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[email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780www.thepeninsulaqatar.comSUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015 • 18 Muharram 1437 • Volume 20 Number 6601

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34 teams qualify for World Robot Olympiad.

Qatar offers growth potential for affordable hotels.

QSL: Gutsy Al Rayyan rally to down Lekhwiya.

Qatar Classic begins

Abdullah Al Tamimi of Qatar returns the ball to Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt during the men’s first round match of the Qatar Classic at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha yesterday. El Shorbagy won 3-0. Report on page 31

Kafala replaced by job contract system

DOHA: The new law regulating entry, exit and residency of expa-triates in Qatar has transformed the Kafala (sponsorship) system in the country into one control-led by employment contracts, a senior official of the Ministry of Interior has said.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Brigadier Moham-med Ahmed Al Atiq, Assistant Director General of the Depart-ment of Border, Passport and Expatriates Affairs at the minis-try said that the new law has done away with exit permits that were an integral part of the Kafala system.

“Exit permit will no more be required for travel since it was part of the Kafala system, which will become invalid with enforce-ment of this law,” said Al Atiq.

To leave the country an employee needs to apply to the departments concerned at the

Ministry of Interior through Metrash 2 system and inform his employer three days in advance.

“No one will prevent an expa-triate worker from leaving the country and in case of any objec-tion (from the employer), both sides can approach the grievances committee which will look into the issue,” he added.

This committee will comprise representatives from the Minis-try of Interior, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and other bod-ies concerned.

The applicant (expatriate worker) will receive a SMS con-firming approval or rejection and in case of any dispute it should be raised to the grievance com-mittee. If the committee does not take a decision within three working days then the case be referred to the court, explained the official.

The law has stated that

in case of an emergency, the worker can leave immediately after notifying the employer and by approval of the authorities concerned.

Brig Al Atiq added that major changes have been made in the residency law including change of the sponsorship (Kafala) system into one controlled by employ-ment contract and accordingly the term sponsor (kafeel) has been replaced by employer.

The relation between the employer and employee will be based on the terms of the employ-ment contract they sign on a voluntary basis.

When the employment con-tract is approved by the Minis-try of Labour and Social Affairs it becomes valid and binding on both parties.

Continued on page 2

THE PENINSULA

Emir condoles with PutinDOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yes-terday sent a cable of condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing condolences and sympathy on the victims of the Russian passenger plane crash in the Egyptian town of El Arish.

A Russian airliner carrying 224 people crashed in a mountainous area of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula yesterday, killing everyone on board, officials said.

It was one of the deadliest inci-dents involving Airbus aircraft over the past decade.

The Islamic State (IS) group affiliate in Egypt claimed it downed the plane, without say-ing how.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail expressed doubt about the claim, saying experts confirmed that a plane cannot be downed at such an altitude, and Russian Transport Minister

Maksim Sokolov said the claim “cannot be considered accurate”.

Germany’s Lufthansa and Air France said they would halt flights over Sinai until the reasons behind the crash became clear.

The Airbus A321 with 214 Rus-sian and three Ukrainian passen-gers and seven crew, had taken off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh in south Sinai bound for Saint Petersburg.

It lost contact with air traffic control 23 minutes later.

“Unfortunately, all passengers of Kogalymavia flight 9268 Sharm El Sheikh-Saint Petersburg have died. We issue condolences to family and friends,” the Russian embassy in Cairo said.

The wreckage was found roughly 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the North Sinai town of El Arish, Egyptian officials said.

Debris and bodies were spread over an area of between six and eight square kilometres (two and

a half to just over three square miles).

The aircraft’s black box had been retrieved and sent for analy-sis, Ismail said.

The IS affiliate waging an insurgency in the Sinai claimed that “the soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane”. It said this was in revenge for Russian air strikes against IS in Syria.

Three military experts said IS in Sinai does not have surface-to-air missiles capable of hitting a plane at high altitude.

But they could not exclude the possibility of a bomb on board or a surface-to-air missile strike if the aircraft had been descending to make an emergency landing.

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin ordered rescue teams dispatched to Egypt.

See also page 7

AGENCIES

� Fine for keeping passports raised to QR25,000� Grievances committee to look into exit disputes

Russian plane crashes in Egypt’s Sinai, 224 dead

Brigadier Mohammed Ahmed Al Atiq, Assistant Director General of the Department of Border, Passport and Expatriates Affairs, and Saleh Al Shawi, Director of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, addressing the press conference at the Ministry. QASSIM RAHMATULLAH Population rose to

2.347m in SeptemberDOHA: Qatar’s population hit 2.347 million in September this year, with a 7.3pc increase from 2.187 million recorded in Sep-tember last year, according to latest data released by Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics.

The monthly statistical report for September also shows that vis-itors to Qatar increased by 7.7pc in September this year compared to the same period last year. Visi-tors from GCC countries made up the highest number accounting for 45.2pc of the total visitors. Data shows a 2.6 pc decrease in the number of vehicles registered in September (8,090) compared to August (8,309). However, traf-fic violations during the month increased by 3.2pc compared to the previous month, reaching

163,207 in total. The number of marriages in September increased by 12.3pc compared to August, with a total of 2,828 marriages recorded from the beginning of the year until September.

The number of divorces dropped by 43.3 percent in Sep-tember compared to August, with a total of 1,117 divorces from the beginning of the year until Sep-tember.

The report also shows that social security beneficiaries in September accounted for 12,382 citizens, with an increase of 2.2 percent compared to August, when the number of beneficiar-ies amounted to 12,112.

The report is released on a monthly basis.

THE PENINSULA

US-backed alliance in anti-IS offensiveBEIRUT: A newly formed US-backed Syrian rebel alliance yesterday launched an offen-sive against Islamic State in the northeast province of Hasaka, a day after the United States said it would send special forces to advise insurgents fighting the jihadists.

It was the first declared oper-ation by the Democratic Forces of Syria, which joins together a US-backed Kurdish militia and several Syrian Arab rebel groups, since it announced its formation earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the United States yesterday announced it is provid-ing nearly $100m more in aid to the Syrian opposition for tasks like supporting local councils and civil society activists.

This brings to nearly $500m the amount the United States has pledged to the Syrian opposition since 2002, the State Department said. World powers and regional rivals are convening in Vienna to seek a solution to the four-year conflict in Syria that has escalated since Russia intervened a month ago with an intense air campaign.

Fighting in Hasaka had begun after midnight, a spokesman for the alliance said. A group moni-toring the war reported fight-ing and coalition air strikes in the area.

A video posted earlier on Youtube announced the offensive in southern Hasaka, and showed several dozen men in fatigues standing outdoors with yellow flags and banners carrying the name of the Democratic Forces of Syria in Arabic and Kurdish.

The campaign would “continue until all occupied areas in Hasaka are freed from Daesh,” a spokes-man for the alliance’s general command said in the video, using an Arabic name for IS. He urged residents to stay away from IS-controlled areas of Hasaka.

Another spokesman later said alliance forces had already attacked Islamic State fighters.

“The battle began after mid-night,” Talal Salu told Reuters via internet messaging service. “They were flanked by our forces... (who) thwarted a counter attack.”

REUTERS

Violence in Hebron as Palestinians bury teensHEBRON: Violence broke out yesterday in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron as Palestin-ians buried five teenagers killed in a wave of attacks and clashes with Israeli forces.

The funerals came as Israeli border guards shot dead a Pal-estinian at a checkpoint between the West Bank and Israel after he allegedly tried to stab one of

them, police said.The surge of unrest since early

October has triggered fears of a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupa-tion by a generation gripped by despair and anger over stalled peace efforts.

Nine Israelis, 66 Palestinians and an Arab Israeli have been killed since the violence erupted

in Jerusalem a month ago.The violence has spread to the

West Bank, with daily protests and attacks on Israeli soldiers, and to the Gaza Strip, where there have been clashes with Israeli forces along the borders of the coastal enclave.

Thousands of Palestinian mourners attended the funerals of the five teenagers, two of whom

were girls, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, a powder-keg in the decades-old Palestin-ian-Israeli conflict.

They waved Palestinian flags and chanted “we will die but Pal-estine will live on”. Clashes broke out between Palestinian stone throwers and Israeli soldiers as the funerals began.

AFP

WPS to come into force from tomorrowDOHA: The new Wage Protec-tion System (WPS) will come into force from tomorrow mak-ing it mandatory for employers to transfer employees’ salaries to a bank or a financial institution.

The new system is being imple-mented based on amendments in the labour law No 14/2004.

The ministerial decision on WPS says that employees’ sala-ries must be transferred to their bank accounts by the seventh day of every month.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs had given six months grace period to compa-nies and employers to prepare for full implementation of WPS. The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs H E Abdullah Saleh Mubarak Al Khulaifi recently said that no more grace period will be given to firms and the law will be enforced from Nov 2.

Continued on page 7

THE PENINSULA

Emir’s international award for fight against corruption

ST PETERSBURG: Qatar’s Attorney General H E Dr Ali bin Fetais Al Marri, who is also UN Special Advocate for Stolen Asset Recovery, has announced the international award for Anti- Corruption under the name of Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Attorney General announced the award at the open-ing session of the eighth meeting of the General Assembly of the International Association of Anti-Corruption, held in St Petersburg, Russia, and chaired by Qatar. He said the annual Award will be dis-tributed to three works: the first for scientific research, the second for media work, and the third for innovation in the fight against corruption.

QNA

02 HOMESUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Condolences sent to Russia over crash victimsDOHA: Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday sent a cable to Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressing sincere condolences and sym-pathy on the victims of the Russian passenger air plane crash in the Egyptian town of El Arish.

Prime Minister and Inte-rior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani also sent a cable of condolences to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.

Award panel for distinguished performanceDOHA: Minister of Munici-pality and Urban Planning H E Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani yesterday issued a ministerial decision to set up a committee for the minis-try’s distinguished adminis-tration award.

The award aims to increase competitiveness between the ministry’s employees to help improve services provided by municipalities and other entities. It is part of the min-istry’s contribution to Qatar National Vision 2030, which aims to rely on national cad-res in leading the government services sector.

The award will be presented to the authority or municipal-ity based on several criteria factors, including achieving the authority’s/municipal-ity’s pre-determined goals, committing to a professional attitude while dealing with the public, creating a positive working environment that promotes cooperation and using innovative solutions to cope with challenges.

QNA

DOHA: Following the completion of the historical voyage to India, Fath Al Kheir 2 dhow yesterday left Mumbai port for Oman.

On October 24, the dhow docked at the port amid an official and popular presence of officials from Qatari and Indian sides.

In Mumbai, the dhow and its crew members were welcomed by Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Man-ager, Cultural Village Foundation-Katara; Qatari Ambassador to India Ahmed Ibra-him Al Abdullah; Governor of the state of Maharashtra Ch Vidyasagar Rao; Qatari Consul General in India Hamad bin Mohammad Al Dusari; representatives of diplomate missions and other officials.

Prior to their departure from Mum-bai port, the dhow and its crew members were bid farewell by Al Dusari, Qatari

Deputy Consul General Batti bin Abdul-lah Al Nuimi; and members of the Qatari mission.

“We are keen to pursue and follow up on the voyage and get relevant details starting from its departure from Doha until docking in Sur and its arrival in Mumbai.

“As they resume voyage to Muscat, we are longing to meet the sailors in Doha to celebrate the launch of the fifth tradi-tional dhow festival following the accom-plishment of their goal in India.”

Al Dusari said: “The importance of the journey stems from its relevance to the pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030 —preserving the Qatari Heritage and tra-ditions.

“The voyage will be a reference for upcoming generations. It was challeng-

ing and illustrates historical ties between Qatar and India in general and Mumbai in particular for it being a trade hub.”

He praised Katara’s role in reviving the marine heritage. “This voyage recalls to our memory journeys our ancestors used to make in pursue of livelihood and trade more than 60 years ago.”

On their eight-day stay in India, dhow captain, Shipmaster Hasan Essa Al Kabbi said the voyage was very constructive and the members of the crew checked with competent parties to ensure the dhow sail in safe circumstances and good weather.

“Sailors are longing to resume the voy-age as they got used to life on board the dhow within an overwhelming atmos-phere of brotherhood,” he added.

THE PENINSULA

Fath Al Kheir 2 voyage achieves goals in India, leaves for Muscat

Crew members on board Fath Al Kheir.

Continued from page 1

The official clarified that an employee can return to the coun-try two or three days after his departure to take up a new job if he gets a new contract and ful-fils entry visa requirements and if there is no court verdict against him.

This is different from the pre-vailing system which does not allow a worker to return before two years after he is sent back by his sponsor, he added. However, this does not apply to those who are deported by a court order.

The new law has raised the fine on the employer for keep-ing employees’ passports from QR10,000 to QR25,000.

An employer can keep the passport of his employee only upon a written request from the employee, said Brig Al Atiq.

“We expect a smooth implemen-

tation of the law and more than 90 percent of the cases would comply with the new procedure for exit and the committee would be deal-ing with the remaining less than 10 percent” said Saleh Al Shawi, Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, who was also present at the press conference.

When asked why the law comes into force one year after the date of its publication in the official gazette, Al Shawi said that there is need for time to prepare for its implementation.

The new system needs to be introduced to the job market, and all the parties concerned need to be aware of the requirements of the new system regulated by job contracts.

Brig Al Atiq added said that one year is needed for implemen-tation of the law because there are many things to be done including

issuance of executive regulations for the law, establishment of the grievance committee and outlining

its mandates.Expatriate workers with fixed

job contracts can change their

work and sign new contracts if they wish so at the end of the con-tract period. For this they don’t need approval from their current employer. However, an approval is needed from the Ministry of Inte-rior and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Al Shawi explained that there is no limitation on the number of job contracts a worker can sign or their duration, but the law has suggested five years as the maximum period for employment contracts. If the job contract is open-ended, a worker can change job after five years with approval from the two ministries.

Al Shawi added that expatriate workers will sign new job contracts with their employers after the new law comes into force because the law does not apply to existing job contracts.

THE PENINSULA

Brigadier Mohammed Ahmed Al Attiq and Saleh Al Shawi, Director, Legal Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, at a press conference at the ministry. QASSIM RAHMATULLAH

One year needed to implement new law



DOHA: Qatar will host the GCC Lawyers and Arbitrators Confer-ence under the theme ‘A promis-ing Legal Investment Environment’ from December 19 to 20.

Ahmed Najm, Secretary-General, GCC Commercial Arbitration Cen-tre (Dar Al Karar), said the annual conference is a prominent forum held in one of the GCC member states, bringing together lawyers, arbitra-tors, experts and legal consultants.

It aims to provide an open platform and an academic and transparent space to discuss issues relating to the legal profession, obstacles to its exercise and means of promoting a culture to resort to arbitration and urging execution of decisions on direct and indirect investments, he added.

The event will also discuss supporting and strengthening orientations of the economic state in the enactment of laws and regulations to create a legal and regulatory framework for the establishment of law universities to promote the legal academic thinking, establishment of a financial centre, international courts, amicable dispute resolution centres and means of implementing international rules in commercial arbitration system, he said.

Speakers from Qatar Financial

Centre (QFC), the Ministry of Justice, the Faculty of Law at Qatar University and the Ministry of Interior Police College will take part in the two-day event.

Participants will also discuss the legal profession, the role of the state in supporting it, enhancing its cultural and humanitarian mission and protecting lawyers from illegal competition, he added.

A proposal will be submitted by Qatar Lawyers Association, Bahrain Lawyers’ Society, Kuwait Bar Association and the committee of lawyers and legal advisers of Jeddah Chamber during this session, Najm added.

The forum will review the need to update laws to keep pace with developments in the commercial, financial and investment sectors, Najm said, adding proposals will be submitted, including renovation of Qatari Civil and Commercial Procedure Code, the new commercial companies law in the UAE and Qatar Draft Legal Profession Act.

It will also discuss development of execution courts, Najm said, adding efforts continued to hold a meeting of GCC Lawyers Association to revive the idea of establishing a GCC lawyers union.

QNA

DOHA: QF Radio 91.7FM launches its new 2015-16 pro-gramme cycle today.

As a Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Commu-nity Development’s (QF) in-house English broadcast station, listen-ers can look forward to a daily feast of varied and engaging pro-

grammes featuring interviews, events and music.

In line with QF’s overarch-ing mission of unlocking human potential, QF Radio aims to foster a progressive and engaged society through informative and enter-taining programming.

It is a trusted companion of its

multi-cultural audience, encour-aging them to be active partici-pants and contributors to the world around them by delivering relevant content that promotes open discussion and learning.

Mohammed Al Bishri, Man-ager, Media Centre, QF, said, “This season, QF Radio will

present a host of spe-cial programmes. Each show is tailored to deliver informative and engaging content on a wide range of specific topics that will be educational and cultur-ally enriching to our young audience.”

All new and return-ing shows will cover top-ics and formats, including QF news, live interviews, sports, business, music, events and exclusive con-tent produced by students and staff members of Qatar Foundation.

By engaging with tal-ented students and encouraging them to actively participate in programmes, QF Radio is not only giving them a voice but also providing them with opportunity to share their achievements with the rest of Qatar, in the hope of educating and inspiring others — a core part of Qatar Foundation’s ongoing efforts.

Each new programme has been designed to meet the needs of QF Radio’s growing audience, relate to listeners more and leave them feeling entertained and informed.

Listen to QF Radio daily on 91.7FM through live streaming online or via our mobile application availa-ble for download from App Store or Google Play.

THE PENINSULA

QF Radio 91.7FM to launch new programme cycle

DOHA: Qatar Global Education Fair has received more than 3,000 visitors within two days, according to organisers.

The event at Sheraton Doha Resort & Convention Hotel, is sponsored by Qatar University (QU) and Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), and organ-ised by BMI as part of a series of fairs taking place in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Kuwait.

It included more than 50 universities, higher education institutions and government organisations.

A large number of students and education professionals visited the QU booth and were briefed on services, resources and facilities the university offers such as scholarships and academic grants, accreditation, undergraduate and graduate studies, application and visa process, student accommodation, and training and internships, among others.

Lama Ali, Representative and Graduate Admission Specialist,

Admissions Department, QU, said, “Through our participation in the event, we encouraged students to pursue their graduate studies and we gave them an insight on the wide range of graduate programmes

we offer at the university. The organisation offers 32 programmes at graduate level — 24 Master’s, four diplomas, one PharmD and three doctoral programmes.”

Zaher Mohamed Albahnasi,

a second year student of statistics at QU College of Arts and Sciences, said, “At the QU’s booth, we had the opportunity to get information on the Master’s programme in applicable statistics the college offers and admission requirements.”

Ahmed Khalil, a third year student at College of Shariah and Islamic Studies, said, “We were oriented on the Master’s programmes in Quranic Sciences and Exegesis, and in Fiqh and Usul Al Fiqh the college offers, as well as research opportunities, scholarships and curricula.” The event featured workshops on ‘Study in the US’; ‘Tips for finding your dream job’; ‘Study in the UK’; ‘Study in the US at University of California’; ‘Study in Qatar’; ‘Study in Canada’; ‘How to find a job in the digital age’; ‘Study at Hamad Bin Khalifa University’; ‘Study English in the UK’; and ‘Study in France’.

THE PENINSULA

Global education fair receives over 3,000 visitors in two daysQU booth, workshops highlight study opportunities in Qatar, abroad

Visitors at the Qatar University booth at the event.

DOHA: Aspire Zone Founda-tion (AZF) will launch next month a line-up of competitions and activities to encourage the local community to be active and participate in sport.

Running until April 2016, the line-up includes activities such as Aspire Run in the Park, Kids Art in the Park, Aspire School Kids Run, Aspire Zone Open Aquathon, Aspire Splash and Dash and Aspire Triathlon GMC TriSeries.

All activities will be held at Aspire Zone’s venues, including Aspire Park, Hamad Aquatic Centre and others.

Abdullah Al Khater, Events Manager, AZF, said: “Aspire Zone is a global centre of sports excellence and a unique facil-ity and destination for the local community, where they can enjoy a great atmosphere and benefit from state-of-the-art venues and facilities.

“We regularly organise sports and cultural activities that appeal to all members of

the local community. Our latest line-up is part of a larger, year-round programme as part of our efforts to encourage the com-munity to be active and adopt heathy lifestyles.”

Aspire Run in the Park will be launched on November 7 at Aspire Park. It includes a 2.5km Junior Race (10-15 age group), which starts at 8am and a 5km Senior Race (13-18 age group) which starts at 8:45am.

Subsequent races take place on December 12, 2015, January 16 and February 13, 2016. To register and for details on rules and regulations, visit www.lifei-naspire.qa

AZF is also organising Aspire School Kids Run to encour-age schoolchildren to engage in sports and fitness, follow healthy lifestyles and explore Aspire Park and its facilities. Schoolchildren aged 7-12 will compete in 1km races in four groups of 50 each, split into boys and girls. Those interested in participating can register

through their school. Aspire Park will also host Kids Art in the Park, consisting of fun and educational activities to help children become creative and try art projects. It will be held every Saturday in a tent behind the main children’s playground at Aspire Park, starting from November 14 and ending on March 26, 2016.

AZF will also host Aspire Tri-athlon GMC TriSeries, Qatar’s leading triathlon series which brings together contestants of all ages and fitness levels.

It includes 14 non-com-petitive races that will begin on November 14, including a 500-metre swimming race, a 5km cycling race and a 1.25km run. Three races will follow on November 28, February 20 and April 30. The races will be held across different venues at Aspire Zone, including Hamad Aquatic Centre.

In October, AZF launched the 2015-2016 season of Aspire Zone Aquathon series, which

takes place on November 21 and 27, 2015 and April 16, 2016. The aquathon is open for eve-ryone aged eight and above, and includes running and swimming races.

The Aspire Splash and Dash event has also been extended until December 26 after attract-ing a large number of partici-pants and significant levels of interest. Now in its second year, the programme involves run-ning and swimming activities in the Aspire Dome, where partici-pants can access the swimming pool and air-conditioned Indoor Athletics Track to improve their fitness and health.

AZF organises community events and activities through-out the year, providing access to its state-of-the-art venues and facilities for all members of the community. It is the ideal location to practise sport and exercise, and provides cultural activities for the wider commu-nity.

THE PENINSULA

Qatar to host GCC Lawyers and Arbitrators Conference on December 19-20

DOHA: The Diplomatic Institute organised, in collaboration with the National Committee for Edu-cation, Culture and Science, train-ing courses as part of the Unesco Future Ambassadors programme last week.

Fifty male and 36 female students from public schools took part.

Dr Hamda Hassan Al Sulaiti, The Secretary-General, Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, inaugurated the courses, hosted by Ali bin Abi Talib Prepara-tory Independent School for Boys and Amna Bint Wahab Independent Secondary School for Girls.

She welcomed students and stressed the importance of train-ing to upgrade their skills in various fields.

She also briefed students on the goals of the programme.

Dr Al Sulaiti also thanked the institute for organising training ses-

sions and stressed the importance of cooperation among various institu-tions having common interest.

The programme includes four main themes — Foreign Policy Ori-entations of Qatar; Protocol and Etiquette; Cultural Pluralism; and International Organisations.

It aims to provide students with effective dialogue and communication skills, and the ability to represent Qatar in local, regional and interna-tional forums and events.

The programme also aims to increase students’ awareness and familiarise them with international and regional organisations and mech-anisms of action.

The programme is supported by the institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Unesco Regional Office, Unesco Associated Schools and Qatar’s National Human Rights Council.

QNA

Diplomatic Instituteholds Unesco FutureAmbassadors training

AZF lines up community contests, activities

05SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015

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DOHA: Education Above All Foundation (EAA) will open its third edition of EAA Village at World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) on Wednes-day.

EAA will host a plenary session on the second day of the summit.

To be led by EAA’s Protect Education in Insecurity and Con-flict (PEIC), the session ‘Educa-tion Violence and Conflict – from Daunting Challenge to Effective Response’ will discuss the impact of armed conflict and insecurity on education and the need for real-time information that can lead to effective response meas-ures.

Speakers include GraçaMachel, former minister for education of Mozambique; Dr Kevin Watkins,

Executive Director, Overseas Development Institute; Thomas Gass, UN Assistant Secretary- General, Policy Coordinator and Inter-Agency Affairs; and Eliza-beth Decrey Warner, Executive President, Geneva Call.

‘One in 11 children worldwide is out of school. Despite efforts of the global community, conflicts and disasters are putting pressure on education access.

“This upward trend shows no signs of receding without more concerted action from all sectors,” said Marcio Barbosa, CEO, EAA.

‘We hope that our EAA ses-sions at the summit this year will serve as a forum for members of the global community to engage in pragmatic solution-finding needed to address this grow-

ing crisis. We must identify new and innovative ways of providing access to education under all cir-cumstances — those who are pre-vented from realising their right to an education by war, poverty and other barriers.’

EAA will also lead three techni-cal sessions to address key issues in education and development: Poverty, quality and conflict.

EAA will bring to WISE more than 20 speakers from interna-tional organisations and govern-ments to present at its sessions.

The EAA Village on WISE’s ‘Majlis’ space will highlight issues and programmes brought together under the EAA banner – Educate A Child, Al Fakhoora, and PEIC.

THE PENINSULA

Education Above All to open third village edition at WISE

DOHA: Thirty-four teams from dif-ferent schools who participated in National Robot Olympiad (NRO) 2015 have qualified for the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) to be held on Friday.

NRO, a two-day event concluded yesterday. It was organised by College of the North Atlantic–Qatar, in col-laboration with Maersk Oil Qatar, the Supreme Education Council (SEC) and Qatar Petroleum (QP).

The competitions had general and open categories for elementary, preparatory and secondary schools, another for football and for university students.

Teams that bagged first prizes in different contests represent Qatar International School, Doha Mod-ern Indian School, Doha Secondary Independent School for Boys, Com-pass International School, Khalid Bin Ahmad Preparatory School For Boys, American School of Doha, Moham-mad bin Abdul Wahhab Secondary

Independent School for Boys and Col-lege of the North Atlantic.

Winning teams were awarded by Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada and other guests.

Themes of the challenges given to teams were Smart Bot, Smart Peek Team, Cooperation, Tin Men, Elec-tro Positivity, Pathfinders and Caves Invaders, among others.

The contest aims to build the state’s science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills and capacity for coming generations.

The concluding ceremony was attended by Dr Al Sada, Director of Education Institute at the SEC, Fawziya Al Khater, Deputy Managing Director, Maersk Oil, Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad Al Thani, and President of the college Dr Ken MacLeod.

“This is an amazing event. It has brought together selected science stu-dents who have excelled themselves,” Dr Al Sada told the concluding cer-

emony. “I have no doubt that together you represent the very best of Qatar’s science and engineering talent. To ful-fil the ambitions of Qatar National Vision 2030, it is essential that we inspire, build and support future gen-erations of scientists and engineers passionately engaged in such creative pursuits from a young age,” he added.

“It is a real indication of the impact the GO ROBOT programme is deliv-ering in supporting these skills,” said Al Khater.

“We give our full support to the teams from Qatar this weekend and we are confident that they will make us all proud,” she added.

Over 1,000 selected science stu-dents in 265 teams from more than 100 schools from across Qatar par-ticipated. WRO will take place in Al Shaqab Stadium at Qatar Foundation from November 6 to 8, attended by over 3,000 participants from around 50 countries.

THE PENINSULA

Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada and other officials at the Qatar National Robot Olympiad at Al Shaqab Equestrian Facility in Education City yesterday. KAMMUTTY VP

DOHA: Ooredoo yesterday announced the launch of a new service to provide a 24/7 con-cierge medical referral manage-ment programme customers can access using their mobile phones.

The service, ‘You Click, We Care’, is accessible from any-where in the world and is designed to give patients access to speak to Western-trained healthcare professionals when they have a health concern.

Doctors will refer them to the best hospital, clinic, nutritionist or wellness service according to their needs in the neighbouring area, wherever they are in the world.

The new service is designed to offer peace of mind when it comes to the quality of medical

services available. It also facili-tates booking appointments on behalf of the caller, and alerts the medical facility with the call-ers’ needs before they arrive, to make sure their appointment runs smoothly. It is not designed to replace the need for licensed care-givers, but rather to con-nect patients with the right level of service for them, quickly and effectively. To empower patients with high-end medical and well-ness services, ‘You Click, We Care’ also provides full informa-tion about the locations, open-ing times and contact details of facilities in their area, and offers a rating service by facility and by physician, based on patients’ input.

Waleed Al Sayed, Chief Oper-

ating Officer, Ooredoo Qatar said, “Our new smart health-care solution, ‘You Click, We Care’ deploys the latest mobile technology to connect people with the right healthcare serv-ice for them, when they need it and where they need it. It is an excellent example of how Oore-doo is deploying new innovations to enrich the lives of our custom-ers, ensuring that they can find the right services for them and their families, even when they travel abroad.”

The ‘You Click, We Care’ application is available in Eng-lish and Arabic, and is supported by western-trained doctors who speak English, Arabic and Hindi.

The application also includes a section for exclusive deals,

offering a wide variety of inter-national wellness devices and discounts on annual member-ships for luxury fitness facili-ties, to motivate patients to lead healthier lifestyles.

The service is available now for all Hala and Shahry customers, who can subscribe by sending the SMS ‘SUB YCWC’ to 92390, or download the “You Click, We Care” application, available in both the Apple Store and Google Store,for QR10 per month. Cor-porate customers can also ben-efit from the service, and can set an appointment with their account manager to know more about the benefits of ‘You Click, We Care’ for their company.

THE PENINSULA

34 teams qualify for World Robot OlympiadOver 3,000 students from 50 countries to take part on Friday

Biker on a global mission

Indian B V Narayanan, 55, from Bengaluru poses with his cus-tom-made bike after a press conference at Indian Cultural Centre. He is on a new world tour on his bike to urge motor-ists not to use mobile phones while driving to prevent accidents and related disabili-ties. The 59-year-old cycled some 90,000km across 59 countries in less than 20 months during 1979-80 to promote peace and organ donation. SALIM MATRAMKOT

Ooredoo unveils ‘You Click, We Care’ programme



Al Jazeera blood donation drive

A blood donation camp was held recently at the premises of Al Jazeera Printing Press Co. as a part of its corporate social responsibility. Al Jazeera staff and a team from Hamad Medical Corporation took part.

DOHA: The sixth Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art will open at Al Rayyan Theatre in Souq Waqif on November 7 and events on the following two days will be held at Museum of Islamic Art.

Twelve of the world’s lead-ing Islamic art experts will explore some of the broad top-ics of visual arts in the Islamic world. The sixth edition will see experts talk on topics around the subject of writing in Islamic art, with the title of the series ‘By the Pen and What They Write: Writing in Islamic Art and Culture’.

The symposium chaired by Dr Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom, is a leading international conference on Islamic art and culture, co-sponsored by Vir-ginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, VCUQatar, Qatar Foundation and Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

In keeping with the desire

of Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to make Qatar a leader in provid-ing world-class education, the symposium has been under his patronage since its establish-ment 10 years ago.

Dr Blair will lead the open-ing ceremony to discuss corre-lation of the rise of the Arabic script and Islam. “The sympo-sium brings together renowned scholars, conservators and art-ists from around the world, who will address writing — a major theme in Islamic civilisation,” said Blair.

The 12 speakers will dis-cuss topics on writings effect on Islamic art. They will also discuss rapid adoption of the concept of writing as a means of authenticating messages, notions of traditional and mod-ern calligraphy and develop-ment of Arabic typography from the earliest Arabic script found on rocks in the desert prior

to Islam to the importance of paper when spreading the word of the Quran.

Speakers and their topics are: Sheila Blair – ‘Writing as a Signifier of Islam’; Jonathan Bloom – ‘How Paper Changed Islamic Literary and Visual Culture’; Robert Hoyland – ‘The Birth of Arabic Writing in Stone’; Angelika Neuwirth – ‘Scripture, Revelation, and Writing: The Quran’s Epistemic Recast of Arabian Late Antiq-uity’; Hugh Kennedy – ‘Bagh-dad as a Center of Learning and Book Production’; Dana Sjdi – ‘Chained: Orality, Authority, and History’; Ludvik Kalus – ‘The Spread of Islamic Inscriptions in East and Southeast Asia’; Huda Smitshuijzen Abifares – ‘Arabic Typography and the Shaping’; Kristine Rose Beers – ‘Reading with Conservators: The Lan-guage of Book Archaeology’; Massumeh Farhad – ‘Reading between the Lines: Text and

Image in Sixteenth-Century Iran’; Heba Nayel Barakat – ‘The Triumph of the Word: Con-temporary Islamic Calligraphy Collections at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia’; and Nasser Al Salem – ‘Calligraphy Pres-entation’.

The keynote address on November 7 will take place at Al Rayyan Theatre, Al Mir-qab Hotel, Souq Al Waqif at 6-7.30pm. All speaker presen-tations will take place in the ground-floor auditorium of Museum of Islamic Art, Doha from 9am-4pm on November 8 and 9am-4:45pm on November 9, with a closing reception on November 9 from 4:45-5:30pm.

Online registration via http://www.islamicartdoha.org/regis-tration is open until November 7. Walk-in registration for all events will be on a first-come basis according to available space.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Minister of Environment H E Ahmed Amer Mohamed Al Humaidi said the ministry exerts all efforts to protect the country’s natural resources, which is one of the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.

He was speaking during the open-ing ceremony of a workshop on the final draft of Law No. 30 of 2002.

“The ministry formed a committee dedicated to environmental legisla-tion to revise laws,” the Minister said, adding that the panel had amended six laws related to the environment in Qatar.

The committee has finished the final draft on amendments to envi-ronment protection Law No. 30 of 2002, which will offer a comprehen-sive protection to the environment, he added.

Ahmed Mohammed Al Sada, Assistant Undersecretary, Environ-mental Affairs at the ministry, said the ministry is adopting projects and programmes to the protect envi-ronment and natural resources for

future generations.The workshop at Katara discussed

the final draft and listened to experts’ opinions about the amendments.

THE PENINSULA

DOHA: In an elimination epi-sode of MBC 4’s Stars of Sci-ence, an edutainment reality TV programme initiated by Qatar Foundation (QF), Omar Hamid of Egypt and Fawzy Othman of Tunisia delivered a spirited defence of their prototypes to prevail over their competitors.

The pair edged out Abdullah Aldossary from Saudi Arabia and Hussam Al Hinnawi from Palestine in an episode that fea-tured Season 7’s most diverse set of inventions yet.

Twelve candidates aged 18 to 30 are given opportunity to come to Doha, where they are mentored by world-class engi-neering and design specialists in laboratories of Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP). There, innovators are chal-lenged as they develop their ideas from concept to potential products.

Fawzy explained to the jury how his Robotic Goalie Trainer could revolutionise goalkeepers’ practice sessions by automati-cally shooting footballs as part of a customised programme.

Omar unveiled a re-engi-neered, compact Prayer Chair designed to offer assistive sit-ting and standing to worship-pers with physical disabilities in mosques.

Hussam demonstrated how his Automatic Stair Climber Machine uses robotic, tank-style treads for users to ascend stairs without effort, at the press of a button.

Rounding out the group, Abdullah debuted his Airport Smart Chair, a lounger with automated features, including an alarm that notifies travellers

when their plane begins board-ing, even if they are sleeping.

The jury included Yussif Abdulrahman Saleh, General Manager, Qatar Shell Research and Technology Center; Dr Fouad Mrad, Executive Direc-tor, United Nations ESCWA regional technology centre; and Dr Francois Gilardoni, a prominent venture capital-

ist and scientist from Geneva, Switzerland.

The jury, led by Dr Gilardoni, was critical of Hussam’s Auto-matic Stair Climber Machine, pointing out that it appeared unstable while traversing stairs during his demonstration.

They noted that while Abdul-lah was able to prove that focus groups liked the idea of the Air-port Smart Chair, his presenta-tion had weaknesses that raised more questions about his proto-type’s utility than it answered.

Fawzy employed a skilful defence of his Robotic Goalie Trainer prototype when jurors quizzed him about its mechan-ics.

But Omar managed to steal the show when he presented his Prayer Chair.

All three jurors were impressed by the simple effec-tiveness of the invention, as well as the perseverance Omar showed despite early setbacks in the laboratory.

Omar outscored everyone by a large margin, earning 69 points, while Fawzy came in second with 52.3. Abdullah and Hussam were placed third and fourth, respectively, and elimi-nated from the competition.

THE PENINSULA

Fawzy Othman of Tunisia delivers a spirited defence of his prototype to prevail over competitors.

Young innovators see dramatic elimination at Stars of ScienceEgyptian and Tunisian contestants edge out rivals from Saudi, Palestine

Minister of Environment H E Ahmed Amer Mohamed Al Humaidi speaking at the opening ceremony of a workshop.

Katara hosts workshop on environment protection

DOHA: Hamad Medical Corpora-tion (HMC) encourages parents to vaccinate children below the age of five against the crippling disease, on the occasion of World Polio Day and in a move to ensure Qatar remains free of poliomyelitis.

Polio (poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious viral disease. It invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours. Polio can strike at any age, but it mainly affects children under five years old.

According to the Supreme Council of Health’s baby immunization sched-ule, all children in Qatar, which is polio-free, are expected to be vacci-nated against poliovirus at two, four, six and 18 months and between four to six years. “The polio vaccine pro-tects children by preparing their bod-ies to fight the polio virus. Almost all children (99 children out of 100) who get all the recommended doses of the vaccine will be protected from polio.

There are two types of vaccine that can prevent polio: inactivated poliovi-rus vaccine (IPV) and oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV),” said HMC’s Senior Consultant in Paediatrics, Dr Magda Ahmed Youssef. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), despite the progress achieved in polio eradi-cation since 1988, as long as a single child remains infected with poliovi-rus, children in all countries are at risk of contracting the disease.

WHO says the poliovirus can easily

be imported into a polio-free coun-try and can spread rapidly amongst unimmunised populations. Failure to eradicate polio could result in as many as 200,000 new cases every year, within 10 years; this could spread all over the world.

WHO also noted that one in 200 polio infections lead to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, five to ten percent die when their breathing muscles become immobi-lized. WHO noted that polio cases have decreased by over 99 percent since 1988, from an estimated 350 000 cases to 359 reported cases in 2014.

The reduction is the result of the global effort to eradicate the disease. Today, only two countries (Afghani-stan and Pakistan) remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988. “Poliovirus only infects humans. It is very contagious and spreads through person-to-person contact. The virus lives in an infected person’s throat and intestines.

