SPORT | Page 12

INDEX
QATAR

3 10, 30 32

28, 29

COMMENT

1 6, 17 20

REGION

11

BUSINESS

ARAB WORLD

12

CLASSIFIED

7 17

SPORTS

1 12

INTERNATIONAL 13 27

BUSINESS | Page 1

AFRICA | Health

Sierra Leone free

of Ebola, says WHO
The UN health agency yesterday
declared that Sierra Leones deadly
Ebola outbreak is over, prompting
jubilant celebrations as thousands
massed in the capital Freetown.
Crowds poured onto the streets,
waving banners, dancing and
banging drums as the steep hills
surrounding the city of 1.2mn
reverberated with the crackle of
fireworks. It was the first public
party tolerated in the impoverished
west African nation since the
epidemic hit 18 months ago. Page 13
LATIN AMERICA | Disaster

Two dozen missing

in massive mudflow
Rescue teams yesterday struggled
to reach villages devastated by a
massive mudflow after two dams
burst at a major Brazilian mine,
wreaking havoc more than 80km
downstream and prompting
officials to warn of a higher death
toll. A dozen residents of nearby
villages remain missing, along with
13 workers from the mine. Page 24
SOMALIA | Weather

Thousands hit
by flash floods
More than 90,000 people in wartorn southern Somalia have been
hit by weeks of severe flooding,
almost half of them forced from
their homes, the United Nations has
warned. Page 13

44.29

-72.87
-0.63%

-0.91
-2.01%

in

Relations between Iran and

the European Union are at a
determining stage after Tehrans
landmark nuclear deal with
world powers in July, European
Parliament chief Martin Schulz
said yesterday. We are now at
the implementation stage of this
agreement and at the end of this
stage a door can be opened for
economic co-operation and positive
economic development, he said
at a news conference in Tehran
with Irans parliament speaker Ali
Larijani. Page 11

11,439.30

+46.90
+0.26%

QU and QDVC
sign agreement

Iran-EU relations
enter key stage

17,910.35

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QATAR | Research

REGION | Diplomacy

NYMEX

SUNDAY

Vol. XXXVI No. 9900

November 8, 2015
Moharram 25, 1437 AH
www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Qatar leads
in cyber
security risk
awareness

In brief

Page 8

QE

Latest Figures

GULF TIMES
The Centre for Sustainable
Development (CSD) at Qatar
University College of Arts and
Sciences (QU-CAS) and Qatari Diar
Vinci Construction (QDVC) have
signed an agreement to establish
a joint research project about
algae-based bio products. The
agreement aims to support highquality research and development
activities relating to CO2 capture
and sequestration into innovative
algal products. These products
could potentially be used in road or
construction sectors, and support
sustainable development in Qatar.

DOW JONES

pu

Al-Attiyah equals
Ben Sulayems record
with Oman victory

Shell looks to
be partner
of choice to
Qatar

The GCC has a growing reservoir

of talent whose skills can be
well utilised in cyber security
positions, according to a specialist
Passengers of a flight from the Egyptian resort of Hurghada gathering shortly after their arrival at Domodedovo airport
outside Moscow yesterday. Egypts military has taken control of operations to put Russian passengers on flights back to
Moscow after Russia suspended flights to Egypt, state-run RIA news agency cited Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady
Dvorkovich as saying yesterday.

Russian plane broke up

in mid-air after noise
Reuters
Cairo

Russian plane which crashed in

Egypt last week was ying on
auto-pilot and appeared to break
up in mid-air after a sudden noise but
it is too soon to conclude exactly what
brought it down, the lead investigator
said yesterday.
Ayman al-Muqaddam, head of a
team of experts looking into one of
Egypts worst air disasters, said the
cockpit voice recording would be analysed to identify the nature of the noise,
which Western governments have indicated may have been a bomb.
Islamic State militants ghting security forces in Egypts Sinai Peninsula
have said they brought down the Airbus
A321, which crashed 23 minutes after
taking off from the resort of Sharm El
Sheikh one week ago, killing all 224 passengers.
Fears that the crash was caused by
militants led several Western countries,
Russia and Turkey to suspend ights
to Sharm El Sheikh, stranding tens of
thousands of holidaymakers and dealing a heavy blow to Egypts vital tourist
industry.
Muqaddam said the auto-pilot was
still engaged when the crash occurred
and debris were scattered over a wide
area of the Sinai desert extending for
13km, adding that this was consistent
with an in-ight break-up.
The black boxes recovered from the
crash site showed that a noise was
heard in the last second of the ... recording. The recording will be send to a
specialist laboratory for analysis.
Scientists have used such methods to
examine the signature of dying cockpit
recordings in aircraft bombings. Comparing the frequencies may help determine whether the sound recorded on
the Russian jet comes from a deliberate
or accidental explosion.
Muqaddam said his team, including
experts from Egypt, Russia, France, Germany and Ireland, was considering all
possible scenarios for the cause of the
accident but had not yet reached any
conclusion. He said structural fatigue, a

Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of

a team of experts looking into the
Russian plane crash, speaking to the
press in Cairo yesterday.
fuel explosion and even lithium batteries
carried by passengers could be a cause.
Referring to media reports that Western intelligence sources believe that the
plane may have been brought down by a
bomb, Muqaddam said no evidence related to those claims had been provided
to his team.
His comments echoed the irritation
expressed earlier yesterday by Egypts
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who
said that foreign intelligence about the
cause of the crash had not been passed
on to Cairo.
The information we have heard
about has not been shared with Egyptian security agencies in detail,
Shoukry said. We were expecting that
the technical information would be
provided to us.
He suggested countries now agging the likelihood that militants were
behind the crash should have heeded
Egypts repeated calls for co-ordination
to combat terrorism.
The spread of terrorism, which we
have for a long time called on our partners to tackle more seriously, did not get
through to many of the parties which
are now exposed and which are currently working for the interests of their
citizens to face this danger, he told a
news conference.
Shoukry repeated his governments
insistence that it was premature to
reach conclusions, but security officials
said they were checking video footage at Sharm El Sheikh airport for any
suspicious activity, in the clearest sign
yet that they believe the Russian plane
could have been deliberately targeted.
We want to determine if, for instance,

anyone sneaked past security officials or

the metal detectors. We are also trying to
determine if there was any unusual activity among policemen or airport staff,
one of the officials told Reuters.
An Egyptian source close to the investigation of the Russian planes black
boxes said on Wednesday the cause of
the crash was believed to be an explosion, but it was not clear whether that
was the result of a bomb.
Western intelligence sources have
said British and US spies intercepted
chatter from suspected militants
suggesting that a bomb, possibly hidden in luggage in the hold, had downed
the plane.
The Islamic State-affiliated Sinai
Province, which claimed it brought
the plane down, said it acted in revenge for Russian air strikes against
militants in Syria, where Islamic State
controls large areas in the east and
north of the country.
On Friday, Moscow suspended
ights to Egypt, leaving nearly 80,000
Russians stranded, mainly in the Red
Sea resorts of Hurghada and Sharm El
Sheikh, and adding to the growing chaos facing many tourists.
British attempts to y home thousands of holidaymakers on Friday ran
into trouble when Egypt restricted the
number of ights, citing capacity at
Sharm El Sheikh airport and British airliners refusal to take passenger luggage
in the hold.
A British official at Sharm El Sheikh
airport said nine ights were expected
to repatriate 2,000 stranded British tourists yesterday and the government hoped to get them all home
within 10 days.
British media reported yesterday that
a British passenger jet came close to being hit by a rocket as it came in to land
at Sharm El Sheikh in August, although
the British government said it had concluded the incident was part of routine
Egyptian military exercises, not a deliberate attack.
The pilot of the Thomson ight from
London to Egypt took evasive action after spotting the missile coming towards
the plane as it ew to the Red Sea resort,
the Daily Mail reported. Page 12

new survey has found that 84%

of youths in Qatar are condent in their knowledge of and
education in cyber-related issues and
feel they have a good understanding
of the elements involved in cyber security.
The study, commissioned by USbased Raytheon Company and the
National Cyber Security Alliance
(NCSA), also found that people in the
Middle East region are more condent
in their knowledge of cyber-related
issues than in the rest of the world.
Titled Securing Our Future: Closing the Cyber Talent Gap, the survey
showed that higher percentages of
youths in Qatar (84%), the UAE (70%)
and Saudi Arabia (82%) feel that they
have enough understanding to keep
their data and personal information
safe on the Internet than the global
average of 65%.
Moreover, 53% of GCC respondents
expressed awareness of the job tasks
involved with a profession in cyber
security 13% higher than the global
average.
I have witnessed an incredible
passion for the development of secure IT and cyber capabilities during
my time in Qatar, said Yezen Munir,
president of Raytheon International
in Qatar.
In particular, as it aligns with the
countrys 2030 vision and supports
a knowledge-based economy, building upon these cyber security abilities
will be of incredibly high value to Qatar, as well as other nations in the region, as we continue to see a growing
amount of cyber threats that will need
to be effectively mitigated.
Sponsored by Raytheon and NCSA,
and conducted by US Zogby Analytics, the survey was based on responses
from nearly 4,000 young adults ages
18-26 from the GCC region, Europe,
Asia Pacic and the United States.
Respondents, including 606 from
the GCC region, answered a variety
of questions about their education,

backgrounds, interests and, most importantly, professional goals and perceptions.

Among the surveys ndings, the
results indicate disparity between
GCC citizens comfort with their level
of education and competence in cyber, and their interest in seeking a career in cyber elds.
The survey indicated that an average of 42% of men and women in the
GCC were less likely than a year ago
to consider a career where they could
make the Internet safer and more secure, in comparison to only 16% globally. Moreover, this is slightly more
signicant when women are singled
out, with 40% of GCC women being
less likely to consider a cyber-security profession, as compared to only
13% of women globally who would not
pursue a cyber career path.
Nonetheless, the survey illustrated
that many young GCC adults possess
and want to utilise skills that cyber
security careers require, such as data
analysis (42%), programming (32%),
problem solving (28%) and management (48%). On top of that, 79% of
GCC respondents said that they have
pursued activities that would give
them an edge in cyber elds, such
as cyber competitions, scholarship
awards, internship positions, mentor
programmes or job fairs, a statement
issued by Raytheon said.
The GCC has a growing reservoir
of talent whose skills can be well
utilised in cyber security positions,
said Ward Heinke, director, cyber strategy and defence solutions,
Raytheon Intelligence, Information
and Services.
Particularly with young women,
there is a tremendous number with
the relevant education and skills for
a rewarding and successful career in
cyber security, he said.
What needs to be better communicated to young people entering
the job market across the Gulf is the
richness of opportunities in pursuing
a profession in cyber security, which
is also something that Gulf nations
desire to further support their national security and economic growth,
Heinke added.

China, Taiwan in historic meeting

DPA
Singapore

resident Xi Jinping of China and

his Taiwanese counterpart Ma
Ying-jeou shook hands yesterday
in Singapore in their rst-ever meeting
seen as a historic breakthrough to reduce tensions between the rivals.
It does not matter how much
both sides across the strait have been
through. Nothing can separate us, Xi
said in his opening remarks before the
meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel.

The Peoples Republic of China has

claimed sovereignty over self-ruled
Taiwan since the end of a civil war in
1949 and there are no formal crossstrait diplomatic relations.
After the meeting, Zhang Zhijun
from Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office said
the greatest threat to cross-strait relations is Taiwan independence.
Xi told Ma that at present, we are at
the crossroads for choosing the direction and path for future development
in cross-strait relations, Chinas ofcial Xinhua news agency reported.
Page 17

Wristwatch fetches record $7.3mn at charity auction

AFP
Geneva

unique Patek Philippe stainless steel watch fetched a record

$7.3mn when it went under the
hammer in Geneva yesterday, with the

proceeds going to charity, the auction

house said.
The watch, which had been listed
with an asking price of only 700,000900,000 Swiss francs had sold for
7.3mn Swiss francs ($7.3mn) after
nine minutes of intense bidding by
two anonymous telephone bidders,

the Phillips auction house said.

That is the highest price ever paid
for a wristwatch at auction, it said in a
statement, adding that once the hammer fell the sale had been greeted by
a standing ovation in the room at the
luxury La Reserve Hotel in Geneva.
The Patek Philippe piece, with its

manual winding, minute repeater and

perpetual calendar with moon-phase
display, was one of 44 unique timepieces created for the Only Watch
auction by luxury watchmakers and
jewellers, including Blancpin, Harry
Winston, Piaget and Chanel.
In total, the auction raked

in $11.2mn, Phillips said.

All the proceeds of the charity auction goes towards research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a
tragic muscle-wasting disease that occurs in roughly one in 3,500 males.
This fantastic result will allow us
to strengthen our efforts in targeting a

cure for this severe disease, said Luc

Pettavino, head of the Monaco-based
AMM association dedicated to nding
a cure for the disease and founder of the
Only Watch auction.
The auction is held every two years
under the patronage of Prince Albert II
of Monaco.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

QATAR

Ooredoo launches major

price revamp for Hala
O

oredoo has announced

one of its most signicant pricing revamps for
call costs in Qatars history, offering the lowest ever local calling rate of 10Dhs per minute for
all calls to any network in Qatar.
The new campaign, One Qatar, One Call Rate, means that
Hala customers using the International Saver Key or Egypt
Key will always be able to pay the
same rate whether they are calling local Ooredoo lines, or calling numbers provided by other
operators in Qatar.
Experts hailed the move as
a signicant step forward for
customer rights, as Ooredoo
leads the way in the region in
terms of standardised and transparent pricing. With immediate

effect, a uniform calling rate of

10Dhs per minute will be available on Ooredoos International
Saver Key and Egypt Key for
calling any local number in Qatar.
Ooredoo Qatar chief operating officer Waleed al-Sayed
said: Where Ooredoo leads,
other companies follow. In recent years, weve worked hard
to simplify pricing and make
it easier for people to see the
incredible value that Ooredoo
offers. Now, by providing uniformed pricing for Hala customers whoever they are calling we are taking this mission
a step further.
Just as Ooredoo has led the
way in rolling-out the nationwide Ooredoo Supernet to of-

fer incredible speeds and crystal

clear voice, now we are rollingout our unied approach to pricing that we think will surprise
and delight our customers, he
added.

Where Ooredoo leads,

other companies follow
The International Saver Key
gives customers the incredible
international calling rate of just
45Dhs per minute for calls to 121
countries at QR1 per week. International Saver Key customers
will also now be able to unlock
the low-cost local calling rate of
just 10Dhs per minute, removing
the distinction between calls to
Ooredoo numbers and to other
operators. To activate the Inter-

national Saver Key, customers

should send ISK as an SMS to
121.
The Egypt Key offers the lowest calling rate of 30Dhs per
minute for calls to Egypt at QR2
per week and now will also unlock the local calling rate of just
10Dhs per minute. To activate
the Egypt Key, send EGY to
121.
The countries covered by
the International Keys include
popular calling destinations like
Nepal, UAE, the UK, the Philippines, and South Africa.
Ooredoo has a full range of options for Hala customers looking
to save money on communications. To nd out more about
Ooredoos offers, visit www.
ooredoo.qa.

Top speakers to attend 3rd CSR Qatar summit

he third edition of the annual CSR Qatar summit, scheduled for November 23-25 at the Hilton Hotel
Doha, will feature an enhanced
agenda and a line-up of topcalibre speakers from Qatar and
the region.
The conference will be held
under the theme Transforming CSR to Support a Socially
Responsible and Sustainable
Economy in Qatar, and will
feature a number of insightful
keynote presentations, panel
discussions, and workshops
covering a variety of topics
ranging from sustainable development, social entrepreneurship, and education to worker
and labour rights, employment
generation, and CSR in sports.

The third edition of CSR Qatar

marks the launch of the inaugural CSR Qatar Awards, which
will be held in conjunction with
the conference. Led by an expert panel of key stakeholders,
including NGOs, corporates,
and universities, the CSR Qatar
Awards will recognise outstanding achievements of organisations and teams that have contributed to the development of
CSR and sustainability agenda
in Qatar.
The focus of this years conference will be on accelerating
the shift to more strategic and
sustainable social responsibility
in other words, nding ways
to systematically elevate CSR
practices in Qatar to achieve the
next level of performance and

impact, said CSR Qatar 2015

conference director Hoda Abdelhay.

The focus of this years

conference will be on
accelerating the shift
to more strategic and
sustainable social
responsibility in other
words, finding ways to
systematically elevate
CSR practices in Qatar to
achieve the next level of
performance and impact
The 3rd CSR Qatar will gather
a stellar roster of speakers, who
will share their experiences and
insights with attendees. The
line-up includes, among others, Saleh Ali al-Muhanadi,

secretary general, Qatar Red

Crescent; Awa Polano, Swedish Ambassador to Qatar; Joe Y
Battikh, head of Sustainability,
Corporate Responsibility and
Government & Industry Relations, Ericsson; Khalid Abdulnoor Saifeldeen, director of
HITC and chairman of Kulluna,
Hamad Medical Corporation
(HMC); Nael Attiyat, Country
Manager Qatar, DHL; Dr Mohamed Saif al-Kuwari, board
member, National Human
Rights Committee (NHRC);
Mariam Farag, head of CSR,
MBC Group; Yousef bin Ahmed
al-Kuwari, CEO, Qatar Charity;
and Dr Mohamed Ajmal Khan,
professor for Food and Water
Security, Centre for Sustainable
Development, Qatar University.

The new intersection after being opened to traffic.

Ashghal opens signal-controlled

intersection on New Rayyan Road

he Public Works Authority (Ashghal) on

Friday opened a new
signal-controlled intersection
on New Al Rayyan Road, which
diverts traffic from Bin Zaben
(Al Mokafaha) Roundabout to
the newly built intersection .
On the approach to the new
intersection, each arm has
three straight-ahead lanes, two
left-turn lanes and a dedicated
right-turn slip lane.
The opening of the new intersection is expected to ease
traffic congestion that used to
take place during peak hours
at the old Bin Zaben (Al Mokafaha) Roundabout, Ashghal has
said in a statement.
Additionally, the new intersection will enhance traffic
safety with signals that help
organise vehicular ow and facilitate access to different destinations.

This comes as part of

Ashghals effort to ease trafc congestion in the area
throughout the construction
period of Al Rayyan Road/Bu
Erayyen Street Interchange.
Once complete, the new interchange will be a three-lev-

Once complete, the new

interchange will be a
three-level interchange,
including Al Rayyan
Road (free-flowing)
through an underpass,
local traffic movement
using signals at grade
and Bu Erayyen Street
(free-flowing) through a
tunnel underneath the Al
Rayyan Road underpass,
el interchange, including Al
Rayyan Road (free-owing)
through an underpass, local
traffic movement using signals

at grade and Bu Erayyen Street

(free-owing) through a tunnel underneath the Al Rayyan
Road underpass, the statement explained.
The authority is implementing these works as part of the
Al Rayyan Road Development
Contract 2 project, which extends from the west of Sports
Roundabout to the west of New
Al Rayyan (Khaled Bin Abdullah
Al-Atiyyah) Roundabout.
Works on this part of the
project include developing Al
Rayyan Road and building a
dual 5.5km carriageway with
four lanes in each direction.
It will also include, in addition
to Bin Zaben Intersection, ve
main intersections: Al Masila, Al
Rayyan, Khaled Bin Abdullah AlAtiyyah on Al Rayyan Road, Old
Al Rayyan on Al Huwar Street (Al
Furousiya) and Lebdei Intersection on Bu Erayyen Street.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

QATAR
Sudanese minister praises Qatars support
The Minister of Tourism,
Antiquities and Wildlife of
Sudan Dr Mohamed Abu
Zaid Mustafa praised the
significant role played
by Qatar in enhancing
security and stability in
his country as well as
promoting the Sudanese
economy through major

development projects,
particularly in the field of
archaeology.
He said in statements
yesterday the Qatari
project for the restoration
of the Sudanese
antiquities intended
for the rehabilitation of
archaeological sites in the

River Nile and northern

states at a total cost of
$135mn to become a
global attractive tourist
destination.
Qatars support will
enable Sudan to highlight
its great richness in the
field of archaeology, he
said.

Qatar hails UN adoption of crime

prevention congress resolution
QNA
New York

atar has welcomed

the UN Social, Humanitarian and Cultural - Third Committee
adoption of the draft resolution entitled: 13th United
Nations Congress on Crime
Prevention and Criminal
Justice.
The Third Committee, at
the recommendation of the
UN Economic and Social
Council, adopted the draft
resolution and renewed ratication of the Doha Declaration, adopted at the 13th
United Nations Congress on
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
Qatars Permanent Representative to the United
Nations Ambassador HE
Sheikha Alia Ahmed bint Saif
al-Thani said that Qatar is
pleased to join consensus of
the draft resolution 13th
United Nations Congress on
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
She expressed hope that
the resolution would contribute to move forward to
establish the rule of law and
sustainable
development,
and to address transnational
crime.
The ambassador under-

Sheikha Alia
lined that by hosting the
conference Qatar had fullled its international responsibilities.
She welcomed the Committees call on governments
to consider the Doha Declaration in the development
of legislation and political
guidance, and to make every
effort to implement the principles included in that declaration, according to the objectives and principles of the
UN Charter, which provides
for integrating crime prevention and criminal justice into
the wider United Nations
agenda to address social and
economic challenges and to
promote the rule of law at the
national and international
levels, and public participation.

Saudi speaker arrives in Doha

Speaker of Shura Council
in Saudi Arabia, Dr
Abdullah bin Mohamed bin
Ibrahim al-Sheikh, and his
accompanying delegation
arrived in Doha yesterday.
The delegation was
welcomed upon arrival
at Hamad International

Airport by Speaker of the

Advisory (Shura) Council,
HE Mohamed bin Mubarak
al-Khulaifi, Deputy Speaker
of the Advisory Council, HE
Issa bin Rabia al-Kuwari and
the Secretary-General of the
Advisory Council, Fahad bin
Mubarak al-Khayareen.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

QATAR

atar National Library (QNL),

a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and
Community Development, is organising a series of social and educational
activities throughout November.
The events are aimed at engaging
members of the community, QNL has
said in a statement.
This months Book Discussion series
will feature The Holy Sail, written by

QNL lines up series of events from Nov 11

Qatari author Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud.
The novel brings to life events from
the turn of the 15th century when the
Gulf region faced the Portuguese eet,
targeting to control the regions spice

trade. The Book Discussion will take

place at the TV Lounge, HBKU Student
Centre, Education City, from 7pm to
8.30pm on November 11.
A training session will take place on

selected science databases, covering

MarinLit, Merck Index Online, Royal
Society of Chemistry, Taylor and Francis, Springer Link and Nature. This
event will be held at the Computer

Labs, HBKU Student Centre, from 2pm

to 6.30pm on November 13.
Teenagers and families have been
invited to participate in CreaTeens,
which will take place at the Recreation

Centre, Education City, from 4pm to

6pm on November 26.
Further, this month, QNL will take
part in various regional and international events, including the International Istanbul Book Fair and the
Philippine Librarians Associations Inc
National Congress.
For more information on the upcoming events, one can visit http://
qnl.qa/news-events/all-news

QUs road safety centre

honours contest winners
T

he Qatar Road Safety Studies

Centre (QRSSC) at Qatar University College of Engineering has hosted a ceremony to award
the winners of contests that were
organised in May on the sidelines of
UN Global Road Safety Week 2015.
Attendees included QU vicepresident and chief nancial ofcer Dr Humaid al-Midfaa, QU
acting vice-president for research
Dr Darwish al-Emadi, CENG dean
Dr Rashid Alammari, QRSSC director Dr Khalifa al-Khalifa, Traffic
Department director Brigadier Mohamed Saad al-Kharji and general
secretary of the National Committee for Traffic Safety Brigadier Mohamed al-Malki, among others.
The event also saw the launch
of the Traffic Safety Ambassador
Initiative, aiming to promote safe
driving behaviour in an educational
and illustrative manner in secondary
schools for boys with the help and
guidance of specialists.
Winners in the Best Expressive
Award category were Fatma Mubarak from Saa bint Abdulmutalib
Primary Independent School for
Girls (rst), Fatma al-Hitmi from Al
Bayan Primary Independent School
for Girls (second) and Al Bandari
Turki from Saa bint Abdulmutalib
Primary Independent School for
Girls (third).
In the Best Short Story Award
category, the winners were Hana
Kassem (rst), Sara Mansoor (sec-

The winners were awarded at a ceremony.

ond) from Ghwiriya School for Girls
and Abdullah Ali al-Dosari from Ibn
Khaldoon Preparatory Independent
School for Boys (third).
Under the Traffic Safety Ambassador Initiative, the QRSSC will
select traffic safety ambassadors in
secondary schools for boys in coordination with the school administrations. The ambassador will
form a team of students of all academic levels.

The QRSSC, in conjunction with

the National Committee for Traffic
Safety and the General Directorate
of Traffic at the Ministry of Interior,
will also organise awareness workshops in the participating schools
and distribute brochures and posters on leadership role and management of traffic safety campaigns.
Professionals in the eld of trafc safety will orient the ambassadors on the safe use of roads, which

will contribute to enhancing their

skills and abilities and enable them
to raise awareness among their colleagues. Each participating school
will submit, in December, a portfolio
that includes the achievements and
activities of its team.
A ceremony will be held for the
participating schools to present
their activities and honour the
school with the best team for traffic
safety.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

QATAR
Consumer goods firm
launches new products
Consumer brand Binatone
has launched a new range
of products in Qatar,
including a tower fan, wall
fan, juice extractor and
bread maker.
These products can
be purchased from
any Jumbo Electronics
showroom in the
country.
The Binatone TF-3100
tower fan comes with
powerful blades, a
three-speed mode and
60-degree oscillation. It
is remote-operated and
features an eight-hour
timer and LED indicator,
according to a statement.
The WF-1603 wall fan
also features powerful
blades and a three-speed
mode, along with an auto
swivel mechanism. It has a
long-life motor and safety
grille, which ensure both
savings and safety.
The JE-570 juice extractor

comes with two-speed

settings and a 75.8mm
feed chute, allowing
users to avoid pre-cutting
preparations. It also has a
stainless steel cutter and
grating sieve.
The BM-1603 bread maker
can bake two sizes of
loaves (750g and 900g)
and allows users to choose
the level of crusting
depending on their taste.
Other features include an
LCD display and a keepwarm function.
Jumbo Electronics is
currently having its Mega
Promotion, wherein
one scratch coupon is
issued on every purchase
of QR1,000 on a single
invoice. Each coupon
provides a guaranteed gift
- from restaurant vouchers
to movie tickets and other
offers.
The promotion ends on
November 15.

QU and QDVC
sign pact on
joint research
T

he Centre for Sustainable

Development (CSD) at Qatar
University College of Arts
and Sciences (QU-CAS) and Qatari
Diar Vinci Construction (QDVC)
recently signed an agreement to
establish a joint research project
about algae-based bio products.
The agreement aims to support
high-quality research and development activities relating to CO2
capture and sequestration into
innovative algal products. These
products could potentially be used
in road or construction sectors, and
support sustainable development
in Qatar.
The agreement was signed by QU
president Dr Hassan al-Derham
and QDVC CEO Yanick Garillon in
the presence of CAS dean Dr Eiman Mustafawi, CAS associate
deans for Academic Affairs Dr Hassan Abdulaziz, for Outreach and
Engagement Dr Khalifa Hazaa, for
Planning and Quality Assurance Dr
Steven Wright, and for Research
and Graduate Studies Dr Mohamed
Ahmedna; CSD director Dr Hamad
al-Saad al-Kuwari, CSD project
manager of Algal Technologies
Programme Hareb al- Jabri, QDVC
Chief Support Services Officer
Sheikha Athba al-Thani, QDVC
head of PR and Communication
Ferial Bouchaib, and QVCD Corporate Social Responsibility coordinator Marie Marvillet.
The agreement includes research
to determine suitable algae strains
for production of algal products
dedicated to long-term carbon sequestration. It also includes the de-

Dr Hassan al-Derham presents a memento to QDVC CEO Yanick Garillon.

velopment of a lab-scale biomass
conversion process of identied algae to test the products quality and
optimise biomass productivity and
CO2 xation efficiency.
Dr al-Derham said: I am condent that this agreement will support high-quality research into
carbon sequestration technologies
that can be linked to the production of valuable products. It is a
great signicance for Qatar as it
addresses multiple pillars of Qatar
National Vision 2030. I am proud
to see Qatar University taking a
leading academic role in Qatars
development towards a more sustainable society, through our newly

established Centre for Sustainable

Development under the College of
Arts and Sciences.
Garillon said: The new collaboration between QU and QDVC will
not only aim at the production of
various algae-based bio products,
but also solve the pressing issues
related to sustainable development
and fully aligned with QNV 2030.
This four-year project aims at developing CO2 sequestration technologies through algal products
that could be used for road or other
construction sectors. It is an innovative initiative that also involves
the Eurovia Research Centre based
in France.

Qatari professionals
assume leadership
roles at the QFC

ith the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC)

continuously
expanding and licensing a record
number of rms, the organisation has developed into a hub
that attracts local talent within each aspect of its numerous
departments.
With two new additions to
the top management - Nasser
al-Taweel as chief legal officer,
and Raed al-Emadi as chief
commercial officer - and an
increase in the number of local talent across a spectrum
of roles, the QFC continues
to move in the right direction
towards contributing to the
development of Qatars business community and creating
a sustainable environment for
human capital.
Al-Taweel and al-Emadi
join QFCs current high-prole top management team,
which includes Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida, chief executive officer; Sheikh Salman
al-Thani, chief strategic and
business development ofcer; Hamed al-Saadi, chief
nancial and tax officer; Fahad
Zainal, chief administration
officer, and Yousef Fakhroo,
chief marketing and corporate
communications officer.
Al-Jaida welcomed this
growing trend and stated: At
the QFC, it is our rm belief
that great success comes from
great support. This is why we

QFC is a hub
for sustaining
long-term
support of
local highcalibre professionals
create a working environment
based on international standards so that we can attract and
invest in the right people our most valuable asset - and
provide them with the capabilities to become a conduit to
facilitating the growth of our
economy.
On the occasion of the
QFCs 10th anniversary, it is
clear that the organisation
has truly become not only a
hub for business and nancial
growth, but also for sustaining long-term support of local
high-calibre professionals.

Thundershowers likely today

Thundershowers are expected
in some parts of the country
today along with strong winds,
the Met office has said.
Places where rain is likely
include Al Ruwais, Dukhan
and Abu Samra, while Doha,
Mesaieed and Al Khor will see

cloudy conditions, according to

the forecast.
The wind speed will go up to
25kt in some places during the
thundershowers. In offshore
areas, it will reach 18kt during
the day. Visibility, meanwhile,
may drop to 2km or less today.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

QATAR

QU LAWC hosts
seminar on new
corporate law
T

he Qatar University College of

Law (LAWC) hosted a seminar
last week on the effect of new
corporate law on the structure and
growth of the business sector in Qatar.
Themed New Qatari Legislation
Series: New Corporate Law No 11 for
the year 2015, the seminar was aimed
drawing attention to the most signicant changes in new corporate law and
their role in the development of the investment sector in Qatar, and the link
between corporate law and the companies registered under the Qatar Finance
Centre.
Attendees included LAWC dean Dr
Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulai,
as well as Qatar University officials and
faculty members.
The seminar brought together more
than 100 legal academics, counsels, researchers, practitioners from the Emiri
Diwan and various local and international law rms to share their ideas,
knowledge and experience on the importance of corporate law and come
up with recommendations on the new
rules governing the board of directors
in joint stock companies.

The speakers at the seminar.

The programme agenda featured
presentations by Qatar Investment Authoritys Dr Ehab El Sonbaty, LAWC assistant professor of commercial law Dr
Rawan al-Louzi, Qatar Police College
associate professor of commercial law
Dr Bassem Melhem, and Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution
Centre (QICDRC) senior legal counsel
Dr Zain Sharar.
They presented on Updates in New
Corporate Law and Compliance Requirements, Types of Companies
in New Corporate Law, Flashes on
Governing Rules of Board of Directors
in Public Joint Stock Companies, and

New Corporate Law: Competition or

Integration with QFC rules.
Dr al-Khulai said: The event which
highlights the colleges commitment to
advancing Qatars legal sector, provides
a platform to draw attention on the
most signicant changes in Qatari legislations and their positive and negative
impact on the countrys development in
the areas of economy and investment.
It also contributes to ensure that new
legislations are not subject to interpretation, which preserves individuals
rights and the stability of transactions.
Legislations are at the heart of building
the countrys legal system.

Maersk Oil Qatar expands commitment to road safety

Maersk Oil Qatar (MOQ) has stressed that its sponsorship
of the 24th International Traffic Medicine Association
(ITMA) Congress, which will be held in Doha, reinforced its
commitment to road safety in Qatar.
The sponsorship builds on MOQs extensive support for Qatars
One Second national road safety brand.
The 24th World ITMA Congress will be held for the first time in
the Middle East from November 16 to 18 under the patronage
of HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh
Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani.

MOQ deputy managing director Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad alThani said: Road Safety is a huge challenge for all countries,
including Qatar, so Im pleased that we are helping bring the
brightest experts to Qatar for the 24th World ITMA Congress.
The sponsorship agreement was signed by Brigadier
Mohamed Abdullah al-Maliki, the secretary of the National
Traffic Safety Committee and chairman of the organising
committee, and Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad in the presence of
Captain Mubarak Salim al-Bouainain, the assistant director of
public relations at the Ministry of Interior.

10

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

QATAR

WISH partners with

WISE on education
and well-being
T
he World Innovation Summit for
Health (WISH) held a special debate
on education and well-being with
the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). The event marked the second
collaboration between the two global initiatives of Qatar Foundation for Education,
Science and Community Development
(QF).
Held at the Qatar National Convention
Centre in Doha last week, the session was
aimed at ensuring inuential outcomes are
reached in healthcare and education innovation in Qatar, the region and across the
globe. The partnership between the two
global initiatives supports QFs continuing
efforts in making great strides to promote
a well-rounded healthy and educated society.
Speakers at the session were CEO of
WISH Egbert Schillings, director of Education Programming for CARE, USA Joyce
Adolwa, president of the Palestine Technical University professor Marwan al-Awartani and director of the European Institute
of Education and Social Policy Janet Looney.
The 50 attendees of the session discussed the relationship between learning

and well-being, including physical, mental, emotional and spiritual and ethical dimensions.
Schillings said: Access to quality
healthcare and quality education are at the
core of any thriving society. The brilliance
of the vision of HH Sheikha Moza bint
Nasser, is to make a difference in these
two pivotal, but complex, areas, not least
through WISE and WISH. Because ultimately, investment in education will not
achieve its goals if a society is unhealthy.
In turn, only an educated population can
make the right choices in their personal
healthcare and become co-creators of
health and wellbeing together with the system that serves them.
WISH has also established the Mental
Health and Wellbeing in Children Forum,
chaired by professor the Lord Richard Layard, director, Wellbeing Programme at the
Centre for Economic Performance at the
London School of Economics (LSE).
The forum explored the role of education
in well-being as part of its remit to produce evidence-based reports and provide
recommendations for policymakers at the
second WISH Summit that took place in
February 2015 in Qatar.

Preparation for winter camping season begins

A considerable number of Qataris prefer
the open desert to beaches, as well as using
tents instead of caravans, during the winter
camping season, it is learnt.
As the weather improves, many locals have
been busy preparing their winter camping
sites over the past few days, local Arabic
daily Arrayah has reported.
The desert is their destination of choice as
it allows them to escape the busy modern
city life and experience some serenity and a
simple way of life, it is found.
As some of them point out, the weather is
highly enjoyable and pleasant in the desert
during this time of the year. It helps them
relax and allows the children to play and
run around. It also helps keep children away
from electronic gadgets and makes them

spend time and play together in a more

traditional manner, they add.
Salim Ali, a Qatari, said this is the first time
that he is taking part in winter camping. I
feel highly satisfied when I see my children
enjoy the traditional way of life in the open
desert. They always remain busy playing
with their tablets and other gadgets; but
now, they are enjoying traditional games
and seem to have forgotten their gadgets.
This is very healthy and more childlike, in
my opinion, he explained.
Another national, Salem al-Marri, said the
camping season is a time to enjoy the beauty
of nature and the desert landscape. It is also
a good opportunity to unleash the potential
energy of children by letting them play freely
with their peers in safe and open surroundings.

Training course concludes

Around 30 participants took part in a recent four-day training course that aimed to suitably prepare arbitrators for international commercial arbitration.
The course was organised by the Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration, Qatar Chamber. It aimed to adequately equip qualified
commercial arbitrators to respond to the increasing demand for their services in the local market.

Key role of data in monitoring

attacks on education discussed
T

he Education Above
All
Foundation
(EAA)s Protect Education in Insecurity and
Conict (PEIC) programme,
as part of the recently held
World Innovation Summit
for Education 2015, convened a session to discuss
the vital role that reliable
data plays in monitoring and
responding to attacks on
education across the globe.
The session featured an
explanation of PEICs global data service on attacks
on education, which will
be a hub for the collection,
analysis, storage and distribution of information
about attacks on education
for policymakers, NGOs and
other stakeholders.
The session was moderated by Dr Kevin Watkins, executive director of the Overseas Development Institute,
and featured a panel of experts, including Dr Anna
Alvazzi del Frate, research
director for the Small Arms

The session in progress.

Survey; Dr Maryam Qasim,
former human development
and public services minister for Somalia; Mark Richmond, director of PEIC; and
Dr Laurent Dutordoir, child
protection officer for the UN
Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
Panellists shared their
perspectives and experiences concerning how data can
be used to strengthen policy
development, programme

design and operational

practice related to attacks
on education.
Commenting on the introduction of the global data
service, Richmond said:
Setting up and operating
the hub is an exciting prospect but it will be a complex
and demanding task. To be
credible and trustworthy, it
will need to be independent,
rigorous, transparent and
professional. Those supply-

ing data to it and those using

its outputs will expect nothing less.
PEICs global data service
will draw information from
multiple sources, including
UN agencies, NGOs and onthe-ground reporting from
members of the community
in order to paint a clear and
veriable picture of the extent of attacks on education.
Starting with ve countries Afghanistan, Co-

lombia, Iraq, Nigeria and

South Sudan the global
data service will gradually
add data over the coming
months. Cross-referenced
for accuracy, the data are
likely to become a key resource to those looking to
identify attacks on education as they are happening
and determine which responses are working.
The loss of institutions
during times of conict
goes hand in hand with the
loss of data, said Dr Qasim,
explaining that these gaps
make it difficult to develop
policies needed to restore
normalcy and ensure sustainable development postconict.
The reports and proles
offered through the hub can
aid national governments
and intergovernmental bodies in their efforts to react to
existing crises and hopefully identify trends that could
be used to prevent future
incidents.

Ahlibank launches MasterCard CashBack credit card

hlibank has announced the launch

of the MasterCard
CashBack credit card, a
market leading credit card
offering up to 2% cash back
on all purchases and cash
withdrawals made inside
and outside Qatar.
The new MasterCard
CashBack credit card guarantees customers cash back
up to 2% on all purchases
and cash withdrawals inside
and outside Qatar to ensure
they benet every time they
use the card. In addition, the
cash back earned is automatically credited every month
to the customers credit card
account up to a maximum of
QR500 per month.
The new CashBack credit
card provides the following
range of features and benets: free annual fee for the
rst year (normal fee QR200
per annum) and second year
onwards if customers spend
more than QR12,000 per
annum on purchases and
cash withdrawals, complementary VIP airport
lounge access (Cairo, Dubai, Kuwait, Amman, Jeddah, Dammam, and Riyadh)
giving card holders that
extra degree of comfort and
sense of prestige, 150 exclusive discount offers booklet allowing card holders
access to a range of 2 for 1
offers at leading restaurants,
spas, retail outlets, sports,
and entertainment facilities.
Ahlibank deputy CEO
for retail banking Andrew
McKechnie said: We are
delighted to launch our new
Ahlibank MasterCard CashBack credit card in partnership with MasterCard.
The new credit card is
another example of how we
consider customer needs
when we develop products,
which are designed to engage customers by providing real tangible benets.
Customers can earn up to
2% every month for all their
purchases and cash with-

Ahlibanks Hassan al-Frangi and Andrew McKechnie with

the MasterCard CashBack credit card.
drawals inside and outside
Qatar. This approach rewards our cardholders every
time they use their credit
card, not just in certain retailers.
McKechnie added: In
addition, as part of our fo-

cus on transparency to our

customers, we have deliberately designed this product
to ensure that customers
credit card accounts are automatically credited every
month with the cash back
they have earned, which is

shown in the monthly credit

card e-Statement.
Hassan al-Frangi, head
of Retail Banking Services,
added: We are very pleased
to launch our second new
credit card product this
year. The new MasterCard
CashBack credit card is a
welcome addition to the
range of credit cards we offer our customers.
We can now give our
customers the choice of being rewarded for their loyalty by earning Pearl Reward
Points or cash back when
using their Ahlibank credit
cards. Customers can visit
any Ahlibank branch and
our teams will help them select the right credit card to
meet their needs, whether
they are a frequent traveller
or use their card for major or

everyday purchases.
MasterCards
Raghav
Prasad, general manager Gulf Countries, said:
MasterCard continues to
develop partnerships with
leading institutions as part
of our commitment to provide safe, simple and secure
payment solutions for cardholders. Through our latest
partnership with Al Ahli
Bank, we look forward to rewarding MasterCard cardholders for using their cards
to make secure purchases
anywhere and anytime.
To learn more about the
Ahlibank MasterCard CashBack credit card, visit any
of the 16 Ahlibank branches
located across the country,
call the 24/7 contact centre
on 4420 5222, or visit www.
ahlibank.com.qa.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

11

REGION/ARAB WORLD

Irans parliament speaker Ali Larijani shakes hands with European

Parliament president Martin Schulz in Tehran yesterday.

Iran-EU ties
at key stage
AFP
Tehran

elations between Iran

and the European Union
are at a determining
stage after Tehrans landmark
nuclear deal with world powers in July, European Parliament chief Martin Schulz said
yesterday.
We are now at the implementation stage of this agreement and at the end of this
stage a door can be opened for
economic co-operation and
positive economic development, he said at a news conference in Tehran with Irans
parliament speaker Ali Larijani.
The European Union last
month announced it had
adopted the legal framework
to lift its sanctions against
Iran, once Tehran has curbed
its nuclear activities.
The EU announcement
came shortly after President
Barack Obama ordered the US
government to also take steps
towards lifting sanctions on
Iran.
The EU and US sanctions
have proved very damaging,
locking up billions in Iranian

assets overseas and starving

the oil-dependent economy of
crucially needed technology
and investment.
Schulz was in Tehran on a
one-day visit at the invitation
of the Iranian parliament, the
rst by a head of the European
Parliament.
He also said Iran played a
key role in regional stability,
especially in Syria.
He made the same point after meeting President Hassan
Rouhani.
The Islamic Republic of
Iran is an element of stability
in a region full of instability,
Schulz said.
As a result of terrorism in
Syria we are facing an inux of
refugees in Europe. Right now
our main and common goal is
ghting Daesh, the Islamic
State group (IS), he said.
Iran joined talks with world
powers on Syria for the rst
time in Vienna last month in
a drive to end the four-year
conict. The Syrian regime
and the opposition were not
represented.
Iran and Russia support
Syrian president Bashar alAssads regime, while Western
powers have pushed for the
leader to step down.

Air strikes, clashes kill

19 in southern Yemen
AFP
Aden

t least 19 people have

been killed in Saudi-led
coalition air strikes and
clashes between pro-government forces and rebels in Yemens south, military sources said
yesterday.
The air strikes late on Friday
targeted two rebel vehicles on a
road linking the central province
of Ibb to Daleh further south,
they said.
Forces loyal to Gulf-backed
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour
Hadi recaptured Daleh and four
other southern provinces in July.
Loyalist forces also clashed
with Iran-backed Houthi rebels
and their allies on the outskirts
of Dalehs second-largest city
Damt on Friday, the sources said.
Eight pro-government ghters and 11 rebels were killed in
the clashes and air strikes, they
added.
In Saudi Arabia, the civil defence announced late on Friday
the death of a Saudi woman and
her three-month-old baby in
the border city of Najran when
a missile red from Yemen hit
their home, the official SPA news
agency said.
The Saudi-led coalition, in
which the United Arab Emirates
has played a key role, has been
battling rebels who since last
year have controlled the capital
Sanaa and much of northern and
central Yemen.
The UAE, which has lost 68
soldiers ghting as part of the
coalition, yesterday welcomed
the rst of its troops returning
from Yemen, the official Wam
news agency said.

UAE soldiers returning from Yemen wave to a crowd welcoming them in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
They were replaced by a second group, it added, without
specifying numbers.
Thousands of Emirati soldiers
have reportedly been deployed in
Yemen, the rst time the country
has sent ground forces to a conict abroad.
Western sources this week
indicated that only a limited
number of UAE special forces
will now remain in Yemen.

Malabar Gold showroom inaugurated

Indian actress Kareena Kapoor Khan recently inaugurated Malabar Gold & Diamonds 140th outlet on Hamdan
Street, Abu Dhabi, in the presence of M P Ahammed, chairman of Malabar Group, Shamlal Ahamed M P, managing
director (international operations) at Malabar Gold & Diamonds, Abdul Salam K P, group executive director, other
directors of Malabar Gold & Diamonds and well-wishers. The actress, along with Shamlal Ahamed, also unveiled a
30kg replica of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque crafted in 18 carat gold at the showroom.

In early September, a missile strike on a coalition base in

Yemens Marib province killed
67 coalition soldiers including 52
Emiratis.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed alNahyan vowed in a speech published on Wam yesterday that
the UAE will go ahead with liberating all of Yemen and rebuilding it.

You are heading to Yemen to

continue cleansing the country from remaining rebel militia
alongside your brothers of the
coalition forces, he said, addressing the new group of soldiers.
He insisted that we attacked
nobody and were not seeking
war... We were forced into it after all peaceful solutions failed
to resolve the Yemen crisis.

The United Nations says that

around 5,000 people have been
killed and 25,000 wounded,
many of them civilians, in Yemens conict since it escalated in
March.
In Saudi Arabia, more than 70
people have been killed in border
shelling and skirmishes since the
coalition campaign began. Soldiers have accounted for most of
the border casualties.

12

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

ARAB WORLD

Crash deals harsh blow to Egypts tourist jewel

AFP
Sharm El Sheikh

ohamed Mansour worries that the Russian

tourists at his hotel
could be the last for some time
after Moscow stopped ights to
Egypt over the downing of a Russian airliner.
About 50% of my hotel occupants are Russians, Mansour,
manager of a leading ve-star
hotel in the Red Sea resort town
of Sharm El Sheikh, said.
The blow comes just ahead
of the peak holiday season of
Christmas and New Year.
Since the 2011 revolution,
the Germans, French and other
Europeans are already coming in
small numbers, Mansour said,

referring to the uprising that

toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak.
Now if the Russians avoid
coming, Sharm El Sheikh will be
doomed.
I dont know what happens
tomorrow, he said, adding that
more than 100 Russians were
currently still at the hotel.
On Friday, President Vladimir
Putin ordered all Russian ights
to Egypt to cease after Cairo and
Moscow initially dismissed a
claim by the Islamic State group
that it downed the plane ying
from Sharm El Sheikh to St Petersburg, killing all 224 on board.
Nine of those killed in the October 31 crash had stayed in Mansours hotel, including a woman
and her two children, he said.
Mounting evidence that the

Airbus A-321 was downed by a

bomb has prompted several governments to warn their citizens
against travelling to the resort.
But Putins order on Friday
delivered a devastating blow to
what is easily the jewel of Egyptian tourism and a favourite holiday hub for Russians.
The resort, long promoted by
Egypt for its pristine beaches and
scuba diving, has attracted millions of tourists a year, including
hundreds of thousands of Russians and Britons.
Before Putins decision, some
two dozen ights a day had ferried thousands of tourists between Sharm El Sheikh and Russia.
Moscow said that nearly
80,000 Russians were in Egypt
yesterday.

Hundreds queued at Sharm El

Sheikh airport, waiting for their
bags to be screened and hoping
they could y out.
I really dont care what happens to Egyptian tourism now. I
just want to go home safe, said
Alessandra Kondratieva.
Tourists said many people
would also avoid Sharm El Sheikh
because of the way airlines handled the situation in the crash
aftermath.
Look at the chaos. Nobody
knows anything, said Bhuvesh
Patel, an investment banker from
London who has been stranded
with his three-year-old son and
pregnant wife.
This puts a negative spin on
the holidays and makes you think
never to come back.
Sharm El Sheikh had already

been badly hit in 2005 when a

series of bombings killed nearly
70 people, but it soon bounced
back.
However, what happened to
the St Petersburg ight could
haunt the town for a long time.
Tourism in Sharm is driven
by Russians, said a senior official
with one foreign airline, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
Russian tourists are very
resort-based, and Sharm meets
that prole.
But Russians are also very
disciplined. They take their governments decisions very seriously. At least for the near term,
tourism in Sharm will be hit.
Every fth Russian tourist going abroad ies to Egypt, Russian
tourism officials say, adding that
even the turmoil that followed

the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi failed to

curb their numbers.
Tourism has faltered in Egypt
since the anti-Mubarak uprising
in 2011, however.
Instability and a rising tide
of attacks claimed by militants
have deterred many would-be
visitors, damaging the economy
and sending foreign exchange reserves plunging.
Last year, just under 10mn
tourists visited Egypt, sharply
down on the 15mn who came in
2010.
Tourism accounts for about
12% of Egypts gross domestic
product and some 15% of its foreign exchange reserves.
And much of this comes from
Sharm El Sheikh.
Once a remote beach on the

shores of the Red Sea, the town

thrives all year.
Attractions such as Soho
Square are popular for their
brightly lit streets, cafes, pubs
and childrens parks.
All this will just die if the Russians and Britishers stop coming, one tourist guide said of
Soho Square.
The consensus among intelligence agencies has emerged
that an explosive device was
planted on the plane, that Sharm
El Sheikh airport was inltrated,
said Fawaz Gerges, professor at
the London School of Economics.
Imagine the long-term impact of this. Sharm El Sheikh is
a lifeline... It is the only bright
spot for Egyptian tourism and
now it has been dealt a devastating blow.

Israeli army
in Hebron
crackdown
after attacks
AFP
Hebron

Men rush away from the site of air strikes in Douma yesterday.

23 Syria civilians killed

in Russian air strikes
Agencies
Beirut

t least 23 Syrian civilians were killed yesterday

in suspected Russian air
strikes on a rebel-held town outside Damascus, a monitor said.
Elsewhere, the Islamic State
group freed 37 Syrian Christians
who were among more than 200
people kidnapped in February, an
NGO said.
The strikes on the rebel district
of Douma hit the centre of the
town where markets are regularly
held, the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights monitor said.
They appeared to have been
carried out by Russian planes
participating in an aerial campaign that began on September
30, the Britain-based group
said.
Rebels in Douma, which lies
in the opposition stronghold of
Eastern Ghouta, regularly re
rockets into the capital and the

area is frequently the target of

government air strikes and shelling.
The Observatory said at least
six children and seven women
were among the dead and that
the toll could rise further because
of the number of people seriously
wounded.
An AFP journalist saw rescue
workers trying to put out res
and several vegetable carts that
had spilled onto the streets, their
wares mixed with the rubble from
damaged buildings.
In a eld clinic, a child lay on a
bed, a tube taped into the side of
his bare and bloodied ribcage as
medical workers tried to assess
him.
Nearby, a man with a chunk
of esh gouged out of his left leg
moaned and held his head as doctors worked on him.
Last month, at least 70 people were killed in a single day of
bombing on the town, according
to Doctors Without Borders.
And in August, 117 people were

killed there in one day of air raids,

causing a global outcry.
Meanwhile, IS freed a group
of Assyrian Christians who had
been taken hostage in northeastern Syria, an NGO said.
The group consisted of 27
women and 10 men, most of
them elderly, the Assyrian Monitor for Human Rights said.
They arrived yesterday morning in the town of Tal Tamr in the
Khabur region of Hasakeh province in northeastern Syria, the
group said.
The releases were conrmed
by the Observatory, which said
most of those freed were from
other towns in Khabur.
The former hostages were
among a group of 220 Assyrians
captured by IS when they overran
parts of the region in February.
Since then, a trickle of prisoners has been released, with between 140 and 150 believed to be
still held by IS.
The Assyrian Monitor said the
releases were the result of negoti-

ations carried out by the church,

but other reports suggest IS has
been paid to free the hostages.
Assyrians numbered about
30,000 among Syrias 1.2mn
Christians before the countrys
conict began. They lived mostly
in 35 villages in Hasakeh.
In February, IS overran many
of the villages, but Kurdish forces
later expelled them.
Also yesterday, the Observatory said the toll in Thursday air
strikes on the town of Albu Kamal
on the border with Iraq had risen
to 71 people, at least 53 of them
civilians.
The other 18 people killed were
too badly burned to be initially
identied, the group said.
Russia, Syrias government and
a US-led coalition are all carrying
out bombing in Syria, sometimes
in the same areas.
US and coalition forces are
likely to increase air strikes
against IS targets in Iraq and Syria in coming weeks after a lull in
September and October, the head

of US Air Forces Central Command said yesterday.

Lieutenant General Charles
Brown told reporters at the Dubai
International Air Chiefs Conference that the reduction in air
strikes was due to weather and
to a slowdown in activity on the
ground and not due to the start of
Russian air strikes.
He said both government forces and insurgents were increasing
their ground movements, which
could create more opportunities
for the United States and its allies to carry out more air strikes
against IS targets.
If theyre not out and about,
its harder to strike, particularly
for an adversary that may wrap
themselves in the civilian population, he said.
Brown also rejected criticism
that the United States was not
using air strikes as much or effectively as possible, saying coalition forces were striving to avoid
civilian casualties that could help
recruitment for IS.

sraeli
forces
yesterday
blocked exits from the
southern West Bank city
of Hebron as they launched a
manhunt for assailants after
shooting incidents targeting
Jewish worshippers and a soldier.
Two Israeli teenagers were
shot and wounded on Friday at
the ashpoint site known to Jews
as the Tomb of the Patriarchs
and Muslims as the Ibrahimi
Mosque, the army said.
Around 4,000 Jewish worshippers were visiting Hebron
on Friday and yesterday as part
of a religious pilgrimage.
A soldier was also shot and
wounded on Friday near the
Palestinian village of Beit Anon
north of Hebron.
Israels Shin Bet internal security agency said they had arrested overnight a 16-year-old
Palestinian from Bani Naim village east of Hebron, who admitted carrying out the Beit Anon
shooting and handed over the
rie he used.
Yesterday, army spokesman
Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner
said there was ongoing activity
to locate the perpetrators of yesterdays attacks.
Israeli forces were searching
Palestinian homes in and around
Hebron as well as setting up new
checkpoints.
The army also blocked off the
northern entrance of Hebron
with mounds of dirt. The eastern entrance has been sealed off
for days.
Activists in the Youth against
Settlements group in Hebron
said they were besieged in
their Hebron office by settlers
accompanied by soldiers.
Palestinian TV journalists also
said settlers disrupted their

broadcasts, following which

Palestinians clashed with Israeli
forces in downtown Hebron.
Two
Palestinians
were
wounded by live re, Palestinian
medics said.
A military spokeswoman said
forces red live rounds at a
main instigator after unsuccessful attempts to otherwise
quell dozens of Palestinians
throwing stones at soldiers.
One hit was conrmed, she
said.
Israeli rights group BTselem
on Friday criticised the army for
carrying out immoral and unlawful measures which it said
hinder Palestinian freedom of
movement in Hebron, including closing off the Tel Rumeida
neighbourhood.
These steps constitute collective punishment of residents
of Hebron who are suspected of
nothing and are forced to suffer
serious disruptions in their daily
lives, the group said.
Hebron has 200,000 Palestinian residents with approximately 500 Israeli settlers living
in the centre, protected by an
army-patrolled buffer zone. The
situation is a constant source of
tension.
Fridays unrest broke a brief
lull in the wave of deadly attacks
and violent protests throughout October that raised fears of
a new Palestinian Intifada, or
uprising, against Israeli occupation.
Most of it had occurred in
and around Hebron and mainly
involved Palestinian stabbing
attacks.
There were no clashes or attacks in the city yesterday as
troops searched for the assailants.
But an army spokeswoman said a soldier was slightly
wounded by an accidental discharge of a bullet near a military
position in Hebron.

