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MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020 / ZUL QAADAH 8, 1441 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17419 12 PAGES 150 FILS

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KUWAIT CITY, June 28, (Agen-cies): The Ministry of Health announced on Sunday 551 new infections of the coronavirus (COVID-19), raising the total to 44,942. Deaths reached 348 with the addition of four fatalities.

Official spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad said in a press con-ference that the 551 infections included 341 Kuwaitis and 210 non-Kuwaitis.

Currently, there are patients 149 receiving treatment at in-tensive care wards, Dr Al-Sanad revealed.

The health authorities con-ducted 3,814 swab tests in the past 24 hours, raising the whole count to 379,338, Dr Al-Sanad added.

Earlier, the Health Ministry announced the recovery of 908 people from the coronavirus, bringing the tally to 35,494.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Dr Ah-mad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, the Representative of His Highness the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, headed the State of Kuwait delegation at the EU-organized Global Pledging Summit to find a vaccine for the coronavirus, held virtually on Saturday.

The premier representative and foreign minister addressed the remote convention, express-ing gratitude to the chairperson of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the Global Citizen organization for holding this summit which came as follow-up to the com-mission efforts to combat the virus and rid human race of this pandemic.

Der Leyen is co-chairing the Global Pledging Summit – “Global Goal – Unite for our Future.”

He lauded the commission for making the initiative of holding the summit in line with its lead-ing role for maintaining global security and stability.

This pandemic, Sheikh Ahmad Nasser continued, constitutes an intercontinental and cross border danger taking lives in huge num-bers in many states, developed, developing countries, poor and rich states.

“The experience in facing this virus has underlined our dire need for bolstering collective and joint action and unifying efforts and perspectives to overcome it,” the Prime Minister representative said.

Sheikh Ahmad Nasser called for immediate response to the rapid changes and challenges afflicting the globe, noting for example armed struggles, wide-spread immigration and terror-ism.

Kuwait at pledging summitIran blast was near suspected missile site

US calls for renewalof Iran arms embargoDUBAI, June 28, (AP): An expiring United Nations weapons embargo on Iran must remain in place to prevent it from “becoming the arms dealer of choice for rogue regimes and terrorist organizations around the world,” the US special representative to Iran said Sunday.

Brian Hook told The Associated Press that the world should ignore Iran’s threats to retaliate if the arms embargo set to expire in October is extended, calling it a “mafia tactic.” Among its options, the Islamic Re-public could expel international in-spectors monitoring Iran’s nuclear program, deepening a crisis created by President Donald Trump unilater-ally withdrawing from Tehran’s 2015 atomic accord with global powers.

The UN arms embargo so far has stopped Iran from purchasing fighter jets, tanks, warships and other weap-onry, but has failed to halt its smug-gling of weapons into war zones. Despite that, Hook argued both an import and export ban on Tehran must remain in place to secure the wider Mideast.

“If we let it expire, you can be cer-tain that what Iran has been doing in the dark, it will do in broad daylight and then some,” Hook said.

Iran’s mission to the United Na-tions did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Hook’s remarks.

Hook made the comments while on a visit to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the US-allied United Arab Emirates, as

part of a Mideast tour. Hook met Sat-urday with Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and planned to meet with other officials. Hook declined to say where else he would travel on his trip.

Hook spoke to AP journalists in Dubai via videoconference as Abu Dhabi’s borders remain closed to the UAE’s six other sheikhdoms over the coronavirus pandemic.

The United Nations banned Iran from buying major foreign weapon systems in 2010 amid tensions over its nuclear program. That blocked Iran from replacing its aging equip-ment, much of which had been pur-chased by the shah before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An earlier em-bargo targeted Iranian arms exports.

If the embargo is lifted, the US De-fense Intelligence Agency predicted in 2019 that Iran likely would try to purchase Russian Su-30 fighter jets, Yak-130 trainer aircraft and T-90 tanks. Tehran also may try to buy Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft missile system and its Bastian coastal de-fense missile system, the DIA said.

Iran long has been outmatched by US-backed Gulf nations like the UAE, which have purchased bil-lions of dollars of advanced Ameri-can weaponry. In response, Tehran turned toward developing ballistic missiles as a deterrent. Hook declined to discuss an explosion Friday in Iran near an area analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and mis-sile production sites.

An explosion that rattled Iran’s capital came from an area in its eastern mountains that analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile produc-tion sites, satellite photographs showed Saturday.

What exploded in the incident early Friday that sent a massive fireball into the sky near Tehran remains unclear, as does the cause of the blast.

The unusual response of the Iranian government in the after-math of the explosion, however, underscores the sensitive nature of an area near where interna-tional inspectors believe the Is-lamic Republic conducted high-explosive tests two decades ago for nuclear weapon triggers.

The blast shook homes, rattled windows and lit up the horizon early Friday in the Alborz Moun-tains. State TV later aired a seg-ment from what it described as the site of the blast.

One of its journalists stood in front of what appeared to be large, blackened gas cylinders, though the camera remained tightly fo-cused and did not show anything else around the site. Defense Ministry spokesman Davood Abdi blamed the blast on a leaking gas

he did not identify and said no one was killed in the explosion.

Abdi described the site as a “public area,” raising the ques-tion of why military officials and not civilian firefighters would be in charge. The state TV report did not answer that.

Satellite photos of the area, some 20 km (12.5 miles) east of downtown Tehran, showed hun-dreds of meters (yards) of charred scrubland not seen in images of the area taken in the weeks ahead of the incident. The building near the char marks resembled the fa-cility seen in the state TV footage.

The gas storage area sits near what analysts describe as Iran’s Khojir missile facility. The explo-sion appears to have struck a facility for the Shahid Bakeri In-dustrial Group, which makes sol-id-propellant rockets, said Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Mon-terey, California.

The Washington-based Cen-ter for Strategic and International Studies identified Khojir as the “site of numerous tunnels, some suspected of use for arms assem-bly.” (AP)

New COVID infections total 551

Second amnesty seen for illegals90,000 still here

KUWAIT CITY, June 28: The Deputy Prime Minis-ter, Minister of Interior and Minister of State for Cabi-net Affairs Anas Al-Saleh is serious about living up to his ‘three-phase’ plan and his promise to rid the country of visa traders and violators of residence law who are still living in the country, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

He was quoted as saying the first phase ended successfully with the de-parture of about 26,400 who left the country without paying fines.

A reliable source told the daily, the second stage will begin after life in the country returns to normal completely as announced by the Council of Min-isters, and includes “granting a new one-month deadline for violators of residence to surrender voluntarily and leave the country without paying fines”.

The sources pointed out there are still more than 90,000 residence law viola-tors and the Interior Ministry expects a large number of them to benefit from what it called the second amnesty to leave the country, especially since the coronavirus pandemic has had a huge effect on the economic situation and fi-nancial situation of many of the citizens and residents.

The source emphasized the third and final stage of the plan will start work immediately after the end of the ‘sec-ond’ phase which will include a care-ful count of the numbers and nation-alities of the remaining violators, their whereabouts and the organization of extensive security campaigns to pursue them.

The source added, the Minister of the Interior Anas Al-Saleh, has asked the concerned senior official to prepare lists of the violators who have not taken advantage of the amnesty and to pursue their sponsors.

He explained this stage will start before the end of the year and aims at removing more than 50 percent of the violators by blocking the names and transactions of sponsors, indicating that at the conclusion of the three stages of the plan it will be strictly forbidden to transfer the violator from one company to another and the offender will have to leave the country permanently.

The permanent committee formed to implement the national strategy to prevent trafficking in humans and smuggling of migrants is currently preparing a comprehensive response to the annual report issued by the US State Department Office of Monitoring and Combating Trafficking in Persons (OMCTP), which accused Kuwait of not meeting the minimum standards of eliminating this phenomenon, re-ports Al-Jarida quoting knowledgeable sources.

According to sources at the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), the committee that includes in its mem-bership representatives from most of the relevant ministries, authorities, and government institutions, such as the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Interior, in addition to PAM, are coordinating with each other to refute the allegations and the inaccuracies contained in the report.

The committee stressed the response will focus on highlighting the strenuous efforts made by the state to confront this abhorrent crime of human traffick-ing, and to get rid of fake companies that have flooded the market with mar-ginal and bulk employment.

The sources pointed that efforts so far exerted have resulted in the referral of dozens of companies that are suspected of visa trading to the Public Prosecution or the General Department of Investigations at the Ministry of Interior; their files have been blacklisted and some workers have been arrested for violating the residence law.

The sources added that the matter did not end here, but even some senior of-ficials of PAM who were suspected of wrongdoing have been referred to the Prosecution and suspended from work until the investigations are completed. They were suspended after their names popped up during interrogations in the case related to migrant workers.

Regarding protection of migrant workers, the sources said PAM spares no efforts to provide all forms of pro-tection in the private and domestic sectors, as well as to those registered with government contracting compa-nies.

PAM’s emergency and crisis man-agement team, according to sources, has started the process of paying all fi nancial dues for employees of trou-bled companies, and is supervising the transfer of workers wishing to leave for their home countries after ensuring they have received their full entitle-ments.

This June 27, 2020, satellite image from Planet Labs shows the site of an explosion that rattled Iran’s capital. Analysts say the blast on June 26, came from an area in Tehran’s eastern moun-tains where they hide an underground tunnel system and missile production sites. The explosion appears to have charred hundreds of meters of scrubland. (AP)

Newswatch

KUWAIT CITY: The General Depart-ment for Public Relations and Se-curity Media at Ministry of Interior announced that the General Traffi c Department has launched on the web-site of Ministry of Interior an online appointment booking system for all kinds of driving tests (private, gen-eral, construction and two-wheeler) from Sunday, June 28, reports Anna-har daily.

The applicant must have a valid form issued by the General Traffi c Department, and if the form has ex-pired, it must be renewed.

The department affi rmed that no person will be allowed to enter the building without a prior appointment.

❑ ❑ ❑

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Institute for Scientifi c Research (KISR) is current-ly conducting a study on developing products that include anti-coronavirus surfaces, which consist of a number of thin layers made from solid plas-tic waste, as well as chemically and thermally treated coatings of metallic waste, reports Al-Rai daily.

The research team is currently put-ting the fi nal touches on this proposal that will also include a number of biodegradable substances through the use of additives and degradable chemicals by moisture and light to lessen the impact of accumulated solid waste on the environment after

using the product.❑ ❑ ❑

KUWAIT CITY: According to senior sources from the Civil Service Com-mission (CSC), about 7,000-8,000 citizens of both genders were nomi-nated as candidates for employment in ministries, government agencies and institutions before the COVID-19 crisis and are required to visit the of-fi ces where they have been nominat-ed, reports Al-Anba daily.

They revealed about the facili-ties that will enable the candidates to complete the recruitment procedures with ease such as establishing the automated link between CSC and the nominating bodies and educational institutions.

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KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Credit Bank has resumed offi cial working hours at the main headquarters and branches, as part of Cabinet’s plan to gradually return to normal life, reports Al-Anba daily.

Vice-Chairman of the Board of Di-rectors and Managing Director of the Credit Bank Salah Al-Mudhaf stated the bank has taken all precautions and preventive measures in accord-ance with instructions of the Council of Ministers and requirements of the health authorities related to fi ghting the coronavirus pandemic, affi rming full readiness of this step.

2ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020

editor’s choice

Venerated by Hispanics ... Despised by Native Americans

Spanish colonial monuments fuel race strife in US

In this June 24, 2020 photo, Tiffany Medrano Martinez, 14, kneels in Courthouse Square in Redwood City, California. Many have seen on video a consistent drumbeat of deaths of people of color at the hands of police since they were children. They also have native fl uency in social media, where information and communication can translate quickly into real-life action. Now, in big cities and small towns, whether liberal or conserva-

tive, the new young organizers are taking matters into their own hands and bringing together hundreds or thousands of people to peacefully press for change. (AP)

RIO RANCHO, New Mexico, June 28, (AP): Statues of Spanish conquis-tador Don Juan de Oñate are now in storage after demonstrators in New Mexico threatened to topple them. Protesters in California have pulled down sculptures of Spanish missionary Junipero Serra, and now schools, parks and streets named after Spanish explorers are facing uncertain futures.

As statues and monuments associated with slavery and other flawed mo-ments of the nation’s history come tumbling down at both the hands of protesters and in some cases decisions by politicians, the movement in the American Southwest has turned its attention to representations of Spanish colonial figures long venerated by some Hispanics but despised by Native Americans.

Protesters say figures such as Oñate, who led early Spanish expedi-tions into present-day New Mexico, shouldn’t be celebrated. They point to Oñate’s order to have the right feet cut off of 24 captive tribal warriors after his soldiers stormed Acoma Pueblo. That attack was precipitated by the kill-ing of Onate’s nephew.

They say other Spanish figures oversaw the enslavement of Indigenous populations and tried to outlaw their cultural practices.

Some Hispanics who trace their lineage to the early Spanish settlers say removing the likenesses of Oñate and others amounts to erasing history — a complicated history both marred by atrocities against Indigenous people and marked by the arduous journeys that many families made for the promise of a new life or to escape persecution in Spain.

That history remains tightly woven into New Mexico’s fabric as many Native American Pueblos still are known by the names given to them by the Spanish and many continue to practice Catholicism — something even Pueblo leaders acknowledge.

“New Mexico is a special place for all of us. We are all neighbors. We share food, we work together, and in many cases, our family relations go back generations,” said J. Michael Chavarria, chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors and governor of Santa Clara Pueblo.

Earlier this month, demonstrators tried to tear down an Oñate statue out-side an Albuquerque museum using chains and a pickax. A fight that broke out resulted in gunfire that injured one man. The next day, Albuquerque removed the statue and placed it in storage.

Another Oñate statue was removed by Rio Arriba County officials ahead of a planned protest that sought its removal, drawing praise from activists and some Pueblo leaders.

Albuquerque City Councilor Cynthia Borrego, who is Hispanic, acknowl-edged the sordid aspects of history during a city-sponsored prayer and heal-ing event prompted by the protests.

“We also have to remember, those were times of war... but we can’t go back 500 years,” she said.

Daniel Ortiz, 58, a retired financial adviser in Santa Fe, can trace his fam-ily’s roots over 14 generations. He said the statues’ removals amount to anti-Hispanic sentiment and a dismissal of Hispanics’ unique contribution to area.

“This is the work of a small, radical Native American group, not our Pueb-los,” Ortiz said. “They’ve hijacked the Black Lives Matter movement and our Anglo leaders are too scared to stand up to them.”

Ortiz is leading a online petition calling for the monuments’ return.Others have taken to social media to call the vandalism an act of “Hispan-

icphobia,” linking it to anti-immigrant sentiment.Even the Spanish Embassy in the US has weighed in, saying that defend-

ing the Spanish legacy is a priority and educational efforts will continue for “the reality of our shared history to be better known and understood.”

Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to set foot in the present-day American Southwest. It started with expeditions in the 1540s as the Spanish searched for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold. Decades later, colonization ramped up and Santa Fe was established as a permanent capital in 1610.

Spanish rule over the New Mexico territory lasted for about two centuries until the area briefly became part of the Republic of Mexico before it was taken over by the US.

Spain’s enduring hold over the territory made it unlike other areas in the Southwest and opened the door for memorializing the Spanish influence.

Some scholars say the phenomenon of commemoration is linked to efforts that originated more than a century ago as Hispanics tried to convince white members of Congress that New Mexico should become a state.

‘I’m not stopping until we have change’

Young novice leaders help drive US wave of dissentNEW YORK, June 28, (AP): Before George Floyd stopped pleading for air beneath a po-lice offi cer’s knee, 19-year-old Weidmayer Pierre was planning to work at Wal-Mart dur-ing his summer break from Palm Beach State College.

Now his days look completely different. Pierre has quit his retail job to focus on or-ganizing Black Lives Matter protests every few days in Florida, determined to channel the groundswell of energy around the world into meaningful reform in his hometown.

