HOW CONTAGIOUS OMANTEL ARE KIDS WITH COVID? GROUP … · 2020. 11. 5. · OMANTEL GROUP POSTS...
Transcript of HOW CONTAGIOUS OMANTEL ARE KIDS WITH COVID? GROUP … · 2020. 11. 5. · OMANTEL GROUP POSTS...
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020 | RABEE AL AWWAL 20, 1442 AH
EUROPE NOW REGION HARDEST HIT BY VIRUS INFECTIONS P4
INSIDE
[email protected] 1981. Editor-in-chief: Abdullah bin Salim al Shueili
WORDS OF WISDOMThroughout our country’s glorious history, the world has known Oman as an influential cultural entity, which promoted the region’s growth and prosperity, and security and peace
OMAN
CONDOLENCES TO
UAE, VIETNAM
HM GREETS NEW
SEYCHELLES PRESIDENT
His Majesty Sultan Haitham
bin Tarik has sent a cable of
condolences to Shaikh Khalifa
bin Zayed al Nahyan, President
of the United Arab Emirates, on
the death of Shaikha Maryam
bint Hamdan bin Zayed bin
Khalifa al Nahyan.
His Majesty the Sultan
expressed his sincere
condolences and sympathy,
praying to Allah the Almighty to
rest the deceased’s soul in peace
in paradise and grant her family
patience.
His Majesty the Sultan sent
a similar cable of condolences
to President Dr Nguyen Phu
Trong of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam over losses of lives
caused by the floods which
battered several Vietnamese
cities.
His Majesty expressed his
heartfelt condolences and
sympathy to President Nguyen,
families of the victims and the
Vietnamese friendly people,
wishing the injured speedy
recovery. — ONA
His Majesty Sultan Haitham
bin Tarik has sent a cable of
greetings to President Wavel
Ramkalawan of the Republic
of Seychelles on the occasion
of him being elected as a new
President for his country. His
Majesty the Sultan expressed his
sincere congratulations and best
wishes of success to President
Ramkalawan to lead the friendly
people of Seychelles towards
further progress and prosperity.
His Majesty also wished
relations of friendship between
the two countries further
progress and growth. — ONA
PRAYER TIMINGSPRAYER TIMINGS SUNRISE: 06:16 FAJR: 04:58 DHUHR: 11:56 ASR: 15:07 MAGHRIB: 17:30 ISHA: 18:43MUSCAT: Max 320C Min 180C SALALAH: Max 290C Min 200C NIZWA: Max 320C Min 150C
SPECTACULAR SAIJAThis beautiful village in the Wilayat of Samayil forms the picturesque valley under the cliffs of Al Hajar Al Gharbi Range connected to Jabal Al Akhdhar. Saija was known in the past as “Sail Ga” means “Rain is coming” due to the heavy annual rains in the village. The water-rich region receives rains throughout the year and harbours aflaj that are the source of life in and around the village. SEE P3
HM receives ambassadors’ credentials
MUSCAT: His Majesty Sultan
Haitham bin Tarik received
separately at Al Barakah Palace on
Thursday credentials of a number
of ambassadors of the sisterly and
friendly countries accredited to the
Sultanate.
His Majesty received credentials of
the following ambassadors:
Manabile Shogole, Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of
President Cyril Ramaphosa of the
Republic of South Africa, accredited
to the Sultanate.
Abdallah Abasi Kilima,
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Ambassador of President Dr John
Magufuli of the United Republic of
Tanzania, accredited to the Sultanate.
Thomas Friedrich, Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary Ambassador
of President Dr Frank-Walter
Steinmeier of the Federal Republic of
Germany, accredited to the Sultanate.
Dmitry Dugadkin, Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary Ambassador
of President Vladimir Putin of the
Russian Federation, accredited to the
Sultanate.
Anwar Abdul Halimov,
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Ambassador of President Shavkat
Mirziyoyev of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, accredited to the
Sultanate.
Suwat Kaewsook, Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of
King Maha Vajiralongkorn of the
Kingdom of Thailand, accredited to
the Sultanate.
VOL. 39 NO. 358 | PAGES 12 | BAISAS 200
TURN TO P2
Biden closer to win, Trump launches legal challengesWASHINGTON: Republicans in the
United States pledged to pursue their
legal challenges in key battleground
states on Thursday, as the Democratic
nominee for president, Joe Biden,
inched closer to winning the White
House.
“We support the voters that stood
hours in line that feel like they’re
being disenfranchised by votes being
found in the middle of the night,”
said Republican National Committee
Chair Rona McDaniel to Fox News.
Republicans have filed lawsuits in
Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia,
and have asked for a vote re-count
in Wisconsin. They say that mail-
in ballots that arrived after the state
deadlines are being counted anyway,
and that Republican poll watchers are
being shut out.
It is unclear whether these lawsuits
will have the desired effect of having
some mail-in ballots disqualified.
US voters are expecting updates on
Thursday in the handful of states still
in play in the hope of getting a decisive
result on whether Trump or Biden
had won. Biden has a lead in the race
and has multiple pathways to victory,
while Trump is in a tighter spot.
All eyes will be on Nevada,
Georgia and Pennsylvania to see if
any are solid enough to be called
for a candidate. If Biden can hold a
lead in Arizona, which is also set to
report more results, any other state
coming in for him will likely push his
campaign over the line.
The election has been a nail-biter,
with the Democrats having failed to
deliver the repudiation of Trump that
they had promised. The Republicans
look set to hold a slim majority in the
Senate, while the Democratic majority
in the House of Representatives
shrunk.
Trump does not appear ready to
concede the election, as he has even
claimed victory in states that are still
up-in-the-air and even Michigan, one
that clearly went for Biden. It is highly
unusual for a candidate to make such
a move.
Several of Trump’s posts on Twitter
and Facebook have been affixed
with warning messages, including
ones claiming “fraud” without proof,
amid concerns they were designed to
spread misinformation. SEE P5
P6HOW CONTAGIOUS ARE KIDS WITH COVID? SHORT ANSWER: WE DON’T KNOW
OMANTEL GROUP POSTS REVENUES OF RO 1.859 BN
P7DHOFAR TO TAKE ON AL NAHDHA, IBRI TO MEET AL ORUBA IN HM CUP SEMIS
P9
Oman Air named Middle East’s leading airlineMUSCAT: Oman Air, the national
carrier of the Sultanate, has
received internationally acclaimed
recognition in the 2020 World Travel
Awards Middle East programme.
The airline has been named The
“Middle East’s Leading Airline”
Business Class and “Middle East’s
Leading Airline” Economy Class.
The Airline’s in-flight magazine,
Wings of Oman, also earned the
title, “Middle East’s Leading Inflight
Magazine”.
Voted by travel and tourism
professionals and consumers
worldwide, the honour recognises
the commitment to excellence each
winner has demonstrated. — ONA
Young activists and Democratic party candidate supporters gather outside of the White House in Washington DC. — AFP
FROM PAGE 1
Qadam Shah Shahim, Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary Ambassador of President Ashraf
Ghani of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,
accredited to the Sultanate.
During the side meetings with His Majesty the
Sultan, the ambassadors conveyed greetings of the
leaders of their respective countries along with their
best wishes of good health, happiness and a long
life to His Majesty the Sultan and the Omani people
continuous progress and prosperity under the wise
leadership of His Majesty.
They also expressed their great honour and utmost
delight to present their credentials before His Majesty
the Sultan. They affirmed to exert their sincere efforts
to promote relations of their countries with the
Sultanate in various domains in a manner that serves
the joint interests of the Omani people and their
respective countries’ peoples.
His Majesty the Sultan welcomed the ambassadors,
expressing his thanks for their leaders’ greetings and
best wishes.
His Majesty affirmed to them that they would
receive all support from His Majesty, the Government
and the Omani people to facilitate carrying out their
duties.
The credentials’ presentation ceremony was
attended by the Minister of Interior, the Foreign
Minister, the Head of the Royal Protocols, the
Commander of the Royal Guard of Oman and the
Military Aides to His Majesty the Sultan.
— ONA
HM RECEIVES AMBASSADORS’ CREDENTIALS
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GCC tourism ministers discuss cooperation
Sultanate attends GCC health ministers’ committee meeting
Saija — Green, picturesque village in Samayil
CAA marks World Tsunami Awareness Day
Total confirmed COVID-19 cases stand at 117,167
MUSCAT: The Sultanate,
represented by the Ministry
of Heritage and Tourism, on
Thursday took part in the 5th
meeting of the GCC Ministers
of Tourism, held via video-
conferencing.
The Sultanate was represented
in the meeting by Salim bin
Mohammed al Mahrouqi,
Minister of Heritage and Tourism.
The meeting discussed topics
related to promoting the joint
cooperation in the tourism field
in the GCC states, activating
integration to upgrade the sector
within a joint action that aims to
facilitate inter-tourism and benefit
from experiences in developing
aspects of tourism.
The meeting also discussed
the communique and Riyadh
Declaration of the 40th session of
the GCC Supreme Council.
It also discussed a memo of
the GCC Secretariat-General
on COVID-19 pandemic and
its impact on the tourism sector
among other topics.
— ONA
MUSCAT: The Sultanate,
represented by the Ministry of
Health, on Thursday took part
through video-conferencing in
the 6th meeting of the Health
Ministers’ Committee of the GCC
and Yemen.
The Sultanate was represented
in the meeting by Dr Ahmed bin
Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of
Health.
The meeting comes within the
framework of joining the efforts
of the member states to achieve
a unified health strategy and to
strengthen and implement joint
GCC action.
