9 December 2019 | 12 Rabia II 1441 ...€¦ · 12/9/2019 · Monday 9 December 2019 | 12 Rabia II...

Volume 24 | Number 8100 | 2 RiyalsMonday 9 December 2019 | 12 Rabia II 1441 www.thepeninsula.qa

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BUSINESS | 01 SPORT | 09

Lara, Kallis to feature in Qatar Celebrity Cricket League

QNB to embrace

digital transformation

H H Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Personal Representative of H H the Amir, and H E Sheikh Thani bin Hamad Al Thani along with other dignitaries during the ceremony.

QCB set to announce FinTech strategySATISH KANADY THE PENINSULA

Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Governor H E Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud Al Thani said yesterday that the central bank is working on the banking industry’s financial technology (FinTech) strategy, in cooperation with leading financial institutions and financial technology companies. The strategy, where the central bank would contribute to creating a modern regulatory environment that supports inno-vation and market stability, will be announced soon, he said.

Delivering the opening address at The Euromoney Qatar Conference, the QCB Gov-ernor said the central bank, in its capacity as the regulatory and supervisory authority for the financial sector, is fully aware of the importance of financial technology in the development of the banking and financial sector in the country.

Supported by cutting-edge innovations, the global financial sector is rapidly growing. Tech-nology is playing great role in transforming the banking system from its conventional channels to digital alternatives. Digital banks, which are set to revolutionise the global banking system, are on its way. These new age banks are capable of providing key tradi-tional services through mobile applications, Sheikh Abdulla said. �P4

Amir to honour winners of International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award todayQNA/DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani will head to the Republic of Rwanda today to attend the ceremony of Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani Inter-national Anti-Corruption Excel-lence Award, which will be held in Kigali in partnership with the United Nations, in the presence of President of the Republic of Rwanda H E Paul Kagame; Pres-ident of the Republic of Namibia H E Hage Geingob; President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo H E Felix Tshisekedi; Pres-ident of FIFA Gianni Infantino; Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed, and Vice President of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) Dr Eduardo Vetere.

Several international person-alities in the field of the award will attend the ceremony. During the ceremony, H H the Amir and H E the Rwandan President will honour the winners of the award’s four categories: Lifetime or Outstanding Achievement; Academic Research and Edu-cation; Youth Creativity and Engagement; and Innovation.

Winners of SHATIU honouredTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The winners of the 5th edition of Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding (SHATIU) were honoured yesterday in a ceremony held at the Ritz-Carlton, Doha

On behalf of Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, H H Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Personal Representative of H H the Amir, attended the ceremony.

During the ceremony, H E Sheikh Thani bin Hamad Al Thani honoured the winners of the various categories of the Award. Yahya Al Qaqaa and Ikhlas Al Qanawah won the first place in the translation category from

English into Arabic for translating ‘Knowledge is Manifest’ by Franz Rosenthal, QNA has reported.

Amr Ali Saeed Othman secured second place for translating ‘Ori-entalist Palaces’ by Wael Hallaq. Third place went to Kholoud Amr, for translating ‘Buried Giant’ novel by Kazuo Ishiguro.

As for the category of trans-lation from Arabic into English, the first place was dropped, while Muhammad Hossam Fadil received the second place for translating ‘Rulings in distinguishing fatwas from the rulings’ by Al Qarafi.

In the category of translation from Russian into Arabic, Nizar Oyoun Al Aswad won the first place for translating ‘War does not have a feminine face’ by Svetlana Alekseyevich.

The first place was repeated

by Nofal Nayouf, for translating ‘Everything from love’ by Nadijda Taifi, while the third place went to Bassam Khalil Mekdad, for translating ‘Philosophy of ine-quality’ by Nikolai Berdyayev.

In the category of translation from Arabic into Russian, the first place was dropped, so Olga Vlasova received the second place, for translating ‘Al Hawat and Al Qasr’ novel by Taher Wattar, while the category of achievement was won by the Tunisian Institute of Translation.

The category of achievement in the Russian and English lan-guages went to the translators Abdullah Haba; Maher Shafiq Farid; and Dimitrii Mikulski. Murtada Syed Umarov won in the achievement category of Uzbek language. �P2

Doha Declaration to promoterights of 1.5 billion peoplewith disabilities worldwideTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Qatar Foundation for Social Work (QFSW) launched the ‘Doha Declaration’ at the closing ceremony of the Doha International Conference on Disability and Development (DICDD) yesterday. The two-day conference, which has attracted over 1,500 policy-makers and practitioners, took place at the Qatar National Convention Center under the theme: “Leaving No One Behind”.

The Doha Declaration on disability and development sets out an action-oriented approach that Qatar hopes will be an international reference point for world governments to integrate the rights of persons with disabilities into their national development plans.

The aim is to ensure the needs of persons with disabilities are included in policies related to education, health, employment, and other relevant areas.

The Doha Declaration states: "We, the conferees of the Doha International Conference on Disability and Development December 7 to 8, 2019 held under the patronage of H H Shaikha Moza bint Nasser, came together in the spirit of the UN Charter to advance peace, justice and human rights for all and especially for the 1.5 billion persons with disabilities in the world.

"Whereas, we are painfully

aware that the legacy of the past has left many persons with disabilities behind.

"That legacy of invisibility, exclusion, segregation, discriminatory policies and law is an affront to the human conscience.

"Whereas, we call for a rethinking the disability concepts at all levels, stepping out from the cultural barriers, s t igmas and medical approaches towards CRDP d e f i n i t i o n s e n s u r i n g empowerment, comprehensive social wellbeing, belonging, inclusiveness, equality and dignity for all.

"Whereas, we acknowledge that humanity now has at its disposal two powerful instruments reflecting the values of change and each, in their own way, driving that process of change.

"Whereas, we acknowledge legal obligations arising from the UN CRPD and view the UN SDGs as key guiding principles in development, complementary action as between the two can help create a more inclusive future for all persons with disabilities.

"Whereas, we stress on the i n t e r o p e r a b i l i t y a n d interdependence of the two global instruments; SDGs and UNCRPD, where leaving no one behind cannot be achieved without mainstreaming the r ights-based approach embedded in the UNCRPD as human rights and development cannot be divided. �P4

H H the Amir crowned the National Team of Bahrain with Arabian Gulf Cup championship in its 24th edition. We congratulate Bahraini team for winning this title for the first time. We are proud of Qatar's constant excellence in hosting the mega sporting events.

Amir crowns winners of Gulf Cup

QNA/DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani crowned the national football team of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the winners of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup, following their 1-0 victory over the national football team of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday.

H H the Amir handed the Bahraini players the gold medals and the championship’s trophy and handed the silver medals to the Saudi players.

The crowning ceremony was attended by Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani; H H Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, Personal Rep-resentative of H H the Amir; H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani and H E Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Also, the ceremony was attended by the President of the

Asian Football Confederation, H E Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Their Excellencies Sheikhs and Ministers and heads of the Gulf Olympic committees and federations, Their Excel-lencies heads of the diplomatic missions accredited to the State, senior officials in the sport field and a huge numbers of fans.

The crowning ceremony started with handing the cham-pionship awards in different categories, as Qatar national team won the fair play award, Saudi Arabian Fawaz Al Qarni won the best goalkeeper award, Saudi Arabian Abdullah Otayf won the best player award, then honored the final match refe-reeing team.

H H the Amir attended the final of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup between the national football team of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the national football team of the Kingdom of Bahrain, at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.

We were delighted that our brothers participated in 24th Arabian Gulf Cup, with whom we lived wonderful days. Congratulations for Bahrain on winning the title and good luck for the other teams. We are proud on the success of the championship and all thanks and appreciation to those participated in organising it.

↑ Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani handing over the Arabian Gulf Cup to the winners, the national football team of the Kingdom of Bahrain, after the final match at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday. �P2

02 MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019HOME

Prime Minister receives condolences from Mali and BurundiDOHA: Prime Minister and Inte-

rior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah

bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani,

received last evening condolences

on the death of his mother from H

E President of the National Assem-

bly of the Republic of Mali, Issaka

Sidibe, and Speaker of the Senate

of the Republic of Burundi, Rever-

ien Ndikuriyo. QNA

OFFICIAL NEWS

Peruvian FM meets Qatari Ambassador

LIMA: The Minister of Foreign

Affairs of the Republic of Peru,

H E Gustavo Meza-Cuadra met

with H E Ambassador of the

State of Qatar to Peru, Ali bin

Hamad Al Sulaiti. QNA

Deputy PM and Minister of State for Defence Affairs meets Chairman of Jordanian Joint Staff

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, met yesterday the Chairman of the Jordanian Joint Staff Major General (Pilot), H E Yousef Ahmed Al Hunaiti and his accompanying delegation. They discussed military relations between the two sides and ways to enhance and develop them. The meeting was attended by Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, H E Lieutenant General (Pilot) Ghanem bin Shaheen Al Ghanim, and a number of senior officers of the Qatari Armed Forces.

Amir receives message from President of Venezuela

Deputy Amir to attend Global Conference of Parliamentarians

DOHA: Amir H H Sheikh

Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,

received yesterday a written

message from the President

of the Bolivarian Republic of

Venezuela, H E Nicolas Maduro,

pertaining to bilateral relations

and means to support and develop

them. The message was received

by Secretary-General of the Min-

istry of Foreign Affairs, H E Dr.

Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi,

during his meeting with Ambas-

sador of Venezuela to the State

of Qatar, Giuseppe Angelo Yof-

freda Yorio. QNA

Amir issues Amiri decisions, decreesQNA/DOHA

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, yesterday issued Amiri Decision No. 58 of 2019 appointing Hussain Ahmed Muhammad Ibrahim Al Hamid, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Republic of Tanzania.

H H the Amir also issued Amiri Decision No. 59 of 2019 appointing Fawzia Idris Salman Al Sulaiti, as Ambassador Extraor-dinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Indonesia. H H the Amir issued Amiri Decision No. 60 of 2019 appointing Tariq Ali Faraj Hashim Al Ansari, Ambas-sador Extraordinary and Pleni-potentiary of the Republic of South Africa. H H the Amir also issued Decree No. (46) of 2019 to ratify a Memorandum of Under-standing for cooperation in the field of health and medical science between the government of the State of Qatar and the government of the Republic of Turkey, signed in Trabzon, on 18/12/ 2016 attached to the text of this decree and have the force of law, in accordance with Article (68) of the Constitution.

H H the Amir also issued Decree No. (47) of 2019 to ratify a Memorandum of Under-standing for cooperation in the field of standardization between the Qatar General Organization for Standardization in Qatar, and the Turkish Standards Institution TSE in the Republic of Turkey, signed in Trabzon on 18/12/2016, attached to the text of this

decree and have the force of law, in accordance with Article (68) of the Constitution.

H H the Amir issued Decree No. (48) of 2019 ratifying an air services agreement between the government of the State of Qatar and the government of the Republic of Paraguay signed in the city of Asuncion on 3/10/2018, attached to the text of this decree and have the force of law, in accordance with Article (68) of the Constitution.

H H the Amir also issued Decree No. (49) of 2019 to ratify an agreement between the government of Qatar and the government of the Republ ic of Paraguay regarding the abolition of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic, official and private passports, signed in the city of Asuncion on 3/10/2018, attached to the text of this decree and have the force of law, in accordance with Article (68) of the Constitution. H H the Amir issued Decree No. (50) of 2019 ratifying a supple-mentary protocol in the field of supervision and control of financial institutions for the Memorandum of Understanding between Qatar Central Bank and Bank Al Maghrib, signed in the city of Rabat on 12/03/2018, attached to the text of this decree and have the force of law, in accordance with Article (68) of the Constitution. The deci-sions are effective as of the date of issue and are to be published in the official gazette.

Award winners posing for a group picture.

DOHA: The Deputy Amir H H

Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al

Thani will attend today, the open-

ing of the 7th Global Conference

of Parliamentarians Against Cor-

ruption, which will be held at the

Sheraton Doha Hotel. QNA

Shura Council Speaker meets Inter-Parliamentary Union President

Winners of SHATIU honouredFROM PAGE 1

In the Portuguese language, Safa Abu Shahla Gibran and Catarina Bello received the award.

While in the category of achievement in Malayalam lan-guage, Islamic Publishing House; V Abdul Kabir; Shaykh Muhammad Karakkunu, and

Nabeesah Shamnad received the awards.

And in the category of dic-tionaries, Abdul Rahman Abdullah Birri won for his achievement of a Somali-Arabic dictionary, and Olug Beik Sultan Zekirjan, for his accomplishment of the Sultan Uzbek Arabic Dictionary,

while Kazem Jan Ibrahimovic won youth encouragement prize.

The ceremony was attended by a number of Their Excel-lencies, Sheikhs and Ministers, a number of Their Excellencies members of diplomatic missions, and a number of intellectuals, writers and guests.

DOHA: The Speaker of the Shura Council,H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al

Mahmoud, met yesterday with the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

H E Gabriela Cuevas Barron, on the occasion of her Excellency’s participation in

the 7th Conference of Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corrup-

tion, which begins in Doha today. The meeting reviewed cooperation relations

in the parliamentary field.

DICDD discusses ways to make cities accessible to everyoneQNA/DOHA

The second session of the activ-ities of the final day of the Doha International Conference on Disa-bility and Development, organised by the Qatar Social Work Foun-dation, discussed ways to make cities accessible to all by providing an infrastructure based on the consideration of people with disa-bilities.

H E the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the Arab League for Humanitarian Affairs Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani called for the necessity of converting words and good intentions regarding the rights of persons with disa-bilities into effective measures on the ground because making

cities accessible to all requires providing basic services in those cities, such as ease of movement for people with disabilities and the availability of job opportu-nities for them. She also praised what Doha has done in this context, as Qatar has developed an engineering guide for buildings to accommodate people with dis-abilities since 2006.

Her Excellency stated that societies should make a great effort to provide access to persons with disabilities and provide them with basic services, asking those communities to provide opportunities for persons with disabilities to par-ticipate in the form and methods of providing access to them in future cities. She added that

developing countries face the greatest challenges, and the issue of access within cities in devel-oping countries is not always easy, reviewing her experience of living in the United Kingdom when the old buildings in the British capital London were rehabilitated to make them eli-gible for people with disabilities.

The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the Arab League for Humanitarian Affairs stressed that the ease of access for people with disabilities depends on the type of disability and the classification of disability, explaining that setting accurate standards and describing these disabilities facilitates the achievement of this goal.

Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani during the final of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, yesterday.

Amir, Father Amir attend Arabian Gulf Cup final

03MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019 HOME

Shura Council discusses State’s draft public budget of fiscal year 2020QNA/DOHA

The Shura Council held yesterday the 6th meeting of its 48th regular session under its Speaker H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud.

The council, during the session, discussed the State’s draft public budget of fiscal year 2020, and the draft budget approval law, in presence of the Minister of Finance H E Ali bin Shareef Al Emadi; President of Public Works Authority (Ashghal) Dr. Saad bin Ahmed Al Muhannadi and a lineup of senior officials in the Ministry of Finance. H E Min-ister of Finance explained the gov-ernment’s view on the draft budget and answered questions and inquiries from members of the Council.

At the outset of the dis-cussion of the draft budget, H E Shura Council Speaker extended sincere thanks and appreciation to Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for His Highness’ wisdom, directives and good policies that enabled the country to occupy this pres-tigious position and to achieve the highest rates of economic growth despite the unjust

blockade imposed on it. H E Al Mahmoud said that it is a matter of our satisfaction to find direc-tives and visions of HH the Amir, reflected in the draft budget and embodied in its goals, founda-tions and philosophy.

He added that the draft budget is one of the fruits of this wise policy and sound economic planning, with its goals and bases, which include providing the necessary allocations for the plans and projects of Qatar National Vision 2030 and the requirements of the second stra-tegic plan 2018-2022 with its various economic, social, human and environmental pillars as well as providing financial allo-cations for the completion of major projects and those related to the 2022 World Cup.

It also included allocating financial credits to develop infrastructure in the free, eco-nomic, industrial and logistical zones; developing the lands of citizens, supporting initiatives for developing business envi-ronment to enhance the role of the private sector and its partic-ipation in various economic activities, and supporting food security projects as well as small

and medium enterprises.The Shura Council Speaker

stressed that the foundations on which the draft budget were welcomed, praised and sup-ported by the Shura Council, especially as it (the draft budget) came in harmony with the prin-ciples, directions and visions contained in H H the Amir’s speech at the opening of the 48th ordinary session of the Shura Council on the October, 5.

The Speaker, in his name and on behalf of all members of the Council, extended thanks to H E the Minister of Finance; the President of Ashghal and the accompanying team for attending the session of the Council and attending to its members’ inquiries.

After extensive in-depth; objective and responsible dis-cussions, the Shura Council com-mended the State’s Draft Public Budget of Fiscal Year 2020, as well as the efforts of the esteemed government and the plans and programs that it is implementing within the framework of the National Development Strategy 2018 2022 and Qatar National Vision 2030.

The Speaker of the Shura Council, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, chairing the 6th meeting of the 48th regular session of the Shura Council, yesterday.


Turkish envoy underlines tremendous progress in bilateral ties with QatarQNA/DOHA

The Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the State of Qatar, H E Fikret Ozer, underlined that the bilateral relations between Turkey and Qatar achieved tremendous progress in recent years in all areas of cooperation, on the basis of the strategic partnership.

In statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of Qatar National Day, the Ambassador said that the Turkey-Qatar Supreme Strategic Committee, which was estab-lished in 2015 as the highest institutional mechanism of cooperation, convened for the fifth time last month under the leadership of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and H E President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the margin of the meeting, the two countries signed seven agreements, added to the 46 agreements which were signed in the previous meetings.

In this regard, the Ambas-sador noted that the leaders of both countries emphasized in the last meeting of the Supreme Strategic Committee the Turkish-Qatari strategic part-nership which means a lot for both sides.

He noted that one of the areas where the two countries made the fastest progress is economy. The trade volume, which was nearly QR3bn in 2016, increased to reach QR8.3bn by the end of 2018. As of October this year, it reached QR5.8bn.

With a total of over $18bn, Qatar has become the 7th country in which the Turkish

contracting sector has under-taken the highest volume of projects. On the other hand, the total value of the Qatari invest-ments in Turkey is nearly $80.1bn, the Turkish Ambas-sador added.

The Turkish Ambassador added that the humanitarian and cultural relations between the two countries by no means fall behind the political and economic relations. “Our Qatari brothers have been showing growing interest for the Turkish culture and language. Last year almost 100 thousand Qatari citizens visited Turkey. On the other hand, Qatar became the second home for nearly 10 thousand Turkish cit-izens residing in the country,” HE the Minister said.

The Turkish Ambassador noted that National Days are important means of acknowl-edging the past and connecting it to the present day. They also serve as valuable guides to the future. “They remind us the sac-rifices of our ancestors, unite us

under one flag and help us become a real nation. It is only when a nation is united that it can overcome the challenges it faces, no matter how strong these challenges are,” H E the Ambassador said.

“In my capacity as the Turkish Ambassador to Qatar, I would like to celebrate the National Day of the friendly State of Qatar and extend my best wishes to our Qatari brothers and sisters. I believe that this important day will further strengthen the spirit of national pride and solidarity among Qatari nation and thus will be instrumental in building even a more united and prosperous Qatar,” the Ambassador of Turkey stated.

In the political sphere, the Ambassador said that Qatar has immensely raised its regional and international standing and become a leading political actor whose contribution to solution of regional and global challenges is highly sought and valued for.