Ex-Israel president
Navon dies aged 94
AFP
Jerusalem

itzhak Navon, who

was Israels fth
president, an educator and author of literary and theatrical works
celebrating the Jewish
Sephardic heritage he
shared, has died aged 94,
his family said yesterday.
A statement from his
family said he passed away
at his Jerusalem home on
Friday. Navon was born in
the same city in 1921.
His father was a scion of exiles from Spain
who arrived in Jerusalem
from Turkey in 1670 and
his mothers family had

reached Jerusalem from

Morocco in the 19th century, according to the
presidency.
Navon entered public
life after the war following
Israels creation in 1948
and held a variety of roles.
He headed the education
ministrys culture department, before entering parliament, where he served
from 1968-1978, eventually as part of Labour.
In 1978 he was elected
president, a position he
held until 1983.
He returned to parliament for another nine
years as part of Labour
in a number of positions,
including education minister.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

13

AFRICA

S Leone
celebrates
all clear in
Ebola ght
AFP
Freetown

he World Health Organization said

yesterday that Ebola-ravaged Sierra
Leone had beaten an 18-month outbreak that killed almost 4,000 citizens and
plunged the economy into severe recession.
The former British colony recorded around
half of the cases in an epidemic that has infected 28,600 people across the three hardest-hit west African nations and claimed
11,300 lives since December 2013.
Experts agree that the real death toll is almost certainly signicantly higher than the
official data, which has been skewed by the
under-reporting of deaths in many probable
Ebola cases.
Today, November 7, 2015, the World
Health Organization declares the end of the
Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, Anders Nordstrom, the UN agencys country representative, told a ceremony in the capital Freetown,
to rapturous applause.
The announcement represents a hugely
signicant milestone in UN-backed efforts to
wipe out Ebola, leaving neighbouring Guinea
as the only country still registering cases.
With just a handful of infections a week
arising in that country in recent months,
health campaigners are hopeful the battle
with historys worst outbreak is almost won.
A country is considered free of humanto-human transmission once two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last
known case tested negative for a second time.
The crisis took a devastating toll on primary health services and immunisation programmes, with the deaths of 221 medical staff
in Sierra Leone.
After some false starts, Sierra Leones
countdown nally began on September 25,
three weeks after the WHO had declared
neighbouring Liberia Ebola-free following
4,800 deaths there.
Guinea, where around 2,500 died, still has
a handful of cases and Sierra Leone has announced heightened security and health
screening at their shared border.
All three countries have been at pains to
point out that the end of an outbreak does
not necessarily mean Ebola is gone for good.
But international and local authorities say
the expertise they gained in healthcare, communications, epidemiology and public policy
places them in a far better position to mount
an effective response in the future.
Ebola has ended but we must be prepared
for a re-emergence and we are retaining some
laboratory testing capacities and treatment

centres. But we are condent we now have a

system in place to respond, President Ernest
Bai Koroma told the Freetown ceremony.
He said he was in discussions to end a national state-of-emergency that has placed
severe restrictions on movement, and announced two public holidays before the end
of the year to give thanks and recognise the
bravery of those ghting the outbreak.
The heroism of the 35,000 Ebola response
workers is without parallel and I am here today as head of state to say we have overcome
the virus, Koroma said.
Thousands took to the streets on Friday
night to light candles, wave banners, sing and
dance in an impromptu celebration centred
around the iconic cotton tree in Freetowns
downtown area.
The celebrations continued into the morning, with bars and restaurants offering free
drinks to the revellers.
The steep hills surrounding the city of
1.2mn reverberated with the crackle of reworks while church bells rang out and Muslims offered prayers in the citys mosques.
The epidemic was rst reported in Sierra Leone 18 months ago, when a woman tested positive after contracting the virus at the funeral of
a healer who had been treating Ebola patients in
Kailahun district on the Guinea border.
At the peak of the outbreak in 2014, Sierra Leone and its neighbours were reporting
hundreds of new cases a week, with social order on the brink of collapse.
Villagers beat drums and danced to traditional music as the WHOs announcement
was broadcast in Kailahun, in the remote
eastern jungle.
Everybody was in jubilant mood, many
of them said they felt relieved and are now
planning to return to their farming activities
in the cocoa and rice producing district, one
local told AFP.
While the primary cost of the outbreak has
been in human life, the crisis has also wiped
out development gains in Sierra Leone, which
was devastated by 11 years of civil war ending
in 2002.
The World Bank estimates that the country
will lose at least $1.4bn in forgone economic
growth in 2015 as a result, leading to an unprecedented GDP contraction of more than
20%.
Celebrations were muted in part by memories of the devastation, and across the country, Ebola workers recounted their own personal horror stories.
I hated the smell of chlorine. They say you
only die once, but I died several times. But it
is good it is now over, ambulance driver Ferenka Koroma told AFP.

Power play

Employees take part in a protest over wages against Nigerias Kaduna state Electric Distribution Company at Murtala Mohamed square in Kaduna.

Burundi shrugs off violence

warnings in terrorism ght
AFP
Bujumbura

urundi said yesterday it

wanted only to crush terrorism, as it dismissed international fears of fresh bloodletting if the government carries out
threats to stamp out resistance to
the president.
There will be no war or genocide, presidential communications chief Willy Nyamitwe told
AFP, after international worries
over a government escalation of already strident rhetoric, with warnings of tough measures to quash
resistance to President Pierre Nkurunzizas recent re-election.
But Nyamitwe said the government was trying to suppress acts
of terrorism, as with Shebaab in
Somalia, referring to the Islamist
insurgents that Burundi troops are
ghting as part of an internationally backed African Union force.
It is amazing to see that a government that wants to put an end
to terrorism is criticised instead of
being encouraged, he added.
International alarm has grown over
a deadline that expires this weekend

for civilians to hand over weapons or

face a new regime crackdown.
Washingtons top envoy to the
region, Thomas Perriello, has specically condemned what he called
the inammatory and dangerous
government rhetoric.
But Nyamitwe said that the international community had fallen
into the trap of those who have
wrongly warned of genocide, saying government speeches had several meanings.
They have been interpreted in a
negative manner, Nyamitwe said.
At least 200 people have died
in the latest turmoil and 200,000
have ed the country, recalling
some of the darkest periods of recent history in the region.
But rights activists said people
were deeply fearful of the government messages. Ask anyone in Bujumbura and they will tell you the
same thing: dark days lie ahead,
Carina Tertsakian from Human
Rights Watch (HRW) warned.
Burundi seems to be descending into uncontrolled violence. A
frightening lawlessness is taking
hold, which some authorities appear to be taking advantage of to
justify brutal repression.

Burundi was wracked by 13 years

of conict, ending in 2006, between Hutu rebels and the minority
Tutsi that left 300,000 dead.
Last week, the countrys Senate president Reverien Ndikuriyo
threatened to pulverize regime
opponents who do not lay down
arms before Fridays deadline.
Today, the police shoot in the
legs... but when the day comes that
we tell them to go to work, do not
come crying to us, he said.
The loaded term work was a
euphemism used in Rwanda during
the 1994 genocide to describe the
mass killings of at least 800,000
mainly Tutsi people by extremist
Hutu militias.
The language is unambiguous
to Burundians and chillingly similar to that used in Rwanda in the
1990s before the genocide, the
International Crisis Group (ICG)
think tank said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon said on Friday the discovery
of bodies - many apparently summarily executed - has become a
regular occurrence in Burundis
capital Bujumbura.
In The Hague, the International
Criminal Court has warned it was

ready to prosecute the instigators

of any large-scale violence.
Bujumbura was reported to be
apparently relatively calm yesterday, although tensions remain
high, and many people are eeing
their homes after the government
warnings.
Burundians take these warnings
seriously, having seen relatives,
friends and neighbours shot dead
by the police during nightly raids,
HRW added. Panic has set in, and
some residents of Bujumbura have
been packing up their belongings
and eeing.
On Friday, a journalist arrested
by the army was handed over to the
widely feared National Intelligence
Service (SNR).
Blaise Celestin Ndihokubwayo,
a journalist from the private radio
Isanganiro, was a short distance
outside Bujumbura, radio director
Prasanth Maniradutunga said.
The political crisis has seen
many independent media outlets
shut down, and many journalists
have ed the country or have gone
into hiding because of threats and
attacks.
The UN Security Council is to
meet tomorrow to discuss the crisis.

Niger president to seek re-election

AFP
Niamey

Opposition and civil society members hold a news conference, denouncing the results of an October constitutional referendum that
lifted presidential term limits, in Brazzaville yesterday.

Congo president hails end to two-term limit

AFP
Brazzaville

epublic of Congos President Denis

Sassou Nguesso has hailed the new
constitution adopted in a controversial referendum last month, which
changed the law to allow him try extend his
long-running rule.
The constitution which will henceforth
govern our country is that of November 6,
2015, Justice Minister Aime Emmanuel
Yoka told state television late on Friday.

Congos constitutional court on Friday

conrmed the resounding victory claimed
by the government in the October 25 vote.
The court said a whopping 94.3% of
voters had backed changing the constitution to scrap a 70-year age limit on presidential candidates and lift a ban on presidents serving more than two terms. Sassou
Nguesso is 71 and has already served two
consecutive seven-year mandates. He is
expected to seek re-election next year.
The opposition dubbed the referendum
a constitutional coup, with the FROCAD opposition coalition declaring the

vote was neither free, nor just, nor fair, nor

transparent. The country was rocked by
protests in the run-up to the referendum.
At least four people were killed in clashes
between opposition demonstrators and
security forces in the capital Brazzaville
and economic hub of Pointe-Noire.
Turnout in the referendum was officially
given at 71.2%, despite evidence of low
levels of participation in some areas.
Former paratrooper colonel Sassou
Nguesso took power in 1979 and has been
in office ever since, barring a ve-year hiatus in the 1990s.

igers ruling party yesterday named President

Mahamadou Issoufou as
its candidate for next years presidential election, an AFP journalist
said.
Issoufou, 63, was selected so
that he can continue the work he
started for the benet of the people of Niger, said Bazoum Mohamed, president of the ruling
Nigerien Party for Democracy and
Socialism (PNDS) at a ceremony
marking the occasion which was
attended by 5,000 people.
President Issoufous record has

been very satisfying, he said.

Issoufou was rst elected in
2011 in a vote organised by a military junta which in 2010 overthrew
president Mamadou Tandja, who
was seeking to stay in power beyond the two-term limit set by Nigers constitution.
Issoufous nomination makes
him the third candidate for the
presidential poll, which will held
concurrently with parliamentary
elections, with a rst round to held
on February 21.
Former parliamentary speaker
Hama Amadou, who is living in
France, and ex-planning minister
Amadou Boubacar Cisse have also
announced their candidacies.
Both supported Issoufou in the

second round of voting in 2011

after their own bids for the presidency fell through.
The UN called in September for
peaceful and credible elections
amid political tension and threats
to stability from jihadist forces
in the desert north and from the
radical Islamists of Boko Haram
based in neighbouring northeast
Nigeria.
Niger, whose primary source
of foreign income is uranium, has
joined a regional military alliance
to ght Boko Haram, infamous
for mass abductions, village massacres and suicide bombings by
women and teenagers. The Islamists began attacking southern Niger last February.

Over 90,000 hit by Somalia oods: UN

AFP
United Nations

ver 90,000 people in wartorn southern Somalia

have been hit by weeks
of severe ooding, almost half of
them forced from their homes, the
UN has warned.
More than 90,000 people have
been affected since October 23
and an estimated 42,000 people
displaced as a result of the ash

oods and river ooding, the UN

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
Hardest hit are the southern
Somali regions of Bakool, Bay,
Lower Juba, Middle Juba and Middle Shabelle, with ash ooding
in late October, the UN report released late Friday read.
Fighting continues in many of
those areas between Somalias Al
Qaeda linked Shebaab insurgents
and government and allied forces,
backed by an African Union force

that counts more than 20,000

members.
The UN said that while rains and
river levels have now eased, the risk
of more ooding is not over. Thousands of people in the low lying areas of the southern and central parts
of Somalia remain at risk of ash
and river ooding, the UN added.
Somalia is hit by seasonal ooding most years, but weather experts also warn of the risk of oods
sparked by the El Nino weather
phenomenon.

14

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

AMERICA

Sexting scandal shocks Colorado high school

AFP
Los Angeles

massive sexting ring is

rocking a high school in
Colorado, with at least
100 students trading nude pictures and posting them on social
media, news reports said on Friday.
Some of the kids in the photographs were as young as 12, and

included eighth graders from

the middle school, The New York
Times reported.
The students, many of whom
are on the football team at Canon City High School, could now
face criminal charges, reports
said.
The school district announced
on Wednesday that a number of
our students have engaged in behaviour where they take and pass
along pictures of themselves

that expose private parts of their

bodies or their undergarments.
Noting that a large number
of the high school football team
players were implicated in the
scandal, the district said it was
cancelling the high schools last
football game of the season.
Because we cant guarantee
that every kid we put out on the
eld would be clean of this circumstance, we would just rather
not put a team out at all, Canon

City Schools Superintendent

George Welsh told NBC television affiliate KOAA.
Noting it rst learned of the
behaviour on Monday based on
anonymous tips and student
reports, the district stressed
that taking a picture of yourself
showing a naked private body
part and sending it to another
person was a felony.
The same applies if receiving
such a picture and forwarding it

to another person, or receiving

such a picture and retaining possession of it over time.
According to The New York
Times, police and the district
attorneys office are weighing
whether to le child pornography
charges - including felony charges
- against some of the participants.
Students circulated up to 400
lewd photographs, it added.
The police probe is focusing on
whether any adults were involved,

the school district said.

Students used password-protected phone vaults, apps that
often appear to be simple calculators at rst glance, to hide the
photos from their parents and
school officials.
Its been going on for years,
one Canon City student told
KRDO13, an affiliate of ABC television.
The student said some fellow
students, especially girls, had

been pressured to take pictures

of themselves. The school administration held an assembly
on Thursday to warn parents and
explain the technology that allows
their children to hide photos.
Canon City Sheriff Paul Schultz
said the problem extends far beyond the town limits.
With the new technologies,
this is happening everywhere, he
said. Should parents be worried?
Absolutely.

Two officers
arrested over
fatal shooting
of boy (6)
Agencies
Chicago

wo US law enforcement
officers have been arrested on charges of murder
and attempted murder over the
fatal shooting of a six-year-old
boy in Louisiana, officials said.
The death of Jeremy Mardis
will add to growing criticism
over perceived brutality in US
police forces after several highprole incidents over the last
year.
City marshals Norris Greenhouse, 23, and Derrick Stafford,
32, were arrested on Friday following an incident in Marksville
on November 3 in which they
opened re on a vehicle, killing
the boy and critically wounding

his father, Chris Few, who was

driving. The boy was reportedly
hit by ve bullets, in the head
and the chest.
Another two officers that were
involved were also placed on administrative leave.
Colonel Mike Edmonson of
Louisiana State Police said the
boy died while strapped into the
front passenger seat.
He didnt deserve to die like
that, he told reporters at a press
conference late on Friday, saying
the police badge had been tarnished.
Citing police body-camera
footage of the incident, he described it as the most disturbing thing Ive seen.
He said it was a complex
case.
Investigators told the WBRZ

TV station that the four officers

had tried to pull the driver over.
He then allegedly tried to back
down a dead-end street toward
the marshals, who responded
by opening re. Few was badly
wounded and his son was killed.
The TV station quoted Louisiana State Police as saying no
weapons were recovered from
the vehicle.
The Washington Post said
Mardis was the youngest victim
of a fatal police shooting this
year.
Police tactics have come under scrutiny in the US in recent
months after a series of bystander videos showed officers
using unnecessary force against
unarmed members of the public,
many of them belonging to the
nations black community.

Police hunt for killers of 9-yr-old

AFP
Chicago

olice continued their hunt

yesterday for the killers of a
nine-year-old Chicago boy
who was lured into an alley and
fatally shot, apparently in retaliation against his father, who had
gang ties.
The bullet-riddled body of
young Tyshawn Lee was found
on Monday not far from his home
in Chicagos South Side, an area
of the city that has seen a dramatic rise in homicides in recent
months.
But even in a city that has become somewhat callous to sometimes deadly street violence, the
boys murder has pricked the
conscience of many in Chicago,
including its law enforcement ofcers.
Tyshawn Lee was murdered

in probably the most abhorrent,

cowardly, unfathomable crime
that Ive witnessed in 35 years of
policing, the citys police superintendent Garry McCarthy told
reporters at a press conference on
Thursday.
Police said Tyshawns father,
Pierre Stokes, so far has not cooperated with their investigation.
Stokes, interviewed by Chicagos WLS television, denied gang
warfare played a role in his sons
murder.
My dealings and what I do has
nothing to do with my son, period. Its crushing me, I can barely
breathe at times when I think
about it, Stokes said earlier this
week.
He added: I just want to see
justice for my son.
US news reports say Chicago
has recorded 421 homicides so far
this year, the most of any city in
the US.

The citys mayor, Rahm

Emanuel, vowed to nd and prosecute Tyshawns killers.
Whoever did this, there is a
special place for them, he said. I
hope they never see daylight, and
I think anybody who knows who
this is... you have a moral responsibility to come forward.
Reverend Michael Peger, who
for years has worked as a pastor
in the community, called the targeting of an innocent child a new
low in the citys ruthless street
violence.
A baby was assassinated right
behind us in this alley, Peger
told reporters.
There used to be some codes,
some barriers, some lines that
used to be drawn in the community, some things in the city that
were not acceptable, Peger said.
We must now put the code
back. Weve got to draw the lines
back.

New York
records
its hottest
Nov 6 in
70 years
New York recorded its hottest
November 6 in nearly 70 years
on Friday, as skaters splashed
through puddles on a much-loved
ice rink and commuters strolled
around in T-shirts.
The thermometer in Central Park
reached 74F (23C) at 1:37pm,
matching the previous record set
in 1948, according to the National
Weather Service.
At LaGuardia Airport, the mercury
rose to 75F, thrashing the
previous record of 71 degrees set
in 1948.
Skaters at the ice rink in Bryant
Park, which opened last Friday
at the onset of the fall-winter
season, slushed through puddles,
slipping and falling as the ice
melted.
Unseasonably warm weather in
the Eastern US has made the first
few days of November feel more
like late summer.

Sandhill Cranes land in flooded fields to roost for the night at the Sandhill Crane Reserve near Thornton, California. Thousands of Sandhill
Cranes are arriving in the California Delta during their seasonal migration. The states ongoing drought has left the cranes, along with
millions of other waterfowl that migrate from Canada and other northern climes to spend the winter in California, with fewer places to
land, threatening their health as they crowd in on one another to seek shelter and food.

Drought shrinks winter

digs for migratory birds
By Sharon Bernstein/Reuters
Lodi, California

ith their red heads,

7-ft (2.13m) wingspan and a trilling
call, migrating Sandhill Cranes
provide a dramatic sunset
spectacle as they land by the
thousands in wetlands near
Sacramento each night during
the fall and winter.
But the states ongoing
drought has left the cranes,
along with millions of other
waterfowl that migrate from
Canada and other northern
climes to spend the winter in
California, with fewer places to
land, threatening their health
as they crowd in on one another
to seek shelter and food.
Theyre left with fewer and
fewer places to go, which will
start to have impacts on their
population, said Meghan Hertel, who works on habitat issues for the Audubon Society in
California. They can die here
from starvation or disease or
be weaker for their ight back
north.
The cranes are a beloved sight
in Californias Sacramento and
San Joaquin Valleys when they
arrive each fall.
Tourists ock to see them as
they take off en masse at dawn
or land in a series of swooping,
trilling groups as the sun goes

down. This weekend, the town

of Lodi near the SacramentoSan Joaquin River Delta holds
its annual crane festival, complete with tours of the wetlands
where the 5-ft tall birds spend
their days foraging for food and
their nights roosting in shallow
water.
Californias Central Valley
- which includes both the San
Joaquin and the Sacramento
- provides winter lodging for
60% of the worlds 10,000
remaining greater Sandhill
Cranes, a taller crane variety
that is listed as a threatened
species by the state, according to the Audubon Society. As
many as 25,000 of their shorter
cousins, the lesser Sandhill
Cranes, also roost in the region.
But the wildlife refuges set
up to replace natural habitat
long diminished by the dams
and levees built by humans in
the most-populous US state
are themselves drier this year,
and fewer acres of wetland are
available to the birds.
And in an ironic twist, farmers criticised by some conservationists for ooding their corn,
rice and alfalfa elds have cut
back the practice dramatically
as the drought has worn on, saving water but reducing habitat
for waterfowl, who rely on the
wet acreage to roost and feed.
The impact of not having ooded agricultural elds

available to the birds is huge,

said Craig Isola, deputy project
leader for the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
In the Sacramento Valley north of the Delta, ooded
elds rich with unused grain,
insects and other nutrients
supply half of the food eaten by
migratory birds each year, Isola
said.
But this year, rice farmers
plan to ood just 100,000 of
the 300,000 acres that they
normally cover with about ve
inches of water, said Paul Buttner, environmental affairs
manager for the California Rice
Commission.
Wetland acreage is also down
at the wildlife refuges managed
by state and federal agencies.
Thats because even though
the refuges are located in areas that were once natural
wetlands, the water that would
have owed to them a century
or more ago has long since been
blocked by dams, levees and
reservoirs meant to help manage water for a state that has
grown to include 39mn residents.
As a result, the refuges receive an allocation of water
each year from regional water
suppliers, which they then use
to ood their lands just in time
for migratory birds to come in
the fall. The states catastroph-

ic drought, now in its fourth

year, led the regulators who
manage Californias water supply to cut back the allocation
for the refuges by up to 45% for
2015.
Rain is expected to help
ease conditions in the southern part of the state, thanks to
the weather and Pacic Ocean
warming phenomenon known
as El Nino, relief that would
also provide more wet habitat
for migratory birds.
But El Nino doesnt always
bring rain as far north as the
Sacramento Valley or the Delta
area, so there is a chance that
dry conditions will linger here.
If that happens, the cranes,
ducks, geese and other migratory birds that winter in the
states midsection would have
to crowd in to dramatically
smaller wetland areas, making
it easier to spread of such diseases as avian cholera.
If a disease outbreak occurs we could lose a lot more
of them than we would in a
normal year, said Dan Yparraguirre, deputy director of the
California Department of Fish
and Wildlife.
Birds might also be weakened
by a lack of food.
They will have less access to
food and poorer body condition
come spring, then when they
migrate north they may not
make it, he said.

Gyrocopter man to plead guilty: lawyer

Reuters
Washington

A young skater pushes her skating aide through a huge puddle of

water from the melted ice at Bryant Park Ice Skating Rink in New
York on Friday. New York City was becoming very close to breaking a
record high temperature, which is 74F (23C) set back in 1948.

Florida man who flew

a gyrocopter onto the
US Capitol grounds
in an effort to advocate for
campaign finance reform will
plead guilty and face jail time
when he appears in federal
court this month, his lawyer
said on Friday.
Douglas Hughes, a 61-yearold mail carrier from Ruskin,
Florida, is scheduled to appear
in court on Nov 20, where he
will plead guilty to one felony

count of operating without an

airman certificate, his attorney, Mark Goldstone, said.
Hughes faces up to three
years in jail. Goldstone is asking the judge give his client
probation.
Hughes had earlier rejected
two plea deals, calling his illegal April 15 flight an act of civil
disobedience and contending
that the trial would bring attention to campaign finance.
Hughes was arrested after
piloting the craft from Pennsylvania and landing on the
west lawn of the Capitol as police and tourists looked on. He

was carrying a letter for each of

the 535 members of Congress.
Dougs dramatic act of
aerial civil disobedience was
a cry that our democracy is in
peril unless ordinary citizens
feel free to speak up and have
their voices heard by their
government, Goldstone said
in a statement.
Aircraft are banned from
flying in the area of the Capitol and White House without
permission.
The flight of the small aircraft, which resembles a helicopter, but has an unpowered
rotor and separate propeller,

was among the most highprofile of recent security lapses in the US capital.
The stunt exposed security
lapses and showed the need
for improved informationsharing and air security technology, according to a report
from the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee released in
August.
The report also recommended stricter penalties
against airspace violations in
the US capital and the naming
of a lead agency to investigate
potential flight incursions.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

15

AMERICAS

Jurors urged to convict mobster for Goodfellas heist

Reuters
New York

s a group of masked men

ransacked an airport cargo
building in New York on a
December night in 1978, making
off with $6mn in cash and jewels, US prosecutors say Vincent
Asaro and Jimmy Burke were eagerly waiting in a car a mile away

for the biggest score of their lives.

That heist, famously depicted
in the movie Goodfellas, formed
the basis for Asaros arrest in 2014
more than three decades later.
On Friday, prosecutors urged a
New York jury to convict Asaro,
80, a reputed member of the Bonanno crime family, for his role
in the theft as well as a litany of
other offences from murder to
extortion.

He lived by and personally

enforced the Maas code: Death
before dishonour, Assistant
US Attorney Alicyn Cooley told
jurors in Brooklyn federal court
at the end of a three-week trial,
noting that Asaro has that phrase
tattooed on his arm.
Her painstakingly detailed
summation lasted six hours,
pushing the defence closing argument to Monday.

At trial, defence lawyers have

sought to show the governments
key witness, Asaros cousin
Gaspare Valenti, lied on the stand
when he claimed Asaro participated in the infamous robbery of a
Lufthansa Airlines building at John
F Kennedy International Airport.
The heist, one of the countrys
most notorious unsolved crimes
until Asaros arrest, provided
a key plot point for Goodfel-

las, Martin Scorseses Academy

Award-winning 1990 lm.
Asaro was closely associated
with Jimmy Burke, long thought to
be the mastermind of the heist and
the inspiration for Robert DeNiros
character in the mob movie.
Burke, who was never charged
in connection with the caper,
died in prison while serving time
for unrelated crimes. Some other
members of the crew were killed

off, as seen in Goodfellas, though

jurors were not told of those
murders.
Asaro is also accused of numerous other crimes, including
loan-sharking, stealing $1.25mn
of gold salts from a FedEx Corp
truck and arson.
In 1969, prosecutors say, he
and Burke strangled a suspected
informant to death with a dog
chain.

Asaros cousin, Valenti, was

among several former Maa
members who testied at trial
after signing deals with prosecutors, giving jurors a rsthand account of the violent life of a Maoso.
Youve seen the maa at
its darkest and its most sinister, Cooley told the jury. Even
though its been delayed for too
long, justice is still within reach.

White House
hopeful Carson
bristles under
intense scrutiny
AFP
Washington

en Carson soared to the

top of the 2016 Republican presidential heap with
a compelling personal narrative,
but questions about his past and
a disputed military scholarship
now threaten to disrupt his highying campaign.
The retired doctor has riveted
audiences for months with vivid
descriptions of how he lived a
violent adolescence - including
trying to kill a classmate when
he was 14 - before vanquishing
his anger to become a world-renowned neurosurgeon.
His political outsider candidacy has gained momentum, and
he nds himself tied for the lead
with billionaire Donald Trump in
the Republican nomination race,
besting establishment candidates like Jeb Bush.
But his campaign success
has begun to draw closer scrutiny from observers and US media diving deeper into Carsons
claims about his volatile background growing up poor in Detroit.
The digging has found discrepancies, inconsistencies and,
in the latest revelations on Friday, apparent falsications.
Carsons campaign acknowledged that his account of being
offered a scholarship to the prestigious US Military Academy at
West Point was wrong, Politico
reported.
The candidate has made West
Point an inspirational part of his
personal narrative, writing about
it in his autobiography, Gifted
Hands.
In that account, he said that
as a high school senior who had
turned his life around and was
rising in the Reserve Officer
Training Corps (ROTC) in Detroit, he got to meet famed Army
general William Westmoreland.
I had dinner with him and the
Congressional Medal winners.
Later I was offered a full schol-

arship to West Point, Carson

wrote in his book.
But according to Politico, West
Point said it had no record of
Carson applying or being offered
admission.
An education at the US Armys
premier school for prospective
officers is free for all its students,
so there are no scholarships per
se.
With the story snowballing,
Carson went into damage control
mode.
I dont remember all the specic details, he told The New
York Times.
Because I had done so extraordinarily well you know I was
told that someone like me - they
could get a scholarship to West
Point. But I made it clear I was
going to pursue a career in medicine, he said.
It was, you know, an informal
with a record like yours we could
easily get you a scholarship to
West Point.

There is a desperation
on behalf of some to try
to find a way to tarnish
me because they have
been looking through
everything
During a press conference in
Florida, a sometimes agitated
Carson said he does not remember the names of the people who
made what he interpreted as an
offer of a West Point scholarship.
Its almost 50 years ago. I bet
you dont remember the people
you talked to 50 years ago, Carson told reporters.
There is a desperation on behalf of some to try to nd a way
to tarnish me because they have
been looking through everything.
It has to be a scandal or
something. They are getting desperate. Next week, it will be my
kindergarten teacher who said I
peed in my pants. It is ridiculous.
Its okay because I totally expect
it, Carson added.
Carson had earlier spoken of

West Point on August 13. In response to a voters question, he

posted on Facebook that he was
thrilled to get an offer from West
Point. But I knew medicine is
what I wanted to do.
Asked on Friday by Fox News
whether he should have been
more clear about West Point in
his book, Carson said: I guess it
could have been more claried. I
told it as I understood it.
The soft-spoken, Yale-educated Carson has spoken powerfully of his turbulent childhood,
his pathological temper and
spiritual redemption.
He has described trying to stab
a classmate, only to learn that the
boys belt buckle broke the blade
before it could enter his abdomen.
Carson has mentioned numerous other violent episodes,
including attempting to hit his
mother with a hammer, and
punching a boy in the head while
holding a metal lock.
CNN reported that nine of
Carsons friends, classmates or
neighbours told the network that
they had no memory of the kind
of violence described by the candidate.
Carson told CNN I changed
the names of several of the victims to respect their privacy.
But he insisted the incidents
had in fact occurred, and suggested US media were concocting a bunch of lies about him.
I think its pathetic and basically what the media does is they
try to get you distracted with all
of this stuff so that you dont talk
about the things that are important, Carson said.
Presidential expert Peter Kastor, a professor at Washington
University in St Louis, offered a
message for White House hopefuls: get used to it.
They should expect scrutiny,
Kastor said.
Presidential candidates since
John F Kennedy have put their
private lives on public display for
public purpose, and the media
remains duty-bound to investigate them, he said.

Demonstrators, celebrating US President Barack Obamas blocking of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, rally in front of the White House in Washington, DC on Friday.

US rejection of pipeline
wont sour Canada ties
AFP
Ottawa

ashingtons rejection
of a pipeline to bring
Canadian crude oil to
the US Gulf Coast wont sour
bilateral ties, the prime minister said on Friday, as the builder
signalled it wasnt ready to give
up.
The Canada-US relationship is much bigger than any
one project, Justin Trudeau
said in the wake of the longawaited announcement seen as
a blow to the new leader.
Still, the decision to scrap
TransCanadas Keystone XL
pipeline marks the rst major
rift in nearly a century of Canada-US energy co-operation
that saw unrivalled integration
of the two neighbours energy
infrastructure, including power
transmission lines and 70 existing cross-border oil and gas
pipelines.
It also means Canada must
now nd an alternative route to
get oil from landlocked Alberta
to new markets overseas, with
current proposals to build conduits to Pacic and Atlantic oil
terminals also under re, and
musings about a link through
the Arctic not making any headway.
Pipeline builder TransCanada
appeared undeterred and keen
to press on with the project.

TransCanada and its shippers remain absolutely committed to building this important
energy infrastructure project,
company chief executive Russ
Girling said.
Today, misplaced symbolism
was chosen over merit and science - rhetoric won out over reason, he added in remarks aimed
at environmental activists who
lobbied against the project.
TransCanada, which saw
its share price fall 5% after the
snub, said it would not give up
so easily and was considering
ling another application to the
US State Department to build a
cross-border pipeline.

Some officials stressed that

the scrapping of Keystone wont
mean much for oil exports from
Canada to its southern neighbour.
The rejection of Keystone
will not stop Canadian oil exports to the US, Tory leader
Rona Ambrose said.
It simply means we will continue to rely on transportation
alternatives like shipping and
rail.
For many, the objections
to the pipeline were a proxy
for their ght against climate
change. They charged that a
more carbon-intense process
of extraction and processing is

Trudeau disappointed on Keystone

Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau said on
Friday he was disappointed
at the US decision to block
the proposed Keystone XL
oil pipeline but didnt see it
standing in the way of improving relations between the two
countries.
Canadas newly elected Liberal government also reiterated
it was prepared to support
domestic pipeline projects like
TransCanada Corps Keystone
alternative Energy East, but
only if there was buy-in from
local communities.
While he openly backed Keystone XL ahead of last months

Canadian election, Trudeau

made clear he would adopt a
different tack than the outgoing
Conservatives, who irritated
the US administration with
constant pressure to approve
the cross-border pipeline.
The Canada-US relationship
is much bigger than any one
project and I look forward to
a fresh start with President
Obama to strengthen our
remarkable ties in a spirit of
friendship and cooperation,
the Liberal leader stated.
We are disappointed by the
decision but respect the right
of the US to make the decision.

required to produce crude from

the oil sands.
But several reviews of the
project rst proposed in 2008
found that denying its construction would in fact not stem
development of the oil sands,
which was one of the biggest
drivers of the Canadian economy before a slump in oil prices
last year.
Many foreign energy rms
are also heavily invested in the
region, with oil shipments to
the US - Canadas main energy
customer - topping 3bn barrels
each day.
Foreign Minister Stephane
Dion said Canada, the worlds
fth largest oil producer, would
not close the shop in order to
not have any pollution.
Some appeared put off by
President Barack Obamas remarks about the failed bid.
Among other things, Obama
said allowing in dirtier oil
from Canadas oil sands would
be a setback in long-term efforts to reduce US reliance on
fossil fuels as it looks to curb
global warming.
I dont think they needed to
be quite so critical of our energy
product (calling it dirty oil),
said Rachel Notley, the premier
of Alberta, where tens of thousands of oil jobs have been lost
over the past year.
But it highlights that we
need to do a better job on climate change.

Sikh soldier takes command of Canadas military

AFP
Ottawa

porting a turban and a thick

beard, decorated soldier
Harjit Sajjan stood out in
the Canadian military, but as
defence minister he is among
several Sikhs appointed to key
positions in Justin Trudeaus administration.
The veteran of wars in Bosnia
and Afghanistan was appointed
to the senior ministerial post on
Wednesday, when Trudeau and
his cabinet were sworn in, following the Liberals October 19
election victory.
At age 45, he takes on one of
the toughest jobs of the new administration.
He will be responsible for
winding down Canadas combat mission against the Islamic
State group in Iraq and Syria,
withdrawing from the US-led
F-35 ghter jet programme and
quashing sexual misconduct in
the military.

He will also sit on the new governments most powerful cabinet

committees, including public
safety and espionage.
Born in Punjab, India in 1970,
Sajjan moved to Canada with his
family at age ve, settling in the
Pacic coast city of Vancouver.
He worked 11 years as a police officer, including a stint as a
detective with the gang crimes
unit, before joining the Canadian
military and rising to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel.
Ironically, he was reportedly
rejected by the rst unit where he
applied 26 years ago, but stuck it
out.
He would go on to deploy four
times overseas to Bosnia and
Afghanistan - where he earned
honours for helping to weaken
the Talibans inuence - and became the rst Sikh to command a
Canadian army regiment.
He was the best single Canadian intelligence asset in
theatre (in Afghanistan) and his
hard work, personal bravery,
and dogged determination un-

Canadas new National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan as he is sworn-in

during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. With his turban, his greying
beard, and his moustache proud and abundant, Harjit Sajjan, the new
National Defence Minister, is straight out of place in the landscape and
conventional armed forces.

doubtedly saved a multitude of

coalition lives, said David Fraser,
former commander of the Multinational Brigade in southern
Afghanistan, in a short biography
of the Liberal candidate for the
Vancouver South electoral district.
In an interview with The Globe
and Mail, Fraser said Sajjan was a
true warrior who thrives in the
face of adversity.
I picked him (for the Afghanistan job) because of his experience in dealing with gangs because the Taliban were nothing
more than bunch of thugs and
gangs, Fraser told the daily.
Entering politics, Sajjan faced
a messy nomination that split
the large Vancouver Sikh community.
Many ripped up their Liberal
membership cards over the backing he received from former leaders of the World Sikh Organisation (WSO), including Sajjans
own father.
The WSO, which has long advocated for the creation of a Sikh

homeland, was criticised in the

past for praising Air India bombmaker Inderjit Reyat, who remains the only person convicted
in the 1985 attack on a jetliner
that killed 329 passengers and
crew over the Atlantic Ocean,
southwest of Ireland.
I am not a member of the
WSO. Ive had no negative vibes
from anybody, Sajjan told public
broadcaster CBC last year.
On Wednesday, WSO president Amritpal Sing Shergill
praised the record number of
Sikh MPs that would be serving
in the new parliament.
They include three men and a
woman in the cabinet - Sajjan,
Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet
Sohi, Innovation, Science and
Economic Development Minister
Navdeep Bains and Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger.
This comes nearly two decades
after Herb Dhaliwal became the
rst Indo-Canadian to be appointed to the cabinet.
Punjabi is now the third most

common language at Parliament

Hill, the seat of Canadas government, Shergill said.
Settling into his new job while
still a lieutenant in the army reserves, Sajjan is in the unusual
position of maybe having to take
orders from generals who answer
to him as minister.
Among them are the chief of
the Defense Staff, General Jon
Vance, who requested Sajjans
specialised skills in counterinsurgency and Afghanistan tribal
politics for a 2009 mission in
Kandahar.
Sajjan has asked to be released
from the Canadian forces, but it
has not yet been nalised.
If we all of a sudden send
soldiers in harms way and my
skills are absolutely needed for
the mission, Id be happy to take
a leave of absence from being a
member of Parliament and share
the risk with the other members
of the CAF (Canadian Armed
Forces), Sajjan told the Canadian
Military Family Magazine during
the campaign.

16

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

ASEAN
Thailand
to cut visa
fees for
Vietnam
workers
DPA
Bangkok

Myanmar polling staff take their posts alongside ballot boxes during preparation for the countrys election at a polling centre in Yangon yesterday.

Myanmar prepares for

rst free vote in 25 years
Reuters
Yangon/Mandalay

yanmar goes to the

polls today, taking its
biggest stride yet in
a journey to democracy from
dictatorship, but the legacy of
military rule means opposition
icon Aung San Suu Kyi cannot
become president even if her
party wins a landslide.
The sense of excitement in
the Southeast Asian nation was
palpable on the eve of the election as around 30mn people
prepared to vote in the rst free
nationwide poll in a quarter of a
century.
I really want change, said
Zobai, a Muslim jade trader in
the second-largest city of Mandalay who goes by one name.
Ive been alive for 53 years
and all Ive seen is dictatorship.
Religious tensions marred the
run-up to the election, fanned
by Buddhist nationalists whose
actions have intimidated Myanmars Muslim minority.
Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi
won the last free vote in 1990,
but the military ignored the result. She spent most of the next
20 years under house arrest before her release in 2010.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to
win again, but she is barred

Rohingya women and men gather at the Thel-Chaung displacement camp in Sittwe located in Rakhine State yesterday. Right: Special election
police guard a polling station where Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be voting in Yangon.
from taking the presidency herself under a constitution written by the junta to preserve its
power.
If she wins a majority and is
able to form Myanmars rst
democratically elected government since the 1960s, Suu Kyi
says she will be the power behind the new president regardless of a constitution she has
derided as very silly.
Suu Kyi starts the contest
with a sizeable handicap in
parliament: even if the vote is
deemed free and fair, one-quarter of parliaments seats will still
be held by unelected military
officers.

To form a government and

choose its own president, the
NLD on its own or with allies
must win more than two-thirds
of all seats up for grabs. By contrast, the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP) would need far fewer
seats if it secured the backing of
the military bloc in parliament.
However, voters are expected to spurn the USDP, created
by the former junta and led by
former military officers, because it is associated with the
brutal dictatorship that installed President Thein Seins
nominally civilian government
in 2011.

An inconclusive result could

thrust parties representing
Myanmars myriad ethnic minorities into a king-maker role,
bringing them closer to the centre of power after years on the
fringes.
In Mandalay, a hotbed of Buddhist nationalism, men streaming out of the Joon Mosque yesterday expressed admiration for
Suu Kyi -- but also apprehension
about post-election politics.
I feel like a student waiting
for his exam results. Im afraid we
might lose, said Alaslam, 60, in
the mosques tiled courtyard.
Zobai, the jade trader, blamed
the government and military for

stoking anti-Muslim hatred in

the majority Buddhist country,
most recently via anonymous yers and banners that said an NLD
win would pave the way to a Muslim takeover of the country.
Until just a few years ago a
pariah state, Myanmar has little
experience organising elections.
Underlining the infancy of its
democracy, a survey released
yesterday by the Mizzima media group showed that just 29%
of voters were familiar with the
candidates in their areas.
More worrying is the prospect of an unfair vote after it
emerged that around 4mn people will be unable to cast a vote.

Thousands are missing from

voter lists,millions abroad failed
to register in time, and most of
the 1.1mn persecuted Muslim
Rohingya minority are barred
from voting.
In a pre-election speech on
Friday, President Thein Sein
acknowledged that organising
the vote was a challenge and
stressed the governments commitment to ensuring a credible
vote, with more than 10,000
observers scrutinising the process.
People are really interested
in the election and eager to
vote, said Hla Myo, a poll volunteer in the countrys largest
city, Yangon. He said more advance voting forms had to be
ordered at the last minute for
people who would be unable to
cast their ballots on the day.
Security has been tightened around the country, with
40,000 specially trained police
dispatched to polling stations,
and some Yangon restaurants
and markets have been closed.
The president sought to dispel concern that the military or
the government would reject
the vote.
Id like to say again that the
government and the military
will respect and accept the results, he said. I will accept the
new government formed, based
on the election result.

hailands Labour Ministry is seeking to reduce

visa fees for Vietnamese
workers to tackle a labour shortage in the country, media reports
said yesterday.
The ministry planned to submit the request to the cabinet
Tuesday for an approval of a visa
fee reduction from 2,000 baht
($55.80) to 500 baht. The new
rate will be in line with one that
applies to workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia that
account for nearly 90% of all
foreign labour in Thailand.
Thailand is facing the shortage
of labour in the industrial sector
as the countrys population ages,
according to the director of the
Office of Industrial Economics.
The industrial sector, with
over 6mn people in its workforce, relies on 770,000 migrant
workers but is currently facing a
shortage of 34,000 people, according to Siriruj Julkarat.
In ve years the shortage in
the industrial sector will increase to 380,000 people, he told
the Matichon newspaper.
More than 1.3mn migrant
workers are employed in the
country that has the secondhighest daily minimum wage in
the region at $8.8, after Singapore.
But the number may be closer
to 3mn if the undocumented
workers are included. Illegal
migrant workers usually enter
the country on tourist visas and
overstay the 30-day visas without registering for 1-year work
visas.
Thailand has one of the
worlds lowest unemployment
rates, with less than 1% of the
population being unemployed.
DIPLOMACY

Singapore, Beijing
to boost ties
China and Singapore have agreed
to redefine their ties as a partnership of all-round co-operation
keeping with the times during
Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit
to the city-state.The two countries
also decided to launch negotiations
on an upgrade of a seven-yearold free trade agreement (FTA),
Xinhua reported. The decision
was announced after a meeting
between Xi and his Singaporean
counterpart, Tony Tan Keng Yam.
It was Xis first visit to Singapore
as Chinese president. This year
marks the 25th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic ties
between the two countries.China
is willing to work closely with
Singapore and seize the momentum to elevate bilateral ties to a
new height, Xi said.To this end, the
Chinese president suggested that
both countries continue frequent
exchanges of high-level visits and
provide leadership guidance.

Mystics read the runes ahead of historic election

AFP
Yangon

rom Tarot cards to black

magic, Myanmars most
competitive elections in decades are suffused with a superstition inherited from years under
secretive generals whose reliance
on the whispered predictions of
astrologers was legendary.
Todays vote, pitting Aung San
Suu Kyis opposition against the
countrys military elites for the
rst time in a quarter of a century,
may be an earthly matter of ballots
in boxes, but in Myanmar seeking
the counsel of soothsayers is commonplace.
In a modest booth on the stairwell of the revered golden Shwedagon Pagoda yesterday, fortune
teller Hnin Ohn Mar Yee snapped
a Tarot card down and declared the
veteran activist was in with a good
chance.
This card shows that the winner will be the one that people
choose to become their president. So think about it, people will
choose who? Of course the NLD,
she said, referring to Suu Kyis

National League for Democracy.

Another card she ipped was a
harbinger of violence, injustice,
but she swiftly found a more reassuring one.
The new government will handle it perfectly, she said condently.
Todays vote is expected to
transform the NLD into the biggest party in parliament if polling
is fair, but with no reliable opinion
polls, speculation over the results
is as open to astrologers as it is to
political analysts.
Even the date of the poll itself
is seen as a result of numerology,
while rumblings of mystical goings
on during this election seethe on
social media and in daily conversation.
One of my friends called me
last night asking to stay at home in
the coming days because he heard
that a Buddha statue was weeping.
It can mean bad luck for people,
said Maung Phyo, 24, on the streets
of northern Yangon, dismissing
the portent.
Rumours are rife of yadaya
-- black magic -- being deployed
to unsettle the NLD and its leader
with mysterious parcels of food

left beneath NLD campaign posters.

But for all of those resorting to
spiritual tricks in a bid to derail her
political ambition, there are plenty
of astrologers who say the stars are
on her side.
Myanmars fortune tellers are
thought to be behind several unexplained occurrences in the country, from the abrupt decision by
the former junta to relocate the
capital in 2005, to bizarre episodes
when the generals appeared wearing womens longyi -- a saronglike skirt.
Reliance on astrologers dates
back hundreds of years -- Myanmars former kings regularly
consulted their fortune tellers and
even now most ordinary people
have an astrological chart drawn
up at birth.
Ne Win, the strongman who
ruled Myanmar for around three
decades, was notorious for his use
of mystics.
In the late 1980s the military
leader caused economic chaos
when he introduced notes in the
local kyat currency of 45 and 90,
because the numbers added up to
his lucky number nine.

Even current President Thein

Sein has indicated his openness to
consulting soothsayers.
Sometimes they give me advice
on how the situation of the country could be affected from the astrological point of view. I willingly
take this advice into account,
he told French documentary Un
oeil sur la plante (An Eye on the
World) in 2013.
Thein Seins ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party,
with its emblem of a stately lion,
is the main obstacle to Suu Kyis
hopes of electoral victory.
Suu Kyi, barred from the top political job by the military-drafted
constitution, has said she will rule
above the president if her party
forms a government.
Leading popular astrologer San
Zar Ni Bo said that the November
8 timing of the election, far from
giving astrological support to the
ruling party, would actually favour
a woman.
The tarot card number eight
shows a beautiful woman shutting
the lions mouth, said the fortuneteller, whose predictions have
often favoured The Lady as Suu
Kyi is known in Myanmar.

Myanmar fortune teller Hnin Ohn Mar Yee holds tarot cards during a session in her shop located in
Shwedagon Pagoda compound in Yangon.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

17

AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA

China, Taiwan
leaders shake
hands during
historic meet
AFP
Singapore

he presidents of China and

Taiwan yesterday reached
across decades of Cold
War-era estrangement and rivalry to exchange a historic handshake and warm words in the rst
summit since the two sides traumatic 1949 split.
Chinas Xi Jinping and Taiwans Ma Ying-jeou shook hands
for more than a minute and
smiled for a mass of reporters
before their talks in Singapore in
scenes considered unthinkable
until recently.
They later sat down across a
table from each other, with Xi
praising the event as opening
a historic chapter in our relations and repeating Chinas
oft-expressed desire for eventual
reunication.
We are brothers connected by
esh even if our bones are broken. We are a family whose blood
is thicker than water, Xi said.
He added that no matter what
kind of winds and rains are ex-

perienced by compatriots on the

two sides, no matter how long
divisions last, there is no power
that can separate us.
Despite the apparent warmth,
the hour-long meetings lasting
signicance remains to be seen.
No agreements were announced between two sides that
still refuse to formally recognise
each others legitimacy and Mas
moves face signicant opposition
at home.
But the encounter is undeniably historic: the previous occasion was in 1945, when Communist revolutionary leader Mao
Zedong met with Chinas nationalist President Chiang Kai-shek
in a failed reconciliation attempt.
The eventual Communist
takeover forced Chiangs armies
and about 2mn followers to ee
to Taiwan, then a backwater island province, leaving a national
rupture that has preoccupied
both sides ever since.
Behind us there is more than
six decades of cross-strait separation. Now before our eyes are
the common fruits of the policy
of replacing opposition with dia-

logue, Ma told Xi, in the unexpectedly cordial encounter.

Ma later told reporters he proposed the establishment of a hotline between to the two sides and
that Xi responded positively.
He also raised issues sensitive
to Taiwans people, including the
arsenal of Chinese missiles aimed
at Taiwan, and Chinas policy of
marginalising the island diplomatically.
We hope these things do not
continue, said Ma, calling for
mutual respect.
Xi did not address reporters,
leaving that to a lower-ranking
official.
Ma has expressed hope the
meeting could be a step toward
normalising cross-strait relations, but no further plans for
closer contact emerged.
Analysts said there is no guarantee any glow will last, especially with Ma out of office soon,
and his ruling party expected to
lose in January polls to an opposition that distrusts China.
This meeting will remain a
historic moment but everything
will depend on the result of the

Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou before their meeting in Singapore yesterday.
elections in Taiwan, said JeanPierre Cabestan of Hong Kong
Baptist University. Xis very
pro-reunication
language...
risks alarming more than one
person on the island.
Though politically divided for
decades, business and investment ties have owered.
Since taking office in 2008,
Mas Beijing-friendly policies
have borne new fruit, including a boom in Chinese visitors to
the island, the opening of ight
routes, more than 20 trade agreements - and yesterdays summit.
But many in Taiwan, a ram-

bunctious democracy, are deeply

uneasy at drawing too close to
the Communist-ruled mainland
orbit, and reunication remains a
distant prospect.
After watching the Ma-Xi
meeting this afternoon on TV, I
believe most Taiwanese people,
like me, feel very disappointed,
the presidential candidate of the
opposition Democratic Peoples
Party, Tsai Ing-wen, said in a
statement.
We really regret that the only
result from the Ma-Xi meeting is
an attempt to put peoples choices on cross-strait relations in a

box, using a political framework

on an international stage.
Lingering cross-strait tensions were in plain view at the
summit, where the leaders addressed each other as mister
rather than president - which
would have legitimised their
governments.
Beijing sees Taiwan as a wayward province and this disdain
surfaced in Chinas coverage of
the event.
After Xi nished addressing
Ma at the meetings opening,
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV
cut away to a studio discussion as

video of Ma speaking rolled, but

with no sound.
Opponents at home accuse
Ma, who leaves office soon, of
using the summit to boost his
ruling Kuomintangs (KMT) agging chances at the polls.
Some analysts feel China also
nally granted the meeting, long
sought by Ma, to help boost the
KMT, which Beijing favours over
the more independence-minded
opposition.
But they warn the strategy
could backre with anxious Taiwanese voters if China is seen
meddling in the election.

China commenters laud Xi, see unification ahead

Protesters slam summit with enemy

AFP
Taipei

undreds of angry protesters massed outside

Taiwan President Ma
Ying-Jeous office yesterday,
condemning his warm exchange with Chinas leader
in a summit that has fuelled
fears the democratic island
will be swallowed up by its giant rival.
Angry demonstrators tried
to storm parliament overnight
and 27 were arrested at the
airport yesterday as Ma headed to a summit his opponents
say is a sell-out to Beijing
which is bent on expanding its
inuence.
Later, up to 500 protesters, representing an array
of groups including farmers, rights activists and environmentalists, raged over
the cordial get-together at
a Singapore hotel where Ma
told Chinas leader Xi Jinping
that they already feel like old
friends.
How can he ... without
any negotiation go to meet
with the leader of our enemy? I believe this is getting

to the level of treason, said

Lin Hsiu-hsin, vice chairman
of the Taiwan Association of
University Professors.
Protest leaders were infuriated by Xis comments that
the two sides are a family
that can never be divided - a
reference to the mainlands
unchanging position that Taiwan is a breakaway province
awaiting reunication.
Xi Jinping said we belong
to one China. Can you accept
it? Lee Ken-cheng from the
Beijing-sceptic environmentalist Green Party bellowed to
the crowd.
No! they roared back.
There are deep suspicions
over the reasons for the summit, declared less than a week
ago, and fears a meddling China is trying to secure another
victory for Mas Kuomintang
party which is lagging badly in
the polls.
We are worried they may
sign some secret agreement.
This president with only 9%
popular support doesnt represent us. We are afraid of being part of China, said Peggy
Wu, a 28-year-old researcher.
In an island with a strong
sense of its own identity, Wu

was among those furious over

the summit protocol.
The two leaders addressed
each other as mister instead
of president in a nod to the
fact that neither formally recognises the other.
China doesnt see us as
an independent nation. Their
positions are unequal. We
should be addressed as president, not mister, she said,
holding a handmade sign declaring Go to hell, One-China policy.
At Taipeis Songshan airport where Ma gave a brief
address to reporters before
boarding his ight yesterday,
protesters tried to burn images of the two leaders with
slogans calling Xi Chinese
dictator and Ma a traitor.
The 27 were arrested after
they attempted to push their
way through a guarded side gate.
They included student leader
Chen Wei-ting, a key gure in
last years Sunower Movement
which occupied parliament for
almost a month over a controversial trade pact with China.
Television footage showed
Chen dragged into a police van
while officers with riot shields
scuffled with protesters.

Activists protest against the Singapore meeting between Taiwans President

Ma Ying-jeou and Chinas President Xi Jinping outside the Ministry of
Economic Affairs in Taipei. The placards read: Oppose trade agreement;
Oppose Ma-Xi meeting.

A beatific smile from their

president, pledges of brotherhood
and the promise of reabsorbing a
breakaway island - the mainlands
online commentators swooned
over yesterdays meeting between
the leaders of China and Taiwan.
Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou
smiled broadly and clasped
hands for well over a minute in
Singapore - more than a second
for each of the 66 years since
Taiwan split at the end of Chinas
civil war.
The Communist chiefs expression was fixed, but even so it was
a marked contrast to the staid
demeanour he usually displays at
formal events.
Xi told Ma that no matter
how long divisions last, there is
no power that can separate us,
because we are brothers connected by flesh even if our bones
are broken, we are a family whose
blood is thicker than water.
The Communist chiefs words
stabbed me to the point of tears,
said one poster on Chinas Twitterlike Sina Weibo.
In less than a decade, the
mainland and Taiwan will be
completely unified, said one
poster. Todays Xi-Ma meeting is
the beginning of a great drama,
Chinas prosperity is on its way.
Come home, brothers, was a
common refrain.
Dont be nervous, Taiwan! Xi
Dada will bring you home! wrote

Frockatoo outshines Camilla attire

By Cheryl Norrie, DPA
Wellington

Britains Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall poses with a model from the World of Wearable
Arts Museum in Nelson.

he Duchess of Cornwall
looked ttingly regal yesterday in a royal blue coat
and tan heels, but her clothes
were bound to be outshone by the
feather and velvet wearing models
at the zany World of Wearable Art
Museum in New Zealand.
The fabulously attired models,
one dressed in a frockatoo, a
cheeky dress made of feathers in
a celebration of the white Australian parrot, the cockatoo, the other
dressed in a baroque living room
gown and lampshade headdress,
made even the Duchess of Cornwall look under dressed.
Camilla chatted freely while at
the museum, expressing concern
that Wellington model Sophie
Pentley might be feeling the heat
in the baroque gown, the Stuff
website reported. The outt, made
from velvet, braid, tassels and
fringing, was more comfortable
than it looked, Pentley told her.
The duchess was on a solo en-

gagement at the museum, while

Prince Charles peered into microscopes at the Cawthron Institute
as he learned about efforts being
made to make the seafood industry more sustainable.
When told the institute had
named the second New Zealand
scampi to be born in captivity after
Camilla, he quipped Are you sure
its female?
Thousands of locals had earlier
turned out to welcome the royal
couple to the South Island city of
Nelson, known as sunny Nelson
for its benign climate.
Local woman Jane Leaning was
one of those lining the street hoping to greet the royal couple on
their walkabout.
Describing herself as a real
royalist, Leaning was wearing a tshirt featuring a photo of Charless
son Prince William and his wife
Kate, festooned with badges celebrating the royal family.
The prince was later own
to the city of Westport to meet
military personnel involved in a
month-long multi-national war
game exercise, which is based on

unrest in a ctional South Pacic

country.
Dressed in army camouage
uniform, Charles shook hands and
chatted with some of the 2,000
navy, air force and army personnel involved in the training exercise, who have come to New Zealand from Australia, Canada, Fiji,
France, Papua New Guinea, Tonga,
Britain and the US.
Prince Charles said he was glad
the military was taking the threat
that climate change posed to political stability seriously, Stuff reported.
One of the reasons, Ive been
trying to go on about climate
change for so long is unfortunately
its a threat multiplied.
The fact that youre practising
all this is obviously going to be of
enormous importance.
The Duchess of Cornwall,
meanwhile, returned to the capital
city, Wellington, to visit the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals.
The royal couple are in New
Zealand until November 10 when
they leave for Australia.

another, using Xis Big Daddy

nickname.
Others cited Xis Chinese
Dream concept of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Chinese authorities maintain a
strict web of censorship controls
on social as well as mainstream
media, often deleting comments critical of the ruling party,
while encouraging an army of
sometimes paid posters to make
positive remarks.
Some noted the contradiction
between Beijings official view
of Taiwan as part of its territory,
and the fact that Xi deigned to
meet Ma on such a high-profile
occasion.
This felt a bit strange, said
one poster. When I was a kid I
thought Taiwans leader was just a
provincial governor.
Mas own speech was not
shown live on Chinese state
broadcaster CCTVs main news
channel - which cut to a studio
discussion of Xis remarks instead
- and the Taiwanese leaders
remarks did not make it into the
main evening news bulletin either.
Several posters objected.
What a country without confidence, said one. Im really disappointed in CCTV.
Another joked: What CCTVs
analysts should have told us was:
What exactly did Xi say that it
made Ma so angry he couldnt
even speak?

No signs of new N Korea

nuke test tunnel: experts

S experts said yesterday that recent

satellite photos showed no sign of
North Korea preparing a new nuclear
test, contrary to reports in the South Korean
media.
Satellite imagery from September 27 and
October 25 of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site
indicate no signs that the North is excavating a new tunnel, the US-Korea Institute at
Johns Hopkins University said on its closelywatched website, 38North.
The main observable activity is the construction of a new building at the Main Support Area, it said.
Activity at both the west and south portals
of the site has been at a low level, an indication that the North continues to focus largely
on tunnel maintenance, it added.
The North has conducted all its three nuclear tests - in 2006, 2009 and 2013 - at the
Punggye-ri site in the northeastern part of
North Korea.
South Koreas Yonhap news agency, quoting an unidentied government source, said
the North was believed to be digging a new
tunnel there in what could be a sign that the
Stalinist state is preparing for its fourth nuclear test.
Fears had grown that the country might
carry out a fresh nuclear test to mark the 70th
anniversary of the founding of North Koreas
ruling Workers Party on October 10 but none
was carried out.

18

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

BRITAIN

Bereaved
mother
seeks cut in
speed limit

Autumn colours

Evening Standard
London

Women revel in the autumn foliage in central London yesterday.