“It enters the body through the mouth and spreads through con-tact with the feces of an infected person and, though less common, through droplets from a sneeze or cough,” explained Dr Youssef. “You can get infected with poliovirus if you have feces on your hands and you touch your mouth. Also, you can get infected if you put objects such as toys in your mouth that are contami-nated with feces.”

QNA

12 experts to attend Islamic art symposium

HMC call to vaccinate children against polio

DOHA: Every semester, Carn-egie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) acknowledges aca-demically outstanding students on its notable Dean’s List. Most recently, 155 students have been recognised on the Spring 2015 Dean’s List for their exemplary performance.

There were 39 seniors, 33 jun-iors, 51 sophomores and 32 fresh-men who made the list.

Students were recognized across all of Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s programs in biological sciences, business administration, computer science and information systems.

“The students who have earned a place on the Dean’s List have demonstrated outstanding per-formance through their strong work ethic and academic excel-lence.

“We are exceptionally proud of them and look forward to see-ing them succeed in their future endeavours,” said Ilker Baybars, Dean, Carnegie Mellon University Qatar.

Senior students Moaz Abdelre-him and Bilal Jaradat made the list for biological sciences.

For more information on Carn-egie Mellon Qatar programs; please visit https://www.qatar.cmu.edu/academics

THE PENINSULA

155 students recognised on CMU-Q Dean’s List

Officials with some of the students.


www.thepeninsulaqatar.com HOME / GULF / MIDDLE EAST

Continued from page 1

The WPS includes monitoring salary payments of employees of more than 50,000 companies in the country. For the purpose of monitoring the WPS, the minis-try has set up the Department of Wage Protection in line with the ministerial decision. Companies violating the law will be barred from having new work permits and all their transactions with the Ministry of Labour will be stopped. The punishment does not include stopping ratifying of employment contracts, according to the ministerial decision.

THE PENINSULA

Turkey jets hit IS targets in SyriaANKARA: Turkish jets yes-terday launched bombing raids against Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria, the day before Turks are due to vote in a parliamentary election, a senior government official said. American jets were standing by to assist and all air-craft involved in the operations returned safely, the official said. Ground forces were not involved. Turkey vowed to take a more active role in combating IS in July, as part of a multi-pronged offen-sive which also saw them ramp up attacks on Kurdish militants.

Lebanon army kills three rebels BEIRUT: Lebanon’s army yes-terday fired at a vehicle carrying Islamist militants, killing three of them and wounding two oth-ers in the north of the country near the Syrian border, a secu-rity source said. The source said it was unclear which group the militants belonged to.

AGENCIES

Egypt recovers black box of crashed plane, says govtCAIRO: Egypt has recovered the black box of a Russian air-liner that crashed yesterday in the restive Sinai Peninsula, kill-ing all 224 people on board, the prime minister’s office said.

“The black box was recovered from the tail of the plane and has been sent to be analysed by experts,” the office of Prime Min-ister Sharif Ismail said, adding that rescuers had recovered 129 bodies from the site of the crash.

Ismail later told a press con-ference that experts will “start examining the information in the black box, and based on this we will study the causes of the crash”.

The Islamic State (IS) group affiliate in Egypt claimed it downed the plane, but without saying how.

And Ismail expressed scepti-cism when asked about the claim.

“Experts have affirmed that

technically planes at this alti-tude cannot be shot down, and the black box will be the one that will reveal the reasons for the crash,” he was quoted by state news agency MENA as saying.

In Moscow, Russian Trans-port Minister Maksim Sokolov too said the IS claim “cannot be considered accurate”, adding that authorities in Egypt “have no such information that would

confirm such insinuations”.A senior Egyptian aviation offi-

cial said the plane was a charter flight operated by a Russian firm, and was flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet when communication was lost.

A senior Egyptian air traffic control official said the pilot told him in their last communication that he was having trouble with the radio system.

The plane with 214 Russian and

three Ukranian passengers, and seven crew, had taken off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in the south Sinai bound for Saint Petersburg. It lost con-tact with air traffic control 23 minutes later.

The wreckage was found roughly 100 kilometres south of the North Sinai town of El Arish, Egyptian officials said.

AFP

Shock, denial at Russian airportSAINT PETERSBURG: Irina Semyonova said her friend Nata-sha last called her from the Egyp-tian resort of Sharm El Sheikh to say she’d bought her a present of perfume from the airport’s duty-free shop.

“She was vacationing there with a friend,” Semyonova said blankly, showing a picture on her phone of a smiling swimsuit-clad young woman, her blonde hair in a long plait.

Semyonova was one of a crowd of people gathered in Pulkovo air-port in Saint-Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, who were left reeling after news broke that the plane they had been waiting for had crashed shortly after takeoff in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Like many Russians, Semyono-va’s friend had gone on holiday to one of Egypt’s Red Sea resorts which are especially popular dur-ing the winter when people try

and escape the long months of cold and dark in search of warmer climes.

Many of those who came to pick up friends or relatives were in denial as reports trickled about the fate of the 224 people who had been on board the Airbus 321 operated by the Russian carrier Kogalymavia.

Airport officials tried to keep things calm with a tannoy announcement asking all those

S Sudan abduction a war crime: UNJUBA: The United Nations’ chief in South Sudan called for the immediate release of 12 UN colleagues seized by rebels, warn-ing their capture was a possible war crime.

The US State Department later joined in condemning the capture of 30 UN peacekeepers and staff members by rebel fighters, saying that such attacks “could consti-tute war crimes” and lead to UN sanctions.

Around 100 rebel fighters, who have been battling the govern-ment for almost two years, seized the 30 members of the UN peace-keeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Monday.

While 18 Bangladeshi peace-keepers were later freed, 12 South

Sudanese working for UNMISS are still being held. All were on a river barge carrying fuel for the UN mission.

“I am adamant that the taking of UNMISS personnel as hostages is equivalent to an attack on the UN,” Ellen Margrethe Loj said Friday.

“Such attacks against UN peacekeepers and other person-nel may constitute a war crime.”

The State Department, in a statement from spokesman John Kirby, called on both sides in the civil war to immediately allow “free and unfettered access by UN and humanitarian personnel,” adding that some 30,000 people faced “catastrophic levels of food insecurity and the likelihood of

famine.” South Sudan’s army on Thursday claimed the UN barges had supplied fuel and “logistic items” to rebel general Gabriel Tanginya, a powerful warlord in the oil-zone areas of Upper Nile.

But Loj rejected those accusa-tions. “All of the fuel cargo was intended for resupplying the UNMISS base,” she said.

Some 12,500 peacekeepers are deployed in South Sudan, which has been wracked by conflict since December 2013.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed, and UN-backed experts have warned of the “con-crete risk of famine” before the end of the year.

REUTERS

DOHA: Al Fakhoora, a pro-gramme of Education Above All Foundation, has awarded 100 new scholarships through its Dynamic Futures project to students pursuing undergradu-ate studies in the Gaza Strip.

The scholarships are imple-mented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Programme of Assist-ance to the Palestinian People.

Representatives from the education sector, local organi-zations, UN agencies, and com-munity leaders, students and their families attended the offi-cial ceremony where the schol-arships were awarded, which was held at the Roots Hotel in Gaza on October 26.

Almost 600 scholarships have been awarded to date, and Al Fakhoora’s Dynamic Futures project aims to provide 1,000 scholarships by 2016.

Students are selected through a rigorous selec-tion process which takes into account financial needs, aca-demic grades and their leader-ship potential. This project is part of Al Fakhoora’s efforts

to unlock the potential of a new generation of marginal-ised youth to become educated, professionally skilled and inspi-rational leaders of the future.

Farooq Burney, Director, Al Fakhoora, said: “The award of the 100 more scholarships represents an important step towards providing youth in Gaza the opportunity they

deserve to access higher educa-tion. We believe that providing access to undergraduate studies to youth in Gaza will make a significantly positive impact not only on the student lives, but also on their family and wider community”

EAA’s Al Fakhoora pro-gramme, Fahad Al Sulaiti, Dep-uty CEO, Education Above All,

said: “At EAA we believe that education is one of the corner-stones to achieving peace and security.

Providing education oppor-tunities to youth in Gaza will hopefully give them the tools to become global citizens, and leaders of their communities”.

THE PENINSULA

Symposium on Qatar’s culture and heritage concludesDOHA: The international symposium on Qatar’s culture and heritage concluded its first edition titled ‘Critic vision on the Qatari narrative, short story as an exam-ple’.

The two-day event was organised by the Research and Cultural Studies Department of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Her-itage.

Addressing the closing session , Dr Mar-zouq Basheer, Director of the department who General Supervisor of symposium, said: “We have succeeded over two days in providing a clear vision of the short story in Qatar, and that research presented had shed light on the Qatari story area besides workshops associated with how to write short stories or exchange for writing.”

He said the had attracted many art-ists who contributed to the success of the workshop, and urged all to submit com-ments and assessment of the seminar for the next event.

He said the seminar witnessed extensive information and workshops and related workshops would be held. The department has published books on writing creativity, including playwriting.

The ministry, through the department, adopts new Qatari creations and provides them with support and expertise to see their creative experiences in print and enable them to write in various areas of creativity.

QNA

Participants at the event.

Erring firms won’t be issued new work permits

Gaza students supportedAl Fakhoora awards 100 new scholarships through Dynamic Futures

waiting to meet those on board the ill-fated Sharm el-Sheikh flight to “come to the informa-tion stand.”

They were then ushered onto buses and taken to a hotel where psychologists and doctors were waiting at an impromptu crisis centre which has already asked family members to provide DNA samples for identifying remains.

“My wife was on that plane,” said Nail, a grief-stricken 60-year-old with tears in his eyes. “She was on vacation with our children but thank God, the children had come back two days earlier.

“I had a bad dream today, she was in it,” he said. “At 6:00 am she sent me a text message that she was going to the airport, and that was it.”

AFP

Relatives wait at Pulkovo international airport outside St Petersburg after a Russian plane crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula yesterday.

08 GULF / MIDDLE EASTSUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Flooding in Baghdad

Iraqis sit in a vehicle stuck on a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Baghdad yesterday.

Russia risks Syrian quagmire: US officialUS engagement goes beyond military aspect: BlinkenMANAMA: Moscow’s inter-vention in the Syrian conflict will have the unintended con-sequences of drawing Russia into a quagmire and alienating Sunni Muslims across the region, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday.

The United States has waged an air campaign against the Islamic State militant group while also backing some non-jihadist rebel groups against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. Russia’s own air strikes aim to keep Assad in power.

“The quagmire will spread and deepen, drawing Russia further in. Russia will be seen as being in league with Assad, Hezbollah, Iran, alienating millions of Sunnis in Syria, the region and indeed in Russia itself,” Blinken said at a security conference in Manama.

Syria’s civil war has aggravated sectarian tensions in the region, with Iran, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and some Iraqi militias, all Shia, backing Assad against rebel groups that are overwhelmingly Sunni.

“One month has passed since the Russian occupation. More than 1,400 are killed, all civil-ians, in parts of Syria. And these are areas which are outside the control of Daesh,” Syrian opposi-tion leader Khaled Khoja said in Manama, using an Arabic name for Islamic State.

Talks in Vienna on Friday provided the first occasion on which Saudi Arabia and Iran, the region’s two main backers of opposing forces in Syria, put aside their bitter rivalry to discuss the possibility of a peaceful solution.

However, Saudi Foreign Min-ister Adel Al Jubeir said in a tel-evision interview that Russia and Iran had to agree on dates and means for both Assad to leave power and for foreign forces back-ing him to quit Syria.

Asked in Manama when that should take place, he replied: “He should leave this afternoon. The sooner the better.” Jubeir added that Riyadh was, meanwhile, con-sidering intensifying support to moderate Syrian rebels by provid-ing them with “more lethal weap-ons”, but gave no further details.

Blinken said that while Rus-sia’s involvement might increase Moscow’s leverage over Assad, the conflict would also create “a compelling incentive for Russia to work for, not against, a political transition”.

“Russia cannot afford to sus-tain its military onslaught against everybody opposed to Assad’s brutal rule. The costs will mount every day in economic, political and security interests,” he added.

Meanwhile, the United States remained “laser focused” on what Blinken called objectionable Ira-nian actions in the region, includ-ing support of terrorism, in the wake of its nuclear deal with major powers.

Addressing the Manama Dia-logue regional security conference in Bahrain, he said US engage-ment in the Middle East, while deeper than ever, was broad and went beyond the military aspect, adding that there was no military solution to Syria’s war.

On Friday, the United States disclosed plans to station its first

ground troops in Syria for the war against Islamic State.

Washington has sought to reas-sure Gulf allies that its reluctance to actively participate in military efforts to push Assad from power does not mean it is turning its back on the region or on its tra-ditional Arab partners.

Delegates at the Manama con-ference, a rare talking shop on security, included ministers, dip-lomats and intelligence officials from countries in the Middle East and North Africa, Gulf Arab states as well as the United States and Britain. Gulf-based Russian diplomats were also present.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said at the meeting that he believed “Iranian support for subversion” in Arab states posed as great a risk as that from Islamic State.

Saudi Foreign Minister Jubeir added that he hoped Iran would use its additional revenue after sanctions were lifted following the nuclear deal to develop its econ-omy “rather than for “aggressive policies”.

The United States has sup-ported a Riyadh-led Arab coali-tion fighting in Yemen to prevent the Iran-allied Houthi militia gaining control of Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbour.

On Yemen, Blinken said citi-zens in dire need there could not afford to wait longer for peace, and it was incumbent “on all con-cerned” to allow humanitarian aid to reach all who required it.

REUTERS

Assad, Iran-backed forces must quit Syria: SaudiRIYADH: Russia and Iran must agree to a date and means for Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad to quit the country, and agree to withdraw all foreign forces from Syria, Saudi Ara-bia’s Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said in an interview with Sky News Arabia broadcast yes-terday.

Arch regional competitors Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose rivalry has been aggravated by their support for opposing sides in Syria, both took part in talks to find a peaceful solution for the country for the first time in Vienna on Friday.

Jubeir said in the interview the Vienna talks, which will resume within two weeks, would show how serious Assad and his

backers Iran and Russia were in seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis.

“Our two points where we dif-fer from them are on a date and means for Assad’s departure, and the second point is on a date and means for the withdrawal of foreign forces, especially Iranian ones. These are the two basic points without which there can be no solution,” he said.

Saudi Arabia has characterised Assad’s use of air power and artil-lery in Syrian cities as genocidal and has described the presence of Iranian military forces and Shia Muslim Iraqi and Lebanese mili-tia in Syria as a foreign occupa-tion.

REUTERS

Death toll in market attack rises to 70, says MSFBEIRUT: At least 70 people were killed and 550 wounded in attacks on a marketplace in a rebel-held area east of the Syrian capital Damascus, Doctors Without Bor-ders (MSF) said yesterday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had announced a death toll of at least 59, including five children, in Friday’s attacks on Douma.

Douma is in Eastern Ghouta, the largest opposition stronghold in Damascus province.

“This was an extremely violent bombing,” said the director of a nearby MSF-supported hospital who assisted in the first wave of mass-casualty response.

“The wounds were worse than anything we’ve seen before.”

“We had to do many amputa-tions,” he said. “We did our best to cope, but the number of criti-cally wounded was far beyond what we could handle with our limited means.”

The nearest makeshift hospi-tal had been bombed on Thurs-day, killing 15 people, so medical workers struggled to cope with the influx of injured, MSF said.

“The devastation caused by the initial air strike on the mar-ket was exacerbated by further shelling on the rescue teams who were attending to the wounded,” it added.

The Douma Coordination Com-mittee, a local activist group, pub-lished gruesome video footage Friday of what it said was the aftermath of more than a dozen rockets hitting the market, show-ing blood-soaked bodies under-neath tables.

Two more people were killed in regime air strikes on Douma yesterday, said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, medical staff and other sources on the ground for its information.

Also Friday, 32 civilians, among them 12 children, were killed in air strikes on opposition-held areas of Syria’s second city Aleppo, the Observatory said.

The deaths came as top diplo-mats from 17 countries, includ-ing Iran and Saudi Arabia, met in Vienna hoping to find a political solution to the four-year conflict.

AFP

Syrian talks ‘hostage’ to Assad’s future, says UN chiefMADRID: UN Secretary Gen-eral Ban Ki-moon said talks on the Syria crisis had unaccept-ably been taken “hostage” by the question of President Bashar Al Assad’s future, in an interview with Spanish newspapers pub-lished yesterday.

“It is totally unfair and unrea-sonable that the fate of one per-son takes the whole political negotiation process hostage. It is

unacceptable,” he said, referring to Assad.

“The future of Assad must be decided by the Syrian people,” he said in the interview, according to a translation of his comments in the Spanish daily El Mundo.

Three other Spanish newspapers participated in the interview. His comments came after diplomats from 17 countries, as well as the United Nations and

the European Union (EU), sought to narrow their differences over the four-year-old Syria crisis during a meeting in Vienna on Friday. The Syrian regime and the opposition were not represented.

But regime allies Russia — which has waged a month of intense air strikes against Syrian rebels — and Iran are resisting Western and Saudi pressure to force Assad from power.

“The Syrian government insists that President Assad takes part (in any transitional government)” but others, especially Western countries, say “there is no place for him,” said Ban.

“But because of that we have lost three years, there have been more than 250,000 dead, more than 13 million displaced within Syria... more than 50 percent of hospitals, schools and infrastructure have

been destroyed. There’s no time to lose,” said Ban.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says on its website that 6.5 million people in Syria have been internally displaced, 4.2 million have fled the country and 13.5 million are in need of humanitarian assistance.

AFP

German UN official set to take up Libya envoy jobUNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Coun-cil approved the appointment of German UN official Martin Kobler as the new UN special envoy to Libya, said diplomats, though it was unclear when he would take over mediating stalled peace talks.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon notified the 15-member council in a letter, seen by Reu-ters, of his intention to replace the current envoy Bernardino Leon with Kobler. But the letter did not specify when Kobler would take up the role. A senior UN diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Leon was cur-rently due to leave on November 6, but that could be extended if there was a sudden breakthrough in his mediation efforts.

Libya has fallen into turmoil with its internationally recog-nised government and elected parliament on one side and a self-styled administration holding Tripoli on the other, each backed by regional, tribal or Islamist armed factions.

After months of negotiations, Leon has presented Libya’s rival factions with a proposed national unity government, but hardlin-ers on both sides have resisted the power-sharing deal and talks are at a standstill. The conflict has pushed the North African state to the brink of collapse four years after the fall of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

REUTERS

Oman and Yemen issue cyclone warningDUBAI: Authorities in war-hit Yemen and in Oman yester-day urged residents to evacuate coastal areas as a severe cyclone brewing in the Arabian Sea approached the shores.

The UN’s weather agency said on Friday that the “super cyclonic storm” named Chapala was expected to make landfall around midnight tomorrow in Yemen and Oman.

Yemen’s meteorological agency called on residents of the south-eastern provinces of Hadramawt and Mohrah, and the island of Socotra, to stay at least one kilo-metre away from the shores.

It said activities at ports and airports in coastal areas should stop when the cyclone hits, and urged fishermen to stay on land and to lift their boats out

of water to avoid losses. To the east, Omani authorities ordered that schools be closed today and tomorrow in the southwestern province of Dhofar, ONA state news agency said, adding that medical and diving teams had been sent there in preparation for the storm. Satellite images have shown that Chapala was approaching the shores with wind speeds between 220 and 250 kilometres (136 and 155 miles) per hour, ONA said.

Oman’s civil aviation author-ity warned that waves higher than seven metres (23 feet) were expected to hit the beaches of Dhofar. The UN’s World Mete-orological Organization described Chapala as “an extremely severe cyclonic storm”.

AFP

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir (right) shakes hands with Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin during the 11th Manama Dialogue Regional Security Summit organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Manama yesterday.

GULF / MIDDLE EAST 09SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Campaigning wraps up for crucial Turkey voteANKARA: Turkish politicians rallied their supporters yesterday on the eve of a vote many fear is unlikely to bring an end to months of instability as the coun-try confronts a bloody wave of jihadist attacks and a renewed Kurdish conflict.

Opinion polls are predicting a replay today of the shock June election which stripped the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of its majority after 13 years of single-party rule, leaving the country without a government after coalition talks failed.

Turkey goes into the election more polarised than ever on ethnic and sec-tarian lines, and deeply on edge after the Ankara bombings blamed on Islamic State jihadists that killed 102 people, the worst in the country’s modern history.

The AKP of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is tipped to win between 40 and 43 percent of the vote, paving the way either for a shaky coalition that many analysts say will not last long — or yet another election.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose job could be at risk if the AKP fails to secure an outright victory, said the election was a “referendum on Tur-key’s future”.

“Turkey needs a strong and shrewd government at such a critical time,” he told a boisterous final campaign rally in Ankara.

“We will definitely clear Turkey of ter-ror, fighting, violence and hostility. We will never make concessions on democ-racy, freedom and rights.”

Another inconclusive result could

however trigger further turmoil in the Muslim-majority country, with fears of a return to all-out war between Turkish security forces and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels after renewed vio-lence shattered a 2013 truce in July.

Alarm bells are also ringing about the state of democracy in the country of 78 million following a string of high-profile police raids and prosecutions against media groups and journalists considered critical of Erdogan.

The June result dashed — at least tem-porarily — his hopes of expanding his role into a powerful US-style executive presi-dency that opponents fear would mean fewer checks and balances on a man seen as increasingly autocratic.

A total of 54 million Turks are regis-tered to vote, but observers say fatigue has set in, and the run-up to the elec-tion has been much more low-key than the frenzied campaigning ahead of the June poll.

Security remains the paramount con-cern after the attack on an Ankara peace rally that prosecutors say was carried out by an IS sleeper cell to disrupt Sunday’s election.

Police have rounded up scores of IS suspects in nationwide raids amid media reports that a jihadist cell could be planning a spectacular attack such as a hijacking.

Around 385,000 police and gendarmes will be on the streets for the vote.

Ankara, which is already struggling with more than two million Syrian ref-ugees, found itself drawn directly into

the quagmire across the border when it joined the US-led coalition and launched a “war on terrorism” against IS extrem-ists as well as PKK rebels in Turkey and Iraq.

But concerns about Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies have seen it more isolated on the world stage, as relations with the EU and US cool and it loses friends in the Middle East.

Turkey’s faltering economy is also at risk, with growth slowing sharply from the dizzy heights of five years ago and the Turkish lira plunging around 26 percent this year.

All eyes will again be on the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which made history in June when it became the first pro-Kurdish movement in parliament and gained enough seats to block an AKP majority. But it faces accusations it is a mere front for the PKK, whose armed campaign for autonomy has killed 45,000 people since 1984.

Analysts expect the AKP to try to form a coalition with at least one other party in the event of another hung parliament, probably the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) which came second in June.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli ruled out a part-nership with the AKP, describing Davu-toglu as a “fake prime minister” working for the “autocratic” Erdogan.

But the outcome could leave Turkey without a government as it hosts world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, for the G20 summit in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya on

November 15-16. If a coalition proves unavoidable, Erdogan might prefer a deal with the nationalist MHP but its leader, Devlet Bahceli, has earned the moniker “Dr. No” after rejecting suggestions put to him during failed coalition negotiations after the June vote.

Both Bahceli and CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu have said any coalition deal would hinge on a guarantee that Erdogan, a former prime minister who is now 62, refrain from trying to reach beyond the constitutional limits of his power.

“Another hung parliament is the most likely outcome, but it is not a given that Erdogan will consent to an AKP-led coalition government,” Wolfango Piccoli, managing director of London-based Teneo Intelligence, said in an e-mailed note.

Allies in Europe and the United States want a stable Turkey but can do little beyond offering words of caution if the result emboldens Erdogan.

AGENCIES

Election a referendum on Turkey’s future, says prime minister

Supporters attend an election campaign rally of Turkish Prime Minister and Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader in Ankara yesterday.

ISTANBUL: Selahattin Demirtas, the char-ismatic leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party, is the man in the spotlight after he scored a stunning election breakthrough in June.

Nicknamed the “Kurdish Obama” for his smooth rhetorical skills, Demirtas propelled his People’s Democratic Party (HDP) into mainstream politics with a message that embodies the hopes of Turkey’s biggest minor-ity but also appeals to non-Kurds.

But he has been the butt of fierce attacks by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has belittled him as a “pretty boy” acting merely as a front for the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

And in the run-up to today’s vote he has had to tread a delicate path after the PKK tore up a fragile 2013 ceasefire and renewed its bloody conflict against the Turkish state.

The 42-year-old has made a dangerous enemy of Erdogan, who was clearly infuri-ated after the HDP’s success in the June elec-tion blocked his own dream of winning enough seats in parliament to create a more powerful presidency.

Admirers say Demirtas, with his good looks and sharp sense of humour, is the only can-didate with anything like the charisma and political talent to take on Erdogan.

He came third, with just under 10 percent of the vote, in the 2014 presidential election.

Much is made of his image as a family man, with broadcasts showing him breakfasting with his wife and two daughters, or singing folk songs and strumming the saz, a Kurd-ish lute.

Murat Yetkin, editor-in-chief of Hurriyet Daily News, described him as a “human rights defender, always trying to find a middle way in the worst antagonistic debates”.

Under Demirtas, the HDP became the first pro-Kurdish party in Turkey’s history to win enough votes to sit in parliament, delivering a message of sexual equality, gay rights, secular-ism and socialist economics.

And its haul of 80 seats deprived the rul-ing Justice and Development Party (AKP) of a majority for the first time since it came to power in 2002.

But detractors say his wholesome image is just the appealing front for a party that remains tied to the PKK, considered a ter-rorist group by Turkey and its Western allies over the three-decade armed insurgency that has killed 45,000 people.

His position is more complicated by the fact his brother Nurettin has joined PKK fight-ers at their base on the Kandil mountain in northern Iraq.

Prosecutors in July opened a criminal probe against Demirtas accusing him of provoking violent pro-Kurdish demonstrations last year.

If ultimately convicted he could face up to 24 years in jail. HDP co-chair Figen Yuksekdag faces a similar probe.

In an interview this week, Demirtas insisted his party had “no organic links with the PKK,” but said: “The PKK is a reality of Turkey.”

“We have always maintained that the PKK should lay down arms and tried to convince them to move in that direction, but the Repub-lic of Turkey should also end all its military activities against the PKK.

“We have never wanted or defended the war. We have always mobilised for peace.”

Demirtas said the HDP is willing to form a coalition with any party—except the National-ist Movement Party (MHP), which is bitterly opposed to the peace process with Kurdish rebels.

Demirtas, who is referred to as “Selocan” (My darling Selo) by his supporters, says he has to don a hat and sunglasses to avoid being recognised on the streets of Diyarbakir when he goes out without his bodyguards.

But Erdogan has mocked him as the “cici cocuk” (pretty boy) and “pop star” and declared he would “run to the (Kandil) moun-tain” if given a chance. The president also bizarrely claimed this week that Demirtas had hired Obama’s campaign staff for the election.

AFP

Police boost security at newspaper officeANKARA: A Turkish opposi-tion newspaper said police had boosted security at its offices after a tipoff it could be attacked by Islamic State group jihadists ahead of elections today.

Cumhuriyet newspaper said on its front page on Saturday it had been informed by police that IS suspects caught in Gaziantep near the Syrian border this week were carrying the address of its office in Ankara.

Police have sent extra officers and water cannon and set up bar-ricades around the newspaper’s headquarters in the capital and Istanbul.

“This newspaper has a his-tory of publishing despite such threats,” its executive board head Akin Atalay wrote in yesterday’s paper.

“We are determined to carry on with our mission of covering news under any circumstances.”

Security has been high in Tur-key since a massive twin sui-

cide bombing on a peace rally in Ankara on October 10 that killed 102 people in the worst such atrocity in the country’s history.

Turkish prosecutors said Wednesday that a sleeper cell in Gaziantep working on the orders of the IS group in Syria had car-ried out the bombings to try to disrupt Sunday’s election.

Cumhuriyet is a staunch oppo-nent of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Its editor-in-chief, Can Dundar, was threatened by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the June 7 election after it pub-lished a story saying it had proof Turkey had sent arms to Islamist rebels in Syria.

Concerns over media freedoms in Turkey have heightened ahead of Sunday’s election after riot police this week stormed the offices of two television stations critical of Erdogan.

AFP

Demirtas: The man to beat in today’s vote

Two contractors detained in Yemen, says UNUNITED NATIONS: The United Nations said yesterday two contractors with the world body had been detained in Yemen, but gave no further details on the incident.

“Two contractors have been detained and DSS (Department of Safety and Security) is look-ing into it,” a UN spokesman said without elaborating or confirming if the two were American citizens.

A US State Department official said it was aware of reports that two US citizens had been detained at Sanaa airport in Yemen.

“The protection of US citizens overseas is one of the Department of State’s highest priorities, includ-ing in these cases,” the official said in an email. “Due to privacy con-siderations, we do not have any further information to share.”

A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil war in March to try to restore the government after it was toppled by Iran-allied Houthi forces.

The United Nations has desig-nated Yemen as one of its high-est-level humanitarian crises, alongside emergencies in South Sudan, Syria and Iraq. It says more than 21 million people in Yemen need help, or about 80 percent of the population.

REUTERS

Yemen forces clash with rebels, many deadADEN: Dozens of Yemeni Shia rebels and pro-govern-ment fighters have been killed in clashes in several southern provinces as Saudi-led coali-tion aircraft targeted the Iran-backed insurgents, military officials said yesterday.

Fierce clashes raged in the areas of Al Zaher and Thi Al Naem in Baida province between Huthi rebels and Pop-

ular Resistance fighters allied with forces loyal to President Abedrabuh Mansur Hadi, tribal sources said.

The clashes overnight left 19 rebels and 14 Popular Resist-ance fighters dead, according to tribal and medical sources.

Gun battles also flared up in Al Madaribah in southwestern Yemen on the border between Lahj and Taez provinces, leav-

ing an unknown number of fighters killed and wounded, military sources said.

Southern fighters said they were defending the area against rebels trying to reach the shores of the strategic Bab Al Mandab strait, some 50km away, which was seized by loyal-ists last month.

The narrow waterway, which separates Yemen from Djibouti, funnels shipping to and from the Suez Canal in the northern Red Sea.

Witnesses said that many residents fled the area due to heavy fighting.

Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition raided positions of Huthis and allied renegade troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, military officials said.

The air strikes destroyed rebel vehicles in the central Ibb province, close to Daleh, which was seized by pro-government forces along with four other southern provinces earlier this year.

The coalition launched an air campaign against the rebels in late March, in support of Hadi who had been forced to flee to Riyadh.

AFP

Yemenis look at the wreckage of trucks at the scene of a bomb explosion in Sana’a, yesterday. According to reports, an improvised explosive device exploded near a checkpoint.

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By James Oliphant

To hear Donald Trump tell it, blue-collar workers here are suffering as much as ever, their livelihoods

endangered by the familiar combination of foreign competition and US compa-nies eager to hold down labour costs.

It’s Trump’s mantra. He repeats it again and again at campaign stops like the one he made here last week. A lead-ing contender for the Republican presi-dential nomination, Trump has made the health of the US manufacturing a cornerstone of his insurgent campaign.

In doing so, Trump is targeting a big pool of potential voters among disaf-fected blue-collar workers, even if it means alienating the business commu-

nity and conserv-ative free-market advocates and brings accusa-tions of dema-goguery.

He vows to slap penalties on goods produced by US companies out-side the country, make it harder for China and others to export their goods, and tear up trade deals that he says hurt the US industry. “I wonder how many Chevrolets are in the mid-dle of Tokyo?’ he told the Ander-son crowd to applause. “I would say none.”

And at the economy-themed Republican debate held Wednesday in Boulder, Colorado, Trump pledged to “bring jobs back” from China and Mexico.

There are signs that Trump’s strat-egy is working.

Polls show that the bulk of Trump’s support comes from men who lack a col-

lege degree and make less than $40,000 a year, the kind of workers who once formed the backbone of the US manu-facturing economy. They have helped propel Trump to the top of popularity rankings in South Carolina, a key early primary state, where he is outpacing rival Ben Carson.

“Some of the Republicans get so tied up with free trade,” said Lee Cole, a Republican attorney from nearby Wil-liamston who attended Trump’s event. “Over the past 20 years, we’ve lost all of our manufacturing jobs,” Cole said of his hometown. “Anything that talks about getting some of that back I think really resonates well here.”

Government data shows that less than 30 percent of Americans have four-year college degrees and more than half of US workers make less than $30,000 a year, so at stake is a vast pool of potential voters.

“He’s tapped into an uneasiness, and he’s done it cleverly,” said Chip Felkel, a Republican strategist in Greenville, South Carolina, who is not aligned with Trump. “He’s played it to the hilt.”

At the Anderson event, Trump talked up his blue-collar support, comparing himself to Franklin Roosevelt. His cam-paign brings up another name: Ronald Reagan.

Ed McMullen, Trump’s campaign strategist in South Carolina, says the billionaire contender has his sights on “Reagan Democrats” — working-class voters who tend to support moder-ates. Those moderate voters famously switched sides and helped Republican Reagan win the 1980 election and the Trump campaign believes it could hap-pen again in 2016 if he makes it to the general election.

According to a Pew Research Center survey taken late last month, Trump’s supporters tend to attend church less frequently than the entire Republi-can electorate and more often identify themselves as “moderate” or “liberal.”

Critics say that Trump is proffering an outdated, simplistic, and overly pes-simistic view of the US economy, one that fails to grasp the multi-national

complexity of global manufacturing.Nowhere is that more apparent than

in South Carolina where 700 inter-national firms employ 115,900 people, according to State Department of Com-merce data. That makes for the highest percentage of private-industry work-force employed by foreign-owned firms.

Just up the road from Trump’s stop in Anderson sits a 5-million square foot German-owned BMW plant that employs 8,000. Nearby is a Michelin facility, one of nine in the state owned by the French company. And Swed-ish automaker Volvo earlier this year announced plans to build a plant near Charleston, that could end up employing 4,000 workers.

“All of these companies are part of the modern global supply chain,” says Scott Lincicome, a trade policy expert with the conservative Cato Institute, calling Trump’s ideas “completely unmoored from reality.”

“It’s ironic he would go to the one’s country’s burgeoning manufacturing hubs to bemoan the state of manufac-turing.” Femi Fadeyi, an engineer for German-owned SEW Eurodrive, an industrial equipment firm that has a facility in nearby Lyman, said he moved from Colorado during the height of the recession because of the economic opportunity. An independent, Fadeyi said Trump made him follow the Repub-lican race, but he remained sceptical.

“I don’t understand how Trump plans to actually execute many of these goals — some of which are conflicting,” Fadeyi said. Still, even as the state’s workforce returned to pre-recession levels already in June 2013, sooner than most of the country, it has only recovered 40 per-cent of manufacturing jobs lost in the downturn, according to Manufacturers’ News, Inc, a publisher and compiler of industrial directories and databases. The textile sector has been particularly hit hard, with abandoned mills dotting the landscape around Anderson and Greenville, allowing Trump’s message to resonate with many.

REUTERS

EUROPEAN governments are gradually moving to impose greater order on the massive and chaotic flow of refugees

into their countries. At a meeting Sunday, leaders of 11 European Union and Balkan countries agreed to set up reception centers for 100,000 people along the main routes being followed by migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. They also resolved to begin following procedures for registering and relocating refugees when they arrive, rather than simply waving them on to other countries.

While that is progress, it is still “much less than what the dimensions of the

crisis will require from the international community.” Those words came from António Guterres, the UN High Com-missioner for Refugees, whose agency is struggling to manage the massive flow of desperate humanity from the Middle East to Europe - and to raise the aware-ness of countries, including the United States, that still have not adequately responded to the problem.

“People have not yet understood the dimensions of the crisis,” Guterres told us. “We are talking of levels of support [for refugees] that are totally insufficient to the levels of need on the ground.”

A few figures show that he is not exaggerating. Between 6,000 and 7,000

people a day are still landing in Greece, mostly after traveling in flimsy boats from Turkey. That means the reception centers, once established, will hold a couple of weeks’ worth of arrivals. The European Union has agreed on a plan to relocate across the community 160,000 of those granted asylum. But more than 700,000 have already arrived.

Guterres said the reasons for the massive movement are easy to find in the teeming refugee camps of Turkey and Jordan. More than 80 percent of families there are below the local pov-erty line, and only half of the children are in school. The U.N. refugee agency is able to help only about 20 percent of

families in the Jordanian camps - and they receive only $1 per person per day. In September, the World Food Program was forced to drop 229,000 Syrian refugees from its voucher program in Jordan, continuing a series of cuts that Guterres said provided a “trigger” for the mass movement toward Europe.

Managing the refugee flow, Guterres said, will require putting in place the sys-tem that “should have been there from the beginning.” That means a much larger reception capacity at entry points and a permanent system for reallocating migrants to all European countries.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Donald Trump targets ‘Reagan Democrats’

I believe that the future of Syria, or the future of all these peace talks, the Syrian-led negotiation, should not be held up by an issue of the future of one man.

Quote ofthe day

Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary-General

The other side

Critics say that Trump is proffering an outdated, simplistic, and overly pessimistic view of the US economy, one that fails to grasp the multi-national complexity of global manufacturing.

US President Barack Obama’s Syria policy has been known more for its twists and turns than steadfastness. The president announced on Friday that he had ordered several dozen Special

Operations troops into the Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Syria to help local fighters who are battling the Islamic State. The decision is a U-turn from his earlier position that the US would not send ground troops into Syria. And this is a U-turn that has been forced by Russia and the latest, unexpected turn of events in Syria. If the US had acted earlier, at the right time, the Syrian civil war would have taken a different turn – perhaps one that would have led to the ouster of President Bashar Al Assad. However, while the deployment is small in number (it is fewer than 50), it is large in importance for a president who was extremely unwilling to get involved in this conflict.

Elaborating on Obama’s announcement, Secretary of State John Kerry said the American forces would only fight Islamic State militants and would not become involved in the country’s long-running civil war. Kerry said the US policy was clear – the terrorist group must be defeated. He would not rule out a further US escalation of the fight, saying he could not elaborate.

The US troop presence is too small to change the course of the war against IS in Syria, and several regional experts as

well as some of Obama’s political allies say the small number of troops may be insufficient to defeat the fast-moving militants. However, Washington should be able to offer more clarity on its future plans – whether it will be increasing its presence or just be content with the current level.