Oman’s Ambassador praises historical relations with QatarQNA/DOHA

Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the State of Qatar, H E Najib bin Yahya Al Balushi praised the depth of the Qatari-Omani relations, describing it as deep-rooted, brotherly and historical, which have evolved over decades to cover all fields.

In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of Qatar National Day, the Ambassador affirmed that the relations between the Sultanate of Oman and the State of Qatar are in constant growth and development thanks to the directives of the leaderships of the two countries that are keen on consolidating the devel-opment achieved while creating wider prospects and opportu-nities for cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

The Omani Ambassador highlighted Qatar’s achievements made during the past period in various fields thanks to the wise leadership of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Despite the challenges facing the world, the State of Qatar has

managed to create a good envi-ronment to face difficulties and turn them into successful oppor-tunities that strengthened their development achievements at the local level and their active presence in the regional and international forums, thanks to its careful planning and optimal utilization of resources, the Ambassador stated.

The Ambassador Al Balushi extended his congratulations to Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Father Amir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Deputy Amir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani, and to the people of Qatar on the occasion of Qatar National Day. He expressed his wishes that Qatar will continue to celebrate its achievements year after year amidst further development, progress and prosperity.

Fikret Ozer, Ambassador of Turkey to Qatar

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, met yesterday with the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, H E Amina Mohammed, who is currently visiting the country. During the meeting, cooperation relations between the State of Qatar and the United Nations were reviewed, in addition to issues of common concern.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs meets top UN official

Najib bin Yahya Al Balushi, Oman’s Ambassador to Qatar

The Turkish Ambassador said: One of the areas where the two countries made the fastest progress is economy. The trade volume, which was nearly QR3bn in 2016, increased to reach QR8.3bn by the end of 2018. As of October this year, it reached QR5.8bn.

Doha Declaration to promote rights of 1.5 billion people with disabilitiesFROM PAGE 1

The participants recommended to combat structural barriers causing the exclusion of persons with disa-bilities, with a noteworthy emphasis on discriminatory laws and policies, fragmentation of services, lack of accessibility to physical and visual environments, lack of access to assistive technology and to rehabili-tation and lack of measures to promote independent living of persons with disabilities.

It was also recommended to establish large scale awareness raising campaigns promoting disa-bility rights, using the voice of persons with disabilities as a key driver to nudge the community, reducing dis-crimination, negative attitudes and stigma which hinders the social par-ticipation of persons with disabilities and to ensure that SDGs strategies at the national levels consciously take

into account the need for cultural transformation.

The recommendations also included Mainstream disability in the implementation of all SDGs, including the development of national strat-egies, policies and action plans are nationally addressed and aligned with the UNCRPD commitments.

Promote full and active partici-pation and representation of all persons with disabilities in societies and in all policies and programs. All duty-bearers must prioritize the rep-resentation of all persons with disa-bilities as leaders, active citizens and active agents of change in the com-munity, country, and international level, thus reaffirming the principle of ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’. Encourage governments, civil society and others to innovate with new methods of co-production of policies.

QCB set to announce FinTech strategyFROM PAGE 1

The future banking industry is heading towards a new historical turning point. AI and blockchain are going to completely transform the industry. Sheikh Abdulla said that the regulatory and supervisory bodies around the world will need to quickly cope up with the new challenges in order to reduce regulatory

gaps and maintain financial stability. With technology giants developing faster and lower-cost solutions and have begun to offer alternative financial services, tra-ditional banking services have to gear up to face the challenges by investing heavily in technology.He pointed out that the developments witnessed in the banking technology sector, and the desire

of customers to use digital services, have redefined the concept of retail banking. Improving operational efficiency can only be done through the adoption of new technologies. Reaffirming that the arti-ficial intelligence, electronic cloud-based banking services and enhanced digital capabilities are increasingly becoming core element of the banking industry,

Sheikh Abdulla urged the banks to establish more distinct system through the cooperation with leading FinTech companies.

Mobile banking services can now be executed at any time and any place. The entry of tech giants with huge cus-tomer base, like “Apple”, “Google”, “Amazon”, has the potential to totally disrupt the traditional banking industry.

He said that the new developments in the banking industry also raise many concerns about privacy, competition and market monopoly, which may create threats that affect the financial system, as pointed out by the Interna-tional Monetary Fund has noted this in the recent G20 summit in Tokyo.

These developments in the financial landscape have forced the regulatory and supervisory authorities to rethink the regulation as well as supervision and oversight strategy, where, the opportunities and solutions offered by FinTec and big technology companies may increase operating and cybersecurity risks, due to the inter-connected operations with information technology.

The QCB Governor stressed that the future of the banking sector regarding the use of data will combine high speed, great diversity, and a huge amount of data, which may raise con-cerns about protecting and managing that data, protecting privacy, confiden-tiality of transactions, and cyber security, therefore, regulatory and supervisory bodies need to acquire specialized skills to deal with massive technological innovation and growth in digital finance, and should also issue decisions and regulatory and super-visory instructions regarding financial technology and compliance require-ments and monitor their implementation.

The dignitaries at the conference.

Qatar attends GCC General Secretariat meetingQNA/RIYADH

The committee for drafting decisions and recommendations for the 145th session of the Ministerial Preparatory Council for the 40th Session of the GCC Supreme Council held a meeting yesterday at the headquarters of the GCC General Secretariat in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with the participation of the State of Qatar. The meeting, which was attended by a number of officials of the foreign ministries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, discussed a number of topics related to preparing the Ministerial Meeting of the 40th Session of the GCC Supreme Council. The summit is scheduled to be held tomorrow, while the ministerial meeting will be held today.


Qatar Media Corporation: Ambitious achievements realised strategic goalsQNA DOHA

Qatar Media Corporation (QMC) made ambitious achievements during 2019 through the accom-plishment of many of its stra-tegic objectives at the media, business and support levels, within the framework of its stra-tegic plans and the efforts of its human resources, as well as planning and preparing for a number of future projects.

This year witnessed a qual-itative development regarding the quality of work and pro-grams offered by QMC’s affil-iates, such as Qatar Radio, Qatar Television and the Quran Kareem Radio, in addition to other developments in the media sectors in the country.

Qatar Radio presented dis-tinguished works, programs and radio series in various fields, which won the appreciation and satisfaction of its listeners inside and outside Qatar. The radio station won many awards and advanced centers in festivals and media competitions in the Gulf and Arab regions.

During its participation in the 20th session of the Arab Radio and Television Festival held in Tunis in June, Qatar Radio won the first prize in the comedy drama field and the first prize in the radio documentary contest. Qatar also won two gold medals for two programs pro-duced by Qatar Radio.

Oryx FM Radio, a 24-hour French-language service, is a qualitative leap in Qatar Radio programs. The Oryx FM Radio website was also launched in French, doubling the level of communication with listeners.

Qatar TV has achieved numerous news, program, artistic and sporting achieve-ments during 2018-2019, which met the wishes of its viewers and kept pace with the achievements of the QMC in all its departments and sections.

In this context, news moni-toring has kept up with all the plans to improve the work and news services provided to audi-ences in Qatar and around the world, as it seeks to activate the vision of the QMC to develop news work, which focused on the importance of qualifying cadres and supporting the needs

of news work with a number of techniques to facilitate and develop news, transmitting cul-tural, social and sporting events, and covering the visits of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his foreign participations.

For its part, the development department of QMC attained a number of achievements through its tasks and the estab-lishment and development of effective relationships with local press institutions during the 2018-2019 year. The department coordinated with the concerned authorities in the field of organ-izing the press situation, sup-porting and developing the local press, studying and analyzing the trends and coverage of the local press, extracting and eval-uating the internal public opinion trends, as well as coor-dinating and cooperating with the relevant authorities in devel-oping the professional skills and abilities of the national energies in the press sector, such as Al-Jazeera Media Institute.

Meanwhile, Al Kass channels continued to cover all the events in sports, which included local, Arab and international events with professionalism and efficiency.

They also worked on devel-oping sports awareness and dis-semination to the public, in addition to conducting dialogues with specialists and following up on sports analysis through its various programs. It also pro-duced specialized sports pro-grams on various types of sports, as well as documentary pro-grams on women’s sport.

As for Sout Al Khaleej Radio’s achievements, it presented new quality of song and melodies, in addition to recording many exclusive sessions for Qatari and Arab singers. It also covered all events and activities in the country, including sports, culture and entertainment, through recorded or live radio reports in its various programs, as well as the preparation and delivery of programs for the national days of the Gulf States, and other pro-grams for the holy month of Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha, and the production of a large number of religious pro-grams and music flashes for the occasions.

MME initiative to sort wastes at source in hospitals, health centersTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The General Services Affairs Sector at the Ministry of Municipality and Envi-ronmental (MME) in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has launched a programme for sorting wastes at source and recycling it at the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Health and health centres run by the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC).

The initiative was taken under a major plan of the General Cleanliness Department to implement the pro-gramme all over the country. The launch ceremony was attended by Safar Mubarak Al Shafi, Assistant Undersec-retary for General Services Affairs at MME; Abdullah Ibrahim Al Emadi, Assistant Undersecretary for Shared Services Affairs at MoPH, and a number of officials from the two ministries.

Safar Mubarak Al Shafi, Assistant Undersecretary for General Services Affairs, said the waste sorting and recy-cling programme in Qatar comes within the framework of the great interest that the ministry attaches to developing its services in order to preserve the envi-ronment and its safety and achieve sus-tainable development.

He said the programme was launched following the ministry’s sus-tainable strategic plan, which aims to reduce the amount of waste, maintain environmental safety, benefit econom-ically from waste recycling, achieve sus-tainable development, conserve natural resources, support the private sector, and contribute to the achievement of

the Qatar National Vision 2030.Al Shafi emphasised the ministry’s

commitment to protect the environment and reduce environmental damage, noting that the waste sorting and recy-cling programme will help preserve natural resources, support private sector companies and encourage them on waste management.

Moqbel Al Shammari, Director of General Cleanliness Department, thanked MoPH for the quick response in implementing the programme of

sorting the waste at the source.He explained that the programme

will be completed in four phases during 2019 to 2022. He said earlier under the programme, 1,624 new containers were distributed to 581 schools under the Min-istry of Education and Higher Education.

He said that the programme launched yesterday in the Ministry of Public Health will cover health centres, hospitals and the entire buildings of the Ministry. He said the last part of this

phase will cover all buildings of banks and financial institutions.

Al Shammari said that the second phase of the programme will begin next year, and it will cover government agencies, commercial complexes, malls, universities, Karwa bus stops, hotels and public parks.

He said that third phase will start in 2021 and will target the Corniche area and Doha city during which an elec-tronic service will be launched to collect recyclable materials from all homes in

the country. Al Shammari said that finally the fourth phase will begin in 2022 and will include all facilities, buildings and venues of 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Maryam Al Muslamani, Director of Occupational Safety and Health at the Department of Primary Health Care Cor-poration, praised the pioneering role of the Ministry of Municipality and Envi-ronment in the field of preserving the environment, resources, limiting pollution, and reducing waste to the environment.

Abdullah Ibrahim Al Emadi, Assistant Undersecretary for Shared Services Affairs at the Ministry of Public Health, honouring Safar Mubarak Al Shafi (left), Assistant Undersecretary for General Services Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment during the launch ceremony. RIGHT: Officials during the launch ceremony.

National Day has significant meanings in minds of citizens and residents: Qatar Post ChairmanQNA DOHA

The Chairman and Managing Director of Qatar Postal Services Company Faleh Mohammed Al Nuaimi, said that the celebration of the National Day has signif-icant meanings in the minds and hearts of all citizens and resi-dents of the State of Qatar.

Al Nuaimi said, in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), that this cherished occasion celebrates the anni-versary of the founding of the beloved State of Qatar that grew up and became a lighthouse of civilization and a leading model to be emulated in all fields of life.

Al Nuaimi added that

attention to the human being has always been the supreme goal and the focus of Qatars policies and development plans, being the main factor and the engine of development processes and renaissance.

Al Nuaimi pointed out that the celebration of the National Day is an expression of the fulfillment of

the values established by the Founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, and a sincere affirmation to proceed on his approach, and the principles he formulated.

Al Nuaimi said that today, we are witnessing a true embod-iment of these values and prin-ciples, namely the development and prosperity of the homeland, social cohesion and unity around our wise leadership.

On the progress of the country in various fields, and the strengthening of Qatar’s global presence despite the challenges, especially the unjust blockade, Al Nuaimi said that after two years of blockade on Qatar, the state was able to achieve tangible

achievements in record time as a result of sound planning, and a tight strategy that integrated all the influential sectors in the country with the full support of the wise leadership.

He added that Qatar has lived for two years of steadfastness and achievement, after moving on several political, economic and media axes, through which it suc-ceeded in absorbing the shock, and getting out of the crisis stronger than it was before the blockade. He pointed out that the country has also managed to establish solid international relations with many countries of the world and strong partnerships and economic and investment relations with many advanced economies.

Ministry of Culture and Sports announces the winners of Doha Youth Innovation AwardTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

The Ministry of Culture and Sports has announced the winners of ‘Doha Youth Innovation Award’, which is open to all young people from the Islamic world in the field of photography.

The award was launched last summer, in coop-eration with Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum in collaboration with the Visual Arts Center, Doha Film Institute, Youth Hobbies Center, and the organisation of the Qatar Cultural and Heritage Events Center.

The winners of the photography competition, (Islamic Values category), are Sultan Ahmed Nilwi from Bangladesh in first place, followed by Jihad Muhammad Idriss from Yemen, Nada Mohammed Wadi from Jordan; Ghazi Muhammad Jahirul Islam from Bangladesh; Rabi Adamu Sufi from Nigeria, and Muhammad Ali Shida from Afghanistan.

In the ‘Youth and Success Stories’ category, the first winner is Muhammad Nazmul Khan from Bangladesh, then Youssef Loulaidi from Morocco, followed by Ali bin Hamad Al Ghaferi from Oman and Mukti Ali Asyadzili from Indonesia.

On the topic of “Our Islamic Heritage”, Ahmed Asif Sami from Bangladesh won the first place, then Muhammad Raziqiya from Algeria, Porco Emctar from Turkey, and Anas Muhammad Al theeb from the Sultanate of Oman respectively.

Abdulaziz Al Kubaisi, head of the photography section at the Youth Hobbies Center, said in a statement that the arbitration process in the pho-tography category went through several stages, including the administrative screening, which was assumed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and the second step was technical screening and carried out by the Youth Hobbies Center, then the final arbitration which continued for a week and includes more than one step.


Blood donation drive by MSC Qatar employees In collaboration with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) Blood Bank, SNC Lavalin and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) Qatar held their first blood donation campaign at their office premises on C Ring Road, on December 4. A total of 55 staff members donated their blood as both the companies plan to organise more such campaigns in the future. Supporting the local community is the key to MSC Shipping’s sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Celebrate a perfect Nordic coffee moment with Nespresso this festive seasonTHE PENINSULA DOHA

This holiday season, Nespresso has designed its iconic end of year range around indulgent Nordic moments. Incorporating the growing Scandinavian-inspired cultural trends of Hygge and Fika, Nespresso is encouraging its customers to put the busy festive season on pause, for a moment’s connection with a friend or family member.

In partnership with renowned Danish designer, Louise Campbell, Nespresso has launched a range of Limited Edition Original and Vertuo coffees and accessories, which take design and flavour inspi-ration from the Nordic countries.

Available to purchase from November 2019 are four unique, indulgent flavoured coffees, two black coffees and a range of limited edition accessories, designed with the most discerning of coffee and design aficionados in mind.

As part of Nespresso Original, the Nordic-inspired Limited Edition includes two new

indulgent flavoured coffees: Var-iations Nordic Almond Cake Fla-voured and Variations Nordic Cloudberry Flavoured. Based on traditional Nordic ingredients and influences, the Variations Nordic Almond Cake Flavoured coffee features a combination of biscuit and vanilla aromas, with a Livanto base, inspired by the tra-ditional Norwegian cake, Kvæfjordkake.

Louise Campbell said: “I was thrilled to bits when I heard that my proposal for making the cap-sules even more precious than they already are by varying the designs was accepted, making each of them as fascinating as pebbles on a beach and as irre-sistible to collect. I took this idea of variation with me through the rest of the campaign.”

Germany’s relations with Qatar not limited to business: EnvoyQNA DOHA

The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the State of Qatar, H E Hans-Udo Muzel said that friendship and cooper-ation between the two countries is not limited to business, as Berlin is partnering with Doha in many other fields to jointly tackle the challenges of the future, saying that Qatar is an important partner for his country during its non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council in 2019-2020, sharing a common vision of a multilateral framework based on a rules-based world order.

In an execlusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of Qatar National Day, the Ambassador said that Germany has partnered with

Qatar for a very successful German Cultural Season in the past, expressing hope to build on all these positive examples of a fruitful co-operation with Qatari friends to strengthen bilateral relations even further.

The Ambassador said that the future looks bright for the bilateral relations between Germany and Qatar, pointing out that these relations is based on the deep personal trust and long-standing relations that has grown over decades between the two countries’ peoples and business representatives, adding that the 6th session of the Joint Ministerial Economic Commission,which was held earlier this year and co-chaired by the Qatari and German Min-isters of Economy and trade, will greatly contribute to enhancing bilateral economic, business, investment and

energy cooperation which have been praised by both Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al

Thani, and H E Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

More than 100 German companies operate in Doha,

some of them open their offices even before the independence of Qatar in 1971, these com-panies have become trusted partners of Qatar and will con-tinue to support the amazing development of the country in striving to achieve its National Vision 2030. the Ambassador stated.

Ambassador Hans-Udo Muzel said: “Qatar has chosen the slogan ‘The path of excel-lence is difficult’ to reflects the past two years of the blockade which made life more arduous for each and every one on both sides of the rift, as families have been torn apart, business rela-tions and cultural ties are being renounced. At the same time, Qatar has gained in strength, economically and socially, he added.

Ironically, the blockade has had a positive catalyzing effect

on the self-sufficiency of the Qatari economy, on achieving its National Vision 2030 and on the diversification of Qatar’s inter-national relations, he affirmed. Thus, the very difficult expe-rience of the blockade has made Qatar stronger, he said.

“As we have learnt in German history, miracles in history are possible. When the Berlin Wall came down on 9th of November 1989 ending the Cold War in Europe and the world, everybody in Germany and all over the world was taken by surprise. My message to the Qatari people therefore is: Continue to hope for an end to the blockade and continue to offer dialogue in the spirit of mutual respect which the Qatari leadership has shown for the past two years,” H E the German Ambassador said.

Germany’s Ambassador to Qatar, H E Hans-Udo Muzel

Ambassador Muzel said the future looks bright for the bilateral relations between Germany and Qatar, pointing out that these relations are based on the deep personal trust and long-standing relations that has grown over decades.


MIA to host display and symposium on sustainable Indian fashionTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

Marking the Qatar - India 2019 Year of Culture, Qatar Museums (QM) and Caravane Earth – an international movement for social, cultural and ecological transfor-mation – present a new initiative celebrating sustainability, heritage, and traditional crafts-manship.

Between December 11 and 13, the Museum of Islamic (MIA) will showcase a curated selection of contemporary Indian fashion and textiles. Additionally, a symposium featuring notable speakers from the fashion industry, sustainability activists, and cultural institutions from India and Qatar will be held, along with a film screening powered by Doha Film Institute.