Blaze leaves Hilton

guests in the rain
Evening Standard
London

coffee shop re in west London

yesterday morning saw a six-storey hotel evacuated and Queensway station shut.
The blaze broke out at about 6.45am.
Guests, many hastily dressed in bath
robes, were ushered out of the hotel and
saw thick, black smoke and ames
leaping out of the Cafe Espana.
One holidaymaker, who asked only
to be named as Sarah, told the Standard: We were in bed asleep. We heard
an alarm go off at quarter to seven in the
morning, and thought maybe it was a drill
or something.
I put my dressing gown on and came
outside - as soon as we opened the rst
door we could smell the smoke.
We came out and everyone else was
out here waiting. You could see thick,
black smoke coming out of the coffee
shop.
As we came back last night someone
was in there doing some work of some description so I dont know whether thats
linked to the re.
There were lights on but all the furniture was outside - we saw silver coffee tables - so they were obviously doing
something last night, redecoration or
something.
Theres some people that are needing
to get to Heathrow and things - theres
people that cant get in and get their cases
so theyre waiting patiently.
It could be worse - it could be four
in the morning and chucking down with
rain.
Another guest said he had seen ames
coming out of the cafes vent system as he
got outside.
London Fire Brigade said 20% of the
ducting system was ablaze. It is not
thought anyone was hurt.
Bayswater Road was shut for an hour
but reopened at about 7.45am.

mother whose son

was knocked down
and killed by a double-decker today called for
bus speed limits to be cut to
20mph during the school run.
David Barcelos, 13, was
running to catch a bus to
school in Edmonton when he
was hit.
Football-mad David, a pupil at Gladesmore Community School in Tottenham, tried
to leap out of the way but was
dragged beneath the wheels.
An inquest this week heard
that he was hit by a bus travelling at 29mph, below the
30mph speed limit for Fore
Street.
Davids mother Nadia Oliveira, a hospitality manager
at the Copthorne Tara Hotel
in Kensington, said: I accept
it was an accident but I dont
want this tragedy to happen
to anyone else.
It seems to me buses are
far more dangerous than cars.
They take longer to stop
and cause more serious injury
when they hit. One killed my
son at 29mph.
Within the speed limit my
son was killed, thats whats
hard to understand.
At a lower speed my son
would have lived. My son
dreamed of being a footballer
but with his death his dream
died and mine did too.
It would be his birthday
next month. It is going to be
one of the hardest days of my
life and I dont know how I
will get through it.
But if we can be celebrating a change that could save
other children that would be
something.
But road traffic collision investigator Pc Adrian
Vanlancker told an inquest
at Barnet coroners court
that a 20mph limit in Fore
Street would be unmanageable.
Bus driver Sandra Thomas
told the inquest she saw Dav-

id just a fraction of a second

before he crossed her path,
and tried to brake and swerve
to avoid him.
Joanne Dykes, a doctor at
North Middlesex Hospital,
saw the accident at 8am on
January 15 this year.
Wiping away tears, she
said: He took two big leaps
to try and get out of the way,
but he wasnt able to. The bus
hit him and he was pulled under.
Coroner Andrew Walker
returned a verdict of death by
road traffic collision.
Mike Weston, TfLs director of buses, said: Any injury or fatality involving our
buses is one too many. We are
strong supporters of 20mph
zones.
Eneld councillor Daniel
Anderson said: Any death on
our roads is a tragedy.
We will review the ndings of the inquest to see if
changes are required in order
to make this route safer.
A Dominos pizza delivery
man is in hospital with leg
injuries after he was involved
in a moped crash in south
London on Saturday morning.
The collision happened in
West Wickham High Street ,
near Bromley, at 8.30am.
Pictures from the scene
show the moped on its side
and a small blue car with a
smashed windscreen and
dented side.
A Met spokesman said:
Police were called to reports of a collision between
a motorcycle rider and car at
8.30am in High Street West
Wickham.
The rider was a male who
has gone to hospital with a leg
injury a broken or fractured
leg so will remain there for
some time.
The car stopped at the
scene and there have been no
arrests.
The road was taped off
where it meets The Grove,
forcing bus bosses to divert
routes 119 and 194 around the
junction.

Firefighters get the fire under control.

One of the hero reghters who helped
conquer a massive warehouse blaze on
Friday night has told how he could see the
smoke from halfway across London as he
drove towards it.
Simon Tuhill, 41, was one of 120 reghters who raced to the blazingclothes
warehouse in Tottenham from as far
aeld as Brent.
When I got there it was very big, very
well developed for such an early stage, he
told the Standard.
There were lots of very large orange
ames and lots and lots of smoke.
When you walked down Commercial
Road you could certainly feel the heat.
Fire investigators were yesterday working to establish what caused the re,
which gutted two warehouses and damaged a number of others nearby.
Thirty people were evacuated from

their homes as the ames took hold and

at its height 20 re crews were needed to
contain the re.
Ive been in the job many years, so I
kind of know what Im going to be doing,
Tuhill added.
But having said that when I was driving down the North Circular on blue
lights and sirens I could see the smoke
from Brent Cross, so I knew it was a very
substantial re.
It just gives you that sense of: We really need to get this right.
Tuhill, a reghter for 18 years, was
responsible for getting extra water from
nearby re hydrants, as those immediately surrounding the blaze did not
contain enough water for such a large
inferno.
Its kind of weird because you have to
go towards things everyone else is walk-

ing away from, he said.

Most people will slow down to have a
look at a crash on the motorway thats
human nature.
For my job, I get to go to those things
and try to help, so its just an extension of
that.
Tuhill said it was too early to know
whether claims circulating on social media that a rework had started the blaze
were accurate.
My colleagues from the re investigation team cant do much investigating
when the res still very severe, he said.
Theyll be back there this morning trying to work out what happened.
I saw those rumours but unless someone actually saw that happen its just
speculation.
Crews are likely to remain at the scene,
in Pretoria Road.
David Barcelos with mother Nadia Oliveira.

Agency took 5.5mn in benets from charity

Evening Standard
London

south London-based letting agency took 5.5mn

in housing benet from a
charity which housed the homeless in what campaigners have
described as a worrying arrangement.
Investing Solutions, which
operates across seven London
boroughs, received the cash over
a two year period from a charity called Fresh Start Housing,
which nds properties for single
homeless men.
The company, based in York
Road, Battersea, has been earning a 11,568 prot per year from
one property alone, according to
an investigation by the BBC.
Neither the company nor the
charity have broken the law with

Homeless man at Christmas Getty.

the arrangement, but campaigners have described the practice as
exploitation.
A BBC investigation found
evidence of some Investing So-

lutions properties being substandard, with problems including damp and rat infestations.
Candida Jones, a Labour councillor at Wandsworth Council,

said: It is shocking that so much

public money can be paid to
house some of our most vulnerable people in lthy and dangerous conditions.
In a properly regulated housing market exploitation of this
kind could not have happened.
She continued: I cant understand why alarm bells were not
ringing at Wandsworth Council. They are at-footed when
it comes to investigating local
landlords.
A spokeswoman for housing
charity Crisis said longer-term
tenancies and a mandatory register for landlords would help to
protect tenants.
She said: Too often, people
who are risk of homelessness are
in a terrible situation.
It is evident the people at the
lower end of the market are so
vulnerable. We know that private

companies are exploiting people

- it is worrying.
In a market where demand
has grown so much it is unsurprising that this sort of thing is
happening.
Samir Patel, the companys
director, denied there was a link
between Investing Solutions and
charity Fresh Start Housing.
He would not conrm or deny
that 5.5mn was paid to his company over a two year period but
said the gure was probably accurate.
He said: We lease properties
from landlords. We house homeless people in need. We do not
charge them any fees.
He added: These clients are
in desperate need of housing.
I could rent to working people and get more money but
we think of this as a win-win
situation because the home-

less are getting homes.

If the council could house
them then there would not be a
demand for our homes.
An angry barber slashed his
colleague with a cut-throat razor
in an argument over 80 before
going on the run for two years.
Farouk Shkar, 30, left his coworker with head, arm and hand
injuries that required 25 staples.
He had lived above the shop
where he worked, in Nuxley
Road, Belvedere, but ed his
home after the August 2013 altercation.
Police spent two years looking
for him, issuing photos and telling the public not to approach
him, before he was nally arrested in Plumstead in June this year.
At the time, inspector Gary
Holmes said the victim had been
badly cut up and would carry
the scars for the rest of his life.

Constable Danny Cossins from

the Mets Bexley police team said
on Friday: Shkar was on the run
for nearly two years after this violent assault.
But offenders should be aware
that we dont just forget about
them we will ensure they are
captured and placed before the
courts to answer for their crimes
no matter how long it takes.
Neither Shkar nor his 28-yearold victim would disclose precisely what the argument had
been about, saying only that it
was over an 80 debt. It is not
known which man was indebted
to the other.
The defendant had at rst
denied grievous bodily harm,
claiming he was in fact the victim, but changed his plea to guilty
before a trial could take place.
He was put behind bars for 40
months on October 30.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

19

BRITAIN

UK plane
over Sharm
nearly hit
by rocket
AFP
London

Man being detained by police in Regent Street during the Million Mask March.

48 bailed after riots at

anti-capitalist demo
The anti-capitalist rally was touted as
peaceful but ended in violence
Evening Standard
London

ll but two of the 50 people arrested

during Thursdays anti-capitalist
demo have been bailed without
charge, Scotland Yard conrmed yesterday.
The group includes teenagers as young
as 16 and adults aged up to 55.
It comes after 50-year-old Mark Edwards, of Thornton Heath, was charged
with assault on police and possession of a
class B drug in The Strand.
He has been bailed and will appear at
Westminster Magistrates Court in December, while a 19-year-old man has accepted a police caution for assaulting a
police officer.
Three men were arrested in Trafalgar
Square four hours before protesters congregated there, having been stopped and
searched.
Police found knives, smoke and paint
grenades, gas canisters and lock picks,
they said, and arrested the trio on suspicion of possessing offensive weapons.
The trio, aged 38, 50 and 55, have also
now been bailed.
On Friday Met commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe condemned the violence that erupted after demonstrators
clashed with police.
Injured officers, injured horses and 50
arrests are not peaceful protest, he said.
The event tied up nearly 2,000 officers - who in the main, came from our boroughs.
Commander BJ Harrington added: Of-

Police and Anonymous protesters come face-to-face in Trafalgar Square.

cers have been hospitalised, a police
horse suffered injuries and a police car was
criminally damaged during the course of
the protest which is completely unacceptable.
I praise the professionalism and restraint that officers have shown in the face
of hostile provocation and enabled the
policing operation to pass without major
incidents.
We will bring those responsible for the
criminality to face justice.
Six police horses were hurt, including
one poked in the eye with a stick, according to Scotland Yard.
A university professor left unrecognis-

able when a gang of burglars launched a

brutal attack on him at his home in south
London has revealed he will meet one of
his attackers in prison.
Paul Kohler, 56, said he was meeting
burglar Mariusz Tomaszewski with his
wife Samantha and daughter Eloise in a
few weeks time.
He made the announcement after
judges dismissed a sentence challenge by
a member of the gang at a hearing at the
Court of Appeal.
Speaking outside the court he said: I
am pleased [About the meeting] because it
is important for my daughter that they are
not just seen as monsters, and it is impor-

tant for us to talk to them about the effect

it had, because ultimately we dont want
their lives to be wasted either.
This is a chance to get something positive from it.
Kohler said he hoped he could forgive
the men involved in the crime.
He said: I denitely want to forgive. I
havent done yet, but this is what I hope
part of this session will be about.
Welcoming the ruling of the appeal
judges, he added: I am just very pleased
that they conrmed the judges (trial) decision.
Kohler suffered a fractured eye socket, a
fracture to his left jawbone, a broken nose
and bruising that left him utterly unrecognisable during the drugs and alcohol
fuelled raid.
His wife was also threatened by the intruders on August 11 last year.
Eloise, who was in the property with her
boyfriend, managed to hide and call police.
Kohler says he still suffers from double
vision in his left eye.
A man in his 30s is in hospital with serious stab wounds after being attacked in
the street.
It happened in Nightingale Vale, Woolwich, just after midnight yesterday.
Police have yet to establish what the
man was attacked with, and could not immediately say where on the body he had
sustained his injuries.
Police in Greenwich were called to
Nightingale Vale at the junction with Fennell Street, SE18, at 12.22am on November
7 following reports of a stabbing, said a
Scotland Yard spokesman.
Officers and London Ambulance Service attended and a man in his 30s was taken to hospital where he remains in a serious condition.

British tourist plane

heading in to land at
the Egyptian resort of
Sharm El Sheikh came within
300m of a missile in August,
newspapers reported yesterday.
The near-miss involved a
Thomson Airways plane carrying 189 passengers from
London on August 23. British
authorities concluded it was
not a targeted attack.
The incident happened
around two months before a
Russian tourist plane leaving
the Red Sea resort plummeted
from the sky into the Sinai Peninsula last Saturday, killing
all 224 people onboard.
A spokesman for Britains
Department for Transport
(DfT) said of the August nearmiss: We investigated the
reported incident at the time
and concluded that it was not
a targeted attack and was likely to be connected to routine
exercises being conducted by
the Egyptian military in the
area at the time.
The Daily Mail newspaper
said the Thomson Airways
pilot took evasive action and
landed safely. Holidaymakers
were not told about the incident.
The pilot was in the cockpit and saw the rocket coming
towards the plane. He ordered
the ight turn to the left to
avoid the rocket, which was
about 1,000 feet away, the
tabloid quoted a source as
saying.
Another Thomson plane
was also flying into (Sharm
El Sheikh) at the same time

and saw the rocket.

The crew were told the
rocket was from an Egyptian
military exercise, but with
what has happened there is
a lot of fear. The incident left
staff petried.
A Thomson spokesman
said: Thomson Airways can
conrm that an event was reported by the crew of ight
TOM 476 on August 23.
Upon landing into Sharm
El Sheikh, an initial assessment was conducted and the
event was immediately reported to the UK DfT in line
with established protocol.
The DfT conducted a full
investigation in conjunction
with other UK government
experts.
After reviewing the details of the case, the investigation concluded that there
was no cause for concern and
it was safe to continue our ying programme to Sharm-El
Sheikh.
Britain suspended ights to
Sharm El Sheikh on Wednesday after saying it feared a
bomb may have brought down
the Russian jet, with Moscow
following suit on Friday.
The resort is a popular
destination with British and
Russian holidaymakers, usually hosting some 20,000
Britons.
Moscow said yesterday that
it still has nearly 80,000 nationals in Egypt but there will
be no emergency evacuation,
with tourists able to return at
their own pace.
Thomson Airways has been
repatriating Britons trying to
return home following last
weekends crash. The rst
such ights back to Britain
landed on Friday.

Yard seeks help to

track sex predator
Evening Standard
London

sex predator is thought

to be on the loose in
north-east London after
a young woman was attacked in
Romford.
The 26-year-old victim was
sexually assaulted in Shaftesbury Road, Romford, at 4am on
November 1.
Police described her attacker
as a slim Asian man who was
about 6ft tall.
He had dark hair and wore a
white jacket.
Scotland Yard yesterday appealed for witnesses to the
November 1 attack, which happened at about 4am.
The man started talking to

his victim in broken English before unleashing his assault. She

managed to get away and called
the police.
A Scotland Yard spokesman
said the attack had not been
linked to any others in the local area, but reiterated personal
safety advice already published.
The Met advises people to
prepare and consider your
travel arrangements carefully
and ensure someone knows
where you are going, who you
are with and when you might
be home.
Look as assertive as you
can, walk with condence and
be aware of your surroundings
and who is around you.
Avoid short cuts and dark,
isolated areas [and] vary your
routine.

Corbyn aide who campaigned for rival suspended

Evening Standard
London

abour has suspended Jeremy

Corbyns head of policy Andrew
Fisher following complaints he
campaigned for a rival party in the general election.
The Labour leader said he has full
condence in Fisher as an investigation is launched into the allegations,
which could result in disciplinary action.
MPs and activists are believed to have
complained to the the ruling National
Executive Committee over claims Fisher told supporters to vote for a Class
War candidate instead of Labours
Emily Benn in the Croydon South seat.
A Labour Party spokesman said:
Andrew Fisher has been suspended
from the Labour Party. The NEC will
now be asked to authorise a full report
to be drawn up with recommendations
for disciplinary action if appropriate.
Corbyn said: I have full condence
in Andrew Fisher and his work. I re-

Jeremy Corbyn
spect the integrity of the General Secretarys office and trust that this matter
will be settled as quickly as possible.
Benn, granddaughter of Labour stalwart Tony Benn, made a formal complaint about Fisher after he sent a tweet
which read FFS if you live in Croydon
South, vote with dignity, vote @campaignbeard - a reference to the Class
War parliamentary candidate Jon Bigger.

Under Labours rules, any member who supports any candidate who
stands against an official Labour candidate... shall automatically be ineligible
to be or remain a party member.
Fisher wrote to Labours general secretary Iain McNicol to completely and
unreservedly apologise for the tweet,
which he said had been misinterpreted.
He wrote: I obviously do not and did
not support Class War in any way, let
alone in an election. I was and am committed to the election of a Labour government and a successful and united
Labour Party.
Fisher continued: I accept that the
tweet has been misinterpreted and has
caused embarrassment and understandable upset among party members,
which I regret.
I wish to completely and unreservedly apologise for this tweet. I have now
closed my social media accounts and
assure you there will be no repetition of
such activity in the future.
Town halls could be forced to cut
back on immunisation campaigns and

work to prevent teenage pregnancy and

the spread of diseases such as HIV and
TB after the Government announced
plans to axe 40mn from the capitals
public health budget.
Council leaders, including Tories,
said the move by health secretary Jeremy Hunt was very disappointing and
a false economy.
The department of health has announced it is going ahead with plans to
cut public health grant allocations by
200mn nationwide this year.
London Councils, which represents
the capitals local authorities, warned
that the cut to its 578mn budget would
disproportionately affect the poorest
boroughs.
More than a fth of the national
cuts will be made in London, with 30%
higher cuts per head for the average
Londoner compared with the rest of
England. Seven of the 10 authorities
losing the most are in the capital.
The boroughs share responsibility for HIV prevention more than
30,000 Londoners are living with diagnosed HIV and more than one third

of new diagnoses in 2013 were in the

capital.
They are also tasked with halting the
spread of tuberculosis London has
one of the highest rates of the disease in
western Europe.
Councillor Teresa ONeill, London
Councils health spokesman, said: It is
very disappointing to hear the Government is going ahead with these in-year
cuts to public health budgets. This will
mean London boroughs have to nd a
further 40mn of savings within this
year.
Everyone agrees that more focus
and funding should go on prevention
helping people to avoid ill health and
thereby reducing pressures on cashstrapped NHS and council services. It
is a false economy to cut these budgets.
The capitals town halls believe it is
more important than ever to invest in
public health.
London has one of the highest rates
of childhood obesity among similarly
sized cities; 8,400 Londoners die because of a smoking-related illness every
year; and there were more than 113,000

new sexually transmitted infections diagnosed in the capital last year.

The move could also hit Health
Visitor and Family Nurse Practitioner
services for children under ve, which
transferred to councils last month.
London Councils has already warned
that handling public health funding
differently to the wider NHS, simply
because it moved across to councils in
2013, was unfair and short-sighted.
A department of health spokesman
said: We believe in the values of the
NHS and the security that comes from
a properly funded health service, which
is why we will be increasing the NHS
budget by 10bn and have backed the
NHSs own plan for the future. We have
also made sure that the public health
budget allocated to councils can only be
spent on public health activity.
But difficult decisions need to be
made across government to reduce the
decit and ensure the sustainability of
our public services. Local authorities
have shown that more can be done for
less to provide the best value for the
taxpayer.

20

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

EUROPE

Finland reform dispute

ends after PMs threat
AFP/Reuters
Helsinki

inlands ruling coalition said yesterday that

it has reached an accord
on healthcare reforms to end an
internal dispute that had threatened to bring it down after only
six months in power.
Centrist Prime Minister Juha
Sipila, 54, had warned late on
Thursday that his resignation
was very probable because of
the disagreement over the longplanned reforms.
The threat apparently worked
in his favour.
The government has reached
agreement on the principles
concerning the healthcare and
social welfare reform, a statement said.
Healthcare reforms, in the
pipeline for nearly 10 years, had
become bogged down in the row
between Sipilas Centre Party
and one of its two coalition part-

Portugals
leftists
agree
alliance
AFP
Lisbon

ortugals centre-right government looked doomed

this week as the main opposition Socialists formed an
unprecedented alliance with the
far left and appeared set to take
over, putting the country on a
path to ending austerity.
The prospect of a new government backed by the Left Bloc
which is close to Greeces antiausterity Syriza and the radical
Communists raised concern in
Europe, even though the Socialist Party (PS) has insisted that
Portugal will respect its international commitments whoever takes the reins.
Together, the Socialists (PS),
Communists and their allies hold
122 seats out of 230 in Portugals
parliament giving them the
majority needed to push through
a vote on Tuesday which would
force the government to resign.
The conditions are in place
to bring down the right-wing
coalition government and for the
Socialist Party to form a government, present its programme
and take office, the Communist
Party said in a statement.
The coalition of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho won
an October 4 election despite its
unpopular austerity budgeting,
but lost the majority it had enjoyed since 2011.
The Communists statement
came hours after the Left Bloc
agreed its own pact with the Socialists.
Negotiations with the Socialist Party have ended and the
conditions (are) met for a leftist agreement aiming to protect
jobs, salaries and pensions, a
statement on the Left Blocs
website said.
The Socialists, who came second in the election, are seeking
to oust the government in order
to end the austerity drive undertaken by Lisbon in return for an
international bailout in 2011.
The PS has called a party
meeting today to discuss its position, ahead of a parliamentary
debate on the governments programme the following day.
If the Socialists, the Left Bloc
and the Communists join forces
on a motion to reject the governments programme in a vote on
Tuesday, the government will be
forced to resign.
President Anibal Cavaco Silva
will have the last word on which
party gets to form a new government if required.
Passos Coelho said on Friday
that he would serve in opposition or in government. I will be
where Im needed; either in government, which is the natural
place for the election winner, or
on the opposition benches.

ners, the conservative National

Coalition, Finlands third-largest party.
The split was mainly about
the unwieldy healthcare systems level of centralisation.
They have now agreed to reduce the current 200 areas to 18
regions, which the Centre Party
advocated, and not ve as demanded by the National Coalition.
Sipila, a businessman with
relatively little political experience, won April elections by
promising to carry out drastic
reforms and jumpstart a slumping economy.
Finland has been in recession
since 2012.
The Nordic country that has
been hit by string of problems,
such as the decline of Nokias
phone business and recession
in neighbouring Russia, and
which is seen growing slower in
2015 and 2016 than any other EU
country, excluding Greece.
Sipila warned during the cam-

paign trail that Finland could be

the next Greece.
Now as prime minister, he has
struggled to step up reforms in a
squabbling three party coalition
representing conservative rural
voters, urban technocrats and
anti-immigrant populists.
This episode weakens condence for the governments
decision-making ability. The
impression is that the coalition
partners have had major tensions, said Pasi Kuoppamaki,
economist at Danske Bank.
Overhauling the healthcare
system, billed as Finlands most
important reform of the decade,
is a longstanding problem for
politicians.
The reform is due to curb future costs by 3bn amid ageing
population, making it a major
part of the governments plan
to save 10bn ($11bn) to balance
public nances in the long term.
For Sipilas Centre Party,
which has agrarian roots, the reform is a top agenda as the party

favours the idea that people in

the countryside should have
more say on services.
Co-ruling National Coalition
party, led by nance minister
Alexander Stubb, in turn supported centralised power for the
biggest cities and opening business prospects for private players.
The government said it would
present the deal in more detail
tomorrow.
By threating to break up the
government, Sipila had used a
rare tactic in the country with
tradition of consensus-seeking
coalitions.
We must get all the big decisions ready by Christmas, so
that we have enough time on
implementing them. As there
was no agreement at a time of
a deadline, I must ask myself,
is this government capable of
making tough decisions, Sipila
had said on Thursday.
During his tenure, he has also
clashed with trade unions as

he tried to negotiate an internal devaluation agreement in

an attempt to lower unit labour
costs and boost export competitiveness.
He then announced cuts to
holidays, sickness pay and extra
pay, and unions responded with
the countrys biggest demonstration since 1991 and a wide
strike.
Finally, the government backtracked and cancelled some of
the planned measures.
Sipila is rather impatient, he
isnt used to long negotiations
with the unions, for example,
which is the custom in Finnish
politics. He leads with a company executive style, moving ahead
quickly, said Ilkka Ruostetsaari,
professor of politics at Tampere
University.
Once known for prudent scal policies and innovation, Finlands economy is now mired in
a three-year-old recession, and
its population of 5.5mn is ageing
fast.

Its exports have dwindled after Nokias failure to compete

with smartphones such as Apples iPhone, while its paper industry also lost business to new
digital devices.
Slowdown in Russia, a key
trade partner, and the economic
sanctions due to the Ukraine
crisis have also hurt: Finnish
exports to Russia dropped 32%
in January-August from a year
earlier.
Finlands rigid labour market
system has also played a role as
costs kept climbing despite a
poor economic performance after the global nancial crisis.
According to the government,
Finland has fallen 15% behind its
main rivals Germany and Sweden in cost competitiveness.
During the eurozone debt
crisis, Finland took a hard line
against eurozone bailouts.
Recently, it has lost triple-A
ratings as it lags its Nordic noneuro neighbours Sweden and
Norway.

Death toll from Bucharest

nightclub re reaches 39
AFP/Reuters
Bucharest

he toll from a nightclub

re in Bucharest that
brought down the Romanian government has risen
to 39, officials said yesterday.
Seven more people have died
of their injuries this week after the tragedy at Bucharests
Colectiv club on October 30,
when reworks let off during a
rock bands performance triggered a blaze and a stampede as
panicked revellers tried to get
out.
The re sparked mass antigovernment protests, with
many viewing compromised
safety standards at the club as
emblematic of Romanias wider
problem with rampant corruption.
Prime minister Victor Ponta,
who had been under pressure
for weeks as he goes on trial
on corruption charges, quit on
Wednesday, saying that it was
right for top officials to take responsibility for the tragedy.
Two of those who died this
week one of them Romanian,

the other Italian passed away

in the Netherlands, where they
had been transported on Friday
for treatment, interim prime
minister Sorin Campeanu told a
press conference.
The four others, badly
burned and suffering from respiratory problems, succumbed
to their injuries in hospitals in
Bucharest, interior minister
Raed Arafat said.
There were no immediate details on the seventh victim.
Around a hundred people,
most of them young, remain
hospitalised including 48 in
critical condition, according to
the government.
The earlier toll stood at 32
dead and 200 injured.
Initial investigations suggest
numerous breaches of the safety rules at the club, including a
lack of emergency exits and the
fact that ammable materials
were used for sound insulation.
The clubs three bosses, detained since Tuesday on manslaughter charges, did not have
the authorisation to host concerts, let alone pyrotechnic
shows.
Pontas resignation has not

stemmed the huge protests by

Romanians demanding a profound change in the way the
country is governed, with some
15,000 spilling into the streets
of Bucharest on Friday for a
fourth night running.
Consultations over a new
Romanian prime minister will
resume next week after initial
talks with political and civil society leaders yielded no candidate, President Klaus Iohannis
said.
Yesterday, anti-corruption
prosecutors said they had taken
Cristian Popescu Piedone, the
mayor of the Bucharest district
where Colectiv is located, into
custody.
He had resigned in the wake
of the protests.
They said evidence has
shown that Piedone had granted a working permit for the club
despite the fact it did not have
authorisation from reghters.
Given that several ... events
took place ... in broadly unsafe
public conditions, the lives,
health and physical integrity
of the audience and staff were
permanently put in danger,
prosecutors said in a statement.

A woman holds a placard in front of a Romanian national flag

during a demonstration against the political class and Romanian
authorities during the fourth day of protest in Bucharest on Friday
evening.

Dutch PM
enters
Sesame
Street row
AFP
The Hague

mini storm has broken

out in the Netherlands
ruffling some feathers amid plans to move popular
childrens programme Sesame
Street away from its regular early
evening slot.
But Prime Minister Mark
Rutte, who declared hes a fan of
the show known as Sesamstraat,
backed
public
broadcaster
NPOs decision.
Sesamstraat with its cast of
characters such as Pino (a blue
Big Bird) and Tommie has been
running in the Netherlands since
1976.
After its German cousin, it is
the second longest foreign language version of the popular
American childrens show which
in the decades since its launch in
1969 has been franchised around
the world.
About 20,000 young Dutch
children eagerly tune in most
nights, Dutch media reported.
But late on Thursday NPO revealed that from January 1 the
evening show would move across
to the less popular digital Zapp
Xtra channel.
The decision swiftly prompted
angry reactions, and the launch
of a Facebook campaign Sesamstraat moet blivjen (Sesame
Street must stay).
But NPO head Frans Klein
shot back that the protests were
mainly spurred by nostalgic parents harking back to their childhood nightly routine of watching
the show at home.
They are just sad to see familiar things change, he said.
Revealing his favourite characters were Bert and Ernie, Rutte
told his weekly Friday press conference that it was NPOs decision and parents would soon
adapt to the new channel.
He also revealed his favourite
scene as a child was when Bert
and Ernie cut up a pie, with Ernie
taking the biggest slice knowing
that Bert would have given it to
him anyway.
I have such conversations
often with the Labour Party and
think of that scene, he told reporters with a smile, referring to
his coalition partner in the government.
Even in the United States,
Sesame Street has been hit by
changes when this autumn after 45 years on US public television it was moved to the pay TV
channel HBO.
With its foreign language international versions, the programme is said to reach more
than 156mn children across 150plus countries.

Tired of gun battles, Turkish Kurds hope AKP brings peace

By Humeyra Pamuk, Reuters
Diyarbakir

ired of trenches in the

streets and daily gun battles, shopkeeper Berzani
Akdogan is hoping the return of
single-party rule might bring
stability to Turkeys southeast,
even though a heavier military
crackdown looks likely in the
short term.
Akdogan, whose toy store in
the regions biggest city Diyarbakir has repeatedly been shuttered by violence, turned his
back on the pro-Kurdish opposition in last Sundays general
election, voting instead for the
ruling AK Party (AKP), despite
a campaign built on pledges
to maintain a hardline against
Kurdish militants.
His choice, and those of other
conservative Kurds like him a
minority in the mostly leftleaning Kurdish southeast
helped the Islamist-rooted AKP
to a stunning comeback, winning back a parliamentary majority that it lost just ve months
earlier.
The partys founder, President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, vowed
on Wednesday to liquidate
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
guerrillas in a deant speech
that gave no quarter to those
hoping for conciliation. The
PKK responded on Thursday by
calling off a unilateral ceasere it
had declared in the run-up to the
election.

A Kurdish militant runs in the direction of a woman during heavy

clashes between Kurdish militants and government forces at Sur
district in Diyarbakir on Friday.
The left-leaning pro-Kurdish
Peoples Democratic Party controls most of the southeast.
But for more conservative
Kurds, Erdogan and the AKP
represent the best hope of a political solution to an insurgency
that has left the restive region as
a relative economic backwater
compared to much of the country.
Why did I vote AKP? Because
I need peace more than I need

water or bread, said Akdogan,

43.
Ive been a shopkeeper here
for the past 30 years and this is
the rst time Ive seen this place
so bad. For a month, our shops
were closed almost the whole
time. Even when they were
open, there were no customers,
he said.
The bloodshed, police curfews
and civilian deaths antagonised
many Kurds against Erdogan.

Although he launched negotiations with the PKK three

years ago and gave Kurds more
cultural rights, some Kurds saw
those moves simply as a bid to
curry support among the 20mn
Kurdish community, and the
crackdown of recent months as
revealing his true face.
Erdogans aides say that while
they have run out of patience
with the PKKs armed struggle,
demanding it lay down weapons
before any return to the negotiating table, they are still committed to a political solution
to an insurgency that has cost
40,000 lives over the past three
decades, most of them Kurdish.
Opponents accuse him of deliberately stoking violence in the
southeast in the run-up to Sundays vote in a bid to win back
nationalist support.
But the surge in unrest also
pushed Islamist Kurds, sympathetic to the AKPs ideals and its
economic policies, back towards
the ruling party.
At Turkeys rst parliamentary election this year in June,
the HDP took almost 80% of the
vote in Diyarbakir and the AKP
just 14%, a drop in support that
helped it lose its majority for the
rst time since it was founded
more than a decade ago.
Last Sunday, support for the
AKP rose to around 22% in the
city, helping push it comfortably
back over the threshold needed
to govern alone.
Its gains were driven in part
by fear of the economic con-

sequences if calm could not be

restored.
Seyhmus Cavus, 48, who
owns a womens clothing store,
said that the election outcome
was the right one despite his
being an HDP supporter, with
the pro-Kurdish party winning
enough seats to be represented
in parliament but the AKP in
overall control.
Business has been awful
this summer. People are scared.
Scared to leave the house, scared
to come here. Theyre scared to
get caught in the middle of an
attack, that some bomb will explode, he said, adding: I wanted the HDP in parliament, but I
also believe the AKP will give us
back the stability we urgently
need.
The HDP, which entered parliament as a party for the rst
time in June, won 59 of 550 seats,
putting it in a position to try to
hold the government accountable for developments in the
southeast, even if Erdogan has
said it is no longer a credible mediator.
Parliament needs to bring
the peace process onto its agenda. We want an atmosphere in
which all guns are silenced,
HDP
co-leader
Selahattin
Demirtas said on Thursday.
But one of the biggest challenges is the role of a new generation of guerrillas, the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth
Movement (YDG-H), a wing
of the PKK which has brought
the ght from the mountains

increasingly to the towns and

cities.
A crackdown on YDG-H in
September in Cizre, a town near
the Syrian border, caused outrage among pro-Kurdish lawmakers who said 21 civilians
were killed during a week-long
police curfew imposed during a
manhunt for the militants, some
of whom were teenagers.
The YDG-H claims to ght
against state intimidation and
oppression but some Diyarbakir
residents question its viability.
After the HDP got strong
results in June, the PKK youth
wing declared self-rule in
various districts ... thinking the
public would support them,
said Seyhmus Tanrikulu, Diyarbakir head of the Islamist Kurdish Huda-Par party, many of
whose supporters are believed
to have swung behind the AKP.
But the people didnt fall for it.
Their trenches, their self-rule
didnt nd support.
Akdogan, the toy shop owner,
said two of his fellow store owners were killed by the YDG-H as
they tried to impose their grip in
parts of Diyarbakir.
It was, he said, a wake-up call.
Who are this YDG-H gang?
They come and say shut down
your shop, we will unleash
hell. How dare they? he said.
Wheres your hospital, your
school? Youve destroyed them
all in ghting ... no services,
no roads, no customers. Is that
what you understand by selfrule and freedom?

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

21

EUROPE
Planned
refugee
centre
burned
down

Row over refugee status

refuels German tensions

AFP
Stockholm

Reuters
Berlin

planned refugee shelter

was burned down in Sweden yesterday, with police
saying the re may have been
started deliberately, the latest
in a string of suspected arson
cases targeting a huge inux of
migrants.
Several buildings were burnt,
including one which witnesses
say has been destroyed completely, police said in a statement. For the moment the
cause of the re is not certain but
as there are reasons to suspect
it may have been started deliberately, a preliminary arson inquiry has been opened.
The planned shelter, on the
outskirts of the town of Floda
in southwest Sweden, had yet
to welcome its rst residents.
There were no injuries and there
have been no arrests.
The re follows around a dozen conrmed or suspected cases
of arson targeting migrants in
Sweden this year.
Total arrivals of asylum-seekers to the Scandinavian country are expected to reach up to
190,000 in 2015, the most per
capita of any European nation
as the continent struggles with
its worst migration crisis since
World War II.
On Thursday the Swedish
government warned that its capacity to host the refugees has
reached saturation point and it
cannot guarantee shelter for any
new arrivals.
We are in a tense situation
and we are dependent on the
opening of new lodgings. It is
incredibly hard when they are
destroyed by a re, migration
agency spokeswoman Johanna
Uhr told the Goteborgs-Posten
newspaper.

Teachers
warn of
invasion
DPA
Magdeburg, Germany

ust two days after resolving a coalition row over how

to handle a record inux of
refugees, Germanys ruling parties are embroiled in another spat
over whether to limit the asylum
rights of refugees from Syria.
The government was forced to
clarify on Friday that its asylum
policy for refugees from Syria
remained unchanged after the
interior minister said that they
would receive a modied refugee

status and be barred from having

family members join them.
But the comments made by
Thomas de Maiziere in a radio
interview have reopened a rift
between Chancellor Angela Merkels Christian Democrats (CSU),
its Bavarian sister party (CSU)
and their Social Democrat (SPD)
coalition partners.
Yesterday Ralf Stegner, deputy
chairman of the SPD, accused
the CDU of making half-baked
proposals instead of implementing the decisions agreed on by the
coalition.
Restricting family reunions

would only mean that more

women and children would undertake the dangerous journey
from Syria to Europe, he said,
adding that the SPD opposed the
idea.
Its off the table as far as
the SPD is concerned, Stegner
told German radio. This wont
wash with the SPD, and the CDU
knows this perfectly well.
However, lawmakers from the
CSU, who govern the state of Bavaria which has borne the brunt
of the refugee inux, backed de
Maizieres proposals.
Hundreds of thousands of

chance of being allowed to stay.

It is not the rst time de Maiziere, a reserved man who prefers
to operate out of the spotlight,
has come under attack over his
handling of the inux of hundreds of thousands of migrants,
many of whom are eeing war in
the Middle East.
De Maiziere was lambasted by
mass-selling daily Bild earlier
this week for taking a short break
in Majorca while the government
struggled to manage the pace
and scale of the inux, which
is putting communities under
strain.

Last month Merkel appointed

her chief of staff Peter Altmaier
to oversee the governments handling of the crisis, a move widely
viewed as a rebuff to de Maiziere.
Opposition lawmakers kept up
the pressure on de Maiziere yesterday, with Green politician Renate Kuenast calling him a loose
cannon.
In this government the left
hand doesnt know what the right
hand is doing, said Ulla Jelpke
from the opposition Left Party.
The interior minister is treating
the chancellor and his coalition
partner with disrespect.

Berlin protesters, officers clash near anti-migrant march

AFP/DPA
Berlin

olice clashed yesterday

with activists who took
to the streets of Berlin
to shout down anti-migrant
marchers of the populist-nationalist Alternative for Germany
(AfD).
At least 10 supporters of the
migrants were arrested, an AFP
journalist at the scene said.
Police said an officer was lightly wounded in the brawl.
Police said some 3,500 people
turned out for the anti-migrant
protest, which gathered under
the banner Asylum Has Its Limits Red Card for Merkel.
Organisers had expected a
turnout of up to 5,000.
Five counter-protests in support of migrants were planned in
Berlin, with an expected turnout
of 7,000.
Deputy AfD leader Alexander
Gauland was joined by European
Parliament member Beatrix von
Storch in calling on voters to oust
Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2017
elections.
One placard read, Save Germany. Stop Merkel.
Another protester spoke out
against multiculturalism with a
sign that said Germany was already colourful enough.
Although Merkels ruling coalition recently decided to tighten
asylum laws and fast-track deportations, the chancellor has
been hailed across Europe for
her open-door policy in the face

Police try to remove people blocking a street against the AfD demonstration in Berlin.
of migration ows not seen since
World War II.
Gauland compared the current
migration levels to the barbarian
invasion that contributed to the
downfall of the Roman Empire.
About 20 neo-Nazis were
reported to have been spotted
among the AfD crowd.
A sit-in staged by counter-

demonstrators was thwarted

ahead of the anti-asylum event,
and one police officer suffered
minor injuries earlier in the
day when left-wing protesters
stormed a barrier in a bid to reach
AfD supporters.
However, police reported no
major incidents as the protesters
merely exchanged insults from

teachers union in Germany provoked outrage

yesterday after it warned
young girls to be wary of Muslim men in a trade magazine, according to a national daily.
The union, based in the central
German state of Saxony-Anhalt,
called for caution among young
students in its editorial which
begins with the words: An immigrant invasion surges across
Germany.
The statement was signed by
union chief Juergen Mannke and
his deputy, Iris Seltmann-Kuke,
in the third-quarter edition of its
members magazine.
Culture Minister Stephan
Dorgerloch slammed the group
for
reinforcing
rumours,
spreading half-truths and misusing German values to promote
intolerance.
State head of The Left party,
Birke Bull, called the remarks
borderline hate speech while
Claudio Dalbert of the local
Greens alliance said they served
prejudices and the right-wing.
Mannke brushed off the criticism and insisted that his comments were not racist.

Syrians are getting shelter here,

but it must only be subsidiary
protection - this means for a limited period and without having
family members join them, Andreas Scheuer, the secretary general of the Christian Social Union
(CSU) told Bild am Sonntag.
Subsidiary protection means
migrants are not granted asylum
or refugee status and their rights
are limited.
The latest row comes after the
coalition ended weeks of inghting on Thursday evening on how
to speed up the deportation of
asylum seekers who have little

either side of the barrier.

AfD is a main critic of the top
European economys open-door
policy under Chancellor Angela
Merkel towards refugees eeing
war and persecution.
Germany this year faces a
record inux of up to 1mn migrants amid Europes worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Supporters of the right-wing populist AfD party display anti-Merkel

placards during a demonstration organised by the AfD party in Berlin
against the German governments asylum policy.

Slovenia losing patience with EU

DPA
Belgrade

Refugees and migrants wait under the surveillance of soldiers to cross the Slovenian-Austrian border
from the Slovenian city of Sentilj, on Friday night.

lovenia is running out of

patience with the European
Union and is moving closer
to building border fences, Prime
Minister Miro Cerar said in an interview released yesterday.
If the situation does not
change signicantly in the coming days, we will probably increase control with technical
barriers, Cerar told the daily
Vecer.
The country of 2mn is the
smallest on the Balkan migration
route.
While only a transit nation,
Slovenia has been overwhelmed
with the steady inux of some
7,000 people on average a day.
As many as 100,000 refugees
could come in the next 10 days,
which is unmanageable for us,
Cerar warned.
At this point our primary re-

sponsibility is to our citizens, he

stressed.
The right thing to do would
be for Slovenia to protect the
European Unions border-free
Schengen zone with technical
obstacles, including a fence, if
necessary, the premier said.
Cerar and other Slovenian
officials have been growing increasingly wary that Germany
may end its open-doors policy
and clamp down on the entry of
migrants and refugees, creating
a massive backlog in the transit
countries.
The migrants on the Balkan
route, many of them refugees
from war zones in the Middle
East, enter Europe by crossing
the Aegean from Turkey.
They leave the EU and Schengen as they make their way
through Macedonia and Serbia,
before returning to the EU in
Croatia and to the Schengen zone
in Slovenia.
Cerar said that an escalation

would require defence of the

border ... with wire, police or
even the army.
This is no longer hypothetical. We know that millions of
people are waiting on the EUs
external border, which could
pose a serious problem, he said.
Slovenia became a part of
the Balkan route when Hungary
sealed its its border with Croatia
on October 17.
More than 157,000 refugee arrivals were registered since, with
5,600 on Friday alone, the STA
news agency reported quoting
police.
In an effort to help Slovenia,
a unit of 20 Slovakian police
was due to begin working at the
Gruskovje reception camp, near
the border with Croatia on the
Zagreb-Maribor highway.
Six Austrian officers were already deployed and another 100
from various EU countries were
due to arrive to provide further
assistance.

Migration inux tests Swedens humanitarian superpower image

AFP
Stockholm

verwhelmed by an inux
of migrants, Sweden is
approaching its scal and
emotional limit and this humanitarian superpower is now
being forced to hit the brakes.
The Scandinavian kingdom, in
which one in every ve residents
is of foreign origin, is expected to
receive up to 360,000 new immigrants in 2015 and 2016.
Thats roughly the equivalent

of Germany dealing with 3mn

new migrants or 2.2mn arriving
in France.
The situation is no longer
tenable. Sweden can no longer
take refugees in the way it has
before, Prime Minister Stefan
Lofven warned this week.
Earlier this year, Lofven was
still ruling out the idea of setting
a limit on migration.
Immigration Minister Morgan Johansson reiterated the
governments line when he said:
We cannot guarantee housing
to all refugees. If you have a roof

over your head in Germany, then

its probably best for you to stay
there.
In a sign of the problems involved in dealing with the huge
inux, the Migration Agency reported that it had to set up beds
for 50 migrants at its own headquarters on Thursday night.
In a bid to address the urgency
of the situation and to put a lid
on public spending, the ministry
of nance began suggesting that
development aid be cut by up to
60% in next years budget to help
pay for the inux.

Then, turning towards the EU,

Sweden is seeking to relocate
some of its asylum applicants to
other EU Countries.
Brussels unveiled a plan in
September for the redistribution
of nearly 160,000 migrants and
refugees from frontline states
Italy and Greece.
So far, only a small number
have been relocated.
The EU plan was also to have
seen 54,000 migrants and refugees relocated from Hungary.
But Hungary, along with several other eastern European

countries, rejected the compulsory quota plan out of hand and

Sweden is now very eager to take
advantage of the offer made to
Budapest for relocating some of
its own asylum seekers.
Finally Stockholm has said it
would like to receive special nancial assistance from the European Commission.
Since the 1950s, Sweden has
become a coveted destination for
immigrants.
Before that, more than 1mn
poor peasants and workers migrated to North America from

Sweden between 1840 and 1930.

Last year the then-prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, a conservative, presented the country
as a humanitarian superpower.
One year later, his party ercely supports stemming the ow of
migrants. Because of the welfare
cuts made over the past 25 years,
the generous Swedish model is
being challenged.
Now Sweden, with its economy coming in at 17th per capita,
according to World Bank gures
last year, can no longer afford its
ambitions.

Many of the most recent asylum seekers are sleeping on concrete oors in disused warehouses or in prisons.
Hospitals, schools and social
services are overcrowded and
long-time immigrants, plagued
by high unemployment, are being crammed into poor suburbs.
Polls indicate that the antiimmigrant Sweden Democrats
are beneting most from the
growing tensions.
The Social Democrats have lost
support among the poorer sections of society.

22

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

INDIA
JUDICIARY

MURDER

MYSTERY

SUCCESS

CONTROVERSY

Complaint against Azam

for calling Modi criminal

Samajwadi politician
dies of bullet injuries

Former priests body

recovered from river

Army test-fires
BrahMos missile

TDP leader booked for

assaulting forest officials

A lawsuit was filed against Uttar Pradesh

minister Azam Khan in a Kanpur court for calling
Prime Minister Narendra Modi one of the top
ten criminals of the world. The accuser, Ram
Sewak Shukla, a retired executive engineer
of the Jal Nigam, gave his testimony before
a magistrate on Friday. Shukla said Khan had
insulted people in constitutional posts by his
comments and had hurt the sentiments of
millions of people by calling Modi a criminal. He
also presented newspaper cuttings before the
court in which the minister was quoted as saying
in Faizabad on July 22 that the prime minister
was a world class criminal.

Samajwadi Party corporator Bantu Yadav,

who was shot and injured a week ago in the
Uttar Pradesh capital, died yesterday. Yadav,
a corporator from Ramteertha ward in Narhi,
was shot in the head while attending a funeral
last week. His assailant was arrested later and
he told the police he was given a contract by
some builders to kill Yadav. A panel of doctors
conducted a postmortem examination after
which Yadavs body was handed over to his
family.Hundreds of supporters, party workers
and relatives took part in his funeral procession.
Security was beefed up in the area to ensure that
there was no violent reaction to the death.

The body of Bismarque Dias - who had been

protesting against a string of controversial,
land intensive projects across Goa - was fished
out from Mandovi river near St Estevam island
yesterday. The body of Dias, a priest with the
Roman Catholic order of Blessed Sacrament
Fathers until a few years ago, was found more
than 24 hours after he was reported missing.
Police said they were looking for Dias since
late Thursday when his clothes, mobile phone
and other personal effects were found at the
river bank. Congress leader Durgadas Kamat
expressed concern over Dias death and
demanded police protection for his relatives.

The Indian Army yesterday successfully test fired

the BrahMos land-attack cruise missile against
a designated target in Rajasthans Pokhran test
range, demonstrating the weapons operational
capability, an official said. The missile was test
launched by a mobile autonomous launcher
(MAL) and carried out in the user-deployment
configuration by trained army personnel. It met
all the mission objectives. BrahMos missile
system is the most lethal and potent weapon
system for precision strike available with the
Indian Army, has proved again its effectiveness
in todays successful launch, Sudhir Mishra,
chief of BrahMos Aerospace, said in a statement.

Police in Andhra Pradesh yesterday booked

a legislator of the ruling Telugu Desam Party
and his aides for criminal trespass in a wildlife
sanctuary and alleged assault on forest officials.
Chinthamaneni Prabhakar and his supporters
were booked at Kaikalur police station in Krishna
district on the complaint of forest officials.
Prabhakar, who represents Dendulur in West
Godavari district, along with his supporters tried
to lay a road through Atapaka bird sanctuary
to Komatilanka in West Godavari district on
Friday night. They allegedly threatened and even
assaulted forest officials when they tried to stop
the legislator and his aides from laying the road.

Maid whose
hand was
chopped off
is back from
Saudi Arabia

PM pledges
$12bn aid
package for
Kashmir

IANS
Chennai/New Delhi

maid whose right hand

was allegedly chopped off
by her employer in Saudi
Arabia returned to Chennai yesterday, officials said.
Kasthuri Munirathnam, 58,
who suffered grievous injuries in
the attack that took place at her
employers home in Riyadh, was
accorded a warm welcome at the
Chennai airport by relatives and
state government officials.
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in
a statement said Rs1mn has been
deposited in her name in Tamil
Nadu Power Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.
Jayalalithaa said a monthly interest of Rs8,330 will be paid to
Munirathanam, who hails from
Vellore district.
Immediately on her arrival at
Chennai airport, Munirathnam
was taken to a government hospital for a check-up.
Meanwhile,
external
affairs ministry spokesman Vikas
Swarup tweeted: Ms Kasturi
Munirathnam arrived in Chennai and was reunited with her
family today morning.
Even as our Mission in Riyadh continues to pursue the case
of Ms Munirathnam, we have got
her dues & facilitated her return
to India.
Munirathnam initially went to
Dammam in Saudi Arabia in August this year and then to capital
Riyadh to work as a domestic
help.
Her right hand was allegedly
chopped off when she tried to
escape from an apartment in
Riyadh.
However, her Saudi sponsor
claimed that her hand had to
be amputated after it was badly
damaged in her failed attempt to
ee by jumping from a window.
Police investigated the accident and checked all evidence at
the site and concluded that the
woman tried to jump from the
window and fell from the third
oor, Arab News quoted the
sponsor as saying.
Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Riyadh has taken up the
matter with the Saudi Arabian
government and has sought an
independent probe.

Modi stresses need to create

jobs for young people
and boost tourism and
infrastructure
Agencies
Srinagar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a rally in a cricket stadium in Srinagar yesterday.

rime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday announced $12bn in nancial assistance to Jammu and
Kashmir, more than a year after
deadly oods devastated parts of
the state.
Speaking in the main city of
Srinagar amid intense security, the prime minister said
he wished to take Indias only
Muslim-majority state back to
its former glory.
Modi stressed the need to create jobs for young people, boost
tourism and infrastructure, and
close a gaping digital divide in
the conict-wracked region,
where many do not have access
to the Internet.
To fulfil these dreams,
the Indian government is announcing a Rs80,000 crore
($12.1bn) package to Jammu
and Kashmir, Modi told a
cheering crowd at a public rally
in Srinagar, as authorities imposed a curfew for the second
day running.
My heart wants this money
to be spent to change your fortunes, to give strength to your
youth, to build a modern Kashmir, he said as some in the audience jumped up and down, waving their arms with joy.
Not only are Delhis funds
yours, but so is its heart.
Srinagar was the hardest hit
after the rain-swollen River

Jhelum burst its banks in September 2014 leaving thousands

stranded.
The oods killed 300 people
and caused an estimated $16bn
worth of damage, with thousands of homes and large tracts
of farmland ruined, according to
official data.
Most prime ministers have
announced economic packages
for Kashmir in the past, with
some seeking political engagement with separatists in the
state.
I hope he (Modi) will stop all
the violence here, said Bashir
Ahmed, a resident of Srinagar
who had come to listen to the
prime minister along with his
family.
The prime minister also inaugurated the 450 megawatt
second phase of the Baglihar
power project in Ramban district
in Jammu region and the expansion of the Udhampur-Bannihal
stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar
national highway.
Modi said he was privileged to
be the rst prime minister of the
country who visited Jammu and
Kashmir so many times.
I am attracted by Kashmir
since I have seen the love of the
people here. I have visited farung areas of Kashmir when I
came here in the past as a BJP
worker, he said.
But Modi steered clear of politics in his speech, prompting opposition leader Omar Abdullah
to react sharply.
PM Modi has made the same
mistake of weighing the Kashmir
issue in Rupees & Paise!!!!, Abdullah, the former chief minister
of the state tweeted.
Security was beefed up ahead

Bottle which
purifies water
as you drink

Surrogacy ban move leaves

foreign couples in limbo
AFP
New Delhi

hildless couples from

around the world have
been left in limbo after
the Indian government revealed
plans to ban them from the
countrys booming multi-million dollar surrogacy industry.
The industry has exploded
in recent years with thousands
of infertile couples ocking to
India, one of only a handful of
countries offering cheap surrogacy using skilled doctors and
with relatively little red tape.
But the unregulated industrys
growth has sparked debate about
exploitation of the 25,000 mainly poor Indian women whose
wombs are hired to carry couples embryos through to birth.
After announcing plans last
week for legislation banning
commercial surrogacy, the gov-

ernment issued a notice to the

countrys 350-odd fertility clinics, ordering them not to entertain any foreigners.
The move sparked an outcry
from fertility specialists, along
with rallies by surrogate mothers.
Why should foreigners be
discriminated against? We are
all human beings, Nayana Patel,
one of leading IVF specialists,
said.
I have been doing this for
11 years and its a beautiful arrangement. Banning it is not
the answer, Patel, who heads
the Akanksha clinic in Gujarat,
added.
Clinics scrambled to reassure
confused and anxious foreigners who have already started the
process, but others have been
told to put their plans on hold.
We have told couples who are
still at the very start to wait and
watch what happens, Patel said,

adding her clinic has given such

advice to 30 to 40 couples in recent days.
Two clinics in Mumbai were
this week successful in getting
the ban lifted temporarily for
couples already expecting a surrogate birth, after taking legal
action. But their lawyer Vikrant
Sabne said that the Bombay
High Courts order did not apply
nationally.
Shivani Sachdev Gour, head
of Surrogacy Centre India in
Delhi, said it was logical that
parents already signed up be
allowed to continue. There
are no guarantees but if they
have started the process they
should be able to keep going,
Gour said.
A health ministry official declined to comment until after the
Supreme Court resumes hearing a lawyers petition later this
month that seeks to shut down
the unethical industry.

After arriving from Ireland

this week, one couple said they
were determined to go ahead,
confident that since they already registered with a clinic,
our case holds up in a court of
law.
Unable to have children and
born with a heart defect that
rules out IVF treatment, the
woman said they turned to India as a last resort after learning adoption was outlawed in
Ireland for people with certain
medical conditions.
Realistically this is our only
option, the 35-year-old from
Cork, who did not want to be
named, said at a Delhi clinic.
Ninety-nine percent of the
children born this way will have
a more loved life because their
parents have made so much of
an effort to have them, her husband, also 35, added.
It would be madness to ban
it.

of Modis visit, with the sate already tense following incidents

of religious intolerance and attacks on minorities in many
parts of India.
Authorities imposed a nearlockdown and suspended mobile Internet services - common
during high-prole visits to the
state.
Hundreds of separatist activists were arrested ahead of
the visit, with leaders conned
to their homes to prevent them
from holding a protest march
against Modis rally.
Modis visit and the economic package will not change
anything, like in the past, top
separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani told reporters outside his
residence, surrounded by police to prevent him from leaving.
Another separatist leader,
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who has
taken part in negotiations with
New Delhi in the past, said in
a statement after the rally that
the government should display
political wisdom and courage
for permanent resolution of the
dispute.
A
separatist
insurgency
against Indian rule and Indias
counter-insurgency campaign
has left tens of thousands dead
since 1989, mostly civilians.
As political workers ferried
people in buses and taxis to the
venue, a distressed pregnant
woman, accompanied by an elderly woman, walked past government forces towards a maternity hospital.
Every time an Indian VIP
visits here we have to suffer,
the lady said, without giving her
name.

In this photograph taken on October 29, surrogate mothers

gather during a peaceful protest on the campus of Dr Nayana
Patels Kaival Hospital in Anand, some 90km from Ahmedabad in
Gujarat.

Aimed at helping the common

man protect himself from
pollution and saving the
environment, environmental
consumer products company
Nirvana Being has launched
a bottle which filters water as
you drink. Priced at Rs950, the
550ml bottle uses active carbon
filter to purify water and make
it tastier. Municipal tap water
is fit for drinking but most of us
dont drink it because it tastes
really bad. It has chemicals and
chlorine. This filter (active carbon
filter) removes all of that and
makes that water pure and tasty,
Nirvana Being founder Jai Dhar
Gupta said. Made from entirely
recycled material, the reusable
bobble is Polyvinyl Chloride
(PVC) and Bisphenol A (BPA) free,
which requires a filter change
costing Rs.450 after every 300
filtrations. Bobble offers pure
and tasty drinking water at Rs3
per bottle including the cost of
the bottle and the filter and Rs1.5
per bottle if we account only
for the filter cost, added Gupta.
Other than a couple of brands,
all the other plastic bottles have
PVC or BPA in the plastic which is
carcinogenic, we are essentially
drinking cancer.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

23

INDIA
BJP, LDF gain in
Kerala civic polls;
UDF suffers a
huge setback
By Ashraf Padanna
Thiruvananthapuram

rime Minister Narendra

Modis Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) made major
gains in Kerala civic polls for
the first time, results showed
yesterday.
The elections also threw up
hung houses in several cities, towns and villages with
the strong BJP presence splitting the seats three-way unlike
in the assembly vote which is
fought mainly between the Left
Democratic Front (LDF) and the
Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
The LDF led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won seven of the 14 district councils leaving six to the
Congress and its allies while
Kasaragod district gave a split
verdict with the BJP winning
two seats against the UDFs
eight and LDFs seven.
Among the 87 municipal
councils, the LDF and the UDF
shared 25 each and others remain hung with a strong BJP
presence.
Giving a major shock to the
dominant fronts, the BJP cornered 34 of the 100 seats in
Thiruvananthapuram
municipal corporation leaving
the council hung with the LDF
short of nine seats for a simple
majority and pushing the UDF
to a distant third with just 21
seats.
Of the other five city corporations, the UDF won Kochi and
the LDF Kollam and Kozhikode.
No party has a majority in
Thrissur and Kannur, where a
Congress worker elected as an
independent against the official
candidate has offered support
to the UDF to rule.
The UDF has 27 seats in the
council against the LDFs 26
and in the 55-member Kannur
Corp while the LDF has 23 seats
in Thrissur against the UDFs
21, BJPs six and five independents.
Of the 941 village councils,
the3 LDF has won 419 leaving
254 to the UDF, three to the BJP
and seven to local coalitions of
various groups. Nobody has a
majority in others for now.
In the industrial town of
Kizhakkambalam, Twenty20, a
group promoted by a business
house, swept all the 19 seats in
the local council.
The LDF has also won 83 of
the 152 block-level councils
leaving 57 to the UDF.
The elections also saw minority Muslim votes gravitating
towards the LDF.
The shift of Muslim votes
dealt a heavy blow to the Congress Party-led ruling coali-

tion headed by an overconfident Chief Minister Oommen

Chandy who has all along been
maintaining that it would be a
referendum on his four-andhalf-year rule.
Chandy, who had described
the local elections as a semifinal before the state holds assembly elections in less than six
months, said he had expected a
better outcome.
We would study the verdict
and make necessary changes in our policies and programmes. Its indeed a warning, and we take it that way,
Chandy told reporters. But
theres no wave seen this time
like we won in 2010 with even
bigger margin.
He described the BJPs performance as a temporary phenomenon adding the politics
of hatred would not succeed in
Kerala.
See, they had won more
votes in parliamentary elections (when the BJP established
a lead in 63 of the 100 corporation segments), he said.
Other Congress leaders described it as a shock treatment for an intense factional
feud and friendly contests
among the partners in many
places.
The UDF was overconfident. Its a temporary setback
for us which we would overcome in the next elections,
said senior leader A K Antony.
As the results began to come
in thick and fast, the LDF was
able to clearly edge out the UDF
in all the segments of the threetier local body structure in the
state.
State Congress president V
M Sudheeran said the results
show that the UDF base has not
been affected much.
But, nevertheless, we did
not expect this. But overall our
base is intact. Yes, in the Thiruvananthapuram corporation we
have suffered a serious reverse,
said Sudheeran.
Now its going to be time
for introspection and to find
out where we made mistakes.
Was it the candidate selection...? All such issues would
be discussed threadbare next
week when our party leadership meets.
Opposition leader V S
Achuthanandan, 92, who led
the LDFs campaign across
the state, said the verdict was
a slap in the face for Finance
Minister K M Mani, facing
bribe charges, and his protector Chandy.
This is a verdict against
corruption and communalism, said his deputy Kodiyeri
Balakrishnan. Its a verdict
against Chandy as chief minister.

