THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAITEstablished in 1977 / www.arabtimesonline.com

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020 / MUHARRAM 9-10, 1442 AH emergency number 112 NO. 17469 20 PAGES 150 FILS

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This image provided by Abbott Laboratories in August 2020 shows the company’s BinaxNOW rapid COVID-19 nasal swab test kit. The Food and Drug Administration on Aug 26, 2020, authorized BinaxNOW, the first rapid coronavirus test that

doesn’t need any special computer equipment to get results. (AP)

Two grilling motions against PM

Finance Minister ‘resigns ... but continues’

No specialty gear for rapid COVID test

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27, (KUNA): Finance Minis-ter Barrak Al-Sheetan said on Thursday that he had tendered his resignation to His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

The minister, who on Wednesday denied tender-ing his resignation, made a new statement Thursday, saying that he had put his resignation at disposal of His Highness the Prime Minister, adding that his step “was a regular measure after the National Assembly renewed confidence in him twice.”

He indicated that he submitted the proposal to the prime minister to step down “to affirm that he is not dedicated to the post but to the public interest,” not-ing that it was up to His Highness the Prime Min-ister to accept or turn down his request to leave the ministry.

Moreover, the minister has affirmed that he is pur-suing his duties in office as regular.

Meanwhile, the Minister signed a resolution Thursday forming the board of Kuwait Airways for a three-year term.

The Board will be chaired by Captain Ali Al-Da-khan, and consists of Faisal Al-Ghareeb, Adel Al-Yousefi, Ahmad Al-Ibrahim, Khaled Al-Suwaifan, Khaled Al-Mutairi and Adel Al-Sane.

National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim on Wednesday announced that he received two grilling motions against His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, submitted by MP Dr Abdul Karim Al-Kandari and the other by MP Al-Humaidi Al-Subaie.

They will be within the agenda of the next session

on Sept 1, Al-Ghanim said.In a press statement following the private ses-

sion Wednesday, Al-Ghanim said the grilling mo-tion submitted by MP Al-Kandari consists of three axes, and two in the paper presented by MP Al-Subaie.

The questioning planned by MP Al-Kandari deals with “government mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis, the general policy of the government regarding fiscal deficit and the issuance of Resolution No. 728 and violating Article 39 of the Constitution.”

As for the inquiry motion by MP Al-Subaie, it deals with “negligence in protecting the oil wealth and not punishing public money trespassers” in addition “to continuing the approach of the previous government and not addressing its irregularities.”

Interior extends visas for 3 months674 new

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27, (Agencies): The Directorate-General of Public Relations and Security Media Department of the In-terior Ministry stated that, given the excep-tional circumstances the country is passing through due to the co-rona pandemic, Deputy Prime Minister, Minis-ter of Interior, Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Anas Khaled Al-Saleh, has issued a ministerial de-cision to automatically renew for three more months residence and visit visas which end at the end of August 2020, reports Al-Rai daily.

However, the daily quot-ing security sources said in all cases according to the decision all those who are stranded because of the exceptional cases, must make preparations to leave the country before Nov 30, 2020.

The ministry clarified that the decision concerns expatriates who are stranded inside the coun-try only and those whose resi-dence (of all kinds) has expired, as well as those who entered the country on visit visas and what it called the ‘entry’ visas and have expired.

All those concerned must complete procedures for renew-ing their regular residence permit either through the Ministry of In-terior website www.moi.gov.kw, or by visiting the Residence Af-fairs departments in their respec-tive governorates.

The ministry also called on all visitors to organize their travel procedures, and make sure to leave the country before the min-isterial deadline expires on Nov 30.

Meanwhile, up to 674 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Kuwait in the past 24 hours raising the toll of contamina-tions to 82,945 since the out-break of the pandemic in the country months ago, official spokesperson of the Ministry of Health said.

Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad, MoH Spokesman in a statement to KUNA, said a single death was recorded during the same period, bringing whole count of the mor-talities to 522 since the contagion outbreak.

The casualties were reported in the health zones as following: 208 in Al-Ahmadi, 154 in Far-waniya, 126 in Al-Jahraa, 107 in Hawally and 103 in the capital.

Number of patients receiving medical care at intensive care wards has reached 97, bringing the whole count of the cases with proven infection and con-tinue to get medical attention to 7,901.

Dr Al-Sanad added that 4,191 swab tests were conducted dur-ing the past 24 hours, raising tally of such tests to 603,604.

The National Guard Under-secretary, Lieutenant General Hashim Al-Rifai, on Thursday honored Guard’s retirees who have volunteered and have given much needed hand in the efforts against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The undersecretary, in a state-ment, expressed gratitude to the volunteering retirees for mani-festing true meaning of patrio-tism and sacrifices for the home-land, backing up the National Guard personnel during the CO-VID-19 crisis.

Their initiative has been deep-ly applauded by His Highness Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah, the National Guard Chief, his deputy Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ah-mad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, as well as ordinary citizens who have seen these good-will efforts on part of the experienced former personnel.

16 stores shut downKuwait Municipality shut

down 16 commercial stores in the Governorate of Al-Jahraa in July due to non-observance by standard precautions against the novel coronavirus.

The director of the municipal-ity branch in Al-Jahraa, Thamer Al-Mutairi, said in a statement on Thursday that inspection teams issued 26 various penalities and addressed 3,881 warnings to stores and restaurants.

Arms embargo needed: Berlin Israelis assaultHezbollah postsJERUSALEM, Aug 27, (AP): Israeli attack helicopters struck observation posts of the militant Hezbollah group along the Lebanon border overnight after shots were fired at Israeli troops operating in the area, the military has said.

Israel has been bracing for a possible attack by the Iran-backed Lebanese militants since an Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah fighter in neighboring Syria on July 20. Israeli troops have also traded fire in recent weeks with the Pales-tinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

The military said no Israeli forces were wounded, and there were no reports of casualties in Lebanon. Earlier, Is-raeli troops fired flares and smoke shells along the heavily guarded border. Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV reported that two homes were damaged by the shelling.

The military also ordered civilians in nearby communi-ties to shelter in place and blocked roads near the border. Those restrictions were lifted early Wednesday. The inci-dent took place near the northern Israeli town of Manara.

Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate for the killing of its fighters. On July 27, the Israeli military said it had thwart-ed an infiltration attempt by Hezbollah in a battle that raged for more than an hour. Neither side reported any casualties and Hezbollah denied involvement.

“Israel views with utmost gravity the shooting at our forces by Hezbollah,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benja-min Netanyahu, who held consultations overnight with senior officials.

“I suggest that Hezbollah not try the crushing force of Israel. Hezbollah is once again endangering Lebanon with its aggression.”

A Hezbollah spokesman declined to comment.Another member of the group, who spoke to The As-

sociated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said no Hezbollah posi-tions were hit. He said shrapnel hit a structure belonging to Green Without Borders, an environmental NGO that Israel says is an arm of Hezbollah, allegations denied by the militants.

The Hezbollah member would neither confirm nor deny that an attack had been launched from Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Higher Defense Council, the country’s top defense body, said it would file a complaint to the UN Se-curity Council “over Israel’s aggressions on Lebanon last night.”

Tensions have also risen between Israel and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip. Hamas has orchestrated a wave of incendiary balloons and rocket attacks in recent weeks as it presses Israel to ease a blockade imposed on the group after it seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.

Israel has responded with a wave of airstrikes and closed Gaza’s only commercial crossing, forcing the terri-tory’s sole power plant to shut down last week and leaving most of the territory’s 2 million residents with just four hours of electricity a day.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and several skirmishes over the last 13 years. Israel and Western coun-tries consider both Hezbollah and Hamas to be terrorist groups.

“We will continue to work to restore complete quiet to our southern region,” Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said. “In the north, we will not allow (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah, who tried to harm our country but met with an alert and prepared army, we will not let him harm our soldiers or our country.”

Iran grants accessto 2 suspect N-sitesBERLIN, Aug 27, (AP): Iran has agreed to allow inspectors into two sites where the country is suspected of having stored or used undeclared nuclear mate-rial, the UN atomic watchdog agency has said.

The International Atomic En-ergy Agency said Iran was “vol-untarily providing the IAEA with access to the two locations speci-fied by the IAEA and facilitating the IAEA verification activities to resolve the issues.”

It said in a joint statement with Iran that the dates for the inspec-tions had been agreed, but did not elaborate. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi wouldn’t name the dates after returning to Vienna on Wednesday eve-ning, but said they will take place “very, very soon.” He called the outcome “very important” for peace and security.

The inspections would resolve a months-long impasse between Iran and the IAEA. Grossi’s visit to Tehran this week was his first since taking over as the agency’s leader in December.

“Iran must fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” said a United Kingdom spokesperson, who by tradition is not named. “We welcome Iran’s commitment to grant access to the agency and fully support the IAEA and its safeguards mandate, which is an essential part of the non-prolifer-ation system.”

Iran had been resisting pro-viding access to the sites, which are thought to be from the early 2000s, before it signed the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, maintaining the IAEA had no le-gal basis to visit them.

The head of Iran’s nuclear agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, con-firmed that Iran had agreed to the inspections, saying “this will bring the case to an end.”

“We are loyal to conventions and our commitments,” he said, adding that he hoped the agree-ment would open a new chap-ter between Iran and the IAEA based upon “good intentions and mutual acceptance.”

Iranian President Hassan Rou-

hani, who on Wednesday met with the IAEA chief, said Gros-si’s visit had produced a “good agreement that can help for mov-ing on a correct and proper path and achieve the final resolution of problems.”

As the US and others continue to put more pressure on Iran, Rouhani urged the IAEA to con-tinue its “independence, impar-tiality and professionalism.”

Grossi told IAEA board mem-bers in March that it had “identi-fied a number of questions relat-ed to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related ac-tivities at three locations that have not been declared by Iran” and had been pressing for access.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas agreed with his Israeli counterpart Thursday that an effort must be made to extend a weapon embargo on Iran, while stressing Germany still sees the landmark 2015 deal between Tehran and world pow-ers as the best way to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

With a current UN arms em-bargo on Iran due to expire on Oct 18, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi told reporters in Berlin an extension was needed to prevent Iran from getting “more advanced weapons sys-tems and spreading them around the Middle East.”

“We would like to see the Eu-ropean countries, not just Germa-ny, preventing it,” he said. “It’s not helpful for the stability of the region.”

Ashkenazi was in Berlin to attend a two-day meeting of Eu-ropean foreign ministers at the invitation of Germany, which holds the European Union’s ro-tating presidency.

The United States wants a full extension of the embargo on Iran, which would almost certainly be vetoed by Russia and China in the UN Security Council, Maas said.

Germany and others are cur-rently trying to find some middle ground that would meet with Russian and Chinese approval – and not be vetoed by the US in the Security Council.

Only costs $5

WASHINGTON, Aug 27, (AP): The Food and Drug Administra-tion has authorized the first rapid coronavirus test that doesn’t need any special computer equipment to get results.

The 15-minute test from Ab-bott Laboratories will sell for $5, giving it a competitive edge over similar tests that need to be popped into a small machine. The size of a credit card, the self-contained test is based on the same technology used to test for the flu, strep throat and other in-fections.

It’s the latest cheaper, simpler test to hit the US market, provid-ing new options to expand testing as schools and businesses strug-gle to reopen and flu season ap-proaches. The FDA also recently greenlighted a saliva test from Yale University that bypasses some of the supplies that have led to testing bottlenecks.

Both tests have limitations and neither can be done at home. Several companies are develop-ing rapid, at-home tests, but none have yet won approval. Abbott’s new test still requires a nasal swab by a health work-er, like most older coronavirus tests. The Yale saliva test elimi-nates the need for a swab, but can only be run at high-grade laboratories.

And in general, rapid tests like Abbott’s are less accurate than lab-developed tests. The FDA said in a statement announcing the decision that negative results with Abbott’s test may need to be confirmed with a lab test in some cases. The agency granted Abbott’s test an emergency use authorization late Wednesday for patients with suspected CO-VID-19.

The two additions should help expand the number of available tests. The US is now testing about 690,000 people per day, down from a peak of 850,000 daily tests late last month. Many public health experts believe the country will soon need to test vastly more people to find those who are infected, isolate them and contain the virus.

The FDA noted that Abbott’s test could be used in a doc-tor’s office, emergency room or some schools. “Given the simple nature of this test, it is likely that these tests could be made broadly available,” the FDA said.

Since the start of the pan-demic, nasal swab tests that are sent to a lab have been the stan-dard for COVID-19 screening. While considered highly ac-curate, the tests rely on expen-sive, specialized machines and chemicals. Shortages of those supplies have led to repeated delays in reporting results, es-pecially during a spike in cases last month.

Government and health ex-perts view rapid tests that can be run outside the laboratory system as key to boosting capacity.

“Those screening tests are what we need in schools, work-places and nursing homes in order to catch asymptomatic spreaders,” said Dr Jonathan Quick of the Rockefeller Foun-dation, in an interview earlier this month. The nonprofit group has called for the US to conduct about 4 millions per day by Oc-tober, mostly rapid, point-of-care tests.

Abbott’s BinaxNOW is the fourth rapid test that detects CO-VID-19 antigens, proteins found on the surface of the coronavi-rus, rather than the virus itself. It’s considered a faster, though sometimes less precise, screen-ing method. The other tests need to be inserted into a small ma-chine.

Newswatch

KUWAIT CITY: The Public Pros-ecution has issued a statement to announce that the Attorney Gen-eral Dherar Al-Asousi ordered an investigation into Case No. 1942/2020 fi led against an Iranian national who is accused of bribery and money laundering, reports Al-Anba daily.

According to the statement, this order was issued based on indica-tions from the investigations about the accused being cooperative, and the order will apply on every infor-mation media including the social media.

It stressed that the circulation of information regarding the case un-dermines the public and national interest, as well as the interest of the investigation, and it would also harm the reputation of the Kuwaiti judiciary, which is known for its integrity.

The statement affi rmed that the accused is innocent until proven guilty after a fair trial that guaran-tees him and his defense.

It clarifi ed that the media gag on the case is aimed to make sure the names of some judges and advisors are not revealed before their status is proven in this regard.

The statement explained that the order was issued in implementa-tion of article 75 paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedures and Trials, as amended by Law No. 3/2012, to make the investiga-tion confi dential in this case and to ban the spread of any news or data about it.

Legal measures will be taken against anyone who intends to vio-late the publication gag in this case.

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KUWAIT CITY: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received a tel-ephone call on Wednesday from the former Lebanese prime minister Saad Al-Hariri, inquiring about health of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Al-Hariri expressed wish for quick recovery and lasting health for His Highness the Amir during the phone contact with His High-ness the Deputy Amir.

Reciprocating, His Highness the Deputy Amir expressed heartfelt appreciation and admiration for Al-Hariri’s gracious and sincere senti-ments. (KUNA)

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KUWAIT CITY: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah conveyed, in a cable Thursday, greetings of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and himself to Moldova Presi-dent Igor Dodon on his country’s national day, wishing him good health and for the Republic further progress and prosperity.

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent a similar cable. (KUNA)

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KUWAIT CITY: His Highness the Deputy Amir and Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent a cable of condolences to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on victims of the fl ash fl oods in northern Kabul.

He prayed for mercy for the de-ceased, wished the injured quick re-covery and hoped the leaders of the nation will succeed in coping with this natural catastrophe.

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah addressed a cable of identical content to the Afghan president. (KUNA)

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KUWAIT CITY: King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain stressed the importance of intensifying ef-forts to end the Palestinian-Israeli confl ict.

The monarch made the call for addressing the issue on the ba-sis of the two-state solution that achieves a comprehensive peace and leads to the establishment a Palestinian state with East Jeru-salem as its capital, in accordance with the international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

This came during a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the presence of Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Pompeo is in Bahrain as part of a tour to several countries in the re-gion, according to the offi cial Bah-raini News Agency (BNA).

BNA also stated that both sides discussed the latest developments in the region and the initiatives and efforts to achieve stability and peace as well as regional and inter-national developments.

Furthermore, Secretary Pompeo expressed his gratitude to King Hamad for the gracious welcome and stressed the depth of the distin-guished and historic friendship and cooperation between the two coun-tries. (KUNA)

LOCALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

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Photo by Bassam Abu ShanabHeavy traffic flow on the Fifth Ring Road (opposite IKEA) going towards Shuwaikh.

KUNA photoSheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Mohammad receives the credentials of newly-appointed

Omani ambassador.

KUNA photo Khaled Al-Jarallah receives the Libyan ambassador.

FM receives credentials of Omani envoy

Deputy FM hosts Libyan envoy

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister and acting De-fense Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Mohammad Al-Sabah received on Thursday the credentials of Dr Saleh bin Amer Al-Kharousi as Oman’s Ambassa-dor to the country.

The minister wished the new ambas-sador success in performing his duties

and for brotherly relations between Ku-wait and Oman to be boosted further.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah, Assistant Foreign Minister for Protocol Affairs Ambassador Dhari Al-Ajran and Deputy Assistant Foreign Min-ister for the Minister’s Office Ahmad Al-Shuraim attended the meeting. (KUNA)

Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah met on Thursday with the Lib-yan Ambassador to the State of Kuwait Suleiman Al-Sahli.

The deputy foreign minister affirmed during the meeting the State of Kuwait support for the cease-fire agreement

and expressed hope the truce would be observed pending a final settlement to the conflict.

The meeting was attended by the as-sistant foreign minister for the bureau affairs of the deputy foreign minister, Ambassador Ayham Al-Omar. (KUNA)

PAHW chief listens to people’s demand

Group of residents protest overdelay in ‘House of Life’ projectKUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: A group of resi-dents of the South Abdullah Al-Mubarak Housing Project organized a demonstra-tion recently in front of the headquarters of the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW), reports Al-Qabas daily.

The demonstration included a signature collection campaign to demand a date for the completion of the project, stressing that the “House of Life” has entered the corri-dors of stumbling and delaying without jus-tifi cation.

The representative of the Residents As-sociation Khaled Al-Daihani said the South Abdullah Al-Mubarak Project suffers from procrastination and delay in its implemen-tation, which has in turn messed up the project’s schedule and the timeline for its completion.

He revealed that PAHW Director Gen-eral Eng. Bader Al-Waqyan received them in his offi ce to listen to their demands, and he assured them that the project would be received next month in a complete and un-broken manner.

Al-Daihani said, “Every time the authori-ty allows an extension of time for the project contractor without taking into consideration the social and family conditions of the peo-

ple in this region especially in light of the high rents that have exhausted the citizens”.

He indicated that the project serves about 3,200 citizens, and it was supposed to be completed and construction orders were supposed to be distributed in March.

Al-Daihani stated that the people of the area organized a protest and a signature campaign to demand an offi cial announce-ment specifying the end date of the project without extending the time for the contrac-tor, and avoiding linking the delivery of the project to other housing projects, while knowing the dates for the delivery of build-ing order certifi cates.

He said, “The demands also included reduc-ing the value of the land to KD 3,000, similar to Al-Mutlaa Housing Project, due to an increase in number of engineering offi ces and contract-ing companies”, stressing that the people are waiting for the completion of this project at the earliest possible time.

In conclusion, Al-Daihani revealed that MP Sa’ad Al-Khanfour was present among the citizens in front of the PAHW headquar-ters, adding that he listened to the people’s demands and promised to discuss the matter with the offi cials and provide them with all facilities.

‘Govt incompetence exposed starkly over the last two days’

‘Rescue government’ needed: Progressive Movement

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: The Kuwaiti Pro-gressive Movement stated that govern-ment’s confusion and incompetence have been exposed in a bla-tant manner over the past two days, and what is needed now is a “res-cue government” that can stop deterioration of the general situation in the country, reports Al-Rai daily.

The movement in a state-ment said, “Day after day, the truth about the current government’s inability to deal with the tasks of run-ning the state is revealed, but what happened in the last two days of blatant con-fusion and conflicting deci-sions clearly means that this government lacks the mini-mum level of political com-petence.”

ConfusionStatement added that evidence

of confusion and political in-competence is sufficient for us. “What was raised about the re-quest of the Minister of Finance to resign, then retracting after the news went viral; the minister of interior’s decision to refer an officer to retirement upon his re-ferral to the Public Prosecution - in contradiction with Article 103 of the Police Force Law, then announcing the withdrawal of decision after strongly criticiz-ing the minister who is respon-sible for the safety of Cabinet decisions - in his capacity as a minister of state as well.”

The movement stressed that government’s confusion and incompetence of its political administration in internal af-fairs is an additional evidence of its inability to manage state affairs or address the major problems and imbalances the country complains of; most importantly, the issue of state general budget deficit, serious handling of corruption files, and treating defects in the de-mographics. The Parliament in its current structure is part of the problem and not part of the solution, it lamented.

The movement concluded, “Our Kuwaiti Progressive Movement has already made it clear more than once that Ku-wait today needs more than ever to form a rescue government that includes statesmen to be able to put an end to the general state of deterioration; to respond in ac-tion, and not by mere saying; to overcome the power of corrup-tion forces and take the initia-tive to correct the course before it’s too late. As for the current government, it is even unable to serve as a mere disposal govern-ment for urgent matters.”

Photo by Rizk TaufiqShiite Muslims seen inside the Husseiniya.

Writers, free speech activists welcome move

Kuwait relaxes book censorship laws, afterbanning thousands of titles in last 7 yearsKUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: After banning almost 5,000 books in the last seven years, Kuwait’s govern-ment has relaxed its book censor-ship laws in a move that has been welcomed by writers and free speech activists, reports Annahar daily quoting https://www.the-guardian.com

Kuwaiti state media reported that the country’s parliament had voted 40 to nine in favor of lifting the Ministry of Information’s con-trol over books imported into the country. Previously, the ministry had blacklisted more than 4,000 books since 2014, with titles in-cluding Victor Hugo’s The Hunch-back of Notre Dame and One Hun-dred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez falling foul of its censorship committee.

All books published in the coun-try had to receive prior approval from a 12-member committee that met twice a month before they could be released, with offences ranging from insulting Islam to “inciting unrest” and committing “immoral” acts.

The new rules mean importers and publishers will only have to provide the Ministry of Informa-tion with book titles and author names, with the importer alone bearing responsibility for the book’s contents. According to the National, only an offi cial com-plaint from the public will spark legal action against a book, with a ban only to be implemented by the courts, rather than the Ministry of Information.

The International Publishers As-sociation said the ruling put “an end to the mandate of the Kuwaiti book censorship committee”.

“Congratulations to those in Kuwait who have successfully encouraged this change in favor of the freedom to publish,” said the chair of the IPA’s freedom to publish committee, Kristenn Ein-arsson. “This is an important step

forward and I hope that more posi-tive changes will follow.”

Kuwaiti-American author Layla Al-Ammar told the Guardian that the change was “a major and posi-tive step in the right direction”.

“Abolishing the committee is a major accomplishment that is wor-thy of celebration, and the credit for it rightly goes to writers and activists like Bothayna al-Essa and Abdullah al-Khonaini, who lob-bied tirelessly for this cause,” she said.

Al-Ammar said that, in the near-ly 15 years that the committee was in place, almost 5,000 books were banned in a “largely arbitrary fash-ion” and that the law had “throttled an already fl edgling publishing in-dustry and market where piracy is rampant”.

Campaigners have both wel-comed the news and shared reser-vations. “The Ministry of Informa-tion is no longer the judge when it comes to books and I believe this is a most important achievement,”

Essa told Gulf News. “We will continue to work towards achiev-ing greater freedoms.”

But Khonaini said: “The free-dom of expression is already re-stricted in Kuwait on multiple levels. This law doesn’t fi x it. The amendment shifts the power of censorship away from the execu-tive branch to the judicial branch. We still need to work on the pro-hibition section in the law, which needs a stronger political lobby and mature political and societal awareness.”

Al-Ammar pointed to the case of International prize for Arabic fi c-tion winner Saud al-Sanousi, who went to court to get a ban on his book annulled.

“It remains unclear what the fate of the banned books is: does the ban automatically lift? Must they pass through some other authoriz-ing committee or bureaucratic pro-cedure before their sale is allowed? None of this has been addressed,” she said.

‘Call embassy in case of any help’

AMMAN, Aug 27, (KUNA): Kuwaiti Ambassador to Jor-dan Aziz Al-Daihani on Thursday called on Kuwaiti citizens in Jordan to abide by the total lockdown imposed by the government on the capital Amman and Az-Zarqa gover-norate starting Friday, to fi ght the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement to KUNA, Al-Daihani noted the impor-tance of following the instruc-tions and rules set by the Jor-danian government during the lockdown, which will start at

11:00 pm today for 24 hours.He advised Kuwaitis to

call the embassy in case they needed help on:

+96265675135,+96265675136,+96265675137Or hotline: +962793202020.Yesterday, Jordan an-

nounced the 24-hour lock-down due to the unprecedent-ed increase in coronavirus infections within the last two weeks. It also extended the curfew hours around the coun-try from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am.

Kuwait Embassy in Jordan calls on citizens to abide by lockdown

LOCALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

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A DIGEST OF PUBLIC OPINION

DIWANIYA‘Give due punishment to corrupt’

‘Reform security apparatus’“SOME time ago, I had penned an article and in the in-troduction I had said, ‘if there is a country in this world which can be reformed by just pressing a button, then this country is the State of Kuwait,” columnist Saud Al-Samaka wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“However, I base my opinion on the following points – the volume of the geographical area of the State of Kuwait, which seems to be modest exceeding 17,818 square kilometer; the population of the country includ-ing the expatriates does not exceed three million; the country enjoys financial abun-dance; it’s infrastructure, has been already completed its legitimacy is based on adamant historical base, and that it is fortified by a consti-tutional system that based on the intact democratic principles.

“It is needless to say that all of the pillars actually constitute an ideal crucible for reforms, par-ticularly since we know that the founding fathers of the state had founded the modern state on the same pillars – the emirate that lacked simple elements of the modern state, but these founding fathers, had rapidly managed to transform the country into the ‘Bride of the Gulf’ in terms of its institutional structure, political system, buildings style and its financial and administrative and the civil and the military institutions.

“Your Highness, Prime Minister, today the State of Kuwait lives in a state that has turned its back on the evolution… it is a state of recess that has befallen the most dangerous aspect, namely the security.

“Your Highness, Prime Minister, we like to point out here that today the security is no longer like that of the past – the security of security, safety and assurance.

“In other words, the security sector of today which was supposed to protect the sanctities of the nation is threatening to stab the nation. This security, the respon-sibility of which was once shouldered by honest and honorable men, represents today a means to spy and eavesdrop on others and expose their secrets. This is done in broad daylight in full view of the security sys-tem.

“In this connection, we say all security apparatuses have failed to detect the crimes of corruption which are surprisingly detected by the ordinary people and pub-lished in detail in the social media. This happens while the security apparatuses are busy with something that has nothing to do with the security.

“Given the above, Your Highness, we suggest if you have field plans for reform, then you have to start fore-most with reforming of the security apparatus, because it no longer is the security of the constitutional state of modern laws but a police dictatorial state and this is the incurable sickness, because constitutional legitimacy of the same is at risk we say Your Highness you are aware of this, that what is happening is definitely against our constitutional and democratic morals on which the State of Kuwait is built.”

Also:“One crisis begets another … one scandal leads to

many other scandals … this is the state of Kuwait these days,” columnist and former MP Mubarak Fahd Al-Du-wailah wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“After the futile interrogations that were submitted against the Minister of Finance and wasted the time of the National Assembly, social media outlets gave us ev-ery day a new story that revealed an ugly face of some of what is happening in Kuwait.

“However, based on our commitment to the directives of His Highness the Deputy Amir, who requested not to go into some of these matters, we will focus on the causes of these phenomena and crises without going into their details.

“It was noticed that some members of the family had a starring role in a number of these crises, and perhaps the feeling of some that they are above the law encour-aged them to persist in playing this role, and had it not been for Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad who exposed the corruption of some of them, they would continue to play this role without deterrence.

“The weakness of the National Assembly in exercis-ing its oversight role encouraged some people to persist in their behavior, thinking that they are outside the rule of law and its umbrella. Years passed, with the selection of senior officials in ministries according to mediation (wasta) and the exchange of interests, until an admin-istrative apparatus administrative apparatus where the reform and the development of the ministerial job, was at the bottom of its priorities and this has resulted in the official at the relevant ministry to pay the price of his position throughout the years of his job and this has re-sulted in rampant corruption in various ministries and institutions.

“Today, recent leaks have proven that the most im-portant security apparatus in the country is infiltrated, and this in itself confirms that corruption has reached the bone, and instead of looking to fix the situation, our focus is on searching for who caused this scandal and spreading it among the people.

“Here lies the flaw. People are losing their confidence in reform in the government, in the National Assembly, and in the most colorful press that writes and publishes according to its interests and not according to the prin-ciple.

“Not just that, the people witness the appearance of a

crisis in the morning and another one in the evening. In other words, they witness many scandals, and bad blood between some members of the same family, but what we notice very well is that the power centers have begun to change and some have spilled the beans while others have begun to shift loyalty.

“Given the above, we wonder, when we will see a new dawn. I think that supporting the reformist trends of the current prime minister is the beginning of reform, and applying the law to the strong before the weak, and the rich before the poor, is the biggest indication of the seriousness of change for the better, and a reason to gain the support and sympathy of the people with his author-ity, and since we are on the verge of new elections, there is no doubt that good selection of MPs and legislators will be another measure of success.”

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“The Lebanese people woke up a few days ago to the tragedy of the Beirut port explosion, leaving a large number of casualties that exceeded 150 deaths and more than 6,000 injured people”, Khaled Al-Arafah wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“The tragedy was not limited to Lebanese, but in-cluded all countries of the world. The world became overwhelmed with grief and immediately mobilized re-sources to lend a hand to the brotherly Arab people as a matter of urgency.

“Kuwait, as usual, was one of the first countries to launch its air bridge under the sublime directives of the Deputy Amir His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad, may God protect him, through the Air Force planes that loaded medical, food and humani-tarian supplies to the brothers in Lebanon and supported them with all urgent needs within the first hours of the accident.

“Kuwait Red Crescent Society also sent a support aircraft for the brothers estimated at about 36 tons of medicines, medical devices, wheelchairs, baby milk, blood bags and mobile clinics in the suburbs of Beirut to serve the injured and sick in those areas. In addition, the society launched a campaign to collect cash dona-tions for special needs and medicines. Ministry of Com-merce had immediately implemented the directives of His Highness to send food commodities of all kinds to the Lebanese people.

“The Kuwaiti charitable organizations had also called for a race to support the Lebanese people and extended a helping hand to them in the crisis that left people dead and wounded amid the destruction of property. The charitable organisations are also to coordinate a dona-tion campaign in support of Lebanese people.

“This is not strange to the country of humanity represented by our wise leadership, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad (may God protect him to maintain good health and wellness) with his deputy- His Highness the Crown Prince, and the hon-orable and great people of Kuwait, as we always find joy in our leader who extends a hand of support the needy and affected people in various countries of the world.

“Great Lebanon will return its men, youth and daugh-ters to the best of what it was in the past, with their solidarity to move the country forward by overcoming their ordeal with the support of brothers and friends. As a Kuwaiti, I cannot forget the great Arab role and posi-tion Lebanon took during the brutal Iraqi invasion of our country in supporting and aligning with Kuwait and de-manding the withdrawal of Iraq from Kuwait to restore Kuwaiti rights to its people.

“We are sure that every crisis in Lebanon makes them strong and resilient, regardless of the many adversities. Volunteers-both male and female, went to the field in the affected areas to remove the rubble and scattered glass panels resulting from the explosion, and worked to clean up the areas while extending a hand to the families that lost their homes. Lebanese are always united in the face of crises and tribulations”.

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“The haunting and frightening events gripping the corners of the country came after an earlier stage, the heroes of which planned to silence the right of people to speak! They established a miserable period that in-cluded the history of Kuwait under the name of Prison of Tweeters! This came after we were a country where there is no prisoner of the word,” columnist Muddafar Abdullah wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“They separated the scandalous laws and approved them at Abdullah Al-Salem Hall. They laundered the people’s money. They used their jobs and powers for fraud, extortion and breach of trust until swearing an oath and swearing in God became the value of a pencil!

