Unrelenting struggle - KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN › epaper › 12-05-2018 › PDF...Dec 05, 2018  · HM Queen Elizabeth II and Shai-kh Mohammed bin Rashid high-lighted the outstanding relations

Sunny Leone to rock fans Manama

Bollywood star Sunny Leone will be performing at Al Ahli stadium ground on June 16 as part of Eid celebrations.

Leone, one of the most searched persons in the year 2017 reported-ly charges around BD180,000 for a single item dance. She had also recently launched her book titled Sweet Dreams.

The event was announced by Mr Ahamad Ebrahim Abu Al Shouk, the chairman of Delmon and BDM. The show will also mark the first anni-

versary celebrations of Aura Arts Centre Bahrain.

Apart from Leone, leading artists including singer Thulasi Kumar and Anjali and members of MJ5 Dance Group will take part in the show.

05Push for expat voting rights

06Beating hardships on success path

07Summit challenges for North Korea

10

Shaikh Nasser triumphs in Windsor Endurance18SPORTS

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Tina Fey feared George Clooney’s pranksActress Tina Fey says she and Amy Poehler lived in fear of being pranked by George Clooney after they mocked him at the Golden Globe Awards.P17

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200 FILS ISSUE NO. 7744

Germany’s secret labour experiment with Syrian refugees

Russia won’t deliver missiles to Syria 12 WORLD

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Al Imari Mountain liberated by Yemeni forcesAden

The Yemeni Resistance Forces, with support of the UAE Armed Forces, liberated Al Imari moun-tain after sieging the Houthi militia and cutting off their line of military supplies.

Al Imari mountain over-looks the liberated Thabab Coastal Area, west of Taiz Governorate.

Earlier, the Yemeni Re-sistance Forces, with the Support of the UAE Armed Forces, liberated Kahboub Area and defeated the Houthi Militia as part of a series of victories achieved in a number of battlefronts, in conjunction with the suc-cessful air strikes recently launched by the Air Force of the Arab Coalition that targeted the Houthi leaders.

Iran adamant on nuke programme Tehran

Iran says it is ready to restart its nuclear pro-gramme on an “industrial scale” in the wake of the de-cision by US President Don-ald Trump to abandon the deal that curbs the country’s nuclear ambitions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said he would embark on a round of in-ternational diplomacy to try and save the deal. At the same time, the country would make preparations to restart its programme of nuclear enrichment, he said. Zarif ’s comments came as thousands of Iranians took to the streets in the largest demonstration since Trump announced his decision Tuesday.

Protesters burned an American flag and railed against the US.

Unrelenting struggleGazans sing song of hope to Zionists’ brutal chords

• Israel has said it will prevent any border breach and has stuck to its open-fire policies

Gaza City

Israeli troops fired live bullets and tear gas yes-terday across a border fence into Gaza where Palestinians were hold-ing protests. One protester was killed and 50 were wounded by Israeli fire, Gaza health officials said. It was the seventh weekly protest aimed at shaking off a decade-old border blockade of Gaza, and a preview of what is expected to be a much larg-er border rally on Monday. On

that day, protests are timed to coincide with the planned move of the US Embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem, where Palestinians hope to establish a future capital.

Protester Ahmed Deifallah, 25, said that President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the embassy there “is causing the volcano to spew.”

Deifallah, who is unemployed, said he is not afraid to die. “We are used to confronting the (Is-raeli) occupation with our bare chests,” he said, a Palestinian flag draped around his head. “We are used to wars and no one with us but Allah.”

Gaza’s Hamas leader, Yehiyeh Sinwawr, has said he expects tens of thousands to partici-

pate on Monday. He has raised the possibility of a mass border breach, comparing protesters to a “starving tiger,” unpredictable

and full of pent-up anger.Israel has said it will prevent

any border breach and has stuck to its open-fire policies, such as

targeting “main instigators” and those approaching the fence, despite growing international criticism.

There are growing concerns that if Israel and Hamas dig in, a widespread border breach in coming days could lead to large numbers of casualties.

Since the Hamas-led march-es began in late March, 41 Pal-estinian protesters have been killed by Israeli fire, including a 40-year-old man shot dead Friday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 1,700 Palestinians have been shot and wounded, including 49 on Friday. Seven of the injured on Friday were in serious condi-tion, among them a 16-year-old with a shot to the head.

(Agencies)

US Embassy in Jerusalem to open with initial staff of 50WASHINGTON

The new US Embassy in Je-rusalem will open with an initial staff of at least 50.

That’s according to senior Trump administration officials previewing the highly antici-pated opening on May 14. The embassy is moving from Tel Aviv in line with President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Roughly 800 guests will at-tend the event.

Officials say the US delega-tion doesn’t plan to meet any

Palestinian officials during their visit.

Initial embassy staff will include Ambassador David Friedman’s aides and US con-sular officers already work-ing at the site. The embassy is opening in part of a pre-exist-ing American visa-and-pass-port facility with a fraction of the total US personnel in Israel, sources said.

President Trump will ad-dress the assembled US and Israeli dignitaries at the open-ing of the embassy by video on Monday.

His Majesty meets Queen Elizabeth• HM King Hamad expressed sincere thanks and appreciation to HM Queen Elizabeth II for her kind invitation

London

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yes-terday met Her Majes-ty Queen Elizabeth II and UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Dubai Ruler Shaikh Moham-med bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the Endurance Village of the Windsor Great Park.

This came as HM King Hamad and HM Queen Elizabeth attend-ed the international Royal Wind-sor Horse Show.

HM King Hamad also met the Duke of York, HRH Prince An-drew, the British House of Com-

mons member representing the Conservative Party and Minister of State for Europe and the Amer-icas at the Foreign and Common-wealth Office, Sir Alan Duncan, and Shaikh Fahad bin Falah bin Hathlin.

HM King Hamad expressed sincere thanks and appreciation to HM Queen Elizabeth II for her kind invitation to him to attend the deep-rooted show. HM the King exchanged talks with HM Queen Elizabeth II on Bahrain’s outstanding relations with the United Kingdom, hailing the steady progress of bilateral co-ordination and cooperation be-tween them in all fields.

Talks between HM the King, HM Queen Elizabeth II and Shai-kh Mohammed bin Rashid high-lighted the outstanding relations with the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, hailing them as long-standing ties based on mutual respect.His Majesty in conversation with Queen Elizabeth II at the Endurance Village of the Windsor Great Park

A demonstrator reacts to tear gas fired by Israeli troops

180,000Bahraini Dinars is what the leading Bollywood actress charges for an item dance

Culprits of online personal info scams may be fined up to BD20,000Amendment aims to increase punishment by 400 times for publishing photographs or comments relating to an individual’s private or family lifeMuhannad Mansour | TDT

The fine for exposing personal in-formation of individuals against their will using the Internet may be increased to BD20,000, which is 400 times the existing BD50 fine.

This comes as the Council of Repre-sentatives votes this Tuesday on a bill submitted by the second branch of the Legislative Authority in the Kingdom, Shura Council, to amend the country’s Penal Code.

The proposed amendment increases the existing punishment for publishing photographs or comments relating to individuals private or family lives from serving an imprisonment sentence not exceeding six months and/or paying a fine not exceeding BD50.

Submitted to the council’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee on March 14 this year for approval, the bill stipulates replacing the punishments mentioned in Articles 354 and 370 of the Kingdom’s Penal Code with tougher penalties.

Article 370 stipulates that “a prison sentence for a period not exceeding six months and a fine not exceeding BD50, or either penalty, shall be inflicted upon any person who publishes by any meth-od of publication news, photographs or comments relating to individuals’ private or family lives, even though

they are true, should the publication thereof be offensive thereto”.

As for Article 354, it reads that “a punishment of imprisonment for no more than three months or a fine of no more than BD20 shall be inflicted upon any person who is found in a public road or in a place frequented by the public inciting pedestrians, by words or signs, to indulge in vice”.

If implemented, the proposed law would punish those proved to commit the crimes mentioned in both articles by imprisonment not exceeding three years and paying a fine not less than BD10, 000 and not exceeding BD20, 000.

Committee Head MP Abdulla Bin-howail earlier explained that such acts would be considered an aggravated circumstance and the maximum pun-ishment would be inflicted if they were

committed using any mean of social media networks.

“The amendment aims at ensuring mutual respect between members of the society, curbing the recently spreading insults and verbal abuse phe-nomenon on social media networks, ensuring freedom of expression within the framework of the law and without insulting others and introducing deter-rent punishments for such offences,” Binhowail affirmed.

The committee discussed the bill with representatives of the related au-

thorities by holding three meetings on March 16, April 16 and April 23 this

year. The meetings were attended by representatives of Justice, Islamic Af-fairs and Endowments Ministry, Interi-or Ministry and the National Institution for Human Rights.