The symposium, which will take place on December 12 at MIA from 10am to 3pm, will be open to the public and free of charge. Moderated by Bandana Tewari, sustainability activist and former Vogue India Editor at Large, it will focus on themes such as the history of Abaya and traditional Qatari wear, building a sustainable

global brand, and the textile her-itage of Qatar and India.

Speakers include Tania Al Majid, Associate Curator at the National Museum of Qatar, Pavitra Muddaya, Head of Vimor Foun-dation and the Director of Edu-cation at Qatar Museums, Dr. Jelena Trkulja.

Participating fashion and textile brands will include: 11.11/eleven eleven, Injiri, Khanijo, James Ferreira, Ode to Odd, Maku Textiles, Three, Urvashi Kaur, Chola, and Vimor Handloom Foundation. Participating artisans will include: PL Bhanumurthy for Vimor Foundation, Renuka Jalan for Chola, Taslim for Ode to Odd, Moideen Hizqeel for 11.11, Dinesh

Vankar for Injiri, Taj Mohamed for Urvashi Kaur, and Irshad Annad for Khanijo.

Commenting on the announcement, Aisha Al Attiya, Head of Years of Culture at QM said: “The modern fashion industry began in the 19th century and has continued to grow since then. Today, it is interlinked with some of the key issues that face our world – particularly climate change and sustainability. The textiles industry, in specific, has also played a key role in building bridges between civilizations across the ages. As such, it was important for us to include this theme in this edition of the Year of Culture programme.”

Between December 11 and 13, MIA will showcase a curated selection of contemporary Indian fashion and textiles.

HBKU calls for papers ahead of major conferenceTHE PENINSULA DOHA

The Middle Eastern Studies Department (MESD) of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) has announced a call for papers ahead of its first Middle East conference.

Taking place April 20 and 21 of 2020, Re-thinking Middle East Studies – Towards Setting New Agendas seeks to cast the Middle East beyond reductive daily head-lines that focus on conflict and civil war, radicalism and sectarian strife, ethnic and gender violence, and more. The conference will develop a new and more constructive agenda for Middle East studies which recognises the region’s evolving characteristics and chal-lenges, while framing them in the

wider context of international dynamics and interactions. In doing so, participants will be encouraged to re-think and re-imagine research methods and other ‘tools’ currently shaping relevant aca-demic debates and studies.

In the build-up to the con-ference, the MESD is accepting individual paper and thematic panel submissions that contribute to the development of new research agendas for Middle East studies. Thematic areas include but are not limited to refugees, displacement and migration; digital connectivity and the future of work; cultural heritage; and the changing role of traditional and social media. Submissions are welcome from PhD students, early career academics as well as estab-lished researchers.

Professor Mohammad Hassan

Hakimian, Director of Middle Eastern Studies Department at CHSS, said, “All area studies focus on a region’s distinctive charac-teristics. However, perceptions that the Middle East is different in an unfortunate manner from the rest of the world have distorted public understanding - not to mention the research agenda - of the entire region. We want content and discussions at next year’s con-ference to challenge these perceptions.

“As Re-thinking Middle East Studies is an interdisciplinary event, we welcome submissions from a broad range of academic disciplines in humanities and social sciences. In return, we promise two days of lively debate and discussion that reflect CHSS’ determination to bridge disci-plinary boundaries.”

Aster Medical Centre expands with plastic surgery departmentTHE PENINSULA DOHA

As part of an initiative to expand its services, Aster Medical Centre, a division of Aster OM Healthcare, the largest private healthcare network in the country, has announced the opening of outpatient consul-tancy in plastic surgery.

The new department will provide comprehensive out-patient services for different areas of plastic surgery including cosmetic surgery, coetaneous surgery, burns and others, said officials yesterday.

Dr Krishnakumar, one of the most reputed Plastic Surgeon in South India from Aster MIMS, Calicut –Kerala with over 25 years of experience will be a vis-iting consultant at Aster Medical Centre, AI Hilal. He is a senior consultant and head of the department of Plastic Surgery at Aster MIMS, Calicut.

Dr Krishnakumar will visit Qatar once a month and will be here for a few days. He will conduct the out- patient

consultancy at Aster Hilal and the procedures will be done at Aster Hospital. Any procedures that cannot be done at the Aster Hospital Doha will be referred to Aster Hospital in Kerala, said Dr Sameer Moopan Chief Exec-utive Officer at Aster DMH Qatar, speaking at a press conference yesterday.

“There is a team of doctors at Aster Hospital who will assist him in the process and they will be available for the patients to provide consultations. There will also be opportunities to consult with Dr Krishankumar over the Internet and phone when he is not available in Qatar,” he added.

Plastic surgery is a surgical speciality involving the resto-ration, reconstruction, or alter-ation of the human body. It can be divided into two main cate-gories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery.

“There is a common miscon-ception that cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery are very expensive and it takes long period for cure completely. But nowadays with the support of

latest technology and equipment these are also same as other sur-geries,” said Dr Krishankumar.

“There are several types of plastic surgery and any limb can be attached perfectly to the body provided the cut off limb is brought on time. Moreover it is used for shaping most parts of the body by either augmenting or reducing the shape and size of the body parts,” he added.

He also gave a presentation about the different types of plastic surgery and noted that the side effects of the surgery are as normal as any other treatment.

Sameer PT, Chief Operating Officer at Aster MIMS, Calicut highlighted that Aster hospitals in Kerala will be supporting Aster Qatar by providing the services of leading physicians in different specialities. “We have a good existing patient base from Qatar. I expect the new out-patient service will benefit eve-ryone in need of plastic surgery related services. We will be also providing seamless connectivity and transition for patients if required to Aster MIMS Calicut.”

FROM LEFT: Sameer P T, COO, Aster MIMS Calicut; Dr Krishnakumar, Senior Consultant of Plastic Surgery; Dr Sameer Moopan, CEO, Aster DMH Qatar; and Kapil Chib, COO, Aster Hospital Doha, during a press conference by Aster Hospital held at Oryx Rotana yesterday. PIC: BAHER AMIN/THE PENINSULA

Renowned Qatari artist engages visitors at QNLTHE PENINSULA DOHA

To mark the Qatar National Day, Qatar National Library hosted renowned Qatari artist Ahmed Al Maadeed, who took the audience through his creative journey as an artist and talked about the creation of his iconic painting “Tamim The Glorious.”

The audience had the oppor-tunity to hear from the artist, who shared the story behind his art-works, and have their photo taken with him and received auto-graphs. Al Maadeed said: “I would like to thank the Library for organising today’s workshop. It was a great opportunity for young artists in Qatar to engage with each other and share their

interpretations of Qatar National Day and their aspirations for the future of our country.”

Arwa Al Faori, who attended the event, commented: “The event was very interesting and really helped me understand the artistic journey of a young Qatari artist. His style is unique and represents the artistic ambitions of a new generation in Qatar. ”

Qatari artist Ahmed Al Maadeed with visitors at QNL to mark the Qatar National Day.

H H the Amir continues to advance with a vision that reinforces the achievements achieved through a national vision based on an authentic past, a prosperous present and a promising future, supported by the people of Qatar, who represent the true wealth of the State of Qatar.

JAPAN NEWS-YOMIURI

08 MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019VIEWS

National Day an opportunity to renew loyalty to leadership: PSA President

President of Planning and Sta-tistics Authority (PSA) H E Dr. Saleh Mohamed Salem Al Nabit (pictured) stressed that

the Qatar National Day represents an important station to enhance the national spirit, a valuable opportunity to renew loyalty and covenant to the leadership, sharpen the determination and redouble efforts to support the process of development and compre-hensive revival in the country, in addition to continue the path taken by the founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, who in his reign led Qatar to become recognised entity that has its status and weight on the world map.

In a statement to QNA, H E Al Nabit congratulated Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani; H H the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and the Qatari people on the occasion of the National Day.

The H E PSA President noted the high national spirit and the interaction of all citizens and residents with this precious occasion, sensing their responsibility towards the homeland and leadership and embodying the great cohesion with their loyal lead-ership, which achieved great achievements.

He added that 18th of December cannot be reduced to a certain day in the year, but is a national behavior and duty that should be exercised by the citizen throughout the year in com-pliance with the principles and responsibilities of real citizenship and to preserve the gains achieved by the

state.Regarding

the signifi-cance of the celebration of this day, he pointed out that the cele-bration of this day is an enhancement of belonging to this country and its wise lead-ership, and a reminder of the glories of the past when parents and grand-parents turned around the

founder, who was a leader of wisdom and solidity and the spirit of redemption and tolerance, keen to promote the country and take care of the interests of its people.

Also, H E Dr. Al Nabit pointed out that Qatar National Day is an occasion to stand with admiration and pride of the achievements that continued with H H the Amir, and get inspired by His Highness, as H H the Amir continues to advance with a vision that reinforces the achievements achieved through a national vision based on an authentic past, a prosperous present and a promising future, supported by the people of Qatar, who represent the

true wealth of the State of Qatar.His Excellency added that Qatar,

under the leadership of H H the Amir, has made great achievements in the development and comprehensive con-struction within the modernization system led by His Highness with a vision that anticipates the prospects for a promising future and a new era of prosperity.

H E Dr. Saleh bin Mohammad Al Nabit pointed out that Qatar has wit-nessed a steady rise in living standards accompanied by important social developments embodied in the estab-lishment of an advanced system of social protection taking into account the interests of citizens, in addition to providing high-quality health and education services, which reflected positively on Qatar’s ranking in the Human Development Index (HDI) 2018, where it ranked 35th globally and second in the Arab world.

In the field of strengthening the infrastructure, he pointed out that Qatar is aware of the importance of this sector through the expansion of investments necessary to improve its services and to anticipate its future prospects through strengthening coor-dination between government agencies related to the implemen-tation of the 2022 World Cup projects and the projects of the Metro, Hamad International Airport, Hamad Port, modern roads, and water, electricity and sanitation networks.

Moreover, H E pointed to the signif-icant improvement in the pace of macr-oeconomic performance in Qatar through the growth rate of real GDP, with the continued role of the non-hydrocarbon sector in achieving a major part in this growth, particularly in the services and manufacturing sectors.

H E Dr. Al Nabit pointed to the prestigious position occupied by Qatar in the international arena, thanks to its foreign policy characterized by clarity, realism, political balance, and sobriety, which enabled it to play an active and influential role at the regional and international levels.

He added that Qatar, thanks to this distinguished foreign and internal policy, has managed to overcome the effects of the blockade imposed by

some neighboring countries on Qatar since June 2017, and has been able to turn its repercussions into gains, the most important of which is the unri-valed rally of the citizens and residents around the wise leadership, as well as Qatar’s deliberate economic plans to reduce the blockade effects, which resulted in increased confidence in the national economy, the search for new commercial markets, and build eco-nomic partnerships with other Gulf and regional countries.

He further explained that one year after the blockade - in 2018, the Inter-national Competitiveness Report issued by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in 2018 indicated that Qatar’s economy ranked fifth globally among 63 countries, mostly developed coun-tries, in the axis of economic per-formance, which reflects the strong performance and its ability to overcome the crisis.

Furthermore, H E PSA President noted the State’s orientation towards the Shura Council elections, consid-ering it a qualitative leap in the march of democracy that puts Qatar among the developed countries, adding that it is imperative to usher in a future full of further developmental achievements and to achieve aspirations for the benefit of the nation and the citizen.

He stressed his confidence that the people of Qatar have reached a high degree of awareness of participation in political life, in addition to their full recognition that the interest of Qatar above all consideration to push the process of comprehensive devel-opment forward.

At the end of his statement, H E Dr. Al Nabit called on all who live in Qatar to draw lessons from the history of Qatar and its men who have set years of successes and achievements to set an example for the young generations that complete the process of giving, and to be a motivation for more sincere and tireless work to ensure the sustainability of those gains for gener-ations as well as the continuation to strive for the implementation of devel-opment strategies to achieve the goals of Qatar National Vision and support it with more creativity and innovation.

QNA DOHA

QUOTE OF THE DAYWe have different

challenges now: The fight against

climate change and the danger of having

low growth and low inflation for an

extended period.

Paolo GentiloniEU’s Economy Commissioner

Death of Nakamura amid turmoil in Afghanistan sorrowful

Despite being devoted to the res-toration of Afghan-istan, Tetsu

Nakamura was unreasonably deprived of life in an outra-geous and unforgivable attack.

Nakamura, a local repre-sentative of the nongovern-mental organization Peshawar-kai, was shot to death in eastern Afghanistan. He must have felt the tragedy of dying so soon.

After beginning the treatment of Hansen’s disease patients in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1984, Nakamura moved the base of his activ-ities to Afghanistan, a neigh-boring country. In the wake of a serious drought that hit

Afghanistan in 2000, he embarked on a project to build wells and agricultural irrigation channels.

Nakamura promoted the need for the project, saying that “hunger cannot be cured by any medicine” and “one irrigation channel is worth more than 100 clinics.” He studied civil engineering on his own and operated heavy machinery by himself. In cooperation with local resi-dents, he dug more than 1,600 wells and supplied water to 16,500 hectares of farmland, thus sustaining the livelihood of 650,000 people.

He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, which is said to be the Asian version of the Nobel Prize, and was presented with a medal and a certificate of citizenship by

the Afghan president. These are proofs that he earned the deep trust of local residents.

In areas of conflict overseas, there is no end to terrorist incidents and kid-nappings targeting foreigners and international aid organi-zations for the purpose of rat-tling local governments and obtaining ransom money. Nakamura exercised the utmost caution by doing such things as having security guards accompany him while he was on the move.

He continued to conduct humanitarian aid activities while ensuring his own security. This reminds us of the weight of his work.

In Afghanistan, the wors-ening of public security never ends. In the area where Nakamura conducted his

activities, the formerly dom-inant Taliban has great influence. Islamic State, a radical Muslim group, has been stepping up its activities.

The Taliban, which hid perpetrators of the 2001 ter-rorist attacks on the United States, collapsed in the face of U.S. military attacks. However, since subsequently regaining its power, the Taliban has continued to fight the Afghan Security Forces and foreign military troops stationed there and even conducted terrorist attacks.

The number of Afghan civilians killed and injured due to terrorist attacks and conflicts has topped 10,000 a year for five consecutive years since 2014.

CHAIRMANSHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK [email protected]

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED SALIM [email protected]

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORMOHAMMED OSMAN ALI [email protected]

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

EDITORIALLeaving no one behind

A very important global meeting on disability and devel-opment in Doha has concluded with a number of inval-uable recommendations to integrate persons with dis-

abilities into national development plans of countries around the world.

Qatar by hosting Doha International Conference on Dis-ability and Development (DICDD) has again proved, in global community, its responsible attitude and approach towards addressing various issues of contemporary world.

Qatar Foundation for Social Work (QFSW) launched the ‘Doha Declaration’ at the closing ceremony of the DICDD. The two-day conference, which attracted over 1,500 policy-makers and practitioners, took place under the theme ‘Leaving No One Behind’.

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, a global advocate for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Founder of Qatar Foundation for Social Work (QFSW), inaugurated DICDD on Saturday.

Addressing the opening ceremony, H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser said: “Recent studies have shown what I also believe that every human has some form of disability, albeit of different kinds and at different stages. But there should

be no difference between one person and another, based on their level of disability.”

“In order to restore time’s passage and address the discrim-ination resulting from the current and past concept of disability, we have a great deal of work ahead of us to correct the consequences of these misconceptions and the perceptions that followed as a result.” The Doha Declaration states “the conferees of the Doha International Conference on Dis-ability and Development came together in the spirit of the UN Charter to advance peace, justice and human rights for all and espe-cially for the 1.5 billion persons with disabilities in the world.”

The participants recom-mended to combat structural barriers causing the exclusion of persons with disabilities, with a noteworthy emphasis on discrim-

inatory laws and policies, fragmentation of services, lack of accessibility to physical and visual environments, lack of access to assistive technology and to rehabilitation and lack of measures to promote independent living of persons with disabilities.

They called for establishing large scale awareness-raising campaigns promoting disability rights, using the voice of persons with disabilities as a key driver to nudge the com-munity, reducing discrimination, negative attitudes and stigma which hinders the social participation of persons with disabilities and to ensure that SDGs strategies at the national levels consciously take into account the need for cultural transformation.

Meanwhile, in her speech at the conference, the H E Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed commended pioneering role of the State of Qatar in addressing the challenges of people with disabilities, during her speech today at the opening of DICDD.

Qatar by hosting Doha International Conference on Disability and Development (DICDD) has again proved, in global community, its responsible attitude and approach towards addressing various issues of contemporary world.

09MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019 OPINION

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With climate discontent rising, scientists warn ofsocial ‘tipping point’

Qatari-Turkish strategic partnership represents inspiring model of bilateral regional alliances

MEGAN ROWLING REUTERS

THE PENINSULA DOHA

With young climate activists taking to the streets of Madrid on Friday, the UN climate

chief and a leading scientist warned of a growing risk of social unrest as the effects of a warming world worsen inequality and poverty worldwide.

Speaking on the sidelines of a

UN climate summit in the Spanish capital, they said governments were so far failing to meet growing public demands for urgent action to halt rising global temperatures and curb the damage as extreme weather intensifies and melting ice pushes up sea-levels. “It’s clear - and this is very painful to recognise - that the political leadership in the world is lagging behind the sentiments among youth (as well as) the state of science and even what business leadership thinks,” said Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Speaking to journalists on Friday in Madrid, Swedish teenage climate

activist Greta Thunberg said the global movement she inspired, of students skipping school on Fridays to demand their governments tackle climate change, had raised public awareness over the past 18 months.

“But basically nothing has hap-pened. The climate crisis is still being ignored by those in power,” she said, pointing to still-rising planet-warming emissions. She said she hoped the Madrid conference would “lead to something concrete”.

“We cannot afford any more days going by without real action,” she said, adding that people were already “suffering and dying from the climate and ecological emergency”.

‘Social unrest’Rockström, as part of an interna-

tional team of scientists, highlighted how the world may be nearing a “social tipping point” on climate change that could bring about rapid and exponential changes in behaviour, lifestyles and technologies. An analysis published on Friday, entitled “10 New Insights in Climate Science 2019”, noted that public opinion polls indicate an increasing number of citizens in a range of countries are seriously con-cerned about climate change.

Meanwhile, recent large-scale civil protests are getting close to a size where social scientists predict gov-ernments could be forced into action, according to the analysis put together by several climate research organisations.

In September, at the time of a UN

climate action summit in New York, more than 7 million people turned out in cities worldwide to call for renewed political efforts to limit global warming to a lower agreed goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius. UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa acknowledged on Friday that the world is “not where we need to be”, with global average tem-peratures currently on track for a rise of 3 degrees or more above pre-industrial times.

The new analysis warned that failure to address and adapt to climate change would have disastrous conse-quences for hundreds of millions of people, mainly the very poorest, who are most vulnerable to climate-related disasters like floods and drought. Espinosa, a former diplomat for Mexico, warned that climate change, as a “threat multiplier” would deepen problems of social inequality and poverty around the world.

“It is really an issue that is very closely related to the wellbeing of societies, and in that regard you can understand that it is very likely to create social unrest,” she said in response to a question from the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Globally, there is widespread dis-satisfaction with institutions and systems, she noted.

Protests - sometimes violent - have erupted from France to Chile in the past year, often provoked by a perceived political insensitivity to ordinary people’s struggles for a decent life.