Meanwhile, the newly formed US-backed Syrian rebel alliance yesterday launched an offensive against Islamic State in the northeast province of Hasaka. It was the first declared operation by the Democratic Forces of Syria, which joins together a US-backed

Kurdish militia and several Syrian Arab rebel groups, since it announced its

formation earlier this month.While defeating the IS is certainly a priority, Arab

countries are looking forward to a greater involvement of Washington to oust Bashar Al Assad whose hands have been strengthened by the presence of Russian troops in Syria. What Syria needs is a coordinated strategy from the world powers that would see the expulsion of Assad. Syria will never achieve peace with Assad in power. But Russia and Iran are making this solution difficult.

However hard Obama tries to keep away from the conflicts in the Middle East, especially Syria, he is pulled fiercely into it, forcing him to change his stance at the last moment.

US troops in Syria

Obama’s decision to send special forces to Syria to fight the IS marks a U-turn in his policy.

Editorial

10 VIEWS SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


‘We need more from everywhere’

OPINION 11SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Is Hillary Clinton a ‘liar’ on Benghazi?

By Glenn Kessler

“Last week, Hillary Clinton went before a committee. She admitted she had sent emails to her family saying, ‘Hey, this attack at Beng-hazi was caused by Al Qaeda-like

elements.’ She spent over a week tell-ing the families of those victims and the American people that it was because of a video. And yet the mainstream media is going around saying it was the greatest week in Hillary Clinton’s campaign. It was the week she got exposed as a liar.”

— Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla, remarks at the GOP presidential debate hosted by CNBC, October 28, 2015

These were pretty strong words uttered by Rubio at the third GOP debate, and they give us an opportunity to explore what was said by then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the week after the 2012 attacks in Benghazi that left four Americans dead, including the US ambassador.

Republicans have charged that, because of the pending 2012 election, the Obama administration deliberately played down the possibility of a terror-ist attack, emphasising instead that the incident started as a protest against an anti-Muslim video posted on You Tube. In our timeline on the administration’s statements, we found that in particular President Barack Obama appeared reluc-tant to use the phrase “terrorist attack.”

New emails disclosed by the House Select Committee on Benghazi were among the most newsworthy elements at the 11-hour hearing on October 22 featuring Clinton. But a review of Clin-ton’s public statements indicates that she was generally careful to separate remarks about the attack and the protests. How-ever, there may have been a different story concerning her private remarks to the families of the victims, according to recent interviews.

In her testimony, Clinton attributed any shifting emphasis on to what might be called the “fog of war” — information was fragmentary and disjointed, changing hour by hour.

The House Intelligence Committee, in its 2014 report on the incident, said “there was a stream of contradictory and conflicting intelligence that came in after the attacks.” The CIA’s deputy director, Michael Morell, testified that the first time he learned there had not been a pro-test at the diplomatic facility was after receiving an email from the Libya sta-tion chief on September 15, three days after the attack. (An intelligence report from the Tripoli station making a similar observation arrived on September 14.) Morell said the assessment “jumped out” at him because it contradicted the views of CIA analysts in Washington that the

attacks were inspired by the storming of the US Embassy in Cairo (which had been spurred by the video).

(Morell’s testimony contradicts Rubio’s claim on CNN on October 29, the morn-ing after the debate, that “there was never a shred of evidence presented to anyone that this was spontaneous. And the CIA understood that.” On CBS, Rubio also claimed that it was “not accurate” that the CIA changed its assessment, which is also wrong.)

Ironically, the CIA’s initial September 12 executive update stated that “this was an intentional assault and not the escala-tion of a peaceful protest.” But because the report had no intelligence to support it, that language was dropped as analysts developed a theory about a protest, the House panel report said.

In all, CIA analysts received 21 reports that a protest occurred in Benghazi, both from the media and inside the intelli-gence community. The Washington Post even had a front page story on September 12 about a protest preceding the attack, quoting among others, the Libyan deputy interior minister.

Amazingly, the CIA analysts did not gain access to eyewitness accounts until September 22, when the FBI first published an intelligence report on its interviews.

The intelligence community “only changed its initial assessment about a protest on September 24, 2012, when closed caption television footage became available on September 18, 2012 (two days after Ambassador Susan Rice spoke), and after the FBI began publishing its inter-views with US officials on the ground on September 22, 2012,” the House report said. A similar conclusion was reached by the Senate Intelligence Committee (of which Rubio is a member) in its report on Benghazi: “Intelligence analysts inac-curately referred to the presence of a protest at the Mission facility before the attack based on open source information and limited intelligence, without suffi-cient intelligence or eyewitness state-ments to corroborate that assertion. The IC took too long to correct these errone-ous reports, which caused confusion and influenced the public statements.”

In an article published in Politico in 2015, Morell wrote:

“We believe that in Benghazi — over six hundred miles away — extremists heard about the successful assault on our embassy in Egypt and decided to make some trouble of their own, although we still do not know their motivations with certainty. Most likely they were inspired by the prospect of doing in Benghazi what their ‘brothers’ had done in Cairo…Still others might have been motivated by the video — although I should note that our analysts never said the video was a factor

in the Benghazi attacks. Abu Khattala, a terrorist leader and possibly one of the ring leaders of the attacks, said that he was in fact motivated by the video.”

Hillary Clinton’s statements

10.08pm, September 11, press state-ment:

“I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi today. As we work to secure our personnel and facilities, we have confirmed that one of our State Department officers was killed. We are heartbroken by this terrible loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and those who have suffered in this attack.

11.12pm, September 11, email to her daughter Chelsea Clinton:

“Two of our officers were killed in Benghazi by an Al Qaeda-like group….very hard day and I fear more of the same.”

September 12, email recounting phone conversation with Egyptian Foreign Minister:

“We know that the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack — not a protest. …Based on the information we saw today we believe the group that claimed respon-sibility for this was affiliated with Al Qaeda.”

September 13, public remarks with Moroccan Foreign Minister on Septem-ber 13, in which the attack in Benghazi is also briefly mentioned:

“I also want to take a moment to address the video circulating on the Internet that has led to these protests in a number of countries. Let me state very clearly — and I hope it is obvious — that the United States Government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. We absolutely reject its content and mes-sage. America’s commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very begin-ning of our nation. And as you know, we are home to people of all religions, many of whom came to this country seeking the right to exercise their own religion, including, of course, millions of Muslims. And we have the greatest respect for peo-ple of faith.”

September 14, remarks at transfer of remains ceremony:

“This has been a difficult week for the

State Department and for our country. We’ve seen the heavy assault on our post in Benghazi that took the lives of those brave men. We’ve seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful internet video that we had nothing to do with. It is hard for the American people to make sense of that because it is senseless, and it is totally unacceptable.”

Looking at Clinton’s public statements, it is clear she was very careful to keep the attacks separate from the video; the two incidents do not appear in the same sen-tence (unlike the controversial televised remarks by then-UN ambassador Susan Rice). For instance, in her September 14 remarks, Clinton devotes one sentence to the “heavy assault” in Benghazi and then another sentence about the “rage and violence” over the “awful Internet video.” She does not say they are con-nected, though listeners may have gotten that impression.

Private remarksSpeaking before the Benghazi com-

mittee, Clinton explained that her pri-vate remarks reflected the fragmentary information that was available at the time. “We were not making up the intel-ligence,” she said. “We were trying to get it, make sense of it, and then to share it.”

She added: “When I was speaking to the Egyptian prime minister or in the other two examples you showed, we had been told by Ansar Al Sharia that they took credit for it. It wasn’t until about 24 or more hours later, that they retracted taking credit for it.”

Clinton also said she was reacting to the continuing turmoil in the region over the video, which resulted in 40 protests around the globe. “I needed to be talking about the video, because I needed to put other governments and other people on notice that we were not going to let them get away with attacking us, as they did in Tunis, as they did in Khartoum,” she said.

John Nolte of Breitbart faulted The Fact Checker for not including a refer-ence to Clinton’s conversation with Lib-yan president and a State Department notice that Ansar Al Sharia had claimed credit, both of which took place before the issuance of the 10.08 statement. We are not sure what this adds to the pic-ture. Ansar Al Sharia within 24 hours

withdrew its claim of credit. Meanwhile, State could not ignore the fact that the video had generated an attack on the US embassy in Cairo.

However, Rubio also said that Clinton spoke about the video to the families of the victims. Several family members have asserted this is true. Charles Woods, the father of Navy Seal Tyrone Woods, told Fox News: “I gave Hillary a hug and shook her hand and she said, ‘We are going to have the filmmaker arrested who was responsible for the death of your son,’” Woods said, reading the account from his journal. Kate Quigley, sister of Glen Doherty, told CNN: “I met her when we were at Andrews Air Force base. She spoke to my family about how sad we should feel for the Libyan people because they are uneducated, and that breeds fear, which breeds violence, and leads to a protest…When I think back now to that day and what she knew, you know, it shows me a lot about her character that she would choose in that moment to basically perpetuate what she knew was untrue.”

It’s hard to reconcile these statements by the relatives with the careful phrasing Clinton used in public.

The Rubio campaign did not respond to a query. Josh Schwerin, a Clinton spokes-man, said, “Rubio’s statement that she ever said the video was the cause is false.”

Focusing just on the public statements made by Clinton — as opposed to the rest of the administration — one finds little support for Rubio’s claim that Clinton told the American people that the attacks were because of a video. She certainly spoke about the video, but always in the context of the protests that were occur-ring across the Middle East.

Clinton’s responsibilityAs the nation’s chief diplomat, Clin-

ton had a responsibility to be precise and careful in her public statements. One could imagine she would be less guarded in private, referring to claims by an Al Qaeda group even before an official CIA assessment. Rubio is wrong when he says the CIA assessment did not change, given that a Senate report he signed documented that the CIA assessment changed several times and was not set in stone until more than ten days after the attacks. Yet family members say that Clinton, when meeting with them in pri-vate, emphasised the role of the video when they met her at the transfer of remain ceremony. This was on September 14, after Ansar Al Sharia retracted tak-ing credit for the attack and before the officials at CIA headquarters had ana-lysed the report from the Tripoli mission chief that there was no protest at the diplomatic compound.

Can Rubio really attribute this to a “lie” rather than the fog of war? A “lie” suggests a deliberate effort to deceive, while the documentary evidence suggests there were few hard answers available then to policymakers. Even the Senate report signed by Rubio says the reports from the intelligence community “caused confusion and influenced the public state-ments” of policymakers.

Rubio is certainly within his rights to point out Clinton’s contradictory state-ments — and the remarks of the family members give us pause — but he does not have enough evidence to label Clinton a liar.

THE WASHINGTON POST

The House Intelligence Committee, in its 2014 report on the incident, said “there was a stream of contradictory and conflicting intelligence that came in after the attacks.”

Democratic 2016 US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks while launching ‘African Americans for Hillary’ during a campaign rally at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia.

By Phil Stewart and Mark Hosenball

President Barack Obama’s decision to send special operations forces to Syria

is a calculated military escalation that could increase US leverage, both on and off the battlefield, say current and former US officials.

The policy shift coincides with an expanding clandestine CIA programme that channels weap-ons to opponents of Syrian Presi-dent Bashar Al Assad and a new diplomatic push led by Secretary of State John Kerry to find a political solution to the conflict.

The addition of up to 50 US troops alone may not be enough to fundamentally change Syria’s increasingly messy civil conflict. They are relatively tiny in number and will only be in an advisory and assistance role, leaving the United States still depending heavily on rebel allies who have not always proven reliable.

But it could help to blunt Mid-dle East perceptions of US timid-ity in the wake of embarrassments for the Obama administration that have also fed domestic criti-cism of his foreign policy.

Those include the collapse of a half-billion-dollar Pentagon programme to train and equip Syrian fighters, and the unex-pectedly rapid military interven-tion in Syria by Russian President Vladimir Putin in support of Assad. US government sources said Russia now has several thou-sand troops in the country backed by aircraft and armour.

The deployment of the mili-tary advisers announced on Friday upended a year-old strat-egy hinged on supporting Syr-ian opposition fighters battling Islamic State (ISIL) without putting American “boots on the ground.”

“It’s definitely meant to send a message that we’re upping the game inside Syria, that we’re absolutely serious about going after ISIL and that we’re not going to be dissuaded by any efforts to prop up Assad,” said an Obama administration official, speaking on condition of ano-nymity.

The strategy change also includes positioning more US jets in Turkey to expand Ameri-can air strikes as Syrian Kurds, Arabs and other opposition fight-

ers prepare to push toward the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s defacto capital in Syria.

Fred Hof, a former State Department envoy on Syria, said the US deployment of a handful of forces alone was more of a Band-Aid than a game-changer. But it could open doors.

“By putting some ‘skin in the game’ on the ground in Syria, Washington may be able to make a credible pitch to regional pow-ers to provide the ground combat components that can sweep ISIS from Syria,” Hof said.

Obama has vowed not to turn Syria into a proxy war with Rus-sia, whose sudden ramping up

of its military support for Assad caught Washington by surprise.

But the Central Intelligence Agency recently broadened the number of groups to which it clandestinely delivers weapons including TOW anti-tank mis-siles, one source familiar with the support operation said.

Another source said a signifi-cant new shipment of TOWs had been delivered in October to what the United States believes are relatively moderate Sunni rebels based in northwest Syria who are fighting Russian-backed Syrian government forces.

These sources said that rebels equipped with TOWs are con-

tinuing to keep Assad’s forces in check despite Russia’s air bom-bardments and the bolstering of Assad’s ground forces by Russian advisers and Iranian militiamen.

The US sources said deliveries of TOW missiles are tightly con-trolled by the CIA and its allies in the region to insure that they only go to rebels who know how to use them and are not militant jihad-ists. However, they acknowledged that at least a limited number of TOWs have ended up with jihad-ists. They said US officials had no plans to supply any kind of surface-to-air missiles, known as MANPADs, to Syrian rebels.

“While it is understandable for the opposition to want to strike directly against the Russians, proliferation of MANPADS into an area with a large terrorist presence is beyond dangerous,” one intelligence official added, referring to shoulder-fired heat-seeking missile weapons.

US officials want to avoid at all costs allowing such weapons, such as the Stinger missiles provided to the anti-Soviet mujahideen in Afghanistan during the 1980s, from falling into the hands of anti-US fighters who might use

them against commercial aircraft or other western targets.

The United States unveiled the decision to send US special operations forces to Syria on the same day as 17 countries, the EU and the UN called for a nation-wide truce in Syria’s civil war at talks in Vienna. The talks were attended for the first time since the conflict began in 2011 by Assad’s ally Iran.

Several US officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of ano-nymity, said the military moves were not designed to increase dip-lomatic leverage in those negotia-tions.

But one official acknowledged it added to a building sense of momentum in Syria.

“There’s a sense of momen-tum ... Things are beginning to ripen for people to make different choices than they’ve been mak-ing,” the Obama administration official said, without commenting on the CIA programme.

It could also set up momentum for Obama’s visit to Turkey in November, where he will attend the G20 summit along with Putin.

REUTERS

With Syria escalation, Obama may gain leverage The Central Intelligence Agency recently broadened the number of groups to which it clandestinely delivers weapons including TOW anti-tank missiles.

12 ASIA / AFRICASUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Poll registration

Filipinos line up on the last day of filing for registration for the May 2016 elections, at the Election Commission office in Makati, south of Manila, yesterday. People are still coming to the office even though the registration and validation process was begun last year.

SHANGHAI: A Chinese court has sentenced the leader of a religious sect labelled a cult by authorities to life in prison on several charges, according to an official statement, with three of his followers also jailed.

A court in the southern city of Zhuhai on Friday also fined Wu Zeheng, head of the “Huazang Zongmen” sect, more than 7.0 million yuan ($1.1 million), it said. The charges included organising a cult, rape, fraud and selling harm-ful food products.

Wu seduced dozens of women by telling them sex with him could give them “supernatural power”, state media has said.

He also operated a restau-rant which claimed the food was cooked with “precious” ingredi-ents.

A police investigation showed Wu had amassed an illegal for-tune of more than 6.9 million

yuan through his activities, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The court also sentenced three of his followers to jail terms of one to four years, but one of those tried escaped punishment.

The group, which operates under multiple names, claims links to Buddhism.

Analysts say China has tight-ened control over religious wor-ship under the administration of President Xi Jinping.

Authorities have targeted cults after members of one group beat to death a woman they were try-ing to recruit in May last year.

In February, authorities exe-cuted a father and daughter, who belonged to the Quannengshen group, for the murder. Fourteen members of the sect were jailed for up to three years.

AFP

DAR ES SALAAM: Two bombs exploded minutes apart in the main city on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago yesterday without causing casu-alties, police and witnesses said, adding to tensions on the islands after a disputed election.

Tanzania held national elec-tions on Sunday, which included a vote for local authorities in Zanzibar, traditionally a bastion of opposition to the central gov-ernment.

But Zanzibar’s election com-mission annulled the vote for the island’s president, citing “gross violations”. The opposi-tion rejected the move, saying it had won that poll. Police arrested several angry youths after the decision.

“Two bombs went off this morning within a space of 10 minutes from each other. No one was killed or injured,” a Zanzi-bar police commander, Mkadam

Khamis Mkadam, said, adding it was in a residential area of Zan-zibar City, which lies on the main island of the archipelago.

Mkadam said they were “home-made” devices and said a mobile phone used to detonate one had been found. Another explosive device was found in another dis-trict on Friday, but was destroyed in a controlled explosion, he added.

Witnesses also reported two blasts a few minutes apart.

Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), the party which has ruled Tan-zania for more than half a cen-tury, was declared winner of the national presidential and parlia-mentary vote on Thursday. An opposition coalition says the vote was rigged.

On Zanzibar, the local election commission has said a new Zan-zibar presidential poll will be held.

REUTERSTOKYO: Some 50 nationalists yesterday staged a rally in the southern Japanese whaling town of Taiji to counter anti-whaling campaigns by conservation group Sea Shepherd.

The demonstration came weeks after the small Japanese town -- thrust into the global spotlight in the Oscar-winning 2009 docu-mentary “The Cove” -- kicked off this season’s controversial dolphin and whaling hunt.

Online video footage showed participants marching through the port with a banner which read: “Let’s protect Japanese food culture from Western hypocriti-cal values. Japanese should not give in to Sea Shepherd.”

“They are environmental ter-rorists,” one of the demonstrators told the rally through a loud-speaker as many of the protesters waved Japanese flags.

Another demonstrator said: “They eat beef, pork, chicken and everything. What’s wrong with protecting our country’s culture?”

AFP

15 killed in Philippine market fireMANILA: Fifteen people, including six children, perished yesterday after they were trapped in a burning market in the south-ern Philippines, police said.

The victims were sleeping in the padlocked building when the fire, believed to have been trig-gered by faulty electrical wiring, broke out before dawn, Chief Inspector Joel Tuttuh said.

Vendors and their families reg-ularly spend the night inside the decrepit market in the port city of Zamboanga to watch over their merchandise, mostly used clothes and vegetables, he said.

All but one of the building’s many entrance and exit doors are left open for the night, he said.

“The victims were trapped in the burning building. They couldn’t find their way out,” Tut-tuh said.

Two of the six children who perished were one year old, he said, adding thirteen people were being treated in hospital for severe burns.

Huge and sometimes deadly fires at sprawling slums as well as markets and factories are com-mon in the Philippines, where fire safety regulations are sometimes wilfully disregarded.

Last May, 72 people were killed after a huge blaze tore through a footwear factory in the northern suburbs of the capital, Manila.In one of country’s deadliest-ever fires, 162 people were killed and 94 were injured at a Manila disco in 1996.

AFP

WASHINGTON: The chief counsel for the Philippines in its Hague tribunal case against China over competing claims in the South China Sea says a final ruling could come as early as June next year.

Paul Reichler said he also believed that in spite of China’s rejection of the case, international pressure would oblige Beijing to comply with a ruling against it.

In a legal setback for Beijing on Thursday, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear some territorial claims the Philippines has filed against China over disputed areas in the South China Sea.

Reichler called this a “major victory” and said he expected an oral hearing on the merits of the Philippines’ case would be held by the end of the year and a final ruling made within six months of that. “We are talking about a final judgment being issued right in the middle of 2016, perhaps June of 2016, but I am only speculating at this point,” he said.

“For the Philippines, hav-ing now established that there is jurisdiction for the tribunal to consider its claim ... leaves us very optimistic that the ultimate outcome will be very successful,” Reichler said.

Manila filed the case in 2013 to seek a ruling on its right to exploit

the South China Sea waters in its 200-nautical mile exclusive eco-nomic zone as allowed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China has boycotted the pro-ceedings and rejects the court’s authority in the case. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, dis-missing claims to parts of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

Reichler said it was “inevita-ble” that China would have to seek some accommodation with a judgment against it if it wanted to be seen as a state that respected international law.

REUTERS

SYDNEY: Australia’s govern-ment refused to comment on a report yesterday that said it was considering resettling refugees it houses on two Pacific islands in the Central Asian state of Kyr-gyzstan.

Canberra has made no secret of the fact it is in talks with a number of countries about tak-ing refugees now living in the tiny state of Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus island but did not confirm the Kyrgyzstan option.

“We are having conversa-tions with other countries to support our offshore processing arrangements and when we’re in a position to make relevant announcements, the minister for immigration will do so,” Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told Sky News.

The Weekend Australian story, which named no sources, said that majority-Muslim Kyrgyzstan was seen as a potential option for resettling refugees, in particular Hazara people from Afghanistan.

It said other former Soviet bloc countries were also understood to be on the list of options, along with some African and South American states, but named no other country specifically and gave no indication of whether talks were under way.

A spokeswoman for Immigra-tion Minister Peter Dutton made no comment on the story but referred to recent statements in which Dutton confirmed discus-sions with the Philippines and “other countries”.

“We have had bilateral discus-sions with other countries, includ-ing the Philippines at an officials level, at a ministerial level over a number of months,” Dutton told

journalists in Canberra on Octo-ber 9.

“If we can strike other arrange-ments with other countries, we will do that, but I won’t publicly speculate on it.”

Under Australia’s hardline pol-icy to stop asylum-seeker boats reaching its shores, those arriv-ing by sea are denied resettlement in Australia even if found to be genuine refugees.

Instead they are turned back to their country of departure or sent to Nauru or PNG, where more than 1,500 are now being held.

Australia has already struck an agreement with Cambodia to accept refugees in exchange for millions of dollars in aid but only a handful of people have taken up the offer and the deal has been criticised by rights groups.

The Philippines said on Tues-day it was “seriously considering” an Australian government pro-posal but stressed it would not accept any refugees permanently given its responsibilities to its own people, about one quarter of whom live in deep poverty.

Australia’s Greens, staunch opponents of the conservative government’s immigration poli-cies, ridiculed the idea of sending people to Kyrgyzstan.

“What next? Are we going to send people to Mars?” leader Richard Di Natale said.

“This is ridiculous that we would look for any option other than the most logical, humane and economically responsible option which is to ensure we proc-ess people here in Australia and, if they are found to be genuine refu-gees, that they are settled here.”

AFP

SHANGHAI: The collapse of a residential building under reno-vation in central China has killed 17 construction workers and injured 23, state media reported yesterrday.

The 1990s-era building in Henan province collapsed sud-denly on Friday afternoon in a project which involved adding more levels to the two-storey building, state media said.

Video footage broadcast on state television showed firemen picking through the rubble using their hands in the search for sur-vivors. The local government in Wuyang county, where the acci-dent occurred, had called off the search by yesterday, the official Xinhua news agency said.

AFP

SEOUL: South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and Chinese Pre-mier Li Keqiang discussed North Korea and trade ties yesterday as they met one-on-one in Seoul ahead of a trilateral summit with Japan.

According to the presidential Blue House, the two leaders had a “frank” exchange of views on the North Korean nuclear issue and the reunification of the Korean peninsula.

As a result of those discussions, they agreed to “strengthen stra-tegic-level communication”.

The language of the Blue House statement is likely to annoy Pyongyang, which is already vexed by the diplomatic inroads Park has been making with Bei-jing over the past year or so.

China is North Korea’s chief diplomatic protector and eco-nomic benefactor, but traditional ties have strained as Beijing’s patience has worn thin with Pyongyang’s provocative behav-iour and unwillingness to rein in its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Park, who has met Chinese President Xi Jinping half-a-dozen times, has cosied up to China

since taking office in early 2013, seeking to get one hand on the levers Beijing can manipulate when dealing with the North.

Pyongyang is especially nerv-ous about any “strategic” discus-sions between Seoul and Beijing

on Korean reunification — an issue on which the North wants China exclusively in its corner.

North Korea is also likely to figure high on the agenda when Park and Li sit down for the tri-lateral summit with Japanese

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today.The three-way gathering

resumes what had been an annual summit mechanism until tensions between Northeast Asia’s three largest economies in 2012 trig-gered a lengthy hiatus.

Beijing hopes reviving the sum-mits will improve trade links and help bolster its slowing economy.

In their talks yesterday, Park and Li agreed to push for the earliest possible ratification of a bilateral free trade deal, which is yet to be approved by the South Korean parliament.

China and South Korea already have strong trade ties, but Park faces a delicate diplomatic bal-ancing act with Beijing and Washington. The South’s 60-year military alliance with the United States remains the cornerstone of its national defence, and it does not want to become a pawn in the battle between China and the US for influence in Asia.

It is a battle that has heated up over the past week after a US destroyer sailed close to artificial islands built by Beijing in the South China Sea.

AFP

Seven jailed for Nigeria fuel theftLAGOS: Seven men have been jailed for 10 years in Nigeria after being arrested with nearly 1,500 tonnes of contraband petrol, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said yesterday.

The seven were among the crew of the MT Good Success, which was stopped by a navy patrol boat off the coast of Lagos in February last year.

On board was some 1,495 tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol/gasoline).

The defendants were found guilty at the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday after deny-ing four counts of illegal oil bunkering (theft) and one of unlicenced dealing in petroleum products.

Judge O E Abang sentenced them to 10 years in prison on each of the first four counts and two years on the fifth, to run concur-rently.

AFP

Australia may send refugees to KyrgyzstanGovt refuses to comment on report

Leaders of China, S Korea discuss N Korea

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye (right) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul yesterday.

Tribunal’s ruling in South China Sea case expected next year

Building collapse kills 17 in China

Rescuers search for survivors in the debris after a residential building collapsed in Wuyang county in China’s Henan province.

Bomb blasts in Zanzibar after disputed election

Chinese court jails leader of religious ‘cult’ for life

Pro-whaling rally held in Japan

DHAKA: The publisher of an atheist writer killed earlier this year by suspected Islamists was hacked to death in Bangladesh yesterday, hours after two secu-lar bloggers and another publisher were also attacked.

Both attacks in the capital Dhaka — the latest in a wave of violence targeting secular activ-ists blamed on a banned Islamist group — followed the same pat-tern, with the assailants attacking the men with machetes and cleav-ers, leaving them in a pool of blood and padlocking their offices from the outside as they left, police said.

Faisal Arefin Dipan, 43, was killed in his third-floor office in central Dhaka, his father Abul Kashem Fazlul Haq, a noted intel-lectual and writer, said.

“I rushed to his office at Aziz Market and broke the padlock. And I saw him lying upside down in a massive pool of blood. They slaughtered his neck. He is dead,” he said.

Police inspector Mozammel Haq also confirmed Dipan’s death. Haq said that he became worried about his son after he heard of the earlier attack that left publisher Ahmedur Rashid Tutul and blog-gers Ranadipam Basu and Tareq Rahim severely injured.

“He published the books of Avi-jit Roy. They also attacked other publishers of Roy but only my son died,” Haq said.

Atheist blogger Roy was killed in February — the first death in the wave of violence against sec-ular writers in Bangladesh. The total death toll now stands at five.

In the first incident yesterday, three armed men posing as shop-pers entered the offices of Shud-dhaswar publishing house at 3pm, police said.

“Once inside, they started hack-ing Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, the publisher of a slain atheist writer, and secular blogger Ranadipam Basu and Tareq Rahim with machetes and cleavers indiscrimi-nately and shot at Rahim from a firearm,” said Dhaka police deputy commissioner Wahidul Islam.

Activists described the third

victim, Rahim, 30, as a young secular blogger and poet.

“They then padlocked the office from the outside and left the three in a pool of blood. Our officers broke the door and rescued them after getting emergency calls,” he said.

The three men were in hospi-tal and one was in a critical con-dition. Basu, 50, posted a short Facebook status immediately after the attack: “They hacked us, me Tutul and Tareq.”

No group had claimed respon-sibility for the attacks but they were similar to other assaults on the country’s secular opinion-formers, Islam said.

Police say the Islamist militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) were behind the previous attacks.

Hundreds of activists held an impromptu march in Dhaka Sat-urday evening, slamming the gov-ernment for failing to protect the country’s secular writers.

“We’re stunned. One after another secular writer and blog-gers have been silenced and mur-dered. Yet the government has failed to protect them,” said Imran Sarker, who heads a secular blog-gers group.

Asif Mohiuddin, a Berlin-based Bangladeshi atheist blogger who survived a machete attack by Islamist militants in December 2013, also berated the government for not doing enough.

“The country’s bloggers have sought protection from the gov-ernment and yet there have been no visible efforts to ensure their security,” he said over the phone.

He said about a dozen secular writers have fled the country fol-lowing threats from the Islam-ists and the latest attacks would prompt more to do so or go into hiding. Both Tutul and Dipan published books by Roy and other young secular writers. Roy, a US national of Bangladeshi origin, was hacked to death outside a book fair in Dhaka in February. His wife, a secular blogger, was injured in the incident.

AFP


www.thepeninsulaqatar.comASIA / PAKISTAN

LAHORE: Eleven people were killed when rival political parties fired on each other yesterday as Pakistanis voted in local elec-tions seen as a referendum on the national government halfway through its term.

The violence occurred in the Khairpur district of the southern province of Sindh, which held the polls along with the central Pun-jab province. It was not imme-diately clear which parties were responsible.

“Eleven people were killed when two groups opened fire,” police deputy inspector general Kamran Fazal said.

The opposition, led by interna-tional cricket star turned politi-cian Imran Khan, is hoping the polls will help build a national coalition that could challenge Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) party at the next general election.

Pakistan’s other two prov-inces held their local elections months ago. Khan won in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest

and Sharif ’s party and its coali-tion partners won in the sparsely populated western province of Baluchistan.

Observers are closely watch-ing the polls in Punjab, Pakistan’s richest and most populous prov-ince and the power base of Sharif, who swept to national power in a landslide election in 2013.

“PMLN has the upper hand in Punjab, but it will be a strongly challenged by PTI,” said political analyst Wajahat Masood, refer-ring to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf party.

Security and the economy have improved under Sharif ,but the government has failed to tackle corruption or tax dodging by the wealthy, two problems that are starving social services such as schools and hospitals of cash.

Over 20 million people are reg-istered to vote in Punjab and 4.6 million in Sindh. Pakistan has a population of 190 million.

Local bodies, in which voters elect councillors directly, devolve administrative and financial pow-ers to lower tiers of electoral bod-

ies. Local government elections were last held in 2005 under Gen-eral Pervez Musharraf, who came to power in a bloodless coup.

National and provincial politi-cal parties dislike the system, saying the military has previously used it to undermine

parliamentary democracy.

In March this year, the Supreme Court called the absence of the local government system for over a decade unconstitutional

and ordered the election com-mission to arrange for polls to be held as soon as possible.

REUTERS

Pakistan poll violence kills 11Rival political parties open fire at each other; PMLN challenged by PTI

Pakistanis wait to cast their votes during local body polls in Lahore yesterday.

An Afghan National Army soldier fires an artillery shell during clashes between Afghan security forces and militants in Achin yesterday.

KABUL: A rocket apparently fired by fighters from the radi-cal Islamic State movement has hit a mosque in eastern Afghani-stan, killing six worshippers and wounding four others, a local offi-cial said yesterday.

The attack in Achin, southeast of Jalalabad in Nangarhar prov-ince, occurred during evening prayers last Friday, district gov-ernor Haji Ghalibhe said. It was not clear if it was aimed at the mosque or went astray after being fired at security forces based nearby.

Islamic State has been build-ing up its presence in Afghanistan while battling both government

forces and the Islamist Taliban movement. Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan, has become one of its main strongholds.

Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal, a spokesman for the Nangarhar police chief, said security forces had detained two suspects,

one of whom was a foreigner.Islamic State’s rise has caused

alarm outside Afghanistan, with Russia saying it was concerned about the threat to its central Asian neighbours and US com-manders citing the movement as a reason to delay plans to pull out troops next year.

REUTERS

Rocket hits mosque in Afghanistan, six dead

Publisher of slain blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi writer Ranadipam Basuis is treated at the Dhaka medical college hospital after being attacked in the office of a publisher in Dhaka yesterday.

Tibet’s former top official to be prosecuted for graft BISHKEK: US Secretary of

State John Kerry carefully nego-tiated a delicate first day of his Central Asia tour yesterday, patching up a human rights row with Kyrgyzstan.

The senior US diplomat’s visit to all five “’Stans”, the land-locked former Soviet republics in Russia’s Asian backyard, began in the one most suspicious of US influence.

In an incident emblematic of this mistrust, Kyrgystan was outraged in July when Kerry’s State Department gave jailed activist Azimjon Askarov a human rights award.

Askarov has been hailed by human rights defenders for his work exposing torture in Kyrgyz jails and violence against ethnic Uzbeks, but his home govern-ment jailed him for life.

He has been convicted of organising violent protests and accused of involvement in the death of a policeman.

The United States has deep concerns about human rights in Kyrgyzstan but Kerry, keen to move past the row, tried to explain away the offence

the award caused his hosts.At a news conference after

talks with President Almazbek Atambayev and Foreign Minis-ter Erlan Abdyldaev, Kerry said the prize had been to reward Askarov’s lifetime of work.

It was not, he said, related to the disputed incident, which he said he could not speak about.

“And I regret that it did result in some concerns,” he said, insisting that the United States had no intention of interfering in Kyrgystan’s domestic security concerns.

“We have discussed this very frankly, very openly, and all of us want to move on,” he said, adding that human rights was a founding value of the United States.

Abdyldaev confirmed the topic had been discussed at length and that he expected his government to return to it again, but said the countries would cooperate more closely.

The minister, whom Kerry referred to as “my friend Erlan”, also attended the opening cer-emony of a new building for the US embassy in Bishkek, itself a

controversial project.“We believe that the time

has come to develop an optimal model of relations between Kyr-gyzstan and the United States, in full compliance with the prin-ciples of equality and mutual respect,” he said at the event.

Kerry hailed the building as a “21st century embassy with which to implement a 21st cen-tury partnership” but its con-struction was the subject of some Cold War-style rumours.

During the embassy’s con-struction, some Kyrgyz and Russian media alleged that 152 tonnes of building materials flown into the country concealed supplies for a secret plot.

The varying theories, dis-missed as false and irresponsible by the embassy, suggested Wash-ington was smuggling in cash or weapons to mount a revolt against the government.

Abdyldaev was all smiles yes-terday as he joined Kerry to open the embassy, but the reports reflect the level of suspicion in the region towards US motives.

Kyrgyzstan was the first leg of a trip that will take Kerry

to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, to reassure leaders of Washington’s good intentions.

Already faced with a dra-matic economic slowdown, Cen-tral Asian governments fear the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan will end Washing-ton’s interest in the region.

Until last year Kyrgyzstan was home to a massive US air-base, hub of the “northern dis-tribution network” for Nato troops fighting in its southern neighbour.

The base closed last year and the Afghan operation has been dramatically scaled back, cutting off a huge source of foreign income for the Central Asian state. Com-bined with a drop in the price of the region’s oil exports and sanc-tions against its major economic partner Russia, the five republics are facing a squeeze.

This may in turn feed social unrest in a region with an unen-viable recent history of brutal government repression, partly in response to fears of Islamist insurgency.

AFP

US smooths Kyrgyz ties after rights rowBEIJING: A former top Chinese security official in Tibet will be prosecuted for suspected corrup-tion, the ruling Communist Par-ty’s anti-graft watchdog has said, in a rare example of corruption-busters going into the restive and remote region.

Le Dake, who was deputy head of Tibet’s regional legislature when an investigation into him began in June, is suspected of abuse of power and bribery, the Central Commission for Disci-pline Inspection said on Friday.

He has been expelled from the party and his case handed over to the legal authorities, it said, meaning he will be prosecuted. The statement provided no other details and it was not possible to reach Le for comment.

According to his official biog-raphy, Le was head of the State Security Department in Tibet from 2004 to 2013.

President Xi Jinping has vowed to combat deep-seated corruption since assuming power in late 2012, although areas of China with big

minority populations, such as Xinjiang and Tibet, have largely escaped the campaign so far.

State media said in January that anti-graft authorities had found 15 senior Communist Party officials in Tibet guilty of corrup-tion last year and had punished them.

China has ruled Tibet with an iron hand since People’s Libera-tion Army troops “peacefully lib-erated” the region in 1950.

Tibetan parts of China erupted in widespread anti-Chinese pro-tests in 2008, and what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region remains under tight secu-rity.

In a separate statement, the anti-graft watchdog said Gu Chunli, who was a vice governor of the northeastern province of Jilin, had also been expelled from the party and would be pros-ecuted for suspected corruption.

It was also not possible to reach him for comment.

REUTERS

Cambodia oppn leader loses parliament postPHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s ruling party has ousted the opposition leader from his post of deputy parliament president after a controversial house vote that could nudge the Southeast Asian country closer to political conflict.

All 68 Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) parliamentarians voted on Friday to remove Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Kem Sokha for breaking the terms of a political deal in which the CNRP had agreed not to disparage the ruling party.

CNRP boycotted the vote, call-ing it unconstitutional. It followed a petition lodged by hundreds

of CPP supporters, who held a rally on Monday calling for Kem Sokha’s removal.

Two CNRP lawmakers were badly beaten by unknown attack-ers after the protest, an attack which Prime Minister Hun Sen condemned but said was not the work of his CPP supporters.

“Kem Sokha has always intended to destroy the deal and destroy the relationship between the two political parties,” CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said.

The stripping of Kem Sokha’s legislative post is the latest salvo by the long-ruling CPP that sug-gests its political deal with the increasingly popular CNRP for a

“new culture of dialogue” has col-lapsed.

The agreement in July 2014 saw CNRP end a year-long house boycott in return for a series of concessions by CPP and some rare conciliatory talk by self-styled strongman Hun Sen.

Kem Sokha was appointed dep-uty National Assembly president as part of the deal.

