Daily Newspaper - 2015 - 08 - 12fghh - 000000

BUSINESS | Page 1
SPORT | Page 1
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REGION
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ARAB WORLD
INTERNATIONAL
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22, 23
COMMENT
BUSINESS
1 7, 13 16
CLASSIFIED
8 12
SPORTS
1 12
Qatar bag two

more points
with win
over Algeria
Qatar investors eyeing

Philippine resorts
and island properties
DOW JONES
QE
NYMEX
17,373.31
11,787.71
43.22
-242.16
-1.37%
+108.01
+0.92%
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-3.87%
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GULF TIMES
pu
Latest Figures
WEDNESDAY
Vol. XXXVI No. 9812
August 12, 2015

Shawwal 27, 1436 AH
www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals
Deputy Emir meets ambassador
Qatar to decide
on World Cup
stadiums by Dec
In brief
QATAR | Move
New security unit to

serve Dafna, West Bay
The Capital Security Department is
working on the creation of a new
section to serve the Al Dafna and
West Bay areas, local Arabic daily
Al Sharq has reported. The daily
has learnt that the new section will
have highly-trained staff and stateof-the-art security equipment. It will
also house a government services
centre as well as the Al Dafna and
New Doha police stations.
The five stadiums announced

are a mixture of new builds and
rebuilds of existing grounds
HH the Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani meeting with outgoing
German ambassador Angelika Storz-Chakarji yesterday. The Deputy Emir also met
with the outgoing ambassadors of Nigeria and Switzerland. Page 2
IRAN | Agreement
Warning on effect
of deal cancellation
If the US cancels the Iran nuclear
deal, as some members of Congress
urge, the blow to its credibility may
be such as to hasten the end of the
dollars reign as the worlds reserve
currency, Secretary of State John
Kerry warned yesterday. Kerry said
in New York that if the US is not
able to uphold its end of the deal
to rein in Irans nuclear programme
in exchange for sanctions relief,
this could revive an attack on the
dollars status.
REGION | Unrest
Big gain for

Yemen loyalists
Saudi-backed forces loyal to
Yemens government captured
more territory from Iran-backed
rebels yesterday as they pressed an
advance that has seen them retake
large parts of the countrys south.
Aid agencies voiced alarm over
the catastrophic humanitarian
situation in the impoverished
nation, devastated by months of
fighting. Page 4
AFRICA | Travel
Pretoria to
review visa rules
South African President Jacob
Zuma said yesterday that ministers
would review new visa rules
that have hit tourism and stoked
tensions within the ruling party.
Last year South Africa implemented
regulations requiring visitors to
provide biometric data when
applying for visas. Page 7
AMERICA | Violence
Protests continue
around Ferguson
About 150 people have been
arrested during several days
of protests around Ferguson,
Missouri, where largely peaceful
demonstrations over police
shootings of unarmed black men
have been punctuated by flashes of
violence. Page 8
Survey urges
more efforts to
boost tourism
A
vast majority of respondents in

a survey conducted recently by
local Arabic daily Arrayah felt
that more could be done to promote
tourism in the country.
While 92.3% of the survey participants said that measures taken by the
authorities concerned to promote local
tourism were limited in nature and not
productive enough, only 2.6% thought
the measures and plans were appropriate and effective. Besides, 5.1% described the measures as somewhat acceptable.
According to the survey ndings,
47.4% said there was a shortage in the
number of quality beaches and tourist destinations in the country. On the
other hand, only 7.9% felt the entertainment programmes and activities
on offer were not attractive enough.
Further, 44.6% of the respondents
said the activities focused more on
foreign tourists rather than local ones,
while 16.1% felt they catered to both
categories. However, 37.5% said the
activities did not cater to the real interests of both local and foreign tourists.
A number of Qataris stressed the
need for greater co-ordination among
the parties concerned and ministries
to develop the local tourism and entertainment sectors. They said the dearth
of interesting and attractive entertainment activities compelled them to
travel abroad during holidays. This is
despite the fact that the country has
a lot of potential for developing these
industries.
Mohamed al-Mohannadi, one of
them, said that public parks and gardens should be developed and there
was also a need to create big entertainment cities of high standard, where
families could enjoy some quality time.
In addition, he expressed concern that

many beaches had been taken over by
hotels and private properties and these
allowed access only at exaggerated
rates. There is a shortage of familyfriendly public beaches with adequate
services, it was observed.
Meanwhile, Mubarak Faresh Mubarak, member of the Central Municipal
Council (CMC), has praised the efforts
of Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) in
promoting tourism in the country,
particularly in recent years.
There is a need to focus

on projects that pertain to
historic and heritage sites
and turn them into favoured
tourist destinations
He said QTA should provide the
public with more information about
its activities and distribute the programmes in such a manner - in terms
of both their schedule and venue - that
they reach the widest audience possible.
Mesahel al-Dehnim, another member of the council, said that there had
been noticeable development in the
local tourist industry and a number of
related projects are under construction. However, there is a need to focus on projects that pertain to historic
and heritage sites and turn them into
favoured tourist destinations, he felt.
CMC member Mohamed Mubarak al-Shahwani said that a tourism
project near Abu Samra was under
construction and it was expected to
become a comprehensive tourist complex. He felt there was a need to expand
investment in this area as there was
great potential for more such projects
in the country.
By Matt Smith
Reuters
atar hope to decide how

many stadiums it will use in
hosting the 2022 World Cup
by the end of this year, a spokesman
for the organising committee said
yesterday.
Qatar has announced details for
ve stadiums. Its bid included plans
for 12 stadiums, but those proposals
were not binding and it is obliged to
use at least eight.
The nal number of stadiums is
still to be conrmed, but it is expected a decision will be reached towards
the end of 2015, said a spokesman for
the Qatars Supreme Committee for
Delivery & Legacy, which is responsible for the delivery of all tournament-related infrastructure.
The country is set to spend more
than $200bn on infrastructure as
part of a 2030 development plan, a
timeframe that includes hosting the
World Cup in November-December
2022.
The Supreme Committee declined
to estimate the total cost of stadium
construction and renovation.
Due to the stadiums currently
going through the tender process,
we are not in a position to release
any further budgetary gures at this
stage, the spokesman added.
The ve stadiums announced are a
mixture of new builds and rebuilds of
existing grounds.
Four - Al Rayyan, Khalifa International, Qatar Foundation and Al
Wakrah stadiums - will have tournament capacities of 40,000 and will
be used for matches up to and including the quarter-nal stage of the
World Cup.
The fth, Al Bayt Stadium, will
hold 60,000 spectators and will host
at least one semi-nal.
The organisers have yet to reveal
plans for the stadium that will stage
the tournament nal.
To date, main contractors have
been appointed for two venues.
A joint venture between local rm
Midmac Contracting and Dubais Six
Construct won the contract for Khalifa International.
Another joint venture comprising
Qatars Galfar Al Misnad and Italian
duo Salini Impregilo and Cimolai was
given responsibility for Al Bayt Stadium.
At about 11,600sq km, Qatar will
be the smallest country to host the
World Cup.
Details about the five stadiums

Here are the details for the five
stadiums the organisers have
announced so far, in the order they
were unveiled:
AL WAKRAH STADIUM
Tournament capacity: 40,000

Location: Al Wakrah
Matches up to and including: Quarterfinals
Announced: November 2013
Construction start date: Third quarter
(Q3) 2015
Estimated completion: Q1 2018
Project Management Consultant: KEO
International Consultants
Main Construction Contractor: To be
decided
Designer and Engineering
Consultants: AECOM is design
consultant, designed stadium
in conjunction with Zaha Hadid
Architects
AL BAYT STADIUM - AL KHOR CITY

Location: Al Khor Municipality
Matches up to and including: Semifinals
Announced: June 2014
Construction start date: Q4 2015
Project Management Consultant:
Projacs
Main Construction Contractor: Joint
venture of Galfar Al Misnad, Salini
Impregilo Group and Cimolai.
Designer and Engineering
Consultants: Dar Al-Handasah
KHALIFA INTERNATIONAL STADIUM

Location: Al Rayyan municipality
Announced: November 2014

Project management consultant:
Projacs
Main construction contractor: Joint
venture between Midmac Contracting
and Six Construct
Designer and engineering consultants:
Dar Al-Handasah
QATAR FOUNDATION STADIUM

Location: Education City, Al Rayyan
Municipality
Announced: December 2014
ASTAD Project Management
Main construction contractor: To be
decided
FIA Fenwick Iribarren Architects
AL RAYYAN STADIUM

Location: Al Rayyan Municipality
Announced: April 2015
AECOM
Main construction contractor: To be
decided
Ramboll and Pattern
Kahramaa switching to smart meters by 2016

Q
atar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa)

intends to replace conventional
meters in the Doha area by smart meters by 2016, an industry source has
said.
Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser
bin Khalifa al-Thani had launched the
smart meter system for remote readings
of electricity and water consumption in
January this year.
Smart meter deployment provides
real-time information on the energy,
water or natural gas consumption of a
building.
In an endeavour to offer better energy management solutions to consumers, Kahramaa has leveraged the
collaborative understanding of Information Technology and the power sector to launch its smart meter project,
Expotrade, a global conference and
event organiser, said.
The countrys steady movement
towards an overall smart energy approach is supported by the installation of smart grid projects and its
related technologies such as smart
meter that benets consumers and
energy providers in ways more than
one. Additionally, it enables Kahramaa
to optimise energy consumption and
promote energy efficiency, Expotrade
said in a release.
Installing a smart meter helps keep a
check on power distribution, monitors
consumer usage and communicates
revenue unit of energy data in real-time

between any two-distribution points.
According to an industry study, smart
metering market will reach 16.1mn
units by 2022 and 86% of homes and
businesses in the Gulf countries are
expected to have smart meters by the
same year.
One of the most advanced in the
world, Qatars smart meter system is
based on a remote reading system that
sends electronic readings to the energy
supplier automatically. It is equipped
with consumption data recording modules for electricity and water as well as
GPS modules for localising individual
metering points.
While launching the smart meter
system, the Prime Minister had under-
lined the importance of providing the

best services to citizens and residents
as well as the need for keeping infrastructure projects in a state of readiness.
The opportunities of smart metering
and its efficacy will be discussed at the
Power Qatar Summit 2015, incorporating the successful Solar Qatar Summit,
on October 26-27, 2015 at The RitzCarlton, Doha.
zThe foundation stone for the Umm Al
Houl water and power project is scheduled to be laid in October and preparations for its construction are under
way, local Arabic daily Al Sharq has
reported, quoting Qatar Electricity and
Water Company (QEWC) general manager Fahd al-Mohannadi.
The integrated water and project,

one of the largest of its kind in the
Middle East, will have the capacity to
generate 2,520mw of electricity and
136.5mlgd (million gallons a day) of potable water. The project will come up
on the southern side of Qatar and cost
around QR3bn.
Jamal al-Khalaf, CEO of the Umm
Al Houl power station, said the facility
was a strategic project for the country.
The stakeholders are QEWC (60%),
Qatar Petroleum (5%), Qatar Foundation (5%) and Mitsubishi Corporation
(30%).
Al-Khalaf said work was under
way to prepare the land for the project
which will be implemented in phases.
The rst phase involves the production
of water (40mlgd), which is scheduled

to be completed by April 2017.
The second phase for the production
of water (20mlgd) is set to be accomplished by May 2017.
The rst phase of work on electricity
generation is slated for completion by
July 2017, whereby 1,620mw of power
will be produced. The full production
capacity of the station will be reached
in the second half of 2018.
Al-Mohannadi said QEWC was
planning to invest in electricity generation from solar energy through existing
stations or new ones. He stressed that
the investment would be made in such
a manner that would help meet the demand for high-quality water and electricity supply in the country.
Gulf Times
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
QATAR
Deputy Emir honours ambassadors
Minister urges
youth to
participate in
public life
QNA
Doha
HH the Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani held separate meetings yesterday with the outgoing ambassadors of Nigeria and Switzerland, Ahmed Shuaibu Adamu and Martin Aeschbacher,
respectively. The Deputy Emir awarded both ambassadors the Sash of Merit in appreciation of their efforts in enhancing ties with Qatar. He wished both ambassadors success in their future missions.
The ambassadors expressed their thanks to the Deputy Emir and the States officials for their co-operation during their tenure.
Filipinos passports to
be delivered by QPost
By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter
ilipino expatriates in Qatar

will soon nd it easier and
convenient to receive their
passports (renewed or newly issued) at an affordable cost.
The Philippine embassy in
Doha and Qatar Postal Services Company (QPost) recently
signed an agreement to deliver
passports of Filipino expatriates
either to their homes or offices.
Ambassador Wilfredo Santos and QPost acting chairman
of the board and managing director Abdulla Slash al-Hajri,
led the signing ceremony of the
delivery services agreement at
the Barzan Tower on Monday. It
was attended by other QPost and
embassy officials and staff.
Based on the agreement, Santos said Qatars national courier
service will charge a minimal fee
of QR25 for the delivery of every
passport.
This service will make passport application more convenient for Filipinos in Qatar, the
envoy pointed out.
As an option to personal release of the passports, Santos
said the arrangement will also
help lessen foot traffic and decongest the embassy.
It will have more working
space for conducting other of-
Ambassador Santos and QPost acting chairman al-Hajri sign an agreement to deliver passports of
Filipinos.
cial business transactions, he
added.
The envoy also thanked
former Philippine ambassador
to Qatar Crescente Relacion,
as well as vice-consul Kristine
Bautista and other embassy
officials, for initiating the
project.
Quoting al-Hajri, the envoy said QPost will deliver on
its commitments provided that
clients complete their information accurately by specifying the

street address, zone number, and
building number.
Santos also thanked the Qatar
government for its hospitality,
hosting nearly 200,000 Filipino
expatriates who stand to benet from the provision of passport
delivery services in the country.
As the sixth Philippine ambassador to Qatar, Santos reiterated
his commitment to Filipino expatriates in the country to further

enhance the embassys services,
improving its efficiency and increase customer satisfaction.
For his part, al-Hajri thanked
the envoy for giving QPost the
opportunity to handle the embassys passport courier service
as it expands its market reach
to include the diplomatic community.
Temporary lane closure on Al Shamal Road
he Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced that one lane each, in both directions,
of Al Shamal Road near the Al Rayyan interchange will be closed to traffic from midnight tomorrow, August 13.
In a statement yesterday, the authority said the closure, which extends to about 300m and is scheduled to
last three months, will not affect traffic as an alternative lane will be provided in each direction. This will be
done to maintain the same number of lanes - three - as
the existing road.
The closure is being carried out to facilitate the construction of a bridge that will link Al Rayyan Road with
Al Shamal Road. It will help reduce traffic congestion
in the Rayyan area, the statement notes.
The diversion work has already started and the
new road layout will be opened to motorists on Friday
morning for northbound traffic and Saturday morning
for southbound traffic.
Ashghal has requested all road users to abide by
speed limits and follow road signs to ensure their
safety.
Qatar to host
global healthcare
meet in October
Q
atar will host the 32nd

conference of the International Society for
Quality in Healthcare (ISQua)
from 4th to 7th October. The
four day conference will be
held under the theme Building Quality and Safety into the
Healthcare System at the Qatar
National Convention Centre.
ISQua is a society which is at
the forefront of inspiring, promoting and supporting continuous improvement in the
quality and safety of healthcare worldwide.
This is the rst time ISQua
is holding its conference in
the Middle East since 1996. It
presents a valuable opportunity to bring over 1,500 international and local delegates
together to network and learn
from each others experiences.
ISQua is also known for its
international
accreditation
programme. It is responsible for
assessing the standards of organisations who set the benchmarks in healthcare safety and
quality worldwide. ISQua is the
only organisation which accredits the accreditors.
This years conference will

have a number of prominent
speakers from around the
world who will enlighten the
participants on various aspects of healthcare globally.
They include Lord Darzi of
Denham, professor of Surgery,
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College London; David
Marx, CEO of Outcome Engenuity, Dallas, Texas; Rosemary
Gibson, author The Wall of
Silence and guest lecturer
and Tom Nasca, chief executive officer, Accreditation
Council for Graduate Medical
Education.
Educating is also a large part
of ISQua, as it offers a unique
fellowship programme, made
up of learning activities, networking opportunities, skills
development and education,
through the worlds largest
network of quality in healthcare professionals.
The annual ISQua international conference is one of the
leading international scientic
meetings in quality and safety
in healthcare.
Demand for solitaire

diamonds increases
he demand for solitaire

diamonds among customers has increased substantially in the last 6-12 months,
according to leading jeweller
Malabar Gold & Diamonds.
Solitaire is used to describe a
single diamond or gemstone set
into a piece of jewellery. Solitaire diamonds have emerged as
the perfect gift as well as a safe
investment among customers,
according to the jeweller.
In addition to the demand
for solitaire diamonds for engagement and wedding rings,
there has been a rise in cases
of solitaires being used as gifts
to celebrate anniversaries and
other special occasions.
It is interesting to see the
new trend of using solitaire diamonds, to celebrate fth or 10th
wedding anniversaries and special occasions, emerge strongly
in the recent past among customers, especially those in the
25-40 age group, said Shamlal

Ahmed, managing director (international operations), Malabar Gold & Diamonds.
As a preferred jewellery retailer for diamonds, we have
developed a new jewellery collection focusing on solitaires,
besides showcasing a wide collection of loose solitaires of varying size, colour and quality.
The preference for solitaires can be attributed to their
beauty as well as the fact their
value appreciates in the long
term, the jeweller points out.
While buying a solitaire
diamond, customers should
ensure that they purchase it
only from reputable jewellery
retailers. One should also demand certicates for the diamonds from leading certication agencies like IGI or GIA,
said KP Abdul Salam, group
executive director, Malabar
Gold & Diamonds.
QNCC receives 87% customer satisfaction rating

Q
atar National Convention Centre (QNCC) has

received an 87% customer satisfaction rating in a survey
conducted recently among its
international and regional clients for the rst half of 2015.
Moreover, the QNCC team
received appreciation letters
from the majority of clients they
served between January and
June, highlighting specic areas
of excellence and appreciation.
QNCC managed 179 events
between January and June for
global, regional and internal clients. The survey indicated that
customers rated QNCC as ei-
ther outstanding or excellent in

terms of hospitality, cleanliness,
customer service and the overall
experience.
When compared to similar
venues, QNCC was rated excellent and the overall evaluation of its capabilities in terms
IT facilities and response to IT
requirements was also excellent. In addition, the venue was
rated excellent and outstanding
in terms of its capabilities for
meeting client expectations.
Customer appreciation letters
are valued by QNCCs team as
they inspire a great work ethic
and commitment to all projects,
regardless of their size. QNCC

recently received such a letter
from the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
regarding the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
In the letter, UNODC lauded
the venues staff for performing
their duties in a committed and
responsible manner, personally
enhancing the successful servicing of the conference. In addition,
UNODC recognised that the hard
work of the QNCC staff supported high-level delegates, including
heads of state and government,
as well as other participants and
United Nations staff, in the effective exercise of their functions.

Saleh Johar al-Mohamed,
chief operating officer at Amlak,
which operates QNCC, said: As
a venue management organisation that proudly supports Qatars National Vision, our aim
is to ensure that QNCC is the
venue of choice for regional and
global forums and events. The
appreciation letters that we receive, as well as conducting surveys among our valued customers, give us unique insights that
enable our team to create an invaluable experience for customers and visitors alike.
Ken Jamieson, general manager of QNCC, added: The venue has managed events ranging
from intimate meetings to global
conferences, and we are thrilled
with the results of our survey,
which reinforces to our team
that their tireless efforts, long
hours and good humour have
yielded positive results. While
an 87% customer satisfaction
rating was extremely positive,
we are paying a great deal of attention to the other 13%, as we
consider and value all our customer inputs and continuously
adopt consistent development of
our facility and human capital.
E the Minister of Youth

and Sports Salah bin
Ghanem bin Nasser alAli has urged youth to participate
in all aspects of public life, calling on governments to empower
the youth and enable them to
have a bigger role in the development process and in achieving
the internationally-agreed sustainable development goals.
In his speech at the celebration
of the International Youth Day
the Minister affirmed that the
leadership of Qatar attaches great
attention to young people, who
constitute the largest proportion
of the population in the State.
The State of Qatar will celebrate today the International
Youth Day which is observed on
August 12 every year to recognise
the efforts of the worlds youth in
enhancing global society.
The Ministry of Youth and
Sport (MYS) will organise
through its Youth Affairs Department more than 20 events
over three days under the theme
Youth Participation.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Ministry said that the
main aim of marking the International Youth Day is to encourage young people to participate
in adopting decisions, enhance
their role in human development
and reduce the gap between
young people and otehrs by expanding the scope of dialogue
and mutual understanding.
ICC all set to

host Indian
I-Day function
ag-hoisting ceremony
will be held at the Indian
Cultural Centre (ICC) at
7am on August 15 to celebrate
the 69th Independence Day of
India.
On the occasion, Indian ambassador Sanjiv Arora will hoist
the national ag and read the
address of the Indian president
to the nation. Students of Indian
schools in Doha will participate
in the programme.
The Indian embassy has invited all expatriates from the South
Asian country to attend the aghoisting ceremony. Those attending the event have been requested to bring a photo ID.
The ceremony will take place
at 7am on the ICC premises located on Street No 916, Wahb
Bin Omair, Al Mamoura. Refreshments will be served to the
attendees.
Strong winds
expected today
trong winds are expected

this afternoon in the central and western parts of
Qatar, the Met office has said.
Winds with speeds of 8-15kt
are forecast in inshore areas,
which may increase to 12-22kt
during the day and then drop to
below 8kt by night. In offshore
areas, winds ranging from 5 to
15kt are expected, going up to
20kt in the north.
It will be hot during the day
in inshore areas, with slight to
blowing dust in some places as
well as some scattered clouds,
according to the weather office.
Offshore areas will experience
slight dust, along with some
clouds and hazy conditions by
night.
Doha is likely to be among
the hottest place in the country, with the maximum temperature reaching 42 degrees
Celsius.
National Day
greetings sent
Ken Jamieson
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin

Hamad al-Thani, HH Deputy Emir
Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad
al-Thani, and HE the Prime
Minister and Minister of Interior
Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin
Khalifa al-Thani sent cables of
congratulations to the President
of Chad Idriss Deby on his
countrys National Day.
Gulf Times
QATAR
Top companies
support MEED
transport forum
T
HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani along with HMC officials during the opening ceremony of the campaign.
Thousands donate blood druing HMC drive
round 4,000 people donated blood during the

voluntary blood donation awareness campaign held
by Hamad Medical Corporations (HMC) Blood Donor Centre during this years Ramadan.
This was a signicant increase
compared to the number of blood
donors recorded in the previous Ramadan voluntary blood
donation campaigns by HMC.
This years campaign took place
throughout the holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holidays.
The campaign, officially
launched at the City Center
Doha by HE Sheikh Faisal bin
Qassim al-Thani, chairman
of the Board of Trustees of Al
Faisal Without Borders Foundation (Alf) in the presence of
a number of HMCs senior ofcials, was organised for the
fourth consecutive year in cooperation with Alf.
The total number of blood
donors throughout the campaign was 1,619 while the
number of donors who came
to donate at the Blood Donor
One expatriate donating blood.

Centre reached 2172. Another
156 participants donated blood
platelets.
The campaign was part of the
Blood Donor Centres efforts at
fostering a culture of voluntary
blood donation throughout the
community by continuously in-
troducing a number of new programmes and awareness events.

During the campaign we organised a series of blood donation events in shopping malls
and other prominent locations
around the country. We also
took our campaign to national
organisations as well as social

and cultural centres with huge
number of visitors taking part,
said Siddiqa al-Mahmoudi,
medical manager of HMCs
Blood Donor Centre.
The campaign was also part
of the Centres efforts to attract
blood donors and enrich the
blood bank stocks in order to
meet both its urgent and continuous needs of blood supplies
and blood products, especially
the rare types like O negative
blood group.
The campaign was also successful because we made use of
our mobile donor units, taking
the campaign trail to people.
We also received support from
our nursing, administrative and
technical staff throughout the
campaign. Display screens were
set up at all locations featuring promotional and awareness
messages to encourage the public to donate blood. Campaign
staff also distributed posters
and brochures, as well as issued
recognition certicates to every
donor, added al-Mahmoudi.
op companies and stakeholders in the country

are lending their support
to the MEED Qatar Transport
Forum, which will be held from
September 14 to 16 at the Sheraton Resort Doha, MEED said in a
statement.
The event will highlight plans,
initiatives, and projects such as
the Hamad Port, New Doha International Airport (NDIASC),
Qatar Ports Management Company (Mwani), Karwa, Supreme
Committee for Delivery and Legacy, and Civil Aviation College.
Endorsed by the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior
HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser
bin Khalifa al-Thani and hosted
by the Ministry of Transport
(MOT), the event is also supported by Qatar Rail and leading
nance institutions QNB and
Qatar Development Bank.
Qatar Rail oversees the construction of Qatars multibillion dollar state-of-the-art
integrated rail network, which
comprises three major projects:
the Doha Metro, the Lusail Light
Rail Transit network, and the
long-distance passenger and
freight network, which will be
connected to the GCC railway.
QNB, meanwhile, serves as
the leading source of nance
for transport and other major
projects in Qatar.
HE the Minister of Transport
Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti will
discuss Qatars evolving transport market and the ministrys
key role in delivering a worldclass transport system during
the opening address.
HE the Governor of Qatar
View of the port basin at Hamad Port.

Central Bank Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani, who is
also chairman of QDB, will deliver an address on behalf of the
bank. QDB aims to lessen the
dependence of Qatars economy
on hydrocarbons by promoting
a robust and diversied private
sector.
In an earlier statement, the
MOT said: The forum will provide a platform for the Ministry
of Transport to encourage local
investors to establish processing, manufacturing, and logistics industries in the country to
cater for the needs of regional
and international markets.
The forum will also be an exceptional opportunity for local,
regional, and international businesses, project managers, technology providers, and industry
experts to enter the Qatari market, display their expertise and
view investment opportunities

in the Qatari transport sector.
The MOT also said it aims to
showcase international transport systems adopted by Qatar
while encouraging local industries to transform Qatar into a
regional marketing hub.
We are delighted that so
many leading and successful Qatari companies and government
agencies are participating in the
MEED Qatar Transport Forum,
MEED events chairman Edmund
OSullivan said.
They will ensure that it will
be the denitive forum and networking event for all those wishing to participate in the development and efficient operation of
some of the worlds largest new
transport projects, he added.
Sponsors include J&P, QNB,
QDB, UrbaCon Trading & Contracting, and Atkins.
Gulf Times
REGION/ARAB WORLD
Yemen loyalists capture

more areas from rebels
The Popular Resistance
Committees, comprising
pro-government fighters,
Sunni tribes and southern
separatists, seize the town of
Utmah, about 100km south
of Sanaa
AFP
Sanaa
audi-backed forces loyal

to Yemens exiled government captured more territory from Iran-backed rebels
yesterday as they pressed an
advance that has seen them retake large parts of the countrys
south.
Aid agencies voiced alarm
over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the impoverished nation, devastated by
months of ghting.
The gains by forces backing
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi have been aided by
weapons and troops from Gulf
countries, as Saudi-led coalition
warplanes continue to pound
rebel positions.
The Popular Resistance Committees, comprising pro-government ghters, Sunni tribes
and southern separatists, seized
overnight the town of Utmah,
about 100km south of the capital Sanaa, military officials said.
The town is in the Shia majority province of Dhammar, which
borders Sanaa province, where
Iran-backed rebels have held the
capital since September.
Meanwhile, erce clashes
between local pro-government
militia and the rebels rocked
Arhab, just 25km north of Sanaa,
military sources said.
Sanaa is the real target of
Pro-government forces take position in the town of Loder in southern Abyan province on Monday.
the advancing pro-Hadi forces,
said analyst Mustafa al-Ani,
from the Gulf Research Centre.
Complaining of marginalisation, the Houthis descended
from their northern stronghold
last year and seized Sanaa unopposed before advancing on second city Aden in March.
Loyalists have launched a
major counter-offensive in recent weeks and recaptured four
southern
provincesAbyan,
Aden, Daleh, and Lahjfrom
rebels.
Late on Monday, they took
Loder, the last rebel-held town
in Abyan, and were poised to enter the southern Shabwa province.
Loyalists seized six towns in
the mountainous central Ibb
province, where local Sunni
tribes have been clashing with
Houthi insurgents for months,
military officials said.
The advance is heading toward third city Taez, southwest
of Sanaa.
Pro-government
militia
sources said clashes were ongoing in the city itself, which
would prove a major llip for
loyalists if taken.
The governments Sabanew.
net website reported that 36
rebels were killed in the ghting
late Monday.
The sweeping victories in the
south are a result of the rebels
pulling their forces back to Taez,
according to Yemeni analyst Abdulaziz al-Sabri.
Whoever wins Taez wins all
of Yemen, he said.
Backed by Saudi-led air
strikes, pro-government forces
have been battling for months to
restore Hadi to power from his
exile in Riyadh.
The direct intervention in the
battle, especially of Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates, in
addition to the cover from air,
has completely shifted the balance of power... and revealed
the other sides weakness, said
analyst Ani.
Military sources say the

coalition has provided Hadis
supporters with modern heavy
equipment in recent weeks,
including tanks and other armoured vehicles as well as
personnel carriers and Yemeni soldiers trained in the kingdom.
One source last week reported
the deployment of hundreds
of soldiers from Gulf countries
in Aden, while Saudi-owned
newspaper Al Hayat reported
that 1,500 troops, most of them
from the UAE, had entered the
city.
Six Emirati coalition soldiers
have so far been reported killed.
UAE media yesterday quoted
Emirati Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash praising the professional
performance of his countrys
troops in Yemen.
The operation for liberating
Sanaa has proven that we have
a strategy that could shift balances of power, he said.
As well as the Houthis, rebel

forces include renegade troops
still loyal to former president Ali
Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted
in 2012.
The conict has cost nearly
4,300 lives since March, half of
them civilians, according to UN
gures, while 80% of Yemens
21mn people need aid and protection.
The president of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer,
warned following a three-day
visit to Yemen that the humanitarian situation is nothing short
of catastrophic... And it is getting worse by the day.
The world needs to wake up
to what is going on, he said.
The UNs special rapporteur
on the right to food, Hilal Elver
warned armed factions about
the deliberate starvation of civilians in the country, where
850,000 children are facing
acute malnutrition.
She said in 6,000,000 people
are severely food insecure, and
blamed armed groups, who were
besieging population centres, as
well as air strikes that have reportedly targeted both markets
and trucks carrying food.
The World Health Organisation said nearly a quarter of
health facilities in Yemen had
been knocked out of action since
ghting began.
Additional facilities continue
to close down week by week...
leaving civilians without access
to critical, life-saving health
care, it said.
The UN also said tens of thousands of Somali refugees have
ed home from Yemen since
March, adding to 3,000,000 already in need.
Treasure hunt
Kuwaiti divers search for shells containing pearls during the

annual pearl diving season yesterday off the port of Khairan,
100km south of Kuwait City. Pearl-diving trips are held annually
under the patronage of the Kuwaiti emir in order to keep alive
traditions that accompanied the once-important national pearl
trade before the discovery of oil. Below: Divers look for pearls
in shells they have picked.
Iraq parliament backs

government shake-up
Reuters
Baghdad
raqs parliament voted unanimously yesterday for the biggest shakeup in its governing system since the
US military occupation, eliminating
entire layers of government and giving
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi new
powers.
Several of Abadis inuential rivals
will be stripped of official posts, including his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki, who will lose the job of vice president he has held since stepping down
as prime minister last year after eight
years in power.
A year in office, Abadi had sought to
transform a system which divvies posts
to party leaders on ethnic and sectarian
lines, which he says encouraged corruption, incompetence and political
blackmail that were making the country ungovernable.
Under the sweeping reforms, the three
positions of vice president and three
deputy prime ministers will be scrapped,
removing offices that had become vehicles for patronage for some of the most
powerful people in the country.
Several ministries will be combined
to eliminate cabinet posts: the planning and nance ministries will be
merged, water will be combined with
agriculture and the environment will
be combined with health.
Abadi will be given the power to re

provincial governors and regional ofcials, who often wield more power in
their territories than the central authorities.
New rules on bodyguards and
other perks will cut back politicians security details. Sweeping
reforms would also be made to the
judicial system to encourage corruption investigations.
The risky reforms are the biggest move
yet by Abadi to strengthen his own hand,
even as large swathes of the country have
fallen to militants from the Islamic State
group, and the central government faces
a nancial crisis from the collapsing
price of its oil exports.
Under the system put in place during the 2003-2011 US occupation and
designed to encourage an inclusive
government, top positions were apportioned among the three main ethnic and sectarian groups: Shias, Sunnis
and Kurds.
But Iraqi reformers have long argued
that this put too much power in the
hands of ethno-sectarian party bosses,
who occupy Baghdad offices, cruise its
streets in armed convoys and staff their
efs with loyalists.
From a political standpoint, it is
the first time (Abadi) has had an opportunity. If he can capitalise on this,
it does put him in a position where he
can for the first time develop an independent political base and political
standing, said Kirk Sowell, publisher

of Inside Iraq Politics, a newsletter.
Yesterdays televised vote took
place by a show of hands without
discussion or objections, reflecting the pressure on lawmakers to
act after Iraqs most influential Shia
cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,
backed the reforms, calling on Abadi
to strike with an iron fist against
corruption.
Sistani, who wields more public
authority than any politician, spoke
following big protests in recent weeks
triggered by public anger at power cuts
and mismanagement of other services.
Sistanis intervention makes it difficult
for Abadis rivals in the Shia majority
including Malikito oppose the measures openly.
We do not object to resorting to
constitutional and political mechanisms in order to reconsider some of
the legislation, Maliki said in a statement.
Nevertheless, the politics and logistics of implementing the reforms could
prove difficult. Maria Fantappie, Iraq
analyst at International Crisis Group,
said Abadis list of reforms was unlikely to be fully implemented.
Their relevance is the way that
Abadi will use them as a stepping stone
to make some small changes which will
empower his popularity and position
vis-a-vis other powerful rivals in the
Shia political scene, she said.
People watch at a cafe in Baghdad as Iraqi parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi delivers a televised statement after parliament
unanimously approved Prime Minister Haider al-Abadis reform programme aimed at curbing corruption.
Gulf Times
ARAB WORLD
Palestinians
patrol villages
amid fears of
settler attacks
Masked Palestinians keep guard as they tighten night patrols against Jewish settler threats, at Qusra village near Nablus.
Jewish leader quizzed over

stand on burning churches
AFP
Jerusalem
srael police questioned yesterday a Jewish extremist

leader who condoned torching churches amid an uproar over
recent hate crimes, including the
deadly rebombing of a Palestinian home.
Benzi Gopstein, who heads
far-right group Lehava, has not
been linked to any recent attacks, but his comments regarding churches came at a time of
heightened sensitivity over Jewish extremism and drew outrage
from Roman Catholic officials.
Police spokeswoman Luba
Samri said Gopstein had been
called in for questioning about
his comments regarding the

burning of churches.
He was later allowed to go free,
she added.
During a debate with religious
students last week, Gopstein
defended the idea of burning
churches, invoking a mediaeval
Jewish commandment to destroy
places of idol-worship, according to a widely broadcast recording of the event.
A formal complaint to Israeli
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein was later led by the body
in charge of Catholic properties
in the Holy Land.
In a letter seen by AFP on
Monday, the Custodian of the
Holy Land called for Gopstein to
be prosecuted and for Lehava to
be outlawed.
Gopstein lawyer Itamar Ben

Gvir, speaking on public radio, said
our client has been summoned to
interrogation in the wake of pressure from the Vatican.
I ask myself what the next
step will be. Will the Pope decide
to le charges?
Gopstein, who lives in the
ashpoint West Bank city of
Hebron, has previously faced
police questioning. He was one
of 10 Lehava members detained
last year over an arson attack on a
Jewish-Arab school in Jerusalem.
His summons yesterday followed attacks, attributed to Jewish extremists, on Palestinians and
Christian sites in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
An 18-month-old Palestinian child died and his father was
fatally injured when alleged Jewish extremists rebombed their

home at the end of last month.
Hours earlier, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed six people at a
Gay Pride march in Jerusalem,
mortally wounding a 16-yearold girl.
On June 18, an arson attack occurred at a shrine on the shores
of the Sea of Galilee in northern
Israel where Jesus is believed to
have performed the miracle of
loaves and shes.
Israeli
prosecutors
have
charged three Israeli extremists
in that case.
A Catholic official said on Sunday an assembly of churches in
the region had led a complaint
with police over Gopsteins comments.
If an intruder is spotted,
the watchmen phone the
village imam, who summons
reinforcements over the
mosque loudspeakers
Reuters
Qusra, West Bank
rmed men stopping cars

at checkpoints in the West
Bank are usually Israeli
security forces policing the occupied territory, but in some areas they are Palestinian civilians
patrolling their own villages.
Fears of attacks by far-right
Jews have increased since a Palestinian man and his 18-monthold son were killed when their
house in Duma village was set
ablaze on July 31, giving the farmers-turned-volunteer watchmen
a renewed sense of urgency.
They used to break glass,
damage houses, and torch the
mosque and vehicles, said Abed
al-Atheim Adi, mayor of the village of Qusra where locals have
been patrolling the streets at
night since 2001.
The youths in the village
formed teams to defend the
rights of their children and families and provide more protection
at night, said Adi.
Reuters accompanied a patrol in

Qusra this week. Watchmen, some
of whom were masked, carried
cudgels and a pick-axe as weapons
and used a ashlight to peer into
the dark elds on the thorny plains
near the city of Nablus.
They had no guns, perhaps
fearing crackdowns by the Israeli army, which, under interim
peace deals that set up the selfruling Palestinian Authority (PA)
in the 1990s, has overall responsibility for security in the area.
In a nearby village, Turmus
Ayya, residents sometimes set up
checkpoints on the access road at
night, where they question motorists and search their vehicles.
The number of the team
members can be seven, 17 or 40,
depending on who is free, Adi
said. These teams dont get
support or funding from anyone. The Palestinian Authority
promised to provide support, but
nothing has happened.
If an intruder is spotted, the
watchmen phone the village imam,
who summons reinforcements
over the mosque loudspeakers.
Qusra was the scene of a runin with a group of Jewish settlers
in January 2014. Accusing the Israelis of throwing rocks at them,
villagers detained and beat them
before handing them over to the
Israeli army. A representative of

the neighbouring Jewish settlement of Esh Kodesh disputed the
Palestinians account, saying the
Israelis were set upon while on a
hike in the area.
Among the settlers involved
was Meir Ettinger, a far-right
Jewish activist who, following
the Duma arson, has been jailed
without trial by Israeli authorities scrambling to stem what
they fear is a surge in hate crimes.
An Israeli military spokesman
had no immediate comment on
the self-defence patrols. One Israeli army general, speaking on
condition of anonymity, voiced
cautious sympathy for the villagers but also concern about possible unanticipated are-ups.
Our special forces often carry
out counter-terrorism operations in the area, sometimes in
plainclothes disguises. What
happens if these self-defence
groups mistake them for vandals? Its a recipe for escalation,
the general said.
Adi voiced condence in the
restraint of the Qusra watchmen.
In the last four years they
havent experienced any mistakes, and the minute they see
the (Israeli) army operating in the
village the team members stay
home, he said.
Gulf Times
ARAB WORLD
Brotherhood chief to be tried for Cairo clashes

AFP
Cairo
gypt yesterday referred

Muslim Brotherhood leader
Mohamed Badie to trial for
staging a protest at a Cairo square
where several police and hundreds
of Islamist protesters were killed
in 2013 clashes.
Badie, who has already been
sentenced to death in two other
trials, was charged in connection with the killing of policemen

when security forces dispersed
the protest at the capitals Rabaa
Al-Adawiya Square on August 14,
2013.
Security forces stormed two
protest camps of supporters
of ousted president Mohamed
Mursi in Rabaa Al-Adawiya and
in Nahda Square, also in Cairo,
that day.
At least 817 demonstrators
died in Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square

alone, Human Rights Watch has
said, calling it one of the largest killings of demonstrators in
a single day in recent history in
Egypt.
The interior ministry said at
least 10 policemen were killed
after coming under re from protesters during the unrest.
Badie and several others were
referred to trial yesterday for organising and participating in an
Egyptian people, the prosecution

said.
The accused carried weapons and explosives, launched
armed marches that attacked
citizens, held citizens in tents
and physically tortured them
and used rearms against police
when they arrived to disperse
the gathering at Rabaa Al-Adawiya, it said.
Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square was
recently renamed Hisham Bar-
armed gathering... and for murdering citizens and policemen, a

prosecution statement said.
It did not specify how many
other accused were referred to
trial along with Badie. They all
face the death penalty if convicted.
They are charged with attempting to carry out terrorist
objectives to disrupt public peace
and security, resisting the authorities and terrorising the
akat Square in honour of the state

prosecutor who was assassinated
in a June 29 car bombing in Cairo.
Mursi, Egypts rst freely elected president, was ousted by then
army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after mass street
protests against his year of rule.
An ensuing police crackdown
targeting his supporters has left
hundreds dead and thousands
jailed.
Hundreds more, including
Mursi, have been sentenced to

death after speedy trials.
The Muslim Brotherhood,
which made major political gains
following the 2011 ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, was
designated a terrorist group in
late 2013.
Islamist militants, including
from the Egyptian branch of the
Islamic State group, have carried
out a wave of attacks on security
forces following the crackdown.
Libya rivals
resume talks
in Geneva on
unity govt
AFP
Geneva
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shake hands during a news conference after their meeting in Moscow yesterday.
Saudi rules out working

with Assad against IS
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel
al-Jubeir insists there will
be no co-operation with the
Syrian regime after meeting
Russian counterpart Sergei
Lavrov in Moscow
Agencies
Moscow
audi Arabias foreign minister yesterday poured cold

water on Russian calls to
join forces with the Syrian authorities against Islamic State
militants, insisting it would never work with President Bashar
al-Assad.
Moscowone of Assads few
remaining allieshas called for
co-ordination between the Syrian government and members of
an international coalition ght-
ing the extremist group, which

controls swathes of territory in
Syria and Iraq.
But Saudi Foreign Minister
Adel al-Jubeir insisted there
would be no co-operation with
the Syrian regime after meeting
Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.
As for a coalition in which Saudi Arabia would participate with
the government of Syria, then we
need to exclude that. It is not part
of our plans, Jubeir said in comments translated into Russian.
Our position has not
changed... there is no place for
Assad in the future of Syria,
Jubeir said.
We think that Bashar al-Assad is part of the problem, not
part of the solution.
A key reason behind the
emergence of Islamic State was
the actions of Assad who directed his arms at his nation, not
Islamic State, Jubeir said.
A statement on Syrian state
media said that Damascus
strongly condemned the Saudi
ministers remarks.
An uprising against four decades of Assad family rule broke
out in 2011 and turned into a
full-blown civil war in which
Islamist militants have become
the strongest element ghting
Damascus.
Saudi Arabia is part of a USled coalition that began an air
campaign against IS in Syria last
September.
Russia supports Assad while
Saudi Arabia insists he must
step down to help end a fouryear conict that has cost over
240,000 lives.
The two ministers last met in
Qatar on August 3 when Lavrov,