“Time is running out for reform as well as the eradica-tion of corruption and the corrupt. Yes, there is no time. Oil prices are declining, making the value of this re-source modest, while public administration is impotent with the element of indecision (hesitation) and courtesy still prevails.

“Street anger is on the rise, despair is rampant among the public, and petty conflicts ruin the government and parliament dialogues, so that the issue of book censor-ship has become a subject of light-hearted controversy, such as whether it should be done earlier or later.

“This is happening in light of a latent threat to Kuwait as a result of its principled stances on the Palestinian is-sue. What is the ‘theater’ of this regret?”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb

Al-Samaka

Collapse of air transportationseen if quarantine continues

Public refrain from travel: official

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Former member of the Arab Air Transportation Committee (ITF) Yasser Jumah Al-Hai warned in a statement against the continuation of the 14-day home quarantine condi-tion for travelers, as it will lead to an economic disaster and collapse of the air transportation sector, reports Al-Anba daily.

He indicated that the wheel of the Kuwaiti economy is almost para-lyzed due to the absence of a major component of its recovery.

Al-Hai stressed that it is unacceptable to request a PCR test, and then undergo another test inside Kuwait and impose a 14-day quar-antine, as this procedure has led many to refrain from traveling, and disrupts in-terests.

He elaborated further by saying this procedure dis-rupts the work of the em-ployees in both the public and private sectors, and in turn disrupts the interests of their clients because the employees are under quar-antine and obligated to sit at home. It is assumed that the PCR test will be accepted and re-conducted after a week to ensure the result without the need for strict measures that are pointless.

Al-Hai highlighted that Kuwait has banned more than 30 countries including those with large number of workers in the country, add-ing that, “In the event of the continuation of the ban, the series of losses will contin-ue and we will not be able to predict what will happen if things get out of control as we may not be able to con-trol the situation then”.

He concluded by insisting that the government should review procedures, ensure a PCR test can be conducted at the airport, ease the re-strictions, and revitalize the transportation sector.

MPW directs offi cials to ‘Kuwaitize’contracts and advisory agreementsKUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Minister of Public Works and the State Minister for Housing Affairs Dr Rana Al-Faris announced that she received a report of the committee in charge of prepar-ing the program to support the national personnel in contracts and advisory agreements concluded by its affiliates, and that she has issued directives to implement the committee’s recommen-dations no later than September, reports Al-Qabas daily.

Minister Al-Faris in a statement af-ter receiving the report indicated that the committee had submitted a set of recommendations related to the Ku-waitization of contracts and advisory agreements concluded by the Ministry of Public Works, Public Authority for Housing Welfare, and the Public Au-thority for Roads and Land Transport, in a manner aimed at implementing the Kuwaitization process; thus creating

more job opportunities for the national cadre.

She said: “The committee’s report dealt with the Kuwaitization regula-tion, listing new and existing projects, in addition to the Kuwaitization clause in new contracts, forming a permanent team for appointment and follow-up, and linking the process with the Infor-mation Center Management to work on the mechanism of announcing the pro-gram’s application via the ministry’s website.”

She explained the recommendations of the committee of academics and spe-cialists, reviewed the opportunities and possibilities available to the national cadres to be placed within the priorities and requirements related to the crite-ria for signing contracts and advisory agreements so as to achieve a compre-hensive Kuwaitization process in this aspect.

KUNA photoMinister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah received a copy of the credentials of

the Ambassador of Bangladesh Major General or papers M.D. Ashiq uz Zaman.

MoH move wins praise

‘Be fair in compensating frontliners’KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Vice-President of the Workers Union at the Ministry of Health, Muhammad Mahya Al-Azmi, has praised tthe Ministry of Health for clas-sifying its employees who participated in fighting the corona pandemic in ‘high risk’ and others less risk and called on the Civil Service Commission to approve the minis-try’s classification when it comes to paying incentives to the eligible employees accord-ingly, reports Al-Rai daily

In a press statement, Al-Azmi demanded fairness when paying all administrative em-

ployees working in the Ministry of Health – particularly those who put their life on line to fight the pandemic. He stressed their role is no less than the role played by others in similar sit-uations by personnel of other professions who worked on the front lines, saying they need to be encouraged and motivated.

He noted the administrators working in the Ministry of Health are entitled to a num-ber of allowances, including the ‘infection’ and ‘risk’ allowance due to the nature of their work that exposed them to infection and risk transmission.

Four doctorsunder probeKUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Four doctors at Jaber Al-Ali Health Center were referred for investigation after a citizen complained that his daughter did not receive the nec-essary health care at the center when she suffered from short-ness of breath, reports Al-Qabas daily quot-ing informed sources from the Ministry of Health.

Sources revealed the girl visited Jaber Al-Ali Center four days in a row as she suffered from short-ness of breath after eating some nuts. Sources said the four doctors failed to give proper diagnosis or conduct more tests as they only adminis-tered an antibiotic.

Kuwait lifts ban onMalaysian poultryKUWAIT CITY, Aug 27, (KUNA): Kuwait has lifted a ban on imports of birds’ meat and eggs from Malaysia.

The decision came upon a recommendation present-ed by the higher authority for food and nutrition on Wednesday.

Adel Al-Suwait, the secre-tary of the supreme committee for food safety at the authority, said in a statement to KUNA the commission made the recommendation at a meeting to lift the ban on the importa-tion of all fresh and frozen birds’ meat, eggs and poultry products from the Kingdom of Malaysia after it was pro-claimed clear of the bird flu disease. Al-Suwait added that the commission also advised for lifting the ban on imports of poultry from Pakistan which was also declared clear of the same disease.

KUNA photoFire-fighters fighting the blaze, which broke out in the car accessories and spare-

parts shops in Mirqab, Kuwait City.

LOCAL/GULFARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

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Ministry addresses CSC and Cabinet

Consider all frontline employees for reward: MoHKUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Ministry of Health has addressed the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to consider all employees of the ministry who par-ticipated in confronting the COVID-19 pandemic since its inception, in all fa-

cilities affi liated to the ministry as well as those supervised by the ministry, among the fi rst “high-risk” category as they are all on the frontlines and are at risk of contracting the virus, reports Al-Rai daily.

The ministry also addressed the Council of Ministers to determine the mechanism and requirements for the reward in order to prepare the lists of employees who are eligible for rewards and medals.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health announced that 698 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Wednesday, bringing the total num-ber of cases to 82,271, and two death cases were recorded, raising the to-

tal to 521. In addition, 504 recovery cases were reported, bringing the total of those recovering to 73,906.

In a statement, the Offi cial Spokesman of the Ministry of Health Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad renewed the

call for all citizens and residents to continue adopting all means of pre-vention, avoid close contact with others, and remain keen about im-plementing the strategy of physical distancing.

Bridi water station

Reused water to be distributed

Qatra & EPAA launch water stationin Sharjah’s Al-Bridi nature reserveSHARJAH, United Arab Emirates, Aug 27: Qatra Water Solutions, a Public Private Partnership between Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) and BESIX Group, in collaboration with Envi-ronment and Protected Areas Author-ity (EPAA), has launched a water filling station for distributing reused water in Al Dhaid, Bridi area, in the Emirate of Sharjah.

Located next to the farms, the Bridi Water Station has 2 filling points that can fill tankers of 5,000 UKG in less than 20 minutes. The facility will be open for service for 6 days a week and will serve any customers driving in.

In line with Qatra’s initiative of sustainable reuse of wastewater treat-ment, Mohamed Obaid Al Nuaimi, Deputy General Managerat Qatra said, “It is a proud moment for Qatra to be launching water station’s like these to encourage sustainable water reuse. This launch is a testament to our efforts of trying to achieve a com-mercial realization of Sharjah’s sus-tainability plan. We look forward to further enhancing our efforts towards water recycle, reuse and conserva-tion.”

HE Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, Chairper-son of EPAA said, “We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to partner with Qatra Water Solutions for this launch. At EPAA, we are ex-tremely vocal about adopting practic-es that help protect and safeguard our environment. Effective management of water resources is crucial for envi-

ronmentally sustainable development and can help combat any impending water crisis efficiently. By installing this station, water can be strategically reused for commercial and industrial purposes, without having to rely on other sources.”

Today, land owners rely on water from bore wells, however overtime, the availability of ground water has become scarce along with decreasing quality. Bridi Water Station will pro-pose high quality water suitable for landscaping and irrigation, aiming to bring a solution to protecting the de-pleting underground aquifer and find-ing a sustainable alternative to water consumption.

In 2018, His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Su-preme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, issued Emiri Decree to estab-lish ‘Al Bridi Nature Reserve’ in Shar-jah. The decree stipulates the prohibi-tion of the acts, actions and activities that would damage or deteriorate the ecosystem and cause wildlife or mari-time damages.

This wildlife protected area’s envi-ronmental importance lies in the high density of Acacia trees that have ex-ceptional environmental importance, due to its unique characteristics and nutritional value for the wildlife in the region. It is also a home for the Avicennia tree, whose flowers pro-duce a nectar considered to be a good source of food for bees producing the local honey. Moreover, part of the protected area is being developed to a natural park.

Accountability is key for human rights violations during peaceful protests: UNBAGHDAD/GENEVA, Aug 27: De-spite promising steps by the current government of Iraq concerning human rights violations and abuses committed in the context of recent demonstrations, accountability remains elusive, accord-ing to a UN report released on Thurs-day.

The report details actions and omis-sions in handling the massive protests that took place between October 2019 and April 2020, highlights the human rights violations and abuses, calls for immediate action to achieve justice, recommends protection measures for demonstrators and urges redress for victims.

“Of great concern is the continued targeting and killing of activists and hu-man rights defenders. This is not ran-dom violence but a deliberate silencing of peaceful voices, coupled with the total impunity enjoyed by perpetra-tors,” said the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. “Without accountability, the crimes committed will remain mere statistics, numbers on a page. This report sheds light on the suffering, and provides con-crete recommendations to help rebuild public trust”, she added.

The Human Rights Offi ce of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) based its report on more than 900 inter-views with victims and their relatives, witnesses, journalists, and civic and political activists. It documents that at

least 487 people were killed and 7,715 injured during the protests, a majority of them young men.

The report highlights a pattern of un-necessary and excessive force, includ-ing live ammunition, when dealing with protesters.

Another worrying development were attacks by so-called unidentifi ed armed actors as well as abductions.

Approximately 3,000 demonstra-tors were detained, adding concerns about arbitrary detentions and ill-treatment.

The right to freedom of expression was also severely curtailed, with fre-quent Internet blackouts, news outlets raided, journalists assaulted, harassed and arbitrarily detained, their material confi scated or deleted.

“People were killed, injured, tor-tured and mistreated, kidnapped, disappeared, arbitrarily detained, for exercising their rights to peaceful as-sembly and freedom of expression. This is unacceptable. Everyone has the right to peacefully demonstrate and to publicly express their frustra-tion at not being able to provide for themselves and their families,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.

Since taking offi ce in May, the cur-rent government has taken welcome steps to establish an independent inves-tigative body and offer some redress for the victims and their families, but much more needs to be done.

‘Reports about garbage strewnall over give Kuwait bad name’

Need to look into cleaning contracts: Al-Randi

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Member of Environment Af-fairs Committee at Municipality Coun-cil Abdul Salam Al-Randi said it is unfortunate to see garbage thrown all over the place as published by the social media, paint-ing a bad image of Kuwait to the out-side world, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

Given this situation it is necessary to look into the cleaning contracts which the Municipality has signed with clean-ing companies to ensure no garbage is left unat-tended and if necessary the terms and conditions of the contract must be amended concerning the number of cleaning workers, the type of ve-hicles used for garbage collection, the quantity of garbage containers, the locations where they should be placed and en-suring the areas is kept clean 24/7.

The aim is to present bet-ter service. A person who looks at Kuwait from the hygienic point of view sees Kuwait unchanged for the past 40 years in spite of the cleaning contracts being signed for a very high price.

The value of contracts signed with the companies must meet international stan-dards. The Kuwait Munici-pality must ensure all con-tracts are adhered to in word and spirit and the rules and regulations must apply to ev-eryone and the violators must be punished because the dam-age has reached the marine environment.

Al- Randi told the daily, the laws and punishment alone is not enough unless applied strictly to ensure awareness for protection of the environment.

He added the sewage wa-ter which seeps into the sea-water not only damages the environment but pollutes drinking water and fi sh and is the cause of many dis-eases.

The government and the concerned agencies must take serious note and get rid of such phenomenon. Randi said the cause of all this is due to the lack on monitor-ing body.

Top and above: Some photos showing garbage thrown all around the places.

UN chief’s remarks to launch report by task force on digital financing of SDGs

By the UN Secretary General❑ ❑ ❑

NEW YORK, Aug 27: Excellen-cies, distinguished members of the task force on digital fi nancing of the SDGs, ladies and gentlemen –

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained public health systems and disrupted national and local econo-mies. It is already pushing tens of millions of people into extreme pov-erty and exacerbating inequalities of all kinds.

In the midst of this turmoil, digi-tal technology is a critical lifeline, enabling billions of people to main-tain connections with loved ones, buy daily necessities, preserve their livelihoods and receive government assistance.

From mobile payments to crowd-funding, digital technology is already helping to meet development chal-lenges. As we begin the Decade of Ac-tion to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, it can be a critical enabler, kick-starting the transformative changes we need to create stronger, more resilient and in-clusive communities and societies on a healthy planet.

That is the background to my deci-sion in late 2018 to establish a high-level Task Force on Digital Financ-ing of the Sustainable Development Goals.

I asked the Task Force to explore the nexus of digital technology, fi -nance and the SDGs, complementing the work of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation.

I wanted to explore how digi-tal innovation can put more of the $380 trillion in assets managed by the global fi nancial system, and the many trillions channeled through governments, at the service of peo-ple and planet.

The Task Force’s report, People’s Money: Harnessing Digitalization to Finance a Sustainable Future, sets out an ambitious but achievable set of recommendations that could make a major difference in achieving our collective global goals.

I urge everyone to study the rec-ommendations closely and consider how we can take them forward to-gether.

I thank the Task Force members for their insights, energy and invest-ment of time, especially during the pandemic, and express my particular gratitude to Achim Steiner and Ma-ria Ramos for their leadership.

I also thank the Governments of Germany, Italy and Switzerland for their generous support, and the many Member States, institutions and in-dividuals that contributed to the re-port’s fi ndings.

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

The Task Force has set out fi ve catalytic opportunities to move pub-lic and private money into alignment with the SDGs. There is work to be done on all of these.

But what has truly drawn my at-tention is the conclusion that digi-talization will make a difference by giving people greater control over how global fi nance – their own mon-ey – is used.

Whether it is channeled through markets or through state intermedi-aries, global fi nance is accountable to ordinary people. Taxpayers hold governments to account, while sav-ers and investors need to hold fi nan-cial institutions to account.

And people, whether they are taxpayers, savers or investors, care deeply about their families, commu-nities and our planet.

So I fully endorse the Task Force’s vision of citizen-centric fi nance, and its conclusion that the digitalization of fi nance must be inclusive and em-powering so that it becomes a force for good.

Currently, 3.6 billion people worldwide – including a dispropor-tionate number of women – lack the resources and capabilities to take ad-vantage of the digital world.

Addressing this gap will contribute to the economic resilience of com-munities and national economies. It will also address gender inequality by enabling women to have greater power over how they make, spend, save, and control their money.

Today’s report also highlights the importance of institutional ar-rangements to steer digital fi nance into alignment with the SDGs. The continued dislocation between our collective commitment to the SDGs,

and decision-making around public fi nancing, cannot continue.

The Task Force therefore recom-mends strengthening the links be-tween the governance of fi nance, including its transformative digital aspects, and policy goals and citi-zens’ interests.

Much can be done at the local and national level. But international co-operation is needed to make a real difference, and that cooperation can-not be confi ned to yesterday’s clubs of infl uential actors.

Digitalization must democratize the governance of fi nance, in order to democratize fi nance itself. Devel-oping countries need and deserve a much greater role in formulating the policies and decisions that will im-pact their citizens.

Excellencies, dear friends, Thanks to the Task Force, and

to the many others who have taken part in formulating this powerful re-port, we now have an ambitious set of ideas to deliver fi nancing for the Sustainable Development Goals, by shifting the center of gravity of the fi nancial system towards empowered citizens.

Working with Member States, we ourselves will be able to better har-ness digitalization in moving sub-stantive resources to fund our own activities.

Our current initiative on Financ-ing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond is an oppor-tunity to bring the recommendations of the Task Force forward. The re-covery from the current crisis must be driven by investments in digital solutions that support inclusive, green, and sustainable growth.

The options that are being devel-oped under our Financing for Devel-opment initiative must overcome the deepening digital divide, and ensure that digital technologies are a key component of fi nancing for a sus-tainable recovery.

As Secretary General, I am fully committed to supporting the imple-mentation of the recommendations in this report.

I urge the entire United Nations system and its partners to do like-wise.

Thank you.

‘Review delay incompletion ofconst projects’KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Minister of Public Works Dr Rana Al-Fares has been requested to look into the completion schedule of construction projects – most of which are usually delayed for almost four months, while in some in-stances, they are handed over in a manner that can-not be benefited from, re-ports Al-Qabas daily.

The daily quoting reli-able sources said that most of the projects, even those close to completion, have various obstacles prevent-ing their delivery, despite the tens of millions of di-nars spent on them.

They noted about 14 projects, which are cur-rently under implementa-tion by the sector, face delays ranging from 1 to 35 percent. They added some of the projects were supposed to be delivered to beneficiaries years ago, but they remain under imple-mentation in light of the contractors obtaining vari-ous time extensions.

Among the most promi-nent delayed projects is the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Gov-ernorate building, which was supposed to be deliv-ered according to the con-tract on Dec 15, 2016.

LOCALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

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Photo by Mahmoud JadeedOverland truck services ready for delivery of goods to neighbouring countries as authorities announce opening of land borders.

Major security campaigns on cards tonab illegals who disregarded amnesty

‘Instant deportation for those hiding in secret dens’

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Competent authorities in the Ministry of Interior have completed their plan to launch unprecedented security campaigns to ar-rest residency violators who are in hiding and re-fused to take advantage of the amnesty period that was granted by the ministry in April, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting high-ranking sources.

They revealed that the actual numbers of residency violators currently in Kuwait are estimated at about 75,000, who are not able to amend the residency status be-cause they have been in violation for a very long time, unlike about 15,000 other violators who quali-fy to amend their residency status after paying the penalties.

The sources affi rmed that the campaigns will be launched imme-diately after the airport starts oper-ating in its full capacity, so that the violators can be deported as soon they get arrested in a bid to avoid crowding in the police stations, de-tention centers and deportation cent-ers in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

They indicated that the planned campaigns will involve several se-curity sectors, and will depend on new plans and methods that differ completely from the previous cam-paigns.

The sources revealed that the places where a large number of such violators hide are being monitored by the security authorities, and will be raided in a bid to arrest the violators.

They stressed that the amnesty granted in April did not bear fruit or achieve its goal, as the number of those who benefi ted from it was only about 26,000, adding that some of the violators insist on staying un-til the last moment, despite repeated assurances that they will be dealt with compassionately.

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Looking into fraud: Three com-mittees were expected to meet to look into more than one fi le, as the investigation committee meets to look into the banking fraud and money laundering issues related to the Malaysian Sovereign Fund, re-ports Al-Rai daily.

The Petitions and Complaints Committee of the National Assem-bly was to meet to study the com-plaints related to workers in the ministries of Oil and Electricity and Water in the presence of the Minis-ter of Oil, the Minister of Electricity and Water, or his representative.

The Committee for the Protection of Public Funds was also to meet to discuss the report of the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee on the proposal for a law to amend some provisions of Law No. 1 of 1993 re-garding the protection of public funds.

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Housing allowance: Director Gen-eral of the Public Authority for Man-power (PAM) Ahmad Al-Mousa said the companies that are implementing government contracts will be given an opportunity to complete their docu-ments and address defi ciencies related

to granting housing allowance or the provision of appropriate housing until Sept 30, reports Al-Rai daily.

Al-Mousa explained this decision is in line with the directives of Minis-ter of Social Affairs and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Maryam Al-Aqeel regarding the application of requirements and specifi cations of suitable housing for workers, and to facilitate procedures for employ-ers considering the exceptional cir-cumstances that the State is going through as it continues to deal with the novel coronavirus pandemic.

He called on these companies to visit the headquarters of the National Center for Occupational Health and Safety in Abu Fatira in order to com-plete the required documents during the aforementioned period.

He also stressed the need for the commitment and cooperation of em-ployers in this regard, because of its direct impact on the issue of protect-ing workers and achieving interna-tional standards in labor housing.

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CID seeks bank details: Personnel from the Criminal Investigation De-partment (CID) have requested local

banks through the Central Bank of Kuwait to provide them bank state-ments of a Kuwaiti identifi ed only as M.D., reports Al-Rai daily.

The daily added, an unidentifi ed company has fi led a breach of trust against the man accusing him of seizing more than half a million di-nars – money he allegedly received in cash from customers.

The CID men have also requested statements of bank accounts pertain-ing to a Jordanian woman identi-fi ed only as R.H., who the company accuses of embezzling more than 142,000 dinars.

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Bedouns in fi ght: An unidentifi ed bedoun paid a heavy price when he requested his bedoun friend to drop him in the Shuwaikh Industrial Area, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

The daily added, both ‘friends’ live in Sulaibiya and while they were on their way to Shuwaikh, the daily quoting security sources said, a quar-rel erupted between them and they came to blows.

The friend was reportedly punched in the nose and suffered bleeding and went to the Shuwaikh Police Station

and fi led a complaint and submitted a medical report which shows frac-ture to the nose bone.

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Drugs with Saudi man: The Far-waniya police have arrested an uni-dentifi ed Saudi for possessing and consuming drugs, reports Al-Seyas-sah daily.

The daily added, the man was caught by a roving police patrol. At the time of arrest he was under the infl uence of drugs.

Police have seized from him a quantity of hashish and referred him to the General Department for Drugs Control (GDDC).

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Pledge frees man: An unidentifi ed young man has been released by police after he signed a pledge not to repeat the offence, reports Al-Anba daily.

The daily said the man was arrest-ed by a complaint was fi led by an el-derly Kuwaiti, born in 1969, claiming that the young Kuwaiti proposed to marry his daughter and when his re-quest was turned down the father said he saw the same youngster climbing the fence of his house and he spotted the latter he escaped from view.

MoI photo

Keeping items for sale outside the shop not allowed and will be confi scated.

Police avert murder bid

Court orders body to fully payheirs dues of martyr at serviceKUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: The Court of Cassation obliged the Public Insti-tution for Social Security to give the heirs of a bedoun (illegal resident) a pension of 100 percent of the last payment after he was certifi ed as a job martyr in military service, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

The details of the lawsuit fi led by Lawyer Ali Matar Al-Wawan in his capacity as the attorney of the heirs to the “work martyr” are summarized on the basis that he started the service on 1/6/1978 and continued until he passed away in the line of duty on 10/20/2013. The martyrdom was approved, and according to law, the plaintiffs are entitled to a retire-ment pension, as their benefactor is not a Kuwaiti and died during his work.

They had previously applied for social security and their request was rejected, which prompted them to fi le the lawsuit to judge their re-quests.

Al-Wawan demanded that the Public Institution for Social Security be obligated in its capacity to pay a retirement pension to the plaintiffs at a rate of 100 percent of the last salary

pegged for their inheritance of 1,743 dinars as of 10/20/2013 and make it continuous.

Ali Al-Wawan added that Law No. 70/1980 of Article 11 took to the Public Institution for Social to disburse the rights established in ac-cordance with the provisions of this law, and public treasury would pay them to the institution in the manner in which the Minister of Finance’s decision was issued, coupled with the appellants’ reliance on the pro-visions of Law No. 7/1980 and Law No. 31/1996 and not the provisions of Law No. 31/1979.

The role of insurance is solely to pay, and it is a disclosure role and not the creator of the right of the heirs.

In the application of law, it should be distinguished to affi rm the appellants’ entitlement to retirement pension.

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Wife threatened: The timely inter-vention of Ahmadi security forces prevented a murder, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

This happened when the Opera-tions Room of the Ministry of Inte-rior received a report that a Kuwaiti armed with a knife in one hand and a bottle of imported alcohol in another was threatening to stab his wife when she was in a chalet.

The suspect has been detained at the Sulaibiya Police Station. It is sus-pected he was under the infl uence of alcohol at the time of arrest.

Court Cases

Ali Al-Wawan

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: The Public Relations Dept of Kuwait Municipality said the Public Cleanliness and Road Usage sec-tor of the Farwaniya branch of the Municipality has approved a work plan to keep pace with the fourth stage of the gradual return to normalcy in the country and increase cleanliness of all areas, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

Director-General of the Cleanliness and Road Usage Dept of Farwaniya branch, Saad Al-Khreinej said in a press release the integrated work plan

has been put in place upon instructions of the Director-General of the Kuwait Municipality, Engr Ahmad Al-Manfouhi.

He noted that the aim of the plan is to increase the standard of cleanliness after the country enters the fourth stage and the curfew that was imposed by the authorities in the country follow-ing the outbreak of the corona pandemic ends on Aug 30.

He added the plan calls for lift-ing abandoned vehicles and heavy equipments in the private

residency areas, public places, listening to complaints of shop owners, washing and sterilization of garbage containers, cleaning roads.

He went on to say, until now the observation teams of the Municipality have removed 53 abandoned vehicles and issued citations to violators for various reasons.

Al-Khreinej noted the inspec-tors will not be lenient with any party when it comes respecting the rules and regulations of the Kuwait Municipality.

‘Teams awaiting end of curfew on Aug 30’

‘Work plan in place to clean all Kuwait areas’

CP speech praised: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in prais-ing the contents of the speech of HH the Deputy Amir and the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad to the nation, said it refl ects the aspirations of the Kuwaitis, confront corruption and the corrupt and dry up the sources of this malady, reports Al-Seyassah daily.

The alliance also praised HH the Prince for vowing to follow up in detail cases of corruption, embezzlement of public money and those who sow disuni-ty in society irrespective of their status.

The National Democratic Alliance praised HH the Prince for adhering to the constitutional principles and gains and the democracy in Kuwait, saying it helps to achieve political stability in the country.

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Borders opened: Shipping and travel offi ces resumed the preparation of trucks that transport cars, luggage and other non-food items to start trips to Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and oth-er GCC countries after the land borders were closed for more than four months, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The concerned offi cials in these offi ces told the daily that they have been informed about the opening of land borders for trucks to exit Kuwait through Saudi Arabia as transit or those delivering goods to Saudi cities as their fi nal destinations.

Many residents in the country hand-ed over their belongings or cars to these offi ces to be transported to their home

Public warned

Fake goods seizedKUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Inspectors at the Al-Siddiq Center affi liated to the Northern Ports Customs Ad-ministration have seized postal par-cels containing various counterfeit goods, including sets of clothes, fabrics, women’s bags, shoes and T-shirts, because they violate the Intellectual Property Law, based on the Customs Instructions No. 45 of 2020, reports Al-Anba daily.

Measures have been taken to send the confi scated goods to the Central Destruction Committee.

The General Administration of Customs has warned those who smuggle counterfeit and prohibited goods in all their forms and types into the country saying they will be subjected to legal accountability and customs measures.

countries, but these items were stored pending the decision to open the bor-ders which was expected in August based on the instructions of the Saudi authorities and their coordination with the Kuwaiti side.

Earlier, land freight was opened only to vehicles shipping food, basic and raw materials and medical supplies; while some measures were taken this month to allow cars returning from Jor-dan through the exchange at the Saudi-Jordanian borders with Saudi carriers.

News in Brief

MIDEASTARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

6

Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi (center left), speaks with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (center left), before a meeting in Tehran, Iran on Aug 25. Grossi arrived in Iran on Monday to press for access to sites where authorities are thought to have stored or used undeclared nuclear material. (AP)

Rights group calls for releaseof abducted Libyan protesters

‘Outlawed infi ltrators’ accused of fi ring at demonstrators

CAIRO, Aug 27, (AP): Amnesty International on Wednesday urged for the release of at least six protesters abducted when armed men, apparently allied with Libya’s UN-supported government, fi red live ammunition to disperse a demonstration in the capital.

The incident took place on Sun-day when protesters rallied in Trip-oli and elsewhere in western Libya against deteriorating economic conditions and corruption. Am-nesty said armed men in military uniform opened fi re on the crowd without warning, using AK-style rifl es and truck-mounted guns.

The Interior Ministry accused “outlawed infi ltrators” of fi ring at the protesters on Sunday and said an investigation was opened.

The London-based group said that along with the six abducted, several protesters were wounded in the shooting, which happened in an area that’s under control of the Na-wasi militia that nominally operates under the UN-supported govern-ment in Tripoli.

Amnesty said, citing eyewitness accounts and its Nawasi contacts, that there were “strong indications that this militia was behind the at-tack” on the protesters.

The protests continued Wednes-day for the fourth day in row. Footage circulated online showed demonstrators marching and chant-ing slogans against the UN-backed government.

Militiamen also opened fi re at the protesters in Tripoli’s Mar-tyrs Square, which was the scene of Sunday’s attack, according to a protester who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. He said dozens of protesters were de-tained and their whereabouts were unknown.

Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga acknowledged that a Tripoli-allied militia fi red live ammunition at peaceful protesters. He said in a statement early Thursday that the militias, which it did not name, ab-ducted some of the protesters who were forcefully disappeared.

Meanwhile, Libyan Prime Min-ister Fayez Sarraj Monday said in televised comments that the pro-testers “did not obtain necessary permits” for the rally. In a meeting with military and security offi cials Wednesday, he described the dem-onstrations as “riots,” according to a statement from his offi ce.

He also announced a 24-hour curfew lasting four days to fi ght the

coronavirus, a move protesters say is meant to stop their continued ral-lies. The protesters defi ed Sarraj’s decision and took to the streets af-ter his announcement, before being dispersed by militias.

Libya has seen a surge in coro-navirus infections in recent weeks, with most of the cases in the coun-try’s west. So far, authorities have reported more than 11,800 cases, including 210 deaths, though the actual numbers are thought to be far higher, in part due to limited testing.

Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s dep-uty regional director, criticized Sar-raj’s government for not reining in abusive, unaccountable militias and armed groups’ and instead “relying on them for security, law enforce-ment and fi ghting its rivals.”

She urged for an immediate re-lease of those abducted and called for an independent investigation, as did the UN mission in Libya. It said the protests were motivated by frus-trations about sustained poor living conditions, shortages of electricity and water and a lack of services throughout the country.

Protests over the deteriorating economic situation continued this week in Tripoli and western Libyan towns backed by the UN-supported government. There were also pro-tests in the southern town of Sa-bah and the eastern town of Quba, both under control of Sarraj’s rival, troops under commander Khalifa Hifter, Amnesty said.

Sarraj’s Cabinet last week pro-posed a cease-fi re across the oil-rich country and called for demili-tarizing the strategic city of Sirte, controlled by Hifter’s forces. Hifter on Sunday dismissed the cease-fi re offer.

His spokesman, Ahmed al-Mos-mari, warned of Turkish warships approaching the coast of Sirte, al-legedly to enforce the Tripoli-allied militias preparing to attack the city. There was no immediate comment from Ankara.

The proposal, which came after international pressure, was seen as a breakthrough amid rising fears of a new escalation in the chaotic proxy war, as rival sides mobilize for a battle over Sirte. Hifter’s re-jection of the offer has added to those concerns.

Oil-rich Libya was plunged into chaos when a NATO-backed up-rising in 2011 toppled longtime dictator Moummar Gaddafi , who was later killed. The country is now split between rival east-and west-based administrations, each backed by different armed groups and for-eign governments.

55-year-old Egyptian farmer Makhluf Abu Kassem, (center), sits with farm-ers under shade of a dried up palm tree surrounded by barren wasteland that was once fertile and green, in Second Village, Qouta town, Fayoum, Egypt, Aug 5. Abu Kassem fears that a dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, the Nile’s main tributary, could add to the severe water shortages already hitting his village if no deal is struck to ensure a continued fl ow of

water. ‘The dam means our death,’ he said. (AP)

Explosion targets UN convoy near Iraq cityIRBIL, Aug 27, (KUNA): The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) announced Wednesday that one of its employees was injured in an explosion in Nineveh Governorate, north Iraq.