“Every time someone gets killed by police brutality we protest once or twice and it’s done,” said Pierre, who wants to help police improve the system from within. “This time, I’m not planning on stopping until we have a change.”

Pierre is part of a grassroots, decentral-ized wave of young organizers across the US helping drive the outpouring of protest against racism and police brutality in cities and towns around the nation.

Many are new to organizing, but have seen a drumbeat of deaths of police-brutal-ity cases captured on video since they were children. Social media is second nature for many, and they’re showing how small groups can translate online information quickly into real-life action.

Now, in big cities and small towns, both liberal and conservative, they are taking mat-ters into their own hands and bringing togeth-er hundreds of thousands of people to press for change.

The novice organizers’ visions for the fu-ture differ, but they all hope their voices are helping create a historic turning point in dis-mantling racism and inequity.

Tiffany Medrano Martinez had just gradu-

ated from eighth grade when she decided to organize a peaceful demonstration in her hometown of Redwood City, California. The 14-year-old had watched protests sweep the country in the wake of Floyd’s death, some accompanied by unrest in the form of smashed windows, stolen goods and burned buildings.

She said she understands the roots of an-ger but wanted the keep the focus on reforms. So she put together an online fl ier setting the event for June 2, and wrote “don’t take anger out on small businesses.”

Within an hour, someone had altered the fl ier so it said the opposite. As word spread online, local leaders got worried. So she and her friends called the mayor and the police department to reassure them they didn’t want any property damage.

The event came together as she had in-tended, with nearly 3,000 demonstrators gathered in the center of town. The sea of peaceful protesters brought her to tears.

“When I voice out my opinions it usually doesn’t get heard. It was crazy that people were actually hearing it for once,” she said. “As youth, we have a much bigger voice than we expect we have.”

She wants more police training and more testing of offi cer candidates to weed out those who might become violent. And like many others, she also wants more taxpayer money spent on social programs instead of police militaristic gear — an effort often called defunding the police.

Halfway across the country in Detroit, 16-year-old Stefan Perez said his only real public speaking experience was on his school’s debate team before early June, when he was handed a megaphone and

asked to help lead a protest at the city’s po-lice headquarters.

That night, he also stepped into the no man’s land between the lines of protesters and police, putting his hands behind his back in a silent appeal for calm.

“At the end of the day, I wanted people to get home safe,” he said. “The people who are with me and watching are the voice of De-troit.”

Protesters have skewed younger de-mographically, with a median age of 30 or younger, at several major demonstrations since Floyd’s death, said Dana R. Fisher, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and author of the book “American Resistance.”

Many older adults are staying home due to their increased risk of the coronavirus and the pandemic has left younger people with more free time by forcing the cancellation of everything from internships to beach plans.

“These are young people who have been trapped inside, which is increasing anxi-ety, increasing social isolation,” Fisher said. “This call for solidarity has rung really true for them.”

Most of the protesters she has surveyed report hearing about the rallies from decen-tralized sources, like their family, friends or the social-media platform Instagram, which is popular among younger people.

In Oakland, California, a fl ier posted on Instagram by two 19-year-olds for a George Floyd Solidarity March drew 15,000 people.

One of them, Xavier Brown, said he was determined to transform the social media at-tention into real-life action. “I was very tired of seeing every single police brutality case get turned into a hashtag.”

During the 19th Century, white people moved into the territory and held rac-ist views toward the region’s Native American and Mexican American popu-lation, according to John Nieto-Phillips, author of “The Language of Blood: The Making of Spanish-American Identity in New Mexico, 1880s-1930s.”

“They derided particularly the Mexican population as mongrels and mixed-blood who were incapable of governing themselves,” said Nieto-Phillips, the diversity and inclusion vice-provost at Indiana University.

As a result, Nieto-Phillips said elite Hispanics in the region took on a solely Spanish American identity over their mixed heritage as a means to embrace whiteness. Some Hispanics adopted notions about “pure” Spanish blood as part of the eugenics movement that peaked in the 1920s and ‘30s to argue they were racially different than other ethnic Mexicans in Texas and California, he said.

It’s an identity that continues today. The conquistador image has appeared on university emblems, moving truck companies, and once was the mascot of Albuquerque’s minor league baseball team. Meanwhile, Latinos in other southwestern states often identify as Mexican American or mestizo, a mix-ture of Spanish and Native American ancestry.

Yet, in recent years, the Spanish conquistador and all the effigies con-nected to it have seen intense criticism thanks to a new politicized coalition of Native American and Latino activists. Protests have forced the cancella-tion of Santa Fe’s annual “Entrada” — a reenactment of when the Spanish reasserted themselves following the Pueblo Revolt.

In California, people have been defacing Serra’s statues for years, saying the Spanish priest credited with bringing Roman Catholicism to the western United States forced Native Americans to stay at the missions after they were converted or face brutal punishment. Protesters in Los Angeles and San Francisco recently brought down statues of Serra.

The recent violence in New Mexico has forced some elected officials to consider removing public art and renaming schools linked to Spanish con-quistadors.

Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, who grew up in Grants, New Mexico, and is the author of an upcoming book on colonial legacies in the Southwest, said she understands how Hispanics can be excited about being able to trace their history to early New Mexico settlements that predate even the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020

3

MoH to start clinic visits byappointment from next mnth

Specialized clinics in health centers to open

KUWAIT CITY, June 28: Director of Central Admin-istration for Pri-mary Health Care in the Ministry of Health Dr Rehab Al-Watyan an-nounced the launch of appointment booking service for those required to visit the health centers (clinics) of the Ministry of Health, from July, reports Aljarida daily.

In a press statement, Dr Al-Watyan explained that patients, after ac-cessing the link of the Ministry of Health web-site, will be able to book an appointment in their designated clinics. A barcode will be issued, which the patient should present to the health center receptionist in or-der to be served.

This service will come into effect soon in general clinics for chronic diseas-es and diabetes, and will include all primary health-care centers in the country.

SpecializedShe stressed that coordi-

nation and work is under-way to reopen specialized clinics in health centers soon in order to serve pa-tients and relieve the pres-sure on general hospitals including dermatology, eyes, ENT, orthopedics and other clinics.

Meanwhile, Al-Razi Hospital and Sheikhan Al-Farisi Orthopedic Center have introduced What-sApp service to book out-patient appointments.

The hospital announced in a press statement that the activation of this ser-vice is based on the min-isterial circular No. 68 and is aimed to provide ser-vices in outpatient clinics while adhering to health requirements, achieving the principle of social dis-tancing, and avoiding con-gestion.

This service will op-erate from Sunday to Thursday from 8:00am to 1:00pm.

The frequent patients must send a copy of their civil ID, the fi le number, the name of the treating physician and the phone number. On the other hand, the new patients should send their civil ID copy, copy of the referral and their phone number.

In addition, Ibn Sina Hospital has launched the same service to book appointments in all its centers including Babtain Center for Burns and Plastic Surgery, Bahr Eye Center, Hamed Al-Essa Center for Organ Trans-plantation in the depart-ments of Surgery and In-ternal Medicine, and the Kuwait Center for Radio-surgery.

The service has also been activated in the neu-rology clinic, pain clinic, psychiatric clinic, pediat-ric surgery unit, the neuro-surgery unit, urology unit, and general surgery unit in the hospital.

A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

DIWANIYA‘Dragon, Stars & Stripes consensus crucial’

‘Safeguard sanctity of world bodies’“THE Trump administration’s latest ‘enemy’ in its dev-astating wars against the United Nations organizations, the International Criminal Court, has added to his his-torical record achievements that have not been preceded by an American president before, which is breaking and destroying international bodies just because they went out of their own volition, fi ghting with them battles of another kind,” columnist Hamza Alayan wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“However, these battles are based on the logic that ‘we shall fi nance you and you have to respond to our condi-tions and interests, otherwise, we shall deprive you from the fi nancing which exceeds that of any other country in the world.

“The ‘crime’ as depicted by the mentality of this ‘Re-publican’, it dared to open an investigation into ‘possible war crimes’ committed by the US soldiers in Afghanistan, and thus quickly issued a decision imposing sanctions on a group of court judges and their families with the aim of intimidating them. One sentence summarizes the ar-gument from Washington’s point of view: ‘It is forbidden to harm the dignity of our soldiers and ap-proach them, for they are above the international law’.

“The observer may understand that the sanctions which Washing-ton resorted to during the Trump era, particularly while dealing with the affairs of a superpower or a minor power who constitute a threat to Washington’s interests, particularly the type of wars and sanctions, had been transformed into something familiar.

“The sanctions here, constitute a persistence to Mr. Trump’s method based on the mentality of ‘we or no oth-er body’ given the fact that this slogan has preceded by the withdrawal of many international agreements where the US has decided not to contribute to the fi nancing of these agreements.

“In Paris, the International Climate Agreement was brought down, and that would have disrupted work by re-ducing pollution caused by US factories. He was seen as a violator of international agreements and covenants, as happened when he reviewed and destroyed the NAFTA Free Trade Agreement in North America.

“The irony is that the International Criminal Court was born in an international climate the day after the collapse of the Soviet Union with the aim of curtailing war crimes against humanity in countries that usually evade prosecu-tion, as do Israel, Yugoslavia and other ‘rogue’ countries.

“Trump’s vision is that his country exploits and bears the brunt of the burden on behalf of other great powers with the funding of the United Nations organizations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“In this context, Trump’s last decision was represented by the withdrawal of US troops from Germany on the pre-text Germany and some other European and Asian states don’t pay their fi nancial expenses.

“Trump, who is the fan of dictators, is still under the impression that his partnership with his allies is going one way, and he has to turn the table on top of everyone, pay what you must fi rst and then ask us to protect, otherwise the table will fall on the heads of all. He wants to tell the allies, if America withdraws its hand from this alliance or that organization, they will not be able to continue.

“In this connection, we cite the action taken by Trump against the World Health Organization (WHO) when he destroyed this organization under a very dangerous cir-cumstance and while this international organization is still involved in encountering the most dangerous pandemic.

“He said that it had become a puppet in the hands of China, so we will boycott it and end our relationship with it. Seven thousand employees in the world who live behind it and work in it, living on donations, their situation has turned into a major impasse, and they do not know what to do.

“It may be a ‘stupid’ decision but he had decided to completely implement the same against WHO on the pre-text that the latter had biased to China and misguided the entire world over the spread of corona virus pandemic, as such this organization was added to the list of the interna-tional organizations which had been exposed to Trump’s sanctions which seem be endless ones -- he had begun his battle against the UNESCO, followed by UNRWA and the International Peacekeeping Forces.

“However, it looks like the struggle over who will be the fi rst winner that shall lead the entire world, is appli-cable to the Trump’s war against the international organi-zations, and this is applicable to who will lead these or-ganizations and the struggle over who will occupy seats on these organizations is currently taking place between China and the Europeans, particularly since we know that Beijing is currently leading fi ve international organiza-tions out of fi fteen.

“In this context, some people believe that if America withdraws from these organizations or even from the Unit-ed Nations, then all organizations are prone to collapse and this means a necessary consensus between the head of dragon and the head of Trump on how to ensure the protec-tion of the United Nations with all of its organizations and eventually keep this international organization outside the framework of the deadly attraction that leads it to make decisions and recommendations without fangs.”

Also:“It looks like the infection of idols that have a historical

relationship to racism and the sale of slaves has moved from the American cities to London and other European cities, in a wave that can be said of the psychology of the masses or in other words herd politics, when the ac-tions are caused by feelings of anger and excitement,”

columnist and former director of Culture Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letter Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Rai daily.

“The revolting masses have toppled statues which had existed two hundred years ago and more, and this was a reason for a contradiction in opinions between defenders of the material cultural heritage, and those who see that these monuments refl ect a black stage in the history of peoples, which must be wiped from memory and history.

“Such events are considered culturally controversial. Every historic landmark represents a historical stage as the heritage sees, and removing it does not mean removing his-tory or facts, no matter how dark those historical stages are. But those who call for removing these monuments, see that the present should destroy the past and the new nullifi es the old, as such the downfall of the relevant symbols, repre-sents actually a correction for a historical mistake.

“However, this does not apply to statues only, but we see that the main squares in the capitals whose names change after revolutions over feudalism or colonialism, especially in the developing world countries, such as Latin America and the Arab and African countries and others, and perhaps these countries share the designation of (liberated) squares as the liberation square or Revolu-tion Square, Martyrs Square, etc.

“And if the emotional feeling is what drives the aboli-tion of the dark old, then ignorance of the value of ma-terial heritage and its lack of appreciation makes some governments destroy old heritage buildings, in order to build bright and modern buildings and complexes, and this refl ects an act that is crime against the heritage.

“In this context, there is no evidence for that from what happened and happens in our Gulf countries, where our beautiful memory has been wiped out and this memory is absent from the new generations, which makes these generations feel that they are categorical, without history or continuous and successive times.

“It is the right of some to ask: Do we want a statue of a tyrant like Saddam Hussein to remain, to remind us of our tragedy and the tragedy of the Iraqi people and from this come the complexity of the matter about the nature and importance of heritage, and what is worth removing or preserving.

“We have seen in European capitals with a historical di-mension that there are still statues symbolizing kings, em-perors and czars that have been around for centuries and are restored to remain evidence of past eras, and this applies to palaces and buildings, which have been turned into muse-ums refl ecting the history of these capitals and countries.”

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“They said in the past, O solution, O solution, meaning that you either solve it or analyze it,” Saud Al-Samakah wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“In major and complex issues that have clear implica-tions on homeland security and identity of the social fab-ric, there should not be dispute among the components of society or government and the ruled, because if those is-sues remain suspended, they will in no way be expanded and it’ll reach the point of no solution. This is required as a goal to destroy the pillars of the homeland and to destroy its history, heritage and social structure, as is the case with the issue of illegal residents (Bedoun).

“When the Honorable Speaker of the National Assem-bly Marzouq Al-Ghanem raised the topic of “Gharisah and age”, some considered it sarcasm while others con-sidered it a joke, due to the magnitude of the act, and its audacity is considered a criminal act that is tyrannous and almost impossible. Otherwise, how could a woman forge her two names, two spouses, two nationalities, two civil cards and two jobs, then succeed in passing through the checks, barriers and complications of all procedures that require passing through them and then succeed?

“Two days ago, the Court of Appeal found the woman called Gharisah guilty and sentenced her to seven years in prison, based on compelling documents with all details of forgery woven around this story that resembled an exag-gerated myth in its narration.

“The deserved question today is: How many stories and narrations about Gharisah still haunt and frill the privileges of its crime with those who helped her to reach the peak of these types of crimes?

“Our sources confi rmed that close to a quarter of a million couples, if not all, hold Kuwaiti nationalities ac-cording to Article 1, and do not live in Kuwait, and they only know them during election seasons, when updating housing data or for the advantage of treatment abroad, and other Kuwaiti citizenship privileges!

I assert and swear that this issue will not be able to be resolved by any government. As for the parliament, and considering its composition that was built mainly on this issue, it will only not contribute to the solution, but will insist that the problem remains. It is clear that the compo-sition of the parliament in the coming years will be worse than the current one.

“So, who bears the historical responsibility and guilt of destroying the general structure of the social fabric, as well as future of the founders’ children and their descend-ants, from rulers and ruled.

“With the love of the rule of Al-Sabah family and the tent of all people of Kuwait altogether, I Saud Al-Samakah urge the leaders, based on pure love and loyalty with conviction that all Kuwaitis in their spectra solidly hold the same believe that you are one of the most impor-tant elements of continuity and stability for this country, and there is absolutely no dispute with that. I urge you to come with radical solutions for Kuwait and its people in all cases of forgery of citizenship, including dual na-tionality. The solution should be on top of government’s priority, with support and assistance from you very soon, before it gets out of our hands.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Hamza Alayan

‘We must work together’

US envoy hails Kuwait effortsto combat human traffi ckingKUWAIT CITY, June 28: US Ambassador to Kuwait Alina L. Romanowski praises Kuwait’s con-tinuing efforts over the past year to combat the scourge of human traf-ficking, reports Al-Anba daily.

