical and nursing teams who are able to care for our most critically ill patients and to procuring the best cutting-edge medical equipment and technology from across the globe,” said Dr Al Ansari. �P3

The winter vegetable markets helped market over 30 percent of total vegetables produced by local farms during the season. Over 7,288 tonnes of local vegetables were sold out at these markets during the last season.

FIFA wants Saudis to stop pirated Women’s World Cup TV feeds

THE PENINSULA DOHA

FIFA is seeking the cooper-ation of Arabsat in addressing the misuse of FIFA’s intel-lectual property and end unauthorised broadcast of matches.

It said yesterday that it is aware that unauthorised trans-missions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 are being made available across the MENA region, primarily Saudi Arabia, via the pirate broadcaster known as beoutQ.

QICDRC enhances Qatar’s arbitration

sector with international partnership

Gutsy Qatar hold ParaguayQatar’s Boualem Khoukhi celebrates scoring their second goal with team-mates during their Copa America match against Paraguay at the Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, yesterday. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. �P20

02 MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019HOME

FAJRSHOROOK

03. 14 AM04. 43 AM

11. 35 AM02. 57 PM

06. 27 PM07. 57 PM

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MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

WEATHER TODAY

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Minimum Maximum33oC 47oC

HIGH TIDE 03:18–17:14 LOW TIDE 00:01 – 10:54

Misty at first, becomes very hot daytime

with slight dust at some places.

Prime Minister meets Chinese Ambassador

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani met yesterday with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Li Chen, on the occasion of the end of his tenure in the country. During the meeting, the Prime Minister wished the Ambassador success in his future mission and the relations between the two countries further progress. For his part, the Ambassador extended thanks and appreciation to the Prime Minister and to the State’s officials for the cooperation he received during his tenure in the country.

QITCOM expected to attract around 30,000 visitorsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Under the patronage of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar is hosting the Munich Security Conference Core Group Meeting, which will accompany the Qatar IT Conference and Exhibition (QITCOM) organised by the Ministry of Transport and Communications from October 29 to November 1 at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC).

The MSC Core Group Meeting will bring together high-profile representatives of gov-ernments, international organ-isations, business, militaries and academia to discuss regional and global security issues.

The 4-day Qatar IT Con-ference and Exhibition is a unique platform for policy-makers, technology providers and major companies spe-cialised in smart city solutions to discuss smart city security

challenges and related regional initiatives. Some global firms will also present creative ideas and strategies on universal cybersecurity.

In an area of 25,000 sqm, QITCOM 2019 is expected to attract some 30,000 visitors, 300 international and local exhibitors, 100 local and inter-national startups and over 300 innovators and entrepreneurs.

Under the theme “Safe, Smart Cities”, the event is now in its fifth edition and has emerged as one of the top tech events regionally.

It will host over 90 interna-tional, regional and local speakers to discuss several key topics and trends in the ICT industry such as creativity, entrepreneurship and the deployment of tech solutions in building smart cities with cutting-edge cybersecurity technologies.

The event is also a key platform for interaction and dialog between senior

government officials, business leaders, academics, innovators and investors from around the world to exchange views and knowledge on sustainable eco-nomic development through technological innovation.

This year’s edition is espe-cially unique, featuring wide international participation, cre-ative and informative presenta-tions, events, competitions and activities aiming at empowering entrepreneurs and SMEs. It is also a place for business net-working and funding programs.

The Qatar IT Conference and Exhibition is one of MOTC’s ini-tiatives that aims to further develop Qatar’s ICT sector with a view to supporting devel-opment agenda across other economic sectors thanks to the ICT sector’s potential to drive significant change in economic growth rates and sustainable development in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 toward a knowledge-based economy.

Summer art and design program at VCUarts QatarTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) in Education City has launched the 2019 edition of its summer art and design program for children and high school students. The classes will start on June 29 and run until early August.

The classes are open to children from age four to age 16 and above, and will range from fashion design, interior design,

app design, video game design and t-shirt design, to painting, printmaking, collage making, fashion illustration, and robots and many more.

For example, in the “Design and Print your own T-shirt” course, students aged eight to 12 will design and print their own t-shirt. In the “Introduction to Pottery” class for students aged 15 and above, participants will explore basic pottery processes and techniques: preparing clay (wedging), wheel throwing, trimming and surface

manipulation, glazing, firing and recycling used clay, giving them fundamental knowledge of pottery making.

In the “Animation and Music Making” class for students aged 10 to 13, students will make their own short story, and work with music to create a final short stop motion animation video using props made from paper, play-doh, and different 3D objects.

More information is available by emailing VCUQ-community@vcu.edu or via WhatsApp at 30133448. Children and teenagers can learn new skills and make new friends during the holidays at VCUarts Qatar.

Qatari writer to share travel explorations at QNLTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar National Library will present a travel adventure seminar on June 20 with Qatari travel writer and tele-vision presenter, Ali bin Towar Al Kuwari.

Al Kuwari’s role as host and presenter of the popular Arabic travel series, Khota Al Rahala, has seen the young Qatari travel to far-flung places around the world such as the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, the Shaolin School of Kung Fu in China, and on other exciting adventures.

Al Kuwari will share his explorations and experiences at the seminar in his usual lively and frank style of

storytelling.The Library regularly

hosts such events to recognise Qatar’s outstanding youth and individuals, who are seen to have a role in educating others about the world and the diverse experiences of people from different communities and cultures across the globe.

Al Kuwari is not only a seasoned traveller, but is known in the community for his commitment to social responsibility in his role as Brand Ambassador for Vodafone Qatar and as an avid cyclist.

Haya Al Sheeb, Infor-mation Services Librarian at the Library, said: “The event is part of the Library’s com-mitment to providing an

engaging learning envi-ronment where our com-munity can be inspired to reach their full potential.”

“We are proud to offer a platform here at the Library for inspiring individuals such as Al Kuwari who are having an impact both socially and professionally, to share his experience as a world traveller.

In this way, we hope that our youth will benefit from interactions with role models who can have a positive influence on their formative learning and personal devel-opment,” added Al Sheeb.

The seminar is open to the public and will take place at the Library on 20 June from 4.30pm to 5.30 pm.

Qatari travel writer and television presenter, Ali bin Towar Al Kuwari, is to provide an opportunity for the community to learn about an outstanding experience.

Qatar attends meeting on rights of persons with disabilitiesQNA NEW YORK

Qatar participated in the 12th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The State of Qatar was represented by head of family affairs at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affair, Najat Al Abdulla, adviser on disability affairs at the ministry and President of the Arab Union for the Blind, Dr Khaled Ali Al Nuaimi, specialist in care and rehabilitation programs for people with special needs at the ministry Dr Nora Al Hassan.

The permanent representative of Qatar to UN, health and human-based technology section at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and Qatar Foundation for Social Work, organised a panel discussion entitled on how technology can help people with autism which highlighted technol-ogies that would help support autistic people in education and workplaces to ensure non-discrimination and facilitate the full and effective participation of people with autism.

It also highlighted the State of Qatar’s pioneering role in support technology facilitation to help people with autism and people with disabilities through research and the support provided from the organizations participating in the dis-cussion. Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN Ambassador H E Sheikha Alya bint Ahmed Al Thani reiterated Qatar’s belief to support people with autism to enjoy a happy, healthy and independent life within their communities. She added that Qatar is the only country in the region that has a national plan for people with autism, and that it is one of the few countries that have a work day for persons with disabilities. She also pointed out that, in December 2019, the State of Qatar will host the Interna-tional Conference on the Comprehensive Development of Persons with Disabilities.

The CEO of Qatar Foundation for Social Work, Amal Al Mannai, called for improving national policies and laws to support technology for people with autism, stressing the importance of providing assistive technology products and ensuring the creation of barrier-free environments. Al Mannai called for encouraging scientific research and devel-opment of assistive technology, stressing the importance of developing the skills and abilities of people with autism and raising awareness of their families about the importance of assistive technology.

Executive Director of ‘Mada’ Center for Assistive Tech-nology, Maha Al Mansouri, reviewed the Center’s services in the development of assistive technology and offered a number of solutions to help develop the skills of people with autism, including language assistance through the ‘Mada’ Innovation program, to enable equal opportunities for the participation of people with autism and people with disa-bilities in the digital community. She said that services and consultations aimed at developing skills and achieving equality in education and employment opportunities are not limited to Qatar but include the Arab world.

659 building licences issued in MayQNA DOHA

The Planning and Statistics Authority monthly report showed that the number of building permits issued in different municipalities of the state amounted to 659 building licences during the month of May, a decrease of 11 percent from April.

Municipality of Al Rayyan has come at the top of the municipalities with issuance of 184 permits, of the total issued permits, while Doha municipality came in second place with 142 permits, followed by municipality of Al Wakrah with 109 permits , then Al Da’ayen municipality with 97 permits. The rest of the munici-palities were as follows: Umm Salal 48 permits, Al Sheehaniya 39 permits, Al Khor 32 permits, and finally Al Shamal 8 permits.

In terms of type of permits issued, data indicates that the new building permits (residential and non-residential) consti-tutes 51 percent (337 permits) of the total building permits issued during the month of May 2019, while the percentage of addi-tions permits constituted 46 percent (300 permits), and finally fencing permits with 3 percent (22 permits).

Analysis of new residential buildings permits data, indicates that villas top the list, accounting for 71 percent (203 permits) of all new residential buildings permits, followed by dwellings of housing loans permits by 23 percent (65 permits) and apartments buildings by 5 percent (15 permits). On the other hand, commercial buildings were found to be in the fore-front of non-residential buildings permits with 42 percent (21 permits), followed by industrial buildings e.g. workshops and factories with 30 percent (15 permits) , then governmental buildings with 18 percent (9 permits).

03MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019 HOME

QA to showcase ultra modern aircraft at Paris Air ShowTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Airways said yesterday that two of its state-of-the-art fleet will be on display at the Paris Air Show, taking place from June 17-23 at Le Bourget, France.

Building on a year where the award-winning airline took delivery of its 250th aircraft, introduced a raft of new routes and unveiled a stunning new Economy Class product, the airline will once again take centre stage at one of the world’s biggest air shows, where it will welcome thousands of visitors to its stand. On display will be Qatar Airways’ A350-1000 — the world’s most technologically advanced air-craft, featuring unparalled ambience and design, contrib-uting to superior levels of comfort and well-being and setting a new standard in terms of flight expe-rience for all passengers.

Also on display will be the Gulfstream G500, the airline’s

ultra-modern executive jet that sets an industry benchmark by offering one of the quietest cabins as well as optimum cabin altitude pressure. Operated by Qatar Executive, the private jet charter division of Qatar Airways Group, the aircraft is perfectly suited for passengers who wish to max-imise their travel time while experiencing the ultimate in comfort and privacy.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is delighted to be

returning to this year’s Paris Air Show. It has already been a landmark year for us, as we took delivery of our 250th aircraft in March – an incredible achievement for an airline that started with just four aircraft in 1997. At a time when tens of thou-sands of visitors are coming to France to take part in the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, where we are a proud sponsor, we look forward to exhibiting at the Paris Air Show and to welcoming visitors from around the world to our stand to experience our award-winning hospitality.”

Qatar Airways’ A350-1000 features the airline’s patented, award-winning Business Class experience, Qsuite, which offers the industry’s first-ever double bed in Business Class, as well as privacy panels that stow away, enabling passengers in adjoining seats to create their own private room, a first of its kind in the industry.

Blue Man Group set to enthrall Doha next monthRAYNALD C RIVERA THE PENINSULA

After captivating more than 35 million people around the world, Blue Man Group is set to stage its debut performance in Doha next month as part of the ongoing Summer in Qatar (SiQ) programme, Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC) has announced.

For the first time in Doha, the highly popular group will be staging shows from August 14 to 17 at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) as part of its ongoing world tour. This acclaimed theatrical phe-nomenon will see the three bald and blue artistes surprise the audience with their out-of-the-box acts combining music, art and comedy with stories, custom-made instruments and stunning sensory graphics in a series of shows presented by QNTC in partnership with

Alchemy Project.Formed in 1987, this per-

formance art company has fea-tured in shows in the US and all over Europe and currently has residencies in New York, Orlando, Las Vegas, Boston, Chicago and Berlin. It has appeared many times on hit shows such as America’s Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, The Tonight Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Known for its universal appeal to a wide range of age groups and cultural back-grounds, the group has created a big impact on the enter-tainment industry through developing new and unique brand of shows covering a broad array of themes. It has also pro-duced several albums and won a number of awards.