Minister of Commerce and Industry H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari said that Qatari-Turkish stra-

tegic partnership represents an inspiring model of bilateral regional alliances. H E the Minister was speaking at the OIC High Level Public and Private Investment Con-ference taking place in Istanbul.

H E the Minister chaired Qatar’s delegation to the two-day con-ference that began yesterday and is being held under the theme of “Unleashing Intra-OIC Investment Opportunities: Investment for Soli-darity and Development.”

Qatar’s participation in the con-ference comes within the framework of its keenness to strengthen bilateral relations with Turkey and to bolster cooperation with OIC member states, while pro-viding insight into the investment climate in Qatar and the opportu-nities that the State offers in various promising sectors.

In his remarks, H E Al Kuwari said the conference represented a key step towards promoting trade and investment cooperation and integration among Islamic coun-tries. H E noted that numerous international institutions have lowered their estimates for global growth for the current year, including the Organization for Eco-nomic Cooperation and Devel-opment (OECD), which noted in its latest November 2019 report that the global economy will grow at the slowest pace since the global financial crisis at a rate of 2.9 percent in 2019 and an average of

2.9 percent-3 percent between 2020 and 2021.

The International Monetary Fund also projects that over 70 percent of economies around the world will experience a decline in GDP growth to 3.3 percent in the first half of the year compared to 3.6 percent in 2018, H E added.

H E the Minister explained that these estimates reflect delicate geos-trategic and economic changes that coincided with a slowdown in multi-lateral trade and the negative reper-cussions of political uncertainties, which are leading to rising economic nationalism and protectionist measures at the global trade level, which resulted in a slowdown in various global economic sectors, especially foreign direct investments.

H E said the decline in investment inflows was evident across OIC Member States, noting that FDI inflows into the OIC region stood at $107.4bn in 2018, dropping by $35.6bn compared 2011.

H E noted that this decline reflects the magnitude of the chal-lenges faced by investors in OIC countries, particularly in terms of restrictions imposed on the transfer of profits and foreign capital.

H E called for the adoption of a comprehensive economic strategy to encourage investment inflows and stimulate growth in a way that reflects the economic capabilities and potential of member states in a bid to achieve economic inte-gration and promote joint Islamic action.

Touching on Qatar’s economic performance, H E explained that the Qatari economy saw a balanced and flexible performance in the midst of

these global conditions.In this context, H E highlighted

Qatar’s efforts to support the private sector and to diversify its economy in line with the National Devel-opment Strategy 2018-2022, which aims to promote the growth of added value sectors including the industrial, financial services and tourism sectors.

H E highlighted that Qatar has sought to speed up the implemen-tation of key initiatives and measures aimed at cementing the country’s position as an attractive business and investment destination.

Touching on Qatar’s legislative environment, H E emphasised Qatar’s keenness to consolidate foreign investment-friendly laws such as the law regulating the investment of non-Qatari capital in economic activity and the Free Zones Investment law, which allow

investors up to 100 percent ownership.

H E noted that Qatar is embracing a policy of economic openness to effectively engage with global markets, and build fruitful international partnerships, by capi-talizing on its developed infra-structure such as Hamad Interna-tional Airport and Hamad Port as well as free zones and logistical and industrial areas, which represent an important incentive for foreign companies to invest in non-oil sectors to tap local markets and expand their business into new regional markets.

H E elaborated on the Qatari-Turkish strategic partnership, which represents an inspiring model of bilateral regional alliances.

H E explained that Qatar and Turkish enjoy close and friendly relations, noting that these relations reflected positively on bilateral trade, which reached about QR5.69bn, the equivalent of $1.55bn between January and September 2019.

H E added that the growth in bilateral trade reflects the effec-tiveness of Qatari-Turkish joint measures and initiatives particu-larly the Trade and Economic Part-nership Agreement (TEPA) that was signed in November 2018.

H E noted that this agreement represents a decisive step in bol-stering economic integration between Qatar and Turkey, adding that the benefits of the agreement outweigh those secured within the framework of the World Trade Organization in terms of prefer-ential transactions and customs exemptions for goods and services as well as the incentives it offers to investment companies in both countries.

H E also praised Turkish com-panies for contributing to the growth of the Qatari economy, noting that more than 535 Qatari-Turkish joint companies are cur-rently operating in Qatar.

H E concluded his remarks, noting that the purpose of his par-ticipation in the conference is to bolster joint Islamic action in line with the OIC principles and objec-tives, and to develop cooperation and coordination mechanisms among member states to promote investments and to serve the devel-opmental orientations and aspira-tions of people in terms of stability and prosperity.

During its participation in the conference, the Qatari delegation showcased the most prominent laws and legislations that the State ratified to stimulate foreign direct investments, in addition to the

The new analysis warned that failure to address and adapt to climate change would have disastrous consequences for hundreds of millions of people, mainly the very poorest, who are most vulnerable to climate-related disasters like floods and drought.

incentives and services offered to investors to streamline the sub-mission of investment applications and the processing of transactions, and to eliminate obstacles that may face investors with relevant authorities, which will contribute to attracting foreign direct invest-ments and enhancing Qatar’s com-petitive position in the region and beyond.

The conference aims to promote investments within the framework of the OIC by reducing obstacles that impede the flow of goods, services and financing between OIC member states and adopting mechanisms that facilitate business procedures.

The conference provides a platform for public and private policy makers in OIC members states to discuss issues of common interest including innovative financing sources for the devel-opment of the private sector and the enhancement of the global value chain as well as the role of export credit agencies in mitigating trade and political risks to encourage and protect invest-ments, in addition to the dynamics of the private sector to enhance investment flows within OIC and the role of investment promotion agencies in promoting investments within the organization’s framework among other topics aimed at enhancing sustainable partnerships between public and private sector stakeholders in member countries and stimulating investments in the region.

Qatar’s delegation chaired by H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, Minister of Commerce and Industry, attending the OIC High Level Public and Private Investment Conference.

H E Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, Minister of Commerce and Industry, addressing the OIC High Level Public and Private Investment Conference.

11MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019 MIDDLE EAST / AFRICA

Iran unveils ‘budget of resistance’ against US sanctions

AFP/TEHRAN

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced yesterday a “budget of resistance” against US sanctions targeting the country’s vital oil sector, backed by a $5bn Russian investment.

Rouhani said the aim was to reduce “hardships” in Iran where a shock fuel price hike last month triggered nationwide dem-onstrations that turned deadly.

After unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May last year, the US began imposing sanctions on Tehran, including on oil exports, which it aims to squeeze to zero in a campaign of “maximum pressure”.

Iran has suffered a sharp economic downturn, with a plummeting currency sending inflation skyrocketing.

Rouhani told parliament that the budget of 4,845 trillion rials, or $36bn at the current street rate, was devised to help Iran’s people overcome difficulty. “We know that under the situation of sanctions and pressure, people are in hardship. We know people’s purchasing power has declined,” he said.

The budget would benefit from a $5bn “investment” from Russia which was still being finalised, said Rouhani. “We hope that $5bn in capital will enter the country, either through plans that have already been finalised or which will be finalised next year,” he said.

Iran and Russia have strengthened ties in recent years, with both backing President Bashar Al Assad in Syria’s civil war. Rouhani told lawmakers the budget, which includes a 15-percent public sector wage hike, “is a budget of resistance and perseverance against sanctions”.

He said the fiscal plan came in response to the “maximum pressure and continuation of America’s sanctions” and vowed it would

signal “to the world that, despite sanctions, we will manage the country, especially in terms of oil”. Iran, a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, sits on the world’s fourth-biggest oil reserves and second-largest gas reserves.

Rouhani said that despite the US sanc-tions, his government expected to earn almost 455 trillion rials ($3.4 billion) from oil exports.

But he also said Iran’s non-oil economy would “be positive” in the next year.

“Our exports, our imports, the transfer of money, our foreign exchange encounter a lot of problems,” he said. “We all know that we encounter problems in exporting oil. Yet at the same time, we endeavour to reduce the difficulty of people’s livelihood.

“Contrary to what the Americans thought, that with the pressure of sanctions our coun-try’s economy would encounter problems, thank God we have chosen the correct path... and we are moving forward.”

The budget announcement comes after petrol price hikes and rationing in mid-November sparked demonstrations across Iran that turned violent before being quelled by security forces amid an internet blackout.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani delivering a speech to present the budget for the financial year starting late March 2020 to the parliament in Tehran, yesterday.

Lebanon’s Khatib withdraws, says Sunnis want Hariri to be PM againREUTERS/BEIRUT

Lebanese Sunnis want Saad Al Hariri to be prime minister of the next government, businessman Samir Khatib said yesterday after meeting Lebanon’s top Sunni cleric, spelling the end of his own candidacy for the position.

Hariri quit on October 29, prompted by protests against the corruption of Lebanon’s ruling elite. The protests have continued since then and Lebanon is in dire need of a new government to start tackling an economic crisis.

The prime minister’s post is reserved for a Sunni Muslim in Leb-anon’s sectarian power-sharing system. Hariri said last week he backed Khatib as consensus appeared to emerge among Leba-non’s main parties on him being designated in formal consultations that President Michel Aoun is due to convene today.

But Khatib, speaking after a meeting with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, said the mufti backed Hariri. “I learnt... that as a result of meetings and consultations and contacts with the sons of the

(Sunni) Islamic sect, agreement was reached on nominating Saad Al Hariri to form the coming gov-ernment,” Khatib said.

Khatib later head to Hariri’s Beirut residence to inform him of this “because he is the one who nominated me to form the new government”.

Hariri had said he would only

return as prime minister if he could lead a government of spe-cialist ministers which he believes would be best placed to deal with the crisis and attract foreign aid. But his demand was rejected by groups including the powerful Shia party Hezbollah and its ally Aoun. Both say the government must include politicians.

Lebanon’s outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri (right) with Samir Khatib, a Lebanese businessman, who was the front-runner to form a new government, in Beirut, yesterday.

Air strikes kill five pro-Iran fighters in Syria: MonitorAFP/BEIRUT

Air strikes by unidentified warplanes have killed five pro-Iran fighters in Syria’s eastern province of Deir Ezzor near the Iraqi border, a Britain-based war monitor said yesterday.

The strikes late Saturday targeted “positions of Iranian forces and allied militias” on the edge of the town of Albukamal, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“Five non-Syrian fighters were killed,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said, without being able to provide their nationalities. Regime troops, Iranian forces and allied Iran-backed fighters, including from Iraq, are present in the area on the western banks of the Euphrates River, he said.

According to the Observatory, 10 Iraqi fighters were killed in

September in air strikes of unknown origin in the same area. At the start of that month, air raids killed 18 pro-Iran fighters, the monitor reported.

In June 2018, strikes near the Iraqi border killed 55 pro-regime forces, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, the Observatory said.

An American official said at the time that Israel was responsible, but the Jewish state declined to comment.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria on what it says are positions of Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and Iranian forces, which it has vowed to prevent gaining a foothold in Syrian territory. But the US-led coalition that has been fighting the Islamic State group has in the past also admitted to carrying out air strikes against pro-regime fighters.

Iraqi students at the university of Kufa rally in support of ongoing anti-government demonstrations, at the campus gate in Kufa city, 10km northeast of Najaf in central Iraq, yesterday. Thousands of Iraqi protesters streamed into streets and public squares in the capital and restive south, saying they were not deterred by deadly violence meant to “scare” them.

Protests grip Baghdad, restive south

Houthis claim to have list of viable Israeli targetsSANA’A/BLOOMBERG

Yemen’s Shia Houthi rebels say they have identified a range of Israeli military targets they are able to attack. “We will not hesitate even a minute to destroy these targets if the lead-ership takes the decision to do so,” Mohammed Al Atifi, the Houthi defence minister, said in an interview with rebel-linked Al Masirah newspaper published yesterday. There’s little evidence the Houthis possess the ability to launch a strike from hundreds of miles away, but that’s not necessarily the last word, said Ari Heistein, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. “As of now we really have no open source information that indicates that they have the capability to strike Israel,” but that calculation would be different if “Iran decides to use the element of surprise and arm the Houthis with its longest-range and most sophisticated missiles,” Heistein said.

Netanyahu pushes annexation plan as new elections loomAFP/TEL AVIV

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday touted his plan to annex a swathe of the occupied West Bank and Israeli settlements in a last-ditch effort to prevent another general election.

“It’s time to apply Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and legalise all the Judea and Samaria settlements, those that are in settlement blocs and those outside of them,” he said, using the biblical term for the West Bank.

“They will be part of the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu announced in September, a week before general elections, that he planned to annex the Jordan Valley, which accounts for around a third of the West Bank, if re-elected.

His remarks, at a conference organised by rightwing news-paper Makor Rishon, came alongside an appeal to rival Benny Gantz to form a unity government and save the time and money involved in elections.

“I have offered to Benny Gantz to join a unity government and today too I’m telling him to join a unity government with me,” Netanyahu said. “It’s not too late.”

The September polls yielded no clear winner, and Wednesday is the last day for a member of parliament to propose a

coalition before the country heads to another vote — the third in a year.

“I want American recog-nition of our sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, it’s important,” Netanyahu said, noting he recently discussed the issue with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, without pre-senting a formal plan.

Pompeo last month announced that the United States no longer shared the widely held international position that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal.

On Friday, however, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution supporting a Palestinian state and deter-mining that the US should “dis-courage” steps such as “uni-lateral annexat ion of territory”.

Around 400,000 Israeli set-tlers live in the West Bank alongside around 2.6 million Palestinians.

The settlements are viewed as major stumbling blocks to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Israel blames Palestinian violence and intransigence as the main obstacles to peace.

Netanyahu has said in the past that the wider moves to annex or “legalise” settlements in the West Bank would be in coordination with US President Donald Trump and his long-awaited peace plan.

Algeria prosecutor seeks heavy sentences against former PMsAFP/ALGIERS

The Algerian prosecutor’s office yesterday requested 20-year prison sentences for several former politicians accused of corruption, including two prime ministers who served under ex-president Abdelaziz Boute-flika, local media reported.

The trial is the first resulting from sweeping investigations into graft allegations launched after Bouteflika stepped down in April in the face of

mass protests which erupted in February against his bid for a fifth term.

In all 19 defendants — two former premiers, other prom-inent ex-politicians and auto-motive industry tycoons — face charges ranging from money laundering to abuse of office and granting undue privileges.

The state prosecutor is seeking a 20-year prison sen-tence for ex-premiers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, local media reported.

A similar sentence is requested for former industry minister Abdeslam Bouch-ouareb, who is being tried in absentia as he has fled abroad.

It is the first time since Alge-ria’s independence from France in 1962 that former prime min-isters have been put on trial. Both Ouyahia and Sellal have denied the accusations against them. The trial opened on Wednesday and a verdict is expected early today, according to lawyers.

Libya: Maritime deal with Turkey goes into effectANATOLIA/TRIPOLI

Libya’s UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) yesterday announced that pacts with Turkey over maritime jurisdiction areas as well as military and security cooperation went into effect.

According to the Libyan GNA’s Justice Ministry, the internationally recognised gov-ernment’s Presidential Council requested relevant departments to bring the pacts into force fol-lowing their ratification. The pacts are set to be published in Libya’s Official Gazette at the beginning of 2020, the ministry added.

Signed on November 27 and passed by Turkey’s parliament this Thursday, the memo-randum determining both countries’ marine jurisdictions rejects unilateral and illegal activities by other regional countries and international firms and aims to protect the rights of both countries in line with the international law of the sea. Turkey declared the mar-itime pact went into effect on Saturday. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Mediter-ranean region is estimated to boast millions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic meters of natural gas, worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

President Rouhani told lawmakers the budget, which includes a 15-percent public sector wage hike, “is a budget of resistance and perseverance against sanctions”. The budget would benefit from a $5bn “investment” from Russia which was still being finalised, said Rouhani.

12 MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019ASIA

At least 43 deadin devastatingDelhi factory fireAP NEW DELHI

A fire believed to be caused by an electrical short circuit engulfed a building in New Delhi yesterday where handbags and other items were made by workers earning as little as 2 dollars per day, killing at least 43 people.

The blaze in New Delhi’s Karol Bagh neighbourhood, a warren of narrow alleyways with electrical wiring strung helter-skelter, was the second major fire there this year. In February, 17 people were killed in a blaze that started in a six-storey building’s illegal rooftop kitchen.

Karol Bagh contains the city’s largest wholesale market for household goods, known as Sadar Bazaar. The area’s aging buildings are stacked with apart-ments, shops, storage facilities and manufacturing units.

Assistant New Delhi Police Commissioner Anil Kumar Mittal said that “the fire appears to have been caused by an electric short circuit,” adding that authorities were investigating whether the factory was operating legally.

The building’s owner, Rihan, who goes by one name, was detained on suspicion of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Mittal said.

Firefighters had to fight the blaze from 100 metres away because it broke out in one of the area’s many alleyways, tangled

in electrical wire and too narrow for vehicles to access, authorities said.

A resident of the area, Mohammed Naushad, said he was woken by people wailing at around 4.30am. He went outside to find smoke and flames shooting out of a building near Sadar Bazaar. Inside, he found the fourth floor engulfed in flames. One floor below, he saw “20 to 25 people lying on the floor.”

“I don’t know if they were dead or unconscious, but they were not moving,” Naushad said.

He said he carried at least 10 people out of the flames on his shoulders and into the arms of emergency responders.

Maisuma Bibi, a day labourer making plastic handbags, sur-vived the blaze. She said she was sleeping in a room with about 18 other women and children on the building’s first floor when she woke to find a bag full of plastic

parts on fire. Her brother-in-law carried her to safety, she said.

Outside a mortuary that was guarded by dozens of police officers, some of the workers’ rel-atives said they had received phone calls from the men trapped inside, who begged them to call the fire brigade. Family members identified the dead from photos on police officers’ phones.

Many of the men were migrant workers from the impoverished border state of Bihar, relatives said.

Many of the victims were asleep when the blaze began, according to Yogesh, a police spokesman who uses one name.

Dr. Kishore Singh said rescuers brought victims to his government-run hospital and two others in the city. Another 16 people were being treated for burns or smoke inha-lation and were in stable condition, Singh said.

Fire Services chief Atul Garg said it took 25 fire trucks to put out the blaze. About 60 people, including some of the dead, were taken out of the building, said Mittal, the assistant police commissioner.

New Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, appeared at the scene of the fire, promising victims’ families compensation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the fire as “extremely horrific.” “My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. Wishing the injured a quick recovery,” Modi tweeted.

Police personnel and ambulances are seen along a road following a factory fire in Anaj Mandi area of New Delhi, yesterday.

Time to help victims, finding lapses later: Housing MinisterIANS NEW DELHI

Admitting loopholes on many counts, Union Housing and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the government will look at them only after getting detailed reports, but this is the time to help those affected by the massive fire that engulfed a factory in Delhi’s Rani Jhansi Road area, early yesterday.

The Minister, who was the first Union Minister to reach the spot, called the tragedy a “very sad incident”, assuring “the government has taken some decisions to develop such unauthorised places”.

Puri told media that this was not the time to make

“political comments”.“People come from Uttar

Pradesh and Bihar. They are our brothers and sisters. They are out citizens. It is not the issue who comes from where. I want to tell on record that we should provide all necessary help to the affected families,” Puri said.

Asked over the short circuit, the reason behind the incident and that electricity cables crossing from low heights, the Minister said: “I agree. I was born and brought up in Delhi. What are you saying is true but it is important to get proper information about the incident. Short circuit was the immediate cause.”