Commenting on the US Foreign Affairs report on human trafficking, Ambassador Romanowski urged to read the part concerning Kuwait, highlighting the steps taken by the Kuwaiti government to combat human trafficking.

She explained that the report included recommendations to help

Kuwait fully comply with the basic international standards in this regard. Those recommendations include gen-uine and serious reforms to the spon-sorship-based recruitment system, and increased law enforcement efforts to investigate, pursue, prose-cute and convict human traffickers, including Kuwaiti citizens and col-luding officials.

The ambassador said, “Human trafficking has no place in modern society. We must work together to change trends and implement the necessary reforms to eliminate it.”

Photo by Mohammad Morsi

Ministry of Public Works opens a quarantine center, near the Sheikh Jaber Stadium.

Photo by Rizk Taufi qAfter the lockdown has been eased in some areas, many people come out to enjoy themselves on the beach and parks. Above: A duo enjoying jet-skiing near

Souk Sharq.

Original boxes replaced, sold at KD5.250 a box

Firm accused of importing ordinarymasks and selling as medical masksKUWAIT CITY, June 28: What was re-peatedly warned against in terms of the lack of personal medical protection tools in the local market and the weakness of government oversight has happened, as informed sources revealed serious fraud and manipulation of face mask prices and their quality under the pressure of increasing demand, reports Al-Qabas daily.

They explained, “A local company that owns a chain of pharmacies imports large quantities of ordinary masks that cost about KD 2.5 per box. However, they replace the original boxes with their own printed ones and sell the masks at KD 5.250 per box. Their boxes are be-ing printed at a famous press company in Sabhan area at a cost of 30 fi ls per car-ton. In this way, the company is able to achieve a profi t exceeding 100 percent of its market price”.

The sources warned that the serious-ness of the matter lies in the event that these masks are used by front-line medi-cal workers, which will undoubtedly ex-pose them to COVID-19.

They revealed that the press had sup-plied about 130,000 cartons in the past few days to the company, calling for in-tervention by the relevant authorities to stop this health disaster, and to inspect and control the distribution of these masks.

The sources highlighted the lack of conscience and manipulation of the pre-ventive tools that everyone desperately needs due to the spread of COVID-19, which requires urgent action to control those involved in this and to work on pro-tecting consumers.

They said the seriousness of this ma-nipulation lies in the poor quality of the masks, which may be used by front-line workers as medical masks when in real-ity these masks are of specifi cations that

differ completely from the medical speci-fi cations and can thus contribute to the transmission of the infection.

The sources explained that the process of printing the outer boxes happens in a famous printing press company and costs 30 fi ls per box. The printing press com-pany is involved in changing the informa-tion and supplying about 130,000 new counterfeited boxes in the past days to the company.

At a time when the Ministry of Health is expected to launch several tenders for the purchase of protective tools, there are concerns about that company that supplies its goods to the ministry even though they can hard the front-line workers.

Even though the ministry is yet to pur-chase these masks, the risk remains, as some front-line workers buy additional tools for their protection during work. The private medical sector workers also purchase them for use while dealing with patients, which is a great risk to their lives if they deal with patients suffering from COVID-19 infection.

This matter needs intervention of the competent authorities to inspect the im-port certifi cates, review the number of medical masks mentioned in them and compare them with those in the stores to determine whether the quantities are iden-tical or in excess of the number.

The sources urged the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to issue a de-cision to ban printing of mask boxes locally, similar to its decision that pre-vented printing of local stickers for sterilizers issued at the beginning of the crisis.

They warned that the protective tools market is witnessing manipulations un-der the pressure of the severe need and increasing demand for masks, gloves and other such tools.

Borders open,citizens returnKUWAIT CITY, June 28: The land borders opened Wednesday for the stranded citizens, so a number of citizens have started return-ing to the country by land, reports Al-Anba daily quot-ing a security source.

The source pointed out these citizens and their fi rst degree relatives are required to sign pledges for home or institutional quarantine, and to wear the ‘Ashlounik’ bracelet.

The source confi rmed that returning citizens must follow certain health proce-dures, the most important of which is to undergo swab testing and to make sure their body temperature is not high.

Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Undersecretary Badr Al-Hamad confi rmed that the commission remains com-mitted to resolution number 3/2017.

LOCALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020

4

Top and above: Barrels fi lled with local liquor stored in a toilet.

The Ahmadi police have arrested fi ve Asians for turning two apart-ments on the fourth fl oor of a residential building into a factory for manufacturing alcohol, reports Al-Anba daily.

According to a security source, when police received information about the illicit activity, they got a warrant from the Public Prosecu-tion, raided the apartment, arrested the fi ve men and seized buck-ets fi lled with raw material and alcohol ready for sale.

KFSD photoThe carnage caused by the collision. Cars were split in two.

3 Indians, 1 Saudi die in mishapsThree Indian workers died and two others were severely injured following a traffi c accident in Kabad, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

Without going into details the daily said the remains of the three men have been referred to Forensics and

the injured have been referred to the Farwaniya Hospital.

A Saudi young man met his end in a tragic traffi c accident after his sport car fl ipped over in a street in the Jahra area, reports Al-Rai daily. His remains have been referred to Forensics.

Municipality launches campaign

‘Dispose off masks in designated places’KUWAIT CITY, June 28: Ku-wait Municipality has installed 157 advertisement boards in all governorates for a public aware-ness campaign it launched with the participation of the Environment Public Authority (EPA) under the slogan, “Throw it in designated places” with the hashtag ‘#for_Ku-wait’, reports Al-Rai daily.

The campaign aims to educate citizens and residents on the need to dispose gloves and masks in the designated places in all governo-rates in order to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus as part of the ongoing efforts of the Municipal-ity and EPA to address the conse-quences of the virus.

The Public Relations Depart-ment in the Municipality stressed the importance of everyone’s par-ticipation and contribution by fol-lowing the instructions of the con-cerned authorities and educational guidelines to prevent further spread of the virus and to eliminate it.

The department revealed the campaign consists of several main points aimed at educat-ing citizens and residents on the proper way of disposing gloves

and masks in a bid to eliminate the negative phenomena that harm the environment and accel-erate the spread of the virus.

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Raw materials supply: The Public Authority for Industry (PAI) an-nounced its decision to supply raw materials for manufacturing steri-lizers, reports Al-Anba daily.

In a press statement, PAI dis-closed that this is in line with the decisions and measures previously taken by the distinguished Cabinet. All those who wish to purchase these materials are advised to sub-mit their request to the authority, the statement added.

The authority said these materi-als will be allocated for the industri-al facilities and factories involved in the production of sterilizers and according to their licensed produc-tion capacities, provided the Min-istry of Health approves trade of the fi nished product. The authority added companies can procure these materials by logging on to its web-site to enter the public registry.

Workers salaries tampered with as graft scandal rears head in Education Ministry

Probe to shed light on further revelations

Financial Affairs Yousef Al-Najjar to run a check on the salaries and rewards paid to all teachers and employees in the Ministry’s General Offi ce and edu-cational districts and all departments af-fi liated with the Ministry of Education, in addition to tracking the director user name and verifying the numbers of dis-covered cases.

The sources confi rmed the Ministry is looking at all money that has been disbursed ‘unlawfully’ and ‘illegally’ believed to be in thousands of dinars and will set a method to recover what has been illegally taken.

Al-Harbi also asked to explore the mechanism of work in the fi nancial administration and review the proce-dures and validity of user names es-pecially for offi cials and accountants, and punish anyone if found guilty.

The fraud was allegedly discov-ered by one of the accountants and informed the head of the department, who in turn informed his superiors until the matter reached the Undersec-retary who presented a full report on the results of the investigations to the Minister, who in turn ordered to refer the fi le to the Public Prosecution.

The sources emphasized that the

preliminary information confi rms that the User Name of the Finance Direc-tor was used in the name of a Jorda-nian female teacher who receives a salary of 510 dinars, and that there are no increases in her account.

The sourced affi rmed the existence of another suspicion of corruption under investigation in another sector and it is expected that the fi le will be referred to the prosecution also over the next few days.

The sources pointed out that the Minister of Education is taking all necessary measures to fi nd the truth and when it comes to the directors of departments if anyone of them is found guilty will be held account-able and will be referred to the Public Prosecution.

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42 companies warned: Statistics issued by the Public Authority for Manpower shows the 42 companies violating -- for the fi rst time -- the de-cision to stop work in open areas dur-ing the afternoon have been warned, reports Al-Jarida daily.

The statistics indicated from 20 to 25 of this month, occupational safety inspectors organized 29 visits to the

work sites in open areas during which 63 workers were seen violating the de-cision and that they had been warned. However, during the second visit the in-spectors found them adhering to the de-cision issued by the concerned authority that forbids working directly under the heat of the sun at noon time.

The citizens and residents are re-quested to call the Hotline (99444800) to report the violations.

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Detective assaulted: The Jahra po-lice have arrested a Kuwaiti and are looking for another for severely as-saulting a detective on duty manning the gate of a cooperative society in Jahra, reports Al-Rai daily.

According to security sources the Kuwaiti had violated the curfew.

A security source said the detective prevented two men from entering the co-op because the employees had left. When he told the two men the co-op had closed, one of them tried to force his way in and when he was con-fronted the Kuwaiti assaulted him and escaped. The victim then fi led a com-plaint with the police and securitymen managed to arrest the man when the victim recognized him during a police lineup.

KUWAIT CITY, June 28: The Ministry of Education has discovered a fraud re-lated to tampering with the salaries of employees by using the ‘user name’ and password of the for-mer director of Financial Administration while she was the payroll director before assuming her new position in 2019, reports Al-Qabas daily.

According to sources until now the auditors have discovered that the director’s user name and password were used to increase the salaries in two cases. The fi rst was for a Kuwaiti employee working in the administrative af-fairs department. She received a raise in her salary of 1,500 from April 2019 until April 2020.

PrivateThe second case is also for a Ku-

waiti employee working in the ad-ministration of private education. She was given a raise of 800 dinars in her monthly salary from September 2019 until May 2020.

The Minister of Education the Minister of Higher Education Dr Saud Al-Harbi has referred the mat-ter to the Public Prosecution for the purpose of detecting and prosecuting the perpetrator of this crime, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The sources expect new discov-eries to be made over the next few days after reviewing the salaries of all employees. The sources indicated 3 offi cials working for in the fi nance section are under the microscope and investigations by the Public Pros-ecution will reveal the truth and the number of manipulations and ma-nipulators.

The Al-Qabas daily has learned from senior sources that Al-Harbi has as-signed the acting Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Dr Badr Badjad and the Assistant Undersecretary for

Probe will prove accused guilty or not

Iraq invasion treason case comes to haunt againKUWAIT CITY, June 28: Al-though more than thirty years have passed for the most contro-versial issues of the brutal Iraqi invasion, Al-Qabas learned from its sources that the Public Prosecution is investigating the case of Musafi r Abdul Karim because some Kuwaitis accuse him of betrayal and high trea-son during the Iraqi invasion, saying he had appeared in a television interview in support of the invasion, and criticized Kuwaiti legitimacy, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The family of Musafi r Ab-dul Karim has denied the charge of treason on many oc-casions amid claims the fam-ily was taken to Baghdad dur-ing the invasion and put under house arrest and that one of his friends helped the family after the aerial bombing of the country by the coalition forces and gave shelter.

After the outbreak of revo-lution in southern Iraq, Musa-fi r chose to return to Kuwait, sought refuge with one of his friends, and stayed with him,

but he fell into the hands of a group of angry young men and transferred him to the Jabriya Police Station, where the in-vestigator told him: ‘”You are innocent until proven guilty’, after the return of legitimacy, surrender yourself and present your evidences to the judiciary until your trial is offi cially con-ducted.”

However, after a short time, he was found dead in the Mishref area. The sources said the investigations will prove if Musafi r was guilty or not.

Liquor factory busted

Barcode forged: An unidentified Kuwaiti has been arrested for forging the barcode and put behind bars in the Jaber Al-Ahmed Police Station, reports Al-Rai daily.

The Kuwaiti was arrested in the area for violating the curfew. After he produced the barcode to the men manning a checkpost it turned out to be a forgery.

During interrogation he said he went to visit one of his relatives in Kabad.

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41 reports handled: Fire incidents investigation monitor at Kuwait Fire Service Directorate Lieutenant Colonel Sayed Hassan Al-Mousawi said the Control Department has completed 41 transactions through WhatsApp since the service was activated on June 14, reports Al-Rai daily.

Al-Mousawi revealed the department issued 34 accident certificates, three letters to restore electricity in residential buildings, one letter to restore electricity in an investment building and three fire certificates.

He praised all those who used the WhatsApp ser-vice so far, as well as their commitment to health regulations such as social distancing and wearing masks and gloves when they received the documents.

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New delivery timings: Kuwait Municipality will soon issue a decision on the new delivery timings for parallel markets in light of the transition to the second stage of the gradual return to normal life plan, taking into consideration the change in partial curfew tim-ings – 8:00 pm to 5:00 am, reports Al-Anba daily quoting informed sources from the Municipality.

News in Brief

MIDEASTARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020

5

A health worker wearing protective gear prepares to take swab samples from people lining up in their cars to test for the coronavirus at a drive-through COVID-19 screening center at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt on June 17. (Inset): People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of coronavirus, walk by a popular shopping street, in Ankara, Turkey on June 27. Turkish authorities have made the wearing of masks mandatory in most of the country

to curb the spread of COVID-19 following an uptick in confirmed cases since the reopening of many businesses. (AP)

Egypt eases restrictions despite virus surgeCAIRO, June 28, (AP): Egypt on Saturday lifted many re-strictions put in place against the coronavirus pandemic, re-opening cafes, clubs, gyms and theaters after more than three months of closure, despite a continued upward trend in new infections.

Authorities also allowed the limited reopening of mosques and churches, and lifted the nighttime curfew.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government has been keen to save the Egyptian economy that was hit hard by the virus outbreak.

On Friday, the International Monetary Fund approved an-other $5.2 billion loan for Egypt, to be added to the $2.8

billion the fund had already promised to stave off the pan-demic’s worst economic effects.

Before the pandemic, Egypt had just emerged from a three-year economic reform program that came with secur-ing a $12 billion IMF loan in late 2016.

In Cairo, a sprawling and bustling metropolis of some 20 million people, coffee shops reopened to receive in-house customers for the first time since mid-March. But “sheesha,” the hookah water pipe so popular in the Middle East, are no longer offered widely over sanitary concerns.

Cafes have been allowed to reopen at only 25 percent seating capacity, according to Prime Minister Mustafa Mad-

bouly.Mosques and churches will also not be allowed to hold

their weekly main services, when large crowds traditionally gather for worship. The government has banned Friday’s Muslim prayers at mosques and Sunday masses at churches, Madbouly said.

Wearing face masks, worshipers Saturday poured into mosques for the fajr, dawn, prayers, for the first time in months.

“People were looking forward to that day,” Reda el-Sayed said, the prayer leader of a mosque in Giza. “They miss the mosques.”

News in Brief

CAIRO: Egypt on Saturday executed a Libyan militant convicted of plotting an attack that killed at least 16 police officers in 2017, the military said.

Abdel-Rahim al-Mosmari was hanged in a Cairo prison after a military appeals court upheld his death sentence last week, the military said. The deadly attack southwest of the Egyptian capital took place in October 2017.

Al-Mosmari was arrested a month after the attack. He was tried by a military court and sentenced to death in November last year.

The court also sentenced 15 other defendants for their involvement in the attack, including 10 in ab-sentia, to life in prison. Another 17 got 5- to 15-year sentences.

Al-Mosmari was from Libya’s eastern city of Der-na, which served as a safe haven for years for militant groups before the self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forc-es took control of it early in 2018. The LAAF is led by military commander Khalifa Hifter, an ally to Egypt.