In a statement, the mission said that the explosion was caused by a home-made explosive device near Bartella town on the Mosul-Erbil road, causing damage to a UN vehicle.

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Iraq and UNA-MI Head Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert strongly condemned the incident.

She said that the incident “impedes efforts to provide much-needed assis-tance to people in Iraq,” according to the statement. (end)

Meanwhile, Special Representa-tive of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on Wednesday expressed profound con-cern over the devastating impacts of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pan-demic on Iraq.

Briefi ng the UN Security Council, she said, “The pandemic has aggravat-ed deep existing economic and social challenges” in the country.

“Poverty has increased by over ten percent in recent months. One third of Iraqis now live below the poverty line, and two out of fi ve suffer multiple deprivations in accessing basic social services and rights.

“Food consumption is now insuffi -cient for over three million Iraqis, due to reduced purchasing power rather than food scarcity,” Hennis-Plass-chaert, also Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), regretted.

“With regard to education, over eleven million school and university

students across Iraq have seen their studies disrupted.

“And Gender-based violence has alarmingly doubled, amid dwindling options for victims to seek assistance and fi nd shelter,” she pointed out.

“Now, in terms of our response to these challenges, I reiterate my earlier message with regards to humanitarian access on the ground: we need a sim-plifi ed system that enables currently immobilized humanitarian actors and supplies to rapidly reach people in need.

“Positive discussions are underway with the government, and we now hope to receive a decision within days.

“In terms of security, conditions for humanitarian actors are also hazardous in certain areas, as was starkly high-lighted today by the IED explosion that impacted a World Food Programme convoy in Ninewa,” she went on.

Regarding economic trouble, she said it is “never far from humanitarian concerns.”

“Iraq is expected to experience a 9.7 percent decline in GDP. Oil revenues, severely affected by a steep crash in oil prices, have nearly halved.

“The private sector has been par-ticularly impacted by job losses and income reduction, it also remains hin-dered by a lack of reforms. Non-oil GDP growth is decelerating in a coun-try that is in dire need of economic di-versifi cation.

“And lest we forget: corruption re-mains endemic, and its economic cost untold as it continues to steal desper-ately needed resources from the every-day Iraqi, eroding investor confi dence. Crucially, this scourge of corruption also drives many of Iraq’s security is-sues,” she cautioned.

News in Brief

RIYADH: Saudi Authorities con-fi rmed 30 more deaths and 1,019 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

Saudi Health authority’s reports showed that total number of deaths due to the virus have risen to 3,785 and 311,855 total infected.

The reports also pointed to the 1,310 recently recovered cases to total 286,255. (KUNA)

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DUBAI, UAE: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday visited Oman’s new sultan, the last stop on a mideast trip that sought to build on an American-brokered deal to have Israel and the United Arab Emirates normalize relations.

Pompeo’s plane landed in the Omani capital, Mus-cat, and he traveled to meet Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. Later, Pompeo tweeted that the two leaders spoke about “the importance of building regional peace, stability and prosperity through a united Gulf Cooperation Council.”

The six-nation GCC has been torn apart by the yearslong boycott of council member Qatar by fellow members Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as part of a political dispute. The GCC’s other two members, Kuwait and Oman, have pushed for the countries to reconcile, as has the US amid the Trump administration’s maximum pressure policy targeting Iran.

The state-run Oman News Agency described Pompeo’s trip as “a short visit to the sultanate,” without offering specifi cs on what was discussed. Accompanying Sultan Haitham at the meeting was Oman’s new foreign minister, Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi. (AP)

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MANAMA: One patient who suf-fered from COVID-19 has given fi ghting for his life with the caseload of mortalities with the pandemic reaching 187 in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The Bahraini Ministry of Health said in a statement, posted on its website today, that 317 persons were diagnosed as infected with the novel coronavirus, raising the tally of contaminations to 3,157.

However, 376 of the patients were healed, with the total count of those who were recuperated stand-ing at 47,049. (KUNA)

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DUBAI: The UAE recorded 491 new COVID-19 incidents on Thurs-day to total 68,511 cases.

UAEs Ministry of Health and Prevention Society gave a press statement disclosing that 402 patients have recovered totaling 59,472 cured patients within the country.

Adding, it noted that no deaths due to the COVID-19 virus have been recorded while also pointing that the total is still 378 on record.

The new cases testing positive were recorded after more than 68,000 COVID-19 tests adminis-tered on locals and expatriates, with the use of the highest tech medical equipment, they added, pointing to all the cases registered as being in stable condition while receiving

al the necessary medical treatment available. (KUNA)

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DOHA: Qatar sustained one death due to contamination with the conta-gion, COVID-19, during past hours, raising death toll to 195.

The local health ministry said in a statement on Thursday that 246 persons were diagnosed with the infectious disease today, putting the caseload of the infections at 117,988.

It further revealed that 239 patients who suffered from the pandemic infection got cured of the contamination, noting that whole count of the recuperated swelled to 114,797. (KUNA)

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MUSCAT: Omani Ministry of Health declared on Thursday that the local health authorities recorded 187 new coronavirus cases with the caseload swelling to 85,005.

The offi cial Oman News Agency (OMNA) quoted a statement by the local health ministry as saying that 79,608 patients out of the total 85,005 cases were cured, with the mortality toll standing 650. (KUNA)

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ADEN: The Yemeni health au-thorities, on Wednesday, announced three coronavirus deaths and six infections.

In a statement, the higher national committee to fi ght COVID-19 said that the virus death toll reached 560 and the infections surged to 1,930.

Up to 1,097 people recovered from the virus after reporting one re-covery in the last 24 hours. (KUNA)

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AMMAN:Jordanian authorities re-ported a single death on Wednesday and 40 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Jordanian Health Minister Saad Jaber said at a news conference that cases since August reached 413, while total cases reached 1,756.

He also stated that recovered cases tally moved up to 1,372 after registering 11 new cases in the past 24 hours.(KUNA)

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BEIRUT: Lebanon declared on Wednesday that 561 new people tested positive for the novel corona-virus (COVID-19) and one patient succumbed to the virus over the last 24 hours.

The death toll rose to 139 and infections surged to 14,248, the Ministry noted it its daily report.

The total recoveries climbed to 3,955, it said, noting that the medi-cal tests conducted over the past day hit 7,327.

A few days ago, Lebanese Interior Ministry announced a full lockdown as of last Friday and will run until September 7. (KUNA)

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RAMALLAH: Six Palestinians infected with the novel coronavirus passed away while 622 others got sick with the contagion during the past 24 hours, according to the Palestinian Minister of Health.

Dr. Mai Al-Kailah said in a state-ment on Thursday that deaths’ tally rose to 158 and infection cases to 27,386.

She reported that 325 of the patients were cured however 26 others remained in intensive care wards including four surviving on respirators.(KUNA)

Badr

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

7

Shootings

‘I just killed somebody’

17-year-old arrested aftertwo killed during ‘unrest’KENOSHA, Wisconsin, Aug 27, (AP): A white, 17-year-old police admirer was arrested Wednesday after two people were shot to death during a third straight night of protests in Kenosha over the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake.

Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, about 15 miles (24.14 kms) from Kenosha, was taken into custody in Il-linois on suspicion of fi rst-degree intentional homicide in the attack Tuesday that was largely captured on cellphone video. The shooting left a third person wounded.

“I just killed somebody,” the gunman, carrying a semi-automatic rifl e, could be heard saying at one point.

In the wake of the killings, Wisconsin Gov Tony Evers authorized the deployment of 500 members of the Nation-al Guard to Kenosha, doubling the number of troops in the city of 100,000 midway between Milwaukee and Chicago.

The governor’s offi ce said he is working with other states to bring in additional National Guard mem-bers and law offi cers. Authorities also announced a 7:00 pm curfew, though protesters ignored it again Wednesday.

Protesters marched past the in-tersection where two people were shot Tuesday night, stopping to gather around the spot where one person was shot, and to pray and lay fl owers. Daijon Spann said he

decided to join the demonstration because one of those killed the night before was a friend.

“I couldn’t take it any more,” he said. “I couldn’t just sit there and watch my friend die.”

Evers, a Democrat, issued a statement asking those who wanted to exercise their First Amendment rights to “please do so peacefully and safely” and urging others to “please stay home and let local fi rst responders, law enforcement and members of the Wisconsin National Guard do their jobs.”

“A senseless tragedy like this cannot happen again,” Evers said.

As of early Thursday, the protests were mostly peace-ful, in contrast to the violent clashes that marked earlier nights of protests. There were no groups patrolling with long guns as they had on previous nights, and protesters stayed away from a courthouse that had been the site of standoffs with law enforcement.

In Washington, the Justice Department said it is sending in more than 200 federal agents from the FBI, US Mar-shals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire-arms and Explosives. The White House said up to 2,000 National Guard troops would be made available.

The dead were identifi ed only as a 26-year-old Silver Lake, Wisconsin, resident and a 36-year-old from Keno-sha. The wounded person, a 36-year-old from West Allis, Wisconsin, was expected to survive, police said.

“We were all chanting ‘Black lives matter’ at the gas station and then we heard, boom, boom, and I told my friend, ‘That’s not fi reworks,’” 19-year-old protester Devin Scott told the Chicago Tribune. “And then this guy with this huge gun runs by us in the middle of the street and people are yelling, ‘He shot someone! He shot some-one!’ And everyone is trying to fi ght the guy, chasing him, and then he started shooting again.”

Scott said he cradled a victim in his arms, and a woman started performing CPR, but “I don’t think he made it.”

According to witness accounts and video footage, po-lice apparently let the gunman walk past them and leave the scene with a rifl e over his shoulder and his hands in the air as members of the crowd were yelling for him to be arrested because he had shot people.

As for how the gunman managed to slip away, Sheriff David Beth described a chaotic, high-stress scene, with lots of radio traffi c and people screaming, chanting and running – conditions he said can cause “tunnel vision” among law offi cers.

Rittenhouse was assigned a public defender in Illinois for a hearing Friday on his transfer to Wisconsin. The pub-lic defender’s offi ce had no comment. Under Wisconsin law, anyone 17 or older is treated as an adult in the crimi-nal justice system.

Much of Rittenhouse’s Facebook page is devoted to praising law enforcement, with references to Blue Lives Matter, a movement that supports police. He also can be seen holding an assault rifl e.

In a photograph posted by his mother, he is wearing what appears to be a blue law enforcement uniform as well as the kind of brimmed hat that state troopers wear.

The sheriff told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that militia members or armed vigilantes had been patrolling Kenosha’s streets in recent nights, but he did not know if the gunman was among them. However, video taken before the shooting shows police tossing bottled water from an armored vehicle to what appear to be armed civilians walking the streets. And one of them appears to be the gunman.

“We appreciate you being here,” an offi cer is heard say-ing to the group over a loudspeaker.

Before the shooting, the conservative website The Dai-ly Caller conducted a video interview with the suspected gunman in front of a boarded-up business.

“So people are getting injured, and our job is to protect this business,” the young man said. “And part of my job is to also help people. If there is somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way. That’s why I have my rifl e – because I can protect myself, obviously. But I also have my med kit.”

Wisconsin Lt Gov Mandela Barnes, who is Black, said in an interview with the news program “Democracy Now!” that the shootings were not surprising and white militias have been ignored for too long.

“How many times across this country do you see armed gunmen, protesting, walking into state Capitols, and ev-erybody just thinks it’s OK?” Barnes said. “People treat that like it’s some kind of normal activity that people are walking around with assault rifl es.”

In Wisconsin, it is legal for people 18 and over to open-ly carry a gun without a license.

Witness accounts and video indicate the gunman fi rst shot someone at a car lot just before midnight, then jogged away, fell in the street, and opened fi re again as members of the crowd closed in on him.

A witness, Julio Rosas, 24, said that when the gunman stumbled, “two people jumped onto him and there was a struggle for control of his rifl e. At that point during the struggle, he just began to fi re multiple rounds, and that dis-persed people near him.”

“The rifl e was being jerked around in all directions while it was being fi red,” Rosas said.

Blake, 29, was shot in the back seven times on Sunday as he leaned into his SUV, three of his children seated in-side. Kenosha police have said little about what happened other than that they were responding to a domestic dispute.

On Wednesday, three days after the shooting, state au-thorities identifi ed the offi cer who shot Blake as Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the Kenosha Police Department. Sheskey shot Blake while holding onto his shirt after offi cers fi rst unsuccessfully used a Taser, the Wisconsin Justice Department said. State agents later re-covered a knife from the driver’s side fl oorboard of the vehicle, the department said.

The man who said he made the widely circulated cell-phone video of Blake’s shooting has said he heard offi cers yell, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” before the gunfi re erupted. He said he didn’t see a knife in Blake’s hands.

State authorities did not say Blake threatened anyone with the knife.

On Tuesday, Ben Crump, the lawyer for Blake’s family, said it would “take a miracle” for Blake to walk again. He called for the offi cer who opened fi re to be arrested and for the others involved to lose their jobs. State offi cials have announced no charges.

Barnes

Vice-President Mike Pence arrives with his wife Karen Pence to speak on the third day of the Republican National Convention at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore on Aug 26. (AP)

Vice-president assails Democratic candidate

Pence defends police at conventionBALTIMORE, Aug 27, (AP): Vice-Pres-ident Mike Pence forcefully defended law enforcement but made no mention of the Black Americans killed by police this year as he addressed Republican convention proceedings that unfolded amid new pro-tests against racial injustice following the latest shooting.

Wednesday evening’s featured speaker, Pence argued that Democratic leaders are allowing lawlessness to prevail from coast to coast. He and others described cities wracked by violence, though protests in most locations have been largely peaceful.

“The American people know we don’t have to choose between supporting law enforcement and standing with African American neighbors to improve the quality of life in our cities and towns,” he said. He assailed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden for saying there is an “implicit bias” against people of color and “systemic racism” in the US.

“The hard truth is ... you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America,” Pence said. “Let me be clear: The violence must stop – whether in Minneapolis, Portland or Kenosha.”

Absent from Pence’s 37-minute speech: a direct mention of Jacob Blake, the Black man who was wounded by police on Sun-day in Kenosha, Wisconsin. There was also no reference to George Floyd, Breon-na Taylor or other Black people who have been killed by police this year, spurring a new nationwide protest movement.

As their convention nears its conclusion on Thursday, Republicans are seeking to reconcile their depiction of President Don-ald Trump as a smooth, stable leader with the reality that the United States is facing a series of crises that include the demonstra-tions, a potentially catastrophic hurricane and a raging pandemic that is killing more than 1,000 Americans a day.

The historic convergence of health, economic, environmental and social emer-gencies is only increasing the pressure on Trump, as he looks to reshape the contours of his lagging campaign against Biden with Election Day just 10 weeks off and early voting beginning much sooner.

The convention keynote gave Pence an-other opportunity to demonstrate his loy-alty to Trump. The vice-president, who is also the chair of the White House corona-virus task force, defended the administra-

tion’s handling of the pandemic, a political liability that was otherwise largely absent from the convention program. He also de-livered sober, encouraging words to Gulf Coast residents as Hurricane Laura neared.

“This is a serious storm,” Pence said. “And we urge all those in the affected ar-eas to heed state and local authorities. Stay safe and know that we’ll be with you every step of the way to support, rescue, respond, and recover in the days and weeks ahead.”

Positioning himself as a potential heir to Trump in 2024, Pence delivered sharp at-tacks against Biden but also presented an optimistic vision of the country’s future. He spoke from Baltimore’s Fort McHenry, where an 1814 battle inspired the National Anthem – which has been at the center of a cultural debate, fueled by Trump, over ath-letes who kneel rather than stand in protest of racial injustice.

Trump made an unannounced appear-ance to join Pence after his remarks for a performance of the anthem at the fort. The president, the vice-president and their wives later greeted guests, some of whom were in walkers and stood for the anthem.

Some in the crowd gathered close to-gether to get a glimpse of the Pences and the Trumps in violation of social distanc-ing guidelines. Pence was seen shaking a greeter’s hand.

While the Fort McHenry speech was or-chestrated to present a grand scene, earlier portions of the program were lower energy. The show for Americans at home lacked some of the production elements that had made previous nights memorable, includ-ing slickly produced videos and surprise announcements, such as an unexpected presidential pardon and a citizenship cer-emony.

Besides Pence, there was no major headline speaker and few boldface names. George W. Bush, the sole living former Republican president, isn’t expected to address the convention. Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 nominee who has emerged as a Trump foe, is also absent from the lineup.

The convention unfolded after three nights of protests in Kenosha prompted Trump to issue repeated calls for Demo-cratic Gov Tony Evers to increase the de-ployment of National Guard troops to help keep the peace. Trump also directed the Department of Justice to send FBI agents

and US marshals to the city as reinforce-ments, a day after a white 17-year-old who had been outspoken in support of police, was accused of killing two protesters and wounding another.

Many of the speakers Wednesday night reinforced Trump’s law-and-order mes-sage, warning that electing Biden would lead to violence in cities spilling into the suburbs, a message with racist undertones. Trump’s campaign believes his aggres-sive response will help him with suburban women who may be concerned by the pro-tests – though it may only deepen his defi -cit with Black voters.

The Trump campaign’s focus on law en-forcement continued a weeklong emphasis on motivating his political base – rather than appealing to moderate voters.

An August Fox News poll found that registered voters were somewhat more likely to say they trusted Biden than Trump on handling issues related to policing and criminal justice, 48 percent to 42 percent, and signifi cantly more likely to trust Biden than Trump on handling race relations, 53 percent to 34 percent. Biden’s advantage on criminal justice issues mirrored his ad-vantage overall.

Michael McHale, the president of the National Association of Police Organiza-tions, told the convention, “The violence and bloodshed we are seeing in these and other cities isn’t happening by chance. It’s the direct result of refusing to allow law enforcement to protect our communities.”

And Burgess Owens, a former NFL player now running for Congress in Utah, declared, “This November, we stand at a crossroads. Mobs torch our cities while popular members of Congress promote the same socialism that my father fought against in World War II.”

The night included remarks from the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as well as several administration offi cials including departing counselor Kellyanne Conway, the manager of Trump’s 2016 general election campaign, and press sec-retary Kayleigh McEnany.

“This is the man I know and the presi-dent we need,” said Conway, a week be-fore she is to leave the White House. “He picks the toughest fi ghts and tackles the most complex problems. He has stood by me, and he will stand up for you.”

RNC

In this image from video, Sen Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks from Des Moines, Iowa, dur-ing the third night of the Re-publican National Convention

on Aug 26. (AP)

Esper Alyce Slim

Esper visits tiny Palau: No nation is too small or too distant from Washington, it seems, to be excluded from the Trump administration’s campaign to counter China’s efforts to supplant America as the dominant Pacifi c power.

Evidence of this is Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s decision to fl y nearly halfway around the world partly so he can spend several hours in Palau, a Pacifi c archipelago of barely 20,000 peo-ple southeast of the Philippines.

There is no suggestion of a direct Chinese military threat to Palau. Instead the island nation is an example of the sometimes obscure battleground on which the United States and China are pursu-ing a “great power” competition for global infl uence in an era of a more inward-looking Washing-ton and an increasingly assertive and ambitious China. The power struggle is intensifying on multiple fronts and is seen by some an emerging “cold war” akin to the mostly non-shooting confl ict that played out between the United States and the former Soviet Union until the collapse of Soviet communism in 1991. (AP)

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Native American executed: The only Native American on federal death row was put to death Wednesday, despite objections from many Navajo leaders who had urged President Donald Trump to halt the execution on the grounds it would violate tribal culture and sovereignty.

With the execution of Lezmond Mitchell for the grisly slayings of a 9-year-old and her grandmother, the federal government under the pro-death penalty president has now carried out more executions in 2020 than it had in the previous 56 years combined.

Mitchell, 38, expressed no re-morse during the public portion of the execution. Asked by a prison offi cial if he had any last words for victims’ family members and other witnesses behind glass at the death chamber, Mitchell casually responded, “No, I’m good.”

Moments later, prison offi cials began the lethal injection of pentobarbital that fl owed to IVs in his hands and forearms in the tiny, pale-green death chamber at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Mitchell lay strapped down on his back, his glasses still on and a medical mask across his face, never moving or tilting his head to look around the room. His chest heaved and his thumb tapped the gurney momentarily, as his breathing became labored and his stomach area began to throb. But after about 10 minutes, Mitchell no longer appeared to move at all and his partially tattooed hands turned pale.

An official with a stethoscope

America

People gather on Aug 25 to protest in Kenosha, Wis. Anger over the Sunday shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police

spilled into the streets for a third night. (AP)

checked for a pulse and listened to Mitchell’s hear before he was de-clared dead at 6:29 pm EDT. It took nearly 30 minutes for him to die.

Mitchell, then 20, and an ac-complice were convicted of killing Tiffany Lee and 63-year-old Alyce Slim after the grandmother offered them a lift as they hitchhiked on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation in 2001. They stabbed Slim 33 times, slit Tiffany’s throat and stoned her to death. They later mutilated both bodies. (AP)

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Judge halts planned execu-tion: A judge in Washington is halting for now the federal govern-ment’s planned Friday execution of a man who kidnapped, raped and killed a 10-year-old Kansas

girl, saying the law requires the government to get a prescription for the drug it plans to use.

In an opinion, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan said a federal law that regulates drugs requires the government to get a prescription for the lethal injection drug pento-barbital, which it plans to use to execute Keith Dwayne Nelson.

Nelson’s execution was sched-uled to be the fi fth carried out this year by the federal government at the death chamber of the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. The executions followed the Trump administration’s announce-ment last year that it would resume executing death row inmates for the fi rst time since 2003.

Chutkan’s 13-page opinion came hours after the government carried

out the execution of Lezmond Mitchell, the only Native Ameri-can on federal death row, despite objections from many Navajo leaders. With Mitchell’s execution, the federal government has now carried out more executions in 2020 than it had in the previous 56 years combined. Two more executions are scheduled for September. All of the executions have been carried out using pentobarbital.

Chutkan, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, is-sued her opinion early Thursday.

“It is undisputed that a pre-scription is required to dispense pentobarbital in the ordinary course,” she wrote. “It is also undisputed that the government has not obtained a prescription – nor does it intend to – for the use of pentobarbital in Nelson’s execution.” (AP)

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Texas father arrested: A Dallas-area taxicab driver wanted for the 2008 slayings of his two teenage daughters was arrested Wednesday in a small North Texas town, the FBI said.

Agents arrested Yaser Abdel Said, 63, in Justin, 36 miles (58 kms) northwest of Dallas. The Egyptian-born suspect had been sought on a capital murder warrant since the New Year’s Day 2008 fatal shootings of the two Lewis-ville High School students, Sarah Yaser Said, 17, and Amina Yaser Said, 18. Court documents list no attorney for the suspect.

A police report at the time said a family member told investigators that the suspect threatened “bodily harm” against Sarah for going on

a date with a non-Muslim. The mother, Patricia Said, fl ed with her daughters in the week before their deaths because she was in “great fear for her life.” Gail Gattrell, the sisters’ great-aunt, has called the deaths an “honor killing,” in which a woman is murdered by a relative to protect her family’s honor. (AP)

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Evacuations lifted near California fi res: Thousands of people in California returned home Wednesday as cooler weather and an infl ux of aid helped fi refi ghters gain ground and lift evacuation orders prompted by some of the largest wildfi res in state history.

Highlighting the unusually early fi re season in the state accustomed to blazes, Gov Gavin Newsom said more than 2,000 square miles (5,200 square kms) have already burned this year.

In the heart of wine country, evacuation orders in Napa and Sonoma counties were lifted for about 35,000 people who had been told to leave after lightning ignited dozens of blazes last week. Of-fi cials were also working to open up evacuated areas to the south, where more fi res burned.

Firefi ghters and utility workers were clearing areas for returning residents after crews increased containment of the massive cluster of fi res north of San Francisco to about a third. More people could be allowed to return home in the next two days in Sonoma and Solano counties, said Sean Kavanaugh, a chief with the Cali-fornia Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. (AP)

World News Roundup

INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

8

Britain

Europe’s biggest street fair

Carnival goes on, withmore import than everLONDON, Aug 27, (Agencies): Organizers of Europe’s biggest street fair, which traces its roots to the emancipation of Black slaves and race riots in London during the late 1950s, say the event is more important than ever amid the worldwide campaign for justice after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis.

But their message of resistance and reconcilia-tion will be delivered online worldwide this weekend after the COVID-19 pandemic forced London’s Notting Hill Carnival to reinvent itself as a virtual event.

Even though it won’t be the same, carnival must be celebrated as a mark of Black liberation, said Clary Salandy, artistic director of Mahogany Carnival Arts, which creates brightly colored

costumes that are essen-tially wearable sculptures – some 15-feet-high – for carnival dancers.

“We can’t be on the street, she said. “But carni-val is very much alive.”

The Notting Hill Carnival is a product of the massive influx of Black immigrants who came to Britain from its former colonies to help rebuild the country after World War

II.The wave of immigration created tensions in

British society, with widespread discrimination in housing and employment that boiled over into riots in 1958. The next year, Black activist Claudia Jones organized a precursor to the carni-val, a dance at St Pancras town hall that raised money for the defense of those arrested in the turmoil.

In 1966, Carnival took to the streets of Notting Hill, one of the few places in London where land-lords would rent to Blacks. The celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture has grown into a two-day street party that attracts millions of visitors to a parade of costumed dancers, steel drum bands and smoky barbecue pits serving jerk chicken and plantains.

CulturalThis year, elements of the event will be prere-

corded and streamed to the world on Aug 29-31, the long weekend that traditionally ends Britain’s summer holiday season. One channel will focus on the parade, including the dancers who nor-mally snake through the streets of Notting Hill wearing colorful headdresses, masks and movable art. Others will stream music, cultural discussions and presentations on food and drink.

Executive Director Matthew Phillip said the online format provides an opportunity to reach more people.

“From the comfort of your own home, you’ll not only to be exposed to the entertainment of carnival, but also the people behind carnival ... and hear stories of how it came to be and the struggles that people have undergone,’’ he said.

This year’s themes include the Black Lives Matter movement and a celebration of Britain’s National Health Service, which is working to control the pandemic that has hit the Black com-munity harder than others.

Among those featured is Carolyn Roberts-Griffith, who recently showed off the immense replica of the scales of justice she will carry on her slender shoulders, tilting the canary yellow sculpture gracefully as she moves.

The costume embodies the fight for equal treat-ment under the law, the 59-year-old said.

“This is what we’re asking, she said wiping a tear from her eye. “We’re just asking for a bal-ance.

Participants hope this year’s carnival message will help to make up for the lack of human inter-action. They want to convey a story in which passion and protest trump the pain that Floyd’s death and the COVID-19 pandemic have brought to the Black community and other minority groups.

“As disastrous as this year has been, it has opened our eyes to so many struggles that other people are facing in the world,” said Jez Smith, 23, showing off the 15-foot-tall sculpture he will wear to honor Floyd. “I think it’s kind of giving people the momentum to speak up for change. We can’t argue with change. Change is what we need.”

The sculpture shows Floyd’s portrait suspend-ed within a black wire mesh structure represent-ing a man’s head. It invites the viewer to look past the outer covering and see what’s inside, Smith said.

“I want them to know that this man represents all of us,’’ he said. “I want them to be able to look through that face, look at him and realize that our differences are what bring us together. They should be celebrated and cherished and respect-ed.”

Carnival grew out of traditional festivals in Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean nations, where former slaves took to the streets to cele-brate their freedom. Like those events, the Notting Hill Carnival is a mixture of celebration and pro-test.

Also:KUWAIT CITY: The US voiced Wednesday its dismay over Chinas “coercive bullying tactics” against the United Kingdom.

“The United States is dismayed to learn that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) coercive bullying tactics against our friends in the United Kingdom continues,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

He noted “in the latest example, British bank HSBC has reportedly prevented Hong Kong-based executives at Next Media, a well-known publisher of pro-democracy publications, from accessing their credit cards and personal bank accounts.”

“The bank is thus maintaining accounts for individuals who have been sanctioned for denying freedom for Hong Kongers, while shutting accounts for those seeking freedom,” he contin-ued.

He stressed that “free nations must ensure that corporate interests are not suborned by the CCP to aid its political repression.”

“We stand ready to help the British government and its companies resist CCP bullying and stand for freedom,” the US top diplomat affirmed.

Pompeo

Supporters of the mosque shooting survivors hold signs of support outside the Christchurch High Court after the sentencing hearing for Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, in Christchurch, New Zealand on Aug 27. Tarrant, a white supremacist who killed 51 worshippers at two New Zealand mosques in March 2019 was sentenced

to life in prison without the possibility of parole. (AP)

1st time maximum available sentence imposed

Mosque shooter sentenced to lifeCHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, Aug 27, (AP): The white supremacist who slaughtered 51 worshippers at two New Zealand mosques was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the first time the maximum avail-able sentence has been imposed.

Judge Cameron Mander said the crimes committed by 29-year-old Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant were so wicked that a lifetime in jail could not begin to atone for them. He said they had caused enormous loss and hurt and stemmed from a warped and malignant ideology.

“Your actions were inhuman,” Mander said. “You deliberately killed a 3-year-old infant by shooting him in the head as he clung to the leg of his father.”

After the sentence was announced, sur-vivors of the shootings raised hands and fists in celebration and greeted supporters waving signs with painted hearts and car-rying roses outside the court building.

The March 2019 attacks targeting peo-ple praying at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch shocked New Zealand and prompted new laws banning the deadliest types of semi-automatic weapons. They also prompted global changes to social media protocols after the gunman livestreamed his attack on Facebook.

During the four-day sentencing hearing, 90 survivors and family members recount-ed the horror of that day and the trauma they continue to feel. One of those who spoke was Temel Atacocugu, who sur-vived being shot nine times during the attack at the Al Noor mosque.

Atacocugu said he felt relieved at the sentence.

“Finally we can breathe freely, and we feel secure, and my kids feel secure,” Atacocugu said. “The justice system has locked up this ideology forever.”

Tarrant pleaded guilty in March to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism, revers-

ing his earlier not guilty pleas.He fired his lawyers and told the judge

he didn’t wish to speak at his sentencing. A standby lawyer appointed by the court told the judge that Tarrant did not oppose the maximum sentence.

The judge said Tarrant recently told a psychiatrist that he now rejects his extrem-ist views and considers his attacks “abhor-rent and irrational.”

But Mander said he was skeptical Tarrant had abandoned his ideology, espe-cially considering that the gunman told police after the attacks he wished he’d killed more people. Mander said Tarrant had shown no empathy toward his victims and remained detached and self-centered.

AttackTarrant arrived in New Zealand in 2017,

never sought work, and began planning for his attack by stockpiling high-powered weapons and joining shooting clubs, the judge said.

“It appears that while traveling in Europe you developed deep-seated radical views regarding the migrant population of some Western countries,” the judge said.

Tarrant flew a drone over the Al Noor mosque and researched the layout, accord-ing to prosecutors. On the day of the attacks, he drove to the mosques with six guns, including two AR-15s.

“You committed mass murder,” the judge said. “You slaughtered unarmed and defenseless people. You maimed, wound-ed and crippled many others. Your victims include the young and the old, men, women and children.”

Dressed in a gray prison tracksuit, Tarrant showed little emotion during his four-day sentencing. He watched the speakers, occasionally giving a small nod or covering his mouth as he laughed at jokes, often made at his expense.

He was noticeably thinner than when he was first arrested. He didn’t show the bra-zenness he did at his first court appearance

the day after the attacks, when he made a hand gesture sometimes adopted by white supremacists.

The sentencing hearing gave survivors and family members a chance to confront the gunman. As the hearing went on, the speakers became more emboldened and the numbers who signed up to speak swelled.

Some chose to yell at the gunman and give him the finger. Others called him a monster, a coward, a rat. Some sung verses from the Quran or addressed him in Arabic. A few spoke softly to Tarrant, saying they forgave him.

“It was very empowering,” said Aya Al-Umari, who spoke about the death of her brother, Hussein. “Every one of us was so powerful in delivering our statements.”

Al-Umari said the hearing had shown how resilient the Muslim community in Christchurch has been in recovering from the trauma of the attacks.