Tickets are now on sale through tixbox.com with price ranging from QR195 to QR695.

The Blue Man show is one of

the series of concerts, comedy shows, movie awards, family shows and film screenings being organised as part of SiQ with entertainment as one of the major features of this year’s festival.

Other exciting shows to look forward to include the Bol-lywood Music Festival on June 21, Smurfs Live on July 18 to 20, Hello Kitty Live on July 25 to 27, Marshmello concert on July 25, and Kadim Al Saher concert on August 16 and 17, among others.

This year’s summer festival also features shopping, hospi-tality and flight offers and pro-motions; the Summer Enter-tainment City; mall shows and activities; summer camps, and other community engagement activities organised as part of QNTC’s strategy to enrich and diversify the country’s tourism offering, particularly in the area of family and urban enter-tainment in collaboration with the private and public sector.

Qatar roadto2022 Exhibition kicks off in Sao PauloTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Hundreds of football fans have already visited the Qatar roadto2022 Exhibition in Sao Paulo, which opened at the weekend.

Organised by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy and Qatar Football Association, the installation at JK Iguatemi mall celebrates Qatar’s football culture and highlights prepara-tions for the FIFA World Cup.

Located on the third floor of the mall, the exhibition features FIFA World Cup memorabilia, crowdsourced photographs which highlight football culture in Qatar, models of the eight Qatar 2022 stadiums and details

about Qatar’s Asian Cup victory. Much of the memorabilia is the property of Qatari collector Mohammed Abdulatif and includes match-worn shirts, footballs, tickets and more.

The exhibition has been organised to coincide with Qatar’s debut in the Copa America.

The Maroons have been drawn in Group B with

Argentina, Colombia and Par-aguay. The reigning Asian Cup champions have been invited to take part in the tournament for the first time, along with Japan.

Nasser Al Khater, FIFA World Cup Qatar Chief Executive Officer, said the exhibition was giving fans a taste of what they can expect when world football’s premier international tour-nament heads to Qatar for the first time in 2022.

“It’s been great to see so many people visiting the exhi-bition,” said Al Khater. “With Qatar playing in the Copa America for the first time, we recognised this was a golden opportunity to engage with some of the most passionate fans in the world and give them an idea of

what to expect when they travel to Qatar in just over three years’ time.”

Al Khater added: “The fans are obviously interested in the memorabilia, including match worn shirts that belonged to Pele and Diego Maradona, but they are also fascinated to learn more about our stadiums and view the crowdsourced photographs which show a side of Qatar many people may not be familiar with.

“We look forward to wel-coming hundreds more fans to the exhibition over the next week – and hope many of them will travel to Qatar to support their teams and sample our famous hospitality in 2022.” The exhi-bition is open every day from 10 AM to 10 PM.

SJC & ICSID discuss ways to enhance cooperationThe Chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC)and President of the Court of Cassation, H E Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr Al Mohannadi, met yesterday with the Secretary-General of International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a member of the World Bank Group, Meg Kenner. During the meeting, they discussed a number of issues of mutual concern and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation between the Supreme Judicial Council and the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Minister of Culture and Sports H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali met yesterday with the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the State of Qatar, Janusz Janke. During the meeting, they discussed cooperation aspects between both countries in the cultural and sports fields and ways to boost them.

Qatar, Poland review culture and sports ties

On display will be Qatar Airways’ A350-1000 — the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft, featuring unparalled ambience and design, contributing to superior levels of comfort.

Qatar’s hotels benefit from rising tourism

FROM PAGE 1Occupancy rate of two and

one star hotels increased from 62 percent in April last year to 78 percent in April this year.

Qatar has received more number of tourists this year compared to last year, driven by series of coordinated measures taken by concerned authorities to boost tourism in the country. According to QNTC, Qatar received 588,000 visitors during the first quarter of this year, reflecting an increase of 10 percent com-pared to the Q1 last year.

Two permanent vegetable markets to open soon

FROM PAGE 1He said the Ministry then

launched Premium Qatar Farms Program and Qatar Farms Program at major shopping outlets and the most recently Mahaseel for Marketing and Agricultural Services, a sub-sidiary of Hassad Food Company to serve the purpose.

An expert in the Arab Organ-ization for Agricultural Devel-opment (AOAD) Eng. Mohamed Abdelkarim Al Awamla said that Qatar has become a pioneer in agricultural production in the Arab region, especially in the Gulf region.

Al Awamla attributed this agricultural development in Qatar to the use of modern tech-nologies to increase production to raise the value of products in the market, and the protection of available natural resources, especially water.

This workshop comes within the framework of the Ministry of Municipality and Environ-ment’s interest in the marketing process for the products of local farms as part of its efforts to support and encourage farm owners to increase agricultural production and contribute to self-sufficiency.

Eng. Mohamed Abdelkarim Al Awamla (left) and Yousef Khalid Al Khelaifi during the workshop, yesterday. PIC: BAHER AMIN / THE PENINSULA

The installation at JK Iguatemi mall celebrates Qatar’s football culture and highlights preparations for the FIFA World Cup.

FIFA wants Saudis to stop pirated Women’s World Cup TV feedsFROM PAGE 1

beoutQ’s unauthorised transmissions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 are made available by way of Arabsat satellite frequencies. FIFA is therefore seeking the cooperation of Arabsat in addressing the misuse of FIFA’s intellectual property, it said in a statement.

In addition, FIFA continues to explore each of

its legal options as a means to address beoutQ’s unauthorised broadcasts. In this regard, FIFA is working with a number of other rights holders whose rights have also been infringed by beoutQ.

The statement from FIFA comes after beIN Media Group announced that all the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 was being stolen from beoutQ and Arabsat.

Expanded Surgical Intensive Care Unit at HGH set to open

FROM PAGE 1Dr Yousuf Al Maslamani,

Medical Director of Hamad General Hospital said last month’s start of a limited number of services at the new Trauma and Emergency Center is also part of the expansion work being undertaken to increase HMC’s capacity to care for the county’s most critically ill patients.

“Qatar’s population has grown significantly in recent years, resulting in increasing numbers of patients relying on our trauma, emergency, and surgical services.

The expansion of our oper-ating theater facilities and the new Trauma and Emergency Center represent a substantial investment in our commitment to providing high-quality,

world-class facilities and healthcare to the people of Qatar,” said Dr Al Maslamani.

“Our new Trauma and Emergency Center is the region’s largest dedicated emergency care facility and last month’s start of some services from the ground floor of this facility marked an important milestone on our journey to transforming trauma and emergency care in Qatar.

Once fully open, this new facility will provide patients with access to state-of-the-art tech-nology, including three CT scans, MRI, x-ray, and ultrasound machines as well as an ultra-modern decompression chamber which will provide oxygen therapy for a range of medical conditions,” added Dr Al Maslamani.

04 MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019HOME

Book fair organised at BPS campusTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Birla Public School (BPS), a staunch supporter of social enterprises, became for yet another time the venue for a book fair from May 25 to 27, 2019, organised by Abu Karbal Bookshop, in the Basement Hall of the main campus.

All genres of books were on show and it elicited a good amount of attention from stu-dents, parents and the expatriate community of Doha. A consid-erable stock of variety of books related to classroom decorative and educational resources were

appreciated by all. Major collections of liter-

ature and storybooks based on age groups, general knowledge books, educational toys and library collection were available for easy choosing.

All the students from class V to XII visited and purchased their

favourite books during the three-day event.

The exhibitors reported happily that they were able to sell good books at a very fair price and thus the fair was a sat-isfying success. The school will continue to support such endeavours in the future.

Students during the book fair held at Birla Public School.

Brazilian restaurant Ipanema reopensTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Ipanema, the award-winning Brazilian restaurant located on Level 2 at Marriott Marquis City Centre Doha, has reopened after an extensive renovation project.

The relaunch event was attended by Ambassador of Brazil Roberto Abdalla; Portu-guese Ambassador Ricardo Pracana; and Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal Al Thani, Vice-Chairman of Al Faisal Company, and others.

The new space features a fashionable colour scheme, new stylish furniture, expanded indoor seating and an impres-sively refreshing atmosphere. The brand new lounge area features an expanded beverage menu from different regions of Brazil. Ipanema guests can enjoy great cocktails and mocktails and an extensive cuts of meat served by professional

gauchos. “These new changes represent innovation in line with Marriott International food and beverage contemporary concepts. We take great pride in our food and carefully create menus from only the finest, freshest ingre-dients. Guests who dine at Ipanema can select from our brunch or dinner and enjoy a great and wide variety

of meat cuts with unsurpassed quality,” said Rick Enders, the General Manager of Marriott Marquis City Centre Doha.

“Our focus is to continually give our loyal guests a quality experience, while we introduce ourselves to a new generation of diners who seek a casual and modern energetic ambiance.”

Officials pose along with a chef at Ipanema relaunch event.

BFQ honours business organisationsTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Bangladesh Forum Qatar (BFQ), celebrated its first founding anniversary in a grand style by awarding business organisations that are contributing in the development of Qatar – Bang-ladesh bilateral economic rela-tionship at an event “Partners of Bangladesh”.

The programme, titled “Partners of Bangladesh”, was hosted by BFQ members Pro-fessor Dr Kazi of Qatar Uni-versity and Engr. Tasmia Pri-yanka of Qatar Gas. Ashud Ahmed, Ambassador of People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Doha graced the occasion as the chief guest.

A total of seven renowned organisations and entrepreneurs were honoured in three different categories — contribution towards trade and economic development of Bangladesh, contribution in employing sub-stantial number of Bangladeshi workforce, and ‘successful Bang-ladeshi entrepreneur in Qatar’.

The prestigious award recipients were Al Jaber Group, QDVC, QD-SBG Construction, Muntajat, Power Holding, Arabian Exchange Companies and Jalal Ahmed, CEO of Golden Marble Company.

During the event, which took place on June 12, BFQ founding member Shahed Ahmed intro-duced Bangladesh and briefly outlined the opportunities available in Bangladesh for foreign direct investment.

The presentation was insightful and raised the overall interest of investors and audi-ences about the Bangladeshi economy.

BFQ founding member Israt Ara Younus, Managing Director, Richmond Consultants & Services announced and pre-sented the upcoming event on “Made in Bangladesh” – first Bangladeshi trade and investment exhibition to be held in Doha in December 2019.

In his speech, Ashud Ahmed, the Ambassador of Bangladesh, hailed the initiatives of BFQ. He thanked BFQ for organising

events and activities which are helping to improve image of Bangladesh in Qatar and helping in promoting relationship between the two countries at dif-ferent levels.

Speaking on the sideline of the event, BFQ President Iftekhar Ahmad, Ali Bin Ali Group CFO, said, “There couldn’t be a better moment to recognise the business organisations for their contribution to Bangladesh economy. We hope to continue the trend every year and hope that our future endeavours will also improve the image of Bang-ladesh in Qatar. We thank the Bangladesh Embassy and the Ambassador for his relentless support and enthusiasm”. BFQ Vice-President Shafiqul Islam, a leading marketing professional in Oredoo Qatar said, “We have achieved our goals we set while taking initiative to set up BFQ. Members of BFQ are trying to make future initiatives more interactive and informative so that investors both in Qatar and Bangladesh get adequate infor-mation and guidance.”

Ashud Ahmed (right), Ambassador of Bangladesh to Qatar, presenting an award during the “Partners of Bangladesh” event held recently. PIC: SALIM MATRAMKOT / THE PENINSULA

Qatar Charity-built school inaugurated in Garowe, SomaliaTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Minister of Education and Higher Education in the Somali state of Puntland Abdullah Mohammed Hassan opened the Dar es Salaam Primary School, which was built by Qatar Charity in the city of Garowe, and funded by benefactors in Qatar.

The 400 sq m school has many classrooms and rooms for the principal and teachers and is expected to benefit 400 students. The project aims at supporting education in Somalia, contrib-uting to increasing the literacy rate, improving education facil-ities, and creating generations capable of participating in the development of the country.

At the inauguration

ceremony, Minister Abdullah Mohammed Hassan expressed his pleasure in opening the first school since taking office a month ago. He also pointed out that the Ministry of Education and Higher Education would move forward to strengthen partnership and cooperation with charitable organisations, including Qatar Charity, for the improvement of education.

