Al Hamad completes 12-hour endurance challenge

BUSINESS | 21 SPORT | 34

300 Chinese firms to take part in Made in

China expo

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani with Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi at Al Bahr Palace yesterday. They reviewed cooperation in the field of energy.

Emir meets Eni CEO

Qatar University is the sole national university to which every Qatari

(leadership and people) attribute great appreciation and respect. There is no doubt that the uni-versity has faced, during the recent period a time of admin-istrative sluggishness which has led to delays in effecting impor-tant decisions which might have favoured it by developing its aca-demic standards. The previous administration may have had its own philosophy and thought that led to the delays, but the situation has made it difficult to continue or ignore the neces-sity of substantial change. From here comes the importance of the brave decision taken by the new President of the University Dr. Hassan Al Derham, which has given a number of Qatari fresh faces a chance to play a role in the future of the university.

As a member of the teaching staff of the Mass Media Commu-nication Department, I felt since the appointment of the Presi-dent last year, his sincere desire to make major changes and com-prehensive development to put the university in a leading posi-tion, and the best proof of that is the new ranking of QU as the best Arab university which has made us all proud.

Since his appointment, Dr Al Derham has adhered to sig-nificant administrative principles, including the “open door” pol-icy which may have been lacking before. Thanks to Dr Al Derham whose policy has paved the way for listening and discussing all con-cerns and opinions, regardless of whether he agrees with them or not. This has helped to establish a vision for how to address prob-lems and deficiencies.

The appointments of a number of Qatari young academ-ics will inject new blood into the university administration and improve the quality of education.

Moreover, among his thoughtful initiatives was Dr Hassan’s invitation to the Editors-in-Chief of the Qatar newspapers, for a business dinner to exchange opinions and listen to their views. He was so eloquent during the meeting, and carefully listened to every suggestion that could help him in developing the university.

Furthermore, he formed a number of committees including a committee to review the policy of students’ dismissal conditions and relevant arbitrary decisions taken in the past. The review of this policy has reduced the number of dis-missed students and established a follow up system to address poor achievement problems.

I would like to reiterate that the recent decisions were the outcomes of several discussions and meetings. Thanks again to the President for his thoughtful initiatives, and I wish him suc-cess in his work and his forthright strategic vision in developing our national university.

Dr. Khalid Al-ShafiEditor-in-Chief

OPINION

QU President...

a job well-done

MONDAY 16 MAY 2016 • 9 SHA’BAAN 1437 • Volume 21 • Number 6798 thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar

By Mohammed Osman

The Peninsula

DOHA: No construction material that fails to meet the Qatar Construction Specifica-tions (QCS) will be allowed to enter the country, a senior official of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment said yes-terday.

The ministry will soon start issuing specification certificates for gabbro and limestone in line with the QCS, said Dr Mohammed bin Saif Al Kuwari, Assistant Undersecretary for Laboratories and Spec-ifications at the Ministry.

“All construction products need to have specification certificates from accredited laboratories in the country of origin or international laboratories. Specification certificate is the “passport” for primary

materials entering the country,” said Al Kuwari, addressing a press conference yesterday.

“We are monitoring the entry points and taking samples from imported con-struction materials,” he added.

The Qatar General Organisation for Standardization (QS) at the ministry has asked producers of gabbro, limestone being exported to Qatar to provide their prod-uct profile to check compliance with the specifications.

Dr Al Kuwari said that at the beginning of the implementation of QCS, some con-sidered it as an obstacle causing delays but now it is being appreciated by everyone.

People are becoming more aware about the importance of QCS and the technical regulations. As a result, complaints and vio-lations have significantly reduced since the implementation of the construction code a year ago.

QCS has gained international recog-nition as a reference for arid and humid areas, and the American Society for Test-ing and Materials (ASTM) International put the Qatari construction code at its database making it accessible to more end users, said Al Kuwari.

The specifications also refer to the age of buildings and the quality of construc-tion materials being used, including steel, ready-mix and other.

→ Continued on page 5

Emir’s message to Croatia PresidentZAGREB: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has sent a message to President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, pertain-ing to bilateral relations. Qatar’s envoy to Croatia Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al Thani conveyed the mes-sage to the President.

Paraguay leader greeted

DOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent a cable of greetings to President of the Republic of Paraguay Horacio Cartes on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day.

Quality certificate must for importing building materials

The Peninsula

DOHA: The Paediatrics Emergency Center (PEC) in Al Sadd, run by the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) yesterday introduced a new cashless payment system for all its services.

Cash payments will no longer be accepted at the PEC, with implementation of the new system that has been trialed suc-cessfully for the past three months, HMC said yesterday.

Patients visiting PEC Al Sadd will now need to pay by credit, debit or e-cash card (a new card available from Qatar National Bank for QR20, which can be topped up and used to pay for government services), instead of using cash.

→ Continued on page 4

By Sanaullah Ataullah

The Peninsula

DOHA: A new office opened yester-day at the Hamad General Hospital (HGH) premises offers all services related to repatriation of dead bod-ies or their burial inside the country, under one roof, free of charge.

The Humanitarian Services Office is expected to cut the lengthy procedures for repatriating bodies of people dying in Qatar into few hours.

Director General of Public Secu-rity H E Staff Maj Gen Saad bin Jassim Al Khulaifi opened the office in the presence of senior officials

from other ministries and government departments concerned and repre-sentatives of various embassies and expatriate communities. The office has been set up by the Ministry of Interior in coordination with Ministry of Pub-lic Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hamad Medical Corporation, General Authority of Customs, Qatar Airways, Public Prosecution and other author-ities concerned.

The facility is located exactly behind the Mortuary of Hamad General Hospital and close to HR Department of the HMC and Ritaj Hotel and will remain open seven days a week from 7am to 9pm.

→ Continued on page 4

Qatar set a new Guinness World Record last night for the “Largest Key”, dedicated to all refugees around the world. The gigantic key which symoblises the refugees’ right to return home was unveiled in a spectacular show at the Katara Amphitheatre featuring Palestinian Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf. Pic: Abdul B /The Peninsula → Report on page 5

Qatar sets record with Largest Key

Cashless payment system at

Paediatrics Emergency Center

Repatriation service for

bodies free of charge

The Ministry will soon start issuing specification certificates for gabbro and limestone in line with the Qatar Construction Specifications (QCS).

ese

HOME02 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

The Peninsula & QNA

DOHA: Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday sent a cable of congrat-ulations to Paraguay’s President Horacio Cartes on his country’s Independence Day.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani sent a similar congratulatory cable to President Horacio Cartes.

FM receives message from ThailandDOHA: Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrah-man Al Thani received a message from his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai on relations between the two countries and ways of enhancing them.

The message was received by Assistant Foreign Minister for For-eign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi during a meeting with Thai Ambassador Soonthorn Chaiyindeepum.

Several officials from the For-eign Ministry were present.

Qatar-Portugal ties reviewedLISBON: Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa met Qatari Ambassador to the coun-try, Adel Ali Al Khal, and heads of Arab diplomatic missions. They discussed bilateral relations, ways of enhancing them and matters of common interest.

Charity plans Iftar project in 33 countriesDOHA: Sheikh Eid Charity has announced the Iftar project to be implemented in 33 countries this year, at a cost of about QR14m.

In a statement, the charity said it plans to offer Iftar meals to about one million fasting people in Asia, Africa, Europe and Canada and urged benefactors and phi-lanthropists to support the project.

The charity confirmed its commitment to give priority to cri-ses-hit countries such as Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Palestine and countries such as Sudan, India, Senegal, Somalia, the Philippines, the Maldives, Niger, Indonesia, Benin, Burundi, Thailand, Chad, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Mali, Maurita-nia, Gambia and other countries.

The charity has partnerships with more than 120 international humanitarian organisations that arrange Iftar in these countries.

Ford Edge-Lincoln

MKX 2007-2008

models recalled

DOHA: The Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in collaboration with Almana Motors Company, dealer of Ford vehicles, has announced the recall of Ford Edge — Lincoln MKX 2007-2008 models to inspect the fuel tank for corrosion and conduct repairs.

The ministry said the recall is part of its efforts to protect con-sumers and ensure dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs.

The ministry said it will coor-dinate with the dealer to follow up on maintenance and repairs and communicate with custom-ers to ensure repairs are carried out.

It urged customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department through the call centre: 16001; email: info@mec.gov.qa; Twitter: @MEC_Qatar; Instagram: MEC_Qatar; or the ministry’s mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar.

Greetings sent

to President of

Paraguay

The Peninsula

DOHA: The University of Calgary in Qatar (UCQ) and the Community Col-lege of Qatar (CCQ) have signed an agreement to help improve health-care in the country by creating new paths for students to receive a nurs-ing education.

The agreement focuses on long-term cooperation and was signed between UCQ, Qatar’s only school

of nursing, and CCQ yesterday. It is aimed at establishing a joint

academic education programme to be known as the ‘1+3 collaborative programme.’

The programme will begin with students in their first year of study (Phase 1) at CCQ, during which they will complete such classes as anat-omy, physiology, bioethics and other elective courses as required by the programme.

These classes have been selected and agreed upon by both

institutions and will be awarded full credit at UCQ once students have matriculated.

Students will not be required to take the International English Lan-guage Test (IELTS), as the language of instruction of both universities is English.

Dr Kim Critchley, Dean and CEO, UCQ, said, “UCQ is pleased to be col-laborating with CCQ. This joint effort is part of our objective to promote the nursing field and improve access to a world-class education for everyone

— and this agreement highlights the possibilities for innovative collabo-rations between the two institutions.”

Acceptance into the second year of the study (Phase 2) is based on students’ cumulative GPAs, which are calculated from the 29 credit hours earned while at CCQ, which includes the relevant prerequisites from UCQ. Those students who meet the admissions requirements and receive an acceptance letter will automatically be enrolled as under-graduate students in UCQ’s Bachelor

of Nursing Programme.Professor Ibrahim Al-Naimi,

President, CCQ, said, “This strategic agreement came about as a result of both institutions (CCQ and UCQ) desire to provide continued value to students, by providing them with additional support once they have finished their first year of education. It was only a natural partnership for the two educational establishments in Qatar — it is a winning trade-off for both institutions and of course, the students.”

UCQ and CCQ to start ‘1+3 collaborative programme’ for students

The Peninsula

DOHA: Hamad Bin Khalifa Univer-sity (HBKU), of Qatar Foundation, celebrated the 10th anniversary of ‘LeaderShape’ programme in Edu-cation City’.

The one-week residential lead-ership programme was organised by HBKU and open to students from HBKU and its partner universities in Education City.

A group of 40 students were accepted into the programme after a rigorous selection process.

They spent the week in HBKU’s Housing Complex, learning how to live and lead with integrity.

The initiative was part of Ebda programme, the experience-based leadership development programme of HBKU and Maersk Oil Qatar that

seeks to empower future leaders of the country.

Taking learning outside a tradi-tional classroom setting, students were taught life skills such as time management, working well in teams, and problem-solving under pressure.

Ameena Hussein, Director, HBKU Student Centre, said, “Lead-erShape is a long-standing tradition

in Education City and it is inspira-tional to see this group of 40 young leaders learning to lead with integ-rity as they pursue their personal visions.

“This programme also brings to a close another successful year of the Ebda leadership development programme and we look forward to offering students more innovative programming in the coming year.”

Leadershape is a programme that was originally founded in the US and is now delivered to campuses across the world.

Seeking to foster a healthy disregard for the impossible, the programme was brought to Edu-cation City in 2006 and is now the longest-standing international insti-tute that LeaderShape delivers.

Hissa Al Badr, from Georgetown

Qatar University (GU-Q) who par-ticipated in the programme, said, “I appreciate HBKU opening the LeaderShape programme to stu-dents from across Education City.

“The energy of the community was inspirational and contagious. Learning about what they care about not only recharged my energy, but also motivated me to keep going in achieving my own vision.”

HBKU marks 10th anniversary of ‘LeaderShape’ The one-week residential leadership programme, a long-standing tradition in Education City, was open to students from HBKU and its partner universities.

Participants at the 10th anniversary of ‘LeaderShape’ programme in Education City.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed the first phase of its emergency relief programme for the victims of armed conflict in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq, with $1m funding from Qatar Development Fund.

Over the past three weeks, QRCS personnel in Iraq distributed 6,000 food packages to 36,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Fallujah, Al Anbar, and operated three mobile clinics to offer primary medical care for more than 80 IDPs. In relation to water and sanitation, two tankers are dispatched every day to provide 20,000 people with drinking water over six months, and awareness campaigns are launched to promote personal hygiene and prevent commu-nicable diseases.

With lack of information, QRCS teams conducted needs assessments across Al-Anbar, particularly Fallu-jah, to collect data about the numbers of IDPs and their most urgent needs. Then, this data is shared with UN agen-cies and international humanitarian organizations.

In a statement, QRCS Secretary-Gen-eral, Saleh bin Ali Al Mohannadi, said, “Humanitarian action in Iraq is facing alarmingly serious and complicated conditions in light of the political cri-sis and current conflicts.

However, we in QRCS are inten-sifying our efforts as an international neutral humanitarian organization, uti-lizing our track record of work in the world’s worst crises and zones”.

“Our strategy is to hire well-trained field relief personnel and adopt strict monitoring and follow-up systems to ensure non-exploitation of

humanitarian aid for political or per-sonal gain,” he added. One of the major crises in the world, the conflict in Iraq has stricken nearly one third of the country’s population, causing 10 mil-lion to be displaced, 3.4 million of whom within the past 30 months only. About 20 percent of IDPs live in unregistered or substandard places, including unfin-ished structures, schools, public parks, and mosques. The local community is hosting 30 percent of the displaced fam-ilies, half of whom need better housing.

In Al Anbar, which has received as much as 44.3 percent of IDPs, many families fled the beleaguered Fallujah to be accommodated at only 13 camps in Amiriyah Fallujah, Khalidiya, and Hab-baniyah. Clashes in the western parts of Ramadi, the provincial capital, rendered more than 12,000 families of Hit City homeless, having to travel about 5km to 18km to find an IDP camp.

The Peninsula & QNA

DOHA: Under the patronage of H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson, Qatar Museums, QM organised a workshop for children as part of its latest exhi-bition, ‘What About the Art? Contemporary Art From China’.

The exhibition, which features works of 15 contemporary Chinese artists, is curated by renowned Chinese artist Cai-Guo Qiang and will be on show at QM Gallery Al Riwaq in Museum of Islamic Art Park until July 16.

During the workshop, delivered by QM’s Education team, children and parents explored the exhibition and took part in an art workshop, where they made their clay sculptures inspired by the work of Chinese artist Hu Zhijun. The workshop, which is being held from 3pm to 5pm every Saturday until June 4, is part of QM’s continuous efforts to provide dynamic exhibition activities that appeal to diverse audiences, fostering an indig-enous culture of creativity and innovation.

Al Thakhira Youth Centre concludes awareness driveDOHA: ‘Mithluka Ana’, a social awareness campaign organised by Al Thakhira Youth Centre and Youth Forum and supported by Qudrat Development Centre, ended at Al Thakhira Youth Centre.

A family get-together featuring cultural activities, awareness classes, fun games, pencil drawing and colour-ing competitions for children, was held as part of the closing ceremony. The winners of sport tournaments as part of the campaign were also honoured.

“The campaign achieved its objectives of enhancing expat communities’ awareness about Qatari culture and traditions through its activities during two months” Qudrat Development Centre Representative Ahmad Ali Abdulla Al Muhannadi told the closing ceremony.

“Al Thakhira Youth Centre and its management always welcome all initiatives and programmes containing social com-mitment and responsibility. The centre is also committed to its community and surroundings where it lives” said Ahmad Ibrahim Al Muhannadi, Assistant Director, of the centre, after the ceremony.

QRCS volunteers distribute relief materials to beneficiaries.

QM holds workshop

for kids as part of

Chinese art expo

QRCS completes aid supply in Iraq

HOME 03 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

The Peninsula & QNA

DOHA: Doha will host on Satur-day an academic conference on Arab-Sino relations to be organ-ised by Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies.

Building on previous confer-ences on relations between the Arab world and other regions and countries, ‘The Arabs and China’ will provide a venue for scholars to discuss the long history and pros-pects of relations between Arab countries and peoples and China.

In a statement, the centre said the two-day conference will focus on topics, including Chinese involvement in Middle Eastern issues and economic and trade relations between Arab oil export-ing countries and China.

The centre said the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative China launched in 2013 to revive the ancient Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road rep-resents an opportunity to look into ways of enhancing Arab-Chinese relations within the framework of the diversification of partnerships between Arabs and rising powers in the world.

Armed Forcesexercise alertDOHA: The General Command of Qatari Armed Forces yester-day announced that the Emiri Air Force will conduct an air transport exercise at an altitude of 8,000 feet in Sealine tomorrow from 6am to 10am. It called on those who fre-quent the area to take precautions for safety.

Doha to host

forum on

Arab-Sino

relations

By Fazeena Saleem

The Peninsula

ISTANBUL: Vodafone is preparing to bring an outstanding technology to help deliver the ultimate experi-ence for fans during FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

Vodafone Qatar signed a mem-orandum of understanding (MoU) with Vodafone Turkey and Beşiktaş JK sports club in Istanbul on Friday to share knowledge and expertise involved in Turkey’s first smart sta-dium, Vodafone Arena, in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul.

Vodafone Turkey will work with Vodafone Qatar to develop and enhance Vodafone Qatar’s smart

stadium technology proposition and its implementation.

The MoU was signed by Mohamed Al Sadah, Chief Operating Officer, Vodafone Qatar; Gökhan Öğüt, CEO, Vodafone Turkey; and Fikret Orman, Chairman, Beşiktaş JK sports club.

“Vodafone is committed to bring-ing expertise and innovation to Qatar from all parts of one of the world’s largest telecommunications compa-nies and providing the country with a world-class telecommunications infrastructure that supports Qatar 2022 World Cup and Qatar National Vision 2030,” said Al Sadah.

“Vodafone Qatar is part of the transparent tender. We are past the first stages of the bid. We don’t know who will win it, but if we win, we will be able to build intelligent stadiums.

“As Qatar’s 2022 World Cup prep-arations accelerate, so will fans’ expectation for superfast connec-tivity. The ability to share videos, pictures and messages with people online will be an important aspect of the fan experience in six-and-a-half years’ time and with more than a million people expected to travel to the Middle East’s first World Cup, the level of connectivity and sharing will be exceptional,” Al Sadah said.

Vodafone Arena features a unique five-layer digital infrastructure, including a centralised system and telecom rooms, flawless connectivity, interactive displays and videowalls.

Advanced technologies such as Internet of Things (network of

physical objects, devices, vehicles, buildings and other items, embedded with electronics, software, sensors and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data) and Machine to Machine (M2M — direct communication between devices using any communications channel, including wired and wire-less) are used at Vodafone Arena.

“Vodafone M2M technology has been used for large sporting events in London during the Olympics and in Spain during football matches and we look forward to working with Vodafone Turkey on bringing their knowledge and expertise around

smart stadium solutions to Qatar,” said Mahmud Awad, Chief Business Officer, Vodafone Qatar.

At every home game played by Turkish Super League side, Beşiktaş JK, more than 40,000 fans have access to Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G and 4.5G ready broadband network connections, rich-content displays on 850 video walls, Vodafone Arena mobile appli-cation, and interactive HD screens that broadcast all the content fans dream of — including interviews, match statistics and live updates on other games.

Spectators and visitors on match days are offered an end-to end digital

experience. Visitors are offered pre-mium comfort during match days through location.

“Our biggest investment was for making Vodafone Arena the first and best smart stadium in Turkey. Voda-fone Arena took its place in the heart of Istanbul and Turkey as a monument of our vision of digital transformation. Vodafone Arena stadium is becoming an example to the world with its smart infrastructure,” said Öğüt.

“The smart infrastructure we installed in Vodafone Arena, will serve as a model for the eight sta-diums to be built for the 2022 Qatar World Cup,” he added.

FROM RIGHT: Mohamed Al Sadah, Chief Operating Officer, Vodafone Qatar; Gökhan Öğüt, CEO, Vodafone Turkey; Fikret Orman, Chairman, Beşiktaş JK sports club; and Mahmud Awad, Chief Business Officer, Vodafone Qatar, after signing the agreement at Vodafone Arena in Beşiktaş district of Istanbul.

Vodafone Qatar eyes smart stadiums for 2022The company signs deal with Vodafone Turkey and Beşiktaş JK sports club in Istanbul to bring outstanding technology for ultimate experience for fans during FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Katara Hospitality said yesterday it will donate a selection of luxurious hotel furniture to Qatar Charity (QC).

The donation which follows refurbishment of the Ritz-Carlton, Doha includes over 2,000 items,

including sofas, benches, upholstered chairs, cof-fee tables, lamps, bed sets, headboards, drapery, curtaining, wall hangings and table fixtures.

“As Qatar’s flagship hospitality organisation, we remain committed to taking part in initiatives that foster development of our society through our corporate social responsibility programmes. QC plays a vital role in supporting our efforts as one of our partners to address charity-related

issues,” said Sheikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman, Katara Hospitality.

Youssef Ahmed Al Kuwari, CEO, QC, said: “Katara Hospitality has supported QC through donations for several years, with the compa-ny’s management and staff constantly taking a proactive approach to supporting the under-privileged members of our local community. We are very grateful for this generous contribution

and ongoing efforts to improve the community through various projects.”

In the past, the Ritz-Carlton Doha, in coop-eration with Katara Hospitality and Fortessa Inc., donated 10,000 pieces of chinaware to QC.

In recent years, Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel has also donated furniture items from its renovation and refurbishment to QC.

Katara Hospitality to donate over 2,000 luxurious hotel furniture to QC

HOME04 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

The Peninsula

DOHA: Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. (AAB) and Qatar Football Association (QFA) announced the promotional campaign of the Emir Cup 2016.

The company will provide several Lexus cars to transport VIP guests attending the final match at Al Sadd Stadium on Fri-day and Toyota Coaster buses will be used to transport spectators from assigned parking lots to the stadium.

As part of QFA’s promotional campaign for the tournament, the Emir Cup Trophy was hosted at Toyota main showroom ahead of the final match. The event was attended by AAB senior manage-ment and QFA officials.

The Trophy Tour is part of a long-standing tradition that aims

to build excitement ahead of the final match and raise awareness about the tournament among

fans, giving them the opportunity to celebrate by taking memorable pictures with the iconic trophy.

Held annually in April-May, the Emir Cup is a unique football event that receives remarkable interest from passionate fans.

It was launched in 1972. Football fans from all over the

country attend the final match, not only to see the high-profile game but also to have the honour of attending a match in the pres-ence of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Mansoor Al Ansari, General Secretary, QFA, said: “We are pleased to welcome on board once again Abdullah Abdulghani &Bros. Toyota - Lexus as the offi-cial car for the Emir Cup 2016.

“This is a continuation of a fruitful partnership that has started years ago for the devel-opment of the football scene in Qatar and we look forward

to building on this significant partnership.

“The fact that we have a part-nership that has been in place for many years serves to underline the significance of the Emir Cup.”

Serdar Toktamis, CEO, AAB, said the relationship between the company and QFA is not a recent relation, rather an extension of very productive years historically, as being “sponsoring partners” for the Emir Cup another year in 2015-16 season.

“We are proud to represent Toyota and Lexus as ‘official car’ for this invaluable event and being sponsor for the Emir Cup.”

The relationship between QFA and Abdullah Abdulghani Bros. is historic and spans over 10 years. This did not come from void, but from a sincere desire between the two parties to work together towards a new horizon of posi-tive and mutual benefit.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Naseem Al Rabeeh Healthcare Group plans to spend `10 crore (QR5.6m) for charity work in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

It has started the first phase of the initiative in Kozhikode in the state.

K T Rabihulla, Chair-man of the Group, revealed future charity plans during a press meet organised in kozhikode.

The Group will focus on providing aid in educa-tion , housing and medical treatment for those most deserving and needy in the state. He also distributed financial aid to six needy people from across the state. Rabeehulla praised

Ramseena and Vijitha Nouka for scoring A+ in all subjects in the 10th grade exam .

The Group handed over `360,000 and `1,00,000, respectively, to them for

completing the work on her home and continue further studies

P Ayisha, from Malappuram Pook-kipparambu, never expected that she can participate in the Asian University Softball Championship.

Her dream almost ended in the hurdle of raising `2 lakh to meet the expenses on participating in the championship hosted by Taiwan.

She knocked at many doors but none opened. Dr K T Rabiullah, Chairman, Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Group, read about her in a newspaper and asked his staff to contact her. They handed over `2 lakh to Ayisha to help her participate in the championship.

Fort Kochi native Bindhu was fac-ing the toughest challenges a mother can confront.

She is living in a one-bedroom plas-tic sheet-covered house with her two

daughters and a son. To meet educa-tion expenses of her children and saving money to build a good home for them was a challenge.

When she almost lost hope of building a home, Naseem Al Rabeeh Medical Group changed the life of the family of four by offering support to educate her children and build a decent home. It handed over `1 lakh as first-time aid and aid will con-tinue up to five years.

An unknown vehicle changed the fate of 20-year-old Raes, a native of Kannur Thillangeri.

He met with a serious accident a few months back and is undergoing treat-ment in a private hospital. Naseem Al Rabeeh Medical Group handed over `2 lakh to Raes’ parents, who needed to pay the amount to the hospital as the remain-ing amount of a total treatment cost of `6 lakh.

Naseem Al Rabeeh Healthcare Group begins

`10 crore charity work in Kerala

K P Muhammed Kutty (fourth left), Member, Shifa Al Jazeera (Saudi Arabia) Advisory Board, handing over a cheque for `100,000 to Bindu from Kochi in Kerala.

Emir Cup: AAB & QFA join hands

Officials from Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros. and QFA attend the event at main showroom ahead of the final match, as the company becomes ‘official car’ of the most prestigious tournament in Qatar.

Officials and players with the Emir Cup Trophy at Toyota main showroom yesterday. Pic: Qassim R / The Peninsula

Continued from page 1

PEC patients paying cash for medications will be able to pay at the pharmacy counter instead of visiting the cashier, allowing them to retrieve and pay for prescriptions more effi-ciently. The cashless system will also allow any subsequent payments for services to be taken

at the registration counter. Implementation of this new payment method is part of a wider pro-gram looking at streamlining and enhancing the overall patient experience across the Hama Medical Corporation (HMC) facilities.

Assistant Director of Paediatrics Emer-gency Centres, Dr Mohamed Al Amri, said: “By eliminating a step in the payment process,

we hope to save valuable time for our young patients and their families who are visiting the PEC Al Sadd.”

So far, HMC has piloted the cashless system with great success at the Women’s Hospital and Bone and Joint Centre. HMC said it is planning to implement the system across all of its facil-ities in the near future.

Continued from page 1

Details about the procedures to be fol-lowed under the new office were given by the officials in a press conference held later yesterday.

The procedures will be completed through a team work between the Minis-try of Interior (Security Department, police stations and Forensic Centre), Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corpora-tion, Qatar Airways, Public Prosecution, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Department of Consular Affairs) and the coordinators in Embassies and Consulates.

The procedures start from the HMC counter by issuing death certificate and feeding the data of the deceased, then the counter of the Ministry of Public Health verifies the data of the deceased and issues necessary certificates for completing the procedures of various departments under the Ministry of Interior.

The counter of the Qatar Airways issues the cargo policy for repatriation of the dead body and the tickets for people accompanying the bodies.

Then, the Consular Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordi-nates between the Office and embassies for issuance of ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the embassy concerned in order to repatriate the body outside the country as soon as possible.

The procedure for repatriating body of absconding workers will be similar, if the employer had lodged a complaint with the authority concerned saying the worker had run away. Otherwise, the sponsor should have to complete the legal requirements under the residency law.

In case of road accidents security requirements are to be fulfilled and a forensic report is needed to start the

repatriation procedures. If the deceased is a Muslim, funeral

prayers can be offered at a mosque adja-cent to the Women’s Hospital at HMC. There is a special room in Al Wakrah hospital for offering funeral prayers for non-Muslims. Prayers can also be offered at a dedicated facility in the Religious Complex premises in Mesaimeer.

Col. Ahmed Zayed Al Mohannadi, Director of Community Policing Depart-ment at the Ministry of Interior, said that the new office will simplify procedures of repatriation of dead bodies or their burial inside the country. This will give a great relief to expatriates by simplifying the pro-cedures in this regard.

He added that all the administrative fees for different certificates and papers for repatriation of dead bodies or burial in Qatar have been cancelled.

Dr. Salim Al Marri from Ministry of Public Heath said that the Humanitarian Services Office was set up after a study involving all the ministries and depart-ments concerned. He added that Qatar is in the forefront of the countries that offer all services of repatriation of dead bod-ies under one roof.

All citizens and expatriates in Qatar and citizens of other GCC countries will benefit from this office after following the customary procedures and a team in the office will work to provide all support to speed up the procedures of repatriation or burial.

The contact number of different sections at the Humanitarian Services Office are: Ministry of Interior (40253371 / 40253372 / 40253369), Ministry of Public Health (40253370 / 40253364), Hamad Medical Corporation (40253368 / 40253365) and Qatar Airways (40253374). The fax number of the office is 40380855.

PEC patients can pay cash at pharmacy counter

Police Chief Staff Maj. Gen. Saad bin Jassim Al Khulaifi inaugurating the Humanitarian Services Office at Hamad General Hospital.

Fees for documents for repatriation of bodies or burial in Qatar cancelled

HOME 05MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

The Peninsula

DOHA: So far over 80 million people benefited from the largess of Qatar Charity (QC) in all over the world dur-ing past three decades.

QC has provided more than QR20m to rescue indebted people last year and spent QR25m to help orphans, widows and needy people in Qatar. QC also sponsors more than 95,000 orphans worldwide and it helped 540 Qataris get married in the past 3 years through Zawaj program.

Details were given by QC officials in a press conference held here yes-terday to highlights its achievements to mark its 30th anniversary.

QC is providing charity works in 73 countries and having 27 offices and more than 500 partners

worldwide. QC is considered one of the oldest and most well-known organizations across Qatar and the Gulf. QC executes projects on humanitarian development, cul-ture, society and the environment in Qatar; and it offers humanitarian aids and implements developmental and humanitarian projects around the world.

QC currently works on achieving sustainable social care, reinforcing economic empowerment and dig-nified living, supporting education to achieve development, contribut-ing to the creation of social solidarity and co-living, reinforcing Qatar’s role in interacting with local and international developmental and humanitarian issues, and reinforc-ing the institutional construction of QC as an international, nongovern-mental organization. QC paid extra

attention to implementing projects outside Qatar considering the bad circumstances from which the Arab and Islamic world are suffering such as poverty, disasters, and wars. QC’s projects cover different fields that include education, health, water and sanitation, social care, educational development, economic empower-ment and social housing.

“In those 30 years, QC covered more than 75 countries around 3 con-tinents of the world. Its work included the most important fields of devel-opment such as education, health, income generation, aid for the vul-nerable categories and water. QC has always quickly responded to disas-ters and crises around the world,” said Yousef bin Ahmed Al Kuwairi, CEO of QC. It now has partnership agreements with more than 500 international and local partners.

Dr Mohammed bin Saif Al Kuwari (fourth left), Assistant Undersecretary for Laboratories and Specifications, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, addressing the press conference on the third edition of Qatar Construction Specification at the Retaj Al Rayyan Hotel in Doha yesterday. With him are (from left) Babekir Osman, General Manager, Hawkama Centre for PR; Abdul Rahman Al Ansari, CEO, Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company; Engineer Eisa Al Hammadi, CEO, Qatar Primary Materials Company; and Engineer Abdulaziz Al Ziyarah, Director, Strategic Planning and Institutionalisation, Lusail. Pic: Salim M / The Peninsula

Continued from page 1He said no deficiency or imperfections have been seen

in all projects adhered to the construction code since 2006, even in areas considered having critical cases such as roads and intersections, said Al Kuwari.

Eng Eisa Al Hammadi, CEO of Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC), said that the country has enough strate-gic stock of primary materials for supply to the local market and assure continuation of construction works. “Our sup-plies meets 60 percent of the local market requirements and 40 percent is supplied by the private sector. There are 58 licensed private suppliers along with QPMC and we are

importing materials meeting the specifications,” said Al Hammadi. The press meet was held to announce the Third Conference on Qatar Construction Specifications to be held on May 22 at Torch Hotel Doha. The Minister of Munici-pality and Environment HE Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi will open the conference, which will feature dis-cussion sessions and is expected to come out with some recommendations. Abdurrahman Al Ansari, CEO of Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company, Abdulaziz Al Ziyarah, Director of Strategic Planning and Institution at Lusail City and Babekir Osman the General Manager of Hawkama Company were also present.

By Raynald C Rivera

The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar set yet another Guin-ness World Record feat last night for the ‘Largest Key’, which was previously held by Cyprus in 2006.

The gigantic key, dedicated to all the refugees around the world, was unveiled in a spectacular show at the Katara Amphitheatre last night fea-turing Palestinian Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf.

“This key symbol for all the ref-ugees in the world. We want to set a

Guinness World Record to say that it is the right of these refugees to return back home. Actually this is linked par-ticularly to Palestinian refugees.

“We hope through this event we would be able to tell the Palestinians, the Arab world and all the refugees around the world that one day we will have to return back to our home,” Wessam Sowelem, General Manager of Ard Canaan Restaurant, told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the event.

Ard Canaan which means ‘Canaan land’ is a soon-to-open Palestin-ian restaurant in Katara which has spearheaded the initiative. “We are sponsoring this event tonight with the help of Katara and hopefully we’ll suc-ceed to make this key an icon for all the refugees.

“We are happy to do this in Qatar because Qatar has always been sup-porting refugees worldwide. We appreciate the Qatari government and Katara for the support,” he said.

“Weighing around 2.7 tonnes, the key is 7.8-metre long and 3-metre wide, which beats the previous record of Cyprus which was 5.5m by 2.6m, according to Sowelem. It is made of steel from an actual functioning key’s material and proportional dimensions.

“It was a tough process which took 45 days to complete and we would like

to thank Delta Fabco, the local com-pany in Qatar which created the giant key,” he said. He stressed that the key will be gifted to and will stay in Katara to show the world Katara’s usual sup-port for heritage worldwide.

Around 4,000 people filled the Katara Amphitheatre to witness the unveiling of the enormous key and enjoy the concert highlighted by the performance of the young Pales-tinian singer who is the first United Nations Relief and Works Agency regional youth ambassador for Pal-estine refugees.

“We expect around 3,500 to 4,000 people, half of whom came by invita-tion,” said Sowelem, adding 50 percent of the proceeds from ticket sales would go to Qatar Red Crescent.

The reveal of the record-making key came ahead of the opening of Ard Canaan Restaurant set to be a signif-icant addition to the constellation of food outlets which have become one of the attractions in Katara as a lead-ing destination in the country.

“Hopefully in a couple of weeks we are going to open here in Katara one of the best restaurants called Ard Canaan which will showcase the Palestinian cuisine and heritage. We hope we will have our soft opening by Ramadan.” Palestinian pop singer Mohammed Assaf performs at Katara Culture Village yesterday.

Pic: Abdul B / The Peninsula

‘Largest Key’ dedicated to refugees around the worldThe 7.8-metre long and 3-metre wide key weighing around 2.7 tonnes was unveiled in a spectacular show at Katara Amphitheatre and beats the previous record of Cyprus.

No imperfections seen in projects: Official

Qatar Charity officials at the event.

QC highlights its global successes to mark 30 years

MIDDLE EAST06 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

AFP

AMMAN: The US-led offensive to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) group is mak-ing progress, the top American envoy to the coalition said yesterday. IS had “returned to suicide bombing” because the area under its control was shrinking and it was on the defensive, Brett McGurk said at a con-ference in the Jordanian capital.

His remarks came as jihadist suicide assailants broke into a gas plant north of Baghdad and killed at least seven people, in an attack claimed by IS.

“We are now making progress against Daesh,” McGurk said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

“The campaign to isolate and squeeze and con-strict Daesh in Mosul has already began,” he said.

“We are doing precision air strikes in Mosul almost every day, we have a lot of information from the peo-ple who are inside Mosul about what Daesh is doing inside the city.” The Iraqi army said in late March that its troops and allied militia had launched what was expected to be a long and difficult offensive to retake Mosul, IS’s main hub in the country. McGurk said IS was now under “constant, synchronised pressure”.

“Their territory is shrinking and they are now doing these suicide attacks against civilian popula-tions. It is not going to work but this is what they are trying to do and it is nothing new,” said the US envoy.

Iraqi forces collapsed in the face of the 2014 IS advance and the jihadist group ultimately overran around a third of the country.

IS has declared an Islamic “caliphate” in areas under its control in Iraq and in neighbouring Syria, where it has also seized significant territory.

Imposing its extremist interpretation of Islamic law, IS has committed widespread atrocities in areas under its control and launched a wave of attacks against the West.

AFP

ADEN: A suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group and a second blast killed 47 policemen yesterday in the Yemeni port of Mukalla where a year of Al Qaeda rule ended last month, medics said. It was the second attack in days claimed by IS in the city of 200,000 people that was recaptured by government forces from the rival mil-itants of Al Qaeda with US backing.

The suicide bomber killed at least 41 police recruits on the southwest-ern outskirts of the city, the capital of Hadramawt province, medics said after earlier giving a toll of 31 dead.

The bomber detonated an explo-sives belt after joining a line of men at a police recruiting centre, a provin-cial official said.

More than 50 people were also wounded in the attack in Fuwah dis-trict, a medical source said.

Hadramawt’s security chief, Gen-eral Mubarak Al Oubthani, was at the recruitment centre at the time of the attack but was not hurt.

However, he was the target of a second bombing afterwards as he was preparing to head into central Muka-lla, a security official said.

The bomb exploded as Oubthani walked out of his office, killing six of his guards but leaving him with only minor injuries, the official said.Hadramawt’s security chief, Gen-eral Mubarak Al Oubthani, who was at the recruitment centre at the time of the attack but was not hurt, was the target of a second bombing when he headed into central Mukalla after-wards, a security official said.

An IS statement posted online claimed the suicide attack, a sec-ond rare intervention by the militant group in an area known to be a stronghold of its Al Qaeda rivals.

“Brother Abu Al Bara Al Ansari... detonated his explosives belt at a gathering of the apostates of the secu-rity forces,” it said.

On Thursday, 15 Yemeni troops were killed in jihadist attacks on army positions outside Mukalla. IS

said one of its militants blew up a vehicle packed with explosives in an army base in Khalf district on the city’s eastern outskirts.

The attacks included a suicide bombing that targeted the residence of the commander of Hadramawt’s second military region, General Faraj Salmeen, but he escaped unharmed, officials said.

On Sunday, troops guarding an army post in Khalf opened fire at a vehicle after they suspected its driver of being a suicide bomber, a security official said, adding that the vehicle sped away.

The general boasted on Friday that his forces had captured some 250 Al-Qaeda members since they retook Mukalla and nearby coastal towns, including its commander for the city of Shihr, some 60km to the east.

Al Qaeda was driven out of the area last month with the backing of Emirati and Saudi special forces.

The Pentagon revealed last week that a “very small number” of US military personnel had also been deployed around Mukalla in support of the operation.

Anatolia

BEIRUT: Polls opened in the Mount Lebanon region yesterday for the second phase of the country’s municipal and mayoral elections — Lebanon’s first such vote in six years. Approximately 834,000 vot-ers are registered to cast ballots in the second round, which is being held amid tight security measures.

Sunday’s poll comes one week after a first round of voting was held in capital Beirut and two provinces of Lebanon’s Bekaa region. An electoral list backed by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri claimed to have swept the first-round vote.

Two other voting rounds are slated to take place in other parts of the country in coming weeks.

Lebanon has been without a president since 2014, when Pres-ident Michel Suleiman’s term in office ran out.

The country’s last municipal election was held in 2010; its last parliamentary poll was held one year earlier. The Lebanese author-ities cite security concerns and the ongoing war in neighboring Syria as reasons for delaying the vote.

Lebanon’s current political scene is deeply polarised between the Shia Hezbollah movement, which is backed by Iran, and Har-iri’s Future Bloc, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.

Egypt sentences

6 for Frenchman’s

death in jail

CAIRO: An Egyptian court yes-terday handed down seven-year prison sentences to six men con-victed of beating to death jailed Frenchman Eric Lang in 2013.

The 49-year-old, who taught French in Cairo, died after a beat-ing in a cell on September 13, having been detained in a police station because he did not have a valid visa. According to the prosecution’s case, six inmates in his cell had beaten him to death. They were convicted of “assault leading to death”.

A defendants’ lawyer had called into question the prosecu-tion’s case, arguing the autopsy showed he had been beaten for more than six hours with a rod and electric cables, suggesting police involvement.

47 Yemen policemen dead in IS bombing

Anatolia

KUWAIT CITY: A Saturday “mini-session” held in Kuwait between a Yem-eni government delegation and representatives of the Shia Houthi group and their allies failed to bridge the gap between the two warring sides, according to sources close to the talks.

The session was chaired by UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and attended by four members of each side, one source close to the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speak-ing to media, said.

“The government delegation insisted that Yemeni state institutions must be sur-rendered [from Houthi control] and Houthi militiamen must withdraw from cities occu-pied earlier,” the source said.

“The Houthi delegation, for its part, insisted on the establishment of a unity gov-ernment in which they would play a role,” the source added.

Immediately after Saturday’s session, Abdul-Malik Al Mikhlafi, head of the govern-ment delegation, described the ongoing gap between the two sides’ positions as “wide”.

In a series of tweets, he declared that the Houthis “only want power; they are demanding [a role in] the government and power-sharing”.

He added: “I’m surprised how this militia -- which turned against the state and destroyed its institutions, laws and army -- can now demand a role in power-sharing”.

The government delegation insists that it represents Yemen’s sole legiti-mate governing authority, citing last year’s UN Security Council Resolution

2216. The Houthis, for their part, say they represent the country’s de facto rulers, having run sovereign state institutions — including its central bank — for more than one year.