“No sentence will bring our loved ones back,” she said. “But at least we can close this chapter and move on.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was praised globally for her empathy and leadership after the attacks, said the crime was still raw for many.

“Nothing will take the pain away but I hope you felt the arms of New Zealand around you through this whole process, and I hope you continue to feel that through all the days that follow,” Ardern said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was sending his love across to New Zealand. He said the world must never see or hear from the gunman again. A Nine Network television news crew spoke to Tarrant’s mother, Sharon Tarrant, after the sentencing near his hometown of Grafton in Australia, but said she declined to comment.

New Zealand abolished the death pen-alty for murder in 1961. Since then, the maximum non-parole sentence had been 30 years for a triple murder.

New Zealand

Mosque shooting victim Taj Mohammad Kamran reacts as he leaves the Christchurch High Court after the sentenc-ing hearing for Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, in Christchurch, New Zealand on Aug 27. Tarrant, a white supremacist who killed 51 worshippers at two New Zealand mosques in March 2019 was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility

of parole. (AP)

Kovrig Spavor

China firm over detention: China said Wednesday it remains firm in its insistence that Canada make the first move to end the detention of two Canadians, fol-lowing a meeting of the two coun-tries’ foreign ministers.

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor have been held in China on unspecified national security charges for more than 620 days in apparent retaliation for Canada’s late 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, an executive at tech giant Huawei and the daughter of the company’s founder.

Meng was detained at Vancouver’s airport at the request of the United States, which wants her extradited to face fraud charg-es over the company’s dealings with Iran. Her arrest enraged Beijing, which calls it a political move aimed at constraining China’s rise as a global technolo-gy power.

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne urged Beijing to release the two Canadians during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Rome on Tuesday.

The two are suspected of engaging in “activities endanger-ing China’s national security” and their cases are being handled “in strict accordance with the law while protecting their legal rights,” foreign ministry spokes-person Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing on Wednesday. (AP)

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China protests incursion: China is protesting the alleged incursion of a US Air Force U-2 spy plane into a no-fly zone imposed during live-fire military exercises in the country’s north.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, the Ministry of National Defense said the action had “seri-ously interfered in normal exercise activities” and “severely incurred the risk of misjudgment and even

Asia

People pass by fallen trees by a typhoon on a main road in Pyongyang, North Korea on Aug 27. A typhoon damaged homes and other buildings, flooded roads and toppled utility poles on the Korean Peninsula before weakening to a tropical storm. (AP)

of bringing about an unintended air-sea incident.”

“This was a naked act of provo-cation,” the ministry said, quoting spokesperson Wu Qian. China has lodged a stern protest and demanded the US cease such actions, Wu said.

The statement did not give details on the time and place of the drills, but the information matches exercises the Maritime Safety Administration said started Monday and would run through Sept 30 over the Bohai Gulf east of Beijing.

Relations between the US and China have sunk to their lowest in decades amid disputes over myri-

ad issues including trade, technol-ogy, Taiwan and the South China Sea.

The high-altitude U-2 recon-naissance planes were flown over China, the former Soviet Union and other countries in the Communist bloc during the Cold War and upgraded versions con-tinue to support US missions. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

HK police arrest 16: Hong Kong police arrested 16 people, including two opposition lawmak-ers, on Wednesday on charges related to anti-government protests last year.

The arrests of pro-democracy

legislators Ted Hui and Lam Cheuk-ting were announced via social media posts.

A post on Hui’s Facebook page said he was arrested on charges of perverting the course of justice, accessing a computer with crimi-nal and dishonest intent, and crim-inal damage in relation to a protest in July last year. He conveyed a message via his lawyer that he had only been at the scene to mediate.

Posts on Lam’s Twitter account said he had been arrested on charges of conspiring with others to damage property and obstruct-ing justice during a separate pro-test on July 6, 2019. The tweets said he was also accused of rioting on July 21, 2019.

That was the day a group of more than 100 men clad in white attacked protesters and passengers with steel rods and rattan canes in a subway station. Lam, who was present, was injured during the attack and hospitalized. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

China intercepts boat: Chinese authorities have arrested at least 10 people, including a Hong Kong pro-democracy activ-ist, after its coast guard intercept-ed a speedboat believed to be heading to Taiwan, media reports said Thursday.

The reports, citing unnamed sources, said activist Andy Li was among those detained. Li had been arrested earlier this month with nine others on charges of col-lusion with foreign forces under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing and was out

on bail.A social media post by China’s

coast guard said the arrests were made on Sunday when it inter-cepted the boat off the coast of the southern province of Guangdong. It said that two people surnamed Li and Tang were among those detained.

It was not immediately clear what charges they’re facing.

“We are aware of such reports. For the time being, we do not have any information from the mainland relevant authorities,” Hong Kong police commissioner Chris Tang told a news conference Thursday. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

China criticizes sanctions: China on Thursday accused Washington of violating interna-tional law by imposing sanctions on officials and companies over Beijing’s military buildup in the disputed South China Sea, but gave no indication of possible retaliation.

The sanctions add to conflict over control of the sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Washington rejects Chinese claims to most of the area, por-tions of which also are claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and other governments.

“The relevant US acts grossly interfere in China’s internal affairs, violate international law and relevant international norms, which are totally out of hegemon-ic logic and power politics,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian. (AP)

McDonald’s internal probe extends beyond ousted CEO

An internal investigation by Mc-Donald’s of potential misconduct has extended beyond its former CEO who was forced out late last year.

McDonald’s board of directors has hired an outside law fi rm as part of a probe into its human re-sources department to determine if Steve Easterbrook, who exited abruptly in November, covered up misconduct for others in that department.

The company didn’t share de-tails about the allegations. On Wednesday, however, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mc-Donald’s conducted an inter-nal investigation in 2018 after employees complained about inappropriate physical contact between the company’s top HR executive, David Fairhurst, and a subordinate at a holiday party.

After Easterbrook was be-came McDonald’s CEO in 2015

he named Fairhurst, a friend, to lead the human resource depart-ment.

Fairhurst departed around the same time as Easterbrook, but the Chicago company said his departure was unrelated. It now says he was fi red.

Employees in human re-sources also told McDonald’s legal department that they felt passed over for advancement opportunities because they

weren’t part of an after-hours social circle among the leaders of that department, the Journal reported.

McDonald’s fi red Easterbrook last year after he admitted to sending explicit text messages to an employee. He left with a huge severance package intact because while it was against company rules, the interactions he had with the employee were consensual. (AP)

Market Movements 27-08-2020

Business Change Closing ptsAUSTRALIA - All Ordinaries +16.15 6,310.63INDIA - Sensex +39.55 39,113.47PAKISTAN - KSE 100 +219.35 41,081.94CHINA - Shanghai SE +20.37 3,350.11

Change Closing ptsJAPAN - Nikkei -82.00 23,208.86HONG KONG - Hang Seng -210.64 25,281.15S. KOREA - KRX 100 -40.19 5,054.26PHILIPPINES - PSEi -9.78 5,921.55

In this fi le photo, McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook is interviewed at the New York Stock Exchange. (AP)

Many analysts worry about a possible double-dip recession

Powell edges toward loosening the Fed’s stance on infl ationWASHINGTON, Aug 27, (AP): For decades, the Federal Reserve made clear its readiness to raise interest rates at the earliest signs of creeping infl ation.

That was then. In a sign of how vastly the U.S. economic landscape has changed, Chairman Jerome Pow-ell may be on the verge of sending a wholly different message this week: That the Fed plans to leave its key rate pinned near zero even after in-fl ation has surpassed the central bank’s target level — at least for a while.

Behind the Fed’s new thinking is an ailing economy in the grip of a viral pandemic and a stubbornly low infl ation rate that has long defi ed the Fed’s efforts to raise it.

Powell will address the Fed’s an-nual gathering of global central bank-ers, normally held in picturesque Jackson Hole, Wyoming, amid the towering Grand Teton mountain range but this time being conducted virtually. The conference is occurring just as the Fed is nearing the end of a comprehensive review of its mon-etary policy. While its conclusions may not be announced until the Fed holds its next meeting in September, Powell will likely preview its mes-sage in his speech late Thursday.

The widespread expectation is that the Fed is poised to adopt a more fl exible policy that would allow in-fl ation to overshoot its 2% annual target for some period to compensate for the many years in which infl ation has run below 2%.

It’s called “average infl ation target-ing.” The goal would be to to drive home to borrowers and investors that the Fed’s benchmark rate — which in-fl uences many consumer and business loans — will stay ultra-low for likely years to come. What’s new is the mes-sage that the Fed is prepared to accept a level of infl ation that in the past it would not have tolerated while keep-ing rates near record lows.

The Fed chairman is speaking at a perilous time. Unemployment is still in double digits, and roughly 1 mil-lion people are applying for jobless aid each week even as the amount of aid they receive has shrunk. Consumer confi dence has tumbled. Though the stock market and home sales are surging, the economy is struggling to grow, and millions face potential evictions from their homes.

Against that backdrop, Powell may also discuss other options that the Fed and Congress could pursue. As he has before, the chairman could press Congress to resolve its politi-cal impasse and expand upon the $3 trillion in aid it has provided to cush-ion the damage the pandemic has infl icted on households, school dis-tricts, small businesses and local and state governments.

“The Fed is in a position where they see the recovery is losing mo-mentum at a time when the economy is in a deep hole, and that is wor-risome,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at auditing fi rm Grant Thornton, who, like many analysts, says she worries about a possible double-dip recession.

The chairman’s speech to an an-nual gathering of central bank of-fi cials is normally a hot ticket in the economic world, with coveted invitations going to a select few. This year, the event is being live-streamed to all on the YouTube site of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kan-sas City, which sponsors it.

The title of Powell’s speech, “Mon-etary Policy Framework Review,” refers to the 1½ year study the Fed undertook beginning in 2019, which included town-hall sessions with or-dinary Americans, to assess its inter-est rate policies and communications strategies and decide on any changes. The minutes of its most recent policy meeting in late July indicated that an announcement was expected soon. That has prompted speculation that Powell will discuss the changes on Thursday, with a formal adoption of the proposals when the Fed next meets in mid-September.

The most consequential change would be for the Fed to replace the 2% annual infl ation target it adopted in 2012 — and has never managed to reach consistently — with some form of average infl ation targeting. It would mean that the Fed could raise rates more slowly in coming years even if infl ation starts to rise. Right now, the Fed’s preferred infl ation gauge is hovering at a sub-1% an-nual rate, well below the 2% target.

To assess infl ation, the Fed moni-tors a government-produced gauge that refl ects what consumers pay for

A refi nery is seen along the water Aug 26, 2020, in Port Arthur, Texas. The energy industry is bracing for catastrophic storm surges and winds as Hurricane Laura cuts a dangerous path toward the coastlines of Texas and Louisiana. (AP)

Utilities face blackouts

Oil industry shuts platforms,rigs, refi neries as storm hitsNEW YORK, Aug 27, (AP): The en-ergy industry braced for catastrophic storm surges and winds as Hurricane Laura cut a dangerous path across the coastlines of Texas and Louisiana, making landfall early Thursday.

Oil and gas producers evacuated platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexi-co and companies shut down refi neries in the storm’s path. Many had already done so while preparing for Tropical Storm Marco. Utilities face downed power lines and blackouts.

“These hurricanes, they can attack the entire energy infrastructure,” said Jim Burkhard, head of IHS Markit re-search for crude oil markets. “And it’s not just a refi nery being shut down, but if a pipeline gets shut down, or the electrical grid gets damaged, it shows how integrated all these systems are: pipelines, refi neries, electricity. And it’s that aggregate damage that can be so challenging to overcome.”

The oil industry has been ham-mered since the start of the year, strug-gling with low prices after the corona-virus decimated demand. At the same time, OPEC was fl ooding the market with crude, aiming — with success — to put American oil producers out of business.

Oil prices have recovered some-what, but are still well below what most producers need to stay in busi-ness. Benchmark U.S. crude was sell-ing for about $43 a barrel Wednesday, while gasoline was selling for about $2.23 a gallon, according to AAA. This year, 60 oil and gas companies have fi led for bankruptcy protection, according to law fi rm Haynes and Boone.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm made landfall at 1 am CDT on Thursday near Cameron, a 400-per-son community about 30 miles (48 kil-ometers) east of the Texas border. It had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 kph), making it the most powerful hurricane to strike the US so far this year.

Forecasters warned the strong winds could rip apart buildings, level trees and toss vehicles like toys.

Experts say it’s unlikely that the US will suffer from major oil or gasoline shortages due to the hurricane, as other regions fi ll in the gaps or turn to stored oil. But with high summer demand, there could be some disruptions.

“Inventories have been getting tighter through the summer,” said

Peter McNally, global sector lead at Third Bridge, an investment research fi rm. “There is a buffer, but we still have a couple weeks left in the sum-mer of higher demand, so we could see the surplus come off pretty quickly.”

Nearly half of the oil and gas plat-forms in the Gulf of Mexico — almost 300 — were evacuated by Wednes-day, along with most of the offshore rigs. Producers shut in 84% of the oil produced in the region, taking about 1.6 million barrels per day off the market. The Gulf region usually pro-duces about 15% of the oil in the US Producers also shut in about 61% of the natural gas produced in the Gulf.

“Risk level is high,” said Stewart Glickman, energy equity analyst at CFRA, in an email. “Platforms out in the Gulf can be damaged, the refi ner-ies (mostly in low-lying land) can be fl ooded, especially if a storm lingers around for days like Hurricane Harvey did in 2017.”

While some oil production is tem-porarily suspended, experts say it’s unlikely to cause problems for supply in the US. There has been a surplus of oil production this year, and demand for fuel is still well below pre-pan-demic levels. Producers outside the region can pick up the slack.

More than half of US refi ning ca-pacity is built along the Gulf Coast, a seeming magnet for such storms. Six refi neries with a combined refi ning capacity of about 2.2 million barrels per day were shut down, including re-fi neries operated by Valero, Total and Citgo.

Refi neries built in hurricane regions may have reinforced their facilities af-ter prior hurricanes, but it’s likely that there will be disruptions to some ma-jor refi neries, Burkhard said.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey stalled over Houston, dumping so much rain that fl ooding knocked out nearly a quarter of the nation’s refi ning capac-ity. That led to gasoline shortages, panic buying and long lines at service stations throughout Texas.

“Certainly for the local area that gets hit, it’s going to be disruption on all businesses, including gaso-line sales,” Burkhard said. “Will this be as disruptive as Harvey? I don’t think we know yet, but Harvey was so damaging just because it lingered for so long, so let’s just hope this one doesn’t linger as long with severe fl ooding.”

US economy plunged an annualized 31.7% in Q2

Orders to US factories for big-ticket goods rebound

BALTIMORE, Aug 27, (AP): The US economy shrank at an alarming annual rate of 31.7% during the April-June quarter as it struggled under the weight of the viral pan-demic, the government esti-mated Thursday. It was the sharpest quarterly drop on record.

The Commerce Department downgraded its earlier estimate of the US gross domestic product last quarter, fi nding that the dev-astation was slightly less than the 32.9% annualized contraction it had estimated at the end of July. The previous worst quarterly drop since record-keeping began in 1947 was a 10% annualized loss in 1958.

Last quarter, businesses shuttered and millions of workers lost jobs as the world’s largest economy went into lockdown mode in what succeeded only fi tfully in limiting the spread of re-ported viral infections. A bounce-back in hiring as many businesses reopened suggested that the economy began to re-cover in June with third quarter growth estimated to be around 20% annualized. But economists say a full recovery re-mains far off given that the virus has yet to be contained and the government’s fi nancial support has faded.

Unemployment is still high at 10.2%, and roughly 1 million people are applying for jobless aid each week even as the amount of aid they receive has shrunk. Consumer confi dence has tumbled. Though the stock market and home sales are surging, the broader

economy shows signs of stalling, and millions face potential evictions from their homes.

Orders to US factories for big-ticket manufactured goods jumped 11.2% in July, the third consecutive monthly gain.

And the jump last month was even larger than the 7.7% increase in June, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

The strong advance last month, however, was led by the volatile trans-portation sector, which spiked 35.6%. Excluding transportation, orders would have risen by a more modest 2.4%.

A closely watched category that

serves as a proxy for business invest-ment plans rose a solid 1.9% in July after a 4.3% rebound in June.

While the gains in orders for durable goods is welcome, economists caution that could falter if coronavirus infec-tions surge in the fall, forcing more factory shutdowns and a return to the near economic stall the US went through this past spring.

“The details of the report indicate that businesses remain wary as the initial post-lockdown burst in activity is winding down and the public health situation isn’t under control,” said Lydia Boussour, senior US economist at Oxford Economics.

a basket of products and services each month. If a price jump for a par-ticular item in the index leads con-sumers to switch to a cheaper substi-tute, that substitution is captured by the index.

Among other ideas, Fed offi cials have also discussed the possibility of adopting what is called yield control.

This would entail setting a target yield for, say, the 10-year Treasury and then tailoring the Fed’s purchas-es of Treasurys to keep the yield at that level. But this proposal appears to have fallen out of favor because of objections that it would require the Fed to exert too much control over long-term rates.

Another possibility is that the Fed will expand its “forward guidance” — the wording in its policy statements that is intended to signal when it will likely adjust its benchmark rate. Yet with borrowing rates already ultra-low, many analysts wonder whether any of these proposals would go very far to invigorate the economy.

In this fi le photo, Maurine Carter works on the wiring of a stove in LaFay-ette, Ga. Orders to American factories for big-ticket goods rebounded last month from a disastrous April as the US economy began to slowly reo-pen. The Commerce Department said that orders for manufactured goods meant to last at least three years shot up 15.8% in May after plunging

18.1% in April. (AP)

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

10

TikTok CEO resigns amid US pressure to sell video app

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer re-signed Thursday amid US pres-sure for its Chinese owner to sell the popular video app, which the White House says is a security risk.

In a letter to employees, May-er said that his decision to leave comes after the “political envi-ronment has sharply changed.”

His resignation comes after US President Donald Trump or-dered a ban on TikTok, unless

parent company Bytedance sells its US operations to an American company within 90 days.

“I have done signifi cant refl ec-tion on what the corporate struc-tural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” he said in the let-ter. “Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolu-tion very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to

leave the company.”Mayer, a former Disney ex-

ecutive, joined TikTok as CEO in May.

“We appreciate that the po-litical dynamics of the last few months have signifi cantly changed what the scope of Kevin’s role would be going for-ward, and fully respect his deci-sion. We thank him for his time at the company and wish him well,” TikTok said in a statement. (AP)

Kuwait bourse closesweek on upbeat note

NBK rallies 9 fils, KIPCO flat

By John MathewsArab Times Staff

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: Kuwait stocks headed north on Thursday to wrap up the week on a cheery note. The All Shares Index, after a tardy start, climbed 20.2 points to 5,289.16 pts helped by modest gains in some of the counters.

The Premier Market sprinted 24.7 pts to 5853 points taking the month’s gains to 433 points while Main Market was up 12.32 pts at 4,172.24 points. The BK 50 Main gained 15.74 points. The volume turnover meanwhile was little changed at over 205 million.

The sectors closed mostly in green turf. Technology outshone the rest with 7.54 pct jump whereas Ba-sic Materials shed 0.89 percent, the worst performer of the day. Financial Services continued to top the volume with 98.5 million shares while Bank-ing sector continued to dominate the volume with KD 15.2 million.

In the individual shares, National Bank of Kuwait rallied 9 fi ls to 866 fi ls on back of 4.7 million shares while Kuwait Finance House took in 2 fi ls after pushing over 7 million shares. Mabanee Co was down 3 fi ls at 647 fi ls trimming the month’s gains to 43 fi ls.

Zain rose 2 fi ls to 592 fi ls on back of 1.9 million shares while Ooredoo added 2 fi ls. STC ticked 1 fi l higher

to 841 fi ls while logistics major Agil-ity eased 1 fi l to 625 fi ls and is down 178 fi ls year-to-date. Humansoft Holding dipped 20 fi ls to KD 2.530 and KIPCO stood pat at 151 fi ls.

The market opened on a fl at note and drifted sideways in early trade. The main index continued to drift listlessly and slipped slightly to plumb the day’s lowest level of 5259 pts. It revved up past the mid-session amid buying in some of the counters and wound up with modest gains.

Top gainer of the day, Hilal Ce-ment Co rallied 20.3 pct to 90.7 fi ls and Burgan Well Drilling Co sprint-ed 9.5 percent to stand next. Hayat Communication skidded 14.12 pct, the steepest decliner of the day and Azan topped the volume with 30.2 million shares.

Refl ecting the day’s gains, the winners outnumbered the losers. 65 stocks advanced whereas 42 closed lower. Of the 121 counters active on Thursday, 14 closed fl at. 8,387 deals worth over KD 29 million were transacted during the session.

National Industries Group eased 1 fi l to 158 fi ls while Mezzan Holding dialed up 2 fi ls. Boubyan Petrochem-ical Co slipped 6 fi ls to 538 fi ls and Al Qurain Petrochemical Co gave up 2 fi ls. Integrated Holding Co was down 4 fi ls at 357 fi ls and Aznoula inched 1fi l higher to 323 fi ls.

Jazeera Airways rose 4 fi ls to 574 fi ls and ALAFCO tripped 1 fi l. Oula Fuel and Soor were unchanged at 109 fi ls and 108 fi ls respectively whereas FutureKid shed 7.1 fi ls. Mashaer Holding was fl at at 54 fi ls

and Inovest dialed up 2 fi ls. GFC shed 6.2 fi ls and IFA Hotels and Re-sorts tripped 1 fi l.

Kuwait Cement Co rose 3 fi ls to 167 fi ls and Kuwait Portland Cement jumped 19 fi ls to 741 fi ls. Hilal Cement sprinted 15.7 fi ls to 90.7 fi ls and Gulf Cement Co gave up 2.9 fi ls. Fujairah Cement Co took in 0.9 fi l and Metal and Recycling Co clipped 2.4 fi ls.

Kuwait Foundry Co added 3 fi ls and Gulf Cable rallied 18 fi ls to 642 fi ls. ACICO Industries dialed up 2.1 fi ls and Kuwait National Cinema Co took in 2 fi ls. Kuwait and Gulf Links Transport Co trimmed 0.5 fi l and KGL Logistics edged 0.3 fi l into green

Kuwait Hotels dialed down 1.7 fi ls while Automated Systems Co and KCPC gained 5 fi ls each KPPC gave up 1.7 fi ls and Gulf Petroleum Investment inched 0.5 fi ls up. Com-bined Group Contracting Co fell 2 fi ls to 161 fi ls.

In the banking sector, Gulf Bank and Kuwait International Bank were fl at at 214 fi ls and 174 fi ls respec-tively whereas Burgan Bank fell 2 fi ls to 198 fi ls after trading 2.5 mil-lion shares. Boubyan Bank took in 1 fi l and Ahli United Bank added 3 fi ls with brisk trading. Warba Bank eased 1 fi l to 201 fi ls and Al Ahli Bank dialed down 2 fi ls.

The market was largely upbeat during the week. The main index closed higher in four of the fi ve ses-sions gaining 75 points week-on-week. It has rallied 318 points from start of the month and is down 1,048 points year-to-date.

White House is mulling options toprevent airline industry furloughsWASHINGTON, Aug 27, (AP): The White House is considering whether it can take action to prevent thousands of job losses in the airline industry a month before the election if it cannot reach a deal with Congress on a broader package of additional pandemic relief.

President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said Wednesday that “if Congress is not going to work, this president is going to get to work and solve some problems. So hopefully we can help out the airlines and keep some of those employees from being furloughed.”

This week, American Airlines said that it will furlough 17,500 union em-ployees, including fl ight attendants and pilots, and lay off 1,500 management and support staff in October. It said it will make the cuts unless Washington provides another $25 billion to help passenger airlines cover payroll costs

through next March. Delta said it will furlough 1,941 pilots unless their union agrees to cost-cutting measures.

The airlines and their unions are putting pressure on Congress and the White House to approve more taxpayer help for their industry.

Earlier this year, Congress and Trump agreed on a $2.2 trillion pack-age of pandemic relief that contained $50 billion in grants and loans for pas-senger airlines, including the payroll money. The airlines were prohibited from terminating employees while tak-ing the grants, but the cash and the ban on furloughs end Sept. 30.

Airlines and their labor unions have lined up support from bipartisan ma-jorities in the House and Senate. How-ever, the fate of the proposal is uncer-tain because negotiations between the White House and congressional Demo-crats over a larger virus-relief package

have stalled.Meadows said Trump has spoken

with people at American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said Meadows’ remarks indicate that the lobbying by airline unions is working. She said, however, that “executive or-ders will not save our jobs,” and that approval by Congress is still needed.

When Washington first approved airline aid, it was designed to help the carriers survive until air travel and ticket sales improved. While there was a pickup in late spring, the recovery stalled in July and August.

More ominously, the industry’s global trade group, the International Air Trans-port Association, predicts that air travel won’t return to 2019 levels until 2024. That could set the stage for many more rounds of lobbying for additional aid.

In this fi le photo, travelers check in at the American Airlines terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. (AP)

EASA to start 737 Max test fl ightsBERLIN, Aug 27, (AP): Europe’s fl ight safety authority said Thursday it had scheduled the fi rst fl ight tests for the Boe-ing 737 Max, which has been grounded worldwide after two deadly crashes re-vealed design issues with the jet.

The European Aviation Safety Agency said in a statement that it has been working with the US Federal Avi-ation Administration, which began its own recertifi cation test fl ights in June,

on scheduling its own tests.“While Boeing still has some fi nal

actions to close off, EASA judges the overall maturity of the re-design pro-cess is now suffi cient to proceed to fl ight tests,” the agency said. “These are a prerequisite for the European agency to approve the aircraft’s new design.”

EASA said the hope is to return the plane to service as soon as possible, but

only once the agency is convinced it is safe.

Airlines began using the Max in 2017. There were nearly 400 in service when the planes were grounded after a 2018 crash in Indonesia and a 2019 crash in Ethiopia. Investigators have pointed to the role played by fl ight-con-trol software called MCAS that pushed the noses of the planes down based on faulty sensor readings.

Hawaii to use $10M in virus funds for jobs outside tourism

Hawaii plans to use at least $10 million in federal coronavirus recovery funds to bol-ster jobs beyond the state’s vital tourism industry in sectors including agriculture, health care and technology.

State officials hope to use the federal money to diversify Hawaii’s economy, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Sunday.

Democratic Gov. David Ige and state lawmakers are working on how to fully disburse $1.25 billion allocated to Hawaii as part of the federal economic response

to the pandemic.Hawaii’s legislation overseeing the

funds allocates $10 million for workforce retraining and development programs to help expand the state’s tourism-heavy economy.

The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism determined $10 million is sufficient for launching retraining programs, but additional funds are available as needed, Ige said in a statement.

Democratic Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz

said the initiative will pay about $13 per hour to employees for on-the-job training until the end of the year, when the federal recovery money must be spent.

“What we tried to do was to get people off unemployment and start to seed non-tourism sector jobs,” Dela Cruz said.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority reported visitors spent $17.6 billion in Hawaii in 2018. Most of that revenue was lost after the COVID-19 outbreak prompted a man-datory 14-day quarantine for travelers arriving from outside the state.

The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization reported this month that nearly 20% of businesses essentially have had no revenue since January, while another 20% reported losses of at least half their monthly reve-nue.

Dela Cruz and others believe this is the time to start diversifying Hawaii’s econo-my.

“We’ve been on the gravy train of tour-ism for so long that people just don’t know how to adjust anymore,” Dela Cruz said.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some– espe-cially older adults and people with exist-ing health problems – it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus with-out feeling sick. (AP)

BUSINESSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

11

Asian shares mixed ahead of Fed chair’s speechBrent crude edges higher; dollar slips versus yen

Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea on Aug 27. Asian stock markets retreated Thursday as investors looked ahead to a speech by the US

Federal Reserve chairman for signs of more support to an economic recovery. (AP)

even though most of the stocks with-in it closed lower. Technology stocks accounted for the lion’s share of the gains, outweighing losses in health care, utilities, energy and other sectors.

The S&P 500 has been notching record highs this month, adding to its remarkable turnaround this year from a nearly 34% skid this spring as the pandemic ravaged the economy. While the market’s movements have remained almost relentlessly upward in recent weeks, powered largely by big technology stocks, its momen-tum has slowed. Recent data reports have shown a mixed picture on the economy, where activity has largely slowed following its initial rebound from its plummet into recession.

Still, the latest economic data pro-vided more reason for investor opti-mism. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that orders for transportation equipment, computers and other long-lasting goods jumped more in July from June than econo-mists expected. One closely watched number in the report, which gives an indication of business investment plans, rose 1.9% in July.

“The economy continues to show signs of recovery,” said Patrick Schaffer, global investment special-ist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. “Virus containment strategies seem more targeted and less blunt than they were in the initial phases.” of the pandemic.

The S&P 500 gained 35.11 points to 3,478.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83.48 points, or 0.3%, to 28,331.92. The Nasdaq

composite, which is heavily weight-ed with technology stocks, climbed 198.59 points, or 1.7%, to 11,665.06, its third-straight record high. Smaller companies struggled. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks fell 11.02 points, or 0.7%, to 1,560.19.

Much of the market’s attention this week has been focused on Thursday, when the Federal Reserve’s chair will give a highly anticipated speech on monetary pol-icy. Jerome Powell will be speaking as part of the Fed’s annual economic symposium, which is usually held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where past Fed officials have made big market-moving announcements.

The Fed has been one of the pri-mary reasons for the stock market’s return to a record, after it pledged to keep short-term interest rates at their record low and to continue to buy bonds to support the economy.

“I think the Fed is going to con-tinue to go all in,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, noting that the central bank is also increasingly serious about wanting to boost inflation.

“The speculation is they’ll move to an average inflation target, which will let inflation run hot for awhile,” he said.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 0.69% from 0.68% late Tuesday. It’s been climbing in recent weeks, up from 0.53% at the end of July, and it tends to move with investors’ expectations for the econ-omy and inflation.

If yields move high enough, it

could rattle the stock market because higher rates can draw investors back into bonds and away from stocks. The recent ultra-low rates have helped technology and other high-growth stocks in particular. But ana-lysts say the 10-year Treasury yield would need to get closer to 1% to drive real concerns.

The latest tech stock to be minted a blue chip surged 26%, making it the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, after giving a profit report for its lat-est quarter that Wall Street analysts called “stupendous.” Salesforce.com will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average when trading begins on Monday, replacing Exxon Mobil in the measure of 30 blue-chip stocks.

Other technology stocks also had a good day, with Adobe up 9.1%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise gained 3.6% following its own better-than-expected profit report.

Tech stocks in the S&P 500 accounted for more than 57% of the S&P 500’s overall gain. It continues a longstanding run on Wall Street, where investors continue to pile into companies that can deliver strong growth even if the economy is weak or quarantined.

“The market is just reflecting how the world has changed and how these (tech) companies are better positioned to take advantage of it,” McMillan said.

Cruise line operators were among the biggest decliners Wednesday. Norwegian Cruise Line fell 6.1%, while Carnival dropped 3.8%.

BEIJING, Aug 27, (AP): Asian stock markets retreated Thursday as investors looked ahead to a speech by the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman.

Market benchmarks in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul fell while Shanghai advanced.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index hit another high, closing up 1% on Wednesday on strong gains for tech stocks, though most of the other companies in the index declined.

Investors are watching Fed chair-man Jerome Powell’s speech as part of the U.S. central bank’s annual Jackson Hole symposium. Officials in the past have used the meeting, being held online this year, to make market-moving announcements.

This year, forecasters expect Powell to talk about inflation and the importance of Congress delivering more economic aid after its last round of stimulus expired. Partisan disagreements have prevented an agreement.

While the Fed keeps interest rates near zero, Powell has said previous-ly Congress needs to take action.

Investors, “they may be a little disappointed,” Craig Erlam of Oanda said in a report.

“Barring fine tweaks, I don’t think central banks are going to have much to offer for the foreseeable future,” Erlam wrote.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3% to 3,339.40 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.4% to 23,194.62. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.6% to 25,331.80.