He also thanked donors in Qatar for their generous support to build this school, hoping it would contribute to building an educated generation. For his part, Abdel Taher Abshar, Director of the Dar es Salaam Primary School, thanked Qatar Charity for their continuous efforts to contribute to providing an appropriate educational

environment and improving the academic performance of stu-dents. He also noted the human-itarian role of Qatar Charity in Somalia through its office in Mogadishu in the areas of relief and development, especially education, in addition to spon-soring orphans, students and teachers.

It is worth mentioning that Qatar Charity has completed several multi-service projects in Somalia, including a centre opened in 2017, which has a school consisting of several classrooms. In the same year, a specialised agricultural school was opened in Afgooye, a town in the southwestern Lower She-belle region of Somalia, which is the first of its kind in the region.Officials at the opening of a Qatar Charity-funded school in Garowe city, Somalia.

WISH trains young nursing leaders at World Health Assembly

THE PENINSULA DOHA

The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), has part-nered with the global Nursing Now Campaign and the International Council of Nurses to train young nursing leaders from around the

world to amplify their voices and positively influence healthcare policy, ahead of attending the annual World Health Assembly.

The World Health Assembly is an annual meeting of health ministers held at the United Nations Office at Geneva, organised by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Young nurses from 18 coun-tries participated in five days of meetings, talks, workshops, and networking opportunities. Twenty-four individuals were selected from more than 750 applicants and came from Qatar, Oman, Australia, Barbados, Bhutan, Canada, the Czech Republic, India, Ireland, Lesotho, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, New Zealand, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and the United States.

During their time in Geneva, the nurses visited the WHO head-quarters where they met with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General WHO. In addition, the nurses learned about the work of WISH and other inter-national organisations that are collaborating to build a healthier world. The nurses were also made part of the International Council of Nurses delegation to the main World Health Assembly sessions – the first time young nurse rep-resentatives have been part of the

official delegation.The nurses also met with Eliz-

abeth Iro, Chief Nursing Officer, WHO, as well as Lord Nigel Crisp, Co-Chair of Nursing Now and author of a WISH report on Nursing and Universal Health Coverage – published last year to coincide with the WISH 2018 global gathering in Doha.

The WISH report was used by the participants as the basis of dis-cussions on how to identify issues facing nurses and how best to overcome them. It is estimated that there will be a shortfall of nine million nurses globally by 2030.

Asmaa Al Atey, Director of Nursing at Hamad General Hos-pital, and one of the two Qatari nurses to participate in the Geneva sessions, said, “I was very honoured to represent the nursing community of Qatar alongside the other young nursing representatives from around the world. I am grateful for the opportunity to engage in a meaningful conversation with

the WHO director-general, to meet the WHO chief nursing officer and other global healthcare leaders, and to have the chance to share knowledge with nurses from so many countries.”

Participant Ciaran McHugh, Chairperson, National Student Section at Irish Nurses and Mid-wives Organisation, said, “I feel so privileged to be part of the group and can’t thank Nursing Now, the International Council of Nurses, and WISH enough for bringing us all together to learn about how to get nurses’ voices heard.”

Nick Bradshaw, Partnerships Manager at WISH, added, “It’s easy to underestimate the contribution that nurses make to global health, and for too long that is exactly what has been happening. The Nursing Now campaign is working tirelessly to promote the profession of nursing and we are delighted to have partnered with them to give young nurses a voice at the World Health Assembly meeting.”

Global young nursing leaders and workshop facilitators pose for a group photo at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva.

Young nurses from 18 countries participated in five days of meetings, talks and workshops in Geneva. Two nurses from Qatar also participated in the event.

05MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019 HOME

QA welcomes over 50 students to internship programmeTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Airways’ Al Darb Qatari-sation Programme welcomed more than 50 students into its 2019 Summer Internship Programme at an induction ceremony that took place yesterday at the Oryx Rotana Hotel in Doha.

The ceremony enabled the students to receive a full briefing on the support they will be given while working at Qatar Airways.

This year’s interns will have the opportunity to work in various divisions of the company, including Commercial, Finance, Information Technology, Human Resources, Legal and Infor-mation Technology, as well as at Qatar Airways Cargo and Qatar Aviation Services (QAS).

Qatar Airways Senior Vice-President Human Resources, Nabeela Fakhri, said: “Qatari stu-dents are equipped with the

motivation to learn and grow in whichever field they choose to enter. Qatar Airways Group offers a multicultural world of inno-vation and experience that paves way to a future of possibilities and success, both in the company and their own personal development. The students will have the oppor-tunity to experience Qatar Airways Group’s energetic work-place, paving the way for them to gain and enhance essential career skills that will aid them after their graduation.

“As the internship pro-gramme concludes at the end of the summer, students will proudly display newly-honed

skills in planning and managing resources. In addition, they will be able to exhibit personal responsibility by working on multiple assignments while meeting tight deadlines.”

Students begin the Summer Internship Programme with four days of training in the fields of communication across cultures, business communications, and effective presentation skills, in order to prepare them to work in a professional environment.

Following their induction training, the students are paired with a line manager to ensure that each of them makes the most of their internship experience.

Interns who participate in the Al Darb Qatarisation Summer

Internship Programme are eli-gible to receive course credit

from a number of local and inter-national universities.

Qatar Airways officials with interns posing for a group photo.

This year’s interns will have the opportunity to work in various divisions of the company, including Commercial, Finance, Information Technology, Human Resources, Legal and Information Technology, as well as at Qatar Airways Cargo and Qatar Aviation Services (QAS).

Vodafone carrier billing now available for App Store, Apple Music, iTunes purchasesTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Vodafone Qatar’s customers can now pay for App Store, Apple Music and iTunes purchases across Apple devices via carrier billing — providing a safe, secure and versatile payment method to meet Qatar’s growing demand for digital entertainment.

Signing up for carrier billing takes only a few simple steps. Vodafone Qatar customers need to have a new or existing Apple ID, and can select “Carrier Billing” as their payment method from their account settings on App Store, Apple Music and iTunes from their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac, or on iTunes from their PC.

Once “Carrier Billing” has been selected, all future

purchases with the customer’s Apple ID will be automatically charged as part of the monthly carrier bill or directly deducted from the customer’s prepaid account — eliminating the need to use a credit card.

The new payment option will be configured automatically and immediately allow for easy, one-tap purchasing from all Apple devices, including Apple TV and Apple Watch. This includes purchases of apps, music, movies, TV shows, as well as Apple Music subscriptions and iCloud storage. No personal information will be shared with any third parties, making carrier billing both simple and safe to set up and use.

QEERI, Japan institute sign MoU for scientific and research collaborationTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), and the International Center for Materials Nanoarchi-tectonics (MANA) at the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen and promote scientific cooperation and research collaboration between the two institutions.

The agreement, signed at the MANA offices in Tsukuba, Japan, by Dr Marc Vermeersch, QEERI’s executive director, and Dr Takayoshi Sasaki, director of MANA, will enable researchers from QEERI’s Disruptive Tech-nologies Program, part of QEERI’s Energy Center, to conduct joint research on the development of various nano-electronic devices including sensors and quantum elec-tronics. Such devices offer several advantages over conven-tional silicon-based technologies and have a significant potential

for building the next generation of computers and sensors.

The signing ceremony was also attended by Dr. Veronica Bermudez, senior research director at QEERI’s Energy Center, and Dr Hicham Hamoudi who leads the Disruptive Tech-nologies Program in the Energy Center at QEERI. Other repre-sentatives from NIMS at the signing ceremony included Dr Yutaka Wakayama, Group Leader, Quantum Device Engi-neering Group, MANA, and Dr Ryoma Hayakawa, Senior Researcher, Quantum Device Engineering Group, MANA.

Speaking on the importance of the agreement, Dr. Ver-meersch said: “QEERI is com-mitted to developing partner-ships and collaborations that can support Qatar in attaining its research, technology, and devel-opment goals. This MoU with a prestigious institute such as MANA at NIMS will help QEERI enhance our research capabil-ities and allow us to learn and empower our researchers. We are looking forward to working closely with the skilled scientists,

engineers, and researchers from NIMS.”

Dr Sasaki, director of MANA, said, “At MANA, one of our core values is to encourage proactive science and nanotechnology research with a team of excellent researchers, and this MoU with

QEERI will support us in achieving our vision to pioneer a new paradigm in materials development on the basis of ‘nanoarchitectonics’.”

DrRichard O’Kennedy, Vice President, Qatar Foundation Research, Development and Innovation (QF RDI), and Vice President for Research at HBKU, said, “Through this MoU, we are delighted to pave the way for strategic cooperation in joint sci-entific research initiatives between QEERI and MANA. Lev-eraging MANA’s wealth of expertise and advanced capa-bilities in nano-electric devices, and the long-term exchange of know-how among our researchers and technologists, will contribute significantly to the strengthening of Qatar’s research and innovation ecosystem.”

Officials of QEERi and Japan institute during the signing of the MoU.

CNA-Q’s top students honouredTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The best and brightest gradu-ating students from College of the North Atlantic - Qatar (CNA-Q) were honoured at the ORYX GTL President’s Medal for Academic Excellence gala held at the Sharq Hotel on Thursday.

Medals were presented to 27 students who received the highest marks in their individual programs of all graduating stu-dents. Of those honoured, 19 achieved a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

CNA-Q President Dr Khalifa bin Nasser Al Khalifa said, “These students can be proud of their achievements. They have worked hard, and are now ready to move forward in the next stage of their lives with confidence, whether it be further education or into the workforce.

The education that our stu-dents received during their time at CNA-Q has been rooted in applied, experiential learning. No doubt the highly-qualified and technically-competent young men and women you see before you today are the future leaders of Qatar.”

In addition to the Presidents’ Medals, ORXY GTL presented four Distinguished Graduate Awards to one student from each of the College’s academic schools – Business Studies, Engineering Technology, Health Sciences and Information Technology. The students were nominated by their Dean for achieving exem-plary academic standing and commitment to campus life, extracurricular activities and volunteerism.

The President’s Medal for Academic Excellence has been awarded since the College’s

inception, however it became a gala event five years ago when ORYX GTL became the official sponsor.

As the guest speaker for the event addressing the students, Mohamed Al Enazi, Chief Admin-istrative Officer at ORYX GTL, said, “It is your responsibility to contribute to society by rein-vesting the extraordinary skills and talents which we are here to celebrate today.

Not only will this make a positive contribution to your workplace, but it will strengthen the unity and success of the wider community.

ORYX GTL is honoured to be associated with this initiative, and we hope to leave a real and lasting academic and intellectual legacy for future generations - in keeping with the vision and goals of our country’s wise leaders.”

The President’s Medal recip-ients will join their fellow stu-dents on June 20, for the 15th CNA-Q Graduation Ceremony at QNCC.

The graduation, under the

patronage of HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, will be the largest in the College’s history with 559 graduates.

CNA-Q is Qatar’s premier technical college, offering nearly 30 diploma programs in Business Studies, Engineering Technology, Health Sciences and Information Technology.

The CNA-Q’s top students of Class 2019 with officials were honoured at the ORYX GTL President’s Medal for Academic Excellence gala, recently.

QSTP accepts applications to XLR8 programmeTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP), part of Qatar Foundation Research, Development, and Innovation (QF RDI), is now welcoming applications to the eighth cycle of XLR8 – QSTP’s flagship accelerator programme, which mentors aspiring entrepre-neurs, and supports the commer-cialisation of their technology-based inventions.

Since its inception, the intensive 10-week pre-startup programme has attracted 100 teams, and equipped over 300 ambitious entrepreneurs with the skills, tools, and mentorship to transform their tech-based ideas into validated prototypes. The programme has also attracted sig-nificant investor interest for the launch of startups.

The results have been astounding with 20 startups emerging out of XLR8 so far, out of which, several have succeeded

in expanding their businesses beyond Qatar.

Each cycle of the programme brings together 15 teams, who receive guidance from a large network of mentors with real-life, hands-on experience of what it takes to bring an idea to the market. At the end of the program, all teams pitch their ideas to a live audience of seasoned technology professionals, investors, and industry experts at the signature Demo Day – an event designed to give the XLR8 participants hands-on experience of pitching their ideas in order to attract investors and launch their startups.

Yosouf Abdulrahman Saleh, Executive Director, QSTP, said, “The XLR8 programme is pro-pelling a new generation of entre-preneurs and innovators, who are contributing to advancing our ultimate goal of promoting new high-tech products and services, and supporting the commercial-isation of market-ready technologies.