The truce broke down in July when 11 CNRP members were jailed for insurrection for staging an illegal protest over a disputed 2013 election, in which CNRP’s success stunned its rivals.

They were released on bail as part of the deal but a court jailed

them not long after Hun Sen pub-licly urged judges to punish them harshly. He also warned that a CNRP election win in 2018 would create civil war.

Hun Sen has started to lash out after attempts by the CNRP to stir nationalist sentiment.

CNRP parliamentarian Ou Chanrith said criticizing rival par-ties was part of the democratic process.

“The political situation is get-ting more tense and unstable. There have been of threats the country will return to war, beat-ings of MPs and this removal,” he said.

REUTERS

14 ASIA / INDIASUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


NEW DELHI: With growing clamour against recent incidents of intolerance across the country, President Pranab Mukherjee and RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan yesterday emphasised tolerance to take the country forward.

President Mukherjee said here that India has prospered due to its power to assimilate and tolerate.

“Our country has thrived due to its power of assimilation and tolerance. Our pluralistic character has stood the test of time,” Mukherjee said while speaking during the golden jubilee celebrations of the Delhi High Court at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan.

“India is a country of 1.3 billion people belonging to three ethnic groups — Cauca-sian, Dravidian and Mongoloid — speaking 122 languages and 1,600 dialects, and pro-fessing seven faiths,” he pointed out.

The theme of the Delhi High Court’s golden jubilee celebrations being ‘Justice for all’, he said, “it implies empowerment of the weak and equal treatment of law irrespective of one’s individual identity”.

Referring to the ancient civilisations having accommodated diversities, the president said: “Multiplicity is our collec-

tive strength which must be preserved at all costs. It finds reflection in the various provisions of our Constitution.”

At another event here, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said that India has always protected debate and the right to hold different views.

“Tolerance can take the offense out of a debate, and indeed instill respect. If I go berserk every time a particular button is pressed, rebels are tempted to press the button, while mischief-makers indeed do so,” Rajan said while addressing the IIT-Delhi Convocation here.

“Fortunately, India has always pro-tected debate and the right to have differ-ent views,” Rajan said, a day after Moody’s Analytics in a report said the belligerent provocation of various Indian minorities has raised ethnic tensions.

“But if I do not react predictably, and instead ask button pressers to explain their concerns, rebels are forced to do the hard work of marshalling arguments.

“So, rebels do not press the button friv-olously, while the mischief makers who abound in every group are left without an easy trigger.”

“After all, any ban, and certainly any

vigilante acts to enforce it, may offend you as much, or more, than the offence to me. Excessive political correctness stifles progress as much as excessive licence and disrespect.”

“Tolerance means not being so insecure about one’s ideas that one cannot subject them to challenge — it implies a degree of detachment that is absolutely necessary for mature debate,” the RBI governor said.

In the report titled `India Outlook: Searching for Potential’, Moody’s Analyt-ics, a division of Moody’s Corporation, on Friday warned of “a possible increase in violence”.

“Along with a possible increase in vio-lence, the government will face stiffer opposition in the upper house as debate turns away from economic policy.”

Moody’s Analytics said the politics need to improve and the government’s reform agenda needs attention to achieve long-term growth.

While talking about economic growth, citing economist Robert Solow, Rajan said bulk of economic growth did not come from putting more factors of production such as labour and capital to work.

“Put differently, new ideas, new methods

of production, better logistics - these are what lead to sustained economic growth.”

The report said that the Indian economy is likely to grow at 7.6 percent this year and in 2016 while closing of negative output growth is going to be difficult due to exter-nal headwinds and the government failing to deliver on reforms, it added.

“Overall, it’s unclear whether India can deliver the promised reforms and hit its growth potential. Undoubtedly, numerous political outcomes will dictate the extent of success.”

According to the report, the Indian econ-omy is expected to grow around 7.3 percent year-on-year in September quarter which is below the expected potential of around nine or 10 percent.

In Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Min-ister Mamata Banerjee said she was “saddened” at the level of intolerance in the country and encouraged people to “act for unity”.

“Saddened that there is so much intoler-ance today. Why so much divide and rule? Let us speak for unity, stand for unity. Let us act for unity,” Banerjee tweeted.

IANS

Pranab, RBI governor urge toleranceWest Bengal chief minister says she is saddened by the level of intolerance in the country

Lights on

Devotees pay their respects at the illuminated Golden Temple in Amritsar on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the fourth Sikh Guru, Ramdass, who was born in Lahore in 1574 and was the Guru who established the city of Amritsar.

ALAPPUZHA: The Kerala Police have decided to further probe the death of Swami Swas-wethikananda in July 2002. The investigation was earlier closed after being presumed to be a case of drowning, a minister said yes-terday.

“The further probe would be coordinated by additional director general of police (Crime Branch) S Ananthakrishnan and would be conducted by Crime Branch superindent of police P K Madhu,” State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala told reporters here.

The new move came following a Kerala court accepting a petition by P D Joseph earlier this month which sought a re-investigation into the mysterious death of the seer in the light of fresh revela-tions. The popular Swami, who had wide connections across political parties at the time of his death, had serious difference of opinion with Vellapally Natesan, the powerful Hindu Ezhava leader and general secretary of the Sree

Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Sangom.

The case took a turn to this extent following fresh revela-tion which came from leading businessman Biju Ramesh, after Natesan opened his mind to form a political party and was getting ready to join the third front led by the BJP.

Businessman Biju Ramesh in a TV channel discussion revealed that a person called Priyan had pleaded with him soon after the death of the Swami not to rake up the case.

Following the revelation both the CPI-M and even a section of top senior Congress leaders said that the clear the air a further probe needed to be conducted to settle the issue once and for all.

Incidentally, the Kerala police in 2013 filed the closure report in the Kerala high court stating that the Swami died after a fall and his head hit the rocks in the river bed.

IANS

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party yesterday lodged a com-plaint with ACB against Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung for his attempt to shield former Haryana chief minister O P Chautala, who is lodged in Tihar Jail over cor-ruption charges.

Party leaders Raghav Chadha, Dilip Pandey and Ashutosh reached ACB office and registered a complaint against the L-G. Chautala was convicted in a case relating to teachers’ recruitment in Haryana.

In its complaint letter, AAP accused the L-G of pressurising Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain for considering Chautala’s

parole earlier this month.“A request is made by O P

Chautala, seeking parole on medi-cal grounds in October. Despite the Delhi government’s strong objection to any parole request and inability for entertaining such a request under the Parole Guide-lines 2010, the L-G exercised pressure on Jain, asking him to grant parole to the convict,” AAP leaders wrote in the complaint letter addressed to ACB chief.

“The reasons given by L-G while pressurizing the home min-ister were that Chautala has been a five-time president of a political party and thereby he should be granted parole,” the letter stated.

AAP also accused the L-G of allowing extension to Chautala’s parole in May.

“Chautala, on grounds to peruse the filing of SLP in Supreme Court, and maintain family ties, had filed a request for extension of parole in May. The Delhi gov-ernment advises rejection of the parole, as it appears to be unwar-ranted since the convict had enjoyed a parole of many weeks in April.

“The L-G disregards the elected government’s decision of rejection of parole and grants the extension,” the complaint letter said.

Party leaders further said

L-G’s willingness to discriminate in this case and offer favourable treatment to a person convicted on grounds of corruption raises concerns.

“The L-G, being a constitu-tional position, has misused his office to provide benefit to Chau-tala, in both May as well as in October, therefore the role of L-G needs to be probed thoroughly,” AAP demanded.

Jain had earlier complained to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal about being pressurized by Jung for considering parole to INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala.

IANS

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government yesterday decided to make budgetary allocations of Rs2.5bn on its own to continue the special KBK scheme after the central government stopped funding the programme.

As the central government dis-continued providing funds under the Revised Long Term Action Plan in the Koraput-Balangir-Kalahandi (KBK) region from this financial year, the state gov-ernment has decided to enhance fund allocation under Biju KBK scheme to Rs2.5bn from Rs1.2bn.

This was decided at a meeting presided over by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here yesterday.

The KBK, comprising Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, Raya-gada, Sonepur, Balangir, Kala-handi and Nuapada districts, is considered one of the poorest and most backward regions of the country. The central government had slashed the fund allocation to the KBK region from Rs2.5bn to Rs1.3bn in 2006. Since then, the state government is allocating Rs1.2bn for the development of the region by launching Biju KBK scheme, said a release from the Chief Minister’s Office.

The state government decided to allocate an additional Rs1.3bn to run the scheme under Biju KBK, said the release.

IANS

KOLKATA: West Bengal Trans-port Minister Madan Mitra, arrested in the multi-crore rupee Saradha scam late last year, was yesterday granted bail by a city court.

The Trinamool leader was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Decem-ber 12. The agency in its charge sheet had indicted Mitra for sev-eral offences including criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust. A designated CBI court in the city granted bail to the 62-year-old leader on a per-sonal bond of Rs2lakh.

The court also directed Mitra to submit his passport and not to go out of the state. The minister has also been directed to appear before the investigating agency if and when summoned for the pur-pose of the investigation.

Behind bars for nearly 11 months, Mitra’s bail plea had been

rejected multiple times including by the Calcutta High Court.

Congress leader and noted advocate Kapil Sibal too had unsuccessfully pleaded for his bail in a court earlier. Citing non availability of the case diary, the CBI counsel pleaded before the court to defer the hearing but the plea was turned down. Pressing for his bail, Mitra’s counsel said the CBI has failed to substantiate its charges against the minister.

“Not a single investor testified against him. The CBI kept on opposing his bail but they could not produce any evidence about his involvement in the case,” said Mitra’s counsel Ashok Mukherjee.

As soon as the news of his bail spread, Trinamool supporters and family members rushed to the state-run SSKM Hospital where Mitra is undergoing treatment

IANS

BENGALURU: Salubrious cli-mate, cool breeze, warm hos-pitality and friendly nature of Bengaluru’s people touched Paki-stan High Commissioner Abdul Basit, who is on a four-day visit to Karnataka.

“My wife (Sumaiyah) and me are touched and humbled by the impeccable hospitality extended by the people of Bengaluru. I have great memories of this city. I am thankful to the chief minister (Siddaramaiah) for the excellent arrangements made for our visit,” Basit here last Friday.

Basit, 57, the first Pakistan envoy to visit Karnataka, has invited Siddaramaiah to visit his country and gave proposals to the chief minister on promoting cul-tural and economic ties between

the state and his country.“The chief minister has been

gracious to accept our invitation to visit Pakistan and discussed various issues of interest to people in both countries,” Basit said at a ‘Meet the Press’ event hosted by Bangalore Press Club in the green environs of the famous Cubbon Park.

The envoy also called on Gov-ernor Vajubhai R Vala at Raj Bhavan last Friday and dis-cussed bilateral ties between the two countries and on promoting people-to-people contacts.

Interacting with about 50 citi-zens at a meeting think-tank Bengaluru International Centre and Takshashila Institution last Wednesday, Basit lamented that Pakistan was a much misunder-stood nation for various reasons

and was grappling with many challenges, including poverty, illiteracy and healthcare.

He also interacted with teenage students of Mount Carmel College and addressed a select gathering at Urdu Academy in the city last Thursday. Admitting that Kash-mir remained the core dispute between the two countries since 1947, Basit said that other issues like Siachen, Sir Creek and ter-rorism have got entangled in the uneasy relations over the decades.

“If we think these issues can be overlooked or brushed aside, we will be deceiving ourselves and further delay resolving them, as they are critical for peaceful co-existence and mutual respect,” he Basit added.

IANS

Tourist attraction

Tourists riding on elephants watch a rhinoceros at the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary, some 55km east of Guwahati, yesterday. After a devastating wave of floods, the sanctuary, which is home to the one-horned rhi-noceros, has reopened to tourists. Pobitora has the highest population density of rhinos in the world.

11 ministers take oath in UPLUCKNOW: Eleven new minis-ters took oath in Uttar Pradesh yesterday after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday sacked eight cabinet ministers and withdrew the portfolios of nine ministers.

The ministers were sworn in by Governor Ram Naik at the Raj Bhawan.

Nine of those sworn-in were elevated from their previous posi-tions.

The new cabinet ministers are Arvind Singh, Kamal Akhtar, Vinod Kumar Singh alias Pan-dit Singh, Saheb Singh Saini and Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, who’s inclusion created a flutter as he is neither a member of any House nor is a resident of Uttar Pradesh.

Among others who were sworn in were Shailendra alias Lalai Yadav, Sudhir Kumar Rawat, Pawan Pandey and Omkar Singh Yadav. Hemraj Verma could not be sworn-in as a minister of state as he could not reach the venue on time.

Punjab’s ruling Shiromani Akali Dal yesterday accused its former leader Ramoowalia of “betrayal” and dubbed him “power hungry” after he was sworn in as a cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh.

“Ramoowalia has displayed the height of political opportunism and power hunger by betraying the party that gave him every-thing to hitch his boat with the Samajwadi Party,” the party said in a statement.

“Ramoowalia’s action is remi-niscent of the days of ‘aaya ram gaya ram’ politics,” senior Akali Dal leaders Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Balwinder Singh Bhun-der, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, and Daljit Singh Cheema said in the statement.

IANS

Pakistan envoy touched by Bengaluru hospitality

AAP files complaint against Jung with ACB

Kerala police to further probe death of Swami Swaswethikananda

Odisha govt to allot `2.5bn for KBK scheme

Man murders wife, son over financial crisis

Bengal minister gets bail in Saradha scam

NEW DELHI: A man killed his wife and two-and-a-half-year-old son here due to financial crisis, police said yesterday.

Vikram Bhatia, 35, an interior decorator, who is currently job-less, smothered his wife Neetu, 31, and strangulated his son Lavitra last Friday evening on the occa-sion of Karva Chauth, when women fast for the longevity of their husbands. The incident, which occurred at Keshav Puram in west Delhi, was reported to police around 8pm by Bhatia’s landlord. Police said that Bhatia, was also lying on the floor in an unconscious state along with the bodies of his wife and son.

“Bhatia was rushed to a nearby hospital where he is being treated. It is yet to be ascertained whether he tried to commit suicide after killing his wife and son,” a police official said.

IANS


www.thepeninsulaqatar.comASIA / INDIA

Tiwa dance

Tiwa tribesmen dance on the occasion of the Lanhkhon festival in Karbi Anglong district of Assam state yesterday. Tiwa is a major tribe in Assam and its members practise Jhum or shifting cultivation in the hills.

PATNA: Caste arithmetic will be on test on Sunday as electors in 55 constituencies in Bihar’s flood prone fertile belt vote in the fourth round of assembly polls - with BJP chief Amit Shah’s Paki-stan comment muddying the electoral waters.

Millions of voters were bom-barded with issues like bursting of firecrackers in Pakistan to a conspiracy to steal the job quota of the Dalits and OBCs for a reli-gious community as campaigning drew to a close. The stakes are perhaps the highest for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led NDA.

Amit Shah and Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi played their cards that linked Bihar assembly polls outcome with Pakistan and raised the old job quota issue for Muslims during their rallies. It is being seen as a last ditch effort to counter RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s “backward versus forward” fight in polls and Nitish Kumar’s devel-opment agenda.

No doubt the stakes are also high for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar but the belligerent tone of Modi and Shah, going by their addresses in the last 48 hours, has given strength to specula-tions here that BJP-led NDA is not confident of repeating their performance in their strongholds.

In the last assembly polls in 2010, when the BJP was in alli-ance with the JD-U, it won 26 seats alone, and the NDA swept

53 of the 55 assembly seats in the last Lok Sabha polls in 2014, thanks to Modi’s wave.

Amit Shah during his election rallies said firecrackers would be burst in celebration in Pakistan if the grand alliance formed the next government.

Even Modi during his rallies said: “Leaders of the RJD, JD-U and the Congress are conspiring to snatch away 5 percent of SC/ST and OBC reservation and give it to a religious community (Mus-lim) for votes.

For the BJP, this its strong-est belt where it enjoys support of the traditional upper castes along with the Other Backward Caste-Extreme Backward Caste, and Dalits. It was evident in the last assembly and the last Lok Sabha polls.

As many as 14,739,120 voters are eligible to decide the fate of 776 candidates in fray in 55 of 243 assembly constituencies spread over Gopalganj, Siwan, West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi and Muzaf-farpur districts.

The NDA candidates are heav-ily depending on Modi and his plank of development in the belts once notorious for lawlessness, including kidnapping, extortion and murder. Modi and Shah also used the fear factor to woo voters, warning of a return of ‘Jungle Raj’ if the BJP-led NDA was not voted to power.

Before Nitish Kumar came to power in November 2005, Siwan was said to be under the rule of criminal-turned-politician, former MP Mohammad Sha-habuddin. The grand alliance of JD-U, RJD and the Congress wants to make a dent with consol-idation of OBCs, EBCs and Dalits along with Muslims by playing the forward versus backward fight and development of poor.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar doesn’t fail to remind the elector-ate that the rule of law has been established and development has reached the people in shape of roads to electricity.

The two-week canvassing saw top leaders of the Grand Alliance of the ruling Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as well as six left parties, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Sama-jwadi Party hitting the campaign trail. It was marked by below-the-belt comments and occasionally personal attacks and abuses to score political points.

The run-up to the fourth-phase voting saw hectic campaigning by Modi, Amit Shah Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, BSP supremo Mayawati, Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad and JD-U president Sharad Yadav apart from left leaders.

IANS

Stakes high for BJP-led NDA in Bihar poll’s fourth round

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday said he was ready to debate on the issue of reservation with Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi.

“Modiji I’m ready to debate the issue of reservation with you any day,” the chief minister tweeted.

“Stop misleading people and your efforts to add communal colour to Bihar assembly Polls,” he added.

Modi is leading the campaign trail for the BJP-led NDA in the

state assembly polls. The NDA includes Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP).

The Grand Alliance headed by Nitish Kumar includes Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Con-gress. The voting for the fourth of the five-phase elections would be held on November 1. The count-ing of the votes is scheduled for November 8.

IANS

Nitish open to debate with Modi on reservation

NEW DELHI: As the birth anni-versary of independent India’s first home minister Sardar Val-labhbhai Patel was commemo-rated with a ‘Run for Unity’ in Delhi yesterday, both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress indulged in a political slugfest to claim Patel’s legacy.

Speaking at the ‘Run for Unity’ event at Rajpath here yesterday morning, Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi outlined a new initiative ‘Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat’ (one India, best India) while praising Sardar Patel on his 140th birth anniversary.

However, he also used the occa-sion to attack “dynastic politics” that he said had “polluted” Indian politics.

“The way nepotism has polluted our politics... the life of Sardar sahab is an example... No name from his family has figured on the political map of this country so far,” said Modi.

“It reflects how he made efforts to keep his family away from poli-tics,” he said.

Modi also paid tributes to

former prime minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary. “Tributes to former prime minis-ter of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi, on her death anniversary,” the prime minister said in a state-ment. Paying tributes to Sardar Patel, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi pointed out that the “Iron Man’ was against “fun-damentalists”.

“My tribute to Sardar Patel on his birth anniversary. One of the founding fathers of our nation, a patriot and a great Congress-man,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

“His contribution to unifying India and guarding against fun-damentalist forces will always inspire us,” he said.

The main salvo, however, came from Urban Development Minis-ter M Venkaiah Naidu, who said it would have been better if Patel was made independent India’s first prime minister instead of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

“History has not done justice to the memory of Sardar Patel for whatever reason. It is our duty to see he is remembered,” Naidu

said. Naidu said he was of the opinion, like millions of others, that “if Patel was the first prime minister, the face (of the country) could have been changed more”.

“But what happened hap-pened,” Naidu added.

Top Congress leaders, including former prime minister Manmo-han Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also paid tributes to Indira Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

They paid tributes to Indira Gandhi at the Shakti Sthal memorial site dedicated to her.

“We pay tribute to Indira Gan-dhi today. A leader with courage and compassion. She protected the poor and died for India,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

The Congress has alleged that the mega celebration of Patel’s birth anniversary was to over-shadow the observance of the death anniversary of Indira Gan-dhi, and was an attempt by the BJP to stake a claim on Sardar Patel, who was a leading Con-gressman.

The Congress youth wing put

up hoardings nearby about Sardar Patel’s action of “banning anti-India RSS”.

“Many many salutations to ‘Iron Man’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who unified the country and banned anti-India RSS,” read the message on one of the hoardings put up by the IYC on the India Gate roundabout.

The Youth Congress also put up hoardings to pay tributes to former prime minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary yesterday. Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984, by two of her bodyguards.

Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma accused the BJP of try-ing to appropriate the legacy of Patel and dismissed the ‘Run for Unity’ as “hypocrisy” against the backdrop of protests by artistes, writers and scientists over “ris-ing intolerance”. Under the ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat’ scheme, a state of India would choose another state every year to pro-mote its culture and language.

IANS

Parties fight over Patel’s legacy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers a speech before waving off the ‘Run for Unity’ in New Delhi yesterday.

‘Run for Unity’ marks birth anniversary of India’s first home minister

MUMBAI: A court here on Sat-urday extended, till November 7, the judicial custody of Indrani Mukerkjea and two other accused in the Sheena Bora murder case.

Apart from Sheena’s mother Indrani, her ex-husband San-jeev Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar Rai were pro-duced by the Central Bureau of Investigation before Magistrate N.B. Shinde, who granted the plea for further extension of judicial custody for the accused trio as the agency needed

to interrogate them in jail.Indrani’s lawyer Gunjan Man-

gala argued that although her client’s medical condition was not proper, she had cooperated with the investigators and urged proper treatment for her.

To this, the magistrate directed the CBI to first get a fitness report from the medical authorities con-cerned before interrogating her in prison and asked Mangala to get her client’s (Indrani’s) con-sent for conducting voice sample tests.

The CBI seeks to verify Indra-ni’s voice samples with some telephone call records which pur-portedly feature her voice and the agency has obtained.

The accused trio has been arrested in August and had been subsequently in police and judicial custody since August, in connec-tion with the murder of Sheena Bora in April 2012 and then dumping her partly-burnt body in the forests in Raigad.

IANS

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Con-gress yesterday filed an applica-tion before the Delhi High Court for filling up 13 vacant posts of councillors in the three munici-pal corporations in Delhi.

A statement of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) said that the application was filed jointly by the Leaders of

Opposition in the municipal cor-porations, including Farhad Suri of South Delhi Municipal Cor-poration, Mukesh Goel of North Delhi Municipal Corporation, and Varyam Kaur of East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

According to the statement, such vacancies have also affected the overall functioning of the

municipal corporations, as the “true spirit” of a democratically elected house is not represented in elections to the post of mayor, zonal chairman.

In total, the three municipal corporations of Delhi comprise 272 councillors.

Of the 13 vacant seats, four are in North Delhi Municipal Corpo-

ration, seven in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and two in East Delhi Municipal Corpo-ration.

Maken had written to Kejriwal in this connection urging him to make necessary arrangements to conduct the by-elections as soon as possible.

IANS

HYDERABAD: National Secu-rity Adviser Ajit Doval has said that a country can’t become a global power if it can’t manage its internal security and that it is the police which has to fight and win this battle.

He believes wars have become ineffective tools for achieving strategic and political objectives and there is no guarantee of suc-cess even if the enemy is weak.

Stating that the challenges for the internal security will increase in coming times, he advised police officers to win this battle by win-ning the hearts and minds of peo-ple.

Doval was speaking at the pass-ing out parade of 67th batch of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer trainees at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Police Academy here on Saturday.

As many as 141 probationary IPS officers including 26 women have completed their 46-week training. Fifteen officers from Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives also underwent the training.

The NSA pointed out that in the post war period, 37 countries

have degraded or failed and out of them 28 degraded themselves or failed as they could not manage internal security.

He said Pakistan could not handle people in East Pakistan and even superpower like the erstwhile Soviet Union failed. Doval said despite the best force, technology and everything, the US had to face defeat in Vietnam and the erstwhile Soviet Union could not achieve strategic and political objective in Afghanistan.

Doval said this war was not for land, terrain or a hill but a war for civil society and people. He advised the police officers to become intellectually, emotionally and spiritually strong and use the skills and knowledge they were imparted during training to win this battle.

He also asked the probationary officers to become master of the technology to deal with the big-gest challenge posed by futuristic warfare, organised crime, sabo-teurs or foreign power meddling into internal affairs.

IANS

RANCHI: Investors’ confidence in Jharkhand has been shaken over the years, according to a study released by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) yesterday.

The study said, “As of 2014-15 Jharkhand attracted total out-standing investments worth `6.4 lakh crore with manufacturing sector garnering lion’s share of about 52 percent followed by elec-tricity (37 percent) and mining (six percent).”

Besides, the state’s share in new investments attracted by various sectors across India has declined from about 15 percent in 2005-06 to just three percent in 2014-15, said the study.

“Besides, Jharkhand’s contri-bution to India’s GDP during the period 2004-05 to 2013-14 has also dropped from two percent in 2004-05 to 1.9 percent in 2013-14 thereby showcasing the sluggish economic growth in the state,” said the study.

IANS

Judicial custody of Indrani, other accused extended till November 7

Investors sour over Jharkhand: Assocham study

Congress moves HC to fill up vacant MCD posts

Security key to becoming global power: Ajit Doval

NEW DELHI: Navtej Singh Sarna, secretary (west) in the external affairs ministry, was yesterday named India’s next high commissioner to Britain.

Sarna, a 1980-batch Indian For-eign Service officer, will replace Ranjan Mathai in London. He is expected to take up his assign-ment shortly, an official release said. The appointment comes days ahead of Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi’s visit to Britain.

In the course of his career in the IFS, Sarna has served in a variety of positions in Delhi and abroad. Between 1980 and 2002, he worked in the Indian embassies in Moscow, Warsaw, Thimphu, Geneva, Tehran and Washington interspersed with assignments at headquarters. He was the long-est-serving spokesperson of the external affairs ministry.

IANS

Navtej Sarna is new envoy to Britain

16 EUROPE / AMERICASSUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Car crashes into home

A picture made available by the Wesel district police authority yes-terday shows a car after an accident in the living room of a single-family home near Sonsbeck, Germany. A 22-year-old lost control of the vehicle during an elongated left turn. Both residents of the house were not injured. The police estimate property damage at €70,000.

Two dead in Texas rains

A car is washed up against a tree in Cyprus Creek, a tributary of the Blanco River, in Wimberley, Hays County, Texas. At least two people were killed when a storm with high winds and heavy rains pelted central Texas late on Friday.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: The White House will not allow the imme-diate release of emails exchanged between President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton from when she was sec-retary of state, a senior administration official said.

The emails may be withheld until after Obama leaves office under the Presiden-tial Records Act, according to the White House, a law that governs public access to the president’s records.

The number of emails involved has not been made public. The White House said Obama and Clinton, who is now running as a Democrat to succeed him in office in 2017, exchanged emails “on occasion.”

A federal judge has ordered the State Department to publicly release all of Clinton’s emails from her four years as the nation’s top diplomat between 2009

and 2013 after a Vice News reporter sued the department under freedom of infor-mation laws. The State Department is releasing them in monthly batches through to next January; another 4,400 were released on Friday. They range from dull exchanges on scheduling mat-ters to information that the government has redacted from public release because it is classified and could harm national security if disclosed.

It was not immediately clear whether US District Judge Emmet Sullivan would agree with the US executive branch’s decision, which was first reported by the New York Times, that Clinton’s emails with Obama did not have to be released under his order. The State Department declined to comment.

Steven Aftergood, the Director of the Federation of American Scientists’

Project on Government Secrecy, said that “email messages to the president are potentially exempt” from release under freedom of information laws. However, federal judges have occasionally ruled against this exemption, Aftergood said.

Ryan James, a lawyer representing Vice News in the Clinton email lawsuit before Judge Sullivan, said he planned to challenge every “withholding or redac-tion” that does not meet the standards of freedom of information laws.

Clinton has spent months defending her decision to use only a private email account connected to a server in her New York home for her work as secretary of state, an arrangement that first came to light in March. She returned the emails to the department late last year.

Although she remains the favourite to become the nominee among Democratic

voters, more than half of Americans have said in a series of recent opinion polls that they find her untrustworthy, in part because of her email habits.

Her critics say the set-up was an attempt to skirt transparency laws and may have made classified information vulnerable to hackers, charges she denies.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has taken the server Clinton used while secretary of state, along with other computer hardware belonging to her, to examine whether sensitive government information was mishandled, which can be a crime in some circumstances, or exposed.

Clinton has said she did not know-ingly send or receive classified informa-tion through her private email system, a practice the government forbids.

But hundreds of emails that have been

made public so far contain information that is classified, according to the State Department. The department says it does not know how much of that information, if any, was classified at the time she sent or received it.

Another 270 or so emails released on Friday contain classified information, according to the State Department. At least a couple of those email exchanges include classified information about mili-tary plans or weapons systems.

Much of the classified material in her emails is information provided in con-fidence by foreign governments. Gov-ernment regulations say this sort of information must be classified, and Clin-ton has declined to explain why she and her staff often did not treat it as such.

REUTERS

White House not to release emails between Obama and Hillary

BUCHAREST: Romania was plunged into mourning yesterday after 27 people were killed and nearly 200 injured when a fire ripped through an underground club in Bucharest.

Survivors spoke of the horror that unfolded when fireworks — set off during a pre-Halloween gig by a heavy metal band — unleashed a blaze, followed by a stampede as terrified clubbers sought the exit.

As the government declared three days of national mourn-ing, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said foreigners were among the injured, including two Spanish people, an Italian and a German, authorities said.

President Klaus Iohannis said there were indications that safety regulations had been ignored at the club, and called for a swift investigation. “I am saddened, but also revolted that a tragedy of this scale could have taken place in Bucharest,” Iohannis said.

“It is unimaginable that there could have been so many peo-ple in such a (small) space and that the tragedy happened so quickly because simple rules were ignored,” he added after visit-ing the scene. “I hope that the authorities manage their inquiry with speed and rigour.”

The blaze broke out at around 11pm (2100 GMT) on Friday at

Bucharest club blaze kills 27Nearly 200 injured; Romania announces three days of national mourning

People light candles at a memorial makeshift outside the club yesterday.

the Colectiv club, where accord-ing to witnesses between 200 and 400 youngsters had gathered for a performance by rock group Good-bye to Gravity.

Twenty-six people died in the club and one died in hospital, the secretary of state for the interior, Raed Arafat, said after a meeting of a national emergency commit-tee. Of the nearly 200 injured, 146 people were hospitalised for burns, smoke inhalation and other injuries. Hospital sources said 10 were in a critical condition.

The band’s singer and bassist

were said to be in a serious con-dition, according to local reports. “This is the worst tragedy of its kind” to have ever happened in Bucharest, Arafat said.

Iohannis said he was “shocked” and in “deep pain”. “It is a very sad moment for our nation,” he said on his Facebook page, expressing his “solidarity and compassion” for the families of the victims.

Witnesses described nightmar-ish scenes when fireworks, let off as part of a show to promote the band’s new album, set fire to a pil-lar and part of the ceiling. The

crowd panicked as thick smoke engulfed the room, prompting people to scramble to escape from the club, located in a communist-era basement.

“People were fainting, they were fainting because of the smoke. It was total chaos, people were trampled,” witness Victor Ionescu told local television sta-tion Antena 3. Another witness, Alin Panduru, said the fire spread “in 30 seconds”.

“People could not get out of the club because there was only one exit open and the stampede happened immediately,” he told online news portal Hotnews. Sev-eral media outlets reported that a second exit was closed at the time when the blaze broke out.

Many of the casualties suffered from leg injuries after being tram-pled, according to health authori-ties. More than 500 firefighters, ambulance crew and police were mobilised.

Hundreds of people responded to calls on Facebook for blood donations, with long queues form-ing outside several hospitals and donation centres in the capital early yesterday. Authorities have also set up telephone helplines for members of the public trying to locate friends and relatives.

AFP

SOFIA: Some 130 migrants, most believed to be from Syria, were discovered yesterday in a refrigerated truck on the Bul-garian border with Turkey, Bul-garia’s interior ministry said, adding that the lorry driver had been arrested.

A ministry spokeswoman said 38 men, 33 women and 58 children were found hidden behind bottles of sparkling water at the border crossing of Kapitan-Andreevo, adding that their state of health was not a cause for concern.

The migrants’ attempt to flee their homeland recalled a case with a more tragic outcome in August when 71 migrants were found to have frozen to death in a refrigerated lorry designed to carry frozen food after traffickers abandoned the vehicle in Austria.

EU member Bulgaria has been making around 100 arrests a day of migrants seeking to tran-sit the country clandestinely to avoid being discovered and sent to camps pending an outcome to their asylum requests. The country has to date avoided the mass influx seen by neighbour-ing Greece, which thousands of refugees have sought to reach in perilous crossings by sea.

But Bulgarian authorities nonetheless fear increased arriv-als ahead of the winter, leading police yesterday to make checks of some 6,000 vehicles and arrest

16 suspected traffickers as well as 495 migrants nationwide.

BRAWL IN GERMANYMeanwhile, some 50 people at a

German shelter for asylum seek-ers engaged in a violent brawl over-night, hurling chairs and beating each other with table legs, leaving six people injured, police said.

The punch-up, which took place in the northern town of Itzehoe, was the latest illustration of the rising tensions between refugees at the country’s overstretched reception centres.

The dispute broke out dur-ing the evening meal on Friday when an Arabic-speaking refugee insulted a group of Kurds, a police statement said. The confronta-tion quickly escalated, drawing in around 50 people who threw tables, chairs and benches and beat each other with table legs.

Security guards tried to break up by fight by using pepper spray and around 50 police and six dogs were called in as backup. Four asylum seekers were treated for head injuries and two security guards sustained light injuries, the statement said.

Two Kurds as well as a Syrian were arrested after being singled out as the main instigators, with police saying they would be trans-ferred to “other centres around the country”.

AGENCIES

MADRID: A faulty substance used in eye operations has cost 13 Spaniards their sight in one eye and left 28 other patients also suf-fering injuries, health authorities announced yesterday.

Government medical agency AEMPS said in a statement that it was “aware of 41 cases of people affected by usage of the surgical product Ala Octa, which was recalled by the Spanish health ministry in June and is suspected of causing loss of vision in several people”.

The agency said there had been 13 con-firmed cases of patients being completely blinded in the eye that was being operated on using Ala Octa, which is made by German company Alamedics.

Other complications included damage to retinal tissue and the optic nerve, inflamma-tions and a loss of sharpness of vision. The 41 cases were reported at 11 health facilities in Spain, primarily in the Basque region on the

French border, while Alamedics has pointed to a further case in Italy. Christian Lingen-felder of Alamedics wrote to distributors on July 13 stating that “the product Ala Octa is suspected of being at the origin of degen-erative processes in the retina”. “Sales have been stopped until the circumstances can be completely clarified,” he added.

The Alamedics website describes Ala Octa as “chemically and physiologically inert and absolutely non-toxic”. The website describes the compound as a medical aid used in the treatment of several eye conditions, includ-ing detached retinas. Spanish authorities announced a recall of Ala Octa on June 26, several days after a distributor raised the alarm over 20 suspect cases in the country. France also announced on September 23 that the product would be pulled from the shelves.

AFP

LONDON: The last British resi-dent detained in Guantanamo Bay is reportedly planning to seek compensation from the British government, following his release after more than 13 years in the top-security US military jail.

Saudi national Shaker Aamer was beginning his first full day back in Britain yesterday after flying back to London from the prison on Cuba.

The 46-year-old father of four thanked his supporters, “so strongly devoted to the truth,” for helping him through the ordeal. “If I was the fire to be lit to tell the truth, it was the people who protected the fire from the wind,” he said in a statement issued through his lawyers.

“Without knowing of their fight I might have given up more than once... and without their devotion to justice I would not be here in Britain now.” British newspapers reported he plans to claim for damages from the British gov-ernment.

Members of his legal team told The Guardian newspaper that they expect the government to settle the claim as quickly as pos-sible to avoid allegations of Brit-ain’s involvement in human rights abuses aired in court. The nine British nationals and six British residents released from Guan-tanamo are each thought to have received around £1m from the government.

London settled civil damages claims rather than contest in court allegations that Britain’s security services were complicit in what happened to them. Lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, who spent years campaigning for Aamer’s release, said that he would now be

given medical tests before being reunited with his family.

He is thought to be suffering from a string of health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder. “I think he’ll want to hear the word ‘Daddy’ instead of number 239,” said Smith, refer-ring to Aamer’s prisoner number at Guantanamo.

The United States had accused Aamer of acting as a recruiter, financier and fighter for Al Qaeda, as well as being a close associate of Osama bin Laden, but never charged him. Twice cleared for release from Guantanamo in 2007 and 2009, he has always denied the allegations and said he was in Afghanistan working for a charity when he was captured by bounty hunters. Cameron had pressed US President Barack Obama for his release and his spokeswoman said there were no plans for the British authorities to detain him or charge him.

Aamer was born in Saudi Ara-bia in December 1968 and lived in the US before settling in Brit-ain, where he married a Brit-ish woman and, in 1996, became a resident. In 2001, he took his family to Afghanistan, but sent them to Pakistan after the Sep-tember 11 attacks. He said he was about to join them when he was detained.

He was transferred to Guan-tanamo Bay in 2002, where he said he faced mistreatment, lead-ing him to become an advocate for prisoners’ rights and an organiser of hunger strikes.

Aamer fasted even after his release was announced last month in protest in protest at alleged mistreatment.

AFP

Billionaire donor backs Rubio for US presidentNEW YORK: One of the wealthiest and most influential Republican donors is throwing his support behind the presidential campaign of US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, the New York Times reported on Friday.

Billionaire New York investor Paul Singer sent a letter to dozens of other donors on Fri-day declaring his support for Rubio in a major blow to the struggling campaign of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the newspaper said. They are among the candidates seeking the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Asked by reporters in Iowa about Singer’s support, Rubio said: “When people donate to us, they buy into our agenda, and I’m glad that he has and it will help us with resources.” Rubio added: “Resources alone are not enough ... but we’re grateful to have his help, obviously.”

Rubio, Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and several other Republican can-didates had eagerly sought Singer’s support, the Times said.

REUTERS

Over 120 migrants found in Bulgarian refrigerated truck

Last UK resident freed from Gitmo may seek damages

Faulty eye product costs 13 Spaniards their sight

19FEATURES SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Issey Miyake delights Paris Fashion WeekBy Yoko Tanimoto

Issey Miyake’s colourful women’s clothes, made from original fabric of elegantly curved pleats, were a highlight of the

recent spring/summer 2016 Paris Fashion Week event.