The defendants were accused of plotting and taking part in the 2017 attack on police forces as they raided the militants’ hideout. At the time, officials said the police force appeared to have fallen into a carefully planned ambush set up by the militants. The hours-long clash wounded another 13 security forces. (AP)

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RABAT, Morocco: Moroccan authorities said they “categorically reject” an Amnesty International report claiming the government used surveillance software to spy on the phone of a prominent journalist and human rights activist.

In a report published this week, Amnesty said fo-rensic analysis it carried out on the cellphone of Omar Radi indicated that his communications were moni-tored from January 2019 using technology developed by Israeli hacker-for-hire company NSO Group.

In a statement released late on Friday, Moroccan authorities rejected Amnesty’s “baseless allegations,” saying that the report serves agendas motivated by hostility against Morocco and competitors in the intel-ligence market.

Amnesty’s local director, Mohamed Sektaoui, was summoned by authorities Friday and asked to provide evidence “as soon as possible,” the statement said.

Radi was questioned by police on Thursday on suspicions of receiving funds linked to foreign in-telligence services. He dismissed the allegations as “ridiculous.”(AP)

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BEIRUT: A Lebanese judge Saturday banned local and foreign media outlets in the country from interviewing the US ambassador to Beirut for a year, calling a recent interview in which she criticized the powerful Hezbol-lah group seditious and a threat to social peace.

The court decision reflected the rising tension be-tween the US and Hezbollah. It also revealed a widen-ing rift among groups in Lebanon, which is facing the worst economic crisis in its modern history.

Judge Mohamad Mazeh in the southern city of Tyre said he acted after receiving a complaint from a citizen who considered Ambassador Dorothy Shea’s comments to a Saudi-owned station “insulting to the Lebanese people.”

Mazeh said Shea’s comments incited sectarian strife and threatened social peace. The judge said while he can’t ban the ambassador from speaking, he can bar the media from interviewing her for a year. Mazeh made the decision on Saturday, the start of the weekend, say-ing the matter was urgent.

The backlash was swift.The private LBC TV station said it would appeal the

ruling and called it a violation of media freedom. Crit-ics of Hezbollah called it politicized.

But others hailed the ban as “brave” on social media, saying Shea had crossed a line, interfering in Leba-non’s internal affairs. (AP)

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TEHRAN: The Iranian health ministry said Sunday 2,489 people tested positive for the coronavirus during the last 24 hours.

The Ministry’s Spokesperson, Sima Sadat Lari, af-firmed that the total number of infections climbed to 222,669.

She pointed out that 144 new death cases were recorded, taking the death toll to 10,508, adding that the total number of recoveries amounted 183,301. (KUNA)

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020

6

This combination of May 22, 2020 (left), and June 23 satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows construction in the Galwan river valley near the disputed border known as the Line of Actual Control between India and China. On June 22, military commanders of both nations agreed to disengage their forces in the disputed area of the Himalayas following a June 15 clash that left at least 20 soldiers dead. (AP)

ASEAN takes position vs China’s vast historical sea claims

Satellite images show buildup on disputed India-China borderBEIJING, June 28, (AP): Construction activity appeared underway on both the Indian and Chinese sides of a contested border high in the Karakoram mountains a week after a deadly clash in the area left 20 Indian soldiers dead, satellite images showed.

The images released this week by Maxar, a Colorado-based satellite imagery company, show new construction activity along the Galwan River Valley, even as Chinese and Indian diplomats said military commanders had agreed to disengage from a standoff there.

The images appeared to show that the Indians had built a wall on their side and the Chinese had expanded an outpost camp at the end of a long road connected to Chinese military bases farther from the poorly defined border, according to experts.

The contradictions in words and deeds showed the fragility of an agreement following the worst violence since the Asian giants went to war in 1962 over their competing claims to the arid border region, experts said.

China has said that India first changed the status quo last August when it split the

state of Jammu and Kashmir into two federal territories – the territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the territory of Ladakh, parts of which are contested by China.

The new maps released by India following the move drew criticism from Bei-jing because they showed Aksai Chin – an area administered by China but con-tested by India – as part of Ladakh.

Indian officials said the standoff that culminated in this month’s deadly clash in the Galwan Valley, part of a remote stretch of the 3,380-km (2,100-mile) Line of Actual Control, or LAC, established following the 1962 war, began in early May when large contingents of Chinese soldiers entered deep inside Indian-controlled territory at three places in Ladakh, erecting tents.

After a few skirmishes in May, Indian and Chinese commanders met June 6 to hash out an agreement that would reduce tensions.

The two sides agreed to build observation posts on either side of the mouth of the Galwan River, China’s ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, told the Press Trust of India news agency on Tuesday.

Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that during the

June 6 meeting “both sides had agreed to respect and abide by the LAC and not undertake any activity to alter the status quo,” but did not address whether they had agreed to observation posts.

Also:MANILA, Philippines: Southeast Asian leaders said a 1982 UN oceans treaty should be the basis of sovereign rights and entitlements in the South China Sea, in one of their strongest remarks opposing China’s claim to virtually the entire disputed waters on historical grounds.

The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations took the position in a statement issued by Vietnam Saturday on behalf of the 10-nation bloc. ASEAN leaders held their annual summit by video on Friday, with the coronavirus pan-demic and the long-raging territorial disputes high on the agenda.

“We reaffirmed that the 1982 UNCLOS is the basis for determining maritime entitlements, sovereign rights, jurisdiction and legitimate interests over maritime zones,” the ASEAN statement said.

Business

In this fi le photo, a sign rests in front of a newly con-structed home, in Westwood, Massachusetts. (AP)

Jazeera Airways slid 11 fi ls to 677 fi ls and ALAFCO clipped 2 fi ls after moving 1.4 million shares. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co took in 1.7 fi ls and KGL Logistics tripped 0.3 fi l. Warbcap added 2.4 fi ls and Energy Holding closed 2.3 fi ls higher on back of 7.4 million shares. Educa-tional Holding Group rose 5 fi ls.

Kuwait Cement Co fell 2 fi ls to 190 fi ls and Kuwait Port-land Cement gained 7 fi ls. Gulf Cable rose 3 fi ls to 550 fi ls and Hilal Cement followed suit. Kuwait Foundry Co dialed down 2 fi ls and ACICO Industries took in 1 fi l. Metal and Recycling Co gave up 2.3 fi ls and Independent Petroleum Group skidded 20 fi ls.

In the banking sector Gulf Bank trimmed 1 fi l after trad-ing 4.7 fi ls while Kuwait International Bank and Burgan Bank paused at 177 fi ls and 198 fi ls respectively. Ahli Unit-ed Bank too was unchanged at 178 fi ls with brisk trading.

The market was largely buoyant during the past week. The main index closed higher in four of the fi ve sessions gaining 147 points week-on-week. It has rallied 173 points from start of the month and is down 1112 points year-to-date.

In this fi le photo, a worker pushes a cart past refrigerators at a Home Depot store location in Boston. On Thursday, June 25, orders to American factories for big-ticket goods rebounded last month from a disastrous May as the US

economy began to slowly reopen. (AP)

WASHINGTON, June 28, (AP): The number of laid-off workers who applied for unemployment benefi ts de-clined slightly to 1.48 million last week, the 12th straight drop and a sign that layoffs are slowing but are still at a painfully high level.

The steady decline in claims sug-gests that the job market has begun to slowly heal from the pandemic, which shuttered businesses and sent the unemployment rate up to 14.7% in April, its highest level since the Great Depression. The total number of people who are receiving jobless aid also fell last week, evidence that employers are rehiring some of the workers who had been laid off since mid-March.

Yet the latest fi gure also coincides with a sudden resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the United States, especially in the South and West, that’s threatening to derail a nascent economic rebound. On Wednesday, the nation set a record high of new coronavirus cases. Many states are establishing their own records for daily infections, including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma. Cases of coronavirus have also jumped in Florida and Geor-gia.

Should those trends continue, states may reimpose some limits on busi-nesses that would likely trigger job cuts. Whether by choice or by government or-der, fewer consumers would shop, travel, eat out and visit bars or gyms. All those scenarios would result in renewed layoffs and hinder the economy.

Nervous investors sent stock prices plummeting Wednesday over escalating fears that the economy will suffer further damage from the disease. “The health crisis continues to cast a dark shadow over the economic landscape,” said Bob Schwartz, a senior economist at Oxford Economics, a forecasting fi rm.

Before this week’s heightened worries about the pandemic, many economists had been relatively optimistic. In May, the unemployment rate unexpectedly de-clined, though to a still-high 13.3%. Con-sumers began spending again, sending retail sales jumping by a record amount. And sales of new homes rose as record-low mortgage rates fueled buyer interest.

In May, employers added 2.5 million jobs, a surprise gain. Still, that hiring rep-resented just one-ninth of all the jobs that have been lost since the pandemic struck. And about 30 million Americans remain unemployed.

The economy shrank at a 5% annual rate in the fi rst three months of the year, the government estimated Thursday. Yet economists envision a much sharper plunge in the April-June quarter – a rate of up to 30%, which would be the worst since record-keeping began in 1948. Ana-lysts expect the economy to rebound in the second half of this year before poten-tially regaining its pre-pandemic level in late 2021 at the earliest.

Yet all that assumes that the pandemic doesn’t intensify, force widespread busi-ness closures again and set the job market and the economy even further back. If it does, the damage could be dire.

For now, real time data on small busi-nesses suggests that the economy’s im-provement slowed in June compared with May and then stalled in the past week in some states that had reopened their econ-omies the earliest.

Homebase, a company that provides scheduling and time-tracking software to small companies, says the proportion of small businesses that have reopened has leveled off. As of Monday, 78% of US small businesses that it tracks were open, little changed from a week earlier. In Florida and Texas, the proportion of small businesses that have closed has actually risen as a result of the resurgent viral outbreaks.

Apple said late Wednesday that it would re-close seven of its stores in the Houston area, which is suffering a spike in cases. Last week, it had said would re-close 11 other stores in four states.

Economists at Goldman Sachs have upgraded their economic forecasts for the rest of this year and next year in light of the retail sales gains and other positive

Applications for jobless aid fall to still-high 1.48 million

Orders for US big-ticket factory goods surge 15.8% in May

US mortgage rates stall

Mabanee Co gains 8 fi ls, Agility slips

Economy heading back into recession this year

Co looks to self-driving future

Long-term U.S. mortgage were unchanged this week as the benchmark 30-year home loan remains at its lowest rate in nearly 50 years.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported that the average rate on the key 30-year loan stood at 3.13%, the same as last week. It is the lowest level since Freddie began track-ing average rates in 1971. A year ago, the rate stood at 3.73%.

The average rate on the 15-year fi xed-rate mortgage rose slightly to 2.59% from 2.58% last week, but it is down from 3.16% a year ago. (AP)

Kuwait’s market closes in green turf

Pandemic throws Greece’s budget off-target

Amazon acquires Zoox

By John MathewsArab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, June 28: Kuwait stocks eked marginal gains on Sunday after previous week’s upswing. The All Shares Index, after a wobbly start, edged 2.7 points higher to 5170.45 pts helped by some of the mid-caps even as the blue chips closed narrowly mixed.

The Premier Market was little changed at 5656.43 points after rallying 132 points from the start of the month while Main Market rose 8.7 points to 5656.43 pts. The BK 50 Main was up 8.8 points to 4189 pts. The volume turnover meanwhile dipped below the 200 million mark. Over 155 million shares changed hands – down 28 pct from the day before.

The sectors closed mixed. Consumers Goods outpaced the rest with 1.01 pct gain whereas Oil and Gas shed 0.77 per-cent, the worst performer of the day. Banking sector contin-ued to dominate in both volume and value with 35.8 million shares worth KD 10.8 million.

In the individual shares, sector bellwether National Bank of Kuwait was unchanged at 827 fi ls after trading 1.9 mil-lion shares while Kuwait Finance House clipped 1 fi l with a volume of 5.6 million. Mabanee Co sprinted 8 fi ls to 685 fi ls as it rebounded from last session’s trough and Integrated Holding Co rallied 13 fi ls.

Zain fell 2 fi ls to 562 fi ls after trading 2.6 million shares while Ooredoo dialed up 2 fi ls to close at 663 fi ls. STC inched 1 fi l higher to 851 fi ls and Agility gave up 2 fi ls before ending at 740 fi ls with a volume of over 3 million shares. Humansoft Holding climbed 5 fi ls to KD 2.785 and KIPCO ticked 1 fi l into green after moving over 1 million shares.

The market opened with a gap down and slipped further into red in early trade. The main index plumbed the day’s lowest level of 5142 points and headed north amid buying in select counters. It drifted sideways in the second half before clawing back into the green zone at close.

Top gainer of the day, Taamer rallied 15.2 pct to 20.4 fi ls Energy Holding sprinted 11.9 pct to stand next. Warba In-surance shed 9.3 percent, the steepest decliner of the day and Abyaar topped the volume with 18.2 million shares.

Refl ecting the day’s uptick, the gainers outnumbered the losers. 53 stocks advanced whereas 36 closed lower. Of the 120 counters active on Sunday, 31 closed fl at. 6570 deals worth KD 21.15 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group eased 1 fi l to 167 fi ls while Mezzan Holding climbed 8 fi ls to 600 fi ls. Boubyan Pet-rochemical Co stood pat at 604 fi ls and Al Qurain Petro-chemical Co too did not budge from its earlier close of 279 fi ls. OSOS sprinted 7.2 fi ls to 97.7 fi ls and Combined Group Contracting Co gained 6 fi ls on back of 3.6 million shares.

ATHENS, Greece, June 28, (AP): Greece’s budget defi cit has widened due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has slammed the key tourism sector and is pushing the country into recession.

The Finance Ministry said that the primary defi cit fi gure for the state budget, the balance before debt ser-vicing costs, stood at 4.84 billion euros ($5.41 billion) in the fi rst fi ve months of the year. In the fi rst four

months, it was 1.52 billion ($1.7 bil-lion).

Greece has delivered primary budget surpluses for the past fi ve years as part of its commitments to European Union bailout lenders, but creditors have agreed to relax those conditions this year due to the crisis.

With its strong reliance on tourism, Greece is headed back into a major recession this year. Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said Wednes-

day that the government expected the country to suffer a contraction of 8% of gross domestic product in 2020 with a whopping 16% down-turn in the second quarter of the year. Greece had originally expected its economy to grow by 2.8% with the recovery gathering pace after years of fi nancial crisis and recession.

State budget calculations do not include budgets for local government and social security.

data. But they warned that a “signifi -cant” second wave of cases this fall that would force business closures could slash growth next year by more than half.

For the unemployed, the federal gov-ernment has been providing $600 in weekly benefi ts, on top of whatever state jobless aid recipients are receiving. This federal money has pumped nearly $20 bil-lion a week into the economy and enabled many of the unemployed to stay afl oat.

A majority of recipients are even earn-ing more than they did at their old jobs, raising concerns that this could discourage some of them from returning to work. But the $600 a week in aid will expire after July, and Trump administration offi cials have said they oppose an extension. Re-publicans and Democrats in Congress

have introduced compromise measures.The $600 a week has been a major help

to Alexis O’Neill, who was laid off in March from an accounting job at an avia-tion fuel company. O’Neill, 49, who lives with her mother in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is looking for a job that would allow her to work from home so she could avoid putting her mother at risk of contracting the virus.

She has applied for at least a dozen jobs but has received no responses except an acknowledgement of her application. Many open jobs now seem to offer lower pay than before the pandemic struck. Compounding the dilemma for O’Neill, Michigan is stuck with the nation’s sec-ond-highest state unemployment rate, 21.2%.

NEW YORK, June 28, (AP): Amazon said that it is buying self-driving tech-nology company Zoox, which is de-veloping an autonomous vehicle for a ride-hailing service that people would request on their phones.

Seattle-based Amazon did not dis-close how much it is paying for Zoox, which was founded six years ago in Foster City, California. Analysts pegged the purchase price at over $1 billion.

The online retailing giant said Zoox will keep running as a separate business and continue to develop its own autono-mous vehicle.