Workers set up tents outside the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on the eve of the Bihar assembly election results.

Bihar results today, BJP

in celebratory mood
NCP rules out supporting
NDA to form government in
case of a hung assembly
IANS
New Delhi

he exit polls on the Bihar

election may be sharply
divided over the question of who would form the next
government in the state, but
the Bharatiya Janata Party has
already started preparing for
its victory celebrations at its 11
Ashoka Road headquarters in
New Delhi.
The main ght is between the
BJP-led National Democratic
Alliance and the grand alliance
of Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya
Janata Dal and the Congress.
A visit to the BJP headquarters
a day before the results revealed

a pace of frenetic activity not

seen on normal days. From leaders to party cadres, everyone was
busy preparing for D-Day while
exchanging views on the outcome of the poll.
The results will be known today.
Colourful tents have been
put up in the backyard of
the property adjoining the
BJP headquarters, and party
cadres and leaders were seen
rushing around, making arrangements.
Though party workers said
arrangements were being made
to accommodate members for
watching the results together
and participating in television
debates, the underlying celebratory sentiment could not be hidden.
LCD screens are being
put up and high tea will be

provided, said a worker who

was busy making the arrangements.
We were confused till yesterday despite the prediction by
Todays Chanakya. But when
NDTV predicted an NDA government, we became sure of
victory, said an official.
Senior BJP leaders, however,
said their condence was based
on their reading of the ground
reality in Bihar.
We dont believe in exit
polls. We have worked hard on
the ground and expect a decisive mandate of two-thirds
majority. We got support from
every section of the society,
BJP general secretary Arun
Singh said.
Another general secretary
Anil Jain said: Exits polls have
done their work. But our internal assessment is that NDA

eteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher led a

March for India to protest against voices being raised
over intolerance in the country and later called on President
Pranab Mukherjee for what he
described as a great meeting
where he raised concerns about
the award wapsi (return of
awards) by a string of artistes.
We had a great meeting with
honourable President of India
Shri Pranab Mukherjee. He said
Awards are given by nation not
by governments, Kher tweeted
after the meeting at the conclusion of the march from India
Gate to the Rashtrapati Bhawan
presidential mansion.
Happy to share that PM
Narendra Modi ji is meeting us
at 6.30pm, he added.
Kher, who is a Bharatiya Janata
Party supporter, was joined in
the march by lmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar, Ashoke Pandit,
Priyadarshan, actor Manoj Joshi
and singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya.

Over the past few days, several writers, painters, lmmakers and scientists have returned
their awards over fears that the
countrys democracy might be
coming apart.
Noted academic Madhu
Purnima Kishwar of the Centre
for Study of Developing Societies and founder of Manushi,
a womens rights journal, was
also present in the march. She
slammed both the Congress
and communist parties for
bringing shame to the country
through the series of award
wapsi.
People who are terming the
current rule as fascism, do they
even know the meaning of it? In
India, even if there is one incident
of atrocity, the whole country rises in revolt, Kishwar said.
She felt that the ones returning awards were sleeping
when big massacres took place
through the 1990s.
During the era of Rajiv Gandhi, dozens of riots took place,
but their conscience didnt
move. But suddenly over one
stray killing in Uttar Pradesh,
where Samajwadi Party is in

power, people are returning

awards, she said.
Kishwar added that Congress
and communists had monopoly
over opinions, media, academia,
cultural bodies and that monopoly is threatened by social
media.
The kind of murderous mayhem CPM unleashed in Kerala
or in West Bengal, they never
protested. Suddenly one Dadri
killing and their conscience has
awakened. Congress is facing
decimation, Kishwar said.
Nalini of the acclaimed
Kathak duo Nalini and Kamalini, also participated in the
march and said that such events
are the need of the hour.
It is a must. When people express negative thoughts,
it gives a wrong message. The
awards given to the artistes, its
an honour bestowed upon them
by the country. It is inappropriate to return it. We always say
that arts should enter politics,
but here politics has entered
arts, Nalini said.
Lawyer Nupur Sharma, a
former Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad activist, said:

port the BJP-led NDA to help it

to form the next government in
case the grand alliance does not
get majority, he said, expressing
the hope that his party would
win some seats.
Last month, the NCP walked
away from the Third Front to
contest the assembly elections
on its own.
The Sharad Pawar-led NCPs
decision to walk out was a major
set back for Mulayam Singh Yadavs Samajwadi Party, the main
party of the Third Front.
Also yesterday, Former Bihar
chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav
said he was condent that the
grand alliance will win 190 of
the 243 seats.
We will win 190 seats.
Theres panic among (BJP president Amit) Shah and (Prime
Minister Narendra) Modi. They
know they are about to lose.

RSS, BJP call Rahul

a novice in politics

Anupam Kher leads march

against intolerance protests
IANS
New Delhi

will get at least 140 seats.

A leader, said to be one of the
BJP backroom boys deployed
in Bihar, said: When NDTV is
giving us a majority, then the
wind seems to be blowing in
our favour. Other than this, the
reason behind our condence
about winning is because most
of the backward class and youth
voters of Bihar have supported
the BJP.
Whether the BJPs celebratory
mood will continue will be clear
before noon today.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said it
would not support the NDA to
form the government in Bihar in
case of a hung assembly.
Senior NCP leader Tariq Anwar also said it may have a rethink on joining the grand alliance.
The NCP is not going to sup-

IANS
New Delhi

T
Anupam Kher raises slogans as he leads the March for India from
India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday.
Such award returning actions
are ruining Indias image on an
international level.
Singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya
also took potshots at people
returning awards saying that
such people who are protesting
by returning awards will not be
spared.
We are not to leave people
(ones who are returning awards)
like this. They are anti-nationals. We are proud if we are called
Bhakts, he said.
Meanwhile Malayalam poet

Anwar Ali has voiced concern

over the growing intolerance in
the country and said cultural
institutions must not be allowed
to be hijacked.
The poet also expressed
concern over political interference in Sahitya Akademi and
stressed the need to retain its
autonomy.
The Akademi was always free
from politics even during the previous NDA government. Now, I
can see that the atmosphere is
changing, he said on Friday.

he
Bharatiya
Janata
Party and the Rashtriya
Swayamsewak Sangh yesterday hit back at Congress vice
president Rahul Gandhi for calling the RSS a fascist organisation, and dubbed him a novice
in politics.
Gandhi earlier in the day accused the RSS of destroying liberal and secular India.
For the rst time, a fascist organisation has achieved decisive
power, the Congress leader said
at a conference titled No peace
without freedom, No freedom
without peace: Securing Nehrus
vision and Indias future to celebrate of the 125th birth anniversary of former prime minister
Jawaharlal Nehru, here.
The BJP slammed him for his
remarks.
Those who are novices in
politics should not comment on
Mohan Bhagwat-ji, federal minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh
told reporters here.
The RSS also reacted and
hoped that the Congress got a
betting reply from Singh.

Gandhi said the stated purpose

of the RSS was to establish a
theocratic, autocratic state in India. To achieve this goal, it has to
destroy the current liberal, progressive, secular, social democratic republic.
Replying to a question, he said:
We are the biggest force that
fought RSS.
On Nehruvian thinking, Gandhi said: Nehrus idea was that
each Indian, no matter how poor
or weak, understands the universe
around him. And that knowledge
comes through practice and experience... Nobody can claim a monopoly on truth. Each Indian has
his and her own unique perspective that informs and adds to Indias understanding of the world.
When the RSS and BJP deny
this they are not just being intolerant. They are disrespecting the
power and agency of the Indian
people. They are disrespecting
and denying the Indian people
their dignity.
Referring to national broadcaster Doordarshans live telecast of
the RSS chiefs Dussehra speech,
he asked: Why must all of India
be subjected to the hateful mediocrity of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on the national television?

24

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

LATIN AMERICA

Search resumes for people

missing in Brazil mudslide
The mining firm is facing
questions on its industrial
practices
Agencies
Sau Paulo

escue teams searched for

a third day yesterday for
survivors of an avalanche
of mud and mining sludge that
buried a village in southeastern
Brazil, as authorities tried to pin
down the number of dead and
missing.
Hundreds of reghters, soldiers and civil defence workers probed for signs of life in the
sea of mud unleashed Thursday
when waste reservoirs burst at
the partly Australian-owned Samarco iron ore mine.
Authorities have given contradictory information on the toll.
The mayor of Mariana, the
nearest city in the state of Minas
Gerais, said yesterday the official
toll was one dead and 13 missing,
all of them mine workers.
Beside those, however, he said
as many as 10 inhabitants of Bento Rodrigues are unaccounted
for. The village has a population
of about 620.
There is only one conrmed
death so far, but it is logical that
(the number) will surely rise, he
said.
He said officials were interviewing residents to get a x on
the missing but we havent been
able to arrive at a gure.
Its not a very high number.
What were seeing with the families, it is three to six people, 10
at most, who are missing, he
added.
The head of the Mariana re

Rescue workers try to save a horse at Bento Rodrigues district. Right: Jaqueline da Aparecida Fernandes and relatives outside their house as they wait for news about her brother Mateus Marcio Fernandes, who is
missing since the dam burst in Mariana.
ghters, Adao Severino Junior,
said Friday there were at least 17
dead, while the local mining union reported that 15 people lost
their lives.
The cascade of debris began
with the collapse of a dike at a
reservoir holding 55mn cubic
meters of mining waste, which
spilled into an adjoining valley.
A short time later, another
reservoir with 7mn cubic meters
of water broke, and the mass of
liquid sludge swept over Bento
Rodrigues 2km away.
There was a horrible noise
and we saw the mud approaching. We ran for it. It is a miracle
that we are still alive, said Vale-

ria de Souza, 20, with a baby in

her arms and tears in her eyes.
About 500 people were evacuated from the village on Thursday
after washing off the mud and mineral residue with soap and water.
Besides levelling everything
in its path, the avalanche caused
enormous environmental damage, an investigator with the
Minas Gerais state prosecutors
office, Carlos Ferreira Pinto, said.
The local Mariana miners union said the sludge was toxic, but
the company operating the mine,
Samarco, said it was inert and
contained no harmful chemicals.
The head of Samarcos emergency planning operations, Ger-

mano Silva Lopes, told a news

conference the company had detected a tremor but no anomalies
in the dams before they burst.
Samarco is jointly owned by
BHP Billiton of Australia and Vale
of Brazil.
From when the rst warnings
were heard, the Brazilian village
of Bento Rodrigues had about 25
minutes to escape.
The water from the broken
dam holding waste water moved
fast down the valley. A ood believed to be some 20m high swept
through the village of 600, destroying homes and livelihoods
within minutes.
Apart from a few houses spared

by being on higher ground, homes

are little more than bare walls now.
A thick sludge of water and iron ore
tore off the roofs and settled over
the village like hardening wax, leaving twisted cars perched awkwardly
in its wake. Helicopters buzzed
overhead, searching for the lost 24
hours after the deluge.
A school in the line of the advancing water was hastily evacuated by teachers, an act which is
thought to have saved dozens of
lives. There are heroes in this
tragedy, the local mayor Duarte
Jnior said in acknowledgement
of their actions.
Six villages were hit by the
ood. Residents were evacuated

to a gymnasium in the nearby

town of Mariana, where hundreds
of mattresses lined the oor and
medical staff bustled in white
coats attending to the injured.
Donations of water, clothes and
blankets poured in from wellwishers with many taking the day
off work to help those who have
lost everything.
Theres nothing left in my
village. Just memories, Soraia
Souza, 24, from the village of Paracatu de Baixo, told Reuters while
holding an 18-month-old baby
wearing just a diaper.
At the site of the worst devastation, twenty rescue workers sweated in the humid Brazil-

ian heat, trying to rescue a horse

trapped in the thick, heavy mud.
With a rope wrapped around it,
twenty men and women tugged
to exhaustion, but the animal
wouldnt budge. As dusk turned
to dark, hopes the horse could be
saved wavered.
Weve tried everything, theres
nothing more we can do, said
Maximiliano Inacio, a local reghter.
Four mild earthquakes preceded the double levee breach, authorities said Friday.
The four tremors were between
2- and 2.6-magnitude in strength,
the Seismological Centre at the
University of Sao Paulo reported.

Raul Castro, Pena Nieto put seal

on warmer Cuba-Mexico ties

Brazil drug queen

from the Rio favelas
turns writer

Agencies
Mexico City

AFP
Sau Paulo

he started sniffing glue at

age six to ease the hunger
of life in a Brazilian slum.
She got her rst revolver when
she was 11.
Now 54, Raquel de Oliveira,
once the rst lady of the drug
trade in the Rio de Janeiro
favelas, has taken up the pen.
After a decade in treatment
for alcoholism and drug addiction, she has just published her
rst novel, Number One.
Literature is the only thing
that has kept me standing,
says Oliveira, an energetic
talker with long dark hair, in an
interview with AFP.
Writing gives me pleasure.
It takes the place of cocaine. It
helps me ee from the pain.
In the 1980s Oliveira was the
lover of one Naldo, the drug
lord of Brazils biggest favela,
La Rocinha, in Rio de Janeiro.
After he was killed in a
shootout with police, she became a drug trafficker herself,
but was ruined by her own alcohol and cocaine habit.
She made it into rehab, discovered poetry, completed highschool studies and university,
where she majored in education.
She was speaking in the Babilonia favela, during FLUPP, a
literary festival for the favelas.
This book is the story of my
life, she says.
She grew up in a shack with
a dirt oor that she shared
with a father she describes
simply as a paedophile.
When I was little, our soda
drink was wine mixed with
water and sugar. All the children drank it, she recalled.
She was not yet six when her
father locked her in the shack
and abandoned her.
She escaped onto the
rooftops of the slum, where
other children lived and spent
their days ying kites and
sniffing glue.
When she was nine her
grandmother intervened.
She was addicted to roulette
and I was a way to raise money.
The grandmother sold her to

uban leader Raul Castro received a

warm welcome in Mexico on Friday
as president Enrique Pena Nieto
sought to end a diplomatic chill and boost
business opportunities on the island.
With the colonial Caribbean city of
Merida serving as the backdrop, Castro
was given red carpet treatment at the Yucatan state government palace for his rst
official visit to Mexico since taking power
in 2006.
Long live the indestructible brotherhood between the people of Cuba and
Mexico, Castro said as he delivered a
speech alongside Pena Nieto following a
private meeting.
For his part, Pena Nieto greeted Castro
with an embrace and told him that Mexico welcomes you with open arms.
The two governments signed ve cooperation agreements in migration, education, diplomacy, shing and tourism.
Both leaders made clear that the improved relations could lead to more investment opportunities for Mexican companies as the communist nation implements
economic reforms.
We committed both our governments
to creating the conditions for Mexican
businessmen and investors to invest in
Cuba, Pena Nieto said.
In Mexico, we value the new opportunities that are emerging in Cuba and
we want to be an ally in this process of
change.
The diplomatic reconciliation between
the United States and Cuba has raised the
prospect of new business opportunities
on the island, though the US embargo remains in place.
In May 2014, Mexico sent a business
delegation to Havana representing 48
companies. It also opened a trade promotion office in Havana.
Mexico has several investment projects
in Cubas Mariel mega-port.
We are pleased by the interest that
Mexican companies have in doing business and investing in Cuba, especially at
the special development zone of Mariel
and in sectors like agriculture and tourism, said Castro.
In his bid to improve ties since taking
office in 2012, Pena Nieto forgave 70% of
Cubas $487mn debt in 2013 and held a
state visit in Havana a year later.
The US-Cuba rapprochement has had
another effect for Mexico, as thousands of
Cubans have been entering the country on
their way to the United States.

Raul Castro attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Mexicos monument to child heroes at La Mojorada park, at the Yucatan State
Government Palace in Merida, Mexico.
The surge is driven by fears among
Cubans that the US-Cuba detente will
prompt Washington to stop giving them
automatic visas when they step on US soil.
Mexican government gures show that
nearly 6,500 Cubans were taken to migration centres in the rst nine months of this
year, three times more than in all of 2014.
Pena Nieto said the two governments
signed an agreement to broaden legal tools
to ensure a legal, safe and orderly ow
of migrants between both countries, and
combat human trafficking.
Castros visit sealed a warming of relations between two nations that have had
close ties in past decades.
Relations were marked by tensions between Fidel Castro and conservative Mexican governments that were in power from
2000 to 2012.
Ties were better when Pena Nietos Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was
in power for much of the 20th century.
The Castro brothers lived in exile in
Mexico in the 1950s and sailed to Cuba
from the eastern state of Veracruz to
launch their guerrilla revolution.
Mexico was the only Latin American
country to resist US pressure to break relations with Havana during the Cold War.
But relations turned sour under Vicente
Foxs 2000-2006 presidency, which voted
to condemn Cuba at the UN Human Rights
Council.
At a UN poverty summit in the northern

Mexican city of Monterrey in 2002, Fox

urged Fidel Castro to eat and leave early
to avoid an awkward encounter with thenUS president George W Bush.
Its very good that relations between
Mexico and Cuba are normalising, but its
not as important as in the past for either
country, said Rodrigo Salazar, political
expert at the Latin American Social Sciences Faculty.
Mexico is eager to stake its claim as Cubas principal bridge to Latin America and
the leaders signed accords on tourism, agriculture, education and migration before
scheduled talks with a delegation of Mexican businessmen.
Both governments have agreed to set
about creating conditions for more Mexican companies to invest in Cuba, Pena
Nieto said inside a 19th century palace
where the two men, dressed in white guayabera shirts, spoke to reporters.
Following Pena Nietos words closely,
Castro praised Mexico for its solidarity
during the Cold War, and looked forward
to still closer ties, saying: Im also pleased
about the interest among Mexican companies to do business and invest in Cuba.
Boasting that it is lining up more investment projects there than any other nation
in Latin America, Mexico could reap major
rewards from helping to reverse the effects
of more than half a century of US trade
embargoes and animosity toward Cuba.
Cuba needs lots of infrastructure:

highway infrastructure, communications

infrastructure, hydraulic infrastructure
and there will be many opportunities
for companies, said Federico Martinez,
president of Mexican construction rm
Tradeco.
Spanish hotels and Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht are among foreign players already in Cuba, but entrepreneurs like
Martinez note that Mexicos proximity and
historic ties put them in a strong position
to capitalize on new business.
International development loans to
Cuba would likely set that in motion soon,
Martinez added.
Mexican retailer and bottling company
Femsa said in September it was considering expanding its business to Cuba and
cement maker Cemex is making similar
noises.
Yes, were interested, but I think well
have to wait and see what the possibilities
are, Cemex chief executive officer Fernando Gonzalez told reporters.
Mexicos richest businessman, telecoms
tycoon Carlos Slim, has so far given little away on what plans he has for Cuba,
where his agship rm America Movil has
a roaming agreement.
Yet despite possessing a fortune that
has made him a symbol of the massive inequality in Mexico, Slim has been praised
for his intelligence by Fidel Castro, who in
2010 announced the billionaire had given
him a television.

a gambling boss, the so-called

godfather of various young
girls.
He was very friendly and
protective. He bought the girls
because he thought he was
helping the families, Oliveira
said. When I got to his house,
about three of the girls were
pregnant by him.
She escaped being forced into
prostitution by a priest of Umbanda, an Afro-Brazilian cult.
This girl will not be a prostitute, the holy man told the Godfather. You must adopt her.
Oliveira says the gangster
listened to the holy man and
treated her like a daughter.
When she was 11 he gave her
a revolver to defend herself
against bandits.

She made it into rehab,

discovered poetry,
completed high-school
studies and university,
Her life changed at 25 when
she started her three-year relationship with Naldo.
The charismatic king of
Rocinha was the rst drug
dealer to give interviews to
newspapers. He brought ries
into the favelas, sparking an
arms race with the police.
He was the love of my life.
I liked how he loved me and all
the things he gave me: security, affection, she said.
It was great to discover all
that. I had been married before
and it had been shitty.
For several years she carried
on Naldos trafficking work by
herself in Rocinha, where she
still lives. She drank and took
cocaine more than ever.
Cocaine was my passion,
she says. It replaced all the
love that Id lost with my dead
husband.
In 2005, a friend helped get
her back on the rails.
Now she plans to get a masters degree in education and
publish another novel and two
books of poetry.
She says she has no regrets.
I managed to face up to
everything that happened with
dignity, she said. My life
could have been much worse.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

25

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN

War with India is not an option: Sharif

Internews
Karachi

akistan Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif said war
with India was not an option as tensions escalate between
the two neighbouring countries,
a media report said yesterday.
During a meeting with Presi-

dent Mamnoon Hussain in Islamabad on Thursday, Sharif

said his government desired
friendly ties with India, all its
neighbours and the world at
large for sustainable development, the Nation reported.
Sharif wished to resolve all the
outstanding issues with India
through dialogue as he believed
the use of force could only wors-

en the situation, an official who

attended the meeting said.
They discussed the regional
situation and reiterated Pakistans resolve to have friendly relations with all the neighbouring
countries for peace and prosperity in the region, the official said.
Indias support for insurgents and the terrorists came
under discussion and they

Govt suspends
pact with EU
on migrants
Pakistan has temporarily
suspended a 2010 agreement
with European Union
countries that allows them to
deport its citizens entering
the continent illegally
AFP
Islamabad

akistan has announced it

had suspended its agreement on the readmission
of illegal immigrants with European Union countries, except
Britain, because of its blatant
misuse, state media reported.
The 2010 agreement aimed to
facilitate the return of Pakistani
illegal immigrants and other
nationals who had transited
through Pakistan before arriving
in the EU.
Interior Minister Chaudhry
Nisar Ali Khan said European
countries were misusing the
agreement.
Pakistanis travelling illegally to any Western country
are to be deported after proper
verication of their nationality and other relevant details
from Pakistan, state-run Radio
Pakistan quoted Khan as telling

local media in Islamabad.

But, he said, most of the
(Western) countries are deporting people without verication
by Pakistani authorities.

Another dangerous trend

has emerged for the last
several months under
which Pakistanis travelling
abroad without documents
are deported on charges
of terrorism without
verification whether
or not they are actually
Pakistanis
Khan said 90,000 people were
sent back to Pakistan from various countries last year alone.
Another dangerous trend
has emerged for the last several
months under which Pakistanis
travelling abroad without documents are deported on charges
of terrorism without verication
whether or not they are actually
Pakistanis, he said.
The minister did not say when
the agreement was suspended
or name any country which had
recently deported Pakistanis on
charges of terrorism.
European Union delegation
officials contacted in Islama-

bad expressed ignorance of the

move.
We are not aware of any such
development, an EU official told
AFP on condition of anonymity.
The announcement came
two days after Greek police arrested 12 members of a gang
including nine Pakistanis that
forged documents for migrants trying to reach central
Europe.
Around 630,000 people have
illegally entered the European
Union this year, more than half
of them landing in Greece, and
the bloc has struggled to formulate a strategy to deal with the
crisis.
Analysts said Islamabads
move would only create more
problems for Pakistanis staying
illegally in EU countries.
The statement is uncalled
for as it will add to the miseries
of Pakistanis who illegally enter
European countries, political
analyst Hasan Askari told AFP.
He said asking EU countries
for verication of nationality
and other details of illegal entrants would mean they would
be held in jail until Pakistani authorities completed the verication process.

Air strikes kill 15 militants

AFP
Islamabad

akistan air force jets yesterday bombarded militant hideouts in a restive

northwestern tribal area bordering Afghanistan killing at lease 15
suspected insurgents, security
officials said.
The air strikes were carried out
in various areas of the Tirah valley
in the lawless Khyber tribal district, where Taliban militants and
local Islamist groups are active.

At least 15 militants were

killed and several injured while
three hideouts were destroyed in
precise aerial strikes in various
areas of the Tirah valley in Khyber, a local security official said
in Peshawar.
The strikes were part of a major offensive to clear Taliban and
Al Qaeda strongholds that began
last year in North Waziristan,
one of seven Pakistani tribal districts bordering Afghanistan.
The Pakistani air force routinely targets Taliban militants
strongholds in its restive north-

western tribal belt on the Afghan

border but independent verication of the events is not possible
because the targeted areas cannot be accessed by journalists.
The military began an offensive in Khyber in October 2014,
carrying out air strikes and using artillery, mortars and ground
troops.
Overall levels of militancylinked violence have dropped
dramatically this year, with 2015
on course for the fewest deaths
among civilian and security
forces since 2007 .

vowed to expose Indias real face

if it did not stop the activity.

Indias support for

insurgents and the
terrorists came under
discussion and they vowed
to expose Indias real face if
it did not stop the activity
Nawaz said the US and world

powers wanted a Pakistan-India

dialogue but it was New Delhi
which was not co-operating.
We have always been for
talks, the prime minister said.
During the meeting, Sharif also
briefed Hussain on his recent visit
to the US and his meeting with
President Barack Obama.
The prime minister was
largely satised with the Obama

meeting. He felt the US had supported Pakistans stances on

Kashmir and the resumption of
dialogue process with India, the
official added.
The meeting was attended by
Tariq Fatemi, special assistant
to the prime minister on foreign
affairs and Asif Kirmani, special
assistant to the prime minister
on political affairs.

Nawaz Sharif

Protest march

Pakistani Kashmiris take part in a protest against a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to India-administered Kashmir in
Muzaffarabad yesterday.

Pakistan factory collapse

death toll increases to 45
Agencies
Islamabad

he toll in the factory collapse in Pakistans Punjab province has risen to

45.
Rescuers yesterday pulled out
more bodies from the rubble of
a four-storey factory in Sunder
Estate, Dawn online reported.
Rescuers in Lahore, Punjab
province, cut through steel and
used cranes to lift the debris of
the building and found ve people alive.
Rescuers have also pulled a
teenage boy alive from the rubble, officials said on Saturday.
The teenager had been
trapped for more than two days
after the collapse and his family,
thinking him dead, had already
identied and buried another
recovered body they believed to
be his.
An 18-year-old Mohamed

Pakistani rescuers move the body of a victim through the rubble of

a collapsed factory.
Shahid was also evacuated alive
50 hours after the building collapsed by the blessing of God,
Mohamed Usman, a top administration official in Lahore, said.
Shahids discovery ignited
emotional scenes at the site as
workers chanted Allah-O-Akbar and encouraged each other
to boost morale.

The news was a welcome

surprise to his family who had
mistakenly identied the dead
body of another boy earlier this
week as Shahid and buried the
remains in their ancestral town
of Kabirwala, some 265km from
Lahore.
At least 109 people of a total
167 trapped have been rescued

from the Rajput Polyester polythene bag factory near Lahore

after it came crashing down on
Wednesday, trapping scores of
people inside.
Some labourers of the factory had held a protest three
days before the tragic collapse,
complaining of cracks in its
structure after the October 26
earthquake.
National Trade Union Federation Pakistan chairman
Yousaf Baloch in a statement
condemned the negligence
shown by the factory owner and
demanded action against the
responsible people.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the factory may
have suffered damages in the
quake which killed around 400
people across Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Provincial labour minister
Raja Ashfaq Sarwar said that an
enquiry into the collapse is being conducted.

Fears of Afghan woman who secretly lmed Taliban

AFP
kabul

alfway through the journey home to Kabul, a

Taliban militant stopped
Fatimas bus, boarded, and began making a speech so extraordinary that the 23-year-old began to surreptitiously lm it on
her phone.
The footage, partially obscured by Fatimas ngers as she
tried to hide what she was doing,
offers rare insight into what appears to be a charm offensive
by the insurgents as they attempt
to shed their brutal image in the
minds of ordinary Afghans.
It shows the thickly bearded
and turbaned militant speaking
gently in a mix of Dari and Pashto, Afghanistans two national
languages.
Peace be upon you, I hope
you arent too tired, welcome,
he begins, exchanging a few
words with passengers before
requesting any government employees taken to mean officials
as well as soldiers to please
resign from their posts.

Do not be worried, he tells

the group, before adding: Some
people say the Taliban are cannibals, I am a Taliban, but not
a cannibal. But I would eat the
heads of the Americans.
Video of the incident, which
took place in late October at a
Taliban checkpost in Baghlan
province as Fatima travelled
home from the northern city of
Mazar-i-Sharif, went viral after
she posted it on her Facebook
page.
I was very anxious, recalls
Fatima, who declined to give her
last name.
Now a psychologist, she grew
up as a refugee in Iran in the late
1990s during the Talibans brutal reign in Afghanistan.
My perception about the
Taliban was formed by their actions, like the suicide attacks
they carry out in Afghanistan,
which kill many civilians, she
says.
Once safely in Kabul, she
showed the video to friends who
found it very interesting. After
three days, she uploaded it to her
Facebook page, with most commenters telling her things like

Afghan psychologist Fatima Sadat Alawi ,23, holds her phone during an interview with AFP at Wazir Akbar
Khan Park in Kabul.
you are a brave girl, she said.
The Taliban, meanwhile, do
not seem to have taken notice

of the attention the video is attracting a relief for the young

woman, who, despite the mili-

tants gentle speech, does not

believe the group have changed
their violent methods.

Fatimas scepticism was solidied following the insurgents

brief capture of northern Kunduz city in late September, where
they set re to a refuge for women and, according to residents,
sacked a girls school and vandalised the offices of a womens
rights agency.
If the Taliban come back...
based on what happened in Kunduz, I would be very scared, she
said.
Female, young, educated, and
a member of a minority Shia
subsect, Fatima is everything the
Sunni Taliban have traditionally
hated.
During their ve-year hold
on power, which was ended in
2001 by a US-led invasion, they
were widely condemned for their
treatment of women.
We were not allowed to go
out without a male companion.
We could not go to school, recounts Hasina Sa, director of
the Afghan Womens Network.
She is far from convinced by
the video or by the rhetoric
of new Taliban leader Mullah
Akhtar Mansour, who in September described modern edu-

cation as a necessity.
There is a huge gap between
words and actions, she said, citing the recent alleged violence in
Kunduz.
Beyond Mansours speech, the
Taliban ordered ghters to help
victims and provide aid to charities
after last months 7.5 magnitude
earthquake in the countrys north
that left thousands homeless.
They also denied claims of
atrocities in Kunduz, and used
their official Twitter account to
blast the US for its bombing of
a Doctors Without Borders hospital which left 30 people dead,
contrasting the attack with their
own protection of aid workers.
Fatima says she does not believe the Taliban can overthrow
the government by force, so they
want to win the hearts of civilians and prove that if they were in
power, they would govern better
than President Ashraf Ghani.
She is now considering leaving Afghanistan even though
the Taliban appear to be uninterested in what she has done.
Many people tell her that
staying puts us all in danger, my
family and me, she sighs.

26

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

PHILIPPINES

Binay slams rising poverty

levels in eastern Visayas
Manila Times
Manila

ice President Jejomar Binay has lamented the rising poverty incidence in
the Eastern Visayas Region.
I am saddened that Eastern
Visayas is the poorest region
according to the latest Annual Poverty Indicators Survey
(APIS) and Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA), he said during
his visit to Southern Leyte.
According to Apis, the poverty incidence here in Eastern Visayas reached 54.9% in
2014, compared to 45% in 2012.
This means that 2.25mn people
here in Eastern Visayas are not
earning enough and are now
mired poverty, he added.
Binay said the poverty incidence in the region rose in

Jejomar Binay: criticism

the aftermath of super typhoon
Yolanda
(Haiyan).
Eastern Visayas was directly
in the storms path and was

the hardest hit region in the

country.
It is sad that after so many
years under the present ad-

ministration, our countrymen

become more poor, he said.
It is a cause for concern
that the funds are available to help our countrymen
but these are not fully used.
Because in the present administration, there is appropriation, but this is not being
used, he added.Binay noted
that there is a budget for the
victims of Yolanda but only
27% of the funds have been
used.
The vice president said the
coconut farmers were the
most affected by the super
typhoon, with 1.1mn farmers losing their source of income after Yolanda destroyed
33.82mn coconut trees.
As support, Binay said the
government should teach
farmers to harvest other high
value coconut products.

To hasten recovery (from

the devastation brought by
the typhoon) a paradigm is
need for coconut products.
Instead of just producing copra, there is a need to look at
developing other high value
products, he said.
Other coconut-based products should be promoted
like coconut milk, which can
be used in the feeding programms for students to prevent malnutrition.
Aside from coconut, the
government should also look
into the possibility of planting other high-value, exportquality crops. If I am elected
president, we will promote the
one town one product concept.
We will strengthen ties between farmers and consumers
in the region with the help of
the Asean integration, he said.

Crowning glory

New Asean heritage

park honour
for Philippines
Manila Times
Manila

he Philippines has
gained its eighth Asean
Heritage Park (AHP)
after environment ministers
from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations unanimously approved
the nomination of Mount.
T impoong-Hibok-Hibok
Natural Monument (MTHHNM) during their recent meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.
As MTHHNM steps into
the pantheon of Southeast
Asias natural treasures, we
wish to generate greater appreciation for the environmental uniqueness of this
natural park in the island
province of Camiguin, said
Environment Secretary Ramon JP Paje.
The inclusion of MTHHNM
in the list of AHPs was made
during the 13th Asean Ministerial Meeting on the Environment, which was attended
by environment ministers and
their representatives.
AHPs are protected areas
recognised for its uniqueness,
diversity and outstanding
values. With the naming of
MTHHNM as AHP, it is now
part of a regional network of
national protected areas enjoying a high conservation
importance for their rich ecosystems.
We hope that with the
declaration, Camiguenos and
the rest of the Filipinos as well
as the provinces visitors will
appreciate its value and re-

sources and take extra steps to

conserve it for the enjoyment
of future generations, Paje
said.
He added: Camiguin may
be such a small island, but it is
highly signicant to our biodiversity conservation efforts.
MTHHNM, in particular, has
so much potential in educating the public about endemic
species while being a prime
ecotourism destination.
MTHHNM has a total area
of 3,739.14 hectares and was
declared in 2004 as a protected
area under the National Integrated Protected Areas System
(NIPAS), by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 570.
The park enjoys a high endemism of ora and fauna.
It is home to birds such as
the Camiguin Hawk Owl,
Camiguin Hanging Parrot,
Yellowish Bulbul and golden
yellow white-eye; mammals
like the Camiguin forest rat
and forest mouse; and amphibians such as the Camiguin
narrow-mouthed frog. Endemic ora include medicinal
trees like Kalingag (Cinnamomum mercadoi) and Duguan
(Myristica philippensis).
The other AHPs from the
Philippines are Mount Apo
Natural Park, Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park,
Mount Malindang Range Natural Park and Mount Hamiguitan Wildlife Sanctuary, all
in Mindanao; Mts. Iglit-Baco
National Park in Occidental
Mindoro; Mount Makiling
Forest Reserve in Laguna; and
Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park
in Palawan.

83 Filipinos await
return from Oman
Manila Times
Manila

Trixie Maristela of Philippines waves after being crowned Miss International Queen 2015 at the beauty contest in Pattaya. Miss International Queen is the worlds largest
beauty pageant for transgenders from all around the world.

total of 83 out of the 301 overseas Filipinos who availed of

the Sultanate of Omans amnesty programme for illegally
staying foreign workers await repatriation, the Department of Labour and Employment said.
According to the report of the Philippine Overseas Labour
Office (POLO) in Oman, the Filipinos availed of the programme
which took effect on April 1, 2015, and was subsequently extended until Oct 31. We have received an update from Labor Attache Nasser Mustafa of the Philippine Overseas Labour Office
in Oman that 301 Filipinos have been registered for the amnesty
programme, and 218 of them were already repatriated, while the
remaining 83 are now awaiting approval for repatriation by the
Oman Ministry of Manpower and Immigration, said Labour and
Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz in a statement.

Couple nd love, hope among typhoon misery

AFP
Tacloban

fter losing her husband

and six children to the
fury of Typhoon Haiyan,
Juvelyn Luana has found fresh
hope among the misery and
crushing poverty as she rebuilds
her life with a new family.
Two years after the monster
storm devastated the coastal city
of Tacloban, killing thousands,
Luana has a new partner, a new
son and a shack far from the
deadly shore.
Having a husband and a
baby gave my life direction, the
32-year-old said as she scooped
water into four grey drums to
take to their brick and tin shanty
that lacks tap water and electricity.
She fetches water from a distant swamp at night because her
partner Joel Aradana, also widowed by Haiyan, works during
the day and there is no one else
to look after their ve-monthold baby Jacob.
Built just 500 metres from a
landll, the shanty bakes under
the tropical sun by day and the
stench is overpowering.
It smells like raw sh mixed
with rotten food. Im worried
that my baby might get sick,
Luana said during one recent
humid evening.
A few plastic chairs, a gas
stove and a tiny solar-powered
television set that works only in
daytime are the sum of the couples possessions.
Unable to afford even a bed,
they sleep on a straw mat laid

Typhoon Haiyan survivor Juvelyn Luana (right) with her partner Joel posing for photos with their baby Jacob in front of their new house at a resettlement site in Tacloban City, Leyte province, central Philippines. Right: Luana
pushing their rented three-wheeled bicycle as she negotiates a dirt road on their way to a swamp area to fetch water near a resettlement site in Tacloban City.
out on the oor. Pictures of their
former spouses and children
who perished in the storm hang
from the wall, beside a picture
of the new couple being interviewed on local television that
featured their unconventional
love story.
Outside, children played
noisily with their pet dogs and
elderly women traded gossip on
their doorways.
But the couple can consider themselves among the

lucky ones. They were among

the first 929 families to get
new homes from the government, which is still struggling
to shelter more than a million
people displaced by the deadliest known typhoon to have
struck the Philippines.
Haiyan smashed already impoverished fishing and farming communities in the central
islands on November 8, 2013,
leaving 7,350 people dead or
missing.

A 150bn-peso ($3.2bn) government plan to build 205,128

new homes by 2017 in devastated areas, along with roads,
bridges and classrooms has
crawled under the weight of a
cumbersome bureaucracy.
Thousands of the less fortunate survivors still live in
cramped palm-thatch and
wooden temporary shelters.
Though opportunities are
scarce, Luanas partner gets
occasional carpentry work that

pays 350 pesos ($7) a day. We

are OK, rebuilding our lives
slowly, she said. One look at
Jacob every night and all my
body aches disappear.
But life here is very difficult. The couple hopes to
marry as soon as Aradana
secures a death certificate
for his wife, whose body was
among hundreds that have not
been found.
Luana said she gets no sleep
at night fanning her son while

Aradana rests his aching body

after long hours at work.
Like many other Haiyan
survivors, Luana said aid has
not come fast enough.
A promised government
loan she had been counting on
to start a small business selling rice from her home has not
been given.
A third of Aradanas pay
is spent on the 18-kilometre
commute to the city where he
works, leaving them with bare-

ly enough to buy rice and sardines. I want to help my husband. He doesnt always have
construction jobs so we need a
steady source of income, said
Luana, a high school graduate,
who used to give manicures and
massages to her neighbours.
I also want to buy a television set. My neighbours are
crazy about soap operas but I
want to know when the next
typhoon is coming so I can prepare.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

27

SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL/MALDIVES

Suspected militants
held in Bangladesh

Reuters
Male/Colombo

AFP
Dhaka

angladesh police have arrested seven suspected Islamist militants, including

four Pakistani nationals, they
said Saturday, accusing them
of planning to commit acts of
violence in the Muslim-majority
country.
The seven, who were arrested
on Friday and later taken to court
for interrogation, are suspected
of belonging to the banned Islamist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), police
said.
In primary interrogation,
theyve admitted that theyre
activating the operation of the
banned JMB. They gathered
to commit acts of violence, a
police statement said, adding
authorities believed the group
was conspiring against the
government.
The arrests come as tensions
run high in Bangladesh following a spate of targeted killings
and fears of mounting Islamist violence in the conservative
country of 160mn.
Dhaka police spokesman
Muntashirul Islam said those
arrested included four Pakistani
nationals, the rst time police have claimed Pakistanis are
active in the banned group.
Police said they had seized
Pakistani currency and jihadist books from those arrested,
including one which spells out
punishment for defaming the
Prophet Muhammad.
JMB militants have been
blamed for attacks in recent
weeks including slashing the

Lankan charged
with assassination
plot in Maldives

Police escort suspected Islamist militants, including four Pakistani nationals, in Dhaka yesterday.
throat of a Christian pastor and
a series of murders of Su Muslims, who the militants consider
as heretics.
Bangladesh is also grappling
with a series of murders claimed
by the Islamic State group (IS)
in recent weeks, including the
fatal stabbing of a policeman on
Wednesday.

IS has also said it was responsible for the murders of an Italian

aid worker and a Japanese farmer,
as well as a blast at the countrys
main Shia shrine which left two
people dead.
The government has rejected
ISs claims, saying it does not
have a presence in the country.
A branch of Al Qaeda has also

claimed responsibility for the

murders of four atheist bloggers and machete attacks on
publishers in the past year, calling the victims atheists and
blasphemers.
The government, however, has
blamed those attacks on local
militants, along with the main
opposition party and its Islamist

ally, for orchestrating violence to

destabilise the country.
The home-grown JMB, whose
leaders were executed in 2007
over a series of blasts, have been
trying to regroup in recent years.
The group was set up in late
1990s by Bangladeshi jihadists,
some of whom had fought in the
Afghan war against the Russians.

olice in the Maldives

have charged a Sri
Lankan man with planning a sniper attack on President Abdulla Yameen just
weeks after a blast ripped
through his boat in an alleged assassination attempt,
officials said yesterday.
The chain of Indian Ocean
islands has been plunged
into political turmoil since
the September 28 explosion
on the presidential launch
as it was about to dock in the
capital Male, injuring the rst
lady and two aides. Yameen
was unhurt.
Yameen, who has accused
several members of his government of being involved in
the boat blast, drew international criticism earlier this
week for imposing a 30-day
state of emergency after officials said explosives and arms
were found near his official
residence and elsewhere in the
capital.
Maldivian Home Minister Umar Naseer said the Sri
Lankan suspect, a 27-year old
man, was arrested on October
24. Naseer linked the alleged
sniper plot with Septembers blast on the presidential
boat and said the discovery
of explosives near the official
residence pointed to a third
assassination plan.
Theres a clear connection between the three. There
could be further attacks
planned. Were verifying the
snipers background, Naseer
said.
Though a sniffer rie
hasnt yet been found, police
have recovered a telescope and

Home Minister Umar Naseer:

The discovery of explosives near
the official residence pointed to a
third assassination plan.
bullet used in such ries. Its
now established that the suspect knew that his target was
the president. Investigations
have conrmed that there was
a planned sniper attack on the
president.
The Maldives foreign ministry said in its official Twitter
feed that a Sri Lankan citizen
was in police custody for conspiring to assassinate Yameen.
Investigations
reveal
some Maldivians paid the
Sri Lankan to carry out the
operation, the ministry said.
Government officials say
evidence shows the boat explosion was caused by a bomb
targeting the president, although the US Federal Bureau
of Investigation asked by
Maldivian government to examine the scene said there
was no conclusive evidence
of a bomb attack.
The United States, rights
groups and the Commonwealth of mostly former British colonies have called on the
Maldives a popular tourist destination to lift the
state of emergency and end a
crackdown on dissidents.

Nepal to import fuel from Bangladesh

AFP
Kathmandu

KP Sharma Oli: Now, they are digging out a decade-old-issue.

Nepal PM
ays Indian
statement
in Geneva
IANS
Kathmandu

epal Prime Minister

KP Sharma Oli yesterday criticised India for
raking up human rights abuses
in the Himalayan nation at a
UN Human Rights Council
meet in Geneva.
India, for the rst time,
raised the issue of war crimes
committed during the decade-long conict in any international forum and urged
Nepal to carry out the transitional justice mechanisms in
an effective way.
Speaking to the media, Oli
demanded to know how India
could be ignorant that the UN
was involved in Nepals peace
process.
He said India had not made
its position public earlier on
Nepals transitional justice
mechanisms or their efficacy but raised the issue at an
international body.
The Indian representative said in Geneva that Nepal
should ensure the effective
functioning of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission
and full implementation of its

recommendations, including
prosecution of those responsible for violent insurgency.
This has been widely interpreted in Nepal as another
example of Indias harsh stand
vis-a-vis Nepal.
Without taking any name,
Oli said: Some days back, one
of the leaders from our neighbourhood publicly warned
that India will show its mettle
against Nepal.
Now, they are digging out a
decade-old-issue, he added.
The prime minister said Nepal had formed the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission
and another commission to
probe the disappeared people
to address war crime issues
such as killings, torture and
rape.
We faced war in the past.
Then we realised it was not possible to have war all the time. So
we initiated the peace process,
said Oli, adding Kathmandu
also invited the UN to resolve
the armed conict.
The conicting parties in
the past are together today
and carrying out democratic
and peaceful reforms, whether
they are in the government or
not, he said.

epal has struck a deal

with a private supplier
to y in fuel from Bangladesh to ease crippling shortages that have sparked fears of
domestic ights being grounded,
its state oil trading company said
yesterday.
Protesters seeking changes to
Nepals new constitution have
blocked a key checkpoint bordering India for more than six weeks,
cutting off vital supplies and
forcing fuel rationing across the
landlocked Himalayan nation.
We have reached an agreement with a private company,
Petromax Nepal, who will airlift
ATF (aviation turbine fuel) from
Bangladesh in the next three
to four days, said Mukunda
Ghimire, a spokesman for Nepal
Oil Corporation.
Petromax has agreed to bring
400,000 litres of ATF per day,
this should solve our problem
and allow to supply international airlines with fuel as well,
Ghimire said.
The fuel crisis has forced international airlines to make additional stops overseas to refuel
while the state-run Nepal Oil
Corporation has struggled to
supply domestic carriers.
Nepal Oil Corporation had
earlier warned that domestic
ights could be halted due to
shrinking supplies. The country
is home to six airlines, including
state carrier Nepal Airlines.
Yesterdays agreement comes

FUEL CRISIS: A notice is seen outside a local restaurant as fuel crisis continues in Kathmandu yesterday. Due to continuous protest of southern Madhesi
groups and unofficial blockade of Indian border, Nepal has faced shortage of fuel and other essential commodities for more than one month.
after Nepal signed its rst-ever
petroleum supply agreement
with China last week, ending a
decades-long monopoly by India, but details have yet to be
worked out.
Nepal has faced crippling fuel
shortages since September 24,
when demonstrators from the
Madhesi ethnic minority kicked
off a blockade in the southern
town of Birgunj.

They are protesting against

the countrys new constitution
which they say will leave them
politically marginalised.
In a crackdown that dashed
hopes of a compromise between
the government and demonstrators, Nepali security forces on
Monday broke up the blockade
for a few hours, sparking violent
protests and leading an Indian
man to die in police ring.

The movement of cargo across

other Indian border checkpoints has
also slowed to a crawl, prompting
authorities in Kathmandu to accuse
New Delhi of imposing an unofficial
blockade to show its dissatisfaction
with the new charter.
New Delhi has denied the
charge and urged dialogue
with the protesting Madhesis, who have close cultural,
linguistic and family ties to

Indians living across the border.

The constitution, the rst
drawn up by elected representatives, was meant to cement peace
and bolster Nepals transformation to a democratic republic after decades of political instability
and a 10-year Maoist insurgency.
But it has instead resulted
in deadly violence with more
than 40 people killed in clashes
between police and protesters.

Lanka to amend law to regulate fishing

Bad weather caused chopper crash

AFP
Kathmandu

ad weather likely caused

a US helicopter to crash
in Nepal while on an
aid mission to help victims of
Aprils massive earthquake,
killing 13 people, the United
States Marine Corps said.
The UH-1Y Huey helicopter
was delivering relief supplies
and evacuating injured quake
victims to Kathmandu when
it went missing on May 12, the

same day a deadly aftershock

hit the Himalayan nation.
Six US Marines, two Nepalese
soldiers and ve villagers died in
the accident, the Marine Corps
said Friday in a press release
summarising the results of their
investigation into the crash.
After picking up injured civilians from northern Dolakha district, the crew decided
to y the most direct route to
the capital, apparently to secure urgent medical aid, the
investigation found.
The chosen course required

a brief period over unfamiliar

terrain with unstable meteorological conditions, the Marine
Corps 3rd Expeditionary Force,
based on the Japanese island of
Okinawa, said.
It is believed that the aircraft... was enveloped by
rapidly developing clouds or
lifted into a cloud by rising air
currents, it said.
As they attempted to
maneuver out of the weather
conditions, they lost visual
reference with the terrain and
impacted the ground.

The Sri Lankan cabinet will amend

the existing law to regulate fishing
in the countrys waters by foreign
vessels in view of the considerable
increase in poaching, a media report
said.
A proposal presented to the
cabinet by the fisheries minister
said that while legal actions
can be taken against foreign
vessels illegally fishing in Sri
Lankan waters, a tightening of
the regulatory mechanism has
become necessary in view of
considerable changes at the
regional and international levels.
A committee will be appointed to
draft amendments to the fisheries
(regulation of foreign

fishing boats) law of 1979.

The decision to amend the law
comes in the wake of heavy
poaching by fishermen from
Indias Tamil Nadu state. The
Sri Lankan governments policy
of arresting the poachers and
releasing them at the request
of the Indian government has
not yielded results. Even the
confiscation of vessels has not
deterred the fishermen.
The Sri Lankan and Indian
governments have been of
the view that the issue can be
resolved by talks between the
fishermen of the two countries.
But this has not worked, despite
three meetings.

28

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

COMMENT
Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah
Editor-in-Chief : Darwish S Ahmed
Production Editor: C P Ravindran

P.O.Box 2888
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editor@gulf-times.com
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GULF TIMES
Energy-efficiency
need of the hour
for GCC countries
Lack of energy efficiency in economic terms and wastage
of electricity and water across the GCC region may
seriously challenge the regions long-held role as a reliable
global energy supplier.
Policymakers, administrators and energy economists in
the Gulf region have taken note of the serious situation and
are formulating policies that curb energy wastage, besides
educating consumers on the need to conserve the Godgiven natural resources.
In its inaugural Industry Report, The Abdullah Bin
Hamad Al Attiyah Foundation For Energy & Sustainable
Development has highlighted the rising domestic energy
consumption across the GCC and suggested measures to
tackle it and reverse the trend.
The highlights of the report, which were exclusively
featured by Gulf Times recently, showed energy
consumption in the Gulf States has grown by 8% annually
since 1972, compared to 2% for the world. Together, four
of the six GCC countries (Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and
the United Arab Emirates) have less than 1% of the worlds
population, but account for more than 5% of global oil
consumption.
Saudi Arabia, which consumes roughly a quarter of
its own production, is now the worlds number-six oil
consumer, consuming nearly as much as Russia as and
more than either Brazil or Germany, countries with far
larger economies and populations.
Compounding annual growth rates of 6% to 9%,
fuelled by increasing
population and wealth,
have raised Gulf energy
consumption to some of
the highest levels in the
world, measured on per
capita basis or more
importantly in terms of
oil consumed per unit of
GDP.
According to The
Abdullah Bin Hamad
Al Attiyah Foundation For Energy & Sustainable
Development, as the rest of the world grows more energy
efficient in economic terms, most of the GCC is going the
other way, using ever more energy to produce a unit of
economic growth and becoming less competitive in the
process.
The report quoted a Saudi investment bank and said that
the kingdom uses 10 times the oil to produce a unit of GDP
than the global average.
Obviously, the situation in the neighbouring GCC
countries states is no less stark.
Policymakers, administrators and energy economists
have warned that if these long-term consumption trends
continue, the GCC countries may be just a few decades
away from relinquishing their long-held position as global
energy suppliers.
At the same, abnormal burning of fossil fuels has seen
as a major source for growing greenhouse gases. The
Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Foundation For Energy &
Sustainable Development points out that since 1990, GCC
carbon dioxide emissions have grown by an average of 5% a
year compared with 2% for the world as a whole.
This has caught global attention so much so that
International Energy Agency joined the chorus of
prominent multilateral organisations calling for reductions
in Middle East oil consumption and associated emissions
from its production.
They argue that global climate goals cannot be met
without a major change in behaviour in the GCC region.
A major reason cited for the lack of energy efficiency and
wastage of electricity and water in the GCC region is the
lower price aided by subsidy. Energy is sold more cheaply
in the GCC than almost anywhere else in the world.

Russia and Ukraine court

Berlin amid peace efforts
Neither Ukraine nor
Russia can muddle
through without
Germany, the main
guarantor of the so-called
Minsk peace accord
By Lucian Kim
Reuter

ohn Herbst, a former US

diplomat, wasnt trying to atter
his German hosts when he took a
dig at Washington late last month
- he was just describing a new reality.
Berlin is the critical capital in the
West for settling a just solution to
the crisis in Ukraine, he said while
introducing a think-tank panel
discussion on human rights in Crimea.
Outside, the traffic was backed up
through the Tiergarten, the central
park that merges into Berlins glassand-steel government quarter. Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
was making his way to a meeting with
Chancellor Angela Merkel. The next
day, US Secretary of State John Kerry
was expected in town, as well as his
European Union counterpart Federica
Mogherini.
Everybody wants to talk to the
Germans - about Syria, Iran, Russia,
Ukraine and all the other trouble spots
in the world. Without even trying,
Berlin has become the it capital of
the Western world. Russian President
Vladimir Putin will go to war to prove
how important he is, but Merkel, in all
her unpretentiousness, has become the
indispensable leader Putin craves to be.
The Obama administrations
disinterest in Europe has forced the
German chancellor to become the
default arbiter of war and peace on the
continent.

The Russia-Ukraine conict came

to Berlin in October, though in suits
and ties rather than combat fatigues.
Ukraine, known for its homespun civic
activism, put on a glitzy investment
conference in an effort to attract
German business and shore up its
ailing economy.
Russia, where non-governmental
organisations are being strangled,
held a civil society forum. The
symbolism was striking: Ukraine
needs money, Russia a sense of
normalcy after Germany froze
relations following the annexation of
Crimea.

Of course for
Germany, Russia
still towers over
Ukraine in economic
significance
Neither Ukraine nor Russia can
muddle through without Germany, the
main guarantor of the so-called Minsk
peace accord, which foresees a stepby-step de-escalation of the conict
in the separatist regions of Donetsk
and Luhansk.
Putin is trying to persuade Merkel
that its already time to lift EU
sanctions imposed because of the
Russian intervention in Ukraine;
the Ukrainian government wants to
convince her of the exact opposite.
Merkel, who was unequivocal in her
condemnation of Russias unilateral
changing of borders, pushed through
the sanctions despite Germanys close
business ties to Russia.
In spite of a refugee crisis that
threatens to bring down her
government and spiralling violence
in Syria, she is throwing her support
behind beleaguered Ukrainian Prime

Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, whose

approval ratings are rock bottom
amid disillusionment over the pace of
reform and allegations of high-level
corruption.
The implicit deadline for
implementation of the Minsk accord is
December 31, 2015 - and EU sanctions
come up for renewal in January. Many
Ukrainians suspect that Putin is
temporarily complying with the Minsk
deal so he can focus Russias war
effort on Syria and sow discord among
Europeans on the need to extend
sanctions.
Merkel faces mounting pressure
to relax her position as a fragile
ceasere holds in eastern Ukraine.
Germanys inuential business lobby,
the Committee on Eastern European
Economic Relations, advocates lifting
sanctions against Russia as a way of
facilitating the implementation of the
Minsk agreement - rather than as a
reward for compliance.
The viewpoint is widely shared
among the Social Democrats in
Merkels coalition government.
Putin is betting that in the end
business - and energy business in
particular - will outweigh outrage over
his transgressions in Ukraine.
Germany imports more than onethird of its natural gas from Russia,
and the Kremlin is pushing to expand
Nord Stream, a pipeline bypassing
Ukraine via the Baltic Sea.
The Ukrainian government is
concerned about losing up to $2bn
in transit fees if the expansion goes
through. Merkel insists the project
cant be realised at Ukraines expense.
Merkel is trying her best to reassure
Ukraine that Germany wont back
down its support. She opened the
recent Ukrainian investor day, met
with Yatsenyuk, and blessed the
founding of a bilateral chamber of
commerce to stimulate German
investment into Ukraine.

She also pledged that sanctions

wont be lifted until the Minsk deal
has been fully implemented. And she
reiterated Germanys support for an
EU free-trade agreement with Ukraine
that comes into effect on New Years
Day.
Even as Merkel was praising the
Ukrainians rocky road to reform, a
delegation from Moscow was trying to
jumpstart the Petersburger Dialogue,
an annual forum that the German side
boycotted last year because of Russias
military involvement in Ukraine.
With regular meetings between the
two governments halted, the Russian
side will take any opening to start
normalising relations. Russias loss of
Germany as a partner was one of the
greatest unintended consequences
of the Ukraine crisis - and came as a
shock to the Kremlin.
Of course for Germany, Russia still
towers over Ukraine in economic
signicance. Last year, Russia was
Germanys 12th-largest trade partner,
with a turnover of 68bn euros, while
Ukraine came in 48th place with 5bn
euros, according to Germanys Federal
Statistical Office.
The Kremlin is using Europes
dependence on Siberian gas as a
way of changing the subject from
the dismemberment of Ukraine
to the realpolitik of business. Less
than a week after the Petersburger
Dialogue, Putin hosted Merkels Social
Democratic vice chancellor, Sigmar
Gabriel, to discuss the expansion of
the Nord Stream pipeline.
In the current political climate, its
hard to see the project going ahead
as planned. Whether the additional
capacity really goes online in 2019 will
be decided in Berlin - not Moscow.
zLucian Kim is a Berlin-based
journalist who has covered the Ukraine
conict for Slate, Newsweek and
BuzzFeed.