Jubeir and US Secretary of State
John Kerry held a three-way
meeting, with Syria topping the
agenda.
Lavrov said Moscow was not
looking to establish a formal alliance against the radical group
but warned a failure to co-operate
could open the door to extremists.
Russia wanted all those who
are already ghting terrorists to
somehow co-ordinate so that
they focus on their main taskto
ght the threat of terrorism, Lavrov said.
He admitted that there remained persistent differences
between Riyadh and Moscow
over how to tackle the Syrian
conict.
The exit of President Assad is
part of these differences, Lavrov
said.
Russia is trying to bolster its

claims to act as a mediator in the
Syrian crisis and is set to host a
raft of opposition leaders and negotiators on the crisis.
Both Jabeir and Lavrov called
for a fresh push to unite Syrias
fragmented opposition in a bid to
reinvigorate efforts to nd a political settlement to the crisis.
Syrias opposition National
Coalition is set to visit the Russian capital this week along with
a second opposition group.
The leader of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD)
is also expected, Lavrov said, as
is the deputy of the UN envoy on
Syria Staffan de Mistura.
The ministers also discussed
possible Saudi purchases of
Russian arms ahead of a planned
visit by the Saudi king to Moscow.
ival Libyan factions yesterday restarted peace talks

aimed at creating a unity
government, with representatives of the powerful Tripoli parliament joining the negotiations
after boycotting them last month.
Libya, which plunged into
chaos after the fall of Muammar
Gadda in 2011, currently has two
rival parliaments vying for power
as well several militia groups battling for control of the countrys
vast resource wealth.
UN special envoy Bernardino Leon, who is brokering the
talks in Geneva, is urging the key
camps to reach a political deal in
the hope that a unity government
could enforce a durable ceasere.
A partial deal was reached last
month, but leaders of the Islamist-backed General National
Congress parliament that sits in
Tripoli boycotted the pact, calling
it unsatisfactory.
Leon told reporters yesterday
that all key actors were represented in the new round in Geneva,
without exception.
He laid out an ambitious timetable, calling for a comprehensive
deal that installs a new unity government to be concluded before
the next UN General Assembly
meeting in September.
This could be ideal. But of
course, we know that we are in a
very complex process, Leon said.
So at this stage let me leave it as
an ideal timetable.
He added that with divisions
widening and violence continuing unchecked, rival camps needed to demonstrate bold political
will.
I hope all the Libyan actors
will be wise, he said.
Italy, which has seen tens
Iran FMs Turkey visit

cancelled at last minute
AFP
Ankara
ranian Foreign Minister Mohamed

Javad Zarif yesterday postponed a
scheduled visit to Turkey, officials
said, with mystery surrounding the reason for the last-minute cancellation.
The visit had been expected to touch
on the Syria crisis, which has caused
profound disagreements between Tehran and Ankara with Iran one of the
last allies of Turkeys arch foe President
Bashar al-Assad.
There has been a change in the
programme, the Turkish official said,
without giving any reason.
Irans official Irna agency also cited an
Iranian foreign ministry official as saying the visit had been postponed due to
scheduling problems.
Zarif had been due to meet Turkeys
leaders in the capital Ankara but there
were conicting reports over whether
he was to have met President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan.
Adding to the mystery, Turkish opposition daily Cumhuriyet yesterday
unexpectedly published a page-long article by Zarif containing a possible criticism of Turkish foreign policy.
The newspaper is known as an opponent of the policies of the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AKP), with Er-
dogan repeatedly locking horns with its

editor-in-chief Can Dundar.
In the piece, Zarif criticised US policies in the Middle East, and blamed the
emergence of extremist groups, including Islamic State (IS), on the US-led war
in Iraq in 2003.
He also said IS was fed by the chaos
and instability after the Iraqi invasion.
Extremist elements found a convenient environment during the Syrian crisis with the support they received from
individuals, organisations and governments in the region and turned into a
giant structure in pursuit of fake causes
and ideals, the minister wrote.
Today, those elements are threatening even their own founders and supporters.
His comments could be seen as veiled
criticism of Turkey, which has been accused of failing to do enough to halt the
rise of IS and even secretly colluding
with the group.
Ankara vehemently denies the claims.
A Nato member, Ankara had long refused to participate actively in the USled anti-IS operations for fear of supporting the Kurdish ghters battling the
militants on the border in Syria.
But it changed its position after a
deadly July 20 bombing, blamed on IS,
that killed 32 people in the Turkish border town of Suruc.
Turkey then agreed to open a south-
ern air base to US and coalition forces

for anti-IS raids and also began its own
strikes on the militant group.
Iran has urged Turkey to respect
Syrias sovereignty in its bombing of IS
targets.
In a telephone call with Erdogan last
week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
suggested Turkey should co-ordinate
its attacks with both the Syrian and Iraqi
governments.
In the article, Zarif also criticised
US-led Greater Middle East project as
preparing the ground for military interventions in the region.
Turkey was once considered a key actor in the initiative during the presidency of George W Bush, seen as a predominantly Muslim country with a working
democracy.
zZarif met Lebanese Prime Minister
Tammam Salam in Beirut yesterday, in
their rst official meeting.
We value the major role played by
the prime minister in providing security, ghting terrorism and creating cooperation, Zarif told a press conference
after the 35-minute meeting.
The remarks were carried by Al Manar,
the television of the Lebanese Shia group
Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran.
Zarif stressed the importance of coordination between Iran and Lebanon
on issue of regional peace and stability.
of thousands of migrants and

refugees wash up on its shores
this year, most of whom travelled through the chaos in Libya,
praised the GNCs decision to join
the talks.
With the GNC involved, the
political process can move forward, Foreign Minister Paolo
Gentiloni said in a statement.
The international community
recognises the parliament that
sits in the eastern port city of Tobruk, which installed the controversial General Khalifa Haftar as
its army chief in March.
The GNCwhich took power
after an Islamist militia alliance
captured the capital last year
will not sign any deal that safeguards a senior military post for
Haftar, according to Mohamed Ali
Abdallah Addarrat, who sits in the
Tripoli parliament and is the head
of the National Front party.
There will not be an agreement if General Haftar is still expected to lead an army in Libya,
Addarrat said.
Those who were involved in
escalating the political and military crisis in Libya cannot be the
ones who lead the solution. This
is a given.
The 72-year-old Haftar served
as a general under Gadda before
relocating to the United States,
where he worked at times with
the CIA, according to reports in
US media.
He returned to Libya last year
and took charge of the army, vowing to crush the Islamist militias
while urging the West to support
his forces.
Addarrat said that after four
decades of Gadda, Libyans had
no interest in another military
strongman.
I think Libyans after 42 years
of a totalitarian, military dictatorship ... I think weve learned our
lesson, he told reporters.
Gulf Times
AFRICA
South Africa to
review visa rules
that hit tourism
The visa row is the latest
headache for Zuma, who is
under pressure over sluggish
economic growth and high
unemployment
Reuters
Pretoria
outh African President

Jacob Zuma said yesterday that ministers
would review new visa rules
that have hit tourism and
stoked tensions within the
ruling party.
Last year South Africa implemented regulations requiring visitors to provide biometric
data when applying for visas,
a problem for people in large
countries like China, which only
has South African consulates in
Beijing and Shanghai.
Further rules implemented
in June require parents to carry
unabridged birth certificates
for their children when travelling to South Africa, a move
heavily criticised by the tourism industry and foreign governments.
We have noted with concern
the complaints about the new
visa regulations, Zuma told reporters in Pretoria, where he was
providing a mid-year review on
the economy.
The ministerial committee will address the unintended
consequences of the new immigration regulations on various
sectors, including tourism and
investment.
The new birth certicate rules
have fuelled a rare public spat
President Jacob Zuma: blames

the countrys tepid economic
growth on apartheid.
within Zumas African National
Congress (ANC) party.
Tourism
Minister
Derek
Hanekom said last month the
rules had to be changed after visitor numbers dropped, prompting a backlash from Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba who
argued they were needed to stem
child trafficking.
ANC secretary-general Gwede
Mantashe last week reprimanded both ministers for publicly
bickering.
The visa row is the latest
headache for Zuma, who is under pressure over sluggish economic growth and high unemployment.
Zuma said the most pressing task for Africas most developed economy was to ease
chronic electricity shortages,
which were cutting 1% off GDP
growth.
South Africas economy grew
1.5% last year but Zuma said he
hoped this would rise to at least
3% over the next three years if

power constraints eased.
South Africas heavily-indebted state power utility Eskom
is struggling to keep the lights
on due to insufficient generating
capacity, increasing costs for industries like mining and manufacturing and discouraging new
investment.
Long-delayed new coal plants
are due to be completed in the
next 2-3 years and Zumas government is pursuing a controversial programme to bring
9,600 megawatts of nuclear energy onto the grid by 2030.
Zuma said the nuclear plan
was at an advanced stage and
procurement should be concluded within the current nancial year.
Zumas opponents have questioned the high cost and perceived lack of transparency of
the nuclear plan, which could
cost 400bn to 1tn rand ($32$81bn).
Zuma
yesterday
blamed
the countrys tepid economic
growth on apartheid , describing it as colonialism of a special
type.
He said South Africa suffered
from complex historic problems that are unique on the
continent.
Other countries in Africa
never had a racially-based economy. We are trying to address the
legacy of apartheid, and its going to be with us a long time, he
added.
At the same time it (South
Africa) must be competing with
countries that never had such a
challenge.
housands of Nigerians have been

blocked from travelling abroad in a bid to stop
them becoming involved in
foreign terrorism, prostitution or other criminal activity, immigration officials
said yesterday.
Almost 24,000 nationals aged 17 to 35 were
turned back at the border
between January 2014 and
March this year, the Nigerian Immigration Service

(NIS) told AFP.
There have been reports in recent times of
some Nigerians departing
to join terrorist groups especially in the Middle East
and north Africa, said
NIS spokesman Chukwuemeka Obua.
The crackdown sought
to prevent young Nigerians being lured into terrorism, prostitution, slavery and other untoward
activities abroad, the NIS
Dozens die in market bomb blast

At least 47 people
were killed and dozens
wounded in a bomb
blast yesterday in a part
of northeast Nigeria
frequently targeted by
Boko Haram militants, a
medical source said. The
explosion ripped through
the weekly market in the
village of Sabon Gari,
around 135km south
of Borno state capital
Maiduguri, during peak
trading around 1:15pm,
the sources said.
We have received at
least 47 dead bodies
and at least 50 with
injuries from the Sabon
Gari market, where

there was a blast this
afternoon, a nurse at
Biu General Hospital,
around 50km away,
told AFP. He said the
injuries from the blast
are mostly severe and
that the death toll was
expected to rise. The
explosion happened
inside the market at the
mobile phone section,
near the livestock
section of the market,
said Yuram Bura, a
member of a local
vigilante group fighting
Boko Haram alongside
the army.
President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace waving to supporters at a Zimbabwean Defence Forces day commemoration in Harare, yesterday.
Rights body urges govt to

protect Katanga strife victims
AFP
Kinshasa
uthorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo

must protect civilians
from rival Bantu and Pygmy
ghters in a conict that has
killed hundreds since 2013, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.
The widespread killing and
displacement of civilians in
northern Katanga province show
the urgent need for government
protection, the New York-based
HRW said in a report.
President calls
Cecils death
just an incident
Nigeria blocks thousands from

joining foreign terror groups
AFP
Lagos
Defence Forces day commemoration
said in a statement.
Nigeria is struggling to
end a six-year insurgency
by Boko Haram militants
that has claimed more
than 15,000 lives and
displaced 100 times that
number in the north-east.
But the country has also
become a catchment area
for recruiters abroad because of high unemployment, the NIS said.
Among the most highprole Nigerians convicted for overseas terror
offences is 28-year-old
Umar Farouk Abdulmutalab, a failed suicide attacker with connections
to Al Qaeda, popularly
referred to as the Underwear Bomber.
He was hailed as a hero
by Al Qaeda chief Osama
Bin Laden after trying to
blow up a Northwest Airlines ight from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan,
on Christmas Day 2009
and is serving four life
terms in the US.
Nigerian media reported at the weekend that two
cousins from Kano in the
north were caught at the
weekend trying to cross
from India into Pakistan,
with eventual plans join
up with the Islamic State
group in Iraq.
South African President

Jacob Zuma yesterday
brushed aside the killing
of Zimbabwean lion Cecil,
dismissing the animals death
as just an incident.
Describing the death of Cecil
as an honest mistake, Zuma
said the hunter - American
Walter Palmer - was probably
unaware he was shooting one
of Zimbabwes most beloved
animals.
The hunter did not know
Cecil was so popular, he just
saw a lion and killed a lion,
said Zuma, giggling as he
spoke at a press briefing in
Pretoria.
My feeling is that the fellow
did not know.
Palmer, a dentist from
Minnesota, paid $55,000 to
shoot a lion with a bow and
arrow in July.
The hunt provoked worldwide
outrage when it emerged
that Cecil was a favourite
attraction among visitors to
Zimbawbes Hwange National
Park and was wearing a
tracking collar as part of an
Oxford University research
project
Zimbabwe has requested that
the US extradite Palmer to
face charges over the hunt.
Palmers guide on the
expedition, Theo Bronkhorst,
appeared in court last week.
He was granted $1,000bail pending his trial on
September 28 on charges of
organising an illegal hunt.
Zimbabwe lifts ban on big game hunting

Reuters
Harare
imbabwe has partially lifted

a ban on big-game hunting
around Hwange National Park
that was imposed after an international outcry over the killing of Cecil,
the countrys most prized lion, by an
American dentist last month.
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife
Authority said in a statement yesterday that the ban remained in place for
two private game parks and rural communities near the park. In the areas
where it has been rescinded, all lion,
leopard and elephant hunts must be
supervised by park staff.
Cecil, a rare black-maned lion, was
killed on one of the farms adjacent to
the park where the ban on big game

hunts, rst imposed on August 1, remains in force.
Authorities in Zimbabwe imposed
the indenite ban after it emerged
that American hunter Walter Palmer
had killed Cecil with a bow and arrow
after, they say, his guides used bait to
lure the big cat out of the parks protective embrace.

Individuals involved in illegal
hunting activities are banned from
hunting for life as they tarnish the
image of the hunting industry ...
Their actions border on economic
sabotage, the parks agency said in
its statement.
A Zimbabwean court last week
postponed until September 28 the
trial of local hunter Theo Bronkhorst.
He is accused of failing to prevent
Palmer from illegally killing Cecil, a
13-year-old lion which had been tted
with a GPS collar as part of an Oxford
University study, and was a favourite
with tourists visiting Hwange park.
Zimbabwe also wants Palmer, 55,
extradited from the US to face trial
over Cecils death.
Fighting broke out two years

ago between a tribe of the
Bantu majority, the Luba, and
Pygmies from the Batwa group,
who consider that they have
long been marginalised, exploited and despised.
Raids on settlements and
clashes between opposing
forces, armed mainly with machetes and bows and arrows,
have frequently led to massacres, looting and the burning
of villages in the southeastern
province.
Simmering tensions between Batwa and Luba in Katanga erupted in major ghting
in mid-2013 in Manono territory, after Batwa started demanding respect for their basic
rights, including access to land
and an end to alleged forced labour or a form of slavery, HRW
said on the strength of missions
from May to July.
The Pygmies are a huntergatherer people with a deep
lore of nature who have lived
for generations mainly in the
bush and tropical forests of
DR Congo, the Republic of
Congo, the Central African
Republic, Cameroon and Gabon.
In DR Congo, their millennial
lifestyle is threatened by deforestation and the spread of Bantu farming communities, along
with mining of the countrys
vast mineral resources.
Large-scale clashes have
spread and the UN mission in DR
Congo, MONUSCO, has reported hundreds of civilians slain,
tens of thousands displaced and
dozens of villages razed.
Protecting
civilians
from all communities who
are at grave risk needs to be
the governments priority
in northern Katanga, said
HRWs senior Africa researcher, Ida Sawyer.
Gulf Times
AMERICA
Tired, speeding driver responsible for Morgan crash

Reuters
Washington
speeding
Wal-Mart
truck driver who had
been awake for 28 hours
was held responsible yesterday for a 2014 highway crash
that left 30 Rock star Tracy
Morgan with brain injuries and
killed a fellow comedian, US
transport regulators said.

The National Transportation
Safety Board also concluded in a
review that the injuries to Morgan and other passengers were
exacerbated by their failure to
wear seat belts.
Changes to the interior of their
limousine van trapped them inside for some 40 minutes after
the vehicle overturned in the
June 7, 2014 collision on the New
Jersey turnpike, the review board

said.
Morgan, 46, suffered a serious
brain injury and broken bones
and was left in a coma. The Saturday Night Live star has not
performed since the accident.
Comedian James Jimmy Mack
McNair was killed and nine other
people were injured in the chain
reaction collision that involved 21
people in six vehicles
zone where it rear-ended the

slower-travelling limousine van
at around 1am. ET, the NTSB
said.
The passengers ... had no
available exits until emergency
responders removed part of a
plywood panel that had been installed between the passenger
compartment and the cab, NTSB
Chairman Christopher Hart said
at the meeting in Washington.
In a public hearing, NTSB ofcials said the Wal-Mart truck

driver had driven 800 miles
overnight to the companys distribution centre before embarking on his delivery, and had been
awake for more than 28 hours at
the time of the crash.
The truck was driving 65mph
(104kph) in a 45mph (72kph)
zone. It did not slow down when
entering a road construction
The only other way of exiting,

a sliding door, had become inoperable in the crash, Hart said.
The driver of the van was not
wearing a seat belt and only
one of the six passengers was
strapped in, allowing them to be
thrown around inside at the time
of the impact.
NTSB investigators recommended that Wal-Mart improve
fatigue management programs
for drivers and install better vehicle warning systems for drivers
and delivery operators.
The truck driver, Kevin Roper,
faces charges of vehicular homicide and assault by auto and is
awaiting trial in New Jersey.
Morgan and some of the others
who were injured reached a settlement with Wal-Mart in May,
although terms have not been
made public.
Protests return to Ferguson streets

Reuters
Ferguson
olice in riot gear clashed

with protesters who had
gathered in the streets of
Ferguson, Missouri, early yesterday to mark the anniversary
of the police shooting of an unarmed black teen whose death
sparked a national outcry over
race relations.
About 200 demonstrators,
some waving ags, beating
drums, and shouting anti-police slogans, marched along a
street that was a ashpoint of
riots that erupted last year after
white police officer Darren Wilson shot dead 18-year-old black
teen Michael Brown.
Police made several arrests,
including nine people on Monday evening after a group of
protesters briey blocked the
roadway.
Police carrying shields rushed
into a crowd of protesters around
midnight, many of whom started
screaming and running from the
area. Some protesters threw water bottles and rocks at officers,
who used bullhorns to order people out of the street or face arrest.
Authorities declared a state
of emergency on Monday for the
St. Louis suburb and surrounding areas after police officers
shot and critically wounded a
man in an exchange of gunre on
Sunday night, marring what had
been a day of peaceful demonstrations.
Ferguson resident Roberta
Lynch, 51, was among the demonstrators on Monday evening.
She said relations between police and the community had improved little over the past year.
They are doing the same old
stuff, taking our rights, Lynch
said. They need to give us our
space.
Mondays
demonstrations
capped a day of civil disobedience called by activists to protest against the shooting of
Brown and other unarmed black
men by police across the US.
Clergy and civil rights groups
led a series of protests, staging a
demonstration at a courthouse
in St. Louis where 60 people
were arrested, including Princeton University professor emeritus and activist Cornel West,
according to a protest organiser.
Police arrested dozens of protesters who blocked rush-hour
traffic on Interstate 70 a few
miles from Ferguson hours later,
according to a Reuters witness.
The death of Brown and a
grand jurys decision to spare
the white officer from criminal
charges led to a wave of demonstrations that boiled over into
rioting and arson at times and
spawned sympathy rallies across
the country.
Last night was pretty

out of control at times.
Unfortunately, all the good
work thats happening on
both sides of the street has
been marred by violence
Browns death also prompted
greater scrutiny of racial bias
within the US criminal justice
system, giving rise to the Black
Lives Matter movement that
gained momentum from similar
incidents in cities such as New
York, Baltimore, Los Angeles,
Cincinnati and, most recently,
Arlington, Texas.
Tensions increased after darkness fell on Monday, with some
demonstrators throwing objects
at officers who pushed back with
shields and threatened arrests.
Others urged protesters on the
street to maintain order.
St. Louis County Police Chief
Jon Belmar told reporters police
would give protesters leeway
to march, but said the authorities also had to maintain public
safety.
We are going to let them vent
and we are going to manage it
the best we possibly can, Belmar said.
Last night was pretty out of
control at times. Unfortunately,
all the good work thats happening on both sides of the street
has been marred by violence,
he said.
The violence, according to
Belmar, erupted on Sunday
when two groups of agitators

apparently began shooting at
each other, disrupting what had
been peaceful demonstrations.
At one point, a gunman darted
across a parking lot and was
confronted by four officers who
pulled up in an unmarked vehicle.
The officers wounded the suspect in an exchange of gunre,
according to police.
Prosecutors charged the man,
Tyrone Harris, who was in critical condition in a hospital, with
four counts of assault on law enforcement, ve counts of armed
criminal action, and one count
of shooting at a vehicle.
His bond was set at $250,000.
Harriss father said his son did
not have a gun.
He was running for his ... life
because someone was shooting
at him, Tyrone Harris, Sr., said
in a telephone interview from
his St. Louis-area home.
The younger Harris was out
on bail awaiting trial on charges
of stealing a motor vehicle, theft
of a rearm and resisting arrest. He was charged with those
crimes on Nov. 5 and released
after posting a $30,000 bond on
Dec. 19, records showed.
Activist groups, meanwhile,
said the plain clothes officers
who shot Harris should never
have been deployed to the scene.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon
called Sundays violence a sad
turn of events. Nixon, who deployed the National Guard to
quell violence last year, did not
make any mention of additional
security for those rallies.
Michael
Browns
father,
Michael Brown Sr. said on Facebook that peaceful weekend
protests were meaningful, inspiring and successful.
With your support, we properly honored your friend and my
sons memory, he said.
Protester Rayna Martin, 17,
who lives in the neighbourhood
where Brown was shot, said the
violence within her community
has been made worse by the actions of police.
They kill us, they get away
with it. Its crazy, she said.
Demonstrators, marking the one-year anniversary of the shooting of Michael Brown, protest along West Florrisant Street in Ferguson, Missouri.
CNN invites all but one Republican

presidential hopeful to next debates
Reuters
Washington
ll but one of the 17 Republicans vying for the

partys presidential nomination have made the cut so far
for the next candidates debates
hosted by CNN, the network
said yesterday in a decision that
could leave former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore on the sidelines.
CNN and the Ronald Reagan

Presidential Library, which is
co-hosting the Sept. 16 debates,
said invitations have been sent
by former rst lady Nancy Reagan to 16 candidates who meet
their criteria. All but Gilmore
have qualied thus far and have
received invitations, they said
in a statement.
Earlier this year CNN said
candidates must meet certain
criteria, including an average
of 1% of support in three recent
national polls. The networks

latest poll showed Gilmore at
the bottom of the pack with less
than 1%.
Additional candidates will
receive invitations if they meet
all of the previously released
debate criteria. CNN and the
library said.
Like last weeks Republican
presidential debates hosted by
Fox News, the CNN event will
actually be two debates - dividing the crowded Republican eld
into two groups, with one featuring the top 10 candidates.

Although nearly all of the
candidates made the cut for the
CNN event, it is unclear how the
eld will look a month from now
when CNN and the library determine how to split the group
based on their standing as of
Sept. 10.
The Republican Party has 17
people vying to be their partys
nominee in the November 2016
presidential election.
Toxic waste spill

from mine creeps
through southwest
AFP
Washington
nvironmental biologists in Utah tested the waters of a key river yesterday

for signs of a toxic waste spill from a
botched Colorado mine clean-up operation
that prompted a state of emergency in the
desert Southwest.
What started as a 3mn-gallon (11.4mnlitre) orange-hued plume last Wednesday
in the swift-moving Animas River dissolved from view as it made its way down
the slower San Juan River in New Mexico.
No longer easily visible, it was nevertheless owing on into Utah and the Lake Powell reservoir in the direction of the Colorado
River and Grand Canyon, leaving behind
questions as to its long-term impact.
Its so diluted, you cant really see it,
Donna Spangler, a spokeswoman for the
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, told AFP by telephone.
Intensive water testing is nevertheless
underway for signs of such cancer-causing
toxins as lead and arsenic, with results expected in a matter of days.
The spill prompted states of emergency
to be declared in Colorado, New Mexico
and the vast Navajo Nation reservation that
straddles state lines.
Towns along the Animas and San Juan
stopped drawing water from the two rivers,
and kayakers and rafters were told to stay on
land until Monday at the latest.
The spill, estimated to be 80 miles

(130km) long, was a major embarrassment
for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal government agency
tasked with combating pollution.
It was supervising an attempt to halt
a slow leak of toxic waste from the longabandoned Gold King mine near the Colorado town of Durango when an earth-moving backhoe unleashed a deluge instead.
It pains me to no end that this is happening, said EPA director Gina McCarthy
yesterday in her rst public comments on
the spill.
But were working tirelessly to respond,
and weve committed to a full review of exactly what happened to ensure it can never
happen again, she said.
Initially, the EPA said 1mn gallons had
spilled into the Animas, but then revised
the gure upwards by three times, arousing
local skepticism.
Youre lying to everyone about whats
going on. You really dont know whats going on, said one angry resident at a Durango town hall meeting.
Mayor Tommy Roberts of Farmington,
New Mexico, where the Animas joins the
San Juan, said it was more than 24 hours
before his town was alerted to the spill.
The initial response from the EPA was
lacking, to say the least, he said.
The scale of the mishap was captured in
a photo in the local Durango Herald newspaper of three kayakers oating amid the
sludge.
An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sampling point on

the Animas River near Durango, Colorado. Workers from the
EPA accidentally triggered a massive release of toxic waste
from an old gold mine that sent about 3mn gallons of polluted
water into a Colorado river, turning it orange.
Gulf Times
ASEAN
Top court orders

Suharto family
to return millions
AFP
Jakarta
n Indonesian court has

ordered a foundation set
up by former Indonesian
dictator Suharto to pay back
about $325mn of embezzled
state funds, an official said yesterday.
The Supreme Court ruled
that the huge sum, which came
from an educational foundation
controlled by the Suharto family, must be returned, said court
spokesman Suhadi.
Army general Suharto ruled
Indonesia with an iron st for
more than three decades until he
was toppled by popular protests
in 1998.
Graft watchdog Transparency International has labelled
him the most corrupt leader of
all time, claiming he looted between $15bn and $35bn from
the country during his time in
power.
The court ruling, which was
handed down last month but
only made public this week, relates to the Supersemar Founda-
This file picture taken on May

19,1998 shows Indonesian
president Suharto during a live
broadcast speech to the nation
before his May 21, 1998
resignation in Jakarta.
tion, said Suhadi, who like many
Indonesians goes by one name.
It was set up to provide university scholarships to children
from poor families but the civil
lawsuit led by the attorney
general reportedly alleged the
Suharto family had used it to
embezzle government money.

The latest ruling reversed a
2010 decision that had ordered
the foundation to pay a far
smaller sum of around $320,000,
according to the Jakarta Globe
newspaper.
There was a typo, some digits
were missing, Suhadi explained
of the 2010 ruling, without elaborating.
Juan Felix Tambupolon, a lawyer for the Suharto family, said
his legal team had not officially
received the Supreme Court ruling, and would decide their next
move after seeing it.
Whether we are satised or
not, we have to respect the decision. We will decide what to do
after studying it, he said.
Suharto died of natural causes
in 2008, but there is still much
anger among Indonesians towards the late ruler and his family.
His six children allegedly
amassed fortunes by enjoying
privileged access to lucrative
business deals, with the most
controversial being his youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra,
popularly known as Tommy.
UN appalled by
Thailand jail terms
DPA
Geneva
hai authorities should

immediately free all inmates who are in prison
for allegedly insulting the
countrys revered monarchy,
the UN Human Rights Office in
Geneva said yesterday.
We are appalled by the
shockingly disproportionate
prison terms handed down
over the past few months in
lese majeste cases in Thailand, said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN
high commissioner for human
rights.
On Friday, military courts
sentenced a travel agent and
a hotel employee to 30 and
28 years in jail for Facebook
posts that were deemed insulting.
The UN rights office noted
that at least 40 people having been convicted or remain

in pretrial remand since last
years military coup.
We call for the immediate
release of all those who have
been jailed or held in prolonged pretrial detention for
the exercise of their rights to
freedom of expression, Shamdasani said.
She urged the military government to bring the current
lese majeste law in line with
international human rights
standards by making it less
vague and less broad.
Such laws should not be used
to curb public debate, even if a
head of state is criticized, the
spokeswoman added.
Thailands King Bhumibol
Adulyadej said in 2005 that he
should not be above criticism,
but subsequent governments
have continued to prosecute
lese majeste suspects.
Cabinet reshuffle
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha
hinted yesterday that he has decided which
cabinet ministers will be replaced, following
comments last month that a reshuffle could
take place in September.
The existing cabinet started work in September 2014, four months after the military
took power in a coup. Prayuth, who as army
chief led the coup, was appointed prime
minister in August 2014 by a hand-picked
legislature. Since then he has ruled largely
unchallenged.
Najib looks to ride out political crisis

Reuters
Kuala Lumpur
he future looked dark

for Malaysian Prime
Minister Najib Razak last month when it was
reported that investigators
probing alleged mismanagement at state fund 1Malaysia
Development Berhad (1MDB)
had traced a payment of
nearly $700mn to a bank account under his name.
Yet Najib has not only
survived the political crisis
so far, he has tightened his
grip on power through a series of deft steps to sideline
would-be dissenters.
Najib, it appears, has indeed
emerged from the eye of the
storm, said Oh Ei Sun, senior
fellow at S Rajaratnam School
of International Studies.
He is now attempting to
consolidate his power both
within his party and among
the general public and the

society, he added.
Najib has consistently denied taking any money for
personal gain.
In response to Reuters
questions, a government
spokesman said: The attacks on 1MDB began out of
political motivation, and the
ultimate aim is to remove
Malaysias democratically
elected government.
However, the prime
minister answers to the people, not to certain individuals who use lies, smears and
criminal leaks to try and
topple him for personal gain,
not Malaysias gain.
The 62-year-old leader is
still in a tougher spot than at
any time since he took office
in 2009.
The prime ministers
ercest critic, former leader
Mahathir Mohamed, accused him on Monday of
choosing to subvert the
Najib Razak
institutions of government
and make them instruments
for sustaining himself.
1MDB, a property-to-energy group whose advisory
board is chaired by Najib,
has debts of around $11bn.
A civil society group, Bersih, is planning a mass rally
at the end of this month to
call for his resignation.
However, the prime minister has countered criticism
from those closest to him by
sacking his deputy and other
ministers who had publicly
questioned him. The attorney

general who was investigating 1MDB has been replaced.
The government spokesman said the attorney-general retired due to ill health
and that Najib had reshuffled
his cabinet so he had a solid
and unied team moving in
the same direction.
Malaysian
authorities
have also suspended two of
the countrys newspapers
and blocked access to a website, Sarawak Report, that
has been reporting on 1MDB.
Officials suspected of leaking information about investigations into the scandal have
been questioned by police.
The government seems
intent to stop the leaks of
information, said Ibrahim
Suffian, director of independent pollster Merdeka
Center.
Reuters has not veried
the July 3 report by the Wall
Street Journal, which said
investigators looking into

1MDB had found that nearly
$700mn was deposited into
a private bank account under Najibs name.
In March, authorities
formed a task force led by
the previous attorneygeneral, which included the
central bank, the Malaysian
Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the police
force, to investigate 1MDB.
The MACC said last week
that the task force has now
been disbanded, although
the agencies involved can
still look into 1MDBs dealings individually.
MACC has said the money
in Najibs account was a donation, and not connected
to 1MDB.
Najib retains signicant
support from the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN)
coalition and from within
his party, United Malays National Organisation.
Myanmar returns
159 Bangladeshi
boat migrants
AFP
Yangon
yanmar has returned

159 Bangladeshi migrants rescued from
boats stranded off its coast in
May, officials said yesterday,
the latest group to be repatriated after a migration crisis
that unfurled across Southeast Asia.
More than 800 men, women and children were picked
up from ships abandoned by
smugglers in the Bay of Bengal in recent months, after a
Thai crackdown on peoplesmuggling led gang bosses to
abandon their human cargo
on land and at sea.
It sparked a long verication process between Myan-
mar and Bangladesh to determine the nationality of the

migrants, with neither side
showing a willingness to accept them at rst.
On Monday, Myanmar
authorities handed over 159
people to their Bangladeshi
counterparts, according to
Myanmar state media, which
showed a line of mainly young
men crossing a bridge escorted by armed troops.
However, a number of migrants were still undergoing
verication.
The remaining 230 Bangladeshi will be transferred as
soon as possible. The Bangladesh side are conducting a
rigorous verication process,
a government official in Rakhine state told AFP, asking
to remain unnamed.
Myanmar cancels ministry appointments

The government in Myanmar has cancelled the appointments
of military officers to high-ranking positions in the Health
Ministry following strong opposition and an online campaign
by medics. We cancel the appointment as we now know they
are unwanted. We did it because we just think its good for our
ministry, Health Minister Than Aung told 7Days newspaper.
The ministrys appointment on Friday of three military officers
to deputy director general positions sparked anger among
tens of thousands of doctors and nurses in the country as well
as abroad.
Playful pachyderms
Students and their teacher play with elephants at a camp in the

ancient Thai capital Ayutthaya, Thailand, yesterday. Thailand
celebrates World Elephant Day on August 12, an annual event
held to raise awareness about elephant conservation.
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11
AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA
Japan resumes
N-programme
after shutdown
The restart comes more than
four years after a quakesparked tsunami swamped
cooling systems and
triggered reactor meltdowns
at the Fukushima plant
AFP
Tokyo
apan yesterday restarted its

nuclear power programme
after a shutdown triggered by
the 2011 Fukushima crisis, as the
government pushes to return to
a cheaper energy source despite
widespread public opposition.
Utility Kyushu Electric Power
turned on a reactor at Sendai,
about 1,000km southwest of Tokyo, at 10:30am.
The 31-year-old reactor- operating under tougher post-Fukushima safety rules - was expected
to reach full capacity around 11pm
yesterday and would start generating power by Friday.
Commercial operations would
begin early next month, a company spokesman said.
The restart comes more than
four years after a quake-sparked
tsunami swamped cooling systems and triggered reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima plant,
prompting the shutdown of Japans stable of 50 reactors and

starting a pitched battle over the
future use of atomic power.
The accident sent radiation
over a wide area and forced tens
of thousands from their homes
- many of whom will likely never
return - in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
Decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima reactors is expected to take decades and compensation expenses - excluding
the cost of the sites cleanup - now
top $57bn.
Anti-nuclear sentiment still
runs high in Japan and television
showed protesters scuffling with
police in front of the plant, which
is on the southernmost main island of Kyushu.
Among the 200 protesters was
Naoto Kan, prime minister at the
time of Fukushima and now a
high-prole anti-nuclear activist.
He said the failure of pro-atomic
premier Shinzo Abe to cancel the
restart cannot be forgiven.
The resource-poor nation,
which once relied on nuclear
power for a quarter of its electricity, restarted two reactors temporarily to feed its needs after Fukushima. But they both went offline
by September 2013, making Japan
Nuclear reactor buildings of the Kyushu Electric Power Sendai

nuclear power plant are seen behind police officers standing guard
in the twilight in Satsumasendai in Kagoshima prefecture, on Japans
southern island of Kyushu yesterday.
completely nuclear-free for about

two years.
The country adopted stricter
safety regulations to avoid a repeat of the accident, including
more backup prevention measures and higher tsunami-blocking walls in some areas.
It is important to restart reactors one by one from the perspective of energy security, the
economy and measures against
global warming, but safety always comes rst, Industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa told reporters..
Yukio Edano, a senior member of the opposition Democratic
Party of Japan who criticised Abe
for taking a holiday near Mount
Fuji on Tuesday, said the restart
was ill-advised and trampled on
the grave sacrice seen in Fukushima.
Strengthened safety measures
are key to Abes bid to get some
of about four dozen reactors back
up and running. The government
wants nuclear power to generate
up to 22% of Japans electricity
needs by 2030, a lower percentage than before Fukushima.
Power companies that own the
reactors are also keen for more
restarts after having to import
pricey fossil fuels.
Japans post-Fukushima energy bill skyrocketed as it scrambled to ll the gap left by taking
reactors offline, a problem worsened by a sharp weakening of the
yen which pushed up the cost of
dollar-denominated energy imports.
Several other reactors have
been given a safety green light,
but battle lines are drawn in many
local communities strongly opposed to restarts.
Abe is not listening to the
voice of the people - he is acting
as if he has been given a blank
cheque, said Takashi Kato, professor emeritus at Tokyos Seikei
University.
China bans harmful songs online

AFP
Beijing
hina has ordered 120 songs

to be pulled from the Internet, including tracks titled Dont Want to Go to School
and All Must Die because they
promoted obscenity, violence or
incited law-breaking, authori-
ties said. No individual or organisation is allowed to provide

the songs, which trumpeted obscenity, violence, crime or harmed
social morality, the ministry of
culture said in a statement.
Most of the blacklisted tunes
were by unknown singers or bands
but had striking titles, including
No Money No Friend and Suicide Diary, a list attached to the
statement showed.
The list provided specic targets for Internet organisations
self-censorship, the ministry
said, adding companies should
remove the products accurately,
be aware of the bottom line and
improve their service.
Anyone who does not comply
will be punished severely according to the law, it said.
A handout photo released by the European Southern Observatory shows a composite picture of how a typical galaxy appears at different
wavelengths in the GAMA survey. This huge project has measured the energy output of more than 200,000 galaxies and represents the
most comprehensive assessment of the energy output of the nearby Universe. The results confirm that the energy produced in a section
of the Universe today is only about half what it was 2bn years ago and find that this fading is occurring across all wavelengths from the
ultraviolet to the far infrared.
Universe is slowly dying,

says Australian scientist
AFP
Sydney
he Universe is experiencing a slow death, like

a person resting on the
sofa awaiting eternal sleep, according to astronomers from
a project which measured the
energy generated by 200,000
galaxies.
The international team carried out the most precise measurements of energy generation
in a large portion of space ever
completed and found that it is
only half of what it was two billion years ago and fading.
The Universe is fated to decline from here on in, like an
old age that lasts forever, said
Simon Driver from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in
Western Australia.
The Universe has basically
plonked itself down on the sofa,
pulled up a blanket and is about
to nod off for an eternal doze.
Researchers used seven of
the worlds most powerful telescopes to observe galaxies at
21 different wavelengths, from
ultraviolet to the far infrared, as
part of the Galaxy and Mass Assembly Survey (GAMA).
Observations collected over
eight years from the AngloAustralian Telescope in rural
New South Wales state were
used in conjunction with those
from orbiting space telescopes
operated by Nasa and the European Space Agency.
We used as many space
and ground-based telescopes
we could get our hands on, to
measure the energy output of
over 200,000 galaxies across
ustralia plans to reduce carbon

emissions by 26% from 2005
levels by 2030, Prime Minister
Tony Abbott announced yesterday, a
target critics say falls well short of its
fair share globally.
Abbott, however, said his conservative governments target was fairly
in the middle of those made by other
economies which will be taken to an
upcoming global climate conference
in Paris.
We have come to the position our
2030 emissions reduction target will
be in the range of 26 to 28% , Abbott
told reporters in Canberra.
There is a denite commitment to
26% but we believe under the policies
that we have got, with the circumstances that we think will apply, that
we can go to 28%.
With its heavy use of coal-red
power and relatively small population
of 23mn , Australia is considered one
of the worlds worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters.
Abbott has been widely seen as a
reluctant advocate for ghting climate change, having scrapped a controversial tax on carbon emissions by
industrial polluters and consistently
promoted the coal export industry.
He said yesterday that strong and
effective policies were needed to
tackle the issue, and Australia was
The sun is seen through the steam

and other emissions coming from
funnels of the brown coal Loy Yang
Power Station in the Latrobe Valley
near Melbourne.
reducing emissions in part through
a carbon abatement programme whereby energy efficient companies
are rewarded.
But he said Australias commitment to the environment had to be
balanced against economic growth
and jobs, and did not need to be the
strongest in the world.
Our 26 to 28% target, its better than Japan. Its almost the same
as New Zealand. Its a whisker below
Canada, said Abbott.
Its a little below Europe. Its
about the same as the United States.
rate at which the Universe was

forming stars was declining,
the new data showed that the
rate of energy production was
reducing the same way across
all different wavelengths.
It doesnt matter which
wavelength you look at the Universe in, it is slowing down in its
energy production in the same
way, Hopkins told AFP via telephone from Hawaii.
As the Universe expands
and as the rate of expansion accelerates we know that the rate
at which galaxies can continue
to evolve is going to slow down
and this is reected in the rate
that we have been able to measure of how fast they are forming
their stars.
It is hoped that the survey
data will help scientists better
understand how different types
of galaxies form.
South Korea ramps up border security

AFP
Seoul
outh Korea yesterday

ramped up border security as military tensions flared following landmine blasts blamed on North
Korea, and the presidential
office in Seoul demanded a
formal apology.
South Korea says North Korean soldiers sneaked across
the border and laid the mines,
three of which were tripped
by members of a South Korean
border patrol on Tuesday last
week.
One soldier underwent a
double leg amputation while
another had one leg removed.
Australia pledges 26% emissions cut by 2030

AFP
Canberra
as broad a wavelength range as

possible, said Driver, who presented the ndings to the International Astronomical Union in
Hawaii on Monday.
Driver said while most of the
energy sloshing around in the
Universe was created in the aftermath of the Big Bang, additional amounts were constantly
being released by stars as they
fused elements such as hydrogen and helium together.
This newly released energy
is either absorbed by dust as it
travels through the host galaxy,
or escapes into intergalactic
space and travels until it hits
something such as another star,
planet, or very occasionally a
telescope mirror, he said.
Andrew Hopkins, from the
Australian Astronomical Observatory, said while it had been
known for some time that the
Its vastly better than Korea.