The Kospi in Seoul shed 0.8% to 2,355.57 while Australia’s S&P-ASX 200 advanced 0.5% to 6,148.30. India’s Sensex opened up 0.5% at 39,277.47. New Zealand and Bangkok while Singapore and Jakarta retreated.

Markets have recovered most of this year’s losses, driven by gains for big technology companies investors expect to do well despite the corona-virus pandemic. Forecasters warn, however, the rebound might be too big and too early to be sustained.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil was unchanged at $43.39 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 4 cents on Wednesday to $43.39. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, added 8 cents to $46.24 per barrel in London. It fell 22 cents the pervious session to $45.64.

The dollar declined to 105.96 from Wednesday’s 106.00 yen. The euro edged up to $1.1833 from $1.1831.

More blowout profit reports from big tech companies pushed the S&P 500 to an all-time high Wednesday.

The benchmark index rose 1%,

Andersen Global unifies Latin America ‘platform’SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 27, (Agencies): The Latin American member firms of Andersen Global will now operate under the brand “Andersen,” reinforcing the orga-nization’s position as a one-stop shop for tax and legal services globally. The announcement comes less than two months after the adoption of the Andersen brand by the European member firms of Andersen Global.

The member firms of Andersen Global in Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Uruguay, which previously operated under the brands “Andersen Tax” and “Andersen Tax & Legal,” will now feature Andersen as their brand along with the new member firms, MODO Law and GSRC in Argentina, who became member firms of the organization earlier this year.

Andersen Global continues to view expansion of both its footprint in Latin America and its newly established platform in the Caribbean as high priorities.

In Latin America, the global organization also has a presence in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru through its collaborating firms and has added collaborating firms in 11 countries in the Caribbean region over the last six months.

“Our expansion is driven by cli-ent service, and our objective isn’t to be the biggest firm; rather, our focus is about our commitment to building one firm where clients are afforded best-in-class tax and legal services in a seamless fashion across the globe,” Andersen Global Chairman and Andersen CEO Mark Vorsatz said. “Our organiza-tion is dedicated not only to our clients, but also to investing in our people and the next generation. We all share the same values and vision regardless of borders and it is only

fitting that this is also reflected in our common name.”

The organization’s journey began in 2002, when 23 former Arthur Andersen partners created the tax-only firm WTAS. In 2014, the U.S. member firm proceeded to adopt the brand “Andersen Tax,” and most recently transitioned to the Andersen brand in 2019.

The global organization has grown exponentially since the establishment of Andersen Global (formerly WTAS Global) by founding U.S. member firm Andersen Tax LLC in 2013. After launching its global platform in Europe, Andersen Global debuted in Latin America in 2015. The region has since expanded to more than 34 locations, 1,000 tax and legal professionals, and 90 partners today.

Leonardo Mesquita, Regional Managing Director for Latin America added, “Our organiza-tion’s foundation is based on our common vision to remain indepen-dent and provide seamless, syner-gistic services to our clients glob-ally. We’re eager to have a brand that reflects what we already know - we are one firm.”

Over the course of the next year, member firms globally will con-tinue to adopt the Andersen brand, while Andersen Global will con-tinue its expansion efforts in criti-cal markets, including the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

Andersen Global is an interna-tional association of legally sepa-rate, independent member firms comprised of tax and legal profes-sionals around the world. Established in 2013 by U.S. mem-ber firm Andersen Tax LLC, Andersen Global now has more than 6,000 professionals world-wide and presence in over 191 locations through its member firms and collaborating firms.

exchange rates – Aug 27

US dollar

BuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuy

BEC

Muzaini

Commercial Bank

Gulf Bank

NBK

Burgan Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

BuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuySellBuy

Cash.303000.307700

——

.299000

.307400——————

.302550

.308650

.303340

.308870—

Draft.304250.306600.299600.306600.305050.307150.305200.307150.305050.307150

—.303400.305050.307150.305050.307150

—

Danish krone

Cyprus pound

BEC Muzaini

Gulf Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

BECCommercial BankGulf BankAl-Ahli Bank

BECMuzaini Exchange

BuySellBuySell BuySellBuySellBuySellBuy

US dollar————

Gold 999 kg— —

Gold 999 10 tola——

Gold ounce——

Gold gm 22k——

Gold gm 21k——

Gold gm 18k——

100 gm 999——

10 gm 999——

Transfer.304250.306600.299600.306600.305050.307150.305200.307150.305050.307150

—.303400.305050.307150.305050.307150

—

Cash.044674.049674

———————————————

Draft.044833.049833

——

.048400

.048973

.048346

.049811

.048650

.049420————

.048365

.049012—

Cash———————————

Draft——— ————————

Transfer——— ————————

Sterling pound

Cash.395330.409230

— —

.402000

.409000——————

.398080

.409440

.398983

.410704—

Draft.394830.406830

—.405200.402910.405684.402760.407222.402760.407220.404920

—.401670.407090.401690.407649

—

Indian rupee

Yemeni riyal

Transfer.394830.406830

—.405200.402910.405684.402760.407222.402760.407220.404920

—.401670.407090.401690.407649

—

Cash.004317.005217

——

.004000

.007000———————————

Draft.004054.004160.041400

——

.004143—

.004191

.004093

.004154

.004304—

.004050

.004150

.004077

.004163—

Transfer.004054.004160.041400

——

.004143—

.004191

.004093

.004154

.004304—

.004050

.004150

.004077

.004163—

Cash.000997.001077

—————————

Draft.009868.001086.001232

————————

Transfer.009868.001086.001232

————————

Euro

Cash.354298.367998

——

.360000

.367000——————

.356380

.366840

.356880

.367772—

Draft.356298.366298

—.366540.360889.363374.364890.365736.360720.364890.338430

—.359600.364730.359349.364956

—

Pakistani rupee

Thai baht

Transfer.356298.366298

—.366540.360889.363374.364890.365736.360720.364890.338430

—.359600.364730.359349.364956

—

Cash.001400.002170

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Draft.001789.001855.001845

——

.001829—

.001854—

.001836————

.001801

.001832—

Transfer.001789.001855.001845

——

.001829—

.001854—

.001836————

.001801

.001832—

Cash.009548.010098

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Draft.009504.009995

——————

.009570

.009989—

Transfer.009504.009995

——————

.009570

.009989—

Japanese yen

Cash.002796.002976

———————————————

Draft.002795.002975

—.002893.002873.002893.002856.002900.002865.002899.338430

—.002850.002890.002858.002905

—

Sri Lankan rupee

South African rand

Transfer.002795.002975

—.002893.002873.002893.002856.002900.002865.002899.338430

—.002850.002890.002858.002905

—

Cash .001326.001906

——

.002000

.003600———————————

Draft .001613.001690.001685

——

.001653—

.001681

.001641

.001668————

.001636

.001659—

Transfer.001613.001690.001685

——

.001653—

.001681

.001641

.001668————

.001636

.001659—

Cash———————————

Draft—————

.018098—————

Transfer—————

.018098—————

Swiss franc

Cash.330394 .341394

——

.334000

.341000———————————

Draft.331394.338394.340860

—.335127.337433.333807.340638.335160.339520

——

.334140

.339530

.333115

.339258—

Bangladesh taka

Korean won

Transfer.331394.338394.340860

—.335127.337433.333807.340638.335160.339520

——

.334140

.339530

.333115

.339258—

Draft.003595.003635.003635

——

.003631—

.003669——————

.003568

.003657—

Cash.003072.003873

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Transfer.003595.003635.003635

——

.003631—

.003669——————

.003568

.003657—

Cash.000248.000263

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Draft———————————

Transfer———————————

Canadian dollar

Cash.227076.236076

——

.231000

.238000———————————

Draft.225076.238076.234490

—.231598.233192.230330.234976.231420.233990

——

.230840

.233990

.230461

.233830—

Philippine peso

Syrian pound

Transfer.225076.238076.234490

—.231598.233192.230330.234976.231420.233990

——

.230840

.233990

.230461

.233830—

Cash.005886.006186

——

.005000

.008000———————————

Draft.005863.006345.006320

——

.006356—

.006415

.006140

.006360————

.006225

.006400—

Transfer.005863.006345.006320

——

.006356—

.006415

.006140

.006360————

.006225

.006400—

Cash.001300.001520

——— — —————

Draft.001300.001520

—— ———————

Transfer.001300.001520

—— ———————

Swedish krona

Cash.030887.035887

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Draft.030886.035886

——

.034820

.035060

.034746

.035132

.034760

.035120————

.034664

.035154—

Australian dollar

Iranian Riyal

Transfer.030886.035886

——

.034820

.035060

.034746

.035132

.034760

.035120————

.034664

.035154—

Cash.212212.224212

——

.218000

.225000———————————

Draft.212401.224401

——

.218584

.220088

.218282

.221136

.218610

.221810——

.217950

.221240

.217119

.221871—

Transfer.212401.224401

——

.218584

.220088

.218282

.221136

.218610

.221810——

.217950

.221240

.217119

.221871—

Cash———————————

Draft———————————

Transfer———————————

Saudi riyal

Cash.080673.081973

——

.081139

.081955————————

.081280

.082039—

Draft.081173.081903.082106

—.081379.081939.081241.082349.081310.082080.081460

—.080670.082220 .081280.082039

—

Hong Kong dollar

Lebanese pound

Transfer.081173.081903.082106

—.081379.081939.081241.082349.081310.082080.081460

—.080670.082220 .081280.082039

—

Cash.037721.040471

———————————————

Draft.037220.040320.039561

—.039379.039650.038911.040089

—————————

Transfer.037220.040320.039561

—.039379.039650.038911.040089

—————————

Cash.000061.000255

—————————

Draft.000189.000209.002050

——— —————

Transfer.000189.000209.002050

——— —————

UAE dirham

Cash.082840.083672

——

.082840

.083672————————

.082980

.083772—

Draft.082056.083557.083656

—.083089.083661.082900.083920.083040.083800

——

.082630

.084350

.082980

.083772—

Singapore dollar

Malaysian ringgit

Transfer.082056.083557.083656

—.083089.083661.082900.083920.083040.083800

——

.082630

.084350

.082980

.083772—

Cash.218575.228575

———————————————

Draft.219574.226074.224690

—.222619.224151.221112.227883

————

.222110

.225050

.222093

.225326—

Transfer.219574.226074.224690

—.222619.224151.221112.227883

————

.222110

.225050

.222093

.225326—

Cash.069170.075170

—————————

Draft.067995.074995.079662

—————

.072064

.074298—

Transfer.067995.074995.079662

—————

.072064

.074298—

Bahraini dinar

Cash.807085.815197

——

.807085

.815197————————

.809206

.815553—

Draft.806126.814626.817600

—.809581.815152.805979.817265.808370.816420

——

.803050

.818320

.809206

.815530—

Jordanian dinar

Indonesian rupiah

Transfer.806126.814626.817600

—.809581.815152.805979.817265.808370.816420

——

.803050

.818320

.809206

.815530—

Cash.427472.436472

——

.420000

.440000———————————

Draft.426602.434102.433190

——

.434986

.438839—

.428350

.436820——

.429260

.436500

.429375

.434531—

Transfer.426602.434102.433190

——

.434986

.438839—

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.436820——

.429260

.436500

.429375

.434531—

Cash.000017.000023

—————————

Draft.000015.000022

———

2.11E-5—————

Transfer.000015.000022

———

2.11E-5—————

Omani riyal

Cash .791085.799035

——

.791214

.799166————————

.792316

.798597—

Draft.785628.798378.798958

—.792727.798182.791300.802287.792210.799430

——

.788950

.801890

.792316

.798597—

Egyptian pound

New Zealand dollar

Transfer.785628.798378.798958

—.792727.798182.791300.802287.792210.799430

——

.788950

.801890

.792316

.798597—

Cash.018298.021978.021450.019400.012000.023000

———————————

Draft.018552.019470.195000

——

.020039—

.020424

.018700

.019550—

.017300

.018140

.019980

.018910

.019505—

Transfer.018552.019470.195000

——

.020039—

.020424

.018700

.019550—

.017300

.018140

.019980

.018910

.019505—

Cash.194791.204291

—————————

Draft.192790.206790

——

.200214

.206427—————

Transfer.192790.206790

——

.200214

.206427—————

All rates in KD per unit of foreign currency

travellers cheques local gold — Sterling————

Euro————

Transfer.044833.049833

——

.048400

.048973

.048346

.049811

.048650

.049420————

.048365

.049012—

BEC

Muzaini

Commercial Bank

Gulf Bank

NBK

Burgan Bank

ABK

KFH

KBE

Huawei, ZTE lose patent appealcases at British Supreme CourtLONDON, Aug 27, (AP): The dis-putes center on the licensing of pat-ented technology considered essential to mobile telecoms. The patents are meant to ensure fair competition and access to technology like 4G.

In the first case, Unwired Planet, an intellectual property company that licenses patents, had brought legal action against Huawei for infringe-ment of five U.K. patents that Unwired acquired from Ericsson.

The second appeal concerned legal

action brought by another patent licens-ing company, Conversant Wireless, against Huawei and ZTE for infringe-ment of four of its U.K. patents.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld lower court rulings on the cases and dismissed appeals by Huawei and ZTE.

In a statement, Conversant said the ruling was a landmark judgment that will have “significant implications worldwide” for telecommunications patent licensing.

Business PlusPlus

Look, the economy is not doing well. You

need to take that job, it’s going to keep going down; you’re not going to be able to fi nd work.

The one possibility of avoiding these involun-

tary reductions on Oct 1 is a clean extension of

the payroll relief.

‘

‘

’

’

Insulate yourself and create new opportunities

Millennial money: 6 Great Recession lessons that still apply

financial hardship programs, stu-dent loan repayment options or balance transfer credit cards, I would have saved heaps on interest and ditched debt faster.

4. Establish multiple streams of income

I still wanted journalism experi-ence and extra income, so on top of my new full-time job, I learned to shoot and edit video. I began freelancing in 2010. A year later, I also launched a small social media consulting business.

Grossman, too, had other goals. “I’ve always wanted to be a writer and I love, love, love talking about money,” she said.

While she was unemployed in Florida, she launched the blog “Frugal Confessions.” She learned new writing skills from books and sought feedback from editors at newspapers. In 2013, she left her environmental job in Texas to run her blog full time.

5. Protect your credit – but pro-tect yourself first

In a crisis like COVID-19, many normal financial rules don’t apply. You may need to carry a credit card balance to buy groceries or address an emergency. You may need to make only the minimum payment to cover rent. You may even need to contact your card issuer and ask for relief options like payment deferrals.

Even with three jobs, I struggled at times to make the minimum pay-ments on my credit cards due to high balances and interest rates. I never defaulted, but I did stress and scramble over it. I wanted a record of on-time payments and the good credit they build so that I could qualify for future low-inter-est rate offers.

That’s a worthy goal, but in times of emergency, prioritize get-ting back on your feet first. Once you do, you’ll have time to address your credit scores.

6. Make calculated money moves

Eventually, I left my apartment and moved in with roommates. I also read the post-recession climate and, in successive jobs, learned how to ask for a raise. Every year that my workload and responsibili-ties increased, I made a case for a higher salary. Asking is uncomfort-able at first, but it gets easier. The extra money eventually paid off my debts.

A recession’s impact is largely out of your control, but your reac-tion isn’t. With strategic steps, you can insulate yourself and create new opportunities. (AP)

In this file photo, a person looks inside the closed doors of the Pasadena Community Job Center during the coronavirus pandemic in Pasadena, California. California added more than 140,000 jobs in July and lowered its unemployment rate to 13.3%. But the unemployment rate is still higher than it ever was during the Great Recession a decade ago. (AP)

Carrier struggles with sharp downturn in travel due to the pandemic

American Airlines plans 19,000 furloughs, layoffsDALLAS, Aug 27, (AP): American Airlines said it will cut more than 40,000 jobs, including 19,000 through furloughs and layoffs, in October as it struggles with a sharp downturn in travel because of the pandemic.

American executives said the fur-loughs can only be avoided if the fed-eral government gives airlines another $25 billion to help them cover labor costs for six more months.

The airline said 23,500 employees have accepted buyouts, retired early or taken long-term leaves of absence, but that was not enough to avoid involuntary cuts.

The furloughs of union workers and layoffs of management staff announced Tuesday will fall heaviest on flight attendants, with 8,100 being terminated in October. American began the year with about 140,000 employees but expects fewer than 100,000 to remain in October.

Representatives of American’s labor unions reacted with alarm but not much surprise.

“Today is a devastating day for the hardworking, frontline employees at American Airlines,” said Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.

“We knew this day was coming” without more federal money for air-line payrolls, said Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association. “We see the dark conse-quences.”

U.S. air travel plunged 95% by

By Melissa LambarenaNerdWallet

The Great Recession demolished jobs across the US, and it

eventually came for mine, too. After graduating in 2009, I worked four months as an entry-level exec-utive assistant at a nonprofit before being laid off.

I had limited financial knowl-edge, a short work history and a lot to prove to break into the field of journalism, my ultimate goal. Along the way, I picked up valu-able lessons that might help you manage your finances during the coronavirus-related recession.

1. Save what you can My short work history disqual-

ified me from receiving unem-ployment benefits, so I relied on

my savings account. Even a small emergency fund of $500 can prevent you from falling into debt, and I had socked away enough to cover a few months of expenses.

If you’re still employed, “pay yourself first,” said Samuel Deane, a financial planner at Deane Financial in New York. “Even if it’s $20 every time you get paid, make sure you put that $20 away first and then live your lifestyle with the remainder.” Automate it with direct deposit if you can.

If you’ve lost your job, saving will obviously be tougher. Apply for unemployment if you qualify, and contact your landlord, credi-tors, area nonprofits and family members to seek relief. If you’re still employed but have had your

salary cut, consider a side gig and work on trimming expenses.

2. Think twice before rejecting job offers

After many interviews and dead ends, I applied for an administra-tive role at an accounting firm and got hired in December 2009. It paid about $7,000 less than my previous salary. I knew it wouldn’t put my career on track, but it would cover most of my bills, so I took it.

Amanda Grossman, now a certi-fied financial education instructor in El Paso, Texas, made similar compromises after being laid off as a market researcher in Florida in 2008. She took a career counsel-or’s advice and relocated to Texas for a lower-paying job in the envi-ronmental industry.

“(The counselor) said, ‘Look, the economy is not doing well. You need to take that job, it’s going to keep going down; you’re not going to be able to find work,’” Grossman said.

If your sector is hurting and unemployment benefits or savings are lacking, even a less-than-ideal role can help you ride out a reces-sion.

3. Get smart about money You’ll find a myriad of financial

literacy resources online and at your local library, assuming it is open and safe to visit during the pandemic.

I struggled to save money on a lower salary. Credit cards became my emergency fund. I don’t rec-ommend this approach, but times were tough. Had I learned about

Dick’s crushes Q2 as consumers focus on fitness

At home workouts and outdoor athletic activities are shaping up to be good business for Dick’s Sporting Goods. The retailer’s second-quarter results easily beat Wall Street’s expectations as con-sumers continue to focus on health and wellness while stuck at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“During this pandemic, the importance of health and fitness has accelerated and participation in socially distant, out-door activities has increased. There has also been a greater shift toward athletic

and active lifestyle product with people spending more time working and exer-cising at home,” Chairman and CEO Edward Stack said in a statement on Wednesday. “The majority of our assort-ment sits squarely at the center of these trends, and while mindful of the uncer-tainty in the current environment, we are in a great lane right now.”

While many consumers are concen-trating on traditional exercise equipment during quarantine, Dick’s assortment of products lends itself to various stay-at-

home and socially distant activities. The retailer’s stores are full of items for fish-ing, golfing and camping.

For the quarter, Dick’s earned $276.8 million, or $3.12 per share. Stripping out one-time costs, the Coraopolis, Pennsylvania-based company earned $3.21 per share. That handily topped the $1.24 per share analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research predicted.

Revenue totaled $2.71 billion, which surpassed Wall Street’s estimate of $2.51 billion. (AP)

In this file photo, Gus Promollo delivers an order into a customer’s trunk at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Paramus, New Jersey.

(AP)

April, a few weeks after the first sig-nificant coronavirus outbreaks in the United States. Passenger traffic has recovered slightly since then but remains down 70% from a year ago, and carriers say they need fewer workers.

American’s announcement comes one day after Delta Air Lines said it will furlough 1,941 pilots in October unless it reaches a cost-cutting deal with the pilots’ union.

In March, passenger airlines got $25 billion from the government to save jobs for six months, and American was the biggest beneficiary, receiving $5.8 billion. The money, and an accompanying ban on fur-

loughs, expire after Sept 30, although airlines and their labor unions are lob-bying Congress for another $25 bil-lion and a six-month reprieve from job cuts.

When the federal relief was approved, “it was assumed that by Sept 30, the virus would be under control and demand for air travel would have returned. That is obvious-ly not the case,” American CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom said in a letter to employees Tuesday.

“The one possibility of avoiding these involuntary reductions on Oct 1 is a clean extension” of the payroll relief, they said.

American will shrink because it plans to fly less than half its usual schedule – and only one-fourth of its lucrative international service - in the fourth quarter. The airline, based in Fort Worth, Texas, announced last week that it will pull out of 15 small-er US cities in October, a move that was seen as warning Washington that it should give airlines more money.

Airlines were the only industry to get special treatment in a $2.2 trillion virus-relief measure approved in March. There is broad support in Congress for extending airline aid, but it is stalled by a breakdown in negotiations between the White House and congressional Democrats over a new, large aid package.

American’s cuts include jobs at affiliates that operate American Eagle regional flights. The number of fur-loughs of union employees with rehir-ing rights and layoffs of management and support staff is less than the 25,000 who got warnings in July. American said they will be paid through September to comply with terms of the federal aid.

United Airlines warned 36,000 employees in July that they could lose their jobs in October. The airline has not updated that figure. Southwest Airlines has said it doesn’t expect to impose furloughs this year, although like others, Southwest is encouraging employees to take buyouts or early retirement.

Spirit Airlines and the Air Line

Pilots Association said Tuesday that they agreed on contract changes that will avoid the need for pilot fur-loughs. The airline said it expects to carry out “a small fraction” of the 2,500 furloughs companywide that it announced a few weeks ago.

Delta plans to furlough all pilots with less than about three years of experience at the Atlanta-based air-line. Delta’s senior vice president of flight operations, John Laughter, said the airline has known that early retire-ments alone wouldn’t be enough to reduce the pilot ranks.

“We are six months into this pan-demic and only 25% of our revenues have been recovered,” he said in a memo to pilots this week. “Unfortunately, we see few catalysts over the next six months to meaning-ful change this trajectory.”

The Air Line Pilots Association accused Delta of using the threat of furloughs to force the union to grant concessions – the airline has proposed a 15% cut in pilots’ minimum guaran-teed pay. Union spokesman Chris Riggins said that furloughs and vol-untary departures will total nearly 4,000 pilots, which will undermine Delta’s ability to rebound when air travel recovers.

Pilots are the only Delta employees represented by a union and the only one for which the airline has announced furloughs. A spokesman said Delta hopes to avoid furloughs among other groups.

In this file photo, an American Airlines Boeing 737-823 lands at Miami International Airport in Miami. American Airlines said that it will furlough or lay off 19,000 employees in October as it struggles with a sharp downturn

in travel because of the pandemic. (AP)

HEALTHARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

13

Ventilators donation

Russia’s COVID shot gets advanced trialsMOSCOW, Aug 27, (Agencies): The mayor of Moscow in-vited residents Wednesday to join trials of a coronavirus vac-cine that Russia approved for use earlier this month, in what offi cials described as a breakthrough on par with the Soviet Union’s launch of the world’s fi rst satellite in 1957.

The world’s fi rst vaccine against the coronavirus to re-ceive a government go-ahead has caused unease among in-ternational medical experts, who called Russia’s fast-tracked approval and failure to share any data supporting claims of the vaccine’s effi cacy a major breach of scientifi c protocol.

Scientists around the world say any widely-used vaccine should fi rst be tested in advanced trials involving tens of thousands of people to prove it is safe and effective before

being licensed.In his invitation to the Russian capi-

tal’s residents, Moscow Mayor Ser-gei Sobyanin appeared to announce those kind of broad studies would be launched soon. He said the “post-reg-istration research” will last six months and involve 40,000 people.

Sobyanin encouraged Moscow resi-dents to sign up, arguing that the vac-cine was based on longtime previous research and proven to be safe.

“We all were eager to see the crea-tion of a vaccine, and now we have

it,” Sobyanin said. “Now, Moscow residents have a unique chance to become the main participants in clinical research that will help defeat the coronavirus.”

The Russian Direct Investment Fund that bankrolled the vaccine said it will facilitate similar trials in fi ve other coun-tries, which it didn’t name.

“The post-registration clinical trial will allow for a per-manent registration certifi cate and expansion of the circle of possible vaccine recipients, including the 60+ age group,” the fund said in a statement.

Scientists at the World Health Organization said last week that although they had begun discussions with Russia about its vaccine, they had not yet received any detailed data about it.

Immunity In announcing the vaccine’s approval on Aug. 11, Russian

President Vladimir Putin said one of his two adult daughters already had been inoculated with it. He said the vaccine un-derwent the necessary tests and was shown to provide lasting immunity to the coronavirus, although Russian authorities have offered no proof to back up claims of safety or effec-tiveness.

Experts warn that using an untested vaccine that has not yet proven to be safe or effective could ultimately undermine the response to the pandemic and cause more distrust among people about whether or not to be vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, Russia had reported a total of over 970,000 confi rmed virus cases and 16,683 deaths. Russian offi cials have said the vaccine would initially be made availa-ble to high-risk groups, including medical workers and teach-ers before it comes to broad use.

The vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Institute in Mos-cow with assistance from Russia’s Defense Ministry uses a different virus -- the common cold-causing adenovirus -- that’s been modifi ed to carry genes for the “spike” protein that coats the coronavirus, as a way to prime the body to rec-ognize if a real COVID-19 infection comes along.

That’s a similar technology as vaccines being developed by China’s CanSino Biologics and Britain’s Oxford Univer-sity and AstraZeneca - but unlike those companies, Russian scientists haven’t published any scientifi c information about how the vaccine has performed in animal tests or in early-stage human studies.

Putin said one of his daughters has received two doses, and had minor side effects such as slight fever, and was “feeling well and has a high number of antibodies.”

However, many international experts remained skeptical as the experimental shots so far have been tested on just a few dozen people and there’s no published scientifi c evidence backing offi cial claims of its effi ciency.

The Russian Health Ministry said that the vaccine is ex-pected to provide immunity from the coronavirus for up to two years, citing its experience with vaccines made with similar technology.

Becoming the fi rst country in the world to approve a vac-cine was a matter of national prestige for the Kremlin as it tries to assert the image of Russia as a global power. Putin re-peatedly praised Russia’s effective response to the outbreak in televised addresses to the nation, while some of Moscow’s top offi cials - including the country’s prime minister and Pu-tin’s own spokesperson - became infected.

Last month, the US, Britain and Canada accused Russia of using hackers to steal vaccine research from Western labs. Russia has denied involvement.

Several vaccines, including those developed by Oxford and the US National Institutes of Health, are currently in ad-vanced testing and hope to have results later this year.

Meanwhile, Russian authorities announced Thursday the death of 121 people from the coronavirus pandemic, while registering 4,711 new cases in the past 24 hours.

The coronavirus operation center said in a statement that this brings the total fatalities to 16,804 and total infections to 975,576.

The number of people who recovered during the past 24 hours reached 6,411, bringing the total recoveries from the coronavirus to 792,561, the statement added.

Also:MEXICO CITY: Mexico is not only making its own ventila-tors now to treat COVID-19 patients, it announced Wednes-day that it will donate the machines to other countries.

The foreign relations department said the Mexican ventila-tors would go to nations around the Caribbean.

They include Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Santa Lucía, Suriname, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago. Another 51 machines are also now being donated to 14 states in Mexico.

The ventilators fi nished tests and were announced ready for use earlier this month. Mexico began developing the mod-el in April, when it was buying ventilators abroad, mainly from China and the United States.

Mexico continues to have a high case load, but says hospi-tals currently have a safe margin of ventilator availability for domestic patients.

The Health Department reported 5,267 new confi rmed cor-onavirus cases Wednesday, bringing the total to 573,888, and 626 new confi rmed deaths, for a total of 62,076.

❑ ❑ ❑

JOHANNESBURG: Africa’s top public health offi cial says the continent has seen a 20% decrease in confi rmed coronavirus cases in the past week, but he warns that “we shouldn’t go home celebrating that our pandemic is over.”

John Nkengasong with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells reporters that testing and other efforts to contain the virus are largely working, but just one or two cases could reignite infections.

He says 23 of Africa’s 54 countries have reported a sus-tained decrease in new confi rmed cases in the past couple of weeks.

The African continent has reported more than 1.2 million confi rmed cases, roughly half in South Africa. More than 11 million tests for the virus have been conducted across the continent of 1.3 billion people, and Nkengasong says the new goal is an additional 20 million tests by November.

Coronavirus

A man and a woman wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk at an underpass on Aug 27, in Tokyo. (AP)

In this Aug 14, 2020, fi le photo, a nurse with the Washington, DC Dept. of Health, administers a COVID-19 test in Washington. US health offi cials have sparked a wave of confusion after posting guidelines that coronavi-rus testing is not necessary for people who have been in close contact with

infected people. (AP)

Health

‘OK to ration hep C drugs’: In a split decision, a panel of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld Ten-nessee’s rationing of life-saving hepatitis C drugs to prisoners as constitutional.

The 2-1 decision found that offi cials did not act with deliberate indifference to pris-oners’ medical needs and it was reasonable to prioritize the sickest patients for treat-ment given the Tennessee Department of Correction’s limited resources. In a dissent, US Circuit Judge Ronald Lee Gilman wrote that offi cials may not refuse to treat a patient with a serious medical need “merely to avoid paying the bill.”

Before 2011, there was no good treat-ment for hepatitis C, but that year the US Food and Drug Administration approved new antiviral drugs that are highly effective against the liver-damaging virus, curing most people after two or three months. Although the cost of the antivirals has dropped sharply since 2011, Tennessee says the average cost for treating a prisoner is still $17,000.

Other states have grappled with how to provide the expensive treatment. After a lawsuit, Michigan agreed to provide antiviral drugs to all Medicaid patients with hepatitis C last fall. Louisiana began offer-ing unlimited access to antivirals around the same time thanks to an agreement with a drug provider where the state paid a fl at fee for fi ve years of unlimited medication.

The 6th Circuit’s majority decision relied on the expert testimony of Dr Zhi-qiang Yao, an infectious disease specialist at East Tennessee State University, who testifi ed on behalf of the prisoners at the trial. Yao told the court the current standard of care is to treat anyone infected with hepatitis C with the antiviral medications, regardless of how sick they are. Waiting to provide treatment can put patients at greater risk of cirrhosis, cancer and death, he said.

However, Yao also said that prioritiza-tion was understandable, given limited resources, and that he had used a prioritiza-tion system himself when working for the Veteran’s Administration. (AP)

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1,023 virus deaths in India: India said on Thursday that 1,023 new deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in India while positive cases in the last 24 hours soared by 75,760.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in its latest report that death toll due to COVID-19 in the country rose

to 60,472 while the total caseload mounted to 3,310,234.

According to the health ministry, 2,523,771 people have recovered from the pandemic as it spread to 35 Indian states. Maharashtra is heading other states fol-lowed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

The government issued recently fresh guidelines for the third phase of unlock and relaxed the lock-down restrictions in areas

outside containment zones.The new guidelines lifted night curfews

imposed in the country and movement of people or goods across the country is permitted with no additional pass.

Metro services, cinema halls and swim-ming pools, entertainment parks, bars, thea-tres, auditoriums and other social gathering places will also be shut. Large gatherings and social, political, sports, entertainment, aca-demic, cultural, religious functions will not be permitted, the guidelines said. (KUNA)

Washington University spit test approved by FDA

New testing advice sparks confusionNEW YORK, Aug 27, (AP): US health offi cials sparked criticism and confusion after posting guidelines on coronavirus testing from the White House task force that run counter to what scientists say is necessary to con-trol the pandemic.

The new guidance says it’s not necessary for people who have been in close contact with infected people, but don’t feel sick, to get tested. It was posted earlier this week on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC previously had advised local health departments to test people who have been within 6 feet of an in-fected person for more than 15 minutes.