Energy is sold
more cheaply
in the GCC
than almost
anywhere else
in the world

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin standing outside German
foreign ministrys guest house Villa Borsig near Tegel airport in Berlin ahead of their meeting to discuss the Ukraine crisis on Friday.

WHOs dubious claims on processed meats

By Cesar Chelala
New York

report from the World

Health Organisations
(WHO) International Agency
for Research on Cancer
stated recently that there was enough
evidence to rank processed meats
such as ham and sausages as group 1
carcinogens, because of a causal link
with bowel cancer. The IARC report
has caused considerable uneasiness in
the general public and its conclusions
have been violently rejected by the
meat industry.
For an individual, the risk of
developing colorectal cancer because
of their consumption of processed
meats remains small, but this risk
increases with the amount of meat
consumed, said Dr Kurt Straif, head
of the IARC monographs programme.
Processed meats are meats that have
been transformed through salting,
curing, fermentation, smoking and
other processes to enhance avour or
improve preservation.
The IARC report evaluated data
from over 800 different studies of
cancer risks in humans, over 700 of

which involved red meat and over 400

of which involved processed meat.
A team of 22 international experts
reviewed the evidence. The report
places processed meats in Group 1:
Carcinogenic to Humans, the same
category as cigarettes. However,
red meat is assigned to Group 2A:
Probably Carcinogenic to Humans.

The IARC report has

caused considerable
uneasiness in the
general public
Although WHO classies both
processed meats and cigarettes in the
highest category as carcinogens, the
classication reects only the strength
of the evidence to support this claim,
and is not a reection of the level of
risk.
The difference between the risks
posed by meat with or without
processing is highly signicant, since
processing adds several substances to
the meat products that may be the real
cancer causing agents. The report also
doesnt make the difference between

the effects of consuming meat with

several additives and meat to which
much fewer additives are added.
Not all countries process meat in
the same way. In some industrialised
countries such as the US, several
products are added to meat and
even more to processed meat,
unlike countries such as Argentina
or Australia where meat has fewer
additives.
Among the substances added to
meat are sodium benzoate, sodium
propionate and benzoic acid which,
in some conditions, have shown to
have carcinogenic potential. Nitrites
and nitrates are routinely added to
meat to inhibit the growth of bacteria
and enhance colour. When nitrites
combine with some amino acids
cancer causing compounds called
nitrosamines are produced.
Antibiotics are part of the diet
of US livestock to make them grow
faster and prevent disease outbreaks.
However, antibiotics in animal feed
have proven to be a signicant factor
for the increase in antibiotic resistance
among humans. Sulphites have been
widely used as preservatives in food to
maintain colour and prolong shelflife. But sulphites can also trigger

asthma attacks among people who are

sensitive to them.
In a 2010 report, the US Department
of Agriculture (USDA) Office of the
Inspector General found high residues
of copper, arsenic and other heavy
metals and veterinary drugs in beef
distributed for public consumption. In
addition, traces of pesticides can also
be found in some animal feeds.
Although these are just a few of
the substances that can be found
in regular and processed meat the
obvious question is: Are meat and
processed meat carcinogenic or
the substances added to them are
responsible for their carcinogenicity,
that is to say their capacity to cause
cancer?
These considerations point to the
need for the food regulatory agencies
to be stricter in their control of
food quality and also the need for
more exhaustive studies comparing
consumption of meat and processed
meats which contain or not harmful
additives. Until the results are out,
popular wisdom is still the best
advice: eat everything in moderation.
zDr Cesar Chelala is an international
public health consultant.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

29

COMMENT

Bad bosses may have family stress

We live in a time when the
idea of work-life balance
has become hugely
important
By Rex Huppke
Chicago Tribune/TNS

hy is my boss such a
jerk?
Thats the
prototypical workplace
question. The rst human to ever do
work for another human in exchange
for money or food probably said,
Ugh. Wages ne, but why Zog grump
all the time?
All these years later, theres still
no answer. We write off bad boss
behaviour by saying: Well, thats
just the way he is. Or we excuse it by
saying, Shes tough, but she gets the
job done.
Some companies take steps to
prohibit abusive management
practices by creating a culture where
such behaviour is unacceptable. Thats
a good thing, but it doesnt seek out
the reason for the abusive behaviour.
We may be lacking a root cause
because companies rarely look for
explanations outside the office. A
study soon to be published in the
Academy of Management Journal
finds a rarely addressed link between
bosses behaving badly and stress
from home.
The issue of work stress rolling over
into a persons home life has been
talked about for ages, and we live in
a time when the idea of work-life
balance has become hugely important.
But, the study suggests, it seems
something has been overlooked: (M)
ost research has drawn conclusions
about how managers can help their
employees to better manage familywork dynamics while failing to give

consideration to how family-work

dynamics impact managers and their
behaviour toward subordinates.
Lest anyone question the scope of
the problem, the study - conducted
by a team of ve researchers from
universities across the country - cited
the following data:
* 14% of US employees are victims
of abusive supervision (dened as
nonphysical aggression).
* Abusive supervision can lead
to poor performance, deviant work
behaviour, alcoholism and family
problems.
* Lost productivity, grievance
procedures and healthcare expenses
stemming from abusive supervision
cost Corps in the US about $23.8bn a
year.
The researchers found that bosses
or managers experiencing familyto-work conict - family demands
or stresses that interfere with work
- were more likely to be abusive of
subordinates. This is explained by a
concept called ego depletion.
Brian McCormick, an assistant
professor of management at Northern
Illinois University and a member of the
ve-person team who conducted the
study, said people who expend mental
energy dealing with family problems
or demands often lose the ability to
control their behaviour at work.
If I might have an opportunity as
a boss to act out, Ive got this selfregulating thing, Ive got this voice in
the back of my head telling me what
is and what is not an appropriate
behaviour, McCormick said. But
as the day goes along and I get
mentally exhausted, I have less of that
regulatory mechanism, and once Im
depleted, I start lashing out.
The key here is that we often look
at abusive managers as being willfully
obnoxious - jerks, in other words - or
as people who behave the way they
think the company wants them to
behave. In truth, the issue might be

an inability to self-regulate because of

issues outside work.
McCormick noted how the merging
of our work and private lives - which is
at the heart of the movement to strike
good work-life balances - is likely to
blame for the impact family-to-work
conicts have on supervisors: In a
sense, this lack of a barrier or lack
of segmentation between the home
and the workplace means the two are

impacting each other more than they

used to.
Women in management who are
dealing with family-to-work conicts,
the study found, tend to suffer greater
ego depletion and are more likely to be
perceived as abusive.
This is because men and women
tend to differ in the amount of time
and energy that they are expected to
invest in work and family roles, and

also because they tend to differ in the

degree to which being available to
family versus work is central to their
identities, the study said.
Many studies have shown that
working women still shoulder more
housework and child care than men,
and McCormick said the teams
research demonstrated that the added
pressures some women face at home
lead to greater ego depletion.

Much of our work-life balance focus

is on employees. Bosses and managers
are in charge of nding ways to keep
workers happy and productive both at
work and at home. Clearly that same
level of concern should be applied to
the bosses and managers themselves.
Along with that, McCormick
said, having a culture that frowns
on abusive behaviour can act as a
backstop for ego-depleted managers.
A companys culture can serve as a
replacement for that voice in my own
head, McCormick said. The norms
and culture in a company can serve to
replace my own ability to regulate my
own behaviour.
A simple step is to just provide
leaders with time to mentally
recharge: Whether it be a nap during
the day, stepping outside the office
and taking a walk around the block to
clear ones head. It can be just a couple
minutes. I can recharge and get out of
that ego depleted state often in a brief
burst of time.
And just being mindful that
managers might be wrestling with
family issues can help.
McCormick said those who manage
the managers can always talk to them
about family-to-work conicts: One
doesnt have to know every part of
someones home life to be able to say
something like, Research has found
there are issues with people who have
stresses at home and that can manifest
itself in the workplace. So lets talk
about when youre facing challenges.
How can I be a resource to you? What
can we do?
None of this means bad boss
behaviour should be excused. It just
means there are other places we can
look for answers to why the boss is a
jerk.
zRex Huppke writes for the Chicago
Tribune. Send him questions by e-mail
at rhuppke@tribune.com or on Twitter
@RexWorksHere.

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Letters

Three-day forecast
TODAY

Fencing has cut

accident rate
Dear Sir,
The views expressed in the two
letters, Road safety strategies and
Concern for pedestrians (Gulf
Times, November 1 and November
4 respectively), on fencing on the
central reservation of roads to prevent
pedestrians from crossing without
regard to traffic are off the mark, it
seems.
Pedestrians, I think, form
the largest group of road traffic
fatalities in Qatar. In most cases, the
pedestrians involved in accidents
have been either crossing heedless of
traffic or had failed to use available
crossing.
Both the C and D Ring Roads used

to see many more accidents involving

pedestrians before the fencing was
erected as people used to run across
the streets to reach the other side. The
fencing has stopped the unregulated
crossing to a great extent on these
roads. In that respect, one should
appreciate that the fencing has done a
good job.
But I agree with the point that the
citys road network will need more
pedestrian-friendly subways and
foot overbridges especially, once
the metro starts operating. But that
doesnt mean the present fencing
has not done a good job in reducing
pedestrian involvement in road
accidents.
Dohas roads need more
subways and overbridges, true. But
pedestrians should not be allowed
to cross over on the busy streets
wherever they want them to. Just

as motorists have to observe traffic

rules, pedestrians also need to
respect them.
Below are some safety tips for
pedestrians suggested by some
experts on a website.
zAlways use pedestrian crossings.
zNever assume that an approaching
vehicle can see you, or will stop for you
wait until all vehicles have stopped
before you cross.
zAt intersections, check for turning
vehicles before you leave the kerb, and
while you are crossing the road.
zAvoid crossing between parked
cars or at the front or back of buses.
zAvoid using a mobile phone while
crossing the road.
zAt traffic lights, make sure that
vehicles stop before you start to cross.
Rajesh Nair
rajeshnair.it@gmail.com

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Partner not responsible for your mood

It is also wise to see that most
problems are not life changing but
are simply annoyances, and thats an
important distinction. It gives you the
choice of changing your mood from
bad to neutral (never try to force a
good mood).
If something is just an annoyance,
it is much easier to let it go and reduce
your stress. When you can approach
whats bothering you in this manner,
you are much more likely to give off a
positive vibe, or at least not a negative
one.
One other thing to consider is that
infecting your mate with your bad
mood can also be hurtful. Think about
it: Do you really want the one you
love to be wounded too? When you
share your pain in a thoughtful way,
it reduces the hurtful feelings, but
when you project it inappropriately,
it causes greater discomfort. Its that
simple.
By self-processing and discussing
your feelings in the right way, you will
calm yourself and create an added
sense of safety in your relationship,
because your partner will see that
you have the strength to deal with
anything.

By Barton Goldsmith
Tribune News Service

earning that you need to

take personal responsibility
for your own moods can
be a relationship saver. Its
especially important to avoid inicting
a bad mood onto your partner.
Whats known in psychotherapy
as negative projection can make
someone you love doubt themselves
and their relationship with you.
It takes some work to keep your life
and relationships positive. It doesnt
happen on its own. Many people think
that if they just continue bumping
their way along through life, the world
will right itself and give them their
due, but the truth is that it doesnt
work that way.
If you dont take positive actions,
you wont see many coming your way.
It may be hard for you to see past
your present difficulties, though
things are usually never as bad as
they may seem. Unfortunately, when
the pressures of daily life get too
overwhelming, it can be hard to feel
good about your circumstances, no
matter what they are, and you may
look for someone to blame. This is
where problems start.
If you can rethink this process and recognise that taking out your
unhappiness on a loved one is totally
unproductive and will lead to much
bigger issues - you will be more
inclined to hold your tongue until you
can share your feelings appropriately.

You should also consider that

berating the very person who could
support you best in this situation
is counterproductive. Stomping
around and venting when youre in a
bad mood will more likely push your
partner away than inspire him or her
to inquire whats going on with you
and offer assistance.

Instead of coming home with a

bad case of the grumps, I advise you
to do your best to uncover how you
are feeling and get a grip on yourself
before you get home.
Think about the pressures that are
nagging at you, wherever they may
be coming from, and think your way
through dealing with them.

zDr Barton Goldsmith, a

psychotherapist in Westlake
Village, California, is the author
of The Happy Couple: How to
Make Happiness a Habit One Little
Loving Thing at a Time. Follow
his daily insights on Twitter at @
BartonGoldsmith, or email him at
Barton@bartongoldsmith.com

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30

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

QATAR

Fire-proof suit made by pupils

launched at Civil Defence expo
A

re-resistant suit developed by students of

Al Resala Independent Secondary School for Girls
was launched during the recent
Civil Defence Exhibition and
Conference in Doha.
The suit was created by the
students in collaboration with
Echo Qatar, Injaz Qatar and
the General Directorate of Civil
Defence within the framework
of strengthening and raising awareness among school
students.
The project is titled Save
Your Self.
The team was headed by
project director Tasneem Ahmed,
who worked in co-operation with
Taif Jamal and Dana al-Nuaimi
under the auspices and support
of Al Resala Independent Secondary School for Girls.
The project was supervised by
Lamia Aqil, teacher of business

administration, at the school.

Ahmed said the idea behind
the project emerged after they
were assigned by the school to
establish a small company that
would create a new item that
had not been produced yet. Research revealed that there was
an urgent need for re-resistant
suits to protect personnel during
risky situations and eviction.
Jawahir al-Shaabi, a student,
designed the suit and submitted
a proposal for its manufacture
at Echo Qatar. The company
responded to the proposal and
sent the design to a manufacturing plant in Germany. It also
connected the manufacturers
with the school students.
The product was built and submitted to the Civil Defence, which,
in turn, approved the implementation of the idea. The school recently won an award for the project
at the Mubadara Annual Young

Entrepreneurs
Competition
hosted by Injaz Qatar.
The students look forward to
accomplishing more projects in
the future to help save lives and
maintain high levels of security
during evacuation.
Aspiring to further develop
the product, Jamal said the experiment with the support of
Injaz Qatar provided the encouragement to explore further
and opened new doors for creativity in the future.
Aqil stressed that the project
has drawn admiration from several quarters, including the public and the supporting entities,
as the product will help protect
individuals. She also felt that
that the project has provided an
impetus for students to become
entrepreneurs of the future, besides strengthening teamwork
and teaching them how to face
challenges and difficulties.

The team behind the project with HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani and other
dignitaries and officials.

Top Islamic scholar speaks at

EBDA Leadership Programme
H

Hussain Alfardan, chairman of Alfardan Group, with officials and employees at the exhibition.

Alfardan Group
showcases ongoing
initiatives at Civil
Defence exhibition
A

lfardan Group recently

concluded its successful participation at this
years Civil Defence Exhibition
and Conference held at the Doha
Exhibition and Convention
Centre.
The groups major subsidiaries - Alfardan Properties and
Alfardan Automobiles - demonstrated Alfardan Groups longstanding support and commitment to Qatars Civil Defence
and national safety and security at the exhibition, according
to a statement.
Hussain Alfardan, chairman
of Alfardan Group, attended the
exhibitions opening ceremony
along with the senior management.
The participating subsidiaries
showcased their ongoing initiatives to promote and ensure the
well-being of individuals and
local communities. They emphasised their strict compliance
with safety laws and regulations
as an integral part of their respective main business opera-

tions and strategic objectives,

the statement notes.
Alfardan Properties displayed scale models of its superior, high-end development
projects. The property developer ensures a safe and secure
environment across its luxury
residential and commercial
properties by regularly holding
emergency response training
programmes and other awareness campaigns to encourage
vigilance among tenants.
Alfardan Automobiles, on the
other hand, featured the BMW
i8 and its passenger safety solutions along with its optimised
performance, maximum efficiency and dynamics, and topof-the-line craftsmanship.
Alfardan Sports Motors,
which operates under Alfardan
Automobiles, also took part in
the event by showcasing the
Maserati GranTurismo Sport
with Etea SICUREZZA, an Italian engineering company specialising in the eld of buildings
protection and industrial safety.

Attending the exhibition,

Omar Alfardan, president and
CEO of Alfardan Group, said:
We highly appreciate the efforts exerted by the Civil Defence personnel to build a
security-conscious Qatari society and ensure a safe future for
current and future generations.
At Alfardan Group, we will continue to do our part by contributing to the countrys vision of a
peaceful and secure community
for all.
Previously, the Civil Defence
department honoured Alfardan
Group with a Certicate of Excellence for Alfardan Towers and
a Certicate of Thanks and Appreciation for the business conglomerates safety awareness
initiatives.
Alfardan Towers was given
an Excellent score in the
evaluation conducted by the
Inspection Committee of the
Civil Defences Fire Prevention
Department - a recognition reecting its commitment to wellestablished security practices.

Omar Alfardan, president and CEO of Alfardan Group, with Ministry of Interior officials.

amad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) has launched

this years EBDA Leadership Programme for students
with a series of interactive discussions led by Islamic scholar
Dr Tariq Ramadan.
The EBDA programme is an
innovative yearlong initiative
that is open to all HBKU students as well as those enrolled
at HBKUs partner universities
across Education City.
It teaches the fundamentals of
leadership, often by placing participants in challenging situations outside of the classroom that require
high levels of collaborative effort, as
well as critical and creative-thinking skills, and by encouraging them
to interact directly with thought
leaders such as Dr Ramadan.
Dr Ramadan, who Time magazine has referred to as one of

Dr Tariq Ramadan with participants of the discussion series.

the 100 most inuential people in the world, is a visiting
professor at HBKUs Faculty of
Islamic Studies and director of
the Research Centre of Islamic
Legislation and Ethics at HBKU.
During his discussion series,

QRCS to carry out

WASH projects for
Syrian refugees,
displaced Iraqis
Q
atar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed the preparations for two water, sanitation
and hygiene (WASH) projects
to be executed in Iraqi Kurdistan over the coming days in
favour of the Syrian refugees and displaced Iraqis in
Iraqi Kurdistan.

The projects have been allotted a total budget of $2.25mn.

The projects are co-funded by
the United Nations Childrens
Fund (Unicef) and QRCS.
Under the rst project, a
sewerage network, sanitary facilities, and toilets will be established in Block B of Qushtapa Syrian Refugee Camp,

he focused on the principles of

leadership in Islam, drawing on
the experience of various Muslim
prophets throughout history. He
explored in detail how such experience can be drawn upon when
considering the concept of leader-

ship and the expectation of leaders

in the contemporary world.
The discussion series is the
rst of many EBDA events that
have been organised by the
HBKU Student Affairs team for
the 2015-2016 academic year.

QRCS distributes aid at a relief centre.

Erbil. The second project involves establishing a permanent water storage and distribution system in Ashti Iraqi
Refugee Camp, Sulaymaniyah.
The projects will serve 6,285
Syrians in Qushtapa, 40% of
whom are children, and 7,319
Iraqis in Ashti.
These projects are under the
agreement to support Syrian
refugees in Kurdistan, as part of
QRCSs constant efforts since
the beginning of the Syrian

conict to help the affected who

ed to neighbouring countries
like Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon,
and Iraqi Kurdistan.
Under QRCSs Warm Winter 2014-15 campaign in Iraqi
Kurdistan, which targeted the
Iraqi IDPs in Erbil, QRCS staff
distributed $219,178 worth of
winter aid to 5,088 most-vulnerable families (25,440 people) with widows, children,
elderlies, and disabilities. Each
family received three blankets.

QCHP hosts annual International

Academy for CPD accreditation meet
T
he accreditation department of Qatar Council for
Healthcare Practitioners
(QCHP) recently hosted the International Academy for CPD Accreditation annual meeting at Qatar National Convention Centre.
The meeting was held for the
rst time in the Middle East.
Dr Samar Aboulsoud, acting
CEO of QCHP who is a member
of the academy, led the discussion during the meeting.
A number of important topics were discussed and the key
themes were increased co-operation in international CME/CPD,
completion of academy projects
with regard to the collaboration
and substantial equivalency for
recognition of CPD systems, according to a statement.

Participants of the meeting.

The agenda also included reinforcement of the need for selfregulation and commitment
to a shared goal of improving
patient care by providing highquality educational activities to
healthcare practitioners.
The academy is working to-

wards achieving the globalisation of standards of CME/CPD

accreditation systems.
The meetings timing took
into consideration the implementation plan of the National
CME/CPD accreditation system
and framework for Qatar, re-

quiring mandatory CPD participation for all healthcare practitioners for renewal of licensure
starting March 2016.
Leaders of CPD accreditation
systems from 14 countries, including Qatar, are members of
the academy.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

31

QATAR

Qatar woos discerning travellers

By Joseph Varghese
Staff Reporter

large number of people

from different parts of the
world have visited and interacted with the exhibitors from
the Qatar pavilion at the 38th
World Travel Market (WTM) that
was concluded in London last
week.
A strong contingent of 26
hospitality sector organisations,
led by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), had taken part in the
WTM 2015 and included tour operators, travel agents, hotels and
others.
Rashed al-Qurese, chief marketing and promotions officer,
QTA said: QTA targets discerning world travellers, who visit
countries to seek cultural experiences. In promoting Qatar as a
destination, protecting and perpetuating our culture, traditions
and heritage are always front of
mind.
Al-Qurese also indicated that
QTA will open its Milan office
towards the end of this month,
having told Gulf Times before the

Rashed al-Qurese
start of WTM, of plans to open
a representative office in Italy
sometime this month.
There are many factors that
make this the right time to open
our office in Milan, key among
them is the number of Qatar Airways ights to and from Milan
rising to ve a day, which will

help a great deal in encouraging

Italian visitors to choose Qatar,
said al-Qurese, adding that the
trip to Italy is a short one between ve and six hours, he said.
QTAs strategy to reaffirm Qatars position on the global map
of destinations places high emphasis on the European market,
which is the source market to
over half of the worlds 1.18 billion tourists, according to World
Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
gures. QTAs present representative offices are located in
London, Paris, Berlin, Riyadh
and Singapore.
Many visitors felt that Qatar is
an ideal choice for them as a holiday destination. One of the officials of a German delegation at
WTM, Henrique Olson, pointed
out that Qatar has all the potential to become a leading tourist
destination in the Middle East.
The ethos of Qatars tourism
sector is a very promising one.
The idea to market the country as
a destination that holds on to its
culture, traditions and social values, is truly distinctive and highly encouraging for tourists from
all around the world, he said.

Visitors take a look at a presentation in the Qatari pavilion at WTM 2015.

Doha Bank fetes long-serving staff

Doha Bank officials and recipients of the Long-Service Awards during the awarding ceremony.

oha Bank has hosted a

special awards ceremony
recently in recognition of
employees who have put in long
years of service with the bank.
The Long-Service Awards
seek to recognise employees who
achieved service milestones of
10, 15, 20 and 35 years, and for
their exemplary dedication and
loyalty to Doha Bank.
Held at the banks headquarters in West Bay, the awards ceremony was attended by Doha
Bank senior management ofcials, who expressed their appreciation to long-serving staff

members, many of whom have

been working with the bank since
its earliest days.
The management also expressed its gratitude and farewell
wishes to retiring employees.
Doha Bank enjoys its preeminent position in the Qatari banking industry thanks to the commitment and hard work of our
employees, and it is important
that our employees feel appreciated and valued, especially those
who have been with us for a long
time. The Long-Service Awards
represent a modest token of our
appreciation for the outstanding

effort these employees put in on

a daily basis to help the organisation grow, said Doha Bank Group
CEO Dr R Seetharaman.
We are very proud of our
ability to retain dedicated employees. We thank all awardees
for their professionalism and
commitment and we look forward to further stepping up
our engagement with employees while continuing to provide
them with ongoing training and
development opportunities that
allow staff members to improve
their skills and develop their careers.

32

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

QATAR

Filmmakers
from Qatar
set to shine
at Ajyal
T

he talents of Qatar-based
lmmakers are set to be
celebrated once again at
the third annual Ajyal Youth Film
Festival, presented by Doha Film
Institute (DFI), through its Made
in Qatar section.
As part of this, 17 lms will be
screened across two programmes
on December 2 (7pm) and 4
(7pm) at Katara.
This years Made in Qatar section, presented with the support
of Tarsheed, will shine a spotlight on the work of Qatari lmmakers and those who call Qatar
home, featuring nine narrative
shorts and eight documentaries,
some from returning lmmakers
and others by new voices in the
Qatari lmmaking community,
according to a statement.
A jury of three eminent gures from the local and regional
industry will determine the winners of the competitive section
with two awards being presented
for Best Short Narrative Film and

Best Short Documentary Film.

The 2015 jury members are
lm producer Bassam al-Ibrahim
(Qatar), CEO of Innovation Films
and co-founder of ILoveQatar.
net; lm actress, director and
producer Ahd (Saudi Arabia), internationally renowned for her
performance in Haifaa al-Mansours Wadjda; and respected
veteran journalist and media
personality, Marcel Ghanem
(Lebanon).
Fatma al-Remaihi, CEO of DFI
and festival director of Ajyal,
said: This years Made in Qatar selection indicates the rapid
growth and diversity that we are
witnessing in the Qatari lm industry.
The lms in the 2015 Ajyal
Youth Film Festival Made in Qatar section are as follows: Programme 1, December 2 - To My
Mother by Amina al-Bloshi,
Light Sounds by Karem Kamel,
Her Majlis by Najla al-Khulai,
Dana al-Mesnad and Nayla al-

Thani, The Palm Tree by Jassim

al-Rumaihi, Yellow Nights by
Abdulla al-Mulla, If They Only
Knew by Sana al-Ansari, Heart
of the House by Gabrielle Sol and
The Notebook by Amna Albinali;
and Programme 2, December 4
Charlie by Ali Ali, Immortalising
Memories by Mostafa Sheshtawy,
Asfoora by Mayar Hamdan, Good
as New by Jaser Alagha, I Choose
Islam by Noor al-Tamimi, Silma
Suba and Zac J Hollo, Mariam
by Zainab Ayon, Time by Yassine
Ouahrani, Man of the House by
Khalifa AlMarri and Veganise It!
by Khalid Salim.
Tickets are free of charge but
should be reserved through the
Ajyal box office, which opens
on November 16, the statement
notes. One can visit www.ajyallm.com for more details.
The third annual Ajyal Youth
Film Festival will be held from
November 29 to Dec 5 at Katara.
The full programme will be announced on November 9.

HMC awards top honours

to eight winning projects
H

amad Medical Corporation (HMC) awarded top

honours to eight winning projects at the annual Stars
of Excellence staff award ceremony at Katara last week. The
Stars of Excellence Programme
has been running for six years
and, over 1,500 projects have
been submitted during this period.
This year, the winning
projects were selected from a
total of 272 submissions and
each year, winners are chosen
based on their performance
against key criteria such as the
application of international best
practices, evidence of direct improvements resulting from the
project, and how the project has
impacted patient care and the
overall patient experience.
Hanan al-Kuwari, manag-

ing director of HMC, said the

awards ceremony is an important platform to recognise and
reward the hard work of all HMC
staff.
Every year I am delighted by
the standard and quality of submissions we receive to Stars of
Excellence and I believe this is
very much reected in the excellent work being done at Hamad.
It is important to acknowledge
and reward teamwork in organisations, as successful partnerships are crucial to an organisations success. I am consistently
impressed by the commitment
shown by the staff in raising the
standards of healthcare in Qatar
so that our population receives
the safest, most effective and
most compassionate care.
Nasser al-Naimi, deputy chief
quality officer for HMC and co-

director for Hamad Healthcare

Quality Institute said that all the
submissions were categorised
within HMCs three pillars of:
health, education and research
and focused on areas including
quality, safety, innovations and
improving patient experience.
The quality of submissions
was extremely high and came
from all areas of the organisation. The winning projects
demonstrate the extremely high
quality of work that takes place
at HMC for the benet of our
patients. An example of such
work is the Golden Hour Delivery Room Management project,
which received the Managing
Directors Special Award.
Other winning projects from
the event included National Tumor Board and Cancer
Guidelines (Clinical Practice);

Powerchart Oncology Implementation at National Centre

for Cancer Care and Research
(Collaborative Achievement);
Neonatal Transport Programme
(Operational
Performance
Award); Supportive and Palliative Care Unit(Patient Experience Award); Performance of
Paediatric Code Blue Team in
Hamad General Hospital Paediatrics (Quality and Patient
Safety Award); Innovating the
Clinical Information System
Training Experience of Nurses
(Education Award) and Association of Time in Blood Glucose
Range with Outcome after Cardiac Surgery (Research Award)
All 272 submissions to the
Stars of Excellence Programme
represent teams from across
HMC committing time and effort to continuous improvement.

HMCs Bone and Joint Centre to host 2 international surgeons

Hamad Medical Corporations
(HMC) Bone and Joint Centre will
host two international surgeons
from France and the UK in November and December. During
their stay and as done during
their previous visits to HMC, both
surgeons will perform surgeries,
attend to patients and diagnose
relevant cases.
Dr Marius Scarlat, a consultant
shoulder and elbow surgeon
from France will visit HMC from

A still from Heart of the House.

25 November to 1 December. He
will attend to patients already
pre-booked at the Bone and
Joint Centres outpatient clinic on
25 and 29 November. During the
other days of his visit, he will be
dedicated to surgical operations.
Dr Duncan Whitwell, a consultant knee and reconstructive
surgeon from the UK, will be
visiting from 18 to 23 December.
He will attend to pre-booked
patients on 20 and 21 December

and conduct surgical operations

during the rest of his visit.
The Bone and Joint Centre
would like to urge all patients
who have been seen previously
by either Dr Scarlat or Dr Whitwell to confirm their follow-up
appointments to ensure that all
tests, investigations, or scans required have been made ahead
of their appointments.
Patients can confirm their
appointments by contacting

the Bone and Joint Centre

during working hours. Other
patients wishing to see either of
these consultant surgeons can
contact the centre on 40411150,
40411151 or 40411152 to book an
appointment.
Patients are advised to note that
Dr Scarlat will only see those
patients with shoulder or elbow
problems while Dr Whitwell will
only be able to see patients with
knee or pelvis problems.

Disneys Beauty and

The Beast for Doha
D

isneys Beauty and The

Beast will visit Doha for
the rst time next month
as part of its international tour,
the organisers have announced.
The English-language production will play at the theatre
at Qatar National Convention
Centre from December 10 to 19 as
part of a world tour that includes
several countries across Asia and
the Middle East.
The show, which is being
brought to Doha by Disney Theatrical Productions, Broadway
Entertainment Group and NETworks Presentations, in co-operation with Qatars Premium
Events, comes in celebration of
Disneys Beauty and The Beasts
20th anniversary on the stage,
according to a statement.
The international tour of Disneys Beauty and the Beast sees

the shows original Broadway

creative team reunite to bring
this Broadway classic to life.
We are very happy that the
rst ever original Broadway musical coming to Doha is Disneys
Beauty and the Beast. Qatar has
been waiting for this beautiful
show for so long and we are proud
to make that happen, said Christoph Helbig of Premium Events.
The main sponsor, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), is supporting Disneys Beauty and The Beast
as one of the standout entertainment experiences of the year.
Based on the 1991 AcademyAward winning animated feature
lm, Disneys Beauty and The
Beast premiered on Broadway in
1994, where it was nominated for
nine Tony Awards and ran for 13
years. It still ranks as one of the
longest-running and highest-

grossing Broadway shows of all

time.
Since licensing of the title
began in 2004, there have been
productions in 22 countries,
seen by more than 35mn people,
translated into eight languages
with over 28,000 performances
- equivalent to a run of 67 years
and generating over $1.7bn in
revenue, the statement explains.
Disneys Beauty and the Beast
is the story of Belle, a young
woman in a provincial town, and
the Beast, who is really a young
prince trapped in a spell placed
by an enchantress. If the Beast
can learn to love and be loved,
the curse will end and he will be
transformed to his former self.
But time is running out. If the
Beast does not learn his lesson
soon, he and his household will
be doomed for all eternity.

NCCCR honours some of its nurses for their dedication and outstanding achievement.

NCCCR honours nurses for

outstanding achievements
S

The cast of Disneys Beauty and The Beast.

ome 10 nurses working at

the National Center for
Cancer Care and Research
(NCCCR) of Hamad Medical
Corporation (HMC) had been
awarded recently in different
categories including patient
care, research, innovation and
education for their excellence in
fullling the vision, mission and
strategic goals of the hospital.
The nurses from the Palliative Care and Medical Oncology
units received the award at NCCCRs rst nursing recognition
programme ceremony designed
to appreciate their outstanding
achievements for their involvement in patient safety and quality improvement projects.

Both winning projects have

reected directly on the quality of care provided here by
improving patients safety,
NCCCRs nursing executive director Catherine Gillespie said.
She acknowledged the contribution of the nurses who
have taken extra time and effort
working towards a common goal
and producing positive patients
outcomes.
The organising committee
of the recognition ceremony
received seven project applications of which two Microsystem Fall Prevention
and Fall Prevention: Quality Initiative (Creating a Fall
Free Environment) were

singled out for recognition.

Both projects addressed the
best strategies to prevent falls in
the NCCCR and their outcomes
have led to a reduction in falls
amongst a very high risk group
of patients.
Prof Alexander Knuth, medical director at NCCCR; and
Justine Lara Waywell, executive director at NCCCR, also
expressed their appreciation
for the initiative and the importance of recognising nurses who
are very dedicated and committed to providing the safest, most
effective and most compassionate care to all patients visiting
the NCCCR.
Michel Harkous, director of

nursing education at NCCCR

said: It is an honour to work
with such high calibre nursing
professionals whose hard work
and dedication produce superb
results.
In recognition of their outstanding efforts, it is with great
pride that I welcome them to
the nursing recognition programme, he added.
During the ceremony, A/
Nurse Educator, Abdulqadir
Nashwan said the recognition
process started with nomination up to evaluation before
the winning project was announced. It aims to support the
fair and equitable recognition of
healthcare professionals.

EGYPT WOES | Page 2

AIRBAG FAULT | Page 5

Jet crash is
a disaster
for tourism

Nissan joins
peers in
Takata ditch

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Moharram 25, 1437 AH

GULF TIMES

CAPITAL GAINS: Page 20

BUSINESS

Chestertons sees
shift in Qatari
investments in
London property

Shell looks to be partner of choice to Qatar

By Pratap John
Chief Business Reporter

atar Shells vision is to be the

partner of choice to QP and
the State of Qatar by delivering safe, reliable and efficient business
performance, says managing director
Michiel Kool.
This, he said, will be achieved by
supporting QP in every way Qatar
Shell can, and by supporting the Qatar
National Vision 2030. We do so by focusing on our people, our stakeholders
and our technology, Kool said in an interview with Gulf Times.
He said Shell maintains an important strategic partnership with QP
internationally. This includes QPs
acquisition last year of a 23% interest in an oil producing asset, offshore
Brazil, operated by Shell known as BC10. This deal complements QPs existing investments in two Shell chemical
joint ventures in Singapore.
On the signicance of BC-10, Kool
said, BC-10 is an extraordinary asset and uses some of our industrys
most innovative technology to extract

hydrocarbons from underneath the

seabed in ultra-deep water. To put it
in context, the distance between the
BC-10 Floating Production, Storage
and Offloading vessel and the seabed is
equivalent to approximately six torch
towers stacked on top of one another.
The producing wells reach from the
subsea oor deep into the ground to
the oil reservoir.
We are very pleased to have QP as
a partner on BC-10, which represents
QPs rst foray into the deep water
and into the upstream sector in Latin
America. I have a special affinity with
BC-10 as I worked on the project earlier in my career.
On the decision to cancel the Al
Karaana Petrochemicals Project, the
Qatar Shell managing director said,
Choosing to invest in a multibillion
dollar mega-project requires that it
offers robust value. In this case, the
project was challenged by high capital
costs that made the project uncommercial, particularly in the prevailing economic climate in the oil and
gas industry. It was without a doubt
a difficult decision, but tough choices
require tough decisions and we jointly

decided with QP not to proceed with

the project. Despite the outcome, we
very much value being given the opportunity to partner with QP and together evaluate a project of this size
and scope.
Pearl GTL remains the centrepiece
of Shells partnership with QP and,
despite challenging oil and gas prices,
the plant continues to generate signicant value with its product slate of GTL
gasoil, kerosene, base oil, naptha and
normal paraffin that is sold to customers around the world.
Separately, Shell partners with QP
on Qatargas 4, an LNG asset that really
sets a global benchmark for operational excellence and reliability.
It is testament to Shells condence
in Qatar and its leadership that we have
invested over $20bn in Qatar since
2002, said Kool, a Dutch national, who
was appointed Qatar Shells chairman
and managing director last July.
He said Qatar Shells commitment
to Qatar extended beyond its direct
economic contribution.
We aim to make a wider contribution to society. I am especially proud
of our partnership with Qatar Devel-

Al-Attiyah urges more research on renewables

By Peter Alagos
Business Reporter
Gulf countries such as Qatar should look
towards solar power technology, with
emphasis on conducting more research
on alternative sources of energy, said HE
Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, chairman
of the Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah
Foundation for Energy and Sustainable
Development.
At the forum titled The Oil Price Drop:
Repercussions for Oil Exporters, organised by the Arab Centre for Research &
Policy Studies yesterday at the RitzCarlton Doha, al-Attiyah underscored
the need for oil producers to prepare for
what he described as the post-oil era.
Al-Attiyah, who spoke to Gulf Times on
the sidelines of the forum, explained what
he meant by the post-oil era: Oil and
gas are natural resources that could be
depleted; one day it will all be gone, thus
the need to prepare now. While it will take
more than a hundred years before these
resources are exhausted, we need to act
now for the benefit of the next generation.
Oil producers should start planning what
scenarios to take after oil and gas, especially in the fields of renewable energy. In

HE Al-Attiyah: Preparing for the post

oil-era. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed
other countries, they are utilising alternative sources of energy such as thermal,
nuclear, or wind, he explained.
Asked what type of renewable energy
source is best for Qatar, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy
and Industry said: For Gulf countries, the
best alternative source is solar energy.
While I cannot guarantee you one day
of rainfall in Qatar, I can assure you of
12 months of sunshine, which is why we
have to keep looking for the best choice
for us in terms of renewable energy. We
do not want the next generation to blame
us for not looking after their welfare.
Al-Attiyah also expressed optimism that

the current challenges being faced by

Gulf countries in the field of solar technology like dust, harsh weather, and the high
cost of producing solar panels would
be resolved by the continuous advancements in technology.
On reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, al-Attiyah said the goal has always
been on top of Qatars agenda, especially
during his term as energy minister.
It was during my time as Minister
of Energy and Industry that I signed
this project, which was part of Qatar
Petroleums policy to put environmental
protection on top of our agenda, said
al-Attiyah, referring to the $1bn Jetty
Boil-off Gas Recovery (JBOG) project in
Las Raffan.
He also noted that the JBOG project,
touted as the biggest environmental
project in the world, could be Qatars
intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) during COP21, slated for
November 30 to December 11 in Paris.
For sure this is one of Qatars icons on
how to improve efficiency and environmental strategies for our hydrocarbon
industry, he said.
Only recently, the JBOG recovery facility
celebrated its first major milestone, marking its 1,000th loading on to the liquefied
natural gas (LNG) ship, Rasheeda.

Kool: Supporting QP in every way.

opment Bank to help develop a thriving private sector by increasing the
percentage of our spend that is placed
with Qatari-owned enterprises, including small start-up companies.
This year alone, more than 30 Qatari
small and medium sized enterprises
(SMEs) have been shortlisted to tender

for seven specic business opportunities and become part of the Pearl GTL
supply chain.
In the area of human development
Shells greatest contribution is the
recruitment and high quality development of its Qatari staff, he said.
Investment in people is just as

important as our capital investments

as a way to secure long-term benets
for Qatar and Shell. Although we now
have Qataris working at all levels and
across all parts of our business, there is
more work to be done. Our priority is
to further grow Qatari representation
in professional roles at every level of
Qatar Shell, including the most senior
leadership team.
Asked whether Qatar Shell was doing
anything special to attract the youth to
the oil and gas industry, Kool said, As
one example, but one that promises to
be a great opportunity for children to
understand the role of energy in their
lives, we are partnering with QP and
the Qatar Tourism Authority to host
Energy World Qatar 2015 in Doha in
late November at the new Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre. Energy
World Qatar is a programme of fun and
interactive games and challenges that
explore the future of energy and provide important learning experiences.
By introducing school children to energy concepts and the role of energy
in their lives, were aiming to create a
pipeline of future Qatari talent for our
industry.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

BUSINESS
Kuwait sees
oil glut of up
to 5 years on
rising supply

Jet crash is a disaster

for tourism in Egypt

Bloomberg
Doha
Oil markets will continue to
be oversupplied for as long as
five years as producers in the
Middle East ramp up output, according to Mohammed al-Shatti,
Kuwaits representative to the
Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries.
Iraq pumped a record 4.4mn
bpd in June, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. Libyan
output, which has declined by
more than half due to conflict,
can return at any moment,
al-Shatti said in an interview
yesterday in Doha. Iran has the
capacity to boost exports by
500,000 bpd within one week
of sanctions being lifted and by
1mn a day within six months,
Roknoddin Javadi, managing
director of state- run National
Iranian Oil Co, said last month.
Lower prices will continue until
the glut in the market ends, alShatti said. Many countries are
expected to increase production. Iranian crude is expected
to return and that means an
increase in production.
Demand isnt expected to
absorb the extra capacity and
it will take shifts in supply to
affect prices, he said. Al-Shatti
said geopolitical disruptions
or reduced future output because of the 30% fall in capital
expenditure by oil companies
could cause an increase.

Egypt suspends $68mn advertising

campaign after crash; tourism a
pivotal part of President al-Sisis
turnaround plan
Bloomberg
Cairo

gypt last year spent millions of

dollars splashing images of its
ancient pyramids and beach resorts over London buses and billboards
in New York to boost its vital but ailing
tourist industry.
Foreign visitors put off by years of
upheaval following the Arab Spring
revolt were gingerly returning when
an airliner packed with Russian holidaymakers smashed into the desert on
October 31 after taking off from the Red
Sea town of Sharm El Sheikh, killing
all on board. Even if growing speculation that Islamists bombed the plane is
eventually ruled out, the damage is already done, say tourism experts.
Russia has barred airlines from ying
to Egypt, while UK carriers have had
to stop ights to Sharm El Sheikh, as
both nations look to bring thousands of
stranded travellers home. France also
stopped ights, while the Netherlands
and Germany have urged their citizens
to stay away.
Egypt suspended a $68mn, threeyear global promotional campaign
awarded to New York-based advertising agency J Walter Thompson Co, and
cancelled events to launch it, according
to Ahmed Hamdi, vice- president of
the Tourism Promotion Authority.
The crash and subsequent travel
warnings are a catastrophic development for Egypt, said Nadejda Popova,
senior travel analyst at Euromonitor
International. Travellers are likely to
choose safer destinations like Dubai,
Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman for their
winter breaks, she said.
The Metrojet disaster is a major blow
to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and
his efforts to repair an image - and an
economy - battered by political unrest,
alleged human-rights abuses and violence. Critics accuse him of propagating instability with a sustained assault
on Islamist opponents that has left
hundreds dead and thousands in jail.
Tourism was supposed to be a major part of the turnaround. It generated
$7.4bn in foreign currency in the scal year that ended June 30, according
to central bank data. Visitor numbers,

Police inspects cars entering the airport of the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh yesterday. Egypt has suspended a $68mn, three-year global promotional campaign
awarded to New York-based advertising agency J Walter Thompson Co, and cancelled events to launch it, according to Ahmed Hamdi, vice-president of the Tourism
Promotion Authority.
thought still well below the 2010 high
of 14mn, were recovering: They reached
nearly 10mn in 2014. Leading Egyptian
businesses contributed to the cost of
annual advertising campaigns, according to Al-Arabiya News and others.
Every time we feel things are stable and the ow of tourists is recovering, a new incident occurs, said Amani
El-Torgoman, a board member of the
Egyptian Tourism Federation. There
havent been any cancellations yet,
but we expect the ow to slow down at
least until people gure out what the
cause of crash was.
Militant attacks that surged after the
army-led overthrow of former president Mohamed Mursi in 2013 have been
mostly conned to the northern corner
of Sinai, where the Islamic State local
affiliate that claimed to have downed
the Russian jet is based.

Still, there were incidents elsewhere.

In September, Egyptian security forces
accidentally killed seven Mexicans
in the Western Desert after mistaking a group of tourists for ghters. In
June, security forces averted a suicide
bombing at the Temple of Karnak in
the southern city of Luxor. Sharm El
Sheikh has generally been regarded as
safe.
About 3mn Russians holidayed in
Egypt in 2014, the most of any nation,
Popova said. The UK came next with
1mn. Last year, one in every ve foreign
visitors to Sharm El Sheikh was Russian.
Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou
said the decisions to suspend ights before the investigation into the Metrojet
crash was over were unjustied, while
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said
the UK was premature in announcing

it thought a bomb was the likely cause.

The result would be catastrophic for
millions of Egyptians working in the
tourism industry, he said.
At the World Travel Market in London, where he had planned to launch
the new promotional campaign, Zaazou said that the government is still
aiming for 20mn tourists a year by
2020. Egypt expected to welcome as
many as 12mn in 2015, with revenues
of $10bn.
It has recovered from terrorism before. The massacre of 58 tourists in
Luxor in 1997 marked the height of
an earlier Islamist insurgency, and the
sector rebounded in just a few months,
according to Nagui Erian, vice-president of the Chamber of Tourism Establishments, an association of business
people who work in the industry.
This time its different, it comes

after ve years of struggle, he said.

Having said that, people who appreciate Egypt, its weather and historical
treasures, would still come.
Those treasures were going to be a
focus of the now-abandoned advertising push, with antiquities authorities
opening three 3,300-year-old tombs in
Luxor to the public for the rst time on
Thursday.
Among those still willing to give
Egypt a chance is 42-year-old British
high school teacher John Watson, who
was visiting the Egyptian Museum in
Cairo.
Ive been coming every year over
the last ve years with my family, we
were planning to go to Sharm but we
cancelled upon hearing the news and
we decided to go to Luxor instead,
Watson said. Egypt is still my childhood fantasy.

Taqa starts
selling power
from India
hydro project
Abu Dhabi National Energy
Company (Taqa) has begun selling
electricity from its hydro power
project in north India, which will
provide another revenue stream for
the company which has been hit by
low oil prices. The state-controlled
oil exploration and power supply
group swung to a net loss of
421mn dirhams ($114.7mn) in the
second quarter as revenues from
oil and gas nearly halved partly
on the impact of the lower prices.
The 100MW Sorang hydro power
project started selling power to
northern India from October 31.

Saudi aims to get ahead in Europe as oil competition intensifies

Kingdom cuts official crude
selling price to Northwest Europe;
competition to intensify next year
as Iran returns
Bloomberg
London
Saudi Arabia is cutting prices and courting new customers in Europe in the face
of growing competition from fellow Opec
members.
The kingdom is responding to an increase
in Iraqi shipments and Irans preparation
to resume exports after sanctions by cut-

ting prices and making rare crude sales to

refiners in Poland and Sweden, according
to JBC Energy GmbH. This comes after
competition also heated up in Asia, said
consultant KBC Advanced Technologies
Ltd.
Its a buyers market for crude, so if you
want to place more barrels then you have
to cut prices, Eugene Lindell, a Viennabased analyst at JBC, said by phone. Its
not going to get any easier when Iranian
barrels come. They will also set aggressive official selling prices.
Europe is becoming the latest battleground for oil producers seeking to
maintain market share amid a global

oversupply. Russia has protested Saudi

sales to northern Europe, while also expanding its own share of Asian markets
that were typically dominated by Middle
Eastern producers. Iran will intensify
competition next year as it seeks to
regain lost customers following a nuclear
deal with world powers that will lift
sanctions.
Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in the
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries, cut official selling prices for
all grades of crude to Northwest Europe
and the Mediterranean on Thursday. The
decision follows the first sale in many
years of Saudi crude to Polish and Swed-

ish refiners that are typically buyers of

Russian Urals.
The nation is preparing for market
dynamics next year that are likely to be
even more challenging, according to
Lindell. Iraq, the second-biggest producer
in Opec, is likely to keep selling more
crude to Europe next year, while the total
amount of oil the regions refiners will
process is likely to drop, he said.
Iraqs production reached a record 4.4mn
bpd in June and was 4.3mn last month,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It shipped about 540,000 bpd of its
main export grade Basrah Light to Europe
between January and July, International

Energy Agency data show.

Once sanctions are lifted, Iran can boost
oil exports by 500,000 bpd in a week and
by 1mn a day within six months, Roknoddin Javadi, managing director of state-run
National Iranian Oil Co, said last month.
Before the European Union banned
member states from buying Iranian oil in
2012, the regions imports from the Middle
Eastern nation were just below 600,000
bpd, according to the Paris-based IEA.
Increased competition between suppliers is potentially a boon for European
customers.
Polish refineries have always tried to
diversify their refining slate, not only be-

cause of being too dependent on Russian

crude, but also because of pressure from
their government to diversify, Ehsan
Ul-Haq, a senior consultant at KBC, said
by phone.
Grupa Lotos, Polands second-biggest oil
refiner, significantly improved its negotiating position with crude suppliers after
receiving a shipment from Saudi Arabia,
deputy chief executive officer Zbigniew
Paszkowicz told reporters in Warsaw on
November 2. The company gets almost all
its oil from Russia, he said.
From the buyers perspective, it makes
sense to diversify and keep your options
open, Lindell said.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

BUSINESS

Europe is set to take aim at

subsidies to Gulf airlines
Bloomberg
Brussels

he European Unions
transport chief intends
to start ghting alleged
subsidies to airlines based in
the Gulf within months in a bid
to create a level playing eld
for EU competitors.
European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said she
hopes EU governments will
give her an open and exible
mandate by April to negotiate
an aviation agreement with the
six-nation Gulf Cooperation
Council. Curbing marketdistorting aid to operators such
as Emirates, Etihad Airways

The European Commission, the EUs executive arm, is

gearing up for a bigger battle over alleged state aid to
Gulf-based airlines
and Qatar Airways will be a
prime goal of any EU-GCC accord, she said.
We would like to establish
a level playing eld, Bulc said

in an interview in her office in

Brussels on Friday. We will go
into this direction.
The European Commission, the EUs executive arm,

is gearing up for a bigger battle

over alleged state aid to Gulfbased airlines after national
governments in Europe joined
European carriers such as Air
France-KLM Group and Deutsche Lufthansa AG in raising
the matter.
France and Germany voiced
concerns about foreign subsidies earlier this year at an EU
meeting where transport ministers debated global aviation
competition. The chief executive officers of several European airlines, including Air
France-KLM and Lufthansa,
wrote a letter to Bulc last December urging her to step up
efforts to tackle government
support for Gulf rivals.

There has been a lot of hype

about this, Bulc said on Friday.
I cannot speak about details
right now. But this is not only
my story. I am representing
the entire European aviation
space. I am in very close contact with all players of the European market.
Bulc will propose a mandate to negotiate an EU-GCC
agreement as part of a December 2 commission package
of aviation measures that will
also seek authority to strike
separate deals with countries
such as China. She held out
the prospect of quick approval
by the EUs 28 governments to
begin talks with the Gulf countries.

Boeing sees Mideast

vying with Asia for
taking biggest planes
Already 30% of widebody backlog is Middle East
carriers; Boeings Tinseth sees no letting up in
pace of Mideast growth
Bloomberg
Toulouse
Boeing Co said that Middle East airlines account for 30% of
its backlog for widebody planes and predicted the regions
carriers will vie with Asia as the biggest purchaser of such
planes, even with a population thats ten times smaller.
Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways of Abu Dhabi
have been growing at a far quicker pace than their rivals in
Europe or the US as they take advantage of international
aviation law that allows them to carry passengers from one
geographic region through the carriers home market into
another area. For example, Emirates can carry passengers to
India from Europe through Dubai under the so-called sixth
freedom rights.
In using their hubs in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, Gulf carriers have exploited a natural geographic advantage to tap
traffic flows to Asia from Europe and from Asia to Europe
and the US. Emirates now ranks as the No 1 transporter of
international passengers, though as recently as 2000 it was
ranked 24th among international airlines.
Theres no question theyve built very successful business
models around that, moving passengers from south and
southeast Asia into the Middle East and distributing them
into other markets, primarily Europe, said Randy Tinseth,
head of marketing for Boeings commercial aircraft division.
The majority of wide-bodies are going to carriers using
sixth freedom rights, theyve built very successful business
models, and frankly we just dont see that changing.
American Airlines Group Inc, Delta Air Lines Inc and United
Continental Holdings Inc have asked the US to reopen
aviation-treaty talks with the UAE and Qatar on allegations
that Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways get government
subsidies. European carriers Air France KLM Group and
Deutsche Lufthansa have all expressed concern about the
pace of growth among Mideast carriers.

Abu Dhabis Strata

plans US expansion
to serve Boeing
Bloomberg
Dubai

ubadala Development Cos Strata aerospace-manufacturing unit is evaluating expansion in the US

through another plane-parts maker and is undertaking a one-year feasibility study of a move that would enable it to produce larger, more complex components.
Strata, which has $7.5bn worth of orders from Boeing Co
and Airbus Group until at least 2030, is seeking to cut shipping
costs by locating closer to its US customer, and would look at
setting up manufacturing there in ve years, chief executive
officer Badr al-Olama said in an interview in Abu Dhabi.
Al-Olama spent a recent trip to the US assessing what
each state offers in terms of opportunity, whether it be some
other aerospace company, whether it be some R&D facility,
whether it be universities, he said, without specifying potential partners or products.
Strata is the Gulfs only producer of aircraft components
and is part of the UAEs efforts to diversify its economy away
from oil. The division of Abu Dhabis state investment company Mubadala started operations in 2010 and makes composite parts for wings and tailns, including ap track fairings
for Airbuss A380 and A330 models and vertical n ribs for the
777 and the 787-9 Dreamliner built by Chicago-based Boeing.
The company, which wants to expand into making larger subassemblies for aircraft, would face competition in the US from
established manufacturers including Wichita, Kansas-based
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc and local aerospace operations of Redditch, England-based GKN, al-Olama said.
Strata has a target of breaking even in two years and more
than doubling revenue to 1bn dirhams ($272mn) by 2020
from 400mn dirhams this year. It plans to build a second
plant next to its current factory in the emirate of Al Ain that
would start operations by early 2019. To cut costs, Strata
is looking to South Asia for new suppliers of raw materials
currently obtained in Europe, and the feasibility study will
also consider contracting out some work in Tunisia or Morocco, al-Olama said.

Im hoping March-April
next year, said Bulc, who
comes from Slovenia. She declined to speculate about how
long any negotiations with the
GCC would last.
To prepare the ground, Bulc
will travel to the Gulf region on
November 7-11, meeting ministers in Qatar and the UAE as
well as top executives of Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar
Airways. She said its too early
for her to broach the subject of
subsidies during the upcoming
trip, pledging to touch instead
on less sensitive issues such as
investment, air-traffic management and global efforts to
curb aviation emissions that
contribute to climate change.

Boeing upbeat over

possible Kuwait jet sale
Boeing yesterday gave its strongest indication yet about a near-term sale of F/A18E/F Super Hornets to Kuwait, although
the worlds second-largest weapons
maker said lower oil prices were delaying
some arms purchases by Gulf States.
There are things that were waiting on... those things are going to be
cleared and we think theyre going to be
cleared soon, Boeings Paul Oliver said
in response to a question on whether
discussions about a reported $3bn F/A18 deal with Kuwait talks were making
progress.
Oliver, vice-president of international
business development in the Middle East
and Africa for Boeings defence business,
did not name Kuwait specifically.
The US has not publicly acknowledged
talks to sell Boeing fighters to Kuwait,
but sources familiar with the matter have
said it is in negotiations about selling 24
F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to the Gulf nation
in a deal valued at over $3bn.
Sources familiar with the matter told
Reuters they hoped it would clear final
regulatory hurdles before the end of the
year.
In September, Kuwait also signed a
memorandum of understanding to
buy 28 Eurofighter jets built by Italys
Finmeccanica, Britains BAE Systems and
European aerospace firm Airbus Group.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

BUSINESS
RBI chief
to raise
pressure
on foreign
banks to
open units
in India
Bloomberg
Mumbai
India will gently increase the
pressure on foreign banks to
set up local subsidiaries, as it
seeks to improve its regulatory
oversight of their operations
in the country, Reserve Bank
of India governor Raghuram
Rajan said.
Going forward the pressure
will gently increase on them,
certainly the large ones, to
move to subsidiary, Rajan said
in an interview in his office in
Mumbai. There is still a remaining small dialogue we are
having with them about what
they should put in the subsidiary, but I think broadly we are
working towards subsidiarisation sooner rather than later.
Since the Indian central bank
announced the rules under
which foreign banks can set up
local subsidiaries two years ago,
Singapores DBS Group Holdings is the only sizable foreign
bank to have taken steps to set
up a local unit. The four largest
foreign banks in the country
Citigroup, Standard Chartered,
HSBC Holdings and Deutsche
Bank have yet to apply.
The banks have been
reluctant to create subsidiaries
because of the extra capital
they will need to set aside,
as well as higher compliance
costs, according to Nitin Kumar,
a Mumbai-based banking
analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher. When it announced the
rules, the Reserve Bank said
the separate legal entities will
give it greater control over the
local operations of the foreign
banks, which would be required
to have their own capital and
a local board of directors. The
move would ensure a clear
delineation between the assets
and liabilities of the domestic
bank and those of its foreign
parent, thereby protecting
Indian retail depositors, according to the RBIs November 2013
statement.
Rajan said the RBI had put
the issue on the back-burner
until now because it wanted to
deal with a separate concern
among foreign banks about its
priority-lending rules. Those
require banks to direct a certain
amount of their lending into
sectors such as agriculture and
small business, based on the
number of their local branches.