And, of course, it is unimaginably
better than China, he said, in reference to the worlds top carbon polluter which last month promised to
peak emissions within about 15 years,
in a move widely hailed as a boost for
the international effort to curb global
warming.
We are not leading but we are certainly not lagging, Abbott said.
Paris will host the UN climate conference at the end of the year, with
organisers hoping to conclude a pact
limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
over pre-industrial levels.
Environmentalists accused Australia of not doing enough to curb the
pollution blamed for global warming,
saying the Abbott government fell
well short of doing its fair share globally.
These targets are vastly inadequate to protect Australians from the
impacts of climate change and do not
represent a fair contribution to the
world effort to bring climate change
under control, said Tim Flannery
from the independent Climate Council.
Will Steffen, a climate change expert at the council, said Australias
pledge was not too different from that
of Canada and Japan but signicantly
behind the EU and United States and
still at the bottom of the pack in
terms of the developed countries.
Where we need to be in terms of
playing our fair share for the two-degree policy target... we are way below
that, Steffen told AFP, adding it was
unfair to compare Australias pledge
to Chinas commitments given it was
still a developing country.
WWF-Australia also said Australias target was below efforts being made by the United States, which
has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by 26-28% from 2005 levels by 2025 - signicantly ve years
earlier than Australia - and the EU
which has gone even further.
If every country matched Australias effort the world would be on track
for three to four degrees of warming,
said WWF-Australias Kellie Caught.
Frank Jotzo, director of the Centre
for Climate Economics and Policy at
the Australian National University
in Canberra, agreed the target fell far
short of the international goal.
But he noted that most other developed countries targets also fall
short.
However this target means Australia is at least on the boat with international climate action, even if considered a laggard, he said.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who
will attend the United Nations climate
change conference in Paris, defended
the pledge by Australia, responsible
for 1.3% of global emissions.
It means that Australia... as the
13th largest emitter in absolute terms
is doing our bit and thats what matters, she said.
The South responded by

resuming border propaganda
operations after a break of
more than a decade, switching
on batteries of powerful loudspeakers to blare out messages
denouncing border provocations.
North Korea is extremely
sensitive to such campaigns.
The last time the South threat-
ened to turn the loudspeakers

back on - in 2010 - the North
vowed to shell the units involved.
We are strengthening defence postures (along the border) against another potential
provocation by the North,
Seouls
defence
ministry
spokesman Kim Min-Seok said
yesterday.
12
Gulf Times
BRITAIN
500lb WWII Blitz bomb is

removed by army experts
Evening Standard
London
he Army has removed the 500lb

Second World War explosive
found in Bethnal Green after
bomb disposal experts worked through
the night to make it safe.
Residents have spoken of their relief
after the bomb, unearthed on a building
site in Temple Street at about 12.45pm
yesterday, was transported away from
the area this afternoon.
Hundreds of people are now being
allowed back home after being locked
out overnight, after a 200m hazard
zone was put in place.
More than 100 spent the night in a
council rest centre at Bethnal Green
Academy, while many more opted to
stay with friends and family.
Katrina Cimetta, 28, who lives in a
at right next to the construction site,
said the experience has brought the
community closer together.
The charity communications professional, who was forced to stay with
friends, said: Everyone seems relieved
and happy and theres lots of people
walking around again.
We felt very uncomfortable and
nervous last night, you hear stories of
one in Germany that exploded a few
years ago.
She added: Im really happy because
Ive made lots of friends in my neighbours, who are really lovely.
Were talking about organising a
street party to celebrate the community, its made us all very aware of our
community.
People living just outside the
200-metre exclusion zone were told
they were in an optional evacuation
area.
Many chose to stay home after being
warned of the risks by police, who went
door to door last night.
Neuroscientist Oliver Robinson said
he was asked to sign a piece of paper by
police after deciding to stay put.
The 31-year-old said: We got woken
up at 1am to say we were in the optional
evacuation zone.
The PC said most had opted to
stay so we did too - had to sign a piece
Soldiers load the bomb into a van to transport it away from east London. Right: Emergency workers behind the cordon of the bomb site in Bethnal Green.
of paper with our flat numbers on.
Much happier now, didnt get much
sleep after that.
The ministry of defence had warned
on its Twitter feed that the device was
potentially more dangerous today
than when it was made.
The London Fire Brigade said: The
World War II bomb that was found in
Bethnal Green on Monday has been
made safe and removed it from the area
by military personnel.
Military personnel from 621 Squadron, 11 EOD Regiment, Royal Logistics
Corps, worked throughout the night to
stabilise and defuse the bomb, which
is believed to have been dropped over
London during German bombing raids
in the early 1940s but did not detonate.
A spokesman for Tower Hamlets
council said: The bomb has been defused. Residents are allowed back home
and traffic restrictions will be lifted
within the hour.
Teams worked overnight after a 500lb
bomb was unearthed at lunchtime by
builders converting a former factory
in Bethnal Green into luxury ats.

Ministry of defence sources had admitted the 70-year-old device was in a
tricky location and early this morning were unable to give a precise timetable for its removal.
Adam Atkinson, vicar of St Peters
church in Bethnal Green, said residents
were denitely fearing that they may
be unable to return home. What is being talked about by the uniformed services is more in hope than expectation
that it will be resolved today, he told
the Standard.
Ania Folejewska, 24, an architectural
assistant, said: It all happened last
night at about midnight, after I went to
bed last night the manager of our building knocked on the door saying we were
being evacuated. It was fun spending
one night away but I hope we dont have
to go it again.
A massive operation involving the
army, police and London Fire Brigade
was launched as officers went door-todoor and residents were told: Get out
now.
The device was found by builders

working on a site behind Temple Street.
Photographs released by the ministry
of defence showed the rusting shell
embedded two feet below the ground
encased by mud.
Road closures were in place between
Hackney Road and Old Bethnal Green
Road. Residents described how the
usually bustling streets were deserted
like a scene from a zombie lm.
Executive assistant Pauline Carter,
26, said: I was working from home and
saw lots of blue lights then the police
knocked on the door and said leave immediately.
Someone bought a plot of land behind Temple Street and wanted to build
10 apartments with basements. Thats
how they discovered it. Theyve been
digging for months.
The bomb is 10ft from my at on
the other side of a wall and Ive had
so many parties here if it was going to
blow up, it would have done so by now.
Tower Hamlets council staff ordered
pizzas, potato wedges and soft drinks to
keep spirits up and provided camp beds

for those unable to nd accommodation overnight.
Freelance visual artist Oers Sardi, 28,
said: I didnt know anything about it
until I went outside and it was like being in 28 Days Later. There was no one
around.
Then I saw a police officer who
looked as surprised to see me as I was
him. I left almost everything behind.
All my friends are on holiday so I have
nowhere to go.
Graphic designer Emily Fuller, 27,
and Katie Ling, 23, were forced to leave
their French Bulldog Prince. Miss Fuller, a chef in Shoreditch, said: Luckily
we were allowed back in by a kind police
officer to collect some things. Prince
was thrilled to see me.
Miss Ling said: The council has set
up the rest centre and its safe. Theres
a general air of frustration but theres
some good East London community
spirit coming through as well.
During the Second World War, about
2,000 Bethnal Green homes were lev-
My father is dying so I called off

wedding but hotel held our deposit
Evening Standard
London
bride-to-be accused a hotel of unbelievable heartlessness after it refused

a refund when she cancelled
her wedding having found out
her terminally ill father had just
weeks to live.
Advertising executives Tara
Mendelsohn, 35, and ance Tarun
Naipaul, 41, the nephew of Nobel
prize-winning writer VS Naipaul,
had booked the boutique Foxhill
Manor Hotel in the Cotswolds for
September 9.
But they decided to cancel the
17,000 wedding after learning
that Mendelsohns father Peter
was losing his battle with a rare
form of cancer and would be un-
Tara Mendelsohn with fianc Tarun Naipal

able to walk her down the aisle.
However, the eight-bedroom
private manor house hotel declined to return their 3,000 deposit stating that the couple
could postpone their wedding by
up to six months.
Mendelsohn, who lost her mother to cancer seven years ago, said: I
am just devastated. Im heartbroken I am going to lose my dad.
It was my dream he would give
me away. I wanted him there so
much. I dont want to go ahead
with the wedding there without

him.
Its unbelievable heartlessness
that the hotel would behave in this
way. The booking was made not
long ago and was on a Thursday.
I cant believe they will have
lost out on business as a result of
us cancelling. As a business you
would just hope they had some
heart and could see these are exceptional circumstances.
The couple, who live in Kensal
Green, had planned to marry next
year but brought the wedding forward so Mendelsohns father, a
retired dentist from West Hampstead, could give her away. They
were told last week he was losing his battle with a neuroendocrine tumour and could live just
weeks.
The Foxhill Manor Hotel, which
describes itself as providing a

heartfelt personal service is in the
woodland estate of Farncombe.
After being contacted by the
Standard, the hotel said it would
refund the couples deposit.
Andrew Grahame, chief executive of Farncombe Estate, which
owns Foxhill Manor, said: We
have fully refunded the wedding
for Mendelson and Naipaul, as we
would always do under these circumstances. As a family-owned
business with strong values, we
would never knowingly conduct
business in a manner that was not
sympathetic to our valued customers.
Mendelsohn added: We are
both really pleased Foxhill Manor
have now apologised and offered
to refund our deposit in full. My
dad is really happy with the news.
elled by German bombs, while another

900 were left uninhabitable.
In March a 1,000Ilb bomb was found
in Bermondsey. Another unexploded
device was discovered near Wembley
Stadium in May.
Authorities have previously identied almost a dozen unexploded bombs
within half-a-mile radius of the latest discovery, including one just yards
away in Canrobert Street.
Historian Hugh Macdonald-Buchanan, 54, who leads walking tours between the bomb sites, said: East London was heavily targeted by the enemy
to knock Britains war effort.
Thousands of bombs were dropped.
Many of those were dud and did not go
off at the time. Bethnal Green is in the
heart of that.
They pose an enormous risk to the
public. Its half a tonne of explosives
and if that goes off it causes a very big
bang.
Authorities take these things enormously seriously. You would be risking
life and limb.
Pet-owners pretend
dogs are strays so
they can holiday
Evening Standard
London
attersea Dogs and Cats

Home has accused holiday-makers of pretending their pets are strays so the
rescue centre will look after
them while theyre away.
Bosses claim they have seen
a huge surge abandoned dogs
as the holiday season enters
full-swing, with more than
three times as many calls
(388) in the second week of the
school summer break than an
average week in May.
Intake co-ordinator Woody
Woodford-Price said some
pet-owners were up-front
about their wishes to ditch
their pets so they could go
away - with a few confusing

the centre for boarding kennels
- but others were more apparently more audacious.
Every year around this
time I anticipate a rise in the
number of calls from people
wanting Battersea to take in
their pet, he said.
Its holiday season and
people dont always take pets
into account when theyre
booking to go away.
So its rescue centres, like
Battersea, who end up taking
their pets in and nding new
homes for them.
Weve had people confuse
us with boarding kennels, asking if we can take their pet for
a fortnight and others that blatantly bring in a stray dog and
send someone else to claim it.
2,000 raised for woman whose

house was struck by lightning
Evening Standard
London
ore than 2,000 has been pledged in just four

days as part of a heartwarming bid to help raise
money for an elderly woman whose house was
struck by lightning.
The pensioner was forced to ee her semi-detached
home in Upminster after ames broke out amid an electrical storm around 8.20pm on Wednesday evening.
A massive cloud of smoke was seen billowing from the
Humber Drive property as re ripped through the roof and
left it virtually destroyed.
Witnesses reported hearing a huge rumble like an explosion, with one claiming the incident came just days after the elderly woman had been mugged on her way home
from the bank.
Within 24 hours of news of the catastrophe breaking,
members of the local community had begun donating to
her cause through aJustGiving page.
Kirstie Allen set up the crowdfunder with a 1,000
target. By Monday morning pledges already amounted to

more than twice that.
I dont know Pat personally, but after reading some of
the articles and speaking to local people I have learnt she
is an elderly woman who lives alone after having lost her
husband a few years ago, Ms Allen wrote on the page.
Following the mugging and re, I feel like the community could help give her something back. After her run of
bad luck she certainly deserves something nice.
She said the aim of the fundraising was to pay for repairs
to her damaged roof but the decision about spending the
money would be left in her hands.
The main aim is to do something nice for her after such
a horrible experience, she added.
Kevin Parker, an upholsterer whose garden backs on to
the property, said of the lightning: The thunder was so
loud it slammed our window shut, I honestly thought it
was like a bomb going off.
One of our neighbours said it spun their washing line
around.
It could have been our house but the main thing is nobody was hurt. If it had hit a car it would have killed them.
Gulf Times
13
BRITAIN
Union announces further

Underground walkouts
The mayors plan for extended
weekend services are not popular
with unions
Agencies
London
ondons Underground staff are to

hold two further 24-hour strikes
later this month, threatening
more chaos for commuters already hit
by strikers protesting plans for night
services.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport
union said its members will walk out
from 9pm (2000 GMT) on August 25
and again on the 27th.
Millions of Londoners were forced
to walk, cycle or take packed buses to
and from work last Thursday as Underground staff staged their second strike
in a month over plans to run trains all
night at weekends.
Four trade unions are locked in a
months-long dispute with management over London Mayor Boris Johnsons plans to run a 24-hour Tube
service on Fridays and Saturdays from
September 12.
The Tube handles 4mn journeys every day, meaning many trains and buses
become packed during the strikes.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash
said: Staff are angry that their grievances are being ignored and dismissed
by both the Mayor and his officials and
that there has been no substantial move
as of today from London Underground
to make progress towards a negotiated
settlement.
Union chiefs met London Underground staff for negotiations days after the latest strike in the row over the
planned Night Tube.
In a bulletin sent to employees today,
LUs chief operating officer Steve Grifths said: We have put forward a very
fair, revised offer, which recognises not
only the introduction of Night Tube
services, but the work-life exibility that we know is important to you.
We will continue to consult on rosters
and you will be able to swap your shifts
around.
This means you can plan the shifts
that best suit you. More importantly,
no one will be asked to work more hours
than they do today. Everybody remains
entitled to two days off in seven, and
London could face another Tube strike.

annual leave entitlements are unchanged.
RMT general Mick Cash said: RMT
has made it crystal clear from the start
that in return for the very basic guarantees and assurances sought on worklife balance that the union will work to
agree a nal form of station rosters for
all areas. A nal agreement would have
as its basis the best work-life balance
and reward for staff while addressing
the needs of the business which may
well require additional staff resources.
London Underground and the mayor can throw out whatever propaganda
they like direct to staff but until these
issues are addressed, and the threat of
imposition of the rosters is removed,
the dispute will not be resolved and it
is now time for them to recognise that
and to start negotiating seriously.
A row had erupted yesterday over the
scheduled launch of Night Tube services in just 33 days time.
A postponement until the autumn
was said to be on the cards as unions and
Tube bosses went into talks at the conciliation service, Acas, this morning.
Transport for London did not completely rule out a delay, saying it was on
course to meet the official date of September 12 but not at any price.
At the same time, mayor Boris Johnsons spokesman said he would not get
into a staring match with unions over
the exact timing, and wanted the services to start by the autumn.
Steve Griffiths, chief operating ofcer of London Underground, said
there were no plans to delay at present.
We are working towards September 12
for the delivery of Night Tube and are
operationally ready, but, as we have always said, this cannot be at any cost.
We have made an extremely fair offer and, as we have shown already, we
are prepared to be exible to reshape
it to best suit our staff. We are back
at Acas today to meet with the union
leaderships and are committed to positive engagement to reach a deal.
But sources at London Underground
have told the Standard that a delay is

looking more likely and that alternative
dates are being studied.
One said: There is no deal in place
yet to run night trains there is still a
huge amount of work to be done and the
supposed opening is in little over four
weeks time.
It just isnt going to happen. Other
dates are now being considered. Everything hinges on a deal being done.
London Underground is in a dispute
with unions over extra pay for drivers
and other employees. It has offered an
above-ination pay rise, cash bonuses
and a pledge that no one will be asked
to work more weekends in the transition. But unions say new rosters issued
to staff will not be recognised. The two
sides met this morning for the rst time
since last weeks strike which halted the
entire Underground network.
Hundreds of staff at Londons National Gallery on Tuesday began an indenite strike, the latest in a series of
walkouts to protest at the outsourcing
of some services to the private sector.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union have
staged 56 days of action since February
after plans were revealed for privatising
certain services, which the gallery said
would allow it to operate more exibly
and deliver an enhanced service.
The museum is Londons second
most popular tourist attraction, drawing around six million visitors per year.
It will stay open during the latest
strike, although some rooms will be
closed and many educational workshops have been cancelled.
Gabriele Finaldi, the museums new
director, announced in late July that
he had signed a ve-year contract with
the private company Securitas to look
after reception and security, covering
around 300 current positions.
The museum insists that no jobs are
threatened, but PCS leader Mark Serwotka argued that privatisation could
harm the (gallerys) international
reputation.
Around a third of the museums

600 staff are expected to join the protest.
Nick McCarthy, the unions director of campaigns and communications,
told BBC radio: We have no alternative
but to go on strike -- the privatisation
is completely unnecessary.
Todays strike is indenite until
such time as we are able to reach a solution with the gallery.
There will also be a picket line outside the gallery.
The union has received the backing
of Jeremy Corbyn, the leftist candidate
who is odds-on favourite to become the
next leader of the Labour Party.
He denounced the intransigence
of museum management and called on
them to drop the plans.
The gallerys imposing building
overlooks Trafalgar Square in the heart
of London and its impressive permanent collection of paintings from the
13th to 19th centuries is open to view
without charge for 361 days a year.
Armed police storm

Kings Cross station
Evening Standard
London
Several British jihadists are said to have received training with IS militants.
British jihadists in UK are

poised to carry out attack
Evening Standard
London
s many as eight British jihadists are in the country

waiting to carry out a terror
attack, it was claimed yesterday.
Around four or ve have received training in bomb and gun
attacks in Iraq and Syria and have
returned to the UK in readiness to
commit an atrocity.
A further three extremists have
been radicalised here and are preparing to strike.
The dramatic claims are made
in an investigation by Sky News
which used an undercover journalist to contact jihadists in Syria using
Twitter and instant messaging apps.
The inquiry claims Islamic State
is now more focused on urging British would-be recruits to carry out
lone wolf attacks in the UK instead of travelling to ght in Syria.
Scotland Yard has been warning

about the threat of lone wolf attacks for several months with senior officials saying around half the
700 British extremists who have
travelled to Syria have returned
to the UK. Not all of the 350 or so
people are a threat but police believed there is a core minority who
may be plotting attacks.
The ctional characters created online by Sky were sent terror
guidebooks by senior jihadists in
Syria - including advice on raising
funds and making weapons.
The TV journalist posed as
two individuals committed to jihad - one male, one female - and
exchanged online posts with two
prominent extremists over a period
of four months.
One was Junaid Hussain, a
21-year-old hacker-turned-jihadist from Birmingham, who runs the
IS information and recruitment
arm from Syria and the second
was his wife, Sally Jones, a former

punk from Chatham, Kent, who is
in Syria working alongside Hussain
in Raqqa.
Communicating on encrypted messaging sites, Jones struck
up a conversation with what she
thought was an 18-year-old woman and started by asking what she
wanted to do in the UK - to cut a
head off or blow up a bomb.
Jones explained she could guide
the teenager through bomb making
and told her to get the material and
show her a receipt - to check she
was authentic.
At that point she claimed there
was another potential bomber in
Scotland and two others who had
so far failed to attack.
She also claimed this Saturdays
VJ commemorations involving the
Queen and the Royal Family were a
target, a claim made at the weekend in a Sunday newspaper.
Police have urged people to attend
the VJ events as normal and there

have been no counter terror arrests
in connection with the claims.
The undercover reporter then
travelled to the Turkish city of
Urfa, near the Syrian border, where
he says he spoke to an IS recruiter.
The man claimed that four or
ve English jihadists had received
training in Syria and Iraq and
had already returned to Britain to
launch an attack.
Asked if the training was to carry
out a variety of different terror attacks, he was adamant it was.
Yes, yes, yes everything, all of
this - using the Kalashnikov, the
pistol, the bomb, grenades and
other things, he said.
They have lessons after training
that last an hour then they leave.
We dont see too much, we are
there for their protection; seeing
what they are actually doing or
what they are talking about is impossible, it is forbidden.
rmed police were called to Kings

Cross station yesterday after a commuter suffered cuts to his face and
body on board a Victoria Line train.
A 63-year-old man was taken to hospital
after the attack on the train at Finsbury Park
station just before 2pm this afternoon.
Police armed with machine guns subsequently stormed Kings Cross station as
they searched for the mans attacker. A police spokesman said there had so far been no
arrests in connection with the incident.
Officers were continuing their search for a
suspect this afternoon.
Part of the line was suspended sparking
delays ahead of the afternoon rush as police
investigated.
A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman said: We were called to Finsbury Park
Underground station at 1.48pm following a
report of an injured man.
Officers attended the southbound Victoria line platform, alongside colleagues from
the London Ambulance Service. A 63-yearold man was taken to hospital with cuts to
his body and face.
Armed BTP officers searching for a possible suspect met a southbound Victoria
line train at Kings Cross St Pancras Underground station and conducted a search of
the train. No arrests have been made at this
time.
Victoria line services have been disrupted due to this incident.
A Transport for London spokesman said
the incident began at Finsbury Park at about
2.30pm and continued on to Kings Cross
station. He said a normal service had resumed on the line by 3.20pm.
Four men were stabbed after a brawl broke
out on a street in east London last night.
The victims were attacked in Findhorn
Street, Poplar, just before 10pm yesterday.
Police were called to the scene after reports of a large scale ght where they
found a man suffering from stab wounds.
Paramedics from the London Ambulance
Service took him to an east London hospital
for treatment.
Commuters at Kings Cross.

A short time later, officers discovered that
three other men who had also been stabbed
had taken themselves to an east London
hospital.
Residents were told to stay inside their
homes while police attempted to break up
the ght and paramedics helped the injured
man.
Samuel Elliot, 32, a nurse who lives nearby
with his husband Adam, said he saw about
15 youths being held in the road by police as
officers taped off the road.
He said the ght had left him feeling insecure and uncomfortable in his own
home.
He told the Standard: The police officers
had cordoned off our house but they were not
saying what was going on. There was a long
line of youths outside. It looked like they
were not being allowed to move. At rst my
reaction was, because Im a nurse, whether
I could do anything to help. But there was a
sense from police that I may make it worse.
He added: There has been a recurring
problem of issues in that area. I felt insecure
about what was going on. It made me feel
uncomfortable in my own home.
All four men were said to be in a stable
condition yesterday, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said. No one has been arrested
over the incident, he added.
Police closed the road for an investigation
and were still at the scene this morning.
14
Gulf Times
EUROPE
Poland heat
wave takes
heavy toll on
power supply
Reuters
Warsaw
Policemen try to disperse hundreds of migrants by spraying them with fire extinguishers on the Greek island of Kos yesterday.
Greek police beat up

migrants as mayor
warns of bloodshed
AFP
Athens
verwhelmed police on the Greek

island of Kos yesterday beat migrants with truncheons and
sprayed them with re extinguishers as
its mayor warned of a bloodbath if the
crisis gets worse.
Amid mounting tensions across Europe
over the spike in new arrivals, Germanys
police union called for a scrapping of Europes visa-free Schengen travel zone while Italian police said they had arrested
nearly 900 suspected human traffickers
since January 2014, but added that the
kingpins were at large.
In Kos, the migrants, mostly Afghans
and Syrians, were being relocated to a local football stadium after camping along
roads and beaches for weeks.
Four police used truncheons and re
extinguishers seemingly to prevent a
stampede as a crowd tried to squeeze
through a door into the stadium, an AFP
photographer at the scene said.
At least one woman had fainted in the
heat and many children were crying as
the tightly packed mass of people jostled

for space, just days after the countrys
handling of migrants came under re
from the UN.
Tensions on the tourist island are high
with its mayor claiming there were 7,000
migrants stranded on Kos, which has a
population of only 30,000 people.
On Monday, a Kos police officer was
suspended after being lmed slapping and
shoving migrants queueing outside the local police station as they waited to be documented so they could go on to Athens.
Kos mayor Giorgos Kiritsis told the
Greek news agency ANA there was a risk
of bloodshed if the situation degenerates.
A police source in Athens told AFP that
the latest incident occurred because the
migrants were trying to get into a police
post to get their papers sorted, but the ofcers wanted to process them inside the
stadium.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras
last week said the refugee crisis surpasses his crisis-hit nations resources
and called for European Union assistance.
The UN refugee agencys division for
Europe said last week that 124,000 refu-
Sweden ups security after

knife attack in Ikea store
most generous recipients of asylum seekers. In 2014, it received
81,200 applicants, 13%
of the total in the European Union.
olice in central Sweden
The anti-immigrahave increased secution Sweden Demority at asylum lodgcrats, who in 2010
ings, fearing a backlash after
took seats in parliatwo Eritrean asylum-seekers
ment for the first
were suspected of murdering
time, have become
two people at an Ikea store. Paer Aagren, local
the
third-biggest
A man and a woman were police area manager
party, arguing that
killed in a knife attack at an in Vaesteraas,
record numbers of
Ikea store in the city of Vaste- addresses the press
asylum seekers are
ras on Monday. Two suspects yesterday.
undermining
the
were detained by police, one
of whom was seriously injured. One countrys cherished welfare model.
The Swedish National Council for
suspect has denied involvement, while
the other is hospitalised. Both had Crime Prevention said this week the
been staying in the same asylum cen- number of suspected hate crimes - attre, police said. Police said there was tacks motivated by the victims religious, sexual or racial identity - hit a
no evidence of any political motive.
Local police across the region have record level last year. In one of the latest
been tasked with taking these measures, incidents, two homeless migrants were
to be there for safety purposes for eve- shot at as they slept in a car in the northryone there - those who work there and ern Swedish town of Boden last week.
Around 1,000 people demonstratthose who live there, Vastmanland police spokesman Per Agren told Swedens ed in Stockholm last week against an
TT news agency, referring to asylum advertising campaign by the Sweden
Democrats apologising for the sericentres in central Vastmanland county.
Sweden has been one of Europes ous problem with forced begging.
By Anna Ringstrom,
Reuters
Stockholm
gees and migrants have landed in Greece

since the beginning of the year.
The agency said that Athens response
to the problem had so far been totally
shameful, with many of those landing on
the eastern Aegean islands near Turkey
forced to sleep in the open, lacking access
to washing facilities and toilets.
In Germany, the police union meanwhile called for the reintroduction of
internal European border controls and
sought more personnel to deal with a
record ood of refugees.
From a policing point of view, a return
to border controls would be the best of all
measures, said Rainer Wendt, chairman
of the German Police Union, in a newspaper interview.
In EU talks on the wider refugee crisis,
Germany should not take the threat of
bringing back (border) controls off the table too readily, Wendt told the Passauer
Neue Presse.
Europe has abolished passport controls within the so-called Schengen zone,
which incorporates 22 EU members as
well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and
Liechtenstein.
However, police have stepped up spot-
checks of travellers on inter-European

trains, highways and ights.
In Italy - which along with Greece is
one of the countries worst affected by the
refugee crisis - police data showed that
888 suspected people traffickers had been
arrested since January 2014 but the overwhelming majority were small-fry.
Of those arrested, the majority are
from Egypt and Tunisia, data published
in the Catholic daily Avvenire showed.
However, despite increased police cooperation between Italy and the countries
concerned - with the exception of wartorn Libya - none of the internationallysought after masterminds have been arrested, it said.
Avvenire highlighted the case of Ethiopian suspect Ermias Gharmiay, accused of having accumulated as much as
$70mn from chartering boats to smuggle
people into Europe, including a vessel
which capsized in 2013 off the coast of
Lampedusa in Italy, leaving 366 dead.
Gharmiay is believed to operate from
Libya, where the only threat to his empire
comes from the armed militias interest in
the lucrative market, the daily said, citing
police sources.
olands
grid
operator
PSE expects to start lifting power consumption
restrictions after a heat wave
forced it to cut supply to industry this week for the rst time in
more than a decade.
The heat wave and lack of rain
has cut water levels in rivers used
to cool coal-red power plants
from which Poland generates
about 90% of its electricity.
The situation at the weekend
was dramatic and consequently
we were forced to introduce (most
severe restrictions) of power supply, PSE chief Henryk Majchrzak
told reporters. After this decision we managed to stabilise the
system at a secure level.
Data from Polands power exchange showed planned and unplanned outages would fall to 3.9
gigawatts today from 6.4 GW the
day before.
Day ahead prices on the
POLPX exchange were more than
80% higher on Monday to 484
zlotys per megawatt hour (MWh)
before they retreated to 162.78
zlotys yesterday.
PSE said it planned to start easing consumption limits for large
customers till 0800 GMT today if
no major unplanned outages occur. Limits are likely to be further
reduced later today, PSE said.
Polands biggest power consumers are railway group PKP
and Europes second biggest
copper producer KGHM.
The heat wave is forecast to
continue with temperatures

forecast to rise towards 40 degrees Celsius this week after topping 30 degrees last week, according to Polands meteorology
institute. It said the high temperatures would last into next
week causing a further drop in
river water levels.
Temperatures have soared
above 30 degrees Celsius for
much of the region, but other
countries have not experienced
similar power emergencies.
Czech grid operator CEPS said
it was delivering more than 1,000
MWh of emergency supplies to
neighbouring Poland, adding
the heat was not affecting local
power plants.
In Romania, the hot temperatures were normal for the time of
year in southern Europe and the
countrys two nuclear reactors
were running as planned.
A spokeswoman for Hungarys
transmission system operator
said consumption was increasing
due to the temperatures but the
network remained stable.
Output at Serbias biggest hydro power plant Djerdap 1 has
been reduced by a third over the
past few weeks due to lower water levels on the Danube river, a
spokeswoman for Serbias power
utility EPS said.
A forest re on Monday between Bosnia and Montenegro
caused a glitch on a 110 kV power
line, forcing Montenegros power
utility EPCG to limit supply temporarily to four coastal towns.
The fault was xed quickly and
normal supply was restored the
same day.
Spanish minister takes flak over talks

with under investigation ex-IMF chief
pains interior minister said

yesterday he would give an
explanation to parliament
over a private meeting he held
with Rodrigo Rato, a former IMF
chief who is the focus of a tax and
money laundering investigation.
Opposition politicians say it
was improper for the minister,
Jorge Fernandez Diaz, to meet
someone who is under investigation and suggested Rato, a former
leading light in Spains conservative ruling Peoples Party (PP),
might be receiving preferential
treatment.
Police unions also criticised
Fernandez Diaz over his July 29
meeting, held at the Interior
Ministry, with Rato, a former
Spanish economy minister.
The meeting could prove damaging for Prime Minister Mariano
Rajoys PP before a parliamentary election in which it faces a
challenge from insurgent parties
which have highlighted corruption
in political and business circles.
The interior ministry has insisted the meeting dealt with an

unspecied personal matter and
had nothing to do with the investigation, but Rato told El Pais
newspaper they had discussed
his personal situation as well as
political issues.
The minister must explain
to us if he is lying or Rato is lying and whether they spoke
about the police investigations,
the opposition Socialists parliamentary spokesman Antonio
Hernando told reporters.
Police responsible to the interior ministry are involved in the
money laundering investigation
of Rato. A separate case that is
examining what investigators believe was the awed 2011 otation
of bailed-out bank Bankia, where
Rato was chairman, is currently
underway. Magistrates are also
looking into the alleged widespread misuse of company credit
cards for personal expenses during Ratos tenure at the bank.
Madrid court grabs Picasso in tug-of-love with banker

Reuters
Madrid
Picasso painting belonging

to one of Spains wealthiest
bankers and seized in France
following an export ban was delivered to a Madrid museum yesterday,
where it will be held until a dispute
over its status is resolved.
Head of a Young Woman, painted
by the Malaga-born artist in 1906
and valued at more than 25mn euros
($28mn), was impounded by French
customs officials last month on
board a yacht in the Corsican port of
Calvi.
Deemed a national treasure by
Spain, whose high court slapped an
export ban on it, the picture has been
the subject of legal wrangling for
several months.
Both painting and vessel are
owned by billionaire Jaime Botin,
part of the family dynasty that ran
Santander for several generations
and brother of the banks late chairman Emilio Botin.
Following an application by auctioneer Christies, Jaime Botin tried
to export the work to London but was
blocked by the court in May, a ruling
his law rm said he was contesting.
A later attempt to move it from Cor-
sica to Switzerland prompted French

customs to seize it.
The painting will be held under
judicial oversight in Madrids main
modern art museum, the Reina Soa,
until its status is claried, the interior
ministry said. It will not be on public
display.
Members of Spains military police travelled to Corsica yesterday to
retrieve the painting, the ministry
added. It said the painting had been
valued at 26.2mn euros.
Spanish cultural authorities have
argued the work is a rare example of
how ancient Iberian art inuenced
Picasso, who painted it around the
time he stayed in a small mountain
village in the Pyrenees.
Botins lawyer Rafael Mateu de Ros
said in an emailed statement that the
painting had been kept on a Britishregistered boat and should therefore
not come under the jurisdiction of
Spanish authorities.
The painting was painted abroad,
it was purchased abroad and it has
always been kept overseas. There the
painting cannot have been exported
(from Spain), legally or illegally, he
said.
Arguably the most famous artist
of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso
spent the bulk of his long life in
France, dying there in 1973.
A file photo of the Head of a young woman by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso.
Gulf Times
15
EUROPE
Erdogan vows Turkey will

hunt PKK to last terrorist
MH17 probe
nds missile
fragments
AFP
Ankara
nvestigators probing the

shooting down of Malaysia
Airlines ight MH17 said yesterday they had identied possible Russian-made BUK missile
fragments from eastern Ukraine,
where the plane crashed.
International and Dutch investigators are probing several
parts, possibly originating from
a BUK surface-air-missile system, said a joint statement from
prosecutors and the Dutch Safety Board (OVV).
These parts have been secured during a previous recovery-mission in eastern Ukraine
and are in possession of the
criminal investigation team and
the Dutch Safety Board, it said.
Asked whether the parts were
found at the crash site, Dutch
public prosecutor spokesman
Wim de Bruin told AFP he could
not be more specic than in
eastern Ukraine.
Flight MH17 was shot down
on July 17 last year, killing all 298
people on board during heavy
ghting between Kievs armed
forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Ukraine and many in the West
have accused pro-Russian rebels
of shooting down the plane, saying they may have used a BUK
missile supplied by Russia.
Russia and the rebels deny any
responsibility and point the nger at Ukraines military.
The Joint Investigation Team
(JIT) carrying out the criminal
probe into the crash consists of
the Netherlands, Ukraine, Australia, Malaysia and Belgium.
International air investigators, comprising representatives
from the Netherlands, Ukraine,
Malaysia, Australia, Britain,
the US and Russia are currently
meeting in The Hague to discuss
a draft OVV report into what
caused the crash.
The statement from the OVV
and JIT said the fragments being investigated can possibly
provide more information about
who was involved in the crash of
MH17.
For that reason the JIT further investigates the origin of
these parts. The JIT will internationally enlist the help of
experts, among others forensic specialists and weapon-experts, it said.
Investigators stressed that at
present the conclusion cannot
be drawn that there is a causal
connection between the discovered parts and the crash of ight
MH17.
Dennis Schouten, deputy head
of the association of MH17 victims relatives, told AFP that the
announcement was in line with
expectations.
This was already one of the
most realistic scenarios, he said.
Dutch authorities completed
recovery of debris and bodies
from the crash in April this year,
having been hindered by ongoing ghting.
All but two of the dead have
so far been identied using DNA
samples, dental records and personal effects.
Dutch experts in June returned
to war-ravaged eastern Ukraine
and took soil samples from a
eld from where a surface-toair missile may have been red,
possibly bringing down MH17.
Both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries have BUK missiles in their arsenal, and the
systems Russian manufacturer
said in June that based on publicly available photographs of the
wreckage the plane was likely
shot down by one of its missiles.
The Boeing 777 was ying from Amsterdam to Kuala
Lumpur when it was blown out
of the sky, killing all on board.
Two-thirds of the victims were
Dutch, many of them children
starting their summer holidays.
Russia last month vetoed a bid
at the UN Security Council to
set up an international tribunal
to try those behind the shooting
down.
Countries involved in that bid
are now looking at other means to
carry out a prosecution, although
no suspects have yet been publicly identied or detained.
The OVV is to release its nal
report into what, but not who,
downed the aircraft in October.
Air investigators are also probing the decision making process
that allowed civilian airliners to
y over a war zone where several
Ukrainian military aircraft had
previously been shot down by
separatists at high altitude.
resident Recep Tayyip Erdogan

yesterday vowed that Turkey
would press on with its relentless campaign against Kurdish militants
until not one terrorist was left, as
Ankara launched new air strikes against
the rebels.
Turkey is currently pressing a twopronged anti-terror offensive against
Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria and
PKK militants in northern Iraq and the
southeast following a wave of attacks.
But, so far, the air strikes have overwhelmingly concentrated on the separatist Kurdish rebels, who have responded by tearing up a 2013 ceasere
and waging a bloody campaign against
the security forces.
We will continue our ght until
weapons are laid down... and not one
single terrorist remains within our borders, Erdogan said in a televised speech
in Ankara.
He said the weapons of the PKK and
other militant groups must be buried
under concrete to show they were no
longer a threat to the Turkish state.
Im not talking about laying down
arms, Im talking about burying them.
Id like to emphasise this, Erdogan said.
Turkish warplanes overnight staged
a fresh wave of attacks on Kurdish militant targets following a day of bloody
attacks that killed six members of the
security forces.
The overnight strikes hit 17 PKK targets
in the southeastern province of Hakkari,
destroying them all, the army said.
On Monday, four Turkish police ofcers were killed in a roadside bombing
in the southeastern province of Sirnak
while a Turkish soldier was killed in a
rocket attack on a military helicopter.
Meanwhile, in Istanbul a senior police officer in charge of the citys bomb
disposal department was killed in
clashes that followed a pre-dawn suicide bombing.
The PKK yesterday claimed that attack, conrming that three of its militants had been killed including a suicide
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and military Chief of Staff General Necdet Ozel pose during a ceremony to award Ozel the Turkish Medal of Honour.
bomber and dismissing claims a smaller
leftist group had been behind the strike.
In new violence overnight, a Turkish
soldier was killed in a gun attack on a
military post in Sirnak, also blamed on
the PKK.
Two Turkish F-16s then yesterday afternoon destroyed PKK targets in Sirnak
province, the army said.
According to an AFP toll, 29 members
of the security forces have been killed
in violence linked to the PKK since the
current crisis began.
The European Union and US, which
like Turkey list the PKK as a terror group,
have backed Ankaras right to strike
against the militants but also indicated
concern about the scale of the campaign.
US State Department spokesman
John Kirby said Ankara should take the

necessary steps to prevent any civilian
casualties and to act in accordance with
international humanitarian law.
The state-run Anatolia news agency
reported over the weekend that so far
390 terrorists had been killed in the
campaign against the PKK.
Erdogan said that the over two-week
air campaign against the PKK had already
inicted serious losses on the group.
But even such an intense campaign
may not be enough to nish the PKK.
Turkeys air campaign damages the
PKK, but is not sufficient to destroy it,
said Pinar Elman, Turkey analyst at the
Polish Institute of International Affairs
(PISM).
The decades-old conict has shown
that military means are not sufficient

to ght against the terrorist group, and
political reforms are necessary, she told
AFP.
The Marxist-inspired PKK has waged
a three decade insurgency since 1984
for greater autonomy for Turkeys Kurds
that has left tens of thousands dead.
Erdogan also declared the peace
process to end the PKK insurgency is
currently on ice.
This is a familiar lose-lose dynamic, said Nigar Goksel of the International Crisis Group (ICG)
Neither the Turkish state nor PKK
can win by military means. For both, the
price of their war is potentially higher
than ever, she said in a brieng note.
Ankara has also vowed to begin strikes
Gored!
in the next days against IS jihadists in