The GCC Health Ministers
discussed the updates in the
implementation of the decisions
of the 40th session of the
Supreme Council, held in Riyadh
in December 2019, as well the
contents of the final declaration,
particularly the health field,
such as the conclusion of global
competitiveness requirements
and strengthening strategic
partnership.
Non-tariff restrictions for the
GCC Ministries of Health were
also discussed, in addition to
following-up the implementation
of the decisions of the GCC
Supreme Council in this field.
Moreover, the meeting
presented reports of the General
Committee on the efforts made
by the GCC countries to confront
COVID-19 pandemic.
The Secretariat’s General vision
on strengthening joint Gulf action
in the post-COVID-19 pandemic
was also reviewed.
The meeting also discussed
the work plan of the GCC Health
Ministers’ Committee, following
up the implementation of the
International Health Regulations,
the Gulf guide for epidemic
preparedness and response
plans, and the public health plan
for emergency preparedness
and response, in addition to
developing general framework for
the public health emergency plan
at the GCC countries’ airports,
as well the early health warning
system.
Further, the meeting
discussed the need to unify a
guide for healthy cities in the
GCC states that have obtained
accreditation from the World
Health Organization (WHO) and
develop a relevant strategy within
the 2020-2030 plan.
The GCC Health Council is an
authority that seeks to achieve a
comprehensive and unified health
strategy among the GCC states
and strengthen integration for
citizens of the member states to
obtain the highest standards of
health. — ONA
SAMAYIL: Saija village is one of
the beautiful villages of the Wilayat
of Samayil in the Governorate of Al
Dakhiliyah. It is located under the
slope of the mountain extending
from Al Hajar Al Gharbi (Western
Mountain Range) connected to
Jabal Al Akhdhar or the Green
Mountain.
The village was known in the
past as ‘Sail Ga’ which means flow
of rains due to the heavy rains that
hit the village, covering the farms
with green.
There are many historical
and religious monuments in the
village, such as forts, towers and
old neighbourhoods that stand
witness to the greatness and glory
of the Omani people.
There are also a number of
archaeological sites, including
‘Al Rajm’ which is a collection of
graves dating back hundreds of
years at the entrance to the village.
Said bin Hamoud al Yarubi
(pictured), one of the villagers,
said, “In the village there are old
neighbourhoods that host a group
of houses that were previously
inhabited by most of the villagers,
the most famous of which are
the neighbourhoods of Yaariba,
the Hadhrami and the Jabryeen
neighbourhood.
The village has three entrances
namely Al Sabahat, which are
gates that were opened at dawn
and closed after sunset prayers,
or according to what the people
agreed on at that time”.
He said that due to the strategic
location of the village near Al
Hajar Al Gharbi Range, it had
many defensive fortifications, such
as the Yellow tower, Al Khub tower,
Al Sharaj tower, Hamrout tower,
Wind tower and Al Maqsoura
tower, the most famous of which is
the Al Sawda tower.
“All of these towers have
disappeared. Therefore, the people
of the village are looking forward
to restoring them to be part of
the best witness to the history
and heritage of the village and its
ancient past,” he adds.
There are about 13 old mosques
in the village, the most famous
of which is Jama Mosque, which
is considered one of the largest
mosques in the village.
There are many facilities in
the village including a school for
teaching the Holy Quran and a
well dedicated to drinking and
ablution, in addition to other
mosques, such as the Khamis
Mosque, Al Maqsoura Mosque
and the Al Makhrasi Mosque.
Saija village is characterised
by the abundance of water, as it
receives plenty of rains throughout
the year.
The village also houses many
aflaj, the ancient irrigation system
or water channels including Falaj
Al Hamam, whose water flows
from the bottom of the mountain.
Its water is hot, especially during
winter. This made it a destination
for many tourists, whether citizens
or foreigners, in addition to Falaj
Al Qari, Falaj Al Hadith and Falaj
Al Mahdouth. — ONA
MUSCAT: The Sultanate,
represented by the Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA), on Wednesday
marked the World Tsunami
Awareness Day, which falls on
November 5 every year.
The celebration for 2020 aims
to encourage the development of
local and national plans to reduce
disaster risks and save lives.
The Sultanate seeks to enhance
awareness of the dangers of
tsunami waves and how to deal
with them, reduce their risks,
raise the level of preparedness
and response.
The Sultanate also continues
participating in global and
regional conferences, as well as
drills related to this issue. The
Sultanate also cooperates in
implementing the tsunami waves
awareness programme with the
authorities concerned in the
Sultanate, such as the National
Committee for Civil Defence
(NCCD), the Ministry of
Education, and Oman National
Commission for Education,
Culture and Science.
The launch of the Multi
Hazard Early Warning project
in the Sultanate, following the
tsunami of 2004, is one of the
Sultanate’s prominent efforts to
pay attention to this issue.
Through this projects, the
National Multi Hazard Early
Warning Centre was established
at the Civil Aviation Authority.
It was provided with the
latest equipment, and it was
inaugurated on March 23, 2015.
— ONA
MUSCAT: The total number of
positive COVID-19 cases in the
Sultanate reached 117,167, while
the number of recoveries stood
at 107,368, comprising 91.6 per
cent.
Meanwhile, the total number
of COVID-19 related death cases
stood at 1,286, the Ministry of
Health said.
The Ministry also pointed out
that 39 cases were hospitalised
over the past 24 hours, adding
that the total number of current
hospitalised COVID-19-infected
patients stands at 353, of them
145 are in intensive care units
(ICU). — ONA
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world
DUTCH TO CULL
CHICKENS AS BIRD
FLU FOUND
The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture
on Thursday ordered the culling
of 200,000 chickens after highly
pathogenic bird flu was found at a
farm in the eastern town of Puiflijk.
The cull, which includes birds at a
second farm within a 1km radius,
is the second in the country within
a month after the H5N8 disease
was first found in wild fowl.
Risk to humans from the disease
is considered low, but the World
Health Organization says it has
been spreading among migratory
birds that then transmit it to
domestic poultry.
Britain on Monday ordered
a cull of 13,000 birds at a farm in
Frodsham, Cheshire, after detecting
cases there.
In briefPRISTINA
DHAKA
AMSTERDAM
BANGLADESH
SIGNS DEAL
WITH INDIA
Bangladesh signed a deal with
the Serum Institute of India on
Thursday to buy 30 million doses of
potential coronavirus vaccine being
developed by British drugmaker
AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca’s
experimental COVID-19 vaccine
is seen as one of the most advanced
candidates in the race against the
novel coronavirus.
“Whenever the vaccine is ready,
the Serum Institute will give us 30
million doses in the first phase,”
Health Minister Zahid Maleque
told reporters after the deal was
signed in Dhaka.
He said five million doses
of vaccine per month would be
purchased through Bangladesh’s
drug maker, Beximco
Pharmaceuticals.
THACI QUITS AFTER
INDICTMENT
CONFIRMED
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci
resigned with immediate effect on
Thursday after learning that a war
crimes tribunal in the Hague had
confirmed his indictment for war
crimes. Thaci told a news conference
in the Kosovo capital Pristina that
he felt his resignation was necessary
“to protect the integrity of the state”
because the judge at the Kosovo
Specialist Chamber would not allow
him to appear as president.
The tribunal was set up in 2015
to handle cases of alleged crimes
during a war that led to Kosovo’s
independence from Serbia a
decade later. The court is governed
by Kosovo law but staffed by
international judges and prosecutors.
Under the constitution, the head
of parliament will serve as acting
president until a new one is elected.
Beijing curbs foreign arrivals over resurgenceBEIJING: China on Thursday
defended a ban on non-Chinese
arrivals from a growing list of
countries as “reasonable and fair” as
it guards against a resurgence of the
coronavirus.
COVID-19 first emerged in
central China late last year, but
Beijing has largely brought its
outbreak under control through
tight travel restrictions and stringent
health measures for anyone entering
the country.
In March, as the virus ripped
across the world, China shut its
borders to all foreign nationals.
It gradually eased restrictions
to allow those stranded overseas to
return with special permission from
its embassies, negative COVID-19
tests and a two-week quarantine on
arrival.
But in a sharp reversal, as the
outbreak once more billows out
across Europe, the Chinese Embassy
in the UK on Wednesday said
Beijing had decided to “temporarily
suspend” entry from Britain by non-
Chinese nationals.
Embassies in Belgium, the
Philippines, India, Ukraine and
Bangladesh have since put out
similar notices.
The Chinese foreign ministry said
on Thursday it was a “reasonable and
fair” measure to tackle the pandemic.
“China is drawing on the practices
of many countries and adjusting its
handling of the entry of the relevant
people into China based on the
changing pandemic situation,” said
ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.
Britain — one of the world’s
hardest-hit countries with nearly
48,000 deaths linked to the virus and
more than one million cases — has
entered a new nationwide lockdown
to curb the contagion’s spread.
Belgium, meanwhile, which has
the most COVID-19 cases per capita
in the world, has been in lockdown
since last week, while large parts
of the Philippines went back into
lockdown in October.
India passed eight million
cases last week, second only to the
United States, while Ukraine and
Bangladesh have also been sources
of imported cases in China in recent
months.
Beijing has recently tightened
requirements for travellers from
several other countries, making
entry much more difficult.
They include the presentation of
a health certificate from the local
Chinese Embassy showing the results
of a nucleic acid test and an antibody
test — within 48 hours of travel.