Rosneft offers Japan oil deals

as rivalry with Opec heats up
Bloomberg
Moscow

osneft chief executive officer

Igor Sechin offered Japanese investors a raft of Siberian oil deals
as Russia increases energy supplies to
Asian markets traditionally supplied
by the Middle East.
Russias largest oil producer offered stakes in projects ranging from
exploration to development and
production, including East Siberias Verkhnechonsk, Taas-Yuriakh
Neftegazodobycha, Tagul and Suzun
projects, which could be used to supply
Japan, according to a copy of Sechins
speech delivered in Tokyo on Friday
that was obtained by Bloomberg News.
It is surprising that even with
modern geography allowing for a wide
range of imports, 83% of supplies come
from the Gulf, far away from Japan,
and with high logistical risks, Sechin
said, while showing a slide describing
the logistical advantages of Russia as
a supplier to Japan. At the same time
only about 13% come from closer suppliers in the Asia Pacic region. Saudi
Arabia led the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year to
defend market share rather than cut
production to support prices amid a
supply glut. Competition for global
market share has intensied this year,
including Saudi shipments to Russias
traditional customers such as reneries in Poland and Sweden, and increased Russian deliveries to China.
The addition of Japanese investors makes sense as it would ensure a
market for oil from Rosneft projects as
Japan is still a large importer of crude,
said Alexander Kornilov, a Moscowbased oil analyst at Alfa Bank.
Separate from the deals on offer,
Rosneft plans to make crude deliveries to Japan of 4.2mn tonnes this year
and oil product deliveries of 1.2mn
tonnes, Russian newswire Interfax
cited Sechin as saying today in an interview on Russian state television.
The company supplied 3.2mn tonnes
of crude to Japan three years ago, In-

A Rosneft petrol station in Moscow. Russias largest oil producer offered stakes in projects ranging from exploration to development and production, including East
Siberias Verkhnechonsk, Taas-Yuriakh Neftegazodobycha, Tagul and Suzun projects, which could be used to supply Japan.
terfax said. Rosneft needs alternative
sources of funding for its East Siberian projects because it remains highly
indebted and subject to international
sanctions, Kornilov said. The projects
themselves, barely profitable at current oil prices, could offer higher re-

turns for partners when crude markets recover, he said.

Russian investments would offer
higher potential returns than Japanese
investments into oil sands or shale oil
in the US and Canada, Sechin said. The
ability to export energy from North

American projects is also doubtful, he

said.
Natural gas projects are also on offer
to Japan such as Kharampur and exploration off the coast of Sakhalin, Sechin
said. Stakes in a far-eastern shipbuilding complex and petrochemicals plant

are also available, according to Sechins

speech and presentation slides. Rosneft this year agreed to sell a 15% stake
in producer Vankorneft to Indias Oil &
Natural Gas Corp for $1.27bn, and 20%
of Taas-Yuriakh Neftegazodobycha to
BP for $750mn.

China, Singapore to negotiate free trade agreement upgrade

IANS
Singapore

hinese President Xi Jinping

and Prime Minister Lee Hsien
Loong witnessed the launch of
negotiations to upgrade the ChinaSingapore Free Trade Agreement (CSFTA) yesterday, the second day of Xis
state visit to the island-nation.
Xis visit marks 25 years since the

establishment of diplomatic relations

between China and Singapore, Channel News Asia reported.
Singapore Trade and Industry
Minister Lim Hng Kiang and Chinas
Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng
exchanged letters to signal the start
of discussions to review the FTA that
came into force in 2009.
In a press release, the Singapore
ministry of trade and industry (MTI)
said the upgraded CSFTA will provide

Singapore businesses with enhanced

trade facilitation and greater investment protection in China, as well as
address investment barriers.
Both sides will also explore greater cooperation in areas such as legal
services and financial services. The
CSFTA will also be enhanced with
new generation elements such as ecommerce and environment, MTI
said.
Other deals signed include a frame-

Afghan govt cancels

property deal with
convicted banker
Reuters
Kabul
The Afghan government has cancelled a multimillion dollar
real estate contract with the former head of the failed Kabul
Bank, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail for embezzlement last year, after an outcry over his involvement in the
project.
The involvement of former Kabul Bank chief executive Khalil Ferozi in the $900mn Smart City Township, a
flagship housing project in the Afghan capital, drew fierce
criticism of the government of President Ashraf Ghani when
it was revealed earlier this week.
The arrangement was intended to enable Ferozi to pay
back hundreds of millions of dollars he still owed to the
government after it rescued the bank from collapse in 2010.
But it was widely seen as undermining the fight against
corruption.
Kabul Bank had to be bailed out by the government in
2010 after racking up losses of almost $1bn in a scandal
that shook confidence in Afghanistans financial system
and exposed widespread corruption among the countrys
business elite.
Along with Kabul Bank founder Sher Khan, Ferozi was
sentenced in November last year to 15 years in prison for
embezzling more than $800mn from the bank.
A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Ferozi had been allowed to work during the day
to be able to pay off his debts while serving his prison
sentence at night.
Ghani said in a statement that the Smart City deal with
Ferozi had been cancelled, while the sentence against him
and others in the Kabul Bank case would be enforced in full.
The status of some 34 acres of land he had put up for the
project has also been put under review, he said.
Speaking by telephone from jail, Ferozi said the project
had already raised $14mn in debt repayments and, if it went
ahead, would raise $75mn for the government.
The land belongs to me but if the government wants to
sell it, they have the authority. But if they let the company
build the township, from the money I earn, I will pay Kabul
Banks loan back, he told Reuters.

work agreement on the development

of a government-to-government
project in the southwestern Chinese
city of Chongqing with an emphasis
on strategic connectivity.
This is the third joint project between the governments of Singapore
and China, the first two being in Suzhou Industrial Park and Tianjin Ecocity.
Representatives from both sides
also signed Memorandum of Under-

standing (MoU) on cooperation in

education, urban planning and management and on the Sino-Singapore
International Joint Research Institute
in the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou
Knowledge City.
China is Singapores largest trading partner, while Singapore has been
Chinas largest foreign investor since
2013. Singapore also became Chinas
largest overseas direct investment
destination in Asean in 2014.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

BUSINESS
China
raises
gold
hoard in
Oct by
adding
14 tonnes
Bloomberg
Beijing

hina probably boosted

central-bank gold holdings yet again in October, raising them by about 14
metric tonnes, as it seeks to
diversify its foreign exchange
reserves.
The value of gold assets was
$63.26bn at the end of last
month from $61.19bn at endSeptember, according to data
on the Peoples Bank of China
website released yesterday.
That works out to 55.38mn
troy ounces or about 1,722.5
tonnes, based on the London
Bullion Market Association afternoon price auction on October 30, Bloomberg calculations
show. The stash was 54.93mn
ounces a month earlier.
China ended six years of
mystery in July over how much
gold its hoarding as it seeks
to spur greater global use of
its currency and pushes for
the yuan to be included in
the International Monetary
Funds Special Drawing Rights
basket.

The value of gold assets

in China was $63.26bn at
the end of last month from
$61.19bn at end-September,
according to data on the
Peoples Bank of China
website released yesterday
Efforts to promote the yuan
have boosted speculation the
government is stockpiling gold
as part of a plan to diversify its
$3.53tn in foreign-exchange
reserves.
PBoCs continuous diversification into gold may underpin prices, Helen Lau, an
analyst at Argonaut Securities
(Asia) in Hong Kong, said before the data were released.
Chinas gold reserves rose
by about 15 tonnes in September, 16 tonnes in August and 19
tonnes in July. It disclosed on
July 17 that holdings had surged
57% since 2009.
While the country has overtaken Russia to own the worlds
fifth-largest hoard, it still has
only about 2% of its reserves in
gold, compared with 74% for
the US and 68% for Germany,
World Gold Council data show.
Global bullion prices fell for
the past five quarters as expectations mounted that the US
Federal Reserve would increase
interest rates for the first time
since 2006.
Gold slumped 4.6% last
week, the biggest such decline
in a year, as a rate rise in December looked ever more likely
after strong jobs data. Higher
rates cut the appeal of bullion
because it doesnt pay interest
or offer dividends like bonds
and stocks.

Nissan joining peers in

ditching Takata airbag
Bloomberg
Tokyo

issan Motor Co joined Toyota Motor Corp

and Honda Motor Co in saying they wont
use key components made by Takata Corp,
as more automakers come out to distance themselves from the airbag supplier whose defective
devices are behind the biggest ever automotive
safety recall.
In line with the recent announcement from the
United States National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, we have decided to no longer use
inators containing ammonium nitrate in airbags
for future models, Dion Corbett, a Nissan spokesman, said in an e-mail yesterday. We will continue to put our customers safety rst and work
to replace the inators in vehicles under recall as
quickly as possible. Honda, Toyota and Nissan
are the three companies with the most number
of vehicles recalled because of Takatas airbags,
which have been found to rupture with excessive
force and are linked to more than a hundred injuries and eight deaths. Tokyo-based Takata posted
a 8.66bn ($70mn) loss in the second-quarter,
and slashed its full-year net income forecast to
5bn from 20bn after incurring losses related to
recalls.
The inator using ammonium nitrate produced by Takata will not be adopted by Toyota,
Akio Toyoda, Toyota president, said at a brieng
in Tokyo on Friday. Whats most important above
anything else is the safety and peace of mind of
customers.
Mazda Motor Corp said on Thursday its new cars will no longer use Takata airbag
inators, while Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Motors Corp are considering
the same. The comments follow Hondas decision
to stop using Takata inators in new models and
its accusation that the company manipulated test
data.
The emerging rifts mark an unusual repudiation in Japan, where corporate relationships are
measured in decades and Takata had counted on
automakers support despite more than a year of
criticism from US lawmakers and its auto-safety
regulator.
Even investors appeared to think the worst was
over, with the stock up 14% this year at one point
through May. The tide turned this week when
Honda surprised the market and set the stage for
a potential exodus of more customers.
Although recall costs were piling up, Takatas
operational prots werent bad, which is why the

A technician holds a recalled Takata airbag inflator after he removed it from a Honda Pilot at a dealership in Miami. More automakers yesterday said they are
planning to distance themselves from the airbag supplier whose defective devices are behind the biggest ever automotive safety recall.
market was optimistic, said Chihiro Ota, general
manager at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo. But
with customers now distancing themselves from
Takata, investors started worrying about how the
company can pay all those costs. What can ease
this drop? Until we know how it happened and
where the responsibility lies, the trend is down.
Takata fell 6.2% in Tokyo trading on Friday, resulting in a 39% three-day decline, the most on
record.
Hondas desertion was signicant as it led analysts to openly question Takatas ability to survive
and even president Shigehisa Takada acknowledged a risk to the companys existence.

Asked whether the company will survive,

49-year-old Takada told reporters on Wednesday,
theres risk. Any blows to Takatas airbag business are devastating because its the companys
largest product segment, at 38% of its 642.8bn
in sales for the scal year through March. Inators are only a portion of its air bag products, and
other components the company has to fall back on
include seat belts, steering wheels, electronics and
child seats.
Takata has hired SMBC Nikko Securities to
draw up a fundraising plan for the airbag supplier, with the nancial adviser proposing an additional share sale as one of the potential options,

according to people familiar with the matter. I

really dont see how theyre going to be able to
survive as an inator manufacturer, Scott Upham, founder of Valient Market Research, who
has followed the airbag industry for more than
two decades. When your major clients publicly
come out and say that theyre not going to use
your products anymore, it makes this very difficult to sustain your business. Takatas share of
the global market for airbag inators may fall to
5% by the end of the decade, from 22% last year,
Valient estimates. A lot of that is a result of losing major production contracts with their core
clients, the Japanese, Upham said.

Bihar poll outcome to drive rupee movement

IANS
Mumbai

he Bihar poll outcome and

heightened chances of a US rate
hike are expected to are up volatility in Indian rupee value in the week
starting November 8, experts said yesterday.
Bihar poll results will be the determining factor that drives the rupees
trajectory in the short-term, especially
for the upcoming week, Anindya Banerjee, associate vice president for currency derivatives with Kotak Securities,
told IANS.
The Bihar elections results will be out
on November 8. On Thursday, four out
of six exit polls predicted a victory for
the Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance,
while two polls showed the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA in the lead.
A win for the National Democratic

Alliance (NDA) government will help in

arresting the fall in the rupee value and
might even revive it, Banerjee said.
According to Banerjee, a win for the
Janata Dal (United) alliance will put
further pressure on the rupee value
which will be impacted by a cascading
effect from falling equities and bond
markets.
The rupee might even breach the
67 to a US dollar mark, if there is a JDU
win. At that point the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) will certainly intervene to
arrest the fall in the rupee value, Banerjee elaborated.
The Bihar polls are seen as a crucial
test for the incumbent central governments popularity with the masses. Especially, after it failed to pass key economic reforms so far in its short tenure.
Besides the central government, the
period after the polls will be crucial for
the RBI as it will keep a close watch over
the rupees movement.

The RBI is seen comfortable with the

rupee ranging anywhere in between 6566.60 to a US dollar. Anything beyond
or below the limit provokes the central
bank to intervene by either buying or
selling the greenback.
Hiren Sharma, senior vice president,
currency advisory at Anand Rathi Financial Services, told IANS that the
heightened chances of US Federal Reserve (US Fed) raising interest rates in
December may negatively impact the
rupee value.
Rupee has been following weaker
domestic equities, and fundamentally
too with a possible December rate
hike by the US Fed global and domestic equities can perhaps continue to remain weak, Sharma said.
Parallely, there can be an immediate
pull-back domestically, if the present
government gets a majority in Bihar
election results. Else a weaker bias will
continue.

The US Fed did not raise interest

rates from near zero levels, that it has
maintained for a decade or so, during
its Federal Open Market Committee
(FOMC) held in October.
However, fears of the US Fed raising
rates in December due to stronger economic data and comments from the US
central banks has spooked global investors.
A hike in interest rates by the US
Fed will send shock waves across the
worlds capital markets.
A rate hike could potentially lead
to massive amounts of pull-back of
foreign funds from emerging economies like India. The US dollar will also
strengthen against emerging market
currencies, gold and other asset classes.
It is also expected to dent business
margins, as access to capital from the
US will become expensive.
Notwithstanding the fears of a further downward trajectory, the rupee

can rely on the fact that a victory for

the incumbent central government may
provide the much-needed relief to the
Indian currency, which has been underperforming its peers.
The rupee has been on a downward
trajectory. On a weekly basis, the rupee
weakened by 49 paise to 65.76 to a US
dollar (November 6) from its previous
close of 65.27 to a greenback (October
30). On a day-to-day basis, the rupee
closed Fridays trade weaker at 65.76 to
a US dollar from its previous days close
of 65.75 to a greenback.
The data with the National Securities
Depository Limited (NSDL), showed
that the FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) sold Rs24,550.83mn or $376.63mn
in equity and debt markets from November 2-6.
The data with stock exchanges
showed that the FPIs sold stocks worth
Rs14,620.05mn in the period under review.

Singapore exchange looks into potential derivatives spoofing

Bloomberg
Singapore

The Singapore Stock Exchange office. The bourse said yesterday it has received
complaints that some market participants maybe making orders and then cancelling
them before they can be executed.

Singapore Stock Exchange is evaluating possible

incidents of spoofing in its flourishing derivatives
market, following complaints over the dishonest trading practice.
Singapore Exchange has received complaints that
some market participants maybe making orders and
then cancelling them before they can be executed.
As both the regulator and the operator of Southeast
Asias largest equities and derivatives markets, SGX,
as the exchange is also known, is reviewing these
possible incidents of spoofing, according to its chief
regulatory officer.
With the sort of volumes that we have in the
derivatives market, there are bound to be instances
where you see what appears to be unusual trading in
any exchange, Tan Boon Gin, a lawyer who studied at
Harvard and Cambridge universities, said in an interview. The cases havent been definitively classified by
SGX as spoofing, Tan said.
The level of such activities isnt higher than those at
other international exchanges, the former prosecutor
said, adding that the Singapore bourses review is part
of its usual market surveillance.
Tan is examining whether Singapores existing
false-trading laws are strong enough to prosecute
spoofers.

One of the things that well be looking at very carefully is whether or not theres a need for a spoofing
law, he said.
SGX is still living with the consequences of an
as-yet- unexplained stock crash in 2013. Two years
later, share trading in the city-state, where SGX enjoys
a monopoly, has yet to recover. Volume remains 25%
lower than before the tumble.
Derivatives accounted for 41% of its most recent
quarterly revenue amid soaring demand for futures
and commodities contracts including China A50
Index, Nikkei225 and iron ore. That compared with
32% a year ago.
Spoofing has gained prominence recently, especially with a series of high-profile cases involving the
US futures markets.
On Tuesday, a jury of eight men and four women
in a Chicago federal court took about an hour to find
Michael Coscia, head of Panther Energy Trading, guilty
on spoofing charges.
His trial was the first use of an anti-spoofing law
after the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act made it illegal to
manipulate prices in the US by placing orders without
intending to trade on them. The law also provided an
easier standard of proof to try cases.
In what may be the next spoofing trial, Chicago federal prosecutors are seeking extradition of a UK trader
on charges tied to the May 2010 flash crash, which
temporarily wiped out almost $1tn in value of US equities. The defendant, Navinder Singh Sarao, is fighting

the extradition bid. Singapore introduced safeguards

last year to protect investors from a similar crash to
the 2013 event. If the move in a stock reaches a certain
threshold, circuit breakers automatically bring trading
in the security to a halt, hopefully stopping a spiral of
falling or rising share prices.
Tan led the Commercial Affairs Department investigation into the 2013 stock rout probe before joining
SGX in June.
During a spell at the Monetary Authority of
Singapore, he worked on the central banks first civil
lawsuits on stock rigging and insider trading.
SGX in September had its enforcement powers
expanded. It can now fine listed companies and
their directors and suspend the activities of financial
advisers. The strongest action it had previously been
able to take was the ability to publicly reprimand a
company or delist the shares.
The exchange needs to make sure that were on
our toes but also to keep the market on its toes,
Tan said. Thats really key to preserving market
confidence.
Under Tans watch, SGX is also reviewing listed
companies compliance with the corporate governance code and introduced listing committees to boost
its regulatory process to ensure investors keep faith
in the market.
Trust is everything, Tan said. Anything that will
undermine confidence in the market, that keeps me
up at night.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

BUSINESS
CMA CGM,
Maersk in
talks to
acquire
Neptune
Orient Lines
Bloomberg
Singapore

eptune Orient Lines said its in separate talks

with Frances CMA CGM and Denmarks AP.
Moeller-Maersk on a potential sale of the
Singapore container shipping company.
NOL has a duty to assess all options to maximise
shareholder value and improve its competitiveness,
the company said in a statement to the Singapore
stock exchange yesterday, adding that the discussions are preliminary and theres no assurance that
a denitive agreement will be reached.
CMA CGM has made a preliminary offer for Neptune Orient, which has a market value of S$2.7bn
($1.9bn), people with the knowledge said earlier,
asking not to be identied as the information is private. Marseille-based CMA CGM is now conducting due diligence, though it hasnt been granted
exclusivity, according to one of the people. Maersk
is also in talks about an acquisition of Neptune Orient, though the discussions are less advanced, the
people said.
A deal is unlikely to be struck soon, as the slumping shipping sector damps the appetite for aggressive bidding, two of the people said. Temasek Holdings, the Singapore state investment company that
owns 67% of Neptune Orient, may not be willing to
sell its stake at a low price, they said.
The shipping company that helped cement Singapores status as a global trade hub is attracting takeover interest after simplifying its structure earlier
this year by selling its $1.2bn logistics unit. Neptune
Orient, created in 1968 and now Southeast Asias
largest container line, ran up $1.2bn of losses in the
last four nancial years as sluggish global commerce
and overcapacity ate into shipping rates. Neptune
Orient gained 6.6% to S$1.045 in Singapore trading
on Friday. Maersk shares rose 2.4% at the close in
Copenhagen.
Acquiring Neptune Orient would help consolidate CMA CGMs No 3 position in container shipping as it competes with market leaders Maersk and
Mediterranean Shipping Co Neptune Orients APL
container unit has a 2.7% market share, while CMA
CGM controls 8.9% of the market, according to data
from industry consultant Alphaliner.
CMA CGM, founded in 1978, has a eet of 467
vessels transporting 12.1mn twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo annually, according to its website.
Representatives for CMA CGM, Neptune Orient and
Temasek declined to comment.
Weve always said that we will look at everything that comes up for sale in the market but our
base strategy is to grow organically, Maersk chief
executive officer Nils Smedegaard Andersen said in
a phone interview on Friday, declining to comment
specically on whether Maersk is looking at Neptune Orient. In general we welcome any consolidation that would only be healthy for the container
line industry. Hapag-Lloyd, Germanys biggest
shipping line that started trading on the Frankfurt
stock exchange on Friday, has repeatedly irted with
the idea of teaming up with Neptune Orient. Billionaire stakeholder Klaus-Michael Kuehne said in
an interview, which ran in Swiss newspaper Finanz
& Wirtschaft in June, that combining the two companies would be interesting, though a challenge
as Neptune Orient is not in good shape. Shares in
Hapag-Lloyd, the worlds No 5 carrier, gained 1.5%
on their debut on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of 2.4bn ($2.5bn).
Kintetsu World Express earlier this year bought
Neptune Orients APL Logistics for 144.2bn
($1.2bn) to help the Japanese company broaden its
revenue base.
Neptune Orient, which has sold its main office
building and some vessels amid four consecutive
years of losses, disposed the logistics unit to take
out cash and focus on boosting its container-line
business.

Alibaba agrees to buy

Youku in $4.8bn deal
Bloomberg
Beijing

libaba
Group
Holding
agreed to buy video service
Youku Tudou in a deal said
to be valued at $4.8bn in total, as
billionaire Jack Ma seeks to stream
more content to Chinese Internet users through control of the
YouTube-like site.
Net of Youkus cash, the price is
about $3.7bn, said a person familiar
with the transaction who asked not
to be identied because the details
arent public.
Alibaba, Chinas biggest online
shopping company, raised its offer to $27.60 in cash from $26.60
last month. The new price is 35%
above Youkus stock price the day
before the initial bid was disclosed.
Youkus board has approved the
merger agreement, Alibaba, which
already owned a minority stake in
the company, said on Friday in a
statement.
Full ownership of Youku will
help Ma deliver US lms and drama
series to more than a third of Chinas population as Alibaba competes with Baidu Inc and Tencent
Holdings for the attentions of Internet users. The deal comes after
he toured Hollywood to meet with
studio executives, took control of a
Chinese movie studio and invested
in the latest Mission: Impossible
lm.
The move into digital media
makes a lot of sense, said Rob
Sanderson, an analyst at MKM
Partners in Stamford, Connecticut,
who recommends buying Alibabas
shares. The rise of Internet video
is really undeniable around the

A logo of Alibaba Group at its headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. The online shopping company yesterday raised its offer for Youku Tudou
to $27.60 in cash from $26.60 last month.
world, so I think its a strategy that
could produce quite a bit of leverage given the size of their communities. Youku and Tencents video
sites both had about 286mn unique
visitors in August, yet viewers
spent more time watching content
on Youku, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Baidus IQiyi had 273mn visitors.
More than 461mn people in
China consumed video online as of
June, with 354mn users accessing
from mobile phones, according to
the China Internet Network Infor-

mation Center. Thats larger than

the entire population of the US.
Alibabas shares fell 2.1% to $83.61
at the close in New York, reversing
earlier gains after CNBC reported
that Kynikos Associates LP founder Jim Chanos said investors should
be bearish on the stock and recommended it as a short-sale trade.
Youku jumped 7.3% to $26.14.
Victor Koo will remain as chairman and chief executive officer of
Youku. The company, which has
never posted a prot since its 2010
initial public offering, is zero-

ing in on US studios for programming. The company, which mostly

streams professionally produced
content rather than amateur videos, plans to collaborate with US
entertainment producers to create
content for its website, Koo said in
an October 2014 interview.
Alibaba has averaged more than
two purchases a month in 2015,
announcing more than $13bn of
transactions, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg.
Youku ts into Alibabas socalled multiscreen strategy mak-

ing sure that users stay engaged in

every screen, being their smartphones or desktops, said Gil Luria,
an analyst at Wedbush Securities
Inc in Los Angeles.
Youku is the YouTube of China and has a lot of customer engagement, said Luria, who rates
Alibaba a neutral. Theyll buy
more content. Theyll buy more
content-delivery
platforms.
Morgan Stanley is Alibabas financial adviser, while Simpson
Thacher & Bartlett is providing
legal assistance.

Toshiba sues 5 ex-executives over accounting scam

Bloomberg
Tokyo

oshiba Corp sued ve former

executives as the company
tries to recover from accounting irregularities that have
led to prot writedowns of more
than $1.2bn over almost seven
years.
Toshiba is suing three former
presidents and two former chief
nancial officers for 300mn
($2.4mn) of damages, the Tokyobased company said in a statement
yesterday.
Those being sued include Hisao
Tanaka, Norio Sasaki and Atsutoshi
Nishida, who stepped down in July
to take responsibility for improper
accounting.
Japans biggest accounting scandal since Olympus Corp in 2011 has
already prompted management
changes, a board revamp and assets sales at the industrial group
that makes everything from nuclear reactors to chips and laptop
computers. Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe has said Japan needs more
support from global investors and
has pressed companies to improve
corporate governance with more

transparency and independent

board members.
Toshiba has lost about a third of
its market value since disclosing it
was investigating accounting irregularities in April.
Toshiba said on October 1 it had
identied 30 more executives involved in the accounting scandal
and would punish them, while allowing them to keep their jobs.
One day earlier, President Masashi
Muromachi won shareholder approval to lead the company at an
extraordinary meeting that included calls for his resignation. Investors angered by the damage done to
the 140- year-old brand interrupted the proceedings several times,
shouting over the president.
Toshiba has set aside 8.4bn to
cover possible nes related to the
accounting irregularities.
The company also reported
earnings yesterday, with net income rising 38% to 49.6bn in the
three months ended September,
helped by asset sales. The company previously said it sold stakes in
medical equipment maker Topcon
Corp and Finnish elevator and escalator maker Kone Oyj.
Toshiba had an operating loss of
79.5bn for the quarter.

Pedestrians walk past a logo of Japanese electronics giant Toshiba in Tokyo. The company said in a statement
yesterday it is suing three former presidents and two former chief financial officers for $2.4mn of damages.

Barclays to gauge interest in Asia wealth business sale

Bloomberg
London

Barclays said yesterday its global wealth management revenue fell 17% to 227mn ($342mn) in the third-quarter from a year earlier.

Barclays is sounding out

potential buyers for its Asian
wealth-management business
as chairman John McFarlane
refocuses Britains second-largest
lender on the most profitable
businesses in the US and UK, said
two people with knowledge of the
matter.
While several parties have
expressed interest in the
business, the bank hasnt taken
a final decision on a sale, said
the people, who asked not to be
identified because the matter is
private. Will Bowen, a spokesman
at Barclays in London, declined to
comment.
Jes Staley, 58, who will take over
as chief executive officer next
month, has pledged to restore
profit growth at the lender,
which has been hurt by rising
costs tied to restructuring and
past misconduct. A sale would

put Barclays at odds with Credit

Suisse Group and other European
lenders that are seeking to tap
a larger share of wealthy clients
across Asia to bolster earnings.
Global wealth management
revenue fell 17% to 227mn
($342mn) in the third-quarter
from a year earlier, Barclays said
last week. The unit has posted
declining revenue for the past
four quarters, contributing
just 4% of the banks 5.6bn in
revenue in the three months
through September. Barclays
didnt give a breakdown for Asia
wealth management.
Barclays has offered wealth
management services in Asia
since the early 1970s, with offices
in cities ranging from Hong Kong
to New Delhi and Singapore,
according to its website.
Sara Bennison, chief marketing
officer at the personal and
corporate banking division,
which includes the wealth unit,
left Barclays, the bank said in an
e-mailed statement. She joined

in 2008, helping restore the

banks reputation in the wake of
a scandal linked to wrongly sold
payment protection insurance
that has cost the bank about 6bn
in compensation to date.
McFarlane said in June that
the bank is looking at the
contributions of investmentbanking operations in Asia and
the Middle East, because they
dont have acceptable returns and
we dont like places that dont
make money. The lender, that
same month, sold its US wealthmanagement business with about
$56bn in client assets to Stifel
Financial Corp for an undisclosed
price.
Barclays last week reported
a third-quarter pretax profit,
including restructuring costs,
of 1.43bn, down 10% from a
year earlier and below analysts
estimates. It also cut a profitability
target for 2016.
The shares rose 1.9% on Friday in
London, paring the loss this year
to 4.6%.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

17

BUSINESS

US jobs report blowout ignites

dollar rally as Fed liftoff looms
Bloomberg
New York

he dollar rally is back on. A gauge

of the greenback against its major peers rose to the highest in
data going back almost 11 years Friday
amid rising speculation the Federal
Reserve will lift interest rates at its December meeting. Its set to climb even
further, according to Steven Englander,
global head of Group-of-10 foreignexchange strategy at Citigroup in New
York. Thats because Fridays US employment report, which he described as
a blowout, has strengthened the case
to boost US borrowing costs this year.
The greenback has rallied since July
2014 on expectations that the Fed will
lift rates, contrasting with global peers
including the European Central Bank
and Bank of Japan, which are carrying
out unprecedented stimulus. In recent
months, the US currencys gains have
slowed as lacklustre economic data
cast doubt on the timing of Fed liftoff.
Fridays employment report helped to
allay those concerns.
We continue to expect the dollar to appreciate versus the euro and the yen, and
were positioned accordingly, said Roger
Bayston, a director at Franklin Temple-

A neon dollar sign is hung on the wall at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington. The greenback has rallied since
July 2014 on expectations that the Fed will lift rates, contrasting with global peers including the European Central Bank and
Bank of Japan, which are carrying out unprecedented stimulus.
tons xed-income group in San Mateo,
California, which manages $155.8bn.
The dollar gained 2.4% to $1.0741
per euro last week, after surging to the
highest in more than six months on
Friday, and rose 2.1% to 123.13 yen. The

Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index strengthened 1.9% to 1,232.53. US payrolls rose

by 271,000 last month, a Labor Department report showed Friday, the
biggest gain this year and exceeding
all estimates in a Bloomberg survey

of economists. The jobless rate fell to

a seven-year low of 5%, and average
hourly earnings over the past 12 months
climbed by the most since 2009.
It is very supportive of further US
dollar strength, said John Hardy, head of

foreign-exchange strategy at Saxo Bank

in London. The data are wildly supportive of a December move by the Fed.
Theres a 68% probability that the
central bank will raise its benchmark
rate at its December meeting, according
to futures data compiled by Bloomberg.
Thats up from 56% before the reports
release and a 35% probability of a December increase on October 27, the day
before the Fed concluded its last policy
meeting. The calculation assumes the
effective fed funds rate averages 0.375%
after the rst increase.
Traders have boosted bets on a
December rate move since Fed officials added a direct reference to next
months meeting in their latest policy
statement.
Currency traders will be watching
retail sales and producer-price data
next week to gauge whether US economic growth is broad-based enough
for the Fed to justify rising rates.
The rally has further to run, particularly against the euro and the yen,
Brian Davidson, market economist at
Capital Economics Ltd in London, said
in a note. He said Fridays currency
moves support the rms view that the
euro will fall to $1.05 by the end of this
year and to parity with the dollar by the
end of 2016.

Euro-area bond
investors await
growth report
Bloomberg
Edinburgh
With some European Central
Bank officials already expressing skepticism about the need
of additional stimulus, bond
investors get an opportunity to
assess the state of the euro-area
economy this week.
Benchmark German 10-year
bund yields jumped the most
since August last week after a
US jobs report Friday showed
employment surged the most
this year in October, strengthening the case for a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase as
early as next month. Euro-area
bonds reversed a rally that was
driven by ECB President Mario
Draghis statement on October
22 that officials will re-examine
their stimulus in December
and had discussed cutting the
deposit rate, which is already
at minus 0.20%, as part of their
plan to boost inflation.
Draghi reiterated that the
institution will reconsider their
policy stance next month. Even
so, Governing Council member
Ardo Hansson said in Tallinn
Friday that he doesnt think the
ECB should act then and his
counterpart Bostjan Jazbec,
told reporters in Brdo, Slovenia,
that he doesnt see the need
for additional unconventional
measures at the moment.

18

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

BUSINESS

he Qatar Stock Exchange

(QSE) index lost 165.29
points, or 1.42%, during the
week to close at 11,439.30. Market
capitalisation declined by 1.30%
to QR600.1bn versus QR608.0bn
at the end of the previous week.
Of the 43 listed companies, eight
companies ended the week higher,
while 32 fell and three remained unchanged. Ahli Bank (ABQK) was the
best performing stock for the week,
with a gain of 10.0% on 290,645
shares traded. On the other hand,
Gulf International Services (GISS)
was the worst performing stock
with a decline of 5.8% on 1.9mn
shares traded.
Ezdan Holding (ERES), Industries
Qatar (IQCD) and Masraf Al Rayan
(MARK) were the primary contributors to the weekly index loss. ERES
was the biggest contributor, erasing 42.7 points from the index. IQCD
shaved off 40.0 points, while MARK
deleted 21.5 points from the index.
On the other hand, Qatar Islamic
Bank (QIBK) contributed positively,
adding 10.5 points to the index.
Trading value during the week
remained flattish at QR1.17bn versus the prior week. The banks and
financial services sector led the
pack during the week, accounting for 36.2% of the total trading
value. The industrials sector was
the second biggest contributor to

the overall trading value, accounting for 25.3% of the total. MARK was
the top value traded stock during
the week with total traded value of
QR198.6mn.
Trading volume increased by
1.9% to reach 29.1mn shares versus 28.5mn in the prior week. The
number of transactions fell by
14.0% to reach 15,117 versus 17,573
in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 27.8%,
followed by the Transportation sector, which accounted for 18.8% of
the overall trading volume. Nakilat
(QGTS) was the top volume traded
stock during the week with total
traded volume of 5.4mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained
bullish during the week with net
buying of QR25.4mn versus net buying of QR26.8mn in the prior week.
Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR79.8mn
versus net selling of QR65.7mn the
week before. Foreign retail investors remained bullish for the week
with net buying of QR22.4mn versus net buying of QR4.3mn in the
prior week. Qatari retail investors
remained bullish with net buying
of QR32.1mn versus net buying of
QR34.6mn the week before.
In 2015 year-to-date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis)
$672mn worth of Qatari equities.

QSE Index and Volume

Weekly Market Report

Source: Qatar Exchange (QE)

Weekly Index Performance

Source: Qatar Exchange (QE)

Source: Bloomberg
Source: Qatar Exchange (QE)

DISCLAIMER
This report expresses the views and opinions of Qatar National Bank Financial Services SPC (QNBFS)
at a given time only. It is not an offer, promotion or recommendation to buy or sell securities or other
investments, nor is it intended to constitute legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice. We therefore strongly
advise potential investors to seek independent professional advice before making any investment decision.
Although the information in this report has been obtained from sources that QNBFS believes to be reliable,
we have not independently verified such information and it may not be accurate or complete. Gulf Times and
QNBFS hereby disclaim any responsibility or any direct or indirect claim resulting from using this report.

Qatar Stock Exchange

Top Five Gainers

Top Five Decliners

Most Active Shares by Value (QR Million)

Most Active Shares by Volume (Million)

Investor Trading Percentage to Total Value Traded

Net Traded Value by Nationality (QR Million)

Technical analysis of the QSE index

he QSE index closed down for another week, losing 1.42% versus
the week before. Although the
weekly chart shows a range over the
shorter term, the closing last Thursday
exhibited more bearish sentiment ex-

perienced throughout the week. We are

looking at 11,200 as a soft weekly support. Afterwards, the index will be facing
the 11,000 support level, with the resistance level remaining around 12,000
points.

Definitions of key terms used in technical analysis

andlestick chart A candlestick

chart is a price chart that displays
the high, low, open, and close for
a security. The body of the chart is portion between the open and close price,
while the high and low intraday movements form the shadow. The candlestick may represent any time frame. We
use a one-day candlestick chart (every

candlestick represents one trading day)

in our analysis.
Doji candlestick pattern A Doji candlestick is formed when a securitys
open and close are practically equal.
The pattern indicates indecisiveness,
and based on preceding price actions
and future confirmation, may indicate a
bullish or bearish trend reversal.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

19

BUSINESS
Ford said to offer
UAW bigger
ratification
bonuses than
deal with GM
Bloomberg
Michigan

The Federal Reserve building in Washington. With markets having swung in just a few weeks from pricing out a Fed interest rate hike next month to a strong likelihood it will take
place, however, economic releases in the coming week may be judged simply as supporting evidence.

US pessimism burns off

but challenges remain
for world economy
Reuters
London

cloud of pessimism may have

burned off for many investors on a
bright October US jobs report, but
much of the global economy including
China, which not long ago was a top worry
for the US Federal Reserve remains vulnerable.
With markets having swung in just a
few weeks from pricing out a Fed interest
rate hike next month to a strong likelihood
it will take place, however, economic releases in the coming week may be judged
simply as supporting evidence.
The US jobs report not only revealed
more hiring than even the most optimistic
of 101 forecasters polled by Reuters, but
the unemployment rate fell to 5.0% and
average pay growth accelerated to a solid
2.5% annual pace.
That pushed the dollar sharply higher against the euro on optimism the US
economy may be stirring out of a tful,
uneven expansion into something more
vigorous.
Analysts and Fed officials had mused
beforehand about how to clearly explain
that a slowing labour market is still capable of generating ination, but that obsta-

cle to a putative December rate hike has

now been substantially removed. For most
Fed officials who have commented, average monthly payroll growth of more than
180,000 since August is more than enough
for them to be satised the job market is
tightening at a strong enough pace.
Such optimism has its consequences,
mainly a stronger US dollar, which itself has kept a lid on growth, particularly
among manufacturers who are more vulnerable to rising prices on a competitive
international market.
That dollar strength also has wreaked
havoc on emerging markets, sending freely oating currencies plummeting, and
even forcing China to modestly devalue
the yuan.
While Chinas reported growth rate
has barely slowed, other data suggest its
central bank has been right to cut interest
rates six times in a year, with more stimulus seen in the pipeline.
While the Chinese slowdown is going to take the edge off some of the growth
gures in the major industrialized nations,
so long as its not an outright collapse, the
growth picture remains intact - that is to
say, modest, said Peter Dixon, global nancial economist at Commerzbank.
Declines in both exports and imports
are expected to be less pronounced than

Tullett in talks to buy ICAPs

global broking business
Reuters
London
Rival British interdealer brokers
ICAP and Tullett Prebon said
on Friday they were in talks
to combine their businesses
to combat falling profits in a
sector struggling with shrinking
trading volumes.
The brokers are in discussions
that may lead to Tulletts
much smaller business buying
market leader ICAPs global
broking business, including
the latters technology and
broking platforms but not its
much bigger electronic broking
business.
If the deal to combine their
traditional telephone broking
services succeeds, it would
be structured as a reverse
takeover.
Tullett said it would issue more
than 100% of its existing share
capital to fund the transaction,
implying a deal value of at
least 800mn ($1.2bn), based
on Thursdays closing prices,
which gives ICAP a value of
2.9bn.
Interdealer brokers, which
match buyers and sellers of
currencies, bonds and other
tradable instruments, have
been hit in recent years, as new
regulations led their traditional
investment bank clients to cut
back on risky trading activities.
They have also faced sweeping
reforms, as regulators push
more derivatives trading onto
electronic platforms in a bid
to make the market more
transparent.

Market volatility has also been

rising this year, led largely by
uncertainty around the timing
of an interest rate move by the
US Federal Reserve. Concerns
around a slowdown in Chinese
growth, collapse in commodity
prices and increasing
geopolitical instability has
injected greater uncertainty
to the market and has capped
trading volumes.
Earlier this year US interdealer
broker BGC Partners , with a
market capitalisation of $1.9bn,
kicked off consolidation in the
sector with its purchase of rival
GFI Group.
Tulletts shares had earlier on
Friday suffered their biggest
one-day drop since May 2010
after the company warned of
falling profit margins.
Tullett also said that it would
cut jobs and fixed costs to
mitigate the impact of a
further reduction in market
volumes since the end of June,
particularly in Europe.
I thought it would have
actually been ICAP buying
Tullets business rather than the
other way round, said Justin
Bates of Liberum.
I think, strategically, (this
deal) makes sense because it
allows two businesses that are
struggling to combine and cut
costs agressively, Justin Bates
of Liberum told Reuters.
While ICAP shareholders would
hold the majority of the new
Tullett shares, ICAP, run by
wealthy Conservative Party
donor Michael Spencer, would
own a minority stake in the
enlarged Tullett Prebon.

a month before in Chinese trade data due

on Sunday and industrial output is forecast in a Reuters poll to have expanded at a
slightly faster pace in October.
Investment is forecast to have weakened to the lowest in many years in October with a cooling in bank lending. Ination is expected to slow to just 1.5%,
extremely weak for a developing economy
with such a high reported growth rate.
Commerzbanks Dixon noted that other
emerging markets will be hurt not only by
further dollar strength.
Commodity producers are also suffering from the China effect. The likes of
Brazil for example, which endured a particularly tough 2015, is going to continue
to suffer throughout the early part of
2016, he said.
Growth data for the eurozone due on
Friday are expected to be decent, but not
spectacular. Economists polled by Reuters expected quarter-on-quarter growth
of 0.4% for the July-September period,
steady on the prior quarter.
But growth in Germany, Europes biggest economy, probably slowed to 0.3%
last quarter from 0.4% in April-June, and
it is far from clear whether that momentum can be sustained or speeded up in the
current quarter.
One debate opening up for the Euro-

pean Central Bank is whether or not it

should have been so heavy-handed at its
recent news conference agging further
stimulus ahead, especially now that the
euro has fallen signicantly on Fed rate
expectations.
At the last meeting, ECB President
Mario Draghi made it clear the central
bank was seriously considering not only
an expansion of its bond purchase programme but possibly another cut to an
already-negative deposit rate.
There will be plenty of comments from
ECB officials next week, including from
Bundesbank head Jens Weidmann, who
is likely to express opposition to more
stimulus.
For the US, the jobs report set the tone
and data due on retail sales later in the
week are not likely to do anything to alter
those expectations.
A welter of Fed officials are due to speak
later in the week, however, which could
give more condence on the prospects for
a rate rise next month, especially given
how the rhetoric had already swung in
that direction.
Since the Fed took a pass at its September meeting, Reuters polls of economists
have consistently showed expectations
for a December rise in borrowing costs,
although with weak conviction.

Ford Motor Co and the

United Auto Workers (UAW)
reached a tentative four-year
agreement that will grant
across-the-board raises for
52,900 hourly workers and
pay them a fatter signing
bonus than a similar deal
with General Motors Co,
said people familiar with the
matter.
The deal included substantial
economic gains for
members, the union said in an
e-mailed statement that didnt
provide financial details.
Along with raises for hourly
workers and better healthcare plans for entry-level
staffers, Fords UAW members
will get $10,000 - $8,500
for ratification plus a $1,500
advance on profit-sharing
payouts - if they accept the
deal, said the people, who
asked not to be identified
because members havent yet
seen the details. GM workers
got an $8,000 ratification
bonus, double what senior
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV
workers got.
This agreement is significant
for our members in that
it creates a clear path for
economic advancement for
active members and rewards
veteran employees for their
sacrifices in recent years,
union Vice President Jimmy
Settles said in the statement.
It is one of the richest
agreements in the history of
UAW-Ford.
The settlement with
Dearborn, Michigan-based
Ford comes after the UAW
reached a deal with GM that
was richer than the contract
it negotiated with smaller and
less-profitable Fiat Chrysler
last month. The Ford deal
extends medical benefits
to entry-level workers that
match those of veteran
employees, just like the GM
agreement did, the people
said.
These are generous
agreements, the union
gained a lot, Harley Shaiken,
a labour professor at the
University of California at
Berkeley, said in an interview.
The UAW built a strong
entry into the middle class
for autoworkers. That was
the unions historic gain and

theyve gone back to the

future.
UAW President Dennis
Williams sought sweeter
deals at GM and Ford,
which each posted record
North American profits
this year. The contract with
Fiat Chrysler will cost that
automaker close to $2bn over
four years, people familiar
with the matter have said.
The agreement announced
Friday, if ratified, will help
lead the Ford Motor Co,
our employees and our
communities into the future,
John Fleming, the secondlargest US automakers
executive vice president
for global manufacturing
and labor affairs, said in an
e-mailed statement.
The tentative agreement also
eliminates a limit on Ford that
said that once the company
had 28% of its workers at the
entry-level pay and benefits
scale, it had to convert the
most senior members to top
level pay.
Since entry-level workers
can now work toward the top
pay structure, the union was
able to give up the cap, the
people said. Ford executives
have complained that the
company was subject to that
clause while the other two
had been exempted since
their bankruptcies.
Fords average labour cost,
including benefits, is about
$57 an hour, or $10 more than
at the US operations of Fiat
Chrysler or Toyota Motor
Corp and $2 more than at GM,
according to the Center for
Automotive Research in Ann
Arbor, Michigan.
In June, before contract talks
started, Ford told the union
it was moving production
of the slow-selling Focus
small car and C-Max hybrid
out of a Michigan factory.
The company told union
officials those models would
be produced outside the
US, most likely in Mexico,
according to a person familiar
with the discussions. Ford
said it would build a different
model in that Michigan
factory, which could have
been resolved in these talks.
This agreement lays the
basis for future investment
in the US, Shaiken said.
Its an agreement that the
companies feel will allow
them to compete effectively.

Consumer sector equities set to

regain leadership on Wall St
Reuters
New York

gainst the backdrop of a strengthening labour market, retailers are

set to report earnings this week
and could help the consumer sector regain the leadership lost to technology in
the latest market rally.
Pricing power will likely pick the winners, analysts say.
Several signs point to solid performance by the group as it heads into its
strongest sales season. Consumers have
cash to spend as wages rise, October
posted the best print on monthly jobs
creation this year, and gasoline prices
remain low right before the start of the
holiday shopping season.
The consumer should be feeling
pretty good heading into the last couple of the months of the year, said Sean
Lynch, co-head of global equity strategy
at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in
Omaha. We think we could be set up for
a little bit of a (stock market) rally here
into year-end.
Excluding Amazon, which has been
one of the top-performing stocks all
year, consumer names have been mostly
absent from the markets rally off its late
August low. Technology and energy have
added the most to the S&P 500 since
then, though consumer stocks continue
to be the best-performing sector yearto-date, with a near 13% gain.
Retail has been particularly strong,
up 27% this year, and the expectation of
an increase in retail sales could push the
S&P 500 toward its record high, set in
May.

Retailers are set to report earnings this week and could help the consumer sector
regain the leadership on Wall Street lost to technology in the latest market rally.
The latest tech-led leg up in stocks
has been criticized for how narrow its
been, said Steve Chiavarone, portfolio
manager at Federated Investors in New
York.
The rally now has the ability to spread
out and we can see some further strength
in consumer discretionary, he said,
while also citing nancials as an added
push higher for stocks.
The suggestion of higher prices in
consumer stocks is evident in the options
market. Bets tied to a rise in the shares of
the consumer discretionary sector ETF
now outnumber bearish ones by a 2.5to-1 margin, about the highest this year.
Retail sales for October, due on next
Friday, are expected to show a 0.3%
month-on-month increase after a 0.1%
gain in September.

Earnings reports throughout the coming week include major retailers like Macys, Kohls, Nordstrom and JC Penney,
some of the roughly 40 US consumeroriented companies due to report.
Octobers strong jobs data, reported on
Friday, is mostly seen as benecial for retailers, as workers with bigger paychecks
are more willing to open their wallets.
Lower gas prices continue to add to
the wallet and the consumers level of
condence, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in
New York.
The over-arching trend here is you
have to be in the right place, he said.
Teen retailers are having a harder time,
they seem to be losing out to the fast casual names like Forever 21 or H&M. Forever 21 is privately traded and Swedish

company H&M is traded on the Stockholm exchange.

But while greater consumer spending
power is expected largely to be a boon to
retailers, it may take a bite out of some.
With the October rise in wages, which
have been almost stagnant despite a
tightening labour market, average hourly
earnings are up 2.5% year-on-year - the
biggest increase since July 2009. That
conrmed data last week that showed
US labor costs accelerated in the third
quarter as the jobs market continued to
tighten.
Pressure from higher wages is likely to
show up in some retailers guidance next
week as it did last month when Wal-Mart
warned that higher wages would play a
large role in cutting earnings per share as
much as 12% next scal year.
Retail is one economic sector that got
used to very inexpensive labour in the
past few years, and rising wage ination
pressure is likely to hurt margins.
Over the next quarter or two we could
start to see higher labor costs really eat
into prots for some of these retailers,
said Jared Woodard, senior equity derivatives strategist at BGC Partners in
New York.
The biggest vulnerabilities are in
stores that arent selling high margin
goods like discount apparel, TJ Maxx,
Ross Stores and others that really depend
on volume and need high head count to
get the job done, he said.
TJ Maxx parent TJX Companies and
Ross Stores rank among the lowest in
revenue per employee among retailers
according to Thomson Reuters data, with
near $150,000 and $160,000 respectively for the last 12 months.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

BUSINESS

GULF TIMES

TPP has potential to support global trade growth: QNB

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could
significantly revitalise global trade, but
will take time to realise its full potential,
according to QNB.
After five years of negotiations, an
agreement was reached on October
5 on TPP, the largest trade deal in two
decades.
The TPP is a regional trade
agreement among 12 countries
that account for 26% of world trade
and 37% of global GDP. It aims to
eliminate tariffs and non-tariff
barriers to trade in goods and
services between the member
countries and also contains rules
covering new technologies, the
digital economy, services, and
intellectual property rights (for
example, drug patents) as well
as setting standards for the
environment and labour laws.
The TPP has the potential to support
global trade growth by reducing
protectionism, revitalising global supply
chains and setting the stage for further
regional agreements, QNB said.

World trade has been sluggish in

2012-15, growing by an average of
3.2% a year compared with 6.2% in the
previous 20 years.
This is a concern as trade has huge
benefits for the global economy. It
supports a more efficient allocation of
resources between countries that have
diverse comparative advantages and
encourages the spread of technology
and know-how.
The slowdown in world trade is being
driven by a combination of weaker
demand, changing global supply
chains as the US and China onshore
more manufacturing, and rising
protectionism.
Protectionism has increased since
the global financial crisis. The World
Trade Organisation (WTO) has warned
of creeping protectionism as
governments have implemented new
trade restrictions.
Additionally, the WTO has had little
success recently in advancing a new
global trade agreement to remove
tariffs and other barriers to trade.

The current round of the WTO talks,

the Doha Round, has been ongoing
since 2001, but is stalling as developing
and developed nations have failed to
resolve conflicts. With little progress
being made on a comprehensive
global trade agreement within the
WTO, a series of regional and bilateral

trade agreements, such as the TPP,

are currently being negotiated outside
the WTO which could help reverse the
protectionist slant by reducing barriers
to trade.
The TPP should also encourage more
offshoring of production, revitalising
global supply chains, benefiting global

consumers through lower prices and

making member countries producers
more competitive. For example, clothes
manufactured in Vietnam and exported
to Australia receive their inputs from
Malaysia (buttons) and Singapore
(fabric)both TPP members. Tariffs are
currently applicable on all the inputs
(~5% of the cost) as well as the final
exported product (~5%).
Therefore, the removal of tariffs
through TPP could reduce the cost of
the product in Australia, a member
country, by around 10% and in non-TPP
members by 5%. So, Vietnam sells more
clothes, Malaysia and Singapore sell
more buttons and fabric, and Australian
consumers get a cheaper product.
As a result, exports from TPP countries
would increase and GDP would gain
from higher exports. The greatest gains
would be in emerging market countries,
such as Vietnam, as the removal of
relatively high tariffs would make their
manufacturing exports significantly
more competitive in large markets like
the US and Japan.

Meanwhile, the benefits for an

advanced economy such as the US
would be less dramatic as tariffs are
already low and the economies of
the other TPP members are small in
comparison to the US.
In addition to boosting trade and
income, the TPP also provides a
template for other regional trade deals,
such as the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP) between
the US and the European Union (42% of
world trade and 59% of global GDP). It
is also likely that the TPP will add new
members over time, extending the
benefits from the treaty.
However, the benefits will take time to
realise.
The TPP still needs to be approved by
national parliaments, which is unlikely
to take place until 2017 at the earliest,
with significant risks of failure or delays.
Additionally, many of the changes
required by the TPP will only be
implemented gradually over the next
ten years, particularly in areas that face
high tariffs.

Qatar Airways 25th

Dreamliner set for
Dubai Airshow
A

s Qatar Airways prepares to feature

several of its latest aircraft on display
in Dubai at the forthcoming 14th
Dubai Airshow, the airlines 25th Dreamliner ew straight from the factory lines to
Doha, en route to Dubai for static display
and tours.
Qatar Airways recently took delivery of
its 24th and 25th Boeing 787 Dreamliners
from the Boeing facility in Everett, Washington. Flying on the aircraft for the 14.5hour journey was the airlines group chief
executive, Akbar al-Baker.
Al-Baker said, When the airline took
delivery of its rst Dreamliner in 2012 it
marked a signicant shift in our eet, with a
second next-generation Boeing wide-body
joining our range of 777s already ying to a
wealth of destinations.
We now proudly y our eet of 25
Dreamliners all across our network, and are
pleased to be providing our passengers with
a new travel experience, brought to life with
the technological advancements introduced with the Boeing 787.
When we rst decided to include the

Boeing 787 Dreamliner in our eet plans,

it was a decision purely based on optimal
efficiency and providing the very latest in
aircraft cabin aerodynamics and features,
Al-Baker said.
The airline currently ies the Boeing
787 Dreamliner on routes such as Warsaw, Budapest, Delhi, Denpasar Bali, Amman, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Tokyo
Haneda, Casablanca, Milan, Rome, Cape
Town, and Johannesburg.
Made up of composite materials, the
787 Dreamliner is lighter and more fuelefficient than any comparable aircraft of its
size and range, and has unique features such
as larger windows, reduced cabin noise and
cleaner cabin air.
Qatar Airways 787 has 254 custom-made
seats across its business and economy class
cabins with specially designed interiors.
Business class is congured 121 with
22 seats, while economy has 232 seats in a
333 layout. All seats in business class are
fully reclinable. The airlines 787s are the
worlds rst fully connected Dreamliners
with wireless facilities for passengers.

A pedestrian crosses a street between rows of residential properties in the Notting Hill district of London. Qatari portfolios in the London property market
have expanded to include investments not only from owning residential homes but also a keen interest in capital growth from lower value properties,
according to Chestertons.

Chestertons sees Qatar

investments shift in
UK property market
By Peter Alagos
Business Reporter

Al-Baker (right) and Boeing Commercial President and CEO, Ray Conner in the cockpit of
Qatar Airways 25th B787 Dreamliner.

Qatar Airways 24th and 25th B787 Dreamliners at Boeings production facility in Everett,
Washington.

atari portfolios in the London property

market have expanded to include investments not only from owning residential
homes but also a keen interest in capital growth
from lower value properties, according to international real estate agency, Chestertons.
Samuel Warren, global director of International Residential Developments at Chestertons,
said while there is still growth in Qatari investors
eyeing property in key locations in the UK, there
is also a massive increase in interest on lower
value or smaller properties in other parts of London, which they could sell in fast growing areas in
terms of capital growth.
The Middle East market is well-familiar with
the London property scene, particularly the
high-end areas but they are also inquiring about
locations that have not been considered before.
Because they want to benet from it es-

pecially if they see that there is capital growth

and that these areas would be generating and
developing, and this what we see in the lower
ticket value transactions coming through, said
Warren, who launched Chestertons QR3.3bn
Wardian project together with Qatar Chamber senior official Ali al-Misnad, who is strategic partner in Adaa Real Estate Company.
According to Warren, expansion of Qatari investments in terms of new locations was noticed
in late 2013 and early 2014. Some reports, according to Warren, claim that investors are even
interested in second tier locations and areas
further out to the east of London.
They see the growth potential of these areas, which is why they choose to invest there
developers in London come to Qatar for marketing and to be part of the market. Those factors when put together are what seem to grow
in this investment group; that is where you can
see the key shift in the last two years, Warren
told Gulf Times.
He also said many investors are buying prop-

erty during the off-plan season: By opting

to acquire property now, they have a four-year
off-plan growth, and they may choose to sell or
rent the property out and become a landlord or an
investor-landlord.
Asked about the percentage of investors from
Qatar in the London property market, Warren said:
The Middle East and GCC investment is huge; the
Qatari market would easily equate to around 30% to
40% of the business we see across the region.
Citing the presence of large Qatari government institutions such as Qatari Diar and Qatar Investment Authority, Warren said their
presence in Londons real estate market gives
Qatari investors great condence that authorities have taken keen interest in areas where they
chose to pour their investments.
Warren said the launching of the Wardian aims to acquaint Qatari investors with
Londons prime property projects. Describing
the project as an extraordinary opportunity
to invest in London, the first residents are expected to move in by 2019.

Thailand remains the laggard in English proficiency

By Arno Maierbrugger
Gulf Times Correspondent
Bangkok
Already struggling with slowing economic
growth, consecutive quarterly drops in
exports and consumer confidence, as well
as political uncertainties under the current
military rule, Thailand has been dealt
another blow by the newest EF English
Proficiency Index (EF EPI), the worlds largest ranking of countries by English skills.
The report, released on November
3, places the country near the bottom
in English proficiency not just in Asia,
but globally. Thailand ranks 62 out of 70
surveyed countries worldwide, and the
proficiency trend in English showed little
or no improvement during the last five
years, whereby the latter is the real alarming news.
Thailand is the only country that
declined significantly in Asia, while India,
Kazakhstan, and, notably, Vietnam all
showed significant improvements, the
report said, adding that English skills in the

two latter countries are evolving faster

than in almost any other.Although the
Thai government has undertaken steps
to improve English skills of its citizens,
and the countrys large tourism industry
should actually be an incentive for Thais
to improve their English knowledge,
proficiency remains surprisingly low. The
reasons given by the report are that Thailands school system performs poorly on
international assessments across all subject areas. The average years of schooling
there are also lower than the regional
average, meaning that Thai adults are less
educated than many other Asians.

Gulf Times
Exclusive
Furthermore, a low median income
means that quality English education in
private schools remains reserved for the
countrys elite and is by no means available to everyone.