Committee members approved the proposed amendment and issued a report that will be reviewed and voted on by the 40-member council during its ordinary weekly meeting scheduled this Tuesday.

Abusive and defamatory posts on local social networks have recently become a phenomenon, with some accounts dedicated to sharing scandals and exposing personal information of citizens and residents.

This received a stern response from several authorities in the Kingdom. “This requires a decisive stand against suspicious calls to undermine the strong and deep-rooted relationship between the Leadership and the Bah-raini people,” Royal Guard Commander Staff Brigadier HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa warned in a state-ment on March 31. Interior Minister Lieutenant General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa also affirmed that “tough steps will be taken to deal with unprecedented chaos created by dis-ruptive social media accounts”. At least ten individuals were arrested and pros-ecuted this year in Bahrain in relation to similar offences.

02SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

The amendment aims at ensuring mutual respect

between members of the society, curbing

the recently spreading insults and verbal abuse

phenomenon on social media networks

354Article mentions punishment for misusing online

personal information

03

big story

The Education Ministry has

itself revealed that annual

educational cost for a student stands in the

neighbourhood of BD3,000,

while the Social Development Ministry only

gives BD100 a month for the

treatment of an autistic child.

The treatment generally costs

something between BD250 and BD350 and

we parents often struggle to meet

medical expensesA PARENT

SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

Thamer Taifoor | TDT

Despite a significant increase in the number of children suffer-ing from autism over the past few years, authorities are not doing enough to address the situation, allege parents.

They say their long-time demands that include a government centre and a rehabilitation programme for autistic children remain unanswered as of now.

“Even Constitutional rights are being denied to autistic children. If you see, right to education is a Constitutional right of every child, yet school here runs a three-month probation pro-gramme for children, who are sent out upon being proved unfit,” a parent told Tribune. Many parents of autistic children feel that great injustice is be-ing done to their kids. “The Education Ministry has itself revealed that annual educational cost for a student stands in the neighbourhood of BD3,000, while the Social Development Ministry only gives BD100 a month for the treatment of an autistic child. The treatment gen-erally costs something between BD250 and BD350 and we parents often strug-gle to meet medical expenses.”

There are even parents who had to rely on bank loans to treat their autis-tic children. These parents cite many flaws even in the diagnostic process carried out by the health department. “As of now the waiting list for autistic children is three years for treatment and six months for evaluation. After a three-month evaluation process, the child has to undergo an IQ test. The Health Ministry only provides one staff member to do the test, limiting the process to two cases a day while the number of autistic children here is increasing.

“Even if the parents see some symp-toms of autism in their children, it takes about three years to get medical help. Delayed help meant the child won’t be able to attend the primary school at the right time.”

Speaking to Tribune, Sayed Zakaria, head of Bahrain Autistic Society, said, “More than 4,000 autism patients are receiving rehabilitation assistance at around 25 private centers in Bahrain, while there are no government centres for autistic children. At Alia Centre alone, around 500 children are on the waiting list.”

“Children wait for one year after the initial diagnosis to start the actual diagnosis. The diagnosis runs only for one week instead of one month, so the results tend to be inaccurate and the government only accepts the psychi-atric report as a diagnosis of autism.”

Urging the Social Development Min-istry to increase its financial help to autistic children, he said, “Considering the existing medical and other expens-es, BD100 a month is too low. The min-istry should increase this at the earliest. Around four autistic children leave rehabilitation centers every month because their parents can’t afford their expenses and the number of school classes allocated for students suffering

autism are insufficient. Teachers are not specialists and the ministry does not accept all the children because of their low standards. The Ministry of Education is working its efforts, but because of the high cost, children are neglected.”

Ahlam Juma, a mother of an autistic child said her son was rejected admis-sion three times by a public school. “Though he was accepted fourth time, he could only stay there for three months. I had to take him out because his behaviour had become bad due to wrong influences from his classmates. The teachers weren’t competent either and they don’t know how to deal with autistic children.”

Meanwhile, on the flip side, autism specialist Sakeena Kareemi said many who got specialisations in training chil-dren suffering from autism were un-employed. “The cost of specialising is around BD14, 000 and many graduates having this specialisation are sitting at home while centers are complaining of not able to accommodate more students due to unavailability of resources.”

“The government has an obligation to educate and rehabilitate people with autism as much as it is committed to the education of healthy children,” she added.

It has been proved that students suf-fering from autism have unique set of skills, strengths and talents. Hussein Al Shehabi, father of an autistic child Ali said his son can speak five languages – Arabic, English, Spanish, Japanese and Korean.

“My son is really talented. I want him to progress using his talents and skills and emerge a true contributor to the society instead of being a citizen depending on BD100 payout.”

Beautiful minds left unattended

The World Health Organ-isation adopted a reso-

lution to coordinate and manage autism worldwide

as part of their mental health action plan. The resolution was co-spon-sored by more than 50

countries and supported by all members, including the U.S. However, no coun-

try has put in any effort to publish the number of

total autistic cases

KNOW

DID

4,000autism patients are receiving

rehabilitation assistance at around 25 private centers in Bahrain, while there are no government centres for

autistic children

Autistic children along with their siblings at a recently held event

Recovery boosts labour marketMohammed [email protected]

The latest labour market trends are encouraging as the economy continues to recover following the oil price drop crisis of 2014, it emerged.

After an underwhelming pe-riod in the employment market since the dip in the oil prices in 2014; signs are that the labour market is on the mend, thanks to the steady recovery of the economy, according to Labour Ministry.

Speaking to Tribune, Labour Ministry Assistant Undersecre-tary for Labour Affairs Dr Mo-hammed Ali Al Ansari said that 2017 was a positive year for the labour market with the ministry noting increase in recruitment, stability in terms of unemploy-ment and lower numbers in la-bour issues.

“Last year there has been a significant increase in the re-cruitment of nationals. We also succeeded in stabilising the local market in terms of unemploy-ment, which remained at around four per cent. On the other hand, the number of cases filed with

the ministry because of different disputes between employer and employee also remain at a min-imum when compared to 2016, 2015, and 2014,” he pointed out.

“The number of dismissed Bahraini workers in 2014 was 1,700, while in 2017 it was 1,400. We could also keep the number of dismissed workers of expatri-ates at an acceptable level.”

Positive indicatorsNewly found optimism from

the oil discovery at Khalij Al Bahrain Basin and the launch of various major projects could channel a positive trajectory for the labour market, he said.

“The market is always affect-ed by the financial situation in the country. Right now there is stability in the country, there are many new projects that has come up and many whose works are ongoing. “

“Last year avenues launched and Alba started works on their expansion project.” he said, add-ing, “The most positive indica-tor was the discovery of large amount of oil this will give a push to the economic situation of the

country. This could prompt even more new projects.”

Salary disputesGeneral Federation of Bahrain

Trade Unions (GFBTU) assistant

secretary for international re-lations Karim Radhi said that some of the high profile issues related to delayed salary are gradually being resolved. “In terms of labour issues, I have witnessed four major issues

from major companies. The cas-es are in the process of getting resolved. Some of them are yet to be resolved while progress is being made in other cases.”

Ministry of Labour initiatives have ensured that the recruit-

ment scenario remains high, especially for Bahrainis. The ministry, along with Tamkeen are funding the part of salaries of recent graduates employed in the private sector and this has been effective along with many other similar schemes, he added.

Humanitarian support urgedUrging ‘humanitarian sup-

port’, Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society general secretary Faisal Fulad said that more focus must be given to workers who lose their source of income due to health reasons.

“Currently we are dealing with the case of a man who became unable to work due to health reason. He is bedridden and losing his eye sight, a trav-el ban has been placed on him because he was unable to clear his debts.

He is now in a helpless sit-uation and will not be able to pay his debts. There should be a mechanism to deal with such humanitarian cases.

This is a humanitarian case, there are many like these.” he said.

04SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

They sweat a lot to keep beach clean! Mohammed Zafran | TDT

Days of hard work put in by a group of volunteers under the umbrella Bahrain Beachcombers has final-ly begun to reap benefits.

Littering by beachgoers has consid-erably reduced across Nurana Islands, according to these volunteers.

Speaking to Tribune, Darren Schneder, the founder of Bahrain Beachcombers, said their efforts have sent a message to beachgoers who are now “reluctant” to litter the area.

He said the fishermen have also been restraining from throwing away rubbish into the sea while fishing.

“Over the years there has been less and less rubbish that comes back on the beach. What was on the beach initially has all been picked up; we know this by observing the oxidation on the plastic. Now we continue to pick up the new rubbish left on the beach. The rubbish is not as much as it used to be, it is con-siderably less. There are also a lot less plastic bottles dumped into the sea by the fishermen. Clearly the government has said something to the fishermen.”