Sources close to the talks told Anadolu Agency that UN envoy Ould Ahmed had called for the formation of “national security groups” at the provincial level, to be followed by the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement

aimed at ending the fighting, which has con-tinued in Yemen despite a ceasefire.

The same sources had told Anadolu Agency earlier that the main sticking point in the talks hinged on “the legitimacy of President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi and his government”.

The Houthi delegation, sources say, want to see Hadi replaced with a “presidential transitional council” to temporarily run the country’s affairs. This would be followed by the replacement of the current government -- led by Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid bin Daghr -- with a “unity government” to include Houthi representatives.

The government, meanwhile, the same sources said, insist that the Houthis first sur-render their weapons and withdraw from cities occupied earlier.

Only then would the current government be expanded to include representatives of the Houthis and their allies.

Hadi would then preside over a “tran-sitional phase” that would end with the amendment of Yemen’s constitution and new presidential elections. Yemen has been racked

by chaos since 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sana’a and several other parts of the country, forcing Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh. In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

Talks fail to bridge gap between warring sides

Lebanese cast vote in second round of municipal polls

Source: Reuters. *Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

G. Cabrera, 15/05/2016

Battle for YemenControl areas as of Jan. 21.

Lahj

al-Bayda

al-Jawf

Amranal-Mahrah

Marib

Shabwa

Hadramaut

AbyanDhalea

Saada

SAUDIARABIA

50 miles

50 km

YEMENRedSea

Jizanal-Buqa

Recent incidents

AQAP*-controlled towns

Al-Siddah

Ash ShihrAtaq Azzan

Manwakh

Ibb

Taiz

HodaidaSanaa

Aden

CONTROLLATEST INCIDENTSHouthi military

Contested

Pro-Saudi fighters With AQAP*presence

Gulf of Aden

Mukalla May 15A suicide bomber killed dozens of new recruits inside a police compound in an attack claimed by IS

Marib May 6Seven people were killed by a bomb at a crowded market

Umaliqa base May 1The Houthi movement and its allies seized a military base, killing several soldiers

May 12IS claimed a suicide bomb attack that killed ten soldiers

Jaar

Zinjibar

Yemeni soldiers stand next to a photocopier, they believed was carrying explosives, outside a public security camp after the suicide attack in the southeastern port of Mukalla, yesterday.

An IS statement posted online claimed the suicide attack, a second rare intervention by the militant group in an area known to be a stronghold of its Al Qaeda rivals.

Bid to retake Mosul from IS making progress: US

MIDDLE EAST 07MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

AFP

JEDDAH: US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks in Saudi Arabia yes-terday to secure its support ahead of a potential showdown with Russia at talks on the Syrian conflict.

After his Saudi meetings, Kerry was due in Vienna which this week will host the international contact groups engaged in efforts to halt fighting in Syria and Libya.

Riyadh is the key backer of rebels fighting to overthrow Syria’s Presi-dent Bashar Al Assad, and Kerry is keen to keep the opposition on board with a shaky ceasefire in force since February.

Saudi allies Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are also major sup-porters of the administration in eastern Libya which is withholding its support from a UN-backed unity government in Tripoli.

Kerry met the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef at the royal court in a palace in Jeddah.

“I want to thank you for the many things that Saudi Arabia is working on with us to great effect,” he told King Salman as the pair sat down, before reporters were ushered out.

“On Syria, the secretary provided an update of the situation on the ground following last week’s reaffir-mation of the cessation of hostilities,” a US spokesman said.

“The secretary also gave an update on Libya,” he said.

In talks with his Saudi counter-part Adel Al Jubeir, Kerry discussed “regional issues... mainly devel-opments in Syria,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The monarch discussed “aspects of cooperation between the two coun-tries and developments in the region and efforts in that regards,” SPA reported.

Kerry also discussed cooperation in “fighting terrorism” with the Crown Prince, who is also interior minister.

Bin Nayef had orchestrated the kingdom’s crackdown on Al Qaeda, which launched a wave of attacks on foreigners and government targets between 2003 and 2006.

After his talks in Vienna, Kerry will fly on to Brussels on Wednesday for a Nato foreign ministers’ meeting

and talks on the full range of chal-lenges facing the Western allies.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said Kerry and Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni will jointly host the Libya conflict meet-ing today. Participants will “discuss international support for the new Government of National Accord, with a focus on security,” according to US officials.

The unity government was formed after months of negotiation by UN mediators in a bid to end the chaos of rival administrations in the east and west of Libya that has under-mined the fight against the Islamic State group. It has slowly asserted its authority in Tripoli since late March, taking over key institutions such as the central bank and the National Oil

Corporation, but it still faces a rival administration in the east.

Officials say the f ledgling regime is drawing up a list of requests for Western partners to assist its forces with arms, training and intelligence.

After the Libya meeting, Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Ser-gei Lavrov will lead a meeting of the 17-nation International Syria Support Group. The State Department’s Kirby said last week the goal is to “ensure humanitarian access throughout the country, and to expedite a negotiated political transition.”

The ISSG, chaired by Kerry and Lavrov, is pushing Syrian Assad’s regime and a coalition of opposition groups to respect the fragile three-month-old ceasefire.

Reuters

BAGHDAD: An Islamic State (IS) attack on a state-run gas plant in Baghdad’s northern outskirts yesterday killed at least 11 people, including policemen, and forced two power stations it supplied to suspend electricity production.

A suicide car bomb went off at the entrance of the facility in Taji at around 0600 local time (0300 GMT), allowing another vehicle carrying at least six attack-ers with explosive vests to enter and clash with security forces, police sources said. Twenty-one people were also wounded. The militant group said in an online statement that four fighters with machine guns had killed the guards at the plant which it said the Iraqi army was using as a headquarters. When reinforcements arrived, they set off a parked car bomb before clashing with the security forces and detonating their suicide vests.

AFP

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday lashed out at Europe’s silence over the execution of a veteran Islamist leader in Bangladesh, accusing the West of “double standards.” “If you are against political execu-tions, why did you remain silent to the execution of Motiur Rahman Nizami who was martyred a

couple of days ago,” Erdogan said in a televised speech in Istanbul.

“Have you heard anything from Europe? ... No. Isn’t it called double standards?” Erdogan said. Nizami, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hanged at a Dhaka jail late on Tues-day accused of his participation in the 1971 independence war with Pakistan.

The 73-year-old former government minis-ter was the fifth and the most senior opposition figure executed since the secular government in

the overwhelmingly Muslim nation set up a con-troversial war crimes tribunal in 2010.

In protest, Turkey on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Bangladesh for consultations.

Since coming to power in 2002, Turkey’s ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) has sought to boost the country’s power in the Muslim world. Last year, Erdogan condemned a death sentence handed to Egypt’s deposed Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, who was a close ally of Ankara.

Erdogan slams Europe’s silence on Nizami’s execution

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia with US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Jeddah, yesterday.

Kerry holds Syria talks in Saudi

IS suicide attack

hits Iraqi gas plant

Anatolia & AFP

RAMALLAH: Thousands of Pal-estinians took to the streets across the Israeli-occupied West Bank yesterday to mark the passage of 68 years since the “Nakba” (“catas-trophe” in Arabic), which coincided with the establishment of the state of Israel.

In Ramallah, thousands of Palestinians waving Palestinian and black flags marched from the tomb of iconic leader Yasser Arafat to Arafat Square in the city center.

As they marched across the city, protesters read out the names of Palestinian villages razed dec-ades ago to make way for the new state of Israel. Two rallies were held in the East Jerusalem dis-tricts of Jabl Al Mukaber and Bab Al Amoud to mark the occasion, where protestors chanted, “No compromise on the right of return!”

“For 68 years, we have struggled against the Israeli occu-pation,” Omar Assaf, a member of a Palestinian commission for commemorating Nakba Day, told Anadolu Agency.

He said Palestinians were pre-pared to make further sacrifices in order to eventually recover their land. “Every day brings us closer to our return to our homeland,” he said. Palestinians use the word “Nakba” to refer to the destruction of hundreds of villages in histori-cal Palestine -- and the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Pales-tinians from their land by armed Zionist gangs --to make way for the new state of Israel in 1948.

The Israel-Palestine conflict began in 1917 when the British government, in the now-famous “Balfour Declaration,” called for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish peo-ple”. In 1948, a new state — “Israel”

— was established inside histori-cal Palestine.

Around 15,000 Palestini-ans were killed, some 800,000 displaced, and 531 Arab villages destroyed in attacks by armed Jew-ish groups at the time.

The Palestinian diaspora has since become one of the largest in the world. Palestinian refugees are now scattered across Jordan, Leb-anon, Syria and other countries, while many have since settled in refugee camps in the Palestine’s West Bank and Gaza Strip.

According to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), there are currently more than 5 million reg-istered Palestinian refugees. For many Palestinians, the right to return to their homes in historical Palestine remains a key demand.

Israeli Prime Minister Ben-jamin Netanyahu poured cold water yesterday on the Middle East peace initiative advanced by France by questioning its impartial-ity, a claim swiftly denied by Paris. Netanyahu relayed remarks he had made to French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was vis-iting the region ahead of a May 30 international ministerial meeting. Ayrault’s visit aimed to prepare for the conference that would try to revive Middle East peace talks, fro-zen since a US-brokered initiative collapsed in April 2014.

Israeli and Palestinian repre-sentatives have not been invited to the French meeting to prepare for such a conference, mooted for the autumn. “I told him that the scandalous resolution accepted at Unesco with France’s support, that does not recognise the bond of thousands of years between the Jewish people and the Temple Mount, casts a shadow over the impartiality of the entire forum France is trying to convene,” Netanyahu told ministers of his talks with Ayrault.

Palestinians mark

68th ‘Nakba Day’

The burning tank after a suicide bomb attack on the Taji gas plant, about 20km north of Baghdad, yesterday.

Kerry is keen to keep the opposition on board with a shaky ceasefire in force since February.

ASIA08 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Anatolia

SEOUL: North Korea appears to have cancelled its plan to carry out an artillery firing drill on a mock-up of Seoul’s presidential office, accord-ing to a South Korean intelligence source yesterday.

A half-size replica of the build-ing, known as the Blue House, was constructed close to the North’s capital ahead of this month’s party congress in Pyongyang. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff had revealed satellite imagery at the end of April showing the North’s scaled-down model along with evidence of dozens of artillery pieces.

Seoul’s defence ministry had also been anticipating a fifth ever nuclear test by the North in addition to other provocations -- the thinking was that dictator Kim Jong-un would want something tangible to celebrate at the Workers’ Party congress, the first of its kind in nearly 40 years.

Having been hit with strength-ened United Nations sanctions for its claimed hydrogen bomb test in

January, North Korea’s regime still put on a show of defiance as Kim hailed his country’s nuclear devel-opment before party officials in Pyongyang.With the North keep-ing the outside world guessing as to when it will conduct another test, or even a missile launch after a flurry of failed projectile exercises in April, it is not clear when or if the Blue House model will be fired upon.

“The North seems to be pulling out its troops and equipment from the firing range after the congress,” an unnamed South Korean intelli-gence insider was quoted as saying by local news agency Yonhap on Sunday. “We are trying to determine if the North has opted to cancel the attack or just postponed it.”

The source added that the South “is keeping close track of Kim’s moves and those of its armed forces.”

North Korea’s own state media reported Sunday that Kim had paid a visit to a tree nursery -- a far cry from the military trips he was mak-ing in the build-up to the congress.

While weeks of aggressive rhet-oric out of Pyongyang faded this month, the North Korean leader’s call during the congress for peace-ful international talks was dismissed as insincere by South Korea and its ally the United States.

Seoul was surprised, however, when former North Korean Army chief Ri Yong-gil appeared on a list of political officials last week.

His return to public life might be seen as a blow to South Korean intelligence gathering, as Seoul claimed in February that Ri had been executed.

AFP

MOSCOW: A Russian yacht detained by North Korean coast guards was released yesterday and has set sail for the far-eastern city of Vladivos-tok, Russian officials said.

“The Russian yacht Elfin today left the North Korean port of Kimchaek headed for Vladivostok,” Denis Sam-sonov, a spokesman for the Russian

embassy in Pyongyang told Russian state television on Sunday.

Yury Bokcharev, Russia’s consul in the city of Chongjin, told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency that local North Korean officials had said the boat’s detention was a “misunderstanding”.

Another diplomatic official in Vladivostok, Igor Agafonov, told the RIA Novosti agency that the five-member crew of the yacht had been in contact and confirmed that they were sailing home.

The Russian sailboat was detained by North Korean coast guards late Friday as it sailed through the Sea of Japan from a competition in the South Korean city of Busan to its home city of Vladivostok. Russia’s foreign ministry said Saturday that a note was sent to the North Korean authorities seeking an explanation for the boat’s detention.

Russia shares a short land border with North Korea and enjoys relatively friendly ties with the country’s reclu-sive Stalinist regime.

QNA

SEOUL: South Korea and Rus-sia agreed to hold regular disaster cooperation meetings to better facil-itate the exchange of know-how and technology to cope with disaster situ-ations, the South Korean government said yesterday.

According to the Ministry of Pub-lic Safety and Security, a deal was inked in Moscow last week with Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situa-tions that called for policy and overall information sharing on anti-disaster operations.

It said the deal signed by Public Safety Minister Park In-yong and his counterpart, Vladimir Puchkov, can benefit Seoul because the Eurasian country has a reservoir of know-how in dealing with heavy snowfall, nuclear accidents and even asteroid impact. The country also operates 31 satellites to assist in disaster relief operations.

South Korea, on the other hand, has considerable expertise in infor-mation technology know-how that can be used to issue speedy warnings and make disaster-related predic-tions. “The aim is to hold annual meetings and to allow the exchange of personnel,” the ministry said.

It added Park and Puchkov con-curred on the need to strengthen cooperation in maritime search and rescue, anti-terrorism and other areas of mutual interest.

The ministry said Seoul and Mos-cow, moreover, agreed to set up a hotline that will allow swift assistance and rescue of South Korean fishing vessels and their crew if they face trouble while operating in Russian waters. “By setting up cooperative ties, the country can better prepare for emergency situations when they arise,” Park said.

N Korea’s mock drill on Blue House off: South We are trying to determine if the North has opted to cancel the attack or just postponed it: South Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un provides field guidance to the Tree Nursery No. 122 of the KPA in Pyongyang, yesterday.

Detained Russian yacht released

South Korea &

Russia to hold

disaster meetings

AFP

DHAKA: Bangladesh police have arrested a suspected Islamist militant over the hacking to death of two rights activists, part of a spate of murders of intellectuals, writers and religious minorities, officers said yesterday.

Xulhaz Mannan, an editor of a magazine and fellow activist Mah-bub Tonoy were murdered in a Dhaka apartment last month by about six

men carrying machetes and guns.Police on Saturday arrested

37-year-old Shariful Islam Shihab, described as a member of a local Islamist militant outfit that has been blamed for a string of similar grue-some murders of secular and atheist bloggers.

“We’ve arrested one man in con-nection with the murder of Xulhaz Mannan,” Dhaka police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sorder said.

“He is a member of the Ansarullah Bangla Team,” he said, adding that the

two activists were murdered on the orders of the ABT leadership.

Washington has condemned the killings of 25-year Tonoy and Mannan, 35, who worked for US government aid organisation USAID, as pressure mounts on Bangladesh to curb the attacks and bring those responsible to justice.

Both men had received threats from Islamists over their champion-ing of gay rights. At a press briefing in the capital yesterday, police said Shi-hab -- who has denied carrying out

the killings -- owned one of two guns used in the murders and has also sup-plied arms and bombs for previous ABT operations. Police seized Shi-hab in the western town of Kushtia, where he allegedly heads an ABT unit, after raids on several properties, in what Dhaka counter-terrorism chief Monirul Islam said was a “break-through” in the case.

“They killed the rights activists because they were creating confusion about Islam,” Islam said, adding the investigation was ongoing. Al-Qaeda

in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has claimed responsibility for kill-ing the pair, saying the two men had worked to “promote homosexuality” in Bangladesh.

But Bangladesh police chiefs have said their murders have the hallmarks of local Islamists, while the secular government has blamed the opposi-tion. Several members of homegrown Ansarullah Bangla Team were con-victed last year over the 2013 murder of atheist blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider.

The arrest comes after an elderly

Buddhist monk was found hacked to death on Saturday in a temple in the southeastern district of Bandar-ban -- the seventh such killing since the start of last month. Two Muslim Rohingya refugees, who fled perse-cution in Myanmar, and a member of the Chak ethnic community to which the monk belonged are being held for questioning over his murder, local police inspector Anisur Rahman said.

Suspected Islamists have been blamed or claimed responsibility for the scores of murders.

AFP

SHANGHAI: At the “East is Red” shop in Shanghai, every nook and cranny is packed with memorabilia of China’s Cultural Rev-olution, from small badges of Chairman Mao Zedong to gigantic posters of his iconic image.

Owner Guo Bing himself is a child of the Cultural Revolution, born in 1966, the year the chaotic and violent decade was launched on May 16. His parents named him with the Chinese character for “soldier”, a common practice at the time.

But now, Guo sees profits rather than Communist Party ideals in the relics of the past, as the market booms for collectibles from a time scarred victims would prefer to forget. “Prices have risen because of the anniversary of the Cultural Revolution,” said Guo at one of his two shops in China’s com-mercial hub, whose gleaming skyscrapers epitomise the country’s economic boom after the abandonment of Maoist orthodoxy.

“People suffered during the Cultural Revolution,” Guo admitted, before quickly adding: “We are meeting demand. There is a market.”

Guo was a “Little Red Guard” as a child in Jiangsu province, he said, wearing his older brother’s army uniform, pinning a Mao badge to his chest and signing patri-otic songs.

One of them, “The East is Red”, gave him the name for his business, which has dealt in Cultural Revolution memorabilia for two decades. For some buyers, such objects tap into nostalgia for a simpler time, when the state provided everything and society

Mannequins from the 1960-70s are displayed at an exhibition hall at Jianchuan Museum Cluster in Anren, Sichuan Province, China, yesterday.

was more equal, despite the abuse the victims suffered.

“It was an exciting time for kids,” Guo said. “Most collectors now are old people, younger people lag behind.” The objects on offer range from an enamelled metal plate with the slogan “Chairman Mao’s revolutionary art and litera-ture line victory forever” to a book of cartoons published in early 1977, soon after Mao’s death and the fall of his widow Jiang Qing.

Along with the three other members of the “Gang of Four”, she was officially blamed for

directing the mayhem. Once a movie actress in Shanghai, she was among a cabal of radicals with links to the city who were among the driving forces behind the Cultural Revolution.

“We can remember history,” Guo said.On a high bookshelf in the shop, a framed

picture shows Mao with a mango, which became an object of veneration after the leader gifted the fruit to a group of workers in 1968. The cult of the mango, as it is known, was even the sub-ject of an exhibition at the Museum Rietberg in Zurich in 2013.

China’s Cultural Revolution now collectible

Alleged Islamist militant held for Bangladesh activists’ murder

ASIA / PHILIPPINES 09MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

AFP

PHILIPPINES: Four people have been killed in clashes between rival political clans in the southern Phil-ippines, authorities said yesterday, just days after a contentious elec-tion reinstated a local mayor.

Fighting has flared between Sabal and Buisan clans in the strife-torn southern province of Maguindanao over the vote on May 9, the same day as national elections, which saw Muntasir Sabal retain his post, beating out a Buisan-backed opponent.

A member of the Buisan family was killed a day before the polls and subsequent violence on Friday and Saturday claimed three more lives.

About 15,000 people have fled the town of Talitay since Friday as

fighters from both sides gathered in the area, local police chief Senior Inspector Freddie Solar said.

He said those fighting had ties to the country’s two largest armed Muslim groups that once fought the government to set up a sepa-rate Islamic state in the south of the largely-Christian Philippines.

“This is not an ordinary family feud because both sides have rela-tives and supporters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF),” he said.

Though both groups have signed truces with the government as part of a peace process, most of their fol-lowers have not disarmed.

The military has sent forces into the area since the clashes erupted, but soldiers are not engaging either of the armed groups to avoid break-ing the ceasefire, said regional military spokeswoman Captain Jo-ann Petinglay.

The police chief said local religious leaders and MILF repre-sentatives were trying to negotiate a ceasefire to end the latest bout of violence, while chief MILF negotia-tor Mohaqher Iqbal denied his group was involved in the fighting.

The province of Maguindanao has long been the site of violent political conflict between powerful Muslim clans.

Four dead as clans clash over voteAbout 15,000 people have fled the town of Talitay since Friday as fighters from both sides gathered in the area.

Protesters march against Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On’s decision to donate public money to a Chinese University during a rally in Macau, China, yesterday.

Educational promotion

Reuters

HONG KONG: A man linked to Hong Kong’s pro-democratic opposition was arrested in China in connection with a plot to use a drone to disrupt a mainland del-egation due to visit the global hub, China’s state news agency reported yesterday.

The unnamed man, arrested in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, was a “sponsor” of Hong Kong’s opposition camp and worked with another opposition figure to obtain the drone, the Xin-hua report said.

The purchase was part of a plot to cause “disruptive activi-ties” against the delegation.

Xinhua carried few details on the incident, which comes amid heightened political and social tensions over perceived mainland interference in the former British colony.

Hong Kong was guaranteed widespread freedoms and auton-omy under an agreement that saw Britain hand it back to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

The Xinhua report did not state which mainland delegation was the target, but news of the arrest comes just ahead of the visit to the city on Tuesday by Zhang Dejiang, the chairman of China’s National People’s Congress and the third-ranked member of the ruling Politburo standing committee.

Zhang, who is responsible for Hong Kong affairs, is the high-est Communist Party leader to visit Hong Kong since large-scale democracy protests rocked the city in late 2014.

AFP

BEIJING: Chinese police have arrested a man who has been on the run since allegedly hacking a fam-ily of six to death 25 years ago, state media reported yesterday.

The suspect, identified as Guo, murdered the family with an axe after a dispute “over trivial matters” in March 1991 and has reportedly confessed to the crime, Xinhua news agency quoted local police as saying.

Guo said the killings were an act

of revenge after his own wife was sexually harassed by a man from the family, according to the official Life Daily.

He was quoted by the newspaper as saying he “entered the courtyard in the early morning, saw a woman in the bathroom and killed her with an axe before attacking five other people”.

The oldest victim was in his 80s and the youngest was 11, Life Daily added. According to police, Guo said he “hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in more than 20 years on the run, often waking up with a start with sweaty

palms”, Life Daily reported. Guo, who was convicted of rape

before the 1991 murders, fled several thousand kilometres to Shandong province in China’s east after the murders in the northeastern prov-ince of Heilongjiang.

He then headed to Xinjiang in the northwest, on the other side of the country, where he worked odd jobs.

Guo was finally arrested in Xin-jiang after investigators discovered a mobile phone registered in the area under his wife’s name.

The case is still under investiga-tion, according to Xinhua.

Activists of Nepalese ethnic based political parties clash with riot police as they break restricted zone during anti government protest rally in Kathmandu, Nepal, yesterday.

Reuters

KATHMANDU: Protesters from southern Nepal scuffled with riot police in Kathmandu yesterday when they took their campaign against the country’s new consti-tution to the streets of the capital.

Stones thrown by the crowd smashed the window of a govern-ment jeep but no one was seriously hurt, the police said.

More than 50 people have been killed in eight months of protests in the south where the minority Mashesi oppose a plan to divide their fertile plains bordering India into parts of several provinces.

The unrest, which has caused fuel shortages in Kathmandu as the Madhesis blocked imports of essential goods from India, is a threat to Prime Minister K.P. Oli, who survived an attempt by the opposition to topple his fractious coalition early this month.

On Sunday, riot police in black helmets and carrying shields pushed back hundreds of pro-testers trying to break through a barricade protecting government offices and parliament.

“This is a protest against exploitation and we will continue to fight to ensure our rights,” said Sharbendra Nath Shukla, a leader of the Terai Madhes Loktantrik

Kathmandu riot police scuffle

with anti-constitution protesters

AFP

KATHMANDU: Human rights groups slammed a deal between Nepal’s ruling parties to withdraw civil war cases from courts and offer amnesty to people accused of abuses during the country’s decade-long Maoist insurgency.

Former Maoist rebels and secu-rity forces have been accused of carrying out torture, killings, rapes and “forced disappearances” dur-ing the conflict, which ended in 2006 leaving more than 16,000 dead.

The ruling Communist Party (Unified Marxist Leninist) of Nepal and its coalition partner, the Maoists, last week signed an agreement pav-ing the way for war crimes cases to

be withdrawn or pardoned. In a joint statement, Amnesty

International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) accused the two par-ties of attempting to “wash away the crimes of the conflict” with the new agreement.

Nepal’s Supreme Court has repeatedly opposed attempts to grant amnesty for serious rights abuses.

Reuters

DHAKA: A Bangladesh government-appointed panel investigating the theft of $81m from the country’s central bank has found that SWIFT, the inter-national banking payments network, committed a number of mistakes in connecting up a local network, the panel head said yesterday.

“We have shown that SWIFT made a number of errors that made it easy for the hackers,” Mohammed

Farashuddin, a former governor of the Bangladeshi central bank, told reporters.

He said SWIFT, a cooperative owned by 3,000 financial institu-tions, could not escape responsibility as it had connected its network to the central bank’s new real time gross settlement (RTGS) system launched in October for domestic transactions.

“SWIFT is responsible for the heist of Bangladesh Bank as it approached the central bank for the installation of RTGS real time gross settlement,” Farashuddin said.

SWIFT has already rejected alle-gations made by Dhaka that it had been at fault, saying its financial mes-saging system remained secure and had not been breached by the hack-ers during the attack on Bangladesh Bank. The hackers broke into the computer systems of the central bank in early February and issued instruc-tions through the SWIFT network to transfer $951 million of its deposits held at the New York Federal Reserve Bank to accounts in the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Most of the trans-actions were blocked but four went

through amounting to $81 million, prompting allegations by Bangladeshi officials that both the Fed and SWIFT had failed to detect the fraud.

Bangladeshi police and a bank official said earlier this month that the central bank became more vul-nerable to hackers when technicians from SWIFT connected the new bank transaction system to SWIFT messag-ing three months before the cyber theft.

The local Daily Star newspa-per quoted Farashuddin as saying that SWIFT failed to implement 13

security measures in the installation of the system. Farashuddin is due to submit his final report to the govern-ment in the next few days.

A spokeswoman for SWIFT said she had no immediate comment to make. In a letter to users dated May 3, SWIFT told its bank customers that they were responsible for securing computers used to send messages over its network. Three hacking groups “are still lurking” in the network of Bangladesh’s central bank, putting the bank at risk of further attacks about three months after it lost $81m in a

cyber heist, according to a report by US computer security firms investi-gating the theft.

“There are some residual risks that the governor and board should understand, namely that Bangladesh Bank network is still not secure, and there exists a possibility of malicious acts by hackers,” said reports.

The source declined to provide access to its full contents, saying that the release of some details could ham-per a multinational effort to catch the criminals and recover funds stolen in the February cyber attack.

Heist probe panel’s chief says SWIFT responsible for cyber theft

Participants do planking at the Plank Sport Carnival in Beijing, China, yesterday.

Planking fun

Chinese murderer held after 25 years

HK man held in

China for drone

disruption plot

Party, part of the Madhesi coalition organising the protests.

Several ethnic minority groups from the hills also joined Sunday’s protests.

The constitution, put in place in September, was the final part of a peace deal between the government and Maoist rebels which ended a dec-ade-long rebellion in 2006.

But many Madhesis want their

region, home to half of the country’s 28 million people, to become an auton-omous state within Nepal and not be broken up into parts of six of the seven federal provinces as envisaged in the new constitution.

Covering 23 percent of landlocked Nepal, the region is the country’s bread basket, providing rice, wheat, and is home to industries including jute and sugar.

Nepal war crimes deal slammed

VIEWS10 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

The vaunted Nordic model of society and development has been endorsed by none other than Barack Obama. The US president and First Lady welcomed the five Nordic leaders at the White House on Friday in an event that should have been serenaded by the international press had it not been

for the US election scene being held hostage by Donald Trump. Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Iceland have been

lauded by economists for their model of development that has spawned decades of prosperity and helped build an egalitarian society. Largely insulated from unrest and upheavals that have created crosscurrents in other European societies, the Nordic nations have marched from strength to strength towards equitable development and set examples of good governance. Talking about the Scandinavians, Obama said not long ago: “If only everyone could be like the Scandinavians, this would all be easy.”

The Nordic countries have generous social welfare systems, liberal democratic societies, excellent education systems, and near-free healthcare of international standards. Though Iceland was jolted by the economic crisis that brought down banks and scarred its economy, it didn’t take much time for the economy to recover.

In a world riven by violence, communalism, sectarian strife and insurgencies all around, the Nordic nations are looked up to as models for the rest of the world. Not only do they epitomise what in other parts of the world would be considered utopia, their societies are given to extreme forms of freedom. Such forms of free speech and democratic norms are sometimes seen as infringing on the

rights of the state and government while giving citizens a free rein. In authoritarian regimes, freedoms are frowned upon and often reined in. What made Obama, a Nobel Peace Laureate, invite the five leaders and heap praise on their countries. Though he didn’t spare Vladimir Putin’s Russia for its indiscretions, most importantly for the annexation of Crimea, Washington’s often tough diplomatic stance was notably absent.

By saying that he believed the world would be more secure and prosperous if the US just had more partners like the Nordic countries, Obama paid tribute to the Scandinavian model of development. But was it only that? The Scandinavian model has been seen as the ideal for decades and even Democratic Republican contender Bernie Sanders has talked about it in campaign speeches.

The approaching end of his term has pitted Obama against vitriolic domestic politics and an international order racked by strife and divisions. His regard for the Nordic system is also a repudiation of the order that the rest of the world follows.

Peace havens

Obama’s praise for Scandinavian nations is driven by disenchantment with the larger international community and acerbic domestic politics.

Quote of the day

We must take all measures to recover productive capacity, which is being paralysed by the bourgeoisie.

Nicolas MaduroVenezuelan President

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While showing off some new UAZ Patriot pickup trucks armed with machine guns

and grenade launchers to Rus-sian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, a general couldn’t open the door of one of the trucks and, in his desperate desire to please the commander-in-chief, ripped off the door handle. “Well done,” Putin said, laughing.

Meanwhile, the North Atlan-tic Treaty Organisation is debating how most effectively to deter Rus-sia from invading the Baltic States. The US has already proposed quad-rupling the budget of the so-called European Reassurance Initiative, to $3.4bn in 2017. $1bn of that sum

is to add another armored brigade combat team, 4,000 to 5,000 strong, to the 35,000 US troops already present in Europe. Another $1.9bn is earmarked for add itional war-fighting equipment. Still, many US analysts still believe that may not be enough for deterrence.

They should watch the door-handle video and ask themselves if they aren’t being hoodwinked.

RAND Corporation recently held a war game to see if the Bal-tic states were defensible against Russia and concluded that, with the current level of protection, the Rus-sian military could get to Tallinn and Riga in as little as 60 hours. To prevent such an outcome, Rand con-cluded that Nato would need seven brigades, including three with heavy armor, “adequately supported by air power, land-based fires, and other enablers on the ground and ready to fight at the onset of hostilities.”

Writing for the Atlantic Coun-cil, Franklin Cramer and Bantz Craddock proposed reinforcing the Baltic nations’ defenses with additional air defense and anti-armor systems and setting up new multinational battalions former from Baltic, other European and US soldiers.

On the defense analysis site War on the Rocks, Elbridge Colby and Jonathan Solomon declared the planned additional US deploy-ment insufficient, arguing that persuading the “increasingly capa-ble Russians” to stand down would require “fielding a conventional military posture that includes sub-stantial, potent forces permanently deployed forward in Central and Eastern Europe that can assuredly arrest any Russian military thrust into Nato member-state territory.”

These experts all discuss Rus-sia’s resurgent military strength. RAND argues that forces in Russia’s Western Military District are far more powerful, in terms of numer-ical strength and equipment, than what Nato deploys in and around the Baltics. Russia’s air campaign in Syria has also impressed many.

Watching the door-handle video or reading last year’s reports from Debaltsevo in eastern Ukraine, where local rebels aided by Rus-sian troops encircled and defeated the Ukrainian army after weeks of heavy fighting, should sow some doubts in the minds of military spe-cialists as to the Russian army’s readiness for a bold invasion of two or three Nato member states.

Although Russia is undergoing extensive rearmament, a program to which Putin pays lots of atten-tion, it’s plagued by typical modern Russian problems of inefficient, overly expensive procurement and

shoddy quality. Demonstrating suc-cess to Putin is more important to the generals than actually achiev-ing it and Putin, in turn, may well be more interested in showing off to the world in Victory Day parades on Red Square, than attacking Nato. He pursues domestic goals, too, whipping up a patriotic frenzy to maintain his support. The climate in today’s Russia is one in which Kalashnikov, the assault rifle manu-facturer, is having difficulty turning a profit from its main product -- but is hoping to make up for that by producing a line of military style clothing for patriots.

Russian troops can be effective against weak adversaries, such as the Ukrainian military or lightly armed Syrian rebels, but even then they do not achieve lightning-fast results. The invasion of Crimea was scary, because unbadged Russian soldiers there wore modern-look-ing gear and looked dangerous, but they did not meet with any resistance.

As the Wilson Center’s Michael Kofman argues on War on the Rocks, “the Russian army is sim-ply not set up to occupy an invaded country, particularly one likely to resist. There are few permanent units based on Nato’s borders and no higher tier command structures to organize a fight using units pieced together from other districts.”

More importantly, however, none of the alarmist proponents

of an increased US military pres-ence in Eastern Europe can explain why Putin would want to invade the Baltics. Countries don’t attack other countries simply because they don’t like them, or because they can. There has to be some stra-tegic benefit to the attack. In the premise for its war game, RAND takes a stab at locating one: “The strategic goal of the invasion was to demonstrate Nato’s inability to pro-tect its most vulnerable members and divide the alliance, reducing the threat it presents from Mos-cow’s point of view.”

It’s not clear why Russia would risk an all-out war with the US, including the prospect of a nuclear conflict, just to prove Nato’s vul-nerability. The previous aggressive actions of Putin and his close cir-cle suggest they do indeed consider Nato as a threat to Russia. But Putin backed separatists in South Osse-tia and Abkhazia, and went to war for them in 2008, to make a desta-bilized Georgia unacceptable to Nato as a potential member. It has been feeding the unrest in eastern Ukraine with the same purpose. Both wars are used by the alarmist experts as arguments for increased deterrence, but are really argu-ments against it: Russia fears Nato’s closeness to its borders enough to launch these adventures at con-siderable cost to its international status, so it’s unlikely to invite a direct conflict with the alliance. And it isn’t the US contingent stationed in Europe that scares Putin, but the full US military might, including its nuclear arsenal.

Kofman doesn’t rule out Russian military mischief in the Baltics, but he believes an all-out invasion of Riga and Tallinn would not be the most likely scenario. To test Nato’s resolve in a less life-threatening way, Russia could seize a patch of disputed land. “A smarter approach for Moscow,” Kofman wrote, “and one conceptually demonstrated in Crimea, is to create a crisis in which Nato’s credibility is tested on the choice of whether or not to attack Russia first.”

A heightened US military pres-ence would only make that choice a tougher one for the US: the safety of its personnel could become an added consideration that could give rise to rash decisions.

Increased budgets, more toys, more opportunities to hold exercises in various geographies are always attractive to generals. Strategically, however, they won’t help to resolve any real-world problem. Russia has no reason to mount a massive invasion of the Baltics and Putin knows how much of the country’s new might is window-dressing.

Nato’s build-up in the Baltics is unnecessary

By Leonid Bershidsky

Bloomberg

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is debating how most effectively to deter Russia from invading the Baltic States. The US has already proposed quadrupling the budget of the so-called European Reassurance Initiative, to $3.4bn in 2017. A billion dollars of that sum is to add another armored brigade combat team, 4,000 to 5,000 strong, to the 35,000 US troops already present in Europe.

Increased budgets, more toys, more opportunities to hold exercises in various geographies are always attractive to generals. Strategically, however, they won’t help to resolve any real-world problem. Russia has no reason to mount a massive invasion of the Baltics and Putin knows how much of the country’s new might is window-dressing.

OPINION 11MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Cameron’s corrupt countries slip puts spotlight on UK

By Gokhan Kurtaran

Anatolia

At the end of January, Germany’s neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) introduced a bill in Mecklenburg-Western Pomera-

nia’s parliament to fine or throw in prison every foreigner who enters the state with-out the proper paperwork. The proposal was the latest in a long line of inflamma-tory proposals the NPD has put forth since it gained seats in the state’s parliament in 2006. Like every other NPD proposal, it was voted down.

Britain’s arrogant attitude towards other countries’ corruption, while it is largely beset with similar problems, has put the spotlight on the state of the UK’s own anti-corruption efforts.

Just two days before the Anti-Corrup-tion Summit 2016, Prime Minister David Cameron’s remarks (into what he thought was a dead microphone) to Queen Eliz-abeth describing states such as Nigeria and Pakistan as “fantastically corrupt” spurred controversy.

Representatives of approximately 70 states are scheduled to meet Thursday in London for the Anti-Corruption Summit 2016.

But data and analyses from quite a few institutions and respected officials show that Britain is far from being in a position to point fingers at other states on fight-ing corruption.

London, Britain’s capital, is the larg-est global finance center without a doubt. According to the latest global financial cent-ers index report prepared by Long Finance and Z/Yen groups, London outranked New York to secure the top spot.

But data and reports also show that money laundering, corruption, and tax avoidance are carried out through highly sophisticated methods in London.

The 2014 national risk assessment report from Britain’s National Crime Agency said that billions of pounds every year are laun-dered via local financial firms. The report stressed that most of this money laundering is carried out by local banks. Black money traders easily take advantages of the weak-nesses of the system and authorities’ poor

job performance.“It puts beyond any doubt that vast sums

of money from the proceeds of corruption around the world are flowing into the UK, and our system for stopping it and prevent-ing it isn’t fit for the purpose,” said Nick Maxwell, London Research Department director of the German-based Transpar-ency International NGO.

Data from the Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) sheds light on the total amount of financial assets held in tax havens where no or very little tax is paid. According to the data, $21-32 trillion is stashed in tax havens unreachable by current tax sys-tems. But those havens, such as the Cayman Islands, Virgin Islands, Jersey, and Bermuda, all connected to the UK, also function as instruments to launder black money worth $1.6 trillion annually.

For example, the Cayman Islands is the world’s sixth-largest banking center, with assets reaching $1.4 trillion. Some 11,000 fund companies in Cayman Islands are forecasted to oversee net total assets of $2.1 trillion. Last month opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called on Cameron’s government to force those islands’ officials to fight tax avoidance and not become safe havens. He even proposed changing the self-governing regime in those islands to direct management.

“The point is that they are not independ-ent territories. They are self-governing, yes, but they are British crown-dependent

territories. Therefore, surely, there has to be an observance of UK tax law in those places.” Corbyn said.

Those criticisms followed shocking Panama Papers revelations showing that Cameron’s late father, Ian Cameron, had operated an offshore fund to avoid taxes.

Cameron’s father was an executive of Blairmore Holdings, which oversees invest-ment funds. The leaks show there are also six lords and three former Conservative Party MPs cited in the Panama Papers.

Experts believe nearly 40 percent of the black money using the weaknesses of the UK to be laundered comes from Russia.

Net errors and omission calculation show that since the 1970s, approximately £133 billion has reached the UK system through unofficial means.

In a report released earlier this year – Dark matter: the hidden capital flows that drive G10 exchange rates – Deutsche Bank said there was strong evidence that a “good chunk” of Britain’s 133 billion pounds ($201 billion) of hidden capital coming into Brit-ain was of Russian origin.

Deutsche Bank’s Strategist at London said that last year nearly £1 billion ($1.47 billion) per month of unmonitored funds are invested in the UK

“A lot of that money goes into the hous-ing market, especially the London housing market. These transactions are not recorded by the tax authorities, they are bringing cash in suitcases,” Winkler said.

“Unfortunately, the money bypasses the banks. It goes through offshore financial services; mailbox companies, etc. Not all the funds are derived from criminal activities. It’s just difficult to trace back,” he added, stressing that the Russians show great interest in the luxury real estate market.

Last year British multinational banking and financial services giant HSBC was seen helping rich clients avoid taxes in 10 coun-tries and 30,000 accounts in documents leaked by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Last month’s Panama Papers leak also showed that HSBC continue to pro-vide financial services to Rami Makhlouf, the cousin of Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad, despite the international sanctions on Syria.

French daily Le Monde also alleged that HSBC has established 2,300 compa-nies through Mossack Fonseca, a law firm and corporate service provider in the thick of the Panama Papers scandal.

Taking into account British banks’ 2012 “Libor” scandal, such allegations are not to be downplayed or made light of.

In June 2012, the UK banking watch-dog fined Barclays for manipulating the daily settings of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) and the Euro Inter-bank Offered Rate (Euribor). The bank’s head, Bob Diamond, had to resign after the scandal.

After that, other banking groups

suspected of involvement in similar scan-dals started to hold negotiations with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) about possible fines related to manipulation allegations.

Britain’s arrogant attitude towards other countries’ corruption, while it is largely beset with similar problems, has put the spotlight on the state of the UK’s own anti-corruption efforts.

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron speaks during the Anti-Corruption Summit at Lancaster House in London, recently. The Summit comes after the publication in April 2016 of the so-called Panama Papers leak on offshore tax havens and the people involved.

Despite low net use, India’s e-commerce triples in 5 years

By Chaitanya Mallapur

IANS

Although India’s use of the inter-net is lower than many poorer countries, the country’s e-com-

merce sector tripled - or grew by 209 percent over the last five years - from $4.4bn (Rs.20,020 crore) in 2010 to $13.6bn (Rs.83,096 crore) in 2014.

This data was contained in a reply given to the Lok Sabha in March 2016.

India’s e-commerce market is likely to reach $38bn (Rs.252,700 crore) in

2016, according to an Associated Cham-bers of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham) report released in Janu-ary 2016.