However, starting last May, the Thai

government mandated that schools align
their English teaching to the Common
European Framework of Reference for
Languages (CEFR) in order to standardise
teaching nationally. It also set the rather
modest goal of a B1 level in English for all
high school graduates.
Looking at the ranking, only Mongolia and Cambodia have a lower score
than Thailand, says Stewart Hopkins,
the UK-born and Bangkok-based English
professor who lectured at various Thai
universities over the past years, pointing
at that this could be explained in case of
Mongolia with Russian being the main
second language and in case of Cambodia
with the fact the education system had to
be rebuilt from scratch after the Khmer
Rouge era left the country devastated.
But the low English proficiency in Thailand remains a stubborn systemic problem
that has to do with a dismal educational system. Politics and education providers are in
dire need to address this problem, he said.
The report further highlights the interaction between English proficiency and

income per capita and the fact that higher

English proficiency corresponds to fewer
young people being unemployed. Countries with higher English proficiency also
have more researchers and technicians
per capita, as well as larger expenditures

for research and development. And for

Thailand, to compete within the upcoming
Asean Economic Community, a 600mn
people market with a combined economy
that will be the seventh largest in the
world, English is a necessity, even more so

as bilingual and multilingual individuals

will be much more advantageous at finding job positions and getting promotions
and here, the competition especially from
the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam has
become strong. Globally, Sweden was on
top of this years EF EPI ranking, following
by the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and
Finland. At the bottom came Saudi Arabia,
Cambodia and Libya.
The report also showed that the Middle
East and North Africa region despite partly
investing heavily in education infrastructure
was the only one to experience declining English proficiency. The reasons are
according to the report that incentives
for locals to improve English skills are low
because many of them work for the public
sector without any competition, and the
vast majority of others in the Mena region,
particularly the youth, are not formally
employed at all. Another reason, at least in
parts of the Maghreb, is the French cultural
and linguistic heritage, while some Arab
nations such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen are
even rejecting the use of English because of
its cultural associations with the West.

To Advertise here
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FOOTBALL | Page 4

MOTO GP | Page 11

Lingard
gives United
win over
Baggies

Lorenzo
edges towards
title with
record pole

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Moharram 25, 1437 AH

CRICKET

GULF TIMES

Indias Jadeja, Ashwin

spin South Africa to
defeat in first Test

SPORT

Page 5

QSL

Sailiya late strike denies Ahli win

El Jaish take all three points on offer with an 5-2 win over Mesaimeer
By Sports Reporter
Doha

n a game where fortunes swung wildly, Al

Sailiya scored from a 93rd minute penalty
to deny Al Ahli a comeback victory. The
match played at the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium ended in a 2-2 draw but neither team will
be happy with that result. Ahli came into this
match on the back of two successive wins while
Sailiya had the burden of consecutive defeats to
deal with. Both teams exchanged possession at
the start before Ahli started putting pressure on
the Sailiya defence.
But it was Sailiya who took the surprise lead
in the 34th minute. Omar Ibrahim delivered
a long cross into the box where an unmarked
Sayaf a-lKarby was able to head it into the far
corner of the net. Just two minutes later, Faouzi
Aaish had a chance to double the lead but his
shot was saved by Ahli keeper Amer Dosari. The
rst half ended with Sailiya on top.
In the second half too Sailiya didnt sit back

and were looking to create chances rather than

sit back and protect the lead. Aaish had two
more chances but Ahli keeper Dosari was up for
the challenge.
And then just when it looked like Sailiya
would be able to hold onto their lead, Ahli striker Ndombe Mubele scored two goals in a span of
two minutes (78th and 79th) to completely turn
the match around. The rst one came off a glaring defensive error and the second was a good
piece of skill from the Congolese striker.
Sailiya who were on top till then suddenly
found themselves chasing the game. But then
there was a twist in the tale. Ahli conceded a
penalty right towards the end of the game and
Aaish stepped up and converted it to snatch a
point for Sailiya.
Both teams will feel equally aggrieved at having to share points. Sailiya, despite Ahlis formidable attacking prowess had more shots on
goal. Ahli meanwhile should have wrapped up
the win after that brace from Mubele. But both
teams will have to go back with a point apiece.
Meanwhile, El Jaish took all three points on

offer with an emphatic 5-2 win over Mesaimeer

at the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium. El Jaish
scored four goals to all but end the game before the break. A brace for both Romarinho and
Rashidov undid a promising start by the Torches who for the rst ten minutes were going toe to
toe with the home side.
In the 11th minute El Jaish broke the deadlock
when a cross from the left was cleverly chested
by Wagner to fellow Brazilian Romarinho who
from close range was never going to miss. Four
minutes later Sardor Rashidov opened his account with a spectacular strike.
Mesaimeer nally went down the other end
and won a corner, from the resulting delivery
Abdelrahman Samir was the only player who
judged the ight of the ball correctly as he nodded in the Torches rs of the night (36)
However just a minute later the Uzbek Rashidov again unleashed his powerful left boot to
get his second and Jaishs third of the night. It
was a well worked goal as the ball was perfectly
laid off to him and he struck it rst time to catch
the keeper unawares.

El Jaish thrashed
Mesaimeer at the
Hamad bin Khalifa
Stadium. PICTURE:
Noushad Thekkayil

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

FOOTBALL
PREVIEW

SPOTLIGHT

Leaders Celtic seek

to plug leaks on
Highlands trip
We have to have more character and more aggression inside the box to clear away chances

FA demand FIFA
answers to World
Cup questions
AFP
London

nglands Football Association (FA) has

written to FIFA insisting on answers to important questions after Sepp
Blatter indicated a deal had
been agreed to give the 2018
World Cup to Russia before a
vote took place.
In the December 2010 vote
the FA, who spent 21 million
($32 million) on a bid to stage
the tournament, won just two
votesone of them their own.
Following last weeks revelations by Blatter, the suspended president of FIFA, the
FAfollowing legal advice
has written to footballs global
governing body demanding
answers to a number of questions.
The FA has been reviewing its legal position and, as
a result, has written to FIFA
asking a series of important
questions about the process by
which the 2018 World Cup was
awarded to Russia, a spokesman said yesterday.
The questions are all based
on statements made by Mr
Blatter in the interviews he
gave to the TASS news agency
and the Financial Times last

week. In the meantime we reserve the FAs position legally.

Blatter claimed in an interview with Russian news agency TASS there had been an
agreement for Russia to host
the 2018 World Cup.
Meanwhile Blatter, long the
most powerful man in football,
suffered a medical incident
last weekend and had been
placed under medical observation for 10 days, it was conrmed on Friday.
The 79-year-old Swiss administrator has been at the
centre of controversy since
a corruption storm hit FIFA
just ahead of his re-election
to a fth term in May. Blatter
said days later he would stand
down.
But last month, Blatter and
France football great Platini,
the president of European
governing body UEFA, were
suspended for 90 days by
FIFAs ethics committee, as
Swiss authorities conduct a
criminal investigation into
alleged criminal mismanagement at the scandal-tainted
world governing body.
Before he was suspended,
Blatter, who has been in charge
of FIFA since 1998, had said
he would step down on February 26, when a FIFA congress
elects a new president.

Ex-Chelsea manager Campbell dies

Former Chelsea manager Bobby Campbell has died at the
age of 78, the Premier League club said yesterday. Campbell
managed the London side from 1988 to 1991, leading them to
promotion to the top flight of English football in 1989 and the
following year to a fifth-place finish, Chelseas best performance for 20 years.
The Liverpudlian also managed Fulham and Portsmouth and
had coaching spells at Arsenal, Aldershot and QPR, and in
Kuwait. He began his playing career with his local club Liverpool and also played for Portsmouth and Aldershot. Chelsea
Football Club is greatly saddened to announce the passing of
our former manager, they said in a statement.
Our players will wear black armbands in his memory at todays
game at Stoke. Chelsea was very close to Bobby Campbells
heart and he will always be close to ours.

Victory win FFA Cup final

Celtic manager Ronny Deila during the UEFA Europa League match against Molde.

AFP
Glasgow

eltic manger Ronny

Deila has called for more
consistency from his
defence as they prepare
to make the trip north to face
Ross County today.
The Hoops slumped to a second successive Europa League
defeat on Thursday as Molde
left Celtic Park with a 2-1 victory
that leaves Deilas side bottom of
Group A.
It was the fourth match in
a row in the competition that
Celtic have conceded two goals
and Deila wants to see more
character from his side in defensive situations.
Some of the same things are
coming up, the Celtic manager
said.
We produced a lot of chances. I counted nine big chances
and we scored one goal. Thats

something we can improve but

we gave them two very easy
goals, and when you concede
easy goals you make things more
difficult.
We have to have much more
character and more aggression
inside the box to clear away
chances.
Deila insists his side has the
talent but, after a host of changes
to key personnel over the summer, must be given time to gel.
We can x that but there has
been inconsistency. We have
changed the back four a lot.
There is a lot of talent but when
you havent played together its
hard to get to know each other,
the Hoops boss added.
After Molde away we had two
central defenders that played
three games together and they
played well together.
Last year we had two central
defenders who played together
the whole season and we broke
the record for fewest goals con-

ceded in Scottish football.

Weve lost them so we have
to build up a partnership again.
Jozo Simunovic has been out
with injury then came back and
looked better.
Now, in Europe you get punished more than you do in Scotland but when you create nine
chances you should also score
more so its two ways here.
Celtic, who have a six-point
lead at the top of the Scottish
Premiership, could potentially
extend their advantage with a
victory in Dingwall against Ross
County.
However, midelder Stuart
Armstrong is aware that a better
performance will be needed in
the Highlands than the one witnessed at Celtic Park on Thursday against Molde.
We need to remain optimistic
in these situations, Armstrong
said.
We have a game against Ross
County at the weekend and its

a different game and different

competition and all we can do
is try to bounce back and make
sure we put in a good performance there.
Inverness manager hints
at longer stay
John Hughes expects to remain Inverness CT manager for
a good few years but has urged
his chairman and agent to engage in discussions.
The 51-year-old is contracted
until the end of the season and
has been considering a new deal.
Its not a problem, Hughes
told BBC Scotland.
One simple thing. They need
to talk to each other. The chairman [Kenny Cameron] and my
agent, Raymond Sparks, need to
talk to each other.
Hughes has been in charge of
the Highlanders for two years
and guided the Premiership club
to their rst major trophy in
last seasons Scottish Cup nal,

when they beat Falkirk 2-1.

He was linked with Dundee
United following Jackie McNamaras departure from Tannadice but Inverness rejected an
approach from the Tangerines
and Mixu Paatelainen was subsequently appointed by the Taysiders.
When you want contracts to
get done, you have to communicate, Hughes added.
Ive always been content at
Inverness. Its been great for me.
I enjoy it, I love working with
this bunch of players and Im
quite sure once they get talking,
itll get done but they need to
start talking.
I dont know if theres been
a lack of communication and
not getting texts or messages
but they need to start talking
and hopefully thatll get done
this week. If that is the case and
everythings agreed then Id like
to think Ill be at Inverness for a
good few years.

Melbourne Victory added more silverware to their trophy cabinet with a 2-0 win over Perth Glory in Australias FFA Cup final in
Melbourne yesterday.
The Victory became the first side to concurrently hold all three
domestic titles, having won a third A-League premiership-championship double in the previous 2014-15 season.
Melbourne were well deserving of their two-goal half-time lead,
following a strong opening 45 minutes.
Victory went ahead in the 35th minute when midfielder Oliver
Bozanic lashed home after a good build up down the right from
Jason Geria and Kosta Barbarouses.
Melbourne doubled their advantage seven minutes later with
skipper Carl Valeris through-ball found star striker Besart Berisha, whose first touch took him past the final defender.
The Albanian goal poacher then fired a brilliant strike across
Glory keeper Ante Covic and inside the left post.
Glory looked dangerous at times on the counter-attack and had
most of the play in the second half but could not finish off their
chances.
Victory played the last eight minutes with 10 men after Valeri
was sent off for a second bookable offence after a scything
tackle on Dino Djulbic.
Valeri was also sent off in the A-League grand final against
Sydney FC earlier this year.
Barbarouses was awarded the Mark Viduka Medal as the player
of the match. The defeat meant Glory are still to win any silverware in the A-League era, having lost last years inaugural FFA
Cup final to Adelaide United and the 2011-12 A-League grand
final to Brisbane Roar.

FOCUS

Asian tycoons frustrated in hunt for glory

AFP
Paris

ast Asian tycoons are digging

deep into their pockets for European football glory but have
not got the dividends yet.
The move by Chinese toys and game
video group Rastar this week to take
control of heavily indebted Spanish La
Liga side Espanyol is the latest example of what experts say are often vanity
purchases.
The Asian magnates are jostling with
Russian oligarchs, oil-fuelled Arab
states and American sports groups for
control of European teams.
Some may doubt the economic rationale of certain investments in football, said Raffaele Poli, director of the
Football Observatory at the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES)
at Neuchatel in Switzerland.
There may be image questions for
these very rich personalities, its a kind
of folie de grandeur to want to invest
in a sector that is very popular in Asia,

added the analyst. Espanyol has welcomed Rastars owner Chen Yansheng
as a saviour however.
Former club president, Daniel
Sanchez Llibre, who was among a
group who will receive up to 17.8 million euros ($19.6 million) for up to
56% of the club stock, said Rastar has
agreed to pay the clubs debts to the
Spanish tax man. The sale was an opportunity we couldnt miss, he added.
Rastar could inject up to 45 million
euros more in the club who live in the
shadow of glitzy city neighbours Barcelona. Other Asian tycoons have also
ploughed hundreds of millions of dollars into clubs ranging from Indonesian
billionaire Erick Thohir at Inter Milan to
Singapore tycoon Peter Lim at Valencia.
Chinese gures are taking an increasingly strong role. Wang Jianlin,
head of the Wanda property giant and
a fervent football fan, spent 44 million euros this year on a 20% stake in
Atletico Madrid.
Heavy debts
Even lower level clubs are of interest.

The move by Chinese company Rastar to take control of heavily indebted Spanish La
Liga side Espanyol is the latest example of what experts say are often vanity purchases.
A Thai consortium led by businessman Dejphon Chansiri took over
English Championship side Sheffield
Wednesday this year. Ledus, a lighting

company based in Guangzhou province, has bought French second division team Sochaux.
French economist Bastien Drut said

Spanish and Italian clubs are much

more attractive for the Asian tycoons.
The nancial situation of these
clubs is bad, they have heavy debts,
he said. Many might want to get their
hands on an English Premier League
side. Of the current top four, Manchester City are Abu Dhabi-owned, Arsenal are controlled by American Stan
Kroenke, Leicester City by Thai tycoon
Vichai Raksriaksorn and Manchester
United by the American Glazier family.
But the leagues television riches and
global popularity has put the 20 clubs
largely out of reach of an easy takeover, according to Rob Wilson, football
nance expert at Sheffield Hallam University in England.
He added that UEFAs nancial fair
play rules could deter the huge investment needed to buy an English club.
I think potential investors are looking for better value nowthat will
come from large clubs that have fallen
from prestigious positions in any of the
major European leagues, said Wilson.
Singapore businessman Lim took
control of nancially-stricken Va-

lencia in October last year, paying

an estimated 420 million euros, and
bank-rolled a return to the Champions
League for the rst time in three years.
Lims Meriton group announced last
month that it would inject another 100
million euros into Valencia, who are
not yet qualied for the Champions
League nal 16.
Italian media said Thohir paid more
than 300 million euros for 70% of Inter
Milan.
The fallen Italian giants have not
won the domestic title since 2010 and
not been in the Champions League
since 2012. Last month they announced another 74 million euro loss.
A Thai businessman, Bee Taechaubol, had been in talks for a major
stake in city neighbours AC Milan. But
the deal with Silvio Berlusconi seems
deadlocked. Thohir said that revenues
are improving but Inter and Italian
football need to compete with the Premier League.
We need to do more to get a greater
visibility for the whole of Serie A in
Asia and in the United States, he said.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

FOOTBALL
LIGUE 1

FOCUS

PSG in rampant
mood on return to
domestic action
Ibrahimovic scores twice as leader Paris Saint-Germain thrash Toulouse 5-0
Paris Saint-Germains Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic
celebrates after he scored his teams fouth goal during the
French L1 match against Toulouse at the Parc des Princes
stadium in Paris yesterday. (AFP)

Dominant Hull
underline promotion
credentials
AFP
London

ull
underlined
their credentials as
Championship promotion contenders
with an emphatic 3-0 victory
over Middlesbrough at the KC
Stadium yesterday.
Steve Bruces side, relegated
from the Premier League last
season, retained rst place
on goal difference ahead of
Brighton thanks to goals from
Mohamed Diame, Sam Clucas
and Tom Huddlestone.
Diame opened the scoring
against fourth placed Middlesbrough just before the interval and second-half strikes
from Clucas and Huddlestone
ensured a fth successive
league win for the Tigers.
Brighton kept the pressure
on Hull as Chris Hughtons
team ended a run of three consecutive draws with a 2-1 win
against Milton Keynes Dons at
the Amex Stadium.
Solly March and Jamie Murphy gave Brighton a ying
start with goals in the opening
20 minutes and although the
struggling Dons quickly responded through Nicky Maynard, they couldnt nd an
equaliser.
Third placed Burnley, who
started the day level on points
with Hull and Brighton, could
only draw 0-0 at Wolves to
slip two points adrift of the
automatic promotion spots.
Birmingham took advantage
of Derbys 1-0 defeat at local rivals Nottingham Forest
on Friday to move to within
two points of the fth-placed
Rams with a 5-2 drubbing of
10-man Fulham at Craven
Cottage.

Stephen Gleeson, Paul

Caddis and Jon Toral put Birmingham 3-0 ahead inside 31
minutes and, after Fulham had
lost James Husband to a 49thminute red card, Clayton
Donaldson and Viv SolomanOtabor added late goals for the
visitors.
Fulhams goals came from
Alex Kacaniklic and Ross McCormack when the hosts were
3-0 and 4-1 down.
Daryl Murphy bagged a hattrick in Ipswichs 5-2 victory
at bottom of the table Rotherham.
Brett Pitman and Jonathan
Douglas had earlier put Ipswich 2-0 up, with Rotherham
briey threatening an unlikely
comeback with goals from
Brandon Barker and Matt Derbyshire just before the hour.
Cardiff moved above Reading into seventh with a 2-0
win over the Royals, while
struggling Charlton celebrated
their rst victory since August
after beating in-form Sheffield
Wednesday 3-1.
Leeds recorded back-toback wins for the rst time this
season after beating Yorkshire
rivals Hudderseld 3-0.
Mirco Antenucci and Chris
Wood both netted in rst-half
stoppage time before Alex Mowatt crashed home a third after the break.
Blackburn and Brentford
shared a 1-1 draw at Ewood
Park, Tom Lawrence cancelling out Lasse Vibes goal for
the visitors, while Preston recorded a sixth successive clean
sheet in drawing 0-0 at QPR.
Bolton had to settle for a
0-0 draw against relegation
rivals Bristol City after Shola
Ameobis second-half penalty
was saved by City keeper Frank
Fielding.

Reals Benitez backs Benzema

over sextape scandal

AFP
Paris

latan Ibrahimovic scored

twice as Paris SaintGermain extended their
huge lead at the top of
Ligue 1 by destroying a hapless
Toulouse 5-0 at the Parc des
Princes yesterday.
Frustrated by their inability to
put the ball in the net in a Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in midweek, PSG saw Angel
Di Maria open the scoring on
their return to domestic duty
before Ibrahimovic got a brace
either side of a Lucas goal and
Ezequiel Lavezzi completed the
rout.
The win saw the reigning

French champions continue

their unbeaten start to the domestic season as they made it
seven league victories in a row.
The campaign is only 13
games old but they are already 13
points ahead of Lyon and SaintEtiennewho meet each other
on Sunday eveningas well as
Angers, who were beaten 2-0 at
home by Rennes on Friday.
However, Caen will have the
chance to close the gap to a mere
11 points if they can win at home
to Guingamp later yesterday.
Laurent Blancs side dominated Madrid at the Santiago
Bernabeu on Tuesday only for
their nishing to let them down
as they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat but their nishing was better here and it was a day to forget

for struggling Toulouse.

The visitors started the day in
the relegation zone and had not
won in 11 league games since the
opening weekend of the season,
so an away win would have been
an enormous upset.
As it was it took Paris just
six minutes to open the scoring
thanks to Di Maria.
The Argentine hit the bar from
a late free-kick in Madrid but on
this occasion his dead-ball delivery from 40 yards, which was
not intended as a shot, evaded
everyone on its way into the
net.
The hosts continued to create
openings but their second goal
in the 18th minute was something of a gift from the Toulouse
defence as on-loan Monaco man

Marcel Tisserand inexplicably

headed the ball back across his
own six-yard box to leave Ibrahimovic a simple nish.
The Swede and Di Maria both
had chances to increase the
advantage prior to the interval while Edinson Cavani was
denied by a good Ali Ahamada
save at the start of the second
half before Toulouse created
their rst opportunity of note
from a Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro
ball across the box that passed
just beyond the reach of Martin
Braithwaite.
Super subs
However, Blanc freshened up
his attack with the introduction
of Lucas and Lavezzi in place of
Cavani and Di Maria and it was
the Brazilian who made it 3-0 on

66 minutes, starting the move

and then continuing his run to
the back post where he headed
home Gregory van der Wiels
cross.
Lucas played his part in the
fourth goal which arrived with
a quarter of an hour remaining, as his shot was beaten away
by Ahamada and Ibrahimovic
arrived to convert the follow-up.
Ibrahimovic was rested for last
weekends 1-0 victory at Rennes
but he has now found the net
nine times in his last six Ligue 1
appearances.
Lavezzi put the seal on an utterly comprehensive win with
just his second of the season
on 78 minutes as PSG extended
their unbeaten run in Ligue 1 to
22 matches since March.

Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez has given his full support to
Karim Benzema over his involvement in a sextape scandal but
the French striker will not be fit to face Sevilla in La Liga today.
The club are standing by Benzema who was put under formal
judicial investigation on Thursday in connection with an alleged
attempt to blackmail Olympique Lyonnais forward Mathieu
Valbuena with the use of a sex video. President Florentino Perez
has expressed his confidence that Benzemas actions were in
good faith and that he is completely innocent. I have spoken to
him but as he is not going to play I dont want to talk too much
about it. He has my total support, Benitez told a news conference. I hope he gets fit quickly and can get back to enjoying
playing on the pitch. He is in the final part of his recovery and
we have decided to leave him out so that he can be 100 percent
and return fresh. He is in good spirits.
Benzema injured his hamstring playing for France last month
and has missed the last five matches for Real.
Real are joint top of La Liga with Barcelona on 24 points from
10 games but Benitez has come under pressure for the lack of
entertaining football. He is, however, boosted by the return of
Gareth Bale from injury for a difficult away game against Sevilla
even though the Andalusian side have not been playing at their
best and lie in 11th place on 12 points. It is the final La Liga match
before the international break and Real then face arch-rivals
Barca at the Bernabeu on November 21. My main concern at the
moment is the match against Sevilla and so I am not thinking
too much about El Clasico, said Benitez. It will be a difficult
stadium to play in because the Sevilla fans give a lot of support
and it is great team. Especially in the last few years they have
shown their strengths in the Europa League.

LA LIGA

Valencia stick five past high-flying Celta

AFP
Madrid

alencia eased the pressure

on coach Nuno Espirito
Santo with by far their
best result of the season
to thrash Celta Vigo 5-1 at Balaidos
yesterday.
Paco Alcacer and Dani Parejo
both struck twice before Shkodran
Musta added a late header to lift
Valencia to within two points of
the top four.
Victory takes Valencia up to
sixth, three points behind Celta
in third. Celta had started the day
with the chance to move level with
Real Madrid and Barcelona at the
top of the table.
By contrast, Valencia travelled
to Galicia with rumours surrounding Nunos future after a dreadful performance in losing 1-0 to
Gent in the Champions League on
Wednesday.
True to form, Celta dominated
the majority of the match, but they
suffered just their second defeat of
the season thanks to some brilliant
Valencia nishing and comical de-

fending from the hosts. Alcacer

had once again been named in Vicente del Bosques Spain squad on
Friday despite scoring just once
from open play all season.
However, he justied the former
Real Madrid coachs faith by
sweeping home Parejos pass for
the opener on 12 minutes.
Celta were deservedly level 11
minutes later when Augusto Fernandez headed home from close
range.
The home side were then outraged when they had the ball in
the net again moments later, but
referee Inaki Vicandi Garrido had
already blown for a Celta free-kick
on the edge of the area.
Parejo turned the game on its
head just before half-time with a
stunning free-kick that found the
top corner.
Seconds into the second-half
it was 3-1 as Alcacer pounced on
a short back-pass from Jonny to
coolly slot home his second of the
afternoon.
Alcacer then turned provider for
Parejo to score the fourth before
Musta added a fth from a corner
13 minutes from time.

Valencias forward Paco Alcacer (R) scores a goal past Celta Vigos goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez during the La Liga match at the Balaidos stadium in Vigo yesterday. (AFP)

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

FOOTBALL
EPL

BUNDESLIGA

Lingard lifts Man U

to win over Baggies
You need patience. In the second half West Brom are more tired and the chances come
Manchester Uniteds Jesse Lingard (R) celebrates
with Marcos Rojo after scoring a goal against
West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford stadium
in Manchester yesterday. (AFP)

Bayern rout
Stuttgart
to extend
league lead
AFP
Munich

AFP
London

esse Lingards rst Manchester United goal inspired his side to a 2-0
win over West Bromwich
Albion yesterday left them a
point shy of the English Premier
League summit.
United
had
ended
a
404-minute
goal
drought
against CSKA Moscow in midweek, but they laboured again
until Lingard broke the deadlock
in the 52nd minute at Old Trafford. Juan Mata added a stoppage-time penalty.
Victory kept Louis van Gaals
side in fourth place, but they
are now just a point below coleaders Manchester City and
Arsenal, both of whom play on
Sunday, and third-place Leicester City, who won 2-1 at home to
Watford.
Everybody knows who has
played football that the most
difficult way to score is against
a very defensive team, Van Gaal
told the BBC.

The space is only at the wings

and we have tried to do that. The
only way you can play against
such a defensive, organised team
is the way we do it.
You need patience. In the
second half West Brom are more
tired and the chances come.
Van Gaal named the same
team that had shaded CSKA
1-0 in the Champions League,
but they created only two real
chances in the rst half, with
Mata curling wide and Anthony
Martial stinging Boaz Myhills
palms.
It drew the familiar chant of
Attack! Attack! Attack! from
the home fans, but early in the
second half Lingard made the
breakthrough, gathering Chris
Brunts clearing header and brilliantly curling in from outside
the box.
Mata stroked home a penalty
in the 91st minute after Gareth
McAuley had been sent off for
chopping down the eeing Martial.
At the King Power Stadium,
Jamie Vardy scored for the ninth
league game running as Leicester

Results & standings

AFC Bournemouth . .0
Leicester City. . . . . . . . . .2
Manchester United .2
Norwich City . . . . . . . . . .1
Sunderland. . . . . . . . . . . .0
West Ham United. . . .1
Stoke City. . . . . . . . . 1
Standings

Newcastle United. . . .1
Watford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Bromwich Albion . 0
Swansea City . . . . . . . 0
Southampton . . . . . . . .1
Everton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Chelsea. . . . . . . . . .0

P W D

Manchester City11
Arsenal
11
Leicester City 12
Manchester Utd12
West Ham Utd 12
Totten Hotspur 11
Southampton 12
Everton
12
Liverpool
11
Crystal Palace 11
Watford
12
Stoke City
11
West Bro Albion 12
Swansea City 12
Norwich City 12
Chelsea
11
Newcastle Utd 12
AFC B.mouth 12
Sunderland
12
Aston Villa
11

8
8
7
7
6
5
5
4
4
5
4
3
4
3
3
3
2
2
1
1

1
1
4
3
3
5
5
5
5
1
4
4
2
4
3
2
4
2
3
1

F A Pts

2
2
1
2
3
1
2
3
2
5
4
4
6
5
6
6
6
8
8
9

26 9 25
21 8 25
25 20 25
17 8 24
23 16 21
19 9 20
19 13 20
20 16 17
12 12 17
12 11 16
11 12 16
9 12 13
10 16 14
12 16 13
16 23 12
16 22 11
13 22 10
12 25 8
13 26 6
10 20 4

sank Watford to continue their

ne start to the season under
manager Claudio Ranieri.
A howler from Heurelho

Gomes saw the Watford goalkeeper allow NGolo Kantes

toe-poke to trickle through his
ngers in the 52nd minute.
Gomes then fouled Vardy inside the box and the England
forward netted the ensuing
spot-kick after regular penaltytaker Riyad Mahrez stood aside.
It made Vardy the rst English
player to score in nine successive
Premier League games and left
him within one game of former
United striker Ruud van Nistelrooys record.
Troy Deeney replied from the
spot for Watford. Its great for
Jamie Vardy to score again, said
Ranieri. I dont know if its another record, but he continues in
a good moment.
West Ham United failed to
make ground on the leaders after
a 1-1 draw at home to Everton,
who levelled through Romelu
Lukaku after Manuel Lanzini had
put the hosts ahead with a ne,
bending effort on the half-hour.
Lukaku equalised two minutes before half-time, rounding
Adrian from Gerard Deulofeus
pass and rolling home his sev-

enth goal in seven games against

West Ham. In a further blow to
the hosts, they lost chief creator Dimitri Payet and substitute
Enner Valencia to injury in the
second period.
Newcastle United climbed out
of the relegation zone at Bournemouths expense after a a 27thminute Ayoze Perez strike and
a string of saves by goalkeeper
Rob Elliot earned them a smashand-grab 1-0 win at Dean Court.
Sunderland remain in the
bottom three, four points from
safety, after losing 1-0 at home
to Southampton, who prevailed
courtesy of Dusan Tadics 69thminute penalty.
But Norwich City pulled away
from danger, climbing above
struggling champions Chelsea
and Newcastle after Jonny Howsons 70th-minute tap-in gave
Alex Neils men a 1-0 home win
over over Swansea City.
Chelsea failed to deliver the
gift that might have taken the
suffocating pressure off an absent friend as manager Jose
Mourinho was forced to endure
yet another defeat at Stoke City.

obert Lewandowski
claimed his 14th
Bundesliga goal of
the season yesterday
as Bayern Munich went eight
points clear with a 4-0 win
over VfB Stuttgart.
Bayerns star-studded attack ran riot at the Allianz Arena with Arjen Robben, Douglas
Costa and Thomas Mueller
also getting on the scoresheet
as defeat pushed Stuttgart
back into the bottom three.
With second-placed Borussia Dortmund hosting Schalke
today in the Ruhr derby, Bayern took the chance to extend
their lead.
Pep Guardiolas Bayern
picked up where they left off
on Wednesday in the 5-1 rout
of Arsenal in the Champions
League.
Its so difficult to play every
three days and show this sort
of mentality, said Guardiola,
with Bayern targeting a repeat
of their 2013 treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and
German Cup.
I hope they keep this aggression up until the winter
break (in December) and then
until the end of the season,
because if we dont win the
triple, it will have been a bad
season.
The Bavarian giants have
now claimed 34 points from
36 and are the only unbeaten
team in Germanys top ight.
They took the lead just 11
minutes in after creating a
ve-on-one attacking opportunity.
Although Robben netted
the goal, he had Arturo Vidal,
Lewandowski and Mueller lining up to score behind him.
Costa then doubled the tally
with a long-range strike on 18
minutes.
Polands
Lewandowski
made it 3-0 on 37 minutes
by volleying home Muellers
cross, which made him the
leagues top scorer, then the
Germany forward grabbed the
fourth with a header on 40
minutes.

Bayern have turned the Allianz Arena into a fortress by

scoring 28 goals in their last
six home games, conceding
just three.
Third-placed
Wolfsburg,
last seasons runners-up, are
now 13 points adrift of Bayern
after crashing to a 2-0 defeat
at Mainz as Pablo de Blasis and
Yunus Mali scored.
Wolfsburg were reduced to
10 men when Germany midelder Julian Draxler was sent
off inside the opening 15 minutes for kung-fu kicking Chile
defender Gonzalo Jara while
competing for the ball.
It capped a bad week for
Wolves, who were usurped by
Manchester United at the top
of their Champions League
group following their 2-0 defeat at Eindhoven.
Fellow Champions League
side Bayer Leverkusen also
suffered a second loss after
being beaten 2-1 at home to
neighbours Cologne in the
Rhine derby.
Defender Dominic Maroh
scored both of Colognes goals
while Leverkusens Javier Hernandez scored for the sixth
match running to give him 12
goals since joining from Manchester United.
Leverkusen were reduced to
10 men when defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos was shown
a red card for bringing down
Cologne striker Anthony
Modeste when he was through
on goal.
Hoffenheim remain second from bottom after their
goalless draw with Eintracht
Frankfurt.
And Borussia Moenchengladbach had their six-match
winning streak under caretaker coach Andre Schubert ended by a goalless draw at home
to Ingolstadt.
On Friday, Ivory Coast
striker Salomon Kalou grabbed
a hat-trick to steer Hertha
Berlin to a 3-1 win at Hanover
and into the top four.
The 30-year-old former
Chelsea star found the target
in the 33rd and 60th minutes
before completing his hattrick with a penalty three minutes from time.

Bayern Munichs Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring

against VfB Stuttgart yesterday. (Reuters)

PREVIEW

Man City look to shatter Gardes Villa bow

AFP
London

anchester City will look

to stay on top of the Premier League by ensuring
Aston Villas woes continue in new manager Remi Gardes
rst game in charge.
City have won seven of their last
eight games, including a 3-1 success
at Seville on Tuesday that saw them
into the last 16 of the Champions
League.
The contrast with Sundays opponents could therefore hardly be
greater ahead of their meeting at
Villa Park. Villa are bottom of the table after losing their last seven league
gamesequalling an unwanted club
record. Former Lyon manager Garde
will take charge for the rst time today after replacing Tim Sherwood,
sacked following just 28 games in
the post, as he looks to secure a rst
league win for Villa since the opening day of the season. It looks like a

baptism of re for the Frenchman but

City manager Manuel Pellegrini is
expecting a tough match.
I dont know who said it was going to be easy. For me there are no
easy games in the Premier League,
especially against Aston Villa, said
Pellegrini.
They are at the bottom of the table with a new manager so the motivation to try not to be relegated will
be high, the Chilean added. Always
when you have a new manager you
have some reaction.
It is very important to repeat what
we did against Sevilla in Champions
League and not to think that because
we played well in the last game we
can do it in exactly the same way.
We can do it if we are concentrated and play with intensity and
especially if we understand if will be
a tough game.
Delph return
The game will see City midelder
Fabian Delph return to Villa Park for
the rst time since his controversial

move to Manchester in pre-season.

The England international, 25,
joined City in an 8 million deal following a dramatic U-turn on a decision to stay with Villa, where he was
club captain.
His departure upset many Villa
fans but Pellegrini hopesprobably
in vainthat he avoids a hostile reception on his return.
I hope he will not receive that,
said the manager. Aston Villa wanted to sell him also. He was is a player
who gave a lot of his career to Aston
Villa and I dont think the fans will
forget all those things.
He is a professional player and
he is playing with us. I know that he
wants to play because he was a long
time injured. It will be a special game
for him, but nothing more.
City will again be without playmaker David Villa, who is expected to
be out for another fortnight with an
ankle injury, but defender Gael Clichy is back in the squad after missing
all of the season so far with an ankle
problem.

Garde acknowledges he faces a

tough task having succeeded Sherwood with Villa having acquired just
four points so far this season.
And he insisted he is already considering his options for the January
transfer window.
I know that in January its a transfer window. Until then I will have the
time to evaluate the team, the players, said the Frenchman.
Not only that we have the time to
win games. In January we will have
played more than 10 games. I will see
if we need something.
And Garde said he will favour a
possession-based style with his new
team.
In Lyon this is the culture of the
club and I have been growing in this
club, so this is the way I see football,
Garde explained.
Of course it is 11 players with individuals, but it is a collective game
so you have to be smart, to be clever
when you play. I like that the team
speak the same language on the
pitch.

MANUEL PELLEGRINI

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

CRICKET
REPORT

FOCUS

Jadeja, Ashwin
spin S Africa to
defeat in first Test

Both bowlers finished with eight wickets in the low-scoring match played on a dusty,
dry pitch, with the Indian spinners claiming 19 of the 20 South African scalps

Aggression my
forte, says Shah
AFP
Dubai

akistans
fast-rising
leg-spinner Yasir Shah
yesterday vowed to keep
his aggressive style intact after spinning Pakistan to a
2-0 series win over England this
week.
Shah captured seven wickets
to help Pakistan win the third
and nal Test in Sharjah on
Thursdaytaking 15 wickets in
two matches to grab the man of
the series award.
The stockily built bowler from
Pakistans northwest province of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been
the linchpin of the teams attack
since Saeed Ajmal was sidelined
for a suspect bowling action last
year.
He took 12 wickets to help Pakistan win 2-0 against Australia
in the United Arab Emirates last
yeartheir rst series win over
the Aussies in 20 years.
Shah then took 24 wickets as
Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 2-1 earlier this year, completing 50 wickets in only his ninth Test.
I am by nature aggressive
and attacking in my bowling,
he said. I need rhythm and it
comes with being aggressive in
my stride.
When I got slow I lost control
and ended up bowling short and
loose. So I try to attack but I am
trying hard to be patient but being attacking is my strength.
Shah said he learnt a lot from
former Australian great Shane
Warne, who visited Pakistan
in the nets before the decisive
Sharjah Test.
I am presently focusing on
my strength and want to keep

it simple. I just want to make

sure that I keep my head up and
hit my target bowling wicket to
wicket.
There are many things I have
learnt from Warne but I need to
take some time and practice but
I will make sure that I wont get
distracted and keep my natural
style.
Shah said he was disappointed to miss the drawn rst Test
against England in Abu Dhabi
with a back injury.
I still feel bad for missing the
game because of an unfortunate
back injury, he admitted.
The game was really important for me. I know everyone is
expecting a lot from me and had I
played it this 2-0 scoreline could
have been different.
My team management expect
a lotin fact, our planning centered on me from Abu Dhabi.
I know I am not able to deliver sometimes as needed but the
kind of support my team management gives me actually drives
me and keeps me motivated.
Shah hopes his wicket tally
keeps on increasing with the
four-match one-day series set to
begin on November 11 and a Test
series to come in England next
year.
The pitches in Sri Lanka were
good giving much bounce but
here in UAE pitches are slow and
I was getting much kick on the
surface but still I tried my best
to bring out whatever I got, he
added.
The only difference is that I
missed the Abu Dhabi Test so the
wickets could have been more.
Shah has been named in the
one-day squad to face England,
with the rst match to be played
in Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

SPOTLIGHT

Kohli irked by
unnecessary hype
over Mohali pitch
Reuters
Mohali

Indias Ravindra Jadeja (R) celebrates as his teammates rush to congratulate him after the dismissal of South Africa captain Hashim Amla (L) in Mohali yesterday.
ting with tailender Vernon Philander backred when the fast
bowler was leg-before to Jadeja
for one in the second over.
Ashwin, who had taken ve
wickets in the rst innings,
struck in the third over as Faf
du Plessis edged an easy catch
to Ajinkya Rahane in the slips.
From 9-2, the Proteas became 32-4 as Jadeja bowled
Amla for no score and star
batsman AB de Villiers (16) also
found his stumps shattered by
leg-spinner Amit Mishra.
The wickets continued to
tumble as opener Dean Elgar
(16) top-edged an intended
pull off seamer Varun Aaron
and spooned an easy catch to
Indian captain Virat Kohli at
mid-on.
In the morning, the loss of
three top-order batsmen in the
space of three runs triggered
Indias collapse even though
the Proteas elded without
their injured pace spearhead
Dale Steyn.
The overnight pair of
Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli
batted through the rst hour to
take their third wicket stand to
66 runs.
The tourists took the eld
without Steyn, who was sidelined for the entire innings due
to a groin strain.

AFP
Mohali

ndias spinners tied South

Africas batsmen in knots
to give the hosts a 108-run
victory in the bowler-dominated rst Test in Mohali yesterday.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja grabbed ve wickets
and off-spinner Ravichandran
Ashwin took three as the Proteas, set a victory target of 218,
were shot out for 109 after tea
on the third day.
Both bowlers nished with
eight wickets in the low-scoring match played on a dusty,
dry pitch at the I.S. Bindra stadium, with the Indian spinners
claiming 19 of the 20 South African scalps.
The Proteas were reduced
to 60-6 before Stiaan van Zyl,
who top-scored with 36, and
Simon Harmer (11) got together
to put on 42 for the seventh
wicket.
Seven batsmen failed to
reach double gures, leaving
the top-ranked South Africans
a lot to ponder ahead of the
second Test in the four-match
series which starts in Bangalore
on November 14.
Indian captain Virat Kohli
said he was delighted to win his
rst Test on home soil as captain.
This was a special occasion
for me, said Kohli, who turned
27 on the rst day of the match.
Ours is a young team and
we are trying to build a strong
team together. A lot of credit to
the boys for bouncing back after the loss in the limited-overs
series.
Kohli said it was wrong to
criticise the pitch which produced a three-day Test.
I dont think there were any
demons in the wicket, he said.
The ball did not turn square at
any stage. Batsmen had to apply themselves since it was a
bowlers game.
South African skipper Hashim Amla refused to blame the
defeat on the pitch, saying
there were a few soft dismissals by his batsmen.
200 was a chaseable total,

ndia captain Virat Kohli

resented the unnecessary
hype around the Mohali
pitch after his team beat
South Africa inside three days
in a spin-dominated first Test
yesterday.
Eighteen wickets tumbled on
an eventful third day of a lowscoring match with spinners
from both sides wreaking havoc
on a spiteful wicket.
Chasing 218 for win, South
Africa were shot out for 109,
with the Indian spinners claiming nine of the 10 second-innings wickets.
Kohli insisted, however, that
the track was anything but unplayable.
There is no need to unnecessarily hype up the wicket,
the 27-year-old, in his first
home series as test captain, told
reporters.
As (off-spinner Ravichandran) Ashwin said yesterday,
weve never seen any hype
around the wicket whenever we
tour abroad. It should not be
here as well.
Kohli admitted bowlers dominated the contest but said not
a single dismissal was caused
by any delivery which reared up
awkwardly from a track sporting several cracks and offering
big turn from day one.

Throughout the game, not

just the last innings, there were
a lot of soft dismissals, the India captain said.
I dont think there was any
demons in the wicket. The ball
didnt turn square at any stage.
It was the batsman who had to
apply more.
His counterpart Hashim
Amla felt 218 was a stiff target
for his team but blamed the
Proteas batsmen for throwing
away their wickets.
150-160 would have been a
pretty fair challenge on a deteriorating wicket like this. But
at the same time, there were
some soft dismissals during the
chase, Amla said.
The match brought only three
half-centuries and only one India managed to pass 200.
Stiaan van Zyl top-scored in
South Africas second innings
with a gritty 36, while Amlas
dismissal was bizarre as he offered no shot to a Ravindra
Jadeja delivery and watched in
dismay as it crashed on to his
middle stump.
I surprised myself (with the
dismissal), it was a bit of brainfreeze really. I felt very unfortunate.
I think we were into the
game until we lost 4-5 wickets and put pressure on the
lower guys. Stiaan particularly
showed particularly that you
can get runs if you can hang in
there.

MOHALI SCORECARD

Indias Amit Mishra (L) celebrates with captain Virat Kohli after the fall of AB de Villiers wicket in Mohali
yesterday.
although probably 150 would
have been more realistic and
a challenge on a deteriorating
wicket, he said.
There were some soft dismissals. We were in the game
till we lost four or ve wickets
and put pressure on the lower
order guys. Stiaan showed you
could get runs if you hung in
there.

To get India out for 200 was

an excellent effort from our
bowlers and we kept ourselves
in the game till the last session.
But credit to India for bowling
us out.
Earlier, South African spinners Harmer and Imran Tahir
claimed four wickets each to
rip through Indias batting in
the morning session.

India, who started the third

day at 125-2 in their second innings, moved to 161-2 before
a batting meltdown saw them
lose their last eight wickets for
39 runs.
South Africa fared worse
when they batted a second
time on a wicket that proved to
be a batsmans nightmare.
The gamble to open the bat-

India 1st innings: 201 (M. Vijay 75, R. Jadeja 38, D. Elgar
4-22)
South Africa 1st innings: 184 (AB de Villiers 63, H.
Amla 43, R. Ashwin 5-51)
India 2nd innings (overnight 125-2):
M. Vijay c sub (Bavuma) b Tahir.......................................................................47
S. Dhawan c de Villiers b Philander ................................................................0
C. Pujara c Amla b Tahir...............................................................................................77
V. Kohli c Vilas b van Zyl .............................................................................................29
A. Rahane c sub (Bavuma) b Harmer ........................................................2
W. Saha c Vilas b Tahir .................................................................................................20
R. Jadeja lbw b Harmer ...................................................................................................8
A. Mishra c du Plessis b Harmer ........................................................................2
R. Ashwin c Amla b Tahir ..............................................................................................3
U. Yadav b Harmer .................................................................................................................. 1
V. Aaron not out........................................................................................................................... 1
Extras: (b9, lb1) ......................................................................................................................10
Total (all out, 75.3 overs) ....................................................................................200
Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Dhawan), 2-95 (Vijay), 3-161
(Kohli), 4-164 (Pujara), 5-164 (Rahane), 6-178 (Jadeja), 7-182
(Mishra), 8-185 (Ashwin), 9-188 (Yadav), 10-200 (Saha).
Bowling: Philander 12-3-23-1, Harmer 24-5-61-4, Elgar 7-1-

34-0, Tahir 16.3-1-48-4, Rabada 12-7-19-0, van Zyl 4-1-5-1.

South Africa 2nd innings:
D. Elgar c Kohli b Aaron ...............................................................................................16
V. Philander lbw b Jadeja ................................................................................................1
F. du Plessis c Rahane b Ashwin .........................................................................1
H. Amla b Jadeja ......................................................................................................................0
AB de Villiers b Mishra ...................................................................................................16
S. van Zyl c Rahane b Ashwin ...........................................................................36
D. Vilas b Jadeja ..........................................................................................................................7
S. Harmer c Rahane b Jadeja .................................................................................11
D. Steyn c Vijay b Ashwin...............................................................................................2
K. Rabada not out .....................................................................................................................1
Imran Tahir lbw b Jadeja ...............................................................................................4
Extras: (b8, lb5, w1) ...........................................................................................................14
Total (all out, 39.5 overs) ......................................................................................109
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Philander), 2-9 (du Plessis), 3-10
(Amla), 4-32 (de Villiers), 5-45 (Edgar), 6-60 (Vilas), 7-102
(Harmer), 8-102 (van Zyl), 9-105 (Steyn), 10-109 (Tahir)
Bowling: Ashwin 14-5-39-3, Jadeja 11.5-4-21-5, Mishra 8-026-1, Aaron 3-0-3-1 (w1), Yadav 3-0-7-0
India won by 108 runs; lead 1-0 in four-Test series.
Toss: India

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

CRICKET
REPORT

FOCUS

Warner hits second

century of match,
Burns joins party
You get that opportunity to go back to back. Thats something special

Burns ditches
plan to swing his
way to Test ton
AFP
Brisbane

oe Burns admits the plan

was to hit six singles to
reach his maiden Test
century for Australia, instead he clouted two massive
sixes to seize the limelight at the
rst Test at the Gabba yesterday.
Burns, playing in only his third
Test match but his rst as opener,
took the adventurous route to his
rst hundred with two mighty
swipes off spinner Mark Craig in
three balls.
The Queenslanders powerful hitting coupled with opening
partner David Warners back-toback century propelled Australia
to an imposing 503-run lead over
the forlorn Kiwis with two days
left.
Burns smashed 129 off 123
balls with 14 fours and four sixes,
while Warner raised his 14th Test
century and second for the match
with 116 from 113 balls with eight
fours and two sixes.
Burns revealed that Warner
had walked down the pitch when
he was on 94 and advised him to
take a conservative approach to
bringing up his coveted century.
Im just very proud. Its pure
elation. Im not really sure what
I did or what I was thinking, he
said.
The plan was to hit six singles
but I just kind of blacked out a bit
and swung as hard as I could and
luckily got it over the rope.
It was a special moment for
Burns playing before friends
and relatives at his Gabba home
ground.
I cant think of a better place

to do it than at the Gabba in front

of friends and family, he said.
Burns partnered Warner to
opening stands of 161 and 237 in
the Test, which is the rst time
an opening pair had compiled
150-plus stands in a Test match.
Its been fantastic, Ive really
enjoyed it. He (Warner) certainly
keeps me in check and keeps me
level, Burns said.
Warner, who has taken on
more team responsibility as
vice-captain under skipper Steve
Smith in the revamped Australian team, said he was excited by
the performances of new selections Burns and Usman Khawaja,
who scored his rst Test century
with 174 in the rst innings.
I walked down to him and
said to be a bit selsh and try to
get six singles, Warner said.
Two balls later he came down
the wicket and hit it over his head
for six, but he said to me - I dont
know what I was thinking.
I said you obviously did
know because you hit it for six.
Im so excited for him, Uzzy
(Khawaja) as well. Two guys
making their maiden Test centuries at their home venue.
Warner also joined illustrious
company to score a Test century
in both innings on three separate
occasions along with Australias
Ricky Ponting and Indias Sunil
Gavaskar.
Its always great to score
hundreds in the rst innings but
denitely in the second innings
when youre on top of the game it
sort of makes it a little bit easier
and you have a bit more condence, he said.
Itd be a different story if we
were behind the game.

Australian batsman David

Warner exults after reaching
his second century of the
match in Brisbane yesterday.
Australian batsman
Joe Burns
celebrates his
maiden Test
century in Brisbane
yesterday.

AFP
Brisbane

oe Burns smashed two sixes to

reach his maiden Test century and
David Warner joined illustrious
company with back-to-back tons
as Australia amassed a huge lead over
New Zealand in the rst Gabba Test yesterday.
Burns, playing in only his third Test
match but his rst as opener, blasted
spinner Mark Craig for two sixes over
long off to race from 88 to 100 in just
three balls.
When bad light stopped play on the
third day, Australia had stretched their
overall lead to 503 runs at 264 for four
and an overnight declaration imminent.
First-innings centurion Usman Khawaja
was not out nine with Adam Voges on
one.
Burns, who belted 129 off 123 balls with
14 fours and four sixes, thrilled his home
Queensland crowd with some prodigious

hitting to reach his rst Test ton after

three consecutive Test half-centuries.
The plan was to hit six singles but I
just kind of blacked out a bit and swung
as hard as I could and luckily got it over
the rope, Burns said.
I cant think of a better place to do it
than at the Gabba in front of friends and
family.
Warner dashed to his second century of
the match and 14th overall with 116 before
he gave his wicket away with a switch hit
to the deep off spinner Mark Craig.
It was only the third time that a batsman has scored a Test century in both innings on three separate occasions along
with Test greats Ricky Ponting and Sunil
Gavaskar.
It was also the first time any opening pair had compiled 150-run plus
partnerships in each innings of a Test
match.
When youre on top in the rst innings you get to go out like today and
play the way you want to play, with all the
condence in the world, Warner said.

ian players as he left the field after his

178-ball knock speckled with 24 fours.
It was Williamsons 11th Test century
and one of his best after centuries against
Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies, England, India, Bangladesh and South Africa
in his ve years of playing Test cricket.
I always think that when you score, or
you make a contribution to a strong team
performance, that has the most satisfaction, Williamson said.
It always has a lot more satisfaction
behind it when youre in a strong position
in terms of the game but thats not there
at the moment. Weve got a tough challenge on our hands.
The 25-year-old right-hander also became only the fourth Kiwi to score a Test
hundred at the Gabba along with John
Reid, Martin Crowe and Jacob Oram, with
his 140 marking the second highest score
by a New Zealander at the ground behind
Crowes 188.
Williamson played a lone hand for the
Black Caps as wickets toppled around
him on the third day.

BOTTOMLINE

BRISBANE SCORECARD
Australia 1st innings 556-4
declared (U. Khawaja 174, D.
Warner 163)
New Zealand 1st innings
(overnight 157-5):
M. Guptill c Warner b Hazlewood
....................................................................................... 23
T. Latham c Lyon b Starc ..............47
K. Williamson c Nevill b Starc 140
R. Taylor c Smith b Johnson ........0
B. McCullum c Voges b Johnson
..........................................................................................6
J. Neesham b Starc ..................................3
B.J. Watling c Nevill b Johnson 32
M. Craig c Marsh b Lyon ...............24
D. Bracewell b Marsh ..........................16
T. Southee b Starc................................... 14
T. Boult not out ............................................0
Extras (lb4, w1, nb7) ............................12
Total (all out; 82.2 overs) 317
Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Guptill),
2-102 (Latham), 3-105 (Taylor),
4-114 (McCullum), 5-118 (Neesham), 6-185 (Watling), 7-231
(Craig), 8-273 (Bracewell), 9-310

You get that opportunity to go back

to back. Thats something special, as a
pair as well, a century-run partnership in
both innings.
It was remarkable scoring by Test
rookie Burns and even relegated the usually rapid-scoring Warner to a supporting role against the under-strength Kiwi
bowling attack, which was minus pace
spearhead Tim Southee, off the eld with
a back injury.
It was the fourth century of the Test
after Warner (163) and Khawaja (174) in
Australias rst innings and Kane Williamsons deant 140 in New Zealands
innings.
Skipper Steve Smith was given out for
one to a close-to-the-ground catch by
Williamson off Trent Boult that needed a
lengthy umpires review.
The Australians earlier dismissed
the Black Caps for 317 with Williamson
the last man out, caught behind, giving
Mitchell Starc his fourth wicket of the
match.
He was congratulated by the Austral-

(Southee), 10-317 (Williamson)

Bowling: Starc 17.2-4-57-4 (2nb,
1w), Johnson 21-3-105-3 (1nb),
Hazlewood 21-5-70-1 (1nb), Lyon
17-3-46-1, Marsh 5-0-32-1 (3nb),
Voges 1-0-3-0
Australia 2nd innings:
J. Burns c Taylor b Craig ..............129
D. Warner c Boult b Craig ...........116
U. Khawaja not out .................................9
S. Smith c Williamson b Boult ......1
M. Marsh c McCullum b Craig ....2
A. Voges not out ..........................................1
Extras (lb1, w1, nb4) ..............................6
Total (4 wickets; 42 overs) .........264
Fall of wickets: 1-237 (Warner),
2-254 (Burns), 3-258 (Smith),
4-263 (Marsh) Bowling: Boult
8-0-61-1, Bracewell 11-1-63-0(4nb),
Neesham 9-0-61-0 (1w), Craig
14-0-78-3
Toss: Australia Umpires: Nigel
Llong (ENG) Richard Illingworth
(ENG) TV umpire: Sundaram Ravi
(IND)

S.Africa duo set for return,

Steyn to have fitness test
Reuters
Mohali

outh Africa expect to have allrounder JP Duminy and fast bowler

Morne Morkel back for the second
Test against India but will assess the
fitness of leading paceman Dale Steyn on
Thursday.
The Proteas lost the first Test by 108
runs in Mohali yesterday and now travel to
Bengaluru for the second game in the fourmatch series that starts on Nov. 14.
Steyn played in the series opener but suffered a groin strain on the opening day and
did not bowl in Indias second innings.
All three players would likely start the
second test if fit, but that is no certainty

according to team manager Mohammed

Moosajee.
JP Duminy had the stitches removed
from this right hand laceration two days ago.
He will have a net session in the next couple
of days and should be available for selection
for the second Test match in Bengaluru, he
was quoted as saying in a press release from
Cricket South Africa on Saturday.
Morne Morkel has fully recovered from a
right quad strain, if the (first) test had started a day later he probably would have been
available for selection.
The only fitness concern we have at the
moment is Dale Steyn. He is still recovering
from the groin strain he sustained during
this test match. He will have a fitness test
two days before the second test match before
a final call on his availability is made.

Shakib, Rahim star in

Bangladesh victory
AFP, Dhaka: Shakib Al-Hasan
grabbed his maiden five-wicket
haul and Mushfiqur Rahim hit
a fine century as Bangladesh
crushed Zimbabwe by 145 runs
in the first one-day international in Dhaka yesterday.
Rahim hit 107 off 109 balls to
help the hosts recover from a
shaky start to post 273-9 before
Shakibs 5-47 restricted Zimbabwe to a paltry 128 in 36.1 overs
on a slow wicket at the Sher-eBangla National Stadium.
Set a daunting target, Zimbabwe were never up to the task
after Shakib claimed three wickets in his opening spell to leave
the visitors struggling at 65-4.
Skipper Elton Chigumbura
made 41 runs, the most of any
Zimbabwean, before he was
the ninth batsman dismissed
having been judged leg-before
to Nasir Hossain.
Zimbabwes last man Richmond
Mutumbami was unable to bat
after he hurt his ankle while
wicket-keeping in the opening
innings of the game.
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafee
Mortaza claimed 2-13 as the
home side took a 1-0 lead in the
three-match series.
Sabbir Rahman earlier made 57
off 58 balls to provide support

Shakib al-Hasan (C) : star show

to Rahim, who hit nine fours

and a six in his fourth ODI
century.
The pair added 119 runs in their
fifth wicket partnership after
Zimbabwe reduced Bangladesh
to 123-4 at one stage.
Bangladesh were off to a shaky
start in the three-match series
as new opener Liton Das got
out for a duck. He flashed
medium pacer Luke Jongwe
and offered a catch at point to
Graeme Cremer.
Tinashe Panyangara then
bowled Mahmudullah for nine
before Tamim Iqbal and Rahim
repaired the innings with a
patient 70-run third wicket
partnership.
Off-break bowler Sikandar Raza
had Tamim caught by Jongwe
at long-on for 40 and soon
he got rid of Shakib (16), who
was stumped by wicketkeeper
Mutumbami.
Rahim pushed Taurai Muzarabani towards long on to complete his century before he was
run out with a direct throw by
Cremer from backward point.
Raza claimed 2-47 while Muzarabani finished with 2-64 for
Zimbabwe. The second match
of the series will be held at the
same ground tomorrow.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

SPORT
NBA

NHL

Magic hands
Toronto Raptors
first loss of season

Sharp shines
as Dallas Stars
defeat Hurricanes

A lot of close games. Its nice to grind one out

DPA
Los Angeles

he Toronto Raptors
were undefeated but
the Orlando Magic
changed all that on Fri-

day.
Tobias Harris scored 20
points, Evan Fournier made
the defensive play of the game
in the closing seconds and the
Magic handed the visiting Raptors their rst loss of the season, 92-87.
It feels great, man, especially against Toronto, Fournier said.
They were 5-0. Thats a
very good team.
With the Magic ahead, 8887, Raptors Kyle Lowry set a
screen on Fournier leaving
DeMar DeRozan open. But the
Frenchman fought through it
and stripped DeRozan of the
ball under the basket and off his
leg on an attempted layup.
The Raptors regained possession and Lowry spotted Jonas Valanciunas, who missed
the potential go-ahead lefthanded drive to the basket.
Victor Oladipo grabbed the ball
for the Magic, sped up court
and drew a clear path foul with
2.4 seconds left.