He said the beaches at Nurana Islands were in a terrible state when he first began to clean them up four years ago. “I formed Bahrain beachcombers in 2014 after my visits to Nurana Islands. The pollution in that area drove me towards taking action. It was terrible to see how much trash was washed up on the beach and clearly something had to be done. Having been brought up in Australia where we are taught about pollution at an early age in schools, it was a natural thing for me to pick up and dispose of it somehow. I took the initiative and started the volunteer group.” Cleaning up Nura-na Island beaches is especially important because it is a ‘catchment area’ - meaning marine debris from around the Island gets collected there, he said.

“It is a catchment area, because of how the natural flow of the ocean is. This is good because catching the plastic is

better than the plastic going around the island all the time. It is actually benefi-

cial for the island to have that rubbish collecting in that area and even more beneficial by us picking up the rubbish.”

He said that about 70 people on av-erage turn up for his beach clean ups.

“On a general beach-clean we get ap-proximately up to about 70 people. It can be very fickle, you can get as little as 10 but we can get as much as 100. The number of people does not necessarily reflect how-much rubbish is picked up. Ten people can pick up an awful lot of rubbish, a hundred people could pick up not as much.

“So I am never really worried about how-many people turn up as long as peo-ple turn up. Not only do we have general beach clean ups, we also have corporate beach clean ups, where companies as part of their corporate social responsi-bility come here to do the cleanup. There are also school clean ups where more than a hundred children come here to do the cleanup. Nurana Islands is ideal for corporate clean up and social clean up.”

Bahrain beachcombers volunteers after having picked up rubbish

Over the years there has been less and less

rubbish that comes back on the beach. What was

on the beach initially has all been picked up; we know this by

observing the oxidation on the plastic. Now we continue to pick up the new rubbish left on the

beach.

Darren pictured in a beach at Nurana Islands

MPs in battle to win shores for public

Muhannad Mansour | TDT

Bahrain, the island w i t h n o p u b l i c coasts as described by some MPs, may not have completely private coast-al projects anymore if the country’s MPs vote for a controversial proposal this Tuesday.

This comes as a parlia-mentary committee re-cently approved a bill that instructs to allocate 50 per cent of each private coast-al project on the island to serve the public.

Services Committee in the Council of Represent-atives passed the bill after conducting 24 meetings on a span of three years and despite several reservations from the part of the Gov-ernment.

The bill stipulates that half of the coastlines of pri-vate investment, housing, industrial or commercial projects established on nat-ural or artificial islands in the Kingdom must be de-veloped and open for the public.

According to the five MPs who submitted the bill on April 6, 2015, implementing it would end any monopo-lisation of coasts on the is-land and grant citizens and residents the opportunity to enjoy the shorelines of Bahrain.

The first opposing voice to the bill came from the council’s Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee, which stated that the pro-posed legislation consists of constitutional violations and violates the sanctity of private lands and proper-ties. However, the commit-tee later supported the bill after the necessary amend-ments were made.

Last year there has been a significant

increase in the recruitment of nationals. We

also succeeded in stabilising

the local market in terms of

unemployment. MR AL ANSARI

Currently we are dealing with the

case of a man who can’t work due

to health reason. He is bedridden

and losing his eye sight, a travel ban

has been placed as he is unable to

clear his debts. MR FULAD

Ministry initiatives have

ensured the recruitment

scenario remains high. It, along

with Tamkeen are funding a part of salaries of recent graduates in the

private sector MR RADHI

Darren is a happy man now with many joining his efforts to keep Nurana Islands clean

Muhannad Mansour | TDT

Calls have gone out from senior municipal council officials to allow expatri-ates who are residing in Bahrain and own properties or business-es in the Kingdom to take part in the quadrennial municipal elections, similar to the citizens of GCC countries.

The participation of foreign investors in municipal elections has been raised multiple times in recent years, confirms Muharraq Municipal Council Chairman Mohammed Al Sinan.

Mr Al Sinan told Tribune that the matter has been submitted as a proposal in the Council of Rep-resentatives on more than one occasion and was reviewed by the municipal councils in each governorate.

According to him, the propos-al stipulates amending the exist-ing Decree by-Law 3 of 2002 on the Exercise of Political Rights, allowing GCC Nationals to play a part in the municipal elections if they meet the criteria.

The conditions for GCC citi-zens to participate in the elec-tions include that they should be above the age of 21 years, own a permanent residence, properties

or lands in the constituency. The edict prohibits those convicted in criminal and dishonesty cas-es or committed any electoral crime from participating in the elections.

“The proposal never saw the light and has been shelved for years now. We hope that the Kingdom’s lawmakers would look into it once again, consider-ing its importance. The majority of the population on the island is expats. A considerable num-ber of them are entrepreneurs, investors or business owners. Municipal councils serve all, in-cluding citizens and residents. They equally benefit from the councils’ services. The right to elect should be granted to them,” Al Sinan stated.

Nonetheless, the council chairman affirmed that “despite the absence of a legislation per-mitting expats to vote in the mu-nicipal elections, the doors of municipal councils are always open to receive their requests, inquiries, suggestions and com-plaints”.

He added, “Each council mem-ber should serve all those living or owning properties in the con-stituencies they represent. In Muharraq Municipal Council

we continuously receive expats. We help them service-orient-ed matters that are related to residences or commercial es-tablishments, such as shops or warehouses. We frequently solve their issues with the Electricity and Water Authority or the Min-istry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning.”

Part of Social Fabric

Tribune also spoke to Northern Area Municipal Council Chair-man Mohammed Buhumood, who shared a similar view and underlined that “expats are an essential part of the social fabric of Bahrain”.

Commenting further, Buhu-

mood said, “They should be in-volved in the voting process as they have mass contributions in all fields and a direct impact on all services. The involvement of non-citizen communities, ac-cording to requirements, is a common practice in many coun-tries.”

However, Buhumood in-formed that expatriates in the Northern Governorate are less interactive with the area’s mu-nicipal council than citizens. He attributed it to the nature of programmes introduced by the council, language barriers or the awareness of such communi-ties about the council’s services. At the same time, Buhumood said there are no official figures available showing the amount of interaction from expat commu-nities with the council.

According to the latest sta-tistics released by the Central Informatics Organisation, the number of expatriates living in Bahrain was 759, 000 by the end of 2016, while 665, 000 were Bahrainis. The figures also showed that the expats popu-lation steadily grew by more than 100, 000 between 2010 and 2016.

05SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

‘Only Health Ministry competent to check illegal shisha cafes’

By Ghaleb Ahmed | TDT

The acting Director-General of Muharraq Municipality, Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khal-ifa, confirmed that the Health Ministry is the responsible body for dealing with coffee shops that are offering shisha without permission.

This came in response to a query by member of Muharraq Municipal Coun-cil, Yusuf Al Rayes, during a discussion on the latest decision taken by the Min-ister of Works and Urban Planning with regard to the licensing mechanism for shisha cafes.

The representative of the Min-istry of Works, Municipalities Af-fairs and Urban Planning, Head of Public Relations and Information Department Fadhel Anan said that the jurisdiction of municipal affairs is to authorise the cafe only without shisha, after confirming the availa-bility of the location’s requirements

according to the classification and the regulatory requirements for re-construction.

“In November 2006, a decision was issued by the Minister of Mu-nicipalities and Agriculture on the basis of the absence of conditions

regulating the work of tobacco products. In 2009, the Tobacco Con-trol Law and the responsibility of the Ministry of Health were issued in 2011 to issue requirements,” Mr Anan explained.

“Now there are two decisions, the decision of the municipalities and the decision of the Ministry of Health, and the legislature authority assured that the Ministry of Health is the competent authority to set the requirements for health, and municipal jurisdiction is limited to municipal licences, and there is no longer need to rely on the 2006 decision.”

He stressed that the regulations governing the work of cafes and res-taurants that supply tobacco and its derivatives for the purpose of smok-ing (shisha) remain, but have been referred to the competent authori-ties for application in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and the Ministry of Health, confirming

that the ministry retained its original competencies related to licensing for the location of the activity and not for the type of activity.

For his part, the Chairman of the Finance and Legal Committee, Ghazi Al Murbati said that after the decision of the Minister of Works and Munici-pal Affairs and Urban Planning on the abolition of restrictions on the practice

of shisha activities in cafes and restau-rants, we must, as available powers, address this decision in a manner that protects health and stability of citizens and residents, and seek ways to protect them from the environmental effects and noise that may result from the opening of shops to carry out shisha activities in residential neighbourhoods and others.