The online retail sector in India is expected to be a $1 trillion (Rs.660,000 crore) market by 2020, according to a recent report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Deloitte, a consultancy. The study indicates that more e-commerce will trigger big inno-vations in India.

The Goods and Services Tax, once implemented, is expected to boost the growth of e-commerce by simplifying taxation and logistics, said the CII-Deloitte report.

Internet penetration across the country is rising with as many as 354 million users reported as of September 2015. Online shoppers in India have increased from 20 million in 2013 to 39 million in 2015, an increase of 95 percent over three years.

India’s e-commerce market rises despite low net use

But India’s internet penetration

- the percentage of Indians who use the net - is low, 19 percent in 2014, as IndiaSpend reported earlier. Compare this with Australia (90 percent), the US (87 percent), Japan (86 percent), Brazil (53 percent) and China (46 percent).

In 2014, only 18 of 100 Indians used the internet, against 49.3 for China and 48.3 for Vietnam.

Even poorer countries, such as Ghana, had greater internet pene-tration - 18.9 users per 100 people, according to a Mint report. Similarly, mobile subscriptions in India were 74 per 100 people in 2014, lower than Bangladesh (80), China (92), Indone-sia (129) and Vietnam (147).

Mobile internet spend has increased from 54 percent to 64 percent from 2014 to 2015, attributed to high-speed 3G and 4G internet connectivity at some of the world’s lowest prices, fuelling e-commerce growth.

Despite the rise in broadband and mobile internet users, speed remains a major constraint. The average broad-band speed in India is 2 mega bits per

second (mbps), ranking 115 globally, IndiaSpend has reported. Similarly, the average mobile internet speed is 1.7 mbps, ranking below Thailand, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

In March this year, the govern-ment allowed 100 percent foreign direct investment in online retail mar-ketplaces-electronic platforms that connect buyers and sellers.

India’s e-commerce giants battle a survival of the fittest

As competition grows, and inter-national competitors step in, domestic online retailers will struggle, experts predict.

US retailer Amazon became the second-largest online marketplace by shipments in India last month, after domestic rival Flipkart, pushing former number two, Snapdeal, to third place.

Flipkart’s growth has virtually stalled since the middle of last year and the leadership team hasn’t figured out a way to kick-start sales, according to India Value Fund Advisors partner Haresh Chawla.

“Its gross merchandise volume (GMV) - sales or revenue in online retailing - sold over a given period of time has not grown substantially, which had grown by over 200 percent per annum for the past three years,” Chawla added.

Similarly in the taxi business, mul-tinational Uber is in race with India’s Ola, the current domestic-market leader. Last month, Uber claimed it would overtake Ola by market share within 30 days.

Jabong - an online fashion por-tal - reported a drop in sales and cut losses in 2015 and is now struggling to find a buyer.

“Consumer internet start-ups find it difficult to navigate slowdowns,” said Chawla.

“Traditional companies usually recover from these cycles. But tech-nology-led companies simply go bust. They have very little consumer loyalty to start with. Most bribe consumers to grow rapidly and cutback (on profits), causing them to implode.”

Internet penetration across the country is rising with as many as 354 million users reported as of September 2015. Online shoppers in India have increased from 20 million in 2013 to 39 million in 2015, an increase of 95 percent over three years.

All thoughts and views expressed in these columns are those of the writers, not of the newspaper.All correspondence regarding Views and Opinion pages should be mailed to the Editor-in-Chief.

A lot of that money goes into the housing market, especially the London housing market. These transactions are not recorded by the tax authorities, they are bringing cash in suitcases. Unfortunately, the money bypasses the banks. It goes through offshore financial services; mailbox companies, etc. Not all the funds are derived from criminal activities. It’s just difficult to trace back.

ASIA / AFRICA12 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Reuters

BEIJING: China condemned the US Defence Department’s annual report on the Chinese military yesterday, calling it deliberate distortion that has “severely damaged” mutual trust.

In its annual report to Congress on Chinese military activities, the US Defence Department said on Fri-day that China is expected to add substantial military infrastructure, including communications and sur-veillance systems, to artificial islands in the South China Sea this year.

China’s Defence Ministry spokes-man Yang Yujun expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and “firm opposi-tion” to the Pentagon report and said it has “severely damaged mutual trust”, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The report “hyped up” China’s military threat and lack of trans-parency, “deliberately distorted” Chinese defence policies and “unfairly” depicted Chinese activi-ties in the East and South China seas, Yang was quoted as saying.

“China follows a national defence policy that is defensive in nature,” Yang said, adding that the country’s military build-up and reforms are aimed at maintaining sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and guaranteeing China’s peaceful development.

It is the United States that has always been suspicious and flexing its military muscle by frequently sending military aircraft and war-ships to the region, Yang said.

Despite its calls for freedom of navigation and restraint for peace, the US has pushed forward milita-risation of the South China Sea with an “intention to exert hegemony”, Yang added. The Pentagon report said the planned addition of mili-tary infrastructure would give China long-term “civil-military bases” in the contested waters. The Pentagon report comes at a time of heightened tension over maritime territories.

AFP

LONDON: A tip from a CIA spy to authorities in apartheid-era South Africa led to Nelson Mandela’s 1962 arrest, beginning the leader’s 27 years behind bars, an article in the Sunday Times reported.

The newspaper cited comments reportedly made by Donald Rickard, a former US vice-consul in Durban and CIA operative, to British film director John Irvin.

Irvin’s new film “Mandela’s Gun”, about the months before the anti-apartheid icon’s arrest, is due to be

screened at the Cannes film festival this week. Mandela was eventually freed from prison in 1990 and went on to become South Africa’s presi-dent between 1994 and 1999 before dying in 2013 aged 95.

An article by James Sanders, who said he was asked by Irvin to inves-tigate the issue, said the director travelled to the US earlier this year and interviewed Rickard.

Rickard explained how Mandela was arrested as he travelled between Durban and Johannesburg but did not explain how he had learnt where he would be. “I found out when he was coming down and how he was com-ing... that’s where I was involved and

that’s where Mandela was caught,” Rickard was quoted as saying.

He added that Mandela was “completely under the control of the Soviet Union”.

“He could have incited a war in South Africa, the United States would have to get involved, grudgingly, and things could have gone to hell,” Rick-ard added. “We were teetering on the brink here and it had to be stopped, which meant Mandela had to be stopped. And I put a stop to it.”

Zizi Kodwa, national spokesman of Mandela’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, called the rev-elation “a serious indictment” but said it was nothing new.

AFP

DHAKA: Lightning strikes have killed an unprecedented 59 peo-ple in Bangladesh in three days as tropical thunderstorms hit the country before the annual mon-soon, an official said

Thirty-four people were killed on Thursday in different locations and another 25 over the next two days around the country, disaster management department chief Reaz Ahmed said.

“We’ve not seen such a huge number of deaths due to lightning before,” Ahmed said, adding most of the victims were farmers struck while working in their rice paddy fields.

Lightning in the course of tropical storms usually strikes Bangladesh during the pre-monsoon and the monsoon season, which runs from June to September.

According to the disaster man-agement department, 200 people have died on average every year from lightning strikes since 2011.

Weather expert Shah Alam said deforestation was to blame for the increased number of deaths, especially the cutting down of taller trees like palms that used to attract lightning bolts.

Alam, a former head of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said farmers and other labourers were also car-rying more metal objects such as cellphones than before. Many were also working through the storms rather than traditionally waiting until they had passed.

Authorities said they plan to launch an awareness campaign from Monday on the dangers.

Members from the Indigenous Art Performing Group performing traditional Pulikoothu dance during the Galle Music Festival in Galle, Sri Lanka, yesterday.

Galle festival

AFP

SYDNEY: Five young men face life behind bars after they were charged with terrorism offences over a plan to sail to Indonesia to join jihadist groups in Syria, Australian police said.

The men, aged in their twenties and early thirties and whose pass-ports had been cancelled, included notorious Australian Islamic preacher Musa Cerantonio, who was detained in the Philippines in 2014 and deported for reportedly urging peo-ple to join jihad in Iraq and Syria, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The men, who were arrested on Tuesday, bought a seven-metre (23-foot) boat and drove it 2,840 kil-ometres (1,765 miles) from Melbourne north to Queensland state where they

planned to set sail to Indonesia, the Australian Federal Police said.

“The men... were each charged with one count of making prepa-rations for incursions into foreign countries for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities,” the Australian Federal Police said in a statement late Saturday.

“The maximum penalty for this offence is life imprisonment.”

The Australian Broadcasting Cor-poration named two of the other men as Shayden Thorne and Kadir Kaya.

The Federal Police said there was no current or impending terrorism threat from the case and that the men were due at a Queensland state court hearing on Monday.

Canberra has been increasingly concerned about its citizens fighting with jihadist organisations such as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, say-ing some 110 Australians had left the country to join such groups.

The government has also been worried about homegrown extrem-ism and the terror threat level was raised to high in September 2014.

It has passed numerous national security laws including legislation allowing for passports to be cancelled to prevent Australians from leaving the country.

Attorney-General George Brandis said the men’s passports were can-celled several months ago.

“Their passports were can-celled by the Foreign Minister (Julie Bishop) because the relevant level of concern about their intentions were known to us,” Brandis told reporters in Brisbane.

“There is a number of people in Australia under surveillance, and in the event that they were to attempt a terrorist crime, or to attempt to leave Australia in order to perpetrate ter-rorist war fighting overseas, then they would be taken into custody.”

Reuters

NIGERIA: They call themselves the Niger Delta Avengers. Little is known about the new radical group that has claimed a series of pipeline bombings in Nigeria’s oil-producing region this year and evaded gunboats and sol-diers trawling swamps and villages.

Their attacks have driven Nige-rian oil output to near a 22-year low and, if the violence escalates into another insurgency in the restive area, it could cripple production in a country facing a growing economic crisis.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said he will crush the militants, but a wide-scale conflict could stretch security forces already battling a northern rebellion by hardline Sunni Muslim group Boko Haram.

Militancy has been rife over the

past decade in the Delta, a southern region which is one of the country’s poorest areas despite generating 70 percent of state income.

Violence has increased sharply this year - most of it claimed by the “Avengers” - after Buhari scaled back an amnesty deal with rebel groups, which had ended a 2004-2009 insurgency.

Under the deal, more state cash was channelled to the region for job training and militant groups were handed contracts to protect the pipe-lines they once bombed. But Buhari cut the budget allocated to the plan by about 70 percent and cancelled the contracts, citing corruption and mismanagement of funds.

The “Avengers” have carried out a string of attacks since February that reduced Nigerian oil output by at least 300,000 barrels a day of output, and shut down two refineries and a major export terminal.

On Thursday the group emailed journalists a statement saying they were fighting for an independent Delta and would step up their attacks unless oil firms left the region within two weeks.

“If at the end of the ultimatum you are still operating, we will blow up all the locations,” it said. “It will be bloody. So just shut down your oper-ations and leave.”

“To international oil companies, this is just the beginning and you have not seen anything yet. We will make you suffer,” it said.

Authorities have no hard facts about the group - such as its size, bases or leadership, Nigeria-based diplomats say. Diplomats and secu-rity experts say it has shown a level of sophistication not seen since the peak of the 2004-2009 insurgency, which halved Nigeria’s oil output. They say it must be getting help from sympa-thetic oil workers in identifying the

pipelines to cause maximum damage.“Its scary. Their demands are

impossible to meet so there will be probably more attacks,” said a secu-rity expert, asking not to be named.

In February the group claimed an attack on an undersea pipeline, forc-ing Shell to shut a 250,000 barrels a day Forcados terminal. Last week, it took credit for blasting a Chev-ron platform, shutting the Warri and Kaduna refineries. Power outages across Nigeria worsened as gas sup-plies were also affected.

There have been other smaller attacks and this week another explo-sion, which bore the hallmarks of the group, closed Shell’s Bonny Light export programme. Its members describe themselves there as “young, well travelled” and mostly educated in eastern Europe.Given the lack of intelligence about the militants, the army launched a wide-ranging hunt across the Delta this week.

China slams US report on its military

CIA spy claims his tip-off led

to Mandela’s arrest: Report

59 people dead

in Bangladesh

lightning

Five Australians charged for

trying to sail to join Islamic State

Indonesian Greenpeace activists climb a ladder from an inflatable boat as they try to gain access to grab ship unloader to block the loading of coal at a power plant in Cirebon, Indonesia, yesterday.

Green protest ‘Avengers’ threaten new insurgency in Nigeria

The report “hyped up” China’s military threat and lack of transparency, “deliberately distorted” Chinese defence policies and “unfairly” depicted Chinese activities in the East and South China seas.

Participants run on the Simatai Great Wall during the Great Wall run festival in Beijing City, China.

Running for a cause

PAKISTAN 13MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Organisers from Hazara community attend a gathering a day before a planned demonstration in Kabul, yesterday.

Hazara community demonstration

Govt to consult opposition on Panama Leaks probe

Internews

ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (pictured) has decided to con-

tact opposition parties next week to evolve consensus on the terms of reference (ToR) for the Panama com-mission. The development comes a day after the Supreme Court turned down a government request to form a judicial panel, terming the proposed working terms ‘toothless’.

Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Law Barrister Zafarullah said that the government was examining the top court’s response on its request to form an inquiry commission.

The government is waiting for the return of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to start negotiations with the oppo-sition, which has been vociferously protesting over the issue. Zafarul-lah said the dialogue process with

opposition parties was expected to start in the coming week.

The prime minister is also

expected to address parliament today in an effort to clarify his posi-tion before the opposition lawmakers, who have been boycotting the legis-lative sessions since May 9.

Another senior official said a com-mittee headed by Dar and comprising a member each from the govern-ment allied parties would be formed for talks with the opposition. Home-work for the dialogue has already been completed with backchan-nel contacts with opposition leaders already made, he added.

The official, however, said the government’s legal aides were still reluctant on forming the Pan-ama commission under a new law as recommended by the Supreme

Court. They believe a number of commissions have already worked successfully under the Pakistan Com-mission of Inquiry Act, 1956.

CJP refuses govt’s request to form judicial commission probing Panama leaks

The official also voiced reser-vations over the Supreme Court Bar Association’s (SCBA) offer to play a mediatory role between the oppo-sition and the government. The bar should play a neutral role, he added.

Though the SCBA has welcomed the top court’s response to the gov-ernment’s request, the Pakistan Bar Council has expressed reservations over the judiciary’s suggestion to enact appropriate laws.

The PBC executive body passed a resolution, stating the Supreme Court should instead take suomotu notice of the Panama leaks.

The lawyers’ association also called upon the prime minister and his children to provide the money trail leading to the offshore assets from 1985 to date.

The PBC believed if in the his-tory of Pakistan there was one case deserving action under Article 184(3), it was the case of Panama leaks.

The PBC regretted the top court’s letter has again thrown back the mat-ter into the hands of the government, which has no intention to divulge details of the money earned by the premier or his children.

The government is waiting for the return of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to start negotiations with the opposition.

Internews

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan (pictured) never declared his Chan-nel Island ‘Be-Naami’ offshore company Niazi Services Limited in his nomination papers submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) while giving a declaration on oath in the nomination papers for the 2013 elections and even stated in categorical terms that neither he nor any member of his family owned any company.

However, official documents of Jersey Financial Services Com-mission, the Channel Islands, show that Niazi Services Limited remained operational till October 2015. Top legal and constitutional experts say that Imran Khan may face disquali-fication on count of making a wrong declaration on oath.

In addition to providing complete details of assets, properties, invest-ments and shares on prescribed forms in his nomination papers, a candidate has to make certain dec-larations on oath that he/she has belief in the absolute and unqual-ified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad (SAW), faithful-ness in Quaid-i-Azam’s declaration that Pakistan will be a democratic state, no loan default or write-off or default of utility bills and that he/she or his/her family and dependents do not own any company except … (details to be provided if one owns any). The relevant clause of nomina-tion papers reads; “Neither I nor my spouse(s) nor any of my dependents mainly owns any company except the following:”

On page-3 of his 2013 nomina-tion papers to contest elections from NA-56 Rawalpindi, the PTI chief declared on oath to this clause as “NIL”. Whereas now the PTI chief has admitted owning a ‘Benaami’ offshore company in the Channel

Islands, Niazi Services Limited. Official documents of the Jersey Financial Services Commission (Companies Registry) show that Niazi Services Limited remained operational till October 1, 2015. Thus even if he hasn’t declared it in his assets statement for any reason, while making a declaration on oath, the PTI chief was bound to admit owning this company but he didn’t.

Former chief justice of Pakistan Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui said that the PTI chief was bound to declare his offshore company in his assets as well as make a correct dec-laration on oath and by not doing so he had concealed facts.

“If it is proved that his com-pany remained operational till 2015 and he has made a wrong declara-tion and concealed facts, he will face disqualification. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) can move against it on its own and it is ECP’s constitutional duty,” Siddiqui said adding, “There is no need to file any petition and the ECP could act by taking suo moto action”.

He added that an appeal could be filed against the ECP’s decision before the Supreme Court.

Senior legal expert Ikraam Chaudhry said if the company had become dormant and it could be proved, Imran might not have to face disqualification.

Imran denies owning any company in nomination papers

Govt fails to launch seminary registration

ISLAMABAD: The authorities in Pakistan have yet to initiate the registration process of seminar-ies under last year’s uniform data collection project. Though the data forms have been drafted, they have still not been shared with the reli-gious schools.

While the majority of semi-naries have expressed willingness to participate in the registration process, the government has not formally announced when the drive will commence.

Around 25,000 seminaries are already registered with provincial governments, but many across the country have yet to be recognised. The syllabus of these seminaries has never been discussed at the government level.

It was learnt that despite developing consensus among the seminary boards on uniform data registration form, the government has taken no step forward.

The federal government first wants to take all provinces on board over this issue as the provin-cial governments are supposed to carry out the data collection drive, sources said.

A meeting of all the provincial chief ministers was supposed to take place in April in Islamabad for getting their input on the sub-ject. This meeting could not take place, however.

The sources said the registra-tion and data collection campaign could only be started after the meeting of chief ministers.

Under the drafted “Uniform Registration and Data Forms of Madrassas”, the religious schools are supposed to provide basic information about their institu-tions, including the number of students enrolled, the faculties, information of bank accounts and affiliations with a specific school of thought, among other relevant details. Through the campaign, the government wants to make sure the seminaries are not involved in any sort of extremism besides getting to know about the type of education imparted.

Afghan protesters hold banners as they chant anti-government slogans to demand that the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TUTAP) electricity project to cross through the Salang Highway, in the eastern province of Khost, yesterday.

Fighting for project

Internews

PESHAWAR: More and more doctors, especially those in the management cadre, are leaving the provincial health department in Pakistan for jobs abroad or with international organisations over bleak chances of promotion at home, said sources.

Recently, four such medics signed job contracts with Saudi-based hos-pitals for better salary and fringe benefits, sources said.

The government had bifur-cated the management and general cadre in January 2009 with a view to appoint specialists to manage-ment positions in health department and districts for better utilisation of resources. The plan, however, didn‘t work due to a lack of incentives for

the highly-qualified and experienced employees. The sources said many senior doctors from the manage-ment cadre had left for international organisations for monetary benefits and better chances of exposure and career growth despite a keen desire to serve the department.

They said many doctors, who were on deputation with UN and other international organisation, opted to resign from their health department jobs when they were asked to report back.

The sources said the medics, who joined international organisations, received better salary and technical knowhow on the basis of which they got senior positions, but those who preferred to stay in the health depart-ment, felt on the receiving end.

They said a woman doctor work-ing in the health department for 20

years would be joined by her daugh-ter to be appointed soon as medical officer in the same grade in which her mother was.

The sources said such a situation had caused lethargy and demotiva-tion among doctors. They said an acute shortage on the management side was felt but there was no incen-tives and service career for doctors.

The sources said many doctors retired in the same grade in which they‘re posted.

According to them, around 350 management cadre doctors, who worked on managerial positions like district health officers, directors, deputy directors, agency surgeons and project managers, have been awaiting promotion for decades but on the contrary, others coming as section officers are promoted trough a smooth system.

Doctors leaving govt jobs to join international organisations

Internews

ISLAMABAD: The Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SE) of Pakistan’s Northwest Khy-ber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has decided to review and standardise text-books being taught in the public sector schools with the objective to incorporate quality material therein, according to sources.

The decision has been taken as part of the initiative to maintain min-imum standards in textbooks from grade-I to the intermediate level, sources in the E&SE Department said.

They said that textbooks of math-ematics, science, English, chemistry, physics and biology from grade-I to intermediate level would be reviewed and standardised in different phases.

For this purpose, the education department has made a compre-hensive plan. They said that if the planned review and standardisa-tion of the textbooks was successfully conducted and objectives achieved then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be the first province in the country to have textbooks meeting the criteria of minimum standards. Besides incor-porating quality material into the textbooks, the education department also desires to attract the private schools to introduce the educa-tion department‘s textbooks in their respective schools, the sources said.

They said that the education department at present couldn‘t force the private schools to introduce its textbooks as it couldn’t compete with the different publishers and printers whose books had been introduced since long. The plan of reviewing

textbooks and incorporation of qual-ity content consists of four phases to be completed by June 2018, they said. The sources said that in the first phase the target was the textbooks of science, mathematics and English at primary level while the textbooks for middle class would be improved in the second phase.

Similarly, the textbooks of phys-ics, chemistry, biology, English, mathematics and science for the high and higher secondary schools would be reviewed and improved in the third and fourth phases, respectively.

In this connection, the educa-tion department has already initiated imparting training to the officials of Directorate of Curricula and Teach-ers Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board, authors, publishers and reviewers about how to review and standardise the books.

KP province education department

plans review of school books

INDIA14 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

IANS

KOLKATA: At least 12 people were missing as an overloaded boat cap-sized in the Hooghly river in West Bengal’s Burdwan district, officials said yesterday. During the search for survivors, a woman’s body was found. Locals, however, claimed that over 50 people drowned in the trag-edy near Kalna late Saturday night. They also said that search and res-cue operation was delayed, which was denied by authorities.

“The boat had over 100 pas-sengers, including many children. The boat capsized around 11pm (on Saturday), but police arrived at the spot only on Sunday morning and the search operation started late in the (Sunday) afternoon. Over 50 people have drowned,” said a local.

Incensed locals indulged in riot-ing and set afire several boats in Shantipur’s Nrisinghapur Ghat jetty. At least two security personnel were injured in stone-pelting.

Police fired teargas shells to disperse the crowd and detained at least 20 protestors. Nadia District

Magistrate Vijay Bharti said at least 12 people were reported missing. It was not yet confirmed if the dead woman was among those dozen reported missing.

“So far, we have received reports of 12 people missing -- five from Kalna in Burdwan and seven from Nadia. Some more people are claimed to be missing. We are veri-fying the claims,” Bharti said.

“The body of a woman, aged about 30, has been fished out,” said a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) official heading the search efforts. The victims were on way to Shantipur in Nadia district when the boat capsized.

“There was no delay in the res-cue work. The law and order issue arose due to some other reason. The administration acted swiftly to restore peace. Two policemen have sustained injuries,” Bharti said. State minister Swapan Debnath too denied any delay. “Rescue operation began as soon as the administration got the news. Several people have been res-cued. At the behest of their political masters, some people are making false accusations,” he said after vis-iting the spot. Claiming that at least 160 people had gone missing, state Youth Congress president Arindam Bhattacharya accused the police of mercilessly beating up people pro-testing the delay in the rescue work.

“There was no sign of rescue or search operation late into the (Mon-day) morning. As people gathered and demanded a search for their near and dear ones, police instead mercilessly rained batons on them,” said Bhattacharya. Bhattacharya, who was a candidate from Shantipur assembly segment, said he sustained head injuries due to police beating.

His Trinamool Congress rival Ajoy Dey accused Bhattacharya of instigating the protestors.

A shopper using an elevator during a visit to a mall in Bengaluru, yesterday.

Mall culture

IANS

CHENNAI: PMK’s chief ministe-rial candidate Anbumani Ramadoss yesterday urged the Election Com-mission to postpone today’s assembly polls temporarily due to large-scale bribing of voters.

In a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, Ramadoss said: “Since there is huge money distribution across all the 234 constituencies in

Tamil Nadu, we request you to tem-porarily postpone the elections in all the constituencies. “The nomi-nation of all the AIADMK and DMK candidates who have indulged in distribution of money should be nulli-fied,” he added. Ramadoss also urged the poll body to depute officers from other states to conduct the election in a free and fair manner with the help of paramilitary forces.According to Ramadoss, his party candidates have confiscated the money distributed by DMK and AIADMK candidates and

handed them over to Election Com-mission officers.

“Instead of filing a complaint and taking necessary action against the offender (AIADMK and DMK candi-dates), a case has been filed against the PMK candidate who complained,” Ramadoss said in his letter. On Sat-urday, the Election Commission postponed balloting to May 23 in Aravakurichi constituency in Karur district as it was satisfied that the electoral process had been vitiated due to bribery by political parties.

IANS

VIJAYAWADA: Seven workers were buried alive when the wall at a construction site collapsed in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur town Saturday night, police said yes-terday.

Rescue workers pulled out an eighth man alive. The seven bodies were retrieved on Sunday morning.

The accident occurred when the wall at a shopping mall being built collapsed and the debris fell on a pit where 18 labourers were working. Police, fire brigade and revenue personnel launched the rescue operations. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) also joined the rescue effort. The irate workers attacked the cars of an aide of Social Welfare Minis-ter Ravela Kishore Babu when he reached the scene.

The deceased include students who were working as construction workers during summer holidays to earn some money.

Deputy Chief Minister N. Chin-narajappa said action would be taken if it was proved that the negligence by the builder led to the collapse.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed at the Government Hospital at Guntur yesterday as families of the dead workers staged a protest demanding compensation.

They insisted on an assurance by the government before allow-ing the autopsy to be conducted.

Visitors walk along the shoreline and swim at Rushikonda Beach in Visakhapatnam, yesterday.

Fun at sea lap

IANS

NEW DELHI: Peaceful by-polls in 13 municipal wards in Delhi recorded a low voter turnout of 45.9 percent yes-terday. While Bhati ward recorded the highest turnout of 64.36 percent, Matiala ward witnessed the lowest turnout at 33 percent — both wards are in south Delhi. However, State

Election Commission (SEC) officials said the overall turnout was not low as compared to earlier turnouts in MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) polls.

“In the 2012 civic polls, the voter turnout was 55 percent, which was the highest at that time. Also, the low turnout can be attributed to these being by-polls which people are not taking seriously perhaps,” an SEC offi-cial said.

The SEC statement said the voting

— which was held between 8am and 5pm — was peaceful in all the wards — seven in South Delhi Municipal Corporation, four in North Delhi Municipal Corporation and two in East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The results will be declared on May 17.

“No incident of violence was reported from anyone. Voting was peaceful. There was some problem with EVM (Electronic Voting Machine)

at a polling station in Ballimaran but it was later replaced,” the statement said

Meanwhile, all three major parties in the fray claimed victory.

Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Satish Upadhyaya said the by-polls were a referendum on the Aam Aadmi Party’s governance in Delhi.

“The by-polls are a referendum on the AAP government in Delhi. The real test for the BJP will be the 2017 civic polls where people will vote for us

on the basis of our work in the three MCDs,” Upadhyaya told IANS.

Asked how many wards his party will win in the by-polls, he said he didn’t want to go into the numbers game. The Congress and the AAP claimed anti-incumbency against the BJP. AAP’s Deepak Bajpai said the low voter turnout will not affect his par-ty’s performance.

“Even thought the turnout was low, we have got good news from

all the wards,” Bajpai told. It is the maiden civic polls for the AAP, which is hoping to replicate its February 2015 assembly elections performance when it bagged 67 of the 70 seats. Mean-while, the Congress said it will win the by-polls with comfortable margins.

The Delhi High Court paved the way for the by-polls in 13 wards after the state government unsuccessfully argued to advance the civic polls scheduled to be held in 2017.

One dead and 12 missing in boat capsize

PMK demands postponement of TN polls

MCD by-elections in 13 wards record 45.9 percent turnout

The boat had over 100 passengers, including many children. The boat capsized around 11pm (on Saturday), but police arrived at the spot only yesterday morning.

Seven dead

in Guntur

wall collapse

IANS

KOLKATA: A man was killed and another critically injured yesterday in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri after a

mob thrashed them on the suspicion of stealing a goat, police said.

The incident happened in the Damdim tea estate in the district and comes days after a 24-year-old ITI student in Diamond Harbour of South

24 Parganas district was lynched on Monday by a mob accusing him of being a cattle thief.

According to the police, four peo-ple were trying to put a goat inside a car when locals saw and chased

them. While two of them managed to escape, the mob thrashed the other two killing one of them and critically injuring another. Police registered a case and started investigating it in detail.

Man lynched in Bengal for trying to steal goat

IANS

NEW DELHI: Three months after the unseemly violence at the Patiala House court complex in the capital in which journalists were assaulted and thrashed by some lawyers, all that Delhi Police say they have been able to do is to have “examined” the visual footage of the incident and identified the assaulters.

A report on the status of inves-tigation will soon be submitted to the Supreme Court, which is hear-ing a plea seeking action against the attackers.

“We have examined visuals of the CCTV cameras installed in the Patiala House Court premise and identified the assaulters,” a senior police officer told IANS, not wishing to be identified.

Over 40 cameras are installed in various places of Patiala House Courts Complex and all of them were operational when the incident took place, a court official told IANS. He

added that after the incident the court in-charge sent the visuals to the Delhi Police for conducting a fair probe into the matter.

A group of people in lawyers’ garb, on February 15 and February 17, assaulted mediapersons and Jawaha-rlal Nehru University (JNU) teachers and students, including student union president Kanhaiya Kumar, dubbing them anti-national.

Kanhaiya had been brought to the court on both days for his remand hearing following his arrest on sedi-tion charges for organising a meeting on the campus earlier in February in support of Afzal Guru, hanged for his role in the December 13, 2001, attack on the Indian parliament.

Delhi Police have registered four first information reports (FIRs) on the violence.

Three lawyers - Vikram Singh Chauhan, Yashpal Singh and Om Sharma - were arrested and later released on bail for allegedly inter-fering in the administration of justice and wilfully violating a February 17 order of the Supreme Court, which

had directed the peaceful conduct of proceedings. Delhi BJP legislator O.P. Sharma was also arrested and later released on bail over his alleged involvement in the assault on CPI member Amieeque Jamei at Patiala House court complex.

The senior officer told IANS that police have recorded the statement of various people, including journal-ists, as prosecution witnesses in the case and the probe is still on.

“We are preparing an investi-gation report. A status report of the probe will first be submitted to the Supreme Court and thereafter we will file the charge-sheet in the case,” the officer said.

He however declined to give more details about the investigation, saying the matter was sub-judice.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has also appointed a committee to inquire into the incidents.

A lawyer who is also one of the prosecution witnesses in the case told IANS that he had submitted a detailed statement of the incident for nailing the assaulters.

Assaulters of Patiala House

court violence identified: Police

INDIA 15MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

IANS

NEW DELHI: Terming as baseless Congress’s allegations that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was interfer-ing in the 2008 Malegaon blast case to give “clean chits” to accused asso-ciated with RSS-BJP, the Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday said the main opposition party should rather apol-ogise to the nation for its act.

“All the allegations levelled by the Congress are baseless and we strongly reject it. Rather they should apologise to the nation for framing these people,” BJP national secre-tary Srikant Sharma said. He said the Congress was frustrated and

trying to divert the attention of the people from corruption cases like Agustawestland. Sharma said: “Polit-ical comments are not evidence. Law acts on evidence. In Samjhauta Express and Malegaon case they arrested the alleged accused but there was no evidence against them.”

“It was the court which lifted MCOCA for lack of evidence,” he added. The Congress on Sunday accused the PMO of interference in the case and sought to drag National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s name into the row. Sharma said the Con-gress has been exposed in the matter and has no moral right to accuse the BJP.

“In lust of power, they did mis-takes. Now they have been exposed,” he said. He also said that it was the Congress which dubbed Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon as innocent.

“Those who did contempt of the court by dubbing terrorists as inno-cent are now talking about judicial process,” Sharma said.

The Congress urged the Supreme Court to take into its custody the charge sheet, official files, notings and other relevant documents in the case to ensure justice.

Accusing the Congress of hav-ing double-standards, the BJP leader said the opposition parties were silent when eight Muslims were also discharged by the court in the Male-gaon blasts recently.

Villagers catch fish in an agricultural field which is inundated by rain waters in Goalpara district of Assam state, yesterday.

Village fishing

AFP

NEW DELHI: A coalition of press freedom groups yesterday urged a swift investigation into the mur-der of two Indian journalists in 24 hours, crimes that heightened fears about media safety and freedom in the country.

Rajdeo Ranjan, local bureau chief for the Hindi-language daily Hindustan, was shot five times by unknown gunmen late on Friday while he was travelling on his motor-cycle in the eastern state of Bihar.

On Thursday evening television journalist Akhilesh Pratap Singh was shot dead as he returned home on a motorbike in restive Jharkhand state bordering Bihar. Police have not yet made any formal arrests in either case. The International Fed-eration of Journalists (IFJ) said the shootings took to nine the number of journalists killed in the past year in India, which has been ranked as Asia’s deadliest country for reporters.

“We utterly condemn the kill-ings, demand a speedy and thorough investigation and justice for our colleagues,” Brussels-based IFJ president Jim Boumelha said in a statement Sunday.

“The toll of killings in India is undermining press freedom and the government and police must act to bring the killers to justice and put an end to impunity.”

The Indian Journalists Union, an IFJ affiliate, said both of the report-ers were killed because of their work

exposing corruption and criminal activities in the underdeveloped states. Police have similar suspicions.

“Rural reporters, who are the most neglected and poorly-paid journalists in the country, are brav-ing the threats and intimidation of a political and criminal nexus,” the Indian group said in the same statement. The National Union of Journalists of India has threatened nationwide protests if police fail to move quickly to bring those respon-sible to justice.

India was Asia’s deadliest coun-try for journalists in 2015, according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. It is also one of the most restrictive for them, ranked 133 out of 180 nations by the group.

Journalists in the world’s largest democracy often face harassment and intimidation by police, politi-cians, bureaucrats and criminal gangs, while scores work in hos-tile conditions in conflict-ridden pockets of the country. The Press Council of India (PCI) on Saturday set up a three-member fact finding committee to inquire into the mur-der of Rajdeo Ranjan. Mediapersons in Bihar and elsewhere have been registering their protests against the killing.

The murder comes close on the heels of the killing of teenager Adi-tya Sachdeva allegedly by Rocky Yadav, the son of a ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) lawmaker in Gaya district. The leaders and workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the NDA, have been staging demonstrations across the state

IANS

NEW DELHI: The CBI yesterday detained union home ministry official Anand Joshi, who had gone missing after the agency issued summons following allegations of corruption.

“We have detained Anand Joshi and he is now being questioned,” Central Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Devpreet Singh told IANS.

The CBI had booked Joshi, an under secretary in the ministry, earlier this month on charges of corruption and issued summons to appear before it for question-ing. Joshi had subsequently gone missing. Home ministry sources had earlier said that Joshi, who was recently posted in the foreign-ers division and had access to files related to Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), had been under scanner for several months and was reported to the CBI after it was confirmed that he was tak-ing bribes to favour certain NGOs.

It was alleged that Joshi had been indulging in corrupt activi-ties and arbitrarily issuing notices to large number of NGOs and soci-eties registered under FCRA who had been receiving significant amount of foreign contributions.

Joshi had allegedly demanded and obtained illegal gratification from some of these organisations, which were laundered through various immovable assets as well as certain private companies. He was also allegedly behind some files related to Teesta Setalvad.

Election workers push wheelchairs in Chennai, yesterday, ahead of voting in state assembly elections in Tamil Nadu today.

Election preparations

IANS

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With Kerala set to elect a new assembly today, the performance of the BJP-BDJS alliance is being keenly watched — because it may ultimately decide who wins the electoral battle.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is fighting the election in alliance with the recently floated Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), the political wing

of the Hindu Ezhava leader Vellapalli Natesan.

The BJP is contesting 98 and the BDJS 37 of the 140 seats. Although CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechuri has predicted a zero tally for the BJP-BDJS alliance, he has hinted at a “match fixing” between the Con-gress and the newly formed combine.

Although it has never won an assembly or Lok Sabha seat in Ker-ala, the BJP doubled the total number of seats in last year’s local body polls to around 1,100 as compared to 2010.

Its vote share also touched 14 per cent. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP vote share touched 10.83 per cent, up from 6.03 per cent in the 2011 assembly polls. In the 2011 assem-bly polls, the BJP contested 139 of the 140 seats and finished runners up in three constituencies. All three candi-dates got more than 40,000 votes. In the rest the BJP finished a poor third.

In 18 assembly constituencies in 2011, BJP candidates got between 10,000 and 19,000 votes, two got more than 20,000 votes.

IANS

HYDERABAD: In a gentle hint to the Supreme Court, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that while he respects the apex court, “one should not try to interfere in others’ areas”.

In a wide-ranging interview to mark two years of the Narendra Modi government, Jaitley called the prime minister “a hard working person” and

also said he (Jaitley) wasn’t happy with the 7.5 percent growth rate. Speak-ing in the context of the Uttarakhand political developments, the minister told ETV News Network that everyone should respect the clear demarcation among the judiciary, executive and legislature. “Everyone should respect that. One should not try to interfere in others’ areas.” The veteran Bhratiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said a debate on Article 356 and on President’s Rule was not new. The Modi government,

he said, had not made any mis-take by imposing President’s Rule in Uttarakhand.

According to him, March 18 was the real floor test in Uttarakhand and on that day the Congress government lost its majority. “The present floor test was done after floor equation was changed,” he said, apparently refer-ring to the Uttarakhand High Court and Supreme Court rulings that nine rebel Congress legislators could not take part in the assembly floor test

that helped Harish Rawat to return as chief minister. Jaitley also said that tax came under the purview of the gov-ernment and not the judiciary. So, the government had to take decisions on taxation, not the court.

Jaitley praised Modi — who took office in May 2014 — “as a great com-municator” who had knowledge in every sector and also a clear vision.

The prime minister, he said, was hard working, had the ability to extract work from his associates,

and led by example. Jaitley gave credit to Modi for changing India’s image across the world. The minister quickly added that he was not happy with the 7.5 percent growth rate.

The Modi government was work-ing harder to increase the growth rate and retain it over a longer period. For this, the government was focus-ing on development of villages and in infrastructure. He also blamed the Congress for opposing the GST and vowed to bring about consensus

among all the parties and pass the bill.The BJP leader urged Bihar Chief

Minister Nitish, who recently hit out at the BJP and RSS at Varanasi, Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency, to pay more attention to Bihar. “Nitish should focus on law and order situation in Bihar.”

On the AgustaWestland deal, he said while the bribe givers had been sentenced and the middlemen identi-fied, “the issue is where are the bribe takers”. He said a search was on for the bribe takers.

AFP

NEW DELHI: A truck and an over-crowded autorickshaw have collided in southern India, killing 10 mem-bers of the same family and five others, police said yesterday. Many of the victims were children from the family which was crammed into the autorickshaw and travelling to a tem-ple in Telangana state late Saturday, police said. The three-wheeler, car-rying 18 people in total, rammed into

the truck in Adilabad district, local police spokesman Gurudev, who uses one name, told AFP by phone.

“Fifteen people died and eight of them were children, unfortunately. Even the driver didn’t survive,” Gurudev said, adding that all the victims were from the autorickshaw.

“The roads are in bad condition in that area and it was dark. There is road construction happening on one stretch, converging two lanes into one. That may have caused the accident,” he said. Many of those in the autorickshaw were brick kiln

labourers from the western state of Maharashtra who had migrated to Telangana for work.

Fatal traffic accidents are com-mon in India, which has some of the world’s deadliest roads with more than 200,000 fatalities annually, according to the World Health Organ-isation. Earlier this month, 14 people were killed after a packed minibus fell into a deep gorge in India’s north-ern Himalayan region. Transport analysts attribute the huge number of accidents to poor roads, badly main-tained vehicles and reckless driving.

IANS

PATNA: Father of murdered journalist Rajdeo Ranjan yesterday said people in Siwan district fully understand who conspired to kill his son and that only a CBI investigation of the case will have any credibility.

“In Siwan most of the people understand the motive behind this kill-ing and know it fully who conspired to carry it out,” Radhakrishna Choudhary said. “We have no faith and confidence in local police and state administration. We want a CBI probe into the killing of my son,” Choudhary, a marginal farmer, said.

Rajdeo Ranjan, the Siwan bureau chief of the Hindi newspaper, which is part of the HT Media, was shot dead on Friday at a busy market near the Sta-tion Road in the district. Until yesterday morning, the police announced no breakthrough in the case even as the political opposition National Demo-cratic Alliance (NDA) called the murder another proof of the “return of jungle raj” in Bihar.Siwan Superintendent of Police Saurav Kumar Sah said that ini-tially four suspects had been detained in connection with the killing, but later two were released after questioning.

Choudhary said only a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the case can provide justice to his family, including wife and two minor children of his son. Earlier, sen-ior BJP leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi had also demanded a CBI probe into it.

BJP: Oppn must apologise over Malegaon row

BJP-BDJS alliance can make

or break rival fronts in Kerala

Home ministry

official detained

for corruption

People know who

killed my son, says

father of scribe

Ten of a family dead in Telangana accident

Press groups urge probe

into deaths of journalists

Judiciary should not try to interfere in others’ areas: Jaitley

All the allegations levelled by the Congress are baseless and we strongly reject it. Rather they should apologise to the nation for framing these people: BJP

Irish Air Corps deliver maintenance and repair supplies to Dun Aonghasa, a pre-historic stone fort dated from 1100BC on the remote Aran Islands in Galway, Ireland

Preserving heritage

EUROPE / UK16 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

The former London mayor’s comments drew swift criticism from opponents, who said they were offensive and showed a lack of judgement.

AFP

LONDON: Former London mayor Boris Johnson said the European Union was behaving like German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler by trying to create a superstate, in a newspa-per interview yesterday.