“We are proud of the out-comes so far, particularly since a number of our alumni have managed to expand their busi-nesses beyond Qatar, and we look forward to helping a new gener-ation of innovators succeed.”

The XLR8 programme, which is a key element of QSTP’s mission to create a dynamic tech inno-vation and entrepreneurship eco-system in Qatar, features three modules. The first ‘Product-Market Fit’ module helps partici-pants identify their target market, design a rough prototype, and solicit feedback to revise the pro-totype as needed. The second, ‘Customer Traction’, module enables entrepreneurs to assess whether the market is large enough to sustain a startup, and create early customer traction.

The third and final module, ‘Talking to Investors,’ empowers entrepreneurs to attract early stage investors as well as addi-tional investments moving forward, to grow their startups.

AFP DUBAI

Two damaged tankers arrived safely yesterday at locations off the Emirati coast after they were rocked by explosions in Gulf waters.

The Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous was car-rying highly flammable methanol through the Gulf of Oman on Thursday when it came under attack along with the Norwegian-operated Front Altair — the second assault in a month in the strategic shipping lane. The crew of the Kokuka Courageous saw a “flying

object” before a second blast on board, the operator’s head said Friday.

The vessel’s Singapore-based BSM Ship Management said in a statement yesterday that it had “arrived safely at the designated anchorage” and that its crew were “safe and well”.

The other ship, the Front Altair, was under safe tow by tug boats towards an area off the coast of the eastern Emirati port of Fujairah. “First inspec-tions are under way and no hot spots have been identified fol-lowing the fire,” the vessel’s owners said in a statement yesterday.

06 MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019 GULF/MIDDLE EAST

US will guarantee passage in Strait of Hormuz: Pompeo

This June 15, 2019 picture shows tanker ships in the waters of the Gulf of Oman off the coast of the eastern UAE emirate of Fujairah.

Damaged tankers reach safe waters after Gulf attacks

Israel PM’s wife convicted of misusing public fundsAFP JERUSALEM

An Israeli court yesterday convicted the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of fraudulently using state funds for meals, under a plea bargain which saw her admit to lesser charges.

While the ruling cut short a high-profile trial, the Netanyahu family’s legal woes are far from over: the premier himself faces possible indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the coming months.

In a deal approved by judge Avital Chen at Jerusalem magis-trates’ court, Sara Netanyahu was found guilty of exploiting the

mistake of another person. She was also fined 10,000 shekels ($2,800) and ordered to reim-burse the state a further 45,000 shekels.

“The deal reached between the sides is worthy and appro-priately reflects the deeds and their severity on the criminal level,” Chen said in his ruling.

The 60-year-old, a high-profile presence at her husband’s side throughout his long tenure in office, was initially charged in June 2018 with fraud and breach of trust for buying catered meals despite the presence of a cook at the PM’s official residence.

The amended indictment, approved yesterday, dropped the graft charges.

In a small room at the Jeru-salem magistrates’ court, packed with journalists, Netanyahu told the judge she was aware of the charges. Her lawyer and a pros-ecutor then requested that the court accept the deal.

“As in every plea bargain, each side makes concessions, sometimes hard concessions,” prosecutor Erez Padan said.

“It is right and proper for the public interest to bring this case to an end.” Netanyahu’s attorney Yossi Cohen told the court his client had already been heavily punished by the media.

“Four years of ugly leaks and denigrations” constituted “inhuman punishment”, he said.

“No other person could have

withstood this, this lady is made of steel,” Cohen added.

Netanyahu has a reputation for finding legal loopholes to receive state funding for her household’s relatively high expenses. The original charges accused her of paying $100,000 for hundreds of meals from a variety of well-known Jerusalem businesses while falsely declaring there were no cooks available at the residence.

The caterers included an Italian restaurant, a Middle Eastern grill joint and a Sushi house. Sara Netanyahu is also being sued by a former cleaner who claims the premier’s wife mistreated her.

In 2016 a court awarded

some $47,000 in damages to a former housekeeper who accused her of repeated work-place abuse in a similar case.

Separately, Benjamin Netanyahu is facing possible indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the months ahead.

He is reportedly seeking leg-islation that would result in him being granted immunity.

However, he was unable to form a coalition following an April general election, and Israel is now gearing up for September polls.

In a Facebook post late Sat-urday, he declared his wife a “real heroine” who was “a punching bag for the media.”

Palestine Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Spokesman Nasheed Al Wahidi speaks during a protest in support of imprisoned World Vision staff member Mohammad El Halabi, who is imprisoned in Israel, in Gaza City, Gaza.

Occupation forces arrest 8 PalestiniansQNA OCCUPIED JERUSALEM

Israeli occupation forces arrested eight Palestinians from different parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank, including a guard in Al Aqsa and a freed prisoner, yesterday.

The occupation forces arrested three young men in the old city of Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA). The Israeli occupation

forces also arrested Khalil Al Tarhouni, a guard at Al Aqsa Mosque, after raiding his house in Al Wad Street in the old town.

In Ramallah, the Israeli occu-pation forces arrested two young men, including a released prisoner, from Nabi Saleh village, northwest of the city. WAFA added that clashes broke out in the village during which the Israeli occupation forces fired sound and gas bombs. No

casualties were reported. Moreover, the occupation forces arrested a young man and a boy from the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, and handed over a report to another Pales-tinian to review their intelligence. The Israeli occupation forces also raided the house of a prisoner in Mithaloun villages, erected several checkpoints and inten-sified their military presence south of Jenin.

Delivery of S-400s to Turkey likely to begin next monthAFP ANKARA

Turkey expects the delivery of Russian S-400 missile defence system to begin in July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying in Turkish media yesterday.

“I believe (S-400s) will begin to arrive in the first half of July. Colleagues in charge of the schedule are following the issue,” Erdogan said according to CNN Turk broadcaster.

Ankara’s deal with Moscow has been a major source of tension between Turkey and the United States, with Washington threatening consequences including sanctions against its fellow NATO member.

Acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan sent a letter earlier this month warning Turkey it must renounce the S-400 system by July 31 or Turkish pilots currently training on the F-35 fighter jet pro-gramme would be expelled from the US.

Turkey plans to buy 100 US F-35s while a number of Turkish manufacturers are making parts and equipment for the warplane. Ankara has yet to formally respond to Shanahan’s letter but

Erdogan said that “within a short time, perhaps sometime this week, a letter in response will be sent”.

He was adamant the deal with Moscow was not one which Turkey would walk away from.

“The issue of the S-400 is completed. There are no diffi-culties,” Erdogan said, speaking to Turkish journalists on his plane to Turkey after a visit to Tajikistan for a summit.

“If we now swallow our words, this would not comply with the manners of our state, and it would also not suit my statesmanship,” Erdogan added.

There had been expectations that the first deliveries could begin this month but Russia’s state-owned defence conglom-erate Rostec said earlier in June that there were plans to start deliveries in two months.

Washington has urged Ankara to buy US Patriot mis-siles instead and warned Turkey faces penalties under the Coun-tering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The act bars business with Russia’s state and private defence and intelligence sectors.

But Ankara has insisted the country is preparing for any pos-sible US sanctions.

Turkey says its post attacked from Syria regime areaAFP/ANKARA

One of Turkey’s observation posts was hit by shelling from an area controlled by Syrian government forces in north-western Syria, the Turkish Defence Ministry said yesterday.

There were no casualties but the Ministry said equipment was damaged in the assault while Turkish forces “immedi-ately retaliated with heavy weapons”.

Shelling and mortar fire “understood to be deliberate” fired from Tall Bazan region held by Syrian regime forces hit the post in Murak region, the Ministry said in a statement.

The assault comes less than four days after three Turkish soldiers were hit in another attack Turkey said was “delib-erate” on another observation post on Thursday. Two Turkish soldiers were hurt in May in a similar attack blamed on Damascus. Turkey has 12 mil-itary observation posts in Idlib, northwestern Syria in a bid to prevent a large-scale offensive in the region.

AFP WASHINGTON

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed yesterday that the US will guarantee free passage through the vital Strait of Hormuz, as he accused Iran of recent attacks on oil tankers and the downing of a US drone.

Pompeo confirmed in an interview with CBS that a US MQ-9 “Reaper” drone was shot down on June 6 with a missile fired from Yemen “that we assess had Iranian assistance.”

Pompeo did not say what options the US was considering to protect shipping — or to punish Iran — in the wake of Thursday’s attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, but reiterated that President Donald Trump was not seeking war with Iran.

“What you should assume is we are going to guarantee freedom of navigation throughout the strait,” he said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

Iran has denied the US charges as “baseless” and said they were made without “a shred of factual or circumstantial evi-dence.” A third of the world’s seaborne oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel bordered to the north by Iran that links the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.

“This is an international challenge, important to the entire globe. The United States

is going to make sure that we take all the actions necessary, diplomatic and otherwise, that achieve that outcome,” Pompeo said.

The rising tensions have raised fears of an outbreak of hostilities in the tinderbox region.

“We don’t want a war. We’ve done what we can to deter this,” Pompeo said. “The Iranians should understand very clearly that we will continue to take actions that deter Iran from engaging in this... kind of behaviour.” The secretary did not lay out US evidence for Iran’s involvement in the Gulf of Oman explosions, but insisted: “It’s unmistakable what happened here. “These were attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran on com-mercial shipping, on the freedom of navigation, with the clear intent to deny transit through the strait.” The Pentagon had previ-ously released a video showing what it said was an Iranian boat that pulled up alongside one of the stricken tankers and removed a limpet mine attached

to its hull. Some allies, skeptical of US intentions, have said they wanted to see more evidence before reaching a conclusion.

“I will concede that there are countries that wish this would just go away,” Pompeo said.

He expressed confidence that “as we continue to develop the fact pattern, countries around the world will not only accept the basic facts, which I think are indisputable, but will come to understand that this is an important mission for the world.” Adam Schiff, head of the House Intelligence Committee and a leading Democratic critic of the administration, said the evidence of Iranian involvement “is very strong and compelling.” “And in fact, I think this was a Class-A screw-up by Iran to insert a mine on the ship,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Sudan’s Bashir appears before prosecutor in graft caseAFP KHARTOUM

Fallen Sudanese leader Omar Al Bashir was yesterday seen in public for the first time since being ousted, as he was driven in an armed convoy to the pros-ecutor’s office.

The former strongman, who ruled his northeast African nation with an iron fist for three decades, was toppled on April 11 after weeks of protests against his reign.

Dressed in a white tradi-tional robe and turban, Bashir rode in a heavily-armed convoy from the notorious Kober prison in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to prosecutors’ office to face charges of alleged corruption.

Prosecutor Alaeddin Dafallah told reporters after Bashir left the office that the ousted President had been informed that he was facing charges of “possessing foreign currency, corruption and receiving gifts illegally.”

Meanwhile, a top general from the country’s new ruling military council vowed that those who carried out a deadly crackdown on an iconic protest site that left dozens dead earlier this month would face the death penalty. “We are working hard to take those who did this to the gallows,” Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy chief of the ruling military council said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

“Whoever committed any fault” will be held accountable, Dagalo added.

Thousands of protesters who had camped outside Khar-toum’s military headquarters for weeks were violently dis-persed by armed men in mil-itary fatigues on June 3, according to witnesses.

More than 100 people were killed that day in Khartoum, according to doctors linked to the protest movement, while the health ministry put the nationwide death toll at 61.

Protesters and witnesses accuse the feared paramilitary group led by Dagalo, the Rapid Support Forces, of carrying out the assault on demonstrators.

Demonstrators and US offi-cials have called for an inde-pendent probe into the crackdown. The Military Council insists it did not order the dispersal.

A third of the world’s seaborne oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel bordered to the north by Iran that links the Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.

07MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019 ASIA

Modi urges parties not to disrupt parliamentIANS NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday told floor leaders of different political parties in the Parliament to keep political differ-ences aside and not disrupt the functioning of the two Houses.

Addressing them ahead of Parliament’s Budget session starting today, Modi urged all political parties to work cohe-sively with the government for a smooth functioning of the House.

The Prime Minister wel-comed the newly-elected MPs and expressed hope that fresh zeal and energy would be infused in the functioning of the Parliament.

Modi urged all leaders to introspect whether MPs were able to fulfil people’s aspirations as their representatives.