Across the country, public health experts called the change bizarre. They noted that testing contacts of infected people is a core element of public health efforts to keep outbreaks in check, and that a large percentage of infected people - the CDC has said as many as 40% - exhibit no symptoms.

“The recommendation not to test asymptomatic people who likely have been exposed is not in accord with the science,” said John Auerbach, presi-dent of Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofi t that works to improve US preparedness against disease.

Recommendation “We are seeking clarifi cation from

CDC about its recent guidance around testing,” said a spokesman for Michi-gan’s health department.

Federal offi cials said the new rec-ommendation was issued by consensus of the White House virus task force.

However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert and perhaps the best known task force member, said Wednesday he wasn’t part of the discussion that green-light-ed the change.

Fauci told CNN he was undergoing surgery when the new guidance was dis-cussed last week, adding he was “wor-ried it will give people the incorrect as-sumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact it is.”

The American Medical Associa-tion, in a statement, called the change “a recipe for community spread.” The Association of American Medical Col-leges called it “a step backward in fi ghting the pandemic.”

Some offi cials - including some state governors - said it was another sign of a dysfunctional federal response to the pandemic.

“This is like a public health version of Vietnam,” said Brian Castrucci,

president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, which works to strengthen the public health system.

CDC offi cials referred all media questions to the agency’s parent organ-ization, the US Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. That suggests that HHS ordered the change, not CDC, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher.

After Twitter lit up with head-scratching and alarm about the change, HHS offi cials sent an email Wednesday saying the guidance was revised “to refl ect current evidence and the best public health interventions,” but did not detail what the new evidence was.

Decision The decision came out of meetings

of the White House coronavirus task force, HHS offi cials said.

In a call with reporters, Dr. Brett Giroir, the HHS assistant secretary for health, said guidance language originat-ed at the CDC. But he also said many federal leaders outside the agency were involved in “lots of editing, lots of in-put.” He said federal offi cials achieved consensus but it was diffi cult to attrib-ute the fi nal language to any one source.

Ultimately, restricting testing could be self-defeating, because it could skew the numbers and create a percep-tion that rates of infection are higher. Testing people who appear to be healthy would tend to lower the over-all rate of positive results, while nar-rowing testing to people who are sick would raise the overall positive rate, Auerbach said.

Why HHS would order such a change quickly became a matter of speculation. Dr. Carlos del Rio, an in-fectious diseases specialist at Emory University, suggested in a tweet that there are two possible explanations.

One is that it may be driven by test-ing supply issues that in many parts of the country have caused widely report-ed delays in results of a week or more, he suggested.

HHS offi cials suggested that wasn’t the reason, arguing that testing capac-ity is plentiful.

But Dr. Mysheika Roberts, health commissioner for Columbus, Ohio, said the city had to curtail testing last month because of a shortage of rea-gents used in lab procedures.

“When we were testing asympto-matic people here in Columbus, we were picking up a large number of in-dividuals” with the virus, she said

Another possible explanation for the

change is that President Donald Trump simply wants to see case counts drop, and discouraging more people from getting tested is one way to do it, del Rio said in his tweet.

Giroir said the change was made without input from Trump or Vice President Mike Pence. “There was no weight on the scales by the president or the vice president” or HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Giroir said.

Dr. Tom Frieden, who was head of the CDC during the Obama adminis-tration, said the move follows another recent change: to no longer recom-mend quarantine for travelers coming from areas where infections are more common.

“Both changes are highly problem-atic” and need to be better explained, said Frieden, who now is president of Resolve to Save Lives, a nonprofi t pro-gram that works to prevent epidemics.

Frieden said he, too, believes HHS forced CDC to post the changes. He called it “a sad day” because “CDC is being told what to write on their web-site.”

The governors of California, New York, Washington and Kentucky - all Democrats - criticized the new recom-mendations.

Washington Gov Jay Inslee said on Twitter that the changes likely will cause thousands of infections in his state to go unrecognized, and allow the virus to spread even more. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called the new guidance “reckless.”

Also:COLUMBIA, Mo.: A Washington Uni-versity saliva test for the coronavirus has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Wednesday.

The St. Louis-area university worked with biotechnology company Fluidigm to develop the test, which allows people to collect their own testing samples by spitting into small tubes. Test results are available in a few hours.

The FDA gave Fluidigm emergency approval for the test, which also al-lows Washington University School of Medicine to start using it, according to a release from the school.

The test removes the need for health care workers to swab deep inside noses, Jeffrey Milbrandt, who heads Wash-ington University School of Medicine’s McDonnell Genome Institute, said in a statement. It also doesn’t require RNA extraction kits, which Milbrandt said makes the tests cheaper.

Coronavirus

Gilman Yao

Putin

Does a face mask protect me, or just the people around me?Does a face mask protect me, or just the people around me?

It likely provides protection for both. Studies on the new coronavirus and other germs

show wearing a mask helps stop infected people from spreading disease to others. Evidence also suggests that masks may offer some protection for the people wearing them.

The virus spreads from droplets people spray when they cough, sneeze or talk. Surgical or cloth face masks can block most of those particles from

spreading. While some droplets may still spread out, wear-

ing a mask could reduce the amount, providing a benefi t to others. Research shows people don’t get as sick when exposed to smaller amounts of virus, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, a virus expert at University of California, San Francisco.

And masks may protect the people wearing them by reducing the amount of droplets from others that might make contact with them.

In two US food processing plants where masks

were required and infection clusters occurred, Gan-dhi noted that most workers who developed COV-ID-19 had mild illness or no symptoms.

Research on a different coronavirus has also found low infection rates among people who fre-quently wore masks in public.

Experts say masks are particularly important with the new coronavirus because infected people can be contagious even if they don’t have symptoms. (AP)

SCIENCEARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

14

‘Cyber attacks up’

Google location-trackingtactics troubled expertsNEW YORK, Aug 27, (AP): Google’s own engineers were troubled by the way the company secretly tracked the move-ments of people who didn’t want to be followed until a 2018 Associated Press investigation uncovered the shadowy sur-veillance, according to unsealed documents in a consumer fraud case.

The behind-the-scenes peek stems from a three-month-old lawsuit against Google fi led by Arizona’s attorney general. The fi les, unsealed late last week, reveal that Google knew it had a massive problem on its hands after an AP article pub-lished in August 2018 explained how the company contin-ued to track users’ whereabouts even after they had disabled the feature Google called “location history.”

The released documents include internal Google emails and a fresh version of the state’s civil complaint with fewer

redactions than the original.The same day the AP story was

published, the company held what one unidentifi ed email correspondent called an “Oh S--” meeting to discuss its location tracking tools, according to the unsealed records in Arizona’s Maricopa County Superior Court. Google also began monitoring public reaction to the AP story, including how it was trending across Facebook, Twitter and other infl uential online services, the documents show.

Some of Google’s own engineers scolded the company for misleading people about how its location tracking settings worked. “I agree with the article,” one engineer wrote in a particularly blunt assessment after the AP story was published. “Location off should mean loca-tion off, not except for this case or that case.”

Another Google engineer wrote, “Indeed we aren’t very good at explaining this to users.” Another concurred that what the company was doing was “defi nitely confusing from a user point of view.”

Information The release of the emails is embarrassing for a company

that tries to build trust with billions of users of free services such as maps and online search, which in turn provide the personal information Google can use to target ads. Those ads generated more than $130 billion in revenue last year alone.

Google is still fi ghting to keep many of the exhibits and key passages in the lawsuit redacted on the grounds that the contents contain confi dential information.

After the AP article on location tracking came out two years ago, Google made changes to its privacy settings to make it easier for users to conceal their movements.

But the revisions didn’t deter Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich from opening an investigation that culmi-nated in his suing Google three months ago. The complaint accuses Google of engaging in deceptive business practices that duped Arizona consumers, and could potentially result in billions of dollars of penalties if Brnovich prevails.

“The recently unsealed documents reveal statements from Google’s own engineers that are in confl ict with what the company has been representing to the public,” Brnovich said in a Wednesday statement.

Google is seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the Arizona law only applies to goods and services that charge consumers. That would exclude free services that draw upon the tracking tools that are at the heart of the lawsuit.

The company also contends that Brnovich, a Republi-can, may have been prodded to pursue the investigation by Oracle, which has been involved in a long-running legal battle over the rights to some of the software code used in Google’s Android software for smartphones and other mobile devices.

“Privacy controls have long been built into our services and our teams work continuously to discuss and improve them,” Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said Wednes-day. “In the case of location information, we’ve heard feed-back, and have worked hard to improve our privacy con-trols.”

❑ ❑ ❑

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Wednesday that the frequency of sophisticated cyber attacks against hospitals, electricity and water sup-plies, and other critical civilian infrastructure is increasing.

Peter Maurer said the ICRC is increasingly concerned about the destructive effects of cyber operations that cut off electricity supplies and water systems in war-affected coun-tries and halted hospital services in the middle of the COV-ID-19 pandemic as well as “an attempted attack against a petrochemical plant and especially alarmingly, cyber-attacks against nuclear facilities.”

“If hospitals cannot provide life-saving treatment in the middle of a health crisis or an armed confl ict, whole com-munities will suffer,” he told an informal virtual meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

“If electricity supply is interrupted, there is a real risk that water, health care, and other essential services will be dis-rupted,” the ICRC chief said. “And if even nuclear facilities are not considered off limits, we risk seeing severe and wide-spread humanitarian consequences.”

InfrastructureOver recent years, Maurer said, cyber attacks against

critical infrastructure “have caused signifi cant economic harm, disruption in societies, and tensions” among nations although the ICRC can’t confi rm any cyber operations that have resulted in human casualties.

He said the frequency of cyber attacks against civilian infrastructure “is increasing and evolving faster than antici-pated only a few years ago.”

While most appear not to be linked to confl ict, he said, “we are concerned that cyber capabilities used in future confl icts will cause graver consequences, in particular for civilians.”

Several countries have stated publicly in recent years that they used cyber operations in military actions, Maurer said, and “as an increasing number of states are developing mili-tary cyber capabilities, the ICRC expects that their use is likely to also increase in future confl icts.”

He welcomed the Security Council’s engagement on the issue of harmful cyber operations, alongside ongoing discus-sions in the U.N. General Assembly.

Russia won General Assembly approval in December for a resolution that will start the process of drafting a new inter-national treaty to combat cyber crime over objections from the European Union, the U.S. and others. They said it would undermine international cooperation to combat cyber crime. Russia has said substantive work on the new convention will begin in 2021.

Maurer said preventive measures are needed.The ICRC has called on all countries “to reaffi rm and

clarify the legal framework that protects critical civilian in-frastructure against cyber operations,” especially particular during confl ict including health systems, water and sanita-tion systems, electricity supply and “installations containing dangerous forces,” he said.

But Maurer cautioned that a strong legal framework “is not by itself suffi cient to effectively shield civilians and ci-vilian infrastructure from hostile cyber operations.”

He said confi dence-building measures and a broad range of technical and operational measures are also needed.

“No state can succeed in this alone,” Maurer said. “In-stead, broad collaboration among states, as well as between states, the private sector, and academia is essential.”

Technology

Swiss adventurer Raphael Domjan jumps from the SolarStratos solar powered aircraft prototype with Spanish test pilot Miguel A. Iturmendi aboard during a test flight and attempt to break two world records at the airbase in Payerne, Switzerland on Aug 25.

Swiss team claims fi rst jump, free fall from solar planeA Swiss team working to take a solar-powered plane to the edge of space says it has performed the first jump and free fall from an electric aircraft.

The SolarStratos team said its experimental plane took off from an airfield in western Switzerland with two people on board early Tuesday and climbed to 5,000 feet (1,520 meters) before its founder, Raphaël Domjan, jumped out of the aircraft.

It said Domjan remained in free fall for several hundred meters, reaching speeds of over 150 kph

(93 mph) before releasing his parachute and land-ing safely.

The team quoted Domjan saying the stunt was part of the goal of demonstrating that activities such as skydiving can be carried out without producing planet-warming greenhouse gases. Emissions from kerosene-fueled planes currently account for about 2% of the man-made carbon emissions.

“I hope that this will continue to make the young people of tomorrow dream, thanks to aircraft that

are more respectful of our planet and our climate,” he added.

The SolarStratos team follows the pioneering work of Switzerland’s Solar Impulse mission, which completed the first circumnavigation of the globe with a solar-powered plane in 2016.

The team’s goal is to eventually fly the single-pro-peller aircraft studded with 22 square meters (237 square feet) of solar panels into the stratosphere. (AP)

Brnovich

Japan’s fi ndings to provide details of burial traditions

Mass grave remains point 1800s epidemicTOKYO, Aug 27, (AP): Archae-ologists have dug up the remains of more than 1,500 people, many of them believed to have died in an epidemic, who were buried in a 19th century mass grave that is being ex-cavated for a city development pro-ject in Osaka in western Japan.

Offi cials at the Osaka City Cul-tural Properties Association stud-ying the remains said Wednes-day that they believe they are of young people who died in the late 1800s.

The Umeda Grave, one of seven historical burial sites in Japan’s bustling merchant city of Osaka, was unearthed as part of a rede-velopment project near a main train station. The more than 1,500 remains were found during exca-vations that began in September 2019, following an earlier 2016-2017 study that dug up hundreds of similar remains at adjacent lo-cations, according to Yoji Hirata, an offi cial at the association.

Historical“It was our fi rst historical dis-

covery of a burial site in Osaka,” Hirata said. “The fi ndings will provide details of burial traditions of ordinary people back then.”

In the earlier excavation, many remains showed signs of lesions on the limbs. The discovery of ad-ditional similar remains suggests the burial site was for those who fell victim to an epidemic in the region, Hirata said.

All of the remains have been removed from the excavation site, and experts will examine them and other artifacts in hopes of fi nding more details related to the deaths. Some experts have cited the possibility of an epidemic of syphilis, which was rampant then in populated areas such as Osaka.

Many of the remains were in small round holes, where bod-ies were apparently stacked and buried. Archaeologists found cof-fi ns containing multiple remains, a sign that many victims of an epidemic were buried together, Hirata said.

Experts also found about 350 urns and a possible depository for bones at the site, signs that bodies were cremated. They also unearthed coins, Buddhist prayer beads, headdresses, combs, sake

Rock fall at the ‘Grand Canyon’ hikingtrail reveals ancient animal footprintsFLAGSTAFF, Ariz, Aug 27, (AP): It’s something like a modern-day chuckwalla, strolling in sand dunes on an island in what now is the Grand Canyon region.

That’s how Steve Rowland, professor emeritus of geology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and his fellow research-ers interpret fossil footprints that were revealed in a rock fall near a popular Grand Canyon hiking trail. They estimate the tracks are 313 million years old, give or take a half-million years.

At that age, they’d be among the oldest tracks of animals that lay eggs with a protective hard or leathery shell and the earli-est evidence of vertebrate ani-mals walking distinctively in sand dunes, Rowland, Mario Caputo and Zachary Jensen wrote in a research paper published this month.

“I think our interpretations will hold up very well,” Rowland said Monday.

Not everyone is convinced the footprints were created by a sin-gle, four-legged animal that has a lateral-sequence walk, where the legs on one side of the body move in succession, followed by the legs on the other side. Or, that the footprints mark the point in evolution where animals were able to lay eggs with protective shells outside water.

Still, the paper raises interest-ing questions, said Mark Nebel, the paleontology program man-ager at the Grand Canyon.

“Some of the conclusions likely are going to be controversial,” he said. ”There’s a lot of disagree-ment in the scientific community about interpreting tracks, inter-preting the age of rocks, especial-ly interpreting what kind of animal made these tracks.”

Rowland first heard about the footprints from a Norwegian ge-ology professor, Allan Krill, who was hiking at the Grand Canyon in 2016 with his students and sent Rowland a photo.

Rowland made out claw marks common among reptiles in the 28 footprints, which he said help tease out the scarce skeletal record. Some of the earliest bones of similar ani-mals that lay eggs outside the water were found in Nova Sco-tia around the same time the creatures would have been in what’s now northern Arizona, Rowland said.

Similar tracks elsewhere largely are found in coal beds, not sand dunes, he said.

“You could always learn more, and we certainly would like to find more tracks of those same ani-mals,” he said.

The rock fell from the Manaka-cha Formation, made up of sand-stone, limestone and mudstone that points to it being a onetime coastal plain when Arizona was near the western edge of the super continent, Pangaea. Dino-saurs weren’t around yet.

Officials at the Grand Canyon are trying to determine what to do with the rock. It weighs hun-dreds of pounds and is in plain view along the Bright Angel Trail. Another part of the rock also has footprints but wasn’t studied ex-tensively.

The Grand Canyon has talked about creating a trail-side display or flying the rock out and into a museum, which would be costlier, Nebel said.

“A lot of people walk by it and never see it,” he said. “Scientists, we have trained eyes. Now that they know something’s there, it will draw more interest.”

cups and clay dolls that were be-lieved to have been buried with the dead.

Remains of several piglets were buried on the north side of the cemetery and two horses on the south side.

Hirata said experts plan to com-pile their fi ndings in a report ex-pected at the end of next year.

The burial site is in what used

to be a farming area outside an ur-ban community near Osaka Castle and was one of seven major cem-eteries in the city. It appeared in Japan’s traditional Bunraku musi-cal drama “The Love Suicides at Sonezaki” by Chikamatsu Mon-zaemon. People used to tour the cemeteries to pray for their ances-tors during the mid-summer Bon season under Buddhist tradition.

Archaeology

Australia to boost recycling: The Australian government introduced leg-islation Thursday that would phase out exports of waste plastic, paper, glass and tires beginning January next year.

The legislation introduced to Parlia-ment aims to end the export of 645,000 metric tons (711,000 US tons) of unpro-cessed trash that Australia ships overseas each year, usually to Asian ports. Waste glass exports would be banned from Jan 1, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

“It’s our waste. It’s our responsibility,” Morrison said.

“We’ve got to deal with it and recycle it and repurpose it and reuse it here to both drive jobs in the recycling sector and also to improve the quality of our environment,” he added.

Morrison said waste plastic was a key issue that he had raised with Australia’s South Pacifi c neighbors and with the East Asian Summit and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Waste plastic in oceans is destroy-ing communities, it’s destroying their livelihoods, it’s destroying their health,” Morrison said.

Waste disposal has become an increas-ingly pressing problem around the world since 2017 when China, previously its main destination, barred imports of almost all foreign waste.

The Australian legislation would establish a national industry framework for recycling and create a 190 million Australian dollar ($138 million) recy-cling modernization fund.

The government also plans to create 10,000 new jobs in the waste and recycling sector, a 32% increase on current staffi ng levels. More incentives would be offered to companies to take greater environmental responsibility for the products they make and for what happens with those products and packaging at the end of their lives.

“This is about tackling a national environmental issue that has been buried in landfi ll or shipped offshore for far too long,” Environment Minister Sussan Ley said in a statement. (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

3 large corrals OK’d: The federal Bu-reau of Land Management has approved construction of three new corrals to hold more than 8,000 wild horses captured on federal rangeland to accelerate horse roundups slowed by a lack of space in existing holding pens.

The bureau issued fi nal decisions on environmental assessments of the plans this week for the pens in Colorado, Wyo-ming and Utah.

The pens are the next step in plans an-nounced last year by the administration of

President Donald Trump to speed up the capture of 130,000 wild horses over 10 years at an estimated cost of $1 billion.

Backers include the National Cattle-men’s Beef Association and American Farm Bureau Federation, which have pushed for the slaughter of excess horses that compete for forage with livestock grazing on US lands.

Objecting to the corrals are wild horse advocates who insist the mustangs should

remain in the wild and that the money would be better spent on horse fertility controls, like darting mares on the range with contraceptive drugs.

“Expanding capacity to hold captured mustangs is the fi rst step to implement-ing this administration’s reckless plan to round up the vast majority of the West’s wild horses and burros,” American Wild Horse Campaign spokeswoman Grace Kuhn said. (AP)

This undated photo provided on Aug 26, by Osaka City Cultural Properties Association shows the ‘Umeda Grave’ burial site in Osaka, western Japan. The photo was taken during the cem-etery research between Sept 2019

and Aug 2020. (AP)

Environment

Trump Morrison

Featu

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Featu

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This image released by Netflix shows Auli’l Cravalho in a scene from ‘All Together Now.’ (AP)

Carlisle to perform at virtual event

Rule Britannia! BBC to play song without lyrics at concertLONDON, Aug 27, (AP): The BBC has ditched the lyrics of “Rule Bri-tannia!” for its traditional end-of-summer concert amid a debate about the song’s celebration of the British Empire at a time when critics are reevaluating the nation’s colonial past.

Britain’s publicly funded broadcaster said late Monday that the fi nal night of its Proms concert series would feature instrumental versions of “Rule Britannia!” and another patriotic mainstay, “Land of Hope and Glory,” instead of traditional singalongs.

The BBC said it changed this year’s event in light of “much-reduced musical forces’’ and because there would be no live audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But critics accused the broadcaster of caving in to political correctness and pressure from social justice campaigners.

“The BBC will allow the tune to be played but not sung, thereby offending all shades of opinion all the time,’’ music critic and author Norman Lebrecht wrote in a blog post after the BBC announced the program for the Sept. 12 concert. “There is no excuse for such coward-ice. At least one BBC head should roll.’”

The controversy arose Sunday when the Sunday Times newspaper reported that the BBC was considering scrapping the songs amid con-cerns about their “perceived association with colonialism and slavery.’’

Dalia Stasevska, the 35-year-old Finn who will conduct the concert, had pushed to modernize the event and reduce the “patriotic elements,’’ the newspaper said, without citing a source for the information.

The BBC on Monday rejected the “unjustifi ed personal attacks’’ on Stasevska and said the company had chosen the concert program after consulting all the artists involved.

“The Proms will reinvent the Last Night in this extraordinary year so that it respects the traditions and spirit of the event whilst adapting to very different circumstances at this moment in time,” the BBC said.

A classical musical festival held at the Royal Albert Hall every sum-mer, the Proms has always featured a triumphant emotional singalong on its fi nal day. It is a fl ag-waving fi xture on the calendar and is seen as an expression of national pride in Britain.

Symbols After the Sunday Times story, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s

Downing Street offi ce said he believed in tackling the “substance” not the “symbols” of problems. His culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, also leapt to the defense of the songs.

”Share concerns of many about their potential removal and have raised this with BBC,’’ Dowden wrote on Twitter. “Confi dent forward-looking nations don’t erase their history, they add to it.”

❑ ❑ ❑

The Patient Safety Movement Foundation announced Grammy-nominated global pop icon and Go-Gos frontwoman Belinda Carlisle

will perform at the Foundation’s Unite For Safe Care Virtual Event. The event will be hosted online, available globally, September 17th at 5pm Eastern Daylight Time.

“COVID-19 has exposed the safety gaps in our healthcare system that already cause 200,000 deaths a year. Ensuring better patient and health worker outcomes couldn’t be more important than it is in 2020,” Carlisle said. “The Patient Safety Movement Foundation’s ‘Unite For Safe Care’ Virtual Event is putting an important spotlight on the crisis and I’m proud to be involved.”

Unite For Safe Care is a three-hour virtual event connecting patients, health workers, policymakers, celebrities, and global citizens uniting together to learn how patient and health worker safety can be advanced. This event will include memorials and tributes to honor loved ones no longer with us due to medical harm and a celebration of the patients who have survived medical harm. The program will recognize the frontline workers who are committed to make health care safe.

In June, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation announced the wide-ranging campaign to bring attention to system-wide improve-ments that will ensure better health worker and patient safety out-comes, called #uniteforsafecare. The event will also be joined by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), The Leapfrog Group and International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) in co-convening the slate of programming.

ALBANY, NY: The man who gunned down John Lennon outside his Manhattan apartment in 1980 was denied parole for an 11th time, state corrections offi cials said Wednesday.

Mark David Chapman was denied after being interviewed by a parole board Aug 19, according to corrections of-fi cials. Chapman, 65, is serving a 20-years-to-life sentence at Wende Correctional Facility, east of Buffalo.

Chapman shot and killed the former Beatle on the night of Dec 8, 1980, hours after Lennon autographed an album for him. He has said previously that he feels “more and more shame” every year for the crime.

“I was too far in,” Chapman told a parole board in 2018. “I do remember having the thought of, ‘Hey, you have got the album now. Look at this, he signed it, just go home.’ But there was no way I was just going to go home.”

Chapman’s next parole hear-ing is scheduled for August 2022. (AP)

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LONDON: Organizers of Eu-rope’s biggest street fair, which traces its roots to the emancipa-tion of Black slaves and race riots in London during the late 1950s, say the event is more important than ever amid the worldwide campaign for justice after George Floyd died in po-lice custody in Minneapolis.

But their message of resist-ance and reconciliation will be delivered online worldwide this weekend after the COVID-19 pandemic forced London’s Notting Hill Carnival to reinvent itself as a virtual event.

Even though it won’t be the same, carnival must be celebrated as a mark of Black liberation, said Clary Salandy, artistic director of Mahogany Carnival Arts, which creates brightly colored costumes that are essentially wearable sculp-tures — some 15-feet-high — for carnival dancers.

“We can’t be on the street,” she said. “But carnival is very much alive.”

The Notting Hill Carnival is a product of the massive infl ux of Black immigrants who came to

Britain from its former colonies to help rebuild the country after World War II.

The wave of immigration cre-ated tensions in British society, with widespread discrimination in housing and employment that boiled over into riots in 1958. The next year, Black activist Claudia Jones organized a pre-cursor to the carnival, a dance at

St Pancras town hall that raised money for the defense of those arrested in the turmoil.

In 1966, Carnival took to the streets of Notting Hill, one of the few places in London where landlords would rent to Blacks. The celebration of Afro-Carib-bean culture has grown into a two-day street party that attracts millions of visitors to a parade

of costumed dancers, steel drum bands and smoky barbecue pits serving jerk chicken and plantains.

This year, elements of the event will be prerecorded and streamed to the world on Aug 29-31, the long weekend that traditionally ends Britain’s summer holiday season. One channel will focus on the parade,

including the dancers who normally snake through the streets of Notting Hill wearing colorful headdresses, masks and movable art. Others will stream music, cultural discussions and presentations on food.

Executive Director Matthew Phillip said the online format provides an opportunity to reach more people. (AP)

Film

Variety

Moana’s voice, Cravalho takes the next step

‘All Together’ sweet call to help othersBy Mark Kennedy

Amber Appleton gives, gives, gives. The 17-year-old spends her free time teaching English to a group of

Korean women. She visits a nursing home to hand out free doughnuts and raises money for school projects. She adopts a tiny dog and puts its needs ahead of her own. She makes fried egg sandwiches for friends. Am-ber Appleton is always helping, helping, helping.

So when slowly, ever so slightly, her life starts to col-lapse, Amber Appleton has to learn to accept the very thing she’s always handing out: help. Have plenty of tissues nearby when you watch the top-notch Netfl ix fi lm “All Together Now,” a teary tale of fellowship.

The movie is based on “Silver Linings Playbook” au-thor Matthew Quick’s novel “Sorta Like a Rock Star” and is elevated by a touching, marvelous Auli’i Crav-alho as the girl who loves giving but not necessarily receiving.

Cravalho’s Amber is a musically gifted high school student with aspirations to attend Carnegie Mellon but her personal life is close to the edge: She and her single mom are homeless, sleeping in one of the school buses her mom drives for work.

Amber doesn’t let it get her down. “I’m great. Never better,” she insists. Amber turns negatives into posi-tives: “I’m the only teenager in America who doesn’t have a cell phone. How cool is that?”

Mom (an excellent Justina Machado) frets about the future and considers returning to an abusive man just for the shelter, but her daughter stays optimistic: “We’re gonna be awesome. We’re gonna be spectacular.”

But little by little, Amber is stripped of all the things that give her meaning and security. A harder, darker Amber emerges. “I have this under control!” she insists, as she postpones key meetings and works long hours at dismal jobs. (Tip your doughnut shop workers, folks.)

This alarms her motley crew of friends, including a maybe-boyfriend (a solid Rhenzy Feliz), her drama club teacher (an underused Fred Armisen) and a sour-outside-but-sweet-underneath nursing home resident (Carol Burnett, yes, that Carol Burnett, absolutely inca-pable of disappointing).

“You do so much for other people, but when you need just a little bit of help, you push us all away,” says the maybe-boyfriend. “What is so bad about needing help?”

There is a “Good Will Hunting” vibe to the fi lm, a gifted young person sliding toward obscurity who is helped by the intervention of friends and colleagues. And the fi lm may end with all the lose ends tied up into fancy bows, but its heart is pure.

Director Brett Haley (“All the Bright Places,” “Hearts Beat Loud”) thankfully lets the scenes breath, with quiet poignancy. Some moments are so still you can hear a leather jacket stretch. The script also doesn’t insult the audience by adding unnecessary descriptive lines.

SpectacularIt helps when you have an actress like Cravalho, who

allows us to see pools of sadness, yearning and hunger behind her eyes. The “Moana” singer also gets to belt out a moving tune. You couldn’t ask for more from her in her fi rst leading role in a live action movie: She’s awesome. She’s spectacular.

Actually, asking for more is at the very center of this fi lm. The concept that allowing someone’s help is a gift to that other person is a lesson that Amber learns. If it inspires us to reach out a little more, so much the better.

“All Together Now,” a Netfl ix release, is rated PG for thematic content, some language and brief sugges-tive comments. Running time: 93 minutes. Three stars out of four.

Cravalho’s life changed forever at age 14 when she was cast as the voice of Disney’s “Moana.” The Hawai-ian native loved singing and acting, but they were just hobbies to her. So were horseback riding, swimming and microbiology, for that matter. A career in Holly-wood seemed implausible at best.

“But life decided to surprise me,” said Cravalho, who went from obscurity to performing at the Oscars in just a few months.

Now at 19, Cravalho is checking off another mile-stone: Her fi rst live-action fi lm, “All Together Now,” is being released on Netfl ix Friday. And once again, she’s

in the lead.Based on Matthew Quick’s novel “Sorta Like a Rock

Star,” the fi lm from director Brett Haley fi nds Crav-alho playing a very different kind of character from the adventurous Polynesian princess. Amber is a high school student with a to-die-for voice, an unfl appable optimism and a dream of going to Carnegie Mellon. She also happens to be living in a school bus with her alcoholic mother.

“This felt like the next step,” she said. “I’m a little older and I love the challenge of showing these tougher emotions and telling these deeper stories.”

She’d actually auditioned for Hayley before. She didn’t get that part, but he promised he’d remember her.

“I was like, sure, OK, I’m never going to hear from this guy again,” she laughed. And then Amber Appleton came along.

“I really related to Amber. I genuinely I understood her optimism,” she said. “I am an optimist almost to a fault myself. I also have to kind of get real and be like, ‘Oh, wait, I can reach out and ask for help.’”

Cravalho had already had some on-camera expe-rience, including in the short-lived television show “Rise,” which was canceled after one season. (“My fi rst heartbreak.”) But she was nervous about a feature fi lm and acting opposite people like Carol Burnett.

“My biggest challenge is fi guring out what to do with my face on screen,” she said.

Thankfully, she had an unusually empathetic and supportive director in Haley, who helped her feel com-fortable and gave her space to play around with her character and lines. And he’s excited for audiences to see her in a more dramatic role.

“Yes, she’s optimistic. Yes, she’s bright and shiny. But she also has a depth of emotion. She really is lay-ered. She’s not just this Disney princess,” Haley said. “I think you can see that in her performance. She goes to so many different places in the role.”

Cravalho has for the past few years been living out-side of Hawaii, fi rst in New York and now in Los Ange-les. She fi nished up high school on her laptop from the set of “Rise,” and she empathizes with all the students having to do that now. (AP)

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People & Places

NEWS/FEATURESARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

16

Books

Racism in ‘Long Time’

Writer Kope takes a‘risk’ but it pays off

By Bruce DeSilva

‘Shadows of the Dead,’ by Spencer Kope (Mi-notaur)

“Shadows of the Dead,” the third thriller in Spen-cer Kope’s “Special Tracking Unit” series, opens with a car crash, the discovery of a bound woman in the trunk, and the subsequent arrest of a seemly deranged driver.