The charming original fabric was made with the process called “Baked Stretch,” and seemed to embody the designer’s desire to entertain the wearer. The colours, including vivid reds, greens and yellows, were based on the image of the jungle, and the pleats bounced gracefully as the models walked.

The process involves a special glue that’s applied to the fabric, which is then baked in a machine normally used for transferring prints onto cloth. This causes the glued sec-tions to swell up and form shape-memory pleats. The process also made it possible to

produce individually colored curved pleats in the brand’s colour scheme.

In coming up with the idea for the pleating technique, Issey Miyake designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae, 39, said he learned about the swell-ing glue and then combined it with the concept of baking bread.

Seeking to manufacture a fabric that would enrich people’s daily clothing with powerful colours and shapes, Miyamae and his team went through a lot of trial and error, includ-ing changing the quantity of the glue and the temperature of the baking machine.

“[Making fabrics by] baking and steaming is similar to cooking,” Miyamae said. “Using different materials and recipes can produce clothes with various flavours. I tried to con-trive pleating techniques that are different from the conventional pressing method for straight pleats.”

Miyamae also developed the “3D Steam Stretch” technique, where steam is applied to polyester fabric with an unusual texture, causing part of it to shrink and render an elevated geometric pattern.

Jackets and skirts made from the high-tech fabric with cotton and other materials were among the pieces presented at the latest Paris show.

Fashion journalist Tim Blanks said Issey Miyake has been ardent in its research and development, resulting in the brand’s special techniques being unrivaled across the world. He also said Miyamae’s clothes have a happy, delightful atmosphere, and inimitable quality about them.

Founding designer Issey Miyake insisted that making thread should be the first stage in the manufacturing process. Miyamae, the fourth designer of the brand, said, “I want to

By Warren Brown

Ordinary works. I can get accus-tomed to it, even favour it. For one thing, you don’t have to worry about where you park

ordinary, unless you do something egre-giously silly such as choose a spot in a dark alley in an unfamiliar city.

Law enforcement people leave you alone in ordinary, particularly if you are sitting behind the steering wheel with noticeably gray hair. You’d have to do something pretty outrageous to get their attention. Otherwise, you can almost hear them thinking: “Leave the old guy alone.”

The only bad thing about being gray-haired and driving something as ordi-nary as this week’s subject vehicle, the 2016 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD crossover utility vehicle, is young men. What’s with them? The posted speed limit, clearly visible in stark black and white, is 30 miles per hour.

I am going 30 mph, maybe 32 mph, but clearly not fast enough for the fellow in the loud Dodge Challenger behind me. He moves close to my rear bumper, then swerves to my right before rudely cutting in front of me.

He’s a young man in a hurry — to go where? I don’t know. That 30 mph limit pretty much controls the length of George Mason Boulevard in Arlington. If Mr. Challenger keeps moving as fast as he’s moving, he’s likely to run into one of his former classmates now wearing an Arlington County Police uniform.

I like the ease and comfort of ordinary

represented by the CX-5 Grand Touring AWD. It sits relatively high, with a ground clearance of 8.5 inches. You can see everything front and rear. You feel in command of your driving situation. And this one comes with a bevy of advanced driver-assistance options - rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitor, emer-gency brake assist-city. Put it this way, if another motorist is intent on speed-ing past you on your blind side, you see the bad actor in plenty of time to avoid trouble.

But my favourite technology on the CX-5 Grand Touring is the rear cross-traffic alert system, especially at around 7:30 on a weekday morning when parents are rushing to work, others are herding their young ones to local school bus stops and high school students are speeding to class.

The rear cross-traffic alert system helps eliminate the danger of a back-up collision or, worse, hitting a young child walking behind the CX-5. That technol-ogy seems to me to be valuable enough to be required by federal traffic safety officials.

It costs money, of course, about an extra $1,505 when coupled with other advanced driver assistance systems. But it is well worth it, I think - certainly in comparison to the insurmountable grief of striking a child walking to school.

The new CX-5 Grand Touring AWD comes with a stronger engine - an optional 2.5-liter gasoline inline four-cylinder model (184 horsepower and 185 pound-feet of torque). You won’t beat anyone off the mark with this one. No

matter. It is a dedicated family hauler. Besides, the 2.5-litre engine has more oomph and only marginally worse fuel economy than the base 2-litre gasoline four-cylinder (155 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque).

The bigger engine delivers 24 miles per gallon in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. The 2-litre engine gets you 26 in the city and 35 on the highway. Both run on regular grade petrol, which was priced at $1.99 a gallon in several neigh-bourhoods in Northern Virginia last week when I checked.

I like this one. Interior fit and finish are excellent. Interior materials seem substantially improved over those used in the 2014 and 2015 models. But if you are an audiophile, you won’t be crazy about this one. The sound system deliv-ers dreadfully ordinary reproduction. Oh, well.

Nuts & Bolts Bottom line: The Mazda CX-5 Grand

Touring is a good choice for young fami-lies seeking maximum utility, excellent safety and reasonably good fuel economy.

Ride, acceleration and handling: It gets good marks in all three, meaning it will please most people looking for solid family transportation.

Head-turning quotient: This one fits well in any supermarket or school park-ing lot.

Body style/layout: The CX-5 is a front-engine, compact crossover-utility vehicle available with front-wheel or all-wheel-drive. There are four side doors

and a rear hatch. There are three trim levels: Sport, Touring and Grand Touring.

Engine/transmission: The CX-5 Grand Touring AWD comes with a 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder, 16-valve gasoline engine (184 horsepower, 185 pound-feet of torque) linked to a six-speed automatic transmission. A 2-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine is available.

Capacities: Seating is for five people. Maximum cargo capacity is 64.8 cubic feet and 34.1 cubic feet with all passenger seats in place. Fuel capacity is 14.8 gal-lons. Regular grade gasoline works fine.

Mileage: I averaged 28 miles per gal-lon in highway driving.

Safety: Standard equipment includes four-wheel disc brakes, ventilated front and solid rear; four-wheel antilock brake protection; emergency braking assist-ance; traction and stability control; rear parking assistance; side and head air bags.

Recommended options: Rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure warning system.

Pricing in US: The 2016 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD starts at $29,470. Price as tested is $34,140, including $3,790 in options.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD: Good choice for young families

Sheraton Doha Hotel appoints new Complex General Manager

The Sheraton Doha Resort & Convention Hotel recently

appointed Nick Heath (pictured) as its new Complex General Manager. Heath has been working with Starwood Hotels & Resorts since 2007 and served as General Manager of W Bangkok and the W Seoul-Walkerhill prior to joining Sheraton Doha.

A British National, Heath started his hospitality career as a Corporate Engineering Management Trainee and since then has grown his career. He brings with him a wealth of experience within the hospitality business with over 25 years of experi-ence with global hotel chains across the USA, Taiwan, Thailand, Guam, Indonesia and South Korea.

During his previous tenure at W Bangkok, Nick led a team of 400 associates at the property which opened its doors to the public in December 2012. He also led “The House on Sathorn” project, a free standing landmark building adjacent to the hotel, repurposed as a day to night entertainment destination venue, opened to much anticipa-tion in July 2015.

Commenting on his appointment, Heath said, “I am both honoured and excited to be joining such a iconic and historic property within the Starwood family and look forward to working with the outstanding team. Together, we will continue to add to the bespoke luxury experi-ence that the award-winning hotel has always been famous for and further strengthen the hotel’s appeal within the region and beyond. Our aim is to offer an unrivalled guest experience that motivates all of us to go the extra mile.”

THE PENINSULA

Doha Marriott wins big at Hotelier Middle East Awards

The Doha Marriott announced that they won three top

awards at the Hotelier Middle East Awards. Out of the 500 plus prop-erties who entered the Hotelier Middle East Awards, the number was whittled down and shortlisted to just six nominations for each category. Doha Marriott were selected for three of these cat-egories and received the General Manager of the Year Award – John Hazard, Food & Beverage Manager of the Year Award - Dietmar Platz as well as Hotel Team of the Year Award for 2015.

Companies and individu-als from countries across the Middle East including the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar attended the awards ceremony which was held at the Intercontinental Dubai Festival City, in Dubai.

“Each of our nominated catego-ries consisted of stiff competition; however the hard work and effort

that was put into their work paid off. Over the past year the Doha Marriott Hotel achieved a great amount of successes including re-vamping two restaurants and one night club as well as surpassed a number of goals in terms of cov-ers, revenue and budget. Doha Marriott is proud to accept these awards and would like to extend a heartwarming thank you to their loyal guests for all of their support and being a part of this fantas-tic achievement,” a press release from the hotel said.

“John Hazard (General Manager) and Dietmar Platz (Food & Beverage Director) have facilitated the change and revival of the Doha Marriott Hotel to what it is today. The Doha Marriott family looks forward to new challenges and opportuni-ties and is delighted to be recog-nized for these three prestigious awards for being the best in the entire region of Doha and the Middle East,” it added.

THE PENINSULA

Hotel officials with the awards they won.

Eating ‘everything in moderation’ may be bad for you

Contrary to popular percep-tion, eating ‘everything in moderation’ may actually

lead to worse metabolic health as compared to eating a smaller number of healthy foods, says a new study.

“’Eat everything in modera-tion’ has been a long-standing dietary recommendation, but without much empiric support-ing evidence in populations,” said study first author Marcia C de Oliveira Otto, assistant professor at The University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston, US.

Using data from 6,814 par-ticipants, the authors measured diet diversity through different measures.

Researchers evaluated how diet diversity was associated with change in waist circumference five years after the beginning of the study and with onset of Type 2 diabetes 10 years later.

The researchers found that more diversity in the diet was not linked to better outcomes.

IANS

develop more new materials and present them as clothing that is comfortable and pleasant to wear.”

The clothes on show in Paris are scheduled to go on sale in January, with prices starting at 55,000 (about $456), excluding tax.

Junya Watanabe also excited attendees at the lat-est Paris event with dresses made using traditional Japanese washi paper.

The process involved pasting pieces of washi paper onto very thin silk or polyester and then dissolving the unwanted parts so that what remains renders a pattern, such as leopard print. The result resembled lace, and particularly caught the eye when combined with a large aluminum accessory.

THE WASHINGTON POST

MORNING BREAK20SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


FajrShorook

ZuhrAsr

MaghribIsha

04.24 am05.41 am

11.17 am02.29 pm

04.55 pm06.25 pm

Minimum: 27o C Maximum: 32o C08:30 - 19:45 00:45 - 15:45HIGH TIDE

Partly cloudy with chance of scattered rain, thundery at times.LOW TIDE

Prayer Timings Weather

Autumn comes calling

An aerial view shows a mixed forest on a sunny autumn day in Recklinghausen, Germany, yesterday.

Happy Days actor Al Molinaro dies aged 96LOS ANGELES: Al Molinaro, known for playing Big Al Delvec-chio on the hit US sitcom Happy Days, died on Friday, reports said. He was 96. Molinaro passed away in a California hospital from com-plications of a gall bladder infec-tion, his son Michael told the Los Angeles Times.

Molinaro played the owner of the 1950s Arnold’s Drive-In on the popular TV show Happy Days, which ran from 1974 to 1984.

It was here that the main char-acters would gather — including leather-jacketed bad boy Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli, played by Henry Winkler, and the clean-cut Richie Cunningham, depicted by Ron Howard.

Molinaro played Delvecchio in more than a 100 episodes, accord-ing to the LA Times, which quoted him as saying: “When you live with a character as long as I have, you know how he would talk in almost any situation.”

Molinaro also starred in the Happy Days spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi, as well as in The Odd Cou-ple, and appeared in commercials later in life. Molinaro also co-founded a chain of diners called Big Al’s in a bid to capitalize on his on-screen success, the Wash-ington Post reported.

AFP

New York braces for $2bn autumn art salesNEW YORK: It’s fall. Leaves in Central Park are golden and so are profits in the art world, as Christie’s and Sotheby’s pre-pare to auction off $2bn worth of works in New York.

From November 4 to 12, the two auction houses go head to head in selling hundreds of pieces of modern, impressionist, post-war and contemporary art, six months after the spring season smashed a string of records and netted more than $2.6bn.

Fuelled by rising demand from Asia and the Gulf, it was 10 days of eye-watering extravagance that set a new world record for any work of art sold at auction — $179.4m for a Picasso.

“Buyers in the art market have never been more diversified,” explained Michael Macaulay, head of evening sales in contem-porary art at Sotheby’s.

“Ten years ago you’d say an American abstract expression-

ist painting is probably going to end up in the States but I think now genuinely, as never before, it could go to any corner of the world.”

Sotheby’s kicks off the season by selling the private collection of the American philanthropist Alfred Taubman but it is rival Christie’s that grabs the head-lines with two top lots.

The work estimated to be the most expensive is a work by Amedeo Modigliani valued at $100m, followed by an iconic pop art masterpiece from Roy Lich-tenstein estimated at $80m.

Modigliani’s work comes to auction for the first time, expected to set a new record for the Italian artist.

The picture of the woman reclining on a luscious red couch and blue cushion, painted in 1917-18, provoked a scandal when it was first exhibited in Paris.

“It is unquestionably a mas-

terpiece,” said Jessica Fertig, co-head of the Christie’s sale.

Christie’s believes Lichten-stein’s Nurse — a shocked looking blonde with red lips — could also fetch more than $100m, which would nearly double the artist’s current record.

That would make it a shrewd investment for its most recent owner, who acquired the comic book-inspired portrait for $1.65m in 1995.

US billionaire and Republican party donor, Bill Koch, can also expect a giant windfall.

He is parting company with Picasso’s La Gommeuse, the por-trait of a cabaret artist dating back to 1901 when the artist was just 19 years old and grieving the suicide of a close friend.

Koch bought the canvas for $3m in 1984. Sotheby’s expects it to fetch around $60m.

Not only that, but Koch got two for the price of one.

In 2000, he discovered that there was another painting on the reverse — a mocking depic-tion of Picasso’s art dealer — that had been hidden under the lining for a century.

Koch is also parting company with a Monet Water Lilies piece, which Sotheby’s is selling on November 5, valued at $30-50m.

Another highlight is a Vincent van Gogh — moving sky over a landscape — valued at $50-70m, painted a year before the artist’s death and showing storm clouds over fields outside Arles, France.

Celebrity watchers can also look out for a Picasso portrait of his lover, Dora Maar, valued at $25-35m and once owned by Gianni Versace, the murdered Italian fashion designer.

On the contemporary front, the Sotheby’s standout is an Untitled by American painter Cy Twombly from his Blackboard series dating back to 1968 and valued at $60m.

The former army cryptog-rapher painted six bands of repeated loopy lines on a grey background, which is being sold by a prominent US collector to benefit a reform temple in Los Angeles.

Another household name is an Andy Warhol painting of Mao, from his first series of the late Chinese communist leader, val-ued at more than $40m.

Back at Christie’s, a portrait of the ex-husband of Britain’s Duch-ess of Cornwall, Andrew Parker Bowles, by Lucian Freud is valued at up to $30m and was painted between 2003-04, shortly before Camilla married the Prince of Wales, her longtime lover.

In a moment for women artists, Christie’s expects to sell Louise Bourgeois’ giant bronze statue of a spider for $25-35m, smashing the French-American’s current record of $10.7m.

AFP

Bosch paintings ‘likely imitations’THE HAGUE: Two famous paintings thought to be works of mediaeval Dutch master Hiero-nymus Bosch are likely to have been imitations painted around the same time, Dutch media reported yesterday.

The works “were made at the same time, but likely to have been made by imitators,” public news broadcaster NOS said.

The conclusion was made after years of research by the Bosch Research and Conserva-tion Project (BRCP), which since 2010 have been studying and doc-umenting the early Dutch mas-

ter’s works, the NOS said.Researchers were able to com-

pare paintings using infrared reflectography, ultrahigh-reso-lution digital macro photography and other modern techniques, the BRCP said on its website.

“Together with the micro-scopic study of the paintings, all of this enabled us to write exten-sive research reports detailing the conditions of the works,” it added.

The project’s team includes researchers from Amsterdam’s famous Rijksmuseum, Radboud University in Nijmegen and the

University of Arizona in Tucson.Both paintings have long been

regarded as seminal works by Bosch, known for his love of fan-tastical angels and saints, dia-bolical monsters and devils and nightmares taken from Biblical themes.

“Bosch’s works particularly influenced Bruegel in the 16th century... and in the 20th cen-tury were cited by the Surreal-ists as precursors of their own visions,” London’s National Gal-lery described Bosch’s works.

AFP

Sunday 1 November 201518 Muharram 1437

Volume 20Number 6601

Price: QR2

[email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

NEW YORK: Six big US banks need to raise an additional $120bn, most likely in long-term debt, under a rule proposed by the Federal Reserve.

The requirements are aimed at ensur-ing that some of the biggest and most interconnected banks, which include Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co, can better withstand another crisis by turn-ing some of their debt, particularly debt issued by their holding companies, into equity without disrupting markets or requiring a government bailout.

The banks are expected to meet the

$120bn shortfall by issuing debt, which is usually more cost-effective than issu-ing equity, according to Federal Reserve officials speaking at a background press briefing on Friday. The rule proposed, largely in line with banks’ expectations, concerns the lenders’ total loss-absorbing capacity.

It is one of a series of rules aimed at reducing risk in the banking system by determining how much debt and equity banks should use to fund themselves.

In a procedural vote, the Fed’s gover-nors approved a draft of the proposal, meaning it will be submitted for public

comment. During a public meeting with Fed officials, one staffer who worked on the rule said banks should have an easy time complying, because many require-ments overlapped with existing rules. Further, the bulk of the debt require-ments can be fulfilled by refinancing existing debt, the staffer said.

Some requirements must be met by January 1, 2019, while more-stringent requirements must be met by January 1, 2022.

The requirements are most stringent for JPMorgan, followed by Citigroup Inc. After that come Bank of America Corp,

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, all of which have the same requirement. Wells Fargo & Co’s requirement is the next highest, followed by State Street Corp and finally Bank of New York Mel-lon Corp.

JPMorgan has more than $2 trillion in total assets, making it the largest US bank by that measure.

The officials declined to say which two banks already meet the long-term debt requirements under Friday’s proposal.

The rules also apply to US operations of foreign globally systemically impor-tant banks, establishing roughly parallel

requirements as those for US banks, Fed officials said.

Also announced was a draft final rule establishing minimum margin require-ments for swaps that are not cleared through an exchange. The rule is identi-cal to one proposed by other regulators.

A Wells Fargo spokesman said in a statement the bank is reviewing the pro-posal and it appears to be in line with expectations. Representatives from the other banks either declined comment or were not immediately available.

REUTERS

Largest US banks face $120bn shortfall under new rule

Prime Minister reasserts role of private sectorHonours leaders of critical sectors of the countryDOHA: Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday re-affirmed that Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is extend-ing full support to the govern-ment’s development policies which enhance national invest-ments and the empowerment of Qatari youth to take the coun-try’s potential private sector to next level.

Addressing an honouring cer-emony of various committee’s of the country’s critical sectors, including Logistics Commit-tee, the Subcommittee on Food

Security and the Committee on Government markets, the Prime Minister praised the transpar-ency pursued by these committees and their efforts to promote the principles of equal opportunities, justice and the special privileges rendered to Qatari investors, QNA reported.

The Prime Minister honoured members of the Logistics Com-mittee for their contributions in developing and strengthen-ing Qatar’s logistic sector, which is key for boosting the country’s non-hydrocarbon sector’s contri-bution to local economy.

The sector is playing a key role

in realising the vision of the Emir on overcoming challenges and creating policies and mechanisms to ease the obstacles facing the aspirations of the private sector. The premier urged the members of the committees to make more concrete efforts in the completion of national projects.

The Prime Minister honoured members of the subcommittee on Food Security and the Commit-tee on Government Markets for their efforts in completing their assigned projects.

He stressed the key role being played by these committees in achieving sustainable develop-

Qatar offers growth potential for affordable hotelsBy Sachin Kumar

DOHA: Qatar’s hospitality sector offers huge growth potential for affordable hotels — mainly 2-star and 3-star hotels. Currently the country’s hospitality market is dominated by 4- and 5-star hotels. The sector in Qatar now provides approximately 17,900 keys, of which 84 percent are either 4-star or 5-star.

“There is potential for growth for 2- and 3-star hotels in Qatar. Majority of supply in Qatar, com-ing in next 18-24 months, con-sist of 4- and 5-star hotels,” said Johnny Archer, Associate Direc-tor, Consulting and Research, DTZ Qatar.

Qatar has now emerged as a

major centre in the region for financial activities. It has created state-of-the-art infrastructure to host international conferences and exhibitions, which work in favour of hospitality sector in general and affordable hotels in particular.

“Qatar has invested a lot in building conference and exhibi-tion centres which have generated strong demand for business visits. Several professionals coming on business visits like to stay for a night or two in relatively afford-able hotels,” said Archer.

After two years where there was little activity in terms of new supply, a number of new estab-lishments have opened in Doha in recent months. In total, 11 new

hotels have opened in 2015, add-ing approximately 1,400 rooms to the hospitality sector. These new hotels have increased the overall number to 118, including apart-ment hotels.

The Qatar Tourism Authority’s (QTA) mid-year review, released in July, reflected positive results for the key performance indica-tors in the hospitality market in Qatar. Total tourist num-bers between January and June reached 1.53 million, a 7 percent increase on the corresponding period in 2014.

Qatar’s hospitality sector is poised to witness strong growth in coming years.

According to data from QTA, approvals are in place for more

than 120 more hotel establish-ments in Qatar, which if realised will increase the level of supply to approximately 35,000 keys. DTZ’s research has identified 30 new hospitality developments that are under construction and should increase supply in the market by approximately 10,000 keys over the next three years.

The Qatar National Tourism Sector Strategy Plan 2030 has set out a programme to invest $45bn in tourism projects over the next 15 years, which will aim at attracting a larger amount of tourist numbers from outside GCC, with an ambitious target to increase overall.

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Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani and officials at the event.

ment and their contribution to the realisation of Qatar National Vision 2030.

He urged them to do more work in the coming period to make greater achievements in the field of economic development.

Logistics Committee, the Sub-committee on Food Security and the Committee on Govern-ment Markets are government committees working on the devel-opment of policies and implemen-tation of many vital economic

development projects in the state such as the development of logis-tics zone projects, food security projects, and Alforjan markets project.

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Aamal’s net profit rises 23.7 percentDOHA: Driven by strong rev-enue growth and margin expan-sion, Aamal, one of the GCC’s fastest growing diversified com-panies, delivered an impressive QR366.7m total net profit for the first nine months of 2015 (9M, 15). The 9-month net profit is up 23.7 percent compared to the corre-sponding period in the previous year. Aamal’s revenue for grew by 29.6 percent to QR2.07bn on year-on-year.

Aamal’s reported earnings per share grew by 18.2 percent to QR0.52 (9M, 2014 QR0.44). Cap-ital expenditure was QR108.4m compared to QR84.2m a year ago.

Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of Aamal, said: “Aamal has recorded very strong results for the first nine months of 2015…. The principal source of this growth has been from our industrial manufacturing divi-sion, which saw an increase in sales in excess of 50 percent. This gradual repositioning of Aamal to be a company with primarily an industrial focus is integral to its strategic longer term vision; as Qatar continues to develop and modernise, significant opportu-nities are being afforded, par-ticularly in the development of the nation’s infrastructure. It is Aamal’s intention to capitalise on such opportunities and remain at their forefront.”

“Notwithstanding the above, however, we should not overlook the excellent contributions made by our property, and trading and distribution divisions..By retain-ing strong market positions in

these sectors, Aamal offers bal-anced and high quality exposure to the wider Qatari economy as it continues to diversify away from being hydrocarbon dependent. Aamal is one of the few Qatari companies with the business model to benefit across the eco-nomic spectrum, and our proven track record in producing supe-rior returns bears testimony to this,” he said.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal Al Thani, Vice-Chairman of Aamal, said: “The first nine months of 2015 have been very strong for Aamal. Our revenues have grown significantly, as we have consoli-dated and built on our market leadership positions, yet this has not been at the expense of profit-ability, as margins have expanded too. We have always had a focus on operational excellence, with a clear focus on capital discipline. The recent decision to expand into maritime transportation through the establishment of a new subsidiary, Aamal Maritime for Transportation Services, is an excellent example of this approach.”

“Aamal has performed very well over this quarter, sustain-ing the strong momentum that was reported on at our half year results back in July. Growth in revenues has been very strong, which when accompanied by the expansion in margins, has led to very significant earnings growth,” said Tarek M El Sayed, Managing Director of Aamal.

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Porsche recalls close to 60,000 carsBERLIN: Porsche said it would recall close to 60,000 vehicles worldwide due to risks of engine leaks. The luxury arm of Volkswa-gen said the recall would apply to its Macan S and Macan Turbo models, which could be prone to leaks in a low-pressure fuel line in the engine compartment. “This is a purely precautionary measure, as there have been no reports of accidents or injuries as a result of this concern,” Porsche said in a statement.

A total of 58,881 cars will be recalled, including 21,835 in the US, 3,490 in Canada and 3,641 in Germany, the company said.

AFP

A Porsche 911 Carrera 4S and a 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet are displayed after their premieres at the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo.

Saudi disagrees with S&P ratingsRIYADH: The Saudi Ministry of Finance announced that the decision by S&P to downgrade the credit ratings of the Kingdom to A+ with a negative outlook was acted on an unsolicited basis.

In a statement, reported by Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Ministry of Finance strongly disagreed with S&P’s approach to ratings management in this particular instance. The Min-istry considered S&P’s credit assessment reactionary, driven by fluid market factors rather than changes in the fundamentals of the sovereign.

QNA

BUSINESS22SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


RasGas seeks supplier-buyer collaborationStresses need for far-sighted effort to maintain long-term market balanceDOHA: The recent decline in liq-uefied natural gas (LNG) prices and the introduction of new play-ers to the “LNG club” will require a collaborative effort from both LNG suppliers and buyers to adopt a long-term view for maintaining a sustainable LNG market, said RasGas Company Limited’s (RasGas) Chief Execu-tive Officer Hamad Mubarak Al Muhannadi at Gastech, recently held in Singapore.

Speaking on a suppliers’ panel debate entitled, “What will be the impact of lower oil and LNG prices on LNG buyers and sell-ers over the next 5 years?” on

the inaugural day of the four-day event, Al Muhannadi highlighted the long-term nature of the LNG business.

“LNG buyers are currently comfortable with the availability of LNG and have a general wait-and-see attitude towards making new longer term commitments. However, if LNG suppliers fail to develop resources required to meet forecasted longer term demand growth — at the right time and place — there will be a supply and demand imbalance with longer term implications for LNG prices. It is therefore vital that we work together and not

lose sight of the fact that LNG is a long-term business,” said Al Muhannadi.

Speaking on the growing posi-tive role LNG will play in the global fuel mix, Al Muhannadi pointed out that the ‘voice of gas’ is increasingly being heard sup-porting the further penetration of natural gas in the energy sup-ply mix.

“To help this vision along, we — as an industry — need to encourage the implementation of both market and policy-focused reforms that facilitate natural gas’ increased penetration. Both buyers and sellers need to work

together to honour contractual commitments and to jointly influ-ence and enhance the role of gas by providing appropriate support for initiatives promoted by gov-ernments and regulatory agen-cies,” he added.

The Gastech conference and exhibition is held approximately once every 18 months.

This is RasGas’ tenth consecu-tive participation in the industry event. The Qatar delegation was led by the State’s national petro-chemical company, Qatar Petro-leum.

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RasGas CEO Hamad Mubarak Al Muhannadi speaking on a suppliers’ panel discussion on the inaugural day of Gastech in Singapore.

Al Rayyan Hospitality to showcase new resorts at WTMDOHA: Al Rayyan Hospital-ity, the Doha-based pre-eminent hospitality development group, will once again be putting Qatar on the map by showcasing its local and international exquisite resorts through its participation at World Travel Market (WTM), in London from November 2 to 5.

The World Travel Market is the premiere global event for the travel industry and the annual must-attend business-to-business showcase and platform for net-working.

At the 2015 WTM, Al Rayyan Hospitality plans to unveil an exciting choice of distinctive luxury resorts, in line with the company’s vision to revolutionise the perception of hospitality by strategically developing unique lifestyle destinations.

ARH last year announced the opening of its first holiday resort, the super-luxurious Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara, developed as an idyllic 32 acre holiday retreat with a real wow factor, offering surf, sand and serenity.

Opening the first Wellness Centre in a Middle East resort, the 5-star vacation destination offered a holistic approach to health and well-being to revive its guests on holiday with the prom-ise of the latest treatments and exercise options. From bowling alley and putting green to a diving centre, it also has every conceiv-able recreational and entertain-ment facility for guests of any age, and an incomparable family holiday experience.

THE PENINSULA

Qatar’s Expo Milano pavilion attracts millionsDOHA: The Ministry of Economy and Commerce announced yesterday that more than 4 million people visited Qatar Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015, which con-cluded yesterday. The pavilion spread over a 2,451 square metre area was inspired from the Qatari heritage.

It showcased, over the past six months, Qatar’s vision for food security and sustainability and displayed latest technologies in a holistic, interactive and informative expe-rience under the Theme “Seeding Sustainability Innovative Solutions for Food Security”.

The pavilion included various cultural and heritage events and activities, which reflected the history, herit-age, present, and promising future of the country as well as a number of events dedicated for women and children.

It also included a range of distinctive events showcas-ing a number of projects which have been implemented in Qatar in the field of renewable energy, recycling of materials and the preservation of the environment, which were highly appreciated by visitors. Expo Milano 2015, a world fair, saw the participation of 145 countries and many international bodies and organisations.

THE PENINSULAVisitors at the Qatar Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015.

Retaj offers innovative services for better stay

DOHA: Retaj has launched a new mobile application to make the guests more comfortable. When staying at any Retaj hotel, the guests can now simply tap into their App and select any of Retaj’s services.

Speaking about the launch of Retaj App, Mohamed Darwish (pictured), the Regional Direc-tor of Marketing and in Charge of Business Development for Retaj Hotels and Hospitality, said: “Nowadays, companies are moving fast in order to absorb the highest share in the market. Consumer behaviour is fast changing and the hospitality sector is thinking in terms of innovative products to make the guests happy”.

Hospitality sector is increas-ingly utilising the technology to enhance its services. It is a pow-erful tool to satisfy customers as they seek to know how many loyalty programme points they accumulated through their stay and what the gifts redemption are. Customers need to speak with the guest service to ensure that their rooms are according to their preference through online requests, also they can seek mul-tiple services such as requesting room dining, in room cleaning, maintenance, etc. All these serv-ices can be availed through one single point, without calling mul-tiple departments, he said.

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US retailers push banks to use PINs on credit cards as confusion reignsBOSTON: Some big US retail-ers are stepping up efforts to use personal identification numbers, or PINs, with new credit cards embedded with computer chips in a bid to prevent counterfeit card fraud.

But they are being resisted by the banking industry, which sees no need to invest further in PIN technology, already used with debit cards, resulting in halting adoption and widespread confu-sion. A small band of retailers with the clout to call the shots on their branded credit cards is leading the charge. Target Corp is moving ahead with a chip-and-PIN rollout, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to do the same.

But Wal-Mart said it faces obstacles because its credit card partner, Synchrony Financial, is not yet able to handle PINs on credit cards. Synchrony declined comment.

Broadly, US banks are unpre-pared or resisting the change.

The impasse comes after many consumers got their hands on new credit cards embedded with so-

called EMV chips in advance of an October 1 deadline that required retailers to accept chip cards or be liable for fraud losses. EMV stands for EuroPay, MasterCard and Visa. But only about a third of merchants are actually using the chip technology, according to ana-lyst estimates. The number may not pick up until early next year, if at all, because the retail indus-try typically halts upgrades dur-ing the crucial holiday shopping season. “PIN issuance will remain a niche,” said Julie Conroy, credit-card analyst with Aite Group.

Banks favor using chip cards verified by old-school signatures, even though chip-and-PIN usage has led to lower fraud over the decade they have been used in Europe and elsewhere.

“The PIN is definitely a must,” said Lance James, chief scien-tist with cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint. “It’s one extra step that provides true two-factor authentication.”

But bankers say PINs provide little benefit beyond the advan-tage of using chips in combating

the estimated $7bn-plus in annual US card fraud.

EMV chips thwart criminals who use stolen data to create counterfeit cards, a category that Aite estimates accounts for 37 percent of that fraud. Banks say that PINs only provide additional fraud protection when criminals seek to use lost or stolen cards, a situation that Aite estimates accounts for only 14 percent of fraud. Banking groups say there are better approaches than PINs for verifying customers and have asked retailers to embrace tokeni-zation and encryption to prevent theft of credit card numbers.

“PIN is a static data element that would not have a meaning-ful impact on overall payments fraud,” said Electronic Payments Coalition spokesman Sam Fabens.

PINs are also expensive to implement. Gartner analyst Avivah Litan estimates that banks would have to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in network improvements to support them.

REUTERS

CIArb delivers address at QICDRCDOHA: The Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre (QICDRC) has welcomed the President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), along with a delegation of its members, at an event held at the QICDRC earlier this week.

The President of the CIArb, Charles Brown, along with his colleagues Michael Tonkin and Matthew Walker, addressed CIArb members in Doha to mark the centenary celebrations of the CIArb which was founded in Lon-don in 1915.

Brown took the opportunity of highlighting some of the events which had taken place over the past year in celebration of CIArb’s 100th year. These include a series of conferences, commencing in Birmingham and then moving on to Hong Kong, London, Zambia, Singapore and Oxford. Welcom-ing the delegates to the event, the Registrar of the QICDRC, Chris-

Officials at the event.

Beema’s profits increaseDOHA: Damaan Islamic Insurance Company (Beema) announced its results for the third quarter of 2015 after their Board of Directors meeting on the September 25, chaired by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, Chair-man of the company.

The Chairman said in his address that Beema achieved a total profit for both shareholder and policy holders an amount of (QR66m) as a gross contribution of QR249m in the third quarter of the current year 2015; an increase of (23 percent) achieved in the same period of 2014, and sur-plus from insurance operations of QR25m accomplished, whilst there was a 11 percent increase, from 2014, in shareholders profit amounting in QR41m, thanks to the outstanding performance and the diversity of products and quick access to the company’s customers wherever they may be.

He pointed out that the out-standing results achieved by Beema, confirms its ability to achieve the best results in the face of competition within the Qatari insurance market, despite it being a newcomer, Beema has proven itself to be a worthy contender in the insurance field.

Nasser Al Misnad, CEO, said Beema’s growth and achievements is the direct outcome of Beema’s primary goal of reaching custom-ers by providing a comprehensive range of innovative products, serv-ices and delivering quality services. “Thus, we are constantly develop-ing new customer service initia-tives to make our customers’ lives easier, such as our doorstep serv-ice whereby customers are able to renew or buy their comprehensive motor insurance for their cars over the phone, from the comfort of their office or their home.”

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topher Grout, said: “The QICDRC enjoys a close relationship with the CIArb and its members and it is a great privilege to welcome the delegates to this event in Doha as part of the CIArb’s celebratory centenary year.”

The CIArb is a not-for-profit organisation which provides a

wide range of services and sup-port to its members and others who work in the field of alterna-tive dispute resolution. It has 37 branches throughout the world and a membership of approxi-mately 13,000 individuals.

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US watchdog sets rules to ease crowdfundingSAN FRANCISCO: The US Securities and Exchange Com-mission passed rules to allow smaller companies to sell secu-rities through crowdfunding platforms while giving investors greater protections.

Crowdfunding — the best-known example of which is proba-bly the popular American website Kickstarter — is a model of alter-native financing that has devel-oped enormously in recent years. But it has generally not been used to offer and sell securities.

Start-up companies often use it to offer Internet users a chance to buy a product still in develop-ment. If demand is strong enough, they are able to finance produc-tion.

The SEC rules, which were adopted in a three-to-one vote, are to take effect next year. They will make it possible for web users to purchase shares in smaller companies in a way much like that used by big institutional investors specialising in capital risk, albeit on a much smaller scale.

“There is a great deal of enthusiasm in the marketplace for crowdfunding,” SEC Chair-woman Mary Jo White said in a press statement, adding that the new rules would “provide smaller companies with innovative ways to raise capital and give investors the protections they need.”

The new rules will allow a star-tup to raise up to $1m a year by offering shares through a crowd-funding platform that must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The rules aim to protect small-scale backers by limiting the amounts they can invest in this way — with variable ceil-ings depending on their income or net worth — by requiring the platforms to take steps to reduce fraud risks.

The measures also would demand that the startups pub-lish data on their finances, their action plan and the way they intend to use the funds raised.

AFP

VW must act in transparent manner: MerkelBERLIN: The “Made in Ger-many” brand has not been dam-aged by the Volkswagen scandal, but the carmaker needs to deal with the matter in a transpar-ent manner, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday in her weekly podcast.

Almost six weeks after it admitted using illegal software to falsify US diesel emissions tests, VW is under pressure to identify those responsible, fix up to 11 million vehicles and convince regulators, investors. “A lot will depend on how Volkswagen deals with the issue,” Merkel said, add-ing that VW could recover if it acts transparently and changes its organisational structures so that nothing similar can happen again.

REUTERS

23BUSINESS SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


QNB expects turnaround of Indonesian economyNew government’s infrastructure programme a boost DOHA: Indonesia’s economy is slowing but could be turned around by the new government’s infrastructure programme, QNB Group noted in its “Indonesia Economic Insight 2015” released yesterday.

The report examines the out-look for the Indonesian economy and the ongoing challenges facing the current administration, such as capital flight and an infrastruc-ture gap, amidst the constrain-ing environment of a slowing economy.

According to the report, under-investment has led to supply bot-tlenecks and an infrastructure gap, which the new government hopes to close. Poor infrastruc-ture creates crippling supply bottlenecks: heavy road traffic,

congested transport networks and widespread power and water shortages.

As a result, growth is sub-par and inflation and interest rates are high.

However, Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo DK, the new president elected in October 2014, hopes to turn the situation around by revitalising investment in infrastructure.

QNB analysts expect Indone-sia’s real GDP growth to slow in H2, 2015 on tighter financial con-ditions, as credit growth is slow-ing, interbank interest rates are rising and capital outflows may continue as US monetary policy begins to rise.

A recovery should begin in 2016, with infrastructure invest-ment adding to growth.

By 2017, financial conditions should begin to ease as the US Federal Reserve nears the end of its tightening cycle, adding to growth through healthier capital flows along with a more stable Indonesian Rupiah (IDR).