“We are for the people... We cannot win hearts by disrupting the functioning of the Parliament. All parties must keep political dif-ferences aside and commit them-selves to tirelessly work in the direction of nation’s progress.”

The Prime Minister said the government was always receptive to the issues raised by the political parties and was ready to discuss all matters of national importance on the floor of both the Houses.

Parliamentary Affairs Min-ister Prahlad Joshi said that there was consensus across party lines to ensure a smooth functioning of Parliament sans disruptions and deadlocks.

Joshi said Modi had invited Presidents of all political parties with representation in Par-liament on June 19 and MPs from

both the Houses on June 20 to freely interact and exchange views with the government.

“This novel initiative would go a long way in building team spirit among all the parliamen-tarians which in turn would ensure smooth functioning of the Parliament in future,” Joshi said.

In the Budget session, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha would have 30 and 27 sittings respectively between June 17 and July 26. Giving details, Joshi said the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha will com-mence on June 17 while the 249th session of the Rajya Sabha will begin on June 20.

The coming session will mainly be devoted to oath taking, election of the Speaker, motion of thanks on the Presi-dent’s address and financial business relating to the Union Budget for 2019-20.

Time will also be provided for the transaction of essential

legislative and non-legislative business.

The resolution seeking extension of Article 356 in Jammu and Kashmir also needs to be approved by both the Houses by July 2.

The Economic Survey of India will be presented in Par-liament on July 4 and the Union Budget for 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha at 11am on July 5.

Ten ordinances have been promulgated during the inter-session period which are to be replaced by Acts of Parliament as they shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the reassembly of Parliament by August 1.

Of the 46 Bills lapsed on the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, some are likely to be revived and brought before Parliament.

While the government put forth its legislative agenda, the opposition parties met and raised other issues, including problems related to farmers and water availability.

After the meeting, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party told the gov-ernment to focus on issues related to farmers, drought and water availability and take immediate steps to control unemployment which had increased in the last five years.

“This is a war of ideology and it will continue. The Con-gress will work for the people, whether it remains in gov-ernment or not.” Condemning the government’s steps to create pressure on media, Azad said they raised issues on “freedom of expression and speech”.

Junior doctors hold placards during a protest at North Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri, yesterday.

Striking doctors ready to meet Mamata - with media presentIANS KOLKATA

The striking doctors of West Bengal yesterday decided to hold talks with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to immediately end the impasse but said there should be media coverage of the deliber-ations to avoid discrepancies.

“The last press interview by our honourable Chief Minister was full of discrepancies which had led to false propagation of the motive behind our protests and the response of the gov-ernment to it. Hence it needs clarification,” a representative of the protesting doctors of the NRS Medical College and Hos-pital told media after a General Body meeting on day six of the strike that has badly hit state-run health services.

The meeting was attended by representatives of other hos-pitals participating in the strike.

“We want immediate end to this impasse through discussions with the CM which, to maintain transparency, shouldn’t be behind closed doors. The venue can be chosen by the CM, but that should be able to accom-modate representatives of all medical colleges and the national media,” he said.

Doctors “want to join duty as early as possible in the best interest of health care delivery to the common people once all our demands are met adequately and logically”, the representative said.

“We are hopeful that our honourable Chief Minister will be considerate enough to solve the problems that our entire state is facing currently,” he added.

Senior doctors expected a solution after the meeting to end the stalemate.

“We are hoping to end the impasse as early as possible and resume normalcy in the state health care services,” West Bengal Doctors Forum President Arjun Sengupta said.

Earlier, the agitating doctors had insisted that Banerjee visit the NRS Medical College and Hospital, the epicentre of the protests.

On Friday night, the striking doctors rejected a proposal from the Chief Minister for talks at the state secretariat Nabanna, and stuck to their demand that she would have to come down to the NRS Medical College and Hos-pital to listen to their grievances and apologise for having cast aspersions on them.

High alert in J&K after Pakistan info on probable terror attack

IANS SRINAGAR

An intelligence input about a major terror strike in Kashmir, reportedly shared by Pakistan, has prompted a high alert in the valley, a top security official said here yesterday.

The input talks about Al Qaeda’s plan to carry out the attack in Awantipora area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama dis-trict, either before or during the Amarnath Yatra beginning on July 1, to avenge the killing of Zakir Musa, chief of Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH), who was shot dead recently in an encounter with security forces, the official said.

“The input has been shared with all security forces engaged in counter insurgency operations in the state. A high alert has been sounded, although security is already on maximum alert because of the upcoming Amarnath Yatra,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

The route taken by the pil-grims to Amarnath holy cave in the mountains passes through the Awantipora. The input has been shared with the Army, CRPF, BSF, ITBP, SSB and the state police.

“About 450 additional com-panies of central armed police forces (CAPF) are being deployed for the overall security of the upcoming Amarnath Yatra. This is in addition to the already in place security grid engaged in anti-militancy operations,” he said.

“The input says Al Qaeda is planning the attack to avenge the killing of Zakir Musa, chief of AGH, a proclaimed affiliate of the global terror network. There is no question of any lowering of guard even if the input hadn’t been there,” added the official.

On February 14, Pulwama district was witness to a ghastly terror attack on a CRPF convoy, in which 40 personnel were killed.

Harsh Vardhan reviews situation as AES toll hits 84IANS PATNA

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan yesterday stressed the need for research on Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) that has caused the deaths of 84 children so far in Bihar’s Muzaf-farpur district.

“There should be research to identify the disease that is still not identified and for that research

facility should be developed in Muzaffarpur,” Harsh Vardhan said after visiting the state-owned Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH).

Harsh Vardhan, accom-panied by Union Minister of State for Health Ashwani Kumar Choubey and Bihar Health Min-ister Mangal Pandey, visited Muzaffarpur where 84 children have died due to AES in the past fortnight.

Harsh Vardhan said all branches of the medical sector should work together to control the outbreak of the disease. “We should also work with interna-tional organisations to contain the disease.” He said all children in the affected areas should be immunised and people should be sensitised about the disease.

Harsh Vardhan, who reviewed the situation, said the Central government has been

assisting the state government to control the situation after out-break of the AES.

“The Central government will provide all possible help including financial to the state to control the situation, provide proper treatment and develop infrastructure needed for it.” “It is shocking and painful that children are dying. I have felt the pain and grief of the parents,” he said.

He said that a new 100-bed Intensive Care Unit will be set up in SKMCH within a year to provide proper treatment to patients with AES symptoms.

“A timeline has been decided to work to contain and control the disease”, he said.

He said that biological labo-ratories in Muzaffarpur will be upgraded and new labs would be set up in the state including at AIIMS Patna.

Bangla officer held for failing to probe teenager’s murderAFP/DHAKA

A senior Bangladesh police officer has been arrested for failing to properly inves-tigate the shocking murder of a teenaged girl who was ordered burned to death by a teacher she accused of sexual assault, officials said.

The killing of Nusrat Jahan Rafi in April sparked protests across the South Asian nation, with the prime minister promising to prosecute all those involved.

At least 16 people — including the teacher — have been charged in connection with the killing and could face the death penalty if convicted.

An investigation by authorities later found Moazzem Hossain, the police chief of the town where Rafi was killed, had not properly dealt with the complaint the teenager made.Bangladesh police spokesman Sohel Rana confirmed in a text message that Hossain had been arrested.

He and two other inspectors have been suspended by the police department.Rafi went to the police in late March to make allegations of sexual harassment

against the head teacher. A leaked video showed Hossain registering her complaint, but dismissing it as “not a big deal”.

Bangladesh prison breakfast menu gets makeoverAFP/DHAKA

Bangladesh authorities have upgraded a 200-year-old colonial-era breakfast menu in all its prisons, an official said yesterday, as part of a reform of the country’s penal system. Bazlur Rashid, deputy head of the Prison Directorate, said the nation’s more than 81,000 convicts would from Sunday receive an improved breakfast, replacing the bread and molasses that has been on the menu since being introduced by British colonial rulers in the 18th century.

The new diet will contain bread, vegetables, sweets and khichdi — a spiced rice cooked with lentils — Rashid said. Previously prisoners were given just 116 grams of bread and 14.5 grams of molasses, he said. Bangladesh’s 60 prisons, built to house 35,000 inmates, are notoriously overcrowded and frequently draw criticism from rights organisations. Inmates also often complain about the quality and quantity of food served in the jails.

Rashid said the diet change is part of a series of reforms to “help prisoners get motivated and rehabilitated”. “We are gradually trying to adapt... so the convicts can reform themselves during their stay in the facilities,” he said.

The first session of the 17th Lok Sabha will commence on June 17 while the 249th session of the Rajya Sabha will begin on June 20. The coming session will mainly be devoted to oath taking, election of the Speaker, motion of thanks on the President’s address and financial business relating to the Union Budget for 2019-20.

Some 150 years ago, Marx rightly said that the promise of freedom, equality and fraternity in Europe was dependent on the inclusion of Jews. Today, in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere, it is very much dependent on the acceptance of Muslims as equal human beings and fellow citizens.

JAPAN NEWS-YOMIURI

08 MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019VIEWS

Islamophobia will not solve Europe or Asia’s problems

On June 5, during a rare trip abroad, Aung San Suu Kyi, state counsellor of Myanmar and Nobel Peace Prize lau-

reate, visited Hungary and met Prime Minister Viktor Orban. After the meeting, the Hungarian government released an official statement, saying: “The two leaders highlighted that one of the greatest challenges at present for both countries and their respective regions - Southeast Asia and Europe - is migration. They noted that both regions have seen the emergence of the issue of coexistence with continu-ously growing Muslim populations.”

It is indeed strange that both Aung San Suu Kyi and Orban expressed concern over “growing Muslim popu-lations” given that neither of their countries actually faces such a “problem”. Hungary has a tiny popu-lation of just over 5,000 Muslims and although over the past few years hun-dreds of thousands of mostly Muslim refugees have passed through its ter-ritory going west, few have expressed

desire to stay and the gov-ernment has refused to accept any.

Myanmar, too, does not have a “Muslim popu-lation growth” problem. In fact, over the past few decades, it has expelled hun-dreds of thou-sands of Muslims from Rakhine state, which for cen-turies has had a large Muslim community, despite the baseless claim by Burmese and Buddhist nationalists

that Muslims are recent “migrants”.In spite of these realities on the

ground and historical facts, both Aung San Suu Kyi and Orban have con-tinued to insist that their countries are under threat by “Muslim migration”.

Long lauded as a proponent of human rights and civil liberties, Suu Kyi has stood up in defence of Myan-mar’s military which has unleashed an unprecedented campaign of perse-cution against the Muslim-majority

Rohingya. The systematic ethnic cleansing in Rakhine state, which has had a sizeable Muslim population since the 8th century, has resulted in the brutal killing of thousands of men, women and children and the dis-placement in 2016 of some 700,000 to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, those who remain in Myanmar still face the threat of vio-lence and various violations of their rights; over 100,000 are forced to live in camps where international visitors and the media are not allowed.

Within the Buddhist world, Aung San Suu Kyi has faced little backlash for her politics. In 2017, when asked about Myanmar’s brutal policies towards the Rohingya, the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Buddhists, said that “they should remember, Buddha, in such circumstances, Buddha [would have] definitely helped those poor Muslims. So, still, I feel that [it’s] so very sad ... so sad.” But since then, he has fallen silent on the issue even though the violence against the Rohingya has continued. At the same time, just as little is being done to stop the persecution of Muslim-majority Rohingya in Myanmar, not much has been done to address the root cause of the problem in Syria: the eight-year-long bloody civil war.

In 2015, eager to placate their angry electorates, European leaders pushed for a deal with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees into Europe, placing the burden on Turkish shoulders. The country currently hosts over 3.5 million Syrian refugees with very little help from the outside world.

Since then, Syrians have continued to be killed at an alarming rate in the conflict, with hundreds of thousands displaced internally, sometimes mul-tiple times, and many still trying to flee to safety and dying in the cold waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Yet, the Europeans have shown little interest and leadership in ending the Syrian war, their primary concern remaining (Muslim) migration.

Of course, the biggest problem of

both Myanmar and Hungary (and by extension Europe) is not Muslims per se. But presenting them as a threat is a useful strategy to deflect attention from the real problems of social disin-tegration, economic stagnation, the rise of populism and far-right move-ments, the erosion of traditional values, the failure of mainstream pol-itics and a host of other issues that have practically nothing to do with Muslim or other minority groups.

