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10 WORLD OMANDAILYOBSERVER SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18 l 2017 DEPARTED SOULS REMEMBERED Queen Mathilde (L), King Philippe-Filip (2nd L), Princess Maria Esmeralda (2nd R) and Princess Lea of Belgium (R) stand as they listen during a special mass to commemorate the deceased members of the Belgian Royal Family, at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwkerk, in Laeken-Laken, Brussels, on Friday. — AFP Your looks may not influence pay cheque LONDON: A fat pay cheque may be influenced by more than just physical attractiveness or the lack of it, say researchers dispelling the ‘beauty premium’ theory which says beautiful people earn more while those who are not so gorgeous are paid less. The findings showed that healthier and more intelligent people and those with more conscientious, more extraverted and less neurotic personality traits are the ones who take fatter pay checks home. “Physically more attractive workers may earn more, not necessarily because they are more beautiful, but because they are healthier, more intelligent and have better personality traits conducive to higher earnings, such as being more conscientious, more extraverted and less neurotic,” said Satoshi Kanazawa from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Economists have widely documented the “beauty premium” — or, conversely, the “ugliness penalty” — on wages. Population-based surveys in the US and Canada for instance showed that people who are physically attractive earn more. For the study, detailed in the Journal of Business and Psychology, the team analysed a nationally representative sample from a US data set that measured physical attractiveness of all respondents on a five-point scale at four different points in life over 13 years. — IANS Italy minister says June national vote impossible ROME: A prominent Italian minister said on Friday it would be impossible to hold a national election in June, as the head of the ruling Democratic Party (PD) is urging. The PD party leader, former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, last week called for a PD leadership contest in a bid to reassert his authority, after he lost last year’s constitutional reform referendum and resigned in December. Renzi is expected to resign as party leader at a PD assembly on Sunday. That would probably trigger a leadership contest — which begins with a party congress, followed by a primary vote — and could open the way for an early vote. But Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, who leads a large PD faction, on Friday urged Renzi to postpone the party congress in an effort to keep the party together. He also argued that the party hasn’t got enough time for a congress, a primary and a national election in June. “We need not rush to hold the congress,” Franceschini said in an interview with the newspaper la We need not rush to hold the congress. There is time, given the fact it’s no longer possible to vote in June DARIO FRANCESCHINI Culture Minister Repubblica. “There is time, given the fact it’s no longer possible to vote in June.” The legislature’s term is not due to end until February 2018. Polls show that Renzi should easily win back control of the party. But PD dissidents are threatening to quit and form a rival party, accusing him of being authoritarian and of dragging the PD away from its leftist roots. Renzi, in an interview with Corriere della Sera newspaper on Friday, repeated pleas to party rivals not to leave, but gave no signal that he would slow his push for a congress and early vote. Three-quarters of PD voters do not want a party split, and 64 per cent want Renzi to remain the bloc’s secretary, an Ixe poll published on Friday by state TV RAI showed. But many fear the PD will fare badly in local elections scheduled for June, and parliament continues to squabble over changing Italy’s proportional electoral laws, which are slightly different for the upper and lower houses. Under current laws, the party leader has the power to select many of the candidates, meaning Renzi’s internal foes might not make it into the next parliament if he keeps his post. If they form a rival party, the critics would be able to create their own list of candidates and would also bleed votes from the PD, making it harder for Renzi to regain power. The PD is now polling at about 30 per cent, which means it would not be able to govern alone if a vote were held under the current proportional voting systems. — Reuters Environmental lawyer murdered in Philippines MANILA: A Philippine lawyer who specialised in investigating crimes against the environment has been ambushed and shot dead, police said on Friday. The murder on Wednesday of Mia Manuelita Mascarinas- Green deepened concerns that the Philippines is one of the world’s most dangerous places for environmental campaigners, with more than 100 killed over the past 15 years. Four motorcycle-riding gunmen opened fire after surrounding a van being driven by Mascarinas-Green — with her children and nanny in the vehicle — near her home on the central island of Bohol, the authorities said. Mascarinas-Green was pronounced dead at a hospital but her children were unharmed, regional police spokesman Senior Inspector Reslin Abella said. “The victim is a known environmental lawyer. Investigators are checking whether the attack had any link to the cases she had handled in relation to environmental issues,” Abella said by telephone. “They now have the identity of at least one of the perpetrators and a hot pursuit operation is ongoing,” she said without naming the suspect. Abella said police were at the moment unaware if Mascarinas- Green had been threatened previously in relation to her work. Her children are twins, aged two, and a 10-year-old daughter, according to local media reports. CEMENTING RELATIONS Her death brings to 112 the number of environmental campaigners murdered in the Philippines over the past 15 years, according to Filipino environment monitor Kalikasan. This includes 12 since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven months ago, Kalikasan said. “Most of these cases remain unresolved as the government continues to ignore the threat against environmental defenders,” Clemente Bautista, its national coordinator said. “What this means is that the perpetrators are emboldened to do it again and again because no one ever gets caught.” Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director Yeb Sano also said the killing highlighted the culture of impunity in the Philippines, where powerful figures abuse a corrupt political and justice system to literally get away with murder. “Those who cause environmental destruction are resorting to savage measures and deplorable acts to stop communities and people who are standing up to protect our imperilled environment,” Sano said. Environmental monitor Global Witness separately lists 88 killings of environmental activists and workers in the Philippines between 2010 and 2015. The attacks spiked with 33 dead in 2015, ranking the Philippines as the second most dangerous country in the world for environmental campaigners behind Brazil. — AFP/dpa Romania’s Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu (L) shakes hands with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker upon his arrival at the European Commission in Brussels on Friday. — AFP WAR ANNIVERSARY MARKED Ethical qualms make UK police cameras a mixed success People place flowers and incenses sticks during a small rally marking the 38th anniversary of the Chinese border war against Vietnam (February 17, 1979) in front of the statue of Vietnam’s King Ly Thai To in downtown Hanoi on Friday. — AFP LONDON: With accusations of police misconduct raging on both sides of the Atlantic, Britain has taken the lead in supplying officers with body cameras despite worries about ever-increasing surveillance by the authorities. London’s Metropolitan Police Force is currently providing over 22,000 officers with Body Worn Video (BWV), saying it will “help officers to gather evidence and demonstrate their professionalism.” The force is one of around a dozen that have tested wearable technology, motivated by a fatal police shooting in 2011 that sparked widespread riots, as well as a major study that suggested they led to a 93 per cent reduction in complaints against the police. A series of police shootings in the United States and the recent claims of rape against a French policeman have intensified an international debate about whether cameras should be used all the time. British police say they have helped defuse tense encounters and speed up prosecutions, but the absence of a legal obligation to use them means their scope in uncovering any police misconduct could be limited. Privacy advocates also fear that the speed of technological advancement is outpacing ethical considerations about privacy. “While we understand the perceived transparency benefits relating to body-worn cameras, we do have profound concerns about the potential rollout of the technology for purposes beyond law enforcement,” Renate Samson, head of Big Brother Watch, said. Officials such as traffic wardens and even local council litter enforcers see the “new capabilities as the solution to a broad range of problems”, she said. “We could find ourselves being filmed all the time by officials wandering the streets.” Bernard Hogan-Howe, Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, began a trial of body-worn video cameras in 2014 after the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot by officers in north London in August 2011. The death led to riots in London and other major cities, and the police chief said the use of cameras would aid investigations into police shootings. However, the fatal shooting of Yassar Yaqub by West Yorkshire Police marksmen during a car chase last month was not caught on camera despite a force-wide rollout of the devices. Home Office guidelines state that “the decision to record or not to record any incident remains with the user”. — AFP
WORLD 11 SATURDAY l FEBRUARY 18 l 2017 OMANDAILYOBSERVER INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY MARKED People wave flags and carry banners as they gather in Pristina on Friday during the celebrations marking the 9th anniversary of Kosovo’s declaration of independence. Nine years since the independence, Kosovo is recognised as a state by more than 110 countries, despite fierce opposition from Serbia, which is backed by its traditional ally Russia. — AFP Dutch PM: Country ‘better off’ ahead of crunch polls THE HAGUE: Just weeks before elections, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday pressed his bid for a third term insisting The Netherlands is better off today than when his coalition took power in 2012. The Dutch are headed for crunch polls next month and the Liberal centre-right Rutte is one of the frontrunners in opinion polls, which have seen far-right political opponent Geert Wilders surge into the lead. “The Netherlands is much better off today than before the inauguration of cabinet,” Rutte told journalists at his final weekly press conference before the March 15 vote. “The economy, anno 2017, is in superb shape, with solid growth across the board,” Rutte said — achieved not only by “the coalition government and the opposition in parliament... but above all by 17 million Dutch citizens.” He pointed to figures released earlier this week by the central statistics office that put economic growth back to levels before the 2008 economic crisis. Economic recovery is one of three themes of Rutte’s election campaign, together with “keeping things stable in an unstable world” and further integration into Dutch society. Asked about a letter he penned three weeks ago urging people to vote for stability, and calling on all people including immigrants to adapt to the country’s values, the Dutch premier said: “My message is that if you find it intolerable to live here or to be a part of this beautiful country you have the option to leave.” “That’s not just for immigrants, but for everybody,” he said. Rutte, and his liberal VVD party is bidding for a third term in office under the slogan “Act. Normally.” At a time of political turbulence in Europe and the United States, the pragmatic Rutte has positioned himself firmly as a candidate of the status quo. “It’s up to the voters to decide how things will look after March 15 — but I would plead for a continuation of the current situation,” he said. Political parties are gearing up for the crucial polls, which experts say will focus more on national identity and immigration than economics. On Saturday, Wilders, who has led opinion polls for the past month, takes to the streets to officially launch his campaign and canvass for votes. Wilders and his Freedom Party (PVV) have gained traction with a heavily anti-immigration, anti-EU and anti-minority message which has struck home among parts of the electorate worried by Europe’s migrant influx. — AFP Common interests outweigh differences with US: China minister BEIJING: The common interests between China and the United States far outweigh their differences, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday in their first face-to-face meeting since Tillerson took up his job. US President Donald Trump angered Beijing in December by talking to the president of Taiwan and saying the United States did not have to stick to the “one China” policy, under which Washington acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of it. In a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week, Trump changed tack and agreed to honour the “one China” policy, a major diplomatic boost for Beijing, which brooks no criticism of its claim to self-ruled Taiwan. However, several areas of disagreement between the two countries, such as currency, trade, the South China Sea and North Korea, were not mentioned in public statements on the telephone conversation. A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement released after Wang met Tillerson on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the G20 top economies in the German city of Bonn, made no specific mention of where the two disagree. Wang said the Xi-Trump call was extremely important, and that the two countries should promote even better relations. “China and the United States have joint responsibility to maintain global stability and promote global prosperity, and both sides’ joint interests are far greater than their differences,” the statement paraphrased Wang as saying. The two countries should increase mutual trust, deepen cooperation and ensure that under Trump they make even greater contributions to global peace and prosperity, Wang added. The two also had a “deep exchange of views” on the North Korean nuclear issue, the statement said, without giving details. Tillerson on Friday urged China to do all it could to moderate North Korea’s destabilising behaviour after Sunday’s ballistic missile test by Pyongyang, Tillerson’s spokesman Mark Toner said after the Wang meeting. — Reuters Germany says Europe must spend more on defence, aid also vital BONN: Europe needs to spend more on defence but tackling poverty and climate change also contribute to world peace, Germany’s foreign minister said on Friday, responding to US President Donald Trump’s calls for greater European military spending. Germany has Europe’s largest economy but currently spends only about 1.2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence, well below Nato’s target of two per cent. “There is no question that Europe will have to take more responsibility for that (military spending), but we cannot reduce security and peace policies to just the extent of military spending,” German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said. “That will not allow us to fight climate change, drought or poverty,” Gabriel told reporters at the end of a gathering of foreign ministers from the G20 largest economies attended by Trump’s new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. “An important message from this G20 (meeting) was that peace and development prospects are two sides of the same coin,” Gabriel said. Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday said Germany German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (R) presides over a working session during the Foreign Ministers of the G20 leading and developing economies at the World Conference Centre in Bonn, western Germany, on Friday. — AFP was working to boost its defence spending, but that it would take time to reach the 2 per cent goal. Gabriel told reporters on Thursday that Germany would have to spend about 25 billion euros more a year to meet the target, but said it had already invested 30 to 40 billion more to integrate about a million refugees, many of whom were displaced by failed military interventions. “That shows that focusing on military interventions also taps funding that could be better spent in combatting hunger and misery,” he said. Germany has sought to focus the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on efforts to better utilise the potential of many African countries and halt a growing stream of economic refugees fleeing to Europe. The European Union is also taking steps to stem immigration from Africa, which is set to rise further after 181,000 people arrived last year An important message from this G20 (meeting) was that peace and development prospects are two sides of the same coin SIGMAR GABRIEL German Foreign Minister and an estimated 4,500 are believed to have died while crossing the Mediterranean, often in flimsy boats. Anthony Mothae Maruping, economics commissioner for the African Union, participated in the G20 meeting, which also focused on implementing the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development agreed by all members of the United Nations. Gabriel, who took over as German foreign minister last month, said the G20 countries, which account for about four-fifths of the world’s gross domestic product, agreed they had a responsibility to prevent crises before they gathered steam. — Reuters 3D printing, virtual reality used to bring dinosaur to ‘life’ NATURE’S FURY SYDNEY: A team of Australian scientists are using a worldfirst approach combining threedimensional (3D) printing and virtual reality (VR) to bring a dinosaur “back to life”. Palaeontologists at a site in New South Wales state near the Great Ocean Road have uncovered more than 200 bits of bones of the wallabylike leaellynasaura, an ornithopod native to Australia, in just 12 days, Xinhua news agency reported. Meanwhile, mechatronics students from Deakin University are using the bones uncovered to create a 3D model of the dinosaur on a computer which will eventually be printed. When completed, the project will be displayed at Geelong’s National Wool Museum. Experts from Deakin’s Virtual Reality Lab will then create a VR experience to make the tactile We’re looking at how we can use virtual reality and 3D printing to help with providing educational experiences in a museum context BEN HORNAN Co-founder of the project 3D-printed model of the dinosaur appear real. Ben Hornan, a co-founder of the project, said he hoped the experience would further the general population’s knowledge of dinosaurs that once roamed Australia. “We’re looking at how we can use virtual reality and 3D printing to help with providing educational experiences in a museum context,” Horan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday. “So we are doing experiments on how we can best print dinosaur-like skin so people will not just feel the geometry, the size and the scale but also the contour of the skin as well.” Researchers believe they will be able to replicate the skin of a leaellynasaura by scanning a blue tongue lizard, which has scaly skin similar to that of the dinosaur, and 3D-printing its scales. The leaellynasaura was a small herbivore and was thus understood to be a shy dinosaur, so participants who put the VR glasses on will be warned to approach it with care. — IANS People and rescue team members gather by buildings which collapsed following a landslide in Auquisamana district in La Paz, Bolivia. — Reuters
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