“We’re excited to help the talented Zoox team to bring their vision to real-ity in the years ahead,” said Amazon’s Jeff Wilke, who runs the company’s retail business.

The deal could drive Amazon into an entirely new business: transporting people from one place to another. But some industry analysts think Amazon’s ultimate goal is to repurpose the Zoox vehicle for its core business, delivering packages to shoppers.

“My guess would be in the near term that Amazon is probably more inter-ested in taking that platform and adapt-ing it as an alternative or complement to its existing fl eet of delivery vans,” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for Guidehouse Insights, who follows au-tonomous vehicle developments.

Abuelsamid said Zoox has a good au-tonomous system and was planning to deploy a ride-hailing service next year. It’s also building its own vehicle that can travel in two directions - both ends can be the front and the back - making it ideal for urban deliveries. He sees Ama-zon converting the small vehicles into mobile lockers that would stop at deliv-ery sites for people to pick up packages.

Amazon didn’t directly answer a question about whether autonomous package delivery is its goal, but said Zoox would “continue working toward their mission to transform mobility as a service by developing a fully autono-mous, purpose built vehicle.”

The company cautioned that wide-spread use of autonomous vehicles is still years away and will require a sub-stantial capital investment in a crowded fi eld. The deal puts Amazon, which has

grown rapidly from its start as an online bookseller 25 years ago, in competition with Google’s self-driving technol-ogy spinoff called Waymo, and General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicle unit.

Autonomous delivery would fi t with Amazon’s plans to deliver more of its packages on its own and rely less on UPS and the U.S. Postal Service. In recent years it has expanded its fl eet of planes, built package sorting hubs at airports and launched a program that lets people start businesses that deliver packages in vans stamped with the Am-azon logo.

The investment could complement the $700 million that Amazon put into electric vehicle startup Rivian in 2019. Rivian, with operations in suburban Detroit and California, has a contract to make 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon. The company also has a fac-tory in Normal, Ill., with extra capacity that could be used to build the Zoox vehicles for Amazon, Abuelsamid said.

Amazon’s acquisition changes the landscape in the autonomous vehicle business by bringing in a deep-pocketed competitor, Abuelsamid said. It increas-es pressure on smaller companies that are building delivery vehicles, he said.

The Zoox acquisition isn’t Amazon’s fi rst foray into autonomous vehicles. Early in 2019, it joined other investors in a $530 million stake in Aurora Inno-vation. Aurora recently has focused on a self-driving system for heavy trucks.

Amazon has used autonomous tech-nology to get orders to shoppers: self-driving robots shuffl e products around its warehouses and a cooler-sized robot with six wheels has delivered orders in a Seattle suburb. It’s also working on self-piloted drones that fl y small goods to customers’ homes.

The deal comes at a time when the power of Amazon and other technology stalwarts such as Google, Facebook and Apple have drawn increasing scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and antitrust regu-lators. The pandemic-stricken economy is making it more diffi cult for startups to raise money to continue work, creat-ing opportunities for the industry’s still-thriving giants to make acquisitions at bargain prices.

Rule rollback will take effect on October 1

Federal banking agencies ease Volcker Rule restrictionsWASHINGTON, June 28, (AP): The Federal Reserve and four other regu-latory agencies announced that they have fi nalized a rule that will ease restrictions curtailing the ability of banks to make investments in such ar-eas as hedge funds.

The announcement of the easing of regulations know as the “Volcker Rule” gave an immediate boost to bank stocks because the rule change could free up billions of dollars in capital in the banking industry.

The Volcker Rule was part of the overhaul of banking regulation ap-proved in the Dodd-Frank Act passed by Congress in 2010 in an effort to curtail excesses that had led to the 2008 fi nancial crisis, the country’s worst banking crisis since the 1930s.

However, President Donald Trump had campaigned in 2016 on rolling back what he saw as over-regulation of the banks that he said had weighed on the economy by preventing the banks from making loans to qualifi ed borrowers.

The Fed said the fi nal rule, which will take effect on Oct. 1, is broadly similar to a proposal the agencies had put forward last January.

The rule rollback, which was op-posed by Democratic appointees at both the Fed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., represents one of the biggest victories for the Trump admin-istration’s deregulation drive.

The Volcker rule, named for its chief proponent, the late Fed Chair-man Paul Volcker, generally prohibit-ed banks from engaging in proprietary trading and from acquiring ownership interests in hedge funds and private equity funds.

The looser restrictions approved on

Thursday will allow banks to more easily make investments in various ar-eas of venture capital.

The rule changes will also allow banks to avoid having to set aside cash when making derivatives trades between different affi liates of the same fi rm. That change is expected to free up billions of dollars that banks will now have avail-able for other investments.

Swaps are a form of derivatives trade in which two parties agree to exchange payments based on market movements such as changes in inter-est rates. A lack of transparency in this market was a key contributor to the 2008 fi nancial crisis.

Before he died in December at age 92, Volcker criticized the rule change, saying it “amplifi es risk in the fi nan-cial system, increases moral hazard and erodes protections against con-fl icts of interest that were so glaringly on display during the last crisis.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, a key proponent of the Volcker Rule in 2010, said supporters wanted to cre-ate a fi rewall between ordinary bank-ing activities like taking deposits and making loans and high-risk hedge fund style activities.

“It was only a decade ago when millions of Americans paid the price for Wall Street gambling, in lost jobs, homes and life savings,” Merkley said in a statement. “Re-opening the Wall Street casino is the wrong path for-ward, one that puts all Americans’ fi -nancial stability at risk.”

In addition to the Federal Reserve and the FDIC, the changes were en-dorsed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Offi ce of the Comp-troller of the Currency and the Com-modity Futures Trading Commission.

Nike posts quarterly loss after virus forced store closures

Nike lost $790 million in the fourth quarter, as soaring digital sales couldn’t make up for the loss of revenue from shuttered stores in most of the world.

The world’s largest sports apparel maker said that its revenue fell 38% to $6.31 billion in the three-month period ending May 31. That was well below the $7.26 billion in revenue ex-pected by Wall Street analysts, according to a survey by Zacks.

The Beaverton, Oregon-based company’s quarterly loss amounted to 51 cents per share. Analysts had expected a profi t of 2 cents a share.

Nike said 90% of its stores in North America, Europe, Latin America were closed during the period because of the coronavirus pandemic. Sales fell 46% in both North America and Eu-rope but just 3% in China as stores reopened there. Revenue grew 1% in China when ac-counting for currency fl uctuations.

The company grappled with costs associ-ated with reducing built-up inventory, includ-ing wholesale markdowns and factory order cancellations. Product shipments to wholesale customers fell 50% during the period. Chief Fi-nancial Offi cer Matthew Friend said the com-

pany expects its inventory, which rose 30% in the fourth quarter, to be right-sized by the end of the second quarter.

Nike said about 90% of its directly owned stores are now open worldwide, including all of its stores in China.

A bright spot for Nike throughout the pan-demic has been a rise in digital sales, which analysts say positions the company to emerge strongly from the crisis over the long-term. Nike has aggressively invested in its direct-to-con-sumer digital platforms in the past few years.(AP)

In this fi le pho-to, the Nike logo appears above the post where it trades on the fl oor of the New York Stock Ex-change. (AP)

Market Movements 26-06-2020 Change Closing ptsAUSTRALIA - All Ordinaries +83.83 6,011.80CHINA - Shanghai SE +8.93 2,979.55INDIA - Sensex +329.17 35,171.27JAPAN - Nikkei +252.29 22,512.08PHILIPPINES - PSEi +73.58 6,191.84PAKISTAN - KSE 100 +229.86 33,939.49S. KOREA - KRX 100 +59.61 4,596.47

Change Closing ptsEUROPE - Euro Stoxx50 -14.74 3,204.17FRANCE - CAC 40 -8.94 4,909.64GERMANY - DAX -88.48 12,089.39

Business PlusPlus

We’re starting to see more job losses among higher-skilled positions

that are harder to recall

Going forward, inves-tors will likely have

even less tolerance for bad corporate citizens –

funding those businesses will become expensive and capital could prove

scarce

‘

‘

’

’

‘Scars from job losses will be longer-lasting than we expected’

Persistently high layoffs suggest a slow US economic rebound

unemployment benefi t from Florida, $125 a week, because the state has no record of her prior earnings in New Jersey, even though she said she has uploaded, mailed and faxed her docu-ments from her job there. If her previ-ous earnings were properly credited, her state benefi ts would more than double. She is grateful, though, for the extra $600 in federal unemployment benefi ts, which have allowed her to pay some bills.

Dealing with the state’s bureaucra-cy “was very stressful,” she said.

Daco of Oxford Economics said he still expects the June jobs report, to be released in early July, to show another hiring gain. But these fi gures will be particularly hard to forecast. Tens of millions of people may be fl owing in and out of work each month, he noted, making it much more diffi cult to fore-cast where the job market is headed.

The jobs report for May had sug-gested that the damage might have bottomed out. The unemployment rate declined from 14.7% to a still-high 13.3%.

Even so, nearly 21 million people are offi cially classifi ed as unem-ployed. And including people the government said had been erroneously categorized as employed in May and those who lost jobs but didn’t look for new ones, 32.5 million people are out of work, economists estimate.

The report showed that an ad-ditional 760,000 people applied for jobless benefi ts last week under a new program for self-employed and gig workers that made them eligible for aid for the fi rst time. These fi gures aren’t adjusted for seasonal variations, so the government doesn’t include them in the offi cial count.

Other recent data have been more encouraging and suggest that the lift-ing of shutdown orders has sparked some pent-up demand from consum-ers. Most economic gauges remain far below their pre-pandemic levels, though, and some analysts ques-tion whether the recent gains can be sustained, especially if the virus were to surge back.

Last month, retail and restaurant sales jumped nearly 18%, the govern-ment said, retracing some of the record plunges of the previous two months. Still, retail purchases remain a sizable 6% below their year-ago levels.

One key reason why consumer spending has somewhat rebounded is that government aid programs, from one-time $1,200 stimulus checks to $600-a-week in supplemental fed-eral unemployment aid, have helped offset the loss of income for laid-off Americans. Yet nearly all the stimulus checks have been issued. And the sup-plemental federal jobless aid is set to expire July 31.

“Recently, some indicators have pointed to a stabilization, and in some areas a modest rebound, in economic activity,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in testimony to a Senate committee. Yet “until the public is confi dent that the disease is contained, a full recovery is unlikely.” (AP)

In this file photo, a customer walks out of a U.S. Post Office branch and under a banner advertising a job opening, in Seattle. The U.S. government issued its latest snapshot last week of the layoffs that have left millions unemployed but have slowed as businesses have increasingly reopened and rehired some of their laid-off workers. (AP)

Pandemic highlights how firms perform on social and governance issues

Sustainable funds hold their own as markets tumbleBy Stan Choe

A steadier and more sustainable way to invest. That’s how a growing

cadre of fund managers pitch their approach, one that considers how companies perform on environmental, social and governance issues. Maybe they’re right.

Many such funds held up as well or better than their traditional rivals during the severe, sudden sell-off after the COVID-19 pandemic struck. By doing so, these funds, often called ESG investments, rewarded the inves-tors who have been pumping record amounts of cash into the fi eld.

It’s the latest march forward for ESG funds, which once were criti-cized as a fad that would force inves-tors to settle for worse returns. More recently, they attracted a record $10.5 billion in net investment during the fi rst three months of the year, accord-ing to Morningstar, even as markets worldwide were melting down.

“ESG funds deliver,” economists at the Institute of International Finance wrote in a recent report.

More than three quarters of ESG stock indexes have held up better than their non-ESG peers so far this year, according to the IIF. They were particularly strong during the worst of the market’s sell-off from February into March when recession worries peaked.

That dovetails with a recent Morningstar report that found ESG funds and strategies lost less money than non-ESG funds during market declines over the last one-, three- and fi ve-year periods.

A big reason for the better relative performance recently may be that ESG funds often own fewer oil stocks than traditional funds. Energy was one of the hardest-hit areas of the market during the sell-off on worries

about vanishing demand, and the price of U.S. crude oil even momentarily dropped below zero.

Consider the Parnassus Core Equity fund, which has $18.6 billion in assets and is one of the largest ESG funds. It does not own companies that get signifi cant revenue from fossil fuels. It’s lost just 1.7% so far this year, as of Tuesday, compared to the 2.1% loss for the S&P 500 over the same time, including dividends.

Over the last three years, a stretch that includes another steep sell-off at the end of 2018, the Parnassus Core Equity fund has returned a total of 39%, versus a 36.3% return for the S&P 500.

Instead of looking just at how much profi t a company is likely to make or how much debt it has on its books, ESG funds also consider what a com-pany is doing about climate change, whether it has an inclusive workplace culture and how tightly a CEO’s pay is correlated to the company’s long-term health, among other considera-tions.

The industry’s argument is that companies scoring poorly on envi-ronmental, social and governance issues are likely riskier investments and more prone to losses. And in investing, minimizing losses can be even more important than fi nding big winners.

The “E” in ESG investing often got the most attention in the past. By avoiding companies with poor track records on the environment, ESG in-vestors were looking to minimize the risk of owning stocks that could get hit with big fi nes or by big regulatory decisions that could sink their profi ts.

This pandemic, though, is shining a brighter spotlight on how companies are doing on social and governance issues. Companies with more satisfi ed workforces, for example, may be bet-

ter able to get quicker buy-in as they shift strategies and operations in the new normal.

The pandemic has also demonstrat-ed in cold terms many of the short-comings of the U.S. labor market, such as how many workers don’t have access to paid sick leave. That could set the stage for more pressure from Washington for more generous pay or benefi ts, which would raise labor costs for some companies. These are issues that ESG investors have already long been considering.

More recently, all the anger around the country about racism may also bring more attention to diversity among companies’ workforces, execu-tive ranks and board rooms, another longstanding issue for ESG investors.

If anything, the pandemic will likely increase the fl ow of dollars into ESG funds, industry analysts say. The conviction is strong enough that analysts at BofA Global Research recently upgraded their rating for Eaton Vance in part on expectations for increased fl ows into the Calvert family of ESG funds that it owns.

“Going forward, investors will likely have even less tolerance for bad corporate citizens - funding those businesses will become expensive and capital could prove scarce,” Michael Baldinger, head of sustainable and im-pact investing at UBS Asset Manage-ment wrote in a recent report. (AP)

By Christopher Rugaber

Three months after the viral out-break shut down businesses across

the country, U.S. employers are still shedding jobs at a heavy rate, a trend that points to a slow and prolonged recovery from the recession.

The number of laid-off work-ers seeking unemployment benefi ts barely fell last week to 1.5 million, the government said. That was down from a peak of nearly 7 million in March, and it marked an 11th straight weekly drop. But the number is still more than twice the record high that existed before the pandemic. And the total number of people receiving jobless aid remains a lofty 20.5 million.

The fi gures surprised and disap-pointed analysts who had expected far fewer people to seek unemployment aid as states increasingly reopen their economies and businesses recall some laid-off people back to work. The data also raised concerns that some recent layoffs may refl ect permanent losses as companies restructure their

businesses, rather than temporary cuts in response to government-ordered closures.

The report is “telling us that the scars from the job losses in the reces-sion will be longer-lasting than we expected,” said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

At the same time, last week’s fi gures may have raised as many ques-tions about the state of the job market as they answered. Jobless claims generally tracks the pace of layoffs. But they provide little information about how much hiring is occurring that would offset those losses. In May, for example, employers added 2.5 million jobs - an increase that caught analysts off-guard because the number of applications for unemployment aid was still so high.

Some likely factors help explain why applications for jobless benefits remain so high even as businesses increasingly reopen and rehire some laid-off workers. For one thing, many businesses that deal face-to-face with customers - from

restaurants and movie theaters to gyms and casinos - remain strictly limited to less-than-full capacity. Some of those establishments are still cutting jobs as a result.

Casinos in Louisiana, for example, can open at half-capacity. But Boyd Gaming Corp., which operates fi ve casinos in the state, has informed 1,500 of its workers that with fi nancial losses mounting, they could be laid off by early July.