Johnson is one of the leading fig-ures campaigning for Britain to leave the EU in closely-fought referendum being held on June 23. His comments drew swift criticism from opponents, who said they were “offensive” and showed a “lack of judgement”.

Johnson said the last two thou-sand years of European history had featured repeated efforts to bring the continent together under a single gov-ernment, emulating the Roman empire.

“Napoleon, Hitler, various people

tried this out, and it ends tragically. The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods,” Johnson told The Sunday Telegraph.

“But fundamentally what is lack-ing is the eternal problem, which is that there is no underlying loyalty to

the idea of Europe. “There is no sin-gle authority that anybody respects or understands. That is causing this massive democratic void.”

Johnson’s comments were attacked by opposition politicians and in Europe, while “EU to Hitler” was trending in London on Twitter.

Hilary Benn, foreign affairs spokesman for the main opposition Labour party and a supporter of EU membership, called the comparison “offensive”.

“After the horror of the Second World War, the EU helped to bring an end to centuries of conflict in Europe and for Boris Johnson to make this comparison is both offensive and des-perate,” he said.

Another leading pro-EU Labour figure, Yvette Cooper, said Johnson was playing a “nasty, nasty game”.

“The more he flails around with

this kind of hysterical claim, the more he exposes his shameful lack of judge-ment, his willingness to play the most divisive cynical politics, and the emp-tiness of his arguments,” she said.

Finnish finance minister Alexan-der Stubb added on Twitter: “What is happening in the cradle of com-mon sense and civilization? This is an outrageous comparison by @borisjohnson.”

Johnson is a leading member of the ruling Conservative party of Prime Minister David Cameron, who is leading the campaign to keep Brit-ain in the EU.

Known for his rhetorical flour-ishes, he was accused of racism last month after suggesting US Presi-dent Barack Obama removed a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office because of anti-British sen-timent linked to his “part-Kenyan”

heritage. The “Remain” and “Leave” camps are currently tied at 50 per-cent each, according to the What UK Thinks website’s average of the last six opinion polls.

Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party, backed Johnson to follow Cameron as prime minister in an interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

Analysts suggest that Cameron will be forced to resign if Britain votes to leave the EU and Johnson is one of the favourites to take over from him.

“Boris goes on surprising people,” Farage said in an interview conducted before Johnson’s latest comments were published.

“They say he can’t do this, he’s a joker—it’s like Ronnie Reagan. Could he do it? Yes. If you’d asked me six months ago I’d have said no but I’ve changed my mind.”

Cameron struggles

to make Britons

believe his EU

message: Poll

Reuters

LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron is struggling to con-vince voters he is telling the truth about why Britain should stay in the European Union and his main “Out” rival Boris Johnson is doing a better job, an opinion poll found.

Only 21 percent of respondents in the survey carried out by polling firm ComRes agreed that Cameron was more likely to tell the truth about the EU than Johnson while 45 percent said Johnson was more believable than Cameron.

With less than six weeks to go until the June 23 referendum on Britain’s EU membership and voters evenly split on how they intend to cast their ballots, the rival camps have stepped up campaigning.

Cameron has warned of the risk of a hit to Britain’s econ-omy from a decision to leave the world’s biggest trade bloc. John-son says Britain would flourish outside the EU if allowed to make its own rules, strike its own trade deals and spend its EU budget con-tributions at home.

The ComRes poll, conducted for the Sunday Mirror newspa-per and the Independent website, found 33 percent of respondents believed they would be better off if Britain stayed in the EU, only slightly more than the 29 percent who thought they would be better off if Britain left.

ComRes interviewed 2,043 adults online on Wednesday and Thursday.

Earlier, Bank of England Gov-ernor Mark Carney warned of the risk of a sharp slowdown in Britain’s economy, and possibly a short recession, if the country left the EU.

The ComRes poll did not ask voters how they intended to vote on June 23.

AFP

PRISTINA: Kosovo police have arrested a Catholic priest accused of child abuse offences in Britain and his extradition is being processed, a senior police official said yesterday.

“Andrew Charles Kingston Soper was arrested on Wednesday on a European arrest warrant issued by Great Britain,” chief of police’s direc-torate for international cooperation Veton Elshani told reporters.

“He is known as Father Laurence (and) was born in 1943,” Elshani added.

Soper has been on run since he jumped bail in 2011 before he could be charged with child abuse offences dating back to when he had taught at St Benedict’s School, a private Catholic school in Ealing

Abbey in west London.The priest faces accusations of

abusing five pupils. Soper “was arrested in the eastern town of Peja by the fugitive arrest search team after the police got a hint from abroad that he was there,” Elshani said.

“The public prosecutor ordered his detention until the court decides on his extradition,” he said, adding that by the law the procedure lasts at least 40 days.

“It can be shorter only if he agrees to be extradited and does not appeal against his extradition.”

Following an independent British report detailing 21 incidents of abuse by monks dating from the 1970s until 2010, in 2011 the St Benedict’s school apologised and accepted recommen-dations to fundamentally change the way it is run to protect children in the future.

Reuters

BANJA LUKA, BOSNIA: Thousands of Bosnian Serbs staged rival rallies for and against the government in the capital of Bosnia’s autonomous Serb region, kept apart by a heavy police presence after warnings of violence.

Authorities had banned both sides from marching through Banja Luka to avoid confrontations in the politically charged atmosphere in the build-up to local elections in October.

The opposition was protesting against what it sees as corruption and the poor state of the economy while the rival rally was a show of support for the government.

“We have to fight for our state,” Serb Republic President Milorad Dodik told about 10,000 flag-waving supporters, some carrying pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We want peace. Today we defend our republic from treason.”

Among Dodik’s supporters was Darko Mladic, son of Bosnian Serb wartime military leader Ratko Mladic who is facing war crimes charges at The Hague.

Across town, a similar number of opposition protesters waved anti-Dodik banners saying: “This is not Sicily, we have had enough of God-fathers”. They demanded early parliamentary elections, economic reforms and investigation of what they called political murders. and

The opposition rally was addressed by Sonja Karadzic, daugh-ter of former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, who was jailed in March for genocide.

Worried that unrest in Bosnia could destabilise his own country, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic had urged Bosnian Serb politicians to pre-vent protests turning violent.

But police kept the demonstrators apart with metal barriers and city-centre cafes and shops were closed. The rallies ended peacefully.

Political tensions in the Serb Republic have risen since elections in 2014, when Dodik’s ruling party lost its place in the Bosnian govern-ment to the Alliance for Change, a pro-Europe reformist group, and

remained in control only of the Serb Republic government.

Dodik, who favours closer ties with Russia and has threatened to pull his region out of Bosnia’s com-plex state structure, says officials who support a reform agenda designed to bring Bosnia closer to the European Union are traitors.

The opposition accuses Dodik of autocracy and corruption. He has been investigated for embezzlement and abuse of office but never charged.

Since coming to power with West-ern backing 10 years ago, Dodik has adopted nationalist policies aimed at increasing his region’s autonomy and weakening state institutions by blocking laws in Bosnia’s national parliament.

AFP

PROSCHIM, DEUTSCHLAND: German police said yesterday they arrested 120 people following vio-lent clashes between environmental activists and security personnel at anti-coal demonstrations in the east of the country.

A police spokeswoman said the clashes occurred in Lausitz when around 300 demonstrators forced their way into the Schwarze Pumpe coal-fired power station belonging to Swedish state-owned energy giant Vattenfall. The protests are part of the “Break Free” campaign launched by Greenpeace and other environmentalist groups in countries including the US, Canada and Bra-zil to oppose the use of fossil fuels.

The campaign, which began ear-lier this month, ends this weekend in Germany. Police said that a group of activists attacked Vattenfall’s secu-rity guards, tore down fences and stormed the premises. A spokesman for the company said that firecrack-ers were also thrown.

Two protesters were injured dur-ing the arrests and taken to hospital,

police said. But a spokeswoman for the anti-

nuclear and anti-coal coalition Ende Gelaende (Here and No Further) insisted that it was police officers who started the violence when pro-testers wanted to leave the site.

In addition, pro-coal demonstra-tors attacked the protesters in the skirmishes, she said.

“I am not aware that activists started the violence,” the spokes-woman said.

Members of Ende Gelaende have been blocking the Welzow-Sued mine since Friday and managed to prevent some of the coal deliveries from arriving at Schwarze Pumpe by rail on Saturday, forcing the plant to reduce its output.

Organisers said that more than 2,000 people from a number of dif-ferent European countries took part in the protests, blocking rail access at some points for more than 40 hours.

The protesters were currently discussing how long to continue the demonstration, the spokeswoman for Ende Gelaende said.

Germany, which plans to close all its nuclear power plants by 2022, still gets 42 percent of its electricity from burning coal.

Spanish foreign

minister visits Cuba

AFP

HAVANA: Spain’s foreign minis-ter was in Cuba for a bilateral visit that comes two months after the European Union and the commu-nist-run country signed a deal to normalise relations.

Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo landed in the capital Havana, tell-ing reporters upon arrival that the March agreement, the culmination of nearly two years of negotiations, “makes us very happy.”

The official Cubadebate web-site said the visitwas intended to review the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Spain is one of the lead-ing investors in Cuba and is also ranked as the island’s third-largest trading partner. Today, Garcia-Margallo will place flowers at a memorial to Jose Marti, a leading figure in Cuba’s battle for inde-pendence from Spain, according to an official itinerary provided by the Cuban foreign ministry.

Reuters

LONDON: The World Health Organ-isation recommended a speedier, cheaper treatment plan for patients with superbug forms of tuberculo-sis (TB) — a change that should help cure thousands of the killer disease.

In what the WHO’s leading TB expert said was a critical step for-ward in tackling the “public health crisis” of multidrug-resistant tuber-culosis (MDR-TB), the Geneva-based health agency said the new treatment plan could now be completed in 9-12 months rather than the two years previously recommended.

The shorter treatment regimen also costs significantly less—at just under $1,000 per patient in developing coun-tries, said Mario Raviglione, director of WHO’s global TB programme.

“The new WHO recommen-dations offer hope to hundreds of thousands of MDR-TB patients

who can now benefit from a test that quickly identifies eligibility for shorter regimen, and then complete treatment in half the time and at nearly half the cost,” he said. .

Multidrug-resistant TB is caused by TB bacteria that are resistant to at least the two most effective drugs, isoniasid and rifampicin, and possi-bly others too.

Based on figures from 2014, the latest year for which data are availa-ble, the WHO estimates that 5 percent of TB cases have multidrug-resistant disease. This translates into 480,000 cases, and 190,000 deaths each year.

Conventional treatment regimens for MDR-TB can take up to two years and have low cure rates - with 50 percent of patients failing to get bet-ter. Experts say this is largely because patients find it very hard to stick with the required months and months of taking powerful medicines, which can have some unpleasant side-effects, so often give up their treatment.

Raviglione said the shorter

regimen is designed for patients with so-called “uncomplicated” MDR-TB—in other words people whose MDR-TB is not resistant to the most important second-line drugs, fluoroquinolones and injectables.

The most reliable way to rule out resistance to second-line drugs is a newly recommended diagnostic test - called MTBDRsl - that can identify genetic mutations in MDR-TB strains.

This test, which the WHO said should be used as part of its new guidelines, can give a result within 48 hours, far more quickly than the 3 months or longer currently needed to find out which drugs a patient’s TB is resistant to.

“We hope that the faster diag-nosis and shorter treatment will accelerate the much-needed glo-bal MDR-TB response,” said Karin Weyer, a WHO TB testing and diag-nostics expert.

TB is one of the world biggest infectious disease killers and claimed 1.5 million lives in 2014.

EU trying to emulate Hitler: Boris Johnson

London priest wanted

for child abuse arrested

Divided Bosnian Serbs rally for and against govt German police arrest 120 in

anti-coal demonstrations

Environmental activists block a railtrack leading to brown coal power plant of Vattenfall AG in Schwarze Pumpe, Germany, yesterday.

WHO recommends new treatment for superbug strains of TB

AFP

BERLIN: Try looking for a free wi-fi connection in the cafe down the street in Germany and, more likely than not, there isn’t one. Forget about looking for open connections in parks or at key monuments. They just don’t exist.

In an age when almost everyone carries a smartphone, the absence of such free hotspots can appear to be an aberration in a country that is known for its technological prowess.

But a new government deal may change all that, as it aims to tackle the

root of the problem—by exonerating the connection’s provider of fraudu-lent usage by others.

The snag has been Germany’s tough rules to crack down on online

piracy, with high fines for illegally downloading music and films.

No one wants to run the risk of exposing their wi-fi connection to possible misuse, a fear that has turned Germany into a hotspot desert.

A 2014 study by Eco, a federation of Internet professionals, found that there are only two open hotspots for every 100,000 residents in Germany, com-pared to 10 in Sweden and 29 in Britain.

For many, that is a stumbling block in the development of the Inter-net, an obstacle Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government wants to mow down. But seeking an agreement took months of tough negotiations.

“A late but important step,” said Justice Minister Heiko Maas.

According to an agreement reached this week within Merkel’s left-right ‘grand coalition’ govern-ment, the law will be amended so that “wi-fi providers would be considered like access providers”—that is to say, they are waived from all responsibil-ity of users, and “will not be subject to any required checks”.

That is valid for anyone who offers their wi-fi access to oth-ers for free—be it a restaurant owner who allows clients to con-nect online or the friendly guy who gives his neighbour the password

to get on his Internet access.Only 39 percent of Internet users

in Germany go online using wi-fi outside of their homes, according to a survey in 2015 by Bitkom, the Ger-man high-technology federation.

Plans by the government to amend the rule “will facilitate things for both operators and users,” said Bernhard Rohleder, who heads Bitkom.

For the federation Eco, it spells the end of the “great wall” to the develop-ment of hotspots in Germany, while hotels describe the move as an act of liberation. The music industry feder-ation fears that it could hurt creators and artists, and warned that it has

“opened the doors and windows to illegal usage”.

A draft law prepared in Sep-tember by Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel had required users to confirm that they are not doing anything illegal online, as well as for access providers to secure the network with passwords.

But that was deemed too restric-tive, leading to the current agreement which scraps these conditions.

The proposal is due to be exam-ined by cabinet before it is put to parliament, it is therefore not expected to come in force before the autumn.

Dancers take part in the Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures) street parade of ethnic minorities in Berlin, Germany yesterday.

Cultural extravaganza

Harzer Rotvieh red cattle breed is driven to the mountain pasture near Wildemann, Germany yesterday. The annual event for the cattle drew many spectators.

A day for cattle

The existing law will be amended so that “wi-fi providers would be considered like access providers.

EUROPE 17MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Reuters

PARIS: A slim majority of French people are in favour of protests against a deeply contested labour reform the ruling Socialist Party is pushing through parliament, a poll showed on yesterday.

The government faces strikes and new waves of protests after opting last week to use a rarely used consti-tutional clause to pass the legislation in the face of opposition from rebel Socialist lawmakers and other leftists.

Some 54 percent of those sur-veyed said they supported the protests against the law to free up France’s rigid labour market while 45 percent did not, according to the BVA poll of 1,160 people on May 12 and 13 for Orange and Itele.

Support had fallen only slightly from the 56 percent seen when the poll was first conducted in early April.

Protesters’ anger is focused on the government’s plans to make hiring and firing easier in an attempt to get stubbornly high

unemployment falling, with presi-dential elections a year away.

Street protests have been called for next week while unions have called on railway workers, dock-ers, truckers, airport and refinery workers to hold strikes.

Opposition to the reform has also spawned a series of protests by youths that have grown into a broader anti-establishment movement.

However, as those protests have become increasingly violent in clashes with riot police, their public support has fallen, down 11 percentage points over one month to 49 percent, according to an Odoxa poll of 993 people on May 12 and 13 for Le Parisien newspaper.

In a visit to Rennes to support riot police enforcing a protest ban after violent clashes, Interior Minister Ber-nard Cazeneuve said 1,300 people had been arrested across France since the start of the protests two months ago.

Police said around 2,000 people gathered yesterday to demonstrate and hold concerts at Paris’ Place de la Republique, where the youth protests first sprung up with all-night protests.

MPs clear way

for Poroshenko

ally to become

top prosecutor

Reuters

KIEV: Ukrainian lawmakers paved the way for a close ally of Presi-dent Petro Poroshenko to become the new general prosecutor, a posi-tion seen by the West as crucial for Ukraine to tackle entrenched corruption.

Parliament passed a law removing a requirement that only a person with a legal background can take the post, enabling Yuriy Lutsenko, a former interior minister and head of Poroshenko’s parlia-mentary faction, to take the job.

The appointment may disap-point the European Commission, which like the United States and the International Monetary Fund, has tied aid to Ukraine to Kiev’s performance on corruption and reforms. Brussels had urged Poro-shenko to appoint someone seen as independent who had a legal background. The vote is timed to coincide with a visit by an IMF mission to Ukraine for talks on disbursing a further aid tranche worth $1.7bn.

Poroshenko cancelled a visit to an anti-corruption forum in London this week to focus on appointing a new top prosecutor and passing reforms needed to convince the IMF that Kiev was serious about restarting a stut-tering reform programme.

Poroshenko squeezed out the previous top prosecutor, Viktor Shokhin, on whose watch the gen-eral prosecutor’s office was widely criticised for hampering anti-cor-ruption reforms.

A lawmaker in the ruling coa-lition said it would benefit Ukraine having someone outside the judicial system implementing reforms. “You can talk and talk for a long time about fighting corruption and do nothing for it,” said Maxim Burbak. But others criticised the change in the law, and opposition lawmak-ers shouted “shame on you” before the vote took place.

“Lutsenko will definitely be a better prosecutor than Shokhin,” Leonid Kozachenko, a lawmaker from Poroshenko’s faction, said.

AFP

PARIS: Seventeen French former ministers, women from across the political spectrum, said yesterday they would no longer remain silent about harassment in politics, days after an investigation was opened into multiple claims against a former dep-uty parliamentary speaker.

“We will no longer keep quiet” the former ministers, all women, including current IMF chief Christine Lagarde, ex-health minister Roselyne Bachelot and ex-housing minister Cecile Duflot said in a statement pub-lished by the Journal du Dimanche weekly paper.

Also among the signatories is 89-year-old former justice secre-tary Monique Pelletier who recently announced that she had been assaulted by a senator 37 years ago,

and now feels ashamed of her silence.They promised to “systematically

denounce all remarks, inappropriate gestures, inappropriate behaviour,” announcing an end to the silence with which such cases have previ-ously been met.

They urged political parties and groups to verify whether such acts had taken place and, if necessary, help victims tell their stories and gain justice.

Their cross-party stand comes after French judges on Tuesday opened an investigation into mul-tiple claims of harassment against former deputy parliamentary speaker Denis Baupin, a move which experts welcomed as an end to the “omerta” around alleged abuse by politicians.

Baupin, 53, has quit his speak-er’s post but denies the claims and has instructed his lawyers to sue two French media outlets for defamation, calling the allegations “mendacious”.

The same day Finance Minister Michel Sapin became ensnared in a harassment scandal after admit-ting that he acted “inappropriately” towards a female journalist.

Sapin acknowledged “making a comment” at a conference early last year—following two previous denials of a claim that he had harassed her.

The ex-ministers in their joint comment yesterday said: “Like all the women who have entered into previously exclusively male environ-ments, we have had to either submit to or fight against harassment.

“It’s not for women to adapt to these environments. It’s the behaviour of certain men that need to change,” they added.

“Enough is enough. Impunity is over.”

The former ministers encour-aged all victims of harassment and aggression to speak up and lodge complaints.

“Today the judicial arsenal exists but the laws are not sufficiently applied, ” the ex-ministers said.

Labour laws protect employ-ees but are not respected, with few women lodging complaints and very few of those complaints leading to convictions, they complained.

Women’s rights minister Laurence Rossignol, speaking on the France 3 television channel later, outlined two moves to tackle the problem.

“The first is to swiftly adopt the draft law currently going through par-liament... which lengthens the time limits for a range of offences from three to six years, “ she said, calling upon the Senate, or Upper House of parliament, to pass the measure.

The second initiative “is to allow associations to file complaints instead of the victims”, through an amend-ment which will be examined by parliament next month, she added.

Hailing the initiative of the

ex-ministers,she added: “We say to men who behave this way : leave us alone. Don’t forget for even 30 seconds that you should regard us women purely in the professional sense, as the bosses or the colleagues that we are.

“Stop judging us all the time as the targets.”

One man who put his head above the parapet to enter the debate yester-day was Prime Minister Manuel Valls who tweeted his support to the ex-ministers’ initiative.

But amply portraying the resist-ance to change in other quarters, former housing minister Duflot tweeted some of the messages she had received after over her support for yesterday’s statement.

However Nathalie Arthaud, spokeswoman for the Workers’ Union party accused the statement’s signa-tories of having practised “omerta” while they were in office.

German govt eyes free wi-fi in public spaces

Slim majority back labour

reform protests in France

17 former French ministers to end silence over harassment

AFP

ROME: Italy’s health minister is proposing doubling a ‘baby bonus’ incentive for couples to have more children to combat what she calls a catastrophic decline in country’s birth rate. “If we carry on as we are and fail to reverse the trend, there will be fewer than 350,000 births a year in 10 years’ time, 40 percent less than in 2010 — an apocalypse,” the minister, Beatrice Lorenzin, said in an interview published yesterday by daily La Repubblica.

Lorenzin told the paper she wanted to double the standard baby bonus, currently €80 ($90) a month

for low-to-middle income families, and introduce higher payments for second and subsequent children to encourage bigger families.

Introduced last year, the allow-ances are currently payable only for babies born between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017 up to their third birthdays. Lorenzin wants to expand eligibility to all under-threes (thereby including those born before 2015) and to extend the provision for an additional three years, covering all babies born up until the end of 2020.

Higher-income families, those with taxable earnings of more than €25,000 per year, are not eligible for the scheme, excluding about a third of parents. The allowances are paid at higher rates for the poorest—those declaring less than

€7,000 a year to the taxman.Under the new proposals, the

payment for second and subsequent children would be €240/month for average families and €400/month for the poorest.

The proposals may however raise eyebrows in Brussels, where the European Commission is pressing Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to move faster on cutting country’s budget deficit as a way of bringing down its national debt, currently equivalent to more than 130 percent of GDP.

Lorenzin’s proposals would add €2.2bn to public spending over six years, her department estimates. “In five years we have lost more than 66,000 births (per year) equivalent of a city the size of Siena,” she said.

Italy set to double baby bonus to fight birth rate ‘apocalypse’

People visit the large-scale public art installation titled Seven Magic Mountains by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, near Jean, Nevada. The artwork, comprised seven towers of colourful, stacked boulders standing more than 30 feet high, was recently completed in the desert south of Las Vegas.

Towering artwork

AMERICAS18 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Among those the Republican frontrunner has asked for help is US Republican Representative Kevin Cramer of North Dakota.

Reuters

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: Don-ald Trump picked a prominent climate change sceptic to help him craft his energy policy and pushed back against renewed calls that he release his income tax returns - saying his tax rate is “none of your business.”

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is seeking to build out his policy proposals as he

pivots from campaigning for his par-ty’s nomination to a likely general election matchup with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Among those he has asked for help is US Republican Representa-tive Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, one of the country’s most ardent oil and gas drilling advocates and cli-mate change sceptics. North Dakota has been at the forefront of the US shale oil and gas boom.

Trump’s team asked Cramer, who has endorsed Trump, to write a white paper, or detailed report, on his energy policy ideas, according to Cramer and sources familiar with the matter.

Cramer said in an interview that his white paper would emphasise the dangers of foreign ownership of US energy assets, as well as what he characterised as burdensome taxes and over-regulation. Trump will have an opportunity to float some of the ideas at an energy summit in Bismarck, North Dakota on May 26, Cramer said.

The Congressman was also among a group of Trump advisers who recently met lawmakers from

Western energy states, who hope Trump will open more federal land for drilling, a lawmaker who took part in the meeting said. A spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign did not comment.

Environmental groups, and Clin-ton’s campaign, quickly attacked Trump for tapping Cramer.

“Kevin Cramer has consistently backed reckless and dangerous schemes to put the profits of fossil fuel executives before the health of the public, so he and Trump are a match made in polluter heaven,” Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce said in an emailed statement.

The Clinton campaign also crit-icized the move. “Donald Trump’s choice of outspoken climate (change) denier Kevin Cramer to advise him on energy policy is just the latest piece of evidence that letting him get near the White House would put our chil-dren’s health and futures at risk,” said campaign spokesman Jesse Ferguson.

Trump has been light on the details of his energy policy, though he recently told supporters that the coal industry would thrive if he were president. He has also claimed global warming is a concept “created by and for the Chi-nese” to hurt US business.

Clinton, meanwhile, has advocated shifting the country to 50 percent clean energy by 2030, promised heavy regulation of fracking, and said her prospective administration would put coal companies “out of business.”

Trump also took heat for not releasing his tax returns, something that American presidential candi-dates have done for decades. Clinton and her rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have both released their returns. Trump said Internal Revenue Service was auditing his returns and he wanted to wait until the review was over before making them public.

Mexico convicts 10

officials in deadly

day care fire

AFP

MEXICO CITY: Mexico convicted and sentenced 10 government offi-cials to prison for up to 29 years over a 2009 day care fire that killed 49 children. The convic-tions ranged from 20-29 years for negligent homicide and negli-gent personal harm against 38 of the 49 children plus five adults, a Sonora state court said.

The fire spread to the ABC day care centre when 141 children were inside, with the only two emer-gency exit doors closed, killing 49 of them and injuring another 70. The pre-school was under the authority of Mexican Social Secu-rity Institute.

The investigation concluded that the fire started when the air conditioning overheated in an adjacent paper-filled warehouse in Hermosillo, the capital of north-western Sonora state.

But after grieving parents discovered several new pieces of contradictory evidence, the fam-ilies alleged that the blaze was intentional. They said the fire was set in the warehouse rented by the Sonora state government’s treas-ury department in order to get rid of documents related to an $800m state debt.

AP

SEATTLE: Hundreds of climate activists marched to the site of two refineries in northwest Washington state to call for a break from fossil fuels, while a smaller group contin-ued to block railroad tracks leading to the facilities for a second day.

Protesters in kayaks, canoes, on bikes and on foot took part in a massive demonstration near Ana-cortes, about 110km north of Seattle, to demand action on climate and an equitable transition away from fos-sil fuels such as oil and coal.

A day before, about 150 activists had pitched tents and set up camp on nearby railroad tracks to block the flow of oil flowing to the nearby Shell and Tesoro oil refineries.

“We can’t wait anymore. We’ve got to do things now,” Clara Cleve, 76, of Edmonds, said. “Direct action is very effective. My grandchildren are not going to have a place to live unless we move quickly now.”

Cleve said she plans to spend another night in a tent on the tracks and is prepared to be arrested for trespassing if necessary.

The protests are part of a series of global actions calling on people to “break free” from dependence on fossil fuels.

In upstate New York, climate activists gathered at a crude-oil shipment hub on the Hudson River in an action targeting crude-by-rail trains and oil barges at the Port of Albany. A group of activists sat on tracks used by crude oil trains headed to the port. Police did not report any arrests.

Albany is a key hub for crude-by-rail shipments from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale region.

In Washington state, organisers are targeting two refineries that are among the top sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. Tesoro has started shipping Bakken crude oil to its refinery, and Shell is propos-ing an expansion project that would similarly bring in Bakken crude oil by train.

Officials with both Shell and Tesoro said in earlier statements that they respect the right of peo-ple to demonstrate peacefully, and that safety is their highest priority. A Shell spokesman also noted that the company, which employs about 700 workers at the refinery, is proud to be a part of the community and the refinery is a vital part of the region’s energy infrastructure.

BNSF Railway spokesman Gus Melonas said no trains are sched-uled but he declined to say whether any are expected to run today.

“We had anticipated this and therefore adjusted scheduling with customers,” Melonas said. “At this point, we’re allowing the protest on our property.”

There had been no word of any arrests during the day, Given Kutz, a spokesman for the Skagit County Emergency Coordination Center, said late Saturday night.

The tracks, which connect BNSF’s mainline to Anacortes, serve the two refineries, as well as other customers who ship animal feed, steel and lum-ber by rail, Melonas said.

Skagit County spokeswoman Bronlea Mishler said authorities are monitoring the situation. Crowd estimates of the march range from several hundred to about 1,000 peo-ple, she said.

Bud Ullman, 67, who lives on Guemes Island, participated in the march, which he described as good-spirited, peaceful.

8 dead as charter

bus rolls over

AFP

LOS ANGELES: Eight people died and 44 were injured late yester-day in the US state of Texas after a charter bus rolled over on the highway, media reported.

The bus, which was travelling near the state’s border with Mex-ico, was headed to a casino hotel in the town of Eagle Pass, accord-ing to Webb County Volunteer Fire Department chief Ricardo Rangel, who was cited in the Laredo Morn-ing Times.

Seven people died at the scene while one other died at the hospi-tal, the paper reported, adding that the bus was travelling from the Rio Grande Valley in the state’s south-ernmost tip.

NBC news also reported that the Department of Public Safety said 44 people were injured.

US 83 N., the highway where the accident occurred, had been reopened to traffic.

Colombia probes

ELN rebel leaders

for war crimes

Reuters

BOGOTA: Colombia’s attorney general’s office is investigating five top leaders from the country’s ELN guerrilla group for nearly 16,000 war crimes and crimes against humanity, the office said.

The allegations come amid tensions between National Liberation Army (ELN) and the gov-ernment. The two sides announced in March they would begin formal peace talks to end war, but contin-ued kidnappings and attacks on oil infrastructure by rebels have so far stymied the process.

ELN top leader Nicolas Rod-riguez Bautista, better known by his nom de guerre, Gabino, and four other high-level rebels are the focus of the investigations, the attorney general’s office said.

The 15,896 crimes included in the case cover murders, kid-nappings, forced recruitment, displacement, bombings and gen-der-based violence.

“We are investigating the origin, evolution, policies and strategies of the ELN and those responsible for crimes of war and against humanity committed dur-ing the conflict,” attorney general Jorge Fernando Perdomo said.

AFP

WASHINGTON: US authorities and Internet giants are boosting attempts to counter the Islamic State (IS) group’s online propaganda, though it is unclear how effective these efforts are in hampering the jihadists’ pub-lic-relations machine.

With calls to jihad and highly produced videos of IS fighters in bat-tle or killing captives, the IS group has long used the Internet and social media to recruit fighters for its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and to incite individuals around the world to commit terrorist attacks.

To try to stop this, web giants like Twitter and Facebook are working hard to shut down jihadist accounts, though these often pop back up under a new name.

“Twitter has publicly said they’ve taken down close to 200,000 han-dles. They’ve taken down way more than that,” Richard Stengel, the under secretary of state for public diplo-macy and public affairs said at a recent seminar aimed at countering IS’s “brand.”

“YouTube has taken down liter-ally millions of videos. Facebook has hundreds of people who are working

24/7 to take down this noxious con-tent,” added Stengel, who also was the former managing editor of Time magazine.

At the same time, US efforts are being led by the State Department’s Global Engagement Centre, which was overhauled this year and brought under the leadership of Michael Lumpkin, a former US naval officer.

The centre “is not going to be focused on US messages with a gov-ernment stamp on them, but rather amplifying moderate credible voices in the region and throughout civil society,” said Lisa Monaco, President Barack Obama’s top homeland secu-rity advisor. The US military’s Central Command, which oversees opera-tions in the Middle East, is “actively engaged” on social media to counter IS propaganda.

“The command has a robust online engagement programme that harnesses the professional tal-ents and expertise of both military members and contractors working together,” Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said.

“We operate using truthful infor-mation directed toward regional audiences to combat IS’s lies and deception,” he added.

Stenger said efforts are paying off. “There’s now five times as much

messaging on social media that is anti-ISIL than pro-ISIL, again”.

JM Berger, an expert on the IS group who has written extensively about the jihadists’ use of Twitter, said they are feeling the squeeze.

“There is no question that IS sup-porters on Twitter and elsewhere are under tremendous pressure, and they are performing significantly below the levels we saw last year, or even earlier this year,” he said.

“Supporter accounts have fewer followers and tweet less often. They are still able to distribute their prop-aganda to a shrinking core audience, but it is harder for them to broadcast widely and to get their message in front of potential recruits.”

Will McCants, an expert on jihad-ists at the Brookings Institution think tank, said pressure on Facebook and Twitter has seen IS supporters turn to smaller social media platforms like Telegram to disseminate their prop-aganda. “Still, they try to maintain a presence on the larger platforms because that’s where the potential recruits are,” he noted.

Rita Katz, who co-founded the private intelligence firm Search for International Terrorist Entities Intel-ligence Group (SITE), rejected the notion that jihadist propaganda was slowing.

People shout slogans during the march to Break Free from Fossil Fuels in Los Angeles, California.

Trump dismisses calls to release his tax returns

Protesters block train tracks to refineries

Experts say efforts to counter IS propaganda bear fruit

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at Canaan Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, yesterday.

AMERICAS 17MONDAY 16 MAY 2016 19

AFP

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced a sweep-ing crackdown early yesterday under a new emergency decree, ordering seizure of paralysed factories, arrest of their owners and military exercises to counter alleged foreign threats.

The embattled leftist is struggling to contain a raging economic crisis that has led to food shortages, soaring prices, riots, looting and vigilante justice, push-ing Venezuela to the brink of collapse.

He accused the United States of destabilising the country at the behest of “fascist Venezuelan right,” prompt-ing him to declare a state of emergency.

Addressing his supporters at a rally in central Caracas, Maduro announced some of the actions to be taken under the decree, which

has not yet been published.“We must take all measures to

recover productive capacity, which is being paralyaed by the bourgeoisie,” he told the cheering, red-clad crowd.

“Anyone who wants to halt (pro-duction) to sabotage the country should get out, and those who do must be handcuffed and sent to the PGV

(Venezuelan General Penitentiary).”The move comes after the larg-

est food and beverage company in Venezuela, the Polar Group, halted pro-duction on April 30, saying government mismanagement meant it was no longer able to import raw material required for the factory.

The company’s owner, billionaire businessman Lorenzo Mendoza, is a vocal opponent of Maduro, and the president has accused him of conspir-ing against his government.

Maduro has ordered military exercises next Saturday “to prepare for any scenario,” denouncing alleged plans for an “armed intervention.”

Opposition leaders accused Maduro of using the emergency decree to destabilise the country and block them from organising a refer-endum on removing him from office.

The opposition has launched the process by collecting 1.8 million

signatures in favour of a recall vote, but say authorities are now stalling.

At a rival rally on the east side of the capital, opposition leader Hen-rique Capriles warned Maduro was pursuing a dangerous strategy.

“Venezuela is a bomb that

could explode any minute,” he told some 1,000 protesters decked out in the red, yellow and blue of the Venezuelan flag.

“If you block the democratic path, we don’t know what could happen.”

Venezuela has world’s largest oil

reserves, but is mired in a recession exacerbated by an electricity crisis that has forced the government to decree daily power cuts across most of the country, close schools on Fri-days and reduce the workweek to two days for government employees.

Reuters

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s interim government dismissed criticism by leftist countries in Latin America, including Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia, over the impeachment process of Dilma Rousseff, who was suspended as president by the senate.

The leftist president of El Salvador added to the regional pressure on Brazil, saying that he would not recognise the interim government and recalled his ambassador, claiming there had been “political manipulation” in Latin America’s biggest country.

The bickering, not rare between leftist leaders and more conservative governments at a time when much of the region is moving to the right, comes as cen-trist Michel Temer, Rousseff’s vice president, assumes Brazil’s presi-dency and scrambles to pull the economy out of its worst recession since the 1930s.

Rousseff, after five months of impeachment proceedings, now faces a senate trial over irregular-ities in her government’s budget. The trial could take up to 180 days and is expected to lead to her definitive ouster.

In a statement late yesterday, Brazil’s foreign ministry said it “emphatically rejects” neighbours “allowing themselves to opine and propagate falsehoods over internal political process in Brazil.”

In a separate statement, the ministry, headed by José Serra, a prominent former senator and presidential candidate, criticised the head of Unasur, a South Ameri-can regional bloc. Ernesto Samper, Unasur’s secretary general, ear-lier had questioned the validity of Rousseff’s suspension.

After Brazil’s strongly-worded statements, Venezuelan Presi-dent Nicolas Maduro, who is also struggling with economic prob-lems and a push to remove him from office, asked his ambas-sador to Brazil to come home to discuss the tensions.

Maduro is among leaders, including Rousseff herself, who have condemned her suspension as a “coup”.

Rousseff, who is spending the weekend with family in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, has said she could appeal to regional organisations in efforts to discredit the impeachment process. Thus far, however, she has complied with all procedures related to her suspension.

The mainstream Brazilian media yesterday made light of the statements by leftists in the region, especially the Social-ist government of Venezuela and Communist-run Cuba.

AFP

MEXICO CITY: Three Mexican sol-diers accused of taking part in a massacre of 22 gang suspects in 2014 have been freed by a judge for lack of evidence, officials said, drawing dismay from human rights groups.

The soldiers—the last of seven initially charged—were accused of killing eight of the suspected gang members in cold blood in a ware-house in the central municipality of Tlatlaya on June 30, 2014.

The army initially said the 22 suspects were killed in a shootout.

But a woman who survived said many of those killed, including her 15-year-old daughter, were executed by the soldiers after surrendering.

Four of the arrested soldiers had already been released last October for lack of evidence.

Ruling in the case against the remaining three soldiers, the judge found the state had again failed to prove its case, the prosecutor’s office said. However the attorney general’s office said in that it will provide “evi-dence proving guilt” of those three soldiers “so that they are re-appre-hended and formally processed.”

The office vowed to “carry out all steps necessary to provide the evidence required to prevent that crimes committed” in Tlatlaya “go unpunished.” The seven soldiers, including a commanding officer, were earlier acquitted by a military court, though it sentenced the officer to a year in prison for disobeying orders to undertake nighttime operations only with his full squad of 30 troops.

The National Human Rights Commission had determined that between 12 and 15 of the gang sus-pects were executed.

The case has put a spotlight on

controversial use of the armed forces to combat drug cartels in Mexico.

Troops have faced accusations of torture and abuse since then-president Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of soldiers to combat gangs in 2006. More than 100,000 people have died or gone missing since then, many of them victims of drug cartel turf wars.

The group Human Rights Watch voiced dismay, slamming the court’s decision as potentially a “coverup.”

“Given the well documented evidence that soldiers executed civil-ians in Tlatlaya, and no one has been held responsible for those crimes suggests the same kind of gross incompetence, that has been shown in the case of the (43 students who went missing from) Ayotzinapa on the part of judicial authorities,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, HRW director for Latin America.

“The acquittal bolsters impunity in one of the most glaring cases of human rights violations by the mil-itary in Mexico’s recent history,” added Santiago Aguirre with the rights organisation Prodh.

In the Ayotzinapa case, the 43 young men had come from Tixtla, a town in the impoverished state of Guerrero, where they studied at a rural teachers’ college

Prosecutors say the students were whisked away by corrupt police in Iguala on September 26, 2014, after they hijacked buses to be used for a future protest. But the experts of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, who were invited by the government to aid the probe at the parents’ request, rejected the central conclusion in the case.

The experts said there was no scientific proof that the students’ bodies were burned in a funeral pyre at a garbage dump after they were killed by a drug gang.

AFP

WASHINGTON: Johnny Matheny’s handshake is friendly, confident and firm—though not in the bone-crush-ing manner favoured by some of the alpha types here at the Pentagon.

What is remarkable is that Math-eny’s proffered hand is not actually his. It is part of a robotic prosthesis researchers hope one day could help transform lives of countless amputees.

“In the beginning, you had to think pretty hard about individ-ual movements,” Matheny said as he demonstrated his mastery of the

black metallic limb, clenching the fist and swiveling his wrist in a natural-looking motion. “It just comes natural now, I don’t even have to think about it.”

Matheny, 61, lost his left arm to cancer in 2008, and now works with Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The future-focused, $3bn agency showed off some of its projects in Pentagon’s central courtyard, where scientists set up science-fair-style stalls to showcase their work. To see DARPA’s impact, look no further than the phone in your pocket.

Many of the technologies inside—including the accelerome-ters that tell the phone which way

is up, voice recognition software and touch screen—are all rooted in DARPA research. Even the Internet has DARPA ancestry, as the agency helped build the first connections between computers.

Matheny’s prosthetic arm is experimental, meaning it must still clear regulatory hurdles before it is commercially available.

It clips directly onto his body thanks to a metal device surgically placed into the remainder of his arm, amputated above the elbow.

Matheny controls it through sensors that pick up signals in the residual nerves that once ran to his fingertips.

Reuters

BOGOTA: The leader of Colombia’s FARC rebels group invited ex-pres-ident Alvaro Uribe, a vocal critic of guerillas’ peace process with the current government, to meet with him in an open letter yesterday, in a bid to bolster the peace talks.

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader Rod-rigo Londono, better known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, said he would meet Uribe in Havana, Cuba, where the negotiations are being held, or in another location to dis-cuss “the future of our nation.”

Uribe, an opposition senator, has vehemently objected to peace process, saying it will usher terrorists into gov-ernment without justice for victims.

Uribe, whose government dealt heavy blows to the FARC with sup-port from the US, recently called for a “civil resistance” to partial accords reached so far at the talks with the government of President Juan Manuel Santos, once his protégé.

“It is not fair to conclude with so much ease that accords reached without your presence constitute a betrayal of the country,” Londono said in the letter, published on the FARC’s website. “Nor should you con-tinue to stoke rancor and revenge in the minds of a large portion of Colombians.”

The letter comes two days after the FARC and the government announced a deal on a series of legal mechanisms meant to ensure any peace deal will be constitutionally binding if approved by Colombians in a proposed referendum.

Supporters of the Haitian Tet Kale Party gather around a fire during a protest in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, yesterday demanding ouster of provisional President Jocelerme Privert.

Show of strength

Members of student and teacher organisations march calling for better salaries and a more significant education budget, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Pay up

Maduro orders seizure of factories in crackdown

President of Venezuelan National Assembly Henry Ramos Allup (centre), participates in a protest against the Venezuelan government in Caracas, yesterday.