“We have taken some deci-sions under which unau-thorised places will be

developed. At the moment, I don’t want to make statement whether it was the fault of industrial or fire department,” he said further.

The Minister said that the Delhi Police and fire department received the information about the fire around 5.22am — almost half an hour after the incident — and they reached the spot in few minutes.

Meanwhile, the Delhi gov-ernment announced Rs10 lakh and Rs1 lakh respectively for the families of killed and injured, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned Rs2 lakh and Rs50,000. Delhi unit of the BJP has also announced a compensation of Rs5 lakh for families of killed and Rs25,000 for the injured.

India to launchspy satellite,9 others onDecember 11IANS CHENNAI

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket would launch the country’s latest spy satellite RISAT-2BR1 and nine foreign satellites on December 11, said the Indian space agency.

According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the rocket numbered as PSLV-C48 will lift off at 3.25pm with RISAT-2BR1, a radar imaging earth observation sat-ellite weighing about 628kg.

The rocket will blast off from the first launch pad at Sriha-rikota rocket port in Andhra Pradesh and place RISAT-2BR1 into an orbit of 576km. The sat-ellite will have a life of five years.

Piggybacking on the Indian satellite would be nine foreign satellites from the USA (multi-mission Lemur-4 satellites, tech-nology demonstration Tyvak-0129, earth imaging 1HOPSAT), Israel (remote sensing Duchifat-3), Italy (search and rescue Tyvak-0092) and Japan (QPS-SAR - a radar imaging earth observation satellite).

These international cus-tomer satellites are being launched under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

According to the ISRO, the satellites will be carried by PSLV-QL variant. The rocket will have four strap-on motors and the December 11 flight will be the second space trip for this rocket variant.

Just over 16 minutes into its flight, the rocket will sling RISAT-2BR1 and a minute later the first of the nine customer satellites will be ejected. The launch mission is expected to conclude in about 21 minutes when the last of the customer satellites will be put into orbit

Shah to move contentious CAB in Lok Sabha todayIANS NEW DELHI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is all set to move the contro-versial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill today, in the Lok Sabha. The matter is listed in the day’s business for the Lok Sabha.

This move comes days after the Union Cabinet last Wednesday approved the Bill. Responding to questions after the

Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had said the Citizenship Amendment Bill takes care of India’s interests.

“I am confident that when the Bill’s provisions are announced, Assam, Northeast and the entire country will welcome it.” It was that three northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram — where the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime is applicable

will be out of the purview of the CAB that created a political row in the area in the run-up to the 2019 general election. The ILP is an official travel document issued by the government of India to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period.

The politically sensitive Bill, which has already ruffled the feathers of the Opposition, will leave out tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya

and Tripura as well, sources said. These are the tribal areas where autonomous councils and districts were created under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution.

T h e C i t i z e n s h i p (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that seeks to provide Indian nation-ality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists fleeing persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, has already faced cold vibes from

opposition with the Congress calling it “unconstitutional”.

Minority outfits too have lashed out against the Bill for leaving out Muslims and also on the ground that it is at odds with the Constitution, which does not differentiate between citizens on the basis of their faith.

CPM has already held a press conference yesterday to announce that they will move two amendments to the proposed Bill.

Fighting for women’s protectionActivists and supporters hold placards and shout slogans to protest against the alleged abuse and murder of a 27-year-old veterinary doctor in Hyderabad and other recent assaults, in Mumbai, yesterday.

Vote count for Karnataka by-elections todayIANS /BENGALURU

Votes polled in Karnataka’s by-elections on December 5 in 15 Assembly constituencies will be counted today and results would be declared by evening, an EC official said yesterday.

“Arrangements have been

made for counting of votes in the 15 Assembly segments on Monday from 8am at 11 centres, including three in Bengaluru for four urban seats. Postal ballots will be counted first, followed by counting of votes in EVMs,” Election Commission official G Jadiyappa said here.

The results of the by-elec-tions are crucial for the four-month-old BJP government in the southern state, as the ruling party requires at least seven seats in the 223-member Assembly for a simple majority, with 112 as the halfway mark.

“Though trends will be

available from 9-10am, a clear picture of the votes polled will emerge post-noon and results will be declared after com-pleting 20 rounds of vote count in each constituency,” said Jadiyappa.

Around 67.9 percent (26 lakh) of the 38 lakh voters cast

their ballots in the 15 constitu-encies to fill the vacancies caused by the resignation of 14 Congress and three Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and their subse-quent disqualification by former Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar for defying their party whip.

Govt committed to IPC, CrPC reformsIANS PUNE

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre is committed to bring about reforms in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), governing the criminal justice system in the country.

The reaffirmation was made at the three-day 54th annual conference of all Directors-General of Police (DGP) and Inspectors-General of Police (IGP) addressed by Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Shah emphasised the gov-ernment’s resolve to initiate sig-nificant changes in the IPC and CrPC to make them more rel-evant and conducive to the

modern democratic setup.“The government also plans

to set up an All India Police Uni-versity and an All India Forensic Science University, with colleges affiliated in various states,” Shah said.

He termed the conclave as a ‘Vaicharik Kumbh’ where top police officers from the country converged on a common platform and formulate policy decisions concerning national security.

Later, officials said that the conference deliberated on a wide gamut of policing and security issues, including border pro-tection, linkage of narcotics and terror, upgradation of forensic capabilities, threats from radi-calisation in the digital era, and evidence-based policing.

Assistant New Delhi Police Commissioner Anil Kumar Mittal said that “the fire appears to have been caused by an electric short circuit”, adding that authorities were investigating whether the factory was operating legally.

13MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019 ASIA

Pakistan a firmbeliever in regionalcooperation: ImranINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Prime Minister Imran Khan, while reiterating commitment to the Charter of South Asian Association for Regional Coop-eration (SAARC), yesterday said that Pakistan was a firm believer in the strength and potential of regional cooperation for indi-vidual, national and regional development.

“Pakistan further believes that effective and result-ori-ented regional cooperation can be achieved only by adhering to the cardinal principles of sov-ereign equality and mutual respect as enshrined in the SAARC Charter,” the prime min-ister said in a message on 35th SAARC Charter Day being com-memorated on December 8.

The prime minister reit-erated Pakistan’s commitment to the SAARC process and expressed hope that the hiatus created in its continuous pro-gression would be removed.

On the Charter Day, he also felicitated the other SAARC member states. The prime

minister wished the people of South Asia, peace, progress and prosperity.

He said December 8, marked the day when leaders with vision and foresight adopted the SAARC charter and pledged to work together for the progress and prosperity of South Asia.

During the first summit in Dhaka, on December 8, 1985, the heads of state and government from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives, had adopted the Charter of SAARC.

“Pakistan believes that effective and result-oriented regional cooperation can be achieved only by adhering to the cardinal principles of sovereign equality and mutual respect as enshrined in the SAARC Charter,” Imran Khan said.

Bilawal to address party workers in all provincesINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will address party workers’ convention in all the provincial capitals in a bid to mobilise the party workers for the public rally

at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on 12th anniversary of martyrdom of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto on December 27.

According to a source within the party, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will address the party workers’s convention in Karachi on December 13, in

Quetta on December 15, in Lahore on December 18 and in Peshawar on December 21.

The PPP has already announced to observe 12th anni-versary of martyrdom of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto at Liqauat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27.

Court to hear Maryam Nawaz’s petition over ECL todayINTERNEWS LAHORE

The Lahore High Court (LHC) will hear a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz today, in which she has requested the court to direct the government to remove her name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

A two-member bench headed by Justice Ali Baqir Najfi will hear Maryam’s petition. Maryam has stated in the petition that she wishes to go abroad for six weeks.

The federal government, the

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Directorate General of Immigration and Passport have been named as parties in the petition.

In the petition, Maryam has expressed concern for her father’s health and requested the court to allow her to travel abroad so she can look after him.

Maryam said she is under a lot of stress these days being unable to care for her father at a time when he needs to be closely monitored. She asked for her passport to be returned to her from the deputy registrar.

Former prime minister

Nawaz Sharif is undergoing treatment in London. Nawaz’s health deteriorated a couple of months ago due to complications of the heart, kidney, lungs and a low platelet count.

The LHC had directed the government to remove Nawaz’s name from the ECL so he could fly abroad for medical treatment. In the petition, Maryam had said that Nawaz was not keeping well ever since her mother had died and she had been her father’s primary caregiver since then.

Maryam also challenged the legality of her name being placed on the no-fly list by claiming that

her arguments were not heard and asked the court to remove her name from the ECL till the final verdict in her case is announced.

Maryam’s name along with that of her father Nawaz Sharif was placed on the no-fly list last year, following their conviction in the Avenfield reference.

Prime Minister Imran had said that there was ‘no deal’ between the government and Sharif family.

Imran had categorically said that the former prime minister will have to face the cases against him on his return.

Monks line up for alms during the alms-giving ceremony organised by the regional government of Mandalay at Chanmyathazi Airport in Mandalay, Myanmar, yesterday.

30,000 monks attend mass alms-giving in MyanmarAFP MANDALAY, MYANMAR

Nearly 30,000 monks assembled in the early morning chill in Myanmar yesterday for a spec-tacular alms-giving event, partly organised by a controversial mega-temple under scrutiny across the border in Thailand.

With many barefoot, Bud-dhist monks from Myanmar and Thailand and senior religious officials from a dozen countries collected alms next to an airport in the central city of Mandalay.

As the sun rose over the ancient town, a sea of saffron and maroon-robed monks assembled in an area the size of a football field.

They collected alms in an event meant to tighten

the relationship of “monks and Buddhists between (the) two countries” and to “strengthen the monkhood” in the region, according to a statement.

“I hope we can continue to hold bigger events in the coming years,” said U Thu Nanda, a 24-year-old Burmese monk.

The event was the third and largest of its kind since 2015 and comes as one of the organisers, the Thailand-based Dham-makaya foundation, attempts to bounce back from an embez-zlement scandal more than two years ago.

The Dhammakaya temple’s massive compound in northern Bangkok was under siege for two weeks in early 2017 as thousands of officers tryied to arrest the sect’s spiritual leader.

Pakistan urges ‘realistic’ mandates for UN peacekeeping operationsINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Pakistan has underscored the need for realistic mandates for UN peacekeeping operations, with adequate resources, to face the difficult challenges in the world’s troubled regions.

“With the operating environ-ments becoming ever more complex, there are increasing calls to update our tools to face the contemporary challenges, respond to current threats and also to do our job better,” Paki-stani delegate Rajeel Mohsin said in a meeting held to review action to improve peacekeeping, the UN’s flagship activity, in line with the 2018 Security Council resolution 2,436 aimed at

enhancing performance at all levels, both at Headquarters in New York and in the field.

Pakistan is one of the largest contributors to UN peace-keeping, with over five thousand troops serving in missions in hotspots around the world.

“We all agree that per-formance cannot be evaluated solely in terms of what peace-keepers on ground did or did not accomplish,” Mohsin, a First Sec-retary at Pakistan’s Mission to the UN, said, pointing out that it also depends on realistic man-dates, adequate resources and many other factors that are not in control of troop contributing countries (TCCs).

“Rather than focusing just on cutting costs and troop numbers,

operations must dictate logistics, and not the other way around,” he added.

On his part, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he welcomes opportunities to review effectiveness of world body’s peacekeeping.

The UN chief recalled that his Action for Peacekeeping initi-ative renews collective com-mitment to excellence amid an increasingly dangerous land-scape for the blue helmets and their civilian colleagues.

“Across all missions, we have introduced new systems and tools to evaluate performance. These include regular military and police unit evaluations and a hospital evaluation system,” he said.

“As a result, we are engaging with Member States in a more focused way. In some cases, we have repatriated underper-forming troops; in others, we have deployed mentors or training teams.” There has also been progress in intelligence sharing, reducing gaps in vital equipment, improving safety and security of peacekeepers, and in increasing the numbers of women serving under the UN flag, among other areas.

The United States, which contributes $1.7bn to the peace-keeping budget, co-organised the meeting.

While underlining Washing-ton’s strong support for peace-keeping, US Ambassador Kelly Craft stressed the need for

accountability. Poor per-formance harms the reputation of both the UN and the countries which contribute to peace-keeping, Craft said.

Guterres, the UN chief, said the Organisation was “doing eve-rything possible” to improve accountability and end abuse a n d e x p l o i t a t i o n b y peacekeepers.

Strong prevention and response measures, as well as the appointment of a Victims’ Rights Advocate, were among the steps he mentioned.

The UN chief called for increased momentum and part-nerships in building what he sees as “a culture of continual i m p r o v e m e n t a n d accountability”.

Awan mocks London huddle of PML-N INTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Infor-mation, Firdous Ashiq Awan, criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-N party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday after the latter’s crit-icism of the government.

Awan, in a tweet, said it is “ironic” that people who are “wanted by the law” are involved in the consultation process on legislation and other matters.

She said, “The whole of PML-N has gathered around fugitives,” adding that just like it is right of every prisoner to get medical treatment, it is also the right and obligation of the law to hold violators accountable.

Ashiq was commenting on the meeting of PML-N leaders held over the weekend in London that focused on the extension of the army chief, the government’s accountability drive against opposition leaders and other political issues.

Top leaders of the PML-N are in London where they are holding consultations with party chief Shehbaz Sharif and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on issues of national importance.

Watchdog asks UKfor transparency inPakistani tycoon’ssettlementINTERNEWS ISLAMABAD

Days after the United King-dom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) announced a settlement agreement resulting from an investigation into funds tied to Pakistani property tycoon and real estate developer, Malik Riaz, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) noted the “scant information” of the arrangement and called on the British government to honour its commitment to returning proceeds of corruption “transparently and accountably”.

In a press release issued after the NCA announcement, TI’s UK chapter said it wel-comes the news that the coun-try’s law enforcement has secured a substantial amount of funds for return to the people of Pakistan and acknowledged that the size of funds in this case is a change from previous efforts which shows the impor-tance of changes introduced by the UK’s Criminal Finances Act 2017.

However, the statement issued by the TI’s director of policy Duncan Hames also said: “Although there is scant information about the specifics of the case, returning seized funds to the country of origin, as is proposed, is an obligation under the UN Convention Against Corruption. We call upon the UK government to honour its commitment to returning proceeds of cor-ruption transparently and accountably.”

The anti-graft organisa-tion’s statement came in response to the NCA’s set-tlement agreement with Malik Riaz earlier this week, in which more than £190m of assets have been seized from Riaz after a settlement in probe dubbed by international papers as a “dirty money” investigation.

Kinnow exports from Pakistan startINTERNEWS KARACHI

Pakistan’s Kinnow exports have started and traders have set a target to export 300,000 tons this season, expecting to fetch $19.5m in foreign exchange, industry sources said.

This year’s target is lower by 50,000 tons compared to the exports of last year.

Waheed Ahmed, Patron-in-Chief of All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association (PFVA), said around 15 to 20 percent fruit exports were expected from a production of nearly 2.2 million tons.

He said the export target for the current year has been kept 50,000 tons less compared to last year.

Afghan migrant artistShukran (centre), a 38-year-old man from Afghanistan, speaks with his pupils inside his makeshift atelier in the Moria migrant camp in Lesbos, Greece. The painter, who is also a singer, has managed to construct a shack out of plastic and palettes to house a school of painting for migrants.

14 MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019ASIA

Massive rally marks 6 months of HK protestsAFP HONG KONG

Democracy protesters took part in the largest mass rally through Hong Kong’s streets in months yesterday in a forceful display of support for the movement, with a leading activist warning the city’s leaders they had a “last chance” to end the political crisis.

Organisers estimated some 800,000 people snaked for hours through the financial hub’s main island as the protests marked six months, a vivid illus-tration of the hostility that still seethes towards the government after half a year of unrest.

The city’s police force, which historically gives lower crowd turnout figures, told local media 183,000 people attended at the peak, still one of their highest estimates in months.

The rally received rare police permission and came two weeks after pro-establishment parties got a drubbing in local elections, shattering government claims that a “silent majority” opposed the protests.

As night fell the crowds switched on their mobile phone torches, creating a glittering carpet of lights that stretched far

into the distance, their chants bouncing off the towering sky-scrapers above.

Many of the black-clad attendees voiced anger and frus-tration that chief executive Carrie Lam and Beijing have ruled out any further concessions despite the landslide election defeat.

Semi-autonomous Hong Kong has been battered by increasingly violent demonstra-tions, but the last fortnight has seen a marked drop in violence and vandalism after the landslide win by pro-democracy candidates.

Police took the unusual step of allowing the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) to hold Sun-day’s march.

The movement’s demands include an independent inquiry into the police’s handling of the protests, an amnesty for those arrested, and fully free

elections.“Carrie Lam should listen to

the demands of Hong Kongers as soon as possible,” CHRF’s leader Jimmy Sham told reporters after earlier billing the march as Lam’s “last chance” to listen to the people. Hours before the march was due to start,

police displayed weapons, including a pistol and knives, they said had been found during overnight raids where eleven people were arrested.

Monday marks the six-month anniversary of the pro-tests during which some 6,000 people have been arrested and

hundreds injured, including police.

In a statement released ahead of the march, Hong Kong’s government said it had “learned its lesson and will humbly listen to and accept criticism.” But it announced no concrete measures or concessions.

N Korea conducts ‘very important’ test at once-dismantled launch site REUTERS SEOUL

North Korea has carried out a “very important” test at its Sohae satellite launch site, state media KCNA reported yesterday, a rocket testing ground that US officials once said Pyongyang had promised to close.

The reported test comes as a year-end deadline North Korea has imposed nears, warning it could take a “new path” amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the United States. The KCNA report called it a “suc-cessful test of great significance” but did not specify what was tested.

South Korea’s defence min-istry said South Korea and the United States are cooperating closely in monitoring activities at major North Korean sites including Tongchang-ri, the area where Sohae is located.

Missile experts said it appeared likely the North Koreans had conducted a static test of a rocket engine, rather than a missile launch, which are usually quickly detected by neighbouring South Korea and Japan.

“If it is indeed a static engine test for a new solid or liquid fuel missile, it is yet another loud signal that the door for diplomacy is quickly slamming, if it isn’t already,” said Vipin Narang, a nuclear affairs expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.

“This could be a very credible signal of what might await the world after the New Year.” Tensions have risen ahead of a year-end deadline set by North Korea, which has called on the United States to change its policy of insisting on Pyongyang’s unilateral denu-clearisation and demanded relief from punishing sanctions.

On Saturday North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said denuclearisation was now off the negotiating table with the United States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed.

“The results of the recent important test will have an important effect on changing the strategic position of the DPRK once again in the near future,” KCNA reported, using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea. The test is the latest in a string of statements and actions from North Korea designed to underscore the seri-ousness of its deadline.

North Korea has announced it would convene a rare gath-ering of top ruling-party officials later this month, and on Wednesday state media showed photos of leader Kim Jong Un taking a second symbolic horse ride on the country’s sacred Mt. Paektu.

Such meetings and propa-ganda blitzes often come ahead of major announcements from North Korean authorities.

While North Korea has not specified what its “new path” could be, observers have sug-gested the launch of a space sat-ellite is a possibility, allowing Pyongyang to demonstrate and test its rocket capabilities without resorting to overt mil-itary provocation such as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch.

“Such testing is meant to improve military capabilities and to shore up domestic pride and legitimacy,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said of Saturday’s test.

Protesters attend a Human Rights Day march in Hong Kong, yesterday.