And in some especially hard-hit sectors, like the hotel and travel industries, corporations are now slashing white-collar workers because their business remains far below pre-pandemic levels. This week, Hilton Hotels said it would cut 22% of its corporate global workforce - about 2,100 jobs.

Although consumer spending, the primary driver of the U.S. economy, is recovering from its low in mid-April, it remains far below its pre-pandemic level, according to data compiled by Opportunity Insights. That trend may be forcing changes at some companies

that managed to withstand the initial shutdowns. AT&T, for instance, said this week that it plans to cut 3,400 technical and clerical workers over the next few weeks. It also plans to permanently close 250 of its Mobility and Cricket Wireless stores.

“We’re starting to see more job losses among higher-skilled positions that are harder to recall,” said Brad Hershbein, a senior economist at the Upjohn Institute.

And some states may still be clear-ing backlogs of applications from weeks or months ago.

Corinne Cook, who lives in Kiss-immee, near Orlando, just received her first unemployment payment last week, after being laid-off from her job in mid-April. Cook, 28, moved to the area in September for an 18-month contract position as a 3-D modeler for Walt Disney, a job involving sculpting character prototypes that were printed on 3-D printers. She lost her job when the parks closed down.

She’s receiving the minimum state

Macy’s cuts corporate headcount by 3,900 as virus takes toll

Macy’s said it’s laying off 3,900 peo-ple corporate staffers, roughly 3% of its overall workforce, as the pandemic takes a financial toll on the iconic depart-ment store chain’s sales and profits.

The company said in a release that the headcount reduction will save the com-pany $630 million per year. In February, before the virus became a pandemic, Macy’s said it would cut 2,000 jobs in its corporate office and close 125 stores.

Like many of its non-essential peers, Macy’s was forced to close its physical

stores to curb the spread of the coro-navirus, evaporating sales. The New York-based company also furloughed a majority of its workers.

Since early May, Macy’s has been gradually reopening its stores, which had been closed since March 18. Ma-cy’s CEO Jeff Gennette has said that customers are coming back better than expected, but the recovery will be slow, and it needs to readjust its business to a new climate.

“While the re-opening of our stores is

going well, we do anticipate a gradual recovery of business, and we are taking action to align our cost base with our an-ticipated lower sales,” Gennette said in a statement.

Macy’s said that it has reduced its store staffing and will readjust as sales rebound.

For the three months ended May 2, Macy’s Inc. reported sales of $3.02 bil-lion, the company announced earlier this month. That marks a 45% drop from the $5.5 billion in the year-ago period. (AP)

People walk past curbside pickup sign at Macy’s depart-ment store in Vernon Hills, Illinois. Macy’s is cutting roughly 4,000 back-office and management jobs as CO-VID-19 continues to hurt its bottom line. (AP)

In this file photo, a chart on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the rise of the S&P 500 index since 2009. Once derided as fads that would force investors to settle for lower returns, funds that take into account environmental, social and corporate-governance issues have held up better than traditional funds this year. It’s the latest march forward for what are known as ESG funds, and the industry expects the flow of dol-

lars to accelerate into the field. (AP)

HEALTHARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020

9

Dr Terri Tiersky poses for a portrait in full personal protective equipment, double mask, face shield, gown and gloves, at her dentist offi ce in Skokie, Ill, on June 12. Tiersky closed her offi ce to all but emergencies in mid-March. She then helped arrange donations of personal protective equipment from the Chicago Dental Society for health workers treating COVID-19 patients. (AP)

US dentists rebuild

‘Open wide’WASHINGTON, June 28, (AP): US dental offi ces are quickly bouncing back, but it won’t be business as usual. Expect social distancing, layers of protective gear and a new approach to some procedures to guard against coronavirus.

Dental offi ces largely closed, except for emergency care, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended in March that they should delay elective procedures like teeth clean-ing and fi lling cavities.

By April, only 3 percent of dental offi ces were open for non-emergency care, according to Marko Vujicic, chief economist with the American Dental Association’s Health Policy Institute.

Polling data shows about two-thirds were back open in May and Vujicic expects that to reach 97 percent by the end of June. He estimates that only 1 percent of dentists will ultimately sell their practices, retire or fi le for bankruptcy.

“They seem to have weathered the storm,” Vujicic said.Dentists say government loans helped some of them survive the

shutdown, and demand for their work is pushing them to reopen quickly.

“The need for even routine dental care never went away,” said Dr Terri Tiersky, who runs a small practice in Skokie, Illinois. “We needed to get back to our patients ... and our staff needed to get back to work, of course.”

Tiersky closed her offi ce to all but emergencies in mid-March. She then helped arrange donations of personal protective equip-ment from the Chicago Dental Society for health workers treating COVID-19 patients.

She opened in early June after buying air purifi ers and stocking back up on protective gear.

“We are bending over backwards to make sure our offi ces are ready and safe,” said Tiersky, who wears two masks when she sees patients.

Nickolette Karabush was one of Tiersky’s fi rst patients to return after she cracked a tooth while eating popcorn. The 58-year-old Highwood, Illinois, resident has an autoimmune disorder and had been hunkered down at home since COVID-19 hit.

“The thought of having to go to a dentist offi ce really just freaked me out,” she said.

Karabush settled down after she saw everyone in Tiersky’s of-fi ce wearing masks and no one else in the waiting room.

“Everything was very clean,” she said. “It felt like a very safe environment.”

Tiersky and other dentists have taken several precautions like removing waiting room magazines and asking patients about COVID-19 symptoms before they receive care.

Dr Kirk Norbo has an employee stationed in the foyer of his Purcellville, Virginia, dental offi ce to take visitors’ temperatures before they enter the waiting room.

Then there’s the gear.More of a “Star Wars look with the face shields and the mask

and stuff and the gowns that a lot of offi ces had not used,” said Norbo, who remembers not even wearing gloves decades ago in dental school.

Some practices are charging an additional fee to cover the cost of that extra gear. Neither Norbo nor Tiersky say they are doing this.

Dentists also have changed how they practice. Coronavirus is spread from person to person mainly through droplets in the air when someone with an infection coughs, sneezes or talks. That’s why masks and social distancing are encouraged.

Dental work requires close quarters, and can generate a spray of saliva and water. Norbo and other dentists have returned to using hand tools for procedures like a teeth cleaning instead of instru-ments that may do the job faster, but create more of that spray.

Norbo said a paycheck protection loan of about $250,000 helped him bring back his staff and pay them until the business caught up after his offi ce re-opened in early May.

Practices are climbing out of a big hole as they reopen. Personal spending on dental services dropped 61 percent in April compared to the same month last year, according to the nonprofi t health re-search fi rm Altarum. That’s twice the decline experienced by the entire healthcare sector.

It might take a while for all business to return. Altarum econo-mist Ani Turner noted that a lot of dental care is discretionary and can be postponed, and patients will still be worried about being exposed to the virus.

“People may tend to procrastinate on cleanings and maintenance anyway,” she said.

Norbo said those who have returned to his practice so far are glad to be back. He thinks the visits help people feel like they are “getting back into somewhat of a normal life.”

“It’s way more than just dentistry,” he said.

Facial coverings can reduce spread

Mixed messages on masks sow confusionWASHINGTON, June 28, (AP): For-give the American people if they’re in a fog about face masks. President Donald Trump and the federal government have done a number on them.

First there was the don’t-do-it phase. Then the nice-but-not-for-me dissonance. Followed by the local-rules-don’t-apply exceptions. Topped off by Trump’s stated suspicion that some people wear masks just to troll him.

It has all added up to a murky message about one of the critical tools in the fi ght against the coronavirus pandemic. And the politicization of the to-wear-or-not-to-wear debate is clear in recent public polling.

To be clear: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in pub-lic settings where other social distancing measures are diffi cult to maintain. Some states and local communities require them.

But the messaging disconnect from Washington was evident as recently as Fri-day, when Vice-President Mike Pence de-fended Trump’s decision to stage two big mask-scarce gatherings in the past week in states with big surges in infections and, in one case, local rules requiring masks.

“We just believe that what’s most im-portant here is that people listen to the leadership in their state and the leader-ship in their local community and adhere to that guidance whether it has to do with facial coverings or whether it has to do with the size of gatherings,” Pence said.

Early on, the government’s no-mask message was unequivocal. As the fi rst known COVID-19 infections were identi-fi ed on US soil, top public health offi cials insisted masks should be reserved for front-line workers.

Later, the CDC issued its recommen-dation for cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures were diffi cult to maintain. But Trump immediately undercut that guid-ance by fl atly stating that he wouldn’t be following it.

He told The Wall Street Journal this month that some people wear masks sim-ply to show that they disapprove of him.

Now, the mask debate is heating up in the South and West, where infections are surging to levels the country hasn’t seen since April, when the Northeast and Mid-west were particularly hard-hit.

In Arizona, Florida, and Texas, with GOP governors and huge spikes in infec-tions, there’s been a hesitance to require people to wear masks in public spaces.

But in California, Nevada and North Carolina, with Democratic governors and increasing infection levels, rules requir-ing masks took effect this past week.

The divide on masks is stark even with-in Republican-leaning Sun Belt states, where some big city Democratic mayors have imposed their own mask rules.

Further complicating the messaging is that as Trump questions the effectiveness of masks and refuses to wear one in pub-lic, Surgeon General Jerome Adams has taken to Twitter to declare that “I show my patriotism by wearing a face covering in public!”

That would be the same surgeon gen-eral who tweeted on Feb 29: “Seriously people! Stop Buying Masks! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”

The dithering over face masks has un-nerved public health experts as studies suggest that the coverings could have a dramatic impact on limiting the virus’

This photo dated March 15, 2020 shows Meyer Haiun in the Paris care home, la Residence Amaraggi, where the 85-year-old died 11 days later. Taken by his brother, Robert

Haiun, this is the last photo the family has of Meyer. (AP)

In this photo taken on June 5, 2020 Monette Hayoun dis-plays a photo of her late severely disabled 85-year-old broth-er, Meyer (center in the picture), fl anked with her parents, during an interview in Ivry sur Seine, south of Paris. (AP)

‘You cannot help but imagine the worst’

Care homes face legal reckoningPARIS, June 28, (AP): The muffl ed, gagging sounds in the background of the phone call fi lled Monette Hayoun with dread.

Was her severely disabled 85-year-old brother, Meyer, choking on his food? Was he slowly suffocating like the Holocaust survivor who died a few months earlier in an-other of the care home’s bedrooms, a chunk of breakfast baguette lodged in his throat?

Meyer Haiun died the next day, one of the more than 14,000 deaths that tore through care homes for France’s most vulnerable older adults when they were sealed off to visitors during the coronavirus’ peak.

Three months on, the questions plague Monette: How did her brother die? Did he suffer? And, most gnawing of all, who is responsible?

“All the questions that I have about Meyer, maybe the truth isn’t as bad as what I imagine,” she says. Still, she adds, “You cannot help but imagine the worst.”

As families fl ock back to nursing homes that fi rst reo-pened to limited visits in April and more widely this month, thousands no longer have mothers, fathers, grandparents and siblings to hug and to hold.

With graves so fresh that some still don’t have head-stones, grieving families across the country are increasing-ly demanding a reckoning, turning to lawyers to try to deter-mine why almost half of France’s nearly 30,000 COVID-19 deaths hit residents of nursing homes, scything through the generations that came of age after World War I, endured the next world confl ict and helped rebuild the country.

Many homes had few, even no deaths. But others are emerging with their reputations in tatters, having lost scores in their care. Increasingly, homes are facing wrong-ful death lawsuits accusing them of negligent care, skimp-ing on protective equipment and personnel, and lying to families about how their loved ones died and the measures they took to prevent infections.

Because COVID-19 proved particularly deadly for older adults, nursing homes across the globe quickly found them-selves on the pandemic’s front lines. In the United States, nursing home residents account for nearly 1 in 10 of all coronavirus cases and more than a quarter of the deaths. In Europe, care home residents account from one-third to nearly two-thirds of the dead in many countries.

To stave off infections, many homes sealed themselves off. In France, the government closed access to the coun-try’s 7,400 medicalized facilities for the most dependent older adults on March 11, six days before putting the entire country in lockdown. But by then, the coronavirus already was starting to take its toll.

A fat yellow fi le of complaints on the desk of Paris law-yer Fabien Arakelian is one measure of the fury of families determined to get answers. The fi rst complaint he fi led tar-geted a home that he says lost 40 of its 109 residents; the pile has only grown since.

Arakelian himself lost his grandfather in a nursing home before the pandemic.

“Unlike these families, I was lucky enough to be able to accompany him to the end, give him a fi nal kiss, say a fi nal goodbye. They didn’t get that, and it can never be given back to them,” he says. “That’s why I am fi ghting.”

An urgent need for answers also is driving Olivia Mok-iejewski. Among them: Why did the care-home worker she saw sitting next to her grandmother when they video-chatted during lockdown not wear a mask or gloves and also pass the phone from one person to the next without disinfecting it?

Her grandmother, Hermine Bideaux, was rushed to the hospital 11 days later, after her worried granddaughter asked a family friend who is a doctor to be allowed to visit her. The doctor said he found the 96-year-old in a des-perate state – barely conscious, feverish and severely de-hydrated. Diagnosed in the hospital with COVID-19, she clung on for three days before dying April 4.

Mokiejewski has fi led a manslaughter and endanger-ment suit accusing the Korian Bel Air home on the south-west outskirts of Paris of failing to prevent the spread of the disease. That was followed by a suit brought by the niece of an 89-year-old who sat with Mokiejewski’s grand-mother during the video call and who died two days after her.

Signaling that the accusations warrant looking into, Par-is-region prosecutors have accepted both complaints and fi ve others like them and turned them over to police inves-tigators.

Korian, a market leader in the industry, says the resi-dence isn’t at fault.

death toll.“The public health community, I think, has been very clear

that face masks can help reduce the spread of the virus,” said Ayaz Hyder, an epidemiologist at Ohio State University. “The problem is you send mixed messages when the person at the top of the federal government is saying, ‘Nah, I’m OK.’”

The political calculations of the debate are playing out all over the country, and evident in public polling.

While most other protective measures such as social distanc-ing get broad bipartisan support, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they’re wearing a mask when leaving home, 76 percent to 59 percent, according to a recent poll by The As-sociated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

In Texas, GOP Gov Greg Abbott this month issued an ex-ecutive order prohibiting municipalities from imposing fi nes or criminal penalties on people who refuse to wear masks. But he has not opposed efforts by some Texas cities and counties to re-quire businesses to impose face mask rules for their employees.

In Arizona, Republican Gov Doug Ducey said mayors, not the state, would decide their own mask mandates. Richard Mack, presi-dent of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Offi cers Association, declared at an anti-mask rally in Scottsdale this past week that mask mandates were government overreach and wouldn’t be enforced.

“We do have a pandemic in America and in Arizona,” Mack said. “But it’s not the coronavirus. The pandemic is one of universal cor-ruption, the pandemic is one of the destruction of our Constitution.

10ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020

editor’s choice

Author of ‘Graduate’Webb passes age 81

‘Tenet’ again delays

‘Mulan’ to August

This image released by Amazon shows a scene from the 2019 Eco-Challenge adventure race in Fiji. The competition’s new 10-episode season, ‘World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji’ hosted by Grylls and with 66 teams from 30 countries, will debut Aug 14 on Amazon Prime Video. (AP)

In this Feb 1, 2020 fi le photo, DaBaby performs with NBA basketball player Shaquille O’ Neal at Shaq’s Fun House in Miami. BET will celebrate its 40th year as a network, as well as it 20th awards show on June 28, – but the event will go on virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP)

NEW YORK, June 28, (AP): Charles Webb, a lifelong non-conformist whose debut novel “The Graduate” was a deadpan satire of his college education and wealthy back-ground adapted into the classic film of the same name, has died. He was 81.

Webb died June 16 in Eastbourne, England, of a blood condition, said his friend Jack Malvern, a Times of Lon-don journalist to whom Webb’s final book was dedicated.