In late 2015 and during 2016-17, QNB expects the current account deficit to widen as the infrastruc-ture investment programme gets underway, which should lead to higher imports of capital goods.

Exports are likely to be held back by restrictions on the export of certain raw materials, which are designed to support the devel-opment of domestic manufactur-ing industries. However, slightly stronger exports are expected in 2016-17 than in 2015 due to a weaker IDR, which should boost

competitiveness, as well as gov-ernment policies to support man-ufacturing exporters.

Banking sector growth may be constrained by tight financial conditions until 2017 at the ear-liest

In 2016-17, deposit growth is expected to slow from high levels in line with falling inflation and lower nominal GDP growth.

Loan growth could be con-strained in 2015-16 due to rising interest rates, depressed capital flows and higher NPLs.

From 2017, loan growth should pick up gradually as credit demand recovers (on higher eco-nomic growth and investment) and as financial conditions ease.

THE PENINSULA

ARTIC’s Four Seasons in Cairo in Conde Nast Traveler’s listDOHA: Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Company (ARTIC), the international hotel invest-ment and hospitality subsidiary of Al Faisal Holding Company, one of Qatar’s largest private diversified industrial groups, announced that one of its prop-erties in Egypt, the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at The First Resi-dence, has been named in Conde Nast Traveler’s prestigious list of the Top 25 Hotels in Africa, ranking at number five.

This recognition is the result of the successful strategic coopera-tion between Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, one of the world’s top hotel operators, and ARTIC, one of the leading global hotel invest-ment companies. The Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at The First Residence is the only hotel in Egypt to have been included in the list.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Faisal Al Thani, Vice Chairman of ARTIC, said: “We would like to congratu-late the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at The First Residence on this outstanding achievement. It is the first Four Seasons branded hotel to open in the Middle East and to be ranked number five in Africa is recognition of their continuous efforts to provide the highest levels of service which travellers expect from this high end brand. We have a strong relationship with the Four Seasons and I look forward to fur-ther successful collaboration.”

Tarek El Sayed, Executive Board Member, said: “Being ranked so highly by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler is very pleasing and is the result of close cooperation between ARTIC and our partners. ARTIC will continue to expand the scope of its investments in line with our growth strategy of building part-nerships with the best operators and building an investment port-folio of eminent and distinguished hotels in terms of brand, location and architectural design, so con-tributing to the future growth of the company.”

THE PENINSULA

Australian minister visits Hassad FoodDOHA: Hassad Food, Qatar’s premier investor in the food and agri-business sectors, received the Western Australian delega-tion on Thursday.

Hon Ken Baston Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries visited the headquarters of Has-sad Food, accompanied by Trevor Whittington, Chief of Staff to the Minister, along with other mem-bers of the delegation.

The Australian delegation met with Nasser Mohamed Al Hajri, Chairman and Managing Direc-tor of Hassad Food, discussed the current and future outlook of Hassad Food’s investments in Australia, and any possible sup-port that can be provided by the state. They also discussed poten-tial collaboration between Aus-tralian companies and Hassad Food’s subsidiaries.

THE PENINSULA

Hon Ken Baston, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and Nasser Mohamed Al Hajri, Chairman and Managing Director of Hassad Food, at Hassad Food headquarters.

QIB moves to new location at City CenterDOHA: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has moved to a new location at the City Center Mall in the West Bay Area.

The branch is located on the ground floor of City Center with easy access to parking. It will be open seven days a week, with two separate shifts in the morning and the evening, from Saturday to Thursday from 9am to 2:30pm and from 3:30pm to 9:00pm while the working hours on Fridays are from 5pm to 9pm.

The expansion of the City Center branch has been under-taken in response to high demand from customers. The new expanded premises reflect the bank’s commitment to ensuring strong presence in the heart of Qatar’s most thriving communi-ties — in order to be easily accessi-ble by QIB customers everywhere.

The branch is the first to fea-ture a new modern design, includ-ing an area where customers can transact online, and it is currently being rolled out to all main QIB branches. In keeping with QIB’s customer-centric approach, the branch will offer customers a full range of premium QIB prod-ucts and services to meet the everyday’s as we well as special-ised finance needs. Customers

can open different types of bank accounts, enjoy the convenience of QIB debit and credit cards, apply for a suite of financing products when visiting the branch and receive expert and personalised advice about Takaful services and other Islamic banking services. The branch will also incorporate ATM and Cash Deposit Machines that can be used for withdrawing or depositing cash and other serv-ices on 24/7 basis.

“We are pleased to be able to offer QIB customers a centrally located, highly accessible branch in the heart of one of the larg-est malls in Doha,” said D Anand, General Manager of QIB’s Per-sonal Banking Group.

“The new City Centre Mall branch is part of the bank’s on-going efforts to bring QIB’s banking services to customers everywhere, and will help to meet the growing demand for Islamic banking services. The modern, welcoming design of the new branch will soon be rolled out across all of QIB’s main branches, including Fanar, Salwa Road, Rayan, and Al Khor, providing a seamless branch experience in line with our customers’ expectations”.

THE PENINSULA

China to allow individuals to invest more abroadSHANGHAI: China is consid-ering relaxing limits to allow individuals to invest overseas in stocks and property, the central bank said, which would poten-tially unleash a flood of money if the government loosens strict capital controls.

The country keeps a tight grip on outflows of funds due to wor-ries capital flight could disrupt the economy and weaken its con-trol. The People’s Bank of China said it was studying letting “quali-fied” individuals invest abroad in industry, property and financial products through the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, according to a statement released.

“These policy initiatives are another important step toward complete capital account liber-alisation,” Zhou Hao, a senior economist at Commerzbank in

Singapore, was quoted by Bloomb-erg News as saying.

China’s premier free trade zone in the commercial hub Shanghai was set up in 2013 with the prom-ise of a range of financial reforms, but foreign investors especially have expressed disappointment over the pace of change.

Chinese citizens are now only allowed to convert the equivalent of $50,000 from the domestic yuan currency under an annual quota, state media said, which creates a limit on overseas investment though many evade the barrier.

Individuals are allowed to legally invest in stocks in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, through a special link with accounts on the Shang-hai stock exchange.

The central bank announce-ment, which gave no timetable

for the move, followed a top-level Communist Party meeting which discussed the country’s develop-ment plans for the next five years.

China also wants the yuan to join the International Monetary Fund’s “special drawing rights” basket of currencies and is pursu-ing reforms to help gain the cov-eted status. In August, the central bank suddenly devalued the yuan, allowing it to lose nearly five per-cent of its value over a week, in a move which raised alarm over the state of the world’s second largest economy.

Meanwhile, Premier Li Keqiang said China’s domestic demand potential is as huge as ever, despite slowing growth and a difficult economic transformation process, according to a statement on the Chinese foreign ministry website yesterday.

Li’s comments were made on Friday in the eastern city of Hefei during a forum with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the statement said. “China is still one of the world’s most attractive des-tinations for investment,” Li said.

China’s economy is on track to post its slowest growth in 25 years. However, official data shows monthly retail sales this year have continuously increased by over 10 percent, and sectors such as entertainment are expanding at a rapid clip.

In a separate meeting yes-terday, Li emphasised China must improve and innovate its approach towards macro-eco-nomic control, and aim to deliver “quality” growth, state news agency Xinhua said.

AFP/REUTERSOfficials at the new branch in City Center.

Kia maintains strong position on Interbrand’s 100 best brands listDOHA: Kia has been ranked number 74 on Interbrand’s 2015 list of 100 Best Global Brands.

The international brand con-sultancy featured the car manu-facturer in their exclusive list for Best Global Brand for the fourth consecutive year, recognising Kia’s growth in global prominence.

Interbrand attributes Kia’s success to“excellent design, high quality and innovative brand management in the global mar-kets”.

Kia’s commercial performance in the past calendar year is admi-rable given the challenging eco-nomic climate around the world.

The manufacturer saw its brand value increase of 5 percent, this sustained growth gives Kia a current estimated value of $5.7bn.

The company’s total brand value has grown a remarkable 530 per-cent since 2007.

Alex Chung, President of Kia Motors Middle East and Africa Regional Headquarters, said: “We are very proud to be featured as one of top 100 global brands for 2015, such an honourable recog-nition is an incredible motivation for us to raise the bar for our-selves every year.”

“The most satisfying aspect of being included in this list along with other great global brands is the fact that it proves the cus-tomer response to our products are extremely positive. We have gone from strength to strength as a manufacturer and will continue to reach new heights, our custom-ers can expect greater innova-

tions and value added services,” Chung added.

The year 2015 has proven to be a highly rewarding year for Kia, receiving numerous accolades such as being ranked number one among mass market brands in JD Power’s Initial Quality Study (IQS).

The Soul EV, the manufactur-er’s first electronic vehicle sold, was crowned Car of the Year in Norway and also won the Best Eco-Friendly Vehicle at Motor week’s 2015 Drivers’ Choice Awards.

The car manufacturer’s first appearance on Interbrand’s list of 100 Best Global Brands was in 2012, ranking 87th.

THE PENINSULA

Nokia signs deals worth $1bn with China MobileHELSINKI: Finnish telecoms group Nokia announced it had inked a slew of deals worth $1bn to sell equipment and services to China Mobile.

The Finnish firm’s contract with the world’s largest mobile operator includes an agreement to roll out a fourth generation wire-less network as well as provide infrastructure, maintenance, net-work planning and software solu-tions. The contracts were signed by Li Huidi, executive vice-presi-dent of China Mobile, and Nokia counterpart Hans-Juergen Bill in the presence of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

AFP

Hyundai recognised as one of top 40 brandsDOHA: Hyundai Motor is the world’s 39th biggest brand according to Interbrand. Record-ing an 8.5 percent growth in brand value since last year to $11.3bn, the Korean company is also the automotive industry’s seventh largest brand.

Over the past decade, Hyundai Motor has grown its value by more than $7bn, rising 36 places to sit among some of the biggest names on the planet.

Embarking on an intensive period of change, fuelled by inven-tive and emotional brand market-ing, Hyundai Motor has boosted significantly its brand awareness with customers. Creating an enhanced profile across the areas of culture, sport, and corporate social responsibility and through

its new, high quality products, Hyundai Motor has advanced its caring outlook to connect with customers around the world.

“The fact that Hyundai Motor Company has been ranked as number 39 by Interbrand is thanks to the power of brand building,” said Jin (James) Kim, Vice-President and Head of Hyundai Africa and Middle East. “In the last 12 months alone our company has reached new heights in terms of its growth, likeability and awareness globally and this is thanks to the strengthening of the ‘New Thinking. New Possibili-ties.’ brand slogan which embod-ies the essence of the company in everything that we do.”

THE PENINSULA

BUSINESS24SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Showroomprive.com in Euronext Paris

FROM LEFT: Showroomprive.com co-founders Thierry Petit and David Dayan ring the bell in the presence of Euronext Paris CEO Anthony Attia and French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron at French online fashion retailer Showroomprive.com’s debut on stock market in Courbevoie near Paris. It raised $282m in its IPO.

ECB to keep inflation target on track: DraghiEuropean Central Bank ready to do what it takes to keep medium-term target on courseMILAN: The European Central Bank (ECB) is ready to do what it takes to keep its medium-term inflation target on course, its head Mario Draghi (pictured) said in a newspaper interview published yesterday.

Consumer prices in the 19-country eurozone slipped by 0.1 percent in September — far from the bank’s aim of just below 2 percent — prompting calls for the ECB to expand or extend its €60bn a month of asset purchases.

“If we are convinced that our medium-term inflation target is at risk, we will take the necessary actions,” Draghi told the Italian

daily Il Sole 24 Ore. “We will see whether a further stimulus is necessary. This is an open question,” he said, adding it would take longer than was foreseen in March to return to price stability.

Draghi said inflation in the eurozone was expected to remain close to zero, if not negative, at least until the beginning of next year. “From mid-2016 to the end of 2017, also due to the delayed effect of the depreciation in the exchange rate, we expect inflation to increase gradually,” he said.

Asked about what other monetary tools the ECB could use, Draghi said the bank already had an extensive set of monetary

policy instruments at its disposal. “However, it is too early to say in any case that ‘this is the menu’ and that ‘there is nothing to add’”, he said.

In reply to a question on whether a cut in the deposit rate was a tool that would be used at the same time as amendments to quantitative easing policies, Draghi said it was too early to make that judgment. “The interest rate on deposits could be one of the instruments that we use again,” he said.

The ECB launched in March a government bond buying programme to flood the eurozone economy with cash and accelerate

price growth that was stifled by a weak economy and very cheap energy prices.

The ECB is studying new stimulus measures that could be unveiled as soon as December and was prepared to cut its deposit rate deeper into negative territory if needed to fight falling prices, Draghi said earlier this month. The ECB president said risks were on the downside for both inflation and growth in the light of weaker emerging economies and the potential slowdown in the United States. “Global growth forecasts have been revised downwards. This slowdown is probably not temporary,” he said.

But the ECB president was upbeat on the future of the eurozone and the risk of a break up. “The risks of fragmentation and redenomination have diminished considerably, if not disappeared,” he said.

Asked about Greek debt, Draghi said it was sustainable if Athens met the obligations it had signed up to, adding for the debt to be sustainable a certain degree of relief was also required.

“The latter should be such as to remove any doubt as to the future sustainability of the debt itself, once the first condition has been met,” he said.

REUTERS

ECB reveals capital hole in Greek banks as unpaid loans soarFRANKFURT: Greece’s banks need to raise more than €14bn of extra capital to cover mount-ing unpaid loans, the European Central Bank said yesterday as it announced the results of stress tests intended to rehabilitate Greek lenders.

The capital hole has emerged chiefly due to the rising number of Greeks unable or unwilling to repay their debt, after a dispute over reforms between the leftist government and international lenders almost saw Greece leave the euro.

As controls on cash withdraw-als have squeezed the economy, loans at risk of non-payment have increased by €7bn to €107bn.

That is roughly half of all the credit given by the country’s four big banks, according to the ECB. Almost 57 percent of the loans made by Piraeus Bank, the bank which fared worst, are at risk.

The fact, however, that the declared capital hole is smaller than the €25bn earmarked to help banks in the country’s bailout may encourage investors such as hedge funds to buy shares.

Germany’s Deputy Finance Minister Jens Spahn said

attracting investors would reduce the support needed from the eurozone’s rescue scheme, the European Stability Mechanism.

The lenders are currently kept afloat by central-bank cash but there is a rush to get the recapitalisation finished.

If it is not done by the end of the year, new European Union rules mean large depositors such as companies may have to take a hit in their accounts.

Greece’s Finance Minister Tsakalotos said yesterday he was optimistic that Greece’s banks would successfully recapitalise by the end of the year.

The stress tests looked at how many loans would go unpaid if the country’s economy performs as expected up until 2017 — the so-called ‘baseline’.

It also simulated a ‘stress’ scenario, where Greece dips further than expected. For this test, ECB officials assumed that the economy would shrink by more than 3 percent this year and next before growing modestly in 2017.

In checking the financial strength of the country’s four main banks — National Bank of

Greece, Piraeus, Alpha Bank and Eurobank — the ECB determined that even should the economy perform no worse than expected, the banks would still need almost €4.4bn.

It is the performance of the banks under stress that determines how much capital is needed. The ‘baseline’ scenario, for instance, expects Greek growth of 2.7 percent in 2017 — far outstripping Germany now.

The ECB defended an earlier test that had given the banks a clean bill of health before the most recent political turmoil.

But Ramon Quintana, a director general in the ECB’s bank supervision arm, cautioned that Greece’s economy needed to stay on track for the banks to hold steady. “Any deviations from these scenarios means that reality can go beyond what is expected in the exercise,” he told journalists. “This is why it is very important to avoid any deviation from the economic growth expected.”

Much of the focus so far in rehabilitating Greece has focused on the scale of its national debt, which is approaching double its economic output.

People walk past an Alpha Bank branch in Athens yesterday. Four major Greek banks must find up to $15.8bn to survive potential economic shocks, the European Central Bank said following an in-depth financial health check.

Banks have struggled most amid the months-long stand-off between leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his country’s international backers - the International Monetary Fund and European Union.

The dispute led to the freezing of central-bank funding for Greece’s banks and forced controls on cash withdrawals. Although this stemmed a further hemorrhaging of savings, it squeezed the economy, making it harder for borrowers to repay loans.

Of an €86bn bailout of Greece,

€25bn is earmarked for banks.To reach its outcome, however,

the ECB counts into the calcula-tion billions of euros of future tax rebates that the Greek govern-ment could pay its banks.

Greek bankers hope that pri-vate investors will buy shares in the lenders. But Greece’s future and that of its banks remains uncertain, despite the latest checks.

A fall of more than two thirds in the banks’ stock prices this year serves as a reminder of the risks.

REUTERS

Irish central bank warns govt over growth, spendingDUBLIN: A significant part of Ireland’s recently economic growth can be attributed to “dis-torting features” in the way the activities of multinationals were measured, Irish Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan was quoted as saying yesterday.

After growing by 5.2 percent last year, Ireland’s economy is forecast to be the best perform-ing in Europe again this year with growth of over 6 percent, dramat-ically improving debt and deficit ratios after a financial crisis and bailout. In a letter to Finance Minister Michael Noonan, Hono-han said that the growth numbers were “seriously complicated” by the concentration of large multi-national firms in Ireland, creating risks on the basis policy is framed.

“Neglecting these measurement issues has led some commenta-tors to think that the economy is back to pre-crisis performance,” Honohan wrote in a letter the Irish Times said was dated Aug 16 and released to it under freedom of information.

Multinationals have a dis-proportionate impact on gross domestic product (GDP) in Ire-land — depressing growth in 2012 when a number of major drugs went off patent in quick succes-sion — and accelarating in 2014 and 2015 when exports grew and are expected to grow by 12.1 and 11.9 percent.

Noonan’s department said earlier this month that domes-tic demand would be the primary driver of forecast GDP growth of 4.2 percent next year with exports expected to return to more nor-mal levels in line with trading partner demand.

Average growth of around 3.25 percent is forecast for the follow-ing five years.

With multinational activity also boosting corprataion tax receipts this year and driving a nearly 6 percent overshoot in overall tax collected, Honohan warned against basing spending commitments on tax gains that could quickly disappear. The gov-ernment appeared not to heed the advice when it unexpectedly announced earlier this month that it would spend two-thirds of an estimated €2.3bn tax windfall for 2015 by the end of this year.

REUTERS

Apple earnings extend ‘scary good’ US stock rallyNEW YORK: Banner earn-ings from Apple, a big drugstore merger and another twist in the Federal Reserve’s message on interest rates highlighted a week that produced modest gains for US stocks. Major indices lodged their fifth straight week of gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 16.84 (0.10 percent) to 17,663.54.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 4.21 (0.20 percent) at 2,079.36, while the tech-rich Nas-daq Composite Index advanced 21.89 (0.44 percent) to 5,053.75.

The gains pushed major indices up more than eight percent for October, a “scary good” month after a dreadful third quarter, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. However, O’Hare said the October rally lost some steam as the month progressed, shifting from a broad-based surge that lifted most stocks, to one enjoyed primarily by giants like Micro-

soft and Amazon. “The scary good October rally went from a distinctly broad rally early in the month to a noticeably narrower rally by the end of the month,” he said. “It’s possible the under-lings could pick up some steam, but if the big guys lose their mojo, that will be a challenging proposi-tion and most likely an invitation to scare some of the scary good October rally out of the market in the near term.”

Apple had a good week, push-ing aside worries about slowing momentum and reporting that fiscal fourth-quarter profits rose 31 percent to $11.1bn behind a 22 percent increase in revenue to $51.5bn. Analysts were especially pleased with results from China, where revenues came in at $12.5 billion, double the level of the year-ago period and an indica-tor that conditions in the world’s second-biggest economy are not as bad as feared.

But one of the week’s most dis-appointing earnings reports came from micro-blogging company Twitter, which lost nearly 10 per-cent after it reported adding just four million monthly active users in third quarter to 320 million.

The market initially swooned at the prospects of a big merger between two big US pharmacy chains, bidding up Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid on initial reports of an imminent deal. But investors turned on the combination after the two com-panies unveiled the $17.2bn deal. Antitrust experts expect a tough once-over from US regulators.

In another sign that dealmak-ing remains vibrant in health care, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Botox-maker Allergan said they were in “friendly” merger talks.

The talks follow an unsuccess-ful campaign by Pfizer to acquire British company AstraZeneca in 2014. Pfizer said it still wants

to shift its tax domicile overseas where tax rates are lower. Aller-gan is based in Ireland.

Another pharmaceutical com-pany in the news was Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inter-national, which continued to plummet amid questions over its drug-pricing and accounting practices. Shares lost nearly 20 percent last week.

In Washington, the Federal Reserve concluded its Octo-ber monetary policy meeting by keeping benchmark interest rates near zero, but gave a more posi-tive appraisal of the US economy.

Fed policy makers expressed more faith in the strength of the economy than expected, brushing over recent weak spots and focus-ing on what they called “solid” consumer spending and business investment.

They also dropped a warning from September that the global downturn could affect the US,

even as worries mount over Chi-na’s slowdown and falling com-modity prices.

The Fed’s stance was seen as keeping alive the prospects of a December interest rate increase.

Yet US economic data for the week was lackluster, with the Conference Board’s reading of consumer confidence dropping in October and durable goods falling in September. The Com-merce Department reported that US third-quarter growth fell to 1.5 percent from 3.9 percent in the second quarter.

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, said the feeble data could work to Wall Street’s advantage. “I think the market still has room to go higher, especially with soft economic data there’s more prob-ability the Fed would hold off on raising rates in December,” he said.

AFP

Embattled Valeant cuts Philidor tiesMONTREAL: Valeant Pharmaceuticals said it was cutting ties with mail-order pharmacy Philidor RX, which will shut down operations as soon as possible, fol-lowing a furore over their relationship.

A key investor in the embattled drug company meanwhile said it would survive despite a widening scandal over its relations with Philidor and its accounting practices.

Valeant had nurtured Philidor in its infancy when it sold only two Valeant acne drugs by mail order. The two signed a deal last year that effectively gave Valeant limited control over Philidor as a distribution channel for its drugs, and an option to buy the pharmacy.

The partnership saw Philidor aggressively market Valeant’s more expensive drugs over cheaper generics preferred by insurers, which caught the attention of US lawmakers and investigators now looking into its pricing.

Standard and Poor’s on Friday lowered its rating of Valeant from B+ to BB- in the wake of the scandal, which has sent Valeant’s share price tumbling 60 percent in just three months.

“We have lost confidence in Philidor’s ability to continue to operate in a manner that is acceptable to Valeant and the patients and doctors we serve,” said J Michael Pearson, chairman and chief executive of the Canadian drugmaker.

“The newest allegations about activities at Philidor raise additional questions about the company’s business practices,” he said.

The announcement came after Citron Research, an influential short-seller, accused Valeant of creating a network of mail-order pharmacies to “stuff the channel” — a deceptive business practice involving inflating sales figures by sending retailers in its distribution channel more products than they are able to sell.

It said Valeant was using two firms it purportedly controlled — Philidor and R&O Pharmacy.

AFP


www.thepeninsulaqatar.comBUSINESS VIEWS

Why Valeant has no friends, admirers or fans By Justin Fox

IT ISN’T that Valeant has no defenders. One of them, hedge-fund manager and major shareholder Bill Ack-

man, even held a conference call to talk up the embattled pharma-ceutical company. But it’s pretty clear by this point that the com-pany has no friends. Or allies, or admirers or fans.

You might think that such ties are irrelevant for a corporation, which after all is just “a nexus for a set of contracting relationships among individuals,” as Michael Jensen and William Meckling once put it. It turns out they can help in a pinch, though.

Consider Theranos, the other embattled healthcare company of the moment. Lots of Silicon Val-ley admirers with no direct stake in its fortunes have spoken up on its behalf since the Wall Street Journal called its blood testing technology into question earlier this month. They may all shut up if the news out of the company

gets any worse, but the firm’s aim of remaking the blood-testing business (and replacing needles with finger pricks) was one that inspired people and made them want Theranos to succeed.

Valeant wasn’t out to inspire such emotions. It was a com-pany built purely along the lines described by Jensen and Meck-ling — then both at the University of Rochester — in their famously influential 1976 paper on the “Theory of the Firm”:

Viewing the firm as the nexus of a set of contracting relation-ships among individuals … serves to make it clear that the person-alization of the firm implied by asking questions such as “what should be the objective function of the firm”, or “does the firm have a social responsibility” is seri-ously misleading. The firm is not an individual.

It is a legal fiction which serves as a focus for a complex process in which the conflicting objectives of individuals (some of whom may “represent” other organizations)

are brought into equilibrium within a framework of contrac-tual relations.

Actually, for the first few dec-ades of its existence, Valeant — formerly known as ICN Phar-maceuticals -— was pretty much interchangeable with one individ-ual, Milan Panic, who founded it in his Pasadena, California, garage in 1959. If his name sounds famil-iar, maybe it’s because he took a leave of absence in 1992 to run for (and get elected) prime minister of his native Yugoslavia.

Or maybe it’s because, after Slobodan Milosevic pushed Panic out of that job and he returned to Southern California in 1993 to run the company, he kept getting into legal pickles over alleged sexual harassment and insider trading. In 2002, dissident shareholders finally forced him out.

The new regime changed the name to Valeant in 2003 and made a couple of acquisitions, but the company was losing money when activist hedge-fund man-ager Jeffrey Ubben and his firm,

ValueAct Capital Management, bought a stake in 2006. To go back to Jensen and Meckling’s termi-nology, Ubben was representing the investors in ValueAct, and he sought to create a new equilib-rium at Valeant that generated higher returns for them.

You may already know the story from there: Valeant brought in veteran McKinsey consult-ant J. Michael Pearson to give it advice, then hired him as chief executive officer in 2008. Pearson soon merged Valeant with Missis-sauga, Ontario, based Biovail -- a smaller drug maker that was still recovering from a big accounting scandal— in a corporate inver-sion transaction that made it a Canadian company and lowered its tax bill.

Then he hired top Goldman Sachs investment banker Howard Schiller as chief financial officer and they began buying other drug companies at a rapid clip. The theory behind their strategy was that most pharmaceutical compa-nies aren’t very good at develop-

ing new drugs or extracting the maximum returns from them, so Valeant would acquire them, cut way back on their R&D spending and raise the prices of their drugs.

This theory may well be right. It’s not exactly inspirational, though. Valeant says its mission is “focusing on our key stakehold-ers while delivering consistently high performance.”

Compare that with, say, Amgen, which “strives to serve patients by transforming the promise of science and biotechnology into therapies that have the power to restore health or save lives.” Or Theranos, where the mission “is to make actionable information accessible to everyone at the time it matters.”

Now, mission statements are often a bunch of hooey, and you can applaud Valeant’s for being relatively straightforward and honest.

This is clearly a company built mainly to serve the interests of its biggest equity investors, who are themselves running hedge

funds and mutual funds built to deliver returns for their investors. ValueAct realized a 2,100 percent return on its investment when it sold some of its stake over the summer, so in that sense, mission accomplished. But if Valeant stops delivering for all these investors — and it certainly has stopped lately, as you can see from the chart below — there’s not going to be any residual goodwill or loyalty to call on from them or anyone else.

The Jensen-Meckling explana-tion of what corporations are for has been dominant for decades, but there actually are other mod-els out there.

Oxford University’s Colin Mayer proposed a couple of years ago that corporations succeed over the long run by entering into commitments with employ-ees, customers, suppliers and shareholders that go well beyond contractual requirements. That is, they do need friends and allies. Valeant could sure use some now.

BLOOMBERG

By James Gibney

TO UNDERSTAND how Puerto Rico dug itself $73bn in the hole, consider the highly attractive tax status of its bonds, which are exempt from local, state and federal taxes everywhere in the U.S. That exemption was granted

by Congress in 1917 to help Puerto Rico develop. But without the financial controls Congress also imposed, which have long since been lifted, it’s a standing invitation to fiscal misadventure.

Fast-forward a century and Puerto Rico’s debt outstrips its gross domestic product; according to Moody’s, the island’s debt per capita of $15,637 is more than 10 times higher than the aver-age per-capita debt of the 50 states. Debt payments eat up more than one-third of Puerto Rico’s tax revenues, starving essential government services and preempting badly needed investments in infrastructure and improvements.

What led to Puerto Rico’s economic meltdown is a matter of endless finger-pointing. But whoever lit the match, Puerto Rico’s triple-tax exempt bonds fueled the fire. Their tax-free status —which the bonds of Guam and the US Virgin Islands also enjoy — made Puerto Rican paper an attractive proposition for inves-tors; even now, more than 50 percent of all open-end municipal bond funds hold Puerto Rico’s bonds. Such bonds have also been a bonanza for financial firms: Banks handling Puerto Rico’s debt have earned more than $900m in fees since 2000.

For Puerto Rico’s government, meanwhile, bonds came to look like hot credit cards — max out one, pay it down with another. As the island’s economic and fiscal conditions deteriorated, it tapped ever-more creative revenue streams, rolling over debt and papering over deficits with money from bonds secured by future tax revenues.

That was not what Congress had in mind when it granted the triple-tax exemption in the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917, which set up a new civil administration and granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship.

True, even those who were opposed to making Puerto Ricans into Americans recognized the island needed financial help. As Mississippi’s white supremacist Senator James K Vardaman (whose US Army service included a stint in Puerto Rico) put it,

“Those people there are undeveloped, and it is for the purpose of enabling them to develop their country to make the securities attractive by extending that exemption.”

Yet Congress also limited public indebtedness to 7 percent (later raised to 10 percent) of the total tax valuation of the island’s property. Moreover, the act imposed governing rules that further limited the possibility of fiscal misbehavior. Puerto Rico’s governor was appointed by the U.S. president, and had the equivalent of a line-item veto on the budget prepared by Puerto Rico’s elected legislature. If the legislature overrode his veto, he had the option of kicking the matter upstairs to the president, whose veto was subject to no such restrictions. Meanwhile, the president also appointed an auditor, operating under the governor, who had oversight of the territory’s accounts.

Such paternalistic controls, along with many others imposed on Puerto Rico, understandably came to be seen as insufferable. (Congress even resisted islanders’ efforts to change its name from the anglicized “Porto Rico.”) In 1947, Puerto Ricans were given the right to elect their own governors, and three years later, a referen-dum on drafting their own constitution, which they and Congress approved in 1952. In 1961, Congress allowed the then-burgeoning commonwealth to lift the 10 percent limit on indebtedness and set its own. Its constitution was duly amended to create a debt ceiling that is supposedly reached once principal and interest payments hit 15 percent of the average of the past two years’ tax revenues.

Any resident of Detroit could tell you that Puerto Rico isn’t uniquely profligate or irresponsible. Puerto Rico, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands face similar challenges in developing their econ-omies, and each has a history of structural budget deficits and using bonds to cover the difference. Including pension obligations, the US Virgin Islands actually has by some reckonings a higher per-capita debt than Puerto Rico; if Guam didn’t have a slightly more restrictive cap on debt (not to mention big economic benefits from the island’s military bases), it might well be in the same boat.

The political and economic relationship between US territories and their neglectful overlords in Washington is a blueprint for continuing moral hazard. Under those circumstances, the ability to issue triple-tax exempt bonds seems like an unhelpful anach-ronism — another tax gimmick that encourages bad policy choices and increases territorial dependence.

Puerto Rico was granted its triple exemption when it was oper-ating under the equivalent of a federal control board — a condi-tion to which few Puerto Ricans want to return. But given the commonwealth’s demonstrated failure to adhere to its own self-imposed debt limits, for the short term at least, greater external controls on its ability to issue debt may be the price it must pay to continue enjoying its tax-exempt funding privileges.

BLOOMBERG

Puerto Rico’s debt is kind of Congress’ fault

Money managers take on the high-speed tradersBy Barry Ritholtz

STOCK exchanges once were operated as not-for-profit pub-lic utilities, managing the listing and trading of companies in the public marketplace. Today, they

have morphed into rent-seeking, publicly traded companies in the zero-sum game of executing orders.

Where once there were many winners, now there are distinct winners and losers. High-frequency, algo-driven traders are the winners; everyone else is a loser. QuickTake-Trading on Speed

The result is that a business that once helped to create wealth now only serves to shift some of it around. Exchanges now operate primarily to move money from investors to HFTs — and of course, to them-selves. They charge for services that are not exactly the epitome of a public good — server colocation for firms that spoof, packet sniff, quote stuff, flash and ultimately, front-run orders.

Traders have long complained that New York Stock Exchange specialists owned a licence to steal, but at least they were required to maintain an orderly market. There were no flash crashes during the spe-cialist era (Black Monday not withstanding). Those who complained about specialists — an exchange member who posts quotes, executes trades and serves as the buyer and seller of last resort — now must contend with something far worse: the predatory practices of high-frequency traders.

Yes, yes, I know, it is all perfectly legal. That phrase used to have meaning, before lobbyists were writing legislation on behalf of the people who hired them. That such

things as HFT are allowed should come as no surprise. When you write the rules that govern your own industry, it is difficult to see why you would make your main money-making activity illegal.

Although the debate over whether HFT is an improvement over the specialist system or merely an unintended consequence of Regulation National Market System con-tinues, a few participants are not waiting to see what happens. Some major players have decided that HFT doesn’t serve them or their clients; they have taken their ball and gone to a fairer, more level playing field, where no ringers are allowed.

The most exclusive new club on Wall Street opens for business next week and there are a few things you won’t find: mem-bers with under a billion dollars or high-frequency traders. Those are among the rules laid out by the founding members of Luminex, a private trading platform designed to give the world’s largest asset managers a new place to buy and sell large blocks of stock.

This isn’t merely a group of cranks com-plaining about HFT: Luminex was developed by some of the biggest asset managers in the world specifically to thwart what has become a tax on orders exacted by HFTs. Its ownership includes BlackRock Inc. (larg-est money manager in the world by assets), Fidelity Investments (second-largest mutual fund family by assets), Capital Group Cos. ($1.4tr in asset) and Invesco Ltd ($755.8bn in assets), and others.

That these behemoths are seeking ways to avoid HFTs is quite telling. It implies that the HFTs are not providing the liquid-ity and narrower spreads they claim, but rather, are imposing a rentier’s tax. To a

retail investor buying 100 shares, it probably amounts to a nickel a dime; but to these trillion-dollar firms, trading billions of dol-lars of stocks daily, it adds up to real money. They apparently have had enough of it.

Luminex, headquartered in Boston, has rather strict membership rules. You must have at least a $1bn or more under manage-ment and commit to a long-term investment strategy. Translation: no high-frequency traders or quantitative hedge funds. Mini-mum orders must be at least 5,000 shares or shares worth at least $100,000; trades are executed at the low, low price of 0.25 cent a share.

Over the years, I have written about the perils of high-frequency trading (See this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this). Our Masters in Business interview with Brad Katsuyama of IEX, an alternative trading venue designed to exclude speed traders, made clear the way HFT negatively affected market structure. That the biggest asset managers in the world agree with this senti-ment says something significant about the problems with the current market struc-ture. It was inevitable that in the absence of smarter regulation, some players would seek a market-based solution. Between IEX and Luminex, HFT is finding major mar-ket participants seeking shelter from their predatory ways.

I have a simpler solution: Quotes must last at least one second, a lifetime in the world of HFT, and a fee of 0.01 cent would apply to any order, filled or not. That would curb the abusive practices. In the meantime, it’s heartening to see a market solution. Rentiers beware: the big boys are gunning for you.

BLOOMBERG


Yesterday’s answer



How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku Puzzle is solved by filling the numbers from 1 to 9 into the blank cells. A Hyper Sudoku has unlike Sudoku 13 regions (four regions overlap with the nine standard regions). In all regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is solved like a normal Sudoku.

How to play Kakuro:The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number.

Within each collection of cells - called a run - any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

HYPER SUDOKU

KAKURO

ALL IN THE MINDCan you find the hidden words? They may be horizontal,vertical, diagonal, forwards or backwards.

ACROSS

1 North-of-the-border media inits.

4 Contribute to society

10 Pit crew’s canful

13 ___ point

14 Self-promotional autobiography, for its writer

16 Icky-___ (awful, in baby talk)

17 Steal from

18 Like waves vis-à-vis the shoreline

19 N.Y.C. subway line

20 Elsie the Cow’s brand

22 Healthful herbal beverage

24 Honey

25 Speaker in the Baseball Hall of Fame

27 Cartoon character voiced by Nancy Cartwright

28 Got off the ground?

29 Locale for tarsals and metatarsals

30 “Same here”

31 Take advantage of

32 Night life setting

33 Sisters’ grp.

34 Math calculations exemplified 14 times in this puzzle

38 Kind of port

39 2013 #1 Katy Perry hit

40 Org. that might employ a climatologist

43 Busybody

46 “Hold it!”

47 Suffix with liquid

48 Trespassing, for one

49 Dependent on subtitles, say

50 Frequent flier

51 Lured, as a potential customer

53 Minor seismic movement

55 “Yuck!”

56 What a dog might raise a flap about?

58 The Senators, on sports tickers

60 “The Bourne Identity” org.

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

B L E W D O I T H A S HV O L E S O R T A O H I OD U M B S T R U C K O O Z ES T S I R E H E C K Y E S

T R A M T I AK I C K E D I N T H E H E A DN O R T E O R A L C P RA W E S G O T A T M O T OC A D O R E O C A N T OK N O C K E D F O R A L O O P

A R E N O P ES T R E A K S E A R S H EF R O S G O B S M A C K E DP E T A O A S E S H E R DD E E R D R A C A W A Y

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27

28 29 30

31 32 33

34 35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42

43 44 45 46 47

48 49 50

51 52 53 54

55 56 57 58 59

60 61 62

63 64 65

EASY SUDOKU CROSSWORD

Easy Sudoku Puzzles: Place a digit from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains all the digits 1 to 9.


BREAK TIME26SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


TEL: 444933989 / 444517001

SHOWING ATVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

NOVO

MALL

LANDMARK

ROYAL PLAZA

SCREEN 1 Naanum Rowdydhaan (2D/ Tamil) 2:15 & 10:45pm Goosebump (2D/Action) 5:00 & 7:00pm

Burnt (2D/Comedy) 9:00pm

SCREEN 2 Coconut: The Little Dragon (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:00pm Apocalypse (2D/Horror) 5:30 & 11:30pm The Guardian Angel (2D/Action) 7:15pm.