The new rules apply to travellers from
countries including France, Singapore,
Canada, Germany, Pakistan, South
Africa and the US. — AFP
Medical staff members check the temperature of people as they enter at Capital Airport, following an outbreak of COVID-19, in Beijing, on Thursday. — Reuters
Europe now region hardest hit by virus infectionsPARIS: Europe has become the
region with the highest number
of registered cases of the new
coronavirus, according to a tally by
AFP at 1100 GMT on Thursday based
on health authority data.
The continent’s 52 countries have
a combined total of 11.6 million cases
including more than 293,000 deaths,
ahead of Latin America and the
Caribbean which has reported 11.4
million cases with 407,000 deaths.
Europe has again become the
epicentre of the pandemic in recent
weeks after experiencing a lull during
the northern hemisphere summer.
Since the beginning of October,
the region has had the highest
number of new infections daily in the
world.
Last week, 277,000 new cases a day
were recorded, more than half of the
total number of cases worldwide of
517,000 daily.
And the pandemic continues to
accelerate across the continent, with
the number of cases detected last
week 20 per cent higher than the
previous week.
In terms of fatalities, the pace is
even faster, with almost 50 per cent
more new deaths — 21,500 last week,
compared with 14,403 the week
before.
The countries in the region with
the most new cases in the last seven
days are: France (44,000 cases daily
on average, up 11 per cent over the
previous week), Italy (28,600, up
43 per cent), the United Kingdom
(22,400, up two per cent), Spain
(21,100, up 13 per cent) and Poland
(20,000, up 46 per cent).
SWEDISH ALARM
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan
Lofven went into self-isolation
on Thursday and warned that the
soaring coronavirus cases had created
a “serious situation” again, as the
country’s deaths passed 6,000.
Lofven said in a Facebook post
that he was isolating with his wife at
home and would get tested soon after
a person within his social circle tested
positive for COVID-19.
“It’s the only responsible thing to
do in this situation,” Lofven said.
The head of government also
warned that developments were
“going in the wrong direction quickly.”
“More people are infected. More
people are dying. It is a serious
situation,” he said.
Lofven said he had not been
in direct contact with someone
confirmed to have the coronavirus
but someone in his “vicinity” had.
Even though that person had since
tested negative, he had decided to
self-isolate on the advice of his doctor.
After seeing a heavy death toll
from March to June — over 5,000 in a
country of 10.3 million inhabitants —
Sweden registered a decrease in both
cases and fatalities between July and
mid-October.
Since then, the number of cases
has soared and deaths have also
started climbing in recent days.
On Thursday, the country
reported another five deaths linked
to COVID-19, bringing the total to
6,002.
“Looking at the number of
deceased per week, we are also
seeing an impact with increases over
the last two weeks,” Karin Tegmark
Wisell, head of microbiology at the
Public Health Agency, told a press
conference.
In response to the surge, Sweden,
which famously has elected to
curb the virus with mostly non-
coercive measures, has issued stricter
recommendations for heavily hit
areas.
These include calls for people to
avoid crowded indoor environment
and if possible all physical contact
with other than people in your own
household.
On Thursday, these
recommendations were extended
to two more regions meaning more
than half of Sweden’s 21 healthcare
districts have now received stricter
local recommendations. Another
4,034 cases was also reported in the
last 24 hours, one of the highest daily
totals on record, bringing the total to
141,764 cases. — AFP
A bus drives past a sign displaying the measures imposed by the government against the outbreak of the COVID-19, on the first day of a newly imposed lockdown, in London, on Thursday. — Reuters
NEW DELHI: India’s capital is
reeling from the double impact
of the coronavirus and severe
air pollution, New Delhi’s chief
minister warned on Thursday,
as the megacity reported a
record jump in cases and its
worst smog in a year.
With fears growing about
rising infections, Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal also banned
firecrackers from being used
this month during Diwali, the
biggest festival on the Hindu
calendar.
The air quality index —
measuring the tiny particles
which enter the bloodstream
and vital organs — was at its
most dangerous since last
November, according to the
state-run System of Air Quality
Weather Forecasting and
Research (SAFAR).
The toxic haze blanketing
Delhi, which regularly turns the
city of 20 million people into
the world’s most-polluted, came
as officials late on Wednesday
reported a new daily-high of
6,842 virus infections in the
capital.
And the filthy air is
actually driving more cases of
COVID-19, Kejriwal told an
online briefing.
“The corona situation
is worsening because of
pollution,” he said, echoing
medical analysis which says
existing illnesses caused by
poor air quality could make
people more vulnerable to the
coronavirus.
Anumita Roy Chowdhury,
of the Delhi-based Centre for
Science and Environment,
said: “Some global studies have
already shown how the effect of
the pandemic is higher in more
polluted regions.”
And Santosh Harish, at the
Delhi-based Center for Policy
Research, said: “Evidence from
previous related infections
and emerging research suggest
that pollution exposure
could increase severity of the
infection, and the transmission
of the virus.”
MORE CROP BURNING
Kejriwal blamed the
choking smoke on agricultural
burning, saying regional state
governments were not helping
farmers to find alternative ways
to clear their fields.
“We will come together
to celebrate Diwali without
crackers. If we burst crackers,
we are affecting the lives of our
family and our children,” he
added.
The cracker frenzy usually
turns Delhi’s grey winter skies
into a putrid yellow.
Every winter, Delhi is
blanketed by haze from a build-
up of vehicle fumes, industrial
emissions and smoke from
agricultural fires in regions
around the capital. — AFP
A man uses his mobile phone as he rides a camel along with other commuters along a street amid smoggy condition in New Delhi on Thursday. — AFP
Delhi battling dual crises of pollution and coronavirus
The continent’s 52 countries have a
combined total of 11.6 million cases including
more than 293,000 deaths, ahead of Latin
America and the Caribbean which has reported 11.4 million
cases with 407,000 deaths
US POLLS OMANDAILYOBSERVERF R I D A Y l N O V E M B E R 6 l 2 0 2 0 5
TRUMP TURNS TO COURTS
WASHINGTON: Democrat Joe Biden
edged closer to victory over President
Donald Trump in the US presidential
race on Thursday as election officials
tallied votes in the handful of states
that will determine the outcome.
The Republican president, who
during the long and rancourous
campaign attacked the integrity of the
American voting system, has alleged
fraud without providing evidence,
filed lawsuits and called for at least one
recount. Some legal experts called the
challenges a long shot unlikely to affect
the eventual outcome of the election.
As counting continued two days
after Election Day, slowed by large
numbers of mail-in ballots this year,
Biden was leading in Wisconsin,
Nevada and Arizona and closing in on
Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Multiple Trump lawsuits and a recount
request would have to succeed and
find in some cases tens of thousands
of invalid ballots to reverse the result
if Biden does prevail.
Some of the outstanding votes
in Georgia and Pennsylvania were
clustered in places expected to lean
Democratic — like the Atlanta and
Philadelphia areas. In Georgia’s
Fulton County, which includes most
of Atlanta, officials said they expected
to finish vote tallying on Thursday
morning, with 10,000 absentee ballots
left to count. By early on Thursday,
Trump led by 19,000 votes out of
nearly 5 million cast in the state.
Trump had to win the states
where he was still ahead, including
North Carolina, plus either Arizona
or Nevada to triumph and avoid
becoming the first incumbent US
president to lose a re-election bid since
fellow Republican George H W Bush
in 1992. The president appears to have
grown more upset as his leads in some
states have diminished or evaporated
during the counting.
On Thursday morning, he weighed
in on Twitter, writing, “STOP THE
COUNT!” To capture the White
House, a candidate must amass at least
270 votes in the state-by-state Electoral
College. Such electoral votes are based
largely on a state’s population.
Edison Research gave Biden a
243 to 213 lead in Electoral College
votes. Other networks said Biden
had won Wisconsin, which would
give him another 10 votes. The
counting and court challenges set
the stage for days if not weeks of
uncertainty before December 8, the
deadline to resolve election disputes.
The president is sworn into office on
January 20, 2021. “The litigation looks
more like an effort to allow Trump to
continue rhetorically attempting to
delegitimatise an electoral loss,” said
Joshua Geltzer, Executive Director
of Georgetown Law’s Institute
for Constitutional Advocacy and
Protection.
RAZOR-THIN MARGINS
Biden, a 77-year-old former
vice-president, predicted victory on
Wednesday and launched a website to
begin the transition to a Democratic-
controlled White House. Trump,
74, is seeking a second four years in
office after a tumultuous first term.
Trump’s campaign called for a recount
in Wisconsin, where Biden led by
roughly 21,000 votes out of 3.3 million
cast, a margin slim enough to entitle
him to a recount.
However, elections experts said
a recount in Wisconsin was seen as
unlikely to unlikely to alter the result.
His campaign also filed lawsuits in
Michigan and Pennsylvania to stop
vote counting. Michigan Secretary
of State Jocelyn Benson, in charge
of elections, called the Trump team’s
lawsuit “frivolous.”
Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit
in Georgia to require that Chatham
County, which includes the city of
Savannah, separate and secure late-
arriving ballots to ensure they are not
counted. It also asked the US Supreme
Court to allow Trump to join a
pending lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania
Republicans over whether the
battleground state should be permitted
to accept late-arriving ballots that were
mailed by Election Day.
Trump’s campaign said it planned
to make an announcement in Las
Vegas later on Thursday. Fox News
reported the campaign would
announce another lawsuit, this one
alleging voter fraud in Nevada.
Despite Trump’s allegations of fraud
and an unsubstantiated charge that
Democrats are trying to “steal” the
election, US election experts say fraud
in balloting is rare.