Webb was only 24 when his most famous book was pub-lished, in 1963. The sparely written narrative was based closely on his years growing up comfortably in Southern California, his studies in history and literature at Wil-liams College in Massachusetts and his disorienting return home. Webb’s fictional counterpart, Benjamin Braddock, challenges the materialism of his parents, scorns the value of his schooling and has an affair with Mrs Robinson, wife of his father’s business partner and mother of the young woman with whom he falls in love, Elaine Robinson.

“I got interested in the wife of a good friend of my par-ents and ... (realized) it might be better to write about it than to do it,” Webb told the online publication Thought-cat in 2006.

His novel initially sold around 20,000 copies and was labeled a “fictional failure” by New York Times critic Orville Prescott. But it did appeal to Hollywood producer Lawrence Turman and the film company Embassy Pic-tures. In 1964, a brief item in The New York Times noted that Embassy had brought in Broadway director Mike Nichols, who had yet to make his first movie, to work on the screen version of “The Graduate.”

The 1967 movie became a touchstone for the decade’s rebellion even though Webb’s story was set in an earlier era – never referring to Vietnam or civil rights. Nichols’ film, starring a then-little-known Dustin Hoffman as Brad-dock and Anne Bancroft as Mrs Robinson, was an imme-diate sensation. Nichols won an Academy Award, Hoff-man became an overnight star and the film is often ranked among the greatest, most quoted and talked about of all time.

Webb’s book went on to sell more than a 1 million copies, but he hardly benefited from the film, for which he received just $20,000. The script, much of it by Buck Henry, was so widely praised that few realized how faith-ful it was to Webb, including Benjamin’s famous line, “Mrs Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?” Village Voice critic Andrew Sarris would call Webb “the forgotten man in all the publicity, even though 80 percent or more of the dialogue comes right out of the book.”

“I recently listened to some knowledgeable people par-celing out writing credit to Nichols, Henry, and (Calder) Willingham as if Webb had never existed,” Sarris wrote in 1970.

Webb regretted that the attention for “The Gradu-ate” distracted from his other work, including the novels “Love, Roger” and “The Marriage of a Young Stockbro-ker,” for which he wrote the screenplay for a film of the same name. His “New Cardiff” was adapted into the 2003 movie “Hope Springs,” a romantic comedy starring Colin Firth, Heather Graham and Minnie Driver.

Both the book and film of “The Graduate” have an end-ing Prescott would call “preposterous”: Benjamin barging in on the wedding of Elaine to another man and running off with the bride, destination unknown. For decades, fans wondered what happened next. Some speculated they grew into the unhappy Manhattan couple of “Kramer vs. Kramer,” the 1979 Oscar winner starring Hoffman and Meryl Streep.

NEW YORK, June 28, (AP): Holly-wood’s hopes for salvaging its summer season have effectively ended after the releases of both Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” and the Walt Disney Co.’s live-action reboot of “Mulan” were again delayed.

With reported cases of the coronavi-rus surging in parts of the US, Disney on Friday fol-lowed Warner Bros. in push-ing “Mulan” to late August. The film, initially planned to open in March, had been slated for July 24. It’s now moving to Aug 21.

“While the pandemic has changed our release plans for ‘Mulan’ and we will continue to be flexible as conditions require, it has not changed our belief in the power of this film and its message of hope and perseverance,” said Disney co-chairmen Alan Horn and Alan Bergman in a joint statement.

Late Thursday, Warner Bros. also postponed “Tenet,” starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, from July 31 to Aug 12. The studio stressed the need for flexibility.

“We are choosing to open the movie mid-week to allow audiences to dis-cover the film in their own time, and we plan to play longer, over an extended play period far beyond the norm, to develop a very different yet success-ful release strategy,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson said in a statement.

Movie theater chains had planned the widespread reopening of cinemas par-tially around the return of new releases like “Tenet” and Disney’s “Mulan.” AMC Theaters, Regal Cinemas and Cinemark – the three largest circuits in North America – had all set a time-table for nationwide reopening in early to mid-July with the aim of first play-ing catalog movies (including Nolan’s own “Inception”) and a smattering of smaller films as a lead-in to summer tentpoles.

But with COVID-19 cases surging in Texas, Arizona, Florida and elsewhere, those plans became uncertain. Rising cases in California forced Disney ear-lier this week to delay next month’s planned reopening of Disneyland in Anaheim. On Wednesday, New York Gov Andrew Cuomo also said New

York would delay reopening cinemas while it continued to research the safety of indoor, air-conditioned venues.

United Artists Releasing’s “Bill & Ted Face the Music” also pushed back from Aug 14 to Aug 28.

❑ ❑ ❑

LOS ANGELES: With reported cases of the coronavirus surging, Warner Bros. on Thursday postponed the release of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” further delaying Hollywood’s summer kick-off.

The sci-fi thriller starring John Da-vid Washington and Robert Pattin-son will move from July 31 to Aug 12, a Wednesday. In a statement, the studio stressed the need for flexibility.

“We are choosing to open the movie mid-week to allow audiences to dis-cover the film in their own time, and we plan to play longer, over an extended play period far beyond the norm, to develop a very different yet success-ful release strategy,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson said in a statement.

Movie theaters had been pinning their hopes on the film as a major July release that could bring audiences back to theaters.

Warner Bros. had planned to re-re-lease Nolan’s 2010 blockbuster “Incep-tion” in early July as a way to lead in to “Tenet.” “Inception” will now open on July 31, the studio said.

Movie theater chains had planned the widespread reopening of cinemas par-tially around the return of new releases like “Tenet” and Disney’s “Mulan.”

❑ ❑ ❑

NEW YORK: “The Magic School Bus” has traveled everywhere from Pluto to inside the human body. Now it’s going somewhere new: the big screen.

Scholastic Entertainment said Thurs-day that it will make “a feature-length, live-action hybrid film” based on the animated TV show that ran from 1994 to 1997. Elizabeth Banks will play the manic science teacher Ms. Frizzle.

“The Magic School Bus,” adapted from a series of books written by Jo-anna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen, centers on a group of school children who board a yellow school bus for field trips to such unlikely places as outer space or the human di-gestive system.

Lilly Tomlin supplied the voice for Ms. Frizzle in the original cartoon se-ries and Kate McKinnon voiced her sister in a recent Netflix reboot, “The Magic School Bus Rides Again.”

‘World’s Toughest Race’ on Amazon

Bear Grylls said he was brought to tears by the determination of competitors on “World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji” as they raced through jungles and over mountains to the point of exhaustion and pain.

The series’ new 10-episode season, host-ed by Grylls and with 66 teams from 30 coun-tries, will debut Aug 14 on Amazon Prime Video, it was announced Wednesday. The episodes were taped last fall, before the coro-navirus pandemic hit.

The nonstop race with 330 competitors was held for 11 days and across more than 400 miles. It was difficult to see racers drop out after spending so much time and energy in preparation, Grylls said.

“But at the same time, those that endured, whether or not they won, it wasn’t really about

the winning,” he said. “This is an expedition with a stopwatch, is how I always kind of see this, and just to complete it is a huge achieve-ment.”

“I unashamedly wept at times, seeing the effort and what it meant to these people,” said Grylls, an adventurer who starred in the sur-vival series ”Man vs. Wild.”

Grylls noted the field’s diversity, includ-ing the first fully African American team competing internationally. Another Ameri-can squad includes Mark Macy, a past Eco-Challenge competitor who has since been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and his son, Travis.

“That was a very emotional journey for them to race together, for the son to want to be alongside his dad,” Grylls said. (AP)

DaBaby, Roddy Ricch to appear

BET to celebrate awards virtuallyNEW YORK, June 28, (AP): BET will celebrate its 40th year as a network, as well as it 20th awards show, on Sunday – but the event will go on virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The three-hour show will be jam-packed with heavy hitters currently dominating the pop charts and streaming services, including DaBa-by, Megan Thee Stallion, Roddy Ricch, Sum-mer Walker, Kane Brown and Chloe x Halle. All-stars like Alicia Keys, John Legend, Lil Wayne, Jennifer Hudson, Nas, Questlove and Black Thought of the Roots, Public Enemy and Usher will also perform.

The show is an annual celebration of Black entertainment and culture, and this year’s cere-mony will be the first major awards show since

the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, which sparked global protests aimed at reforming police actions and removing statues and symbols considered racist from public places.

Comedian, actress and TV personal-ity Amanda Seales will host the 2020 BET Awards, which will air on CBS for the first time. The show will also air on BET and BET HER at 8:00 pm EDT.

Drake is the leading nominee: He’s up for six honors, including video of the year and best male hip-hop artist. For both best collaboration and the viewer’s choice award, Drake is nominated twice thanks to the hits “No Guidance” with Chris Brown and “Life Is Good” with Future.

Yifei Liu

HERRIMAN, Utah, June 28, (AP): Rose Lavelle and Ashley Hatch each scored to give the Washington Spirit a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Challenge Cup.

The NWSL became the fi rst profes-sional team sport in the United States to return amid coronavirus earlier in the day when the North Carolina Cour-age defeated the Portland Thorns 2-1

at Zions Bank Stadium. The Challenge Cup is being played without fans in at-tendance.

Most players knelt during the na-tional anthem to protest racial inequity and there was an emotional moment when Julie Ertz put her arm around teammate Casey Short. All of the play-ers also knelt for a moment of silence before kickoff.

Lavelle, who scored for the United States in the World Cup fi nal last sum-mer in France, blasted a rebound goal in the eighth minute to give the Spirit the early lead.

Hatch added a second goal just sec-onds into the second half, challenging Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher then breaking free for the goal.

“We’ve been training hard in D.C.

and we were all kind of itching to get back to playing a game. For some peo-ple they haven’t played since the end of last season. So we were defi nitely really excited and it was great to be back on there,” Lavelle said.

Morgan Gautrat, known previously by her maiden name Brian, pulled a goal back for the Red Stars in the 51st minute.

“The game stopped so much after we scored, regardless if it was the ref-eree letting subs in or somebody hurt. It just seemed like the game kept stop-ping so it was hard to fi nd a rhythm,” Chicago coach Rory Dames said. “But it was good, there will be a lot of things to learn out of this. We said we were going to script the fi rst three games, we kept with the script that we had to-night, and we’ll continue on with that for the next two.”

The NWSL’s teams had opened preseason training camps but had not played any games when the league shut down on March 12.

The eight teams taking part in the Challenge Cup are sequestered in Utah for the duration of the monthlong tour-nament and must follow a strict proto-col that includes frequent testing.

The league’s ninth team, the Or-lando Pride, was forced to withdraw earlier this week because of multiple positive COVID-19 tests among play-ers and staff.

SPORTSARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 29, 2020

11

Perry dominates Gall as Greene fi nishes Villante with unorthodox submission

Poirier wins decision over Hooker in UFC thrillerLAS VEGAS, June 28, (AP), Dustin Poirier won a thrilling unanimous de-cision over Dan Hooker, surviving a brutal second round and persevering to fi nish a well-rounded performance in the main event at the UFC’s corporate gym.

Mike Perry also ended his two-fi ght skid with a one-sided unanimous deci-sion over Mickey Gall in the penulti-mate fi ght of the UFC’s fi fth consecu-tive fan-free event in its hometown.

The main event was a barn-burner from the opening round, with both lightweights trading wicked strikes and displaying minimal regard for de-fense. The second round was a particu-lar spectacle, with each fi ghter badly hurting the other while throwing punch-es and knees at full power.

The fi ght went to the ground in the fourth round, and Poirier at-tempted several submissions be-fore Hooker escaped. Poirier appeared to have more energy left for the fi fth round, and he won on all three cards: 48-47, 48-47 and 48-46.

“It was a tough one,” Poirier said. “Dan came to fi ght. He’s a tough guy. He’s on the rise. He really thought he was going to get past me. I trusted in my team, in my skill and my work ethic.”

Poirier (26-6) capped his long rise by beating Max Holloway in April 2019 for the interim lightweight title. He lost the belt to unbeaten champion Khabib Nurmagomedov last Septem-ber, and a leg injury subsequently kept him out of the cage for the longest stretch of his career.

He was back in fi ne form against Hooker (20-9), the tough kickbox-ing star from New Zealand who had won seven of his last eight bouts since 2016.

Perry had lost fi ve of his last seven fi ghts, and his wild mixed martial arts career took another swerve in recent months when he split with his wife, separated from his coaches and decid-ed that his girlfriend, Latory Gonzalez, would be the only person in his corner at this fi ght.

Gonzalez doesn’t have an exten-sive combat sports background, and

her corner work largely consisted of placing an ice bag on Perry’s neck between rounds and saying: “You’re doing great, baby.” Perry used his su-perior striking skills and an impressive ground game to earn just his second win since July 2018.

“Every time we get in there, it’s all up to me,” said Perry, who plans to get new coaches before his next bout. “I trained for this. I’m a professional.”

The show was the last of fi ve week-end events at the UFC Apex gym on the promotion’s corporate campus. The UFC has staged eight fan-free events amid the coronavirus pandemic since returning from an eight-week break.

The UFC will take next week off be-fore resuming competition on July 12 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with UFC

251, a stacked pay-per-view show with three title fi ghts. The promotion will hold four shows over 14 days at the so-called “Fight Island” before returning stateside.

This latest Vegas show was stacked with impressive fi nishes and unusual results.

Heavyweight Maurice Greene stopped his two-fi ght skid with an un-orthodox submission of Gian Villante, who was on top of Greene and appar-ently in control when Greene wrapped an arm around his head. Although Greene (9-4) didn’t have a traditional chokehold around Villante’s neck, an exhausted Villante was unable to move and tapped out with 1:16 left in the fi ght.

Japanese welterweight Takashi Sato produced one of the most impressive stoppages of the night, beating late re-placement opponent Jason Witt with a fl urry of strikes in just 48 seconds.

Julian Erosa, another late replace-ment opponent, won his fi ght on fi ve days’ notice by forcing Sean Wood-son to tap out with a choke midway through the third round. Erosa was dropped from the UFC roster last year after three straight losses, but seized his last-minute chance to return.

A string of fi ve consecutive fi n-ishes began with the second fi ght of the night. Kay Hansen, a 20-year-old strawweight making her UFC debut, beat Jinh Yu Frey in the third round with an armbar fi nish reminiscent of her hero, Ronda Rousey.

Erik Jones (20) collides with Tyler Reddick (8) during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Pocono Raceway, on June 27, in Long Pond, Pa. (AP)

Harvick knocks off Poconofrom NASCAR ‘winless’ list

Hamlin fi nishes 2nd, Almirola 3rd

LONG POND, Pa, June 28, (AP): Kevin Harvick hit pause on that victory swirl of scorched rubber and billows of smoke at Pocono Raceway. Sure, Harvick needed to save the engine for a repeat run in the same Ford and a shot at a weekend sweep in a Cup Se-ries twin bill.

He stood on his car alone again in victory lane in front of another race with barren grandstands and the only noise at the track just a few cheers from his Stewart-Haas Racing crew.

It’s not much of a blowout if there’s no one at the party.

Harvick snapped an 0-for-38 drought at Pocono, taking the check-ered fl ag at one of two tracks where victory had eluded him.

The 44-year-old California driver has won at every active track except Kentucky Speedway (nine tries) and the 2014 series champion has three

wins overall for SHR this season. He has three career wins at Charlotte Mo-tor Speedway, though he’s lost two races on the roval confi guration.

Harvick held off a hard-charging Denny Hamlin, whose efforts were ham-pered by a late vibration, for his 52nd career Cup victory. He had 12 top-fi ve fi nishes in his other 38 starts at Pocono.

Aric Almirola was third, followed by Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch.

Ryan Preece fi nished 20th and will start on the pole Sunday. Teams brought cars straight to the garage in-stead of lining them up on pit road.