Main Aur Charles (2D/Hindi) 9:15pm

SCREEN 3 Ennu Ninte Moideen (2D/Malayalam) 2:00pm Tekken 2: Kazuya’s Revenge (2D/Crime) 5:00pm

Main Aur Charles (2D/Hindi) 6:30pm

Ennu Ninte Moideen (2D/Malayalam) 8:30pm


SCREEN 1 Naanum Rowdydhaan (2D/ Tamil) 2:15 & 10:45pm

Apocalypse (2D/Horror) 5:00pm Goosebump (2D/Action) 6:45 & 8:45pm

SCREEN 2 Coconut: The Little Dragon (2D/Animation) 3:00 & 4:30pm The Guardian Angel (2D/Action) 6:00 & 11:30pm

Burnt (2D/Comedy) 8:00 & 9:45pmSCREEN 3 Tekken 2: Kazuya’s Revenge (2D/Crime) 2:30pm The Last Witch Hunter (2D/Action) 4:15pm

Ennu Ninte Moideen (2D/Malayalam) 6:15pm

Titli (2D/Hindi) 9:15pm

Apocalypse (2D/Horror) 11:30pm

SCREEN 1 Coconut: The Little Dragon (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:00pm

Burnt (2D/Comedy) 5:30 & 11:30pm

Goosebump (2D/Action) 7:30 & 9:30pm

SCREEN 2 Titli (2D/Hindi) 3:00 & 11:15pm


The Guardian Angel (2D/Action) 7:15 & 9:15pm SCREEN 3 Goosebump (2D/Action) 2:30pm

Tekken 2: Kazuya’s Revenge (2D/Crime) 4:15 & 11:30pm The Last Witch Hunter (2D/Action) 6:00pm



ASIAN TOWN10 Enradhukulla (2D/ Tamil) 2:00 & 7:30pm

Main Aur Charles (2D/Hindi) 3:45 & 6:30pm

Ennu Ninte Moideen (2D/Malayalam) 1:00, 2:00, 4:00, 5:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:15, 10:00 & 11:00pm

Naanum Rowdydhaan (2D/ Tamil) 4:45 & 10:15pm

Shandaar (2D/Hindi) 1:00pm

SCREEN 1 The Guardian Angel 10:15am, 12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30 & 11:45pmSCREEN 2 Goosebump (2D/Action) 11:00am, 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50 & 11:55pmSCREEN 3 Shandaar (2D/Hindi) 6:15, 9:00 & 11:45pm Goosebump (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:00, 2:00 & 4:10pm

SCREEN 4 Burnt (2D/Comedy) 10:00am, 12:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm, 12:00am

SCREEN 5 Coconut: The Little Dragon (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 11:45am, 1:30, 3:15

& 5:00pm: Apocalypse (2D/Horror) 7:00, 9:00 & 11:15pm

SCREEN 6 The Martian (2D/Action) 6:00, 8:45 & 11:30pm

The Little Prince (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00, 2:00 & 4:00pmSCREEN 7 Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2D/Horror) 11:30am, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 & 11:30pmSCREEN 8 The Last Witch Hunter (2D/Action) 10:20am, 12:30, 2:40, 5:00, 7:20, 9:40pm &11:55pmSCREEN 10 Goosebump (2D/Action) 12:40, 5:10 & 9:40pm The Last Witch Hunter (2D/Action) 10:20am, 2:50, 7:20 & 11:50pm

Hoy en la HistoriaNovember 1, 1894

1755: A devastating earthquake reduced Portugual’s capital Lisbon to rubble and killed around 60,000 people1995: U.S.-mediated talks began in Dayton, Ohio, to end four years of war in the former Yugoslavia1995: The first all-race local government elections took place in South Africa2005: “Extraordinary rendition” – the U.S. policy of taking captives to jails in eastern Europe for interrogation – was first reported in the press

Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, came to the throne. He was deposed during the Russian Revolution and executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918

Picture: Newscom © GRAPHIC NEWS

61 Poetic stanza

62 ___ José

63 Author Kesey

64 Gets fresh with

65 Abbr. after a telephone number

DOWN

1 Point of convergence: Abbr.

2 Owies

3 Ones back on track?

4 Monopoly pile

5 Fairy tale villain

6 Hit the road, as a band

7 Exciting parts of games, for short

8 Question that leaves an opening for doubt

9 Spotlight seekers

10 Show utter contempt for

11 Entertainer with a cape

12 Common gnocchi ingredient

15 Good name for a baseball pitcher?

21 U.P.S. driver’s assignment: Abbr.

23 “Your Movie Sucks” author

24 ___TV (Time Warner channel)

26 Vocalist Flack

29 Exerciser’s target

30 Tie up, as a ship

32 Brink

33 “The Young and the Restless,” e.g.

35 Not a paraphrase

36 Places to view fireworks

37 Release, as the hounds

41 Chance card in Monopoly with a $15 fee

42 Murals, e.g.

43 Smacked

44 Painful bit of horseplay

45 James of “James and the Giant Peach,” for one

46 Nissan model

47 Adjust an arrow, say

49 Demanding film role preparations

50 Israel’s Shimon

52 Producers of two outs, for short

54 Architect Ludwig Mies van der ___

57 Cuban couple

59 Stick with a fuse

BABY

BLU

ES

ALEXANDER SEVERUS, ANTONIUS PIUS, AUGUSTUS, CALIGULA, CARACALLA, CLAUDIUS, COMMODUS, DOMITIAN, GALBA, HADRIAN, HELIOGABALUS, JULIUS CAESAR, LUCIUS VERUS, MACRINUS, MARCUS AURELIUS, NERO, NERVA, OTHO, PERTINAX,TIBERIUS, TITUS FLAVIUS, TRAJAN, VESPASIAN, VITELLIUS.

27SPORT SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Rosberg tops practice in MexicoVerstappen sets early pace then crashes as Mexican Grand Prix returns

German Formula One driver of Mercedes Nico Rosberg in action during the second practice of the 2015 Formula One Grand Prix of Mexico at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico, on Friday.

MEXICO CITY: Nico Rosberg set the fastest time for Mercedes in Mexican Grand Prix practice on Friday as large crowds wel-comed Formula One back to the country after a 23-year absence.

The German, who is fighting for second place in a champion-ship already won by team-mate Lewis Hamilton, lapped the Her-manos Rodriguez circuit with a best of one minute 21.531 seconds.

“It feels like a kart circuit with a lot of very tight corners and the two stadiums are really spectacu-lar with all the fans,” said Ros-berg.

Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo were second and third on the timesheets with rain falling later in the afternoon.

Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen,

who was not even born last time Formula One raced in Mexico in 1992, brought out red flags with a crash at the final corner in the afternoon after setting the pace in the morning session.

The 18-year-old Dutch driver was still the youngest driver to top a Formula One practice ses-sion with a best effort of 1:25.990.

He appeared to cut a corner on the Esses sequence in doing so, however.

Russian Kvyat, born two years after Britain’s Nigel Mansell won the 1992 race, was also second fastest in the morning.

Hamilton, who took his third world championship and 10th win of the season in Texas, was 11th and fourth fastest respectively.

“It was really challenging out there today - for everyone I think - but also a lot of fun,” said the Briton.

Rosberg, chasing Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel for second with three races remaining, was sixth before lunch when his car’s rear brakes overheated. The German headed back to the pits with flam-ing wheels.

Vettel was fourth in the morn-ing and then fifth fastest.

Mercedes have also won the constructors’ championship, leav-ing Sunday’s race with nothing to play for other than the race win and precious points for those fur-ther down the standings.

REUTERS

MEXICAN GP PRACTICETop Ten

1. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:21.531

2. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) RedBull - Renault 1:21.776

3. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) RedBull - Renault 1:21.868

4. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:21.961

5. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 1:21.984

6. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:22.399

7. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes 1:22.721

8. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:22.993

9. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1:23.109

10. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 1:23.289

Hamilton sees one more contract beyond current deal MEXICO CITY: Triple Formula One world champion Lewis Ham-ilton (pictured) says his next Formula One contract is likely to be his last and does not want to ‘hog’ a seat and deny others a shot at glory.

The 30-year-old, who clinched his third title in Texas last week-end, indicated he intended to see out his career with Mercedes.

“I’ve got a contract for another three years. I imagine beyond this three years there could be one more contract of three or four years I will commit to and that would be it for me,” he told British reporters at the Mexican Grand Prix.

A move to Ferrari, the dream of most Formula One drivers, looked unlikely.

“There was always that talk of driving another car and I have done that. Ticked that box off. I have been driving with Mercedes since I was 13 so I can’t honestly see myself anywhere else,” he said.

“I don’t like to say never, but I think it would be pretty awe-some to finish my career with this team.”

Hamilton made his F1 debut in 2007, given his chance at Mclaren when Kimi Raikkonen replaced seven times world cham-pion Schumacher at Ferrari and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya also departed.

He then moved to Mercedes in 2013 when Schumacher finally retired for the second time at the age of 43.

“For every year that he (Schu-

macher) stayed ... because he could stay and he enjoyed it, that’s one less seat for someone else that potentially could have come along maybe,” said Hamilton.

“Maybe there wasn’t anyone good enough at the time but I just remember how it happened for me in 2006. If they had not moved maybe I would not be in this position today, I would be somewhere else.

“I’ve got a friend also who had a chance to be in Formula One but it got missed and he never got the chance again so I am conscious I don’t want to hog it,” he said.

Hamilton said he might well be able to stay longer when the time came but he was likely to resist.

“I just feel there is a point in which I have done my piece here, I will have done 15 years in the sport so I am going to let some-one else come in,” he explained. The Briton spends an increas-ing amount of time in the United States and has plenty of interests outside the sport, particularly musical and in fashion, and is cur-rently learning the piano.

REUTERS

NHL: Zuccarello’s hat-trick sinks Maple Leafs NEW YORK: Mats Zuccarello had a hat-trick and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves as the New York Rangers took care of the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

Derick Brassard and Rick Nash had three assists for the Rangers while Joffrey Lupul scored for the Maple Leafs.

Capitals 2, Blue Jackets 1Washington newcomers Jus-

tin Williams and T.J. Oshie each scored a goal, Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots and the Capi-tals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1.

Oshie, acquired in an offseason trade with St Louis, made it 2-0 with just over eight minutes left in the game when he completed a pretty passing sequence by fir-ing past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky from the slot.

Sabres 3, Flyers 1Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and

two assists to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Jack Eichel, Buffalo’s 18-year-old centre, scored his fourth goal of the season, matching O’Reilly for the team lead.

Nicolas Deslauriers also scored for the Sabres (4-7) and goal-

tender Linus Ullmark made 26 saves in his second career start. At 22, Ullmark is the youngest goalie to earn a win for the Sabres since 21-year-old Mika Noronen in 2000.

Bruins 3, Panthers 1Brad Marchand scored two

goals to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 win over Atlantic Divi-sion rivals Florida at the BB&T Center.

Boston improved to 4-0-0 on the road this season.

Senators 3, Red Wings 1Ottawa goaltender Andrew

Hammond made 29 saves to backstop the Senators to a 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.

Kyle Turris, Matt Puempel and Bobby Ryan scored goals for Ottawa.

Henrik Zetterberg scored for

Detroit (1-5-1), who lost their sixth in seven. Goalie Jimmy Howard stopped 32 shots.

Hurricanes 3, Avalanche 2The Carolina Hurricanes pro-

duced all their offense after the midway mark of the game, post-ing a 3-2 victory against the Colo-rado Avalanche at PNC Arena to

run their winning streak to three games.

Wild 5, Blackhawks 4Minnesota winger Nino Nied-

erreiter’s goal early in the third period was the difference in the Wild’s 5-4 triumph over the Chi-cago Blackhawks.

AGENCIES

New York Rangers right wing Mats Zuccarello waves to fans after the 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in New York on Friday.

NHL RESULTSBuffalo 3 Philadelphia 1

NY Rangers 3 Toronto 1

Washington 2 Columbus 1

Carolina 3 Colorado 2

Ottawa 3 Detroit 1

Boston 3 Florida 1

Minnesota 5 Chicago 4

Montreal 6 Calgary 2

Vancouver 4 Arizona 3

Thomas, Steele share 54-hole Classic lead KUALA LUMPUR: Justin Tho-mas birdied his last two holes yes-terday to share the 54-hole lead with Brendan Steele as several others lurked in contention in a superbly played CIMB Classic.

Thomas and Steele were tied at 20-under-par thanks to respec-tive third rounds of 67 and 66 at the par-72 Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

Fellow Ameri-can Kevin Na countered with an 8-under 64 to lie just a stroke back.

The story of the tournament has been the bumper crop of ultra-low scores reaped on the warm and humid course, with nine rounds of 64 or less so far.

“The scores are going to be low, as we have seen. Tournament-record kind of scores so far,” said Steele.

“So you’re going to have to shoot a really good round. There’s still a lot of guys that can win.”

Seventy-one of the 77 golfers still in the field are under par for the tournament. Thomas, a PGA Tour rookie looking for his first win, entered the day in the lead after shooting the round of the tournament so far, a course-record 61 on Friday.

Three bogeys tripped him up yesterday, however, with the third coming on the par-4 16th.

But Thomas steadied himself to birdie the final two holes, lofting a fine chip on 18 after fly-ing the green with his approach.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods said on Fri-day he had under-gone a successful procedure to alle-viate discomfort

stemming from his back surgery in September. The former world number one said in a statement on his website the procedure had been carried out by neurosurgeon Charles Rich in Park City, Utah, on Wednesday.0

AFP

CLASSIC SCORES-20 Justin Thomas (US) 68 61 67

Brendan Steele (US) 67 63 66

-19 Kevin Na (US) 67 66 64

-17 Spencer Levin (US) 67 64 68

Hideki Matsuyama (Jap) 65 66 68

James Hahn (US) 70 65 64

Brian Harman (US) 70 63 66

-16 Adam Scott (Aus) 68 66 66

Warriors remain unbeaten with win over RocketsNEW YORK: Warriors point guard Stephen Curry scored 25 points in 27 minutes as the Golden State Warriors continued their dominance of the Houston Rockets with a 112-92 victory at Toyota Center on Friday. The Warriors (2-0) claimed their sixth consecutive regular-season win in Houston and improved to 10-1 in their last 11 meetings with the Rockets (0-2). AGENCIES

NBA RESULTSCleveland 102 Miami 92

Oklahoma City 139 Orlando 136

Utah 99 Philadelphia 71

Toronto 113 Boston 103

Detroit 98 Chicago 94

Atlanta 97 Charlotte 94

Washington 118 Milwaukee 113

San Antonio 102 Brooklyn 75

Minnesota 95 Denver 78

Golden State 112 Houston 92

Sacramento 132 LA Lakers 114

Phoenix 110 Portland 92

NY Mets’ ‘Thor’ puts the hammer down on Royals

New York Mets’ starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard throws a pitch against the Kansas City Royals in the second inning in game three of the World Series at Citi Field in New York on Friday.

NEW YORK: New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard set the tone with his opening throw and his decision to challenge Kansas City batters paid off in a World Series victory.

“I feel like it really made a statement to start the game off, that you guys can’t dig in and get too aggressive because I’ll come in there,” said Syndergaard, the long-haired righthander nick-named ‘Thor’ who put the ham-mer down with a first pitch at head level to Royals leadoff man Alicides Escobar.

“I certainly wasn’t trying to hit the guy, that’s for sure. I just didn’t want him getting too comfortable,” Syndergaard said. “If they have a problem with me throwing inside, then they can meet me 60 feet, six inches away. I’ve got no problem with that.

“My intent on that pitch was to make them uncomfortable, and I feel like I did just that.”

Syndergaard’s efforts helped propel the Mets to a 9-3 victory that pulled New York within 2-1 in the best-of-seven Major League Baseball final.

Escobar and his team-mates said Syndergaard seemed to be looking for trouble in nearly hit-ting a batter to open the con-test, but Syndergaard said it was

important to set a tone. “For I think every post-season game that Escobar has played in, he has swung at the first-pitch fast-ball and I didn’t think he would

want to swing at that one,” Syn-dergaard said.

Syndergaard pitched 104 times over six innings and allowed three runs on seven hits, although he surrendered only one hit past the second inning, retiring 12 Royals in a row at one stage.

“The hits I gave up, they were just up in the zone. They were able to put a good piece of wood on it,” Syndergaard said. “After that second inning I was able to go inside the clubhouse and talk with Dan (Warthen, the Mets’ pitching coach) for a little bit and make some mechanical issues to work down in the zone.”

It worked until the sixth when the Royals loaded the bases on a single and two walks, putting the tying run on first base.

Mets manager Terry Collins kept him in the game and he induced a ground out to end the threat.

“It brings me joy that he decided to leave me in there, and has that much confidence in me to get that final out,” Syndergaard said. “And it was a huge situation.

“I wasn’t thinking about the

whole game being on the line when I was out there in that sixth inning. I knew it was a key moment in the game. But I was able to just locate two good sliders on the outside corner and induce a ground ball and get out of that inning.”

Mets captain David Wright said the struggle made Syndergaard’s start better than some of his more apparently dominant out-ings. “It’s more impressive what he did tonight than what he’s been doing all postseason, because he’s been cruising,” Wright said.

“He got into some trouble tonight and that’s where you see what these starting pitchers are made of. To be able to make it through six, he didn’t have his best stuff, didn’t have his best command, but that’s when you find out what a pitcher has got,” he added. What he might have is a chance to pitch again. The 23-year-old is the Mets’ sched-uled game-seven starter in Kan-sas City if the Series goes the distance.

AFP

SPORT28SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Radwanska wins classic to set up Kvitova finalThe Pole overcomes Muguruza to make maiden appearance in WTA Finals title match; Kvitova stuns SharapovaSINGAPORE: Agnieszka Rad-wanska rallied past an exhausted Garbine Muguruza to book a maiden appearance in the WTA Finals title match with a 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 victory over the Spaniard in a classic encounter yesterday.

The Pole used all her guile and defensive skills to see off the powerful 22-year-old, setting up a showdown against Petra Kvitova, who stunned Maria Sharapova 6-3 7-6(3) in the second semi-final.

“I didn’t know I could come back after that first set,” world number six Radwanska said in a courtside interview.

“It was a great match from the beginning to the end, lots of ups and downs, so many rallies and a lot of running. I am just so glad I could win,” added the Pole, who secured a first final berth at the season-ending event in her sev-enth appearance.

The first set was a slow burner that turned into a thriller once both women had settled into a rhythm and the longer the con-test progressed, the stronger Radwanska became against an opponent who is also playing the doubles event in Singapore.

Radwanska worked her way into the contest after the fast-

starting Spaniard wavered, reel-ing off four straight games and looking likely to ride the momen-tum to a one-set lead before Muguruza came storming back to force a tiebreak.

The Pole raced to a 3-0 lead but Muguruza recovered to surge ahead with some trademark aggressive groundstrokes and sealed the opener on her second set point when Radwanska found the net at the end of a brilliant rally.

Muguruza greeted the decisive point with a fist pump and a roar but her play at the start of the second set belied her positive body language as Radwanska forced a plethora of errors to race to a 4-0 lead that she never looked like relinquishing.

A mini revival mid-set brought Muguruza to within one game but Radwanska pulled away again and levelled the contest with her third break of the set.

The exertions of her first WTA Finals were now clearly visible on Muguruza, yet somehow she found the energy to rally from 4-1 down in the third set and put the contest back on a knife-edge before Radwanska finally got a decisive break in the 12th game.

The second semi-final pitted two former WTA Finals cham-pions against each other and while it was shorter than the first match, Kvitova’s stunning come-

back from 5-1 down in the second set was equally as absorbing.

Kvitova and Sharapova, two of the strongest servers on the Tour, traded early breaks before settling into a baseline battle until the Czech edged ahead in the sev-enth game of the opening set.

The world number five could sniff blood and broke again in the ninth game to take a sur-prise lead against a player who had won all three of her round-robin ties despite arriving in Sin-gapore short of matches after a long injury layoff.

Kvitova, however, is prone to bouts of erratic play and the con-fidence she exuded in the opener was replaced by uncertainty as Sharapova, who has added greater variety to her game as she has grown older, raced 4-0 ahead.

The Russian somehow con-trived to hand back the double break advantage, even wasting a set point at 5-2, as Kvitova redis-covered her top form to reel off five straight games and force a tiebreak.

The 2011 champion was now in full control, setting up three match points with a booming serve down the middle and when Sharapova sent a forehand sail-ing over the baseline, Kvitova had completed the most remarkable of second-set turnarounds.

REUTERS

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic celebrates defeating Maria Sharapova of Russia in their women’s singles semi-finals match yesterday.

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in action against Garbine Muguruza of Spain during their singles semi-final match in the BNP Paribas WTA Finals 2015 held at the indoor stadium in Singapore, yesterday.

Federer, Nadal battle into Swiss semi-finalsBASEL, Switzerland: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal stayed on course for a blockbuster Swiss Indoors final clash on Friday after battling through tough three-set quarter-finals.

Top seed and six-time cham-pion Federer held off David Gof-fin 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to win a re-run of his 2014 final victory over the Belgian.

Nadal, the third seed, scored a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Marin Cilic, his third three-set victory this week.

Goffin showed off a big game, duelling with the Swiss in the sec-ond set and coming out ahead 4-2 after a run of three consecutive breaks of serve.

The Belgian, who idolised Fed-erer as a teenager, sent the match into a deciding set but immedi-ately lost his momentum as the 34-year-old Swiss star broke in the second and sixth games before serving out the win in front of 9,000 fans.

“I thought I had it under con-trol after the first set, but he really lifted,” said Federer, who Saturday plays Jack Sock, a win-

ner over fellow American Donald Young 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

“He played the second set much better. I’m happy to get through over such a dangerous opponent.

“I knew his game after we practised together in Dubai in December, we put in 10-15 hours on the court, played tons of sets.

“He’s a great player with the footwork, the power, the tennis IQ.”

Nadal, the 14-time Grand Slam champion, will next face France’s Richard Gasquet who survived 32 aces from Ivo Karlovic to keep his hopes of a World Tour Finals place alive with a 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (8/6) win.

Nadal began turning his match with 2014 US Open champion Cilic on its head after going down a set and a break.

The Spaniard retrieved the break in the fourth game, 2-2, with a forehand winner.

He then took a 5-3 lead as Cilic delivered three double-faults to lose serve in an eight-minute game, opening the door for Nadal to push through.

With the sets level, Nadal went

to work closing out the evening, breaking to start the third and concluding with another break as the Croatian ended with seven double-faults while losing serve four times in two and a quarter hours.

“I was just fighting, always try-ing to find solutions in a difficult situation,” said Nadal.

“He played a great first set and it was tough to find any chances on return.

“I changed my position (on

return) a bit in the second set and it seemed to work well. This was an important victory for me against someone playing very well.”

Cilic fired 37 winners but was undone by 49 unforced errors and is now 0-11 against top 10 players since winning the 2014 US Open.

The 29-year-old Nadal’s con-fidence is fast returning after a slow start to 2015 and some indif-ferent play in the ensuing months when his ranking slumped to a 10-year low.

“I needed to play with the right tactic and motivation and try to improve every day,” said Nadal.

“It’s not easy but I’m work-ing hard to find the feelings and find the mental strength to come back.”

Nadal has already qualified for the World Tour Finals to be staged in London from Novem-ber 15 along with Novak Djoko-vic, Federer, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych.

Gasquet is chasing one of the last two spots remaining in the eight-player finale.

But the Frenchman with the

WTA FINALSSingapore: Collated results from the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore yesterday (x

denotes seeding):

WOMEN’S SINGLESSemi-finals

Petra Kvitova (CZE x4) bt Maria Sharapova (RUS x3) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)

Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x5) bt Garbine Muguruza (ESP x2) 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5

SWISS INDOORSBasel, Switzerland: Results from the fifth day of the ATP Swiss Indoors on Friday (x

denotes seeding):

Quarter finals

Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt David Goffin (BEL x8) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

Jack Sock (USA) bt Donald Young (USA) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2

Rafael Nadal (ESP x3) bt Marin Cilic (CRO x7) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

Richard Gasquet (FRA x5) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (8/6)

picture-book, single-handed backhand faces almost impos-sible odds, needing to win the Basel title this weekend and next week’s Paris Masters. Anything less will send rivals Kei Nishikori and Spain’s David Ferrer to the year-end showpiece.

AFP

Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates his victory during his semi-final match against France’s Richard Gasquet at the Swiss Indoors tennis tourna-ment in Basel, northern Switzerland, yesterday.

Bronze consolation as South Africa too strong for ArgentinaLONDON: South African winger Bryan Habana and flyhalf Handre Pollard fell just short in their bids for individual records despite helping the Springboks to a 24-13 win over Argentina in the bronze medal play-off at the Olympic Stadium on Friday.

Habana, who needed one touch-down to set a new outright record for the most tries by a player in World Cups, failed to get over the line in what was almost certainly his last tournament appearance.

Pollard booted four penal-ties and one conversion to finish with 14 points in the match, tak-ing his total points tally for the tournament to 93, four behind the Argentine flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez who replied with a drop goal, a penalty and a last-minute con-version to remain as the leading pointscorer.

The Springboks, whose coach Heyneke Meyer had described the third-place playoff as akin to ‘kissing your sister’, dominated the game from the outset, finish-ing with two tries in the match between the two beaten semi-finalists.

“Of course we would have loved to be playing tomorrow for the World Cup but unfortu-nately things didn’t go our way

last week,” said captain Victor Matfield, after his 127th and final appearance.

“Today we knew it would be tough, we have a lot of respect for Argentina and a bronze medal is better than fourth place.

“We’ll go into the changing room and have a beer with Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez and the guys I’ve spent so much of my life with.

“It’s been a fantastic career and I’m just happy we won the game tonight.”

Both teams signalled their intention to run the ball from the outset but were unable to gener-ate much genuine intensity after the disappointment of missing out on the final.

The Springboks, beaten 20-18 by New Zealand, were rewarded with an early try by winger JP Pietersen, his fifth of the tourna-ment, after spurning the chance for a penalty goal when the Pumas scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli was sin-binned for slowing down the play.

Pollard landed the conversion from the touchline and added three more penalties as the Springboks went to the break leading 16-0.

Sanchez opened Argentina’s account just after the re-start

with a long-range drop goal but South Africa hit straight back with Habana throwing the last pass to Eben Etzebeth for the big lock to slide over.

Habana, one of six survivors from the Springboks team that won the 2007 World Cup, had his chances to score, failing to ground a kick in goal then knocking on with the line wide open, but was unable to add to his tally of 15 tries before he was taken off 12 minutes from time, leaving him level with former New Zealand colossus Jonah Lomu. Sanchez and Pollard traded penalties before the Pumas, who probed all night without ever really looking like breaking through, got a reward for their efforts when Juan Pablo Orlandi was driven over right in the final move of the match.

“Looking back we can’t com-plain, I’m very proud of the way the team came back after our first game,” Meyer said in reference to the Springboks’ shock group stage defeat by Japan.

“I’m proud of the guys because it was a tough week, probably a tougher week than after Japan. After missing out on the final you feel like you heart’s been ripped out.”

REUTERS

Cook plays down spat with WarneSHARJAH, United Arab Emirates: England skipper Alastair Cook yesterday said his spat with famous rival Shane Warne had been blown out of context as he insisted he now has a better relationship with the Aussie great.

Warne irked Cook with critical comments about his captaincy last year in a newspaper column when he suggested the Englishman should step down from his role.

Visibly upset at the comments, Cook hit back, saying: “Well something needs to be done because for the three years I’ve been England captain I have in my eyes been criticised for a hell of a lot of that.”

But a courtesy visit by Warne to help England spinner Adil Rashid in the nets in Sharjah seemed to have eased out the tension.

“He was still fairly critical in the summer as well, as (former Australian captain) Michael Clarke’s best mate he was always going to do that,” said Cook of Warne’s comments during England’s 3-2 Ashes win this year. “Me and Warne’s so-called spat, what I said was taken a little bit out of context -- it was probably directed to the whole media, not just him, and people jumped on that.”

AFP

England’s Alastair Cook during a press conference at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, in the United Arab Emirates yesterday. The third and final Test of the series begins tomorrow.

England consider third spinner option in SharjahSHARJAH: Skipper Alastair Cook admitted playing a third spinner would be a tough call as England prepares to take on Paki-stan in the third and final Test in Sharjah.

England are 1-0 down after los-ing the second Test in Dubai and drawing the first in Abu Dhabi, so are seeking to level the series, as New Zealand did last year.

The Black Caps also used three spinners in Daniel Vettori, Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi to beat Paki-stan by an innings, also in Sharjah for a 1-1 result.

Asked if England would play a third spinner in Samit Patel in place of Mark Wood who is rested with an ankle problem, Cook termed it a tough call.

“That’s the major decision we have to make,” Cook said.

“Yesterday when we turned up they had just watered the wicket so it didn’t give us too many clues.

“It will be really easy after the game in hindsight to see whether we’ve made the right decision but it will be a tough call.”

AFP



Mourinho dismisses job fears despite sixth loss LONDON: Under-pressure Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (pictured) insisted that he did not fear for his job after his side’s wretched season continued with a 3-1 home defeat by Liverpool yesterday.

Philippe Coutinho scored twice and Christian Benteke was also on target at Stamford Bridge as Liverpool condemned the misfir-ing Premier League champions to their sixth defeat of a torrid campaign.

Mourinho’s position has come under intense scrutiny on account of his team’s desperate form, with some reports suggesting he is close to being sacked, and Liver-pool’s supporters goaded him with chants of: “You’re getting sacked in the morning!”

But when asked if he thought he had pre-sided over the last game of his second stint at Chelsea, he replied: “No, I don’t.” He also replied in the affirmative when asked if he thought he would be given time to turn the situation around by owner Roman Abramovich.

Returning to a well-worn theme, Mourinho suggested that his team had been the victims of poor refereeing decisions, but said that he would be “punished by the FA” for speaking his mind.

Mourinho was fined £50,000 ($76,560) and given a suspended one-game stadium ban by the FA for criticising the referee.

He is also facing a misconduct charge after being sent to the stands during last weekend’s 2-1 loss at West Ham United.

The 52-year-old was aggrieved that Coutinho’s first goal, which cancelled out Ramires’s fourth-minute opener, had been scored after the scheduled two minutes of first-half stoppage time had elapsed and that Lucas Leiva had avoided a second yellow card for a trip on Ramires.

Chelsea suffer fresh blow, City stay on topDefending champions thrashed by Liverpool; United fail to score in draw against Crystal Palace LONDON: Jose Mourinho’s future as Chelsea manager was plunged into further doubt as the troubled English champions crashed to a 3-1 defeat against Liverpool yesterday.

Mourinho’s mounting problems took centre stage on a dramatic day in the Premier League which saw Manchester City stay top after escaping with a late 2-1 win against Norwich.

Arsenal are second, behind City on goal difference, after batter-ing Swansea 3-0, while misfiring Manchester United failed to find the net once again in a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace.

At Stamford Bridge, Mour-inho’s side took an early lead through Ramires but any hopes that would alleviate the cri-sis were destroyed by Philippe Coutinho.

The Liverpool forward hit a superb equaliser in first half stop-page-time and punished sloppy Chelsea defending to put Jurgen Klopp’s team ahead in the 74th minute.

With Mourinho fuming that Liverpool midfielder Lucas avoided a red card for what looked like a possible second booking at 1-1, his misery was compounded when Christian Benteke scored Liverpool’s third seven minutes from full-time. The Blues have now lost six of their 11 league games and are languishing four points above the relegation zone, prompting more debate about how long Mourinho can sur-vive the axe from owner Roman Abramovich.

Reports before the Liverpool game had suggested that he could be dismissed in the event of another defeat, but, asked if he was worried about his losing his job, Mourinho said simply: “no”.

At Eastlands, City defender Nicolas Otamendi opened the scoring with a bullet header in the 67th minute to notch his first goal since signing from Valencia in August. Norwich snatched an 83rd minute equaliser when City goalkeeper Joe Hart spilled a cor-ner and Cameron Jerome pun-ished the embarrassing blunder.

But City hit straight back to win it when Norwich defender Russell Martin was sent off for deliberate handball.

Yaya Toure stroked in the resulting 89th minute penalty and there was still time for City to miss a spot-kick in stoppage-time when Aleksandar Kolarov fired wide.

Arsenal remain hot on City’s heels as they bounced back from their shock League Cup exit with a stroll at Swansea.

Beaten by second tier Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, the Gun-ners took the lead when Olivier Giroud headed home in the 49th minute for Arsenal’s 2000th goal under Arsene Wenger.

Laurent Koscielny got the second in the 68th minute when Swansea’s former Arsenal goal-keeper Lukasz Fabianski dropped a corner and the French defender slotted in.

Costa Rica forward Joel Camp-bell completed the victory with his first goal for Arsenal, four

years after joining the Gunners, in the 73rd minute.

Manchester United did little to quell criticism of their “bor-ing” style in a dour stalemate at Crystal Palace.

Watford halted West Ham’s impressive run as Nigeria forward Odion Ighalo struck twice in a 2-0 win at Vicarage Road.

Ighalo converted Nathan Ake’s cross from close-range in the 39th minute and netted again three minutes into the second half for his seventh goal of the season.

West Ham defender James Col-lins was sent off for a nasty chal-lenge six minutes from full-time.

Leicester climbed to third place as Jamie Vardy scored for the eighth successive league game to clinch a 3-2 win at West Brom-wich Albion.

Manchester City’s Argentinian defender Nicolas Otamendi (right) cel-ebrates with team-mate Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne after scoring the opening goal against Norwich City during their EPL match at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, yesterday.

EPL RESULTSEnglish Premier League results yesterday:

Chelsea 1 (Ramires 4) Liverpool 3 (Coutinho 45+3, 74, Benteke 83)

Crystal Palace 0 Manchester United 0

Manchester City 2 (Otamendi 67, Toure 89-pen) Norwich 1 (Jerome 83)

Newcastle 0 Stoke 0

Swansea 0 Arsenal 3 (Giroud 49, Koscielny 68, Campbell 73)

Watford 2 (Ighalo 39, 48) West Ham 0

West Brom 2 (Rondon 30, Lambert 84-pen) Leicester 3 (Mahrez 57, 64, Vardy 77)

Playing Today

Everton vs Sunderland (1330 GMT), South-ampton vs Bournemouth (1600 GMT)

Playing Tomorrow

Tottenham vs Aston Villa

Venezuela striker Salomon Rondon headed Albion into the lead in the 30th minute.

But Leicester’s Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez equalised in the 57th minute. Mahrez put Leices-ter ahead seven minutes later before England forward Vardy netted in the 77th minute for his eighth in a row -- a superb run that only Ruud van Nistelrooy and Daniel Sturridge have sur-passed in Premier League history.

Rickie Lambert’s 84th minute penalty for Albion came too late to rescue a point.

Newcastle missed a chance to move out of the relegation zone after a 0-0 draw against Stoke at St James’ Park. Today, Ever-ton host Sunderland and South-ampton face Bournemouth, while managerless Aston Villa travel to Tottenham tomorrow.

AFP

Matip siblings face off in Bundesliga BERLIN: Cameroon interna-tionals Joel and Marvin Matip went head-to-head for the first time in the Bundesliga yesterday when Joel’s Schalke hosted Ingol-stadt, who are captained by elder brother Marvin.

It was the 24th time broth-ers have been on opposing teams in the Bundesliga and Joel spe-cially ordered 15 tickets so family members could go to the game at Gelsenkirchen’s Veltins Arena.

Their mother is German, while father Jean has lived in Germany since 1975 and seen both of his sons pull on the green shirt of Cameroon. The 55-year-old said he would be wearing the Cam-eroon national shirt as he did not want to favour either son, whose educations he funded to make sure their dreams of playing pro-fessional football came true.

“Since the boys were six years old, I told them there’d no football without your abitur (university entrance exam),” he told German daily Bild.

Having risen up through Schalke’s academy, strapping centre-back Joel, 24, made his league debut for the Royal Blues in November 2009. Marvin, 30, was included in the Cameroon squad in 2008, but his name had to be taken off the list as he had already played for Germany at under-20 level and an application had to be made to FIFA to allow him to switch.

He eventually made his senior international debut in 2013 and the centre-back is now captaining Ingolstadt in their first campaign in Germany’s top flight after they won the second division last sea-son.

AFP

Paris Saint-Germain’s Argentinian forward Angel Di Maria celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match against Rennes on Friday at the Roazhon Park in Rennes, north-western France.

PARIS: Angel Di Maria grabbed a second-half winner as Paris Saint-Germain went 10 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 on Fri-day with a 1-0 victory at Rennes.

Argentine star Di Maria struck with a volley after fine inter-change between Marco Verratti and Lucas Moura 15 minutes from time as PSG maintained their undefeated start to the sea-son. The champions are 10 points clear of second-placed Angers, who travel to Monaco today, and now have gone 23 matches with-out losing in all competitions since being beaten by Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals last April.

“We controlled the match from start to finish,” said PSG coach Laurent Blanc after his team’s 10th league win this season.

PSG started with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench with one eye on Tuesday’s Cham-pions League trip to Real Madrid while David Luiz, Marquinhos, Javier Pastore and Edinson Cav-ani were all missing with injuries.

“You can’t rotate the squad and expect to have the same efficiency.

The first thing to do is to win.“And when you have matches in

the Champions League, you must think of those also,” added Blanc.

Swedish star Ibrahimovic had scored five times in his last seven league games and his predatory instincts were missing in a goal-less first half at Rennes who were on a six-match run without a win.

Argentine star Ezequiel Lavezzi saw a shot turned around the corner by Rennes keeper Benoit Costil. Lavezzi had earlier just missed the target with a free-kick while, at the other end, Abdoulaye Doucoure shot over the top after a neat one-two with Juan Quin-tero. After the break, PSG con-tinued to press and the decision to summon Verratti from the bench to replace Benjamin Stambouli in the 64th minute paid dividends.

It was the Italian midfielder who played a key role in the open-ing goal 10 minutes later.

His magnificent pass released Brazilian teammate Lucas Moura who in turn crossed accurately for Di Maria to score his third league goal of the season.

AFP

Ligue 1: Di Maria sends PSG 10 points clear

Real Madrid claim easy win

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (right) celebrates his goal against Las Palmas with team-mate Casemiro during their Spanish first division match at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, yesterday.

MADRID: Real Madrid eased past La Liga newcomers Las Palmas 3-1 to move three points clear of Barcelona at the top of the table yesterday.