New Zealand floodsFloodwaters are seen on a cracked road on State Highway 58 in Judgeford, New Zealand, yesterday. New Zealand’s meteorological service issued severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of the country yesterday after wild weather over the weekend caused flooding, road closures and landslides.

Haze settles over Australian capital as bush fires burnAFP SYDNEY

Smoke haze from bush fires raging in Australia spread to the capital yesterday, as firefighters raced to contain more than 140 blazes ahead of a heatwave forecast early this week.

Australia is experiencing a horrific start to its fire season, which scientists say began earlier and is more extreme this year due to a prolonged drought and the effects of climate change.

Residents of Canberra in the country’s southeast woke up to see the capital shrouded in haze yesterday, joining those in Sydney who have endured weeks of toxic air pollution caused by bush fire smoke.

Officials said favourable weather conditions had given them a chance to bring several blazes under control before the forecast return of strong winds and high temperatures Tuesday.

Among those is a “mega fire” burning across 250,000 hectares within an hour’s drive of Sydney, Australia’s largest city, where ash from the fires has occasionally fallen.

Firefighters are now bracing

for Tuesday, when temperatures are expected to reach above 40 Celsius in parts of New South Wales state — worst-hit by the bush fires — and gusting westerly winds are likely to fan the flames.

“Today (fire) crews will be doing what they can to consol-idate and strengthen con-tainment lines, which in some areas will include backburning,” NSW Rural Fire Service spokesman Greg Allan said.

But the state’s Bureau of Meteorology warned that the massive fires are “in some cases just too big to put out at the moment”.

“They’re pumping out vast amounts of smoke which is filling the air, turning the sky orange & even appearing like significant rain on our radars,” the department tweeted.

Nearly 50 reinforcements from the United States and Canada have been flown in to support fatigued firefighters in recent days, with the interna-tional contingent tasked with providing logistical assistance.

In neighbouring Queensland, the focus was also on managing fatigue among frontline

firefighters — who in both states are almost all volunteers — as weather there provided a brief reprieve from weeks of battling blazes.

“We’re just looking to wind down and recover and prepare for the next round, whenever that may be,” a Queensland Fire and Emergency Service spokesman said.

Since the crisis began in

September, six people have been killed, more than 700 homes destroyed and an estimated two million hectares (almost five million acres) scorched.

Though the human toll has been far lower than the dead-liest fire season in 2009 — when almost 200 people died — the scale of this year’s devastation has been widely described as unprecedented.

A firefighter establishes a backburn during bush fires in Mangrove Mountain, New South Wales, Australia, yesterday.

Malaysia reports first case of polio since 1992REUTERS KUALA LUMPUR

A three-month-old Malaysian infant has been diagnosed with polio, the first case reported in the country in nearly three decades, a top health official said yesterday.

The baby boy from Tuaran in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo island tested positive for polio on Friday after being admitted to hospital with a fever and muscle weakness, Director General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.

“The patient is being treated in an isolation ward and is in stable condition, but still requires assistance to breathe,” he said. Malaysia was declared polio-free in 2000, after reporting its last known case of the disease in 1992. Its resur-gence comes just months after the Philippines, north of Borneo, reported its first cases of polio since 1993 in September.

Noor Hisham said tests showed the child was infected with a polio strain that shared

genetic links with the virus detected in the Philippine cases.

Checks in the area where the baby lived showed 23 of 199 children between 2 and 15 had not received the polio vaccine, he said.

“This is a worrying situation as the spread of the disease... can only be stopped with polio immunisation,” he said, adding vaccination rates needed to be above 95% to prevent infection.

There is no cure for polio, which invades the nervous system and can cause irre-versible paralysis within hours, but it can be prevented with vaccines.

The virus spreads rapidly among children, especially in unsanitary conditions in under-developed or war-torn regions where health care access is limited. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the last countries where the disease is endemic.

Noor Hisham said fecal samples from the infected child’s close contacts and his sur-roundings had been collected in a bid to detect the polio virus.

Body of slain doctor arrives in Japan from AfghanistanAFP NARITA, JAPAN

The body of Tetsu Nakamura, a beloved Japanese doctor who was shot to death in Afghan-istan after decades of his support for the country, was brought back to Japan yesterday.

A plane carrying his body landed at Narita Airport near Tokyo with his wife and eldest daughter, who visited Kabul after Wednesday’s murder.

Vice-foreign minister Keisuke Suzuki and other attendants, including his wife, offered a silent prayer at the airport after placing bouquets on his casket wrapped by a white sheet.

His body will be transferred to the western Japanese city of Fukuoka, his hometown, on Monday, local media said.

The 73-year-old was killed in Jalalabad, the main city in the eastern province of Nangarhar where he had worked since the 1980s.

He was killed along with five Afghan guards and col-leagues in an attack no-one has yet claimed, and which the Taliban condemned.

Son of N Korea hijack victim demands return of fatherAFP / PAJU, SOUTH KOREA

The son of a hijacking victim and his supporters yesterday once more demanded North Korea return his father, five decades after Pyongyang diverted a plane carrying 50 South Koreans on board.

Hwang Won was on a domestic Korean Air flight from Gangneung to Seoul’s Gimpo airport on December 11, 1969, only for the aircraft to be hijacked by a North Korean spy 10 minutes after takeoff and made to land in Pyongyang.

Two months later, 39 pas-sengers were repatriated, but the North never returned 11 people including Hwang — whose son, who was two at the time of the hijacking, has con-tinued to fight for his release.

Hwang In-cheol, now in his 50s, was joined yesterday by dozens of supporters to demand his father’s release.

Organisers said some 800,000 people attended the peaceful rally, but the police put the figure at 183,000.

15MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019 EUROPE

Impact of UK polls to be ‘felt for decades’: PM JohnsonAFP LONDON

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday that the impact of Thursday’s general election would be “felt for decades” as campaigning entered the final stages.

The prime minister is hoping to regain the majority that his Conservative Party lost in 2019, with a slew of polls released on Saturday suggesting he was nar-rowly on course to achieve his goal.

The stakes could barely be higher, with the fate of Brexit still to be settled.

“We’re fighting for every vote and... this is a critical moment for this country, the choice on Thursday is unbe-lievably stark,” he told Sky News.

He compared the election to other “historic elections” such as 1906, 1945 and 1979.

“The impact of this election will be felt for decades to come,” he wrote in an open letter.

A Conservative majority would almost certainly cement Britain’s departure from the European Union, but any other result could lead to a second

referendum and the 2016 result being overturned.

The prime minister faced scrutiny over promises there would be no checks on goods moving between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain as part of his Brexit deal with Brussels. “There’s no question of there being checks,” he told Sky, adding “why would we put checks on goods going from NI to GB or GB to NI? It doesn’t make sense.”

His claims appear to con-tradict a leaked government document revealed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn this week, which suggested that businesses would need to fill in paperwork when moving goods across the Irish Sea. Corbyn is banking on a late surge, as he achieved in 2017, to prevent Johnson from winning a majority.

But polls released on Sat-urday showed the Conservatives

with an average lead of 10 percent.

Pollsters believe that Johnson needs to be more than six points clear of Labour on Thursday to secure a majority.

The prime minister announced yesterday that he would introduce an “Australian-style” points based immigration system if elected, signalling a tightening of low-skilled immigration.

“I’ve said that what we want to do is bear down on a migration, particularly of unskilled workers who have no job to come to,” he said.

“You’ve got to have a system by which party politicians can say to people, ‘well, yes, we are letting people in but we’re doing it in a way that is controlled’.” Exit polls from Thursday’s vote will be released at 2000 GMT, but the final result will not be confirmed until Friday.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson (centre) speaks to activists and supporters as he poses for a photograph at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters Call Centre in central London, yesterday.

Investigation under way into leaked trade papersREUTERS LONDON

British cyber security officials are investigating whether clas-sified UK-US trade documents that were shared online ahead of Thursday’s election were acquired by hacking or were leaked, two sources said.

Beside the fears that Russia could be meddling in another Western election, the disclosure

of the classified documents has raised questions about the security of sensitive discussions between the United States and one of its closest allies.

Britain’s opposition Labour Party seized on the documents, saying they showed Prime Min-ister Boris Johnson’s Conserva-tives were plotting to sell off parts of the state-run National Health Service (NHS) in trade talks with US President Donald

Trump. Johnson has repeatedly denied that claim while Trump, who in July said the NHS would be on the table in trade talks, said last week he would not be interested in the health service even if it was offered to him by Britain on a “silver platter”.

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre is helping the government to investigate how the documents got into the public domain.

Unrelenting transport chaos as French strike bitesAFP PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and senior cabinet ministers were due to meet late to discuss the government’s proposed pensions reforms as public transport in France was crippled for a fourth day running in protest.

The country’s powerful labour unions, who claim the reforms will force many to work longer for a smaller retirement payout, began their protest on Thursday with the mass strike stranding commuters, closing schools and hitting tourism.

On the first day, some 800,000 people took to the streets in protest at the plan to introduce a single, points-based pension scheme for workers in all economic sectors.

Many people opted to take days off or to work from home, but thousands had no choice but to squeeze into perilously overfull suburban trains and metros whose numbers were slashed to a minimum.

The biggest labour unrest in years comes as France’s economy is already dented by more than a year of weekly anti-government demonstra-tions by so-called “yellow vest” activists protesting about unem-ployment and waning spending power.

Many are against Macron’s plans which he says will put the country on a solid economic footing, of which the retirement overhaul forms a major part.

The labour action recalled the winter of 1995, when three weeks of stoppages forced a social policy U-turn by the then-government.

Business owners fear for their bottom line, with concerns over delivery of goods if the action continues, and client numbers dwindling at the height of the Christmas shopping season.

On Thursday and Friday,

strikers also blocked several fuel depots around France, causing long petrol station queues as worried motorists stocked up.

The first day of the strike already caused a 30-percent drop in sales on average, according to the Alliance of Commerce which represents 27,000 supermarkets and clothing and shoe stores with almost 200,000 workers.

It expressed concern for shops already “placed in jeopardy, for a year running now, by the ‘yellow vests’ movement.” Added the Union of Local Enterprises, prolonged

unrest “could be fatal for many” small businesses.

A hotel association said the first day of the strike saw reser-vations in the larger Paris region drop 30-40 percent.

Not just local travel was affected, with regional and inter-national trains, including the Thalys and Eurostar, also hobbled by the unrest, and several flights cancelled on the first days of the strike.

Many tourists were left dis-appointed as the world-famous Louvre closed some rooms, and the Paris Opera and other the-atres in the capital cancelled performances.

The chaos was set to con-tinue on Monday, with the three main rail unions calling for the action to be stepped up ahead of another general strike and mass protests called for Tuesday.

“In the coming days, we rec-ommend avoiding public transport,” said the website of the RATP public train, tram, bus and metro company on which some 10 million passengers in larger Paris rely daily to get to work.

Ten out of the RATP’s 16 metro lines will be offline Monday, four will offer limited services, and the only two driv-erless metros will run as scheduled but with a “risk of congestion” during peak hours.

All 14 metro lines that rely on drivers were closed yesterday.

Commuters wait on a platform at a train station as a strike by French SNCF railway and Paris transport network workers continues against French government’s pensions reform plans, in Paris, yesterday.

Climate activists rally with stolen Macron portraitsAP PARIS

French environmental activists brandished stolen portraits of President Emmanuel Macron at a protest yesterday near the Eiffel Tower to try to push the government to do more to fight climate change.

The protest is part of an unusual climate movement that has taken root around France this year, in which activists have stolen more than 130 portraits of Macron from town halls from the Alps to the Atlantic.

They feel the centrist, business-friendly Macron isn’t doing enough to reduce France’s emissions.

The activists brought the por-traits to the protest yesterday — carrying them upside down — to call for bolder government action at the UN COP25 climate talks cur-rently underway in Madrid.

Pauline Boyer from climate group ANV COP21 said the dem-onstration was aimed at showing “that Emmanuel Macron uses doublespeak, by presenting himself as a climate champion while he is not enforcing a true policy in France that could tackle the environment challenge.”

Activists are notably angry that France has lagged on its inter-national commitments to increase use of solar and wind energy and reduce emissions. France remains well behind its European neigh-bours in its use of renewable energy.

The activists held 100 por-traits, to mark 100 days until France’s municipal elections to replace mayors in town halls across the country. They want to urge future mayors to take local climate action. Activists are facing trials around France for the thefts, with some acquitted and some hit with fines.

French climate activists of the Nonviolent Action COP21 (ANV-COP21) association hold upside down official portraits of French President Emmanuel Macron, after they were unhooked from town halls across the country, at the Trocadero esplanade in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, yesterday.

Six arrested after German fireman killedAP BERLIN

Six people have been arrested after an off-duty firefighter was killed in an altercation between two couples and a group of young men in the southern German city of Augsburg, authorities said yesterday.

The couples had just left a Christmas market late Friday when they ran into the seven-strong group and an argument started, according to police. One of the young men hit the 49-year-old victim in the head and he fell to the ground. He died at the scene.

A 50-year-old man who was with him was hit in the face and seriously injured. Their wives were not attacked.

The youths fled. Dozens of Augsburg firefighters held a vigil yesterday for their col-league and German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer voiced his dismay at the killing.

Bavaria’s state Interior Min-istry then announced the arrest of the suspected main culprit and an alleged accomplice. Both were 17 and born in Augsburg; the first had German and unspecified other citizen-ships and the second was a citizen of an unidentified southern European country.

Germany: Girl with headscarf attackedANATOLIA/BERLIN

An 11-year-old girl wearing a headscarf was injured in a suspected racist attack by two far-right extremists in the eastern state of Saxony, Germany yesterday, according to local reports.

The suspected attackers, a 16-year-old male and 17-year-old female, targeted the Iraqi national in front of a super-market in the town of Sebnitz, reported local media, citing the police in Dresden, Saxony’s capital.

The female attacker first took off the Iraqi girl’s head-scarf and pulled her by her hair to the ground.

The male attacker then kicked the girl while the female attacker closed her mouth using her hand.

The attackers reportedly shouted “What are you doing here? Go back to your country.” The Iraqi girl was injured during the attack. Police have launched an investigation into the suspected attackers.

Germany has witnessed growing xenophobia and anti-migrant hatred in recent years, fuelled by the propaganda of neo-Nazi groups and the far-right Islamophobic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Protest in Belarus over Moscow tiesAP MINSK, BELARUS

Several hundred protesters braved the repressive climate in Belarus yesterday to hold a demonstration against deep-ening the country’s ties with Russia.

The protest by about 500 people in the capital of Minsk was the second consecutive day of protest.

The demonstrations were sparked by a Saturday meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the Russian resort of Sochi.

Belarus relies on Russian energy and loans to maintain its economy. Russia has been asking Belarus for closer inte-gration between the two neighbours.

A Conservative majority would almost certainly cement Britain’s departure from the European Union, but any other result could lead to a second referendum and the 2016 result being overturned.

16 MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019EUROPE

Ukraine President urged todefend nation at summitAP KIEV

Several thousand people rallied yesterday in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev to demand that the president defend the coun-try’s interests in this week’s summit with Russia, Germany and France on ending the war in eastern Ukraine.

Many Ukrainians are con-cerned that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice, could be out-manoeuvred by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the summit today in Paris.

Zelenskiy is eager to make progress on ending the war with Russia-backed separatists in eastern ukraine, where fighting has killed some 14,000 people since 2014. Russia wants to use the summit to increase pressure on Zelenskiy to fulfill the 2015 Minsk peace accord, which gives the rebel-held regions more autonomy in exchange for ending the fighting.

Germany and France helped to broker that 2015 deal, but it has been repeatedly ignored.

The Minsk accord calls for Ukraine to be able to regain control of its border with Russia only after local elections are held under Ukrainian law in the sep-aratist regions and the regions receive autonomous status. But Zelenskiy says ukraine must get control of its border before local elections are held.

At the rally in Kiev’s Inde-pendence Square, demonstrators held banners reading “No com-promises!” and “No surrender!”

Among those demonstrating were far-right nationalists from the Svoboda party. A similar rally was held in Kiev in November.

“I don’t expect anything good

from our president because he is really a weak person,” 47-year-old farmer Anna Gny-lytska, who had travelled to the rally from her home in the Zaporizhia region, said.“I am afraid the interests of my country will be betrayed.”

“I lost a lot of friends who were killed in the east, and I won’t allow their blood to be shed in vain. The authorities are negotiating with the Russians and making some deals behind our backs,” said Anton Trigub, a 36-year-old veteran of the fighting.

“For five years now, war has been going on in Ukraine, we are very tired ... But Putin can take advantage of this fatigue, and we do not need peace at all costs under Russian conditions,” said Tamara Lukashuk, a 52-year-old musician.

Former President Petro Poro-shenko, who lost his re-election bid to Zelenskiy, told the rally “if this peace is a surrender of Ukrainian interests, it is not peace but capitulation ... we cannot allow elections at gunpoint.”

Presidential spokeswoman Yulia Mendel said Zelenskiy would make tough demands at today’s summit.

“The first three steps that President Zelenskiy will take at a meeting in Paris: the terms

and conditions of the return of captured Ukrainians; a real, not fake, ceasefire; and, of course, the withdrawal of foreign troops and bandit formations from the territory of Donbass,” Mendel wrote on Facebook,

using a term for Ukraine’s eastern regions.

Local elections may be held after border control is returned and “when there are no foreign troops and illegal armed groups” in the area, she wrote.

Former president Petro Poroshenko told the rally “if this peace is a surrender of Ukrainian interests, it is not peace but capitulation ... we cannot allow elections at gunpoint”.

Kosovo to boycott Nobel ceremony over Handke’s prizeAFP PRISTINA

Kosovo is boycotting next week’s Nobel Prize ceremony, its foreign minister said, in protest at the literature award being given to Peter Handke (pictured), an Austrian author criticised for his vocal support for Serbs in the 1990s wars in former Yugoslavia.

The Swedish Academy’s pick for the 2019 prize, announced in October, triggered outrage in the Balkans and beyond because of Handke’s admiration for the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

The award particularly stung in ethnic-Albanian majority

Kosovo, which was a Serbian province until it broke away after the 1998-1999 war in which Serbia carried out mass atrocities.

Two Nobel committee members resigned over the selection earlier this week and a member of the Swedish academy, historian and writer Peter Englund, said he would boycott the ceremony.

The literature prize is still struggling to recover from a rape scandal that resulted in no award being given last year.

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli said his country’s envoy to Sweden would not attend the awards ceremony in Stockholm tomorrow.

The boycott was “due to controversial Nobel Prize winner Peter Handke, a friend and supporter of Milosevic’s

policy”, Pacolli said in a Facebook post.

He was referring to Milose-vic’s targeting of ethnic Alba-nians that led to a 1999 Nato bombing campaign against Serbia.

Handke spoke at the funeral of Milosevic, who died in a prison cell in The Hague in 2006 while on trial for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Before his death, Milosevic had wanted Handke to testify in his defence.

In the 1990s, Handke emerged as one of the few European intellectuals who pub-licly supported Serbs during the bloody collapse of the former

Yugoslavia that claimed more than 130,000 lives.

The author was accused of minimising Serb war crimes in his 1997 book “A Journey to the Rivers: Justice for Serbia”.

Handke returned Germany’s prestigious Buechner prize in 1999 in protest at Nato’s bombing of Serbia, which eventually led to Milosevic’s forces leaving Kosovo and ultimately Pristina’s declaration of independence in 2008.