Council officials push for expat voting rights

In November 2006, a decision was issued by the Minister of Municipalities

and Agriculture on the basis of the absence of

conditions regulating the work of tobacco products. In

2009, the Tobacco Control Law and the responsibility of the Ministry of Health

were issued in 2011 to issue requirements

FADHEL ANAN

Ball in House of Represenatives’ court as an amendment is needed to implement the proposal

A citizen exercises her voting right during the municipal council elections

The matter has been submitted as a proposal in

the Council of Representatives

on more than one occasion and was reviewed by

the municipal councils in each

governorateMR AL SINAN

They should be involved in the process as

they have mass contributions

in all fields. The involvement

of non-citizen communities is a common practice in many countries

MR BUHAMOOD

Voter Eligibility:• The voter should have

reached 20 years of age on the Referendum or Elec-tions Day.

• The voter should be legally competent.

• The voter should be resid-ing normally in the con-stituency as per the iden-tity card, and in case he is residing abroad, then his last residency in the King-dom of Bahrain will be his constituency. If he had no residency in the Kingdom, then the residency of his family will be considered.

• Should not have been sen-tenced in a felony, an hon-or or a fidelity crime unless rehabilitated.

• Should not have been sen-tenced to jail in any of the elections crimes provided in the Law by Decree no. (14) for 2002 regarding the Practice of Political Rights, unless the sentence was suspended or the convict-ed was rehabilitated.

06SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

Mohammed [email protected]

There are no obstacles in the way of those who are determined to tackle adverse situations. Social activist Mahmood Al Hayki is a proven example whose accomplishments stand tall despite being born with physical disabilities.

A self-motivated individual, he even considers his disa-bilities “a blessing in disguise”, for they have helped him emerge a formidable multi-faceted person.

Diagnosed with a bone disorder, Mr Al Hayki had a dif-ficult childhood. He could not even get up from his chair and the disorder put him on the downside of advantage. He says it was a snide comment from one of his teachers who told him he could never achieve a successful career that motivated him to aim higher goals. Proving all doubt-ers wrong, today he is a social activist, an ambitious singer as well as an aspiring actor and that too while pursuing a career in marketing.

Recalling his difficult childhood, Mr Al Hayki told Trib-une, “My mother suffered a fall when she was pregnant with me and that would lead to my disability in future. I was unable to get up, could not easily move my hands or legs. Treatment and dedicated efforts have helped me walk and live without assistance. I am grateful to all who

gave immense care. I believe I am much smarter today because of the disability. The situation demanded me to be creative to overcome difficulties.

“When I was born, my parents were extremely thankful, calling me a gift. When they were told

that there was no existing treatment to fix my condition, they did not give up. My father even went to India, look-ing for a treatment and our efforts continue, hoping to get better.”

‘No-one believes I drive a car’Mr Al Hayki is very much comfortable getting behind the steering wheels and he does this without any mechanical assistance. No-one thought I could do this, thanks to my determination.

“People get a shocker when I tell them that I can drive and that too without any mechanical assistance. They are, most often, unwilling to believe until I get behind the wheels and prove them wrong.”

A successful careerMr Al Hayki said he had always dreamt of pursuing a successful career. “I first wanted to become a doctor, but later realised it wouldn’t be a right career path as I could not move my hands with ease. Later, I would discover marketing as the career of my choice. At school, I faced difficult situations; unable to write or perform like other kids. But I must say there were great teachers who made sure that I received the same treatment as other kids did. With this support I was able to excel in my studies, helping me pursue a career in marketing. I aim to become the marketing director of a reputed company one day.”

Social activismA social activist, Mr Al Hayki now champions the cause of the disabled community. He is now part of Resala Ar-tistic Team that organises various social events to spread awareness about special needs community in Bahrain.

“I want to prove this world that disabled are capable of achieving many things. Now we are a team compris-ing many disabled individuals and our activities include organising flash-mobs, making video clips and songs. Recently, we did a flash mob at Seef Mall. The story line featured a woman who advises her son that a person becomes disabled only if he/she commits something wrong. It also featured a special needs kid who corrects the woman with a song. I also joined the singers. The lyrics aimed to educate people about the stigma faced by disabled individuals in the society.”

Mr Al Hayki says that disabled are really abled individ-uals. “We do things differently and that does not mean we are different.”

Beating hardships on way to success

Despite being diagnosed with a bone disease in his childhood, Mr Al Hayki has reaped success as a social activist, marking professional, singer and actor

I want to prove this world that disabled are capable of

achieving many things. Now we are a team comprising many disabled individuals and our activities include organising

flash-mobs, making video clips and songs. Recently, we did

a flash mob at Seef Mall. The story line featured a woman

who advises her son that a person becomes disabled only

if he/she commits something wrong. It also featured a

special needs kid who corrects the woman with a song. I also

joined the singers. The lyrics aimed to educate people about

the stigma faced by disabled individuals in the society Mr Al Hayki pictured during an awareness flash mob

1. Mr Al Hayki gives a speech during a community event2. Mr Al Hayki delivers convocation speech following his graduation3. Mr. Al Hayki…boyhood days

2

1

3

07

business

SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

Trump, Kim summit presents logistical challenges for NorthSoviet-era aircraft to carry Kim Jong Un and his limousine on his trip to Singapore for talks with Trump

• China exported just 3 tons of jet fuel in March

• Kim has only taken one known overseas trip by air

• Singapore is easily in the range of the Il-62M aircraft

Singapore

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s trip to Singapore for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump poses logistical challenges that are likely to include using Soviet-era aircraft to carry him and his limousine, as well as dozens of security and other support staff.

The choice of Singapore as the site of the first-ever meeting of a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader was as much because it was within rea-sonable flight time and distance from Pyongyang as because of the island state’s political neutrality, a South Korean pres-idential official told reporters.

Since becoming North Korea’s leader in 2011, Kim has only taken one known overseas trip by air – and that was ear-lier this week to Dalian in China to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He flew in his personal Ilyushin-62M jet accompanied by a cargo plane that people with knowledge of North Korean affairs say is believed to have carried his limousine.

“It looks very much like the trip to Dalian was a dry run,” said Andray Abra-hamian, a research fellow at Pacific Fo-rum CSIS and formerly with Choson Exchange, a Singapore-based group that trains North Koreans in business skills.

At 4,700 km from Pyongyang’s Sunan airport, Singapore is easily in the range of the Il-62M aircraft. The Soviet-era narrow-body jet with four engines was first introduced in the 1970s and has a maximum range of 10,000 km.

But the Ilyushin-76 cargo plane can-not fly more than 3,000 km without re-

fuelling if carrying a full load. It will therefore have to stop off at a friendly location like Vietnam’s capital on the way to Singapore or fly with a reduced load.

The Il-76, originally designed for mov-ing heavy machinery to remote parts of the Soviet Union, is big enough to fit a school bus or two shipping containers inside it, according to passenger and cargo flight operator Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions.

But the cargo plane has had some safety issues. In the latest incident last month, a crash killed 257 people on board after takeoff from an Algiers air base.

Unlike his father Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011 and who travelled by armoured train on his rare trips abroad because he feared being shot down, according to a North Korean defector familiar with his security details, the younger leader is not known to be averse to flying.

Suite fit for a leader

Lee Yun-keok, a defector who had worked for the North’s government and now heads the North Korea Strategic Information Service Center in Seoul, said the trip will involve dozens of secu-rity personnel and equipment including possibly a personal toilet for the leader.

It will also mean burning a large quantity of jet fuel, a refined oil product sharply limited by U.N. sanctions tar-geting North Korea’ imports. Kim’s two planes will need around 50 metric tons of jet fuel per aircraft for the flight from Pyongyang to Singapore.

China, the main source of fuel for the North, exported just 3 tons of jet fuel in March and made no official exports the two previous months, according to Chinese customs data.

“The United States had preferred Ge-neva,” the South Korean presidential official told reporters, requesting ano-nymity to discuss the arrangements for the summit meeting.

“But Singapore was selected as it was the most realistically viable destination Kim Jong Un could probably travel when considering the travel time and flight distance.”

India’s PM launches work on Nepal’s biggest power plantModi was accorded a 21 gun salute and a guard of honour on arrival in Nepal

• Modi on a two-day visit

• Project expected to cost $1.04 billion

• Built by state-run SJVN Ltd.

Reuters | Kathmandu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday initiated work on Nepal’s biggest hydro-electric project, being built by an Indian company.

Modi, who began a visit to Nepal on Friday, will, with his counterpart K.P.Sharma Oli, lay a foundation of the 900 MW hy-dro-power project through re-mote control from Kathmandu.

“As Nepal enters a new era of consolidating the gains of a democracy and achieving eco-nomic growth, India remains a steadfast partner,” Modi said on Twitter. The hydro project, which is expected to cost $1.04 billion and is being built by state-run Indian firm Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Limited, will be the single biggest for-eign investment project in cash-strapped Nepal.