Biden said every vote must be
counted. “No one’s going to take our
democracy away from us, not now, not
ever,” Biden said on Wednesday in his
home state of Delaware.
GRIDLOCK
If victorious, Biden would face
a tough battle to govern, with
Republicans appearing poised to
keep control of the US Senate, which
they could use to block large parts
of his legislative agenda, including
expanding healthcare access and
efforts aimed at fighting climate
change. The contentious election
aftermath capped a vitriolic campaign
that unfolded amid the coronavirus
pandemic, which has killed more than
233,000 people in the United States
and left millions more jobless.
The country has also grappled with
months of unrest involving protests
over racism and police brutality. The
United States set a one-day record for
new coronavirus cases on Wednesday
with at least 102,591 new infections,
according to a Reuters tally. With
tensions rising, about 200 of Trump’s
supporters, some armed with rifles
and handguns, gathered outside an
election office in Phoenix, Arizona, on
Wednesday following unsubstantiated
rumours that votes were not being
counted.
In Detroit, officials blocked about
30 people, mostly Republicans, from
entering a vote-counting facility
amid unfounded claims that the vote
count in Michigan was fraudulent.
Anti-Trump protesters in other cities
demanded that vote counting continue
and there were arrests in Portland,
Oregon, as well as New York, Denver
and Minneapolis. Over 100 events are
planned across the country between
Wednesday and Saturday.
By early on Thursday, Biden had
drawn about 3.6 million more votes
than Trump nationwide. Trump
defeated Democrat Clinton in 2016
after winning crucial battleground
states and securing the Electoral
College wine even though she drew
about 3 million more votes nationwide.
— Reuters
Biden was leading in Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona and closing in on Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Oregon State Troopers block a street as they confront protesters in Portland on Wednesday . — AFP
Key battleground states No results yet
US electoral college votes results
IN
TX
WA
CO
AZ
KS
OK
MN
IA
AR
LA
WI
KYTN
MS AL GA
ID
MT
WY
CA
NV
AK
HI
UT
NM
NE*OHIL
NH
ORMA
PA
FL
MDDC
DE
NY
NJ
MEVT
RICT
Joe Biden
Donald Trump
Provisional results, as of Nov 5, 1430 GMT
WV
SD
ND
votes to win
MO
MI
VA
NCSC
Source: US networks
*4 electoral votes for Trump,1 for Biden in Nebraska
Arizona (AZ), which was initially called for Biden, is nowagain an undecided state as the margin between the two candidates tightens and counting of final votes continues
The Republican president has alleged fraud without providing evidence, filed lawsuits and called for at least one recount
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this page are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Observer.
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Website: omanobserver.om EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Abdullah bin Salim al Shueili e-mail: [email protected]
ECOLOGICAL IMBALANCE
Indigenous Tao way of life under threatWhile 2020 will be remembered by many as a
year of travel bans and cancelled vacations, the
indigenous Tao people of Orchid Island will
remember it as the year unprecedented numbers
of visitors descended on their once tranquil
home. The small island, 90 km off Taiwan’s
southeast coast, is home to approximately 4,700
ethnic Austronesian Tao or Yami people, and
has in recent years become a popular holiday
destination for both Taiwanese and foreigners
alike.
But with bans on international travel due
to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year Orchid
Island has experienced an unexpected surge
in domestic visitors to more than 220,000 —
putting a strain on both its natural resources and
its inhabitants. A community whose livelihood
revolves around fishing, anthropologists believe
the Tao people migrated to Orchid Island from
Batan Island in the northern Philippines around
800 years ago.
They have their own language and belief
system, as well as customs such as tatala
boat-building, underground houses and taro
cultivation. Since 1982, Orchid Island has also
housed a nuclear waste facility, which has drawn
strong opposition and protests from Tao locals.
Taiwan has
enforced tight
measures to
curb the spread
of COVID-19,
resulting in
only 550 cases
and seven
deaths. Taiwan’s
government
encouraged
the country’s
nearly 24 million
population,
roughly
equivalent to
Australia’s, to spend the summer vacation
within the country’s borders in order to
bolster the economy, offering travel subsidies
and discounts. On many days during the
summer, ferries to Orchid Island, as well as
accommodation on the island were completely
booked up.
Many Tao islanders are now engaged in the
seasonal tourism industry, working as scuba
instructors, hoteliers, restaurateurs and guides.
However, with 82,000 visitors over July and
August alone, the 45 kilometre-square island’s
traditional Tao way of life and ecological balance
have been pushed to the brink.
“Here it used to be so beautiful and clean,
but since more people have been arriving, the
whole place has become a sewage plant,”
says Lu Mai of the Orchid Island Youth Action
Alliance.
To cope with the amount of trash produced
on the island over the summer, hoteliers
launched a “take home one kilogram per
person” scheme aimed at tourists.
The township office similarly initiated a
donation scheme of 200 NTD (US $7) per
visitor to help with the cost of transporting
garbage back to the mainland. But much of what
is picked up on the coasts has floated across the
sea from countries such as China, Vietnam, and
Hong Kong.
For the past seven years, Tao men have
organised and undertaken an annual
ocean clean-up scheme funded by Taiwan’s
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
As well as litter and pollution, the increasing
presence of Taiwanese fishing trawlers frustrates
local volunteers, many of whom are small-scale
fishermen.
“Go to the market, you’ll see the catches are
getting smaller.
— Thomson Reuters Foundation
TEN MONTHS INTO
A PANDEMIC THAT
HAS CLAIMED 1.2
MILLION LIVES
EXPERTS ARE STILL
DIVIDED ON THE
QUESTION
Win or lose, Trump’s movement stronger and bigger than everTHOMAS URBAIN
The US presidential
election is still up in the
air, but one thing is for
certain: the movement
created by Donald Trump
is alive and well, and more solid than
pundits expected.
No matter if he wins or loses,
Trumpism looks set to live on.
Republican political pundit Sophia
A Nelson summed it up quickly: “The
Trump movement is real. And it’s here
to stay.”
Despite being repeatedly — and
wrongly — described as only older,
white and rural, Trump’s base will help
deliver the third highest vote total in
American political history — behind
only Joe Biden, and Barack Obama in
2008.
Hispanic voters, often expected to
lean left, turned to Trump this time
around — their turnout in Florida
helped him easily defeat Biden in the
Sunshine State in Tuesday’s nailbiter of
an election.
“Ahead of the election, a lot of
pundits talked about how Trump
wasn’t bringing new voters to his
camp,” said Abraham Gutman,
who is on the editorial board at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
But he will have, at a minimum,
won about five million more votes
this time around then he did in 2016
against Hillary Clinton.
“Regardless of the eventual outcome
— in the state contests for electors
or in the popular vote margin — the
media needs a serious post mortem
to explore how, despite so much ink
spilled on Trump voters, the story of
the growth of the Trump movement
was totally missed,” Gutman said.
Trump staged dozens of campaign
rallies in the run-up to Tuesday’s
showdown at the polls with the
Democratic former vice-president.
He was regularly greeted by sizeable
crowds.
Truck parades for the Republican
incumbent rolled through town after
American town, as did boat processions
in waterfront communities.
All were evidence of a wide base of
support.
“His supporters love him. They
love him for this fact that he keeps
America first and Americans first,”
Jim Worthington, the founder of
People4Trump, said in a phone
interview.
“They realise that he’s fighting for
them. We broadened our coalition,”
added Worthington, who owns two
gyms.
‘REAL AFFECTION’
Trump’s controversial handling
of the coronavirus pandemic, which
has so far claimed the lives of more
than 233,000 Americans, his tough
immigration policies and his brash
style of speaking have not dissuaded
his fans.
The real estate mogul turned world
leader is still one of the most popular
Republicans in recent memory, since
Ronald Reagan.
His supporters “have a real affection
for this guy despite all of his flaws or
maybe because of his flaws,” said John
Feehery, a lobbyist with EFB Advocacy
who has worked with several
Republican lawmakers.
That’s a strange thing. I think part of
it is because he’s so authentic. (...) He
says what’s on his mind. And people
like seeing what’s on his mind.”
— AFP
PAUL RICARD
Are children a major source of
contagion for COVID-19? Ten
months into a pandemic that has
claimed 1.2 million lives experts are
still divided on the question, even as
governments must decide whether to
keep classrooms open or shut.
During the first wave of infection,
scientific consensus formed around
the concern that children might be a
crucial vector — as they are for the flu
— in spreading the new coronavirus.
And then, moving into the summer,
the opposite idea took hold: kids,
especially young ones, did not infect
others that much, several studies
suggested.
“If you look at the scientific
literature, it’s really not very clear,”
said Dominique Costagliola, an
epidemiologist at the Marie and
Pierre Curie Faculty of the Sorbonne
University in Paris.
These apparently contradictory
results have not made things any
easier for policy makers struggling to
balance the health of their citizens and
their economies.
A number of studies showed that
children, who rarely show symptoms
when infected, were not highly
contagious to other family members
during lockdowns in the Spring.
But that was during a period when
schools were shut down and the
spread of the virus had slowed, noted
epidemiologist Zoe Hyde, a professor
at the University of Western Australia.
“Most studies of COVID-19 and
children have been conducted during
highly unusual lockdown periods
or at a time of low community
How contagious are kids with COVID? Short answer: we don’t know
THE REAL
ESTATE MOGUL
TURNED WORLD
LEADER IS STILL
ONE OF THE
MOST POPULAR
REPUBLICANS IN
RECENT MEMORY,
SINCE RONALD
REAGAN
SAFETY CONCERNS
transmission,” she noted in the Medical Journal of Australia.