Syria alongside US forces who have now
started arriving to use the well-located
Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.
Washington has long been pushing
its NATO ally Turkey to step up the ght
against IS and Ankaras involvement in
the coalition has been seen as a gamechanging moment in the ght against
IS.
Erdogan said effective operations
were carried out against IS jihadists,
saying the group also posed a threat to
Turkish security.
For us, there is no difference between terrorist organisations. Whatever their purpose is, for us, a terrorist
organisation is a terrorist organisation,
he said.
After food, Russia now

destroys Dutch owers
Reuters
Moscow
A bull gores Spanish matador Francisco Rivera Ordonez Paquirri during the San Lorenzo fair in the northern Spanish town of
Huesca on Monday. The matadors condition was reported yesterday serious but stable.
Georgia warns against S Ossetia escalation

AFP
Tbilisi
eorgia yesterday accused Russia of

cutting off its citizens from their
farmland by installing border signposts demarcating the breakaway South
Ossetia region, calling on Moscow to refrain from escalation.
The signposts have been installed near
three villages in recent days and land belonging to several local residents ended up
beyond the demarcation line with South
Ossetia, a Georgian region that declared
independence and which Tbilisi considers
occupied by Russia.
Tbilisi vowed to help local residents and
accused Moscow of repeated provocations.
The enemy is testing our patience on a
daily basis, President Giorgi Margvelashvili said late on Monday.
AFP
Amsterdam
Defence Minister Tina Khidasheli said

yesterday that the government had a duty
to help local residents on the ground as
quickly and efficiently as possible.
Russian troops have been installing
barbed wire around South Ossetia since
Tbilisis defeat in the brief 2008 RussiaGeorgia war over control of the Moscowbacked separatist region.
After the war, Moscow recognised South
Ossetia - along with the Georgian separatist enclave of Abkhazia - as independent
states and stationed thousands of troops
in the regions that make up some 20% of
Georgian territory.
The breakaway regions, whose self-proclaimed independence has been recognised
by only a handful of countries, are heavily
dependent on Russias military and nancial support.
Local residents estimated that the new
border signposts effectively moved the de-
marcation line by 800 metres deeper into

Georgias territory, according to Georgian
media.
Georgias foreign ministry called the installation of the border signposts another
provocative act by Moscow which threatens security and stability and violates fundamental rights of local residents.
Georgia once again calls on the Russian
Federation to fulll its international commitments and refrain from actions that
may cause further escalation, it added in
a statement.
Last month a similar move left a portion
of an international pipeline beyond Georgias control, leading the foreign minister
to decry creeping annexation.
Georgians later removed the signs but
they were erected again last week, the foreign ministry said Monday, adding that
it has handed a formal note of protest to
Moscow.
week after angering many

in Russia by burning illegally imported Western food,
authorities have started feeding
Dutch owers to the ames.
Officials say blooms from the
Netherlands, which supplies
much of Russias $2.5bn ower
market, pose safety risks because they may be infected.
Critics say the ower war
marks a new low in relations
with the West and is Moscows
retaliation for a Dutch investigation into the downing of a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held
east Ukraine in July last year.
Whatever the reason, ordinary
Russians, already struggling
with unemployment and ination, can expect higher ower
prices in the next few weeks
when demand soars as children
returning to school traditionally
give owers to their teachers.
These are freshly cut owers
from the Netherlands infected
with western Californian ower
thrips, Russian agricultural
watchdog Rosselkhoznadzors
chief sanitary inspector, Yekaterina Slakova, explained as television showed workers burning
boxes lled with roses.
Authorities are now considering a ban on owers from the
Netherlands, which sends up to
5% of its ower sales to Russia.
We just have to check every
shipment of the owers ourselves, said the Russian agricultural watchdogs spokesman,
Alexei Alexeyenko.
Relations between Russia and
Russias Prime Minister Dmitry

Medvedev inspects agricultural
products grown in the
Krasnodar region during his
visit of the Russian southern
city of Krasnodar.
the Netherlands collapsed following the downing of Malaysia Airlines ight MH17. Dutch
investigators blame Moscowbacked separatists for shooting
the airliner down with a Russian-made missile.
The Russians are searching for any reason not to let our
owers in. We know this is politically motivated, said a spokesperson for a Dutch ower rm,
who asked not to be named.
No owers will be sent to Russia until the situation changes.
Our red line is that the owers
are inspected on Dutch soil rather
than in Russia, the person added.
Last week, Russian TV
showed quantities of illegally
imported European cheese being
bulldozed while workers threw
boxes of European bacon into an
incinerator.
Russia insists the issue with
Dutch owers is that they contain bugs that the European Union does not recognise as dangerous.
Cut owers infected with
these organisms pose a serious
threat ..., agricultural supervisory body Rosselkhoznadzor
said.
Robert Roodenburg of the Association of Wholesale Floricultural Products, who negotiates
on behalf of Dutch producers,
said Russia was heavily dependent on Dutch imports.
As prices spike, we expect
the Russians to initiate a solution to the problem, he said.
At the moment, we dont have
the means to exterminate all the
organisms that are unwanted
by the Russians. We want to use
biological, not toxic means to
eliminate these organisms and
developing that technology will
take time.
VGB says Dutch ower exports to Russia were worth
107mn euros in the rst half of
2015 but other estimates put the
gure higher due to black market
trades.
Russia mostly imports roses,
chrysanthemums and tulips
with foreign supplies accounting for more than 80% of overall
sales, one third of which come
from the Netherlands.
16
Gulf Times
INDIA
GST bill is
introduced
in spite of
House jam
IANS
New Delhi
ith only two days remaining, the monsoon session of

parliament seemed headed
for a complete washout as the logjam
persisted yesterday even though the
government managed to introduce
the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill
in the Rajya Sabha amid loud protests.
The bill was introduced in the upper house after a report by a select
committee of the Rajya Sabha.
As Congress members created
ruckus and trooped near the chairmans podium, a visibly angry Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the
protests were aimed at stalling the
economic growth of the country.
The introduction of the bill was
opposed by Congress leader Anand
Sharma, who said the business advisory committee has not allotted time
for debating the bill.
Soon after the bill was moved, the
Congress began its protest, demanding the resignation of External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The house was adjourned for the
day by Deputy Chairman P J Kurien
soon after.
Jaitley told media persons outside
parliament that the Congress partys
two leaders were unable to accept
anyone from outside the Gandhi
family running the nation.
Maybe, the two leaders of the
Congress are unable to accept the
fact that someone outside the Gandhi
family can also run the country, he
said, without naming anyone.
Jaitley said the government will use
every alternative mechanism to get
the GST bill passed, adding that when
the bill was sent to a select committee in the budget session, there was an
understanding that it will be passed in
the monsoon session.
The Lok Sabha, meanwhile, saw
protests and sloganeering from the
Congress over its demand for the resignation of the three BJP leaders.
Heated words were also exchanged
over how the IPL issue would be debated.
While the government had listed
for a discussion under rule 193 which

does not entail voting, the Congress
wanted it to be debated as an adjournment motion.
When the BJPs Arjun Ram Meghwal sought to begin the discussion
on the Matters arising out of Indian Premier League controversy and
other related issues under rule 193,
members belonging to the Congress
and some other parties strongly protested.
A member from the opposition
benches tore up a paper near the
speakers podium and BJP members
sought to block Congress members from coming near the treasury
benches with their placards.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan called it
a murder of democracy. The speaker also asked Lok Sabha TV to show
the protests so that people can see the
scenes for themselves.
Soon after the house met in the
morning, members of the Congress,
Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya
Janata Dal came near the speakers
podium, carrying placards regarding
their demands and started shouting
slogans.
Mahajan repeatedly asked members to take their seats.
This is not the way. This is murder
of democracy. This is not democracy.
Please show it (on LS TV) so that the
entire country sees 40-50 members
are disrupting proceedings, she said.
But the Congress and some other
opposition parties continued their
protest.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi
and party vice president Rahul Gandhi were present in the house during
the partys protests.
As the Congress members kept
raising slogans and showing placards, Parliamentary Affairs Minister
M Venkaiah Naidu urged the speaker
to take action.
The Congress and other parties are
demanding the resignation of Sushma Swaraj and Raje over the Lalit
Modi issue and of Chouhan over the
Vyapam scam.
At one point, BJP members started
raising slogans against the Congress
leadership. However, they were asked
to desist by Naidu.
The speaker had last week suspended 25 Congress member for not
observing rules.
Tricolour time
A woman arranges pins displaying the colours of the national flag at a stall in Mumbai, ahead of Independence Day on Saturday.
Destruction of les in UP: more to res and canines

By Mohit Dubey, IANS
Lucknow
raft has found a new ally in Uttar Pradesh - re and canines. In

the past six months, hundreds
of crucial les in state offices have either been destroyed or damaged in suspicious res or, as it happened recently,
were chewed up, torn and destroyed
by stray dogs. Strangely, this seems to
be happening only in UP.
The fact that two stray dogs not only
found their way inside the high-security sprawling secretariat past guntoting security personnel but were also
left locked inside unnoticed by the
security staff is something that not
many, even in the ruling dispensation,
are accepting easily.
To add to the theatre of absurd,
these dogs chewed up crucial les in
the secondary education department
pertaining to nancial aid and grants to

schools across the state.
While a probe has been ordered into
the issue which has left the state government red-faced, the opposition is
crying foul and alleging that the whole
incident smacks of a larger conspiracy to dispose of uncomfortable les
and spare the tainted, Vijay Bahadur
Pathak, state spokesman of the BJP,
told IANS.
It is both laughable and a matter of
great seriousness that the government
wants everyone to take the incident
at its face value, he says while alleging that the les were apparently done
away with to save the skin of UPSC
chairman and senior Samajwadi Party
(SP) leader Anil Yadav, who has been
under re for his conduct.
Secretary of Sachivalaya Prashasan
Prabhat Mittal, however, says that the
government has taken a serious note of
the matter. A probe has been ordered to
x responsibility and the guilty would

be taken to task, he asserted.
Other than this, officials say the
Lucknow Nagar Nigam (LNN) has also
been asked to tackle the stray dog menace and sanitise the precincts of the
secretariat.
Suspicion, however, continues to
linger as Mondays incident is not
an isolated one. In the past six-odd
months, many important les in several vital departments have ceased to exist - either destroyed in re suspected
to be triggered by the proverbial electrical short-circuit or stolen.
Several les of the revenue department have gone missing, more than 35
les with important notings on decisions have disappeared from the rural development department and the
health directorate has witnessed three
major and minor res - all ended up in
important les getting lost.
With the health directorate being the
epicentre of the multi-billion rupee National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)

during the Mayawati regime some years
back, the re incidents are being seen
with a lot of suspicion by all and sundry.
A probe into the health office re has
revealed that it was not accidental but
deliberate. The re at senior IAS officer
Aradhna Shuklas residence in Noida a
day ago is also being seen with suspicion.
Shukla and her IAS husband Pradip
Shukla have a controversial past and
were reinstated by the state government only recently. Pradeep Shukla is
the prime accused in the NRHM scam
and has served time in prison.
All this also comes as a headache for
the SP government as Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav has been pitching for
digitisation of les and government
communication. His office has also
embarked on a paperless concept.
Fire and canines, though, seem to be
putting a spanner in these efforts.
Harassed girl succumbs to self-immolation burns

IANS
Chandigarh
16-year-old Dalit girl from Punjabs Sangrur district, who had

set herself ablaze following alleged sexual harassment by youth from
upper castes, died here yesterday.
The girl set herself ablaze on Saturday in Kala Banjara village in Sangrur
district, 135km from here, after she was
allegedly constantly harassed by four
youth from the Jat community.
She received 70% burns and was

brought to the Post-Graduate Institute
of Medical Education and Research
(PGIMER) here for treatment.
To add to the agony of the girls family,
Punjab Police officials had allegedly refused to even register a case on Saturday.
Family members alleged that police
officials told them that they were busy
with VIP duty since Chief Minister
Parkash Singh Badal was to visit the
district on Sunday.
The case was nally registered on
Monday after a judicial magistrate
recorded the girls statement at the

PGIMER. Police officials defended the
delay in registering the case, saying
that it was done only after the magistrate recorded her statement.
The girl named the youth, including
three from her village, in her suicide
note. She said they tormented her for
over 20 days by stalking her and making lewd remarks and gestures.
She said they used to follow her every day to her school in Lehragaga town,
10km from her village. One of the boys
even slapped her recently when she
objected to their indecent remarks. The

girl alleged that the youth wanted her
to accept a mobile phone from them so
that they could call her. Police said the
youth were absconding and raids were
being conducted to nab them.
The girl said she wanted to become
a doctor but had to end her dream and
her life due to the harassment.
Police have booked the youth for abetment to suicide of a minor, making obscene
gestures and comments on a woman, outraging the modesty of a woman under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Parliament paralysis a joke people are not laughing about

T
he
land
acquisition
amendment
bill,
the
Bharatiya Janata Partys
much-fancied, much-trumpeted new age legislation that was
supposed to catapult India into
the forefront of global economy
through massive infrastructural
and industrial development, is as
good as dead.
The goods and services tax
(GST) bill, another reform of
similar grandiose intentions, is
beset with so many hiccups that
the hoped-for deadline of April 1,
2016 for its effective introduction
now looks nearly impossible.
The Niti Ayog, which replaced
the Planning Commission with
promises of turning a new and
energetic leaf in uplifting the impoverished millions of the country, is caught between too many
masters and, therefore, faces the
danger of falling between two
stools.
In a country of the size of India
with its myriad pulls and pushes,
it is all very well to mouth the
unity in diversity stuff, but
truth is something altogether
different.
Ten years of Congress-led
rule under a binary leadership
where a Prime Minister simply
surrendered all his powers to his
party president or even its vicepresident was so riddled with
corruption, nepotism and sycophancy that anybody could have
walked in and taken charge when
the elections came around.
Narendra Modi was that man
and his victory was emphatic,
even beyond his own expecta-
Delhi Diary
By A K B Krishnan
tions. It was generally felt that
India then had only one way to
go and that was up because Sonia
Gandhi and her coterie of advisors, very pompously named the
National Advisory Council, had
brought the country to its nadir through a series of myopic
and proigate legislation in the
name of citizens rights. It was
much like the French princess
infamous statement of letting the
peasants eat cake if they had no
bread.
Modi, as the majority of Indians thought, was the man of the
hour. He spelt out in political rallies across the length and breadth
of the country how he was going
to ght a different ght and how
he would take India into the 21st
century. He continued in the
same vein during his brief interventions in the very rst session
of parliament and then elaborated upon it in a path-breaking
speech from the ramparts of Delhis historic Red Fort on August
15, 2014.
Even diehard critics had to take
note how Modi had addressed issues that were always uppermost
in peoples minds but no leader
of any value had till then dared to

speak openly, leave alone on the
countrys independence day with
nearly a hundred ambassadors
and international media representatives listening intently.
Modi talked about the lack
of toilets affecting girls education in villages. He laid bare the
general lack of cleanliness all
round, epitomised by the polluted waters of the Ganga. This
was washing Indias dirty linen in
public, but nobody, except those
like Mani Shankar Aiyar whose
hatred towards Modi is more
pathological than political, found
anything wrong in it. These were
home truths, Indians felt, and it
was high time someone brought
it home.
There was much promise of
better days to come and Indians
were ready to give Modi time to
full their wishes which, in most
parts, were modest ones-a job,
a roof over their heads, education for their children, relatively
clean environment and affordable health care.
So when the rst full year of
Modi rule rolled by, most analysts were inclined to view the
Prime Minister kindly although

the usual suspects from the opposition had lined up to decry
how it was a U-turn government vis--vis issues like Article 370, recovery of unaccounted
(black) money in foreign banks
and Chinese incursions.
Modi himself only highlighted
the fact in one year there was not
a single case of corruption in his
government, contrasting it with
the multi-billion dollar scandals
of the Manmohan Singh regime.
But all through the yearand
even during the run-up to the
electionsModi was driving
home the point that he was going
to replicate his successful Gujarat
model, this time for the whole
country.
Curiously, at least one Gujarat
model is about to be adopted by
the most unlikely person, Modis
arch critic and the man who aspired to defeat him in elections
from Varanasi, Delhis controversial Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal.
In a meeting with the federal
minister for water resources Uma
Bharti, Kejriwal agreed to follow
in Modis footsteps and clean up
and develop the banks of the river
Yamuna that ows through the
national capital in the same way
the Sabarmati banks have been
developed in Ahmedabad.
But that is about all that the
Gujarat model has got attention
in the 14 months of Modi rule.
(Actually, there is one more incident that got repeated, albeit
partially. Last week 25 Congress
members of parliament were
banned for ve days by Speaker

Sumitra Mahajan. Modi could
have easily intervened to revoke
the suspension, but did no such
thing reminding critics how he,
as Gujarat chief Minister, had
got the entire opposition, save
Keshubhai Patel, banned for two
days in October 2013.)
In his Red Fort speech last
August Modi had declared he
would like to run the country on
the basis of consensus and not
on majority in parliament. Now,
as the Congress-led opposition paralysed parliament for the
third straight week, consensus is
perhaps the last thing on Modis
mind.
Three weeks of paralysed parliament is a big joke played on
the people. The Congress has
nothing to lose but everything to
gain in this standoff. Its amazing
how with just 44 members in its
ranks, the Congress Party, which
seemed to have shrivelled into
near-oblivion, has been allowed
to raise its head in such a belligerent fashion. Initially all that it
wanted was the prime minister to
make a statement in parliament
on the controversies.
The matter could have been
given a quick and quiet burial
had Modi made his move on the
opening day of the monsoon session. He could have explained
and assured the House that he
would not spare anyone found
guilty and that inquiries would
be initiated. Yes, it is easier said
than done given the factional
pulls within the BJP, but a temporary truce could have been
called and the important bills

could have been passed.
But confrontation and not
consensus seemed to be Modis
way of reacting to the demand
and the Congress got emboldened. The suspension of 25 of its
members led other smaller parties to close ranks with the Congress.
It is not as if Modi has withdrawn into a shell. If one day you
could hear him addressing the
weavers of Tamil Nadu, the next
he would be on campaign mode
mounting an attack on Nitish
Kumar at a rally in Bihar. But he
would not come to parliament
or say anything about what the
Congress Party wanted to hear.
Congress says Modi is arrogant
in ignoring its demand. Modi apparently believes that if he were
to stay quiet, the issue will solve
itself. But the cost of his silence is
being paid by the nation in terms
of delayed or dropped legislation of great importance. But at
least hopefully Modi must have
learned by now that the Gujarat
model can have only limited impact nationwide.
Devil in the detail
n August 3, Prime Minister Modi tweeted that a

historic peace accord
was going to be signed that very
evening at his official residence
between the Government of
India and the National Social
Council of Nagaland-Isak Muviah (NSCN-IM).
It took everyone by surprise because nothing was known about

any such peace moves till then. As
far as government secrets go, this
was a very well-kept one.
Everyone, including the opposition Congress Party, welcomed
it. The media brought out several old facesformer secretaries and interlocutorsto explain
the complex situation in Indias
north-east.
The signing of the accord, in
the presence of Modi and Home
Minister Rajnath Singh, was telecast live by most national channels. So far so good.
But then questions began to be
asked as to what exactly was being signed. If only one faction in
the Naga group was signing the
accord, what about the others?
What were the terms of the accord?
Funny that nobody had the
answers these questions. And
that includes the Home Ministry which, as per hierarchy, is the
nodal ministry in these matters.
It was apparently a top secret
affair where even the ministry
directly in charge was not in the
picture.
When the Congress Party
asked the Home Minister for details of the accord, he promptly
directed the query to his secretaries who, in turn, have now
asked the chief interlocutor R N
Ravi for the ne print.
Turns out that there isnt any!
It was a broad agreement to
keep the talks going. It was Modis tweet that set the cat among
pigeons, as it were.
Gulf Times
17
INDIA
MISTAKES MADE
SUICIDE ATTEMPT
ANTI-PEOPLE POLICIES
DANGEROUS TERRAIN
CHEATING
Official admits failure after

deadly temple stampede
Irom Sharmila to give her

statement in court today
2mn CPI-M activists line up

1,000km in Kerala protest
Over 350 landmines found

in three days in Jharkhand
Varsity probe confirms top

Kerala cop copied in exam
A Jharkhand government official has admitted

administrative failure in handling the rush of
devotees at Deoghar that led to a stampede
leaving 11 people dead. A three-member probe
team headed by Additional Chief Secretary N N
Pandey yesterday submitted its initial report on the
Monday tragedy to the government. The initial
report indicates administrative failure ... causing the
stampede, an official source told IANS. Based on
the initial probe, the government suspended four
officials including Deoghar Deputy Commissioner
Amit Kumar, Superintendent of Police P. Murugan,
civil surgeon Diwakar Kamat and regional deputy
director of health services Shiva Shankar Prasad.
A court in New Delhi yesterday set today for

recording the statement of Manipuri human rights
activist Irom Sharmila as an accused in a suicide
attempt case against her during her fast-untodeath here in 2006. The concerned metropolitan
magistrate, who has been hearing the case, was
not holding court yesterday and deferred the
matter to today. The court on June 6 concluded
the recording of statements of prosecution
witnesses and scheduled the matter for recording
the statement of Irom Sharmila - popularly known
as Iron Lady - for August 11. Sharmila has been on
a fast for about 12 years, demanding the repeal of
the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
Some 2mn Communist Party of India-Marxist

activists yesterday lined up 1,000km across
Keralas 14 districts to denounce the antipeople policies of the state and central
governments. The activists lined up on one side
of the street at 4pm, at some places braving the
rains. After a pledge was read out, they formed
a human chain before the protest was called
off at 5pm. In front of the Kerala governors
residence in Thiruvananthapuram, CPI-M
general secretary Sitaram Yechury lashed out
at the Narendra Modi government. The RSS
agenda of turning India into a Hindu Raj is
being carried out, he said.
Over 350 landmines, planted by Maoist

guerrillas at different places in Jharkhands
Palamau district, have been recovered in the
last three days, police said yesterday. Around
100 landmines planted near Taal Ghati area,
situated under Palamau district which is over
200km from Ranchi, were recovered yesterday.
According to police, these were planted in a
series on non-tarred road to blow up police
vehicles. Security forces on Saturday and Sunday
recovered over 250 landmines from the PankiBalumath road. Maoist guerrillas are desperate
to execute big incidents and we have stepped up
search operations., a police official told IANS.
A probe committee appointed by the MG

University in Kottayam yesterday confirmed
that Kerala Inspector General of Police T J Jose
had indulged in copying while appearing in the
masters in law (LLM) examination in May. Jose
was caught cheating in exams at his centre at
the St Pauls College Kalamassery near Kochi.
Following a huge media outcry, he was asked
to proceed on leave and a Crime Branch police
probe was also announced then. The MG varsity
syndicate probe committee members told the
media here that Jose indulged in copying as per
the University rules as he was found with papers
and he did not surrender these to the invigilator.
Yadav held at midnight,

released in the evening
IANS
New Delhi
he midnight arrest of former

AAP leader Yogendra Yadav
left the Delhi Police red-faced
after a court ordered his release yesterday evening.
The days drama saw Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal rally behind his former colleague-turnedfoe.
In a development that took the police by surprise, the Delhi High Court
expressed displeasure after Yadav
and other protesters were produced
before a special executive magistrate
in a police station several hours after
being detained from Jantar Mantar in
the heart of Delhi.
Why have they been produced so
late? Why are you producing them
now? the High Court questioned
the police officer after he said that 83
people were detained at 1am.
During the hearing in the high
court, at about 4.15pm, police said all
the protesters had been let off after
being produced before the magistrate
at the Mandir Marg police station.
The magistrate quashed the charges
framed against Yadav and others.
Yadav, who was in police custody
after being picked up for protesting against the land bill, accused the
police of threatening to kill him, a
charge they denied. He also alleged
that he was rst roughed up, then
beaten up in the police station.
I am happy we have been cleared
of all the baseless charges, an elated
but hassled Yadav told the media after emerging from the police station
in the evening.
The SHO (station house officer)
of Parliament Street police station
threatened to kill us. He said maar
maar kar bharta bana doonga (I will
make mincemeat of you), Yadav
said.
Yadav and 82 activists were booked
on charges such as breach of peace,
disturbing public peace and unlawful
assembly. Police officers also told the
media that Yadav and his supporters were planning to march to Prime
Minister Narendra Modis residence.
They were demanding adequate
compensation for farmers affected
by the proposed land bill as well as
those hit by crop loss.
Yadavs colleague and Supreme

Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan said
the arrest showed the dictatorial
tendencies of Delhi Police, which he
said was working at the behest of the
Narendra Modi government.
Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal condemned Delhi Police for
roughing up Yadav and urged federal
Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene in the matter.
I strongly condemn the treatment meted out to Yogendraji by
Delhi Police, Kejriwal said. They
were protesting peacefully. It is their
fundamental right.
It is the rst time Kejriwal has
come out publicly in support of Yadav since Yadav and Bhushan were
ousted from the Aam Aadmi Party
shortly after it took power in Delhi in
February.
Bhushan welcomed Kejriwals
support. Yadav added: Whoever
loves democracy and rule of law is
with us.
The sole AAP legislator from Delhi who remained with Yadav amid
the drama was Pankaj Pushkar, who
is known to be close to Yadav and
Bhushan.
But Kejriwal loyalist Sanjay Singh
was booed away by Yadav supporters when he went to the Parliament
Street police station to express solidarity with the arrested men and
women who included activists from
other states.
I came to support Yadavji. But
they (protesters) want us to go back, I
am going back, Singh told reporters.
Bhushan was scathing in his attack
of the government. This (arrest)
shows the dictatorial tendency of
Delhi Police. It also shows that they
are (taking orders from) top political
bosses, he added.
The eminent lawyer said the police
did not explain why they were being
arrested. I was not allowed to enter
(the police station). It is our constitutional and fundamental right
to meet a person who has been detained, he said earlier.
Bhushan then led a habeas corpus petition which, after Yadavs
release, was disposed off by judges
Kailash Gambhir and P S Teji of the
Delhi High Court.
Bhushan also sought an inquiry
against the police personnel who arrested Yadav and his colleagues.
Top court: Aadhaar

card not mandatory
for welfare schemes
IANS
New Delhi
he Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the Aadhaar card was not mandatory for availing benets under
the governments social welfare
schemes and personal information furnished by an individual
for the card would not be shared
with any person or authority.
The production of an Aadhaar
card will not be condition for obtaining any benets otherwise
due to a citizen, the court said in
its four direction interim order.
A bench of Justice J Chelameswar, Justice S A Bobde and
Justice C Nagappan said this while
referring to the constitution bench
the challenge to the constitutional
validity of the Aadhaar scheme, in
a batch of petitions, on the grounds
that it violates the right to privacy.
In the interim order pronounced by Justice Bobde, the
court, in one of its four directions, said: The Unique Identication Number or the Aadhaar
JD-U members give

samples for DNA test
Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav speaks on the phone after being released by a court in
Delhi yesterday evening.
undreds of JD-U leaders

and workers across Bihar
yesterday handed over
their samples - like hair and nails
- to send them to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for DNA test
during a day-long sit-in protesting his comment at a public rally
questioning Chief Minister Nitish Kumars DNA.
Janata Dal-United leaders and
workers have given their samples
in the form of hair and nails to send
them to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi for DNA test, JD-U spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan said.
The JD-U yesterday launched
a shabd wapsi campaign to put
pressure on Prime Minister Modi
to take back his remark.
Party members staged sit-ins
across the state to protest against
Modis comment, which Nitish
Kumar termed an insult to Biharis.
Kerala to promote Pathanamthitta as new tourism destination

By Ashraf Padanna
Thiruvananthapuram
he tourism board of Kerala,

which attracts 10mn travellers
a year, is promoting Pathanamthitta district as a new holiday
destination.
To put the district rmly on its
tourism map, Kerala Tourism has
announced two annual events - the
Adavi Boat Festival and Gajavijnanolsavam in the hilly town of Konni
- as part of the brand promotion.
A picturesque forest patch, 10km
from Konni and 17km from Pathanamthitta, Adavi is situated on the
banks of river Kallar, with nearly 5km
river frontage.
An Eco-Tourism Centre with river rafts, Coracle rafting, adventure
trekking, accommodation options on
treetop cottages, tenting options and
walkways are the attractions coming
up here.
Bamboo huts, which will be ready
in a month, is another attractive
camping option for holidaymakers.
The centre also has a refreshment
area, public convenience areas and
ample parking space for tourists and
their vehicles.
A P Anil Kumar, the states tourism minister, will inaugurate the
boat festival on August 21, aiming
at branding the town as a unique
tourism destination and introduc-
Coracle rafting at the Adavi resort.

ing Coracle riding as a rst of its kind
tourism product in Kerala.
The events mark the advent of
this years harvest festival of Onam,
Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said in a statement yesterday.
With an abundance of natures
blessings in its forests and aquatic life,
Adavi is suited to be a top eco-friendly destination in Kerala, he said.
The occasion will also witness a
Gaja Vijnanolsavam, an elephant
festival at Konni elephant camp.
The natural, man-made and ecofriendly attractions of Adavi are certain to draw visitors from within In-
card will not be used by the respondents (the central government or its agencies) for any purpose other than the PDS (Public
Distribution Scheme) and in
particular for the purpose of distribution of foodgrains, etc. and
cooking fuel, such as kerosene.
It may also be used for the
purpose of the LPG (cooking gas)
distribution scheme, they added.
The court further said that the
information about an individual
obtained by the Unique Identication Authority of India while
issuing an Aadhaar card shall not
be used for any other purpose,
save as above, except as may be
directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.
It did not pass any order on
the plea by senior counsel Shyam
Divan appearing for petitioner
Justice K S Puttaswamy, a former
Karnataka High Court judge,
that any further enrolment
of people under the Aadhaar
scheme should be put on hold
till the matter was decided by the
constitution bench, thus allowing the process to continue.
dia and abroad in the coming days,

said Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash, who represents the region.
Just 5km from Mundommoozhy on
the proposed Achencoil-Chittar hill
highway, Adavi is a weekend getaway, especially for the people coming
from Cochin and Trivandrum thanks
to its proximity.
It is also an easily accessible
destination for foreign tourists who
can choose Adavi for a day trip from
places like Munnar and Thekkady.
Coracle rafting in the Kallar river is
an innovative venture, which promises a never-before experience to
travellers, he said.
The boat festival will be a threeday event with a common daily activity plan targeting different tourist
attractions each day. This includes a
familiarisation trip for the media and
inaugural guests, a treasure hunt
for general public, a cultural programme and a Know the Elephant
programme.
The Gaja Vijanolsavam was rst
conducted in September, helping in
raising the prole of Konni-Adavi
eco-tourism apart from imparting
awareness about the forest and wildlife conservation among school children and the general public.
The ve-day festival this year,
which starts on August 20, aims at
imparting awareness about forest
and elephant conservation among
school children and general public, to ensure public participation in
the development of the eco-tourism
destination and enhancing incomegenerating opportunities for the local community through increased
tourist arrivals.
There are lots of untapped tourism potentials in Pathanamthitta.
Besides the heritage tourism products in the district like the Aranmula
Kannadi and Aranmula boat race,
Konni and Adavi will further raise the
status of Kerala on the global tourism
map, he said.
Meanwhile, the states port city of
Kochi has become the rst city in India to join the league of leading tour-
ism cities across the world under the

Beijing-headquartered World Tourism Cities Federation Council.
Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany
handed over the membership acceptance document to Chinese
Ambassador to India Le Yucheng at
a function held in Kochi the other
day in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, chief secretary Jiji Thomson and other top
officials.
Yucheng said the two regions
needed to explore the possibilities
for partnerships in culture, sports
and tourism as there are many striking similarities between the cultures
of China and Kerala like the cuisine,
martial arts and snake and dragon
boat races.
The Chinese ambassador also expressed interest in bringing investment from China to Keralas tourism
sector especially for construction of
an entertainment city and an oceanarium.
He also urged the government to
convene a meeting of tour operators
of both the countries while agreeing to support Keralas efforts to increase inow of Chinese tourists. He
also responded positively to Keralas
request to facilitate chartered ights
from China to Kerala.
Chandy said the state government
would send a detailed proposal to Beijing on various investment possibilities in Kerala including in tourism.
The party said it will collect

and send signatures of 5mn people to Modi. The JD-U has began a drive to collect signatures
and samples for DNA test, and
the party will send them to the
PMO, Ranjan said.
Nitish Kumar had earlier said
the signatures and samples will
be sent to Modi in the second
week of September.
The JD-U, along with the
Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party will also hold a Swabhiman rally on August 29 here.
Addressing a public meeting
in Muzaffarpur on July 25, Modi
said: There seems to be some
problem in his (Nitish Kumar)
DNA because the DNA of democracy is not like that. In democracy, you give respect even to
your political rivals.
Chaotic Kochi traffic grinds to a

halt to let a beating heart pass
A siren-blaring ambulance carrying the harvested heart and lungs of a brain-dead young
man breezed through otherwise choked roads
and reached the airport in no time, all thanks
to traffic being halted yesterday in Keralas
commercial capital.
The heart and lungs were ferried for a
patient in Chennai.
The ambulance covered the distance from
the Lakeshore Hospital to the airport in around
20 minutes, a distance which in normal days
would have taken over an hour.
A medical team from a Chennai hospital
harvested the heart and lungs of the youth,
who was declared brain dead on Monday
night, in a four-hour long surgery which began
around 8am.
Immediately after the harvesting, the medical team got into the waiting ambulance and
travelled to the airport under police escort.
We ensure all the security clearance for
th medical team with the donated organs to
board the chartered flight, Cochin International Airport director A C K Nair told the media.
In around an hour, it reached Chennai.
A Lakeshore Hospital spokesperson said the
relatives of the brain dead person on Monday
night agreed to donate the organs.
The heart and lung have been given to a
patient in Chennai. The liver is being transplanted to a 39-year old patient under treatment here. One kidney is also being given to
a patient here while the other kidney is being
given to a patient in Kozhikode. The small intestine is given to a patient in another hospital
in the city, said the spokesperson.
Last month, this city witnessed a transfer
of a heart from a hospital in the Kerala capital.
Then too, traffic came to a stop to allow the
ambulance with the heart to move fast.
18
Gulf Times
LATIN AMERICA
Rio gang boss Playboys reign of terror over

AFP
Rio de Janeiro
io de Janeiro officials celebrated on Monday the

death of Playboy, a brutal
gang leader famous for thumbing
his nose at the authorities - yet his
killing left new questions unanswered.

The gang boss, whose real name
was Celso Pinheiro Pimenta, ruled
over a lawless slum, or favela,
called Morro da Pedreira, controling a ring dealing in drugs, stolen
vehicles and weapons.
On Saturday, dozens of elite po-
lice struck, deploying armoured

vehicles and a helicopter to corner the man known universally as
Playboy.
Officials say they found him in
a girlfriends house and that, after his four bodyguards ed, he
attempted to shoot at police with
a Glock pistol and was himself
fatally wounded. It was a total

success, a surgical operation, said
federal police officer Carlos Eduardo Antunes Thome in an interview on Globo television.
The 33-year-old was long
one of Rios most wanted men.
Disque-Denucia, which runs a
hotline with rewards for informa-
tion on criminals, put a 50,000

reais ($14,200) price on Playboy
- a fortune in a country where the
minimum monthly wage is around
$230.
However, Playboys dramatic
removal from the scene highlighted security problems facing
Rio a year before the city hosts the
2016 Olympics. Police announced

they were sending reinforcements
into Pedreira, but 48 hours later
the neighbourhood remained on
edge, with schools closed over security concerns and some 6,000
children forced to stay home.
Hundreds of gunmen are believed to have been loyal to Pin-
heiro and Rio state Governor Luiz

Fernando Pezao said they would
now be subjected to a big siege.
The gang members, however,
have survived many a previous
police campaign and already on
Monday anonymous threats of
revenge were circulating on social
media.
Peru dismantles
Shining Path
rebel column
AFP
Lima
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Vice-President Michel Temer attend the launching ceremony of the Investment Program in Energy at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, yesterday.
Analysts say Brazils once booming economy suffers deep underlying illnesses, notably the massive corruption scandal unfolding at national oil company Petrobras and rippling
across other top companies and into political circles. It is also on the brink of recession.
Brazils VP holding fort

for unpopular Rousseff
Reuters
Brasilia
ice President Michel Temer is increasingly seen

as the man who could
lead Brazil out of political crisis if President Dilma Rousseff
is forced from office, but people
who know him say he will do all
he can to see her serve out her
term.
Even members of Temers
PMDB party who want Rousseff
to step down say Temer, a seasoned politician and discreet,
soft-spoken constitutional law
expert, will hold the fort for
Rousseff as long as long as he
can.
They doubt, though, that
he can do much to save her if
the current pro-impeachment
drumbeat results in a trial in
Congress.
He is anguished. He wants
the best for the country, but he
constantly repeats that he respects the constitution and will
use all his strength to help her
nish her term, PMDB lawmaker Darcisio Perondi, a friend
of Temers, said in an interview.
Opinion polls show seven

out of 10 Brazilians want to see
Rousseff impeached for running Latin Americas largest
economy into the ground and
not preventing a massive corruption scandal at state-run oil
company Petrobras.
With no evidence that she
benefited from the bribery
scheme, or even knew of it, her
opponents may have a better
chance of impeaching Rousseff
for allegedly doctoring government accounts last year to allow more state spending in the
run-up to her re-election.
Her fiercest adversaries are
waiting for an audit court ruling as grounds for impeachment. They would need two
thirds of the votes in the
Chamber of Deputies to begin
proceedings.
Support has clearly grown
in recent weeks but it is not
clear whether there are enough
votes for an impeachment trial, which would be held in the
Senate and require another
two-thirds majority to vote
Rousseff out of office.
Temer, 75, would take over as
acting president during the im-
peachment and be confirmed if

Rousseff is voted out.
Temer is Rousseffs main
political liaison with Congress
and his support strengthens
her defenses but he may not be
able to control members of his
party in Congress who want to
impeach her.
Perondi said Temer will have
a Herculean task mustering
support for her inside the rebellious governing coalition.
The majority of the party
wants her gone. She is totally
discredited and the economic,
moral and political crisis is so
deep, said Perondi, the PMDBs deputy leader in the lower
chamber, who believes the best
solution is for Rousseff to resign.
Rousseff says she has no intention of resigning because
she was democratically elected.
I can resist threats ... No one
will take away the legitimacy I
won at the ballot box, she said
in a speech on Friday.
Brazils main opposition party, the PSDB, which narrowly
lost to Rousseff in October,
is divided over impeachment
because it would make Temer
president and likely enhance

the PMDBs chances of winning
the next elections in 2018.
Younger PSDB leaders close
to former presidential candidate
Aecio Neves are seeking the annulment of Octobers election,
alleging the Rousseff-Temer
campaign received funding from
bribe money. Some senior party
leaders prefer to see the PMDB
worn down by Brazils economic
downturn, believing it will ensure a PSDB victory in 2018.
Rousseff s loss of control over
her coalition became patent last
week when two parties defected
and the lower chamber almost
unanimously passed a spending bill that undermines ailing efforts by Finance Minister
Joaquim Levy to reduce Brazils
scal decit. Most lawmakers
from her own Workers Party
voted against the government.
A tense statement the following day by Temer saying Brazil
needed someone to unite the
country raised speculation that
he was putting himself forward
as that leader. Annoyed Workers
Party officials suspected Temer
was plotting against Rousseff,
and the president called him in
for an explanation.
People close to Temer say he
is fully dedicated to ensuring
Rousseff s government succeeds
in balancing scal accounts to
save Brazils investment grade
credit rating, restore growth and
revert a slide towards the worst
recession in 25 years.
There is no Plan B. Only Plan
D, for Dilma, said one Temer
aide, who asked not to be named.
Many in Brazils business
community wish there was a
Plan B.
The two largest industry lobbies, Sao Paulos FIESP and Rio
de Janeiros Firjan, endorsed
Temers call for national unity
last week, signalling they would
back him as president if Rousseff
is forced out.
While Temer opposes impeachment, aides say he would
step in and run the country if she
is forced out.
If Temer becomes president,
business condence will be restored, investors will be back and
the government relations with
Congress will be good again,
because he is well respected,
Perondi said. He is the constitutional alternative.
New strike threat for canal project

AFP
Panama City
ork on an ambitious
expansion
of
the
Panama Canal risks
grinding to a halt again because
of a labour dispute, the waterways manager said on Monday.
The expansion is moving
ahead at a good pace, (but) we
are worried because a project
that is so important for our
country could be held hostage,
Jorge Quijano, the head of the
Panama Canal Authority, told a
press conference.
The latest strike threat comes
from Panamas main union,
Suntracs, which has vowed to
shut down work on the project
to triple the canals capacity if
wage increases are not agreed
for the 6,000 workers on the
project by today.
The raises would cost $6mn
to $7mn, said Quijano.
He said the consortium carrying out the project, GUPC,
had asked the Canal Authority
to help foot the bill.