Why Singapore for Trump-Kim summit?Singapore’s diplomatic ties with North Korea and its relative proximitymakes the South East Asian city-state a natural choice for the first-ever

meeting of a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader

UNITED STATES NORTH KOREA

Sources: AP. Reuters Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS

Singapore has history of high-profile diplomatic occasions, hostinglandmark summit between ChinesePresident Xi Jinping and Taiwan’sthen-leader Ma Ying-jeou in 2015

Lion City is renowned for stabilityand security. Restrictions overmedia and public gatherings allowfor controlled environment likelyto be preferred by North Koreans

Located just over 4,800kmfrom Pyongyang, Singaporeis comfortably within flying

range of North Korea’sout-of-date fleet of aircraft

Kim Jong-un’s official plane isremodelled version of Soviet-made

Ilyushin-62 (Il-62) dubbed “Air Force Un”

U.S.-Singapore Free TradeAgreement was signed in 2003.And Obama administration agreedto upgrade Singapore to statusof strategic partner in 2012

Singapore and North Koreaestablished diplomatic relationsin 1975, and North Korea hasembassy in Singapore

Until 2016, North Koreans enjoyedvisa-free access, with North’s eliteoften visiting city for medical care

Two countries signed enhancedsecurity agreement in 2015

3 miles5km

S I N G A P O R ES I N G A P O R E

ChangiAirportChangiAirport

M A L A Y S I AM A L A Y S I A

I N D O N E S I AI N D O N E S I A

Changi naval base:U.S. Navy stationscombat ships

North Koreanembass

U.S. embassySingapore Strait

Enjoy the Benefit of instant money transfers using mobile

TDT | Manama

Benefit has announced the launch of its instant financial transfer service between bank accounts us-ing mobile phone numbers.

The service, through Ben-efitPay, according to Ab-dulwahed AlJanahi, Chief Executive Officer of Ben-efit, “is the first of its kind in e-wallets and shall serve a wide range of customers both individuals and cor-porates”.

The facility, he said is “safe, easy and quick” as it allows users to identify the debit and the receiving ac-counts. BenefitPay, Deputy General Manager of Benefit, Yousif AlNefaiei, is unique, as the transactions are con-ducted by customers using the mobile phone number of the receiving individual, given that they are Benefit-Pay users.

“This service is consid-ered very practical because the user is not required to know the bank account number of the receiving in-dividual,” he stressed.

BenefitPay is the national e-wallet for Bahrain, which allows customers to pay electronically using their mobile phones. The ap-plication that can store all ATM relies on international standards of payment cards industry and data security (PCI-DSS).

Egypt raises metro fareAP | Cairo

Egypt’s transportation authorities have more than tripled the standard subway fare from 2 to up to 7 pounds (40 cents) as part of government auster-ity measures.

In a statement, the Trans-portation Ministry said the new fare will go into effect on Friday. It also said prices will now be affected by the number of stations com-muters travel. For example, a round trip of more than 16 stations would cost 14 pounds (around 80 cents).

The ministry said that revenues will be used in improve the quality of the service provided to millions of Egyptians, adding that maintenance deficits have reached 94 percent.

Egypt secured $12 bil-lion from the International Monetary Fund in Novem-ber 2016 to shore up the economy. To qualify, Egypt floated its currency, re-duced subsidies and raised fuel prices.

Snapchat rolls out new app redesign for iOSIANS | San Francisco

After drawing criticism from users worldwide about its controversial re-design, audio-video shar-ing platform Snapchat has rolled out another app re-design for iOS users.

In the new design, snaps and chats are aligned chron-ologically and “Stories” from friends have been moved back to the right-hand side of the camera screen.

Snapchat has added a separate “Subscriptions” feature to keep “Stories” from popular creators and publishers in the loop while letting the other “Stories” be separated, The Verge re-ported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Janakpur. (Courtesy –Himalayan Times)

08SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

“The decision is expected to have significant

implications for maritime trade with Iran and the

insurance of such trade”NIGEL CARDEN

Container shipping lines reviewing Iran operationsMaersk Line and MSC are reviewing their Iran operations after withdrawal of the US from nuclear agreement with Tehran

• European oil and gas, aviation, automotive, railways, banking and healthcare industries all jumped to sign deals in Iran. The most significant agreements Iran signed with foreign companies included commercial aircraft to modernise its ageing fleet.

• Boeing planned to sell 80 jets to Iran Air. The first aircraft was due to be delivered this year. Boeing had also agreed to sell 30 737 MAX aeroplanes to Aseman Airlines, another Iranian carrier.

London

The world’s top two container shipping groups Maersk Line and MSC are reviewing their Iran operations after the United States with-drawal from the international nuclear agreement with Tehran.

The 2015 agreement, worked out by the United States, five other world powers and Iran, lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits to its nuclear programme.

U.S. President Donald Trump also instructed his administration to re-im-pose U.S. sanctions after a winding down period.

“MSC is reviewing its services, op-erations and business relationships to understand if any are impacted and will comply with the timetable set out by the U.S. government,” the private Swiss-headquartered group said in a

statement on Friday.MSC suspended services between

2012 and 2014 and when they were resumed the line used small, regional third-party feeder ships to carry cargo between Iran and MSC’s transshipment hub at Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.

A shipping source said MSC had al-ready stopped taking bookings for cer-tain cargoes that would be impacted by the sanctions programme.

The U.S. Treasury said this week Washington was imposing sanctions on the direct or indirect sale, supply, or transfer to or from Iran of graphite, raw, or semi-finished metals such as aluminium and steel, coal, and software for integrating industrial processes.

Denmark’s Maersk Line said sep-arately it had ceased acceptance of the specific cargoes listed by the U.S. Treasury this week.

“Our presence in Iran is limited. We will monitor the developments to assess any impact on our activities,” Maersk Line added.

The group also used feeder services to Iran from Jebel Ali.

Iran relies on seaborne trade for both imports as well as for sales of its goods apart from oil and the country had struggled with logistical difficulties before international sanctions were

lifted in 2016.Iran’s port operators and shipping

sectors, including top cargo operator the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and oil tanker group NITC, will once again be blacklisted on Nov. 4 by Washington.

The U.S. will separately re-impose sanctions on the provision of insur-ance and reinsurance, which had been another challenge for Iran in the past.

“The decision is expected to have significant implications for maritime trade with Iran and the insurance of

such trade,” said Nigel Carden, deputy chairman for Thomas Miller, the man-ager of ship insurer UK P&I Club.

Carden said a full assessment would only be possible once there was more clarity, and urged caution before en-tering into any new Iran related cargo bookings. Lloyd’s of London said it was “currently reviewing the “implications for the Lloyd’s (insurance) market”.

Europe’s heavyweight economies took steps on Friday to safeguard their commercial and political interests in Iran.

Source: European Commission

EU braces for secondary U.S. sanctionsEU companies face secondary sanctions from the White House over trade

deals with Iran. Secondary sanctions cut off foreign businesses fromthe U.S. financial system, making them unattractive business partners

© GRAPHIC NEWS

10.1

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0.8 1.2 1.35.5

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2012 2013 2014 2015 20162007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2017

24.2

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19.8

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6.27.6 7.8

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2007: U.S. and UNSecurity Councilimpose sanctionson Iran

2011: UK and Canadaannounce bilateralsanctions on Iran

Aug 6, 2018:U.S. sanctions

take effectafter 90-day

“wind-down”period

2012: EU adoptsoil embargo on Iranover its nuclearprogramme

2015: Iran withBritain, China,France, Germany,Russia and U.S.reaches nucleardeal

EU-Iran trade in goods (€ billions) EU imports EU exports

A truck carrying Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) containers arrives a depot in northern Singapore

Volkswagen to recall Polo cars

Reuters | Berlin

Germany’s Volkswagen AG said on Friday it would recall its new Polo vehicles in coming weeks due to an issue with the rear seatbelt lock.

The carmaker did not say in the statement how many vehicles would be affected nor whether it was a global recall.

The company said the re-call concerned a technical issue where the rear left seatbelt could be uninten-tionally released in some rare situations, for example during a fast lane change when the vehicle had five passengers on board.

France condemns Trump’s sanctions• France, Britain and Germany said they will work with Iran to try to salvage the nuclear agreement.

• French firms have signed billion dollar agreements with Iran since the nuclear accord was signed in 2015.

IANS | Paris

France has slammed an “unacceptable” the US move to re-impose sanc-tions on companies trading with Iran following President Donald Trump’s decision to dump the landmark 2015 deal that sought to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in an in-terview with Le Parisien pub-lished on Thursday, said Eu-

ropean companies should not have to pay for the US decision.

“We feel that the extraterri-toriality of their sanction meas-ures are unacceptable. The Europeans should not have to pay for the withdrawal from an agreement by the US, to which they had themselves contrib-uted.”