Under questioning, the prisoner proclaims that he intended to “fi x” the woman, that she is “num-ber eight,” and that he is doing the bidding of “the Onion King.” Concluding that there may be seven more victims and another bad guy out there, Magnus “Steps” Craig and Jimmy Donovan, partners in the

FBI’s Special Tracking unit, set out to hunt them down. The unit specializes in fi nding people, whether alive or dead, and Steps has a special ability that makes him unnaturally good at it.

When Steps was just 8 years old, he got lost in the woods and nearly died of hypother-mia. That changed his brain, causing him to see people as colors. Kope is referencing synesthesia, a condition in

which the senses get mixed up, leading people to “taste” words or “see” music as colors. However, Kope takes this to a fantastic extreme.

His hero sees every individual as a unique color, and those colors remain on everything they touch for years — a huge advantage for a man who makes his living as a tracker. Jimmy is the only person Steps has told about this ability, fi guring quite rightly that the rest of the world will think that he is a nut.

By giving Steps this comic-book superpower, Kope has made a risky creative choice. For one thing, it makes Steps’s job easy, limiting opportunities for suspense. For another, Kope’s novels are, in every other respect, standard police procedurals. Fans of such books tend to get exasperated when police work is not accurately portrayed.

SkillfulHowever, fans who suspend disbelief enough to

accept Kope’s risk are likely to admire the plot’s twists and turns, the author’s skillful character devel-opment, and his ability to bring the Washington state coastal setting vividly to life.

Although Kope does not to inspire comparisons to Joseph Wambaugh, his prose style is remarkably good for a career law enforcement offi cial who cur-rently works as a crime analyst for the Whatcom County, Washington, sheriff’s offi ce. He speaks to the reader in an engaging, chatty voice, as if telling the story to his best friend.

❑ ❑ ❑

One of the country’s most prominent scholars on race has a new book out in December.

Michael Eric Dyson’s “Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America” will be released Dec 1, St. Martin’s Press announced Tuesday. The book traces the history of racism from slavery to the killing of George Floyd.

“Dyson examines the cultural imperatives of black death, the plague of police brutality, the white theft of black bodies and opportunities, the resort to the often fascist justice of social media instead of the faulty, but far superior justice of the legal system, and the craving for white comfort that has too often cost black people their lives,” according to the pub-lisher. “Ending with a poignant plea for hope, Dy-son’s new book points the way to social redemption.”

Dyson’s previous books include the bestsellers “Tears We Cannot Stop” and “What Truth Sounds Like.” In a statement issued through St. Martin’s, Dyson said he would be addressing “a racial reckon-ing we haven’t seen in this nation in more than 50 years.”

Courageous “This book is my love letter to the martyrs of the

struggle, to my people who have been courageous long-distance runners in the fi ght for justice, and to a country that hasn’t always loved us as it should,” he said.

❑ ❑ ❑

“Thin Girls,” by Diana Clarke (HarperCollins)Dark, poignant and gripping, Diana Clarke’s “Thin

Girls” is sure to be unlike anything else you’ve read.Identical twins Rose and Lily Winters are deeply

connected, but in high school their relationship be-gins to grow complicated. Rose’s desperation to be cool leads her down a dangerous path of extreme dieting. Meanwhile, as if to compensate for Rose’s weight loss, Lily begins eating and eating and eating.

Both girls struggle with body and mental health is-sues well into adulthood. When we meet them, Rose is living in an anorexia rehabilitation facility and Lily has found herself in an abusive relationship, addicted to a new and dangerous fad diet, and in complete de-nial that anything in her life needs to change.

Alternating between fl ashbacks and the present day, “Thin Girls” is a captivating story of the Win-ters twins’ road to recovery as they work to help each other through issues of body image, love, identity and sexuality.

Clarke succeeds at creating a story that feels whol-ly unique while at the same time wholly relatable for young women who endure so many of the challenges Rose and Lily face.

With the book’s shadowy tone, Clarke has fash-ioned a world that feels almost dystopian, yet its power lies in the fact that Rose and Lily’s experi-ences are all too common and all too real.

Also:LOS ANGELES: Joyce Carol Oates, Douglas Brin-kley and Lauren Groff are among more than 20 writers contributing essays for a book on the legacy of Henry David Thoreau.

Princeton University Press announced Monday that “Now Comes Good Sailing: On Henry David Thoreau and the Meaning of Life” will be published in 2021. The book’s title comes from words the cel-ebrated nature writer and social commentator report-edly spoke as he neared his death, in 1862.

Others writing about Thoreau for the new book include the best-selling novelist Amor Towles, Pu-litzer Prize-winning nonfi ction writer John McPhee, travel writer Pico Iyer, and the author and columnist Rafi a Zakaria.

Kope

Performer Adam Kashmiry gets ready for his online performance at the Traverse theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland on Aug 21. Edinburgh normally packed with festival tourists is now deserted due to the coronavirus outbreak but artists and organizers are determined the festivals will return, even if it’s in a smaller, more digital form.

(AP)

Global creative hub laid low with virus

Artsy Edinburgh hopes for recoveryEDINBURGH, Scotland, Aug 27, (AP): Francesca Moody is spending August the way she always does: in darkened rooms in Edinburgh, watch-ing some of the best new theater and comedy the world has to offer.

All that’s missing are the hundreds of thousands of other people who usu-ally do the same in Scotland’s capital.

“It’s strange to be in a city that you’re so used to being saturated with culture and arts and people,” Moody, a theater producer, said backstage at the city’s shuttered Traverse Theatre.

Usually the venue is a hub for per-formances at the Edinburgh Fringe, the vast performance festival that helps turn the city into a global creative hub every summer — drawing crowds, generating buzz and fi lling the coffers of hoteliers, pub-owners, shopkeepers and tour guides.

Every summer except this one. The Fringe, the high-toned Edinburgh In-ternational Festival, the Edinburgh In-ternational Book Festival, the Art Fes-tival and the city’s bagpipe-swirling Military Tattoo were all casualties of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown. Their cancellation was a body blow to Brit-ain’s thriving creative economy, and to Edinburgh’s booming tourism sector.

But there are glimmers of light in artists’ and organizers’ determination that the festivals will return — even if it’s in a smaller, more digital form.

Moody knows all about the power of the Fringe. At the 2013 festival she produced “Fleabag,” a one-woman show by Phoebe Waller-Bridge that went on to become an Emmy-win-ning TV series. She is trying to keep the festival’s chemistry alive with the Shedinburgh Fringe, a series of theater and comedy shows performed in sheds erected on theater stages in Edinburgh and London and beamed to ticket-buy-ing viewers around the world.

Moody, who watches the shows live in an otherwise empty theater, is trying to see the upside of this digital neces-sity.

“Prior to this, I think that the arts community was talking a lot about how

we make our work digital,” she said. “This has sort of galvanized that explo-ration. Which in the end, will be a good thing. Because the great thing about digital is that it democratizes the work. It makes it way more accessible.”

Shedinburgh runs until Sept. 5, and the money raised will go to help artists attend the Fringe in 2021 — if it takes place.

Digital offerings such as Shedin-burgh provide some succor for artists and audiences, but little comfort for Edinburgh’s tourism-dependent busi-nesses.

Donald Emslie, chairman of the Ed-inburgh Tourism Action Group, said the city’s annual income from tour-ism doubled between 2010 and 2020. Tourism bosses worried the city was over-capacity. The pandemic brought that boom to a screeching halt: Lock-down has cost Edinburgh an estimated 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) since March and put 20,000 jobs at risk. The number of people visiting central Ed-inburgh in May and June was down 90% from 2019.

FestivalsShops, restaurants and museums

have begun welcoming visitors again as lockdown eases. But there is still ample space to stroll along the Royal Mile, the cobbled street that runs from craggy Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace, Queen Elizabeth II’s Edin-burgh home. Usually in August it is crammed with tourists, buskers and performers thrusting leafl ets advertis-ing their shows into every available hand.

“It’s terrible. We’ve got no guests,” said Luca Vettori, owner of walk-ing tour company Little Fish. “This time last year, we were having about 150 people a day” — many of them Americans from the cruise ships that, pre-pandemic, regularly docked in Ed-inburgh.

Edinburgh has been synonymous with arts festivals since 1947, when the Edinburgh International Festival was founded to revive the war-weary

city. The Fringe sprang up as a demo-cratic alternative to the invitation-only main festival, and soon came to dwarf it in size. Last year more than 3.1 mil-lion tickets were sold to almost 4,000 Fringe shows during the three-week event.

Anyone can perform at the Fringe if they pay a registration fee and fi nd a venue. Over the decades it has helped launch the careers of comedians in-cluding members of Monty Python, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson, and spawned hit stage shows including “Black Watch” and “Jerry Springer: The Opera.”

Fringe chief executive Shona Mc-Carthy said the decision to cancel for the fi rst time in 73 years was “pro-foundly sad, because you knew the ripple effect it would have on so many other people.”

“It’s not just for the artists and the technicians and what happens on stag-es,” she said. “It’s the small graphic design companies, it’s the postering companies, it’s the wee cafes and res-taurants. The impact on this city is just enormous.”

Artists and organizers have been resourceful in response. Some Fringe performers have put their shows on-line, and the festival has held Zoom gatherings to help retain some of the event’s commercial and creative buzz. The International Festival also broad-cast some productions online, and the book festival ran live-streamed talks by authors from around the world.

McCarthy says such digital of-ferings will play a bigger role in the Fringe’s future, though “nothing but nothing will replace the live experi-ence of Edinburgh in August.”

“It’s just not the same sitting in your own house with a laptop,” she said.

The fate of next year’s festival is uncertain. McCarthy said organizers’ most optimistic scenario is “some lev-el of return to normal” but with about 40% of the previous capacity because of social distancing requirements. The worst-case scenario is a rerun of this year’s empty stages.

Theater

This cover image released by Mino-taur shows ‘Shadows of the Dead’ by

Spencer Kope. (AP)

Arnold Martignetti

LOS ANGELES: Arnold Spielberg, father of fi lmmaker Steven Spielberg and an innovating engineer whose work helped make the personal computer possible, has died at 103.

Spielberg died of natural causes while surrounded by his family in Los Angeles on Tuesday, according to a statement from his four children.

Spielberg and Charles Propster de-signed the GE-225 mainframe computer in the late 1950s while working for General Electric. The machine allowed computer scientists at Dartmouth College to develop the programming language BASIC, which would be essential to the rise of personal computers in the 1970s and ‘80s.

“Dad explained how his computer was expected to perform, but the language of computer science in those days was like Greek to me,” Steven Spielberg told the General Electric publication GE Reports. “It all seemed very exciting, but it was very much out of my reach.”

Later on he understood.“When I see a PlayStation, when I

look at a cellphone — from the smallest calculator to an iPad — I look at my dad and I say, ‘My dad and a team of geniuses started that,’” Spielberg said in the family statement.

Arnold Spielberg said of his son in a 2016 interview with GE Reports, “I tried to get him interested in engineering, but his heart was in movies. At fi rst I was disap-pointed, but then I saw how good he was in moviemaking.”

Arnold helped Steven produce his fi rst full-fl edged movie, “Firelight,” made in 1963 when the budding director was 16.

“The story was a forerunner to Steven’s ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind,’ with aliens landing on Earth, and I built the special effects,” Spielberg told the Jewish Journal in 2012. “But while Steven would ask for my advice, the ideas were always his own.”

The son of Ukrainian Jewish im-migrants, Arnold Spielberg was born in Cincinnati in 1917. He was obsessed with gadgetry from the start, building his own crystal radio at age 9 and a ham radio at 15, developing skills he would use during World War II as a radio operator and chief

Variety

Cameron Diaz arrives for her 92Y In Conversation with Rachael Ray on April 5, 2016, in New York. Diaz turns 48 on Aug 30. (AP)

communications man for the 490th Bomb Squadron, also known as the “Burma Bridge Busters.”

His experiences during the war were part

of the inspiration for his son’s 1998 fi lm “Saving Private Ryan.” (AP)

❑ ❑ ❑

BOSTON: The Massachusetts man who

as a 12-year-old boy appeared in an iconic television commercial for Prince spaghetti running through the streets of Boston’s Ital-ian North End has died.

The death of Anthony Martignetti was announced on Facebook on Monday by his brother Andy. He was 63.

“It is with a heavy and hurting heart that we announce to our family and friends that our brother Anthony J. Martignetti passed away suddenly in his sleep last night,” Andy Martignetti wrote. “None of us have accepted this yet and I don’t know when we will. RIP little brother, till we meet again, I love you.”

The 1969 commercial featured a woman — not Martignetti’s real mother — lean-ing out a tenement window and shouting “Anthony! Anthony!”

The commercial that ran nationally for 13 years cut to the young boy, who had moved to the US from Italy just three years prior, sprinting through the city streets, un-til he burst panting through the front door.

“I always understood that it was larger than me, that I had a responsibility to preserve what that commercial meant to people,” Martignetti told The Boston Globe last year. “I knew that if I got into trouble, little Anthony from the spaghetti commer-cial would be all over the paper.” (AP)

SPORTSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

17

Masks will be obligatory for spectators at stage starts and finishes

Uncertainty shrouds Tour de France racing against COVID-19PARIS, Aug 27, (AP): Already de-layed, the Tour de France sets off Sat-urday shrouded in uncertainty, fl ying in the face of the coronavirus pandem-ic and the imponderable question of how many of the 176 riders will avoid infection and endure three exception-ally tough weeks of racing to reach the fi nish in Paris.

That’s if the rolling roadshow gets that far.

Staging cycling’s premier race when COVID-19 infections are rising again in France represents both a health risk and an embodiment of French Presi-dent Emmanuel Macron’s insistence that the country must learn to function as normally as possible with the virus.

Failure to safely steer the Tour to the cobbles of Paris’ Champs-Elysées avenue on Sept. 20 could cast further doubt on the feasibility of holding other sporting mega-events, including the Tokyo Olympics postponed to next year, while the coronavirus remains untamed. A key question posed by pushing ahead with the race will be whether it would have been wiser and safer to simply cancel it.

“Is the Tour adding to the human community experience this year? Or hurting it? That’s what needs answer-ing,” Jonathan Vaughters, boss of the EF Education First team, told The As-sociated Press. “If we choose to take on the risk of living life, then I suppose we might have to take the risk of let-ting events go forward that make life worth living, like the Tour. Is that re-sponsible for the community at large? I think there are many opinions. Many.”

Amid the pandemic, the usually boisterous celebration of cycling that for decades has drawn packed throngs of cheering roadside spectators prom-ises to be a strange and more subdued affair, moved for the fi rst time in its

117-year history out of its traditional July slot to a September month when many fans will be back at school or at work after summer vacations.

Riders who in more carefree times were habitually besieged by admirers congregating outside their team buses and hotels are expected to be largely sealed off from the outside world, ex-cept while out on the roads. Organizers are beseeching spectators to wear face masks, but won’t be able to prevent them from turning out to watch as rid-ers speed through their towns and vil-lages, starting in the Mediterranean city of Nice on Saturday. Masks will be obligatory for spectators at stage starts and fi nishes, and have become mandatory outdoors in a growing num-ber of cities and towns as French infec-tion rates have ticked upward over the summer.

“If you love the Tour, if you love the champions, wear a mask,” race direc-tor Christian Prudhomme said. “Not only will this not be the year to collect an autograph, but you shouldn’t ask for autographs or ask for selfi es. The riders will say ‘Hello’ from afar. That isn’t to say that they’re not nice. All in all, it will be like Wimbledon: You don’t get (Roger) Federer’s autograph in the morning.”

To try to keep the coronavirus from

infecting the peloton of riders as it ne-gotiates the clockwise, 3,484-kilom-eter (2,165-mile) route, organizers aim to shield the 22 teams inside what they call a “race bubble” - opened only to riders and staff who have twice tested negative in the race run-up, including this week at a mobile laboratory in Nice.

The Tour’s COVID-19 protocol, detailed in a 17-page document dis-tributed to teams and obtained by the AP, says teams will be expelled if two of their riders or staff test positive for the virus or show strong symptoms of infection. Race organizers say that scenario will be reserved only for two or more cases within a seven-day span. The threat of expulsion is making rid-ers and managers even edgier than usual on the eve of the biggest event on cycling’s calendar, anxious not only about infection but also about the reli-ability of virus testing.

The German team Bora-Hansgrohe is among those expressing concern, after one if its riders fi rst tested posi-tive and then tested negative Tuesday, prompting the withdrawal of its entire squad from the one-day Bretagne Clas-sic race. Bora team manager Ralph Denk appealed for immediate changes to cycling’s testing regimen to combat false positives.

Bottas has to bounce back in Belgium as F1 title hopes fade

Bears RB Montgomery limps off practice field

Chargers rookie QB Herbert trying to make up for lost time

S P A - F R A N C O R -CHAMPS, Belgium, Aug 27, (AP): Valtteri Bottas is at a loss to explain why his latest Formula One title challenge is fading even faster than it did last sea-son.

The Finnish driver vowed that he could challenge Lewis Ham-ilton for the world championship this year, as he said last year. But after six races he is already 43 points behind Hamilton, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has leap-frogged Bottas into second place in the standings.

“It’s far from ideal ... (the gap is) way too big and I can see again the championship drifting away,” Bot-tas said. “I don’t know the reason for

now. At this point it’s difficult to say, maybe when time goes on I can say. But for now, no, I have no answer.”

Bottas won the season opener in Austria from pole position and has pushed Hamilton closely in qualify-ing.

“I had a good start in the first race and the pace (in) every single race,” Bottas said. “Qualifying has been super-close every single time with Lewis. Small margins.”

But on the track, those small mar-gins have expanded as Hamilton has reaffirmed his superiority over his team-mate.

“Honestly I don’t (know why). At this moment I can’t say,” Bottas said. “There were a couple of (expletive)

races for me in Silverstone, with bad luck.”

Bottas scored no points at the Brit-ish GP on Aug 2 because his tires shredded near the end, while Hamil-ton only punctured his tire on the last lap and he managed to hold on for victory.

But despite that particular incident of bad luck, the way Bottas’ chal-

lenge is fading is all too familiar.Bottas led Hamilton by one point

after four races last season, having won two of them, but was 17 behind after the sixth race. His season started unraveling as Hamilton pulled away to a sixth title and Bottas ended up a whopping 87 points behind the vet-eran British driver in second place.

With 11 races left this season,

the gap could become colossal un-less Bottas finds a way to turn things around, starting at Spa on Sunday.

A win for Hamilton, meanwhile, would move him onto 89 victories overall and just two behind Ferrari great Michael Schuamcher’s F1 re-cord. Hamilton is also odds-on fa-vorite to match the German driver’s record of seven F1 titles.

The seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) track cuts through the thick Ardennes forest and is one of most iconic in F1, with its long straights and famed corners such as Eau Rouge. It is known as a power circuit, with about 65% of the race spent at full throttle, yet Mercedes has not won the past two races.

Those went to Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc dedicating his win last year to Frenchman Anthoine Hubert - who died the day before after a heavy crash in a F2 race.

Hubert’s mother and brother held his racing helmet in their hands as teams and drivers stood alongside them with heads bowed in the pad-dock before the F1 race. After his victory, Leclerc pointed to the sky in memory of his fallen friend.

“Spa-Francorchamps has a spe-cial place in my heart,” Leclerc said. “While it is here that I took my first win, it is also where we lost our friend Anthoine last year. He will be in our thoughts.”

Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who drives for the AlphaTauri team, knew Hubert from an early age.

“We were in the same school to-gether organized by the French motor sport federation, from when I was 13 to 19, and we shared an apartment for six years,” Gasly said. “I think every-one in the paddock will take time to think of him.”

Finnish driver vowed that he could challenge Hamilton

COSTA MESA, California, Aug 27, (AP): Justin Herbert gets his first look at SoFi Stadium on Thursday when the Los Angeles Chargers hold their first scrimmage. When he will get his first NFL start will take a little more time.

The rookie quarterback has re-ceived positive reviews from coaches and teammates for how he has tried to quickly get up to speed with the of-fense. However, he won’t be asked to

start immediately with Tyrod Taylor on the roster.

“The transition has been really good. I’m just trying to do my best to absorb as much as I can, go out there and have fun,” Herbert said.

Herbert went sixth overall in April’s draft after starting 42 games for Or-egon over four seasons with 10,541 yards passing and 108 total touch-downs. Last season, he led the Ducks to a Pac-12 championship and a vic-tory in the Rose Bowl.

❑ ❑ ❑

Bears running back David Mont-gomery limped off the field at practice Wednesday after injuring his groin when making a cut on a running play.

Montgomery, a second-year pro who is expected to carry much of the load in the running game, went down in a non-contact drill. After he took a handoff from Mitch Trubisky and ran to his left, Montgomery fell as he cut. He later was carted to Halas Hall to be examined by the medical staff.

❑ ❑ ❑

For their second scrimmage of train-ing camp Wednesday, the Seattle Se-ahawks let Jamal Adams be a specta-tor.

The reason: strawberries. “He cut his finger slicing some

strawberries, he hit his finger, so he had to have a few stitches,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.

There was concern that Adams had suffered a more significant injury to his left hand when he showed up at practice on Tuesday with a large pro-tective wrap completely encasing his hand. The wrap was gone when Ad-ams took part in warmups ahead of the

scrimmage, but he didn’t participate. ❑ ❑ ❑

The New York Giants’ secondary has taken a big hit with second-round draft pick Xavier McKinney out in-definitely with a broken left foot.

The Giants announced McKinney had surgery Wednesday. The club also said linebacker David Mayo will need knee surgery.

The team did not say when the inju-ries happened but the players were at practice on Tuesday.

❑ ❑ ❑

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mackensie Alexander was jailed Wednesday on a charge of misdemean-or battery after deputies say he beat up a man shortly after returning to Florida to help search for his missing father.

Alexander, 26, and another man, 28-year-old Evins Clement, were arrested by Collier County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday night, not long after Alexander arrived back in southwest Florida where he grew up and his fam-ily still lives in the small farming com-munity of Immokalee.

Finch says, Banter of English cricket crowd will be missedLONDON, Aug 27, (AP): Australia’s cricketers will be spared the taunts of England fans in the upcoming white-ball series between the two rivals be-cause of the enforced absence of spec-tators amid the coronavirus pandemic.

For Australia captain Aaron Finch, that’s a shame.

“It’s always good to have a crowd to entertain and the banter that comes from particularly English crowds is pretty special,” Finch said Wednesday in his first comments since the Austra-lia squad arrived in England this week.

“Do they go over the top? Some-times, maybe. But I think it’s all a

great thing to be a part of, especially if you beat England over here. You know you have to overcome so much and on the field that accounts for a lot. It will be different but I don’t think it takes away from the intensity of the game, from our point of view.”

Batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner bore the brunt of the verbal abuse from English crowds during

both the Ashes series and the Cricket World Cup last year, after their in-volvement in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018.

They are both part of the travel-ling party of cricketers who are the first Australian national sports team to leave the country since the global pan-

demic began.A u s t r a l i a

is following the West In-dies, Ireland and Pakistan in travelling to England for interna-tional games, and Finch said he has been watching them all back home.

“It’s obvi-ously a little different with no crowds, but at the end of the day I think as a cricketer we probably play 95% of our games in front of not many people so I think that will be something we are quite used to,” Finch said with a grin in a video call.

In this, Aug 16, file photo, Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland steers his car during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, Spain. (AP)

Colombia’s Egan Bernal, (center), rides with teammate Britain’s Luke Rowe, (left), during a training session outside Nice, southern France,

ahead of upcoming Saturday’s start of the race on Aug 27. (AP)

CRICKET

MOTOR RACING

CYCLING

In this Aug 16, 2020 file photo, winner Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, (center), celebrates on the podium flanked by second placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of The Netherlands, (left), and third placed Mer-cedes driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland after the Formula One Grand Prix at

the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, Spain. (AP)

Finch

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert pulls back to throw a pass during an NFL football camp practice, on Aug 17 in Costa Mesa,

California. (AP)

FOOTBALL

SPORTSARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUGUST 28-29, 2020

18

Braves sweep slumping YankeesRockies withstand Arizona’s rally in 9th, hold on to win 8-7

ATLANTA, Aug 27, (AP): Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer in the sixth in-ning off Chad Green and the Atlanta Braves rallied to beat the New York Yan-kees 2-1 on Wednesday night to sweep a double-header.

The Yankees have lost five straight.

In the opener, Ian Anderson dazzled in his big league debut, holding the Yankees hitless into the sixth inning and ending Gerrit Cole’s 20-game winning streak as the Braves beat the Yankees 5-1.

Masahiro Tanaka was dominant, allowing only three hits in five score-less innings as he left the second game with a 1-0 lead. Green (2-1) allowed an infield single to Dansby Swanson with two outs in the sixth before giv-ing up Freeman’s homer, an opposite-field shot over the 385-foot mark in left field.

Max Fried (5-0) allowed four hits and one run in six strong innings. Mark Melancon pitched the seventh for his fifth save.

The Yankees scored their only run off Fried in the fifth. Miguel Andu-jar singled to left, moved to third on a double down the third-base line by Erik Kratz and scored on Tyler Wade’s flyball to left field.

Fried had the only wins by a Braves starter before Anderson’s impressive outing.

Ronald Acuña Jr. celebrated his re-turn to the lineup by leading off the opener with a 473-foot drive against Cole.

Anderson (1-0) gave a depleted Atlanta rotation a huge boost. The 22-year-old right-hander, the third overall pick in the 2016 draft, didn’t allow a hit until Luke Voit connected for his team-leading 11th homer with one out in the sixth.

That was the only hit Anderson al-lowed in six innings. He struck out six and walked two. Shane Greene worked the seventh.

Anderson opened the game with two strikes to Mike Tauchman and never seemed rattled.

Anderson was promoted to the ma-jors on Tuesday before his scheduled debut was postponed because of rain. He showed up with a new beard that surprised manager Brian Snitker.

Dansby Swanson and Marcell Ozu-na also homered off Cole (4-1), who suffered his first loss in the regular sea-son since May 22, 2019, with Houston.

Cole was trying to become the first AL pitcher to win 21 straight regular-season decisions. The all-time record is 24 by Carl Hubbell, followed by Roy Face (22) and Cole, Roger Clemens, Jake Arrieta and Rube Marquard tied at 20.

Cole had been unbeaten in 28 con-secutive regular-season starts - Cle-mens holds the mark with 30. Cole’s only loss in 15 months had come in the World Series opener last year with Houston against Washington.

The Yankees newcomer gave up five runs on five hits with nine strike-outs in five-plus innings.

Cole was lifted after giving up a double to Freeman and a walk to Ozuna with no outs in the sixth. Nick Markakis hit an RBI double off Luis Cessa.

Acuña pulled a 97 mph fastball into the left-field seats to open the first. It was Acuña’s longest homer and the longest by any Braves batter at Truist

Park, which opened in 2017.Swanson hit a two-run homer after

Cole walked Acuña in the third inning. With two outs in the inning, Ozuna crushed his eighth homer 469 feet to left-center.

Rockies 8, Diamondbacks 7In Phoenix, Charlie Blackmon hit

a grand slam to help Colorado build a big lead and the Rockies held on dur-ing a tense ninth inning to beat the Ari-zona Diamondbacks 8-7.

Blackmon’s second career slam made it 8-1 in the top of the eighth. After the Diamondbacks scored twice in the bottom half of the inning, they rallied for four runs in the ninth.

Christian Walker’s two-run single - which was inches shy of being a game-winning homer - pulled the D-backs within an 8-7 margin. Jeff Hoffman earned his first big league save when Nick Ahmed struck out looking with the bases loaded to end the game.

Colorado has won three straight and will go for the four-game sweep on Thursday. Arizona has lost a season-high eight in a row.

Rockies veteran outfielder Matt Kemp, who is Black, didn’t play. He announced on social media that he was protesting “in honor of all of my fallen brothers and sisters at the hands of po-lice brutality.”

Much of the American sports land-scape was silent in support of racial injustice by Wednesday night but the D-backs and Rockies decided to play. The other two late West Coast baseball games - Dodgers vs. Giants and Mari-ners vs. Padres - were postponed.

They were among three Major League Baseball games postponed as players across reacted in the wake of the weekend shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wiscon-sin. The domino effect started after the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks didn’t come out on the floor for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series with the Or-lando Magic on Wednesday afternoon in Florida.

NBA officials later announced that all three of the day’s scheduled play-off games had been postponed. The WNBA also postponed its three games and Major League Soccer postponed five of six games.

Jon Gray (2-3) pitched six innings in his best outing of the season, allow-ing one run and three hits. He came into the game with a 6.23 ERA and

had given up 15 earned runs over his previous 14 innings.

Nolan Arena-do hit a two-run double in the first to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead. It remained a tight game un-til the eighth

when Blackmon sent a drive that

landed deep in the right-field seats. It was his fourth homer of the season and came off rookie Riley Smith, who was making his big league debut.

It was another frustrating outing for Robbie Ray (1-4), who lasted just four innings and threw 99 pitches. He struck out eight but also walked six and gave up two runs.

Cardinals 6, Royals 5In St Louis, Kolten Wong drew a

bases-loaded walk to cap off a four-run rally in the ninth inning that lifted the St. Louis Cardinals over the Kansas City Royals 6-5.

Tyler O’Neill tied the game at 5 with a two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded off the glove of third baseman Maikel Franco.

Wong coaxed a five-pitch walk off Randy Rosario (0-1)

Alex Reyes (1-0) got the win.Ryan McBroom and Cam Gallagher

homered for Kansas City, which has lost 13 of its last 17 to its cross-state rival.

St. Louis outfielder Dexter Fowler and pitcher Jack Flaherty opted to sit out the game in solidarity with other players around the league in protest of the shooting in Kenosha, Wiscoin-sin. Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot multiple times by police Sunday. Three major league games were post-poned Wednesday in decisions driven by players.

Fowler was originally in the starting lineup, but decided not to play right before the game. Team management issued a statement in support of both players.

Dylan Carlson tied it at 2 with an RBI double in the fourth. He also add-ed a key hit in the ninth inning.

St. Louis starter Dakota Hudson al-lowed two runs on three hits over six innings. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Kansas City starter Jakob Junis gave up two runs and four hits over 3 2-3 innings in first start since Aug. 7. He struck out six and walked one.

Junis had been slowed by back spasms and came off the 10-day injury

list prior to the contest.

Athletics 3, Rangers 1In Arlington, Texas, Oakland Ath-

letics right-hander Mike Fiers allowed only an unearned run over six innings while getting his team yet another win over the Texas Rangers, 3-1.

Fiers (4-1) struck out seven and scattered three hits in his six innings. He is 6-0 with a 3.18 ERA in his last nine starts against Texas, with his team winning every one of those games - the first two for the Detroit Tigers in 2018 before he was traded to the A’s late that season.

Oakland has the American League’s best record at 22-10, including a 19-6 mark record in August for its most wins in any month since also winning 19 in September 2013. Texas has lost 10 of its last 11 games.

The A’s didn’t have a hit until Ste-phen Piscotty’s one-out RBI single in the sixth inning that tied the game at 1-1, right after young Texas lefty Kol-by Allard (0-3) walked the previous two batters. Allard then issued another walk to load the bases before reliever Luis Garcia’s wild pitch allowed the go-ahead run.

The last time Texas lost more con-secutive games started by an individ-ual pitcher was 12 in a row by Bartolo Colon from August 2003 until May 2007, for the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels.

Former Rangers relievers Joakim Soria and Jake Diekman each had a scoreless inning before Liam Hen-dricks worked a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances. Diekman has not allowed a run in his first 12 appear-ances, and Hendricks has converted 10 consecutive save chances.

Tigers 7, Cubs 6 In Detroit, Niko Goodrum hit a two-

run double to cap Detroit’s five-run sixth inning, and the Tigers held on for a 7-6 victory over the Chicago Cub.

Three major league games were postponed Wednesday as players re-acted to the weekend shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin. The Tigers and Cubs played on, but Chicago outfielder Ja-son Heyward was scratched from the lineup prior to the game. The Cubs said Heyward talked with manager Da-vid Ross and decided not to play.