The Canary Islanders were making their first visit to the Santiago Bernabeu in 13 years, but couldn’t have gotten off to a worst start as Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo put Madrid 2-0 up inside 15 minutes.

Hernan’s header briefly gave the visitors hope seven minutes before half-time, yet Madrid restored their two-goal advantage just five minutes later through Jese Rodriguez’s fine finish.

Real were without Keylor Navas, Sergio Ramos, James Rod-riguez, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema through injury as coach Rafael Benitez preferred not to risk any of his stars ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s visit in the Champions League on Tuesday.

However, the hosts were never put under any serious pressure as Las Palmas coughed up pos-session deep inside their own half after four minutes and Casemiro teed up Isco to coolly slot home his first goal of the season.

Ronaldo then added his 13th goal in as many games this cam-paign with a diving header to meet Marcelo’s perfect cross from the left 10 minutes later.

Goalkeeper Kiko Casilla was making his first appearance for the Real senior team after rejoining his boyhood club from Espanyol in July and he was forced into action for the first time by Jonathan Viera’s low shot which he parried to safety.

There was little Casilla could do

seven minutes before half-time, though, as Madrid conceded for the first time at home this season when Hernan was given acres of space to head home Nabil El Zhar’s corner via the underside of the crossbar.

Yet, any hope of a close contest was wiped away moments later when Jese skipped past Aythami Artiles before firing into the bottom corner. Las Palmas started the better in the second period as Willian Jose blasted over with a great chance on the counter-attack before Casilla

produced a brilliant save to turn the Brazilian’s free-kick behind for a corner. Madrid produced precious little after the break as Benitez also took off Luka Modric and Toni Kroos to keep them fresh for midweek.

However, Ronaldo should have added to his tally in stoppage time when he failed to beat Javi Varas when clean through on goal and the keeper got quickly back on his feet to also prevent Lucas Vazquez’s follow-up effort finding the net.

AFP

Arsenal’s Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech saves from Swansea City’s French striker Bafetimbi Gomis attempt during their English Premier League match in Swansea, south Wales yesterday.

Bayern’s winning run halted FRANKFURT: Leaders Bayern Munich’s express start to the season finally ran out of steam on Friday with a goalless draw at Eintracht Frankfurt, following 10 wins out of their 10 previous Bundesliga games.

The champions lacked their usual punch and despite dominating the encounter, did not manage to break past Frankfurt’s disciplined backline too often, failing to equal a European major league record for the best start to a season, held by Tottenham Hotspur with 11 straight wins in 1960. The Bavarians, on 31 points, extended their lead to eight above second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern, who had won their previous six matches against Eintracht without conceding a

goal, were more aggressive from the start and Arturo Vidal tested keeper Lukas Hradecky with a looping header in the 11th minute. Javi Martinez’s glancing header minutes later floated just wide as Bayern set a quick early pace and Frankfurt frantically defended.

A double defensive blunder by the hosts at the start of the second half left Douglas Costa unmarked in front of goal but again Hradecky, at full stretch, got a leg to the ball to send the Brazilian’s low shot wide. Eintracht grew in confidence and came close to scoring with an Alex Meier effort before Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer almost gifted a goal to Marc Stendera after a bad clearance.

REUTERS

SPORT30SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2015


Time to protect integrity of sport: HanzabICSS President calls for more leadership by governments for the task in Paris Convention

Doha replaces Rio as host of 2016 ANOC general assembly

Mohammed Hanzab

DOHA: Speaking to Unesco’s Member States at the fifth ses-sion of the Conference of Parties to the International Conven-tion against Doping in Sport in Paris this week, ICSS President, Mohammed Hanzab, called on governments to show greater leadership in the fight to protect the integrity of sport and high-lighted the growing relationship between sport and organised crime.

President Hanzab’s comments came as part of a keynote address at Unesco’s headquarters, where he was invited as a special guest to mark the 10th anniversary of the International Convention against Doping in Sport, a document which is ratified by more than 180 countries and remains the first legal international anti-doping instrument.

As well as underlining the ICSS’s commitment to working alongside Unesco and developing a credible, coordinated and global approach to ensuring the highest governance and integrity standards in sport, the ICSS President also commended Unesco and its partners on developing a global code to combat doping.

However, he warned that similar measures must be put in place to address the wider corruption threats now facing

integrity of sport, which include match fixing, money laundering, trafficking and criminal infiltration.

Hanzab said: “Sport is now confronted by increasingly complex and sophisticated threats, which are spread across multiple jurisdictions and often involve criminal organisations who exert influence on many aspects of the industry.

“As a result, a perfect storm has been created that is damaging the fabric of international sport and has resulted in a collision of three international economic giants; international sport, international gambling and international organised crime. This is a crucial moment for sport and only leadership from world governments can contain it.”

Hanzab also drew attention to “the alarming number of police and other investigations of corrupted sport competitions around the world today,” highlighting the need to reconsider the current approach to the autonomy of sport and how many sport governing bodies and organisations are currently self-regulated.

Hanzab concluded: “In coopera-tion with Unesco, we are ready to contribute to the mission of Mineps V and, most importantly,

assist national stakeholders in putting recommendations and international policies into prac-tice.

“Safeguarding sport is at the heart and soul of the ICSS - it is why the ICSS was established and it is the focus of our daily work,” he said. The session was attended by Unesco Member States, as well as leading international policy experts and advisors from

the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Olym-pic Committee (IOC), the Inter-national Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Council of Europe (CoE), Interpol, the World Cus-toms Organisation and various intergovernmental and interna-tional sports organisations.

The ICSS’s ongoing partnership with Unesco, which has seen the two organisations collaborate on

integrity issues such as match-fixing, child welfare and organ-ised crime in sport, is part of a broader ICSS strategy to drive reform through a collaborative, multi-sector approach.

The organisation’s growing glo-bal influence was also highlighted this week at the XX Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly in Washington, DC where Save the Dream - an initiative of the Qatar Olympic Committee and the ICSS - delivered a special presentation.

Save the Dream Executive Director Massimiliano Montanari outlined the global programme’s mission to empower youth and communities through the positive and aspirational values of sport to more than 1,000 representa-tives of 206 National Olympic Committees, International Fed-erations and future organising committees.

The presentation to some of the leading figures in the Olym-pic Movement precedes a major public showcase in Times Square, New York City on November 3, which will see Save the Dream ambassadors, musicians and children from around the world gather to spread the message of hope and peace through sport.

THE PENINSULA

WA SH I NGT ON: T he Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) will hold its 2016 general assembly in Doha, Qatar rather than as originally planned in Rio de Janeiro, General Secretary Gunilla Lindberg told reporters on Friday.

The meeting has also been moved from an April date to November to allow for the third ANOC Awards Gala to recognise achievements from the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.

The hosting of the gathering of 207 national Olympic committees is another coup for Qatar which has invested heavily in taking a central role in international sport.

“The general council was planned first week of April, that is six months from now and we couldn’t fill an agenda,” said Lindberg, who added that Rio Olympic organisers had also indicated that they already had their hands full organising the Summer Games.

“It is a lot of organisation for a host city, I think we have taken a good decision to go to Qatar in November,” she said.

REUTERS

New Zealand overwhelm Australia to win record third Rugby World Cup

New Zealand’s flanker and captain Richie McCaw (right) holds the Webb Ellis Cup as he celebrates with team-mates after winning the 2015 Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham Stadium in London, yesterday.

LONDON: New Zealand cemented their status as the greatest team in rugby history when they overwhelmed Aus-tralia 34-17 at Twickenham yesterday to become world cham-pions for a record third time, and the first nation to retain the Webb Ellis Cup.

Tries from Nehe Milner-Skud-der and Ma’a Nonu had the All Blacks cruising 21-3 early in the second half before Ben Smith’s yellow card opened the door for Australia, who got back within four points with tries by David Pocock and Tuvita Kuridrani.

But flyhalf Dan Carter, who missed most of the 2011 tourna-ment through injury and who is retiring from international rugby after yesterday’s match, stepped up with an exquisite drop goal and a 50-metre penalty to put the result beyond doubt.

Replacement wing Beauden Barrett applied the black icing to the Kiwi World Cup cake with a late try which Carter converted to take his personal tally to 19 points

New Zealand have lost just three times in 54 matches since their triumph on home soil four years ago, and have won every World Cup match since losing to France in the 2007 quarter-finals.

“I’m pretty grateful to be where I am considering what happened four years ago,” said Carter, who was also part of the unsuccessful 2003 and 2007 campaigns.

“I’m so proud of the team. To win back-to-back World Cups is a dream come true. It’s a pretty strong group of guys. We try to do things no other team has done before... it’s a special feeling to be part of such a great team.”

New Zealand looked on their

game from the start, zipping the ball sharply along the lines and creating quick ball at every ruck to keep the Wallabies on the back foot.

Their pressure enabled Carter to thump over three penalties to one from Bernard Foley to make it 9-3 after half an hour. But it was a controversial lead.

Referee Nigel Owens missed a clear forward pass by Milner-Skudder moments before penal-ising the Wallabies, and though 80,000 fans inside Twickenham and millions around the world could see it on replays, the strict TMO protocols prevented the officials from checking the inci-dent -- although they could have done had it led to a try instead

of a penalty. Australia suffered another blow when they lost cen-tre Matt Giteau to a head injury and their first-half misery was completed when Conrad Smith, Aaron Smith and Richie McCaw fired the ball wide for Milner-Skudder to score in the corner

Carter converted for a 16-3 halftime lead and it took only two minutes of the second half for New Zealand to effectively put the game to bed.

Sonny Bill Williams, on for Conrad Smith, delivered a trade-mark offload to Nonu and the centre tore through some soft defending and sprinted 30 metres to mark his 103rd and last New Zealand appearance with a killer try.

Australia, as always, refused to lie down though and immedi-ately roared back into the attack. Smith was sin-binned for a tip-tackle on Drew Mitchell -- the first yellow card in a final -- and from the resulting penalty Aus-tralia drove over the line with Pocock the man at the bottom.

Foley converted to make it 21-10 with 28 minutes remain-ing. That spurred Australia into greater efforts and they got their second try after 63 minutes when a probing kick by Will Genia bounced perfectly for Foley who fed Kuridrani to slide over and with Foley slotting the conversion they were back within four points.

The atmosphere at Twicken-ham revved, but once again it was the cool head of Carter who regained control.

The flyhalf, whose dropped goal in the semi-final against South Africa set in motion a momentum shift that turned that match, slot-ted another despite being under huge pressure.

Carter then applied the coup de grace with a 50-metre penalty to make it 27-17 with five minutes remaining.

Australia attacked again but great defence kept them out and Ben Smith then kicked into space for the fresh-legged replacement winger Barrett to collect the ball and score under the posts.

The New Zealand bench erupted, celebrating their third triumph after 1987 and 2011, and their first on foreign soil. “It’s a great way to finish,” said their coach Steve Hansen of Carter’s orchestration of the win. “You couldn’t script it any better.”

REUTERS

Australia’s head coach Michael Cheika is pictured after his team lost 17-34 during the final match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup against New Zealand at Twickenham Stadium yesterday.

Beaten Wallabies lose final but win back lost fans LONDON: The agony of los-ing the World Cup final to New Zealand will not linger long for Australia.

As gut-wrenching as it was for the Wallabies to fall to their bit-ter arch-rivals, they can still take great comfort from knowing they may have won a bigger battle.

Despite being one of the sport’s traditional superpowers, rugby still struggles for constant atten-tion in Australia, one of the few countries in the world with four different professional football codes competing in the same mar-ket place.

Australian Rules Football and rugby league have always been the most widely followed win-

ter sports Down Under with the popularity of rugby and soccer often fluctuating, depending on the fortunes of the national team.

One of the few sports where Australia has not succeeded on the international stage, soccer received a major shot in the arm this year when Australia won the Asian Cup for the first time, while rugby was still floundering and in need of a quick fix.

The Wallabies had not won the World Cup since 1999 and not made a final since 2003. Their fair weather fans were losing faith in a team that was regularly losing games, a national governing body (ARU) that was losing money and a divided side that was embroiled

in a series of off-field scandals. Then along came Michael Cheika, who was appointed as the new head coach when Ewen McKenzie quit just over 12 months out from the World Cup.

With no time to waste, the no-nonsense son of Lebanese migrants who made his fortune in the women’s fashion industry, set in motion his vision of what Australian rugby needed to win back the hearts and minds of his countryman.

Making a big impression at the World Cup was just one part of his mission.

His first job was to get the Wal-labies back playing the game the way Australians want - abandon-

ing the cautious forward-based approach that had taken hold and returning to the riskier but more instinctive running game.

One of the first assistant coaches he hired was Stephen Larkham, a World Cup winner with the Wallabies in 1999 and one of Australia’s best exponents of attacking rugby.

“I’ve been brought up with tries, attacking football,” Cheika said. “I understand that it’s more difficult but if you don’t try to score them you’re not going to.

“It does leave you open and can leave you open on the coun-ter punch sometimes...but I think that’s how Australians want us to play.”

Then Cheika went to work on fixing Australia’s wonky scrum, recruiting Argentine great Mario Ledesma, then he called on Nathan Grey to tighten up the defence.

“We worked really hard in defence and that’s something we want to be able to do because it’s a sign of team spirit and we want to work hard there,” Cheika explained.

He began searching for play-ers with the characteristics he wanted, encouraging some who had given up on representing their country and gone to Europe, to come home and try again.

REUTERS

WORLD CUP SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

LONDON: The tops and the flops of the Rugby World Cup which ended yesterday with New Zealand beating Australia:

Tops

JAPAN

New Zealand may have won the trophy but it was a jubilant World Cup for the 2019 hosts, who claimed the greatest upset in the tourna-ment’s history with a 34-32 win over two-time champions South Africa. Sadly they also became the first team to win three pool games and not make the quarter-finals and they have lost inspi-rational quip-a-minute coach Eddie Jones. But the future looks bright.

DAVID POCOCK

The 27-year-old Zimbabwean-born No 8 lit up the tournament with play that made him a lead-ing candidate to be player of the World Cup. Scored a brilliant try to get Australia back into the World Cup final. His efforts will help publicise his activism work for climate change, gay rights and wildlife preservation.

Flops

ENGLAND

Catastrophic performances, bad leadership all started with bad selection such as choosing rugby league convert Sam Burgess. England lost against Wales and Australia in Pool A and became the first World Cup hosts to fail to reach the knockout rounds.

PHILIPPE SAINT-ANDRE

A flamboyant and dynamic player withered into a cautious unimaginative coach whose only ‘success’ was to have the adjective flair removed from the vocabulary usually attributed to French rugby. Many blamed the wealthy Top 14 championship which prefers foreign play-ers to home talent. Ultimately the failure lays at Saint-Andre’s door. New Zealand crushed France 62-13 in an embarrassing quarter-final.

WORLD RUGBY

The governing body faced strong criticism for publicly stating that Craig Joubert had been wrong to give Australia a last minute game-winning penalty in their quarter-final against Scotland. The South African referee was sub-jected to abuse -- some from former Scottish players -- but World Rugby’s decision to release their review of the game caused widespread controversy. It was only time during the tourna-ment they published such a review. Their caveat that Joubert remained one of the best referees in the world did not soften the blow.

McCaw hails All Blacks’ ‘damned good rugby’ TWICKENHAM: New Zealand captain Richie McCaw said win-ning a second World Cup was his proudest moment and made him want to put retirement back even further.

“We played some damned good rugby there. We lost a bit of momentum in the second half, but we kept our composure. We came home strong which has been the mark of this team for the past four years,” McCaw said of the dramatic 34-17 win over Australia at Twickenham.

Was it the proudest moment of his 148 test career? “Absolutely,” he replied after captaining the first side to win back-to-back World Cups.

“We said four years ago after the last one that we would get on the road again,” said McCaw.

McCaw said he had not been anxious when Australia fought back into the game when Ben Smith was sin-binned.

“I knew the momentum was against us. But we have been in those situations before and it’s a matter of not panicking and doing the simple things.”

Asked about retirement, McCaw said: “I still don’t want to think about it” and that he wanted to enjoy the triumph.

“Look at the moment, I am still proud of this team. I am going to enjoy today. How could you get enough of this. We will worry about that after today. I just want to enjoy having played a wonder-ful World Cup final here with a great bunch of men.”

AFP

DOHA: Singapore’s sailors proved they can deliver in every weather condition and respond to everything the race track throws at them delivering a super consistent performance at the Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championship 2015 in Qatar.

Singapore duo of Daniel Hung and Muhammad Daniel KeI Bin M Yazid, took the overall indi-vidual championship followed by Suthon Yampinid of Thailand.

The final day of the champion-ship, saw yet another close and intense battles unfolded against the stunning Doha city backdrop and along the Al Corniche water-front area.

With lighter conditions, sailors had to find and tack on the wind shifts.

Adding to the race course dynamics, seeking out the wind pressure proved no easy task, due to the high level of competition.

Tension was high in the fight for the medals and the dramatic last day piled pressure on the young sailors. Separated into gold and silver fleets for the final two races, the leaderboard was

still open to challenge. In the final race one, the sprint to fin-ish was incredibly close with the lead changing hands throughout the race between the sailors of Hong Kong’s – Duncan Gregor, Turkey’s - Efe Tulcali and Singa-pore’s - Hung.

Some critical errors in the first upwind saw two of Singapore’s contenders, Muhammad and Jodie Lai, digging deep to make up lost ground.

Ultimately it was Singapore’s Hung who struck just before the finish to take the win.

Onto race two, and the points advantage racked up by Hung looked unassailable. But there was still a chance for his closest rival and team mate Muhammad to step up, although a double digit finish after some tactical errors, and the race win to Hung was conclusive.

In the end it was gold to Hung after two perfect races, silver to Muhammad l and bronze to Yampinid - in a skilful show of form.

Earlier, this week Thailand claimed the Team Racing Cham-pionship, after seeing off formi-dable challenges from China and Singapore.

118 sailors from Asian and Oce-ania countries took part in the one week championship.

THE PENINSULA



Chinappa floors World No.1 El Welily in openerMohamed Elshorbagy ends Qatar’s challenge at the championship, seeds crumble on day one in QatarDOHA: The opening day of main draw action at the 2015 Qatar Classic, PSA World Series tour-nament, saw half a dozen of the tournament’s top seeds crash out at the first hurdle as the form book got ripped apart in both the men’s and women’s draws at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Com-plex, here yesterday.

In the women’s draw India’s Joshana Chinappa set the scene for what was to follow as she dis-missed World No. 1 Raneem El Welily 3-1 to record one of the biggest wins of her career in the day’s opening matchup.

The 29-year-old from Chennai came into the second PSA World Series tournament of the sea-son in form and shot out of the blocks to establish an early two-game lead over an out-of-sorts El Welily - who’s performance was littered with errors throughout - from which the 26-year-old from Alexandria couldn’t recover.

“This is by far the best win of

my career - it doesn’t get any bet-ter than beating the player at the top of the world rankings,” said Chinappa.

“I’ve not been looking at my rankings or anything like that of late and I think that’s showing through in my game. I’m more relaxed on court and hopefully I can keep my momentum going now and take that into my next match and see how far I can go.”

Chinappa will face Egyptian Yathreb Adel in the second round after she upset the odds to record an emphatic 3-0 win over World No.19 Dipika Pallikal before fellow Egyptian Amina Yousry overcame a gap of over 120 places on the World Rankings to defeat Eng-land’s Emily Whitlock in a five-game thriller.

Yousry edged the first two games courtesy of tie-breaks in what was an evenly contested and intense battle before Whitlock responded to level the match at 2-2. But 15-year-old Yousry dug

deep to take the fifth and record a huge upset.

“I’m so happy to have won this match - it’s an amazing feeling,” said Yousry.

“It was my first time playing Emily and up until recently I never though my game would be good enough to beat someone of her calibre!” In the men’s tour-nament qualifiers Ryan Cuskelly and Mohamed Abouelghar stole the headlines as they dispatched World No.9 Mathieu Castagnet and former World No.1 James Willstrop, respectively.

Less than a week since win-ning the biggest title of his career to date at the Welaptega Blu-enose Squash Classic in Canada Cuskelly continued to enjoy his rich vein of form on the other side of the world as he dominated from the outset against Castagnet to record one of the best wins of his career. “That’s a massive win for me,” said Cuskelly.

“He’s such a tough guy but once

I started to get my rhythm going I was able to attack and that was my game plan.

“I came here straight from Canada where I picked up the biggest title of my career so play-ing two qualification matches and then Mathieu was pretty tough and I can’t really believe I’ve come

through. I’m in a good section of the draw and if I keep playing well I could cause a few more upsets so hopefully I can keep that momen-tum going.”

Cuskelly will face England’s Chris Simpson in the second round after the 28-year-old World No.23 eliminated World

No.10 Marwan El Shorbagy while Abouelghar will face current World No.1 and Egyptian com-patriot Mohamed El Shorbagy.

Mohamed El Shorbagy defeated Qatar’s Abdullah Al Tamimi to end the hosts challenge at the championship.

Abouelghar came from two games down against Willstrop to record a 5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-9 win and will be hoping to carry his form into Monday’s encounter with El Shorbagy.

“I am more than happy with my performance today and to come from 2-0 down against someone like James and win is huge for me,” said Abouelghar.

“He came out determined in the fifth and I’m really happy I managed to hang on and I’m look-ing forward to playing against Mohamed now. I know how tough he is but I feel like I can compete at this level so I’ll give it every-thing.”

THE PENINSULA

India’s Joshana Chinappa (in red) finishes off a rally against World No. 1 Raneem El Welily of Egypt during the first round match of the Qatar Classic at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha yesterday. Chinappa won 3-1. RIGHT: Abdullah Al Tamimi of Qatar returns the ball to Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt during the men’s first round match. El Shorbagy won 3-0. SQUASHPICS.COM

A section of the crowd at the Qatar Classic at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha yesterday.

Thailand, team winners in the Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championship, poses for a picture with second placed Singapore and bronze medal winner China at Katara Beach in Doha on Friday. Seen is Qatar Sailing & Water-Sports Federation President Khalifa Mohammed Al Sewaidi.

The podium winners in the overall female category at the Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championship. Jodie Lai of Singapore, got the first prize followed by compatriot Ellyn Tan and India’s Harshita Tomar came third.

Singapore dominate at Optimist Asian and Oceanian Championship

QATAR CLASSIC 2015First round matches

Men’s matches

Today’s matches ( Start at 6.00pm)

[Q] Leo Au (Hkg) vs [4] Omar Mosaad (Egy), Nafiizwan Adnan (Mas) vs Mazen Hesham (Egy), [Q] Alan Clyne (Sco) vs Daryl Selby (Eng) tue, [Q] Ali Farag (Egy) vs [6] Peter Barker (Eng), Karim Abdel Gawad (Egy) vs [8] Tarek Momen (Egy) tue, [Q] Gregoire Marche (Fra) vs Tom Richards (Eng), Fares Dessouki (Egy) vs Saurav Ghosal (Ind) tue, Borja Golan (Esp) vs [2] Gregory Gaultier (Fra)

Women’s

Today’s matches ( start at 12 noon)

[Q] Coline Aumard (Fra) vs [3] Camille Serme (Fra) tue, [Q] Hania El Hammamy (Egy) vs [14] Amanda Sobhy (Usa), Heba El Torky (Egy) vs [9] Rachael Grinham (Aus) tue, [Q] Olivia Blatchford (Usa) vs [6] Nour El Sherbini (Egy), Joey Chan (Hkg) vs [7] Annie Au (Hkg) tue, [Q] Mayar Hany (Egy) vs [11] Jenny Duncalf (Eng), [16] Victoria Lust (Eng) vs Tesni Evans (Wal) tue 15.00, Nicolette Fernandes (Guy) vs [2] Nicol David (Mas)

GLASGOW: Leigh Griffiths bagged a double as Celtic ham-mered nearest rivals Aberdeen 3-1 to open up a formidable seven-point lead at the top of the Scot-tish Premiership yesterday.

In an evenly-contested first half, Adam Rooney had his 24th-minute effort chopped off for off-side before Griffiths headed Celtic into a 44th-minute lead.

The Scotland striker stroked home his second from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute after Kris Commons had been scythed down by Ash Taylor.

James Forrest prodded home a third in the 60th minute before Rooney headed in an 89th-minute consolation for Aberdeen.

It is a massive blow to the Dons, whose title challenge has been floundering in recent weeks after they at one stage held a five-point advantage over Celtic fol-lowing their 2-1 win at Pittodrie in September.

Following a frantic start, the first real opportunity of the

match fell to the in-form Griffiths but the Hoops striker arrowed his shot narrowly wide.

Aberdeen responded with Rooney flicking a Niall McGinn cross from the right inches over the bar.

The Dons striker looked in the mood and minutes later dinked a Jonny Hayes delivery onto the roof of the net.

Aberdeen had the ball in the net in the 24th minute when Rooney stabbed home a cross from close range but the visiting fans’ joy was short-lived as it was immediately ruled out for offside.

Some superb goalkeeping from Danny Ward kept the game goal-less four minutes later when he rushed off his line and produced a magnificent reflex save to keep Griffiths’ effort out.

Another chance came Roon-ey’s way in the 35th minute with Hayes once again swinging a vicious delivery into the box but the striker’s downward header bounced wide.

Kenny McLean then came to Aberdeen’s rescue at the other end as he headed Dedryck Boy-ata’s looping header onto the underside of the bar.

The deadlock was finally bro-ken in the 44th minute through Griffiths. The Scotland striker ghosted in between Taylor and substitute Paul Quinn to get on the end of a deep delivery into the box from Kieran Tierney and bul-let a header beyond Ward.

The chances kept coming in the second half with a shot from Aus-tralian international Tom Rogic stinging the palms of Ward before Commons sent an effort on the half-volley wide.

A reckless challenge from Taylor then saw Celtic awarded a penalty. The defender scythed down Commons on the far left-hand edge of the box and Griffiths expertly dispatched his spot-kick beyond Ward.

A fantastic finish from Forrest made it 3-0.

AFP

Griffiths strikes twice for Celtic

Al Rayyan’s Rodrigo Tabata (left) and Lekhwiya’s Ahmed Yasser Aziz vie for the ball possession during the Qatar Star League (QSL) match at Lekhwiya Stadium yesterday. Al Rayyan won 3-1. ABDUL BASIT

QATAR CLASSIC RESULTSMen’s Round One

(1) Mohamed El Shorbagy (Egy) bt Abdullah Al Tamimi (Qat) 3-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-9)

[Q] Mohamed Abouelghar (Egy)bt James Willstrop (Eng) 3-2 (5-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-9)

[Q] Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) bt [7] Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) 3-1 (3-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-2)

Max Lee (Hkg) bt [Q] Greg Lobban (Sco) 3-1 (4-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-4)

[5] Simon Rosner (Ger) bt Steve Coppinger (Rsa) 3-2 (11-7, 12-14, 6-11, 11-9, 11-9)

Chris Simpson (Eng) bt Marwan El Shorbagy (Egy) 3-1 (13-11, 6-11, 11-3, 14-12)

[3] Miguel Rodriguez (Col) bt Cameron Pilley (Aus) 3-1 (11-7, 11-8, 12-14, 11-5)

Adrian Waller (Eng) bt Nicolas Mueller (Sui) 3-1 (11-9, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7)

Women’s Round One

Joshana Chinappa (Ind) bt [1] Raneem El Welily (Egy) 3-1 (11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-9)

Yathreb Adel (Egy) bt [13] Dipika Pallikal (Ind) 3-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-7)

[5] Omneya Abdel Kawy (Egy) bt Line Hansen (Den) 3-1 (11-7, 16-14, 4-11, 11-7)

[10] Sarah-Jane Perry (Eng) bt Habiba Mohamed (Egy) 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-6)

[8] Nouran Gohar (Egy) bt [Q] Nadine Shahin (Egy) 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-5)

[Q] Amina Yousry (Egy) bt [13] Emily Whitlock (Eng) 3-2 (13-11, 14-12, 9-11, 9-11, 11-7)

[4] Laura Massaro (Eng) bt [Q] Mena Nasser (Egy) 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-3)

[Q] Fiona Moverley (Eng) bt [15] Salma Hany (Egy) 3-1 (7-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-5)

DOHA: The Doha 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships have come to a close following an action-packed final evening of action, which saw five further world-records and the last of 212 world champions crowned.

Following the end of compe-tition, Mohammed Alhameli, Member of the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Governing Board, formally closed the World Championships before fireworks lit the night sky.

Speaking in his closing speech, Alhameli said: “The Organising Committee, led by its President His Excellency Dr Thani Abdul-rahman Al Kuwari, have done a

tremendous job. The number of world-records is testament to the world-class facilities and organi-sation athletes have benefitted from here. Most of all, I would like to thank the 800 volunteers for your outstanding work. Without you, events like this cannot hap-pen, but your efforts, combined with those of the Organising Committee, have made these the best IPC Athletics World Cham-pionships to date.”

The Doha 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were the largest-ever para-sport event to be hosted in the Middle East.

The Organising Committee aimed to use the opportunity to

showcase the incredible abilities of the world’s best para-athletes to new audiences and a new region.

Speaking in the closing cer-emony, Ameer Al Mulla, CEO of the Doha 2015 Local Organ-ising Committee, said: “It was our ambition to use these World Championships to raise awareness about para-sport and disability in Qatar and across the region. With front page coverage in the local papers every day, coverage on all major TV channels and our hash-tag #BeyondIncredible trending on social media - I can say with pride that we have achieved this.

“We have made more people aware of the incredible stories of the athletes competing. We have shown how these athletes have defied limitations, challenged the impossible, and redefined ability, helping us to break down barri-ers and change perceptions. This event will leave a lasting legacy in the Middle East for generations to come.”

The World Championships broke a number of records, both on and off the track and field. More athletes than ever before participated, more countries than ever won a medal show-ing the growing strength of the Paralympic Movement, and more media and broadcasters than ever before covered the World Cham-pionships.

A total of 54 world-records were broken throughout the com-petition, even more than were

broken in Lyon 2013. China comfortably topped the

medal table in Doha with a huge total of 85 medals – 41 gold, 26 silver and 18 bronze.

Russia finished second with a total of 69 medals and the USA finished third with 39.

The final evening of action saw a further 18 world champions crowned, with the relays being the highlight of the night. In the Men’s 4x100m T11-13 final, Russia broke the world-record with a time of 42.11 ahead of Uzbekistan and Spain and in the Women’s 4x100m T11-13 relay, China stormed to victory with a new Championship record, ahead of Russia in second and Spain in third, with Cuiqing Liu getting her fourth gold of these World Championships.

Meanwhile in the Women’s 4x100m T35-38 relay Great Brit-ain were victorious with a new world-record of 52.22, ahead of Russia in silver and China in bronze.

The next relay saw Doha’s heroes Richard Browne and Markus Rehm in action for the USA and Germany respectively in the Men’s 4x100m T42-47. It was Rehm’s team that had the bet-ter change-overs with the relay won by the third leg and Germany crossing the line with a 30m lead and a new Championship record ahead of the USA in second and Russia in third.

Russia had a world-record breaking evening with Evgenii

Shvetcov breaking the Men’s 200m T36 world-record with a time of 24.29 to take his second gold in Doha, and Andrey Vdovin breaking the Men’s 100m T37 world-record in a time of 11.46.

Walid Ktila of Tunisia won his fourth gold of the World Cham-pionships when he won the Men’s 200m T34 to match his four gold medals in Lyon 2013. Meanwhile, Great Britain won their third gold of the evening, to take their total tally to 13 golds, when multiple World and Paralympic Champion,

Hannah Cockroft won the Wom-en’s 400m T34 and her third gold of these World Championships.

Fittingly, the final gold of the World Championships went to China, who have been dominant in Doha, in the Men’s 4x400m T53/54 relay with a new Cham-pionship record.

The baton now hands to Lon-don, who will host the 2017 IPC Athletics World Championships in two years’ time.

THE PENINSULA

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Sport | 27 Sport | 29

Rosberg tops practice at Mexico GP

Chelsea suffer fresh blow, City stay top

Sunday 1 November 201518 Muharram 1437

Volume 20Number 6601

Price: QR2SportQSL: Gutsy Al Rayyan rally to down LekhwiyaFossati’s team continues unbeaten run to make it seven wins in a row; Al Gharafa and Umm Salal share points

DOHA: Qatar Stars League (QSL) Al Rayyan rallied from a goal down to register an emphatic 3-1 win over defending champions Lekhwiya in the Round 7 match here yesterday.

The come from behind win was Al Rayyan seventh win in the league and thus maintained their unbeaten record while tak-ing their points tally to 21 points.

The win also gave coach Jorge Fossati’s team a four-point lead over second placed El Jaish.

The other two matches played yesterday ended in draws.

Al Gharafa and Umm Salal were involved in a goalless stale-mate, while Al Arabi and Al Sadd split points in the 2-2 draw.

At the Abdulla bin Khalifa Sta-dium, Al Rayyan gave a stirring performance with a 3-1 comeback against Lekhwiya.

Lekhwiya had lost and drawn their previous two games and could not afford another nega-tive result. Al Rayyan who are

unbeaten so far this season were perhaps playing the defending QSL champions at their most vulnerable.

And it showed as the Red Knights were on the back foot fight from the kick off.

The first 20 minutes saw a sustained period of pressure from Rayyan as they produced some fast attacking forays but Lekhwiya were up to the chal-lenge and soaked up the pressure.

Against the run of play, Msa-kni chased down a Vladimir Weiss through-ball and was fouled in the process by Otavio, the Tuni-sian picked himself up and took the penalty kick which he missed but luckily for him the rebound fell kindly and he slotted home the opener (44’).

After the restart Lekhwiya’s Nam had great chance to put his side in front but Omar Barry pulled out a great reaction save at close range to keep his side in it.

The match became more and

more up open as both sides went for broke before half time. Rayy-an’s Mohammed Juma’s shot looked goal-bound but a terrific save from Claude Amine saw the ball strike the bar.

In the second half Rayyan again continued to pressure and the frantic pace from the first half was once again evident.

However, Lekhwiya were prov-ing to be more effective as they soaked up Rayyan’s attacks and countered with devastating pace.

Garcia struck the near post with a glancing header from a set piece, the resulting clearance was sloppy and somehow the ball fell to Rayyan’s Paraguayan mid-fielder Caceres who chipped the ball over the keeper to make it 1-1.

Just when it looked like it was going to end honours even, Sabas-tian Soria made a lung bursting run down the left before send-ing a deep cross over Lekwhiya’s defence.

Spaniard Sergio Garcia came into the box unmarked and struck a sweet volley to send the Rayyan fans into raptures (82’).

In the 87th minute Rayyan made it a comeback to remem-ber when they won a freekick after Weiss was deemed to fouled Abdlmotaal. Korean midfielder - Koh sent in a curling effort which eluded everyone and came off the post, none other than Soria was there to seal the win for his side.

In one of the two draws yester-day, both Al Arabi and Al Sadd were keen to get full points.

The Wolves started with a Xavi freekick which was lofted into the box and left-back Abdul Karim Hassan rose highest to put the Wolves into the lead (13’).

But it didn’t take long for Arabi to respond; Rod Fanni broke down the right and sent in

a fizzing low cross. Arabi striker Paulinho reacted quickest with a beautiful half volley to equalize for the Reds (13’).

In the second half, the game opened up and Arabi began to wrestle back possession. No easy feat against one of the best pass-ing sides in the league.

However just when it looked as though Arabi might be able to get a sniff at goal, their key man Boualem Khoukhi was shown a straight red for a rash challenge on Sadd striker Muriqui in the middle of the park.

Although this changed the complexion of the game, Sadd found it hard to make the one man advantage count. In fact it was Arabi who still managed to have the more dangerous chances as they played on the counter attack.

Arabi then shocked everyone when they went into the lead. Right back Ali Jassemi sent a searching ball up top to the tire-less Paulinho who did well to shake off Sadd defender Kasola before finishing with his weaker left foot for his second of the match (61).

New signing Mosaab could have wrapped things up for Arabi when a beautiful outside-of-the-foot delivery by Ashkan Mohammed found the left back unmarked, but he lacked composure when it counted most, snatching his shot across the face of goal (71’).

Sadd then came back when Ashkan, who up till then had played well for the Reds, was deemed to have fouled Xavi in the box.

Muriqui elected to take the spot kick and waited for the keeper to make the first move before slot-ting home the equaliser.

Sadd were now finally making the extra man count as they went

on wave after wave of attack.Arabi showed plenty of spirit

but tired late on and managed to hold out for the point.

At the Thani bin Jassim Sta-dium, Al Gharafa has only them-selves to blame after their match ended goalless against Umm Salal.

Despite the big names in their attacking line-up which included last season’s top scorer Alain Dioko, the home side couldn’t convert their numerous chances.

By the end of the match Gharafa ended up with 10 shots out of which six shots were on target but had nothing to show for it.

Umm Salal on the other hand could muster only four shots on goal out of which only one was on target and they will have to thank their goalkeeper Baba Malik for coming away with one point after some desperate defending by the men in black.

Right from the start, in the

fourth minute Dioko could have given his side the lead but his shot was blocked by the Salal’s keeper.

Then in the 19th minute it was the turn of Salal’s Ismael Mah-moud to be denied by the keeper. Mahmoud’s chance was a big one and could have completely changed the complexion of the game had his effort gone in.

After that attempt on goal however, it was all Gharafa, as they had two more chances in the first half. The first one fell for Masoud Shojaei in the 32nd minute but his shot was punched away by Salal keeper Malik.

The midfielder Abdulaziz Abdulla also had his shot caught by Malik.

In the second half a similar scenario unfolded. In the 60th minute Shojaei fired in another shot but a diving punch by Malik kept his team in it.

THE PENINSULA

Al Rayyan players Nathan Otavio (left) and Sebastian Soria celebrate after scoring a goal against Lekhwiya during the Qatar Stars League (QSL) match at Lekhwiya Stadium yesterday. ABDUL BASIT

David Brown of USA holds up a banner after the Men’s 100m T11 final at the IPC Athletics World Championships at Qatar Sports Club Stadium in Doha yesterday.

Pyrotechnics display during the closing ceremony of the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha yesterday.

Al Arabi’s Paulo Sergio (centre) and Al Sadd’s Ibrahim Majed Abdullmajed vie for the ball possession during the QSL match at Lekhwiya Stadium yesterday.

China tops as IPC Worlds conclude with dazzling fireworks

[email protected] | [email protected] editorial: 4455 7741 ... · 8/10/2016 · of the russian...

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