Le Drian said the new sanc-tions regime would also affect the US and that Europeans would “put in place the nec-essary measures to protect the interests of our companies and start negotiations with Wash-ington” on the matter.

The commitment of other partners to the Iran deal should be respected, said Le Drian, adding that the effects of the US move were already being felt in rising oil costs and an increase in political uncertainty in the Middle East.

France, Britain and Germa-ny had all said they will work with Iran to try to salvage the agreement.

German Economy Minister

Peter Altmaier said he would work with affected companies to try to “minimise the nega-tive consequences” of the US move, adding: “That means, it is concretely about damage limitation.”

A number of French firms have signed billion dollar agree-ments with Iran since the nu-clear accord was signed in 2015. They include Airbus, the oil giant Total and the car makers Renault and Peugeot, the BBC reported.

They would have to wind up investments by November or face US sanctions.

On Thursday, US individuals and entities were barred from doing business with six Irani-an individuals and three com-panies that Washington said had ties to the Revolutionary Guards.

US Treasury Secretary Ste-ven Mnuchin said the penal-ties targeted those who had funnelled millions of dollars to the group, funding its “malign activity”.

A Chinese national flag flutters outside the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China

China top bank to maintain neutral policy, stable yuanReuters | Hong Kong/Beijing

China’s central bank will maintain its neutral mon-etary policy and keep liquid-ity and credit growth largely steady while keeping the yuan currency basically stable, it said on Friday.

“On the one hand, it is nec-essary to control the liquid-ity scale to help deleverage and prevent financial risks. On the other hand, it is nec-essary to comprehensively consider changes in the mac-

roeconomic environment and strengthen policy coordina-tion,” the central bank said.

It also plans to include ne-gotiable certificates of de-posit (NCDs) issued by finan-cial institutions with assets of less than 500 billion yuan ($79 billion) in its quarterly macro-prudential assessment (MPA) from the first quarter in 2019. The central bank re-affirmed that it will keep the yuan CNY=CFXS basically sta-ble.

Apple plans to invest in eco-friendly aluminium smelting technology• JV could change global aluminium manufacturing

• Aluminium is the key material in Apple’s most popular products

• Committed to advancing technologies that are good for the planet: Apple

IANS/ San Francisco

Playing a crucial role in fu-ture research and develop-ment (R&D) of a revolutionary aluminium smelting technol-ogy, Apple has committed in-vestment in a joint venture that resonates the iPhone-maker’s take on environment-friendly technology innovations.

The joint venture could change global manufacturing. Aluminium is a key material in many of Apple’s most popular products and for more than 130 years, it’s been produced the same way. But that’s about to

change, the company said in a blog post late on Thursday.

Aluminium giants Alcoa Cor-poration and Rio Tinto Alu-minium announced the venture called “Elysis” to commercialise patented technology that elim-inates direct greenhouse gas emissions from the traditional smelting process -- a key step in aluminium production.

Apple has partnered with both aluminium companies and the governments of Canada and Quebec, to collectively invest a combined $144 million to future R&D.

“Apple is committed to ad-vancing technologies that are good for the planet and help protect it for generations to come,” company CEO Tim Cook said.

“We are proud to be part of this ambitious new project, and look forward to one day being able to use alumini-um produced without direct greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacturing of our prod-ucts,” he added.

Aluminium smelting pro-cess involves applying a strong electrical current to alumina,

which removes oxygen. Com-panies use a carbon material that burns during the process, producing greenhouse gases.

Alcoa Corporation designed a new process that replaces that carbon with an advanced con-ductive material and instead of carbon dioxide, it releases oxygen. “Elysis” would work to further develop this technology for larger scale production and commercialisation, with a pack-age planned for sale beginning in 2024.

The company would continue to provide technical support as well, Apple said.

Kuwait, Philippines agree to regulate domestic job market• Agreement was signed in Kuwait

• Deal offers assistance on 24hr basis

• Bans employers with bad records

• Workers ban still in place

Reuters | Kuwait

Kuwait and the Philip-pines agreed measures yesterday to regulate the employment of domestic work-ers from the Southeast Asian country, following a diplomatic row amid reports of abuse.

The bilateral agreement in-cludes the establishment of a mechanism to provide assis-tance to domestic workers from the Philippines on a 24-hour basis. It also bans employers who have records of abusing domestic help from recruiting Philippine workers, and tak-ing legal action against them, according to a joint statement.

The agreement was signed in Kuwait by Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al Khalid Al Sabah and the Philippine For-eign Affairs Secretary Alan Pe-ter Cayetano.

In March, Philippine Presi-dent Rodrigo Duterte ordered workers in Kuwait to return to their home country after a Fil-ipino migrant worker’s body was found in a freezer in an abandoned home. It was the latest incident in what Manila

called a pattern of abuse in the Gulf state.

The agreement signed on Fri-day did not include the lifting of Duterte’s order, but Cayetano said it was being discussed.

“We will make the necessary recommendations to lift the ban on skilled Filipino labor in Ku-wait,” Cayetano said.

“The final decision to lift the ban is in the hands of the pres-ident,” but they are moving in that direction, he added.

09SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

“Elysis” would work to further develop

this technology for larger scale production and

commercialisation, with a package

planned for sale beginning in 2024

“More than 250,000 Filipinos

in Kuwait can now be assured of prompt and

effective assistance if needed”

Philippine and Kuwait officials sign an agreement aimed at protecting Filipino migrant workers (Gulf News)

Picture for representation only

Oil prices hold near multi-year highs London

Global benchmark Brent crude stabilized near 3-1/2-year highs on Friday as the prospect of new U.S. sanc-tions on Iran tightened the outlook for Middle East supply at a time when global crude production is only just keeping pace with rising demand.

U.S. crude slipped slightly as domestic production contin-ues to surge.

The United States plans to reintroduce sanctions against Iran, which pumps about 4 percent of the world’s oil, after abandoning a deal reached in late 2015 that limited Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for the removal of U.S. and Eu-ropean sanctions.

The global oil market is balanced, with top export-er Saudi Arabia and No.1 producer Russia having led efforts to curb oil supply to prop up prices.

“It’s the same witches brew of bullish stuff: Iran, Venezue-

la, the lack of alacrity by Saudi Arabia to bring more oil onto the market,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.

Prices may strengthen later in the day as traders shore up their positions, he said. “It’s definitely not an environment to go home short over the weekend.”

Brent crude LCOc1 was flat at $77.47 a barrel by 1:33 p.m. EDT [1733 GMT], just below the $78-level it hit on Thursday, its highest since November 2014.

U.S. light crude CLc1 was down 16 cents at $71.20, hav-ing touched a 3-1/2 year high of $71.89 on Thursday.

For the week, Brent was on track for a 3.5-percent gain and U.S. crude a 2.3-percent rise.

Many analysts expect oil prices to rise as Iran’s exports fall. Rainer Seele, chief exec-utive of Austrian oil and gas company OMV, told German daily Handelsblatt that he ex-pects prices to rise as the Unit-ed States moves to reimpose sanctions.

Outside OPEC, soaring U.S. crude oil production C-OUT-T-EIA could help to fill Iran’s supply gap. U.S. oil output reached another record high last week, hitting 10.7 million bpd.

Google updates privacy policy ahead of GDPR

• The company has laid out a new privacy policy in a blog post detailing exactly how and why Google collects the data that powers its various products

IANS/ San Francisco

As the European Union (EU) prepares to introduce the General Data Protection Reg-ulation (GDPR) on May 25 to harmonise data privacy laws, Google has updated the com-pany’s Privacy Policy to com-ply with it across all of the ser-vices the tech giant provides in the region.

The company laid out a new Privacy Policy in a blog post on Friday detailing exactly how and why Google collects the

data. “My Account”, the cen-tral hub that brings together all the different ways users could review Google security, privacy and ad settings, has been improved.

The users could get a clear overview of all the Google products that they use -- and the data associated with them -- via “Google Dashboard”.

Under the new rules, com-panies must get consent from parents to process their chil-dren’s data.

For this Google is rolling out “Family Link” through which parents could create a Google Account for their child and are required to provide consent for certain processing of their child’s data.

“Family Link” also allows parents to set certain digital ground rules on their child’s Android device like approving or blocking apps, keeping an eye on screen time, or remotely locking their child’s device.

GDPR was finally approved by the EU Parliament on April 14, 2016

10.7million bpd was the US oil output last week - it’s a new record set in past

few months

“A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND” ABRAHAM LINCOLN

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Hon.Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Deputy Chief Editor Ahdeya Ahmed | Chairman & Managing Editor P Unnikrishnan Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 17579900, Fax 17256470, Email: [email protected] | Newsroom: Tel: 17579911, Email: [email protected]

Subscription & circulation: Tel: 38444692/17579877 | Email:[email protected] | Website: www.newsofbahrain.comPrinted and published by Al Ayam Publishing

SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

PAUL HOCKENOS

To hear it from politicians and political commentators, Germany is helpless in the face of a mounting refugee crisis — after accepting more than a million over the past few years, the country is bursting at the seams.