Today there is concerted effort to instrumentalise Muslim communities within old-fashioned identity politics to stoke fear and justify conflict. Islam and Muslims are increasingly treated as the opposite of what both the secular and Judeo-Christian West sup-posedly stand for; they are the new common “enemy”. Thus, right-wing, left-wing, liberal, conservative, evan-gelical and other groups which nor-mally argue over a thousand different issues on a daily basis, readily agree on this perceived Muslim “threat”.

This, however, is a dangerous path to tread on. Islamophobia will solve neither Europe’s nor Asia’s problems. In the short term, it may serve narrow-minded populist agendas, but it in the long term, it could lead to more victimisation of minorities and ethnic and social upheaval.

As American scholar Anne Norton has brilliantly argued, the “Jewish question” Karl Marx had identified in the 19th century has become the “Muslim question” in the 21st century. In both cases, the problem was never about Jews or Muslims, their values or ability to coexist in Europe, but rather about European capacity to accept them as equal citizens and partners in an increasingly interdependent and globalised world.

Some 150 years ago, Marx rightly said that the promise of freedom, equality and fraternity in Europe was dependent on the inclusion of Jews. Today, in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere, it is very much dependent on the acceptance of Muslims as equal human beings and fellow citizens.

IBRAHIM KALIN, SPOKESPERSON FOR THE TURKISH PRESIDENCY

AL JAZEERA

QUOTE OF THE DAYYouth unemployment is a national crisis. We are

committed to provide our young people with

all the opportunities possible to enable

them to reach their potential. This begins

with education.

Cyril Ramaphosa South Africa’s President

Ensuring safety of marine transport must be top priority in Middle East

Recent attacks on tankers rep-resent despicable acts that threaten the safety of marine transport and the stable

supply of energy. Attacks on civilian vessels are absolutely unacceptable.

Two tankers were attacked as they navigated through the sea off Oman near the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East. One of the tankers is owned by a Japanese company and was reportedly fired on twice. All of its crew members escaped from the tanker before being rescued.

The Strait of Hormuz is positioned as the main artery for global crude oil transport. Most crude oil imported by Japan from such Middle Eastern coun-tries as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is transported to Japan via the Strait of Hormuz. Hence the strait is a lifeline for Japan’s energy supply.

The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry has

issued an alert via a shipping organi-zation to Japan-related vessels that navigate through waters near the scenes of recent attacks. The gov-ernment should make all-out efforts to ensure the safe navigation of ships by conducting information-gathering activities. The U.N. Security Council has called an emergency session. It is natural that all Security Council members have agreed to condemn the attacks as violations of international law.

Washington said Iran is respon-sible for the attacks just as it was in the case of tankers, including those from Saudi Arabia, attacked in the waters off the UAE in May.

The U.S. military has released a video it said shows a boat belonging to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard force approaching the stricken Japanese vessel and carrying out some opera-tions, explaining that the unit was “removing an unexploded limpet mine” from the attacked vessel.

Iran, on the other hand, has

persistently denied its involvement in the attacks, insisting that the U.S. claim is groundless.

Who made the attacks and for what purposes? And how were the attacks committed? It is essential to accumulate concrete pieces of evi-dence. It is indispensable that a recur-rence of similar incidents be pre-vented by strengthening surveillance.

The attack on the Japanese-owned tanker was made during Prime Min-ister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Tehran where he was playing the role of mediator to ease tensions between the United States and Iran. It can be said that the incident has once again brought the seriousness of the situ-ation into focus.

During a meeting with Abe, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his position of refusing dialogue with Washington.

U.S. President Donald Trump, for his part, has not shown any sign of sof-tening his stance, saying that it is too early to make a deal.

The real estate sector’s vibrancy shows strength of Qatar’s economy. The exports, banking, industrial and other sector have delivered impressive performance in the past. The combined value of Qatar’s hydrocarbon products export in April 2019 stood at QR18.89bn in April 2019, compared to QR18.74bn reported for the previous month .

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

editorinchief@pen.com.qa

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED

m.salim@pen.com.qa

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI

osman@pen.com.qa

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIALQatar on growth trajectory

The real estate market of Qatar remains steady and strong, showing that investors trust the economy remains intact. Qatar Central Bank’s monthly index

increased to 251.99 in March 2019 from 248.27 in Feb-ruary and 247.96 in January this year. When compared with the same month last year, the index has inched up 2.56 points against 249.43 in March 2018.

The quarterly average of the first three months’ indices (January, February and March, 2019) comes out to be 249.40 against 249.0 for the first quarter of last year (2018), which clearly shows that Qatar’s real estate market has defeated siege imposed by the blockading countries.

The QCB’s monthly real estate indices for January (247.96), February (248.27) and March (251.99) this year also suggest that the market has been witnessing steady and sustained growth this year compared to the same period last year. The real estate sector’s vibrancy shows strength of Qatar’s economy. The exports, banking, indus-trial and other sector have delivered impressive per-formance in the past. The combined value of Qatar’s hydrocarbon products export in April 2019 stood at QR18.89bn ($5.18bn) in April 2019, compared to QR18.74bn

reported for the previous month .

When compared with the total value of exports and re-exports of goods in April, hydrocarbons commodities accounted for over 85 percent of the total exports.

Qatar’s banking sector is also poised for growth. The country’s first bank merger will support economic growth and the development of the financial and private sectors. On April 21 Barwa Bank and the International Bank of Qatar (IBQ) signalled the finalisation of negotiations and clearance of regulatory requirements necessary to consolidate oper-ations. The merged entity, which will operate as Barwa Bank, will have total assets of more than QR80bn ($22bn) and a shareholder equity base of over QR12bn ($3.3bn), Oxford Business Group (OBG) noted in its “Qatar 2019-Report”. The merger will create the third-largest Islamic and sixthlargest overall bank in Qatar, with the consolidated lender having a 5 percent share

of the market, according to ratings agency Moody’s. The new bank, which will also be the ninth-largest

sharia-compliant lender in the GCC, is expected to benefit from lower funding costs and improved profitability.

As many as 32,000 new companies have been estab-lished in Qatar during the on-going blockade, registering a 34 percent growth compared to the two years before the siege, according to Qatar Chamber. The number of factories has increased by 17 percent reaching 823 in 2019 compared to 707 factories in 2016, with 116 new factories established. The proactive policies will ensure that the country will remain in its growth trajectory in the future.

Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban meet in Hungary on June 5, 2019

09MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019 ASIA

Leader apologises as record rally chokes Hong KongAFP HONG KONG

Some two million protesters choked Hong Kong’s streets in a powerful rebuke of a reviled extradition law, organisers said yesterday, piling pressure on the city’s embattled pro-Beijing leader who apologised for

causing “conflict” but refused to step down.

The historic show of force saw vast crowds marching for hours in tropical heat, calling for the resignation of chief executive Carrie Lam, who was forced to suspend the bill as public anger mounted.

Throngs of largely black-clad

protesters snaked their way for miles through the streets to the city’s parliament — with the organiser estimate for the crowd size doubling an already record-breaking demonstration last Sunday.

Police, who historically give far lower estimates for political protests, said 338,000 people turned out at its “peak”.

As night fell the huge crowds had once more taken over mul-tiple major thoroughfares, including outside the legislature, with the police seemingly ceding the streets to the jubilant masses.

Critics fear the Beijing-backed law will entangle people in China’s notoriously opaque and politicised courts and damage the city’s reputation as a safe business hub.

Lam’s office put out a statement late yesterday admitting that shortcomings in how her administration handled the law had “led to a lot of con-flict and disputes” and “disap-pointed and distressed many citizens”.

It came a day after she announced she would postpone the law indefinitely.

But it fell well short of pro-tester demands that she resign, shelve the bill permanently and apologise for police using tear gas and rubber bullets earlier in the week.

The Civil Human Rights Front, which is organising the huge rallies, said Hong Kongers would protest and strike today “until their voices are heard”.

The international finance hub was rocked on Wednesday by the worst political violence in decades as protesters were dis-persed by baton-wielding riot police.

Many accused the police of using excessive force, and anger was further fanned by author-ities calling the largely young protesters “rioters”.

Thousands of protesters dressed in black take part in a rally against a controversial extradition law proposal in Hong Kong, yesterday.

AFP HONG KONG

Joshua Wong, the student leader who became the face of Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Movement” democracy protests nearly five years ago, will be released from prison today, his party said yesterday.

In a statement, Demosisto — the party he co-founded — said the 22-year-old activist would be released from Lai Chi Kok Correctional Institute at 10.30am (0230 GMT).

Wong was sent back to

prison in May after he lost an attempt to quash a jail sentence over his leadership of the huge democracy protests he helped lead in 2014.

His release comes as Hong Kong is rocked by another out-break of huge protests, this time sparked by mass public opposition to a plan to allow extraditions to China.

Organisers said some two million people turned out on Sunday for the mammoth rally which was still going on as the announcement was made that Wong would be released.

Hong Kong’s student leader to be released from prison today

Foreign funding: ECP issues notices to PTI, PPP, PML-NINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued notices for June 20 to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for scrutiny of their foreign funding details.

The Election Commission’s three-member scrutiny com-mittee, formed last year, will carry out scrutiny of the accounts

of these three mainstream political parties in relation to their foreign funding.

The PTI, which had moved the Election Commission, alleges that there are massive irregular-ities in handling of foreign funds by both PPP and PML-N. However, these two parties, arch-rivals of the ruling party, deny having committed any wrongdoing. In return, these parties also accuse the PTI of having misused funds meant for philanthropy for other purposes

and of other irregularities.A former central information

secretary of PTI, Akbar S Babar had filed a petition in the Election Commission way back in November 2014, alleging financial irregularities in PTI’s foreign funding, which the ruling party vehemently denies.

The PTI MNA Farrukh Habib said during scrutiny of the PPP’s accounts, he was quite hopeful that massive irregularities would come to the light as a result of the investigation. Farrukh Habib,

who is also parliamentary sec-retary, while commenting on the notice issued to PPP pertaining to the scrutiny of the sources of foreign funding, alleged the PPP’s political history was marred with the tales of massive corruption. He alleged the PPP corrupted the country through their politics and now they are defending their corruption using the same platform. “Zardari and his sister are behind the bars for their financial crimes,” he claimed, and added the PPP’s

financial records should be thor-oughly investigated to expose their true faces. Side by side with the scrutiny of the PPP and PML-N, the Election Commission of Pakistan will resume hearing in the long-continuing PTI’s funding case from June 20 after a break of several weeks.

In this connection, notices were served on the petitioner and Akbar S Babar and the PTI officials to attend the ECP scrutiny committee meeting fixed for June 20.

Yoga enthusiasts take part in a mass yoga session on a field at Chulalongkorn University to mark the International Yoga Day in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.

Pakistan opposition parties discuss budget, arrestsINTERNEWS LAHORE

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto met Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz at the JatiUmra family residence of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind outside Lahore yesterday.

Maryam had extended the invitation during a telephonic conversation to Bilawal on

Saturday. He had readily accepted.

Official party sources within PML-N said 30 minutes after Bilawal arrived that the meeting was progressing smoothly and both leaders were being assisted by their senior party colleagues. During a news conference on Saturday after accepting the pro-posal to meet over lunch, Bilawal confirmed that he had been invited by Maryam for the meeting. “Solving the problems of the country is not in the hands

of just one party,” he said.Sunday’s meeting was

attended by PPP leaders Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Manzoor, Hassan Murtaza and Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar while Pervaiz Rashid, Rana Sanaullah, Muhammad Zubair and Ayaz Sadiq joined on behalf of PML-N.

Sources said that the two leaders discussed contemporary political situation following the 2019 budget announced by the government and the string of arrests including Bilawal’s father,

former president Asif Zardari and Maryam’s cousin Hamza, the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly.

In May, the two political leaders met at an Iftar in Islamabad, where leaders from other political parties were also present. Earlier in a tweet Maryam said the meeting with Bilawal was taking place with the approval of former prime min-ister Nawaz Sharif and leader of opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif.

Two dead after light planes collide mid-air in N ZealandREUTERS MELBOURNE

Two light aircraft collided mid-air on their final approach at a regional aerodrome in New Zealand yesterday killing both pilots, police said.