Asked on Friday about whether he had changed his mind about what happened in the Balkans in the 1990s, Handke said: “I like literature, not opinions. I hate opinions.”

Merkel’s allies wary as coalition partner seeks concessionsAFP/FRANKFURT AM MAIN

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party yesterdayreacted coolly to concessions sought by the new, leftist leaders of the Social Democrats in return for keeping their fragile coalition afloat.

“It’s bad for Germany when every important decision depends on how the SPD is feeling at that moment,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, leader of Merkel’s CDU conservatives, told the Bild am Sonntag daily.

At a crunch party congress this weekend, the ailing SPD voted against an immediate exit from the government. But new leadership duo Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken won the party’s backing to steer a more leftwing course.

The party backed them to

open “discussions” with Merkel’s CDU/CSU bloc on demands including a higher minimum wage, more public investment and more climate action.

If no progress is made, the SPD could call it quits — poten-tially upending Merkel’s plan to complete her fourth term before retiring from politics in 2021.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, seen as Merkel’s preferred successor, said she had hoped for a “clearer commitment” from the SPD to continue governing.

She slammed the party for trying to tweak the hard-fought coalition agreement clinched after 2017’s inconclusive general elections, pointing out that lead-ership changes at the CDU and CSU never put the left-right coa-lition at stake.

“The CDU is loyal to the

agreement and I expect the same from the new SPD leadership,” she told Bild. “I can’t accept con-ditions along the lines of ‘If we don’t get this, we walk’.”

The secretary-general of the CSU, Markus Blume, was equally scathing. “An SPD on a leftist course won’t lead to a gov-ernment on a leftist course,” he tweeted.

The CDU’s deputy chairman Armin Laschet however was more conciliatory, saying he was willing to discuss the SPD’s push to raise the incoming CO2 price from a proposed $11 per tonne.

He said the proposal did not mean a complete reopening of the government’s already agreed climate package, which is working its way through par-liament and still needs backing from sceptical Green MPs too.

New leaders of Social Democratic Party (SPD), Norbert Walter-Borjans (centre) and Saskia Esken (second left), raising hands with other members during a party congress, in Berlin, yesterday.

Call for more action against Russia over Chechen’s deathAP BERLIN

Germany’s defence minister is calling for the government to turn up the pressure on Russia over a killing in Berlin that pros-ecutors say appears to have been ordered by Russian or Chechen authorities.

Germany expelled two Russian diplomats on Wednesday over the brazen killing of a Georgian man on the streets of Berlin in August. German federal prosecutors said evidence suggested the slaying was ordered either by Moscow or authorities in Russia’s republic of Chechnya.

“Now the Russian side must finally make its contribution to clearing up this crime,” Defense M i n i s t e r A n n e g r e t

Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is also the leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, was quoted as telling Bild am Sonntag newspaper. “And we will have to discuss and decide on further reactions in the German government.”

Kramp-Karrenbauer didn’t specify what those measures might be.

Russia has rejected the accu-sations and threatened conse-quences for the expulsion of its diplomats. Merkel’s chief-of-staff, Helge Braun, has said that he has “absolutely no under-standing for Russia being indignant or even considering counter-measures” after months in which it failed to support the investigation.

A suspect is in custody in Germany.

Sarajevo hit by dangerous air pollutionAP SARAJEVO

Authorities say air pollution in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo has reached dangerous levels in recent days, prompting offi-cials to ban freight vehicles from the roads, cancel all outdoor public events and warn citizens to remain indoors.

Officials have also reduced coal-fueled central heating temperatures for buildings and banned dust-producing construction.

The measures were imposed this week by the Sarajevo regional government. It said yesterday that for most of the past three days, the values for PM10 particulate matter in the air have been at least twice — and sometimes five times — the European Union limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter.

Sarajevo has historically suffered from high concentra-tions of fog, smog and dust.

However, the situation further deteriorated in the past decade due to the proliferation of tall buildings that block airflow, the use of old and highly polluting vehicles and the increased use of coal for heating in the city.

According to a recent report by the UN Environment Program, Sarajevo residents are exposed to some of the highest concentrations of air pollution in Europe. The UN said that has reduced life expectancy in the country up to 1.3 years.

Ukraine’s former president Petro Poroshenko reacts as he leaves a rally ahead of the so-called “Normandy” format summit in Paris, where leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France will meet to discuss steps to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, in Kiev, yesterday.

French murder suspect emerges from comaAFP AMIENS

The suspect for the rape and murder of a young woman in northern France almost two decades ago was slowly emerging from a coma while under guard in hospital after he swallowed pesticide in an apparent suicide bid following his conviction.

Willy Bardon, on trial over the murder of Elodie Kulik in 2002 in a case that has attracted strong interest in France for years, ingested the substance at the courthouse in the northern city of Amiens late on Friday.

He is “progressively emerging from a coma” but is still in critical condition, prose-cutor Alexandre de Bosschere

said. “The product ingested... is a pesticide called Temik. It’s an extremely dangerous product... which affects the nervous and cardio-vascular systems”.

Bardon, 45, is under round-the-clock police surveillance in hospital.

He had been sentenced to 30 years jail for kidnapping and holding a person against their will followed by death but was however acquitted of murder.

The prosecutor said Bardon had swallowed a pesticide in the seconds after the verdict was announced at court in Amiens at the climax of a 13-day trial.

“We do not know how he managed to hide that,” said de Bosschere, adding that the defendant would have been

searched before entering the court.

Bank employee Elodie Kulik, 24, was kidnapped, raped, strangled and her corpse then burned in January 2002 in Tertry, 20km from Saint-Quentin in the Aisne region.

Before dying, she managed to call emergency services and the harrowing 26-second recording was the key piece of evidence in the trial.

Another suspect Gregory Wiart, whose DNA was found at the scene, died in 2003. But six witnesses told the court they rec-ognised the voice of Willy Bardon on the tape.

DNA testing advances had allowed new evidence to be gathered years after the event, leading police to identify Wiart.

17MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAS

Jury would convict Trump ‘in 3 minutes flat’: NadlerAFP WASHINGTON

The chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee said yesterday that if the impeachment case against Pres-ident Donald Trump were put to a jury, there “would be a guilty verdict in three minutes flat.”

Representative Jerry Nadler (pictured), whose panel is to convene today to begin drawing up articles of impeachment, told CNN that the evidence that Trump put personal interests above those of his country in dealing with Ukraine was “rock solid.”

While not specifying what those articles might include, nadler did not rule out the pos-sibility of a House vote on impeachment by the end of the week.

That would put it on a fast track to a trial in early 2020 before the Republican-con-trolled Senate, where Trump is expected to prevail.

The president has repeatedly blasted the House inquiry as a partisan attack by House Dem-ocrats, and yesterday he tweeted that the Judiciary hearings are part of a “hoax” by the “No Due Process , Do Nothing Democrats.”

But while complaining that Democrats have not given Trump’s lawyers adequate opportunity to call their own witnesses and make their case, the White House signaled on Friday that it would not seek to defend the president before

nadler’s panel.The committee will be

weighing evidence compiled by the House Intelligence Com-mittee on whether Trump linked military aid and a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to a request that Kiev investigate a potential 2020 rival, Democrat Joe Biden, and his son Hunter.

Nadler would not speculate on what might be included in the articles of impeachment, though speculation has centered on abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

But he described the central allegation as being that Trump “sought foreign interference in our elections several times, both for 2016 and 2020, and that he sought to cover it up” thus posing

“a real and present danger to the integrity of the election” coming in November.

Nadler would not say whether the evidence that Russia meddled in the 2016 election, favoring Trump, would be included in the formal charges.

Adam Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman who is also managing the broader inquiry, said yesterday that there was “overwhelming evidence that the president sought to coerce Ukraine into interfering in our election” and, more seriously, “deeply sought to obstruct the investigation into that wrongdoing.”

Most Republicans have stuck with Trump as the affair has unfolded, saying there is no clear and direct evidence that he wrongly pressured Ukraine for personal political gain.

The majority Democrats are expected to carry the vote, however.

Nadler, asked whether he felt confident that Trump per-sonally directed improper approaches to Ukraine, replied: “We have a very rock-solid case. I think the case we have, if pre-sented to a jury, would be a guilty verdict in three minutes flat.”

Trump said in his tweet yes-terday that Democrats were trying to “change the rules” of impeachment, an apparent but unexplained reference to a 52-page report on the history and legal underpinnings of impeachment released by Democrats.

Representative Jerry Nadler did not rule out the possibility of a House vote on impeaching Trump by the end of the week.

Banana hanging on wall sells for $120,000 at art fairBLOOMBERG MIAMI BEACH

The highest-profile work at the biggest contemporary art fair in the US just got eaten.

“Comedian,” basically a banana stuck to a wall with duct tape, is now resting — minus duct tape — in the belly of one David Datuna, whose website calls him an “artist focused on the convergence of art and social consciousness.”

By the time he’d noncha-lantly detached the fruit from the wall, unpeeled and eaten it, a

gallery employee tried to intervene but too late. “Art per-formance,” he said. He was a “hungry artist,” adding that, it “tasted good.”

It’s another bizarre twist in the history of this week’s Art Basel Miami Beach.

Artist provocateur Maurizio Cattelan, maker of the golden toilet that was stolen in Sep-tember, earlier won the PR battle with his banana oeuvre. He attached a banana from a local grocery store to a wall of Galerie Perrotin’s booth. The asking price: $120,000.

According to Artnet, there was an immediate purchase. And then another. At which point the price increased to $150,000, and that sold. Two more bananas went to museums, the gallery confirmed, declining to specify the buyers or the price.

What the buyers got wasn’t the quickly decaying fruit, but rather a certificate of authen-ticity and, importantly, a defin-itive, 14-page manual on how to install the work.

So in theory, Datuna’s inter-vention doesn’t mean the end of the show.

Art Basel visitors use their phones in front of a banana attached with duct-tape that replaces the artwork ‘Comedian’ by the artist Maurizio Cattelan, which was eaten by David Datuna, in Miami Beach, yesterday.

Trump says Kim risks losing ‘everything’ after major testREUTERS WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said yesterday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un risks losing “everything” if he resumes hostility and his country must denuclearise, after the North said it had carried out a “successful test of great significance.”

“Kim Jong-Un is too smart and has far too much to lose, everything actually, if he acts in a hostile way. He signed a strong Denuclearization Agreement with me in Singapore,” Trump said on Twitter, referring to his first summit with Kim in Sin-gapore in 2018.

“He does not want to void his

special relationship with the President of the United States or interfere with the US Presidential Election in November,” he said.

North Korea’s state media KCNA reported yesterday that it had carried out a “very important” test at its Sohae satellite launch site, a rocket-testing ground that US officials once said North Korea had promised to close.

The reported test comes ahead of a year-end deadline North Korea has imposed for the United States to drop its insistence on unilateral denu-clearisation. Pyongyang has warned it could take a “new path” amid the stalled talks with the United States.

“North Korea, under the

leadership of Kim Jong-Un, has tremendous economic potential, but it must denucleariaze as promised,” Trump said on Twitter.

The KCNA report called it a “successful test of great signifi-cance” but did not specify what was tested.

Missile experts said it appeared likely the North Koreans had conducted a static test of a rocket engine, rather than a missile launch.

Tensions have risen ahead of a year-end deadline set by North Korea, which has called on the United States to change its policy of insisting on Pyongyang’s unilateral denu-clearization and demanded relief

from punishing sanctions.On Saturday North Korea’s

ambassador to the United Nations said denucleariaation was now off the negotiating table with the United States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed.

“The results of the recent important test will have an important effect on changing the strategic position of the DPRK once again in the near future,” KCNA reported, using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Asked in a CBS “Face the Nation” interview if North Korea might be preparing to resume nuclear tests, US National

Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said that “would be a mistake on the part of North Korea.”

Pyongyang’s last nuclear test, its sixth and most powerful, took place in September 2017.

“It doesn’t end well for them if they do.. If North Korea takes a different path than the one it’s promised... we’ve got plenty of tools in the toolkit,” O’Brien said yesterday.

Recent days have also seen a return to the highly charged rhetoric that raised fears of war two years ago.

In 2017, Trump and Kim famously engaged in a war of words, with Trump calling Kim “Rocket Man” and North Korea calling Trump, now 73, a “dotard.”

‘Sesame Street’ puppeteer Caroll Spinney diesAFP WASHINGTON

Puppeteer Caroll Spinney, who brought Big Bird to life on the iconic children’s show “Sesame Street” for half a century, died yesterday at the age of 85.

Spinney died at home in Con-necticut after living with the movement disorder dystonia for some time, according to a statement from Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organisation that produces the show.

The actor had announced his retirement from the show last year, having hand-picked successors to play both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch — two characters he helped create and which marked the childhoods of millions.

“Caroll was an artistic genius whose kind and loving view of the world helped shape and define Sesame Street from its earliest days in 1969 through five decades,” said the statement from his colleagues.

“His legacy here at Sesame Workshop and in the cultural fir-mament will be unending.”

“His enormous talent and outsized heart were perfectly suited to playing the larger-than-life yellow bird who brought joy to generations of children and countless fans of all ages around the world, and his lovably cantan-kerous grouch gave us all permission to be cranky once in a while.”

Poignantly, Spinney’s death came

as the show marked its 50th birthday, and as it prepared to receive one of America’s top cultural awards — to go along with a pile of nearly 200 Emmys — at a gala on Sunday in Washington for the Kennedy Center Honors.

Spinney himself won multiple Daytime Emmys for his work, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award. He

also earned a Grammy Award, for best children’s recording.

At the time of his retirement, he was quoted as saying that his Big Bird alter ego had “opened my mind and nurtured my soul.”

Spinney’s life was the subject of the 2014 documentary “I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story.”

A file photo of Caroll Spinney and The Muppets attending The 2017 Sesame Workshop Dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street, in New York City.

Two indigenous men dead in Brazil shootingREUTERS BRASILIA

Two indigenous men, members of the Guajajara tribe in north-eastern Brazil, were shot dead-yesterday, and two others were wounded, not far from where a prominent tribesman who defended the Amazon rain-forest was also killed last month, authorities said.

Indigenous tribes in Brazil are facing escalating violence during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, who has promised to reduce tribal rights and encouraged the commercial exploitation of their protected lands. Tribes have faced vio-lence especially from illegal loggers and miners.

Magno Guajajara, a spokesman for the tribe, said they did not know why the two men had been shot, whom he identified as Firmino Guajajara and Raimundo Guajajara. The men were on a highway, coming back from a meeting, when the shots were fired from a passing car, he said. “They were shooting at everyone”.

Authorities said they were investigating but did not say if anyone had been detained.

Sonia Guajajara, head of Brazil’s largest indigenous umbrella organization APIB, said the murders reflected an escalation of violence against tribes people that she said was incited by Bolsonaro.

“We are adrift, the state has ceased to protect us,” She said in a statement. “The climate of tension, insecurity and perse-cution against indigenous people in Brazil only increases.”

The incident happened in the Cana Brava indigenous res-ervation, which spans 137,000 hectares in the state of Maranhao and has 4,500 inhab-itants, according to government records.

Paulo Paulino Guajajara, the “forest guardian” killed last month, was shot in a confron-tation with illegal loggers on a nearby reservation.

18 MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019AMERICAS

Report cites plot to end Venezuela standoffBLOOMBERG CARACAS

The standoff in Venezuela briefly took a new twist, according to a report from the Spanish news-paper ABC.

People close to both Pres-ident Nicolas Maduro and his rival Juan Guaido plotted to push both men aside and end the nation’s crisis with the rule of a temporary junta, the newspaper reported without citing where it got the information.

The article didn’t cite sources by name, nor was it completely clear how deeply embedded the

plan was before it was dis-covered and fell apart. But the story suggests a strong desire within the camps of both men to end the standoff between

Maduro and Guaido almost a year old. Guaido, the National Assembly president, has been recognised by more than 50 countries, including the US, as Venezuela’s leader.

The ABC story suggested a third way, which the paper reported was born out of talks between emissaries of high-ranking Venezuelan officials with opposition leaders, in four countries between April and October this year, after huge rallies demanding Maduro’s exit.

The key figure appears to be Humberto Calderon Berti, then the designated ambassador to

Colombia who Guaido dismissed last month. He was the main Guaido negotiator in the talks with the emissaries for Venezuelan offi-cials who defied Maduro.

At some point in the talks, the paper said, Calderon Berti was approached to head a “transi-tional junta” — a small group of powerful men who would lead the nation for 18 months. The paper said that an agreement was drafted by August, with the document outlining the political changes to oust Maduro, sideline Guaido and install the junta sent around to the key players.

The Venezuelan officials who

sent emissaries for the secret talks included president of the National Constituent Assembly Diosdado Cabello, one of Vene-zuela’s most powerful men with strong ties to the military, Supreme Court President Maikel Moreno and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.

The negotiations were complex, involving the reconcil-iation of various factions within the army and voiding the May 2018 presidential elections Maduro is widely seen as winning only by fraud.

The paper cites discussions in which a Cabello emissary,

army captain Carlos Aguilera Borjas, suggests that Calderon Berti head the temporary junta. The paper says that Maduro’s regime discovered the talks, which then came to an end.

Calderon Berti told ABC newspaper that he met with Aguilera Borjas and others. But these meetings were part of his diplomatic duties and had nothing to do with a plot to form a junta, Calderon Berti said.

Guaido’s representatives declined to comment on the ABC report, while the Maduro gov-ernment didn’t respond to requests to do so.

Brazil can’t stop deforestation without help: MinisterAP MADRID

Brazil can’t stop deforestation in the Amazon without the help of rich countries, the country’s environment minister said at the United Nations’ two-week climate change conference.

Ricardo Salles, who declined to set a target for limiting defor-estation in the coming year, said that his country is committed to reducing illegal activity, but needs the support of developed nations.

“We are willing to do whatever is necessary to do so, but we need that back up,” Salles said. “That back up was promised many years ago and we’re still

expecting the rich countries to participate in a proper way. Pro-portional funds are really are what are going to be needed for that task.”

While participating in the climate conference known as COP25, Salles is working to assure others of the environ-mental policies of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro has squabbled with some European leaders this year over his commitment to protecting the Amazon. He has worried environmental activists and others by criticising Brazil’s environment regulator and by calling for more development in the Amazon region. He also accused activists groups, without

evidence, of having set fires in that region to undermine his administration.

Deforestation in the 12 months through July reached the highest annual rate in 11 years. Brazil’s annual deforestation report released in November showed a nearly 30% jump from the prior year in the Amazon, which lost (9,760 sq km of forest.

Salles said developed nations should help Brazil on the basis of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 on tackling the effects of climate change. The article says mon-etary compensation mechanisms must be created to help devel-oping countries.

Brazil already receives

money from wealthy nations, namely Germany and Norway, to fight deforestation in the vast Amazon rainforest. Norway alone has donated $1.2bn to Bra-zil’s Amazon Fund since its cre-ation in 2008.

However, both European nations have suspended contri-butions, citing the continued deforestation and questioning whether the government wants to stop it.

Salles in the past has ques-tioned the fund’s effectiveness. He said that Brazil is negotiating with the two European countries to restart the programme, adding that they exchanged draft doc-uments, and he expects them to meet next week to discuss new

terms of the fund.Brazil now has “an appro-

priate approach on the problem of deforestation,’’ Salles said.

He said the government is putting a new emphasis on bal-ancing protection with efforts to develop biological resources that can provide livings for people in the Amazon region.