But that’s just a convenient — if dangerous — narrative for our immi-gration-wary times. In fact, Germany is moving at full speed with a plan to channel those refugees into its work orce. Germany’s political class is doing the country an egregious disfavor by soft-pedaling its muscular, state-of-the-art efforts in labor market integration.

Germany does indeed face a demo-graphic crisis, but it’s not from the influx of refugees. Its population is aging rapid-ly, and jobs are going unfilled. Over the next decade, Germany is going to need even more — not fewer — immigrants to keep its economy on track and cover growing pension outlays. Even this year, a leading think tank warns, labor bot-tlenecks will cost Germany nearly 1% in lost gross domestic product. A shortfall of 3 million skilled workers is predicted by 2030.

Unfortunately, today many German politicians tend to speak about immi-gration as a security threat, a job stealer, a cultural blight and a welfare burden, even when migrants could help fill an es-timated 1.6 million job vacancies. Outside of the public spotlight, though, Germa-ny’s approach is one of hard-nosed eco-nomic pragmatism, distinguished by in-novative social policy and the bending of rules to fast-track refugees into schools and vocational training and, eventually, jobs. At its heart is the country’s storied apprenticeship program, which is ramp-ing up efforts to transform Iraqi, Syrian, Afghan and other refugees into qualified, productive, taxpaying workers.

The number of refugee arrivals has fallen dramatically since the 2015 peak, when nearly 900,000 people seeking political asylum crossed the border. New, ever more restrictive measures pared the number down to 280,000 in 2016, and then to 186,600 last year. Germany’s net immigration in 2016 was 500,000 people, from the European Union and elsewhere.

Of course, what Germany would like is skilled immigrants who apply through official channels and land at airports with luggage and work contracts, not victims of conflict and famine arriving at the border with backpacks. But Ger-many has had avenues open to foreign professionals for years and they have not

yielded the desired numbers.So Germany’s going with what it’s got:

an abundance of young, overwhelmingly male foreign nationals, a relatively small segment of whom have advanced edu-cation or professional training. Their profile worries Germans. But they’re in-terested in the apprenticeships — nearly 50,000 are currently vacant — that their German peers aren’t.

There’s a rub, though: This sort of rap-id, large-scale labor-force integration has never been done before, which makes Germany a giant laboratory for what could well be the future of the European workforce. The plan is to teach refu-gees the German language and cultural norms, and then the skills necessary to join German workers in factories and hospitals. Overall, Germany plans to spend 3.2 billion euros, or about $3.8 billion, a year on integration.

The stakes are high.“If integration fails,” a study by the

German Institute for Economic Research concluded, “the continued presence of large numbers of refugees in Germany could result in sustained net transfer payments from the public sector, while at best providing a supply of labor for low-skilled jobs.” But, the think tank concludes, if integration succeeds, the costly investments in integration will pay off in seven to 10 years, the point at which immigrants’ tax revenue and pension payments will exceed integra-tion and social welfare costs. Moreover, increased employment and consumption by immigrants could push up growth by more than 1% by 2025.

The challenge involves more than just scale. Poor language skills, insufficient

qualifications, cultural alienation, dis-crimination, bureaucracy and uncertain legal provisions have thrown up barriers that require constant rethinking and adjustment.

Germany did not set out to solve these challenges with one omnibus policy. Rather, since 2015 it has been going in pieces, in a trial-and-error method.

Among the changes have been a re-laxing of asylum rules for hardworking, competent newcomers to stay in Ger-many and learn a trade, even if they fail to qualify for official refugee status. And now asylum-seekers can enter the work force just three months after arrival.

Another step has been to beef up lan-guage and cultural orientation courses. Though offered by the federal migration and refugee office for years, the curric-ula have been revamped and are now available to most newcomers, not just those who are officially recognized as refugees, as in the past. Today 20,000 teachers offer classes at 8,800 locations across the country. According to the latest available data, from 2016, 340,000 people registered for the courses.

In the 100-hour orientation class, mi-grants learn the basics of Germany — its culture, laws, history, the quirks of dai-ly life. If they pass the exam, they can get a fast-track toward naturalization and, eventually, citizenship. After 600 to 1,200 hours of language instruction (and an exam), refugees have an inter-mediate grasp of German and can then start working or training.

Some do, and Germany has smoothed the way for refugees to enter appren-ticeships, remain in them and then be hired. In the past, refugees’ uncertain

status worked against them by making it pointless for businesses to train and hire them. If their application for protection was rejected, they could be on the next plane home — rendering the investment worthless.

The new framework ensures that ref-ugees can legally remain in Germany for

three years of training and another two as employees. Once in their jobs, they can usually extend their residency permits for much longer.

Even today, though, it’s not quite as easy as it sounds, or as it should be. The cultural clefts run deep, and language skills are often still shaky after the ba-sic course. Sometimes the federal bu-reaucracy undermines even the most straightforward application process. Trainees grow frustrated and drop out.

To supplement the government, many hundreds of churches, nonprofits and private companies have developed an ar-ray of bridge projects that give migrants a boost: internships, legal advice, literacy programs, classroom courses, mentoring, retraining, skill assessments for those without degrees, on-the-job counseling, coaching for women and youth, and professionally oriented language classes.

Public and private funds, for example, pay the bill for a program called Wel-come by Friends — Alliances for Young Refugees, which supports 226 local gov-ernments that provide additional lan-guage classes, workshops and counseling to immigrant children and teenagers. In gastronomy and other fields, they offer special vocational courses just for migrants, some of them lasting for four years and taken parallel with advanced language instruction.

Bavaria’s biggest hotel services lobby, for example, has 800 foreign apprentices enrolled in 20 different training pro-grams. Kiron University is a prizewin-ning, crowdfunded “virtual university” that provides refugees entering higher education, or those who were already students in their homelands, with free

Behind the scenes, the country is

trying to integrate

hundreds of thousands of refugees

into its workforce

There’s a rub, though: This sort of rapid, large-scale

labor-force integration has never been done before, which makes Germany a

giant laboratory for what could well be the future of the European workforce. The plan is to teach refu-

gees the German language and cultural norms, and then the skills necessary

to join German workers in factories and hospitals.

Overall, Germany plans to spend 3.2 billion euros, or about $3.8 billion, a year

on integration

Germany’s Secret Labour

Experiment

10

“A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND” ABRAHAM LINCOLN

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Hon.Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Deputy Chief Editor Ahdeya Ahmed | Chairman & Managing Editor P Unnikrishnan Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 17579900, Fax 17256470, Email: [email protected] | Newsroom: Tel: 17579911, Email: [email protected]

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SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2018

PAUL HOCKENOS

To hear it from politicians and political commentators, Germany is helpless in the face of a mounting refugee crisis — after accepting more than a million over the past few years, the country is bursting at the seams.

But that’s just a convenient — if dangerous — narrative for our immi-gration-wary times. In fact, Germany is moving at full speed with a plan to channel those refugees into its work orce. Germany’s political class is doing the country an egregious disfavor by soft-pedaling its muscular, state-of-the-art efforts in labor market integration.

Germany does indeed face a demo-graphic crisis, but it’s not from the influx of refugees. Its population is aging rapid-ly, and jobs are going unfilled. Over the next decade, Germany is going to need even more — not fewer — immigrants to keep its economy on track and cover growing pension outlays. Even this year, a leading think tank warns, labor bot-tlenecks will cost Germany nearly 1% in lost gross domestic product. A shortfall of 3 million skilled workers is predicted by 2030.

Unfortunately, today many German politicians tend to speak about immi-gration as a security threat, a job stealer, a cultural blight and a welfare burden, even when migrants could help fill an es-timated 1.6 million job vacancies. Outside of the public spotlight, though, Germa-ny’s approach is one of hard-nosed eco-nomic pragmatism, distinguished by in-novative social policy and the bending of rules to fast-track refugees into schools and vocational training and, eventually, jobs. At its heart is the country’s storied apprenticeship program, which is ramp-ing up efforts to transform Iraqi, Syrian, Afghan and other refugees into qualified, productive, taxpaying workers.

The number of refugee arrivals has fallen dramatically since the 2015 peak, when nearly 900,000 people seeking political asylum crossed the border. New, ever more restrictive measures pared the number down to 280,000 in 2016, and then to 186,600 last year. Germany’s net immigration in 2016 was 500,000 people, from the European Union and elsewhere.