More recently, however, a new wave
of studies from the United States,
India and South Korea have challenged
the idea that kids are not that
contagious.
Findings published last week
from the US Centers for Disease
Control based on a study of 300
people in September concluded that
“transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among
household members was frequent
from either children or adults.”
A much larger study from Britain
released on Tuesday paints a different
picture.
“Living with children 0-11
years old was not associated with
increased risks of recorded SARS-
CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 related
hospital or ICU admission,” research
from the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine and the
University of Oxford, based on data
from more than nine million adults,
concluded.
For children aged 12 to 18, there
was a risk, but it remained small, the
study found. — AFP
Since more people have been arriving, the whole place has
become a sewage plant
LU MAI,
Orchid Island Youth Action Alliance
OMAN DAILY OBSERVERFRIDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2020
Analysis6
Students attend a class at the Blanquizal Public school during its reopening in Medellin, Colombia. — AFP
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020 | RABEE AL AWWAL 20, 1442 AH
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JAKARTA: Indonesia suffered its first
recession in over two decades as the
COVID-19 pandemic hit consumption
and business activity in Southeast
Asia’s largest economy, costing millions
of jobs, the statistics bureau said on
Thursday.
Gross domestic product (GDP)
shrank by a slightly more than expected
3.49 per cent year-on-year as household
consumption and investment fell in the
third quarter, official data showed.
Economists in a Reuters poll had
expected GDP to decline 3 per cent
after a 5.32 per cent contraction in
the second quarter. Finance Minister
Sri Mulyani Indrawati told a news
conference the “the worst is over”
pointing to a sharp rebound in
quarterly GDP in the July-September
period.
But a separate statistics bureau
survey showed some 2.6 million
people had lost jobs in the year to
August due to COVID-19, pushing the
unemployment rate to a nine-year high
of 7.07 per cent.
A 9.8 per cent rise in government
spending helped soften the blow, but
economists called on more stimulus to
lift the economy.
“The government will focus on
further accelerating economic recovery
and returning to positive economic
growth,” said Sri Mulyani, adding
authorities would boost spending in
the fourth quarter.
The rupiah and the main stock
index briefly pared gains after the
data. Indonesia’s first recession since
the Asian financial crisis in 1998 —
normally defined as two consecutive
quarters of economic contraction —
comes as the country has struggled to
contain the coronavirus outbreak.
It has the highest caseload and
COVID-19 death toll in Southeast
Asia. Indonesia introduced restrictions
to contain the spread of the virus earlier
this year, many of which were lifted in
June, but the government imposed a
second round of curbs in Jakarta for a
month in September.
Household consumption, normally
the economy’s main growth engine,
fell 4 per cent on an annual basis in
the third quarter, while investment
dropped 6.5 per cent and exports
tumbled 10.8 per cent. GDP grew a
non-seasonally adjusted 5.05 per cent
quarter-on-quarter, up sharply from
a 4.19 per cent contraction in the
second quarter but below a 5.34 per
cent forecast in the Reuters poll. The
government had spent 52.8 per cent of
its 695.2 trillion rupiah ($48.3 billion)
pandemic-relief budget year-to-date,
official data showed. — Reuters
Indonesia suffers first recession in over 20 yearsA 9.8 per cent rise in
government spending helped soften the blow, but economists called on more
stimulus to lift the economy
Workers carry pieces of wood as walks at the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit construction at Sudirman Business District in Jakarta. — Reuters
EU warns no return to pre-crisis economy before 2023BRUSSELS: A second wave of the
coronavirus pandemic has stalled a
nascent recovery in Europe, the EU
said on Thursday, warning that the
economy would not return to pre-
virus normality before 2023.
“The rebound has been
interrupted,” the EU’s economic
affairs commissioner Paolo Gentiloni
told reporters as he announced new
forecasts.
The soured outlook dashed
hopes for a quick turnaround of
the European economy and raised
questions whether more stimulus
would be needed to avert more
lasting damage.
“We never counted on a V-shaped
recovery. Now we know for sure that
we won’t have one,” Gentiloni said.
In its forecast, Brussels pointed
to a whole series of danger signs,
including higher unemployment and
soaring debt levels for countries that
will need to keep spending to revive
their economies.
The European Commission
said the eurozone economy would
expand by just 4.2 per cent next year,
much lower than the 6.1 per cent it
predicted in July.
In effect, renewed disruptions
across the continent will “put the
recovery on hold in the short term”,
Gentiloni said, but added that the
outlook was subject to “extremely
high uncertainty”.
The loss of steam came despite a
better-than-expected recovery in the
middle of 2020 which limited the
depth of this year’s historic recession.
The economy in the 19 countries
that use the single currency would
crash by minus 7.8 per cent in 2020,
instead of the minus 8.7 predicted
earlier, the EU said.
But, unlike earlier hopes, EU
economic output “will not return
to pre-pandemic levels by 2022,”
warned commission Vice President
Valdis Dombrovskis.
All 19 eurozone countries are
mired in recession this year, but three
are particularly hard hit -- Spain with
a dive of 12.4 per cent, Italy at minus
9.9 per cent and France at minus 9.4
per cent.
Germany, the bloc’s leading
economy, has limited the damage,
with GDP expected to fall 5.6 per
cent in 2020.
The downturn has led member
states to open the purse strings in the
hopes of saving their economies and
public deficits have widened to more
than 10 per cent in the case of France,
Italy, Spain and Belgium. As a clear
consequence, the debt of the member
states is expected to soar in 2020 and
will exceed 100 per cent of GDP in the
eurozone as a whole. — AFP
China considers 5% annual GDP growth target for next five yearsBEIJING: China’s policymakers are
close to setting an average annual
economic growth target of around
5 per cent for the next five years, at
the lower end of ranges previously
considered as global risks cloud the
outlook, policy sources said.
Beijing is looking to set a more
flexible growth target for the 14th five-
year plan to hedge against external
risks caused by the pandemic and rifts
with the United States, three people
involved in internal discussions said
following last week’s agenda-setting
leadership meeting.
No decisions have yet been made
as the government is still drafting
detailed economic and social
development goals under the five-
year plan, taking their guidance from
top Communist Party leaders, they
said.
At last week’s meeting, President Xi
Jinping and others laid out a blueprint
for China’s five-year plan and key
objectives for the next 15 years. They
include a goal to turn China into a
“high income” nation by 2025 and
advance to a “moderately developed”
nation by 2035, which implies income
of more than $20,000 per person.
The World Bank defines “high
income” countries as those with per
capita gross national income of above
$12,535. China’s per capita income
reached $10,410 in 2019, according to
the World Bank.
“Such objectives should be
expressed in numbers. We still
need a key indicator for economic
development during the 14th five-
year plan period,” said a policy source.
“We will have a GDP target
and it could be around 5 per cent.”
Government think-tanks and
economists had previously made
recommendations for average annual
GDP growth targets, policy sources
have said, which included targets of
around 5%, 5-5.5% to 5-6%.
Ning Jizhe, vice head of the
National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC), said last week
the state planner will set detailed
economic targets for 2021-2025 in
line with leaders’ recommendations.
Targets are expected to be
announced when the five-year plan
is approved at the annual parliament
meeting in early 2021. — Reuters
Containers and trucks are seen at a terminal of the Qingdao port in Shandong province, China. — Reuters
LONDON: Up to 3,500
jobs are at risk at British
supermarket group
Sainsbury’s as its new CEO
embarks on a restructuring
drive that will close 420
Argos shops and all in-
store meat, fish and deli
counters. Detailing his
strategy for Britain’s
second-biggest grocer,
Simon Roberts, who
succeeded Mike Coupe in
June, said on Thursday he
would refocus Sainsbury’s
on its core food business.
He plans to lower
prices, treble the number
of new products launched
each year, expand online
services to meet growing
demand and open 110 new
convenience stores over
three years. “We will put
food back at the heart of
Sainsbury’s,” he said.
“Our other brands -
Argos, Habitat, Tu, Nectar
and Sainsbury’s Bank
- must deliver for their
customers and for our
shareholders in their own
right.” He said the bank
could be sold, confirming
to reporters “expressions
of interest” have been
received.
He denied he was
taking the 151-year old
Sainsbury’s downmarket
by closing in-store
counters. “We’ve had a
really good look at how
customers are shopping
for food today and the
reality on the counters
is that they have been in
long term decline for quite
a period of time,” he told
reporters.
He is targeting an Argos
general merchandise store
or collection point in every
Sainsbury’s supermarket,
reducing the Argos
standalone store estate
to around 100 by March
2024. Roberts said his plan
would boost earnings,
forecasting pretax profit
in the year to March 2022
ahead of that reported in
the year to March 2020
- a year not impacted by
COVID-19.
Sainsbury’s said it
aimed to find alternative
roles for as many affected
employees as possible.
— Reuters
Omantel Group posts revenues of RO 1.859 bnBUSINESS REPORTERMUSCAT, NOV 5
Omantel Group, of which the most
is owned by the Omani government,
reported revenue totalling RO1.859
billion for the nine months ended
September 30, 2020, down 2 per cent
from the corresponding tally of RO
1.893 billion for the corresponding
period of 2019.
Announcing its unaudited
financial results for the period, the
Group posted a profit of RO 167.7
million this year, down from RO 198.3
million, representing a drop of 15 per
cent. EBITDA at RO 758.3 million
was lower by 7 per cent compared to
last year.
Omantel’s domestic operations
witnessed a 6 per cent decline in
net profit to RO 56 million during
the first nine months of the year.