Four parachutists on board of one of the planes had jumped shortly before it crashed with the other plane, a training air-craft. A helicopter, also pre-paring to land, managed to avoid the collision. The police said that both planes dropped immedi-ately after impact, hitting the ground south of the Hood Aer-odrome near the town of Mas-terton. There was no immediate information about a potential cause of the crash and the police would not release the names of

the victims, saying they were still trying to locate family members. Witnesses told New Zealand media that they heard a loud bang and saw the planes spiraling down. Stuff.nz, a New Zealand news website, cited a local pilot instructor saying the aerodrome was unrestricted up to 9,500 feet, but pilots were required to record their move-ments through a shared radio channel. One of the planes belonged to Skydive Wellington while the other to the Wairarapa Aero Club. The Hood Aerodrome is owned and operated by the Masterton District Council.

“We have a close-knit com-munity at Hood Aerodrome and the incident has understandably rocked that community,” the council said in a statement.

Tsunami alert lifted after quake hits NZAFP WELLINGTON

A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake stuck near the remote Kermadec Islands northeast of New Zealand yesterday, briefly prompting a tsunami warning.

After initially forecasting “a threat to beach, harbour, estuary and small boat activ-ities”, New Zealand’s Civil Defence organisation gave the all-clear eight minutes later.

The earthquake was given a preliminary magnitude of 7.4, but later downgraded to 7.2 by the US Geological Survey.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also lifted its tsunami warning for parts of the South Pacific but said “minor sea level fluctuations may occur in some coastal areas near the earthquake”.

The earthquake struck at 10:55am (2255 GMT on Sat-urday) at a depth of 10km some 928km north-northeast of the New Zealand city of Tauranga in the North Island.

There was a strong after-shock of 6.3-magnitude late Yesterday, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The Kermadecs are unin-habited apart from a few New Zealand conservation workers based on Raoul Island, the largest in the area.

The islands are the peaks of volcanoes, some of them active, that rise above sea level and are often rocked by earthquakes above magnitude 7.0.

In recent years they expe-rienced one in 2006, another in 2007 and two in 2011.

The Kermadecs are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a hotbed of volcanic and earth-quake activity at the inter-section of several tectonic plates.

Second cracked tower sparks fears about Australia building rulesAFP SYDNEY

Australia’s building and construction codes came under scrutiny yesterday after hundreds of residents were evacuated from a high-rise Sydney apartment block where cracks were

discovered in the second such scare in six months. Some resi-dents said they were left homeless and in tears after they were ordered to leave the 10-storey, 122-apartment Mascot Towers in a southern Sydney suburb late Friday after cracks were found in the structure’s beams. “At this

stage, the engineers need to look at the cracks in those beams while the residents aren’t there,” Fire and Rescue New South Wales state Assistant Commissioner Roger Mentha told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“Then they can do an analysis on whether there have been any

movements.” The incident at the 10-year-old building followed the Christmas Eve evacuation of res-idents in the recently completed 38-storey Opal Tower in the Sydney Olympic Park after “cracking noises” were heard.

Investigators found there were a number of “design and

construction issues” that could have led to the damage that saw the structure move “one to two millimetres”.

NSW, Australia’s most pop-ulous state, said after a public outcry over the scare that it would embark on the “biggest overhaul of building laws” in its history.

Organisers said around two million people took part on the rally yesterday, but the police said 338,000 people turned out at its ‘peak’.

International Yoga Day in Bangkok

14 militants dead in Afghan air strikesQNA KABUL

Afghan authorities have said that 14 Taliban militants have been killed in a series of air strikes in various parts of the country.

A series of air strikes killed seven Taliban fighters in Helmand province in South of Afghanistan. The Afghan Special Forces arrested three Taliban fighters during a separate oper-ation in this province.

The military officials said yesterday that the Special Forces also arrested the Taliban fighters in Nahr-e-Saraj district. The Special Forces also destroyed 30kg of illegal nar-cotics. Meanwhile, an air strike killed two Taliban fighters in Nahr-e-Saraj district of Helmand province.

The officials also added that a similar air strike killed five Taliban fighters in Sangin dis-trict of the province.

The Taliban militants have not commented regarding the operations so far.

10 MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019EUROPE

Protest in Moscow over journalist’s caseREUTERS MOSCOW

Several hundred protesters gathered in Moscow yesterday in a small, government-authorised rally supporting investigative journalist Ivan Golunov and decrying abuse of power over his five-day arrest this month on drug charges.

The 36-year-old reporter, known for exposing corruption among Moscow officials, was freed following an outcry by supporters who said he was framed by corrupt police.

Journalists critical of Russian

authorities have led a dangerous existence since the 1990s — sometimes threatened, attacked or even murdered over their work — but Golunov’s case trig-gered an unusually strong backlash.

An unsanctioned rally on June 12, the day after he was released, led to more than 500 detentions, including opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

But yesterday’s event was given the go-ahead, raising questions over whether Pres-ident Vladimir Putin’s gov-ernment was trying to provide a safety valve for public anger.

The rally, called by the Russian Union of Journalists and named “Justice and Fairness to Everyone”, had drawn a few hundred people by early afternoon, a witness said. State news agency TASS cited police saying around 1,600 were there.

Other demonstrators drew attention to detentions of regional journalists. “Moscow, Golunov is free. What about the others?” one of the banners read.

Putin fired two police gen-erals over the case on Thursday, and other officers involved have been suspended pending an investigation.

People holding a banner that reads, “Freedom to Kirill Vyshinsky” referring to director of the Ukrainian office RIA Novosti, who was detained on treason charges in 2018, during a rally organised by Union of Journalists to support the investigative journalist Ivan Golunov in Moscow, yesterday.

Activists delay Heathrow drone protestREUTERS LONDON

Climate activism group Extinction Rebellion has post-poned until later this year a plan to shut down Britain’s Heathrow Airport using drones and published yesterday more details of the protest action in a bid to allay public safety fears.

Last month, aviation author-ities went on the alert when the activists pledged to paralyse Europe’s busiest airport inter-mittently in June and July to highlight the damage that a planned third runway would cause to Earth’s climate. The protest had been due to start on June 18.

“Extinction Rebellion will not be carrying out any actions at Heathrow Airport in June or July this year,” the group said in a statement. “The Heathrow Airport authorities will therefore not have to pause any summer flights.”

Heathrow Airport responded to the group’s announcement by repeating its previous warning that any use of drones near the airport would be a “reckless action” that could endanger lives.

“We are working with the authorities to address any threat of protests which could disrupt the airport,” the airport author-ities said. “We agree with the need to act on climate change, but that requires us to work

together constructively — not commit serious criminal offences.”

Initial proposals to use drones floated last month caused a backlash among some sup-porters who feared a furore over safety concerns would eclipse the group’s broader message over the need to take radical action to tackle the climate crisis.

Yesterday, the group pro-vided a more detailed plan that said protests would take place within an exclusion zone in a 5km radius around the airport, use only lightweight drones flown below head height, and avoid flightpaths. The notice period for any drone action would be at least two months.

Spanish conservatives regain control of Madrid, far-left keeps BarcelonaREUTERS MADRID

A conservative was sworn in as Madrid’s new mayor, regaining control of the Spanish capital for the People’s Party after forging a coalition including the far right, while the far-left won a second term in Barcelona with support

from the Socialists and others.Spain’s municipal elections

in May led to a fragmented political landscape, requiring numerous power-sharing deals to form coalition governments, with the most vote-winning can-didates kept out of office in some places.

The PP’s candidate for

Madrid mayor, Jose Luis Mar-tinez-Almeida, came second behind a far-left candidate but he won control of the city gov-ernment with the backing of the far-right Vox as well as the centre-right Ciudadanos party.

Some members of Ciu-dadanos have expressed unease over the party’s decision to

deepen its alliance with Vox and the PP to secure a share of power in Madrid and the southeastern Murcia region.

In neighbouring France, President Emmanuel Macron’s government warned Ciudadanos, its Spanish centre-right ally in the European Parliament, of pos-sible “consequences” if it went

ahead with local alliances with Vox.

In Barcelona, far-leftist mayor Ada Colau also came second in the elections but she was re-elected with support from the Socialists and a platform backed by former French prime minister Manuel Valls in a deal aimed at preventing a Catalan

pro-independence leader from taking the job.

“I will not be a secessionist or anti-secessionist mayor,” Colau said after being sworn in, adding that she felt somewhat uncomfortable over the way she was re-elected. She was at odds with Valls during the campaign in Spain’s second-largest city.

Fugitive Italian couple arrested in Thailand for Clooney fraudAFP/BANGKOK

An Italian who allegedly posed as Hollywood superstar George Clooney to sell clothes online has been arrested with his wife in Thailand after years on the run, police said yesterday.

Francesco Galdelli, 58, and Vanja Goffi, 45, were arrested on Saturday at a house on the outskirts Pattaya after an oper-ation between Thai and Italian authorities, officials said.

“During interrogation, Francesco confessed to claiming to be George Clooney and opening a clothes business to trick people into sending money,” a statement from Thailand’s Crime Suppression Division said.

“The couple is also wanted in Italy for multiple scams including selling fake Rolex watches online. They some-times mocked their victims by sending packets of salt instead of timepieces.”

Their crimes led them to be dubbed the Italian ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ after the notorious American bank robbers of the Great Depression era.

The case against the pair stretches back several years after Clooney told a Milan court that the pair had fraudulently used his name to promote a fashion range.

Monaco royals with Bob l’epongePrince Albert of Monaco with royal twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella posing for photographs during the 20th anniversary of “Bob l’eponge” (SpongeBob) as part of the 59th Monte-Carlo Television Festival, in Monaco, yesterday.

UK Premier hopeful says Johnson’s Brexit plan would crumbleAFP LONDON

Boris Johnson’s Brexit strategy would collapse under scrutiny, one of his rivals to become Brit-ain’s prime minister said ahead of the first televised debate yesterday — which the front-runner is skipping.

Five of the six rivals seeking the leadership of the governing Conservative Party were to go head to head in a 90-minute broadcast from 1730 GMT, with Johnson set to be given an empty podium.

The former foreign secretary has come under fire from his rivals for giving few interviews and public appearances and for avoiding the Channel 4 TV debate.

Johnson, a former London mayor, claims direct bickering between them will be counter-productive.

The contenders have dif-ferent strategies on how to deliver Brexit. Britain is due to leave the European Union on the twice-postponed deadline of October 31.

Rival Rory Stewart said Johnson’s plans for Brexit would come “off the rails” once subject to detailed examination.

“How is Boris going to deliver Brexit? He keeps saying ‘I am going to deliver it’. I don’t even know what he believes. He won’t talk to me. He won’t talk to you. He won’t talk to the public,” he said.

Conservative MPs whittle the contenders down to two through successive rounds of voting next week from

tomorrow, before the 160,000 grassroots party members pick the winner in a postal ballot.

Johnson topped Thursday’s first round with 114 votes, ahead of Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on 43 and Environment Secretary Michael Gove on 37.

Former Brexit secretary Raab got 27, interior minister Sajid Javid got 23 and Interna-tional Development Secretary Stewart was on 19.

There are 50 votes to play for that went to candidates who have dropped out and con-tenders need 33 votes to get through Tuesday’s second round, when at least one more can-didate will be eliminated.

The survivors will face a BBC television debate later tomorrow, which Johnson will attend.

Raab said the centre-right Conservatives would be unable to win a general election if they do not take Britain out of the EU by the deadline.

“The Tory Party will be toast unless we are out by the end of October. The Conservatives cannot win an election unless we have delivered Brexit,” he said.

Three years on from the ref-erendum on the UK’s EU mem-bership, Raab said lawmakers opposed to Britain leaving the bloc were trying to block Brexit from ever taking place.

“What is really scandalous here is the way that people are trying to sabotage the will of the people,” he said. “We gave people a decision. Now par-liament is trying to steal it back away from them.”

Meanwhile, Hunt said Johnson was effectively com-mitting to taking Britain out of the EU without a divorce deal, by insisting the UK must leave by the deadline.

He said he believed he could negotiate a new deal. “It’s not impossible to do it before October 31 but it will be difficult”. “If there is no prospect of getting a deal that can get through par-liament on October 31, then I would be prepared to leave without a deal, because, in the end, the democratic risk of no Brexit is far worse than the risk of no deal.”

The winner, who will become party leader and prime minister, is due to be announced in late July. But some in the party say the membership vote could be skipped if Johnson is so far ahead that he looks unlikely to be beaten.