Brazil rebuffs

LatAm leftists

over Rousseff

suspension

Mexico court clears three

soldiers in gang massacre

Pentagon’s DARPA showcases future tech

FARC invites Colombia ex-president for talks

The Venezuelan President is struggling to contain a raging economic crisis that has led to food shortages, soaring prices, riots and looting.

The world’s biggest-ever cruise ship Harmony of the Seas sails from the STX Saint-Nazaire shipyard, western France, out to sea. The 120,000-tonne ship, a luxury home on the waves for 8,500 passengers and crew, was handed over by a French shipyard after a 40-month engineering feat. At 66 metres (217 feet), it is the widest cruise ship ever built, while its 362-metre length makes it 50 metres longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower. The floating town, which cost close to €1bn, has 16 decks and will be able to carry 6,360 passengers and 2,100 crew members.

Luxury home on the waves

Bloomberg

WASHINGTON: Your phone knows more about you than you think. It knows where you’ve been and who you were with, the birthday gift you bought your mother and who you plan to vote for.

From pre-installed apps that count your steps to saved passwords for banking accounts and social media, smartphones have evolved from devices that make calls into dig-ital repositories for the most intimate details of life.

“You can extract enough infor-mation on a typical person’s phone that you can construct a virtual clone of that individual,” said Elad Yoran, executive chairman of Kool-span Inc., a communications security company. “They are the windows not just into our personal lives but they are equally the windows into our pro-fessional lives.”

“There’s probably more infor-mation about you on your phone than there is in your house,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook told ABC News recently. “Our smartphones are loaded with our intimate

conversations, our financial data, our health records. They’re also loaded with the location of our kids in many cases.”

The world’s 7.3 billion people now have an estimated 3.4 billion smartphones. That’s expected to climb to 6.4 billion by 2021, accord-ing to communications company Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson. The phones are powerful, process-ing more information faster than the computers Nasa used to put humans on the moon.

That’s permitted them to perform a stunning array of functions and col-lect troves of data. There’s a record of calls made and received, text messages, photos, contact lists, calendar entries, Internet browsing history and notes, as well as access to e-mail accounts, banking institutions and websites like Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and Netf-lix, said Koolspan’s Yoran.

Many people instruct their phones to remember passwords for these apps so they can be quickly opened — which means they are available to anyone who gets into the phone. That reveals your taste in films, shopping habits and relationships.

Some new phones come

pre-loaded with a health app that automatically tracks how many steps a user takes. Others can be down-loaded to pinpoint a person’s location using GPS coordinates or reveal polit-ical leanings and food preferences.

Navigation programmes can serve as a record of places visited. If you use a friend finder app, the phone will know where your friends or fam-ily members are or have been.

Moreover, smartphones quietly collect data about a user and share it with others, said Andrew Blaich, lead security analyst for Bluebox Secu-rity, which helps secure apps. For example, the phone communicates with its telecommunications serv-ice provider and its manufacturer for software updates, while apps talk back to developers, Blaich said.

Most users don’t realise the extent to which their phone is connected to the outside world because accounts stay automatically logged in, said Mike Murray, vice-president of secu-rity research for mobile security company Lookout Inc. Phones can reveal company secrets, too. Murray said many Fortune 500 companies have a mobile phone app allowing employees to connect to networks over a virtual private network.

IANS

NEW YORK: In a first, a team of research-ers has identified 74 areas of the human genome associated with educational attainment. It is well known that social and other environmental factors influ-ence education. These findings suggest that large genetics analyses may be able to help discover biological pathways as well.

The study, conducted by the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium, analysed the genetic information from 300,000 people, primarily of European descent, who had participated in previ-ous studies where their education had been recorded.

Previous research has shown that genetic factors account for about 20 percent of variation in educational attain-ment. The newly identified genetic factors account for a very small fraction of this variation, the researchers said.

The size of the study, published in the journal Nature, made it possible to answer questions not able to be addressed previ-ously. For example, the researchers were able to identify many more genetic fac-tors that appear to contribute to cognitive ability than had been previously known.

The study has implications for future research, where these links can be further explored. "These study results will ena-ble us to ask more refined questions about the genetic and environmental underpin-nings of educational attainment and their health consequences," said Jonathan King, programme director in US National Insti-tute on Ageing.

"For example, we've known for quite a while that education appears to be a pro-tective factor against Alzheimer's," King noted. "Perhaps ultimately, we'll be able to learn why and how educational attain-ment seems to be protective of cognition in later life," King said.

Genes to help

you score

better at studies

IANS

NEW YORK: Running barefoot is better than running with shoes for your working memory which refers to our ability to recall and process information, according to a study.

Working memory is used throughout our lifespan. By improv-ing it, we may be able to realise gains in key areas, from school to work to retirement.

"Working memory is increasingly recognised as a crucial cognitive skill, and these findings are great news for people looking for a fun way

to boost their working memory," said one of the researchers, Tracy Alloway, from the University of North Florida in the US.

The researchers enlisted 72 par-ticipants between the ages of 18 and 44, who ran both barefoot and with shoes on at a comfortable, self-selected pace for approximately 16 minutes. Working memory was measured before and after running.

The results of this research, pub-lished in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills, found a significant increase — approximately 16 percent — in working memory performance in the barefoot-running condition.

There was no significant increase

in working memory when run-ning with shoes. "If we take off our shoes and go for a run, we can finish smarter than when we started," Ross Alloway, who is also from University of North Florida, said.

When running barefoot, one often has to avoid stepping on poten-tially hurtful objects by using precise foot placement.

It is possible that the barefoot condition required a more intensive use of working memory because of the extra tactile and proprioceptive demands associated with barefoot running, which may account for the working memory gains, Ross Allo-way explained.

Run barefoot to boost your memory

Your smartphone knows who you are and what you’re doing

AP

STOCKHOLM: Ukraine’s Jamala was crowned the winner of the 2016 Euro-vision Song Contest early yesterday for a melancholic tune about the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars by Soviet authorities.

Susana Jamaladinova, who uses the stage name Jamala, received the highest score of 534 points for her song “1944”, after votes from juries and TV viewers across Europe were tallied following performances on Saturday night by the 26 finalists at Stockholm’s Globe Arena.

Australia’s Dami Im was second with 511 points, followed by Russia’s Sergey Lazarev in third with 491.

The show was broadcast live in Europe, China, Kazakhstan, Australia, New Zealand and, for the first time, the United States. Last year’s contest

reached nearly 200 million viewers globally.

Amid entries about love and desire, Jamala’s song stood out. With somber lyrics it recalls how Crimean Tatars, including her great-grandmother, were deported to central Asia in 1944 by Josef Stalin’s regime during World War II. “I really want peace and love to every-one,” she said, hoisting the Eurovision trophy and a Ukrainian flag.

The focus on Crimea, whose annex-ation by Russia in 2014 was opposed by its Tatar minority, could be considered a swipe at Moscow, but Jamala insisted there was no political subtext, and con-test officials agreed. The rules of the glitzy competition prohibit political statements.

Im, who was born in South Korea and is a former Australian “X Factor” talent show winner, was in the lead fol-lowing a count of the jury votes, but her song “Sound of Silence” was bumped

down to second place when the popu-lar vote was added.

Though Australia is far from Europe, the Eurovision show is hugely popular Down Under where it has been broadcast for more than 30 years. Aus-tralia was invited to compete for the second consecutive year.

The annual contest, which started in 1956, is known for its eclectic mix of rock ballads, techno-pop and occa-sional folkloric tunes. However, in recent years entries have moved away from ethnic influences toward more mainstream dance music.

All but one of the 26 entries in the final were performed entirely or par-tially in English. The stage production is also getting increasingly elaborate, with pyrotechnics and computer graphics.

Lazarev’s club anthem “You Are the Only One” had the most striking vis-ual effects. At one point the black-clad Russian scaled a LED display and rode

a virtual iceberg through space.It was Ukraine’s second Eurovi-

sion win; its first came in 2004 when Ruslana won. The victory means Ukraine gets to host the contest next year.

The theme of this year’s contest was “Come Together”, a subtle message for Europe to stay united amid a backlash against migration to the continent and rising nationalism.

In a rare serious moment at the beginning of the show co-host Mans Zelmerlow — last year’s winner for Sweden — warned that Europe once again is “facing darker times”.

The director of the TV alliance that produces the Eurovision Song Contest says the show’s message of unity is particularly significant at a time when Europe is seeing its internal borders returning and Britain is holding a ref-erendum on whether to exit from the European Union.

Ukraine’s Jamala crowned winner of 2016 Eurovision Song Contest

Ukraine's Jamala displays her trophy at a press conference after winning the 61st annual Eurovision Song Contest at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. There were 26 finalists competing in the grand final.

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MONDAY 16 MAY 2016 • 9 SHA’BAAN 1437 @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatarthepeninsulaqatar

By Sachin Kumar

The Peninsula

DOHA: Over 300 Chinese compa-nies are expected to participate in the second edition of ‘Made in China Exhibition’ which will be organised by Qatar Chamber at Doha Exhibi-tion and Convention Center from November 15-18. The first edition of the exhibition held last year was suc-cessful and witnessed transactions of about $45m between Qatari and Chinese firms.

“Made in China Exhibition may be

considered one of the most important exhibitions that Qatar is honoured to host, especially under the great suc-cess that the exhibition had achieved in its first edition,” said Saleh Hamad Al Sharqi, Director General of Qatar Chamber yesterday during the press conference to announce the launch of the promotional campaign for the second edition of the exhibition.

“Selecting China stems from its experience in achieving economic development, and from the fact that China encourages every country to build bridges of cooperation. The Chi-nese GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has exceeded $10 trillion, placing its econ-omy the second largest in the world. China also motivates business commu-nity in every country to explore areas and sectors that have gained achieve-ments, to seek for more cooperation with the Chinese businessmen and to establish investment there,” he added.

The chamber has booked 15,000 square meters to for exhibiting com-panies and visitors. More than 60

percent of the total exhibition area has already been booked so far, with assurances from the Chinese large counties that their companies will take part in the Exhibition.

“For the first time, there will be a special area for exhibiting the Qatari and Chinese traditional industries and handicrafts, for the purpose of estab-lishing cultural proximity between the peoples of both countries, especially that this year we will witness the activ-ities of the Qatari-Chinese Cultural Year,” said Al Sharqi. “The Exhibition will also witness more various sectors than the last edition,”

“Made in China has become one of the most recognised in the world. The second edition will fully display the great achievements of ‘Made in China’ products in various sectors including – industry, technology, internet and telecom. Around 60 per-cent of the exhibition space has been booked so far,” said Tian Guofeng, Director of Exhibition department of China International Center for

300 Chinese firms to takepart in Made in China expo

Tian Guofeng (left), Director of Exhibition Department of China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges; Saleh Hamad Al Sharqi (centre), Director-General of Qatar Chamber, and Abdul Raheem Hassan Naqi, Secretary-General of the Federation of GCC Chambers, at the press conference.

Economic and Technical Exchanges, Ministry of Commerce, China.

“We would like to stress that the Federation of the GCC Chambers is ready to extend effective support to the “Made in Chine Exhibition 2016” through inviting the GCC Chambers

and their members to take part in this exhibition and create real opportunities between the private sector and its Chi-nese counterpart,” said Abdul Raheem Hassan Naqi, Secretary General of the Federation of GCC Chambers. “Our participation comes to support Qatar

Chamber in its continuous efforts to attract international events that enhance the position and reputation of Qatar, and stresses its eligibility to host specialised and quality events, including the FIFA World Cup 2022,” he added.

The Peninsula

DOHA: The talks between GCC countries and China to reach a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have gained momentum. Once implemented, the agreement will further boost coopera-tion and the volume of trade between the two sides.

“The GCC countries and China are currently negotiating a free trade

agreement between both parties. There has been a number of negoti-ation rounds so far, during which a number of topics was discussed. Both parties have achieved good results in those rounds and are exerting efforts to complete the discussion of all topics and issues related to the agreement,” said Abdul Raheem Hassan Naqi, Sec-retary General of the Federation of GCC Chambers yesterday at a press conference held at the Qatar Chamber headquarters to announce the second

edition of ‘Made in China Exhibition’. He said that total value of the GCC

exports to China was $101bn in 2014, equal to 11.7 percent of the total value of the GCC exports to the whole world for the same year. The total value of the GCC exports to China witnessed an increase in the period 2010-2014 with an annual growth average of 17.8 percent.

A free trade will benefit China and GCC countries, said Naqi. “There are vast horizons for the Chinese

economy to benefit from this free trade agreement. Chinese econ-omy has been growing since 1978 at a rate of 6-13 percent annually. This big growth needs more consumers to the raw materials and strategic com-modities in order to keep balance and momentum. China is in need of exter-nal markets to export its products and investments in order to expand its financial and economic presence, and to utilise its economic leap. Therefore, the countries of the GCC can provide

to main components for the Chinese economic strategy; I mean oil and trade markets,” he added.

“As for the GCC, we will also ben-efit from the free trade agreement as China will. China may deliver limit-less technical and industrial support to the GCC countries which have big capitals that are able to change their economies into industrial economies, provided that some issues have to be solved in this regard,” he said.

Total of GCC imports from China

in 2014 was around $56bn against 47bn in 2013, showing increase of 18.4 percent. The major imports of the GCC from China in 2014 were machin-ery, electric and electronic devices, domestic and household machines, metal industries, steel, furniture and electric lightings.

Major commodities exported from the GCC to China in 2014 were fuel products & derivatives, organic chem-ical products, industrial plastics, and aluminum industries.

Free trade agreement talks between GCC & China gain momentum

Milaha and DSV sign agency agreementThe Peninsula

DOHA: Milaha, a Qatar-based marine transport and logistics conglomerate, and DSV, a Denmark-based provider of global transport and logistics, have signed an agree-ment under which Milaha will become the exclusive agent for DSV in Qatar. The agreement will signif-icantly expand Milaha’s presence on the global logistics scene and will provide access to over 1,000 offices, terminals and warehouse facilities in more than 80 countries.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with DSV. Milaha will greatly benefit from the wider network access that this agreement gives us and which will allow us to enhance our serv-ice offerings to our clients in Qatar and elsewhere,” said Abdulrahman

Essa Al Mannai, President and CEO, Milaha. “At the same time, DSV will find in Milaha a reliable partner with a significant presence in Qatar and a solid track in quality customer serv-ice,” he said.

Michael Carstensen, DSV Mid-dle East Regional Director and UAE Managing Director, said: “As a cus-tomer-focused organisation, the cooperation with Milaha will ena-ble us to reach our customers in one of the fastest developing economies in the Middle East. We are looking forward to the synergies that will result from this agreement.”

Milaha has been providing project logistics services, freight forwarding, customs clearance and land transport in Qatar for more than 30 years using a fleet of trucks, trailers, mobile cranes and other equipment. It serves many of the largest industrial companies in Qatar.

Michelin Group Finance Director Marc Henry, President of Executive Board Jean-Dominique Senard, and legal counselour Benoit Balmary at the general assembly of stockholders of the Michelin Group at the Polydome in Clermont Ferrand. The French tyre manufacturer has confirmed its target of sales growth for 2016 exceeded that of the markets, helped by rising sales for passenger cars and trucks.

Michelin on fast trackBrazil considers public asset saleReuters

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s govern-ment is considering selling stakes in state-controlled assets includ-ing its postal company as well as holdings in transport, power and insurance firms in a bid to raise capital and streamline the public sector, a newspaper reported yes-terday.

Interim President Michel Tem-er’s government is working with a list of companies and sectors that would be the first targets of any move back toward sales of state-controlled holdings, the Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo said.

That practice was pursued in the 1990s and early 2000s but largely scaled back by the leftist Workers Party during its 13 years in power under former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his successor, Dilma Rousseff.

Brazil is mired in a deep eco-nomic recession marked by rising unemployment.

More than 60 percent of the total exhibition area has already been booked, according to officials.

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BUSINESS22 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

By Mohammad Shoeb

The Peninsula

DOHA: Sharq Global Law Firm (Sharq) yesterday became the first Qatari legal services provider to get registered at the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), an onshore business centre that provides a platform to local as well as foreign companies for domestic, regional and interna-tional growth.

The law firm said that it was well-positioned to offer all kinds of legal assistance to national institutions.

The Qatari law firm, that formally announced its inauguration yesterday

at a press conference, advises a wide range of local and international cli-ents on all legal aspects of their business and activities in Qatar and abroad.

“Our idea stems from our sin-cere belief that we can compete at the regional and international lev-els and provide the best legal services in the framework that combines experience and modernity. Since we established Sharq Law Firm, we have had an ambitious action plan based on originality and leadership and the creation of new concepts in the field of legal services and in the provision of new legal products for the domestic market”, said, Rashid Al Saad, Senior Partner, Sharq Glo-bal Law Firm.

He added that within two years, the firm was able to consolidate the principles of the new legal framework by contributing to the development of local community through pro-bono services rendered to charity organisations.

Yousuf Mohamed Al Jaida, Chief Executive Officer of QFC, graced the event with his presence. Also in attendance were Nasser Al Taweel, Chief Legal Officer, QFC, and Raed

Al Emadi, Chief Commercial Officer at QFC.

In his speech, Al Saad noted that the firm was well aware of the current economic climate and chal-lenges, and keen on the necessity to stand by the State and its national institutions to provide the necessary legal assistance in various areas of practical life.

“We took the initiative in launching our Qatarisation pro-gramme, which aligns with the Government of Qatar’s vision of Qatarisation. This programme is aimed at attracting young Qatari lawyers and training them to become world class lawyers. This will enable them to establish their career path, and encourage active participation of Qataris in the pri-vate sector”, he added.

“We have been and we are still fulfilling our promise to provide them with the necessary legal services and assist them in finding comprehensive legal solutions in all legal challenges which they encounter daily. Our team is equipped with the expertise, knowledge and the most appropriate technological methods to deliver the immediate counsel and opinion with

First Qatari law firm ‘Sharq’ registers at QFC

FROM LEFT: Rashid Al Saad, Senior Partner, Sharq Global Law Firm; Nasser Al Taweel, Chief Legal Officer, Qatar Financial Centre (QFC); and Raed Al Emadi, Chief Commercial Officer, QFC, during the press conference at the W Hotel in Doha yesterday. Pic: Salim M/The Peninsula

the most optimum quality.” It also aims to work on provid-

ing and creating new concepts upon which the promising future of the legal profession is established in Qatar and extend to the global arena.

The development of Legal Engineer-ing and provision of legal concierge services, as well as competing at the international and regional levels are all major routes in the five-year plan of action for Sharq Global Law Firm,

through which it aspires to provide a professional, diverse, comprehensive and different legal services in style, quality and competitiveness at the international level.

Sharq Global Law Firm says it is well-positioned to offer all kinds of legal assistance to national institutions.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Saudi Arabia’s recently retired minister of petroleum and mineral resources Ali bin Ibrahim Al Naimi will be this year’s recipi-ent of ‘The 2016 Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award for the Advance-ment of International Energy Policy & Diplomacy’ presented by the Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah International Foundation for Energy & Sustainable Development.

The Al Attiyah Foundation bestows one Honorary Award each year to an outstanding global energy industry leader, and the 2016 acco-lade will be presented to the former oil minister, who stepped down

earlier this month after more than two decades directing the Kingdom’s oil policies, at a gala dinner event at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha on May 24.

“There will never be another Ali Al Naimi. He oversaw the pol-icies and astonishing growth of the world’s biggest oil company and oil exporter on the planet. No matter if he was working in a small group in a boardroom or facing cameras from all over the world, Al Naimi was always gracious and knowledgea-ble,” said H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the former Energy Min-ister of Qatar.

“His seventy-year career saw him literally rise from the desert shop floor to become the world’s most powerful oil executive for

almost three decades.”The award is the foremost hon-

our to recognise individuals for their lifetime achievement in the advancement of the global energy industry.

There are six award categories of recognition each year -- Qatar Energy Industry; Opec; Renewable Energy; Producer-Consumer Dialogue; Edu-cation; and Journalism – with the nominees reviewed by an Interna-tional Selection Committee.

Al Naimi’s journey to become the most influential man in the global oil markets began 70 years ago, when he signed up as an errand boy at Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, rising to become its first Saudi President. He climbed up the ranks and became the Minister

of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in 1995, putting him at the helm of the world’s largest crude exporting organisation.

As the Opec linchpin, Saudi Ara-bia and Al Naimi’s influence stretched far beyond the country’s borders and he was regularly called upon to calm oil markets through turbulent polit-ical and economic waters in the Middle East and beyond.

Christophe de Margerie, the late Chief Executive of Total, tragically killed last year in a plane crash in Moscow, was the 2015 benefi-ciary of this Honorary Award for the Advancement of International Energy Policy & Diplomacy, which is only category to be selected each year by the Foundation’s board of trustees.

The Peninsula

DOHA: Doha Bank has been named as the ‘Best Regional Commercial Bank’, for the fourth year in a row, at ‘The Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2016’, which is considered as one of the most important recognitions of finan-cial excellence in the Middle East.

The Awards were presented at a ceremony held on May 12 at the Jumei-rah Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai, which was attended by leading names from across the region’s banking and financial services industry, includ-ing Dr R Seetharaman, Group CEO of Doha Bank, who received the award on behalf of the Bank.

“To be awarded the foremost commercial bank in the Middle East

for a fourth straight year is a firm acknowledgement of the effective-ness of Doha Bank’s business strategy and the value we bring every day to our customers throughout Qatar, the GCC and beyond. Through the efficient asset allocation model the return on average Shareholders’ equity is 16.1 percent as at December 2015 one of the best in the industry. The Bank has achieved a very high return on average assets of 1.73 per-cent as at December 2015, which is a clear demonstration of the effective utilization of shareholder’s funds,” said Seetharaman.

He said: “The Banker Middle East Industry Awards has taken into consideration innovation, customer service and sustainable financial performance of nominated institu-tions. The award is a reflection of

Doha Bank’s leadership on sustain-able growth.”

He added: “This award will act as an enabler to meet our customers’ financial needs more effectively and provide them with unmatched, con-tinuously improving levels of service.”

The award is the latest in a string of regional and international acco-lades received by Doha Bank over the past year. The Bank also won the ‘Product of the Year in Middle East 2016 for Doha Bank’s Mobile Banking Experience’ from ‘The Asian Banker’ in recognition of the superior service offered through the mobile bank-ing application. Also, on account of displaying best practice and trans-parency in investor relations, Doha Bank was awarded as the best Qatari company for ‘Excellence in Investor Relations’.

Dr R Seetharaman (left), Group CEO of Doha Bank, receiving the ‘Best Regional Commercial Bank’ award in Dubai recently.

Doha Bank named Best Regional Commercial Bank for fourth year

Ooredoo launches Smart Office Suite for businessesThe Peninsula

DOHA: Ooredoo yesterday announced the launch of Smart Office Suite for businesses, a range of smart solutions for all the ICT (Infor-mation Communication Technology) needs of small office or home office (SoHo) and small medium enterprise (SME) businesses.

With Smart Office Suite, custom-ers can now get even more value by choosing from a diverse range of Smart Office services to help their business.

The first in the suite of these Smart Office services, is Oore-doo’s Business Collaboration Key. With the Business Collaboration Key, customers will enjoy superior mobility and flexibility, enabling them to have a landline number to make and receive calls on their mobile phone, effectively taking their office anywhere and enhanc-ing productivity.

In addition, users can benefit

from advanced collaboration fea-tures like video conferencing, instant messaging and intelligent voicemail.

Customers will be able to use the collaboration features through the Jabber Client App via the Internet, meaning that they will not have to make additional investments in an IP VPN link to deploy the service.

Customers can also choose to include Smart Wi-Fi and Microsoft Office 365 in one handy package and multiply their benefits.

Smart Wi-Fi provides advanced Wi-Fi access with smart availabil-ity and customer analytics. Office 365 is the best-of-breed produc-tivity suite by Microsoft, which includes professional e-mail, stor-age, enterprise video conferencing and world-renowned document processing tools such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Yousuf Abdulla Al Kubaisi, Chief Operating Officer, Ooredoo Qatar said: “We are working hard to become a one-stop-shop solution provider for business connectivity

and ICT solutions in Qatar. The launch of Smart Office services will help new businesses quickly and effi-ciently connect to everything they need, as well as bundle our most pop-ular solutions together in one great value package.”

Ooredoo plans to continue to launch new services this year as part of the Smart Office Suite, and thus extend its support to the local business.

In March 2016, Ooredoo had announced its ambitious vision to be the leading integrated ICT provider in Qatar, providing a fully-integrated offering for companies of all sizes in the country. By enabling companies to deploy cutting-edge communi-cation services without requiring significant hardware investments, the Smart Office Suite is delivering on this promise.

This innovative launch illustrates how Ooredoo is pushing forward to be at the forefront of Qatar’s busi-ness sector and investing in new businesses to help Qatar build an ecosystem of innovation, a company press release said.

Al Naimi to be honoured by Al Attiyah Foundation

Bribery ‘drains $2trn’ from world economyQNA

WASHINGTON: The amount of money paid worldwide in bribes is between $1.5trn and $2trn, or about 2% of the value of the world’s economic output, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde said.

Lagarde quoted the figure from recent IMF research in an open

letter published one day before the start of an anti-corruption summit in London.

She said the amount is an esti-mate of the total value of bribes paid annually in both developing and developed countries, according to the (dpa).

Lagarde wrote that corruption - defined as an abuse of public office for private gain - “undermines trust in government and erodes the ethical standards of private citizens.”

While the direct economic costs of corruption are well known, “the indirect costs may be even more sub-stantial and debilitating, leading to low growth and greater income ine-quality,” Lagarde wrote.

British Prime Minister David Cameron hosted the global Anti-Corruption Summit on Thursday, providing global leaders their first opportunity to meet in the wake of the anonymously leaked Panama Papers.

Moody’s lifts Ireland rating on political dealAFP

DUBLIN: Credit rating agency Moody’s raised Ireland’s sovereign debt rating on Saturday, citing con-fidence in the eurozone member’s ability to further cut its deficit after finally forming a government.

Moody’s, which pointed also to a strong economic recovery in Ireland, raised its key rating for the country’s sovereign debt by one notch to A3 from Baa1, adding that the outlook on the long-term rating remains “positive”.

It said that “while a UK exit from the EU would have negative reper-cussions on Ireland, given the close

economic ties”, it considers “that this risk would be manageable for the Irish economy”.

Ireland’s close trading partner Britain votes in a referendum on June 23 to decide whether to remain part of the 28-nation European Union. Regarding Ireland,

Moody’s said that “the risk of a reversal of the fiscal consolidation seen over the past several years is low”.

It added: “The recent political agreement between the two largest parties in parliament and the recent election of a minority government give comfort that the budget deficit will be reduced further in coming years.”

BUSINESS 23MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Reuters

WASHINGTON: In another sign of escalating trade tensions between China and the United States, Beijing told the World Trade Organisation that Washington was failing to implement a WTO ruling against punitive US tariffs on a range of Chi-nese goods.

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said it had requested con-sultations with the United States over the issue, and anti-subsidy duties on products including solar panels, wind towers and steel pipe used in the oil industry.

China’s complaint to the WTO was filed just days after Washington lodged a similar complaint against China, accusing it of unfairly contin-uing punitive duties on U.S. exports of broiler chicken products in viola-tion of WTO rules.

“By disregarding the WTO rules and rulings, the United States has severely impaired the integrity of WTO rules and the interests of Chi-nese industries,” MOFCOM said in a statement distributed by the Chinese embassy in Washington.

The case was first brought before the WTO by China in 2012 against U.S. duties on 15 diverse product cat-egories that also include thermal paper, steel sinks and tow-behind lawn grooming equipment.

In December 2014, the WTO’s Appellate Body ruled in favour of Chinese claims that the products subject to duties had not benefited from subsidies from “public bodies” favouring particular manufacturers.

The deadline for implementation of the rulings and recommenda-tions of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, set through binding arbitra-tion, expired on April 1, according to WTO records.

A US Trade Representative spokesman said the United States had been “working diligently to comply with the recommendations” and to fully conform with its WTO obligations.

He added that the US response to China’s request for consultations would come “in due course.”

Trade tensions between the two largest economies have been rising in the past year as China’s economic slowdown floods world markets with manufactured goods. US producers of steel and aluminum have filed a number of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaints against imports from China.

On Tuesday, the US Com-merce Department is scheduled to announce its final determination in an anti-dumping investigations of imports of cold-rolled flat steel prod-ucts from both China and Japan. That case was brought by major US pro-ducers US Steel Corp, AK Steel Corp Arcelor Mittal USA, Nucor Corp and Steel Dyanmics Inc.

Reuters

LONDON/FRANKFURT: German container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd has formed a new alliance with five Asian competitors in the latest tie-up by rivals battling to cut costs in the worst downturn the industry has ever seen.

Container lines, which transport everything from bananas to iPhones, are struggling with the confluence of a glut of ships, a faltering global economy and weaker consumer demand.

By teaming up through vessel sharing arrangements, shipping lines aim to pool runs to various destina-tions and save on expenses to boost efficiencies.

Dubbed “the Alliance” and due to start operating in April 2017 for a five-year period initially, Hapag-Lloyd will join with Japan’s Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K”-Line) and Mit-sui OSK Line (MOL), South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping and Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport.

“Nowadays, you have to be in an alliance because you need these really big vessels to be competitive per unit cost,” said Jan Tiedemann, an analyst with shipping consul-tancy Alphaliner.

“I am not sure if it’s a marriage of partners who are deeply in love with one another, but they just have to join.”

Friday’s announcement follows closely that of the “Ocean Alliance”, announced in April, which comprises

France’s CMA CGM, newly merged China Cosco Shipping, Evergreen and OOCL (double O).

The Ocean Alliance is also due to start operations in April 2017 subject to regulatory approval, and follows a partnership by Maersk and MSC, known as “M2”, which started in early 2015.

Hapag-Lloyd said in a statement: “This agreement is a milestone and will enable the six partners of the Alli-ance to offer sailing frequencies and direct coverage in the market.”

The company did not give details of the anticipated cost savings or of how power would be shared within the group.

“The market must come to its senses. Many participants find their financial means exhausted because of the ruinous competition,” said Bodo

Knop, managing partner with logistics consultancy SRTS. “... some players will quite possibly leave the market altogether.”

Asked about the new alliance, Maersk chief commercial officer Vin-cent Clerc said consolidation made sense.

The Hapag-Lloyd formation will combine 3.5 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEU) of the global container fleet capacity, with more than 620 ships to East-West trading destinations.

The Ocean Alliance involves a fleet of 350 container ships, also with an estimated capacity of 3.5 million TEU.

These two partnerships would be larger in capacity than Maersk Line and MSC’s, which has a fleet of 185 ships and capacity of 2.1 million TEU.

The crisis in container shipping has taken its toll on lines across the sector.

Hapag-Lloyd on Friday reported a net loss of €42.8m in the first quar-ter of 2016.

Last month South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping said it would ask creditor banks to restructure its debt.

Efforts to expand in markets such as South America have been hit by recession in Brazil and turmoil in Venezuela.

Hapag-Lloyd is in talks to merge with the United Arab Shipping Com-pany (UASC) and follows others in the industry such as CMA CGM’s takeo-ver of Neptune Orient Lines as well as others in China.

Several shipping firms are redrawing their strategy to to battle the downturn in the industry.

China: US failed to implement WTO rulingChina’s complaint to the WTO was filed just days after Washington lodged a similar complaint against China.

AFP

WASHINGTON: A decision by phar-maceutical giant Pfizer to restrict the distribution of its products used in lethal injections has cut off the last remaining approved source of drugs used to carry out the death penalty, experts said.

Capital punishment observers on Saturday hailed the move by New York-based Pfizer as “significant,” noting that it highlights the phar-maceutical industry’s opposition to the misuse of its products.

Pfizer said in a statement on its website that its mission includes making products to enhance and save lives, and therefore the com-pany “strongly objects” to the use of its products in lethal injections.

The statement was posted Friday,

according to various US media out-lets including The New York Times.

Specifically, Pfizer said it was imposing restrictions on wholesalers, distributors and direct purchasers of seven drugs that are used or con-sidered for use in lethal injection protocols, barring these buyers from reselling them to correctional insti-tutions for lethal injections.

Government purchasers must certify that the products will only be used for “medically prescribed patient care,” the company said.

Robert Dunham, executive direc-tor of the Death Penalty Information Center, called the move “significant.”

“It’s offensive to the medical mission of the pharmaceutical com-panies when states misuse these medications which are designed to save lives and improve the quality of lives by instead using them to kill prisoners,” he said.

Maya Foa, director of anti-death penalty group Reprieve, said that now more than 25 pharmaceuti-cal companies have made moves to block the use of their products in executions.

“This will mean that all FDA-approved manufacturers of all execution drugs have spoken out against the misuse of medicines in lethal injections and taken steps to prevent it,” she said in a statement.

The United States stands alone among Western nations for its use of the death penalty, but the number of prisoners it executes has slowed to a trickle in recent years -- partly due to a lack of drugs.

In 2015, there were 28 executions carried out among the 31 US states with the death penalty.

It was the lowest number of exe-cutions since 1991 when 98 inmates were executed.

The Pfizer logo seen at their world headquarters in New York.

Pfizer takes ‘significant’ move to restrict lethal injection drugs

319 garment factories to shut down in BangladeshAFP

DHAKA: Bangladesh authori-ties announced that 319 garment factories, unable to cope with glo-bal competition, are going to shut down.

“It is a matter of concern that 618 factories shut down in past three years after their produc-tivities dropped due to various reasons. Now 319 more facto-ries are also going to close down,” Bangladesh Garment Manufac-turers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) president Siddiqur Rah-man said.

The garment sector is facing the challenge of gas and power cri-sis, high interest rate of bank loans, devaluation of the US dollar, and cut in price of its products, Rahman said.

He demanded halving the tax at source for the sector to 0.3 percent in 2016-17 like the previous fiscal year.

He also suggested that no value added tax should be imposed on garment accessories, and duty-free import of fire extinguishers should be allowed to help the entrepre-neurs tackle the challenges.

Rahman said the export from the sector has been growing by an average of 10 percent over past five years. “We need 12 percent annual growth in order to reach the export target of $50 billion by 2021. But the growth was only 6.81 percent over past 22 months,” he said.

“So we are 3.19 percentage points behind from the expected average growth and 5.19 per-centage points behind from the expected growth for the 2021 tar-get,” he added.

Bahrain places $435m sukuk DUBAI: The government of Bah-rain has privately placed a $435m, three-year sukuk issue in a deal arranged by Noor Bank, Bank ABC and Kuwait Finance House, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said yesterday.

The deal was priced in the area of 325 basis points over midswaps, the source said. Bahraini central bank officials could not be con-tacted for comment. Bahrain is stepping up its borrowing and in late February borrowed $600m in a two-tranche reopening of a pre-vious US dollar bond issue.

On Saturday Moody’s Investors Service cut its rating of Bahrain’s sovereign debt by one notch to Ba2, taking the rating deeper into junk territory, with a negative outlook.

While Bahrain can expect sup-port from its ally Saudi Arabia in a crisis it is likely to find it increasingly hard to borrow in the international markets, particularly since it will be competing for money with its neigh-bours, Moody’s said.

“The further deterioration in the government’s balance sheet, combined with increased external debt issuance from other countries in the region, will lower the sup-ply of external funding, thereby heightening the risk that finance is obtainable only at much less affordable rates for Bahrain.”

Barwa Bank names winners of Thara’a savings prizeThe Peninsula

DOHA: Barwa Bank yesterday announced the names of the eighth round of draw winners of Thara’a savings account prize at the Bank’s headquarters. Ibrahim A Rahman K A Al Naimi, Mohammed Sultan M A Al Kuwari, Nasser Hamad N H Al Naimi and Jassim Mohamed A M Fakhroo each won a cash prize of QR10,000.

Jamilurahman M M Kareem, Nasser Jassim DH A Al Kuwari, Mohamad Khir Arab, Ashraf Fawzy Abdelmegid Kandil, Shaikha Abdulla M Al Muezzin, Amal Abdulla S A Al Marri, and Kayingil Mohamed Kutty Abdutty won a cash prize of QR5,000.

The draw’s eighth round was conducted under the supervision of a representative of the qualitative licence and market control depart-ment at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce.

Thara’a offers account hold-ers the chance to benefit from cash rewards of up to QR1m, a first for Islamic banks in Qatar. Based on several criteria, Thara’a account holders are eligible for a number of periodic draws for cash prizes.

Totalling QR3m, Thara’a cash rewards are distributed on both a monthly and biannual basis to cus-tomers holding a minimum balance of QR10,000. On a monthly basis, there are seven winners per draw for the cash prize of QR5,000, as well as four winners per-draw for the cash prize of QR10,000.

Aditionally, twice-a-year there are four winners per-draw for the cash prize of QR25,000 prize, two winners per draw for the cash prize of QR50,000 and one winner per-draw for the grand prize of QR1m.

Coupled with cash prizes and a reward scheme, Thara’a is a prod-uct full of value-added benefits and services. Thara’a offers account holders access to Barwa Bank’s inno-vative banking channels, with benefits

One of the winners of Thara’a savings account prize.

including unlimited withdrawals and deposits, as well as free fund transfers across their accounts and through all Barwa Bank channels.

Barwa Bank offers an extensive

variety of personal banking prod-ucts and investments, as well as eight strategically located branches and a broad network of more than 60 ATMs located across Qatar.

Hapag-Lloyd teams up with Asian competitors

Troubled Gabon tries to attract Indian investorsIANS

NEW DELHI: Located in the polit-ically troubled central African region, Gabon has been an oasis of peace and stability that is now seeking to attract Indian invest-ment and step up bilateral trade.

At a road show here on Sat-urday evening attended by a number of Indian companies keen to invest in Africa, Gabon’s Minister of State for Environment and Natural Resources Crepin Magliore Gwodog said about the government’s drive to attract for-eign investment.

“Never in Gabon have we had the kind of strife and disturbances that affect the wider region. In this sense, Gabon is a civil, peaceful nation, democratic and stable both politically and financially,” Gwo-dog said.

“We have qualified manpower, a good banking system and a GDP growth rate of over five percent per annum,” the minister said of his country, a member of the Economic and Monetary Community of Cen-tral Africa (CEMAC) that includes Cameroon, Central African Repub-lic (CAR), Chad, Republic of the Congo, and Equatorial Guinea.

“We have streamlined our ease of doing business proce-dures so much that it takes only 48 hours to set up a business in Gabon,” Gwodog said, point-ing out that priority sectors for attracting investment in his coun-try are in local processing and value addition to farm commodi-ties and mineral resources.

At the roadshow here, Gabon sought to hardsell its new special economic zones (SEZ) with incen-tives like 10-year tax holiday and exemption from value added tax (VAT).

Though the current bilateral trade is still a little under $1 billion, India’s state-run Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. have a presence in Gabon and are engaged in oil exploration.

Delegates walk in front of a banner for the 41st annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) in Jakarta, Indonesia, yesterday.

IDB meeting

BUSINESS24 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Reuters

TOKYO: The Group of Seven nations will take steps to tackle a global glut in steel that many blame on over-capacity at Chinese producers of the material used in construction and cars, according to a draft text obtained by Reuters.

If adopted at the G7 summit in

Japan later this month, it will likely add to pressure on China, which accounts for about half of global steel output, to take steps after production hit a record high earlier this year. Steel mills from Australia to the UK are under threat of closure because of the glut.

“We recognise the negative impact of global excess capacity across industrial sectors, especially steel, on our economies, trade and workers,” the draft text says.

“We are committed to moving quickly in taking steps to address this issue by enhancing market func-tion, including through coordinated actions that identify and seek to elim-inate such subsidies and support, and by encouraging adjustment.”

G7 leaders will meet on May 26-27 in Ise-Shima near Nagoya, a major

car production and steel manufac-turing centre.

China’s steel output hit a record in March as rising prices and bet-ter margins prompted mills that had been shut or suspended to resume production.

Chinese prices have since plum-meted, with Chinese steel futures posting their biggest weekly fall since 2009 on Friday.

Last month, China and other major steel producers failed to agree on measures to tackle the overcapac-ity crisis, prompting the United States, European Union and others to call for urgent action.

China plans to shed as much as 150 million tonnes of domestic crude steel capacity in the next five years in a bid to help tackle the capacity overhangs that have saddled domestic

firms with losses and debts.France and Germany urged fel-

low EU members on Friday to tighten trade defences to protect the bloc’s companies against floods of cheap imports, including steel products from China.

Cheap Chinese steel exports have been cited as one reason for Tata Steel’s decision to sell its British steel operations.

Australian steel and min-ing company Arrium has gone into administration, while in Germany steelworkers have taken to the streets because of the threat of job cuts.

Chinese officials have said that they are already taking suffi-cient steps to curb capacity, while state news said blaming China for the global steel crisis is an excuse for protectionism that would be

counter-productive.Some European countries are

opposed to the wording of the G7 draft text because of fears about retaliation from China, according to a source.

China is not the only concern, with Japan threatening to take action against India at the World Trade Organisation after it set minimum prices for imported steel.

Japan and South Korea have also been criticised for exporting steel products cheaper than those sold domestically.

“In particular, we are concerned about subsidies and other support by governments and government-supported institutions that distort the market and contribute to global excess capacity, including such sup-ports granted to overseas expansion of the capacity,” the G7 text says.

G7 to take steps on global steel glutSteel mills from Australia to the UK are under threat of closure because of the glut.

BoE’s Carney denies overstepping mark with Brexit warningReuters

LONDON: Bank of England Gover-nor Mark Carney (pictured) denied yesterday that he had compromised the central bank’s independence by warning of the short-run costs of leaving the European Union, after criticism from “Out” campaigners.

Last week the BoE said Britain risked slower growth, higher infla-tion and even recession if voters backed leaving the EU in a referen-dum on June 23, prompting criticism that the BoE was biased and itself destabilising markets.

Carney, in a BBC television interview yesterday, said he had “absolutely not” overstepped the mark and that he would be failing the public if he did not flag dangers in advance.