Heyward was expected to talk to reporters after the game. As the Cubs took the field between the top and bottom of the seventh, there was a stretch of silence in which the music and piped-in crowd noise were halt-ed, while the words “UNITED FOR CHANGE” appeared on the video board in left field.

The Cubs trailed 7-3 entering the ninth, but Nico Hoerner hit an RBI single and Albert Almora added a run-scoring double. An infield single by Ian Happ put the tying run on first with nobody out, then Anthony Rizzo hit a sacrifice fly that center fielder Victor Reyes caught against the wall, some 420 feet from the plate.

The next two hitters went down in

order. Detroit pitcher Buck Farmer snagged Kyle Schwarber’s line drive to end it.

Schwarber homered for the Cubs, who led 3-1 before imploding in the sixth. Catcher Willson Contreras failed to catch a foul popup near the screen, and that misplay proved costly when the Tigers scored four runs with two outs.

Joe Jimenez (1-1) allowed Schwarber’s solo homer in the sixth but got the win in relief. Ryan Tepera (0-1) took the loss.

Mets 5, Marlins 4In New York, Wilson Ramos singled

home the go-ahead run in the eighth in-ning after hobbled Mets closer Edwin Díaz and the bullpen blew another lead provided by Jacob deGrom, and New York beat the Miami Marlins 5-4 .

The teams played despite three postponements around Major League Baseball on Wednesday as players boycotted games to protest racial injus-tice following the shooting by police of a Black man Sunday in Wisconsin.

DeGrom, the two-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, set New York up nicely by matching a career high with 14 strikeouts and handing off a 4-1 lead to begin the eighth in-ning, but Miami promptly loaded the bases with one out against Justin Wil-son.

Díaz came on and struck out pinch-hitter Jesús Sánchez on three pitches, then allowed an RBI single to Jesús Aguilar - a rocket that bounced off third baseman J.D. Davis’ glove - and a bases-loaded walk to Corey Dick-erson. He worked the count to 2-1 against Brian Anderson before manag-er Luis Rojas and a trainer came to the mound and removed the right-hander. It wasn’t clear what Díaz’s injury was.

Brad Brach relieved and threw two balls to walk home the tying run before Lewin Díaz flew out to end the inning.

Robinson Canó led off the bottom of the inning with his third hit, and pinch-runner Billy Hamilton scored from second when Ramos hit a two-out single off Nick Vincent (1-2).

Indians 6, Twins 3In Cleveland, Mike Clevinger

pitched effectively in his first start since breaking COVID-19 protocols and his teammates’ trust, and Tyler Naquin doubled home the go-ahead run in Cleveland’s three-run eighth in-ning as the Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 6-3 to tighten the AL Central.

Clevinger gave up a homer to Max Kepler on his third pitch, but settled in and held the Twins to two runs over six innings in his first start since Aug. 5.

His return meant more than his re-sume.

Three days after his last outing, Clevinger and teammate Zach Plesac left the team’s Chicago hotel, social-ized outside the team’s “bubble,” missed curfew and caused a rift inside the clubhouse.

All seems to be mostly forgiven as Clevinger was welcomed back and the Indians won two of three in the series to close within one-half game of the first-place Twins.

José Ramírez hit a three-run homer in the third and Naquin doubled off Sergio Romo (0-1) in the eighth to break a 3-3 tie. Greg Allen followed with a sacrifice fly, much to the delight of Ramírez and Francisco Lindor, who aimed much of their dugout commen-tary at the bearded, animated Romo.

Phil Maton (2-0) picked up the win in relief and Brad Hand worked the ninth for his ninth save.

Rays 4, Orioles 3In St Petersburg, Florida, Michael

Perez hit a go-ahead solo homer in the eighth inning and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3.

Perez homered to center off Mychal Givens (0-1). It was his first long ball since Aug. 10, 2018.

Ryan Sherriff (1-0) worked a per-fect eighth in his first big league game since May 7, 2018, due to Tommy

John surgery.Diego Castillo pitched the ninth to

get his first save. Ten Tampa Bay re-lievers have a save this season.

Brandon Lowe hit his 10th homer for the Rays, who have won nine of 11. Oft-injured center fielder Kevin Kiermaier left with back spasms in the fifth.

The Orioles are 8-3 on the road after losing the first two games of the series. Their only other defeat away from home came opening day at Boston.

One day after his 18-game hitting streak ended, Anthony Santander pulled the Orioles even at 3 on an RBI single in the seventh.

Lowe tied it at 2 on a two-run drive in the third. It was his seventh homer over his last 14 games.

Pinch-hitter Yandy Díaz put the Rays up 3-2 in the fifth with a fielder’s choice.

Cedric Mullins opened the first in-ning with his major league-leading sixth bunt single and scored when Rays right fielder Hunter Renfroe misplayed Hanser Alberto’s single. Renato Núñez’s fielder’s choice made it 2-0.

Kiermaier grabbed his back while running to second on double-play grounder in the fourth and departed one inning later while batting. He didn’t start, but entered as a defensive replacement Tuesday after departing Monday’s game after getting hitting by a pitch on the right foot.

Blue Jays 9, Red Sox 1In Buffalo, NY, Rowdy Tellez

drove in four runs with two homers and a double, and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox 9-1 .

Vladimir Guererro Jr. hit a pair of doubles, including a three-run bouncer down the left field line which keyed a four-run seventh inning for Toronto (15-14).

Down to a three-man rotation, Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo’s bid to go with what he called a “bullpen day” of relievers paid off in a game five Toronto pitchers combined to al-low three hits, struck out seven and walked three.

Rookie right-hander Shun Yama-guchi (1-2) got the win in allowing one run on two hits over four innings of relief for Toronto, which bounced back a day after squandering a 4-0 lead in a 9-7 loss to Boston. He took over in the third after Jason Merryweather allowed one hit and struck out three in two innings work in his first major league start, and just third appearance.

Mitch Moreland homered for the Red Sox (10-21), who are 4-3 in their past seven since snapping a nine-game skid. Colton Brewer (0-2) got the loss in allowing four runs on five hits, in-cluding three homers, in 3 2/3 innings.

Play continued while a steady rain began to fall during the third inning be-fore finally letting up in the sixth.

Tellez broke open the game with Toronto leading 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

Phillies 3, Nationals 2 In Washington, Aaron Nola bounced

back from the shortest outing of his career to throw seven strong innings, and the Philadelphia Phillies took ad-vantage of the Washington Nationals’ sloppy outfield defense to rally for a 3-2 victory .

Bryce Harper, who won the 2015 NL MVP during a seven-year stint with the Nationals, delivered the go-ahead RBI single in the seventh to help the Phillies win their third in a row. The defending World Series champion Nationals have dropped three consecu-tive games to drop to a season-high six games under .500.

Nola (3-2), who threw a career-low 2 2/3 innings Friday in a loss at Atlanta, gave up two runs on five hits while striking out eight. Tommy Hunt-er tossed a perfect eighth, and recently acquired closer Brandon Workman es-caped a two-on, one-out jam by strik-ing out Eric Thames and Victor Robles for his second save since joining the Phillies from Boston and sixth overall.

The Phillies trailed 2-1 entering the seventh against Washington starter Patrick Corbin, who yielded a solo homer to Rhys Hoskins in the third but had otherwise avoided serious trouble. Didi Gregorius led off with a hit to left that Juan Soto dove for and missed, turning a likely single into a triple.

That ended Corbin’s night, and Alec Bohm greeted reliever Will Harris (0-1) with a single to right to tie the game. After a fielder’s-choice grounder put Roman Quinn on first, Andrew Mc-Cutchen hit a routine fly to deep right-center, but Robles and Adam Eaton collided in what was scored a single. Two batters later, the speedy Quinn easily scored from second on Harper’s looping single to left to give the Phil-lies the lead.

White Sox 10, Pirates 3In Chicago, José Abreu homered

again, Dallas Keuchel followed Lu-cas Giolito’s no-hitter with six domi-nant innings, and the surging Chicago White Sox pounded the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-3 on Wednesday for their ninth win in 10 games.

Abreu’s 12th home run and seventh in five games, a two-run shot in the seventh, was Chicago’s fourth of the game and broke it open. Eloy Jimé-nez slugged a three-run homer, Danny Mendick lined a two-run drive and Ed-win Encarnacion added a solo shot for Chicago, which leads the AL with 60 home runs.

Yoán Moncada doubled twice and Luis Robert and Nomar Mazara had RBIs.

Keuchel (5-2) allowed two runs on four hits and struck out seven in his third straight win.

BASEBALL

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray (55) throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning of a baseball game, Aug 26, in Phoenix. (AP)

Oakland Athletics’ Stephen Piscotty, (left), follows through on a run-scoring single as Texas Rangers catcher Jose Trevino, right, watches in the sixth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas on Aug 26. The hit that scored Marcus Semien, stopped a no-hit bid by Rangers starter Kolby Allard. (AP)

Chicago W. Sox 10 Pittsburgh 3Atlanta 5 NY Yankees 1 7 innings 1st gameAtlanta 2 NY Yankees 1 7 innings 2nd gameToronto 9 Boston 1Tampa Bay 4 Baltimore 3

Cleveland 6 Minnesota 3Detroit 7 Chicago Cubs 6Oakland 3 Texas 1St Louis 6 Kansas City 5Philadelphia 3 Washington 2NY Mets 5 Miami 4Colorado 8 Arizona 7

WASHINGTON, Aug 27, (AP): Results and standings from the MLB games on Wednesday.

American LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GBTampa Bay 21 11 .656 _New York 16 11 .593 2-1/2Toronto 15 14 .517 4-1/2Baltimore 14 16 .467 6Boston 10 21 .323 10-1/2

Central Division W L Pct GBMinnesota 20 12 .625 _Chicago 19 12 .613 -1/2Cleveland 19 12 .613 -1/2Detroit 13 16 .448 5-1/2Kansas City 12 19 .387 7-1/2

West Division W L Pct GBOakland 22 10 .688 _Houston 17 14 .548 4-1/2Seattle 12 19 .387 9-1/2Texas 11 19 .367 10Los Angeles 10 22 .313 12

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GBAtlanta 18 12 .600 _Miami 14 12 .538 2Philadelphia 12 14 .462 4New York 13 16 .448 4-1/2Washington 11 17 .393 6

Central Division W L Pct GBChicago 18 12 .600 _St Louis 11 9 .550 2Milwaukee 13 15 .464 4Cincinnati 11 17 .393 6Pittsburgh 7 19 .269 9

West Division W L Pct GBLos Angeles 22 9 .710 _San Diego 18 13 .581 4Colorado 16 15 .516 6San Francisco 15 16 .484 7Arizona 13 19 .406 9-1/2

MLB Results/Standings

Pogba tests positive for COVID-19PARIS, Aug 27, (AP): France mid-fielder Paul Pogba has tested positive for COVID-19 and been left out of the national team squad, coach Didier De-schamps said Thursday.

“I had to make a change at the last min-ute because Paul Pogba was supposed to be in the squad,” Deschamps said. “Un-

fortunately for him, he had a test yester-day which was positive this morning.”

The Manchester United midfielder’s place in the squad will be taken by 17-year-old Rennes midfielder Eduar-do Camavinga ahead of upcoming Na-tions League qualifiers against Sweden and Croatia.

Gray

Sports PlusPlus

‘I’m looking for-ward to getting out

there and playing and competing.

We’re trying to make it as safe as

possible and take an abundance of caution wherever we need to

and can.

‘

‘

’

’

Top 30 advance to East Lake to compete for $15 million prize

Woods faces a new, stern test to get to FedEx Cup fi nale

ing records on the PGA Tour.That put Johnson atop the FedEx

Cup standings, and he’s not likely to fall far. For some, this week is about improving their position going to the Tour Championship, which features a staggered start to par. The No. 1 seed starts the week at 10 under, down to even par for the final five players.

Because of the shorter season from having lost three months to the coro-navirus pandemic, the points count only triple instead of quadruple, and movement isn’t as severe. The top 20 or so are locked into East Lake.

Among those on the bubble are Tony Finau at No. 29, and players like Patrick Cantlay (No. 37) and U.S. Open champion Gary Wood-land (No. 39) who have ground to make up.

For Woods, the math is simple. He needs a top fi nish or he has two weeks off ahead of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, which wouldn’t be the worst dilemma he has faced.

If it took time for Woods to remem-ber the holes, the routing might con-fuse him. The course was reconfi gured for the U.S. Open because the closing holes don’t have a lot of room for thousands of fans, much less hospital-ity structures. But when the BMW Championship had to do without fans, the routing was returned to the way it is for the members.

Regardless of the order of holes, they are strong.

“We’ve played a lot of short and soft golf courses, and this is far from short and soft,” Thomas said. “For the most part, I think there’s a reason this place held a U.S. Open. It’s kind of in a league of its own in my opinion.”

Woods played the nine back alone late Tuesday afternoon, and he played the front nine Wednesday morning with Rory McIlroy, with whom he played the fi nal two rounds at TPC Boston last week.

Woods said he looked at few videos of Olympia Fields before he arrived. The course is longer. That much was evident when he had to walk back 150 yards from the green to the next tee. Holes that once required irons off the tee might allow the biggest hitters to go with driver to reach wider portions of the fairway.

If he doesn’t make it to East Lake, it sounds as though this might be a good tune-up for Winged Foot.

“I have to get the ball in play here and the put the ball in the right spots,” he said. “This golf course is set up more toward an Open than it is any-thing else.” (AP)

Tiger Woods watches his tee shot during a practice round, on Aug. 26, 2020, for the BMW Championship golf tournament at the Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois. (AP)

Teams not playing in ’20 will not be ranked in coaches’ poll

Huskers surrounded by college teams pushing on with football

FREMONT, Nebraska, Aug 27, (AP): The temperature was ap-proaching 90 and a light breeze was blowing while Jeff Jamrog put his Midland University football team through its paces under the midday sun.

From the street running past Heedum Field, it looked like a typical August practice. A group of line-men hit a blocking sled, there was a skeleton passing drill and a no-tackle scrimmage.

Signs of normalcy vanish at the fi eld entrance. Visitors are checked for fever. A hand sanitizer dispenser hangs on a wooden post a few steps from the gate. Everyone, unless participating in a drill, is supposed to wear a mask.

“It’s annoying,” linebacker Theo Blum said of masking up. “After the fi rst three or four days most people got used to it. It is what it is. We wear it. Maybe we get the sun off our face a little bit and get nice tan lines. We do what we have to do to play.”

While the majority of the nation’s college football teams won’t play this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, Midland is among fi ve in Nebraska pushing forward. They do not include the Nebraska Cornhusk-ers, who will be idle after the Big Ten decided to push back the season to the spring.

Disappointed Huskers fans will fi nd no consolation in the fact Memo-rial Stadium will be surrounded by teams – albeit all from small colleges – attempting to carry on as usual. Of the 52 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics schools planning to play, 35 are in Nebraska

and bordering states Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and South Dakota.

Jamrog and Midland athletic direc-tor Dave Gillespie each spent nearly two decades with the Huskers as play-ers, coaches and administrators. Both said they feel terrible their alma mater isn’t playing this fall and understand the outrage the Big Ten’s decision has caused in this state of 1.8 million.

Midland’s league, the Great Plains Athletic Conference, announced July 21 it would attempt a football season starting Sept. 12. The NAIA is allow-ing each team to play nine games, two fewer than usual, but playoffs won’t be held until spring.

Gillespie said Midland is follow-ing GPAC protocols and local health department guidelines to mitigate the COVID-19 risk.

“There doesn’t seem to be any consensus nationally on what the right

thing to do is (as far as playing), and you can get a lot of different opinions on that,” Gillespie said. “It’s not com-pletely safe, and we’re never going to make it completely safe. We’re trying to make it as safe as possible and take an abundance of caution wherever we need to and can.”

Midland football players are required to wear masks indoors. Out-doors, they need to social distance as much as possible when not participat-ing in a drill and use hand sanitizer frequently.

Plexiglass barriers have been installed in the cafeteria and other areas of the athletic facilities. Players shower at their residences instead of in the locker room. There are temper-ature checks and screening questions every day. Lunches are prepared for takeout. For meals eaten in the cafeteria, players sit 6 feet apart.

The challenge of maintaining the quasi-bubble increases with school starting Thursday. Midland will hold in-person and online classes.

Gillespie said coronavirus testing is done if an athlete shows symp-toms. He said there had been a “handful” of positive tests among more than 200 fall athletes. Jamrog said one football player has opted out because of COVID-19 concerns.

Blum said he and his teammates are grateful to have a fall season to look forward to even if it comes with some minor inconveniences. Only 145 of 765 teams in the NAIA and across three divisions of the NCAA are scheduled to play at least one game this fall (19%). Another 57 jun-ior colleges have moved their seasons to the spring.

“I know there are hundreds of thousands of people across the country not getting to play,” he said. “That’s been a motto for us this year starting out: Every day is a blessing to be able to play.”

The Warriors enters the season with momentum. They won six straight to end 2019 and are picked third in the GPAC.

“If we got shut down,” Blum said, “everybody would have been heartbroken.”

Jamrog, beginning his fi fth year at Midland, said he would love it if football-starved Huskers fans wanted to adopt his Warriors as their team for 2020 when they kick off 50 miles from Memorial Stadium. More than 100 of his 150 players are from Ne-braska. And in a kidding-not-kidding comment, he invited ESPN’s College GameDay show to visit Fremont.

Heedum Field will be limited to 75% capacity. Midland drew about 1,200 fans per game at the 5,000-seat stadium in 2019, meaning there should be plenty of room.

“Hey, Nebraska fans, you guys come out and support us,” tight end Austin Harris said. “We’re going to be playing ball this fall.”

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pan-demic that has altered the upcoming college football season will also change the way the weekly coaches’ poll published by USA Today is conducted.

The preseason coaches’ poll re-leased Aug. 6 included votes from 65 coaches in the Bowl Subdivision.

With members of the Big Ten, Pac-12, Mid-American, Mountain West and other schools postponing football this fall, those teams will not be eligible for the coaches’ poll once the season begins – a decision echoing that of The Associated Press for its Top 25.

Accordingly, the coaches’ voting panel will be reduced to 42, the newspaper reported Tuesday. USA Today has worked with the Ameri-can Football Coaches Association to administer the coaches poll since the 1991 season.

“This is certainly a unique and unprecedented time in collegiate ath-letics,” said Todd Berry, president of the AFCA. “It made sense for those currently playing their games to be the voters in this year’s poll.”

The AP preseason Top 25 was released earlier this week and it includes nine teams that will not be eligible for votes once the season begins.

By Doug Ferguson

Tiger Woods at Olympia Fields brought concerns about the state

of his game.That was the case 17 years ago

going into the U.S. Open. Never mind that Woods was the defending champion. He had gone all of four tournaments without winning. At that stage in his career, it was enough to raise questions about a slump.

Not much has changed this week at the BMW Championship, with a slight change in the narrative. It’s not about whether he can win a major. It’s whether he can avoid another early end to his PGA Tour season.

Woods has gone four tourna-ments outside the top 35 - three of those since golf returned from the COVID-19 pandemic in June - and he likely needs to fi nish among the top four against a 69-man fi eld to reach the Tour Championship. The top 30 advance to East Lake to compete for a $15 million prize.

“I have to play well. I have to earn my way to East Lake,” said Woods, who is No. 57 in the FedEx Cup. “I haven’t done so yet and need a big week in order to advance. If I don’t, then I go home. This is a big week for me. I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing and competing.”

He’ll be doing that on a course that is only familiar in its look - tree-lined, a few elevated greens, fairways framed by rough that can cover the top of his shoes and quick, contoured greens.

But then, it’s not familiar to many at the second of three FedEx Cup postseason events. Woods, Charles Howell III, Adam Scott and Paul Casey are the only players who com-peted in that 2003 U.S. Open (Woods tied for 20th). Bryson DeChambeau won the 2015 U.S. Amateur at Olym-pia Fields, which featured fi ve other players in the BMW Championship fi eld, including PGA champion Collin

Morikawa.Harris English won a college tour-

nament here a decade ago.“I remember how great a test it

was,” English said. “It’s just a tough golf course. I don’t think you’re go-ing to see the scores like you did last week. ... It’s going to be a good warm-up for the other tournaments coming up, with the Tour Championship and then the U.S. Open. I know we’re all excited to be here.”

Last week was Dustin Johnson overwhelming the fi eld and the course at the TPC Boston, winning by 11 shots and fi nishing at 30-under 254, one shot away from two 72-hole scor-

Midland University NAIA college football players practice in Fremont, Ne-braska on Aug 25. Midland University is among fi ve small colleges in the

state that are pushing forward with plans to play football this fall. (AP)

Pacquiao conqueror Jeff Horn contemplating ring retirement

Jeff Horn has been encouraged to retire after the former world cham-pion was beaten by Tim Tszyu in a super-welterweight bout.

Three years after beating Manny Pacquiao at a packed Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the Australian said he felt relief Wednesday when the offi cial stopped their bout ahead of the ninth round.

Horn didn’t offi cially end his career after the loss, but knows

it will be diffi cult for him to con-vince his wife and two daughters that the best decision is to fi ght on after his third loss from his last fi ve bouts.

“I’ll go home and talk to (wife) Jo but I know what she’s going to say,” he said. “In the end, I have to ask if I have more in the tank or is that it. I probably don’t have the hunger of Tim Tszyu. I’ve been there, done the world title, I was just fi ghting for the big fi ghts

and the mountain was too big for me tonight.”

Tim Tszyu is the son of former world champion and Russian-born Kostya Tszyu. Horn’s pro-moter Dean Lonergan suggested the time was right for former school teacher Horn to retire.

“I think tonight would be a nice full stop,” Lonergan said of the 32-year-old Horn’s career. “The baton I think’s been passed.”

Horn had dropped a weight di-

vision and entered the Townsville stadium bout in north Queensland full of confi dence, but it didn’t take long for Tszyu to assume control. Horn was knocked down in the third and sixth rounds and referee Phil Austin stopped the contest after eight rounds.

“He was very good; he made me look silly out there,” Horn said of Tszyu. “It was more of a relief than anything that the referee was saying he’d seen enough.” (AP)

In this July 2, 2017, fi le photo, Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines, left, lands a left, to Jeff Horn of Australia, during their WBO World Welterweight title fi ght in Brisbane, Australia. (AP)

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SportsNBA games come to immediate halt for second time this season

Games stop again, this time players decide when they resumeLAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida, Aug 27, (AP): NBA players didn’t come to Disney solely for a restart. They want-ed social reform.

The Milwaukee Bucks showed how far they’re willing to go to get it by opting not to play in their playoff game Wednesday. Two more games were postponed later in the day, the second time this season NBA basket-ball came to an immediate halt.

Other sports followed, just as they did in March when the season was suspended four months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This time, the players will decide how long the stoppage lasts.

“The biggest thing that we all under-stand is if we’re not playing, what are we doing? What are we doing to show and to help what’s going on outside this bubble?” Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams said, shortly before the Bucks were scheduled to tip off their game against the Orlando Magic.

Instead, the Bucks players remained in the locker room, finally emerging hours later to read a statement demand-ing action from lawmakers and encouraging voting by citizens.

They changed the narrative across the entire sports landscape, putting the focus squarely on social justice reform in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, while three of his children in his car looked on.

While players and teams from base-ball, the WNBA, MLS and tennis sat out their competitions Wednesday night, NBA players and coaches met for nearly three hours in a Disney hotel to determine next steps, including whether the season should continue. They did not come to a consensus, a person with knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details weren’t revealed publicly.

The NBA’s board of governors will meet Thursday morning and likely address whether the playoff games scheduled for that day will be played. The Western & Southern Open won’t be, with the U.S. Tennis Association, along with the ATP and WTA Tours, announcing play would be paused after two-time Grand Slam women’s cham-pion Naomi Osaka had already said she wouldn’t play her semifinal match.

“I don’t expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction,” Osaka tweeted. “Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach.”

More lost NBA games would be another punishing financial blow in a season in which the league was already headed to losses of hundreds of mil-lion of dollars, potentially leading to ramifications that would be felt in

An empty court is shown before the start of a scheduled game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Orlando Magic for Game 5 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series on Aug 26, in Lake Buena

Vista, Fla. (AP)

Boston Bruins goaltender Dan Vladar (80) watches the puck as team-mate Bruins left wing Nick Ritchie (21) battles Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Barclay Goodrow (19) during the second period of Game 3 of an NHL

hockey second-round playoff series on Aug 26, in Toronto. (AP)

Nashville player Dave Romney (top right), heads the ball for a goal over Orlando player Robin Jansson (top left), during an MLS game in Orlando, Florida on Aug 26. (AP)

future years.Before coming to Disney, many

NBA players wrestled for weeks about whether it was even right to play, fear-ing that a return to games would take attention off the deaths of, among oth-ers, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in recent months.

They ultimately decided coming to the bubble and playing televised games would give them the largest platform, though now at least some are wondering if that’s still true. Toronto coach Nick Nurse said he’s heard some players on his team say they were thinking about going home.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers hopes they won’t.

His players considered boycotting a playoff game in 2014 after audio tapes featuring former owner Donald Sterling were revealed. He said this time is different because it’s the whole league, rather than one team, weighing the decision.

“I think every team has to decide what they want to do and honestly I hope everyone plays,” Rivers said. “I just think showing the excellence in doing your job, there’s nothing wrong with that, but also fighting for what’s right is important as well.”

It certainly is for the Bucks, who play about 40 miles from Kenosha. Sterling Brown, one of the players to read the statement, has a federal law-suit pending against the city of Milwaukee alleging he was targeted because he was Black and that his civil rights were violated in January 2018 when officers used a stun gun on him after a parking violation.

And it is for the Raptors, whose team president, Masai Ujiri, had an altercation with an Oracle Arena secu-rity guard after Game 6 of last year’s NBA Finals. A video of it released recently appears to show an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy initially shoved Ujiri, who is Black, twice.

Celtic, Legia, Cluj lose CL qualifiersGENEVA, Aug 27, (AP): Celtic, Legia Warsaw and Cluj lost in Champions League qualifying as home advantage counted for little in games played in empty stadi-ums.

All three clubs played in the Champions League group stage in recent seasons but were elim-inated in the second qualifying round despite being drawn at home in single-leg elimination games. The usual two-leg for-mat has been cut back in a tighter schedule during the pan-demic.

Celtic lost 2-1 to Hungarian title holder Ferencváros, coached by former Ukraine for-ward Serhiy Rebrov.

The decisive goal was scored in the 75th minute by Tokmac Nguen, a former refugee from South Sudan who later repre-sented Norway as a youth inter-national.

Polish champion Legia lost 2-0 to Omonia of Cyprus after extra time. Omonia is coached

by Henning Berg, the former Norway and Manchester United defender, who won the Polish league coaching Legia in 2015.

Cluj made it 2-2 in stoppage time to force extra time against Dinamo Zagreb but went on to lose a penalty shootout.

There were also away wins for Midtjylland, Rapid Vienna, Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Molde.

Dutch league runner-up AZ Alkmaar was seconds away from losing 1-0 at home to Viktoria Plzen, but leveled from a penalty awarded in the fourth and final minute of stop-page time.

AZ’s Iceland forward Albert Gudmundsson scored twice in extra time to secure a 3-1 win.

Young Boys also won 3-1 against KI Klaksvik of the Faeroe Islands in a game cleared to take place by a court ruling about three hours before kickoff in Switzerland.

KI advanced when its previ-ous opponent, Slovan Bratislava, was ordered by UEFA to forfeit the game because of players testing posi-tive for COVID-19.

Slovan has appealed against UEFA’s ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and also tried to get an interim ruling to postpone Wednesday’s game. That was dismissed by the court.

SOCCER

Flyers give up 3-goal lead, recover to ‘edge’ Islanders

Dallas Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin (35) stops Colorado Avalanche right wing Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (41) during the first period of Game 3 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series on Aug 26 in Edmonton, Alberta. (AP)

Lightning rout Bruins

TORONTO, Aug 27, (AP): Phillippe Myers scored 2:40 into overtime to give the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Wednesday, tying the sec-ond-round playoff series at a game apiece.

The Islanders overcame a 3-0 first-period deficit, with Jean-Gabriel Pageau getting the tying goal with 2:09 left in regulation.

Myers ended it quickly, connecting on a shot from the right point that glanced off the stick of the Islanders’ Anders Lee on the way in.

Kevin Hayes scored twice in the first period for Philadelphia, Sean Couturier also had a goal, and Carter Hart made 31 saves.

Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov had seven saves before he was benched late in the first period. Thomas Greiss finished with 20 stops the rest of the way.

The Flyers scored three times in the first 15:09, chasing Varlamov. He had shut them out in Game 1 and built an Islanders’ playoff record shutout streak of 138:17 before Philadelphia broke through in the first period.

Game 3 is Thursday night.The Flyers, the top seed in the

Eastern Conference, sorely needed more production from their top goal-scorers and finally got it.

Hayes scored off a rush with a wrister from the left circle that rattled in off the post 1:57 into the game. Hayes got his second when he beat Varlamov with a sharp-angle shot from the left at 9:43.

Couturier followed later in the peri-od with a slick one, picking up the puck in the neutral zone, slipping around defenseman Nick Leddy and deking Varlamov. That’s when Greiss was sent in to make his playoff debut in relief of Varlamov.

The momentum started to even out in the second period. With the Islanders on a power play, Lee tipped in a beautiful cross-ice feed from Mathew Barzal to get New York on the board.

Beauvillier made it a one-goal game on a rush 11:11 into the third period. Pageau lifted a wrist shot over Hart’s glove to tie the game with 2:09

left, despite a Flyers’ claim that New York was offside entering the zone.

Lightning 7, Bruins 1Ondrej Palat, Mikhail Sergachev

and Alex Killorn scored power-play goals Wednesday night to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 7-1 rout of the Boston Bruins in Game 3 of their second-round NHL playoff series.

Killorn added a second goal and Yanni Gourde, Brayden Point and

Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning, which won for the second straight night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven matchup between Atlantic Division rivals.

Game 4 is Friday night.“Let’s be honest. This is an aberra-

tion,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of the blowout, which followed Tampa Bay’s 4-3 overtime win on Tuesday night.

“They’re the President’s Trophy winner. ... You turn the page,” Cooper added, “just like you turn the page on an overtime thriller.”

Kucherov assisted on all three power-play goals, finishing with a career playoff-best four points as the Lightning ended an 0-for-16 drought in man-advantage situations that began in Game 1 of the team’s first-round victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“We lost our composure at times and didn’t do enough to get back in the game,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.

“But it’s over, we’re going to focus on Game 4. (Whether it’s) 7-1, 2-1 - a loss is a loss. They’re up 2-1,” Cassidy added. “I know we’ve got a good group. They’re resilient. We’ll lick our wounds ... and get ready for Game 4.”

Brad Marchand had his fourth goal of the series for Boston, scoring on the power play at 4:56 of the second period.

But by then, the Bruins trailed 3-0 after yielding goals to Palat and Gourde within a 15-second span of the opening period and Sergachev’s blistering shot that sailed past goalie Jaroslav Halak at 2:14 of the second.

Things really got out of hand when Halak, trailing 4-1, was replaced by 23-year-old Dan Vladar, making his

NHL playoff debut.Point scored on a breakaway and

Killorn added his second goal the night before Kucherov built the lead to 7-1 at 3:58 of the third period.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had 23 saves for the Lightning. Halak stopped 12 of 16 shots before departing midway through the second period.

“We know this is going to be a long series,” Tampa Bay’s Kevin Shattenkirk said. “We’re not going to see that type of Boston team on Friday night.”

Avalanche 6, Stars 4Nazem Kadri scored the go-ahead

goal with 6:06 remaining in a wild third period as Colorado pulled to 2-1 in the best-of-seven playoff series.

Leading 3-1 in the third, Colorado saw the Stars rally for three straight goals, including one that caromed into the net off the leg of Jamie Benn to put Dallas up.

Mikko Rantanen and Kadri responded with goals 1:52 apart to give the back a 5-4 advantage. Kadri tipped in the winner off a pass from Kevin Connauton. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare added a late empty-netter to seal the win.

ICE HOCKEY

Ferencvaros’ Adnan Kovacevic (right), controls the ball under pres-sure from Celtic’s Ryan Christie dur-ing their Champions League second qualifying round soccer match at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland on Aug 26. (AP)