Of course, what Germany would like is skilled immigrants who apply through official channels and land at airports with luggage and work contracts, not victims of conflict and famine arriving at the border with backpacks. But Ger-many has had avenues open to foreign professionals for years and they have not

yielded the desired numbers.So Germany’s going with what it’s got:

an abundance of young, overwhelmingly male foreign nationals, a relatively small segment of whom have advanced edu-cation or professional training. Their profile worries Germans. But they’re in-terested in the apprenticeships — nearly 50,000 are currently vacant — that their German peers aren’t.

There’s a rub, though: This sort of rap-id, large-scale labor-force integration has never been done before, which makes Germany a giant laboratory for what could well be the future of the European workforce. The plan is to teach refu-gees the German language and cultural norms, and then the skills necessary to join German workers in factories and hospitals. Overall, Germany plans to spend 3.2 billion euros, or about $3.8 billion, a year on integration.

The stakes are high.“If integration fails,” a study by the

German Institute for Economic Research concluded, “the continued presence of large numbers of refugees in Germany could result in sustained net transfer payments from the public sector, while at best providing a supply of labor for low-skilled jobs.” But, the think tank concludes, if integration succeeds, the costly investments in integration will pay off in seven to 10 years, the point at which immigrants’ tax revenue and pension payments will exceed integra-tion and social welfare costs. Moreover, increased employment and consumption by immigrants could push up growth by more than 1% by 2025.

The challenge involves more than just scale. Poor language skills, insufficient

qualifications, cultural alienation, dis-crimination, bureaucracy and uncertain legal provisions have thrown up barriers that require constant rethinking and adjustment.

Germany did not set out to solve these challenges with one omnibus policy. Rather, since 2015 it has been going in pieces, in a trial-and-error method.

Among the changes have been a re-laxing of asylum rules for hardworking, competent newcomers to stay in Ger-many and learn a trade, even if they fail to qualify for official refugee status. And now asylum-seekers can enter the work force just three months after arrival.

Another step has been to beef up lan-guage and cultural orientation courses. Though offered by the federal migration and refugee office for years, the curric-ula have been revamped and are now available to most newcomers, not just those who are officially recognized as refugees, as in the past. Today 20,000 teachers offer classes at 8,800 locations across the country. According to the latest available data, from 2016, 340,000 people registered for the courses.

In the 100-hour orientation class, mi-grants learn the basics of Germany — its culture, laws, history, the quirks of dai-ly life. If they pass the exam, they can get a fast-track toward naturalization and, eventually, citizenship. After 600 to 1,200 hours of language instruction (and an exam), refugees have an inter-mediate grasp of German and can then start working or training.

Some do, and Germany has smoothed the way for refugees to enter appren-ticeships, remain in them and then be hired. In the past, refugees’ uncertain

status worked against them by making it pointless for businesses to train and hire them. If their application for protection was rejected, they could be on the next plane home — rendering the investment worthless.

The new framework ensures that ref-ugees can legally remain in Germany for

three years of training and another two as employees. Once in their jobs, they can usually extend their residency permits for much longer.

Even today, though, it’s not quite as easy as it sounds, or as it should be. The cultural clefts run deep, and language skills are often still shaky after the ba-sic course. Sometimes the federal bu-reaucracy undermines even the most straightforward application process. Trainees grow frustrated and drop out.

To supplement the government, many hundreds of churches, nonprofits and private companies have developed an ar-ray of bridge projects that give migrants a boost: internships, legal advice, literacy programs, classroom courses, mentoring, retraining, skill assessments for those without degrees, on-the-job counseling, coaching for women and youth, and professionally oriented language classes.

Public and private funds, for example, pay the bill for a program called Wel-come by Friends — Alliances for Young Refugees, which supports 226 local gov-ernments that provide additional lan-guage classes, workshops and counseling to immigrant children and teenagers. In gastronomy and other fields, they offer special vocational courses just for migrants, some of them lasting for four years and taken parallel with advanced language instruction.

Bavaria’s biggest hotel services lobby, for example, has 800 foreign apprentices enrolled in 20 different training pro-grams. Kiron University is a prizewin-ning, crowdfunded “virtual university” that provides refugees entering higher education, or those who were already students in their homelands, with free

Behind the scenes, the country is

trying to integrate

hundreds of thousands of refugees

into its workforce

There’s a rub, though: This sort of rapid, large-scale

labor-force integration has never been done before, which makes Germany a

giant laboratory for what could well be the future of the European workforce. The plan is to teach refu-

gees the German language and cultural norms, and then the skills necessary

to join German workers in factories and hospitals.

Overall, Germany plans to spend 3.2 billion euros, or about $3.8 billion, a year

on integration

Germany’s Secret Labour

Experiment

10

1797Republic of Venice falls as Nepoleon Bonaparte leads the French army to victory over the Austrians.

1812Spencer Perceval, prime minister of Britain since 1809, is shot to death by demented businessman John Bellingham

1989Kim Philby, a former British Secret Intelligence Service officer and double agent for the Soviet Union, dies in Moscow.

1997Kasparov loses IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue makes chess history by defeating Garry Kasparov

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

Met Gala: The Dress Fuss

Strengthening bilateral ties

JOEL INDRUPATI

“If the Met Gala was Islam or Jew-ish-themed, all hell would break loose – so why was it OK for a bunch of flesh-flashing celebri-ties to disrespect MY religion”?Livid at the brazen display of skin, at the

Catholic-themed fashion event in New York, Piers Morgan asked this in an angry piece for mailonline.com. He criticized the theme and the dresses.

I am not a Catholic. Like how the British journalist and television personality Piers Mor-gan is. I consider myself an evangelical. But I whole-heartedly agree with his views about the May 7 event.

I agree because, even though I was a bit busy on that evening, I was able to watch - in bits and pieces - this red carpet event, on TV.

Actually, ‘bits and pieces’, is the right phrase. It conveys precisely how those outrageous and outlandish costumes were; extremely ridiculous if not ex-tremely revealing.

But, first, for those who are won-dering what this fashion gig is all about, and what this fuss is all about, here is a ready reckoner.

The Met Gala is an annu-al fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. It’s also called the ‘Cos-tume Institute Gala’ or the ‘Met Ball’.

It has been going on, since 1948, as an opening celebration for the In-stitute’s annual fashion exhibit. And this year’s exhibit will run from 10 May to 8 October.

It is really this year’s theme “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catho-lic Imagination” that has sparked this huge contro-versy.

Knowing today’s fashion-istas and pop culture divas, all of us know what to ex-pect at fashion events. We know that shock val-ue often supersedes glamour value. And we know that bare limbs and reveal-ing busts are a regular red car-pet fare.

But, on this M e t G a l a night, many a religious g o w n ,

cross, and sceptre too, along with rosary beads and angel wings, had become preposterous par-aphernalia on the bodies of careless celebrities. And, for all that we know, they are probably clueless on the iconography or symbolism they had worn.

Rihanna came as a silver Pope with the cere-monial mitre on her head. Kim Kardashian had had large crosses emblazoned on her hips and torso. Jennifer Lopez came as a jewel-encrust-ed multi-coloured cross. Katy Perry came as a giant feathered angel. Ariana Grande came as

Michaelangelo’s ‘The Last Judgement’ fresco.Strangely, the Vatican had actually given per-

mission for the Gala to be ‘Catholic-themed’. And it had even provided a variety of clothes

and other items for the accompanying exhibition.

And perhaps that is why an angry and upset Piers Morgan tweeted to the pope. “Good afternoon Holy Father @Pontifex - I’m very disappointed the Vatican approved last night’s Catho-lic-mocking Met Gala”.

Actually, the Vatican only approved the six-month fashion exhibit. Not

these celebrity dresses.But Kyle Smith, another critic,

wrote in the National Review: “Behold Pope Rihanna, clad in a pontifically inspired pearl-and-jewel bedizened gown topped by a matching mitre. As for the real pope? Indirectly, he abet-ted this calculated mockery”.

Some argued, however, that it’s okay. One Seren @sbeghettistan on twitter said, “The met gala was honouring Catholicism and it’s beautiful imagery. It’s also a charity event. You’re just offended for the sake of being offended. Me (catho-lic), my mum (catholic), my friends at Catholic school, all appreciated the beau-tiful gowns. Don’t be so bitter”.

B u t I a m n o t convinced.

Call me a crazy con-servative. Call me an adamant traditional. But I believe ‘mod-esty’ is a virtue we should not easily throw away. And ‘respect for reli-gion’ is a value we should not easily aban-don.

three years of training and another two as employees. Once in their jobs, they can usually extend their residency permits for much longer.

Even today, though, it’s not quite as easy as it sounds, or as it should be. The cultural clefts run deep, and language skills are often still shaky after the ba-sic course. Sometimes the federal bu-rea