“We ... have a responsibility to explain risks and then take steps, because by explaining them - by explaining what we would do to mit-igate (them) - we reduce them. And that is the key point, ignoring a risk is not to reduce it.”

Earlier yesterday, Conservative environment minister and “Out” campaigner Andrea Leadsom told the BBC that the BoE’s analysis was one-sided and reflected the view of elites who were not hurt by mass immigration from the EU.

“There is this big institutional ganging-up on the poor British voter,” she said.

Prime Minister David Cameron and the leaders of Britain’s other main political parties, as well as international bodies such as the IMF, all support Britain staying in the EU.

But many Conservative law-makers and party members want to leave, and polls show public opinion is evenly divided.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a “Brexit”-backing Conservative member of the parliamentary committee which scrutinises the BoE, reiterated his view that Carney was no longer suit-able to lead the central bank after last week’s comments.

“He should be fired, absolutely,” he told broadcaster ITV. “We now cannot trust the Governor of the Bank of England to set interest rates for anything other than the benefit of the government.”

Carney said the BoE’s job of ensuring financial stability and steering inflation back to its 2 per-cent target required it to be frank about short-term economic risks, such as a vote to leave the EU, that could hamper achieving these goals.

He added that he thought it “highly, highly unlikely” that the BoE would cut interest rates below zero if the economy slowed sharply, an option some of his colleagues on the BoE’s Monetary Policy Commit-tee have said they are open to.

AFP

UNTERHACHING, GERMANY: Out with the cardboard boxes, rough forklift crates and no-frills ware-house look -- in with cozy wood panelling, natural light and chilled fruit smoothies at the breakfast bar.

Aldi, Germany’s original discount supermarket chain, is getting a major facelift -- spelling the end of an era, at least in design terms, for the tra-ditional first-stop shop of the thrifty German housewife.

Rising competition has pushed the retail giant to move away from its “hard discount” industrial look that promised savings toward a luxurious customer experience.

Aldi Sued -- the division of the brand that runs stores in Germany’s south and west -- last week showed off its “Future Store” concept at Unterhaching near the southern city of Munich.

The new-look stores, set to be adopted in its nearly 1,900 loca-tions in the next three years, will have products neatly stacked in shelves, rather than piled up or scattered on tables.

And a cafe area will offer fair trade coffee, fresh smoothies and other chilled beverages. There will be benches for senior citizens and customer toilets with baby chang-ing tables.

Aldi, an empire built on shaving off unnecessary costs, declined to say how much its renovations will cost.

Jeannette Thull, head of central purchasing, said it wasn’t pushed to update its image but was responding to changing consumer tastes.

“We have a healthy confidence in ourselves,” she said, promising that while the new look should draw new customers, the prices will stay low.

Retail market expert Wolfgang Adlwarth of the GfK institute said the move spells “clearly a change in philosophy”.

He saw both Aldi and rival Lidl moving further away from the “hard discount” segment through a range of changes in recent years.

Both have introduced, for exam-ple, organic and regional produce on their food and vegetables shelves and fresh bread baked in-store, he said.

Such innovations have come in response to sliding market share for the still-dominant brands -- from a combined 43.7 percent in 2013, to 42.3 percent in 2015, according to GfK.

Germans are getting out of the habit of buying staple products in bulk at discounters and treats at higher-end supermarkets and spe-ciality stores, he said.

The challenge, therefore, was to capture and retain customers at a “single point of purchase”.

In their markets abroad, both Aldi and Lidl have also been rethinking their stores to “highlight the quality and price and no longer speak only about low prices,” said Frederic Valette of

ECB has become too powerful: German officialAFP

FRANKFURT: The European Cen-tral Bank has become too powerful, but largely because politicians have foisted an increasingly political role onto it, one of the German govern-ment’s key economic advisers said in a newspaper interview yesterday.

“The ECB has gained enormous power, even though it is not answer-able to any parliamentary control. I take a critical view of this,” Isabel Schnabel told the Sunday news-paper Frankfurter Allgemeine

Sonntagszeitung. Asked whether the ECB had become too powerful, she replied: “I think so.”

The ECB “has also come more political. But that’s because politi-cians have frequently failed to act and thereby forced the ECB to do so,” she continued. “The central bank has become a quasi-political institution. It’s important that we move away from this.”

Schnabel is a member of the Ger-man government’s panel of economic experts that used to be known as the “Five Wise Men” until women joined it.

Schnabel, who was appointed

to the panel in June 2014, defended the ECB against the criticism it has recently come in for in Germany for its policy of ultra low interest rates.

“Low interest rates are primarily an after-effect of the financial cri-sis,” she argued. “And the ECB isn’t the only (body) that influences rates,” Schnabel said, pointing to long-term macro-economic trends such as the ageing population.

German politicians have recently raised hackles at the ECB by attacking the historically low level of interest rates, saying they hurt German savers and undermined banks’ profitability.

“As long as the ECB is acting

within its mandate, it is not for pol-iticians to interfere,” Schnabel said.

“What also worries me is that the aim of this criticism was to politicise the ECB even more. Calls for Germany to be given greater voting weight (on the ECB’s governing council) and to have greater direct influence on the ECB go in precisely the wrong direc-tion,” the expert said. “We need an independent central bank.”

In a bid to drive stubbornly low inflation in the euro area back up to levels that are more conducive to growth, the ECB has slashed its key interest rates to zero and rolled out a whole range of monetary measures.

Unemployment rate in Egypt eases to 12.7%

Reuters

CAIRO: Egypt’s unemployment rate eased slightly in the first quar-ter of 2016 to 12.7 percent from 12.8 percent in the previous quarter as well as the same quarter a year earlier, the statistics agency said yesterday. Analysts believe actual unemployment may be higher than the official figures.

Egypt has been struggling to restore economic growth since a 2011 uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The revolt was partly driven by anger about the lack of job prospects for young Egyptians. Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah Al Sisi had pledged to reduce joblessness to 10 percent over the next few years, a target that will require much higher lev-els of economic growth.

The country’s labour force grew by 99,000 people in the first quarter to reach 28.4 million peo-ple, the agency said.

German discount retail chain Aldi opts for warmer design

A new Aldi store in Munich, southern Germany.

market research firm Kantar World-panel. In a sign the strategy is working, Aldi has almost doubled its market share in Britain over three years to six percent in early 2016.

Lidl has grown to gain a 5.2

percent market share in France, up from 4.6 percent in 2013, according to figures compiled by Kantar.

The changes do not spell the end of the discounter, which gains “huge cost savings” from keeping a slim

range of products, said Valette.Aldi’s product range of about

1,200 per store is still far below the over 10,000 offered by a typical supermarket or the more than 35,000 found in a so-called hypermarket.

Saudi Electricity in loan dealRIYADH: Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) signed a $900m loan agree-ment with the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) and other inter-national lenders to help finance Shuqaiq power plant’s construc-tion, the utility said yesterday.

The facility has a 13.25-year lifespan and is guaranteed by KEXIM. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubi-shi, Deutsche Bank and Santander are among the lenders providing funding, the bourse statement said.

State-controlled SEC, the largest utility company in Saudi Arabia, has previously said that it expects the total cost of the project to be $3.2bn. It signed a contract in 2013 with South Korea’s Hyundai to build the 2,640 megawatt Shu-qaiq power plant in Jizan province.

High voltage power lines runnning through Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The cost of electricity generation in West Africa is very high as a result of the region’s high dependence on expensive oil based thermal generation.

Expensive power

BUSINESS 25MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Bloomberg

TORONTO: The Canadian govern-ment is pushing Bombardier Inc.’s founding family to loosen con-trol of the aerospace company and issue $1bn in new stock, triggering a standstill in talks over a federal aid package, according to people famil-iar with the negotiations.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s proposal to Bombardier would see his government and the province of Quebec each invest $1bn in the com-pany, along with a share sale that would raise another $1bn to bolster the firm’s balance sheet. Along with the $3bn plan, Canada wants the com-pany to do away with the dual-class share structure that allows the Bom-bardier and Beaudoin families to maintain control with only a minor-ity stake.

Bombardier is balking at these

demands, according to people familiar with the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are private. Federal offi-cials now believe it’s up to Bombardier to make the next move.

The impasse jeopardizes a federal injection for Montreal-based Bom-bardier, which has already received a $1bn commitment from Quebec for its C Series jet program. Quebec wants the Trudeau government to match its backing for the program, while the federal government prefers that it and Quebec make a direct investment in the company, the people said.

The two governments remain at odds over how to proceed as Bombar-dier’s founding family digs in its heels, emboldened by a recent C Series order by Delta Air Lines that buys them time to resist demands for corporate gov-ernance changes. Delta last month agreed to buy at least 75 of the new planes, valued at $5.6bn based on list prices, in a vote of confidence for a

program that had been delayed, over budget and failing to win orders.

“It’s not our intention to change anything in this regard,” Bombardier Executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin said April 29, referring to the dual-class share structure. While some talks continue over an aid package, the broad group of negotiators hasn’t met in four weeks, the officials said.

Bombardier’s shares have soared 50 percent this year, bolstered by the Delta order and optimism over an aid package. A $2bn cash injection from the two levels of government would give Bombardier some breathing room and strengthen the credibility of the C Series, BMO Capital Markets analyst Fadi Chamoun wrote in a May 12 research note.

Trudeau’s point-man on the file, Navdeep Bains, insisted Thursday that negotiations aren’t stalled and the government remains commit-ted to Bombardier. Bains is minister of innovation, science and economic

development.“We’re engaged with the com-

pany,” Bains said in Ottawa. “As I’ve said from day one, we want to be part of a solution. We believe the company is very important to the aerospace sector, to the supplier base, and we’re working with them on finding a solution that really sets them up for success not only in the short term, but in the long term as well.”

Finance Minister Bill Morneau, speaking Thursday in Montreal, acknowledged there was a “time-line” to the negotiations but didn’t say if there was a firm deadline. “It’s not very helpful to negotiate in pub-lic. There will be more to discuss on this subject but I’m not in a position to do that now,” Morneau said.

Talks with the government are continuing, Sylvie Gauthier, a Bom-bardier spokeswoman, said in an email. She declined to elaborate.

The company is said to fear a for-eign takeover with a change to the

share structure, a threat considered immaterial by the federal govern-ment, which could block any move under Canada’s investment laws, according to one official.

The Quebec government is now prepared to finalize its C Series investment -- initially envisioned as a three-way deal with the federal gov-ernment and the company -- without federal help, one person familiar with the negotiations said. Bombardier has said it expects Quebec to complete its investment by the end of June.

“We need an additional partner,” Transport Minister Jacques Daoust said in February, referring to the federal govern-ment, adding: “If I don’t get this partner, I will have to see with Bombardier how I can close the deal differently.”

Daoust has also said Quebec may consider a further Bombardier investment if the federal government declines an aid package.

With Bombardier and the federal government at odds, political pressure

is mounting in Quebec, where Tru-deau has a sizable contingent of 40 lawmakers. Some of those lawmak-ers consider Bombardier too big to fail and sense political pressure, the officials said. However, the Delta pur-chase, Bombardier’s existing cash reserves and any Quebec aid push a cash crunch down the road and leave no imminent risk of collapse, the offi-cials said. Trudeau’s government still believes the company will need a cash injection over the next two years, one official said.

Speaking at the annual share-holder meeting last month, Beaudoin defended the dual-class structure as a pillar of the company.

“The Bombardier family has always sought to ensure the success of the company,” he said. “It was there in good times and in more difficult times. Our multiple-voting shares allow us to invest for the long term. They also allow us to protect against the dismantling of the company.”

Bombardier’s founding family under pressure to sell more stocks

AFP

BERLIN: German carmaker Opel, a subsidiary of General Motors, found itself in the spotlight with the transport ministry demanding expla-nations for media reports alleging irregularities in the emissions val-ues of some of its cars.

According to both the weekly magazine Der Spiegel and the inves-tigative news programme Monitor on ARD public television, tests on a number of Opel’s diesel models had uncovered “hitherto unknown devices” that deactivate filtration systems in the engines of two of the best-selling models, Astra and Zafira.

That meant that the models’ emissions systematically exceeded norms. In response to the revela-tions, a special committee set up

in the wake of the massive engine-rigging scandal that has engulfed Volkswagen, “has invited” Opel to offer an an explanation, a spokes-man for the transport ministry said.

Opel issued a statement denying it used the same emissions-cheating software that is at the centre of the VW scandal. “Our software was never pro-grammed to deceive or defraud,” insisted the carmaker, which is just emerging out of long years of crisis. “Emission control systems are highly complex integrated systems,” Opel said.

“The various parameters such as engine speed, load, temperature and altitude play an essential role and are interrelated. Such a complex system can not be broken down into individ-ual parameters. Interactions must be understood holistically, in combina-tion with the prevailing conditions and the various areas of the control system,” it said. The government

committee, which has in recent months analysed all diesel models similar to those involved in the VW scandal, has concluded that no sim-ilar fraud has taken place.

Nevertheless, in a certain number of vehicles, the emission control systems were systematically de-acti-vated when the outside temperature dropped below a certain level.

This is only allowed under European rules to prevent possible accidents or damage to the engine.

In April, German makers, Audi, Mercedes, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen, decided to voluntarily recall around 630,000 cars in Europe to remedy this problem. According to Der Spiegel and Monitor, the Astra’s emission control systems were only programmed to function at outside temperatures above 17 degrees Cel-sius, effectively meaning they did not function for a large part of the year.

Opel faces heat over emissions

Venezuela plans to cut imports by half this year to pay debt

The logo of Opel seen in front of the company’s plant in Ruesselsheim, western Germany.

Bloomberg

CARACAS: Venezuela’s government, pledging to do what it takes to keep current on its debt, will cut imports by almost half this year to preserve hard currency even as its citizens struggle with shortages of basic goods and soaring inflation.

“We’ve applied a very austere program,” Vice President for Eco-nomic Policy Miguel Perez Abad (pictured) said at an interview at his office in Caracas, adding that imports would probably fall to about $20bn this year from $37bn in 2015. “We’re going to maintain this level of restric-tion to force the productive sector of the economy to increase output. Hopefully we could cut imports to as low as $15bn.”

The South American country is seeking to reassure investors that paying them remains a top prior-ity even as swaps traders wager that the plunge in oil prices over the past two years means the govern-ment is likely to default on its bonds within a year. Eurasia Group, a glo-bal research and consulting firm, on

Thursday scrapped its forecast for the government to miss payments this year, citing the decrease in imports.

The government is continuing to explore liability management to ease its debt burden over the coming years and is studying various propos-als, all of which would be good for bondholders, Perez Abad said. Vene-zuela will continue use international reserves, which hit a new 13-year low of $12.2bn on Tuesday, to help it meet its commitments, he added, declin-ing to specify how much the country had in off-budget accounts.

“The government is working very well on this debt re-profiling and search for capital,” he said. “There are various proposals. We have a cash-flow problem, but we have sufficient assets for the short-term and will re-profile the debt levels in an intelligent manner. “

Japan PM to delay tax hike over economy fears: ReportAFP

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minis-ter Shinzo Abe plans to postpone a sales tax hike a second time, judg-ing that boosting the tariff could hurt the world’s third-largest econ-omy, a newspaper said.

Abe has already informed sen-ior government officials he plans delay the consumption tax hike, scheduled for next April, that would raise levy from eight to 10 percent, the Nikkei business daily said.

The last such rise, in April 2014 -- the nation’s first in 17 years -- was blamed for pushing Japan into recession.

Deadly earthquakes that hit southwestern Japan last month have already put the brakes on the economy, while a rise in the yen has threatened to squeeze export-ers’ profits.

It is still unclear how long Abe, who first postponed the tax increase in November 2014, wants to put off the hike this time.

The premier may announce the delay on June 1, when he hold a news conference to mark the close of the current parliament session, and after he hosts a Group of Seven summit in Japan this month, the Nikkei said.

Postponing the increase would require legislation to be passed for the purpose.

Critics say Japan must increase tax revenues in the face of soaring debts and to pay for the ballooning cost of welfare as the population ages.

Government coffers are deep in the red, with public debt standing at twice the size of the economy -- the worst among industrialised economies for a country which is one of the most advanced in the world.

Vietnam bank thwarts SWIFT fraud attempt

Reuters

HANOI: Vietnam’s Tien Phong Bank (TPBank) said yesterday it had thwarted a cyber fraud attempt late last year, and a third-party service it used to connect with the SWIFT global money transfers system may have been attacked by hackers.

In an emailed statement responding to Reuters queries, TPBank said the attack involved a suspect transaction worth more than $1.13m. It said it has since stopped using the outside vendor on SWIFT’s advice.

SWIFT declined to comment.BAE Systems last week said

malware was used to target a Viet-namese commercial bank using fraudulent messages on the SWIFT network. The malware operated in a similar way to that used by hack-ers in the cyber heist of $81m from the Bangladesh central bank in February.

BAE did not name the Viet-namese bank, but SWIFT, the Brussels-based global financial messaging network, disclosed last Thursday that malware target-ing a commercial bank had been

discovered. “Via a risk warning and oversight system and a tight internal control process, TPBank has identi-fied a suspicious transaction worth more than a million euros trans-ferred by invalid SWIFT messages that was not executed by the bank itself,” TPBank said in the emailed statement.

“This attack ... did not cause any losses and had no impact on the SWIFT system in particular and the transaction system between the bank and customers in general,” it said.

The bank said the servers of the third-party vendor were based overseas, but did not say where. It said the vendor had used a software application that SWIFT had told the bank may have been subject to the malware assault.

TPBank, founded in 2008 by Vietnam’s top technology firm FPT Corp, is considered one of Vietnam’s most modern and technologically savvy banks.

Hanoi-based TPBank on May 11 received the “Best Internet Banking” prize from The Asian Banker.

TPBank’s major sharehold-ers include Doji, a local gold and jewellery firm, state-run Vietnam National Reinsurance Corpora-tion and Singapore-based SBI Ven Holding Pte Ltd, a unit of Japanese financial services conglomerate SBI Holdings Inc. FPT has divested most of its shareholdings and now has a 9 percent stake in TPBank.

After BAE systems said a Viet-namese bank had been targeted, TPBank, when contacted by Reuters on Friday, initially denied it had been subject of an attack, saying it “did not have any problems.”

TPBank said the attack involved a suspect transaction worth more than $1.13m.

Reuters

HONG KONG/BEIJING: China has asked Britain for advice on plans to create a financial super-regulator, as it looks to improve financial oversight following last year’s stock market crash, sources with knowledge of the talks said.

The discussions between rep-resentatives from China and the UK Foreign Office and Treasury highlight Britain’s burgeon-ing relationship with Beijing on financial issues, notwithstand-ing this week’s gaffe by Queen Elizabeth, who was caught on camera grumbling that Chinese officials accompanying President Xi Jinping on a visit to the UK last year had been “very rude to the ambassador”.

The talks signal Beijing’s growing willingness to seek out-side help to improve regulation of its financial infrastructure, in a bid to increase transparency, reduce systemic risk, and stop companies exploiting loopholes.

Several Chinese and British sources with direct knowledge of the talks said Beijing had sent del-egations to London to study the UK regulatory framework, with two sources citing a visit in the first quarter.

UK government represent-atives also visited Beijing last month to discuss financial, eco-nomic and regulatory issues, two sources with knowledge of the visit said.

Weaknesses in Chinese regu-lation were exposed last summer when China’s stock markets lost a third of their value in a month, having soared 150 percent in the previous 12 months.

Government and regulators rushed out a series of measures to arrest the crash, including lim-iting short-selling, stopping new listings and strong-arming big funds to buy more stocks.

The interventions were widely criticised for over-riding market mechanisms, poor inter-agency coordination and creating moral hazard by implying gov-ernment support.

Reuters reported in Novem-ber that China was considering consolidating supervisory powers in one regulator covering bank-ing, mutual funds, insurance and securities, but two Chinese sources with direct knowledge of the matter said no decisions had yet been made.

The Chinese sources said any proposals would include a few options for China’s cabinet, the State Council, to choose from, but it was unclear if a proposal had yet been submitted.

Britain overhauled its reg-ulatory system after the global financial crisis of 2008-09, hand-ing enormous power to the Bank of England, which is responsible for averting risks to the financial system as a whole.

The new structure aims to reduce blind spots by more closely aligning macro-economic policies with on-the-ground regulation and supervision of financial institutions and markets.

China can’t exactly recreate Britain’s regulatory structure due to differences in their politi-cal systems and potential rivalries

over where such a powerful reg-ulator would fit among senior decision makers.

“The UK model is a reference, but we can’t completely copy it,” said one of the sources. “The UK model is worth us studying but it would have flaws when imple-mented in China.”

This is not the first time China has sought foreign help in addressing financial prob-lems at home. Reuters reported in March that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, approached the U.S. Fed-eral Reserve last July for advice on handling its tumbling stock markets.

The UK Treasury has lobbied hard to become China’s partner of choice on a range of financial issues, and the two are collabo-rating on several economic and financial projects, including a stock trading link between Lon-don and Shanghai.

Another source briefed on the matter said Britain had

“answered questions when asked” on its regulatory structure as part of this broader dialogue, but added that “Chinese regula-tion is a matter for the Chinese government.”

The Foreign Office and Treas-ury declined to comment.

In one of the options cur-rently under discussion, China’s top financial regulators - the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) - would be merged.

Currently these three agen-cies operate independently, reporting to the State Council, China’s cabinet, and would con-tinue to report to the cabinet if merged.

Another option under con-sideration would see the new super-regulator report to the PBOC, giving the central bank more power, as in Britain. The PBOC would still report to the

State Council, the sources said.One Chinese source said this

proposal would partly reinstate the pre-2003 system in which the PBOC was responsible for supervising the country’s banks. China’s major state lenders had to be recapitalised and restructured between 1998 and 2003 follow-ing a credit binge.

“Merging the CBRC, CSRC and CIRC under the central bank would be reverting to the old sys-tem when the PBOC had too much power,” this person said.

In August, the Financial Sta-bility Board, an international watchdog, said China’s cur-rent structure allows the three agencies to pursue conflicting policy objectives, potentially undermining the central bank’s capacity to maintain financial stability as the country opens up its markets.

The CSRC, CBRC, CIRC, PBOC and State Council Information Office did not respond to requests for comment.

AFP

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi was elected two years ago this week promising to ease India’s notorious red tape and unpack regulatory tangles, but for for-eign firms, doing business in the world’s fastest-growing large economy can still be a costly

headache. With a billion con-sumers and rising middle class, India holds dazzling potential -- yet despite signs of change on the ground, high-profile corporate tussles continue to bamboozle investors.

British firms Cairn Energy and Vodafone have this year been hit with fresh bills for bil-lions of dollars in backdated tax and threats of asset seizure linked

to long-running disputes.Agribusiness giant Monsanto

in March threatened to pull out of India over government plans to slash cotton seed royalties paid by local firms by about 70 per-cent to help farmers.

And two major American business bodies this month voiced disappointment with the gla-cial pace of market reforms. In a submission to the US commerce

secretary, the National Associ-ation of Manufacturers urged Washington to press for change during a visit by Modi in June.

“Despite statements made by Prime Minister Modi and other sen-ior Indian officials over the past two years, there has been limited progress in many key areas that make it challenging to do business in India,” the group wrote.

Modi took power after

winning elections in May 2014 promising to make India “open for business”, seeking to repli-cate an impressive economic track record as chief minister in Gujarat and speed up a market opening that began 25 years ago.

The potential is breathtaking: India’s population will overtake China’s within six years and comprise 1.7bn people by 2050, according to the UN.

BUSINESS26 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

QE Index 9,950.37 0.09 %

QE Total Return Index 16,099.03 0.09 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,906.23 0.81 %

QE All Share Index 2,776.46 0.08 %

QE All Share Banks & Financial Services 2,668.18 0.01 %

QE All Share Industrials 3,098.67 0.00 %

QE All Share Transportation 2,507.44 0.18 %

QE All Share Real Estate 2,476.23 0.25 %

QE All Share Insurance 4,108.34 0.44 %

QE All Share Telecoms 1,139.73 0.10 %

QE All Share Consumer Goods & Services 6,621.55 1.07 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON

GOLD AND SILVER

WORLD STOCK INDICES

15-05-2016 Today 12-05-2016 Previous dayIndex 9,950.37 9,941.42

Change 8.95 53.03

% 0.09 0.54

YTD% 4.59 4.68

Volume 10,152,917 10,293,190

Value (QAR) 299,207,458.31 330,896,075.28

Trades 4,564 5,330

Up 13 | Down 27 | Unchanged 02

GOLD QR148.7850 per grammeSILVER QR2.0255 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year LowAll Ordinaries 5423.433 -11.357 -0.21 5483.7 4762.1

Cac 40 Index/D 4357.9 41.23 0.96 4607.69 3892.46

Dj Indu Average 17711.12 -217.23 -1.21 18351.4 15370.3

Hang Seng Inde/D 19915.46 -139.83 -0.7 21794.84 18278.8

Iseq Overall/D 6203.48 41.88 0.68 6791.68 5611.89

Karachi 100 In/D 36048.76 -217.47 -0.6 36412.23 29785

Nikkei 225 Index 16646.34 67.33 0.41 18951.12 14865.77

S&P 500 Index/D 0 0 0 2134.72 1810.1

EXCHANGE RATECurrency Buying Selling

US$ QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK QR 5.2258 QR 5.2991

Euro QR 4.0826 QR 4.1652

CA$ QR 2.7884 QR 2.8519

Swiss Fr QR 3.7243 QR 3.7792

Yen QR 0.0330 QR 0.0337

Aus$ QR 2.6163 QR 2.6827

Ind Re QR 0.0537 QR 0.0550

Pak Re QR 0.0344 QR 0.0352

Peso QR 0.0767 QR 0.0792

SL Re QR 0.0246 QR 0.0253

Taka QR 0.0458 QR 0.0468

Nep Re QR 0.0348 QR 0.0343

SA Rand QR 0.2407 QR 0.2455

DUBAI: Major Middle Eastern stock markets fell yes-terday after Moody’s cut the debt ratings or outlooks of many countries, while Dubai construction firms dropped steeply after reporting first-quarter earnings.

Moody’s lowered its ratings for Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain while assigning negative outlooks to the United Arab E m i r a t e s , Oman and Bahrain.

Its rat-ing of Saudi Arabia is still two notches above Stand-ard & Poor’s, but the action u nderl i ned c o n t i n u e d pressure from low oil prices; negative out-looks were assigned to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.

The Saudi stock index spent much of the day higher but closed 0.03 percent lower, with petrochemicals blue chip Saudi Basic Industries dropping 0.3 percent.

Miner Ma’aden climbed 3.3 percent, however. It is expected to benefit from a drive to develop the min-ing industry in the kingdom’s economic reform plan.

Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) was flat after chief executive Ahmad al-Ohali told Reuters the firm would be open to reviving its aborted merger with Sahara Petrochemical or pursuing another target, but only once the kingdom had changed rules govern-ing mergers and acquisitions. Sahara rose 1.3 percent.

Dubai’s index dropped 1.2 percent as Arabtec tum-bled 4.6 percent, after its first-quarter net loss narrowed to 46.4 million dirhams ($12.6 million) from 279.8 mil-lion dirhams a year earlier. Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast a loss of 123.6 million dirhams.

Drake & Scull also sank 4.6 percent after reporting a 61 percent plunge in profit to 9.8 million dirhams. EFG Hermes had forecast 20.1 million dirhams.

Abu Dhabi’s index fell 0.3 percent as Aldar Proper-ties lost 1.9 percent. Qatar edged down 0.2 percent but drilling rig provider Gulf International Services jumped

Mideast stocks fall after debt downgrades

Moody’s lowered its ratings for Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain while assigning negative outlooks to the UAE, Oman and Bahrain.

The talks signal Beijing’s growing willingness to seek outside help to improve regulation of its financial infrastructure, in a bid to increase transparency, reduce systemic risk.

China asks Britain for advice on super-regulator

India eases red tape but foreign firms still struggle

China and UK regulatory structureHow the regulatory system for each country compares.

UK REGULATORY STRUCTURE CHINA REGULATORY STRUCTURE

STATE COUNCILChina’s cabinet, ultimate decision- maker

HM TREASURY AND PARLIAMENT PEOPLE’S BANKOF CHINAResponsible for monetary policy and financial stability

CHINA SECURITIES REGULATORY COMMISSIONRegulates securities and futures markets, brokers, mutual funds

CHINA BANKING REGULATORY COMMISSIONRegulates banks, trusts, and other deposit- taking companies

CHINA INSURANCE REGULATORY COMMISSIONRegulates insurance industry, including asset management insurance

DUAL-REGULATED FIRMSDeposit takers, insurers and significant investment firms

ALL OTHER REGULATED FIRMS

Coordinates with the

other three agencies

Prudential and conduct

regulationPrudential regulation

Conduct regulation

PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Subsidiary of the Bank of England

BANK OF ENGLANDFinancial Policy Committee

FINANCIAL CONDUCT

AUTHORITY

BUSINESS VIEWS 27MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Can Buffett-backed bid unlock Yahoo growth where others failed?By Deborah M Todd Reuters

Warren Buffett struck media gold with a 2012 investment in debt-laden Media General Inc. Now the

famed investor may try to reprise that success by supporting a bid for Yahoo Inc’s Internet assets. The Berkshire Hathaway Inc chairman is backing a consortium that includes Quicken Loans Inc founder Dan Gilbert, that is seek-ing to buy Yahoo’s online portfolio, Reuters reported on Friday.

The consortium is in the second round of bidding in the auction for Yahoo’s assets, people familiar with the matter said. Buffett is helping to finance the offer, one of the peo-ple added. If they succeed, the investment would be a relatively rare foray into digital media for Buffett, whose portfolio is heavily weighted toward US insurers, industrial com-panies and major consumer brands.

Yahoo, once the world’s largest consumer email service, has struggled in recent years to compete with Alphabet Inc’s Google and

Facebook Inc for digital advertising mar-ket share. In February, CEO Marissa Mayer announced the company would auction off its Internet business and cut 15 percent of its workforce. It is also selling $1 billion to $3 billion in noncore assets such as patents and property.

Poynter Institute media business analyst Rick Edmonds said Buffett’s history of betting on struggling companies that maintain a large consumer base could work in Yahoo’s favour. In the case of Media General, Buffett bought a majority of the company’s newspapers, making him one of the largest publishers in the United States as the industry struggled with plummet-ing advertising and subscription revenue.

Buffett also provided nearly $450 mil-lion in debt relief to Media General, whose remaining business focused on dozens of local US television stations and related web-sites, in return for a stake of nearly 20 percent in the company. The day the transaction was announced, Media General’s shares jumped 30 percent. The stock closed Friday at $17.12, up from $3.32 in May 2012.

“It’s kind of consistent with Buffett’s pat-tern of buying things that are out of favour,

undervalued and have a big customer base,” Edmonds said. The paradox is Yahoo’s huge, it remains huge, and it’s got a lot of custom-ers. It’s not the case customers are fleeing them right and left, it’s just that no one can get a good pattern of growth.”

Pivotal Research Analyst Brian Wieser agreed the move would be a familiar one for Buffett.

“He is known for having a lot of assets that have a lot of potential that for a host of rea-sons have not realized that potential,” he said.

Former Yahoo president and chief finan-cial officer Susan Decker is now a director on Berkshire’s board. Wieser said that Buffett, with Decker’s input, might consider bring-ing back former Yahoo executives, such as interim CEO Ross Levinsohn, who was a candidate for the top job before Mayer was appointed. Decker said last month on CNBC that the next owner should “create a distinc-tion in consumers’ minds about why they love Yahoo still.” She said that plan would be helped if Yahoo is “private or part of a much larger corporation.”

During a CNBC interview earlier this month Buffett said that Yahoo’s business has

“continuously slipped” but did not mention a bid or a specific turnaround strategy.

Buffett and Dan Gilbert have been close friends since 2012, when Gilbert joined the Giving Pledge, an initiative created by Buf-fett and Bill Gates to encourage billionaires to give away at least half of their wealth during their lifetime or at death. Berkshire Hathaway provided insurance on a $1bn prize offered by Quicken Loans to anyone who completed a perfect bracket in the 2014 National Colle-giate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament. No one pulled off the feat.

“There could well be more business rela-tionships in the future, but beyond that it’s a friendship,” Buffett said, referring to Gilbert, in a telephone interview with Reuters on April 5. Part of the consortium’s interest may lie in Yahoo Finance. Gilbert has shown strong interest in that unit, according to a source who asked not to be identified. Buffett has credited Yahoo with doing a “terrific” job during live streaming of Berkshire’s April 30 shareholders conference. At that meeting he also admitted that Berkshire had been slow to adapt to new technology as far as its invest-ments were concerned.

by Jennifer A Dlouhy Bloomberg

The Obama administration, yielding to environ-mentalists demanding action to address climate change, issued limits on

methane emissions from oil and gas wells that are even tougher than those it proposed last year.

The final regulations unveiled on Thursday will add an esti-mated $530 million in additional costs in 2025, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s at least 25 percent higher than the preliminary version released in August, and comes as low oil prices force the industry to pare spending on new exploration.

The administration says the costs will be offset by savings as lower emissions mean less severe storms and other outcomes of a changing climate that it pegs at $690 million by 2025. By con-trast, the 2015 proposal was estimated to cost $320 million to $420 million in 2025, with poten-tial benefits of as much as $550 million.

“Today, we are underscoring the administration’s commit-ment to finding commonsense ways to cut methane—a potent greenhouse gas fuelling climate change—and other harmful pol-lution from the oil and gas sector,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in a news release. “These new actions will protect public health and reduce pollution linked to cancer and other serious health effects while allowing industry to continue to grow and provide a vital source of energy for Ameri-cans across the country.”

Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases and has been shown to warm the atmos-phere 84 times more than carbon dioxide when measured over two decades. The oil and gas industry is the leading source of methane emissions. The new regulations apply immediately to new and modified wells and, in a change from last year’s proposal, include low-producing wells and more frequent site inspections.

Under the rule, companies will have to upgrade pumps and compressors, while expanding the use of so-called “green comple-tion” technology meant to capture the surge of gas that can spring out of newly fracked wells. Such green completion techniques have been required at new and modified natural gas wells since 2015, but Thursday’s rule would broaden the requirement to oil wells too.

The EPA expanded the final regulation in response to concerns from environmentalists, who said

the draft proposal didn’t go far enough. For instance, the agency dropped its proposed waiver for low-producing wells that gener-ate less than 15 barrels per day of oil or its equivalent. That could have exempted thousands of wells each year from new leak detection requirements in the rule.

The EPA also yielded to envi-ronmentalists’ pleas for more frequent inspections, by requiring companies to hunt for methane at compressor stations four times a year instead of twice, as initially proposed. At wells and associated equipment, however, the agency stuck with a semiannual timetable.

The changes drew an angry response from oil and gas leaders, who insisted even the softer pro-posal was unnecessary in light of the industry’s work to pare meth-ane emissions. Because methane is the primary ingredient in nat-ural gas, energy companies have a financial incentive to keep it bottled up as it moves from the wellhead to compressor stations and into storage tanks.

The rule effectively asks an already battered industry to do more with less, amid low oil and gas prices, dwindling rig counts and thousands of lost jobs, said Sandra Snyder, a lawyer special-ising in environmental regulation at Bracewell LLP.

“Industry has been making great strides to voluntarily reduce its methane emissions because doing so makes economic sense,” Snyder said. “Imposing additional reporting and regulatory paper-work obligations is even more burdensome at this time.”

Industry officials also warn that aggressive new mandates—on top of other, still-proposed regulations clamping down on gas that is vented or burned on federal land—could wipe out small, independent producers. Companies could spend more paring incremental methane emissions than they will recover by selling the natural gas they keep from leaking, industry groups said.

“It doesn’t make sense that the administration would add unrea-sonable and overly burdensome regulations when the industry is already leading the way in reduc-ing emissions,” said Kyle Isakower, vice president of regulatory and economic policy for the Ameri-can Petroleum Institute.

The EPA rule will help the US move closer to fulfilling Presi-dent Barack Obama’s promise to slash oil and gas sector meth-ane emissions by 40 percent to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025. The new methane rule alone won’t be enough to meet the goal, but it provides a stepping stone to requirements for 1 million exist-ing wells too.

For oil drillers, Obama methane rule is worse than proposed

Once a billionaire, Miao is China’s

latest humbled solar king

Bloomberg

More than two decades ago in China, Miao Liansheng (pic-tured) made a first tentative step toward harnessing the sun to produce power—even-

tually becoming a billionaire.For a time, it worked, making his Yingli

Green Energy Holding Co. the world’s biggest solar panel maker. Then in an all-too-famil-iar scene for clean energy producers, reality took hold for the 60-year-old former soldier in the People’s Liberation Army.

Miao’s push to dominate photovoltaics lies in pieces after Yingli missed repayment on 1.76bn yuan ($270m) of debt and said it’s talking with creditors about refinancing. It’s teetering is starting to look like the collapse of Shi Zhengrong’s Suntech Power Holdings Co. in 2013 -- global aspirations, the amass-ing of billions of dollars in debt, plunging prices, overcapacity and then retreat.

“It wasn’t easy for Miao to make the company so big,” said Zhang Sen, dep-uty secretary-general of the photovoltaic production unit at the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machin-ery and Electronic Products. “Big companies are sometimes more fragile, especially when the market isn’t good.”

In his only public comment on the mat-ter, Miao maintained that Yingli is working to negotiate a resolution on its debt issues. On a conference call on Wednesday, he said

the Baoding-based com-pany is seeking to sell assets and line up new investors. A statement on Thurs-day said no creditors have moved to push the Yingli into insolvency.

“Our major credi-tors have been helpful,” Miao said on the call. “We strongly believe that we will achieve a successful transition.”

Miao cuts an unusual figure in the world of Chi-na’s solar billionaires, since he doesn’t come from an academic background like

Shi of Suntech. Instead, he served 13 years in China’s army, according to Wang Zhixin, a manager at Yingli Group’s public relations department.

After leaving the military, Miao became a long-distance bus driver. By the 1980s, he had started his own business, eventually sell-ing everything from cosmetics to vegetables and treated water for drinking. In 1993, he began importing a production line of lamps powered by solar energy from Japan, accord-ing Wang.

As Yingli’s founder and chairman and largest shareholder, the panel maker’s ini-tial public offering in 2007 helped make Miao for a time the 41st richest man in China with an estimated wealth of 14bn yuan ($2.15bn), according to a ranking that year of the richest people in China by the Hurun Report.

Today, Miao’s roughly 30 percent stake in the solar company is valued at about $17.7 million. Yingli’s American Depository Receipts traded in the US have declined 25 percent since the beginning of the year after plunging 81 percent in 2015.

It’s a dramatic fall for a man who, employees say, can be found standing out-side the company’s headquarters each day at 7 a.m., when he isn’t traveling, so that he can offer a morning welcome to his work-ers. It’s also a breakdown that has ensnared more than Miao and Yingli.

The past decade has been marked by booms, busts and failures in clean energy—and solar in particular. The list of once-leading companies that went bankrupt include Q-Cells SE, SunEdison Inc. and Sun-tech. Shi, who led Suntech until three years ago when eight Chinese banks pushed it into insolvency, was once China’s richest man until his company was brought down. Shi built his empire from scratch, like Miao.

Miao started in 1998 with Baoding Tian-wei Yingli New Energy Resources Co. In 2006, Yingli Green Energy was incorporated in the Cayman Islands as part of a restructuring of the equity interests in Tianwei Yingli. It was a way to smooth investments by foreign finan-cial investors in Tianwei Yingli and list shares of the venture on an overseas stock market, according to its 2014 annual report.

Solar module production began at Yingli Green in 2003 with 3 megawatts of capac-ity, which grew in the next three years to 100

Miao’s push to dominate photovoltaics lies in pieces after Yingli missed repayment on 1.76bn yuan ($270m) of debt and said it’s talking with creditors about refinancing.

The Berkshire Hathaway Inc chairman is backing a consortium that includes Quicken Loans Inc founder Dan Gilbert, that is seeking to buy Yahoo’s online portfolio.

megawatts. Over the next 10 years, pro-duction rose 40-fold to 4,000 megawatts. Listings followed in New York and Berlin in 2007, giving Yingli international scope.

Yingli’s debt burden is a result of “errors in decision-making including large-scale expansion along the whole value chain and spending on marketing and branding,” said Wang Xiaoting, an ana-lyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Hong Kong. Between 2013 and the first quarter of 2015, more than half of Ying-li’s net losses were from interest expenses on debt raised for expansion, according to Bloomberg data.

Chinese solar manufacturers such as Yingli sold about $5bn of shares from 2005 to 2010, wresting control of the mar-ket from companies in the US, Germany and Japan. The added capacity led to a global oversupply and pummeled panel prices, tipping at least 30 companies into bankruptcy.

While the survivors have mostly returned to profit, Yingli remained ham-strung by debt. It usurped Suntech as the biggest shipper of solar panels early this decade, only to be overtaken by Trina Solar Ltd. in 2014.

Unprofitable since 2011, Yingli had 11.8bn yuan ($1.8bn) of debts at the end of 2015. China Development Bank and Bank of Communications Co. are among the state-backed lenders that kept it afloat.

Still, Miao and other founders of Chi-na’s biggest solar companies maintain the industry’s support. They’ve “made a large contribution for the nation, for jobs and for exports,” said Zhang of the China Cham-ber of Commerce.

At an internal conference held by the company about a year ago, employees were told that Miao had used his personal assets to support Yingli, according to the com-pany website.

Miao’s sacrifice has burnished his reputation among investors, according to Dario Plozza, owner of Triple Digit Global Advisors DMCC and holder of a stake in Yingli of between 1 percent and 5 percent.

As Yingli’s biggest shareholder, Miao “will probably do everything to keep his wealth,” aligned with those of overseas investors, Plozza said.