The race was scheduled as the sec-ond Saturday, but rain washed out the Truck Series race. That sets up a small slice of history Sunday: Truck, sec-ond-tier Xfi nity and Cup will all run

Sunday. It’s the fi rst time three NAS-CAR National Series races will race on the same day at the same track.

NASCAR wanted the trip to Pocono to settle one of the most tumultuous weeks in its history after a noose found in Bubba Wallace’s stall last week at Talladega led to a federal investigation. The incident was not ruled a hate crime. NASCAR President Steve Phelps stated “the noose was real,” though it remains unknown who tied it. Wallace, who sparked NASCAR to ban the Confed-erate fl ag, has become NASCAR’s ad-vocate for social change and acknowl-edged his time in the national spotlight left him “wore the hell out.” He fi nished 22nd in the No. 43 Chevrolet.

Politics were in play, though at Poc-ono when Corey LaJoie, who fi nished 23rd, ran with a Trump 2020 logo on the rear quarter panel of his Ford.

The weekend should have been one of the wildest ones in Pocono history. Track offi cials were optimistic the in-fi eld would be jam packed with race fans who wanted to experience four NASCAR races in two days.

Brad Keselowski, who raced to his lone Pocono win in 2011, tweeted a love letter of sorts tied to his memories of the track that date to his childhood

when he tagged along to watch his fa-ther, Bob, compete in ARCA races.

There was a new look all around the 2½-mile tri-oval in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The track cloaked its leaderboard in advertisements because the pandemic wreaked havoc with plans to upgrade

to a modern LED scoring tower. Poc-ono also had 1,250 fans virtually sign the start/fi nish line.

Staff members hand wrote each name on the start/fi nish line ahead of race weekend. The 1,250 number matched the scheduled number of miles to be run this weekend. Poc-ono even sold on its website a race weekend T-shirt with “Quarantined” stamped over the logo.

Talladega Superspeedway was al-lowed up to 5,000 fans for its race weekend and only 1,000 fans mostly military members and their guests, were allowed two weeks ago at Home-stead-Miami Speedway.

Pocono sits in Monroe County which entered Pennsylvania’s green designation. The green phase limits public gatherings to 250 people. But Gov. Tom Wolf’s guidance to profes-sional sports mandates no spectators, even in green.

SHR had its own challenges when two of its employees who work from the team’s shop in North Carolina test-ed positive for COVID-19.

Pocono usually runs a 400-mile race but Saturday’s was 325 miles and Sun-day goes off at 350 miles. That’s a lot of miles raced without a fan in sight.

Dodgers’ Toles jailed on trespass chargeKEY WEST, Florida, June 28, (AP): Los Angeles Dodgers outfi elder An-drew Toles was in jail Saturday on a trespassing charge.

The 28-year-old player was de-tained this week at the airport in Key West, Florida, by a Monroe County sheriff deputy.A report by the sher-iff’s offi ce said Toles was found sleeping behind a Federal Express building at the airport and refused to move after several warnings by deputies that he had to leave or be arrested.

Jail records show Toles appeared

to be homeless when arrested Mon-day on the misdemeanor charge of trespassing property. His bond was set at $500 but he remained jailed and is scheduled for arraignment Thursday.”We are unable to com-ment,” team spokesman Joe Jareck said Saturday.

Toles never reported to spring training in 2019 because of a person-al matter and did not play that year.

Toles rose from the low minors to the majors in just months and became a postseason star for the Dodgers in 2016.

He was the starting left fi elder in the second half of 2016 and early in 2017. In May of that year, he tore a knee ligament and spent most of 2018 at Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Toles struggled with anxiety is-sues even before the Dodgers signed him to a minor league con-tract. He was the Tampa Bay’s minor league player of the year in 2013 but was released in 2015. He was working the early-morning shift in the frozen-food section of a grocery store before the Dodgers recruited him.

Kevin Harvick celebrates in the winners circle after winning the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Pocono Raceway, on June 27, in

Long Pond, Pa. (AP)

Crusaders Billy Harmon is tackled by Chiefs Sam Cane, (left), during the Super Rugby Aotearoa rugby game between the Crusaders and Chiefs in

Christchurch, New Zealand, on June 28. (AP)

Reece sets up two tries

Crusaders top Chiefs inSuper Rugby AotearoaCHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, June 2, (AP): Fullback Will Jordan scored two tries in combination with winger Sevu Reece to lift the Crusaders to a 18-13 win over the Chiefs in a rain-soaked match in Super Rugby Aotearoa.

Jordan touched down once in each half for the Crusaders’ only tries in a match in which slippery conditions prevented either side from controlling possession or playing with structure or fl uency.

His efforts kept the Christchurch-based Crusaders unbeaten after two matches in the New Zealand profes-sional tournament and extended their unbeaten record at home to 46 games.

The Crusaders’ aggressive defense created openings in a match in which there were few clear scoring opportu-nities and none which resulted from a concerted build-up.

In the 33rd minute Chiefs and All Blacks fullback Damian McKenzie failed to hold onto a high kick in slip-pery conditions and Reece quickly

gathered the ball and passed infi eld to Jordan who scored.

Then, in the 46th minute Reece caught the Chiefs napping with a quick lineout, throwing the ball directly to Jordan who scored un-touched. The score was contentious because Chiefs scrumhalf Brad We-ber had been in conversation with the referee and in no position to stop the try.

The Crusaders seemed to have made the game safe with a 63rd minute pen-alty to fl yhalf Richie Mo’unga which made the lead 15 points, meaning the Chiefs had to score three times to win. But the Chiefs swiftly hit back with a try to winger Sean Wainui and, when McKenzie added a penalty in the 69th minute, the margin was only fi ve points.

With the ball proving near-impos-sible to handle, the Crusaders weren’t able to hold it long enough to lock the Chiefs inside their own half in the last

10 minutes. The Chiefs broke out and launched a threatening late raid on the Crusaders line which the defense again managed to repel, forcing a critical turnover.

“The forecast was for rain and we knew it was going to come down to who defended best and put pressure on in the opposition half,” Crusaders cap-tain Codie Taylor said.

“A young fella like Will Jordan is on his toes non-stop and just wants to get involved. It’s awesome to see guys backing their skills in conditions like this and against a team like the Chiefs when opportunies don’t come too of-ten.”

Poirier

MIX MARTIAL ARTS

CAR RACING

RUGBY

SOCCER

Chicago Red Stars’ Bianca St Georges, (right), battles with Washington Spirit forward Ashley Hatch (33) during the fi rst half of an NWSL Challenge Cup soccer match at Zions Bank Stadium, on June 27, in Herriman, Utah. (AP)

Lavelle, Hatch shine as Spirit down Red Stars 2-1

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SportsBarcelona’s Luis Suarez, (center), celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between RC Celta and Barcelona at the Balaidos Stadium in Vigo, Spain, June 27. The game ended 2-2. (AP)

Munich’s team captain Manuel Neuer lifts the trophy after the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern Munich in Wolfsburg, Germany, June 27. Bayern won their 8th straight Bundesliga title. (AP)

Düsseldorf relegated

Mönchengladbach qualify for CLBERLIN, June 28, (AP): The German soccer league’s restart is complete. Borussia Mönchengladbach qualifi ed for the Champions League and Fortuna Düsseldorf was relegated by a single point on the last day of the Bundesliga.

Germany becomes the fi rst major European men’s soccer league to com-plete a full season after restarting dur-ing the coronavirus pandemic in empty stadiums.

The Bundesliga pioneered the wide-spread virus testing of players and socially distanced training sessions which have since been copied by other competitions across the continent.

Bayern Munich secured their eighth straight title two games earlier and fi n-ished with a 13-point advantage over Borussia Dortmund in second. Bayern were presented with the trophy , their chant of “champions” echoing around Wolfsburg’s empty stadium.

Gladbach secured their return to the Champions League for the fi rst time since 2016-17 by beating Hertha Ber-lin 2-1 to fi nish fourth ahead of Bayer Leverkusen.

Breel Embolo held off two defend-ers to set up Jonas Hofmann to score Gladbach’s opening goal. In the sec-ond half the roles were reversed as Hofmann played in Embolo to tap in at the far post off a well worked short corner routine.

A second-minute goal from Kevin Volland was enough for Leverkusen to beat Mainz 1-0. Leverkusen could still qualify for next season’s Cham-

pions League by winning the Europa League, which will be fi nished as a mi-ni-tournament in Germany in August.

Few gave Werder Bremen much hope of avoiding automatic demotion on the last day. They had beaten only last-placed Paderborn in their previous fi ve games and lost the other four.

Bremen were left counting on a fa-vor from Union Berlin to beat Düssel-dorf, and claim a surprise 6-1 win of their own against Cologne in order to climb out of the automatic relegation spot. “We were never dead and there was always a chance,” Bremen mid-fi elder Davy Klaassen told Sky.

Werder fans soon began gathering outside the stadium to celebrate avoid-ing relegation. The club pleaded with them to “avoid big gatherings of peo-ple” because of the coronavirus.

Bremen hoped pride would prompt Union’s players - who were already assured of survival - to give their all against Düsseldorf. Bremen’s stadium DJ even played Union’s anthem before kickoff against visiting Cologne.

Japan striker Yuya Osako opened the scoring in the 22nd, before news came through that former Bremen striker Anthony Ujah had given Un-ion the lead against Düsseldorf. Milot Rashica and Niklas Füllkrug bolstered Bremen’s lead while Düsseldorf in-creased their pressure but couldn’t force an equalizer before the break.

Ujah set up Christan Gentner for Union’s second in the 54th as Bremen scored three more with only a conso-lation goal for Cologne’s Dominick Drexler.

Mainz’s Jean-Philippe Mateta, (left), and Leverkusen’s Lars Bender chal-lenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FSV Mainz 05 in Leverkusen, Germany, June 27. Because of the coronavirus outbreak all soccer matches of the German

Bundesliga take place without spectators. (AP )

Yankees vs Nationalsin DC on opening dayNEW YORK, June 28, (AP): Ger-rit Cole could make his New York Yankees debut in a tasty opening-day treat for fans, facing Juan Soto and World Series champion Wash-ington at Nationals Park.

The Yankees and Nationals are set meet when the virus-delayed season begins next month, a per-son familiar with the game told The Associated Press on Saturday. The person spoke on condition of ano-nymity because there hasn’t been an offi cial announcement.

The New York Post fi rst reported the matchup. MLB will start a 60-game season on July 23 or 24. The schedule is still being worked out -- there could be a game or two on the fi rst day of play, or a full slate.

Cole started the previous game played at Nationals Park. He pitched the Houston Astros past the Nation-als 7-1 last October for a 3-2 edge in the World Series.

Howie Kendrick, Anthony Rendon and the Nationals won the last two

games to earn their fi rst champion-ship. Max Scherzer started Game 7 and fellow ace Stephen Strasburg was the World Series MVP, and either of them could start on opening day.

Cole signed a $324 million, nine-year contract with the Yankees as a free agent. Rendon got a $245 mil-lion, seven-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels. The Yankees and Nationals met twice this year, including New York’s 6-3 win on

March 12 on the fi nal day before MLB stopped spring training be-cause of the virus outbreak.

Players will begin reporting to sum-mer training camp on Wednesday -- Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu and their New York teammates will work out at Yankee Stadium while Trea Turner, Patrick Corbin and Washing-ton will train at Nationals Park.

Union fi nished with a 3-0 win over Düsseldorf, which were left ruing a run of games they drew after having led.

“I’m sorry for our fans. We fought and fought and fought,” Düsseldorf coach Uwe Rösler told Sky. The play-ers “gave me everything and it wasn’t enough.”

Union goalkeeper Rafa Gikiewicz had a muted goodbye in his last game before a transfer. “It’s really hard with the coronavirus restrictions, but hope-fully next season I can return to say goodbye to the fans properly,” he said.

Bremen will next face a two-leg playoff against the team that fi nishes third in the second division, most like-ly Heidenheim or Hamburger SV, to see which play in the Bundesliga next season. The fi rst leg is on July 2 with

the second leg four days later.Bayern beat Wolfsburg 4-0 to fi nish

on 100 goals for the season, one short of the record. Robert Lewandowski scored a penalty for his 34th Bundesli-ga goal of the season as the Polish for-ward fi nished as the league top scorer for the third season in a row.

Bayern had 16 league wins from 17 games in 2020, blemished by only a goalless draw against Leipzig. Bayern can win a domestic double against Leverkusen in the cup final on July 4.

Dortmund slumped to an unexpect-ed 4-0 defeat to Hoffenheim in an echo of the defensive problems which often plagued their bid for the title. Andrej Kramaric scored all four goals for Hof-fenheim.

SOCCER

BASEBALL

Manchester United’s Odion Ighalo runs with the ball during the FA Cup sixth round soccer match between Norwich City and Manchester United at Carrow Road Stadium in Norwich, England, June 27. (AP)

United ‘reach’ FA Cup semis

Wolves stay on course for CL

LONDON, June 28, (AP): Wolverhampton Wander-ers stayed on course for next season’s Champions League by beating Aston Villa 1-0, while Manches-ter United scraped past 10-man Norwich 2-1 in extra time to reach the FA Cup semifi nals.

Norwich goalie Tim Krul made five saves after defender Timm Klose’s sending off in the 89th minute. But with three minutes left in extra time United center half Harry Maguire slid the ball home following a corner to finally crack Norwich’s resistance.

Earlier, midfielder Leander Dendoncker’s second-half goal helped fifth-placed Wolves move three points above United and two behind Chelsea in fourth spot in the Premier League. Chelsea and Man United have a game in hand on Wolves, while 19th-placed Villa stayed in serious relegation trou-ble.

United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær left several key players out for the trip and his side was poor until the 51st, when striker Odion Ighalo reacted well to flick in a high ball with his boot.

Todd Cantwell was Norwich’s big-gest threat and equalized in the 75th with a shot from just outside the penalty area which eluded goalkeeper Sergio

Romero and swerved into the bottom corner.

Klose’s sending off for dragging Ighalo by the waist just outside the box handed United the initiative, but the inspired Krul kept Norwich in it until Maguire poached the winner.

United have won the competition 12 times - within one of Arsenal’s record - and last won it in 2016.

Norwich caused problems in the first half and Lukas Rupp had a shot blocked following fine work down the left from Cantwell.

United struck when left back Luke Shaw’s cross eluded onrushing mid-fielder Juan Mata but Ighalo showed good concentration and balance to pick

his spot. In the league, Dendoncker drilled home in the 62nd to cap a flow-ing team move. Coach Nuno Espírito Santo’s Wolves have 11 clean sheets in the league and host inconsistent Arsenal next Saturday.

Meanwhile, English champions Liverpool have condemned the behav-ior of some fans who gathered in the city to celebrate the club’s Premier League title win after a 30-year wait.

Merseyside Police issued a dispersal order for Liverpool city center on Friday night. This allowed police to disperse crowds who gathered on the Pier Head, after part of the Liver Building caught fire amid the wild celebrations despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Lazio keep theirtitle hopes aliveMILAN, June 28, (AP) : Lazio fought back from a goal down to beat Fiorentina 2-1 in Serie A and keep their fading title hopes alive.

Luis Alberto struck seven minutes from time to cut the gap to league leaders Juventus back to four points.

Ciro Immobile converted a penalty to cancel out Franck Ribéry’s opener for Fiorentina.

Lazio’s hopes of claiming a first league title since 2000 took a hit midweek when its 21-match unbeaten run ended with a defeat at Atalanta in their first match back following the hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

And it seemed as if they were going to slide further when Ribéry curled in the opener fol-lowing a magnificent solo run in the 25th minute.

But Immobile, who is leading the Serie A goal-scoring chart, converted a penalty in the 67th for his 28th of the season after Fiorentina goalkeeper Bartłomiej Dr�gowski fouled Felipe Caicedo.

Lazio snatched all three points when Luis Alberto surged forward from midfield and an attempted pass to his teammate took a kind deflection back to him and he fired in the winner.

Fiorentina forward Dusan Vlahovic was sent off in stop-page time for an off-the-ball incident and Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi was also dis-missed moments later.

SOCCER

SOCCER