But this is strictly GUPCs
responsibility, he said.
GUPC cant try to pass its
responsibilities off on us yet
again.
Originally scheduled for
completion last year, the canal
project is now only expected to
be ready in April 2016.
The project has overrun its
initial $5.25bn budget, leading
to disputes between GUPC and
the Canal Authority that, together with previous strikes by
disgruntled workers, put the
upgrade badly behind schedule.
GUPC comprises Spains
Sacyr, Italys Salini Impregilio,
Belgiums Jan de Nul and Panamas Constructora Urbana.
The Panama Canal handles
5% of global shipping, but
needs to upgrade its centuryold infrastructure in the face
of rival bids for market share
from Egypts Suez Canal and
a new Nicaraguan canal being
planned by a Chinese company.
eru has dismantled a

column of Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path
by capturing two of its leaders,
the government said on Monday.
A military intelligence operation led the army to the
leaders, Dionisio Ramos and
Alexander Alarcon Soto, both
suspected of killing police and
soldiers in the southeastern
province of Cusco, shooting
down a helicopter and attacking a police station, said Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Vega.
Soldiers seized weapons and
explosives from the pair that
were stashed near a gas pipeline connecting Camisea, one
of Latin Americas largest gas
reserves, to the capital Lima.
With this operation, the
southern wing of Shining Path
is dismantled. An energy and
tourism hub is secured. It is
possible they will send another
column to take over the zone,
but we will be watching, said
Vega.
Shining Path waged a bloody

rebellion in the 1980s and
1990s that left some 69,000
people dead in civil strife nationwide.
It has been largely dismantled since the capture of its
leader Abimael Guzman in
1992, but surged back into the
headlines last month when
the army freed 54 captives being held deep in the jungle by
remnants of the group.
The captives had been
forced to work in slavery and
have children with guerrillas,
who were then inducted into
the rebels ranks, officials said.
They were rescued from a
densely forested corner of the
Amazon known as VRAEM the Valley of the Apurimac,
Ene and Mantaro Rivers which includes the area where
the two men captured at the
weekend allegedly operated.
The government estimates
Shining Path today has some
350 members, including 80
armed ghters.
It is active in coca-growing
regions and is believed to use
the illegal drug trade to fund
itself.
Mexico governor to
be questioned over
killing of journalist
Reuters
Mexico City
he governor of the Mexican state of Veracruz,

Javier Duarte, will be
questioned over the recent
murder of ve people in the
countrys capital, including a
photojournalist, the mayor of
Mexico City said on Monday.
The killings of photographer
Ruben Espinosa and four others on July 31 in an apartment
in central Mexico City have
prompted an outcry from free
speech organisations and human rights activists.
Espinosa, 31, who worked for
the weekly magazine Proceso
and the photo agency Cuartoscuro, had sought shelter in
Mexico City earlier this summer saying he had been followed and threatened in the
eastern state of Veracruz.
I have commented to him
(Governor Duarte) that we are
required to take a statement
directly from the governor,
Mexico City mayor Miguel An-
gel Mancera told reporters on

Monday.
In a rare move for Mexico, a
group of investigators from the
city prosecutors office were to
travel to Veracruz yesterday to
take a statement from Duarte.
In a letter to Mancera posted
on the state governments website, Duarte wrote that his government was at the absolute
disposal of the authorities.
He added, we will provide
whatever ... information is
asked of us, in order to contribute to clearing up this multiple
homicide.
Nadia Vera, a Veracruz activist killed alongside Espinosa,
had recently said in a video
interview posted online that
if anything happened to her
or fellow activists, it would be
Duarte and the state governments fault.
While official death statistics for journalists vary, the
freedom of speech organisation Article 19 has said that
Veracruz is the most dangerous
place for freedom of expression
in Latin America.
Cabbies ambush
Uber driver
AFP
Sao Paulo
A cargo ship is seen on the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal Authority will temporarily lower the
maximum draft of ships passing through the canal, due to droughts caused by El Nino.
n Uber driver in Brazils nancial capital Sao

Paulo responded to a call,
only to nd himself ambushed
by a group of regular taxi drivers, a report said on Monday.
Folha daily quoted the man as
saying that he was responding
to his eighth call of the night on
Saturday, when instead of a client he ran into angry rivals.
Blocked by 20 official taxis, he
tried to retreat, but was forced
into a taxi and beaten as he was
driven around Sao Paulo for half
an hour, said the man, who was
not identied.
Antonio dos Santos, president of the citys taxi union

Simtetaxis, said that one of the
assailants had been identied.
You cant take justice into
your own hands. The problem
of these illegal (Uber) drivers
has to be resolved through legal
means, he said.
The authorities should act
to stop these undeclared drivers, said Natalicio Bezerra, from
another union, Sinditaxi.
If the authorities dont take
the initiative, things could get
worse. Uber is increasingly
popular in Brazil despite attempts to ban it, and major protests by traditional taxi drivers
against the increasingly powerful online ride-booking service.
Gulf Times
19
PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN
Islamabad summons Indian diplomat over truce violations

AFP
Islamabad
akistan yesterday summoned a senior Indian

diplomat and lodged
a protest over the death of a
woman from Kashmir, after
she was injured in cross-border
shelling in the disputed Himalayan region.
Indian troops opened re in
the Jandrot sector of the Line of
Control (LoC) - the regions de
facto border on August 8, seriously injuring a 28-year-old
woman with a bullet wound to
her stomach, a statement from

Islamabads foreign ministry
said.
The Indian deputy high commissioner was summoned to the
foreign office to lodge the protest
after the woman, named only as
Fareeda, died from her injuries
yesterday.
Pakistan also condemned
the latest unprovoked ceasere violations by the Indian
security forces at the LoC in
Nakial sector near Kotli and
Bhimber Gali sector on August
9, in which Pakistani posts
were targeted, said the statement.
Indian security forces have

committed 37 and 24 unprovoked
ceasere
violations
on the LoC and the Working
Boundary in July and August
respectively.
The statement continued:
The government of Pakistan
expressed its deep concern at
the continuous and unprovoked ceasere violations and
urged India to stop them forthwith.
Muslim-majority Kashmir
has been divided between India and Pakistan, but claimed
in full by both, since the two
countries gained independ-
ence from Britain in 1947.

A border ceasere agreed in
2003 has largely held, with occasional violations reported from
both sides.
The two countries have fought
two wars over the Himalayan region.
Since 1989 several rebel
groups have been ghting hundreds of thousands of Indian
forces deployed in the region,
seeking independence or a
merger of the territory with Pakistan.
The ghting has left tens of
thousands, mostly civilians,
dead.
Cleric seeks ban on Indian Mumbai attack film

A Pakistani cleric who founded the Lashkar-eToiba militants group has asked a court to ban an
Indian movie about Mumbai attack, his lawyer said
yesterday.
Hafiz Saeed is wanted in India for his alleged role
in the 2008 Mumbai carnage that resulted in the
death of at least 166 people.
Saeed last week lodged a formal petition with the
Lahore High Court to ban screening of Phantom,
which is set to be released on August 28, his lawyer
AK Dogar said.
The movie shows a Indian agent tasked to find
and kill a man linked to the Mumbai attack and
having a resemblance with Saeed, Dogar said.
He said that the movie posed a direct threat to
his client as the dialogues coming out of the lips

of the different Indian actors and actresses will
poison the minds of the Pakistani public.
The court accepted the petition and asked
government to file its response at the next hearing
on August 13.
Saeed in the petition said that film spews venom
against Pakistan. A filthy propaganda has been
done in the film against Pakistan under the subject
of world terrorism, he said.
Apart from charges in India, the United States has
offered a reward of $10m for his capture. Pakistan
has refused to proceed against Saeed because he
was cleared by local courts of terrorism charges
due to a lack of evidence.
Pakistan and
Iran seek to
increase trade
Reuters
Islamabad
akistan is in the nal stages of negotiating a deal

to increase its electricity
imports from Iran tenfold, a Pakistani government spokesman
said yesterday, part of a push to
boost trade if sanctions relating
to Irans nuclear programme are
phased out.
Pakistans trade with Iran,
worth $1.3bn in the nancial year
2008-9, plummeted to $217mn
in the 2013-4 nancial year.
The drop came after the United States, European Union and
UN imposed sanctions aimed
at halting Irans nuclear programme, which Western powers
suspected was aimed at creating
a nuclear bomb. A deal reached
last month means the sanctions
could soon be phased out.
US Senator Brian Schatz said
on Monday he backs the US-led
international nuclear deal with
Iran, moving President Barack
Obama one vote closer to locking
in enough Senate votes to make
the deal y.
Iran currently exports around
100 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the areas of Pakistan
Pakistan and
Afghanistan to
boost trade to $5 bn
Pakistan and Afghanistan have
agreed to increase bilateral
trade to $5bn by the end of
2017, said Adviser on National
Security and Foreign Affairs
Sartaj Aziz.
The national assembly was
informed on Monday that
Pakistans engagement with the
new Afghan leadership is resulting in qualitative transformation
of bilateral relations, Radio
Pakistan reported.
that border Iran. Pakistan is in

the nal stages of negotiating
a deal that will increase that to
1,000 MW, said Zafar Yab Khan,
the spokesman for the Ministry
of Water and Power.
Its likely to be nalised
shortly, he said. The power
purchase agreement would include a transmission line.
He declined to give details until the agreement is signed.
Energy-starved Pakistan suffers about 12 hours of power cuts
per day and is keen to import
Iranian oil and gas, said Robina
Athar, additional secretary in

Pakistans Ministry of Commerce.
The biggest issue right now
is the payment mechanism, said
Athar. Both central banks are in
communication and hope to nd
a mechanism before sanctions
are lifted.
She said Pakistan was upgrading its current border post
with Iran and preparing to open
a second one in anticipation of
greater trade.
Iran was interested in Pakistani textiles, surgical goods, sports
goods and agricultural products,
she said. Pakistan wanted energy
products, iron and steel.
She said that Pakistan would set
up industrial sites in the impoverished border area, especially petrochemical storage, and link the
infrastructure to a $46bn project
with China dubbed the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor.
Plans for a gas pipeline between Iran and Pakistan have
also been given new impetus,
said Mobin Saulat, head of staterun Inter State Gas Systems,
which oversees the Pakistans
pipeline network.
Most of the pipeline would
be built as part of the Chinese
project, Saulat said.
Anti-terror court remands

ve over sex abuse scandal
Agencies
Islamabad
Pakistani anti-terrorism
court yesterday ordered
that ve men arrested
over a major child sex abuse
scandal remain in police custody
for up to 28 days of interrogation.
The men were arrested on
Monday in a case which has provoked expressions of outrage in
Pakistani newspapers, several of
which have suggested a politically-inuenced cover up.
At least 280 children were
lmed being sexually abused by
a gang of 25 men who used the
hundreds of videos they produced to blackmail the youngsters parents, according to a
lawyer for the victims.
The village at the heart of the
scandal, Hussain Khanwala, lies
in the Punjab stronghold of the
ruling Pakistan Muslim LeagueN (PML-N) party.
Police produced the ve men
in an anti-terrorism court where
the judge remanded them into
police custody for further interrogation for 28 days, Lahore court
prosecutor Sheikh Saeed said.
Saeed said these ve men
would join seven others who are
already in police custody following the scandal.
Local police spokeswoman
Nabeela Ghazanfar conrmed
the details.
Shahbaz Sharif, the chief
minister of Punjab province
where the abuse took place, has
ordered an independent judicial
The shadow of a Pakistani army helicopter is seen next to land surrounded by flood water where affected villagers gathered to seek higher
ground in the Rajanpur district, in Punjab province .
Displaced by the ood,

deserted by government
Internews
Hyderabad
heera Mangwani Maachi,

whose wrinkled face
and dark complexion,
give away her age to be in the
late 50s, has seen at least eight
oods in her lifetime. Each was
accompanied by the ordeal of
temporary homelessness.
Seated on a wooden charpoy,
perched on a rocky slope near
what has become a temporary
riverbank at the heels of Makhdoom Bilawal Sahads shrine in
Jamshoro district, she narrates
the ups and downs of the riverine life.
We moved out after (ood)
water entered our homes near
Unarpur (a rural town in Manjhand taluka). The crops have
been completely destroyed.
Even all of our cattle havent
been evacuated yet. Her account, dominated by the travails of displacement and losses, reects the story of almost
all the ood-affected people.
The ood - which has peaked at 725,000 cusecs at Guddu

Barrage - currently passing
through the length and breadth
of the Indus river in Sindh does
not threaten the settled areas,
unlike its 2010 predecessor. Or
so the government says. Yet all
is not hunky-dory.
The provincial government
estimates over 650,000 people
of the katcha areas have been
shifted to safer places, with the
displacement expected to last
between one to two months.
The unofficial gures put the
ood-affected residents of the
riverine areas at around one
million. But the relief has not
been pouring in quick enough.
It would have been the third
night that we would have to
spend on the charpoys under
the open sky, said a relieved
Maachi, on receiving a tent
from an NGO, the Pakistan Relief Foundation.
Most of the thousands of
people who left Unarpur along
with her for safety, have not
been as lucky. The PRFs stock
for distribution was enough for

a few hundred only.
But the people displaced
from Unarpur, Budhapur and
Manzoorabad, the rural towns
along the Indus, appeared to be
in the thousands. Dozens of the
men and women among them,
who spoke to The Express Tribune, complained of not receiving any government help.
It would have been the

third night that we would
have to spend on the
charpoys under the open
sky
No one has come here, not
even the Mukhtiarkar, said
Darya Khan Khoso, a vegetable
vendor from Unarpur.
The graveyard and land
stretching several acres over the
hilltop, adjacent to the shrine in
Sahadabad, which is one of the
closest hilly rural towns from
Unarpur, provide the most suitable place for the encampment.
Dozens of thatched roofs, pedestalled on tree trunks, and as
many charpoys are seen scattered around.

We spent two days at the
Mukhtiarkars office in Manjhand, requesting the officials
to give us tents but they have
kept us waiting, grudges Raju
Thakur, who is one of hundreds
of Hindu peasants displaced
from their village on the riverbed on the outskirts of Manzoorabad.
According to the Provincial
Disaster Management Authority
chief, Syed Salman Shah, around
147,000 people were living in
tents by Monday. We have provided 24,000 to 25,000 tents to
the district administrations but
I will have to check how many of
them have completed the distribution, Shah said.
He added that on August 8,
Jamshoros DC informed had him
that 1,270 tents had been given to
the affected people. Shah added
that the PDMA has already supplied 4,000 tents to the district
administration of Jamshoro and
1,000 more will be delivered by
August 11.
Pakistani lm industry rises

like Phoenix, says Dawn
IANS
Islamabad
P
Pakistani mothers whose children were sexually abused by a gang
gather at a house in the village of Hussain Khanwala in Punjab.
inquiry and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has vowed stern action against those responsible.
An initial police probe, carried
out last week at the behest of
the provincial government, described the allegations as baseless a conclusion immediately rejected by local media and
rights activists.
The head of Punjabs Child

Protection Bureau, Saba Sadiq,
described the case as the largest
child abuse scandal in Pakistans
history.
The abusers allegedly tried to
extort money from parents of
victims, selling clips of the videos locally for 40 Pakistan rupees
each if they did not pay up.
akistani lm industry
seems to be doing well
and this is nothing short
of a Phoenix-like rise from the
ashes, said a leading Pakistani
daily yesterday.
An editorial Film revival?
in the Dawn said that just a few
years ago, anyone making the
prediction would have been
dismissed for building castles
in the air: that cinemas across
the country would be doing
booming business and feeling condent in investing hard
cash, large amounts of it, into
infrastructure.
It added that nobody could
have then guessed that shows

would be running to packed
capacity with even a queue for
tickets; and, what would have
seemed most far-fetched of all,
that audience would be able to
take their pick from new, locally
made lms for the silver screen,
some of them of a quality to
hold their own against imported fare.
Serendipitously
enough,
though, this magical moment
seems to have come to pass.
Over these Eid holidays past, so
many new Pakistani lms were
scheduled to be released that
the screening dates had to be
phased, it said.
Describing it as nothing
short of a Phoenix-like rise
from the ashes, the daily said
that the local lm industry,

which suffered sometimes justied criticism for poor quality from the late 80s onwards,
was more or less declared
comatose once the television
landscape was liberalised and
turned into a viable and paying profession.
Film studios in Lahore,
once the hub of the local
movie industry, fell deserted
while the offices of entertainment television channels
teemed with fresh entrants.
From there to where we are
now has been remarkable
progress.
There is much that Pakistans lmmakers can be proud
of. From production quality to
the range of subjects taken up,
the variety and evidence of the

potential to be mined is heartening.
Is it a revival of the industry, though? Unfortunately
enough, its too early to tell yet.
There is one thing, though, that
is bound to help, and that is for
lmmakers and producers to
put objectively-assessed quality standards above all else, the
daily said.
It went on to say that in
the months and years ahead,
the lm format will nd itself
tempted to steer in the direction of formulae that dominate
the television screens - many
of them mere variations on the
soap opera.
Film must not take the same
hidebound course.
20
Gulf Times
PHILIPPINES
Powering up
SC grants
Enriles
appeal in
graft trial
Manila Times
Quezon City
Electricians from the Manila Electric Railroad And Light Company maintain a secondary transmission line in Manila yesterday. Philippine inflation slowed to a record low of
0.8% year-on-year in July on lower electricity, petrol and transportation costs, the government said last week.
Veteran warns Poe

to be wary of polls
The leader in surveys - Poe,
has been warned to watch
her step
Manila Times
Makati City
igh survey ratings dont

necessarily translate to
victory.
A veteran lawmaker said this as
he cautioned senator Grace Poe
not to be dazzled with her being a
pre-election survey frontrunner
as history has proven that popularity is not the be-all and endall in the political derby.
House majority leader Neptali
Gonzales 2nd of Mandaluyong
city (Metro Manila) noted that
history has shown that it is very
difficult for an independent candidate to succeed in his or her
quest unless he or she has a welloiled machinery to deliver the
votes on election day.
Gonzales cited the cases of
senator Miriam Defensor- Santiago, the late Raul Roco and
former senator Panlo Lacson.

They all lost in their respective
bids for the presidency.
Santiago and Roco were popular with the youth when they
respectively aimed for the presidency in the 1992 and 1998 elections.
Santiago relied on the Peoples
Reform Party, which had a negligible grassroots organisation. Fidel Ramos, who was endorsed by
president Corazon Aquino and
was backed by the Lakas-NUCD
coalition, won the race.
Roco who also relied on his
own party, Aksyon Demokratiko,
was overrun by a more popular
Joseph Estrada, who was backstopped by the machinery of the
Laban ng Makabayang Masang
Pilipino (LAMMP) in 1998 while
Lacsonwho ran as an independent in 2004was no match to the
powerful Lakas machinery of
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
In history, those who ran independently, or even from smaller parties like PRP and Aksyon
Demokratiko, were unsuccessful.
Historically speaking, there has

not been one [who won the presidency]. For one, you wont have
[election watchers] if you dont
have a political party, Gonzales
pointed out.
He, however, claried that being with an established political
party does not guarantee a victory because times have changed.
Being with a big political
party doesnt guarantee a win.
There are other available tools for
campaign now that did not exist
before theres social media, and
the media, which would also play
a huge role, Gonzales said.
Having said that, the son of
the late senate president Neptali
Gonzales does not see anybody as
a frontrunner at this point.
The ling of candidacy is October 12 to 15, but the last preelection survey will be released in
September.
In recent Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia surveys,
Poe edged out vice president
Jejomar Binay and former senator Manuel Mar Roxas 2nd by at
Two soldiers killed in

Abu Sayyaf attack
Agencies
Manila
wo soldiers were killed in an

attack by Islamist Abu Sayyaf
rebels in the southern Philippines, a regional army commander
said Monday.
The victims were ambushed Sunday by the Al Qaeda-linked guerrillas
on a remote highway in Patikul town
on Jolo Island, some 940km south of
Manila, according to Brigadier General Alan Arrojado.
Arrojado said the victims, who had
just come from the town market, were
riding on their motorcycles on the
way back to the camp when they were
waylaid by an undetermined number
of Abu Sayyaf rebels.
They died on the spot due to several gunshot wounds, Arrojado said.
Pursuing troops were able to catch
up with the attackers triggering a reght but there were no reported casualties.
The Abu Sayyaf is the smallest but
most violent Islamist rebel group in
the southern Philippines. The guerrillas have been responsible for deadly
terrorist attacks in the country and involved in high-prole kidnapping for
ransom.
Several Muslim leaders in Mindanao

are pushing for Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor
Mujiv Hataman to seek higher office
as they point out that Muslims should
be represented in the senate.
Mohammad Nur Nung Ajihil, president and convenor of the Zamboangabased Mahadjanah, said Hataman will
be supported by all Muslims in the entire Mindanao and not only by those
who are in residing in ARMM.
Ajihils group, with members in
the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu,
and Tawi-Tawi, is one of the Muslim
groups who expressed willingness
to lead a Mindanao-wide signature
campaign to urge Hataman to heed the
calls of the Muslims for him to run for
Senate.
In the past, at least two Muslim
senators from Muslim Mindanao were
elected to the senate like the late senator Mamintal Tamano of Lanao del
Sur and the former senator Santanina
Rasul from the province of Sulu.
The Manila Times asked Amir Mawallil, Hatamans spokesperson to
comment on the endorsement by
these Muslim leaders.
However, according to Mawallil,
running for the Senate in the 2016
elections is not yet up in the radar of
Hataman.
least eight percentage points.

Poe also dominated the survey
for possible bets for vice president.
Any candidate, declared or
otherwise, will be feeling the
pressure. secretary Mar has said
that it will be an uphill battle, the
other camp whose ratings are going down would also be worried,
and even those on topbecause
this is the rst survey that would
factor the presidents endorsement, Gonzales said.
Poe and senator Francis Chiz
Escudero attended last nights
gathering of members of the
Nationalist Peoples Coalition
(NPC) at the residence of the
partys founder, industrialist
Eduardo Danding Cojuangco Jr in
Quezon City.
Deputy speaker Giorgidi Aggabao, president of the NPC, earlier
said majority of the members are
backing a Poe-Escudero tandem
in 2016.Escudero was a member
of the NPC before he resigned to
become an independent in the
2013 elections.
Senator Vicente Sotto 3rd,

however, was quick to dispel
speculations that the two senators presence means they will
team up in next years elections
under the NPC banner.
This is just a fellowship and
consultationIts impossible to
make an announcement. Were
still consulting others, Sotto
told reporters.
The NPC was formed in 1991
as a vehicle for Cojuangcos presidential bid.
While Cojuangco no longer
pursued politics after his defeat
in 1992, the party continued to
exist.
The fellowship was held
hours after congressmen affiliated with the NPC had a meeting
with Roxas.
Thats a different story. Over
here is the NPC meeting itself. That is not an NPC meeting. [There still is no]party stand.
[Once there is an] official party
stand, most probably the members will follow, Sotto told GMA
News.
Rock climber
Filipinos from the Aeta community use a water buffalo to pull bamboo sleds in Sapang Uwak.
he supreme court (SC)

yesterday granted a
petition by detained
senator Juan Ponce Enrile to
be given a Bill of Particulars
or details of the cases led
against him before the Sandiganbayan to enable him to
properly plead and prepare for
his graft and plunder trial.
The high court, sitting en
banc, voted 8-5 in favour of
Enriles petition that was
led in August last year, SC
spokesman Theodore Te told
reporters.
In light of the court action,
petitioner Senator Enrile is
given the opportunity to conrm or change the plea that
the Sandiganbayan entered for
him, if he so wishes, Te said.
The SC, however, failed to
vote on Enriles petition for
bail for lack of time as the justices had to hear the oral arguments in the Torre de Manila
case.
With the granting of Enriles petition, the case will go
back to the office of the ombudsman, in the process possibly compelling ombudsman
Conchita Carpio-Morales to
reinvestigate the cases led
against the 91-year-old lawmaker.
Voting in favour of Enriles Bill of particulars petition were associate justices
Presbitero Velasco, Teresita
Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo
Brion, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Jose Perez, Jose
Mendoza and Estela PerlasBernabe while dissenting were
chief justice Maria Lourdes
Sereno and associate justices
Antonio Carpio, Mariano del
Castillo, Martin Villarama and
Marvic Leonen.
Associate justice Bienvenido Reyes was on leave,
while associate justice Francis
Jardeleza inhibited from participating in the case as he was
the solicitor general when the
case was initially led.
Enrile was charged by the
office of the ombudsman with
one count of plunder and 15
counts of graft in connection
with his alleged involvement
in the so-called pork barrel
scam, which was claimed to be
masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
Enrile and his former chief
of staff Jessica Lucila Gigi
Reyes were accused of amassing P172.8mn in kickbacks
from 2004 to 2010 through
non-government organisations associated with Napoles.
Juan Ponce Enrile

Enrile told the high court
that the sandiganbayan acted without, or in excess of,
jurisdiction or with grave
abuse of discretion, when it
compelled him to plead to
the criminal charges without
granting his Motion for bill
of particulars.
Under section 9, Rule 116 of
the rules of court, an accused
has the right to move for a Bill
of particulars to enable him
or her to properly plead and
prepare for the trial.
Through the Particulars, an
accused can ask for details of
the case being lodged against
him, including particular facts
or pieces of information about
the case, to ensure that the
trial would be fair.
The denial by the sandiganbayan of petitioner Enriles Motion for bill of particulars compels him to go
to trial practically with one
eye blindfolded, the petition
read.
Among the details of the
case that Enrile wanted to
know before he was arraigned
were:
Names of the specic
people who delivered and received the over P172mn he
allegedly pocketed, as well
as the dates and places where
the money was delivered;
Description of each
project funded by Enriles
pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund,
including details on who
identied the projects, nature, location and costs of the
projects;
What particular Commission on Audits audits and
eld investigations were conducted to validate ndings
that Enriles PDAFs went to
ghost projects;
Who amassed or acquired
the
accumulated
amount of over P172mn;
With whom did Enrile
conspire;
What particular acts
constitute the combination
or series of overt criminal
acts that were done to accumulate the amount, what
particular acts constitute the
series and who among the
accused committed these
acts.
Gulf Times
21
SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL
Turtle selfie
Bangladesh
sentences
two for 1971
war crimes
DPA
Dhaka
Volunteers pose for a selfie with a sea turtle hatchling at the Sea Turtle Reserve Centre in Kosgoda, some 74 kms south of Colombo. Volunteers can learn about turtles,
conservation and the local community during a two-week volunteer programme at the centre.
Nepal appeals for calm

after riots over charter
The issue of a federal system
is highly divisive
Agencies
Kathmandu
epal prime minister Sushil Koirala and other

political leaders appealed
for calm yesterday as anger ared
over the police killing of two
demonstrators during a protest
against a new constitution.
Hundreds of police reinforcements were sent to the countrys
troubled midwest, the day after
the two protesters were killed
when police red in a bid to fend
off an attack on the home of a local lawmaker.
Schools, shops and factories
were also closed in Surkhet town
as fresh demonstrations were
staged against plans to divide
the midwestern region into two
provinces under a draft constitution that seeks to restructure
Nepal as a federal state.
Hundreds of security forces
have been deployed in Surkhet
and surrounding areas in case the
situation turns hostile, said national police spokesman Kamal
Singh Bam.
Koirala called for restraint say-
Nepalese activists from marginalised Tharu community take part

in a torch rally against the division of Tharu-majority districts in
the countrys proposed federal structure in Kathmandu yesterday.
ing negotiations over the new
long-awaited constitution were
ongoing.
We appeal for the public to
exercise restraint and help us
with suggestions, stopping all
protests, Koirala said in a joint
statement with other political
leaders.
We will attempt to nd solutions to the issues that have risen, keeping in mind the peoples
aspirations, and the countrys

need and interests, the statement added.
Bam said police had opened
re on Monday after the protests
in Surkhet had turned violent.
After crowds started attacking the house of a local MP and
tried to vandalise offices yesterday, we were forced to use repower and two protesters were
killed in the ring, he told AFP.
Lanka seeks compromise on

China-backed port city project
Reuters
Colombo
ri Lanka is offering a compromise that could

allow a major Chinese-backed real estate
project to restart after months of delays, nance minister Ravi Karunanayake told Reuters on
Monday.
The ministers comments come a week before a
parliamentary election in which the ruling party
has an edge over an opposition led by Mahinda
Rajapakse. The China-friendly ex-president, who
was ousted in January, is attempting a comeback.
The $1.4bn Colombo port city project was suspended by president Maithripala Sirisenas new
government in March because it was found not to
have the proper permits and approvals.
The project, emblematic of Chinas strategy
of developing a maritime Silk Road from Asia to
Europe, has alarmed Sri Lankas larger neighbour
India which sees it as a threat in its backyard and
has been sympathetic to Sirisenas reformist rule.
One stumbling block has been the planned acquisition by Chinese developers of 20 hectares of
freehold land for the waterfront project, which
lies a stones throw from the business district of
Sri Lankas largest city.
Karunanayake said the government was in the
process of renegotiating the deal that would, if
it wins the election, help bring in a nal under-
standing that will help bring a win-win situation.

Freehold will certainly be changed into a mutually holding type of a situation, so that there is
no person that will control land in another country, he said. You dont need to have a company
holding national lands for perpetuity.
Since coming to power at the start of the year,
the Sirisena administration has suspended most
foreign-backed infrastructure projects that, it
says, were overpriced and nanced on onerous
terms harmful to Sri Lankas national interests.
Work on two Chinese-funded highway projects
has started recently without major changes, a signal that Sirisenas government would if re-elected
seek to revive other schemes as long as a compromise can be reached on cost.
The port city project is funded by China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) and locally handled by CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt)
Ltd.
The project to build apartments, shopping
malls, a water sports area, a golf course, hotels
and marinas is now a fenced-off tract of boulders
dumped by what used to be a sandy beach. When
work was suspended, CCCC estimated the shutdown would cause losses of more than $380,000
a day.
The project would give the Chinese company
108 hectares of land in the form of payment, 20
hectares of it outright and the rest on a 99-year
lease.
Under the proposed constitution, which has been held up for

years by political wrangling, Nepal will be divided into six provinces.
An agreement on the borders
of the new provinces was struck
at the weekend, after Aprils devastating earthquake helped bring
a halt to the seemingly endless
bickering between rival parties.
But the proposals have caused
consternation in several parts
of the country, including in the
southern plains and the midwest.
Our demand for an undivided
midwest remains strong, said
Tej Bikram Basnet, a teacher who
joined the latest protest in Surkhet yesterday.
We want to keep todays protest peaceful and dont want
things to get out of hand like yesterday, Basnet added.
Surkhet, located 375km west
of Kathmandu, is the capital of
the midwestern region, which
includes 15 districts.
An agreement on the borders
of the new provinces was struck
at the weekend, after Aprils devastating earthquake helped bring
a halt to the seemingly endless
bickering between rival parties.
But the proposals have caused
consternation in several parts
of the country, including in the

southern plains and the midwest.
In the capital Kathmandu,
dozens of demonstrators representing the historically marginalised Tharu community from
Nepals western plains staged a
torch rally, pushing for a separate
province.
Lawmaker Ganga Tharu, who
participated in the rally, accused the countrys top parties
of exploiting the community,
which has struggled to cast off
the shackles of decades spent as
bonded slaves and indebted serfs
to high-caste landowners.
They made us slaves and
ruled over us for decades. Now
they are trying to divide us with
an intention to enslave us politically, said Tharu.
We will struggle until our demands are met, she told AFP.
Lawmakers began work on
a new national constitution in
2008 following a decade-long
Maoist insurgency that left an
estimated 16,000 people dead
and brought down the monarchy.
But parties were unable to
reach agreement and the resulting uncertainty left Nepal one
of the worlds poorest countries
in political limbo.
special court in Bangladesh yesterday sentenced one person to

death and another to life in jail
for crimes committed during
the countrys 1971 war of independence with Pakistan, court
officials said.
The war crimes tribunal
handed down the sentences
against Sheikh Sirajul Islam,
72, and Khan Akram Hossain,
61, for mass killings, looting
and arson attacks during the
nine-month armed struggle,
prosecution lawyer Syedul Huq
Sumon said.
Sheikh Sirajul Islam, known
for his killing missions in the
southern parts of the country
during the war, was sentenced
to die after ve counts of war
crimes were proved against
him.
Hossain was given life in
prison for three counts of
crimes against humanity, the
prosecution lawyer said.
Investigators said both of
them joined the wartime vigilante Razakar force to aid the
Pakistani military and carry
out attacks on civilians.
The defendants have mostly
been leading gures from the
Islamist opposition.
Bangladesh set up the In-
ternational Crimes Tribunal

in 2010 to prosecute those accused of atrocities committed
in the 1971 war of independence with Pakistan.
The defendants allegedly
collaborated with the occupying army during the ninemonth conict.
East Pakistan became Bangladesh after the ghting ended
with the surrender of Pakistani forces on December 16,
1971.
The government of prime
minister Sheikh Hasina estimates that 3mn people died,
and about 200,000 women
were raped. Independent researchers say the death toll was
considerably lower.
An early attempt to prosecute the suspects was called
off following the 1975 assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshs
founding president and Hasinas father.
Most of those indicted are
from Jamaat-e-Islami, the
countrys largest Islamist party, which opposed independence during the conict, and
has rejected the trials as politically motivated.
The tribunal has so far handed down verdicts on 24 defendants. Eighteen were sentenced
to death, ve to life and one to
90 years in jail. Two of them
have already been executed.
Dhaka plans census

of Rohingya illegals
AFP
Dhaka
angladesh is to hold a
census of hundreds of
thousands of undocumented Rohingya who have
crossed into the country seeking refuge from persecution in
neighbouring Myanmar.
Foreign Secretary Shahidul
Haque said the government
had earmarked $2.7mn for
the census to be carried out in
Bangladeshs southeast, near
the border with Myanmars
Rakhine state.
Official estimates have put
the number of undocumented
Rohingya in Bangladesh at between 200,000 and 500,000,
in addition to around 32,000
registered Rohingya refugees
living in two UN-managed
camps.
The procedure (census) will
commence any time during the
second half of this year, Haque
told AFP yesterday after briefing diplomats about the move.

The mainly Muslim Rohingya minority started crossing into Bangladesh in the early
1990s from Myanmar.
They say they face discrimination and mistreatment by
that countrys Buddhist-majority government, which does
not recognise them as citizens.
Their plight was thrust into
the global spotlight this year
when thousands of desperate migrants headed mainly
for Malaysia had to be rescued
from rickety boats in waters off
Myanmars coast.
But the Rohingya are deeply
unpopular in impoverished
Bangladesh, and it is unclear
how the government plans to
use the data.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM),
which is assisting Bangladesh
with the census, said it was a
positive move for the stateless
migrants.
Bridge crossing
Nepalese porters walk over a suspension bridge draped in traditional Buddhist prayer flags and ceremonial scarves known as katas in
the lower Khumbu region. The kata symbolises purity and compasion and is presented among other occasions at times of departure
and arrival.
22
Gulf Times
COMMENT
Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah
Editor-in-Chief : Darwish S Ahmed
Production Editor: C P Ravindran
P.O.Box 2888
Doha, Qatar
editor@gulf-times.com
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GULF TIMES
Cyber security
a collective
responsibility
Qatar is ranked second in the region and 27th in the
world for network readiness, according to the Global
Information Technology Report (GITR) 2015. The
country also successfully resolved the highest number
of threats to Internet security in the Middle East, Turkey
and Africa (META) region in the rst quarter of 2015,
according to an analysis by IT security solutions provider
Kaspersky Lab in April.
Depending on their country, from a quarter to more
than half of the organisations in the region have said
they faced viruses and other malware, spam, phishing
and software vulnerabilities in the past year, according
to the 2014 Global Corporate IT Security Risks survey
conducted by B2B International and Kaspersky.
Qatar, which as one of the best IT infrastructure in
the world, is depending increasingly on cyberspace of
late. But the Emerging Cyber Threats 2014 report by the
Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), a Qatar
Foundation member, warned of a number of weak links
in Qatars cyber security. The supply chain companies
Qatar has hired to increase Internet access may have
lower levels of security.
The report also highlighted other key threats
including potential attacks on Qatars oil, gas and
water infrastructure; an increasing reliance on hosting
information on cloud systems; and a lack of security
awareness while using devices such as smartphones and
tablets.
Qatar has also faced a number of attacks on Domain
Name System services
(DNS) in recent years. In
October 2013, hackers
managed to reroute
website requests for 10
key domains in Qatar,
including the Ministry
of Interior (MoI), the
Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Ooredoo.
As the number
threats increase, so has Qatars awareness. To protect
Qatars critical IT infrastructure, ictQATAR (Ministry
of Information and Communications Technology)
formed the Qatar Computer Emergency Response Team
(Q-CERT) in 2005. Q-CERT - a member of FIRST, the
global forum of incident response and security teams
- works with government agencies, private and public
sector organisations and citizens to ensure that online
threats are monitored and risks are contained.
Qatars State Cabinet in March gave the nod for setting
up two new bodies to monitor and investigate online
threats. The proposed measures include plans to protect
personal data online, setting up a new National Center
for Cyber Security under the MoI as well as a separate
National Committee for Information Security.
Two major attacks, against Aramco in Saudi and
RasGas in Qatar, have caused a revolution in the region in
terms of cyber security, Amin Hasbini, Kaspersky Labs
senior security researcher, said in April. The Gulf region,
with a lot of resources and very good Internet speeds, is
being attacked by cyber criminals more than anywhere
else in the world, he said.
Qatar is developing fast, using information technology
as key tool to build a knowledge-based economy.
And its strategies to counter advanced cyber threats
should include fool-proof security policies and
education, network protection, comprehensive system
administration and specialised security solutions.
Cyber security is a collective responsibility.
How EU can be turned into

an engine of prosperity
Over the last 15 years, the
eurozones economic
performance has been
disappointing, and its policy
system must answer for this
By Jean Pisani-Ferry
Paris
hen Wolfgang
Scheauble, Germanys
nance minister,
recently tabled the
option of a Greek exit from the euro,
he wanted to signal that no member
could abstain from the monetary
unions strict disciplines.
In fact, his initiative triggered
a much broader discussion of the
principles underpinning the euro, its
governance, and the very rationale for
its existence.
Only a fortnight before Scheaubles
proposal, Europes leaders had barely
paid attention to a report on the
euros future prepared by European
Commission president Jean-Claude
Juncker and his colleagues from the
other European Union institutions.
But the new dispute over Greece
has convinced many policymakers of
the necessity to return to the drawing
board.
Meanwhile, citizens wonder why
they share this currency, whether it
makes sense, and if agreement can be
reached on its future.
For currencies, as for countries,
founding myths matter. The
conventional wisdom is that the
euro was the political price Germany
paid for French acquiescence to its
reunication.
In fact, German reunication
only provided the nal impetus for
a project conceived in the 1980s to
resolve a longstanding dilemma.
European governments were both
strongly averse to oating exchange
rates, which they assumed would be
incompatible with a single market,
and unwilling to perpetuate a
Bundesbank-dominated monetary
regime.
A truly European currency built on
German principles appeared to be the

best way forward.
In retrospect, German reunication
was more a curse than a blessing.
When exchange rates were locked in
1999, Germanys was overvalued, and
its economy was struggling; Frances
was undervalued, and its economy was
booming.
During the ensuing decade,
imbalances slowly grew between a
resurgent Germany and countries where
low interest rates had triggered credit
booms. And when the global nancial
crisis erupted in 2008, conditions were
ripe for a perfect storm.
No one can say how Europe would
have evolved without the euro. Would
the xed-exchange-rate system have
endured or collapsed? Would the
Deutschemark have been overvalued?
Europe cannot afford

to procrastinate and
pretend
Would states have reintroduced
trade barriers, ending the single
market? Would a real-estate bubble
have developed in Spain? Would
governments have reformed more or
less?
Establishing a counterfactual
baseline against which the euros
impact could be assessed is
impossible. But that is no excuse for
complacency.
Over the last 15 years, the eurozones
economic performance has been
disappointing, and its policy system
must answer for this.
What really matters is whether
a common European currency still
makes sense for the future. This
question is often evaded, because the
cost of exiting is deemed too high to
consider it (and could be higher still if
the break-up takes place in a crisis and
sharpens reciprocal acrimony among
participating countries).
Moreover, pulling the plug on the
euro could unleash the dark forces of
nationalism and protectionism.
But, as Oxfords Kevin ORourke
recently argued, this is hardly a
sufficient argument. It is the logical
equivalent of advising a couple to

remain married because divorce is too
expensive.
So does the euro still make sense?
It was expected to deliver three
economic benets. Monetary union, it
was assumed, would foster economic
integration, bolstering Europes longterm growth.
Instead, intra-eurozone trade
and investment have increased only
modestly, and growth potential has
actually weakened.
This is partly because national
governments, rather than building
on currency unication to turn
the eurozone into an economic
powerhouse, tried to hang onto their
remaining power.
This was perhaps logical politically,
but it made no economic sense:
Europes huge domestic market is one
of its main assets, and opportunities
to strengthen it should not be
squandered.
Second, it was hoped that the euro
would become a major international
currency (particularly given how
few countries are equipped with the
necessary legal, market and policy
institutions).
And, according to recent ECB
statistics, this hope has been largely
fullled. With international use of
the euro behind only the US dollar,
this achievement can help Europe to
continue shaping the global economic
order, rather than sliding into
irrelevance.
Third, it was (somewhat naively)
believed that the institutions
underpinning the euro would improve
the overall quality of economic policy,
as though Europe-wide policies would
automatically be better than national
ones.
The acid test came in the aftermath
of the 2008 global nancial
crisis: because it overestimated
the scal dimension of the crisis
and underestimated its nancial
dimension, the eurozone performed
worse than the US and the United
Kingdom.
If the euro is to create prosperity,
further reforms of the policy system
are therefore needed. But an agenda
can be designed and implemented only
if there is a broad consensus on the

nature of the problem.
And, as the ongoing dispute over
Greece illustrates, agreement remains
elusive: Participating countries have
developed contradictory analyses of
the causes of the debt crisis, from
which they derive contradictory
prescriptions.
Richard Cooper of Harvard
University once observed that in the
early days of international public
health co-operation, the ght against
global diseases was hampered by
countries adherence to different
models of contagion.
They all favoured joint action,
but they could not agree on a plan,
because they disagreed on how
epidemics crossed borders.
That is the problem the eurozone
faces today. Fortunately, it is not
unsolvable, as signicant reforms like
the creation of the European Stability
Mechanism and the launch of banking
union show.
Disagreements also did not prevent
the ECB from acting boldly, which
illustrates that the governance of
institutions does matter.
But the fact that reforms and
actions were undertaken only lately,
and under the pressure of acute crisis,
is a sobering reminder of the difficulty
of reaching consensus.
Europe cannot afford to procrastinate
and pretend. Either the eurozones
members nd agreement on an agenda
of governance and political reforms
that will turn the currency union into
an engine of prosperity, or they will
stumble repeatedly from dispute to
crisis, until citizens lose patience or
markets lose trust.
Clarity is a prerequisite of serious
discussion and ambitious reform.
Each of the major participants now
has an obligation to dene what it
regards as indispensable, what it
considers unacceptable, and what it
is ready to give in exchange for what it
wants. -Project Syndicate
zJean Pisani-Ferry is a professor at the
Hertie School of Governance in Berlin,
and currently serves as commissionergeneral for policy planning for the
French government.
Qatar is
developing
fast, using
information
technology as
key tool
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An Old Havana 17th century home, one of the last surviving examples of architecutre from that period, in Cuba.
A ride in Cubas time machine