BUSINESS28 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Smartphone marketdownturn going from bad to worse By Pavel Alpeyev

and Lulu Yilun Chen Bloomberg

FOR investors contem-plating prospects for the smartphone market after a shaky earnings

report from Apple Inc, Asian suppliers just provided a few hints: It’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Three suppliers that seldom command much attention, work-ing behind the scenes to make devices sold under the brands of better-known customers, put out back-to-back earnings reports recently. They spell trouble ahead for smartphone makers and other companies that once thrived on mobile mania.

Pegatron Corp, which assem-bles iPhones, missed profit expectations and said April sales dived 16 percent. Minebea Co, which makes LED lights for mobiles, lagged its own fore-casts for revenue and earnings. Japan Display Inc, which supplies screens to Apple and others, said profit has deteriorated so rapidly it will lose money for the fiscal year and suspend a promised dividend. Adding to the gloom, Lenovo Group Ltd tumbled to a four-year low as analysts warned of rising competition.

Asian components mak-ers are positioned early in the supply chain so they often sig-nal what’s ahead for giants like Apple, Samsung Electronics Co and Xiaomi Corp. The iPhone maker offered evidence of a deteriorating market with its first quarterly sales decline in

13 years. Now, some are bracing for a possible triple-whammy: sliding sales, an unfettered market-share competition and crumbling prices.

“The smartphone industry will continue to slow down this year,” said Richard Ko, a Taipei-based analyst at KGI Securities Co. “Competition will worsen and prices will likely continue to fall.”

Pegatron and its peers are merely the latest in a string of ill omens for a market facing its worst pace of expansion since Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007. Much of the gloom cen-tres on China, the phenomenal growth engine that’s now headed for an epic shakeout. Smart-phones are no longer a novelty and most domestic brands target the mid- and low-price ranges, where buyers don’t upgrade as frequently as those for high-end Apple and Samsung phones.

FIH Mobile Ltd, which assem-bles devices for Sony Corp, Lenovo and Xiaomi, is expecting first-half profit to get virtually wiped out. All three of those customers suffered lower smart-phone shipments in the March quarter. While Samsung was able to boost phone earnings on the early release of more profitable models, the world’s biggest pro-ducer warned of weaker demand.

To be sure, not all are pre-dicting doom and gloom. Optimists point out that legions of users in developing markets — like India — have yet to adopt high-speed 4G technology, and that will drive sales. The next key signpost for the industry might come around September, when Apple typically releases new iPhone models.

By Julie Johnsson and Mary Schlangenstein Bloomberg

IT’S a tale that could be dubbed “From Russia to Love”. Two Boeing Co 737 jetliners swooped onto a factory air-field near Seattle in March, the last of the models once flown

by a collapsed Russian carrier. They were headed for makeovers to erase the Cyrillic logos and any other trace of Transaero Airlines. Next stop: Dal-las’s Love Field, where hometown carrier Southwest Airlines Co is on a record shopping spree.

The imports are integral to what Jon Stephens, Southwest’s director of fleet transactions, describes as a “beautiful plan” to swap out some of its oldest models without spending lavishly. The carrier’s in the middle of acquiring 83 used Boeing 737-700s from around the world, the largest such haul in its more than four-dec-ade history.

Southwest and its US competitors — now awash in cash after earning record profits last year — are scouring developing nations for second-hand jetliners as cheap fuel makes older, less efficient aircraft more eco-nomical to operate. That bucks the traditional flow of hand-me-down planes from North American carriers to counterparts in emerging-market countries and makes an already vola-tile market for Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE more unpredictable.

“If you’ve got excess things with wings, you are probably trying to sell it in the US right now,” said George Ferguson, senior air transport analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Driving the shift is the collapse of crude prices. While the commodities downturn has clipped economies from Russia

to Brazil, lower fuel costs helped US airlines earn almost $19bn last year.

United Continental Holdings Inc is importing as many as two dozen used Airbus A319s from China. Delta Air Lines Inc, which pioneered the strat-egy, is studying taking used 737s as its Brazilian alliance partner, Gol Lin-has Aereas Inteligentes SA, shrinks and restructures operations.

The carriers haven’t cut back on new aircraft orders, either, in a buy-er’s market for cutting-edge jets. Because the used planes don’t need to be flown heavily to recoup capital costs, they can be added selectively to routes “so airlines have more schedule flexibility and can improve on-time performance,” said George Dimitroff, head of valuations for Ascend Flightglobal Consultancy.

Older planes lost their stigma in the US during the last 15 years as four of the largest airlines filed for bank-ruptcy. To cut costs, they deferred orders and made do with planes they previously would have swapped for newer models. They’ve expanded the practice even as fortunes have reversed this decade, taking advan-tage of sophisticated maintenance operations to extend service.

Used-jet imports to North America jumped 29 percent to 198 airplanes last year with Southwest

leading the way, followed by Alle-giant Travel Co and Delta, according to Ascend data.

Lower fuel bills mean airlines are hanging onto older single-aisle jets rather than parking or scrap-ping them. Of the smallest Airbus and Boeing models, only one A319 and no 737-700s have been disassembled for parts this year, compared with a total of 17 in 2015, according to Ascend.

“It’s partly a function of oil and lease expense and there’s actually demand by airlines like United and Southwest that want to acquire these airplanes and fly them,” Dimitroff said. “They’re more valuable as fli-ers than a collection of parts.”

The trend is adding to a topsy-turvy global aviation market for the leading manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus. They already face slowing sales as airlines navigate currency fluctuations and sub-$50-a-barrel oil, which has reduced the incentive to buy more fuel-efficient aircraft.

With fewer single-aisle jets retired to aviation boneyards, there’s a risk of a glutted market as Boeing and Airbus boost monthly output of single-aisle jetliners to about 60 apiece by the end of the decade from the present pace of 42. Lessors haven’t yet found airline customers for more than 900 narrow-body aircraft

on order over the next five years, according to a March 29 report by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. For now, Boeing hasn’t seen demand slip for its workhorse 737 jetliners. In fact, more orders are expected since about 700 narrow-bodies are already past the 25-year mark, when planes typi-cally are parked. That should prompt a wave of retirements.

“Airlines that are buying used aircraft are also buying our new aero-planes,” said Randy Tinseth, Boeing’s vice president for marketing. “We are not seeing any new trends that would change future demand.”

But the trading in used jets can skew the forces of supply and demand. Prices for decade-old Boe-ing 737-700 jetliners actually rose last year as Southwest dominated the market. Southwest is on the prowl for more used aircraft even though it has ordered 200 of the 737 Max, upgraded planes due to make their commer-cial debut next year. The Dallas-based carrier also struck a deal with Boe-ing for 33 new 737-800s late last year.

The airline bought used planes as far back as the 1970s, the dec-ade in which it began flights. But the low-cost carrier never thought seriously about making older planes a competitive weapon until about three years ago.

World’s richest airlines can’t get enough hand-me-down jets

BACK TO BUSINESSsight

PRIVATE EQUITY INVESTMENTS IN JAPAN

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There is no option but to freeze production... oil exporting countries must reach a consensus on freezing production to support prices. Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign

Minister Khaled Jarallah

NUMBER OF DEALS EQUITY INVESTED - BILLION DOLLARS

Global private equity firms have been struggling to source large deals in Japan, with the volume of private equity buyouts dropping to half in 2015 from the previous year.

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#China foreign exchange reserves rise mainly driven by exchange rate fluctuations.

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#Saudi #CMA mulls savings schemes for #citizens: report -

US LNG Shipments Point to Global Gas Price Convergence

Despite their recent troubles,

investment bankers are

still the best paid financial

professionals.

The Federal Reserve is

getting closer to its stated

employment and inflation

goals. That might be hard for

stocks to handle.

Rusty Bolt eases into Games build-up with win

PAGE | 33 PAGE | 35

England’s Steven Finn fired up by Twenty20 hurt

MONDAY 16 MAY 2016 • 9 SHA’BAAN 1437

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El Jaish look for revenge in all-Qatari ACL clash

The Peninsula

KUALA LUMPUR: Group B run-ners-up of the AFC Champions League, Lekhwiya and Group D winners El Jaish face off in an all-Qatari tie at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha tomorrow.

The kick off is set for 7.15pm.Having qualified for the group

stages via the play-offs by defeating Iran’s Naft Tehran, El Jaish became the first side into the last 16 with two games to spare as they secured just their second appearance in the tournament’s knockout stage.

Two-time quarter-finalists Lekhwiya, meanwhile, will be playing in the second phase of the continental competition for the third time.

El Jaish resumed training yes-terday evening ahead of tomorrow’s game, having rested on Satur-day, following their 2-1 defeat to Lekhwiya in the Emir Cup semifinals.

The team met at Qatar Univer-sity Grounds for the training session last evening and Sabri Lamouchi’s side will be eager to get back to winning ways over their local rivals Lekhwiya.

Meanwhile, Lekhwiya also conducted a training session on Saturday evening. Djamel Belma-di’s side could be without one of their star strikers, Mohammed Mun-tari for the crunch AFC Champions league match. The Qatari inter-national striker suffered a knock against El Jaish in the Emir Cup semifinal and was checked over at

ASPETER hospital as a precaution.The remainder of the squad

underwent light recovery training, under the watchful eye of Belmadi and his coaching staff.

Knockout stage debutants Mel-bourne Victory and Lokomotiv face a pair of continental champions in the last 16 of the AFC Champions League tomorrow as the Austral-ian side host Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of Korea Republic while the Uzbekistan club travel to Saudi Ara-bia to face Al Hilal in their first legs.

Melbourne sealed their maiden appearance in the last 16 as Group G runners-up following a 2-1 win over Japan’s Gamba Osaka in the final round of group fixtures ear-lier this month.

And Kevin Muscat’s side will now await the arrival of Group E winners and 2006 winners Jeon-buk, who have gone on to reached the quarter-final stage or better on six previous occasions.

Like Melbourne, Lokomotiv are also in uncharted territory having exited in the group stage in their only other appearance in the tour-nament last year.

But after topping Group A, the Uzbek League side will now travel to Riyadh to face two-time Asian Club Championship winners Al Hilal who finished as Group C runners-up.

By contrast to their visitors, Al Hilal are making their ninth con-secutive Round of 16 appearance and were semi-finalists last year and finalists in 2014.

Debutants Shanghai SIPG from China also come into the Round of 16 for the first time having topped Group G and earned a meeting with Group E runners-up FC Tokyo from Japan.

The J.League side reached the last 16 in 2012, but will be hop-ing that a meeting with a Chinese Super League at this stage will have a different outcome after their elim-ination by Guangzhou Evergrande four years ago. Defender Yuichi Maruyama will, however, be sus-pended for the first meeting in Japan.

The final fixture in the first round of knockout ties sees a pair of newcomers to the AFC Cham-pions League latter stages with Al Nasr from the United Arab Emirates, who were runners-up in Group A, entertain Group C winners Tractor-sazi Tabriz of Iran.

Al Nasr had been eliminated in the group stage of the Champi-ons League in both their previous appearances in the continental competition in the 2013 and 2012 editions, while Tractorsazi have fallen short three times at the same hurdle.

AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

TOMORROW’S FIXTURES

Melbourne Victory (AUS) vs Jeonbuk

Hyundai Motors (KOR)

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne

FC Tokyo (JPN) vs Shanghai SIPG (CHN)

Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo

Lekhwiya (QAT) vs El Jaish (QAT)

Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha

Al Nasr (UAE) vs Tractorsazi Tabriz (IRN)

Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai

Al Hilal (KSA) vs Lokomotiv (UZB)

King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh

Emir Cup finalists Lekhwiya look to carry their momentum ahead in their own backyard

El Jaish’s Mohamed Abdullah Methnani (left) vies for the ball with Lekhwiya’s Ahmed Alsayed during their Qatar Cup final in this file photo.

Al Waab clinch Qatar Amateur League titleThe Peninsula

DOHA: Al Waab clinched the Qatar Amateur League (QAL) title for the sec-ond time in three years.

The QAL champions were handed over the winning troiphy by Hani Balan, the CEO of Qatar Stars League (QSL).

Al Afai finished in second spot with a victory over Al Waab at Al Ahli Stadium over the weekend.

Al Waab finished the season with a tally of 75 points after 30 matches while second-placed Al Afai produced a score of 70 points.

Mohammed Salameh and Mahmoud Omar scored the goals for Al Afai while Mohamed Mustafa reduced the deficit for Al Waab.

After the pulsating clash, Balan presided over the victory ceremony, handing medals and trophies to the top two sides.

Ibrahim Sahin Sulaiti, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of QAL, was joined by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Thani at the presentation ceremony.

Amwaaj who finished in third spot with a tally of 67 points from 30 matches were given the prize of QR 80,000.

Al Afai picked up the second prize of QR 100,000 while Al Waab won QR 150,000 for their title winning performance.

Al Waab clearly emerged as the best

side, winning 24 matches out of their 30 games.

The QSL CEO praised the perform-ance of champions Al Waab, saying the players demonstrated great skills on the pitch.

“This is an important event on our football calendar. We are happy to see the commitment shown by teams and players,” Balan said.

“Football is our number one sport and we are thrilled to see how young and senior players show their game in this league,” he said.

“Our vision is to keep developing the sport as we complete our prepa-rations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” he said.

“The QAL is a very important plat-form for people who love the sport and want to develop their skills even if they are not professional,” he said.

Ibrahim Sahin Sulaiti, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the QAL said he was impressed with the talent that was on display during the regular season games.

“This was an incredible season for all the players involved with different teams. The standard of play as been impressive,” Sulaiti said.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Thani, head of sports department at Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), said: “I am happy to be here. We got to an entertaining game. I think the league has been very successful.”

Hani Balan, CEO of Qatar Stars League, handing over the Qatar Amateur League shield to victorious Al Waab skipper.

I was hoping to enjoy myself, not to win, says teenager VerstappenAFP

BARCELONA: Record-breaking teenager Max Verstappen handled his triumphant arrival as a global sports star with the same cool aplomb he showed behind the wheel yes-terday.

Mobbed by microphones and cameras, he beamed with pleasure just as he had while steering his Red Bull car to a maiden victory - and a place in sports history - at the Span-ish Grand Prix.

“But this is all a bit unbelievable for me. I was hoping to enjoy myself, but my target was to finish on the podium if I could. Not to win.”

At 18 years and 228 days, he is now not only the youngest man to race in Formula One, but also the youngest to score points, finish on the podium and win a race, taking all of those records from four-time cham-pion Sebastian Vettel, who had set them

when he, too, was a Red Bull driver.Yesterday, Vettel finished third, separated

from the remarkable Dutchman by his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, a 36-year-old veteran of 235 races -- to Verstappen’s 24 -- who had also, as he reminded him, raced in F1 against his father.

“Yeah,” said Raikkonen, whose future with the Italian team was threatened recently by the potential arrival there next year of Ver-stappen. “And that, for me, is pretty scary.”

Almost incredibly, Verstappen had only joined the Red Bull team a week earlier, in a shock promotion from the Toro Rosso outfit.

It was, for him, a new car, a new team and a new world of expectations and pressure. It also meant he was no longer free to leave Red Bull and join a rival team.

“I was not nervous in the race, but I was focused a lot on making no mistakes and looking after the tyres. On my in-lap, I had a bit of cramp, but that’s just a part of it all.”

His was Red Bull’s first win since the 2014

Belgian Grand Prix and first without Vettel in the team. It was also the first by a Dutch driver in the history of Formula One. No won-der his father Jos was moved to tears.

“You know, from a very young age, my dad has always supported me a lot,” he said. “Oh, and my mum, of course. I wouldn’t be here without her.”

After the laughter, speculation about his future and evaluation of his potential began in the paddock.

“He has an astonishing level of maturity when he doesn’t have anything to draw on,” said British former driver Martin Brundle on Sky Sports. “He’s got here, to this position, even faster than I thought he would.”

Former champion Damon Hill said: “It’s not just a great motor-racing story. It is a stagger-ing global sports story. It is truly incredible.”

The previous youngest winner, Vettel, was more than 21 years and two months old when he won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix with Toro Rosso.

Infiniti Red Bull’s Belgian-Dutch driver Max Verstappen celebrates on the podium after the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona yesterday.

in

EF

SPORT30 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

SPANISH GRAND PRIX RESULTS

BARCELONA: Spanish Formula One Grand Prix results in Barce-lona yesterday:1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1hr 41min 40.017sec, 2. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) at 0.616sec, 3. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) 5.581, 4. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull) 43.950, 5. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Williams) 45.271, 6. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Toro Rosso) 1:01.395, 7. Sergio Perez (MEX/Force India) 1:19.538, 8. Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams) 1:20.707, 9. Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren) 1 lap, 10. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso) 1 lap, 11. Esteban Gutierrez (MEX/Haas) 1 lap, 12. Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sau-ber) 1 lap, 13. Jolyon Palmer (GBR/Renault) 1 lap, 14. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Renault) 1 lap, 15. Felipe Nasr (BRA/Sauber) 1 lap, 16. Pascal Wehrlein (GER/Manor) 1 lap, 17. Rio Haryanto (INA/Manor) 1 lap

AFP

BARCELONA: Teenager Max Ver-stappen became the youngest ever Formula One winner yesterday when he took full advantage of Mercedes’ first lap crash to claim a drama-laden Spanish Grand Prix.

In his maiden outing for Red Bull following his unexpected promotion from Toro Rosso, the 18-year-old Dutchman showed supreme compo-sure under pressure as he resisted all attacks to claim a memorable victory in only his 24th F1 race.

At 18 years and 228 days he became the youngest race winner, replacing four-time champion Sebas-tian Vettel who had also taken that record as a Red Bull driver at 21 years and 74 days in 2008.

“It feels amazing, I can’t believe it,” said Verstappen.

“It was a great race and it felt like an endurance race. To win straight away, in my first race, it’s an amaz-ing feeling.

“From a very young age, my Dad has helped me a lot - it’s just amazing.”

Verstappen, heralded as the sport’s hottest property, proved he has everything required to be a future world champion.

But he owed some of his good

fortune also to Red Bull’s decision to put him on a three-stop strategy while his senior team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was on a two-stop plan.

That prevented the Australian from turning his early control of the race into victory after the opening lap collision between championship leader Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton had left them fuming in a gravel trap at Turn Four and out of the race.

Ricciardo eventually came home fourth, despite suffering a puncture on the penultimate 65th lap, behind the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen who finished second ahead of Vettel.

Verstappen became the first Dutchman to win a F1 Grand Prix.

“It’s unbelievable, I can’t believe this,” said Verstappen’s father Jos, who on Saturday had announced he had stood down as his son’s manager.

Valtteri Bottas came home fifth for Williams ahead of Carlos Sainz in a Toro Rosso, Sergio Perez of Force India, Felipe Massa in the second Wil-liams, Jenson Button of McLaren and Daniil Kvyat on his return to Toro Rosso.

In an extraordinary race, there was drama from start to finish.

Hamilton and Rosberg collided when they were scrapping for the lead when they wrecked the team’s hopes of another one-two triumph and revived bitter memories of their collision in the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.

“We have spoken to both drivers and it is not a clear cut decision - we have lost 43 points after lots of effort by the team in the last few difficult weeks,” said a strained Toto Wolff, the team chief.

Non-executive director Niki Lauda said: “It is stupid. We could have won this race... Lewis was too aggressive.”

Hamilton was distraught. He threw his steering wheel and knew he had thrown away a chance of claim-ing his first victory in eight races since he won his third title in Texas last year.

It ended Rosberg’s run of four wins this season and seven in all, dating back to last year, but did nothing for Hamilton’s effort to close the 43-points lead that the German retained ahead of him.

It also revived memories of their

acrimonious scraps in the last two years. After the drama at the start, the race resumed in more orderly fashion with Ricciardo controlling the from the front and Ferrari, under pressure to win despite chief executive Sergio Marchionne’s assurances that team chief Maurizio Arrivabene’s job is safe, for now, mounting a serious pursuit.

The removal of the two Mercedes set up the unexpected sight of a Red Bull battle with Ferrari and a fired-up Vettel chasing hard.

Ricciardo led Verstappen until lap 11 when he pitted and gifted the teen-ager the lead until he came in one lap later, Vettel taking over.

When the German pitted on lap 16, Ricciardo was back in control.

Ricciardo then made his sec-ond stop, of his three, on lap 29, and regained his lead, but it was Ver-stappen, on a two-stop strategy, who appeared to have an advantage, both top teams having split their drivers’ strategies for this contest.

By the time Ricciardo had come in for his third stop, it was a four-way scrap with Verstappen resisting Raikkonen ahead of Vettel and the Australian, all of them in close con-tention and managing their tyres for the final 20 laps.

With ten laps remaining, Vert-stappen was seven-tenths ahead of Raikkonen and it was all about tyre-wear management and nerves - and the teenager showed he could han-dle both.

‘It’s an amazing feeling. I can’t believe it. It was a great race and it felt like an endurance race. From a very young age, my dad helped me a lot’

F1 DRIVER AND CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS Mercedes in turmoil after star drivers collideBARCELONA: Formula One cham-pionship leader Nico Rosberg’s hopes of an eighth win in a row disappeared yesterday after a collision with Mer-cedes team mate Lewis Hamilton on the first lap of the Spanish GP.

Britain’s triple world champion Hamilton had started on pole posi-tion, with Rosberg alongside on the front row at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The German, aiming to make it five successive wins for the season, passed Hamilton around the outside of turn one and the Briton was then squeezed on to the grass as he tried to regain the lead at turn three.

His car skewed sideways and smashed into Rosberg’s, with both drivers ending up in the gravel and the safety car deployed.

Watching Daimler chief executive

Dieter Zetsche shook his head in dismay, while Hamilton threw his steering wheel out of the car.

The pair returned to the paddock on scooters and trudged up the stairs for a debrief with Mercedes team bosses, motorsport head Toto Wolff hot on their heels. The drivers were also summoned to see the stewards after the race.

The team’s non-executive chair-man Niki Lauda, a triple world champion himself, blamed Hamil-ton before going to see the drivers.

“It is stupid, we could’ve won this race,” the Austrian told the BBC. “Lewis is too aggressive. I need to talk to them and hear their explanation and then we will see what happens.”

Wolff, who has had to bang heads together before now, was

more cautious than his compatriot. “Niki has a driver’s opinion and it’s fair enough. As a driver you see it in black and white,” he said.

“From a team’s perspective we’ve looked at the pictures and the data and it’s not clear cut. Nico had a really good turn one and turn two, Lewis tried to dive in, Nico closed the door.

Rosberg still has a comfortable lead in the championship standings, being 43 points clear of closest rival Hamilton before Sunday’s race.

However, the collision ended Mer-cedes hopes of extending the team’s winning run to 11 races and equalling McLaren’s 1988 record streak of suc-cess. Only one driver in the modern era has won eight consecutive races -- Germany’s Sebastian Vettel, with nine in a row in 2013 for Red Bull.

FACTFILE ON MAX VERSTAPPEN

Name: VerstappenFirst name: MaxDate of birth: September 30 1997Place of birth: Hasselt (Belgium) Nationality: DutchHeight: 1.80mWeight: 67kg

F1 careerGrand Prix starts: 24Total points: 87 Teams: Toro Rosso (2015-2016 - up to Russian GP); Red Bull (2016 - from Spanish GP)Debut GP: Australia 2015 (Toro Rosso)1st win: Spain, May 15 2016Highest grid position: 4th (Spain 2016)World drivers championship: 12th (2015)

Career before F12005-2013: karting2014: 3rd Formula 3 European Championship (10 wins, 7 pole positions)

Infiniti Red Bull’s Belgian-Dutch driver Max

Verstappen celebrates after winning the Spanish Grand

Prix. Dutch teen Dutch teen driver stuns driver stuns veterans at veterans at Spanish Spanish Grand PrixGrand Prix

Infiniti Red Bull’s Belgian-Dutch driver Max

Verstappen drives during the Spanish Grand Prix at

the Circuit de Catalunya on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Drivers Points1. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes

100

2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 61

3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes

57

4. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari

48

5. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red

Bull 48

6. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red

Bull 38

7. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams 36

8. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams

29

9. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso 22

10. Romain Grosjean (France) Haas 22

11. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso

12

12. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren

8

13. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India

8

14. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark)

Renault 6

15. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force

India 6

16. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 3

17. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium)

McLaren 1

18. Jolyon Palmer (Britain) Renault 0

19. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Haas 0

20. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber

0

21. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany) Manor

0

22. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber 0

23. Rio Haryanto (Indonesia) Manor 0

Constructors Points 1. Mercedes 157

2. Ferrari 109

3. Red Bull - TAG Heuer 94

4. Williams-Mercedes 65

5. Toro Rosso - Ferrari 26

6. Haas - Ferrari 22

7. Force India - Mercedes 14

8. McLaren 12

9. Renault 6

10. Sauber - Ferrari 0

11. Manor - Mercedes 0

SPORT 31MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Rugby: New Zealand’s Super dominance disappoints HenryAFP

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s dom-ination of Super Rugby was branded “disappointing” by former World Cup winning coach Graham Henry who said yesterday that expanding the competition had diluted the quality.

However, other prominent New Zealand rugby figures argued the southern hemisphere champion-ship would improve with time and New Zealand had to remain involved.

“New Zealand sides are a cut above the others, which is disap-pointing really because you need the other sides strong to have a good competition and increase the inter-est,” Henry told Radio Sport.

The competition’s controlling body SANZAAR, representing South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina rugby, this year expanded the competition to 18 teams split into four conferences.

However, Henry, the 2011 All Blacks World Cup winning coach who also coached the Auckland Blues to two Super titles, said there was not the depth to support all the franchises.

“The policy of SANZAAR is to have a global game and they’ve got the game in Japan and they’ve got the game in Argentina, some of the games are in Singapore, so they they’ve fulfilled that objective but in doing that the quality has decreased,” he said.

With five rounds remaining before this year’s play-offs, New Zealand teams fill the top four places with the Canterbury Crusaders, Waikato Chiefs and Otago High-landers on 37 points, one ahead of the Wellington Hurricanes on 36.

But under SANZAAR rules the conference leaders must fill the top four seeds in the play-offs which will elevate South Africa’s Golden Lions (32 points), and Coastal Stormers (31), followed by Australia’s NSW

Waratahs (30) into the second, third and fourth places.

New Zealand Rugby general manager Neil Sorensen said there had previously been talk of New Zea-land and Australia forming their own trans-Tasman competition but that was shouted down by the All Blacks selectors.

They said “there’s no way that we want our young men not playing South African teams in South Africa as part of their education,” Sorensen said.

“We don’t want our guys facing South Africa in a quarter-final of a Rugby World Cup with a bunch of kids that have never played in Johan-nesburg, never been spat on by South Africans in Pretoria and so forth.

“So from a high performance per-spective it’s really important that we do play the Africans and the Africans are still tough at home.”

Hurricanes assistant coach John Plumtree, who was previously head coach of the Coastal Sharks in South Africa, said the current set up made it important to win the New Zea-land conference. Anything less would mean being relegated to playing away from home in the quarter-finals.

“You don’t want to be left having to travel to South Africa for a quar-ter-final and then back possibly to Australia or New Zealand for a semi and then off again somewhere,” he said.

But Plumtree said the competi-tion could not be run any other way and in time, standards would improve across the board.

“The people in South Africa and the people in Australia want to see big games, finals games in those coun-tries, in a competition like this, so I can’t see that changing,” he said.

“There’s no way there’s going to be two or three quarter-finals in New Zealand and a couple of semis. It won’t happen. There’s more to it than that. You have to be patient.”

New Zealand’s coach Graham Henry (left) listens to the team doctor Deb Robinson during a press conference in Auckland in this October 11, 2011 file photo.

AFP

ROME: Serena Williams has tipped Madison Keys to succeed her as world number one after a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 Italian Open victory that handed the 21-time Grand Slam champion her first title of the season.

It was the first all-American WTA claycourt final since Williams beat her older sister Venus to win her maiden French Open title in 2002.

But in the end, Williams’ power and experience made the differ-ence as she claimed her first title of the year, her 13th on clay and 70th overall.

Williams becomes just the fifth woman to achieve such a total in sin-gles after Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Margaret Court.

“It feel greats to win a title, espe-cially on clay,” said Williams, who will now prepare for the defence of her French Open title at Roland Garros.

Having lost two finals this sea-son, Williams’ win comes in timely fashion before Paris: “It was impor-tant to go out there and win one (title).”

It was a week of shocks in the women’s draw, with a number of seeds falling before getting to the business end of the tournament.

Keys, 21, is one of several emerg-ing women’s players from the US and had wowed the Rome crowd in a battling semi-final against Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza.

She had conceded defeat to Wil-liams on two previous occasions, at the last two Grand Slam events, the US and Australian Opens.

Yesterday, Keys started with con-viction, breaking Williams in the opening game and taking the first set to a tiebreak.

But despite occasionally stun-ning Williams with a ferocious return of serve and dominating on

winners -- 17 to 13 -- Keys paid for unforced errors.

Keys, who had eight more unforced errors than Williams, admitted just being in the final with her compatriot had left her feeling nervous.

“No matter how many times you play Serena, you always go in and you can just feel her presence,” said Keys.

“That’s always an extra thing that you have to be worried about during the match. But for me today it really wasn’t so much about how big the tournament was or anything like that.

“It was really just wanting to go out and do my best and give my best performance.”

Despite conceding defeat, she was given a strong vote of confi-dence by Williams.

“I think Madison’s a great player, I really do. Always have. I think she’s got potential to be number one in the world,” she added.

“It’s always great to hear that from her,” said Keys. “She’s obviously an amazing champion, and she’s won so many matches and tournaments.

“Hearing that is definitely some-thing that makes me just work harder.”

Williams pulled out injured from last year’s event when Russia’s Maria Sharapova triumphed.

Birthday boy Murray stuns World No. 1 Djokovic in final

Argentina’s Axel Muller runs with the ball during the HSBC Paris Sevens Series semi-final rugby match against Samoa at the Stade Jean Bouin in Paris, yesterday.

No compromise seen on

international calendar: TewReuters

WELLINGTON: Rugby’s powerbro-kers remain at loggerheads over the shape of the international calendar following the 2019 World Cup despite calls for a compromise before the end of the year.

Re-jigging international matches and domestic competitions to create a seamless global calendar has long been on World Rugby’s agenda but national unions have failed to reach terms with each other and privately-owned clubs in England and France.

New Zealand Rugby chief exec-utive Steve Tew said there had been

little movement on the major stick-ing points at meetings in Europe this week.

“The reality is no-one has agreed a calendar from 2020 onwards and we’re all working out what we’re going to do in the future without any agreed competition structure,” Tew told New Zealand’s Sunday Star Times.

“If we don’t find a compromise, there’s no calendar. If there’s no cal-endar there are no games. If there are no games then we’ve all got a big problem.

“We have to find a solution and that’s evident to everybody.”

World Rugby’s incoming chair-man Bill Beaumont, who will succeed

Bernard Lapasset on July 1, told Brit-ish media he hoped an accord could be reached by the end of the year.

He said everything, includ-ing the Six Nations tournament contested between Europe’s top rugby powers, should be up for negotiation.

But the powerful Six Nations board are adamant the tournament will not be moved from its February-March window despite a two-month break before June internationals start with southern hemisphere opponents.

The southern hemisphere unions want the June international win-dow moved back until at least July to ensure no disruption to the provin-cial Super Rugby competition.

Williams tips Keys after 70th career title in Rome

AFP

ROME: Britain’s Andy Murray cel-ebrated his 29th birthday in style yesterday by winning his maiden Rome Masters title with a hard-

fought win over disgruntled world number one Novak Djokovic. Murray, the number two seed who suffered defeat to Djokovic in last week’s Mas-ters final in Madrid, prevailed 6-3, 6-3 in one hour, 35 minutes.

From a total of 32 previous meet-ings it is only Murray’s 10th win over tennis’s man of the moment.

“Well done Andy, you did a great job today. You were just too good,” Djokovic said on court after the final.

It is only Murray’s third clay-court title, after his maiden victories on the red dirt in Munich and Madrid last year, but comes in timely fashion just two weeks before the start of the French Open at Roland Garros.

Murray, who cruised into the final with an easy semi-final win over French lucky loser Lucas Pouille early on Saturday, came into the match fresher after Djokovic was forced into a three-hour epic by Japan’s Kei Nishikori later on Saturday.

It was the third three-set match he had played leading up to the final, and amid the challenging circumstances of intermittent rain, it did not take long for nerves to fray. Murray piled the pres-sure on from the start, earning a trio of break chances in Djokovic’s first serv-ice game. Djokovic saved them all, but two games later Murray grabbed the first break of the match when he forced Djokovic into a backhand error for

3-1. The slippery conditions were not to Djokovic’s liking and Murray, who had no complaints about the weather, tried to capitalise. He won 16 of his first 19 service points, taking a 5-2 lead with an ace down the T, and then wrapped up the opener with a sublime forehand drop-shot winner to wrap up the set in 46 minutes.Djokovic’s game, and nerves began to come apart in a sec-ond set that saw umbrellas come out and hoods pulled up due to the occa-sional spattering of rain. Leading 2-1, Djokovic complained to the referee about the lack of a rain stoppage and minutes later, still battling to win the fourth game, he began remonstrating with himself.

Andy Murray holds the trophy after winning the final match of the ATP Tennis Open tournament against Serbian Novak Djokovic at the Foro Italico in Rome yesterday. TOP: Murray blows out a candle on his birthday cake after winning the final match.

Briton celebrates his 29th birthday in style by winning the Rome Masters

ATP Rome Masters/WTA Italian Open

Rome: Results from the final day of

the ATP Rome Masters/WTA Italian

Open yesterday (x denotes seeded

player):

MenFinal

Andy Murray (GBR x2) bt Novak

Djokovic (SRB x1) 6-3, 6-3

WomenFinal

Serena Williams (USA x1) bt

Madison Keys (USA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3

SPORT32 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Ibra breaks PSG record in Nantes romp

AFP

PARIS: Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed home a minute from time to break Paris Saint-Germain’s single season Ligue 1 scoring record in a 4-0 rout of Nantes on Saturday.

With the title long wrapped up and a French Cup final against bitter rivals Marseille to come a week later, the night was all about Ibrahimovic and his quest to break the 37-goal sin-gle season PSG record at the Parc des Princes.

Starting the game with 36 goals, the Swedish striker equalled the 1997-98 club record of Argentine Carlos Bianchi in the 18th minute with his 37th of the season.

Ibrahimovic then netted his record 38th a minute from time from Javier Pastore’s cross to end a match-long quest that had looked set to frustrate him.

“I’m feeling very emotional. Today is a very special day after four years together winning lots of trophies,” said Ibrahimovic.

“Thank you ‘Ibracadabra’, these four years will remain in my heart.”

Ibrahimovic said he hoped PSG would keep on winning, adding: “Without Ibra it’s difficult, but it’s possible!”

It was the perfect end to his last match at the Parc in a PSG shirt before leaving for pastures new and he was immediately substituted, but not before his children ran onto the pitch wearing PSG replica shirts bear-ing the names King and Legend on their backs -- a reference to Ibrahi-movic’s Friday tweet in announcing his departure: “I came like a king, left

like a legend.” If anyone had been in any doubt who the night was about, that was surely dispelled in the 10th minute when the ground as one rose to applaud their talismanic import.

Wearing the number 10 jersey, Ibrahimovic acknowledged the crowd as Nantes obligingly waited patiently for almost a minute before taking a free-kick.

The visiting defence seemed to oblige in more ways than one against a team clearly intent solely on setting up their centre-forward to score.

Ibrahimovic notched his first

goal as he played the ball out wide on the right to Angel Di Maria, before sprinting to the back stick where he was able to chest home the Argentine’s cross on his knees from six yards out without a yellow-shirted defender in sight.

If there was one player deter-mined to ruin the party it was Nantes goalkeeper Maxime Dupe, who made a reaction one-handed save to deny a close-range Ibrahimovic flick before then thwarting the big Swede when one-on-one as even the lines-man seemed unwilling to spoil the

festivities. PSG’s desire to tee up their stand-in captain for the night took on comic proportions 10 minutes from half-time. When faced with a clear shooting opportunity inside the box, Di Maria wiggled and twisted in try-ing to find Ibrahimovic rather than strike at goal.

PSG finally switched back into the rich vein that had seen them romp to the title with two months to spare as Ibrahimovic and Di Maria combined to set up Lucas Moura for a sim-ple second two minutes before the break -- PSG’s 100th league goal of

the season. PSG notched their third on 52 minutes as Dupe parried a fierce Ibrahimovic free-kick, only for Mar-quinhos to win a sprint between three home players to tap in the rebound with not a yellow shirt reacting.

Ibrahimovic had a shot deflected behind for a corner as he took on three defenders and Dupe twice dived to his side to beat away shots before the big Swede lifted another chance over the bar as he became increas-ingly desperate.

But Pastore picked him out with a minute left to the stadium’s delight as

Ibrahimovic fulfilled his quest.Monaco secured the third and

final Champions League qualifica-tion spot as first half goals from Ivan Cavaleiro and a Fabinho penalty gave them a 2-0 win over Montpellier.

Nice won 3-2 at Guingamp but had to settle for fourth in Hatem Ben Arfa’s final game for the south coast club.

Toulouse scored two goals in the final 12 minutes through Mar-tin Braithwaite and Yann Bodiger to turn a 2-1 deficit at Angers into a 3-2 victory that kept them a point above Reims, whose 4-1 win over second-placed Lyon wasn’t enough to prevent them descending into Ligue 2 along-side Lorient and Troyes.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (centre) of Paris Saint Germain flanked by team-mates celebrates with the French Ligue 1 title after their match against FC Nantes at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris, on Saturday.

Swedish striker smashes the 37-goal single season club record of Argentine Carlos Bianchi

Celtic celebrate title with magnificent winAFP

GLASGOW: Champions Celtic capped off their season in style with a 7-0 thrashing of Motherwell at Parkhead before they were presented with the Scottish Premiership trophy.

Kieran Tierney grabbed his first goal for Celtic with a superb strike in the 21st minute before Australian international Tom Rogic tapped in a second just five minutes later.

Stand-in skipper Mikael Lustig then headed home from a corner in the 28th minute to leave the Mother-well defence stunned.

There was no let up in the sec-ond half as Stuart Armstrong scored a superb 50th minute goal before Patrick Roberts made it 5-0 four min-utes later.

Ryan Christie drilled home his first strike for the Hoops in the 59th minute before debutant Jack Aitchison, the youngest player ever to play a competitive match for Celtic, scored with his first touch in the 77th minute just seconds after replacing Rogic.

It was the perfect send-off for departing manager Ronny Deila as Celtic finished the season 15 points ahead of Aberdeen, who lost 4-0 at home to Ross County.

“It was like I had dreamed of,” Deila said. “It was a good perform-ance from a young team who I think are the future of this club.

“It was 7-0, a sunny day and a very good atmosphere so it was a perfect ending for me.”

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee said he had been optimis-tic of getting a positive result before

the game. “I didn’t see that coming,” a stunned McGhee admitted.

“Ultimately as a team we didn’t work hard enough and looked as if we had already downed tools ready for the summer.”

Motherwell goalkeeper Conor Ripley made a string of saves before his goal was finally breached in the 21st minute following a fine strike from Tierney. The Celtic wing-back collected a pass from Roberts and dodged a couple of challenges along the edge of the box before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner.

Celtic scored a stylish second five minutes later as Armstrong latched on to a clever flick to race in to the box but saw his effort come back off the base of the post to Rogic, who tapped into the empty net from five yards out.

Lustig, captaining Celtic in the absence of Scott Brown, then headed

home a third from close range at the back post after Ripley had come for Armstrong’s corner and missed.

The onslaught continued in the second half with Armstrong adding a fourth just minutes after the break. Lustig motored down the right before crossing to the edge of the box where Armstrong took a touch to flick the ball up before turning and unleash-ing an unstoppable shot into the top corner.

Roberts added another four min-utes later as he collected a Callum McGregor pass before curling a shot round Ripley.

There was to be no let up and Christie made it 6-0 before the hour mark.

Rogic went on a surging run before playing Christie in and the teenager drilled a low shot under the despairing Motherwell goalkeeper.

Celtic manager Ronny Deila celebrates with the trophy at the end of their Scottish Premiership match against Motherwell at the Celtic Park, yesterday. RIGHT: Celtic’s Scott Brown celebrates with the trophy along with team-mates after the game against Motherwell at Celtic Park yesterday.