It explained: “Domestic operation
results have been resilient considering
the serious business disruptions
witnessed since March 2020 resulting
from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Proactive cost optimisation measures
taken by the management have
positively contributed in minimising
the overall impact by achieving a 6
per cent reduction in operating and
administrative expenses y-on-y.”
Revenue for the period grew 3 per
cent to RO 410.1 million up from RO
396.3 million last year. The uptick
mainly came from an increase in the
wholesale international business and
device revenues, which are typically
of low margin compared to the core
revenues, it said.
Core revenues dipped to RO 328.2
million this year compare to RO
345.4 million in 2019, representing a
decrease of 5 per cent, which impacted
overall margins, said Omantel.
Improvement in Q3 – 2020 margins
is attributed to a one-off capacity sale
from international business, it stated.
Omantel subsidiary Zain Group
contributed RO 150.3 million to the
net profit (before non-controlling
interest) of Omantel Group compared
to RO 179.6 million in 2019, entailing
a decline of 16.3 per cent. After
adjusting for non-controlling interest,
Zain Group contributed RO 28.9
million in H1-2020 compared to RO
33.8 million in 2019.
Interest costs incurred by Omantel
Group relating to Zain’s acquisition
was RO 39.2 million in 2020 (versus
RO 39.3 million in 2019) and is
accounted at the Omantel Group
level and is not part of the domestic
performance, it added.
Pandemic impacts: Omantel’s domestic operations witnessed a 6 per cent decline in net profit to RO
56 million during the first nine months of the year
Revamp by new
Sainsbury’s boss threatens
3,500 jobs
We never counted on a V-shaped recovery.
Now we know for sure that we won’t
have onePAOLO GENTILONI
EU economic affairs commissioner
businessOMANDAILYOBSERVER8business
F R I D A Y l N O V E M B E R 6 l 2 0 2 0
Bank of England ramps up stimulus again to tackle COVID and Brexit hitLONDON: The Bank of England
increased its already huge bond-
buying stimulus by a bigger-than-
expected 150 billion pounds ($195
billion) as it prepared for economic
damage from new coronavirus
lockdowns and the looming risk of
Brexit.
The move comes on the day
that England entered a four-week
lockdown to curb a second wave of
COVID-19, which is now killing
as many Britons each day as it
did in May. The BoE said Britain’s
economy was set to shrink 2 per
cent during the fourth quarter
as a result, and that the economy
would shrink a record 11 per cent
over the course of 2020 overall,
more than the 9.5 per cent it had
forecast in March.
“The outlook for the economy
remains unusually uncertain,” the
BoE said.
“It depends on the evolution of
the pandemic and measures taken
to protect public health, as well
as the nature of, and transition
to, the new trading arrangements
between the European Union and
the United Kingdom.” The BoE
kept its benchmark Bank Rate at
0.1 per cent, as expected in the
poll, and made little mention of
negative rates while a consultation
with banks over the practicalities is
underway. The BoE raised the size
of its asset-purchase programme
to 895 billion pounds, 50 billion
pounds more than expected by
most economists in a Reuters poll.
The central bank said that
would give it enough firepower to
stretch its buying of government
bonds through to the end of 2021.
“An extraordinary economic
shock warrants an extraordinary
policy response,” said Ambrose
Crofton, global market strategist
at J P Morgan Asset Management.
“The resurgence of the virus in
recent months will mean both the
government and companies are
once again turning to global capital
markets to borrow large sums. The
Bank’s purchases in these markets
will help prevent borrowing costs
rising,” he said.
Sterling rose against the
dollar and the euro after the
announcements. Bond yields fell.
The central bank now expects
Britain’s economy to exceed
its size before the COVID-19
pandemic only in the first quarter
of 2022. Previously, the BoE had
forecast the recovery would be
complete by the end of next year.
Unemployment was set to peak
7.75 per cent in the second quarter
of next year, much higher than
its most recent reading of 4.5 per
cent, the BoE said. Gross domestic
product was likely to grow by 7.25
per cent in 2021, weaker than a
previous forecast of 9 per cent.
But its two-year inflation
forecast remained unchanged at 2
per cent, the central bank’s target.
“Our view is that inflation will be
closer to 1.5 per cent by the end
of 2022. That’s why we believe the
Bank will still have to increase its
policy support,” Ruth Gregory, an
economist at Capital Economics,
said.
— Reuters
Lufthansa flies deeper into the red as crisis hits travel business
FRANKFURT: German flag
carrier Lufthansa posted a bigger-
than-forecast third-quarter loss
on Thursday after a hefty 80 per
cent drop in passenger traffic as
the coronavirus crisis forced the
airline to slash capacity in the
run-up to year’s end.
Lufthansa said it ran up a net
loss of 1.967 billion euros ($2.319
billion) in the three months ended
September after the crisis forced
the company to decommission
passenger jets, cancel flights and
hedge against fuel prices.
Analysts had expected the
carrier to report a 1.620-billion-
euro third-quarter net loss
after posting a 1.154-billion-
euro profit in the same period last
year. Lufthansa announced last
month that it had chalked up an
adjusted earnings before interest
and tax (EBIT) loss of 1.26 billion
euros for the third quarter of
2020 when releasing key data for
the September quarter.
Underpinned by government
financial support, Lufthansa’s
third-quarter revenue also fell
more than forecast to 2.660
billion euros, while passenger
traffic fell by 80 per cent to 8.7
million.
The airline’s continuing weak
ticket demand has resulted in the
group planning to cut capacity to
at the most a quarter of last year’ s
level with the carrier paying out 2
billion euros in compensation for
cancelled flights.
Lufthansa said it expects its
operating cash inflow to turn
positive again next year but only
if it can increase its flight capacity
to around 50 per cent of its pre-
crisis level. — dpa
FRANKFURT: The re-
covery in German in-
dustrial orders from
the shock of pandemic
restrictions slowed in
September, official data
showed on Thursday, as
new measures to tackle
a resurgence in cases
clouds the outlook again.
“After the first strong
recovery following the
lockdown in April, in-
dustry is continuing to
fight its way out of the
crisis,” the economics
ministry said in a state-
ment.
Industrial orders grew
0.5 per cent month-on-
month, compared with
a rise of 4.9 per cent in
August, as curbs tight-
ened and quarantines be-
came more widespread
across Europe to fight a
second wave of the pan-
demic. The data was be-
low expectations for a 1.5
per cent rise, according
to financial services pro-
vider FactSet.
The small rise was
sustained by domestic
demand which went up
2.3 per cent in Septem-
ber, while orders from
abroad dipped 0.8 per
cent. Compared with
the same month in 2019,
industrial orders were
down 1.9 per cent.
Manufacturing has
benefited from Ger-
many’s economic recov-
ery from May onwards,
enabling orders to re-
turn close to levels in the
fourth quarter of 2019
before the outbreak of
the pandemic, the min-
istry said, “driven by
domestic and foreign de-
mand”.
— AFP
New blow for Paris shopkeepers as lockdown bitesPARIS: As late-night shoppers
have continued to throng Parisian
stores selling takeaway drinks
and food amid a new national
lockdown, the city’s mayor
announced on Thursday that some
will be forced to close at 10:00pm
to prevent coronavirus-spreading
gatherings.
Restaurants and bars are already
shuttered under stay-at-home
orders that entered into force for
a month last Friday, but takeaways
are allowed and supermarkets,
specialist food stores and night
shops remain open, along
with other businesses offering
“essential” services.
“Faced with the worrying health
situation, to avoid gatherings, I
have agreed to a request from the
police department to close some
places that sell takeaway food and
alcohol from 10:00pm,” Mayor
Anne Hidalgo said on Twitter.
She told BFM television
that several gatherings at such
establishments have been
reported even as France, and
Paris in particular, is dealing with
a fast-growing second wave of
coronavirus cases.
On Wednesday, the public
health agency said there had been
more than 40,500 new infections
in 24 hours and 385 deaths in
hospital — a figure that excludes
deaths at care homes, which are
reported sporadically.
The overall French death toll
now stands at 38,674, with 4,089
people in intensive care, out of
6,400 beds available nationwide.
About a quarter of intensive care
cases are in the greater Paris region.
The new lockdown allows
people to leave home only to go
to the office, if working-from-
home is not possible; to go to
the doctor; exercise outdoors;
drop children off at school; or do
essential shopping. A self-signed
permission slip is needed for
each excursion, or an electronic
version on the government’s Tous
AntiCovid contact tracing app.
Hidalgo’s announcement came
after confusion earlier in the week
when government spokesman
Gabriel Attal announced a new
curfew for Paris, on top of the
lockdown, which was quickly
denied by the prime minister’s
office. — AFP
Recovery in German industrial orders slows in September
CALIFORNIA: Qualcomm
cashed in on the momentum
around the rollout of faster 5G
smartphones during its fiscal
fourth quarter, posting strong
financial results that beat Wall
Street analysts’ expectations.
The San Diego cellular
technology giant — a leader in
5G smartphone processors and
intellectual property — said that it
benefited from a host of 5G trends
during the quarter.
They include Apple’s launch
of four new 5G iPhone models
in October that use Qualcomm
chips; a settlement payment in
a long-running patent licensing
dispute with China’s Huawei;
more Android smartphone buyers
upgrading from 4G to 5G devices
across the globe; and additional
chip content from Qualcomm in
many 5G phones.
The company also reported
traction for cellular technologies
in new industries beyond its core
smartphone stronghold — such
as work-from-home gear and
connected cars.