By Richard Quest
CNN
igars, old cars, the Buena

Vista Social Club, and
world class eye care. Cuba is
unique in so many ways. But
it may be about to become a lot less so.
At the end of July a bill to end the
55-year-old US embargo on Cuba
showed its face in Congress. The
process could still take years, but US
companies, particularly hotels and
airlines, have waited decades for this.
Right now, with so much change afoot,
they can almost taste the fresh, new
business.
Earlier this year I visited the island
for the first time. So much about it is
resolutely old world. Impoverished
at home and isolated abroad since
1962, the blockade as they call
it in Cuba has created a kind of

time warp. The question is whether
development will suddenly hit warp
speed. Just how far and how fast will
Cuba open up?
I drove around Havanas dusty,
shabby, achingly beautiful streets
with Cuban-American businessman
and property developer Hugo Cancio,
president of Fuego Media Group. From
the back seat of a cherry red 1949
Chevrolet convertible he told me that
developers from the US have been
ying to Cuba on the quiet for a while
now, sizing it up.
In the crosshairs of the big hotel
groups are the hulking governmentrun hotels dotted along Havanas
seafront. Desperate for renovation,
they symbolise the islands latent
potential. But this is a story that has
played out in resorts all over the world.
The dilemma for those in charge is
clear: preserve history, or cave in to

the developers dollars?
Cancio reckons Cubans want to take
things slowly. They may want to see
a Wallmart, or an Apple Store, or a
Nike store, but nothing excessive, he
insists.
Even without the anticipated inux
of American investment, the green
shoots of regeneration are already
peeping through. Stunning old buildings on the sea front are being elegantly restored, and a considered approach
to polishing up the islands assets is
evident. At least, for now.
Cuba could have allowed foreign
investors to come in and transform
the city many years ago, Cancio says.
Whats going to change now?
Pointing to a gorgeous seafront
building he underlines this point:
They could have torn this building down, but instead theyre getting
ready to restore the property. It tells

you that were not going to see high
rise condos here any time soon.
Before we say our farewells, the
developer takes me to a patch of
scrubland with a sea view. Hes ready
to build right there; he has the money
and the backers. When he says he
doesnt have the building in mind, I
tell him I dont believe him. He laughs.
The US airlines are also licking
their lips, waiting to gorge on the new
routes that will doubtless come along
when America opens up air traffic
rights.
If you want to come to this utterly
unique island, heres my advice: dont
wait enjoy this beautifully peculiar
time capsule before it changes forever.
zRichard Quest is a CNN International
anchor and reporter, based in New York
City.
Gulf Times
23
COMMENT
Time to accept Japan at its word

Asian security and
prosperity is in everyones
interest
By Yuriko Koike
Tokyo
n recent years, the number of

tourists visiting Japan has been
increasing rapidly, reaching a
record 13.4mn last year, a 29%
increase from 2013.
Japan seems to be making great
strides toward its goal of recapturing
the position as an Asian cultural
centre that it held a century ago,
when the Indian Nobel laureate poet
Rabindranath Tagore lived in Tokyo.
Chinese revolutionary leaders Sun
Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek, along
with many other prominent Asians,
moved there as well.
Anyone visiting Japan today would
do well to learn two key words: domo,
meaning hello, thanks, or well,
and sumimasen, which can carry any
of the meanings of domo, as well as
sorry or excuse me.
Ordinary Japanese say sumimasen
countless times each day, to apologise
to friends or strangers for even the
most trivial accident or mistake. But,
as Japans leaders have experienced
rsthand since World War II,
expressing regret to other countries is
not so simple.
Yet that is precisely what Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe must do in his
upcoming statement marking the 70th
anniversary of the end of the war.
The statement will be based
on consultations with many of
Japans, and the worlds, leading
WWII historians, as well as and
more important with himself, his
conscience, and his heart, because he
understands the signicance of his
words on this highly fraught topic.
Of course, Abe is far from the rst
Japanese leader to confront this

challenge. His statement will follow
a long line of declarations by prime
ministers and chief cabinet secretaries
expressing sincere remorse over the
events of WWII.
Twenty years ago, prime minister
Tomiichi Murayama, the head of the
Socialist Party, acknowledged that
Japan, through its colonial rule
and aggression, caused tremendous
damage and suffering to the people of
many countries, particularly in Asia.
He went on to express feelings of
deep remorse and offer a heartfelt
apology to the victims.
Ten years later, prime minister
Junichiro Koizumi reiterated
Murayamas words, adding that since
the war, Japan had been manifesting
its remorse for the war through
actions, especially development
assistance and humanitarian
activities.
Koizumi also pledged that Japan,
as a peace-loving nation, will work to
achieve peace and prosperity for all
humankind with all its resources.
Despite these straightforward
declarations of regret, some
governments and citizens continue to
demand more, giving the impression
that nothing a Japanese leader says
or does will convince them of the
countrys remorse.
This intractability is, in some cases,
understandable; the pain of survivors
and their descendants remains
acute. But in many other cases, the
unwillingness to move beyond history
is driven by political interests.
Indeed, political motivations are
behind claims that Abe does not agree
with past official apologies, despite
his repeated assurances that he does,
as well as suggestions that he is
seeking to revise history, even though
he has never denied Japans colonial
aggression.
Moreover, some have produced
portrayals of Japan, as a whole,
Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offering a silent prayer for victims of the 1945 atomic bombing, during a ceremony
commemorating the 70th anniversary of the bombing of the city at Nagasakis Peace Park in western Japan,on August 9.
Abe is set to issue a statement on Friday to mark the anniversary on Saturday of the end of World War II.
as an unrepentant country or,
worse, as one that is hell-bent on
remilitarisation.
Such depictions are breathtaking
in their audacity, given Japans
seven-decade record as a peaceful
and constructive member of the
international community.
This is not lost on those in Japan
who ask for how long their country
will have to apologise, with some
even suggesting that after 70 years, a
tweet on the subject should amount

to adequate acknowledgement by Abe.
The prime minister, however,
remains committed to issuing a strong
and sincere statement on the subject.
Early this year, Abe announced his
intention to use the 70th anniversary
statement to communicate Japans
remorse for the war, describe the
progress the country has made in
upholding peace and describe the
contributions that Japan can make to
Asia and the rest of the world in the

coming decades.
In fact, it is the third component
of the announcement that inspires
fear in some observers: By helping to
build a strong security architecture in
the Asia-Pacic region, Japan could
undermine the ability of some actors
to advance their own interests.
That is why they launched a whisper
campaign against Abes statement
months before he even began to write it.
But, of course, Asian security and

prosperity is in everyones interest.
Given this, not even the language
of Abes statement is particularly
important; what matters is the
determination he expresses, and the
actions he takes to follow through
with appropriate humility on his
pledges.
And it seems that Abe is, indeed,
determined to make real contributions
to peace, based on effective cooperation with Japans friends and
allies.
But if Asia is to move beyond its
past, the victims of Japans wartime
aggression must recognise that the
Japan of 2015 is not the Japan of 1931,
1941, or even 1945, and that, as many
Asian leaders have realised over the
years, forgiveness benets everyone.
In 1998, South Korean president
Kim Dae-jung responded positively to
a statement by former Japanese prime
minister Keizo Obuchi.
The governments of Indonesia,
the Philippines, Vietnam and other
countries have done the same, and
now welcome Japans commitment to
act with its allies to protect regional
security.
These countries openness to
reconciliation has enabled Japan to
recast itself as a key arbiter of regional
peace and prosperity, not to mention
an increasingly dynamic cultural hub.
It is time for the rest of the region
to follow suit, accepting at face value
Japans sincere apologies and working
with the country to build a better
future.
At a time when Asia is facing serious
security challenges, this stance could
not be more urgent.-Project Syndicate
zYuriko Koike, Japans former defense
minister and national security adviser,
was chairwoman of Japans Liberal
Democratic Partys General Council
and currently is a member of the
National Diet.
Weather report
Letters
Three-day forecast
TODAY
Plastic
problem
Dear Sir,
The caution issued by a senior
Hamad Medical Corpoartion (HMC)
official against the overuse of plastic
containers for storing food (Gulf
Times, August 10) is timely.
We live in a plastic world. Plastic
is used for almost everything these
days. Your food and hygiene products
are packaged in it. Our car, phone and
computer are made from it. While
most plastics are touted as recyclable,
the reality is that they seldom enter
the cycle. Instead they end up as
waste, polluting our oceans and
lands.
According to an estimate, we
produce almost 300mn tonnes of
plastic globally each year.

One study calculated that 8mn
tonnes of plastic waste ow from the
land to the sea every year.
Thats equivalent to 16 shopping
bags full of plastic for every metre of
coastline. By 2025 we will be putting
enough plastic in the ocean to cover
5% of the earths entire surface in cling
lm each year.
Because of this, the warning from
HMCs chairman of internal medicine,
Prof Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra,
assumes much importance.
Prof Abou-Samra rightly points
out that storing or heating food or
drinks in containers made from plastic
can increase the amount of chemicals
transferred to the food, something he
says can have negative health effects.
Instead, we should be opting for
glass or metal containers.
But, as the professor pointed
out, it can be extremely difficult to

avoid using plastic food packaging
altogether but we should be
cautious.
The type of chemicals used in the
manufacturing of plastic can often
be identied from the products
identication code. Packaging
with codes 1 (PET), 2 (high density
polyethylene - HDPE), 4 (low density
polyethylene - LDPE), 5 (PP) and
6 ( Polystyrene -PS) are generally
nontoxic.
Plastic identication codes are
generally stamped or printed on the
bottom of packaging and surrounded
by the internationally used recycling
symbol, which consists of arrows that
form a rounded triangle.
T P Rasheed
PO Box 766
Doha
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Of deception and manipulation

By Oliver Burkeman
New York
ne serious contender for

the title of Historys Most
Gullible Person is a man
from New York who is suing
a psychic on the grounds that shes a
total fraud.
Priscilla Delmaro stands accused
of fleecing her anonymous customer
of more than 450,000, which shed
promised to use to help him win
the heart of a woman he loved. (Her
expenses included 19,000 for a
time machine, plus 50,000 for an
80-mile bridge made of gold dont
ask.)
Coincidentally, the object of the
mans affection died midway through
this process. But Delmaro allegedly
kept plugging away, promising
that the dead woman would be
reincarnated, at which point the mans
impressively elastic credulity snapped.
This caused me to start thinking,
he wrote in a statement provided to
detectives, that Delmaro wasnt
everything she was purporting to be.
Delmaro has denied the allegations.
If what he said is true, Delmaros
customer, its reasonable to conclude,
was a fool. And he certainly counts as
a phool, as dened in Phishing For
Phools, a forthcoming book by the
economists George Akerlof and Robert
Shiller.
Technically, phishing is the scam
whereby fraudsters persuade you
to part with your nancial details,
using e-mails and websites that

look trustworthy. But Shiller and
Akerlof argue that deception and
manipulation arent conned to the
fringes of the economy; instead,
theyre central to how consumer
capitalism works.
Were being phished all the time
(making us, in their terminology,

phools). In a free market, one set
of prot opportunities comes from
exploiting peoples psychological
weaknesses.
Trickery is so commonplace, the
authors show, that the line we draw
between sleazy or illegal behaviour
and canny business practice is pretty

arbitrary. Almost as arbitrary, in
fact, as the line between a fraudulent
psychic and a non-fraudulent one.
Take gyms. They advertise
themselves as routes to tness, yet in
most cases their business model rests
on monetising laziness: if most people
made good use of their monthly
subscriptions, the cost of providing
space and equipment would lead to
bankruptcy.
Another example: insider traders
get prosecuted, because they prot
from secret data that others cant
access. But when Facebook uses
internal data frommns of users to
display the perfect ad for you
targeted to push psychological buttons
you didnt know you had is that so
different?
Some sites now display different
prices to different shoppers, based on
what their online behaviour suggests
theyll be willing to pay, which is
somehow both a) entirely sensible and
b) utterly outrageous.
The point isnt that any of this is
necessarily wrong; rather, Shiller
and Akerlof want us to think of
our susceptibility to manipulation
as a resource which, in a market
economy, someone is naturally going
to try to exploit.
From this bleak perspective, the
salesman who shows you the 2,000
TV rst, so that the 800 model feels
like a bargain, isnt a con artist hes
just doing his job. Yours is never to
forget that hes doing it. Guardian
News and Media
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Gulf Times
QATAR
DFI co-nancing
partners for Idol
S
trengthening its ongoing commitment to international lm production,

the Doha Film Institute has announced its latest co-nancing
partnership on Hany Abu-Assads The Idol (Ya Tayr El Tayr).
The Idol, directed by Academy Award-nominated Palestinian lmmaker Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now, Omar), will
have its world premiere at next
months Toronto International
Film Festival where it will screen
as part of the festivals Special
Presentations, a programme
dedicated to showcasing highprole premieres and the worlds
leading lmmakers.
The lm tells the inspirational
true story of Mohamed Assaf, a
wedding singer from Gaza who
became a worldwide sensation
after winning the live-singing
competition Arab Idol in 2013.
Doha Film Institute CEO
Fatma al-Remaihi said: Hany
Abu-Assad is one of the most
signicant lmmakers from the

Arab world and we are honoured
to be partners on The Idol. Assafs remarkable story, the many
struggles he had to overcome,
and his love and commitment
to his family and community in
Gaza had a powerful impact on
us. In the hands of a great lmmaker like Hany Abu-Assad, this
story will undoubtedly continue
to resonate with people all over
the world. We are really looking
forward to sharing the lm with
audiences at its world premiere
in Toronto next month.
The Doha Film Institute has
been involved with The Idol
from the production stage of the
project and this week, two Qatari
lmmakers have participated in
a post-production internship,
working alongside Hany AbuAssad during the nal edit of the
lm in London.
The post-production interns
are: Yousef al-Moadhadi, an editor and director whose short lm
10% won the Made in Qatar

Award at the 2014 Ajyal Youth
Film Festival; and Leena al-Musalmani, a Northwestern University in Qatar graduate whose rst
lm, Public Phone, screened as
part of the Made in Qatar section
of the 2014 Ajyal Youth Film Festival. The institutes Co-nancing Co-ordinator and emerging
lmmaker, Meriem Mesraoua,
was also in attendance to observe
and learn from the experience.
Commenting on the experience of her internship on the
project, Leena al- Musalmani
said: This has been such a valuable experience for me to gain
rst-hand experience on a feature production. It was amazing
to observe the dynamic of the
crew and how they are working as
a team towards one goal and supporting each other to achieve it.
The Doha Film Institutes participation in The Idol follows
its recent co-nancing role on
Kahlil Gibrans The Prophet, an
Dumping violations
animated feature lm written and

directed by Roger Allers (The Lion
King) with chapters from nine
award-winning animators. Salma
Hayek produced the lm and is
one of the voice cast. The lm is
currently on release in the US.
The Institutes co-nancing division seeks to invest in
projects that are culturally relevant and commercially viable, with the underlying aim of
strengthening the lm industry
of Qatar by facilitating opportunities for collaboration and development for Qatari lmmakers.
In addition to its co-nancing slate, the Institute supports
rst- and second-time lmmakers from around the world and
established lmmakers from the
Mena region through its grants
programme which has funded
more than 220 lms since 2010.
National lm talent is further
supported by the recently formed
development and production
fund - the Qatari Film Fund.
Yousef al-Moadhadi and Hany Abu-Assad pictured during post-production for The Idol.
Australian Business Traveller

awards for Qatar Airways
Q
atar Airways has won

two awards at the recent Australian Business Traveller Awards. The Doha-based carriers superjumbo
A380 Lounge was named Best
Inight Lounge and the airline
also picked up the Best Economy Class accolade for its A350
Economy Class cabin.
Qatar Airways Group Chief
Executive, Akbar al-Baker, said:
We are delighted to have received these two accolades for
our agship A380 and A350 aircraft, particularly so for the A350
which only commenced operations just seven months ago.
These awards bear testament to
our commitment and dedication
to delivering a high quality travel

experience for all passengers who
y with Qatar Airways, across all
classes of travel. Whether you are
travelling with us in the Premium
Cabins or in Economy Class, our
ve-star service offering remains
consistent.
Qatar Airways A350 Economy Class cabin was named Best
Economy Class as it cleverly
marries the overall sense of space
in the Airbus A350 cabin with
an economy seat thats a generous 18 inches wide, with ample
room around the knees for even
the tallest traveller, said David
Flynn, editor of the Australian
Business Traveller.
In addition to wider seats in
Business and Economy Classes,

the state-of-the-art aircraft is
also quieter and features advanced air conditioning technology coupled with mood lighting
to reduce passenger fatigue after
a long ight.
Qatar Airways is the global
launch customer for the A350,
and currently ies the worlds
newest wide-body aircraft on
the Frankfurt and Singapore
routes.
Besides Best Economy Class,
Qatar Airways elegantly designed A380 on-board lounge
was also named Best Inight
Lounge by the Australian Business Traveller Awards.
The lounge on board the air-
lines bespoke A380 superjumbo

was praised for offering travellers a social space where they can
mix and mingle and boasts an
undeniably private jet vibe.
The Australian Business Traveller Awards are organised by the
Australian Business Traveller,
the Asia Pacic regions leading
website for business travellers
and frequent yers. The Awards
recognise the trend-setters and
game-changers in the highly
competitive business travel market across 33 categories including rst class suites and business
class seats, airport lounges, frequent yer programmes, inight
food , travel technology and
more.
Patrolling teams from the wildlife unit of the Ministry of Environment detected a number of
violations recently. These included a vehicle dumping refuse materials in the Rashidah area,
a cement mixer discharging its contents in an improper manner west of the Al Khor complex
and a sewage tanker dumping its cargo at an undesignated spot in the Umm Al Affai area. The
violators, who were found engaging in unauthorised activities in places designated as wildlife
areas, were referred to the authorities concerned for further action.
Qatar Airways A380 on-board lounge was named Best Inflight Lounge by the Australian Business Traveller Awards.
A350 deployed on Doha-Dubai route
atar Airways, the global

launch customer for the
A350, has deployed the
worlds newest aircraft on the
Doha-Dubai route during August
2015.
Starting August 8, the Dohabased airline is showcasing its
state-of-the-art A350 on 28 of
its Dubai Shuttle frequencies, up
until September 1.
Qatar Airways Acting VP GCC,
Levant, Iran, Iraq and Yemen,
Ishfaq Jalal said: The introduction of the A350 aircraft to the
Doha-Dubai sector, which is an
important and strategic route
for Qatar Airways, will redene the in-ight experience for
our Doha-Dubai travellers. The
A350 provides passengers with
an unmatched travel experience
thanks to its modern technology
and spacious innovative design
and features.
Qatar Airways introduced
its rst and second commercial
A350 ights to the German market with ights to Frankfurt in
January and March earlier this

year. The airline has also recently
launched its third and fourth
A350 aircraft to Singapore and
this month turns its Singapore
route into a triple daily with a
third A350.
Qatar Airways currently has
four Airbus A350 in its eet of
aircraft, with 76 more on order,
and is the only airline in the world
to operate every family of Airbus

modern airliner portfolio.
Passengers on the A350 will
benet from a new boarding experience achieved by a unique
dome-design entrance with welcome light distribution. The aircraft also offers extra wide seats
with generous room in all classes
of service thanks to a number of
design developments offering
greater comfort to all passengers.

Qatar Airways A350s feature
36 seats in Business Class in a
1-2-1 conguration featuring an
80 full at bed and 17 HD inight entertainment screen. The
Economy Class features 247 18inch wide seats in a 3-3-3 conguration, each with a 10.6 inight entertainment screen, and
more space at shoulder level for
passengers in the window seats
due to the vertical side wall panel
design.
Qatar Airways A350 features
the-state-of-the art Oryx One
entertainment system, with
more than 2,000 entertainment
options on individual screens in
all classes. The worlds newest
jet also offers advanced air conditioning technology and LED
mood lighting to enhance the
comfort of passengers while reducing fatigue after a long ight.
In addition, the A350 will also offer in-ight Wi-Fi connectivity
for all passengers allowing them
to surf the web on the go.
PLANS MORE | Page 3
PARENT FIRM | Page 15
Saudi Arabia
sells 20bn riyal
sovereign bond
Google CFO
holding out
on openness

Shawwal 27, 1436 AH
GULF TIMES
MONTHLY REPORT: Page 16
Opec supply
at 3-year high
as Iran pumps
most since 2012
BUSINESS
China devalues yuan
amid slowing growth
Bloomberg
Beijing
hina devalued the yuan in a

move that rippled through
global markets, as policy makers stepped up efforts to support exporters and boost the role of market
pricing in Asias largest economy.
The central bank cut its daily reference rate by 1.9%, triggering the
yuans biggest one-day drop since
China ended a dual-currency system
in January 1994. The Peoples Bank of
China called the change a one-time
adjustment and said its xing will become more aligned with supply and
demand.
The announcement suggests policy
makers are now placing a greater emphasis on efforts to combat the deepest economic slowdown since 1990
and reduce the governments grip on
the nancial system. Authorities had
been propping up the yuan to deter
capital outows, protect foreign-currency borrowers and make a case for
official reserve status at the International Monetary Fund.
The one-off devaluation of the x
and allowing more market-based determination takes us into a new currency regime, said Khoon Goh, a Singapore-based strategist at Australia &
New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. It
looks like this is the end of the xing
as we know it.
The yuan dropped 1.8% to close at
6.3231 per dollar in Shanghai. It slid
2.6% to 6.3790 in Hong Kongs offshore trading, the biggest discount to
the onshore spot rate since 2011. The
central bank allows the Shanghai rate
to diverge a maximum 2% from its
daily xing, which was set at 6.2298.
Chinas devaluation jolted global
A pedestrian walks past the Peoples Bank Of China (PBOC) headquarters at

night in the financial district of Beijing. The central bank cut its daily reference
rate by 1.9%, triggering the yuans biggest one-day drop since China ended a
dual-currency system in January 1994.
markets, with the currencies of South
Korea, Australia and Singapore falling at least 1% amid bets other countries will seek weaker exchange rates
to keep exports competitive. Shares
of Chinese airlines sank on concern
dollar debt costs will rise, while commodities retreated amid speculation
yuan weakness will erode the buying power of Chinese consumers. US
Treasuries gained on growing demand
for dollar assets.
Exchange-rate intervention contributed to a $300bn slide in Chinas
foreign-exchange reserves over the
last four quarters. It also made the
yuan the best performer in emerging
markets, a factor behind last months
8.3% slide in exports.
The yuans real effective exchange
rate - a measure thats adjusted for
ination and trade with other nations
- climbed 13% over the last four quarters and was the highest among 32
major currencies tracked by Bank for
International Settlements indexes.

Effective immediately, marketmakers who submit prices for the
PBOCs reference rate will have to
consider the previous days closing
spot rate, foreign-exchange demand
and supply, as well as changes in major currency rates, the central bank
said in a statement. Previous guidelines made no mention of those criteria.
The new xing will be quoted
based on the previous days closing, which is a real market level, said
Becky Liu, a Hong Kong-based senior strategist at Standard Chartered.
The band will become the real band.
This is a big step, and bolder than we
expected.
Yesterdays devaluation was a oneoff adjustment and shouldnt be interpreted as a sign that the yuan will
enter a depreciation trend, PBOC
chief economist Ma Jun was cited as
saying in a Caixin report. The central
bank said it will stabilise market expectations and ensure the new reference-rate mechanism will take effect
in an orderly manner.
China has to balance the need to
boost exports against the risk of capital outows, Tom Orlik, chief Asia
economist at Bloomberg Intelligence,
wrote in a note. He estimates that a
1% depreciation in the real effective
exchange rate boosts export growth
by 1 percentage point with a lag of
three months. At the same time, a 1%
drop against the dollar triggers about
$40bn in outows.
The risk is that depreciation triggers capital ight, dealing a blow to
the stability of Chinas nancial system, Orlik said. Chinas leaders may
be calculating that they can manage
those risks with their $3.69tn of foreign currency reserves, he said.
The PBOC said yesterday that a
strong yuan puts pressure on exports
and cited a high effective exchange
rate as a factor behind the devaluation. Julys export slump was deeper
than economists predicted, while the
nations index of producer prices declined 5.4%, the most since 2009.
Todays (Tuesday) sudden policy
move is a reaction to a signicant
weakening of Chinas export numbers
in July and rising deation risk, said
Liu Li-Gang, the chief Greater China
economist at ANZ in Hong Kong.
While the devaluation will help
support growth, Liu is predicting
that the PBOC will lower lenders reserve requirements in August and cut
benchmark interest rates this quarter
for the fth time in a year.
IMF requirements that reserve currencies must be freely usable may
have also played a role in the PBOCs
move, according to Commerzbank.
Pages 4, 5, 7, 13
Brazil terminal receives 1st

Q-Flex vessel from RasGas
A
l-Huwaila, the vessel carrying LNG cargo from RasGas,

has arrived for the rst time
at the Bahia Regasication Terminal (TRBA) in Baa de Todos os
Santos in Salvador, RasGas said in a
statement.
The cargo delivered by the Korean-built Q-ex liqueed natural
gas (LNG) carrier, is the largest to
arrive at Petrobras third and most
recently-opened LNG terminal,
RasGas said.
Petrobras is a Brazilian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.
RasGas chief marketing and
shipping officer Khalid Sultan R
al-Kuwari said: The arrival of
our fully-loaded Q-flex vessel at
Bahia extends our larger ships
reach to 56 terminals in 18 countries across the globe allowing for
greater cost-efficiency for our
customers. This is an example of
RasGas flexible operations and
we look forward to continue supporting Petrobras in meeting its
growing demand for cleaner energy in the form of LNG.
Petrobras executive manager for
Gas & Power Marketing and Trading Rodrigo Vilanova added: Receiving this fully-loaded Q-ex
vessel at our Bahia Regasication
terminal is an important milestone
as it increases our capacity to receive larger LNG ships in Brazil.
LNG is a key source of supply to the
Brazilian natural gas market and
Al-Huwaila is the first Q-flex LNG vessel to berth at the Bahia Regasification Terminal located on the eastern coast
of Brazil.
RasGas is a strategic LNG supplier
to Petrobras.
RasGas integrated shipping eet
consists of 27 long-term chartered

LNG vessels. The eets variety of
14 conventional ships, 12 Q-ex,
and one Q-Max vessel enhances

RasGas exibility to meet global
demand.
Qatar investors eyeing Philippine

resorts and island properties
By Peter Alagos
Business Reporter
Resort-oriented properties and tourismrelated real estate are among investments that appeal to Qatari businessmen eyeing the Philippine property
market, an official of the Association of
Filipino Real Estate Executives in Qatar
(Afreeq) said.
Aside from the numerous residential and
commercial condominium developments (both completed and off-plan)
available to all foreign investors in the
Philippines, Afreeq chairman Joseph
Rivera said other alternative inventories like highland retreats and beach or
island property options are expected to
catch the eye of foreign investors.
Recent consultative meetings with
Qatari businessmen revealed that a
significant sector of the locals would still
prefer resort-oriented properties that are
tied up to tourism.
They believe that such properties could
always withstand any economic turmoil.
Greece is a clear example. All of its beach
front hotel accommodations remain
to be at 98% occupancy despite the
countrys ongoing financial crisis, Rivera
told Gulf Times.
To help revitalise trade between Qatar
and the Philippines through the property
sector, Rivera said Afreeq is currently
finalising preparations for the staging
of the first Philippine Property Investor
Show in Qatar (PPIS-Q) slated on October 23 and 24 in Doha.
He said PPIS-Q will include lectures
and seminars to be led by high-profile
speakers from the Philippines. Also,
10 top property developers from the
Philippines have already confirmed their
participation in the event.
Rivera said Afreeq is also planning to organise a range of meetings and B2B networking events on the sidelines of the
PPIS-Q between the Qatar Chamber, the
British and Indian business communities
in Qatar and the heads of delegations of
the developer participants, as well as the
dignitaries of the Philippine government
agencies that were invited.
We are optimistic to receive the same
Rivera: The Philippines is the most

affordable place to own luxury branded
properties.
cordial response from officials of the
Qatar Chamber, as well as those from the
Qatar-British and Qatar-Indian business
communities, Rivera said.
Rivera also said Afreeq has also sent
invitations to Philippine Ambassador
Wilfredo Santos and officials from the
Senate Committee on Urban Planning,
Housing and Resettlement, the House
Committee on Urban Planning and Housing, the Philippine Retirement Authority,
and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board.
According to Rivera, Afreeq is confident
that high-end developments within the
Bonifacio Global City in Metro Manila will
take the lead in attracting the foreign
market followed by Tagaytay, Boracay,
and Cebu.
The Philippines is the most affordable
place to own luxury branded properties
such as Milano, Versace, Missoni, and
Trump. International icons such as Paris
Hilton also have signature properties in
the country, Rivera said.
Rivera said the cost of property in the
Philippines remains as the third lowest
in Southeast Asia averaging at QR8,666
(P104,000) per square metre compared
to Singapore and Hong Kong, soaring at
QR133,333 (P1.6mn) per square metre.
The Philippine also boasts of having the
second highest rental yield in Asia averaging at 8.98% per annum as compared
to Taiwan being the lowest at 1.7%, he
added.
2 ISLAMIC FINANCE
GULF
TIMES
Growing trend: Islamic finance goes offshore

By Arno Maierbrugger
Gulf Times Correspondent
Bangkok
The rise of Islamic finance and sukuk issuances
have brought with it a growing phenomenon:
Shariah banking is increasingly taking
advantage of offshore banking jurisdictions, and
this for a number of reasons.
Many offshore centres around the world
meanwhile offer a wide range of features
allowing Shariah principles to be upheld when
creating Islamic financial products. This goes in
tandem with offshore companies and trusts that
have proven to be a useful ingredient to Islamic
finance products. Many offshore jurisdictions
also offer multiple other benefits such as low
income, capital gains, profit or withholding
taxes or no taxes at all, no restrictions on foreign
exchange or foreign ownership, experienced
service providers and operational support.
Offshore financial centres that since have

attracted Islamic finance are, among others,
Cayman Islands, Jersey, Bermuda, British Virgin
Islands and Labuan in Malaysia, the latter
mainly for Asian transactions.
For example, earlier this year Labuan was
chosen for the issuance of Australias first-ever
sukuk as solar power joint venture SGI-Mitabu
from Brisbane sought $117mn to finance the
building of a solar power plant in Indonesia. The
company chose Malaysias popular offshore
finance centre because Australia still has not
approved laws allowing for the sale of sukuk
since first proposing a plan in 2010.
There have also been issuances of Malaysia
ringgit-denominated sukuk from Middle East
issuers in Labuan in the past, including National
Bank of Abu Dhabi and Gulf Investment Corp.
This years issuance of the first corporate global
sukuk out of Indonesia, Garuda Indonesias
$500mn sukuk which is also the first ever
offshore US dollar offering by an Indonesian
corporate issuer and the first sukuk issuance

utilising the airline capacity structure, has
been facilitated through the establishment of a
trustee company based in the Cayman Islands
under the name of Garuda Indonesia Sukuk
Limited, and the trust certificates that will be
listed on the Stock Exchange of Singapore.
Gulf Times
Exclusive
The Cayman Islands, one of the largest offshore
financial centres in the world, seem to be the
jurisdiction of choice for several Islamic finance
products for real estate, asset and project
finance and particularly for sukuk. While there
are no specific regulations for Islamic finance,
the jurisdictions flexibility, particularly with
regard to the drafting of documents with

Shariah requirements, suits the demands of
Middle Eastern clients, including the option to
register companies in both Arabic and English.
Furthermore, as a British overseas territory,
Cayman is politically stable and its laws are
based on English common law, which is the
preferred governing law for Islamic finance
transactions, according to Jude Scott, CEO of
Cayman Finance, one of the islands largest
finance firms.
Bermuda started focusing on Islamic finance
when it entered a double taxation avoidance
treaty with Bahrain in 2010 and has been
introducing legislation to accommodate
Shariah-compliant finance platforms. The island
has a thriving sukuk and takaful sector. The
British Virgin Islands are increasingly being used
by Islamic asset managers and Islamic financial
institutions to incorporate investment vehicles
especially for China, as they provide some
specific advantages particularly for certain
Najib credibility with

Islamic funds to be
tested by power sukuk
Bloomberg
Kuala Lumpur
sukuk sale by a Malaysian

state-owned power producer will shed some light
on the cost of a political scandal
involving Prime Minister Najib
Razak.
Sarawak Energy Bhd is seeking to raise 1bn ringgit ($257mn)
by selling notes with maturities of 10 and 20 years this week,
people familiar with the matter
have said. The sale will be the
rst since the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission said on
Monday that 2.6bn ringgit that
ended up in Najibs personal bank
accounts were donations and not
from a debt-ridden state investment company.
Malaysias sovereign Islamic
bond sale last week drew the
weakest demand of 2015 after
the Wall Street Journal reported
funds linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd had found their way
into Najibs accounts. Higher
borrowing costs would make it
more expensive to nance the
governments $444bn development plan to build rail, roads and
ports as it seeks to become an advanced economy by 2020.
There will be some slight apprehension to the offering given
the political climate, said Edward
Iskandar Toh, chief investment
officer for xed income at Areca
Capital Bhd, which oversees
500mn ringgit in Kuala Lumpur.
But demand will be there because its a good paper.
Sarawak Energy, which is
based on the island of Borneo and

rated investment grade of AA1, is
primed to tap the market when
conditions stabilise, chief nancial officer Alexander Chin said
in a phone interview. The company is seeking to sell the 10-year
sukuk to yield 4.65% to 4.75%
and the 20-year note at 5.25% to
5.35%, people familiar said, adding that the order book closes on
Friday.
The company has the option
to raise the offering size and proceeds will partly nance the construction of a 3bn ringgit, 600
megawatt coal-red power plant,
Chin said.
Najib has faced calls to step
down from former premier Mahathir Mohamad because of
1MDB, which accumulated 42bn
ringgit of debt in less than ve
years. Najib, who is chairman of
the funds advisory board, has
denied taking money for personal
gain. Mahathir said on his personal blog on August 3 that while
its not illegal to accept donations
into personal accounts, having
2.6bn ringgit is against election
rules as theres a limit on those
expenses.
We believe the recent allegations of graft involving 1MDB in
Malaysia will not impede effective policymaking, Standard &
Poors said in a July 27 report that
affirmed the nations A- rating.
We expect the government to
stay the course on its scal and
economic reforms.
Sarawak Energy is reviving the
sukuk offering from last month
after the yield on Malaysian
10-year non-Islamic corporate
bonds rated AA1 dropped 22 basis points to a 17-month low of

4.85%, according to a central
bank index. The 15-year yield fell
21 to 5.21%.
Companies will want to take
advantage of the lower yields as
a US interest-rate increase nears,
according to Pheim Asset Management Asia Bhd.
Issuers will want to sell now
because the window is getting
narrower, said James Lau, a
Kuala Lumpur-based investment
director at Pheim Asset overseeing $300mn. While the current
political situation may trigger a
bit of nervousness among some
investors, its a passing phase
and has also made ringgit assets
cheaper to foreign investors.
Malaysias currency is Asias
worst performing this year as the
1MDB probe added to pressure
from falling oil prices and an imminent US rate increase. The cost
to insure the nations bonds has
climbed above that of Thailand
and the Philippines.
Sukuk sales in Malaysia have
fallen 34% to 27.2bn ringgit in
2015 from a year earlier, data
compiled by Bloomberg show,
while the nations Islamic banking assets are a record 625.2bn
ringgit.
Demand for Sarawak Energys
debt will be supported because
its fairly liquid and the primary
private debt securities pipeline
has been dry for the past few
months, said Khoo Poh Sim, a
Kuala Lumpur-based portfolio
manager at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, which has more
than $1bn of assets.
EDUCATION/FAQs on Agency
Is it a condition that a price be agreed upon
by at least one of the two principals and that
these instructions be given in advance?
The setting of the price for an agent in a sale
or a purchase is not a condition to the validity
of the agency however, if the principal does
specify a price and the agent exceeds it, the
rulings pertaining to the relevant agency
agreement will apply, i.e. the transaction will go
through but be binding on the agent and not
the principal. If the agent sells the merchandise
at a price lower than the one specified by
the principal, the transaction will remain
suspended and conditional upon the approval
of the principal.
Is the agent responsible for merchandise for
as long as it remains in his possession before
selling it?
An agent is not considered a guarantor except
in cases of shortcoming or transgression.
Merchandise in his possession is considered a
trust.
Is it permissible for the bank to alter its
agency rates represented in its schedule or
to add new rates for new services?
It is lawful for the bank to alter agency rates
and make them effective from the date they
are changed on the condition that the client is
informed in advance. The client has the right to
dispute any such changes within a fixed number
of days based on which the bank exercises the
right to either accept the client's objection or to
invalidate its contract with him.
Is it permissible for the bank to charge its
clients an agency fee for the management
and lease of their property, the cost of

maintenance and repairs, administration of
legal matters in addition to expenses such as
postage, phone calls, faxes, telegraphs etc?
It is permissible for the bank to charge its clients
an agency fee for managing their property
that would include all the mentioned costs and
expenses.
Is it lawful for an agent to be a surety as well?
If the contract of agency is inclusive of both
delivering goods and collecting the money
paid for them, it will be lawful for the agent to
be a surety as well. If the contract is limited to
transacting, with no agency to collect payments
on behalf of the principal, then it will be unlawful
for the agent to act as both agent and surety.
Is it lawful for the intermediary agent to buy
and sell without informing either the buyer
or the seller about the party from which
the merchandise is bought and the party to
which it was sold?
It is lawful for the agent to not disclose to the
buyer or the seller the identity of the party
from which the merchandise is bought and the
party to which it is sold. It is essential however,
that the agent does not transgress the limits
of his agency either. If the agent sells at a price
lower than the one specified by the principal,
the transaction will be suspended and remain
conditional upon the principal's approval. If
the agent buys at a higher price than the one
specified by the principal, the transaction will go
through but will be binding on the agent and not
the principal.
Source: Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance
Malaysias Prime Minister Najib Razak is pictured during the 19th

Annual Leaders Consultation at Nurul Iman Palace in Bandar Seri
Begawan, Brunei yesterday. Najib has faced calls to step down
from former premier Mahathir Mohamad because of 1MDB, which
accumulated 42bn ringgit of debt in less than five years. Najib, who
is chairman of the funds advisory board, has denied taking money
for personal gain.
Islamic finance structures such as musharakah.