Ligue 1 Top ScorersTop scorers of the Ligue 1 on

Saturday

38 Zlatan Ibrahimovic

(Paris St Germain)

21 Alexandre Lacazette (Olympique

Lyon)

19 Edinson Cavani (Paris St

Germain)

17 Hatem Ben Arfa (Nice)

Michy Batshuayi (Olympique

Marseille)

Wissam Ben Yedder (Toulouse)

14 Valere Germain (Nice)

13 Benjamin Moukandjo

(FC Lorient)

12 Andy Delort (Caen)

Ousmane Dembele (Stade Rennes)

11 Abdul Majeed Waris (FC Lorient)

Sofiane Boufal (Lille)

Martin Braithwaite (Toulouse)

10 Sylvio Ronny Rodelin (Caen)

Cheick Diabate (Girondins

Bordeaux)

Angel Di Maria (Paris St Germain)

9 Cheikh Ndoye (Angers SCO)

Lucas Moura (Paris St Germain)

Kamil Grosicki (Stade Rennes)

Nolan Roux (St Etienne)

8 Mohamed Wael Larbi

(GFC Ajaccio)

Maxwell Cornet (Olympique Lyon)

Rachid Ghezzal (Olympique Lyon)

Floyd Ayite (Bastia)

French Ligue 1 TableParis, France: French Ligue 1 table

after Saturday’s final round of

matches (played, won, drawn, lost,

goals for, goals against, points):

PSG 38 30 6 2 102 19 96

Lyon 38 19 8 11 67 43 65

Monaco 38 17 14 7 57 50 65

Nice 38 18 9 11 58 41 63

Lille 38 15 15 8 39 27 60

Saint-Etienne 38 17 7 14 42 37 58

Caen 38 16 6 16 39 52 54

Rennes 38 13 13 12 52 54 52

Angers 38 13 11 14 40 38 50

Bastia 38 14 8 16 36 42 50

Bordeaux 38 12 14 12 50 57 50

Montpellier 38 14 7 17 49 47 49

Marseille 38 10 18 10 48 42 48

Nantes 38 12 12 14 33 44 48

Lorient 38 11 13 14 47 58 46

Guingamp 38 11 11 16 47 56 44

Toulouse 38 9 13 16 45 55 40

Reims 38 10 9 19 44 57 39

G-Ajaccio 38 8 13 17 37 58 37

Troyes 38 3 9 26 28 83 18

Scottish Premiership Results

Glasgow: Scottish Premiership

results on Sunday:

Aberdeen 0 Ross County 4 (Graham

23-pen, Schalk 45, Boyce 68,

Woods 78)

Celtic 7 (Tierney 21, Rogic 26,

Lustig 28, Armstrong 50, Roberts

54, Christie 59, Aitchison 77)

Motherwell 0

Hearts 2 (Djoum 17, Shaughnessy

21-og) St Johnstone 2 (Craig 9-pen,

Cummins 12)

Played on Saturday

Inverness CT 4 (Storey 61, Devine

69, Draper 71, Foran 84-pen)

Dundee 0

Kilmarnock 2 (Higginbotham 27,

Obadeyi 34) Dundee United 4

(Durnan 12, Murray 73,

82, Souttar 86)

Partick Thistle 2 (Doolan 3, Amoo

19) Hamilton 2 (Brophy 10-pen, 20)

Scottish Premiership Table

Glasgow: Scottish Premiership table

after yesterday’s matches (played,

won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals

against, points):

Celtic 38 26 8 4 93 31 86

Aberdeen 38 22 5 11 62 48 71

Hearts 38 18 11 9 59 40 65

St Johnstone 38 16 8 14 58 55 56

Motherwell 38 15 5 18 47 63 50

Ross County 38 14 6 18 55 61 48

Inverness CT 38 14 10 14 54 48 52

Dundee 38 11 15 12 53 57 48

Partick 38 12 10 16 41 50 46

Hamilton 38 11 10 17 42 63 43

Kilmarnock 38 9 9 20 41 64 36

Dundee Utd 38 8 7 23 45 70 28

-- relegated

AFP

BANGALORE: Leading crick-eters hailed Virat Kohli and team-mate AB de Villiers after the pair smashed scintillating centuries in their Indian Pre-mier League match to break a string of records.

India’s Kohli struck a 55-ball 109 while South Afri-ca’s de Villiers scored an unbeaten 52-ball 129 to power the Royal Challengers Banga-lore to a record 144-run victory over the stunned Gujarat Lions on Saturday night.

In front of a roaring crowd in Bangalore, the formidable duo scored only the second ever centuries by batsmen in the same innings in Twenty20 cricket.

Kevin O’Brien (119) and Hamish Marshall (102) scored centuries together for Glouces-tershire against Middlesex in 2011.

Kohli and de Villiers added

229 for the second wicket on Saturday night, the highest partnership in the history of T20 cricket.

The pair smashed their own record of 215, which they notched up while playing for Bangalore against the Mum-bai Indians during the 2015 IPL season.

Captain Kohli, who is in sizzling form with three centu-ries in the current IPL, turned the attention on his partner, saying the South African had given him the confidence to power on.

“He’s just an absolute leg-end. He gave me so much confidence in there.”

“I started off slowly but he just took over and you saw what he can do when he gets set,” the 27-year-old said of de Villiers, who struck 10 four and 12 sixes.

The South African, for his part, paid credit to his wife, saying he performed well whenever he knew that she was in the stands watching.

Teammate Chris Gayle congratulated the two batsman on Twitter, describing their performance as “top knocks from 2 real champions”.

Gayle was dismissed for just six in the same game, his fifth single-digit score in as many matches as the Jamaican star suffers a collapse in form.

Australian vice captain David Warner, also playing in the IPL this season, hailed the pair as “easily the two best batters in the world” while England’s Jos Buttler said: “This is like Ronaldo and Messi on the same team!”

The winning margin was the biggest ever in the IPL since it began in 2008, break-ing the previous record of 140 by the Kolkata Knight Rid-ers, notched up in the first match of this season against Bangalore.

SPORT 33MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

RECORD BREAKERS AT IPL

Sunrisers thrash Kings XI, move closer to play-offsIANS

MOHALI: Sunrisers Hyderabad strengthened their position at the top of the points table with a seven-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab at the Punjab Cricket Association Sta-dium yesterday.

Chasing a challenging 180-run target, Hyderabad clinched victory with two balls to spare thanks to some late display of powerhitting by Yuvraj Singh and Ben Cutting.

Coming together with four overs to go and the visitors still needing 41 runs, the duo exploited some poor bowling by Punjab pacers Sand-eep Sharma and Mohit Sharma as Hyderabad finished at 180/3 in 19.4 overs.

Yuvraj remained unbeaten on 42 runs off 24 balls with three bound-aries and an equal number of sixes. Cutting, who hit the winning runs, was not out on 18 off 11 balls.

The result also saw Hyderabad take a two-point lead over second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders with 16 points from 12 matches. Punjab, meanwhile, virtually kissed good-bye to their chances of making it to the play-offs as they remained sec-ond from bottom with eight points from 12 matches.

The visitors had seen their chase get off to a promising start with opener David Warner going great guns. His fellow opener Shikhar

Dhawan seemed to be in good touch with 22-ball 25 which included four hits to the ropes before being run out due to a superb piece of fielding by Mohit Sharma.

But Deepak Hooda (34 off 22) continued to give Warner good support from the other end as the Australian continued to go after the Punjab bowling. But Warner’s habit of standing deep inside the crease cost him dearly when he attempted to flick an Axar Patel delivery off his pads but his back foot hit the wicket, dislodging the bails in the process.

Warner scored 52 runs off 41 deliveries with five boundaries and a six. The Australian’s departure saw

Yuvraj Singh stride out to the middle and the local lad used his knowledge of the conditions to good effect and led the visitors to victory.

Patel (1/26) and Sandeep Sharma (1/35) were the only Punjab bowlers to earn a wicket.

Earlier, Hashim Amla ended his run of form in spectacular fashion to lead the hosts to a challenging total of 179/4 in their 20 overs.

Playing in his first IPL, the South African veteran smashed 96 runs off 56 deliveries to register his first half-century of the tournament. Out of his previous three matches in the IPL, the 33-year-old had managed to reach double figures only once.

KINGS XI PUNJABH M Amla c Warner b Kumar 96

M Vijay c Warner b M Rahman 6

W P Saha c Hooda b Henriques 27

Gurkeerat Singh b Kumar 27

D A Miller (not out) 20

G J Maxwell (not out) 0

Extras (lb-3) 3

Total (for 4 wkts in 20 overs) 179Did not bat: M P Stoinis, A R Patel, M M Shar-

ma, Sandeep Sharma, Anureet Singh.

Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-87, 3-152, 4-173.

Bowling: B Kumar 4-0-32-2; A Nehra 2.5-0-

35-0; Mustafizur Rahman 4-0-32-1; B C J Cut-

ting 1.1-0-11-0; K V Sharma 4-0-26-0; M C

Henriques 3-0-29-1; Yuvraj Singh 1-0-11-0.

SUNRISERS HYDERABADD A Warner (hit wkt) b Patel 52

S Dhawan (run out) 25

D J Hooda c Miller b S Sharma 34

Yuvraj Singh (not out) 42

B C J Cutting (not out) 21

Extras (LB-4, W-3, NB-2) 9

Total (for 3 wkts in 19.4 overs) 183Did not bat: MC Henriques, NV Ojha†, KV

Sharma, B Kumar, A Nehra, Mustafizur Rahman.

Fall of wickets: 1-68, 2-97, 3-139.

Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 4-0-35-1; M Vijay

1-0-8-0 (1w); M M Sharma 3.4-0-43-0 (1w);

Anureet Singh 3-0-28-0 (2nb); M P Stoinis

3-0-28-0 (1w); G J Maxwell 1-0-11-0; A R Patel

4-0-26-1.

SCOREBOARD

Kings XI Punjab’s batsman Hashim Amla plays a shot during their 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali yesterday. Amla’s knock proved to be in vain as Sunrisers beat Kings XI by seven-wickets.

Finn fired up by Twenty20 hurt

AFP

LONDON: England quick Ste-ven Finn has been urged by the team’s Australian coach, Trevor Bayliss, to use his World Twenty20 disappoint-ment as a spur to success in upcoming home internation-als against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The Middlesex paceman was ruled out of this year’s World Twenty20 in India, where England reached the final in March, because of calf and side injuries.

Finn felt a decision on his fitness had been made pre-maturely and wasn’t shy in

voicing his displeasure at being left out of the squad.

The 27-year-old now regrets speaking out as he did, although Bayliss clearly doesn’t bear a grudge as he has told Finn to channel any latent anger into his bowling.

“Trevor sent me an email and said to use the frustration as motivation to take wickets in the summer,” said Finn, speaking in London at an event staged by series sponsor Investec, ahead of next week’s first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley -- the opening match of a 2016 England home international programme that also includes fixtures against Pakistan.

“I think that was the per-fect response to it because you can channel your frustration into the wrong avenues and it can affect you the wrong way.”

Finn added: “I missed the (Twenty20) World Cup because I was injured, I was disap-pointed which got portrayed in that interview I suppose in a bit of the wrong words.

“I was wrong, I accepted

that and spoke to the peo-ple affected and everything is fine now.

“I spoke to the medical people, selectors, people who made the decision.”

Finn was, however, involved in England’s recent Test campaign win in South Africa, taking six for 91 in the series opener in Durban.

That should see the tall right-armer, a veteran of 29 Tests, 65 one-day internation-als and 21 Twenty20s, retain his place as third seamer behind the new-ball duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad at Headingley, although Finn faces competition for that role from Nottinghamshire’s uncapped Jake Ball.

“These first few weeks it’s been different getting back into competitive cricket hav-ing not played a competitive game since January,” said Finn.

“It took a while to find my feet but there have certainly been spells this summer that make me believe I can have a good summer ahead.”

Praise for record-breaking Kohli, De Villiers Royal Challengers Bangalore captain and batsman Virat Kohli (right) hugs AB de Villers after scoring 100 runs during their 2016 Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket match against Gujarat Lions, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Saturday.

Finn told to use the frustration as motivation to take wickets in the summer

England paceman Steven Finn

MUMBAI INDIANSR G Sharma c Pant b Mishra 31

M J Guptill c Nair b Khan 48

K H Pandya b Morris 86

K A Pollard c de Kock b Morris 3

J C Buttler (not out) 18

A T Rayudu (not out) 13

Extras (B-4, LB-2, W-1) 7

Total (for 4 wkts in 20 overs) 206Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-144, 3-173,

4-174.

Bowling: S Nadeem 4-0-42-0; C H Mor-

ris 4-0-34-2; Z Khan 4-0-23-1 (1w); A

Mishra 4-0-42-1; Imran Tahir 4-0-59-0.

DELHI DAREDEVILSM A Agarwal b V Kumar 8

Q de Kock c Buttler b Pandya 40

K K Nair c Bumrah b H Singh 8

S V Samson (run out) 6

R R Pant b Bumrah 23

J P Duminy c Buttler b Bumrah 9

C H Morris (run out) 20

A Mishra b Bumrah 1

S Nadeem (not out) 1

Imran Tahir (run out) 5

Z Khan b Pandya 2

Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-1) 3

Total (all out in 19.1 overs) 126Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-46, 3-60, 4-71,

5-96, 6-96, 7-109, 8-118, 9-123, 10-126.

Bowling: Harbhajan Singh 4-0-34-1; R

Vinay Kumar 4-0-33-1; M J McClenaghan

4-0-26-0; J J Bumrah 4-0-13-3; K H Pan-

dya 2.1-0-15-2 (1w); N Rana 1-0-3-0.

SCOREBOARD

Krunal shines as Mumbai Indians winIANS

VISAKHAPATNAM: Riding on promising all-rounder Krunal Pan-dya’s quick-fire 86, followed by an impressive bowling perform-ance, Mumbai Indians outclassed Delhi Daredevils by 80 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam yesterday.

Batting first, Krunal smashed his maiden IPL half-century to guide the defending champions to massive 206/4 in 20 overs.

In reply, Delhi lost wickets at regular intervals as they were bundled out for 126 in 19.1 overs. Jasprit Bumrah (3-13) and Krunal (2-15) were the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai while Harbhajan Singh and R. Vinay Kumar claimed one wicket each.

The win ensures Mumbai keep their play-off hopes alive as they climbed to the third spot in the points table.

Chasing an imposing target of 207, Delhi got off to a poor start los-ing opener Mayank Agarwal (8) in the second over itself.

His opening partner Quin-ton de Kock (40) played positively from there on but lost partners at the other end as Karun Nair (8), Sanju Samson (6) fell cheaply to have the visitors in trouble at 60/3 in eighth over.

As the required run-rate climbed high with every ball bowled, de Kock trying to up the scoring rate also fell to left-arm spinner Krunal in the 10th over. The South African promising opener in his 28-ball innings struck four boundaries and two sixes. Rishabh Pant (23) played a short innings but failed to convert the start into a big one as his dismissal came after seamer Bumrah had Jean-Paul Duminy (9) caught by wicket-keeper Jos Buttler in the 13th over. There was more trouble for the vis-itors as wickets kept on tumbling and the required rate climbed high to put more pressure on the incom-ing lower-order batsmen.

Chris Morris played a 16-ball 20 in the end but was not enough as his side surrendered to a domi-nant Mumbai side.

Earlier put in to bat, open-ers Rohit Sharma (31) and Martin Guptill (48) helped the defending champions get off to a decent start scoring 45 runs without losing any wickets after the completion of powerplay. Krunal who was pro-moted up the order at No.3, struck seven boundaries and six sixes.

SPORT34 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Al Hamad completes 12-hour endurance challenge The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatari driver Amro Al Hamad, with the Vortex V8 Team, overcame several dif-ficult technical issues to finally finish the 12-hour endurance race at the Dutch coastal race track of Zandvoort last weekend.

This is one of his toughest endurance events and the 12-hour race was conducted in two parts due to excessive the noise in the sleepy coastal town.

With 43 cars on the grid on first day, Lionel Amrouche put the car third fastest in the competitive SP2 class. Amrouche took the start of the race on Friday and after his stint changed drivers with Amro who took the wheel for a short time before a race end-ing crash caused by a throttle problem 6 laps into his stint.

The Qatar drove a car which is based on a BMW 1 series M Coupe and its original turbo engine has been replaced with a Chevrolet V8, giving around 550hp and weighs just over 1000kg, but with no ABS and no Traction con-trol the car remains a challenge.

“I was coming into turn seven when the throttle stuck wide open at 100% as a mal-function in the fly by wire throttle system. Then I tried to brake but couldn’t stop and hit the barrier hard on the side, it was really strange situation with the electronics and it was such a hard hit that we spent the rest of the race stuck in the pit box for an hour and a half repairing the damage, until then

everything was going well with the car,” said Amro.

In the second part of the race on Satur-day, team mate Cyril Calmon took the start, after the crew had made the repairs, the team were anxious to make up time and catch the SP2 class leaders to chase a dream podium position.

On the next driver changeover with Lionel Amrouche, he had heavy con-tact with another car which damaged the bodywork on the rear and the front

compromising the aerodynamics of the car. Amro took his final stint in the car at 5pm

and took the finish flag at 6.20pm complet-ing the race and bringing the car home fifth in class.

“It was a very difficult race but the whole team pulled through with repairs and then a fuel pump problem in my second stint today but the teamwork paid off and at least we fin-ished the race which makes it all worthwhile.”

“Once again I’d like to thank our Qatar Motorsport Federation for being so

co-operative facilitating all the documen-tation and licensing to enable me to race internationally and special thanks our Pres-ident of the Federation Abdulrahman Al Mannai, for making the whole process easy for me.”

“I will continue to look for sponsor part-ners to support me in the next phase of endurance races and I am looking to make the next step into prototype racing in the new LMP3 car. There is a lot of potential for more international exposure for Qatar.” Amro Al Hamad

Amro Al Hamad in action during the 12-hour endurance race at the Dutch coastal race track of Zandvoort last weekend.

Day survives horror show greens to lead at Players

AFP

MIAMI: World number one Jason Day battled through horrid putting conditions and a poor start on Satur-day to fire a one-over par 73 and lead by four shots after three rounds of the US PGA Players Championship.

Players ripped the greens as all-but unfair as TPC Sawgrass produced only six sub-par scores, match-ing its all-time low for any round and sparking major complaints from the world’s top golfers.

“I’ve never gone over putts where I’ve had to lag a 10-foot putt and not try to hole it,” Day said. “That’s the first time in my career I’ve had to do that.

Third-ranked Rory McIl-roy was even harsher, saying, “That was borderline unfair

on a few holes. A few pin positions were on crowns. You dribble a putt past the hole and it’s six feet by.”

Day seeking his second wire-to-wire victory of the season and seventh title in 17 starts, finished 54 holes on 14-under 202.

Day opened with a 63, matching the 18-hole course record, and completed a weather-hit second round of 66 on Saturday to set a 36-hole record of 15-under 129.

But after going bogey-free through 36 holes for the first time in his career, Day had a bogey and two double bogeys in the first eight holes of round three before fight-ing back with three birdies the rest of the way.

Japan’s Hideki Mat-suyama, Germany’s Alex Cejka and American Ken Duke shared second on 206 with Italy’s Francesco Moli-nari on 207. South African Retief Goosen and Ameri-can Kevin Chappell shot 70 to reach 208.

Matsuyama birdied three holes in a row to open his front and back nines on the way to a 67 while Duke, a back-nine starter, birdied six of his last seven holes to move into the hunt with a shock 65.

Few others were happy as the average score was about 75 on greens that were rock hard and lightning fast.

Mark Russell, a PGA Tour competition vice president, blamed high winds and a humidity drop for the green conditions after two days of record low scoring.

Day finished the last four holes of his storm-hit second round Saturday morning, a birdie on 15 and three pars completing a sec-ond-round 66 to give him a 36-hole tournament record of 15-under 129 and a record five-shot midway lead.

But the Aussie strug-gled early in round three after going 36 holes with-out a bogey for the first time in his career. Day handed back five shots in six holes, missing a six-foot putt to drop a stroke at the par-3 third. He four-putted from 18 feet for a double bogey at the par-4 sixth and, after a tap-in birdie on seven, made another double bogey at the par-3 eighth as his lead fell to a single shot.

Day responded with a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 ninth, blasted out of a greenside bunker to three feet to birdie the par-5 11th, chipped in from 53 feet for a miracle par at 15 and birdied the par-5 16th.

World number two Jor-dan Spieth missed the cut by a stroke, finishing on 143 in his first event since a back-nine Sunday collapse cost him the Masters title.

Aussie world number one seeks his second wire-to-wire victory as Spieth misses the cut by a stroke

Jason Day of Australia plays a shot on the 14th hole during the third round of The Players Championship at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on Saturday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

World number two Spieth says no Masters slump AFP

MIAMI: World number two Jordan Spieth missed the cut on Saturday at the US PGA Players Championship, his first event since squandering a back-nine Sunday to lose last month’s Masters.

The 22-year-old American, strug-gling with his putter, opened on 72 and followed with a 71 to stand on one-under 143, one stroke over the cut line to missing the last 36 holes for the

second year in a row at TPC Sawgrass.Spieth, who defends his US Open

crown next month at Oakmont, down-played the notion he could be in a funk after his Masters meltdown, which denied him a second consecutive wire-to-wire win at Augusta National and handed England’s Danny Willett a first major crown.

“I don’t think there’s much of a connection to the Masters. I just didn’t putt well,” Spieth said. “Augusta seems like a long time ago to me.”

Adding to his oain, he was play-ing alongside top-ranked Jason Day as

the Australian fired a 36-hole course record of 15-under 129 -- matching the 18-hole mark of 63 before com-pleting a 66 on Saturday after storms and darkness delayed the end of round two. He looked as miserable watch-ing the Aussie sink his birdies the first two rounds as he did handing over the green jacket to Willett as a global audi-ence watched on TV.

“It’s tough when you are getting shellacked by 15 shots in the same group. You see all those birdies going in and you wonder why you aren’t making any of them. It’s tough seeing

every hole being birdied and not being able to do much about it.”

“I’m striking the ball great. I just need to grind on my short game. If I putt anywhere near the standard I normally putt I’m at 6- or 7-under just on the greens.”

Spieth also said he needs to have more fun during rounds and change his attitude if he hopes to approach the success he enjoyed last season, when he won the year’s first two majors, shared fourth at the British Open and was the PGA Championship runner-up to Day.

Former Olympic champ Ervin wins 50 freestyle AFP

WASHINGTON: Anthony Ervin, an Olympic champion in 2000 as a teen at Sydney, won the men’s 50-meter freestyle on Saturday at the US Pro Swim Series meet in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The 34-year-old American, who won the world 50 and 100 free titles in 2001 at Fukuoka, captured the Charlotte title in 21.98 seconds just three weeks after starting workouts at the same pool.

“We’ve been doing a lot of tech-nique work the last few weeks as well as trying to get that start down,” Ervin said. “I think it has been paying off. I’m not only hopeful, I’m enthu-siastic about the next few weeks.”

Canada’s Santo Condorelli, who would later win the men’s 50 butter-fly in 23.82, was second to Ervin in

22.15 with American Josh Schneider third in 22.16.

Other non-US winners Saturday included Jonathan Gomez of Colom-bia in the men’s 200 fly in 1:57.36, Canada’s Chantal Van Landeghem in the women’s 50 free in 24.43, Cana-da’s Kylie Masse in the women’s 100 back in 59.98 and Russian-born Ser-bian Arkady Vyatchanin in the men’s 100m back in 54.80.

Americans Conor Dwyer, Leah Smith, Cody Miller and Cammile Adams each won their second titles of the meet, which concludes on Sunday.

Dwyer won the men’s 400 free in 3:47.37 after taking the 200 free Friday. Leah Smith won the wom-en’s 400 to claim the same double, Adams took the women’s 200 fly after a 400 individual medley win and Miller completed a men’s breaststroke sweep by taking the 200 in 2:12.22.

Europe’s best descend on London ahead of 2016 Olympic GamesAFP

LONDON: As the Olympic Games loom ever closer, Europe’s best swimmers gather in London on one of the final stepping stones to Rio de Janeiro.

When the European Champi-onships start today at the London Aquatics Centre - which staged the swimming at the 2012 Olympics - there will be just 82 days before the Games start in Brazil.

Given the proximity, few who are competing in Rio will have rested before the London meet, but are instead in heavy training, eyes planted firmly on what lies ahead in August.

Two years ago in Berlin, Great Britain topped the medal table with a haul of 24.

Prominent was 19-year-old Adam Peaty, a fortnight after beating Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh to second in the 100m breast-stroke at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Peaty was a stand-out in Berlin, winning four gold medals and setting a world record in the 50m breast-stroke, albeit not ratified due to an administrative error.

Olympic 50m freestyle champion

Florent Manaudou also made four visits to the top of the podium, while Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem claimed three golds.

All three have had a stunning couple of years, but for Peaty the summer of 2014 was when he made a deafening entrance onto the inter-national stage.

He went on to obliterate Van der Burgh’s 100m world record last year in London before three gold med-als at the World Championships in Kazan, where he and the South African went toe to toe like prize fighters, trading 50m world records as boxers trade blows.

Now favourite for Olympic gold, Peaty has come a long way.

The last time Peaty competed at the Aquatics Centre he became the first man to go under 58 seconds for the 100m breaststroke, his time of 57.92 seconds taking 0.54secs off Van der Burgh’s mark in the same pool in 2012.

The British Olympic team are competing in London, meaning a European debut for double world freestyle champion James Guy.

Manaudou is joined on the French team by Fabien Gilot, Jer-emy Stravius and Mehdy Metella, the four making up the squad that won the 4x100m freestyle world title in 2015.

SPORT 35MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Russia ‘ashamed’ over doping scandal

AFP

LONDON: Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko apologised yesterday for the doping scandal that threatens the athletic superpower’s participation in the Rio Olympics.

Mutko, writing in The Sunday Times, admitted the Russian Athlet-ics Federation and athletes had made “serious mistakes” breaking anti-dop-ing rules.

He said “they had rejected the principle of fair-play so fundamen-tal to sport for immediate benefits.

“Let us be clear. We are ashamed of them.”

Mutko’s mea culpa comes just three days after he described as “absurd” allegations that Russian athletes were involved in systematic doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

A report in the New York Times based on information from the former head of Russia’s anti-doping labora-tory claimed that dozens of athletes including 15 medallists were involved.

Russian athletics faces a battle to compete at the Olympics in Rio in August.

The sport’s ruling body the IAAF provisionally suspended the Russian athletics federation in November over a bombshell report by a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) independent commission alleging state-sponsored doping and mass corruption in the sport.

The International Association of Athletics Federations will examine the issue of Russia’s participation in Rio at an extraordinary Council meeting next month.

Mukto told The Sunday Times: “We are very sorry that athletes who tried to deceive us, and the world, were not caught sooner.

“We are very sorry because Russia is committed to upholding the high-est standards in sport and is opposed to anything that threatens the Olym-pic values.”

He insisted that since the scan-dal emerged Russia was putting her house in order.

“Since Russia was suspended last November, with RUSADA, the Moscow laboratory and the ARAF all losing their WADA status, we have agreed a road-map with WADA aimed at restructuring these organisations, taking a series of steps to demonstrate how committed we are to ensuring that sport in our country is clean and fair.”

Mutko listed some of the new measures designed to ensure his country’s appearance in Rio.

“Before the Rio Games begin, our aspiring Olympians will undergo a minimum of three anti-doping controls carried out by the IAAF - in addition to any testing that they receive in all qualifying competitions.

“In addition, two international experts are now based in Moscow to supervise all activities of our anti-doping agency.”

He said UK Anti-Doping (UKAD)

had been appointed by WADA to take charge of drug-testing in Rus-sia, although UKAD said on Friday it was reviewing its position after the Sochi revelations.

Mutko said “key changes” had been made at the top of the All-Rus-sia Athletics Federations to give the sport “a fresh start”.

“We will do everything humanly

possible to ensure our athletes are a part of clean, fair and enthralling Games,” he pleaded ahead of the IAAF’s crunch meeting to determine Russia’s Rio fate on June 17.

‘We are sorry that athletes who tried to deceive us, and the world, were not caught sooner. Let us be clear. We are ashamed of them’

Rusty Bolt eases into Games build-up with win Reuters

CAYMAN ISLANDS: Sprint king Usain Bolt (pictured) took his first stride toward the goal of an unprec-edented Olympic threepeat at the Rio de Janeiro Games with a modest 10.05 second run and an easy victory at the Cayman Invitational on Saturday.

Starting in lane four, the Jamai-can had a moderate start in his season-opening race before step-ping away from the field in the last 60 metres and cruising to the tape.

Bolt’s time was the third lowest in a career boasting the 100 and 200m titles at the last two Olympics along with golds in the 4x100 relays.

But the 29-year-old was sat-isfied with his first test since last year’s world championships in Bei-jing, where he added another three titles to his honour roll before call-ing a premature end to his season.

“I’m just glad I got out of that one injury-free, It’s a season-opener so you never know what to expect,” Bolt told reporters after beating Jason Rodgers of St Kitts and Nevis (10.12) and third-placed compatriot Kemar Bailey-Cole (10.18).

“I haven’t run all season so I expected to be rusty, and just like

last season, I need more races to get sharp.

“So I’m not worried, just about working up to the top now.

“Now my coach (Glen Mills) can analyse the race, see what we need to do, see what we need to work on and move from there.” Bolt conceded he still had work to do before Jamai-ca’s Olympic trials at the end of June.

“I wanted to run fast, I was feel-ing good in training. But you never know because running in training

and running at a track meet is two different things.

“It’s all about race fitness, so like last year, I need to get a few more races under my belt and by trials time I’ll be ready I’m sure.”

On the other side of the world, American Justin Gatlin showed he remains one of Bolt’s biggest obstacles to Olympic glory with a 9.94 second run to win the 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai.

Rio: Track and field a big test for an Olympics under siege

AP

RIO DE JANEIRO: American high jumper Chaunte Lowe paid her own way to Rio de Janeiro, and picked up the tab for a hotel for this weekend’s test event in track and field — the last of more than 40 test events with South America’s first Olympics start-ing in less than three months.

Lowe will try in July to qualify for her fourth Olympics, finishing sixth in the last two. She also made it to Athens, but failed to reach the finals.

This trip was to check out what’s ahead.

“I feel like it’s an investment if you want to succeed and do well here,” she said yesterday, standing on the two-tone blue track at Olympic Stadium in the northern Rio neigh-borhood of Engenho de Dentro. “It’s an investment in yourself, and it was worth it for me.”

Lowe is among hundreds of ath-letes competing in the refurbished stadium this weekend in the Ibero-American Championships. A small event, maybe, but it’s a big test for an Olympics already under siege.

There’s the threat of the mos-quito-borne Zika virus, slow ticket sales, deep cuts in the operational budget and state security budget — and almost no sense around town

that the world’s biggest sporting event is coming to Rio. No billboards, no kiosks selling Olympic parapherna-lia, no buzz.

Brazil is also mired in its worst recession since the 1930s, and Pres-ident Dilma Rousseff has been suspended for 180 days while the federal senate prepares to hear her impeachment trial.

Lowe was not distracted, focused on her first Olympic medal.

“That would be completion,” she said.

She won Saturday’s high jump with a leap of 1.96 meters (6-5), well off her American record of 2.05 (6-8 1/2).

“Every time I go I have a really hard time adjusting to the new sur-face,” said Lowe, who has won gold, silver and bronze in the World Cham-pionships. “So I wanted to come early and feel it. There are adjustments that needed to be made, and I made those adjustments. Now I feel very confi-dent going into the games.”

Asked what she learned about the new, springy surface, Lowe replied: “I’m not going to tell anybody. They should have come here themselves.”

As for the other stuff, Lowe said she hasn’t seen a mosquito, though she cautioned against taking risks.

The World Health Organization has advised pregnant women against traveling to Zika areas, with Bra-zil at the epicenter of the outbreak. The Zika virus has been scientifi-cally shown to cause birth defects in newborns.

Lowe already has three children — ages 2, 5 and 8.

“I had my children early, it’s not so much of a concern to me,” she said. “You obviously take precautions, Don’t be around still water. Put on some spray. But at the same time you train your whole life for this.”

Rio will have two stadiums. There’s the legendary Maracana in northern Rio where the soccer final, and the opening and closing cere-mony take place.

Baseball: Chicago Cubs hammer the Pittsburgh Pirates Reuters

NEW YORK: Highlights of Saturday’s Major League Baseball games:

Cubs 8, Pirates 2Jake Arrieta earned his 18th

straight winning decision and the Chicago Cubs hammered the Pitts-burgh Pirates 8-2.

National League Cy Young award winner Arrieta (7-0) struck out a sea-son-high 11 and allowed two runs and three hits in eight innings

The Cubs have outscored the Pirates 37-11 in winning all five games against their NL Central rival this sea-son. The Cubs have outscored their opponents 213-103 this season.

Yankees 2, White Sox 1Ivan Nova pitched effectively into

the sixth inning and the New York Yankees edged the Chicago White Sox 3-2 at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees mustered little off Jose Quintana (5-2), who allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. New York’s runs, which came on con-secutive pitches with two outs in the second, proved enough.

Red Sox 6, Astros 5 (11 innings)

David Ortiz launched a game-winning RBI-double to deep center field in the bottom of the 11th inning and the Boston Red Sox walked off with a 6-5 win over the Houston Astros at Fenway Park.

Ortiz also hit a solo home run and an RBI, while Xander Bogaerts, Travis Shaw and Mookie Betts each drove in a run for the Red Sox (23-14).

Twins 6, Indians 3Ervin Santana pitched six strong

innings and Juan Centeno had two hits, including his first major league home run, to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 6-3 victory over the Cleve-land Indians. The Twins snapped their eight-game losing streak with only their third road victory of the season.

Nationals 6, Marlins 4 (first game)

Stephen Strasburg remained unbeaten and Michael A. Taylor had two hits, two walks and scored twice as the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 6-4 in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Strasburg (6-0), who agreed to a seven-year contract extension on Tuesday, allowed five hits and three runs with seven strikeouts in six innings though his ERA rose to 2.95.

Brantley on 15-day disabled list Reuters

NEW YORK: The Cleveland Indians placed out-fielder Michael Brantley on the 15-day disabled list Saturday due to right shoulder inflammation.

The move is retroactive to May 10.Brantley, 28, begins his second trip on the

disabled list in 2016 after beginning the season rehabbing his right shoulder following offseason surgery in November to repair a torn labrum. He has appeared in 11 games, batting .231 (9-for-39) with seven RBIs.

To fill the roster spot, the Indians called up util-ity player Michael Martinez from Triple-A Columbus and moved catcher Roberto Perez (thumb surgery) to the 60-day DL.

** The New York Yankees acquired right-handed pitcher J R Graham from the Minnesota Twins.

The Yankees, who will send a player to be named later or cash considerations, optioned Gra-ham to Double-A Trenton.

Graham, 26, had a 10.80 ERA over 1 2/3 innings in one relief appearance for the Twins this year.

The Yankees made seven other transactions. They placed right-hander Luis Severino (right tri-ceps strain) on the 15-day disabled list, recalled right-hander Chad Green and right-hander Conor

Mullee from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and optioned catcher Gary Sanchez back to Triple-A.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Yan-kees moved first baseman Greg Bird, right-hander Bryan Mitchell and outfielder Mason Williams to the 60-day disabled list.

** The Chicago Cubs activated catcher Miguel Montero from the disabled list and he started Sat-urday’s game against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.

To make room for Montero on the 25-man ros-ter, the club designated outfielder Ryan Kalish for assignment.

** Detroit Tigers right-hander Shane Greene (blister on right middle finger) will likely have two rehab appearances before he rejoins the team, according to manager Brad Ausmus.

Greene threw a bullpen session Friday, but he was not happy with his performance.

** Baltimore Orioles right-hander Yovani Gal-lardo (right-shoulder bicep tendinitis) threw for the first time Saturday since going on the disabled list April 23.

Gallardo made 25 throws from 60 feet on flat ground and will likely expand the distance to 90 feet today.

An athlete performs

during the Ibero American

Athletics Championships serving as test event for Rio 2016 Olympic Games, in Rio

de Janeiro. The competition is hosted at the

Olympic Stadium also known as Engenhao or

Joao Havelange Stadium.

Athletes in action during a test event in Rio on Saturday.

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Matt Bush (51) delivers a pitch to the Toronto Blue Jays during a baseball game at Globe Life Park in Arlington.

36 MONDAY 16 MAY 2016

Leading English Premier League

scorersLondon: Leading English Premier

League scorers after Sunday’s

matches:

25 goals: Kane (Tottenham)

24 goals: Agüero (Manchester City),

Vardy (Leicester)

18 goals: Lukaku (Everton)

17 goals: Mahrez (Leicester)

16 goals: Giroud (Arsenal), Ighalo

(Watford)

15 goals: Defoe (Sunderland)

13 goals: Deeney (Watford),

Sanchez (Arsenal)

12 goals: A. Ayew (Swansea City),

Costa (Chelsea)

11 goals: Arnautovic (Stoke City),

Mané (Southampton), Martial

(Manchester United), Pellè

(Southampton), Sigurdsson (Swansea

City), Wijnaldum (Newcastle)

9 goals: Benteke (Liverpool), Carroll

(West Ham), Mitrovic (Newcastle), Payet

(West Ham), Rondon (West Bromwich)

English Premier League table

London: English Premier League

table after yesterday’s matches

(played, won, drawn, lost, goals for,

goals against, points):

Leicester 38 23 12 3 68 36 81

Arsenal 38 20 11 7 65 36 71

Tottenham 38 19 13 6 69 35 70

Man City 38 19 9 10 71 41 66

Southampton 38 18 9 11 59 41 63

Man Utd 37 18 9 10 46 34 63

West Ham 38 16 14 8 65 51 62

Liverpool 38 16 12 10 63 50 60

Stoke 38 14 9 15 41 55 51

Chelsea 38 12 14 12 59 53 50

Everton 38 11 14 13 59 55 47

Swansea 38 12 11 15 42 52 47

Watford 38 12 9 17 40 50 45

West Brom 38 10 13 15 34 48 43

Crystal Palace 38 11 9 18 39 51 42

Bournemouth 37 11 9 17 44 64 42

Sunderland 38 9 12 17 48 62 39

Newcastle 38 9 10 19 44 65 37

Norwich 38 9 7 22 39 67 34

Aston Villa 38 3 8 27 27 76 17

Notes: Manchester United v

Bournemouth abandoned before

kick-off due to discovery of suspect

package at Old Trafford

Top four teams qualify for

Champions League; teams finishing

5th-6th qualify for Europa League;

bottom three teams relegated to

Championship

H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), with winner of Olympic Glory Conditions Stakes and jockey Frankie Dettori at the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes in Newbury, England, on Saturday. Sheikh Joaan crowned the winners of the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes in Newbury, England. The second edition of the annual event sponsored by Al Shaqab saw Godolphin’s Belardo win the Group 1 Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes. Centre: Members of the Godolphin Belardo winning team pose for a picture with Sheikh Joaan. RIGHT: jockey Frankie Dettori with his winning horse.

Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes

EPL: Security alert at Old Trafford overshadows season finale

AFP

LONDON: Manchester United’s final game of the Premier League season against Bournemouth yesterday was abandoned following a security alert at Old Trafford, as Arsenal snatched second place in the table from rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

What should have been a celebra-tory last weekend of the league season around the country was overshad-owed as bomb disposal experts were called to carry out a controlled explo-sion on a suspicious package at Old Trafford.

The Stretford End and Sir Alex Ferguson Stand were evacuated as the match was called off 20 min-utes before the scheduled 1400 GMT kick-off in Manchester, with United later confirming a security alert caused the abrupt cancellation at the 75,600-capacity stadium.

“Due to the discovery of a suspect package in the North-West Quadrant of the ground, the match with Bourne-mouth has been abandoned today on police advice,” a United spokesman said in a statement.

By 3.15pm local time the

remaining parts of Old Trafford were evacuated and shortly before 4pm an Army bomb disposal unit van was seen arriving at the stadium to carry out a controlled explosion.

The Premier League said the match would be rearranged for “as soon as practically possible”, although with Manchester United due to face Crystal Palace in next Sat-urday’s FA Cup final and Euro 2016 warm-up fixtures scheduled for the following week there is little room for manoeuvre.

“When it comes to matters of security it is obviously right that Manchester United and the Premier League place the safety of supporters and employees foremost,” a Premier League statement read.

Despite the worrying scenes at Old Trafford, the other nine matches went ahead as planned.

Completing a bad day for United, Manchester City drew 1-1 at Swansea City to effectively guarantee fourth place and Champions League quali-fication at the expense of their local rivals, who are three points behind them with a goal difference of only +12 compared to +30 for Manuel Pel-legrini’s men.

City took the lead as Kelechi Ihea-nacho slotted home in the fifth minute after Sergio Aguero’s shot was pushed into the young Nigeria striker’s path.

Initially, referee Mike Dean appeared to disallow the goal for off-side, but the official changed his mind after a moment of indecision.

Swansea equalled in first-half stoppage time through Andre Ayew, whose free-kick deflected in off City midfielder Fernando, but the visitors held on to ensure Pellegrini departed on a high, with Bayern Munich boss

Pep Guardiola to replace him in the close-season. Capping a frustrating climax to the season for Totten-ham, Mauricio Pochettino’s team came third as their 5-1 humiliation at relegated Newcastle United, com-bined with Arsenal’s 4-0 win over bottom club Aston Villa, saw the Gunners leapfrog their north London

rivals to finish second. After losing the title to Leicester City, Tottenham have also wasted a chance to finish above Arsenal for the first time since 1994-95.

Georginio Wijnaldum struck for Newcastle in the 19th minute before Aleksandar Mitrovic added the second six minutes before half-time.

Although Erik Lamela got one back for Tottenham on the hour and Mitrovic was sent off after 67 min-utes, Wijnaldum stroked home a 73rd-minute penalty.

Rolando Aarons made it four in the 85th minute and Daryl Janmaat added a late fifth to compound Tot-tenham’s misery.

Arsenal gleefully seized on Tot-tenham’s woes with an Olivier Giroud-inspired demolition of Villa at the Emirates Stadium.

France striker Giroud bagged a hat-trick, with the goals coming in the fifth, 78th minute and 80th minutes before an own goal by Villa ‘keeper Mark Bunn.

At Stamford Bridge, Leicester brought the curtain down on their fairytale season with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea, who gave the Foxes players a guard of honour as they walked onto the pitch before kick-off.

Cesc Fabregas put Chelsea ahead with a 66th-minute penalty, but Danny Drinkwater’s 82nd-minute equaliser ensured Leicester finished 10 points clear at the top.

Everton looked revitalised by the sacking of much-maligned manager Roberto Martinez as they defeated

relegated Norwich City 3-0 at Good-ison Park thanks to goals from James McCarthy, Leighton Baines with a penalty and Kevin Mirallas.

Southampton booked a Europa League place with a 4-1 thrashing of Crystal Palace at St Mary’s, with the goals coming from Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle, Ryan Bertrand and Steven Davis. Seventh-placed West Ham United were beaten 2-1 at Stoke City, which means they need sixth-placed United to defeat Palace in the Cup final to qualify for the Europa League.Liverpool warmed up for Wednesday’s Europa League final against Sevilla in Basel with a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

Watford drew 2-2 with Sunder-land in the last match for departing Hornets boss Quique Sanchez Flores.

Manchester City seal fourth place and a spot in next season’s Champions League after 1-1 draw at Swansea City

Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero (left) and Swansea’s Federico Fernandez vie for ball possession during their English Premier League match at Liberty Stadium in Swansea, south Wales yesterday. RIGHT: Manchester City’s Chilean manager Manuel Pellegrini waves to supporters.

Chelsea’s John Terry is thrown in the air by team mates after the game at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere plays with his son on the pitch after the match against Aston Villa.