“The challenges of the
COVID-19 pandemic highlight
the critical importance of our
products,” said Chief Executive
Steve Mollenkopf in a conference
call with investors.
“As you can see from our
results,the early stages of the 5G
ramp are well underway, with
our strategy playing out largely as
expected.” For the quarter ended
September 27, Qualcomm posted
adjusted revenue of $6.5 billion, a
35 per cent increase over the prior
year. Adjusted net income came in
at $1.7 billion, or $1.45 per share.
Wall Street analysts predicted
fourth quarter sales of $5.9 billion
and adjusted earnings of $1.17 per
share. — dpa
Qualcomm reports blowout quarter as 5G momentum grows
Pedestrians walk past the Bank of England in the City of London. — Reuters
People walk past a closed tourist shop in Paris. — Reuters
Restaurants and bars are already shuttered under stay-at-home orders that entered
into force for a month last Friday, but
takeaways are allowed and supermarkets,
specialist food stores and night shops remain open, along with other
businesses offering “essential” services
BUSINESS CLOSURES
Lufthansa airplanes are seen parked on the tarmac at Frankfurt airport, Germany. — Reuters
A woman walks past an advertisement of Qualcomm in Singapore. — Reuters
A worker wears a protective mask at the Volkswagen assembly line in Frankfurt.
— Reuters
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 6, 2020 | RABEE AL AWWAL 20, 1442 AH
[email protected] www.omanobserver.om
follow us @observersportzsport
Dhofar to take on Al Nahdha, Ibri to meet Al Oruba in HM Cup semis
ADIL AL BALUSHI
MUSCAT, NOV 5
The second-leg matches of the
semifinal round of the prestigious
HM Cup will resume on Friday
and Saturday after a long break of
eight months due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic.
Dhofar will take on Al Nahdha
in the first fixture at Al Saada Sports
Compex on Friday while Al Oruba
will host Ibri at Sur Sports Complex
on Saturday. The first-leg matches
which took place on February
between Dhofar and Al Nahdha
ended in a 1-1 draw while Ibri had
defeated Al Oruba 2-1 at former
home.
Salalah giant, coached by the
experienced national coach Rasheed
Jaber, will aim to end the season
by registering accomplishment as
he lost the league crown and was
positioned in the runner up place.
Dhofar has the preference as they
scored in the first-leg match in Al
Buraimi sports complex through
Abdulaziz al Moqbali. Eight times
winner will need a goalless draw to
secure the spot for the final while Al
Nahdha strikers have to score one
goal to move the match to their side.
Al Nahdha, who are looking for
their first title, will enter the match
focusing on scoring as any draw
result of above than 1-1 will take the
Al Buraimi club to the summit clash.
Al Nahdha ended the top-
tier league in the third place and
they trounced Mirbat 4-1 in the
concluding week of the league. Al
Nahdha players began the technical
preparations since Tuesday and
after completion of Omantel League
without more rest.
In the other match, Al Dhahirah
based team will eye to enter the
history books for the first time and
reach the final of the top-domestic
competition. The first division
league club, Ibri, is fully aware it is
a golden opportunity for the team
to proceed further in the coveted
competition and it is only steps
ahead for the team to clinch the
historic title. The board directors
provided all the facilities as the team
is currently in a preparatory camp in
Sur.
Al Oruba, on the other hand, will
try to eliminate the team’s relegation
to the first division league. It is a
golden chance for the team to end
the existing season with a triumph
at least at the coveted HM Cup. Sur-
based team is holder of the titles for
four times and have the required
experience in this competition.
Despite the loss in the first leg-
match, Al Oruba team can advance
to the final if they score a 1-0 win.
Eight times winner will need a goalless draw to secure the spot for the final while Al Nahdha
strikers have to score one goal to move the match
to their side
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Fletcher hoping for WC place Rohit injury intrigues many
A new strength and conditioning programme and better shot selection has led to West Indies batsman Andre Fletcher hoping for a Twenty20 World Cup place.
Confusion lingered over Rohit Sharma’s ham-string injury after the opener, considered unfit for India’s upcoming tour of Australia, turned up for an IPL match in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Australia’s T20 Big Bash delayed
Australia’s Big Bash League was Thursday pushed back a week, but organisers confirmed it will be played in multiple cities with state bor-ders reopening after coronavirus shutdowns.
PARIS: Rafael Nadal became the fourth
man to win 1,000 Tour-level matches
on Wednesday by beating Feliciano
Lopez at the Paris Masters, while Diego
Schwartzman and Alexander Zverev also
reached the third round.
The 34-year-old, who won a record-
extending 13th French Open title across
Paris at Roland Garros last month,
followed Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer
and Ivan Lendl in reaching the 1,000 mark.
The Spaniard had to fight back against
fellow Spanish veteran Lopez, 39, but did
enough to win 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Nadal was given a special presentation
to celebrate his achievement after the
match in a near-empty Bercy Arena, with
the event being played behind closed doors
after France entered its second coronavirus
lockdown last week.
“It has been a special moment. I know
it’s a very special number, 1000,” said the
20-time Grand Slam champion.
“Even if it’s not the same to celebrate
something like this without a crowd, I
enjoyed it with ATP, with the president
of the French Federation, Guy Forget,
supervisor and the ball boys.
“I enjoyed it and just can say thanks to
all of them to make this moment a little
bit more special.”
The top seed, bidding for a first
Paris Masters title, will face Jordan
Thompson in the third round
after the Australian beat
Croatia’s Borna Coric 2-6,
6-4, 6-2. Taking the trophy
in Paris this week would
see Nadal equal Novak
Djokovic’s record of 36
Masters titles.
Schwartzman
closes on
London spot
Earlier on
Wednesday,
Argentinian
Schwartzman moved within two wins of
sealing a debut appearance at the ATP
Tour Finals in London by beating Richard
Gasquet. The 28-year-old Schwartzman
was too strong for France’s Gasquet,
taking a 7-5, 6-3 victory, and will next face
Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich
Fokina in the last 16.
Schwartzman will secure the final
spot at the season-ending tournament
by reaching the semi-finals in Paris, but
would qualify even if he fails to do so, as
long as neither Pablo Carreno Busta nor
Milos Raonic win the title. “I have it in my
hands but I have to say that I’m watching
the other matches,” said the sixth seed.
“I want to be there so I’m doing my best
on court.”
The Tour Finals get underway
on November 15. After the match,
Schwartzman wrote a message of support
for Argentinian football legend Diego
Maradona, who had brain surgery on
Wednesday, on a courtside camera.
“I love football, and he’s Argentinian,
so every place you go, everyone knows
Argentina because of Maradona, and
that’s why I put ‘Fuerza Diego’,” said
Schwartzman.
US Open runner-up Zverev continued
his excellent run of form by cruising past
Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-2 in
under an hour.
The fourth-seeded German, who won
back-to-back titles in Cologne last month,
will face Adrian Mannarino in round
three. Zverev, who has won three Masters
titles in his career, broke twice in each
set to extend his winning streak to nine
matches.
ANDERSON RETIRES INJURED
Third seed Daniil Medvedev reached
the last 16 after Kevin Anderson retired
injured from their encounter.
The Russian will next play Australia’s
Alex de Minaur, who beat Italian Lorenzo
Sonego 6-3, 7-5, for a last-eight place.
South African Anderson quit when 5-2
down in an opening-set tie-break, with
the tournament medical service saying the
former Wimbledon and US Open runner-
up suffered a thigh injury.
The 24-year-old Medvedev is yet to
reach an ATP final in 2020 after winning
four titles and finishing runner-up five
times last year.
Raonic kept his slim Tour Finals hopes
alive with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Pierre-
It has been a special moment. I know it’s a very special number, 1,000. Even if it’s not the same to celebrate something like this without a crowd, I
enjoyed it with ATP, with the president
of the French Federation, Guy
Forget, supervisor and the ball boys
RAFAEL NADAL
NADAL NOTCHES
1,000th WIN, SCHWARTZMAN
CLOSES ON TOUR FINALS
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BARCA, JUVENTUS REGISTER WINS IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
PARIS: Lionel Messi scored as
Barcelona overcame a depleted
Dynamo Kiev 2-1 in the Champions
League on Wednesday, while
Juventus eased Ferencvaros aside and
Manchester United slumped to an
unexpected defeat in Turkey.
Nine-man Paris Saint-Germain
lost to RB Leipzig in a repeat of
last season’s semi-final and Chelsea
proved too strong for Rennes, with
Timo Werner twice converting from
the penalty spot.
Making his 150th appearance
in European competition, Messi
dispatched an early penalty at Camp
Nou after he was fouled in the area
and Gerard Pique headed in Ansu
Fati’s cross on the hour.
Viktor Tsygankov grabbed a
consolation for coronavirus-hit
Dynamo as Barca, winless in four
games in La Liga, recorded their third
successive Group G victory to stay
three points clear of Juventus.
“We are happy because we won,”
said Barca coach Ronald Koeman.
“But we have to play better than we
did today. We have to improve, above
all without the ball, where we haven’t
played well.”
Cristiano Ronaldo made his first
start for the Italian champions since
September after testing positive for
Covid-19 in a 4-1 win at Hungarian
side Ferencvaros.
However, the Portuguese star
was outshone in Budapest by Alvaro
Morata, whose two goals put Andrea
Pirlo’s team in control.
Paulo Dybala added a third before
an own goal from Lasha Dvali, with
Franck Boli netting for the hosts in the
final minute.
United produced a shambolic first-
half defensive display as Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer’s side lost 2-1 against
Istanbul Basaksehir.