In Jersey, the islands strong investment funds
market has been expanded to accommodate
Shariah-compliant funds with the mandatory
requirement to appoint a Shariah board.
Labuan, through its Labuan Islamic Financial
Services and Securities Act, has also been
successful in attracting a number of Islamic
banks and Islamic banking windows.
Two other upcoming offshore centres for
Islamic finance can be found in the Indian
Ocean: In Mauritius, the government has paved
the way for Islamic finance by amending tax
laws which appeal to global investors wishing
to make Shariah-compliant investments,
particularly focused on Africa. And in the
Seychelles, the government is currently
working on a framework for Islamic banking
activities, with the first bank to be converted
into a Shariah-compliant bank being BMI
Offshore Bank, partly owned by BMI Bank
Bahrain.
Malaysia yield seen

rising to record as
bond funds ee
Bloomberg
Kuala Lumpur
alaysias
benchmark
Islamic
borrowing
costs are seen rising to
a record as global investors exit
the nations government and
corporate bonds at the fastest
pace in three years.
The yield has climbed 16 basis points to 4.20% since July 3,
when a Wall Street Journal report into Prime Minister Najib
Razaks nances plunged the
country into political turmoil.
Manulife Asset Management
Services Bhd says the unprecedented 4.5% is in sight this year,
compounded by falling commodity prices and a potential
US interest-rate increase. Pheim
Asset Management Asia Bhd also
sees that level being reached as
the ringgit slides.
The domestic political uncertainty, the weakening ringgit,
reserves and commodities will
add a propellant to the sukuk
yield increase, said James Lau,
a Kuala Lumpur-based investment director at Pheim Asset
overseeing $300mn. The 10year sukuk will break the record
level because Malaysia isnt immune to the take off in US rates.
A probe by the Malaysian
Anti-Corruption Commission
that concluded 2.6bn ringgit ($658mn) that ended up in
Najibs personal bank accounts
were donations and not from
debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd has failed to rebuild
condence. The FTSE Bursa
Malaysia KLCI Index of equities has dropped more than 10%
from 2015s high and the ringgit
is at a 17-year low. The cost of
insuring the nations bonds from
default is also rising.
Overseas investors trimmed
Malaysian government and corporate debt holdings by 2.4% in
July to 206.8bn ringgit, according to the central bank. They re-
duced sovereign sukuk by 16% to

8.2bn ringgit, the biggest cut in
10 months. Stocks funds pulled
$3bn from the nations equities
in 2015, the most since 2008.
The predicted rise in borrowing costs would push the 10year Islamic bond yield above
the existing all-time high of
4.44% seen in December 2013.
Malaysias economy has come
under pressure as Brent crude
prices that have more than
halved from their 2014 peak to
around $50 a barrel weigh on
earnings for Asias only major
net oil exporter. A government
report tomorrow may show
second-quarter growth slowed
to 4.5%, the least since the rst
three months of 2013, according to the median estimate in a
Bloomberg survey.
Maybank Investment Bank
Bhd is more optimistic for yields,
and says it would take crude oil
below $40, a worsening political situation and a disappointing
gross domestic product number
to cause a breach of the existing
record.
If things worsen, then investors may rethink Malaysia risks,
said Winson Phoon, a Kuala
Lumpur-based bond analyst
at Maybank Investment Bank,
a unit of the nations biggest
lender. The possible rise in US
rates is already being priced-in
and domestic funds are still cash
rich.
Malaysias Shariah-compliant
banking assets rose to an unprecedented 625bn ringgit at the end
of last year, according to the most
recent central bank data, helping
support demand for bonds. Sales
of corporate sukuk in the worlds
biggest market for the debt have
fallen 34% in 2015 to 27.4bn ringgit from a year earlier.
A slide in Asias worst-performing currency shows no sign
of ending though as Malaysias foreign-exchange reserves
dropped below $100bn for the
rst time since 2010 in July.
Saudi Othaim Malls targets

up to 1bn riyal debut sukuk
Reuters
Dubai
audi Arabias Al Othaim

Real Estate and Investment
Co, owner of ve shopping
malls in the kingdom, is marketing a ve-year debut sukuk issue
which could raise up to 1bn riyals
($267mn) for the company, four
sources aware of the matter said.
The rm, also known as Othaim Malls, is part of Al Othaim
Holding, a family-owned conglomerate which includes listed
food retailer Abdullah Al Othaim
Markets Co.
Othaim Malls launched the
transaction last week, with pricing earmarked at between 165
basis points and 175 basis points
over the six-month Saudi interbank offered rate, according to
the banking sources who spoke
on condition of anonymity as the
information isnt public.
A company source, who declined to be named, conrmed
the sukuk was being marketed
and said part of the proceeds
Othaim Malls launched the transaction last week, with pricing earmarked at between
165 basis points and 175 basis points over the six-month Saudi interbank offered rate,
according to the banking sources
would be used to fund its expansion plans. Othaim Malls
is building ve malls, of which
three are likely to be completed
by end of this year, with the rest
nalised by the end of 2016, as
well as 16 entertainment centres,
the company source added.
Two of the sources said appli-
cations from investors wanting

to participate in the deal, which
is secured against the rms mall
in Al Hofuf in the east of the
kingdom, needed to be submitted by August 20.
The deal comes after sources
told Reuters in June that Othaim
Malls was looking to complete
a transaction after the summer,

having revived plans which had
stalled the previous year.
The investment banking arms
of Banque Saudi Fransi, Gulf International Bank and National
Commercial Bank are arranging the transaction for Othaim
Malls.
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
Gulf markets mixed as banks rise, oil prices retreat

Reuters
Dubai
ulf stock markets were mixed

yesterday, with some lifted
by bank stocks and others
weighed down by stocks losing early
gains due to a renewed decline in oil
prices, dashing hopes of a sustained
rally.
Oil fell yesterday after China devalued the yuan in an effort to prop
up economic growth, weighing on the
outlook for oil demand in the worlds

top energy consumer. In addition,
Opec yesterday raised its forecast for
2015 oil supplies from non-member
countries, a sign that oils price collapse is taking longer to hit North
American shale and other competing
sources than previously thought.
Saudi Arabias main index fell 0.9%
and the heavyweight petrochemical
sector index lost just as much.
Telecommunications operator Mobily weighed on the benchmark, tumbling 4.4%.
The stock surged 5.5% in the previous session when bargain hunters
sought to make the most of a sharp
drop triggered by a revision of earnings.
Al Tayyar Travel Group fell 1.6% after the Capital Market Authority ned
the company 200,000 riyals ($53,000)
for failing to disclose the extension of
a contract with the Ministry of Education. Dubais index, inched up 0.1%
to 4,073 points but closed well below
its intraday high of 4,099 points. It
was buoyed by a trio of large lenders:
Dubai Islamic Bank , which rose 1.1%,

Emirates NBD, up 1.5%, and Mashreq,
which added 1.7%.
Healthcare rm Amanat Holding
rose 1.5% after announcing a purchase
of a 35% stake in Saudi Arabias Sukoon
International Holding, which runs a
specialised care facility, for 180mn riyals ($48mn).
Abu Dhabis bourse egded down
0.2%, while Qatar outperformed the
region and climbed 0.9%.
One of the main supports of the
Doha index was Islamic lender Masraf
Al Rayan, which this week signed a deal

with the government to provide 1.8bn
riyals ($494mn) of nancing for a large
logistics project in the countrys south.
Omans market edged down 0.3%
and Renaissance Services tumbled
4.4% after announcing on Monday
that it had swung to a net loss of 1.9mn
rials ($5mn) in the rst half of this year.
It made 10.9mn rials in the same period
of 2015.
Egypts index climbed 0.7% after a
drop in ination reported on Monday
prompted analysts to speculate about
SABB plans to issue

dollar-denominated
bond in global
markets
Saudi British Bank plans to issue
a dollar-denominated bond
in international markets, two
sources familiar of the matter
said yesterday, as the kingdoms
sixth-largest lender by assets
seeks to refinance an existing
debt maturity.
The deal is likely to be arranged
solely by HSBC, which holds a
40% stake in the Saudi bank
known as SABB, the two sources
said, speaking on condition of
anonymity as the information
isnt public.
One of the sources, with
direct knowledge of the issue,
said the deal would happen by the end of the third
quarter, subject to market
conditions, and would look to
refinance an existing $600mn
bond which is set to mature in
November. SABB declined to
comment.
Bond offerings from Saudi
banks denominated in any
currency other than Saudi
riyals are rare, given the strong
liquidity in the local market
which makes borrowing cheap,
meaning this scarcity value will
be attractive to international
investors.
SABB issued a 1.5bn riyal
($400mn) ten-year sukuk
in May, which boosted the
banks Tier 2, or supplementary, capital. However, it
hasnt issued in dollars since
the existing deal was sold in
November 2010.
Meanwhile, the only Saudi
lenders to have outstanding
debt in the currency according
to Thomson Reuters data are
Banque Saudi Fransi, which issued in 2012, and Arab National
Bank, which sold its bond in
2006.
When Saudi banks do issue in
dollars, it is often to raise dollar
funding to back infrastructure
projects in the countrywhich
often need to pay for equipment that is priced in the
currency.
It was not known if this is the
rationale behind SABBs dollar
fundraising strategy.
Despite the impact of lower oil
prices forcing the Saudi government to issue sovereign debt
for the first time since 2007 to
plug a sizeable budget deficit,
growth in the kingdoms banking sector has remained solid
and Saudi lenders carry much
higher capital reserves than
their Western counterparts.
SABB, which had a total capital
adequacy ratio of 17.58% at
the end of June, beat forecasts
despite reporting a 1.7% yearon-year drop in net profit in
the second quarter, earning
1.14bn riyals.
a potential interest rate cut. However,

auto distributor GB Auto tumbled
5.3% after announcing that its second-quarter net prot before minority
interests had dropped 65% from the
same period last year due to a shortage
of foreign currency and a particularly
soft market in Iraq.
Beltone Financial Holding slid 1.5%
after posting a 27.7% decline in second-quarter prot.
Elsewhere, Kuwait index slipped
0.07% to 6,294 points and Bahrain index added 0.02% to 1,334 points.
Moroccos
sole renery
to shut due to
nancial woes
Reuters
London
The Kingdom Tower stands illuminated at night on King Fahad Road in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia sold 20bn riyals of debt yesterday and said it would issue further sovereign bonds,
as it tries to close a budget deficit caused by the collapse in oil prices.
Saudi Arabia sells

20bn riyal sovereign
bonds, plans more
Only second state debt sale since
2007 as deficit grows; riyal money
markets jump on impact on local
liquidity
Reuters
Khobar/Dubai
audi Arabia sold 20bn riyals

($5.33bn) of debt yesterday and said
it would issue further sovereign
bonds, as it tries to close a budget decit
caused by the collapse in oil prices.
The nal pricing for the ve-year
tranche was 1.92% the state news agency
quoted the nance ministry as saying.
The seven-year portion of the issue has

been priced at 2.34% with the 10-year
debt set at 2.65%, conrming an earlier
Reuters report.
The bond sale was open to commercial
banks for the rst time since the sovereign returned to the capital markets.
The rst tranche of debt was placed
exclusively with state-controlled nancial institutions when it was sold last
month.
The issue is only the kingdoms second such issue since 2007. Further bond
sales are planned by the Saudi authorities, although their sizes are yet to be determined, the Saudi Press Agency report
added.
The International Monetary Fund estimates the budget decit will amount to
around $150bn in 2015.
The market has been expecting further
issuance given the size of the projected
shortfall, with analysts predicting between 100 and 200bn riyals of bonds to
be sold in 2015.
The lack of public clarity from the government though over the size and timeframe of its debt plans has raised concerns about whether the Saudi banking
system has enough liquidity to absorb all
the new government bonds.
One-year dollar/riyal forwards hit
their highest level since December 2008
yesterday, climbing as high as 144 points.
Previously this year, they had been trading almost entirely in a range of zero to
100 points.
Traders attributed the move to a jump
in longer-term Saudi riyal money rates
stemming from the latest bond sale,
which pushed the cost of two-year riyal funds in the interbank market up to
1.53% this week from as low as 1.05% six
weeks ago.
Concern about Saudi Arabias ability
to repay its debt does not appear to have
increased. Five-year Saudi credit default
swaps, used to insure against any sovereign default, have risen only marginally
in the last few weeks and are well below
their levels in 2011 and 2012.
oroccos
Societe
Anonyme Marocaine de
lIndustrie du Raffinage
(SAMIR) will halt production at
its 200,000 barrel per day (bpd)
Mohammedia renery due to nancial difficulties, the company
said in a statement.
Sources at the renery said
it was already shut down, but
would restart once it received
delivery of two cargoes of 2mn
barrels of crude oil, scheduled to
arrive between August 15 and 18.
It said SAMIR will continue
to supply oil products until its
stocks run out.
A source at the renery said
the facility had already halted
production, but that it has full
stocks of diesel fuel, the companys most important and protable product, and that clients are
being supplied from storage.
Stocks of other fuels are low
and those are being imported for
now, the source added.
The source would not comment
on the nature of the nancial difculties, but said the plan is to
complete maintenance on crude
distillation and vacuum distillation units and a hydrocracker before a restart, likely in the fall.
As Moroccos only renery, a
permanent closure would make
the country entirely reliant on
imports for its fuel needs.
Omans energy firm

explores loan
refinancing
Omans Sembcorp Salalah
Power and Water Co is considering refinancing its senior debt,
it said yesterday, adding to a
growing list of Gulf firms taking
advantage of lower interest
rates and excess liquidity in the
banking system.
The energy company, which
is 40% owned by Singapores
Sembcorp Utilities, did not
specify how much debt it was
looking to refinance.
According to its 2014 annual
report, the firm had around
235.5mn rials ($611.7mn) of
debt, which was raised to fund
the construction of its power
plant.
Among the original lenders
were Standard Chartered, Bank
Muscat and Bank of China, the
report said.
Egypts cotton U-turn highlights wider policy problems

Reuters
Shubra Kheit, Egypt
tanding waist deep in a cotton

eld, Egyptian farmer Mohamed
Khalil cannot mask his anger;
after the agriculture ministry banned
cotton imports to help local producers,
the cabinet abruptly vetoed the idea the latest in a series of economic policy
U-turns and delays under President
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
I cant believe this. Just weeks ago
they said we wouldnt have to worry about imported cotton, said the
white-turbaned farmer, who rents a
plot from the state to grow high-quality cotton at the Nile Delta village of
Shubra Kheit.
Such decision-making is also a
symptom of wider policy problems affecting Egypt, which is struggling to
re-energise its economy and attract
foreign investment after years of turmoil since 2011.
Sisi has imposed some tough reforms such as reducing fuel subsidies
which swallowed up huge parts of the
state budget, winning praise from the
IMF. But he has focused much of his

economic policy on mega-projects
like extending the Suez Canal and a
planned new capital city.
Meanwhile, other state initiatives
have run into trouble. The government
backtracked on plans to implement
a capital gains tax in May, a central
component of its reform agenda, after stock market players complained it
would hamper investment.
It has also delayed the roll out of a fuel
smart card system meant to cut the governments energy bill, as well as the introduction of a value-added tax (VAT).
Cotton illustrates the problem well. In
July, the agriculture ministry banned
imports in order, it said, to boost local
production. Egypt grows a high-quality and extra-long staple cotton, once
known as white gold, but output has
been shrinking for years.
The ministry is keen on Egyptian
cotton regaining its glory on all levels,
it said in announcing the ban. Eight
days later, the cabinet reversed the decision, giving no reason beyond saying
that this was in the context of developing cotton farming and supporting
its farmers. The about-face has cast
A flower of the extra long staple Giza 88 cotton is seen at a cotton field in Shubra
Kheit. After the agriculture ministry banned cotton imports to help local producers,
the cabinet abruptly vetoed the idea - the latest in a series of policy U-turns.
doubt on the governments commitment to reviving a sector that once
produced Egypts most prized export
and still accounts for much of the superior cotton used to weave luxury fabrics throughout the world. (The cot-
ton policy) adds to a general sense that

Egyptian policymaking doesnt seem to
be subject to too much analysis before
implementation, said William Jackson
at Capital Economics, adding that erratic policymaking made it difficult for
investors to plan ahead. A commodities

trader also questioned the agriculture
ministrys move. The ministry cant
unilaterally impose something like that
without having the data showing that it
is going to help more than it hurts, the
trader said.
The agriculture ministry did not
respond to requests for comment.
However, alarmed textile manufacturers had campaigned against the ban,
which would have deprived them of
cheap imported cotton supplies.
Egypts high council for cotton,
made up of government ministries
and industry bodies, said on Monday it
would work to harmonise cotton policy
taking into account foreign and domestic demand, according to a statement from the prime ministers office.
In Shubra Kheit, about 150 km north
of Cairo, extra-long Giza 88 cotton is
the only variety planted. There, farmers like Khalil feel betrayed by promises that their crops would replace the
imports.
They had already suffered a blow
in January when the government said
it would no longer pay a subsidy of
350 Egyptian pounds ($45) per qin-
tar - a unit that equates to 160 kg - of

high quality cotton. Liberalisation of
Egypts cotton sector in 1994 exposed
farmers to volatile global prices and
rising fertilizer costs. Cotton acreage has fallen dramatically since the
heyday of the 1960s, when Egypt
grew cotton on up to 2.2mn feddans
(924,000 hectares), helped by xed
state prices.
A quarter century ago, Egypt produced 2.4mn bales of cotton but the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
expects this seasons output to be just
340,000 bales.
Competition from the high-quality
US Pima variety has hurt the industry. Farmers have also turned to more
lucrative crops and local textile rms
have shifted their focus to creating
low-quality products with cheap raw
cotton imports.
Now what do I do with this? Khalil asked, waving a work-worn hand at
the extra crop he planted after hearing
there would be an import ban.
About half a million workers are involved in cotton production and manufacturing, said Gamal Siam, an agricultural economist at Cairo University.
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
Russia workers vie
with Greeks in race to
productivity abyss
Russia rms, banks shrink as

they face fresh debt payment
Reuters
London
ussian state companies

and banks are cutting staff
and scrapping projects as
they prepare for another surge
of foreign debt repayments of at
least $35bn before the end of the
year amid falling energy export
revenues and a weaker rouble.
Sberbank, the countrys top
bank, has already shed 3,600
jobs this year and is promising
to unveil a management reform by October expected to
include further job cuts. Another big state bank, VTB has laid
off 2,000 workers and promised
more cuts.
Gas giant Gazprom scrapped
a $10bn gas liquefaction plant in
the Pacic. Top oil rm Rosneft
had to postpone some renery
modernisation projects which
had been due to cost up to $15bn
over ve years, according to Russian officials.
We have taken a decision
to adjust our business plans to
take into account the macro environment and optimise capital
expenditures to prioritise upstream projects, said Rosneft,
whose total debt is estimated at
over $40bn.
Russia has a very small sovereign debt of around $50bn, but
the worlds largest energy exporter has amassed more than
$500bn in corporate debt over
the past decade as its state energy rms and banks borrowed
heavily to grow at home and
abroad.
Sanctions imposed on Russia
over the annexation of Crimea
and incursion in Ukraine since
last year have made Western
borrowing virtually impossible
Men walk past the headquarters of Sberbank in Moscow. Russian state companies and banks are cutting staff and scrapping projects as they
prepare for another surge of foreign debt repayments of at least $35bn before the end of the year amid falling energy export revenues and a
weaker rouble.
for most Russian companies,
preventing them from renancing debts as they did during the
last fall in oil prices in 20082009.
Rating agencies and Russian
scal authorities expect debt repayments in July-September to
go smoothly, in a repeat of devel-
opments in the fourth quarter of

2014 and the rst quarter of 2015
when some $36bn was paid back.
Russias central bank issued a
statement on Monday designed
to play down fears that large repayments could put the rouble
under further pressure as the
currency hovered near a ve-
month low, having hit an alltime low in December.

Companies buying up hard
currency for debt repayments
helped drive the rouble sharply
lower last year.
The central bank said it thought
real debt repayments until the end
of the year would be much smaller
than its own initial estimates of

$61bn, as much of that sum was
represented by companies lending
to their own subsidiaries which
can be rolled over.
The central bank said its latest estimates showed that real
redemptions could amount to
$35bn until December. Thus,
the Bank of Russia does not expect excess demand in the FX

market in the run-up to external
debt repayments. The Bank of
Russia does not forecast considerable portfolio investment
outow and higher tensions in
the FX market due to foreign
currency purchases for import
contract payments, it said.
The central bank has said it
believed Russian companies
had enough liquidity to service
their debt and a potential liquidity shortage should not exceed
$4bn, which could be covered
from a special central bank
cushion of $14bn.
Ratings agency Moodys said
it believed Russian oil rms will
largely shrug off low oil prices
due to a favourable tax regime
and a weaker rouble.
A Gazprom official told Reuters the company, whose debt
stands at around $25bn, has
enough export revenues for debt
servicing and has no plans to buy
hard currency from the market
in the next months. The company has to redeem at least $1.7bn
before the year end, according to
Reuters data.
Banks have no such luxury as
they have much smaller hard
currency revenues and will have
to shrink faster.
Today our clients have less
money and there is no bank
which can afford to refrain from
cutting costs or raising efficiency
in an environment of depressed
revenue growth and rising costs
of risk, said Alexey Marey, managing director from one of the
biggest Russian private banks,
Alfa Bank. For some banks it is
a question of survival, for others - it is a question of choosing
priorities in cost cutting and development, he added
Russians work the secondlongest hours in Europe after

Greece. It may not be a race
worth winning.
Thats because in terms of
productivity, measured by gross
domestic product per hour
worked, Russia is behind every
country in Europe with 25.9,
reports Bloomberg.
Greece is almost as bad at 36.2,
way below the European Union
average of 50, the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and
Development estimates.
Like debt, low productivity can
ravage an economy. Alongside
slumping investment and poor
demographics, its one of three
structural constraints that are
leaving the shrinking economy
hobbled, according to Alfa
Bank, Russias biggest private
lender that estimates the
countrys potential growth rate
at 0.5% to 1%.
Russias poor growth thus
seems to stem more from
fundamental factors than economic policy, Alfa economists
Natalia Orlova and Sergei Egiev
said in a July 29 research note.
While weak productivity, as
well as negative demographics,
has been partly substituted for
by increasing number of hours
worked all over the economy.
In terms of the number of hours
worked, Russia trails Europes
most indebted nation with 1,982
to 2,034 per person a year,
according to the latest data
available from the Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and
Development.
That may not be much help to
the economy. The International
Monetary Fund in a staff report
issued on August 3 forecast a
muted recovery in 2016 from
Russias first recession since
2009 - a 3.4% slump this year,
according to the Washingtonbased lender. It put the nations
medium-term economic growth
at 1.5% a year.
That compares with 7% average
expansion during Vladimir Putins first two terms as president
in 2000-2008, which coincided
with booming oil prices.
Dollar bulls cheer on China yuan move

Bloomberg
Singapore
hinas decision to devalue the

yuan is good news for dollar
bulls.
Chinas central bank cut the yuans
daily-xing rate by a record 1.9% yesterday after the International Monetary Fund last week delayed a decision to endorse it as a reserve currency.
The move cast doubt on the health of
the worlds second-largest economy,
weighing on the currencies of its trading partners and competitors. The dollar was already supported by specula-
Yuan cut blunts

commodity
rebound
Commodity investors
betting on a sustained recovery in prices probably
didnt count on China
devaluing its currency by
the most in two decades,
reports Bloomberg.
The worlds biggest user
of energy, metals and
grains surprised markets
by cutting the daily reference rate for the yuan
yesterday by a record
in an attempt to bolster
its economy. Prices of
oil and industrial metals
fell amid speculation
the weaker currency will
make dollar-denominated imports more expensive and slow demand.
The central banks efforts to devalue the yuan
will impact imports more
than Chinas exports,
leading to shrinking demand on higher prices of
some commodities in the
short term, Hong Sung
Ki, a commodities analyst
at Samsung Futures, said
by phone from Seoul.
For exports of some
other commodities like
steel, depreciation of the
yuan will add to the existing oversupply.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index that tracks
22 raw materials had
its biggest gain since
February on Monday
amid increased Chinese
crude-oil imports, supply
disruptions at copper
mines and worsening
crop conditions for corn.
tion the Federal Reserve will increase

interest-rates as early as next month.
The dollar story continues to look
in almost splendid isolation compared
to pretty much everywhere else, said
Jeremy Stretch, a foreign-exchange
strategist at Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce in London. It just adds to
the impetus for a currency thats rising
because the growth story is allied to the
prospect of Fed tightening upcoming.
The
greenback
strengthened
against most of its 16 major peers. The
New Zealand, Australian, Singapore
and Taiwanese dollars tumbled at least
0.7%, along with South Koreas won.
While the dollar has rallied versus all
of its major peers in the last 12 months,

the bullishness had faded. Forecasters
ratcheted back expectations for gains in
the dollar after a gauge of the currency
fell 1.7% in three months ended June 30
amid weakness in the US economy that
few predicted.
The Peoples Bank of China had
kept the yuan broadly stable against
the dollar since March to encourage
greater global usage in a push for official reserve status at the IMF.
China has been pushing for the
yuan to join the dollar, euro, yen
and pound in the basket of currencies that make up the funds Special
Drawing Rights, or SDR.
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
Regional stocks mixed
after devaluation
AFP
Tokyo
Renminbi banknotes are placed on a staff s table in a bank in Lianyungang, east Chinas Jiangsu province. Asias policy makers pointed to the potential benefits of the biggest
devaluation of the Chinese yuan in two decades, playing down the risk of a possible currency war and a hit to their countries exports.
Asias policy makers

put on brave face as
China devalues yuan
Bloomberg
Singapore
sias policy makers pointed to the

potential benets of the biggest
devaluation of the Chinese yuan
in two decades, playing down the risk of
a possible currency war and a hit to their
countries exports.
A weaker yuan should help the worlds
second-biggest economy in the longer
term, benefiting regional trade, Bank of
Thailand Assistant Governor Chantavarn Sucharitakul told reporters yesterday. The positive spin echoed reactions
from the Philippines to South Korea,
while an Indonesian central bank official flagged concern over a weaker Chinese currency.
Chinas decision sparked a tumble in
emerging-market currencies, stocks and
commodities, while heightening the risk
of competitive devaluations as global demand wanes and policy makers look for
ways to regain competitiveness. The devaluation came days after a report highlighted a slump in Chinese exports.
Theyre looking at the policy positives, said Vishnu Varathan, a Singaporebased economist at Mizuho Bank. There
are downside risks to such a policy, which
is not in the interest of any central banker
in the region now to jump in and ag as a
big red ag yet, lest they be construed as
someone priming for a tit-for-tat ght on
the FX space.
The devaluation looks to be part of an
effort by the Peoples Bank of China to
move toward a more market-based foreign exchange system, according to an
official at the Bank of Korea in Seoul. The
move indicates an effort to narrow the gap
between the rate set by the PBOC and the
level sought by the market, said the ofcial, who asked not to be identied because he isnt authorised to speak publicly
on the matter.
Chinas central bank yesterday cut
the daily reference it sets for the yuan by
1.9%, triggering the yuans biggest oneday drop since China unied official and
market exchange rates in January 1994.
Chinese authorities had been propping up the yuan to deter capital outows,
protect foreign-currency borrowers and
Emerging currencies tumble

Reuters
London
Emerging market currencies
tumbled yesterday in the
wake of Chinas record 1.9%
currency devaluation, which
took offshore-traded yuan
2.5% lower and rekindled fears
for growth in the worlds No 2
economy.
Chinas central bank cut the
yuans daily fix, effectively
devaluating it against the dollar
after data released on the
weekend showed an 8.3% slump
in Chinese exports. Bigger
moves down in the more freely
traded offshore yuan pushed
the spread between it and its
onshore counterpart to its
widest in more than 10 months.
Views are really diverging,
from people believing this is
entirely due to the softening of
the economy, to help exporters
and people thinking that the
fact that the market will play a
big role in the daily fixing is a
positive thing, said Karine Hirn,
co-founder of asset manager
East Capital.
Views on implications seemed
unanimous however, she said.
Capital outflows will likely
intensify. Companies with dollar
debt will suffer. (But) this could
lead to more reserve ratio cuts,
which is why A-shares markets
may get support.
Oil prices fell, while the Asian
ex-Japan equity index hit
1-1/2 year lows and most
regional currencies slumped.
The Singapore and Taiwan

dollars and the Philippine peso
touched five-year lows against
the greenback, while the rupiah
and ringgit traded at new 17year lows and the won slid to a
new three-year lows as traders
reckoned more central banks
would allow currencies to
weaken amid slowing growth.
Singapores data showed gross
domestic product fell 4% in
the second quarter from the
previous quarter, adding to the
picture of sluggish emerging
market growth. Those fears
for world growth and the
implications of the Chinese
devaluation hit oil prices
and stock markets. Chinese
mainland shares closed flat to
lower while MSCIs emerging
equity index retreated 0.3%.
Rabobank analysts saw the
dollar/yuan spike as the
beginning of further gains. It
is worth pointing out that on
previous occasions after dollar/
yuan broke from a multi-week
sideways trend it extended the
initial move in the following
weeks, they said, predicting the
yuan would test 6.35 per dollar.
Currency weakening was less
pronounced outside Asia, with
the Russian rouble and South
African rand down 0.3%, while
the currency of oil importer
Turkey strengthened 0.4%
The benefits of weaker oil
were evident in data showing
Turkeys current account gap
narrowing in June to $3.36bn
an above-forecast figure but
well below Mays $4.4bn.
make a case for official reserve status at

the International Monetary Fund. Yesterdays announcement suggests policy
makers are placing a greater emphasis on
efforts to combat an economic slowdown
and reduce the governments grip on the
nancial system.
This strategy to weaken currency
should be viewed as part of monetary
easing from external trade perspective in
nominal terms, which Indonesia cannot
afford, Nanang Hendarsah, a director at
Bank Indonesia, said in a text message in
response to questions about the yuan devaluation.
The move triggered declines in the
currencies of Australia, South Korea and
Singapore, whose currency fell the most
since 2011. The MSCI Asia Pacic Index
dropped 1% as a gauge of Hong Konglisted Chinese companies reversed gains.
The Korean won, Taiwanese dollar, and
Singapore dollar will likely be among the
most vulnerable because of their linkages
to the yuan, according to Mitul Kotecha,
head of Asia Pacic foreign-exchange
strategy at Barclays in Singapore.
Initial market reaction was due to the
weakness of regional currencies including the Philippine peso, Bangko Sentral ng

Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco said
in a mobile-phone message.
Should the adjustment in the yuan,
however, become effective in supporting Chinese exports in the near-term,
that could help sustain regional trade
and in turn, help support global growth,
Tetangco said.
The PBoC said yesterday that a strong
yuan puts pressure on exports and cited a
high effective exchange rate as a factor behind the devaluation. Julys export slump
was deeper than economists predicted,
while the nations index of producer prices declined 5.4%, reports from this weekend showed.
Its not that Chinas economy has
kind of hit a wall or growth has slowed
sharply all of a sudden, I think its more
that theyve decided that the currency
needs to be a little weaker, said Tim
Condon, head of Asia research in Singapore at ING Groep. If this is the beginning of a policy of creeping depreciation
of the RMB then its going to be contagious for the rest of the region.
Asian shares were mixed

yesterday, with Shanghai and
Hong Kong ending rollercoaster
sessions flat as investors
weighed news Chinas central
bank is devaluing its currency
while other regional markets
fell.
Japanese shares closed down
0.42%, or 87.94 points, at
20,720.75 while Sydney fell
0.65%, or 35.96 points, to close
at 5,473.2.
South Korean shares fell 0.82%
after disappointing earnings,
with the benchmark KOSPI
index ending down 16.52 points
at 1,986.65.
But Hong Kong and Shanghai
both ended see-saw sessions
around the flatline, after China
announced a sharply lower
daily reference rate for the yuan
against the US dollar.
The 1.86% cutthe largest since
the yuan was unpegged from
the greenback in 2005 comes
as speculation mounts China is
preparing to widen its currency
trading band for the first time
since March 2014.
Weak trade and inflation
data released last weekend
reinforced concerns that
growth is slowing in the worlds
second-largest economy.
Policy makers and the central
bank are still very concerned
about the overall economicgrowth momentum, Qian
Wang, Hong Kong-based
senior economist for Asia
Pacific at Vanguard Group, told
Bloomberg News.
China has suffered because
of the strengthening of the
currency.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark
Hang Seng Index edged down
22.91 points to end the day
at 24,498.21 on turnover of
HK$96.1bn (US$12.4bn).
On the mainland, the
benchmark Shanghai
Composite Index dipped 0.51
points to close at 3,927.91
on turnover of 712.3bn yuan
($114.3bn).
The Shenzhen Composite
Index, which tracks stocks
on Chinas second exchange,
added 0.41%, or 9.43 points, to
2,284.27 on turnover of 623.1bn
yuan.
Chinese aviation shares were
hit hard by the yuan move on
fears the weaker currency could
hurt profits and make servicing
their dollar-denominated debt
more expensive.
In Hong Kong, China Southern
Airlines led the slump to end
down 18% at HK$6.76, while
China Eastern Airlines lost
16.5% to close at HK$5.45 and
Air China sank 13% to HK$7.40.
On the mainland Shanghai
Juneyao Airlines dropped
2.47% to 61.67 yuan and Hainan
Airlines lost 3.52% to 5.48 yuan.
News of Chinas move sent
ripples through Asias currency

markets, pushing the Australian
dollaroften seen as a proxy for
the yuandown more than 1%.
In other markets, Bangkok
fell 0.83%, or 11.81 points, to
1,408.32; telecoms company
Advanced Info Service slid
3.72% to 233baht, while Airports
of Thailand lost 3.87% to
273baht.
Malaysias main index lost
1.07%, or 17.66 points, to close at
1,636.71; Felda Global Ventures
shed 3.70% to end on 1.56
ringgit, and AMMB Holdings
lost 3.31% to close at 5.26
ringgit.
Singapore closed down 1.36%,
or 43.60 points, to 3,153.06;
DBS Bank fell 2.90% to Sg$19.73
while Singapore Telecom was
down 1.72% to Sg$3.99.
Jakarta ended down 2.66%,
or 126.36 points, at 4,622.59;
oil and gas exploration firm
Sugih Energy gained 1.55% to
394 rupiah, while lender Bank
Mandiri fell 3.94% to 9,150
rupiah.
Wellington ended down 0.73%
or 42.67 points at 5,822.35;
Spark New Zealand fell 2.41% to
NZ$2.84 while Air New Zealand
gained 0.19% to NZ$2.695.
Taipei fell 72.70 points, or
0.86%, to 8,394.14; Fubon
Financial Holding lost 2.41% to
Tw$56.8 while Nan Ya Plastics
Corp shed 3.44% to Tw$61.8.
Manila added 0.48%, or 36.10
points, to 7,570.45; top-traded
SBS Philippines rose 35.92%
to 5.60 pesos, while Universal
Robina was up 1.73% to 199.90
pesos.
The US dollar gained against
other regional currencies,
trading at 124.81 compared
with 124.72 in New York on
Monday, and rising against the
South Korean won and Indian
rupee.
The Peoples Bank of Chinas
announcement looks to be a
move to a more open market
policy, Stephen Innes, a
senior trader at OANDA, told
Bloomberg News. Traders
are looking for US dollar
strength across the Asia region
and pressure on all local
currencies.
The euro dipped after news
that Greece has reached an
agreement with its creditors
on fiscal targets, leaving it on
course for a bailout deal to
avert an August 20 default.
The single currency changed
hands at $1.0970 and 136.91
against $1.1019 and 137.31.
The yuan move was also seen
as bearish for commodities,
as it could make it more
expensive for buyers in
Chinaa major importer of
metals, grains and energyto
pay for dollar-denominated
goods.
Oil prices were also under
pressure as dealers eyed the
latest US energy report for
clues about demand in the
worlds top crude consumer.
Sensex falls most in 2 weeks; rupee weakens

Bloomberg
Mumbai
ndian stocks dropped the most in two

weeks after the nations biggest lender reported a larger ratio of bad debts
and as prospect weakened of a national
sales tax bill passing in the current parliament session.
State Bank of India tumbled the most
in six months after loan slippages rose
54% from end-March, raising concerns
over soured debt. Tata Steel plunged
5.5% before its results, while Vedanta,
the largest copper producer, slid to a sixyear low. The rupee fell the most in two
months after Chinas yuan devaluation
drove Asian currencies lower.
The S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.8% to
27,866.09 at the close. Proceedings in the
upper house of parliament, where the tax
bill was listed for discussion, were halted as opposition parties blocked Prime
Minister Narendra Modis efforts to push
through legislation to boost growth. The
session ends tomorrow.
The markets course in the near term
will be charted by earnings and whether
the GST bill is cleared, RK Gupta, managing director of Taurus Asset Management Co, which has $650mn in assets,
said by phone from New Delhi. Taurus is
bullish on oil reners, railroad and logistics companies.
Seventeen of the 27 Sensex members,
or 68%, that have reported June-quarter
earnings have matched or exceeded estimates, compared with 40% in the March
quarter.
The rupee fell 0.5% to 64.2050 a dollar
in Mumbai. A weaker rupee makes imports costly. India buys 80% of its crude
oil from abroad.
The rupee fell 0.5% to 64.2050 a dollar, matching its June 8 drop, according to prices
from local banks compiled by Bloomberg.
China slashed the yuans daily reference rate yesterday by a record 1.9%, following data that showed exports shrank
8.3% from a year earlier in dollar terms
in July.
The move jolted global markets, with
the currencies of South Korea, Australia
and Singapore falling at least 1% amid
bets other countries will seek weaker exchange rates to keep exports competitive.
State Bank tumbled 4.9%, the most
since January 30.
Net income rose 10% in the quarter
ended June to Rs36.9bn ($575mn) from a
year ago. While that beat the Rs34bn median of 28 analyst estimates compiled by
Bloomberg, gross non-performing-asset
ratio widened to 4.29% from 4.25% in
March.
Tata Steel tumbled 5.5%, the worst
performer on the Sensex. First-quarter

prot more than doubled to Rs7.63bn
from Rs3.37bn a year ago, aided by a onetime gain, the company said after trading
ended. Sales declined 17% to Rs299bn.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, the
nations biggest drugmaker by market value, posted a 60% drop in prot
to Rs4.79bn in the June quarter. That
missed the Rs11bn estimated in a
Bloomberg survey of 25 analysts.
Earnings were announced after market
hours. The stock added 0.1%.
Hindalco Industries, an aluminium
producer, tumbled the most in two
weeks, while Vedanta fell 3.3% to its
lowest level since May 2009. Tata Motors, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, slid to
its lowest close level since February 10,
2014. Hindustan Unilever, the biggest
household products maker, decreased

2%, the most since July 21.
Global funds bought a net $11mn of
Indian stocks on August 8, taking this
years inow to $7.37bn.
The Sensex has climbed 1.3% this
year and trades at 15.6 times projected
12-month prots.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is
valued at a multiple of 11.2.
The rupee fell the most in two months
as Chinas move to devalue the yuan
drove Asian currencies lower.
The rupee fell 0.5% to 64.2050 a dollar
in Mumbai, matching its June 8 drop, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg.
One-month implied volatility, a gauge
of expected swings used to price options,
rose 74 basis points to 6.34%, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The rupees weakness is a reection
of Chinas yuan depreciation, said Rohan Lasrado, head of foreign-exchange
trading at RBL Bank in Mumbai.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the regions 10
major currencies excluding Japans yen,
retreated 1.6%.
The yuan slumped 1.8% to 6.3231
a dollar in Shanghai. The PBoC had
been supporting the currency to deter
capital outflows and encourage greater
global usage as it pushes for official reserve status at the International Monetary Fund.
The yield on Indian sovereign bonds
due May 2025 climbed one basis point
to 7.80% in Mumbai, according to the
Reserve Bank of Indias trading system.
It ended at a one-month low on Monday
amid speculation the slide in oil will help
slow consumer-price gains from Junes
nine-month high.
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
SAUDI ARABIA
Company Name
QATAR
Company Name
Zad Holding Co
Widam Food Co
Vodafone Qatar
United Development Co
Salam International Investme
Qatar & Oman Investment Co
Qatar Navigation
Qatar National Cement Co
Qatar National Bank
Qatar Islamic Insurance
Qatar Industrial Manufactur
Qatar International Islamic
Qatari Investors Group
Qatar Islamic Bank
Qatar Gas Transport(Nakilat)
Qatar General Insurance & Re
Qatar German Co For Medical
Qatar Fuel Qsc
Qatar Electricity & Water Co
Qatar Cinema & Film Distrib
Qatar Insurance Co
Ooredoo Qsc
National Leasing
Mazaya Qatar Real Estate Dev
Mesaieed Petrochemical Holdi
Al Meera Consumer Goods Co
Medicare Group
Mannai Corporation Qsc
Masraf Al Rayan
Al Khalij Commercial Bank
Industries Qatar
Islamic Holding Group
Gulf Warehousing Company
Gulf International Services
Ezdan Holding Group
Doha Insurance Co
Doha Bank Qsc
Dlala Holding
Commercial Bank Qsc
Barwa Real Estate Co
Al Khaleej Takaful Group
Aamal Co
Lt Price
100.00
61.50
15.05
25.85
13.78
15.81
98.60
117.00
180.40
80.00
45.25
78.50
48.50
112.00
22.04
56.00
15.60
162.00
221.00
42.00
102.00
78.20
18.30
17.60
22.27
273.00
176.10
109.20
44.80
22.38
136.10
125.00
73.80
68.50
17.79
25.50
52.70
22.95
57.50
46.90
38.00
14.64
% Chg
0.00
0.82
0.53
1.37
0.22
-0.57
0.10
0.00
-0.11
0.00
-0.11
0.90
0.83
1.82
0.18
-0.53
1.96
0.00
1.14
0.00
3.03
-1.26
0.83
0.00
0.27
1.11
0.63
0.65
1.59
-0.31
-0.22
0.24
-0.40
1.78
1.14
1.19
0.38
-2.96
3.05
1.85
-1.30
0.76
Volume
135
562
191,033
566,742
22,130
121,538
13,948
100
81,822
18,814
9,404
16,281
59,834
45,179
1
43,081
18,816
37,616
53,981
30,418
60,888
64,091
92,473
4,134
2,636
27,333
639,987
12,630
88,699
6,066
18,410
156,466
408,854
6,993
94,532
77,110
779,012
238,501
8,701
59,495
SAUDI ARABIA
Company Name
United Wire Factories Compan
Etihad Etisalat Co
Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev
Saudi Hollandi Bank
Rabigh Refining And Petroche
Banque Saudi Fransi
Saudi Enaya Cooperative Insu
Mediterranean & Gulf Insuran
Saudi British Bank
Mohammad Al Mojil Group Co
Red Sea Housing Services Co
Takween Advanced Industries
Sabb Takaful
Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co
National Gypsum
Saudi Ceramic Co
National Gas & Industrializa
Saudi Pharmaceutical Industr
Thimar
National Industrialization C
Saudi Transport And Investme
Saudi Electricity Co
Saudi Arabia Refineries Co
Arriyadh Development Company
Al-Baha Development & Invest
Saudi Research And Marketing
Aldrees Petroleum And Transp
Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipe Co
Jarir Marketing Co
Arab National Bank
Yanbu National Petrochemical
Arabian Cement
Middle East Specialized Cabl
Al Khaleej Training And Educ
Al Sagr Co-Operative Insuran
Trade Union Cooperative Insu
Arabia Insurance Cooperative
Saudi Chemical Company
Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair & C
Bupa Arabia For Cooperative
Wafa Insurance
Jabal Omar Development Co
Saudi Basic Industries Corp
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co
Etihad Atheeb Telecommunicat
Co For Cooperative Insurance
National Petrochemical Co
Gulf Union Cooperative Insur
Gulf General Cooperative Ins
Basic Chemical Industries
Saudi Steel Pipe Co
Buruj Cooperative Insurance
Mouwasat Medical Services Co
Southern Province Cement Co
Maadaniyah
Yamama Cement Co
Jazan Development Co
Zamil Industrial Investment
Alujain Corporation (Alco)
Tabuk Agricultural Developme
United Co-Operative Assuranc
Qassim Cement/The
Saudi Advanced Industries
Kingdom Holding Co
Saudi Arabian Amiantit Co
Al Jouf Agriculture Developm
Saudi Industrial Development
Bishah Agriculture
Riyad Bank
The National Agriculture Dev
Halwani Bros Co
Arabian Pipes Co
Eastern Province Cement Co
Al Qassim Agricultural Co
Filing & Packing Materials M
Saudi Cable Co
Tihama Advertising & Public
Saudi Investment Bank/The
Astra Industrial Group
Saudi Public Transport Co
Taiba Holding Co
Saudi Industrial Export Co
Saudi Real Estate Co
Saudia Dairy & Foodstuff Co
National Shipping Co Of/The
Methanol Chemicals Co
Ace Arabia Cooperative Insur
Mobile Telecommunications Co
Saudi Arabian Coop Ins Co
Axa Cooperative Insurance
Alsorayai Group
Weqaya For Takaful Insurance
Bank Albilad
Al-Hassan G.I. Shaker Co
Wataniya Insurance Co
Abdullah Al Othaim Markets
Hail Cement
Lt Price
31.27
29.72
8.41
45.10
21.25
33.00
25.04
32.46
32.70
12.55
29.80
65.06
43.44
112.50
21.92
75.12
28.78
40.32
76.58
17.18
68.41
17.90
53.39
20.87
13.50
16.75
59.35
98.00
218.00
33.21
49.85
68.51
12.25
50.83
29.25
36.05
12.40
68.74
89.01
264.96
20.57
73.00
91.49
10.08
6.05
102.62
22.87
15.64
25.40
29.09
26.02
27.49
142.00
94.25
32.14
44.66
12.90
49.36
20.49
15.66
15.09
91.21
17.46
19.83
12.78
43.66
16.05
69.75
15.91
34.79
81.50
20.43
44.40
14.12
44.21
9.17
90.12
22.40
27.14
22.92
41.26
45.25
31.10
145.09
44.12
11.05
67.41
11.43
22.52
23.62
17.58
19.39
31.63
36.84
83.31
108.75
20.56
% Chg
0.19
-4.04
-1.52
0.22
-1.25
0.00
-0.16
-4.19
0.00
0.00
-3.12
-9.64
-2.32
-0.52
-1.53
-1.07
0.00
-1.03
-0.03
-1.26
-2.47
-0.83
-2.11
-1.46
0.00
-0.65
-2.56
-0.51
0.42
0.64
-0.06
-1.28
-1.92
-2.74
-1.68
-1.42
-0.64
-0.81
-1.15
-3.04
2.54
-0.41
-0.75
-1.66
-0.98
-2.03
-2.89
-1.20
-1.93
-0.14
-2.55
-0.40
-0.83
-0.37
-3.40
-0.09
-2.05
-2.74
-1.11
-2.43
-1.50
-0.59
-1.74
-0.95
-0.93
-3.45
-1.53
0.00
-0.25
-0.91
-1.81
-2.58
-0.22
-1.53
-3.24
-2.45
0.01
0.00
-3.07
-5.95
-0.31
-2.54
-1.24
0.03
-1.45
-2.21
1.28
-1.38
-1.27
-2.15
0.63
0.00
-1.19
-1.97
-0.38
0.28
-0.34
Volume
184,438
8,562,117
6,070,473
332,291
1,262,400
386,796
394,836
1,450,455
172,359
358,776
1,179,234
1,740,815
67,032
260,063
96,782
141,281
191,110
203,394
1,134,401
138,500
1,705,402
130,351
845,434
7,713
198,590
25,997
103,327
69,330
143,055
169,055
747,686
418,009
158,006
339,968
977,841
162,484
245,084
47,837
1,195,692
241,525
4,443,885
3,123,562
720,739
292,066
646,056
196,816
230,237
92,366
74,528
328,301
41,689
14,276
396,628
114,355
574,702
244,058
954,313
926,196
205,251
72,589
977,260
81,680
566,952
114,514
881,685
325,016
480,749
17,829
353,962
178,414
734,072
340,214
1,361,839
45,185
25,022
547,791
3,143,025
358,983
271,749
939,954
80,296
610,962
1,346,631
199,304
3,890,152
316,250
892,787
226,828
634,295
230,575
130,240
24,206
747,144
Saudi Re For Cooperative Rei