“If we don’t solve the eco-nomic development for more than 20 million Brazilians who live there and people who need to have this sustainable, from both a financial and environ-mental perspective, they will be easily co-opted by illegal activ-ities,” Salles said. “It is a huge effort to attract the private sector to participate.”

Four dead in shooting near Mexico’s National PalaceREUTERS MEXICO CITY

Four people were killed and two injured in a shooting yesterday near Mexico’s National Palace, the presidential residence in the capital’s historic downtown, offi-cials said.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was traveling outside of Mexico City.

Preliminary reports indi-cated an armed man entered a building on a small street near the palace looking to relieve himself, Mexico City police said.

After two people in the building reproached him, the man withdrew a pistol and opened fire. When police arrived, they found four people with gunshot wounds lying in the building’s courtyard, and shot at the gunman.

Paramedics found the gunman dead, along with two other people, the police said. One of three people who sustained injuries died en route to the hos-pital. More than 100 police officers rapidly arrived and

cordoned off the street, according to television images.

The building sits in a narrow, pedestrian-only street that opens onto an entrance of the National Palace used daily by government staff and reporters.

Lopez Obrador took office a year ago on pledges to run an austere government. In addition to cutting his salary by half, he shed various trappings of power, including a large force of secret-service style bodyguards.

The leftist also turned the luxurious Los Pinos presidential residence into a cultural center and moved into the centuries-old National Palace amid the bustle of Mexico City’s historic centre.

Macri bids farewell as presidentArgentine President Mauricio Macri and his wife Juliana Awada wave to supporters during a farewell rally at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace at Plaza de Mayo Square, in Buenos Aires, yesterday. Opposition President-elect Alberto Fernandez takes office on Tuesday.

The ABC newspaper reported that, Calderon Berti was approached to head a “transitional junta” — a small group of powerful men who would lead the Venezuela for 18 months.

A forensic technician leaving a crime scene where four people were killed and two injured in a shooting near Mexico’s National Palace, in Mexico City, yesterday.

Bolsonaro’s approval rating steadies on Brazil economy upturn: PollBLOOMBERG BRASILIA

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro’s (pictured) approval rating stabi-lised following a drop earlier this year amid increased optimism on the future of the nation’s economy, a public opinion survey showed.

Thirty percent of respondents rate Bolsonaro’s government as “good or great,” rising within the margin of error from 29 percent in late August, according to a Datafolha poll published yesterday by Folha de S. Paulo.

The number of respondents who said the economy will improve in upcoming months rose to 43 percent from 40 percent, while those who said it will worsen fell to 24 percent from 26 percent.

Signs are mounting that Latin America’s largest economy is strengthening following a lackluster recovery from its worst recession on record.

Third-quarter growth beat fore-casts on broad-based gains from investments to agriculture, retail sales have risen for five straight months, and analysts have increased 2020 GDP calls.

On December 11, the central bank is expected to deliver its fourth straight cut to borrowing costs to further buttress demand.

Within Latin America, Brazil is starting to pull away from other large nations such as Mexico, which is forecast to

stagnate this year, and Argentina, which is mired in a deep recession. By comparison, Brazil is seen expanding by roughly 1 percent this year and by 2.2 percent in 2020.

The poll also showed there’s plenty of room for improvement in the president’s standing.

Only one in four approve of the work of Bolsonaro’s pro-market economic team, while only 16 percent back his admin-istration’s policies in the fight against unemployment, which has remained in the double-digits.

Eighty percent of respondents said they “never” or “sometimes” trust in Bol-sonaro’s remarks. Only 19 percent said they “always” trust the president.

Datafolha surveyed 2,948 people in 176 municipalities on December 5 and 6, and the inter-views were carried out in person.

The poll has a margin of error or plus or minus two per-centage points.

Slain Arkansas cop ‘ambushed’ in patrol vehicleAP FAYETTEVILLE

A police officer was ”ambushed and executed” by a gunman as he sat in his patrol vehicle parked outside his police station in northwestern Arkansas, police said yesterday.

Fayetteville police said in a news release that Officer Stephen Carr was shot and killed late Saturday by a suspect identified as 35-year-old London Phi l l ips , of Fayetteville.

Gun shots were heard behind the police department at about 9:42pm on Saturday, police said. When officers responded, they heard addi-tional gunshots, then found an armed suspect behind the police department.

The suspect had a confron-tation with the two officers, who shot and killed him. Officers then found Carr shot inside his patrol vehicle.

“Evidence shows that Officer Carr was ambushed and executed while sitting in his patrol vehicle,” police said in the news release.

Carr was hired by the Fay-etteville Police Department in April 2017 and was assigned as a patrol officer in the Dickson Street entertainment district.

“He served our community with dedication and profession-alism for the past 2 1/2 years, he is a HERO,” police said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Officer Carr’s family during this tragic time.”

Chief Mike Reynolds said during a news conference that officers chased the suspect into an alley between the police department and city prosecu-tor’s office.

The officers then shot and killed the suspect.

US rapper Juice WRLD dead after medical emergency

AP CHICAGO

Chicago-area rapper Juice WRLD, whose real name is Jarad A Higgins, was pronounced dead yesterday after a “medical emergency’’ at Midway International Airport, according to authorities.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office was notified of the the death of Higgins, of Homewood, yesterday morning, according to office spokeswoman Natalia Der-evyanny. An autopsy had not been conducted.

Police and fire officials con-firmed a 21-year-old male was transported from Midway to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. Chicago police said he experienced a “medical emergency.’’

Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said the transported man experi-enced cardiac arrest and was transported to a hospital.


CROSSWORD

With Barlow being the daughter of a dancer, Oksana, she has grown up conditioned for greatness. Making the fact she long struggled to secure a job disheartening and with her mother offering harsh truths than attempting to console her, it made each cut more and more difficult.

HIGH STRUNG FREE DANCE

MALL ROYAL PLAZA

Arctic Dog (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 5:15pm Puzhikkadakan (2D/Malayalam) 4:15pmKettyolanu Ente Maalakha (2D/Malayalam) 6:30, 9:00 & 11:00pm; Pati Patni Aur Woh (2D/Hindi) 11:30pm; Panipat (2D/Hindi) 8:00pmFrozen II (2D/Animation) 2;15, 4:00, 6:00 & 7:00pmJada (2D/Tamil) 3:00pmIrandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu (2D/Tamil) 8:45 & 11:15pm

Puzhikkadakan (2D/Malayalam) 10:30am, 3:45 & 9:15pm; Panipat (2D/Hindi) 11:45am, 6:45 & 11:45pmFrozen II (3D/Animation) 11:45am, 2:00, 4:15 & 6:30pm; Kettyolanu Ente Maalakha (2D/Malayalam) 1:00, 6:30 & 12:00pm; Pati Patni Aur Woh (2D/Hindi) 3:00 & 9:00pm; Jada (2D/Tamil) 8:15pm; Irandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm

LANDMARK

AL KHOR

Helen (2D/Malayalam) 8:30pm; Panipat (2D/Hindi) 10:45pmKettyolanu Ente Maalakha (2D/Malayalam) 6:00 & 8:45, 11:30pm; Pati Patni Aur Woh (2D/Hindi) 6:15pm; Puzhikkadakan (2D/Malayalam) 8:45pm; Kamala (2D/Malayalam) 11:15pm; Android Kunjappan (2D/Malayalam) 6:00pm;Jada (2D/Tamil) 3:15pm;Irandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu (2D/Tamil) 6:00pm;

ASIAN TOWN

ROXY

FLIK Mirqab Mall

A Score To Settle (2D/Action) 11:45am, 1:50, 3;55, 8:25 & 10:30pmArctic Dog (2D/Animation) 10:40am & 12;35pmCharlie’s Angels (2D/Action) 11:25pmCode 8 (2D/Sci-Fi) 3:45 & 7:45pmDark Waters (2D/Biography) 6:00pmFrozen II (2D/Animation) 10:50am, 11:30am, 12:15, 1:00, 1:35, 2:20, 3:05, 4:25, 5:10, 5:40, 6:30, 8:35, 9:10 & 10:40pmFrozen II (3D/Animation) 7:15pmKnives Out (2D/Action) 11:25am, 2:00, 4:30, 9:45pm & 0:20amLe Mans ’66 (Ford Vs Ferrari) (2D/Action) 10:50am, 1;45, 2:30, 4:40, 5:25, 7:35, 8;20, 10:30 & 11:15pmPanipat (2D/Hindi) 9:35pm; Pati Patni Aur Woh (2D/Hindi) 7:00pmUnbreakable (2D/Tagalog) 4:00 & 6:20pm

Daniel Isn’t Real (3D/Thriller) 11:00am, 1:00, 1:30, 3:50, 6:00, 6:20, 8:10 & 8:30pm; Dark Waters (2D/Biography) 11:00am, 1:10, 3:15, 3:40, 6:00, 8:15, 8:40, 10:30, & 11:00pm; Dhanusu Raasi Neyargalae (2D/Tamil) 10:15 & 11:40pm; Frozen II (3D/Animation) 11:00am, 1:15, 12:30, 2:45, 3:30, 5:00, 5:45, 7:15, 8:00 & 9:30pm; Kettyolanu Ente Maalakha (2D/Malayalam) 6:00, 8:00, 11:00 & 11:30pm Panipat (2D/Hindi) 10:30am, 1:00, 4:20, 6:50, 10:10, 11:15 & 11:20pm; Pati Patni Aur Woh (2D/Hindi) 1:50, 4:20, 7:40 & 10:10pm Puzhikkadakan (2D/Malayalam) 10:30, 12:30, 1:00, 3:00, 3:30, 5:30 & 8:45pm

Kettyolanu Ente Maalakha (2D/Malayalam) 2:00 & 11:15pmJada (2D/Tamil) 2:30 & 11:30pmFrozen II (2D/Animation) 4:30 & 6:15pmPati Patni Aur Woh (2D/Hindi) 4:45 & 9:15pmOmar Wa Bisat El Rih (2D/Animation) 4:00pmArctic Dog (2D/Animation) 2:15pmDark Waters (2D/Biography) 7:00pmUnbreakable (2D/Tagalog) 7:15pmPanipat (2D/Hindi) 8:00 & 11:00pmCode 8 (2D/Sci-Fi) 7:45 & 9:30pm

Panipat (2D/Hindi) 2:00 & 11:15pmHelen (2D/Malayalam) 5:00 & 9:15pmPati Patni Aur Woh (2D/Hindi) 7:00pmArctic Dog (2D/Animation) 2:00pmKamala (2D/Malayalam) 2:00pm Frozen II (2D/Animation) 2:30, 3:30, 5:15 & 7:00pmKettyolanu Ente Maalakha (2D/Malayalam) 4:30, 8:45 & 11:30pm; Unbreakable (2D/Tagalog) 7:00pmJada (2D/Tamil) 9:15 & 11:30pm

Qatar is always supportive of talent, irrespective of nationality or culture

THE PENINSULA DOHA

A renowned Qatari artist has said that Seeroo fi al Ardh an upcoming art installation brings nation’s art journey full circle.

“I remember the front cover of the brochure we developed for M F Husain’s first exhibition in Qatar, way back in 1984,” said Yousif Al Homaid, a renowned Qatari artist. “It had the words Seeroo fi al Ardh in Arabic across it. “Now, 35 years later, it is wonderful that Qatar Foundation plans to unveil Husain’s last artwork that is rem-iniscent of that very first exhibition – the Seeroo fi al Ardh.”

Al Homaid’s role in Qatar’s art history makes him well-placed to pass this observation. From holding the first solo art exhibition in the country in 1977, through being the first Qatari to earn a Master of Fine Art degree in 1982, to having his artwork displayed at the head-quarters of the World Bank in Washington, D C, again in 1982, the Qatari artist – and Qatar – has come a long way.

Indeed, Al Homaid’s evolution as an artist is a microcosm of the country’s journey to its current status as a regional nexus for art.

“Young adults living in Qatar would perhaps be surprised to hear that, 50 years ago, there was no dearth of art exhibitions in the country,” he says. “The difference was that we didn’t have technology as we do now. There was no Internet or social media to spread the word of an upcoming exhibit.

“News of such events were usually passed on through bro-chures, word of mouth and even through small posters displayed in grocery shops and supermarkets. Prior to telephones becoming popular, we’d even paint the announcement on to the com-pound walls of houses – a bit like artistic graffiti. And people would take note and attend these events in droves.”

In the absence of dedicated museums and galleries for such events, the artwork of local and

international artists was often laid out in the banquet halls of hotels such as the Sheraton, adjacent to the Corniche.

Some of the more memorable exhibitions included those organised by UNESCO, under the patronage of the then Ministry of Education. The public were given the opportunity to view and appre-ciate the original works of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh and Henri Rousseau.

It was a period that also saw Qatari artists and their work being feted across the world. Exhibits of their art were on display in museums and galleries in London, Paris, Tokyo and other major cities.

“We were blessed to have teachers who were passionate artists themselves,” he said. “They are the unsung heroes of Qatar’s art history during the 1950s and 60s. These teachers came from Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and other

countries in the region, and shared their artistic traditions and styles with us.

“Artists of my generation owe a lot to them. It shows that, throughout history, Qatar not only welcomed artists from other coun-tries, but was also willing to learn from them.”

It was while he was the Head of Art and Exhibitions at the Min-istry of Information that the gov-ernment of Qatar invited Husain to conduct his first exhibition in the country. Al Homaid, who was then in his 30s and part of the team that organised the event, said he will never forget his first encounter with the Indian-born artist, who held Qatari citizenship.

“I had bought him blank can-vases along with tubes of paint, and brushes, so that he could paint at the venue,” smiles Al Homaid. “To my surprise, he ignored the brushes and started painting with his bare fingers. “Today, having evolved as an artist myself, I feel I know why he did it; I assume the sensation of touch allowed him to feel what he was creating – it removed all the barriers between his emotions and his canvas.”

The Qatari artist says that, in a way, the two exhibits – the painting exhibit in 1984 and the installation in 2019 – do more than bookend Husain’s association with Qatar.

“Qatar has always recognised that art is a universal language,” he said. “There is no doubt this latest installation is poised to bring Husain’s legacy, and Qatar’s journey as an art-loving country, full circle. “And it also sends another strong message across the world – that Qataris have been, are, and always will be supportive of talent, irrespective of nation-ality or culture.”

Yousif Al Homaid, a renowned Qatari artist.

Al Homaid’s role in Qatar’s art history makes him well-placed to pass this observation. From holding the first solo art exhibition in the country in 1977, through being the first Qatari to earn a Master of Fine Art degree in 1982, to having his artwork displayed at the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington, DC, again in 1982, the Qatari artist – and Qatar – has come a long way.

20 MONDAY 9 DECEMBER 2019MORNING BREAK

WEATHER TODAY

Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department

Minimum Maximum21oC 27oC

HIGH TIDE 03:52 – 13:22 LOW TIDE 09:32 – 21:25

Moderate temperature daytime and slight

dust and scattered clouds with a chance

of rain may be thundery at some places

at times.

FAJRSHOROOK

04. 46 AM06. 08 AM

11. 26 AM02.25 PM

04. 46 PM06. 16 PM

ZUHRASR

MAGHRIBISHA

PRAYER TIMINGS

Middle East’s popular singing trio performs at DECCTHE PENINSULA DOHA

Three of the Middle East’s most popular singers — Rahma Riad, Fahad Al Kubaisi, and Omar Al Abdallat — continued the Qatar Live series of concerts last night with a glittering performance at Doha Exhibition and Convention Center (DECC) to hundreds of residents and visitors.

Qatar Live is a series of special music concerts and festivals organised by Qatar Airways and Qatar National

Tourism Council (QNTC), sup-ported by Ooredoo as Platinum Sponsor. The events have been organised to align with the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup Qatar 2019 (November 26 to December 8) and the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 (December 11 to 21) to provide world-class entertainment for football fans, visitors, and local residents.

On Friday , Cheb Khaled and Hatim Ammor will perform at DECC, followed by Katy Perry on December 15 , Maluma on December 16, and Maroon 5 on December 19.

For fans of electronic music, Qatar Airways and QNTC are bringing Daydream Festival to Qatar for the first time on December 12 and 20 at the Ritz-Carlton. The world-renowned festival takes place each year at dif-ferent locations around the world, bringing together the best DJs in dance and elec-tronic music. On December 12 , the line-up of DJs includes Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Robin Schulz, Sam Feldt, Matt Sochon and Wankelmut. On 20 December Afrojack, Lost Frequencies, Mark Knight,

Steff Da Campo and Matt Sochon will perform at the festival. Tickets for all events can be purchased at qatarlive.qa.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive and Sec-retary-General of QNTC, H E Akbar Al Baker, said: “The performances by Rahma Riad, Fahad Al Kubaisi, and Omar Al Abdallat continue a fan-tastic line-up of world-class music for Qatar Live. It is really exciting that we have some of the Middle East’s most popular singers as well as home-grown talent

performing here in Doha, to an audience of music-loving residents and visitors.”

For visitors travelling from Kuwait and Oman, Qatar Airways is offering amazing fares on Economy and Business Class tickets and Qatar Airways Holidays is offering special packages that will cover flights, hotels and concert tickets when trav-elling to Qatar.

In addition, stopover packages for passengers trav-elling from the rest of the world are available through Discover Qatar.

Ooredoo sponsors Doha International Conference on Disability and DevelopmentTHE PENINSULA/DOHA

Ooredoo sponsored the Doha International Conference on Disability and Development (DICDD), which was held on December 7 and 8, at Qatar National Convention Center.

The Conference, with an overall theme of ‘Harnessing the Power of Sustainable Development to Advance the Rights of Persons With Disa-bilities’, was held under the guidance and patronage of H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, founder of the Qatar Foun-dation for Social Work and its affiliated civil society centres.

The event was intended to provide a platform via which those with disabilities can have a voice, and can interact with key stakeholders who will work together to formulate social policy and draw a roadmap for ensuring inclusive equality for all.

Ooredoo hosted a booth at the event, showcasing

innovative technologies that will change the lives of those with disabilities. These tech-nologies are a 5G-connected wheelchair equipped with Google Assistant, the Sound-Shirt —which allows a deaf

person to feel music on their skin — and the Bonocle, a system that allows those who depend on voiceover, key-board navigation and Braille to use the Ooredoo website.

The landmark outcome of

the conference was the Doha Declaration; a core reference point for international policy development on human rights and sustainable development with reference to disability.

Fatima Sultan Al Kuwari,

Chief Consumer Officer at Ooredoo, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting this incredibly worthwhile event. We whole-heartedly support the United Nations sustainability goals – in this case, reduced inequality and health and wellbeing for all — and, as part of our cor-porate social responsibility strategy, place great emphasis on supporting and promoting events that benefit our commu-nities and our citizens. We look forward to the event shining a spotlight on disability, and highlighting ways to improve the lives of those with disabil-ities as part of a sustainable environment.”

Fatima Sultan Al Kuwari (left), Chief Consumer Officer at Ooredoo, with other officials at the event.

At the event, Ooredoo also showcased innovative technologies that will change the lives of those with disabilities.

Moscow fair hosts thousands of catsANATOLIA/MOSCOW

A two-day feline festival gathered on Saturday thousands of cats from across the world in the Russian capital Moscow.

Some 2,000 cats from 12 countries have joined the Winter Cat Show, organized by felinology club RosKosh, which enjoys a high participation at Crocus Expo Exhibition Center.

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