Demba Ba collected the ball just
inside his own half and raced through
to beat goalkeeper Dean Henderson
on 13 minutes, with Edin Visca
smashing in a second after Juan Mata
was stripped of possession.
Anthony Martial’s header cut the
deficit before half-time but United
saw their momentum in Group H
halted after wins over PSG and RB
Leipzig last month.
“You don’t just turn up and get
three points in the Champions League.
We weren’t good enough, that’s it. It’s
not easy to be positive when you’ve
lost the way we did,” Solskjaer told BT
Sport.
PSG CAPITULATE IN LEIPZIG
Emil Forsberg’s penalty earned
Leipzig a 2-1 victory as they came
from behind to beat a weakened Paris
Saint-Germain, dealing a major blow
to the Champions League aspirations
of last season’s runners-up.
Angel di Maria had given PSG an
early lead in Germany but he then
crucially missed a penalty for the
French champions, who were missing
both Neymar and Kylian Mbappe due
to injury and ended the contest with
nine men.
Christopher Nkunku levelled
before half-time for Leipzig and
Forsberg converted from the spot in
the 57th minute before the visitors
had both Idrissa Gueye and Presnel
Kimpembe sent off.
“It’s difficult. It’s maybe our fault
because we didn’t get the second
goal and then made a mistake on the
penalty,” PSG boss Thomas Tuchel
told RMC Sport.
“There was a red card, it’s then
hard, 10 against 11. There were too
many things going against us.”
Chelsea strolled to a 3-0 win
at home against Rennes who saw
defender Dalbert sent off after
conceding two penalties in the first
half.
Werner took over spot-kick duties
from Jorginho and confidently tucked
both away before Tammy Abraham
turned in a third for the Blues on 50
minutes.
Frank Lampard’s men have yet to
concede in Group E and are level on
seven points with Sevilla, who rallied
to defeat Krasnodar 3-2 despite the
dismissal of captain Jesus Navas late in
the first half.
Goals from Magomed Suleymanov
and Marcus Berg, the second a
penalty, put Krasnodar ahead in Spain
but Ivan Rakitic pulled one back for
Sevilla before the break.
Morocco striker Youssef En-Nesyri
struck twice in four second-half
minutes to floor Krasnodar and leave
the Russians alongside Rennes on just
one point.
Erling Braut Haaland notched a
brace to lead Borussia Dortmund to
a 3-0 win at Club Brugge and send
the Germans top of Group F. Thorgan
Hazard had opened the scoring in his
native Belgium.
Felipe Caicedo’s late equaliser
earned Lazio a 1-1 draw at Zenit Saint
Petersburg after Aleksandr Erokhin
had struck in the first half in front of
some 17,000 fans in Russia.
— AFP
Haaland at the double as Dortmund beat Club BruggeBRUGES, Belgium: Erling Braut
Haaland scored twice as Borussia
Dortmund claimed a 3-0 Champions
League group stage win over Club
Brugge on Wednesday.
Norwegian striker Haaland took
his Champions League season tally
to four goals as Belgian internationals
Thorgan Hazard, Axel Witsel and
Thomas Meunier helped him blast
away Brugge in a dominant first half
display from Dortmund.
Haaland is now the first player
ever to score 14 goals in his first 11
Champions League appearances.
“Erling is a goal machine, he always
scores one or two. It’s a shame he
didn’t get his hat-trick today,” Hazard
told Sky. The win brings Dortmund
back on course to qualify from Group
F after suffering an early setback with
a 3-1 defeat to Lazio in the opening
game. The Bundesliga side now lead
the group ahead of the Italians, who
were held to a 1-1 draw away to Zenit
St Petersburg earlier on Wednesday.
Dortmund took their chances
clinically in the first half, and were
3-0 up after just half an hour, with a
Belgian player involved in all three
goals.
A surprise pick ahead of England’s
Jadon Sancho in the starting line-up,
Hazard opened the scoring on 14
minutes, sweeping in a curling cross
from Thomas Delaney at the far post.
“It’s always better to score in
Belgium when you’re Belgian,” said
Hazard. A few minutes later, Witsel
rose highest at a corner to head the
ball into the path of Haaland, who
doubled the lead from close range.
Meunier then set up Haaland for
Dortmund’s third on 32 minutes,
squaring the ball to the Norwegian
after Mahmoud Dahoud had carved
open the Brugge defence with a
scintillating chipped pass.
Brugge battled on despite the
scoreline, and had several chances to
snatch a goal back before half-time.
Emmanuel Dennis forced a sharp
save from Dortmund keeper Roman
Buerki, while Eduard Sobol shaved
the post with a long-range shot on 36
minutes. Yet it was Dortmund’s night,
and Lucien Favre’s side saw out the
second half comfortably to leapfrog
both Brugge and Lazio into top spot.
With their Champions League
campaign back on course, Dortmund
now turn their attention to domestic
football with a crucial clash against
top-of-the-table rivals Bayern Munich
on Saturday. — AFP
Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Braut Haaland (centre) vies for the ball with Club Brugge’s Odilon Kossounou (left) and Clinton Mata (right) during the UEFA Champions League Group F match. — AFP
Dynamo Kiev’s Vitaliy Buyalskyy (centre) vies with Barcelona’s Frenkie De Jong (left) during the UEFA Champions League group G match in Barcelona. — AFP
The win brings Dortmund back on
course to qualify from Group F after suffering an early setback with a 3-1 defeat to Lazio in
the opening game
We are happy because we won. But we have to play better than we
did today. We have to improve, above all
without the ball, where we haven’t played well.
RONALD KOEMAN,Barcelona coach
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Solskjaer laments ‘unforgivable’ defending as Man Utd suffer
Basaksehir shockISTANBUL: Manchester United boss Ole
Gunnar Solskjaer blasted “unforgivable”
defending from his hapless side as
they slumped to an embarrassing 2-1
Champions League defeat against Istanbul
Basaksehir on Wednesday.
United, floundering in the lower
reaches of the Premier League, started the
game as firm favourites after an impressive
win against Paris Saint-Germain and a 5-0
humbling of RB Leipzig.
But defeat in Turkey — a first-ever
Champions League group-stage win for
Basaksehir — heaps the pressure on the
Norwegian boss, whose side looked short
of inspiration and basic defensive nous in
Istanbul.
The three-time European champions
were badly exposed on the break as
former Chelsea forward Demba Ba and
Edin Visca gave the home team a two-goal
cushion.
United gave themselves hope when
they reduced the deficit shortly before
half-time through an Anthony Martial
header.
But despite multiple second-half
changes and an array of attacking talent,
Solskjaer’s lacklustre team could not
find a way past the organised Basaksehir
defence.
The result ended Manchester
United’s longest away winning run in all
competitions in their history — 10 straight
victories — and was their first away defeat
in 19 matches since losing in January at
Liverpool in the Premier League.
Solskjaer said the performance against
the hard-working Turkish side was not
good enough.
“They scored two goals like you do
in Europe when you do not defend well
enough,” he told BT Sport.
“The first one is that we play a short
corner and forget about the man up top.
That is unforgivable. The second one as
well, we are not very well organised to
counter the press.”
“You don’t turn up and get three points
in the Champions League,” he added.
“They are a team well organised and we
were not good enough. That is it.”
DEFENSIVE CHAOS
United started the game in the comfort
zone, with no sign of the defensive chaos
to come in front of a small but vocal
crowd.
Luke Shaw fizzed a ball past the far post
with his left foot but United, with Marcus
Rashford and Martial up front, lacked
penetration.
The home side were ahead in the 12th
minute after inexplicably poor awareness
and organisation allowed unmarshalled
ex-Chelsea forward Ba to collect a long
ball and race from the halfway line to
score, trailed helplessly by Nemanja Matic.
Axel Tuanzebe, who impressed in Paris,
had a heart-stopping moment after he
pulled Ba back but escaped with a yellow
card.
Basaksehir remained threatening on
the break, with United worryingly open
at the back, and the visitors were caught
napping again five minutes before half
time.
Deniz Turuc robbed Juan Mata of
possession down the left and raced
forward, sending over a cross that Ba
stepped over and Visca smashed past
Dean Henderson, making his Champions
League debut in place of David de Gea.
United crucially reduced the deficit in
the 43rd minute when Martial steered a
Shaw cross home with his head.
Solskjaer hooked off Tuanzebe at the
interval, with Scott McTominay coming
on and Matic dropping back to play at
centre-back alongside Harry Maguire.
United once more enjoyed territorial
advantage at the start of the second half
and Bruno Fernandes had a free-kick
pushed away.
Solskjaer threw on Edinson Cavani and
Paul Pogba in place of Mata and Donny
van de Beek to add impetus to the attack
but ponderous United struggled to create
clear chances.
Mason Greenwood came on for
Rashford as United continued to search
for a way through.
They went agonisingly close to
an equaliser in stoppage time when
Alexandru Epureanu hacked off the line
but they could not rescue a point in the
Group H tie.
United appeared to have turned
the corner after their 6-1 mauling by
Tottenham last month but they have now
suffered consecutive defeats to Arsenal
and Basaksehir.
“They (two losses) have set us back a
lot,” said Solskjaer, whose team travel to
Everton on Saturday. “You get a reality
check every time you play a game of
football.” — AFP
But defeat in Turkey — a first-ever Champions League group-stage win
for Basaksehir — heaps the pressure on the Norwegian
boss, whose side looked short of inspiration and basic
defensive nous in Istanbul
Istanbul Basaksehir’s midfielder Edin Visca (right) fights for the ball with Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka during the UEFA Champions League match. — AFP