With the Magic ahead,

88-87, Raptors Kyle Lowry
set a screen on Fournier
leaving DeMar DeRozan
open. But the Frenchman
fought through it and
stripped DeRozan of the
ball under the basket and
off his leg on an attempted
layup

Los Angeles Lakers forward

Kobe Bryant (24) scores
past Brooklyn Nets center
Brook Lopez (11) during the
second half of their NBA
game at Barclays Center.
The Los Angeles Lakers
defeated the Brooklyn Nets
104-98. PICTURE: Noah K.
Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Oladipo made both free

throws, and Fournier added
two more from the stripe, as
Orlando ended an 11-game
slide against the Raptors dating
back to March 2012
Weve been working hard,
said Oladipo, who nished with
18 points.
A lot of close games. Its
nice to grind one out.
DeRozan scored 23 points,
Corey Joseph had 19 and Lowry
nished with 17 for Toronto (51), which shot a frosty 35 per
cent from the eld.
They made us work for everything, Raptors coach Dwane
Casey said.
Golden State Warriors 119,
Denver Nuggets 104: League
MVP Stephen Curry had 34
points, 10 assists and seven
rebounds, Harrison Barnes

netted a season-best 21, and

the reigning NBA Champion
Warriors improved to 6-0 after dropping the visiting Nuggets for their 22nd consecutive
home-court win.
Italys Danilio Gallinari
dropped in a season-high 25
points for Denver (2-4), which
cut a 30-point halftime decit
to 10.
Houston Rockets 116, Sacramento Kings 110: James
Harden erupted for a seasonbest 43 points with 13 assists,
and the Rockets (3-3) held off
the Kings.
Israeli Omri Casspi and Darren Collison tallied 22 points
apiece for Sacramento (1-5)
which stormed from 20 down
in the third quarter to one in
the nal frame.
Cleveland Cavaliers 108,
Philadelphia 76ers 102: LeBron
James had 18 of his 31 points
in the third quarter and 13 rebounds, and the visiting Cavs
(5-1) won their fth in a row
while keeping Sixers winless.
Nerlens Noel and rookie
Jahlil Okafor led Philadelphia
(0-5) with 18 points apiece.
Indiana Pacers 90, Miami
Heat 87: Paul George had 11 of
his 36 points in the nal frame
along with 12 rebounds, and
the Pacers (3-3) held off the
visiting Heat (3-3) led by Chris
Boshs 21-point, 11-rebound
effort.
Atlanta Hawks 121, New Orleans Pelicans 115: Paul Millsap
had 22 points with 12 rebounds,
Kyle Korver also netted 22 on a
perfect 8-of-8 shooting, and
the visiting Hawks (5-1) won
their sixth in a row while keeping the Pelicans winless.
Anthony Davis collected a
career-high-tying 43 points
with 10 rebounds for New Orleans, 0-5 under new head
coach Alvin Gentry.
Boston Celtics 118, Washington Wizards 98: Jared Sullinger scored 21 points, Kelly
Olynyk added 19 off the bench,
and the Celtics (2-3) snapped
a three-game slide after whipping the visiting Wizards (3-2)
despite Bradley Beals gamehigh 23.
Milwaukee Bucks 99, New
York Knicks 92: John Henson
scored 22 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo added 20, and the
visiting Bucks (3-3) won their
third in a row while sending the
Knicks to a third straight loss.
Carmelo Anthony tossed in
17 points, and Latvian rookie
Kristaps Porzingis had 14 with
13 rebounds as New York (2-4)
dropped to 0-3 at home.

The Edmonton Oilers celebrate a second period goal by defensemen

Oscar Klefbom (77) against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Rexall Place
on Friday. PICTURE: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
Agencies
New York

atrick Sharp scored a

tie-breaking goal with
8:45 remaining as the
Dallas Stars completed
a 4-1 victory over the Carolina
Hurricanes. The Stars increased
their margin with centre Radek
Faksas rst career goal just 2:05
after Sharps score. Right winger
Ales Hemsky scored the rst goal
for Dallas, while defenseman Jason Demers was credited with an
empty-net goal.
Center Jordan Staal scored
for the Hurricanes. Dallas goalie
Kari Lehtonen stopped 30 shots.
Devils 4, Blackhawks 2
Center Travis Zajac scored his
sixth goal of the season while
goaltender Cory Schneider made
27 saves as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Chicago Blackhawks. Zajac and right wingers
Lee Stempniak and Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist each
while left winger Mike Cammalleri also scored for the Devils.
Right winger Patrick Kane
and center Tanner Kero scored
for Chicago, whose goaltender
Corey Crawford stopped just 10
of 13 shots in the rst period before Scott Darling took over in
the second and stopped 12 of 13
shots.
Red Wings 2, Maple
Leafs 1 (OT)
Jakub Kindl scored at 2:17
of overtime as the Detroit Red

BOTTOMLINE

Dukhan Ballers are PIBAQ champions

D

ukhan Ballers reigned supreme in all

aspects of the game to beat Amwaj
Nasser Steelers and win the Pinoy
Basketball of Qatar (PIBAQ) Championship Cup over the weekend at Al Gharafa
Training Gym.
In a well-fought game, the Ballers prevailed
83-70, with Rodel Mallari proving the star of the
Elite Division Championship match.
Mallari, who broke yet another record in his
basketball career for claiming the Most Valuable
Player awards of the nal as well as of the season, scored 27 points.
Amwaj managed to cut their decit to single
digit with enough time in the last eight minutes
of the game with centre Rey Solomon and forward Jerome Castillo forging some mini rallies.
But the Dukhan frontline squad always found a
way to maintain their edge up to the nal buzzer.
Rising star CJ Casas of Dukhan was another
big puzzle for Amwaj. He scored his 19 points
and had four rebounds and three assists.
Hundreds of fans jam-packed the championship games of the Elite, Aspirants and Under-18
Divisions to support their teams, and ve of the
spectators became winners of 32-inch LED TVs
at the raffle draw.
PIBAQ President Pat Carido presented trophies and medals to the players. He announced
that the 19th Season will open on November 27.

Wings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs. Red Wings left winger
Henrik Zetterberg scored his
300th career goal in the rst period.
Defenseman Dion Phaneuf
tied the game for the Maple Leafs
with 1:01 to play in the third period. Maple Leafs goaltender
James Reimer made 22 saves.
Rangers 2, Avalanche 1
Derek Stepan and Oscar Lindberg scored goals 21 seconds
apart as the New York Rangers
beat the Colorado Avalanche.
Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist
had 29 saves for the Rangers.
Penguins 2, Oilers 1
Phil Kessels third-period
power-play goal proved to be the
decider as the Penguins beat the
Edmonton Oilers.
The Penguins came back after the Oilers took the lead early
in the second period when Oilers defenseman Oscr Klefbom
ripped a slap shot that Pittsburgh
goalie Jeff Zatkoff failed to stop.
Rookie Daniel Sprong tied the
game in the second before Kessel won the game. Zatkoff made
27 saves.
Ducks 4, Blue Jackets 2
Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf
had three assists each and Josh
Manson scored his rst career
goal to lead Anaheim over Columbus.
Clayton Stoner, Cam Fowler
and Patrick Maroon also scored
for the Ducks while Scott Hartnell scored both of the Blue Jackets goals.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

SPORT
REBOOTING FOOTBALL

Searching for Twenty20

equivalent that could
save the grassroots game
Frogball might not turn out to be the future of the beautiful gamebut it was just one of several new
variants being tested at Nottinghams GameCity this year, and the enthusiasm for tweaking the
usual ways to play was undeniable. As amateur participation declines, could this be a game-changer?
By Simon Parkin
The Guardian

rian Clough stands in baggy

jumper and easy slacks, hands
clasped above his head in a
pose of perpetual celebration.
From the vantage point of his bronze
statues marble plinth, set at the babbling junction of Nottinghams King
and Queen Street, the citys favourite
football manager has a clear view of
Old Market Square.
There, in 2004, thousands of fans
turned up to mourn Cloughs death
and honour his life.
Today, on an afternoon in late-October, cringing under a loaded sky, the
crowds are here, not to spectate but to
partake in the sportor, more precisely, a cover version of the sport.
Two teams bustle on to the pitch.
They are dressed, not in shorts and
long socks, the traditional get-up
of the contemporary soccer player, but
in frog onesies. The pitch is roughly a
quarter of the size of a football eld and
surrounded with bright green netting
to keep the ball in, and it is spattered
with lilypads. Each one is exactly 29cm
in diameter and cut from felt.
The rules of Frogballgame designer Llaura Dreamfeels striking variant of the beautiful gameare simple.
Every player must be standing on a
lilypad at all times, one person per lilypad. Players are only allowed to carry
the football between their legs, and
shots and passes must be icked, not
kicked. For all its whimsy, the players
look exhausted after just ve minutes
of play. If Clough disapproves of all
this, his patina and pose say otherwise.
While the costumes give the scene
the appearance of an over-indulged
childs party, this is, in fact, all part
of a more serious experiment. Unbeknown to the crowd, some of the
players work for the Football Association, the sports national governing
body. They have come to see how people react to Frogball, and to the other
eight football redesigns being trialled
at Nottinghams GameCity, a weeklong celebration of play in all its myriad
forms. Anyone can sign up to play, and
on a panoramic television screen above
the pitch, live footage and commentary
is relayed to lure in passersby.
Not all of the variants were as quirky
as Frogball. In Go Wide, for example,
a single goal is placed in the centre of
the pitch. One team aim to shoot the
ball through one side of the goal while
the other team must do the reverse.
Vampire Football stipulates that
players must hide under a sheet at all
times. The number of points awarded
for a goal is equal to the number of
players creeping under the sheet (a
minimum of two).
This introduces a tactical element:
do you have numerous duos on the
pitch, or larger groups that are less
manoeuvrable but enjoy an improved
score ratio? In Frozen Football, by contrast, players are allowed to run only
when the ball isnt in possession.
As soon it touches a players foot,
everyone must freeze to the spot. From
this simple rule, a complex game of positioning and strategy unfurls.
Football is in a moment of mild crisis. Not at the top end of the game,
where sales of tickets to Premiership
matches are on the rise, and where the
money continues to swill, grotesquely.
Rather, at the grassroots level, where
there has been a marked decline in the
number of people across the UK playing each week.
Football remains the most popular team sport. According to the latest
gures, an average of more than 1.8
million people played the game once a
week during the past 12 months.
That gure, however, represents a
decline of over 200,000 since December 2012, says Phil Smith, director of
sport at Sport England.
This decline of national engagement
has a knock-on effect at every level,
contributing toward the frequency
of both foreign transfers in the professional leagues and wounding losses in
international games.
Causes of the decline are unclear.
Some put it down to the rise in popu-

A game of Frogball being played at GameCity festival in Nottingham. The rules of the game state that players must stand on lilypads, and are only allowed to carry the ball between their legs.
larity of individual tness activities
such as running. More than a million
people have taken up regular sporting
activities since the 2012 Olympics. But
its a rise that has, according to Smith,
meant team sports have had to ght
harder for attention.
Others say the selling off of local
football pitches to property developers
has made it more difficult for amateur
players to nd suitable locations to
playas has a decline in the standard
of facilities more generally.
Then there are the practical challenges baked into the games design:
simple though football is, if you want
to play a proper match theres still the
need for goals and nets and an empty
diary slot shared by 22 players.
As Smith puts it, Changes in peoples footballing habits have been
driven by a range of factors including
lifestyle changes, family pressures,
increasing costs and pitch access and
quality. Some say that any money intended to draw more people into football should be spent on more equipment and better facilities.
Others, however, argue that investing only in resources fails to address
some more fundamental issues with
the games practicality and appeal.
Sport England is responsible for
helping to reverse the decline by any
means necessary. Historically, the organisation paid money to the FA to
inspire more people to play football at
least once a week, as measured by the
Active People Survey, a telephone survey intended to gauge our engagement
in sports and active recreation. Recently, in a rather game-like twist, these
payments to governing bodies have become dependent on performance.
In December 2013, when Sports
England found a signicant decline
in football participation, 1.6mn in
funding was promptly diverted away
from the FA. It was largest amount to
be taken from a national governing
body (England Golf Partnership lost
496,000, England Netball 275,000
and British Rowing 236,000 for their
various failings).
Rather than simply offering the
funds to another football body, Sport
England conjured a new plan to appoint a City of Football. For two years

this city will act as a beacon of advocacy and invention, promoting the
cultural, social, health and educational
benets of football and supporting diversity among those playing the game.
The experiment aims to be instructive. We want to be able to use the lessons from the City of Football project
to inform and inuence the way that
other partners and places approach
this kind of work, says Smith.
Nottingham beat rivals Portsmouth
and Manchester in the bid to become
this football mecca for a year.
Iain Simons, director of the GameCity videogame festival, was invited to
help with the pitch despite, he says,
having spent most of his school years
trying to avoid the game.
I dont even like football, he says.
But it was exciting to get the chance
to work with a group of people from a
culture I had little experience of and
knew next to nothing about. I ended
up being hugely personally committed
to the bid for reasons that I still dont
fully understand.
Simons was, in fact, instrumental to
Nottinghams success. I think Nottingham got the bid because of the
creativity of their approach, says Viv
Anderson, the former England player
who is the City of Footballs ambassador. The idea of inventing different
ways of playing the game is appealing.
It gets people interacting in new ways,
and even debating.
Indeed, Simons idea to use the
GameCity festival as a platform to invite designers to redesign the game
resonates with a wider trend in the
sport, where modications to the usual 11-a-side, 90-minute match have,
in many cases, become more popular
than the vanilla game.
Five and six-a-side football is now
the preferred form of the game for
more than 50% of men and women.
His decision to predominantly use
videogame designers to mess with the
rules was also key. These are the people, Simons believes, who are better
equipped than any to apply their skills
of playtesting and iterative design to
a centuries-old sport.
While the basic rules of professional
football have remained unchanged for
more than 100 years, the game has

nevertheless shifted shape dramatically over the centuries.

Football has numerous source
points, including Cuju in ancient China, Kemari in Japan and Episkyros in
ancient Greece, each of which had its
own distinct rules.
Nevertheless, the earliest description of football played in England, offered by Thomas Beckets biographer
William FitzStephen in the 12th century, has the ring of familiarity. After lunch all the youth of the city go
out into the elds to take part in a ball
game, he writes. The students of each
school have their own ball; the workers
from each city craft are also carrying
their balls. Older citizens, fathers, and
wealthy citizens come on horseback to
watch their juniors competing, and to
relive their own youth, vicariously.
The ambiance surrounding contemporary football stretches back to Tudor
times, then. But the game of historical English football itself was deadly.
In the 16th century, more people died
playing football than any other sport
apart from archery.
Mob football, as the game was sometimes known at the time, often involved an
unlimited number of players (base characters, as the Earl of Kent puts it in Shakespeares King Lear), who would punch and
trample one another in search of a winning
strike. The chaotic game eventually split
and formalised into football and rugby. Today, aside from a few, notable violent clashes on the field, contemporary football is a
much more formal, cleaner game. (For one
thing, the ball is neither made from an animals bladder nor, mercifully, an executed
criminals head.)
While football has long ago settled
into an orthodoxy, many rival team
sports continue to be tweaked and
changed to suit the times.
Twenty20 cricket, for example,
which was introduced in 2003 by the
England and Wales Cricket Board, limits each side to a single innings of no
more than 20 overs. These restrictions
(and what is a game, if not a mesh of
interesting restrictions?) make it more
opportune to our schedules and, perhaps, more legible for newcomers.
Rugby, meanwhile, has seen its rules
tweaked endlessly throughout the
games history. The original rules, for

example, stipulated that touching the

ball down over the line did not score
points. Instead, it presented the opportunity to try for a goal by kicking
the ball between the goal posts. The
values allotted to tries and penalties
were only settled in 1992.
Sport England itself has had some
success twisting the rules of familiar
sports in order to increase participation among young people.
After the Lawn Tennis Association
lost some of its funding in April 2014
after failing to meet targets, Sport England invited local authorities to submit
proposals for nding alternative ways
to get young people involved in tennis. Cheshire West and Chester council
won the bid with the idea for a project
dubbed Tennis Havoc.
A huge number of people participated
in playing the variant pop-up tennis
game, which uses scaled-down nets
and rackets, and lower-density foam
balls. The organisers found that, in the
spirit of playfulness, many participants
even ended up devising their own scoring and rules for the game, including
football tennis, which involved kicking the ball back and forth over the net.
Pop-up tennis is unlikely to bother
Wimbledons trimmed lawns any time
soon, but every popular sport has gone
through a similar nascent phase, where
the rules are tweaked before they settle. According to Smith, more than
1,000 young people became active
as a result of the programme, many of
whom have since been trained to become organisers and coaches.
Part of the challenge for any designer hoping to establish a folk variant of a
popular sport is ensuring that it retains
some essential spirit of the real thing.
Move too far away from the source
material and, at some point, you are no
longer hockey on horses, youre polo.
Stay close enough together and youre
Rugby League and Rugby Union. You
may have irreconcilable differences,
but like it or not, youre also yoked by
a name and family likeness.
Subtle changes appear to be the
most valuable in establishing the popularity of a variant. While Frogball was
mesmerising, it was Ricky Haggetts
Go Wide that proved the most popular
game at GameCity.

People saw the pitch, recognised

the elements of it, and then seeing the
single goal in the centre made them
gently curious, says Simons. It was a
subtle rearrangement of the game that
was easily accessible for teams to pick
up and play themselves.
Haggett, says that by the end of the
rst day he had pretty much forgotten that he wasnt watching normal
football: At this point, the teams were
really comfortable with the rules and
had started employing some deeper
strategic play.
It was clear from listening to the way
they explained the rules to new players that they totally got how Go Wide
works, and why it was interesting. One
guy told me that theyd probably give it
a go at his club training session. That
felt like a strong endorsement.
Holly Gramazio, who designs
games for public spaces and hosted
the weekly matches, agrees: I think
Go Wide proved especially popular
because the layout of the pitch enforces its new rules. You simply cant play
traditional football when the goal is in
the middle of the eld.
For Gramazio, the experiment was
a clear success. I wasnt prepared for
how easy it would be to get people involved, she says, noting that convincing the public to play her games is often
the hardest part of the job. I think its
because people love football. And people love trying out different versions of
familiar games. Everyone understands
the basic rules, so even the variants are
quite welcoming.
Those variants are currently being
collated, and will be shared with local
schools and sports clubs.
The idea was very much that this
is a starting point in the life of these
games, says Simons. Its critical
that the games arent just for that
week, thoughtheyre a gift for people to play for as long as they want
to.
For Haggett, however, the most enduring games are not those with a single
author, but the ones that change and
grow. Any enduring sport requires a
special combination of simplicity and
exibility, he says. But really, does
anyone invent these folk variants, or
do they kind of coalesce over time?

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

SPORT
TENNIS

Its Djoko vs Murray

in Paris Masters final
Djokovic extends his match-winning streak to 21 after his defeat to Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka
Serbia's Novak Djokovic will meet
Britain's Andy Murray (left) in the
Paris Masters final today. (AFP)

AFP
Paris

ovak Djokovic extended his

win streak to 21 at the Paris
Masters yesterday, defeating Switzerland's Stan
Wawrinka 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 to storm
into the nal where he will meet
world number three Andy Murray, who earlier reached his maiden
Paris nal when he outpaced Spanish eighth seed David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3
despite a few off moments.
The British second seed lost his
focus at times but eventually had
more in store than the 2012 Bercy
champion to set up a showdwon with
world number one Djokovic.
Murray got off to a dream start,
breaking to love in the rst game. It
spurred Ferrer into action and the
Spaniard levelled for 3-3 when two
unforced errors gave him a break in

the sixth game. In a see-saw opening set, Ferrer set up four more break
points in the eighth game but Murray saved them and went on to steal
his opponents serve as the Spaniard
made a string of unforced errors.
The Scot nished a superb exchange
at the net with a ne sliced lob to set
up two set points. On the rst one,
Ferrer netted a routine backhand. The
Spaniard stayed focused, however,
and raced to a 3-1 lead in the second.
But double Grand Slam champion
Murray discovered his range again,
nding gravity-defying angles to
win ve games in a row, wrapping up
the victory on his rst match point
when Ferrer netted a drop shot.
On Friday, Djokovic beat Tomas
Berdych 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/8) to
reach the semi-nals.
Murray and Ferrer also made it
through to the last four in the bottom half of the draw on a day of
marathon clashes, but Rafael Nadal

crashed out to Wawrinka.

The straight sets victory for Djokovic also meant that he has now won
28 sets in a rowthe best run of his
careerdating back to the US Open
nal in early September.
But he had a battle on his hands
against fth-seeded Berdych, a winner in Paris 10 years ago when he was
just 20. Neither player could manage
a break of serve, the rst time that has
happened to Djokovic in 680 career
wins, according to ATP statistics.
It was decided in tiebreaks two
times, and very few points, really, decided a winner today, Djokovic said.
Could have gone a different way. He
had set point in the rst set, as well. In
the important moments, I just managed
to hang in there, you know, just stay
tough. Thats what Im most proud of.
Despite having lost all 16 of their
previous hardcourt matchups, the
towering Czech had the better of the
rst set behind a powerful display of

serving and forehand blockbusters.

Berdych kept his nose in front and
his chance came with a set point at
6-5 up only for Djokovic, the top
seed and defending champion, to
produce a big rst serve and a forehand winner off the blocked return.
The tie-break, however, was
dominated by the Serb winning four
of the rst ve points to take control.
Serves again dominated in the second set with both men holding rm to
bring up a second straight tie-break
which Djokovic edged 10/8 despite
Berdych having another set point.
Wawrinka sent Nadal packing 7-6
(10/8), 7-6 (9/7), the Swiss having
defeated Djokovic the last time the
two men met in Paris in the French
Open nal in June. That defeat prevented Djokovic from accomplishing
the fabled calendar year Grand Slam
which only two menRod Laver and
Don Budgehave ever achieved before. He won the Australian and US

IAAF scandal
worse than
FIFA, says
report author

he scale of doping corruption

and money-laundering within
athletics dwarfs the financial
scandals engulfing FIFA, according to the author of a new wide-ranging
report into track and field backed by the
World Anti-Doping Agency.
An independent commission set up
by WADA is due to publish its findings
tomorrow and report co-author Richard
McLaren told the BBC: This is going to
be a real game-changer for sport.
Whereas the scandal involving
FIFA, footballs global governing body,
revolves around corruption allegations involved in the awarding of World
Cups, McLarenan international sports
lawyersaid the issues confronting
athletics were even more serious as
they involved claims that actual results
had been manipulated.
You potentially have a bunch of
old men who put a whole lot of extra
money in their pocketsthrough extortion and bribesbut also caused significant changes to actual results and
final standings of international athletics
competitions.
McLarens comments came at the
end of a turbulent week for the International Association of Athletics Federations, track and fields global governing body, which cancelled its annual
awards gala on Friday.
Given the cloud that hangs over our
association this is clearly not the time
for the global athletics family to be
gathering in celebration of our sport,
IAAF president Sebastian Coe said in
a bluntly-worded statement that also
promised tougher financial controls.
The IAAF also opened disciplinary
proceedings against the son of former
president Lamine Diack (pic) and
three others including the world bodys
former treasurer and ex-doping chief.
That move in turn came just two
days after Lamine Diack was charged
by French police with corruption over
suspicions he took bribes to cover up
doping cases.
Coe, a two-time Olympic 1500 metres
gold medallist for Britain, took over as
head of the IAAF from Diack in August,
vowing to clean up the tainted sport.
McLaren was appointed by WADA in
December 2014 to investigate allegations of widespread, systematic doping
and cover-ups in Russia broadcast in a
German television documentary.

Opens as well as Wimbledon.

Murray made the last four of the
Paris indoors for the rst time, but
it needed a marathon effort to see
off the last remaining Frenchman,
Richard Gasquet. The second seed,
who had dropped just four games in
reaching the last eight, was kept hard
at it for two hours 38 minutes before
edging through 7-6 (9/7), 3-6, 6-3.
Five times previously Murray had
fallen in the quarter-nals of the
ATPs regular season nale. I think
the level during the rst set was extremely good, Murray said. After
that it was a little bit up and down.
But I just managed to hang in at the
end after losing the momentum really in the second set.
The win meant that Murray joined
Roger Federer, Nadal and Djokovic as
the only players to reach the seminals or better at all nine of the Masters 1000 Series tournaments during
their career.

FOCUS

Venus, Pliskova to clash for WTA Elite trophy

DPA
Zhuhai, China

Todays WTA Elite Trophy final match to be played in Zhuhai will

be the first career meeting between Karolina Pliskova of Czech
Republic, the 23-year-old world number 13 who won her fourth
career title in Prague earlier this year, and 11th-ranked Venus
Williams (right) of the USA, a seven-time Grand Slam winner. (AFP)

enus Williams and Karolina Pliskova produced

overwhelming
victories
to set up a nal between
two tennis generations at the WTA
Elite Trophy.
Williams, a seven-time Grand
Slam winner, defeated Roberta Vinci
6-2, 6-2 in 45 minutes to take partial
revenge for the Italians upset of her
sister Serena in the recent US Open
semi-nals.
The victory was the 40th this season for the revitalised 35-year-old
Williams, who is heading back to
the top 10 ranking after a ve-year
absence.
Czech standout Pliskova, 23, hammered Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine
6-3, 6-1 to reach today's title match.
Williams will square off in her
78th career nal in a bid for her 48th
trophy.

Vinci goes into the off-season

with a 21-20 record and ranked 43rd,
thanks in part to her nal at the US
Open against compatriot and good
friend Flavia Pennetta.
Williams stepped up her pace after ghting through for a win over
Vinci a month ago in China, winning
Zhuhai match with ease as she broke
six times.
Wow, rst nal here... Im very
honoured to be in the rst nal in
Zhuhai, Williams said. Today
wasnt an easy matchevery game
was really well-contested and she
never gave me any points. Shes had
a great year, I felt like I really earned
the win today.
Williams now stands 5-0 over
Vinci as she won 40 matches for
the first time in a season since
2008.
Chinas been good to me this
year, said Williams, who won a trophy in the country in Wuhan last
month. I played well in Wuhan, and
now another nal here in Zhuhai. I

hope I can win one more match. It

wont be easy - Im looking forward
to it.
Pliskova, ranked 13th, beat Svitolina with six aces and four breaks
of serve as she reached her second nal this season after winning Prague
in April.
The Elite Trophy is designed for
year-end nishers between ninth
and 19th, with a Chinese wild card
thrown into the mix.
Todays nal will be the rst career
meeting between 11th-ranked Williams and Pliskova, the 23-year-old
world number 13 who won her fourth
career title in Prague this year.
Williams has not collected three
titles in a season since 2008, the year
she last won a Grand Slam tournament when she triumphed for a fth
time at Wimbledon.
The WTA Elite Trophy is a new
event with a eld of 12 and intended
as a second-tier version of the eightplayer WTA Finals, which was won
last week by Agnieszka Radwanska.

10

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

GOLF
SPOTLIGHT

Twenty-year-old Li on the brink of global glory

AFP
Shanghai

i Haotong at just 20 years old

has a chance to do something
that just a few years ago would
have been unthinkablewin
one of golfs biggest events for China.
Li is just one shot behind the leader Kevin Kisner in the WGC-HSBC
Champions in Shanghai after a six-under par 66 in the third round yesterday
took him to 15-under partwo shots
ahead of Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth, who just happens
to be about the best player on the planet right now.
He will likely play with world
number eight Dustin Johnson in the
nal round today as they compete
for the massive $1.4 million winners
cheque and the Old Tom Morris trophyone of the most prestigious outside a major championship.
The Shanghai-based Li has had the
HSBC Champions coursing through
his veins from a young age.
The tournament was founded in 2005
when Li was just 10 years old and he participated in its junior golf programme,
which enabled him to be inspired by
watching legends such as Tiger Woods,

Castro takes
four-shot lead
Roberto Castro was stung by a
bee at the fifth hole but an eagle
three holes later eased his pain
as he vaulted to a four-shot lead
at the weather-hit Sanderson
Farms Championship in Mississippi. Castro holed out his
second shot from 122 yards at
the par-four eighth on his way to
a five-under-par 67 at the soggy
Country Club of Jackson, where
players were allowed preferred
lies. At 15-under 129, he had a
four-stroke lead when play was
halted in the late afternoon due
to lightning, with 45 players yet
to start the second round.
Next behind Castro in the clubhouse at 11-under was American
Bryce Molder, who followed his
opening 64 with a 69. Also on
11-under were Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas, who was five-under
for the day through 16 holes, and
American D.J. Trahan, six-under
through 16.

Korean Shin
shines in Japan
South Koreas Jenny Shin shot
a blemish-free 65 to snatch the
lead after the second round of
the TOTO Japan Classic yesterday. A birdie on the first hole
set the tone for the 23-year-old,
who reached the clubhouse on
a 13-under-par total of 131 in Mie
prefecture, western Japan. Shin
goes into todays final round one
stroke clear of countrywoman
Kim Ha-Neul, who returned a 66.
I didnt make any mistakes
out there, said fifth-year pro
Shin, who is chasing a first LPGA
Tour victory. The Seoul native
has had 16 top-10 finishes and
lost in a playoff to American Angela Stanford at the 2012 HSBC
Womens Championship.
Joint overnight leader Stanford finished the middle day tied
for third two shots back after a
68 alongside Korean Ahn Sun-Ju
(65) and Thailands Pornanong
Phatlum (66). Twice TOTO champion Jiyai Shin of South Korea
fired a 68 to finish the day four
strokes adrift to remain in the
hunt for a third title of the year.

Chiragh clings on
to narrow lead
Indias Chiragh Kumar admitted
he was all over the place as
he clung to a narrow one-shot
lead at the Panasonic Open India
despite shooting a disappointing
even-par 72 yesterday.
Starting the day with a threestroke lead, Kumar double-bogeyed the first hole and dropped
three more shots on the back
nine but he also holed five birdies to lie one ahead of Siddikur
Rahman.
Right now, Im glad the round
is over. The way I was playing, Im
happy with the score I came back
with, said the Indian, 31, whose
aggregate is 11-under 205 after
rounds of 67, 66 and 72. I was all
over the place today. Im not disappointed, Ill take it as a positive,
he added, according to comments
released by the Asian Tour.
Bangladeshs Siddikur, a onetime winner at Delhi Golf Club,
birdied the last hole to card 68,
one shot behind Kumar, with
Chikka S and Zamal Hossain another two back on eight-under.

Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy at

Sheshan International Golf Club.
This tournament is so big - its too
big, Li said smiling, as he tried to take
in the enormity of what he was achieving in front of thousands of enraptured
home-town fans.
I know that the nal day, a lot of
people are going to be hitting a lot of
birdies. But thats why I thought that
my target, my goal of this tournament
would be making the top 10, because
making the top 10 will already be a
highlight and a milestone for my short
career, he added.
Li should not be surprised that he
can compete with the worlds best.
In fact, he seems to be inspired all the
more when he plays with the games
global superstars.
In April this year, in the European
Tours Shenzhen International in
southern China, he teed up alongside
world number four and double US
Masters champion Bubba Watson for
the rst three rounds.
He didnt on the fourth day because
by then he had outplayed the big-hitting lefty and was leading the event.
Li eventually lost a playoff to Thailands Kiradech Aphibarnrat. So could
he get over the winning line this time?
I dont think so, he said, laughing.

WGC-HSBC CHAMPIONS

Spieth storms up
WGC leaderboard
with flawless 63
I missed four putts inside eight feet today and thats not normal. So what could
have been and what it was, both are special. Im not going to complain about the
round but I felt like the way I played could have been 10 or 11 (under) for sure

AFP
Shanghai

orld number two

Jordan
Spieth
red the round of
the day, a awless
nine-under 63, to climb into
contention at the World Golf
Championships-HSBC Champions yesterday.
The 22-year-old American
had nine birdies and no bogeys
to storm up the leaderboard from
27th to a share of fth place,
three shots behind leader Kevin
Kisner. Weather delays due to
rain and thunder in the morning meant two players of the
last three-ball group nished in
almost total darkness after the
5:02pm sunset time at Sheshan
International Golf Club.
The third member of the
group, Scotlands Russell Knox,
exercised his right not to tee off
on 18 in the gloom and will have
to come back today morning to
complete his third round.
Overnight leader Kevin Kisner saw his lead whittled to one
stroke after a 70 took him to
16-under par.
One shot behind are Knox, the
2013 winner here Dustin Johnson
and Chinas young Li Haotong
who for the third day running
showed he could compete with
the cream of world golf by shooting a six-under 66.
Spieth, starting his third round
10 strokes behind Kisner, moved
into contention by collecting
eight birdies through 15 holes to
move to 12-under par. He missed
a 15-foot eagle putt at 18th for a
62, but still signed for a nine-under 63 and a 13-under total.

Masters and US Open champion Spieth said it could have

been even better as he missed
four shortish birdie putts that,
had they all dropped, would
have seen the 22-year-old post
a 59an almost mythical score
achieved only six times in PGA
Tour history.
I missed four putts inside eight
feet today and thats not normal,
Spieth said. So what could have
been and what it was, both are
special. Im not going to complain
about the round but I felt like the
way I played could have been 10 or
11 (under) for sure.
Spieth said his best shot had
been his approach to set up a
two-foot birdie putt at the long
par-four 15th. I loved my shot
into 15, added the young Texan.
I hit just a laser six-iron right at
it and it stuck.
Meanwhile, local 20-year-old
hero Li was off to an electrifying
start for the third day running,
pouring in four straight birdies
including putts of 20 and 25 feet at
the rst and fourth before a bogey
at the fth arrested his charge.
Kisner had just 24 putts in his
66 on Friday, but dropped little
yesterday until he went the direct route and chipped in at 15.
He followed with a birdie at the
short par four 16th to grab the
clubhouse lead.
Former world number one
Rory McIlroy, hit by food poisoning earlier in the week,
started the day level with Spieth but his 68 left the four-time
major champion eight shots off
the lead. I gave myself a lot of
chances, but again, I didnt really
make anything on the greens,
said McIlroy. That 68 really felt
like a 73 or a 74.

But if he plays as he did here Saturday,

he might just.
He reeled off four straight birdies to
start his round and stayed composed
throughout even with the intimidating
gure of Spieth charging up the leaderboard with a best of the day nineunder 63.
Ten years ago when HSBC founded
the Champions tournament there were
fewer than 100 golf courses in this vast
nation.
If anyone wants to see just how far
golf in China has come over the last
decade, then look at the leaderboard,
Giles Morgan, HSBC global head of
sponsorship and events, told AFP.
Its an incredible story. Li Haotong is one of our own. He graduated
through the ranks of the HSBC China
Junior Golf Program.
Just recently I said our dream was
to have a Chinese player at the top of
the leaderboard at the HSBC Champions here in China in ve yearsand
now it has happened so soon.
Lis said he would go out on Sunday
and just try to play his natural game
and let fate take care of the rest.
If its destined for me to do something good, you cannot stop it, Li said.
So what I will try to do is my best tomorrow and see how things go.

Knox happy
with walk-off

cotlands Russell Knox

defended his decision
to go it alone and not
complete his third round of the
World Golf ChampionshipsHSBC Champions in Shanghai
yesterday due to darkness.
Playing partners Kevin Kisner, who leads the tournament
on 16-under par, and Branden
Grace decided to finish their
rounds despite the gloom after
two weather delays. But Knox
opted to walk away from the
18th tee and come back the
next day as is within his rights
after officials had deemed the
light too dark to play.
Our group spoke on the 17th
tee, said Knox who stands one
stroke behind leader Kisner.
The trio all played the 17th but
on the long par-five 18th, Knox
decided he had had enough.
Branden and Kevin wanted
to get done and it was into the
wind. I was like maybe Ill just
wait until the morning and see
if I can catch it downwind or
no wind. I was happy with my
decision, said Knox.
My caddie didnt want me to
play the last and I think, all in
all, they maybe shouldnt have.
But they got away with a birdie
and a par, so good on them.
It means the American-based
world number 85 will go out
at 7:45 am today to play one
hole before waiting some three
hours to begin his final round in
the $8.5 million tournament at
Sheshan International Golf Club.
Im going to have to wake
up a lot earlier, starting at 7.45
am and I wont tee off the final
round until probably 10.45am.
It will be a multiple breakfast
day tomorrow, said Knox.
The 30-year-old from Inverness has a previous best finish
of third on the US PGA Tour.
Today he will play for the $1.4
million first prize which would
be by far the biggest pay day
of his career.
But he knows he will have
to beat exalted company with
world number two Jordan
Spieth three off the lead after a
superb 63 got him to 13-under
par and former champion and
world number eight Dustin
Johnson right in contention on
15-under.
Its going to take the best
round of my life tomorrow, so
Im going to have to go for it,
said Knox. Pars are not going
to win this tournament. Im
going to shoot at the pin. Cant
wait for a crack at it.

Gulf Times
Sunday, November 8, 2015

11

SPORT
MOTO GP

CRICKET

Lorenzo edges towards

title with record pole
Championship leader Valentino Rossi forced to start from the back of the grid

AFP
Pallekele

AFP
Valencia

pains Jorge Lorenzo stormed to pole position in a circuit record time for todays
decisive Valencia Grand Prix to boost his
chances of claiming a third MotoGP world
championship.
Lorenzo smashed defending world champion
Marc Marquezs previous track record by over two
tenths of a second to claim his fth pole of the
season in 1min 30.011sec. Marquez and his Honda
team-mate Dani Pedrosa complete the front row
with championship leader Valentino Rossi forced
to start from the back of the grid as punishment
for kicking Marquez off his bike at the Malaysian
Grand Prix two weeks ago.
However, despite not needing to register a qualifying time, Rossi still endured a tough session as
he came ying off his bike into the gravel track.
Thankfully, Rossi was able to walk away from the
crash as he prepares for an assault on a 10th world
title in all categories of motorcycling.
Lorenzo trails Rossi by just seven points in the
championship standings, meaning the Italian will
need to nish second to deny his Yahama teammate if Lorenzo wins the race. And Lorenzo hailed
his qualifying lap as the best of his career as he attempts to add to the titles he won in 2010 and 2012.
Without doubt the best lap of my life, he said.
I could try to repeat it 20, 25, or 30 times and it
wouldnt go so well. It was perfect. I am very happy, above all because it puts us in a good position
for tomorrow. It is important to make a good start
and try to get away from the Hondas.
Marquez had posted the best time of the weekend on his rst qualifying lap despite, by his own
admission, committing a minor error. However, he
acknowledged that it would have been hard to deny
Lorenzo even with a perfect lap.
With the rst tyres I made an error, even
though it ended up being my best lap. It could have
been even better, but looking at Jorges time, Im
not sure it could have been that much better.
All eyes will be on whether Marquez is able to
pursue Lorenzo after his controversial clash with
Rossi a fortnight ago. The bad blood between the
two started when Rossi accused Marquez of conspiring against him to help Lorenzo land the title at
the Australian Grand Prix last month.
Rossi then said Marquez had made me lose the
championship when he was slapped with starting from the back of the grid after their clash in
Sepang. However, Marquez insisted he will be going for his sixth race victory of the season today.
We have had a good Saturday overall in terms
of the rhythm and number of laps we have done,
he said. We will try to be attentive to Jorge so that
he doesnt escape and then we can ght for the win
towards the end of the race.
Rossi has the unenviable task of hauling himself
through the eld and then hoping for a slip from
Lorenzo or that the Hondas do him a favour. The

VALENCIA GRAND PRIX GRIDS

MotoGP: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) 1min 30.011,

AL-KHAYAT EMERGES KING OF

DRIFT AT RED BULL EVENT
Doha: Mohammad al-Khayat was crowned
Qatars King of Drift after clinching the title at
the Red Bull Car Park Drift 2015.
Doha witnessed an unforgettable furious
night full of roaring engines and tires smoke
at Losail International Circuit. Under the
patronage of Qatar Motor and Motorcycle
Federation (QMMF) and the supervision of
legendary drifter, Abdo Feghali, the night to
remember marked a thrilling return of the
Championship to Qatar after a break of five
years. A record number of 6,000 spectators
witnessed 10 drifters, who demonstrated
their skills. Al-Khayat scored 367 points and
impressed the four judges. He has now two
weeks to get ready for Dubai, where he will
represent Qatar at the Middle-East drifting
championship at Red Bull Car Park Drift Final
2015 on November 20.
Competition was close between the 10
drifters, and an unexpected number of 6,000
spectators gathered to witness unprecedented drifting action, reflecting exceptional skills
and technique in a safe environment.
Al-Khayat, driving a BMW 325, showed a
consistent level across all runs. His final run
was near perfect ensuring a clean and tidy
pass and making no contact with the cones.

Movistar Yamahas Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo celebrates his pole

position after the MotoGP qualifying session at the Valencia Grand Prix
at Ricardo Tormo racetrack in Cheste, near Valencia yesterday. (AFP)

36-year-old hasnt landed the title since 2009, but

insists he has to let his experience rule his desire
to equal compatriot Giacomo Agostinis record of
eight premier category world titles.
Unfortunately it will depend on a lot of things.
There are a lot of strong riders, so my pace is very
important, he said. Thirty laps is a lot. I have to
start well and take the right risks, but I cant overdo
it. I need to concentrate on my rhythm and then see
where those in front of me are.

The second place went to Ahmad Allouh,

driving a BMW 316, with 277 points while
Abdelrahman Fakhroo rounded the podium
scoring 235 points on his Nissan Skyline.
Nasser Khalifa al-Attiyah, QMMF President,
gave away the trophies.
I am extremely happy and proud of this
achievement. Drifting is my passion! Thank
you Red Bull, thank you QMMF for the opportunity to represent my country Qatar in
the Finals. I am really looking forward to this
said the al-Khayat.
The judging panel consisted of Paul Fadel
(Motorsports expert), Mohamed Abu Issa
(Red Bull Athlete, Qatari Dakar quad rider),
Abdulla al-Hajaj (QMMF Official) and Elie
Semaan (Clerk of the Course at QMMF).The
process was based on drifting skills as a
major criterion, in addition to car look and
design, clipping point, car sound, tire smoke,
and the box. Abdo Feghali, who holds Guinness World Record for the longest vehicle
drift said: Red Bull Car Park Drift is back to
Doha and this gives us a great excitement.
The level of drifters in this country and the
interest in this activity are remarkable and we
really aim through this competition to make
champions out of drifters amateurs.

Mohammad al-Khayat (centre) will

represent Qatar at the Middle-East
drifting championship at Red Bull Car
Park Drift Final 2015 on November 20.

2. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 0.488, 3. Dani Pedrosa

(ESP/Honda) 0.505, 4. Alex Espargaro (ESP/Suzuki)
0.906, 5. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Honda) 0.937, 6. Bradley
Smith (GBR/Yamaha) 1.001, 7. Andrea Iannone (ITA/
Ducati) 1.045, 8. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Yamaha) 1.069,
9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 1.234, 10. Danilo
Petrucci (ITA/Ducati) 1.281, 11. Maverick Vinales (ESP/
Suzuki) 1.329, 12. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 1.460
Moto2: 1. Tito Rabat (ESP/Kalex) 1min 35.234 sec, 2.
Johann Zarco (FRA/Kalex) at 0.138, 3. Alex Rins (ESP/
Kalex) 0.207, 4. Thomas Luthi (SUI/Kalex) 0.298, 5.
Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA/Kalex) 0.460, 6. Julian Simon
(ESP/Speed Up) 0.494, 7. Axel Pons (ESP/Kalex) 0.518,

Sri Lanka
beat West
Indies to
pocket
series 3-0

8. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Kalex) 0.552, 9. Simone

Corsi (ITA/Kalex) 0.662, 10. Sam Lowes (GBR/Speed
Up) 0.696, 11. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Kalex) 0.701, 12.
Luis Salom (ESP/Kalex) 0.802
Moto3: 1. John McPhee (GBR/Honda) 1min 39.364, 2.
Romano Fenati (ITA/KTM) at 0.086, 3. Efren Vazquez
(ESP/Honda) 0.099, 4. Miguel Oliveira (POR/Ktm) 0.139,
5. Jorge Navarro (ESP/Honda) 0.161, 6. Enea Bastianini
(ITA/Honda) 0.217, 7. Niccolo Antonelli (ITA/Honda)
0.227, 8. Karel Hanika (CZE/KTM) 0.253, 9. Brad Binder
(RSA/KTM) 0.302, 10. Hiroki Ono (JPN/Honda) 0.304,
11. Fabo Quartararo (FRA/Honda) 0.322, 12. Jakub
Kornfeil (CZE/KTM)0.399

n unbeaten century by
Marlon Samuels went
in vain as Sri Lanka defeated the West Indies
by 19 runs yesterday to sweep
the three-match one-day international series 3-0.
Set a revised DuckworthLewis target of 190 off 36 overs
after a rain interruption, the
hosts were 180-5 from 32.3 overs
when it started drizzling again
and umpires decided to call off
play with three overs remaining.
The in-form Kusal Perera gave
the hosts a ying start, hitting a
quickre 50 off 47 balls before
useful knocks by the middle order batsmen ensured a comfortable victory in the end.
Earlier, Samuels smashed an
unbeaten 110 to guide the West
Indies to a competitive 206-9.
Samuels, 34, anchored the
innings with his 95-ball knock,
hitting one six and 15 fours in the
day-night game.
The visitors, who lost the rst
two ODIs, were off to a disastrous start after being put in to
bat at the Pallekele stadium.
Paceman Lasith Malinga (2-43)
tasted success in the rst over,
having opener Johnson Charles
caught off the fourth ball by
Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Andre Fletcher (six) was
trapped leg before off Suranga
Lakmal while Dilshan took another catch off Malinga to send
back Jermaine Blackwood.
Denesh Ramdin lobbed a short
ball from Dushmantha Chameera to wicketkeeper Perera
who lunged forward to complete
a neat catch and leave West Indies reeling at 18-4.
Samuels then rebuilt the innings almost single-handedly,
reaching his second successive
half-century and ninth ODI ton
in the process. Sri Lanka had
swept the preceding Test series
2-0.
BRIEF SCORES:
West Indies 206 for 9 in 36 overs
(M. Samuels 110 not out, J. Holder
19; Malinga 2-43, Lakmal 2-40,
Chameera 2-39, Mendis 2-51) lost to
Sri Lanka 180 for 5 in 32.3 overs
(K. Perera 50, Chandimal 23,
A. Mathews 27 not out; Holder
2-44) by 19 runs under D/L method.

FOCUS

De Vido wins second round of

the Qatar Challenge in Losail
By Sports Reporter
Doha

eter De Vido won the second round of

the Qatar Challenge on Friday at Losail
International Circuit. De Vido, who
had qualied third in the Qualifying
session, took the lead from the start of the race
until the checkered ag.
It was a very good race but it was a little
bit tough as still it is a bit hot and humid but
it was fantastic. The car was absolutely perfect
so no complaints. I want to thank to Quanto
Bello Qatar Racing team for their effort, said
De Vido.
The defending champion and current leader
Mark Holroyd was in pole position, but on the
formation lap he had a problem with his battery and had to start from the back of the grid.
He managed to nish in second place.
In the qualifying I was on pole position.
But just I came on to the formation lap the
car died twice, all the lights went out. I managed to pump start the car, get it running and I
thought it was the ignition but unfortunately it
was the battery, so I had to start from the back.
I couldnt expect to do it better than this, starting from the last and nished in second place.
Peter did not make a single mistake, Holroyd
said.
The third place went to Tim Stevens. It was
a great race. It is great to be on the podium. I
had a disaster qualifying but we managed to
solve some issues for the race, stated Stevens.
Holroyd is leading the championship after
round two with 25 points followed by de Vido
with 20 points. Trophies were given by Mohamed Saad al-Morraikhi, QMMF General
Secretary.

MISHAL AL-NAIMI TAKES THE POLE FOR

THE QATAR SUPERBIKE R3
Qatars Mishal al-Naimi got the pole position in the third round of the Qatar Superbike
with a lap time of 2:01.868. I am happy with

Winner Peter De Vido (centre), runner-up Mark Holroyd (left) and Tim Stevens, who finished
third, in the second round of the Qatar Challenge on Friday at Losail International Circuit.
the pole position. I tried to make a good set up
but I could not. I still have a problem with the
bike, said al-Naimi.
The leader of the championship, Alex Cudlin
made the second best time, 2:01.966 and Saeed
al-Sulaiti was third. For al-Sulaiti, this will be
his rst time that he will start from the front row.

In the Qatar Supersport Championship,

the pole position went to Saudi Arabian
rider Abdul Aziz bin Ladin, followed by Fahid al-Sowaidi and Ahmed al-Muyini. The
best qualified women was the Serbian rider
Manca Katrasnik, who ended in the seventh
position overall.

Sunday, Novemeber 8, 2015

SPORT

GULF TIMES
SPOTLIGHT

Al-Attiyah equals Ben Sulayems

MERC record with Oman victory
Al-Kuwari finishes second to make it 1-2 for Qatar; Abu Dhabi Racings al-Qassimi took third spot
By Sports Reporter
Muscat

asser Saleh al-Attiyah has equalled

one of the longest standing records in
world motor sport. A comfortable victory in the 23rd Oman International
Rally yesterday earned the Qatari sports icon
a 60th rally win in the FIA Middle East Rally
Championship, which meant that he drew level
with the number of wins recorded by Dubais
Mohammed Ben Sulayem between 1984 and
2002. Al-Attiyah, partnered by French co-driver Matthieu Baumel and driving a Ford Fiesta
RRC, eased his pace over the nal six gravel special stages to record victory by a margin of 48.5
seconds. But it was a comprehensive fth win
in Oman nonetheless for the recently crowned
11-time regional champion and topped an extraordinary season where he has also won the
Dakar Rally, the WRC 2 Championship and the
FIA World Cup.
I made a big gap yesterday and decided to
ease my pace today to avoid taking any risks,
said al-Attiyah. The stages today were much
rougher and one puncture could have been very
costly. Its fantastic to win here over such testing
and scenic special stages. The win is certainly a
milestone and what a perfect nish to the season
it could be if I could go to Dubai and set a new
record of 61 wins.
Qatars Abdulaziz al-Kuwari and British navigator Marshall Clarke pushed on over the nal

day and managed to overhaul Abu Dhabi Racings Sheikh Khalid al-Qassimi to take second
overall and give Qatar a 1-2 nish. The result
also makes al-Kuwari the strong favourite to
nish as runner-up in the championship.
One of the targets for the season was to nish in the top two in the championship for the
sake of my sponsors and supporters and we are
on track to achieve that goal, said al-Kuwari.
It was a good day today for me with four stage
wins and second place is fantastic.
Al-Qassimi complained about suspension issues and was not able to push his Citron DS3
RRC to the limit, but he and Ulsters Chris Patterson rounded off the podium places. Khalid alSuwaidi and Giovanni Bernacchini are preparing
for a full assault at next years ERC and MERC
and they bonded well to nish fourth in their
Ford Fiesta RRC.
Kuwaiti Salah bin Eidan conrmed the Group
N Championship in Oman with Slovenian codriver Vili Oslaj. With the non-appearance of
Edith Weiss and the early retirement of Meshari
al-Thari, it was a formality for the delighted
Kuwaiti driver, who reached the nish in fth
overall, despite losing several minutes on the
penultimate stage.
Emirati driver Mansoor Bel Helai headed Abu
Dhabi Racing teammate Saeed Bintowq in the
two-wheel drive contest. The Citron DS3 R3T
drivers reached the nish ramp in sixth and seventh overall.
Saif al-Harthy and Salim al-Abri were the
leading Omani duo in eighth, despite losing over

Qatar's Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah on the

way to the history books in Oman.

Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah was

partnered by French co-driver
Matthieu Baumel.
24 minutes two stages from the end. Qatars
Rashid al-Naimi and Italian co-driver Nicola
Arena nished ninth and the second local team
of Hamid al-Qasmi and Mohammed al-Mazroi
rounded off the top 10 after losing ninth place on
the penultimate stage.

POSITIONS AFTER SS13

1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel
(FRA) Ford Fiesta RRC (2hr 28min 00.5 seconds)
2. Abdulaziz al-Kuwari (QAT)/Marshall Clarke (GBR)
Ford Fiesta RRC (2hr 28min 49.0)

3. Khalid al-Qassimi (ARE)/Chris Patterson (GBR)

Citron DS3 RRC (2hr 29min 24.6)
4. Khalid al-Suwaidi (QAT)/Giovanni Bernacchini
(ITA) Ford Fiesta RRC (2hr 35min 07.2)
5. Salah bin Eidan (KWT)/Vili Oslaj (SVN) Mitsubishi
Lancer Evo X (3hr 03min 21.5)
6. Mansoor Bel Helai (ARE)/Khalid al-Kendi (ARE)
Citron DS3 R3T (3hr 05min 48.0)
7. Saeed Bintowq (ARE)/Allan Harryman (GBR)
Citron DS3 R3T (3hr 08min 31.8)
8. Saif al-Harthy (OMN)/Salim al-Abry (OMN) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (3hr 26min 12.9)

9. Rashid al-Naimi (QAT)/Nicola Arena (ITA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (3hr 29min 20.9)
10. Hamid al-Qasmi (OMN)/Mohammed al-Mazroi
(OMN) Mitsubishi Evo VIII (3hr 39min 01.0)

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER

ROUND 7
1. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT) 150 pts
2. Abdulaziz al-Kuwari (QAT) 84 pts
3. Khalid al-Qassimi (ARE) 66 pts
4. Khalid al-Suwaidi (QAT) 44 pts
5. Salah bin Eidan (KWT) 36 pts

FOCUS

Gilmour and Bakker triumph at the

Womens Cross Country Selection
By Joe Koraith
Doha

t stake was a fully-funded drive

in the 2016 Sealine Cross Country Rally and so the nervousness in the room was palpable.
Despite having spent ve days tackling
the tough terrain that is the desert, the
18 women seemed to nd the wait more
nerve-wrecking.
The winning driver-navigator pair
was New Zealands Emma Gilmour and
Lisette Bakker from The Netherlands.
And then what came as a complete surprise to the participants, QMMF president Nasser al-Attiyah announced that
two more teams would get entry to the
Sealine Rally. This meant that Molly Taylor/Yasmeen Elmajed and Cristina Gutierrez Herrero/Lara Vanneste were also
selected for next years rally.
This FIA womens cross-country se-

lection event hosted by the QMMF had

received 85 applications from 39 countries out of which these 18 were shortlisted. This inaugural event was conceived jointly by al-Attiyah, President of
the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission Michele Mouton and Jutta Kleinschmidt, the rst and only woman to
win the prestigious Dakar. Kleinschmidt
along with Fabrizia Pons, multiple rally
and cross-country winning navigator
were the ones who mentored contenders
through ve days of intense training.
Mouton acknowledged that all of this
was possible only because of the support
of the QMMF president. We would like
to thank Nasser (al-Attiyah), our biggest
supporter for women in motorsport. The
QMMF has done a lot for these women.
This is an amazing event, fantastically
organised and it wouldnt have happened
without you, said Mouton.
The QMMF president pledged his support for women in motorsport. We are

proud of all of you. QMMF will always

keep supporting women in motorsport.
We would like to think of this as the
start of a ame which will keep burning
brighter. We believe in the ability of the
women, said al-Attiyah.
Mouton said that more and more
women were taking up the sport and that
signs were encouraging. We have more
girls approaching us. When we started
the commission ve years ago we didnt
think we would have the same result. The
goal is to have more women in more areas
of motorsport.
The women who had come for the
event were all experienced campaigners themselves but the desert was a new
experience for most of them and Kleinschmidt summed up the improvement
that this bunch had shown. I remember the rst day after everyone went out
and no car came back for a while. Nasser
and I were standing I front of the screen
hoping that somebody would come back.

But the girls have shown an incredible

learning curve over the ve days. I want
to thank everyone for the discipline
shown, said the Dakar legend. As for the
winners themselves they couldnt quite
contain their emotions. Im just overwhelmed, its been an amazing week and
the experience in itself of doing something in which you have no experience,
and to be driving around sand dunes, has
been amazing, said Gilmour.
Navigator Bakker was happy that she
got the chance to do all the training. I
am really surprised. I didnt expect it at
all! It will be difficult to do more training because, as we learnt here, you cant
learn this from paper, you have to be in
the car and you just have to go out there.
Now the 2016 Sealing beckons and all
the three teams will be eager to comeback
and give it their all. Now to win and to
have another go at the dunes, I just feel
very privileged and lucky, said Gilmour,
summing it up.

Qatar is the first

country to create this
kind of an opportunity
By Joe Koraith
Doha
Judging from the laughter
and smiles and innumerable
thank-yous, the inaugural FIA
Women in Motorsport-QMMF
Womens Cross Country Selection has been a resounding
success. And at the centre of
this, QMMF president Nasser
al-Attiyah, was an extremely
satisfied man.
Qatar is the first country in
the world to create this kind of
an opportunity for women. And
this agreement between us and
the FIA to develop women in
this sport is really the dream
come true for them, al-Attiyah
told Gulf Times.
We opened the door for
them from Qatar, to compete
with men. We are proud of this
project through which we have
been able to show to the world
that in Qatar, both men and
women are equal. And they
have the possibility to compete
together, he added.
The QMMF president was
happy that Qatar was able to
set a precedent. We are always

hoping to create a record and

this is definitely one of them.
We have been able to show the
FIA and the family of motorsport how strong we are in this
field of supporting women in
this sport.
Having been a rally driver
himself, al-Attiyah said he knew
what it meant for these women
to get this kind of a support. I
have been a rally driver before
and I know what these girls
are feeling. Usually theres
not enough opportunity for
women in motorsport because
its a very expensive sport. This
is an amazing moment for me
and I am extremely happy and
proud of them, he said.
He also stressed that this
event wouldnt have been possible without the support of the
Qatar government. The Qatar
government is our biggest supporter. We are all together in
this. This is a good opportunity
of showing Qatar to the world.
I am sure all these girls will
go away with good memories
and experiences in Qatar. This
is how we are showing our
culture in a nice way, said
al-Attiyah.

QMMF president Nasser al-Attiyah presents the trophy to winning

driver-navigator pair New Zealands Emma Gilmour and Lisette
Bakker from The Netherlands.
QMMF president Nasser al-Attiyah (centre) with participatns of the FIA womens Cross-Country Selection event hosted by the QMMF.