Others argue that would be a big mistake. May became prime minister in 2016 without a party vote, after all her rivals dropped out of the race. Critics say a more robust contest would have exposed her flaws as a leader before she got the top job.

Report: Russia denies accusations of EU election meddlingREUTERS MOSCOW

An official from Russia’s security council described as absurd accusations that Moscow used disinformation to sway voters towards right-wing parties in last month’s European Union elections, Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper reported yesterday.

An EU review into elections to its parliament, published on Friday, said there was evidence both Russian and European online sources had sought to promote extreme views and polarise debate on issues such as migration and religion.

The preliminary report is the latest in a string of allegations from Western governments that Russia has used online disinfor-mation techniques, including the creation of fake social media accounts, to try to influence voters.

Sites such as Facebook have come under particular pressure to tackle the issue since the 2016 US presidential election cam-paign, when Russian troll accounts and bots allegedly flooded social media platforms with content aimed at under-mining Democrat candidates and promoting the victory of current US President Donald Trump.

Moscow has repeatedly

denied targeting elections.“Statements made in the

Western media that Russia was allegedly deeply interested in the victory of right-wing parties during elections to the European parliament are completely absurd,” Russian security council deputy secretary Alex-ander Venediktov was quoted by Rossiyskaya Gazeta as saying in an interview yesterday.

“Let me remind you that, until today, no convincing evi-dence has been presented to the global community to prove that Moscow allegedly tried to influence the elections in the US or in Europe,” Venediktov was quoted as saying.

Friday’s EU report found “a continued and sustained disinfor-mation activity by Russian sources aiming to suppress turnout and influence voter preferences”.

The report called on social networks to develop tools to vet websites hosting ads, ramp up fact-checking and increase transparency by giving researchers access to data and governments information on the malign actors.

EU leaders will discuss the review at a summit next week. A final report is due later in the year after which EU officials said they will consider further regu-lation of online platforms.

How is Boris going to deliver Brexit? He keeps saying ‘I am going to deliver it’. I don’t even know what he believes. He won’t talk to me. He won’t talk to you. He won’t talk to the public: Rory Stewart

11MONDAY 17 JUNE 2019 AMERICAS

Poll shows Trump trailing Joe BidenAFP WASHINGTON

A nationwide Fox News poll released yesterday shows Pres-ident Donald Trump trailing former vice-president Joe Biden and no fewer than four other Democratic contenders as early campaigning for the 2020 election begins to gain steam.

A separate survey of battle-ground states, by CBS, shows Democrats strongly favour Biden as the candidate most likely to beat Trump in next year’s elections.

The Fox poll showed Biden leading Trump by 49 percent to 39 percent among all regis-tered voters nationwide, while Senator Bernie Sanders held nearly the same advantage over the president, at 49 percent to 40 percent.

Holding edges of 1 or 2

points over Trump — albeit within the poll’s 3 point margin of error —were Senators Eliz-abeth Warren and Kamala Harris, as well as Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.

The polling comes more than 500 days before the November 3, 2020 election, an eternity in the political world. One widely viewed tweet this week shows five presidential candidates in recent decades who trailed at this point in their campaigns —including Trump — but who went on to win.

The president does not offi-cially launch his re-election campaign until Tuesday, at a rally-style event in a huge arena

in Orlando, Florida.Still, the Fox poll, conducted

on June 9 to 12, is seen as heart-ening by Democrats eager to chip away at Trump’s popularity, par-ticularly in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Trump’s campaign recently dismissed leaked data from its own pollsters showing Biden with double-digit leads in battleground states. The campaign at first denied the data, but then acknowl-edged it, branding it as “ancient” because it dated from March.

But the new CBS poll con-firms a clear Biden lead in bat-tleground states among Demo-cratic voters, as the crowded race

for that party’s nomination begins to take shape.

A belief among Democratic voters that Biden is best posi-tioned to defeat Trump in 2020 was cited by three-quarters of Democrats as a decisive factor in their support.

The CBS News/YouGov Bat-tleground Tracker survey, con-ducted on May 31 to June 12, said Biden had the backing of 31 percent of Democratic primary voters in 18 key early-voting states.

Biden was trailed by sen-ators Elizabeth Warren (17 percent), Sanders (16 percent) and Kamala Harris (10 percent).

The poll, with a 1.5 percent margin of error, looked at states including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina — which hold primary elections in February, at the top of the electoral cal-endar — as well as states in the

upper Midwest, where Trump eked out narrow but decisive victories in 2016.

Elizabeth Warren has been steadily rising in the polls, only recently reaching statistical equivalency with Sanders, whose support has been slipping.

Sanders acknowledged yes-terday that “polls go up and polls go down” but insisted that the survey showed he was the strongest candidate to defeat Trump.

Democrats begin more ear-nestly winnowing down their field of nearly two dozen candi-dates when they hold successive nights of televised debates on June 26 and 27.

Fox poll also found that Democratic voters, by roughly three-to-one, wanted a nominee who would provide “steady, reliable leadership” rather than a “bold new agenda.”

Trump in new Twitter attack on London mayorAFP WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump launched a fresh attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, backing a right-wing British columnist who has been widely accused of Islamophobia and once called migrants “cock-roaches.”

Trump attached his latest denunciation of the mayor to a retweet by Katie Hopkins about

crime in “Khan’s Londonistan” .“LONDON needs a new

mayor ASAP. Khan is a disaster — will only get worse!” Trump wrote in response to Hopkins’ tweet, later adding the mayor was “a national disgrace who is destroying” the city.

Earlier this month, the presi-dent’s plane had not even touched down in London for the start of a state visit when he tweeted that Khan was a “stone cold loser.”

Khan had criticised the red

carpet treatment being given Trump for the visit.

Trump said the mayor should “focus on crime in London, not me,” and made a derisive reference to Khan’s height.

Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, had led opposition to Trump’s visit, writing a news-paper article in which he com-pared the US leader to European dictators from 1930s and 1940s.

At that time, the mayor’s

spokesman called Trump’s tweets “childish” and “beneath the president of the US.”

On a trip to London last year, Trump accused Khan of doing “a very bad job on terrorism,” linking immigration to a deadly wave of crime in London.

The feud began when Khan, the son of a bus driver who emi-grated from Pakistan in the 1960s, criticised Trump’s travel ban on people from certain Muslim countries.

US Navy official sees more orders for Boeing P-8A in coming monthsREUTERS PARIS

The US Navy expects additional US and international orders for the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft in coming months, which should extend production by two years to late 2025, a senior US Navy official said.

Navy Captain Tony Rossi, programme manager for the P-8 and its predecessor, the P-3, said the Navy was hoping to finalise the order book for the pro-gramme soon to be able to “effectively and efficiently close out the production.”

He said the programme could see about 21 additional orders from the US Navy on top of 117 aircraft already funded, plus roughly the same number from other countries, although he declined to name potential new buyers.

The P-8, based on Boeing’s 737-800 airframe, conducts anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and shipping interdiction, and also carries electronic support measures, torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and other weapons.

It is already operated by the US Navy, Australia and India, and has been ordered by Britain, Norway, New Zealand and South Korea.

Rossi said he was urging

potential buyers to place their orders soon.

“The message is clear. The time is now to make sure that production continues to get those orders filled,” he said. “I’m upbeat. I think there’ll likely be additional US orders and addi-tional FMS (foreign military sales) quantities in the next six to nine months.”

Richard Aboulafia, vice-president of analysis for the Vir-ginia-based Teal Group, said other potential buyers included Singapore and Canada.

“The transatlantic Nato alliance was also considering ordering the aircraft,” according to sources familiar with the programme.

“The market is somewhat thinner than expected, but they’ll get more orders. The pro-duction line will probably wind up running into the late 2020s,” Aboulafia said.

Boeing builds about 1.5 P-8 aircraft a month, but could slow production to extend the line, which is now slated to end in mid- to late-2023, and allow additional international cus-tomers to join the programme, Rossi said.

He said that the demand for the broad-area maritime patrol was rising given sharp increases in Russian submarine activity, and the capabilities of those vessels.

The Fox poll showed Biden leading Trump by 49% to 39% among all registered voters nationwide, while Bernie Sanders held nearly the same advantage over the president, at 49% to 40%.

Massive power outage hits Argentina, UruguayAFP BUENOS AIRES

A massive outage blacked out Argentina and Uruguay yesterday, leaving both South American countries without electricity, power companies said.

By mid-morning, streets were largely empty in a rainy Buenos Aires although some stores were open, operating with generators, while Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, was almost entirely without power with only some traffic lights working.

Uruguay’s system went down at 7:06am (1006 GMT), according to the Uruguayan power company UTE, which attributed the outage to “a fault in the Argentine network.”

“The causes are being inves-tigated and have not yet been determined,” Argentina’s secre-tariat of energy said on its Twitter account, adding it would take “some hours” to restore power completely.

Argentina, with 44 million people, and Uruguay, with 3.4 million, have a common power grid centred on the bi-national Salto Grande dam, 450km north of Buenos Aires.

Two Argentine power com-panies confirmed that the failure knocked out electricity throughout Argentina, without specifying the cause.

“A massive failure in the electrical interconnection system left all Argentina and Uruguay without power,” Edesur

Argentina said on Twitter.Edenor, Argentina’s largest

electricity distributor, attributed the outage to a “general failure in the interconnection system.”

UTE said the failure left Uru-guay’s “entire national territory without service, as well as several provinces of the

neighbour country.”More than an hour after the

blackout, UTE said its system was being brought back “from zero.”

“Some coastal cities already have service and work continues toward general restoration (of power),” it said.

A view of a closed gas station during a power outage in downtown Buenos Aires, yesterday.

Guatemala votes for new president amid tensionsREUTERS GUATEMALA CITY

Guatemala residents yesterday began voting for a new pres-ident, who will face the chal-lenge of curbing drug gang violence that has convulsed the country and helped spur illegal immigration to the United States, fuelling tensions with President Donald Trump.

Nineteen candidates are competing in the election, which is expected to yield no outright winner, forcing the top two con-tenders to face off in a second round on August 11.

Former first lady Sandra Torres, of the centre-left UNE party, has led the race to succeed President Jimmy Morales, a con-servative former television host whose term has been blighted by accusations of corruption made by UN-backed investigators.

Torres, who wants to send troops onto the streets to fight drug gangs, and to tackle poverty with welfare pro-grammes, has support of around 20 percent of the electorate, polls show.

“We have to sort out our problems here, and part of the

reason for the migration is the lack of jobs, the gap in wages between the United States and here,” Torres said as she arrived to cast her vote in Guatemala City. “We need to work with the business community to revive the economy and create jobs.”

Her closest rivals, trailing by a few percentage points, are conservatives Alejandro Giam-mattei, who is running in his fourth campaign, and Edmond Mulet, a former United Nations official whose candidacy has gained traction in the run-up to the vote.

Mulet, who arrived to vote driving a white car with his wife and son, stressed that he had run an austere campaign, and said he was hopeful of making the second round run-off.

Rampant violence and wide-spread discontent over cor-ruption and impunity in the country of 17 million have prompted more and more Gua-temalans to flee for the US.

The surge of departures has undermined Trump’s pledge to curb illegal immigration, and the president has responded by threatening to cut US aid to Central America.

Mass detention in Mexico after 791 immigrants found in trucksREUTERS MEXICO CITY

Mexican officials detained nearly 800 undocumented migrants in eastern Mexico in four trucks on Saturday, the government said, in one of the biggest swoops against illegal immigration in recent months.

Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement early yesterday that 791 foreign nationals were found in the trucks stopped in the eastern state of Veracruz, confirming earlier reports about a mass detention.

The apprehension came as Mexico steps up efforts to reduce a surge of migrants toward the US border under pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to hit Mexican goods with tariffs if Mexico does not stem illegal immigration.

Mexico made a deal on June 7 with the United States to avert the tariffs, setting the clock ticking on a 45-day period for the Mexican government to make palpable progress in reducing the numbers of people trying to cross the US border illegally.

There has been a jump in apprehensions at the US-Mexico border this year, angering Trump, who has made reducing illegal immigration one of his signature policy pledges.

Most of those caught attempting to enter the US are people fleeing poverty and vio-lence in three troubled Central American nations, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Mexico’s decision to tighten its border and respond to Trump’s threats has caused ten-sions within the government, and on Friday, the head of the INM resigned.

An attempt to set world recordHundreds of people head a ball in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for most people heading a ball at the same time for 5 seconds in Santiago, Chile, yesterday.

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