Solidarity Saudi Takaful Co
Amana Cooperative Insurance
Alabdullatif Industrial Inv
Saudi Printing & Packaging C
Sanad Cooperative Insurance
Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co
Alinma Bank
Almarai Co
Falcom Saudi Equity Etf
United International Transpo
Hsbc Amanah Saudi 20 Etf
Saudi International Petroche
Falcom Petrochemical Etf
Saudi United Cooperative Ins
Bank Al-Jazira
Al Rajhi Bank
Samba Financial Group
United Electronics Co
Allied Cooperative Insurance
Malath Cooperative & Reinsur
Alinma Tokio Marine
Arabian Shield Cooperative
Savola
Wafrah For Industry And Deve
Fitaihi Holding Group
Tourism Enterprise Co/ Shams
Sahara Petrochemical Co
Herfy Food Services Co
KUWAIT
Lt Price
9.59
12.45
13.06
38.38
17.53
15.23
20.75
21.46
95.18
31.50
57.71
30.10
26.11
27.10
13.98
24.85
63.66
26.42
70.87
27.49
29.36
25.97
38.48
68.50
33.35
21.56
42.54
13.43
113.25
% Chg
-0.31
0.24
1.71
-0.57
-0.96
0.00
-1.94
-1.20
0.19
-0.32
-0.05
0.00
-1.32
0.00
-4.64
-1.89
-0.22
-1.38
-2.29
-2.83
-2.65
1.88
-0.41
-0.16
-1.77
-1.28
-1.96
-0.15
-2.25
Volume
772,484
3,112,377
1,318,897
69,272
60,118
186,017
16,001,754
394,610
337,528
202,656
6
746,978
2,347,825
1,857,211
1,435,742
674,369
123,629
682,685
1,600,610
1,720,645
91,317
351,758
175,084
333,606
131,013
1,375,669
9,177
KUWAIT
Company Name
Securities Group Co
Sultan Center Food Products
Kuwait Foundry Co Sak
Kuwait Financial Centre Sak
Ajial Real Estate Entmt
Gulf Glass Manuf Co -Kscc
Kuwait Finance & Investment
National Industries Co Ksc
Kuwait Real Estate Holding C
Securities House/The
Boubyan Petrochemicals Co
Al Ahli Bank Of Kuwait
Ahli United Bank (Almutahed)
National Bank Of Kuwait
Commercial Bank Of Kuwait
Kuwait International Bank
Gulf Bank
Al-Massaleh Real Estate Co
Al Arabiya Real Estate Co
Kuwait Remal Real Estate Co
Alkout Industrial Projects C
Aayan Real Estate Co Sak
Investors Holding Group Co.K
Markaz Real Estate Fund
Al-Mazaya Holding Co
Al-Madar Finance & Invt Co
Gulf Petroleum Investment
Mabanee Co Sakc
City Group
Inovest Co Bsc
Kuwait Gypsum Manufacturing
Al-Deera Holding Co
Alshamel International Hold
United Industries Co
Mena Real Estate Co
National Slaughter House
Amar Finance & Leasing Co
United Projects Group Kscc
National Consumer Holding Co
Amwal International Investme
Jeeran Holdings
Equipment Holding Co K.S.C.C
Nafais Holding
Safwan Trading & Contracting
Arkan Al Kuwait Real Estate
Gfh Financial Group Bsc
Energy House Holding Co Kscc
Kuwait Slaughter House Co
Kuwait Co For Process Plant
Al Maidan Dental Clinic Co K
National Ranges Company
Kuwait Pipes Indus & Oil Ser
Al-Themar Real International
Al Ahleia Insurance Co Sak
Wethaq Takaful Insurance Co
Salbookh Trading Co K.S.C.C
Aqar Real Estate Investments
Hayat Communications
Kuwait Packing Materials Mfg
Soor Fuel Marketing Co Ksc
Alargan International Real
Burgan Co For Well Drilling
Kuwait Resorts Co Kscc
Oula Fuel Marketing Co
Palms Agro Production Co
Ikarus Petroleum Industries
Mubarrad Transport Co
Al Mowasat Health Care Co
Shuaiba Industrial Co
Kuwait Invest Co Holding
Hits Telecom Holding
First Takaful Insurance Co
Kuwaiti Syrian Holding Co
National Cleaning Company
Eyas For High & Technical Ed
United Real Estate Company
Agility
Kuwait & Middle East Fin Inv
Fujairah Cement Industries
Livestock Transport & Tradng
International Resorts Co
National Industries Grp Hold
Marine Services Co
Pearl Of Kuwait Real Estate
Warba Insurance Co
Kuwait United Poultry Co
First Dubai Real Estate Deve
Al Arabi Group Holding Co
Kuwait Hotels Sak
Mobile Telecommunications Co
Al Safat Real Estate Co
Tamdeen Real Estate Co Ksc
Al Mudon Intl Real Estate Co
Kuwait Cement Co Ksc
Sharjah Cement & Indus Devel
Kuwait Portland Cement Co
Educational Holding Group
Bahrain Kuwait Insurance
Asiya Capital Investments Co
Kuwait Investment Co
Burgan Bank
Kuwait Projects Co Holdings
Al Madina For Finance And In
Kuwait Insurance Co
Al Masaken Intl Real Estate
Intl Financial Advisors
First Investment Co Kscc
Al Mal Investment Company
Bayan Investment Co Kscc
Egypt Kuwait Holding Co Sae
Coast Investment Development
Privatization Holding Compan
Kuwait Medical Services Co
Injazzat Real State Company
Kuwait Cable Vision Sak
Sanam Real Estate Co Kscc
Ithmaar Bank Bsc
Aviation Lease And Finance C
Arzan Financial Group For Fi
Ajwan Gulf Real Estate Co
Manafae Investment Co Ksc
Kuwait Business Town Real Es
Future Kid Entertainment And
Specialities Group Holding C
Abyaar Real Eastate Developm
Lt Price
124.00
77.00
248.00
112.00
196.00
590.00
58.00
208.00
26.50
59.00
550.00
355.00
560.00
860.00
600.00
240.00
275.00
55.00
39.50
49.00
0.00
87.00
30.50
1.53
116.00
0.00
58.00
950.00
400.00
59.00
102.00
41.50
0.00
0.00
27.00
0.00
0.00
690.00
128.00
0.00
50.00
78.00
148.00
320.00
114.00
61.00
60.00
220.00
218.00
0.00
28.50
0.00
90.00
440.00
48.00
93.00
0.00
54.00
390.00
120.00
184.00
138.00
108.00
124.00
96.00
132.00
81.00
240.00
410.00
0.00
33.00
0.00
32.00
51.00
0.00
100.00
660.00
34.00
74.00
112.00
38.00
170.00
120.00
0.00
110.00
202.00
60.00
106.00
0.00
420.00
0.00
440.00
40.50
370.00
85.00
1,160.00
234.00
0.00
0.00
114.00
415.00
660.00
57.00
290.00
58.00
0.00
68.00
43.50
47.50
200.00
51.00
47.50
39.00
69.00
32.00
47.50
44.00
230.00
44.00
28.00
0.00
37.00
0.00
93.00
29.50
% Chg
0.00
1.32
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.75
0.00
0.00
1.72
-3.51
0.00
1.82
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-3.51
0.00
1.03
0.00
1.16
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.69
0.00
1.27
0.00
0.00
-1.19
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.30
-3.90
0.00
0.00
3.39
-1.64
0.00
2.83
0.00
-1.72
0.00
0.00
0.00
-3.03
-1.06
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.69
5.75
-1.43
0.00
1.64
0.00
0.00
1.25
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.54
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.54
0.00
-2.63
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.79
-2.88
1.69
-1.85
0.00
1.20
0.00
0.00
-2.41
1.37
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
2.15
0.00
0.00
3.26
0.00
0.00
1.59
-5.00
-1.12
0.88
1.15
1.82
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Volume
668
43,528
14,073
1,176
1,500
10,000
60,000
169
5,000
689,000
5,227
45,683
11,465
175,233
2,546
214,872
83,219
125,000
717,143
34,500
36,564
1,799,095
1,951,559
707,204
278,832
29
100,000
30
180,001
34,500
1,796
10
10,100
76,810
3,801,352
2,600
240
8,482,880
70,500
324
30,004
3,499,017
40,618
100,000
49,200
248,365
363,200
1,966
100,284
110,650
2,000
52,500
51,531
502
1,120
1,202,547
16,000
10,000
7,822,163
1,043,300
66,600
81,026
1,206,983
15,000
220,000
62,430
155,000
920,841
10,100
2,979
5,010
100
10,000
1,493,775
250
3,438,877
49,006
165,700
1,370
2,420
12,300
770,821
635,300
2,954,663
2,761
30,000
1,803,063
4,860,000
1,705,781
4,000
1,566,523
1,147,562
500,000
49,100
500
30,000
1,814,130
915,488
206,500
7,747,998
589,000
30,683
5,436,980
Company Name
Dar Al Thuraya Real Estate C
Al-Dar National Real Estate
Kgl Logistics Company Kscc
Combined Group Contracting
Zima Holding Co Ksc
Qurain Holding Co
Boubyan Intl Industries Hold
Gulf Investment House Ksc
Boubyan Bank K.S.C
Ahli United Bank B.S.C
Al-Safat Tec Holding Co
Al-Eid Food Ksc
Qurain Petrochemical Industr
Advanced Technology Co
Ekttitab Holding Co Sak
Kout Food Group Ksc
Real Estate Trade Centers Co
Acico Industries Co Kscc
Kipco Asset Management Co
National Petroleum Services
Alimtiaz Investment Co Kscc
Ras Al Khaimah White Cement
Kuwait Reinsurance Co Ksc
Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport
Human Soft Holding Co Ksc
Automated Systems Co Kscc
Metal & Recycling Co
Gulf Franchising Holding Co
Al-Enmaa Real Estate Co
National Mobile Telecommuni
Al Bareeq Holding Co Kscc
Union Real Estate Co
Housing Finance Co Sak
Al Salam Group Holding Co
United Foodstuff Industries
Al Aman Investment Company
Mashaer Holdings Co Ksc
Manazel Holding
Mushrif Trading & Contractin
Tijara And Real Estate Inves
Kuwait Building Materials
Jazeera Airways Co Ksc
Commercial Real Estate Co
Future Communications Co
National International Co
Taameer Real Estate Invest C
Gulf Cement Co
Heavy Engineering And Ship B
Refrigeration Industries & S
National Real Estate Co
Al Safat Energy Holding Comp
Kuwait National Cinema Co
Danah Alsafat Foodstuff Co
Independent Petroleum Group
Kuwait Real Estate Co Ksc
Salhia Real Estate Co Ksc
Gulf Cable & Electrical Ind
Al Nawadi Holding Co Ksc
Kuwait Finance House
OMAN
Lt Price
0.00
38.00
66.00
810.00
79.00
10.00
47.00
45.00
420.00
216.00
51.00
118.00
192.00
0.00
42.00
690.00
26.50
310.00
102.00
590.00
74.00
108.00
196.00
54.00
1,200.00
395.00
70.00
104.00
64.00
1,340.00
0.00
0.00
38.50
49.50
0.00
68.00
124.00
41.50
55.00
45.00
440.00
465.00
91.00
114.00
71.00
30.00
83.00
130.00
390.00
93.00
19.00
1,100.00
91.00
305.00
71.00
335.00
495.00
89.00
630.00
% Chg
0.00
2.70
1.54
0.00
1.28
0.00
0.00
-2.17
-1.18
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.03
0.00
1.20
1.47
1.92
-1.59
0.00
-7.81
-1.33
0.00
5.38
0.00
-6.25
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.59
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.02
0.00
-1.45
5.08
0.00
-3.51
0.00
0.00
-1.06
1.11
-1.72
0.00
-3.23
-1.19
1.56
0.00
1.09
0.00
0.00
1.11
-3.17
1.43
1.52
0.00
5.95
1.61
Volume
21,523,004
298,142
4,915
2,393,750
150,000
515,927
958,436
100,318
105,100
15,000
8,000
86,768
810,000
100
198,889
160,600
30,530
100
1,593,525
2,989
10
60,076
317,033
5,173
90
13,249
269,863
25,794
48,000
1,724,328
378,547
40,000
1,518,404
482,000
6,350
5
47,383
229,861
2,000
5,010
419,510
248,560
10,000
50,000
276,724
658,850
5,002
65,000
22,546
3,424,330
15,000
50,010
4,613
3,982,735
OMAN
Company Name
Voltamp Energy Saog
United Power/Energy Co- Pref
United Power Co
United Finance Co
Ubar Hotels & Resorts
Takaful Oman
Taghleef Industries Saog
Taageer Finance
Sweets Of Oman
Sohar Power Co
Sohar Poultry
Smn Power Holding Saog
Shell Oman Marketing - Pref
Shell Oman Marketing
Sharqiyah Desalination Co Sa
Sembcorp Salalah Power & Wat
Salalah Port Services
Salalah Mills Co
Salalah Beach Resort Saog
Sahara Hospitality
Renaissance Services Saog
Raysut Cement Co
Port Service Corporation
Phoenix Power Co Saoc
Packaging Co Ltd
Ooredoo
Ominvest
Oman United Insurance Co
Oman Textile Holding Co Saog
Oman Telecommunications Co
Oman Refreshment Co
Oman Packaging
Oman Orix Leasing Co.
Oman Oil Marketing Company
Oman National Investment Co
Oman National Engineering An
Oman National Dairy Products
Oman Investment & Finance
Oman Intl Marketing
Oman Hotels & Tourism Co
Oman Foods International Soa
Oman Flour Mills
Oman Fisheries Co
Oman Fiber Optics
Oman Europe Foods Industries
Oman Education & Training In
Oman Chromite
Oman Chlorine
Oman Ceramic Com
Oman Cement Co
Oman Cables Industry
Oman Agricultural Dev
Oman & Emirates Inv(Om)50%
Natl Aluminium Products
National Securities
National Real Estate Develop
National Pharmaceutical
National Mineral Water
National Hospitality Institu
National Gas Co
National Finance Co
National Detergents/The
National Carpet Factory Saog
National Biscuit Industries
National Bank Of Oman Saog
Muscat Thread Mills Co
Muscat National Holding
Muscat Insurance Company
Muscat Gases Company Saog
Muscat Finance
Musandam Marketing & Invest
Modern Poultry Farms
Marine Bander Al-Rowdha
Majan Glass Company
Majan College
Hsbc Bank Oman
Hotels Management Co Interna
Gulf Stone
Gulf Plastic Industries Co
Gulf Mushroom Company
Gulf Investments Services
Gulf Invest. Serv. Pref-Shar
Gulf International Chemicals
Gulf Hotels (Oman) Co Ltd
Global Fin Investment
Galfar Engineering&Contract
Galfar Engineering -Prefer
Flexible Ind Packages
Financial Services Co.
Financial Corp/The
Dhofar University
Dhofar Tourism
Dhofar Power Co-Pfd
Dhofar Poultry
Dhofar Intl Development
Lt Price
0.45
1.00
1.63
0.14
0.13
0.11
0.00
0.15
1.34
0.38
0.21
0.73
1.05
2.00
4.00
2.60
0.65
1.50
1.38
2.50
0.24
1.45
0.18
0.15
0.48
0.78
0.48
0.30
0.22
1.74
2.50
0.24
0.14
2.23
0.48
0.26
0.00
0.21
0.52
0.24
0.48
0.50
0.05
5.26
1.00
0.16
3.64
0.53
0.45
0.51
2.25
1.45
0.11
0.27
0.17
5.00
0.10
0.06
2.05
0.35
0.15
0.70
0.00
3.75
0.34
0.13
1.86
0.00
0.83
0.15
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.22
0.50
0.13
1.25
0.11
0.39
0.39
0.13
0.12
0.27
10.50
0.12
0.12
0.39
0.00
0.17
0.11
1.47
0.49
0.00
0.18
0.45
% Chg
0.00
0.00
4.49
0.00
0.00
-1.75
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-4.38
0.00
0.00
0.67
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.67
0.00
0.29
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.39
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-0.79
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Volume
607
3,600
178,861
14,603
2,024
6,184
732,090
85,566
15,160
247,000
2,300
80,928
76,267
98,000
19,900
353,000
4,744
56,932
2,833
4,000
235
90,827
28,000
78,898
-
Company Name
Dhofar Insurance
Dhofar Fisheries & Food Indu
Dhofar Cattlefeed
Dhofar Beverages Co
Construction Materials Ind
Computer Stationery Inds
Bankmuscat Saog
Bank Sohar
Bank Nizwa
Bank Dhofar Saog
Areej Vegetable Oils
Aloula Co
Al-Omaniya Financial Service
Al-Hassan Engineering Co
Al-Fajar Al-Alamia Co
Al-Batinah Intl Saog
Al-Anwar Ceramic Tiles Co
Al Suwadi Power
Al Shurooq Inv Ser
Al Sharqiya Invest Holding
Al Sallan Food Industry
Al Maha Petroleum Products M
Al Maha Ceramics Co Saoc
Al Madina Takaful Insurance
Al Madina Investment Co
Al Kamil Power Co
Al Jazerah Services -Pfd
Al Jazeera Steel Products Co
Al Jazeera Services
Al Izz Islamic Bank
Al Buraimi Hotel
Al Batinah Power
Al Batinah Hotels
Al Batinah Dev & Inv
Al Anwar Holdings Saog
Lt Price
0.21
1.28
0.19
0.26
0.04
0.26
0.53
0.19
0.07
0.28
5.51
0.53
0.32
0.10
0.75
0.00
0.40
0.23
1.04
0.13
0.00
2.10
0.54
0.09
0.07
0.31
0.55
0.23
0.36
0.07
0.88
0.23
1.13
0.12
0.21
% Chg
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-0.37
-3.52
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.04
0.00
0.00
0.50
-0.44
0.00
1.56
0.00
0.00
-0.37
-1.12
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Volume
217,647
357,814
1,325,297
11,772
447,462
747,444
1,194,864
96,635
41,134
15,997
8,089
478,931
28,664
2,964,659
UAE
Company Name
Waha Capital Pjsc
United Insurance Company
United Arab Bank Pjsc
Union National Bank/Abu Dhab
Union Insurance Co
Union Cement Co
Umm Al Qaiwain Cement Indust
Sharjah Islamic Bank
Sharjah Insurance Company
Sharjah Cement & Indus Devel
Ras Al-Khaimah National Insu
Ras Al Khaimah White Cement
Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics
Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co Psc
Ras Al Khaima Poultry
Rak Properties
Ooredoo Qsc
Oman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50%
Nbad Oneshare Msci Uae Etf
National Takaful Company
National Marine Dredging Co
National Investor Co/The
National Corp Tourism & Hote
National Bank Of Umm Al Qaiw
National Bank Of Ras Al-Khai
National Bank Of Fujairah
National Bank Of Abu Dhabi
Methaq Takaful Insurance
Manazel Real Estate Pjsc
Invest Bank
Intl Fish Farming Co Pjsc
Insurance House
Gulf Pharmaceutical Industri
Gulf Medical Projects
Gulf Cement Co
Green Crescent Insurance Co
Fujairah Cement Industries
Fujairah Building Industries
Foodco Holding
First Gulf Bank
Finance House
Eshraq Properties Co Pjsc
Emirates Telecom Corporation
Emirates Insurance Co. (Psc)
Emirates Driving Company
Dana Gas
Commercial Bank Internationa
Bank Of Sharjah
Arkan Building Materials Co
Alkhaleej Investment
Aldar Properties Pjsc
Al Wathba National Insurance
Al Khazna Insurance Co
Al Fujairah National Insuran
Al Dhafra Insurance Co. P.S.
Al Buhaira National Insuranc
Al Ain Ahlia Ins. Co.
Agthia Group Pjsc
Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co
Abu Dhabi Natl Co For Buildi
Abu Dhabi National Takaful C
Abu Dhabi National Insurance
Abu Dhabi National Hotels
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
Lt Price
2.50
2.00
5.60
6.90
1.01
1.20
1.10
1.69
3.85
1.02
4.10
1.32
3.50
0.88
1.60
0.64
84.65
1.38
6.26
1.19
5.50
0.72
4.91
3.01
7.60
4.66
10.60
1.12
0.66
2.60
6.30
0.81
2.65
2.80
1.01
0.57
1.35
1.90
4.00
15.50
3.00
0.77
13.55
6.90
5.50
0.59
1.50
1.60
1.00
2.45
2.67
4.50
0.38
300.00
4.80
2.50
60.00
7.90
3.03
0.66
6.32
5.30
2.85
0.69
5.24
8.76
% Chg
1.21
0.00
0.00
-1.43
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.15
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.08
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.75
3.13
0.00
-8.56
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-0.32
0.00
0.00
-0.37
0.00
0.00
-1.67
0.00
3.23
2.04
0.00
0.75
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
2.46
-3.81
6.45
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.47
0.00
-0.45
Volume
3,555,065
267,350
1,764,206
210,000
1,818,059
15,000
39,325
283,209
5,996,194
14,471,875
7,970
2,390
1,005,856
5,505,345
1,094,708
31,514,612
1,122,000
104,709
14,119,218
47,153
46,258
700,000
253,310
2,700,000
1,922,734
6,304,309
BAHRAIN
Company Name
Zain Bahrain Bscc
United Paper Industries Bsc
United Gulf Investment Corp
United Gulf Bank
Trafco Group Bsc
Takaful International Co
Taib Bank -$Us
Seef Properties
Securities & Investment Co
National Hotels Co
National Bank Of Bahrain Bsc
Nass Corp Bsc
Khaleeji Commercial Bank
Ithmaar Bank Bsc
Investcorp Bank -$Us
Inovest Co Bsc
Gulf Monetary Group
Gulf Hotel Group B.S.C
Global Investment House Kpsc
Gfh Financial Group Bsc
Esterad Investment Co B.S.C.
Delmon Poultry Co
Bmmi Bsc
Bmb Investment Bank
Bbk Bsc
Bankmuscat Saog
Banader Hotels Co
Bahraini Saudi Bank/The
Bahrain Tourism Co
Bahrain Telecom Co
Bahrain Ship Repair & Engin
Bahrain National Holding
Bahrain Kuwait Insurance
Bahrain Islamic Bank
Bahrain Flour Mills Co
Bahrain Family Leisure Co
Bahrain Duty Free Complex
Bahrain Commercial Facilitie
Bahrain Cinema Co
Bahrain Car Park Co
Arab Insurance Group(Bsc)-$
Arab Banking Corp-$Us
Aluminium Bahrain Bsc
Albaraka Banking Group
Al-Salam Bank
Lt Price
0.18
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.22
0.00
0.00
0.20
0.00
0.00
0.74
0.16
0.07
0.14
570.00
0.18
0.00
0.82
0.00
0.22
0.20
0.33
0.00
0.00
0.43
0.00
`
0.00
0.26
0.34
2.00
0.00
0.57
0.14
0.39
0.00
0.85
0.73
1.46
0.00
0.46
0.63
0.49
0.68
0.14
% Chg
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-3.45
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
4.88
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.17
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.80
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.81
0.00
-0.74
0.00
Volume
20,000
40,000
10,000
89,050
63,197
54,000
250,000
8
192,333
1,840
38,800
54,413
109,667
10,900
33,750
100,500
1,925
5,960
30,548
10,219
35,000
45,843
36,084
20,000
100,000
5,000
62,550
22,250
LATEST MARKET CLOSING FIGURES
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
DJIA
WORLD INDICES
Company Name
Exxon Mobil Corp

Microsoft Corp
Johnson & Johnson
General Electric Co
Wal-Mart Stores Inc
Chevron Corp
Procter & Gamble Co/The
Jpmorgan Chase & Co
Verizon Communications Inc
Intl Business Machines Corp
Pfizer Inc
Coca-Cola Co/The
At&T Inc
Merck & Co. Inc.
Intel Corp
Walt Disney Co/The
Visa Inc-Class A Shares
Cisco Systems Inc
Home Depot Inc
United Technologies Corp
Mcdonalds Corp
Boeing Co/The
American Express Co
3M Co
Goldman Sachs Group Inc
Unitedhealth Group Inc
Nike Inc -Cl B
Du Pont (E.I.) De Nemours
Caterpillar Inc
Travelers Cos Inc/The
Lt Price
76.41
46.27
98.91
25.66
71.78
84.14
76.13
68.01
47.70
155.20
34.99
41.42
34.69
57.66
29.10
108.69
73.41
28.10
117.36
98.17
98.53
143.56
81.28
148.63
201.58
121.81
113.98
53.64
77.70
105.38
% Chg
-2.97
-2.24
-0.88
-2.21
0.42
-2.04
-0.33
-1.28
0.99
-0.99
-1.05
-0.62
-0.27
-1.29
-1.84
-2.08
-1.30
-1.71
-0.20
-1.39
-0.87
-1.58
0.02
-1.73
-2.13
-0.55
-1.20
-1.38
-3.07
-0.42
5,828,835
9,198,320
2,157,128
11,087,069
2,820,053
3,729,304
2,716,786
5,974,517
8,242,253
1,094,208
7,715,085
4,111,291
11,092,376
1,828,855
8,079,782
4,838,556
2,146,832
8,241,483
1,627,441
2,378,549
1,143,801
1,119,036
2,815,182
627,335
753,999
1,063,470
1,032,334
1,852,011
4,423,366
456,864
FTSE 100
Company Name
Wpp Plc
Wolseley Plc
Wm Morrison Supermarkets
Whitbread Plc
Weir Group Plc/The
Vodafone Group Plc
United Utilities Group Plc
Unilever Plc
Tullow Oil Plc
Tui Travel Plc
Travis Perkins Plc
Tesco Plc
Standard Life Plc
Standard Chartered Plc
St Jamess Place Plc
Sse Plc
Sports Direct International
Smiths Group Plc
Smith & Nephew Plc
Shire Plc
Severn Trent Plc
Schroders Plc
Sainsbury (J) Plc
Sage Group Plc/The
Sabmiller Plc
Rsa Insurance Group Plc
Royal Mail Plc
Royal Dutch Shell Plc-B Shs
Royal Dutch Shell Plc-A Shs
Royal Bank Of Scotland Group
Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc
Rio Tinto Plc
Relx Plc
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc
Randgold Resources Ltd
Prudential Plc
Petrofac Ltd
Persimmon Plc
Pearson Plc
Old Mutual Plc
Next Plc
National Grid Plc
Mondi Plc
Meggitt Plc
Marks & Spencer Group Plc
London Stock Exchange Group
Lloyds Banking Group Plc
Legal & General Group Plc
Land Securities Group Plc
Kingfisher Plc
Johnson Matthey Plc
Itv Plc
Intu Properties Plc
Intl Consolidated Airline-Di
Intertek Group Plc
Intercontinental Hotels Grou
Imperial Tobacco Group Plc
Imi Plc
Hsbc Holdings Plc
Hargreaves Lansdown Plc
Hammerson Plc
Glencore Plc
Glaxosmithkline Plc
Gkn Plc
G4s Plc
Friends Life Group Ltd
Fresnillo Plc
Experian Plc
Easyjet Plc
Dixons Carphone Plc
Direct Line Insurance Group
Diageo Plc
Crh Plc
Compass Group Plc
Coca-Cola Hbc Ag-Cdi
Centrica Plc
Carnival Plc
Capita Plc
Burberry Group Plc
Bunzl Plc
Bt Group Plc
British Sky Broadcasting Gro
British Land Co Plc
British American Tobacco Plc
Bp Plc
Bhp Billiton Plc
Bg Group Plc
Barclays Plc
Bae Systems Plc
Babcock Intl Group Plc
Aviva Plc
Astrazeneca Plc
Associated British Foods Plc
Ashtead Group Plc
Arm Holdings Plc
Antofagasta Plc
Anglo American Plc
Aggreko Plc
Admiral Group Plc
Aberdeen Asset Mgmt Plc
3I Group Plc
#N/A!
Lt Price
1,430.00
4,285.00
181.50
5,225.00
1,515.00
241.30
884.00
2,912.00
219.80
0.00
2,132.00
209.55
443.70
907.10
979.50
1,548.00
815.50
1,191.00
1,178.00
5,360.00
2,185.00
3,075.00
258.30
522.00
3,361.00
507.00
498.30
1,878.50
1,867.00
344.70
798.00
2,553.50
1,084.00
6,124.00
3,952.00
1,577.00
831.50
2,089.00
1,173.00
224.90
7,910.00
856.40
1,583.00
506.50
546.50
2,586.00
81.08
273.80
1,318.00
374.00
2,880.00
258.40
335.80
549.50
2,667.00
2,542.00
3,342.00
1,060.00
577.40
1,193.00
678.50
191.00
1,437.50
309.40
266.70
0.00
653.00
1,174.00
1,689.00
453.00
382.70
1,808.50
1,951.00
1,034.00
1,344.00
270.40
3,480.00
1,288.00
1,536.00
1,845.00
465.40
0.00
866.50
3,774.00
380.50
1,148.50
1,096.00
278.35
467.50
983.00
520.00
4,341.00
3,211.00
975.00
959.50
572.00
774.80
1,061.00
1,458.00
344.10
537.00
0.00
% Chg
-0.97
0.28
-0.82
-0.10
-1.11
-1.21
-0.34
-1.39
-3.60
0.00
0.47
-1.50
-0.14
-1.08
-0.46
-0.26
-0.24
-1.24
-1.01
-0.37
-0.46
-1.69
-2.31
-0.67
-0.94
0.40
-0.84
-0.77
-0.67
0.23
-1.18
-3.09
-1.00
-2.05
0.53
4.68
-0.89
-0.81
-1.59
-1.75
-0.38
-0.44
-1.74
-0.59
-0.64
-0.31
-0.27
-0.90
-1.27
0.24
-2.64
-1.86
-0.68
-1.26
-1.59
-1.93
-1.15
-1.94
-1.15
-0.33
-0.95
-7.26
-1.37
-3.70
-1.08
0.00
0.54
-1.92
-0.76
-1.03
-1.32
-1.15
-0.51
-1.52
1.51
-0.70
-1.25
-0.92
-4.42
-0.54
-1.31
0.00
-0.86
-1.27
-1.30
-5.00
-0.90
-1.50
-1.18
-0.41
-0.29
-0.39
-0.50
0.62
0.79
-3.70
-4.16
-3.89
-0.82
-1.29
-0.19
0.00
Volume
4,362,498
609,620
5,833,371
471,410
748,937
30,555,558
1,636,060
2,782,756
7,488,627
728,689
16,429,782
3,089,868
8,809,853
1,785,389
2,258,510
861,441
755,006
2,092,044
1,097,091
420,186
471,269
6,143,145
1,574,035
1,418,958
2,416,738
2,109,183
4,997,214
7,398,763
21,162,410
5,156,377
8,311,199
2,817,643
1,326,373
1,350,377
11,140,656
1,982,388
1,165,682
2,377,997
10,195,109
376,130
6,911,364
2,094,817
2,470,386
3,319,780
856,962
141,242,108
13,973,624
2,203,982
4,140,869
507,509
22,173,773
1,283,407
5,859,573
454,111
662,568
1,328,098
639,784
20,320,280
427,093
1,084,814
78,937,989
9,299,193
4,950,903
7,623,390
2,025,585
1,711,500
817,680
2,508,328
4,970,439
5,415,208
1,204,673
3,420,670
447,676
13,171,263
782,828
985,665
1,752,899
441,795
13,956,115
2,759,946
2,389,362
31,118,509
14,153,095
5,990,458
27,438,960
4,892,360
936,518
6,859,330
1,728,413
538,463
3,325,811
5,780,521
2,603,411
14,270,193
1,453,437
475,981
5,266,180
1,377,814
-
TOKYO
Company Name
East Japan Railway Co
Itochu Corp
Fujifilm Holdings Corp
Yamato Holdings Co Ltd
Chubu Electric Power Co Inc
Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Toshiba Corp
Shiseido Co Ltd
Tokyo Gas Co Ltd
Tokyo Electron Ltd
Panasonic Corp
Fujitsu Ltd
Central Japan Railway Co
T&D Holdings Inc
Toyota Motor Corp
Kddi Corp
Nitto Denko Corp
Rakuten Inc
Lt Price
12,360.00
1,580.50
4,979.50
2,724.00
1,989.50
2,835.50
649.50
377.00
3,143.50
700.20
6,673.00
1,468.50
646.50
22,360.00
1,938.50
8,122.00
3,297.50
8,653.00
1,920.00
% Chg
-0.76
0.22
0.07
-2.64
-2.00
-0.75
0.36
0.91
-4.84
-1.03
0.63
1.31
1.96
-0.27
0.31
-0.27
-1.14
-0.95
-1.74
Indices
Volume
Volume
883,900
8,670,300
2,420,600
3,774,100
2,661,500
4,229,000
12,695,000
33,730,000
3,537,800
11,647,000
1,782,400
8,839,800
17,210,000
459,200
3,549,200
8,161,900
6,493,200
1,000,900
6,067,600
Lt Price
Change
Dow Jones Indus. Avg

S&P 500 Index
Nasdaq Composite Index
S&P/Tsx Composite Index
Mexico Bolsa Index
Brazil Bovespa Stock Idx
Ftse 100 Index
Cac 40 Index
Dax Index
Ibex 35 Tr
17,388.65
2,080.82
5,037.95
14,284.48
44,598.92
48,457.76
6,664.54
5,099.03
11,293.65
11,152.30
-226.52
-23.36
-63.85
-181.91
-721.77
-895.24
-71.68
-96.38
-311.13
-159.40
Nikkei 225
Japan Topix
Hang Seng Index
All Ordinaries Indx
Nzx All Index
Bse Sensex 30 Index
Nse S&P Cnx Nifty Index
Straits Times Index
Karachi All Share Index
Jakarta Composite Index
20,720.75
1,687.60
24,498.21
5,473.11
1,140.56
27,866.09
8,462.35
3,153.06
25,231.34
4,622.59
-87.94
-3.69
-22.91
-31.84
-7.65
-235.63
-63.25
-43.60
+89.48
-126.36
TOKYO
Company Name
Kyocera Corp
Nissan Motor Co Ltd
Hitachi Ltd
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd
Jfe Holdings Inc
Ana Holdings Inc
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Gr
Ricoh Co Ltd
Honda Motor Co Ltd
Fast Retailing Co Ltd
Ms&Ad Insurance Group Holdin
Kubota Corp
Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd
Inpex Corp
Resona Holdings Inc
Asahi Kasei Corp
Kirin Holdings Co Ltd
Marubeni Corp
Mitsubishi Ufj Financial Gro
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings
Fanuc Corp
Daito Trust Construct Co Ltd
Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd
Oriental Land Co Ltd
Sekisui House Ltd
Secom Co Ltd
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc
Aeon Co Ltd
Mitsui & Co Ltd
Kao Corp
Dai-Ichi Life Insurance
Mazda Motor Corp
Komatsu Ltd
West Japan Railway Co
Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd
Kansai Electric Power Co Inc
Denso Corp
Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdin
Daiwa House Industry Co Ltd
Jx Holdings Inc
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Meta
Suzuki Motor Corp
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone
Ajinomoto Co Inc
Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd
Daikin Industries Ltd
Bank Of Yokohama Ltd/The
Dai Nippon Printing Co Ltd
Toray Industries Inc
Astellas Pharma Inc
Bridgestone Corp
Sony Corp
Hoya Corp
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdin
Japan Tobacco Inc
Osaka Gas Co Ltd
Sumitomo Electric Industries
Daiwa Securities Group Inc
Softbank Group Corp
Mizuho Financial Group Inc
Nomura Holdings Inc
Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd
Ntt Docomo Inc
Sumitomo Realty & Developmen
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd
Orix Corp
Asahi Group Holdings Ltd
Keyence Corp
Nidec Corp
Isuzu Motors Ltd
Unicharm Corp
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd
Smc Corp
Mitsubishi Corp
Jgc Corp
Nintendo Co Ltd
Eisai Co Ltd
Sumitomo Corp
Canon Inc
Lt Price
6,462.00
1,193.50
777.00
6,421.00
2,362.50
391.20
1,352.50
5,664.00
1,162.00
4,394.50
55,550.00
4,092.00
2,105.00
5,806.00
1,330.00
700.00
1,011.50
1,831.00
729.40
891.60
771.70
21,525.00
13,785.00
4,732.00
7,792.00
1,971.50
8,321.00
5,294.00
1,900.00
1,646.00
6,427.00
2,556.00
2,447.00
2,343.00
9,005.00
18,095.00
1,614.50
6,048.00
4,432.50
3,358.00
517.00
293.00
4,552.00
4,926.50
2,785.50
3,710.50
8,561.00
826.20
1,375.50
1,086.00
1,941.00
4,569.50
3,454.50
5,340.00
585.70
4,726.50
526.50
1,886.00
937.90
7,659.00
267.40
882.40
2,645.00
4,602.00
2,792.50
4,565.00
1,667.00
1,865.00
4,352.50
61,760.00
10,990.00
1,715.00
2,925.50
7,527.00
32,640.00
2,450.00
2,062.00
24,685.00
8,493.00
1,407.50
4,022.50
% Chg
0.44
-0.54
-1.17
0.09
3.03
-1.36
0.90
-0.35
-0.94
0.05
-1.75
-2.35
1.30
-1.59
0.95
-0.85
0.85
-0.14
1.45
0.28
0.82
-0.35
1.81
0.02
-1.67
5.15
-1.26
-1.78
-1.20
0.03
-2.49
1.23
-0.12
1.85
-2.18
1.86
-4.66
-0.56
-2.40
2.77
1.41
2.38
-1.25
-1.06
-1.82
0.43
-0.78
-1.08
-0.72
0.84
-0.79
-1.34
2.87
-0.13
-0.26
-1.26
0.15
0.03
0.00
0.67
0.04
0.39
-0.92
0.13
-0.27
2.17
3.90
0.40
-0.64
0.93
-0.27
-1.01
-2.34
-0.17
-0.26
0.41
3.13
0.35
-0.85
-0.95
0.10
Volume
1,172,700
12,500,700
22,583,000
2,245,000
5,824,400
16,010,000
7,864,000
6,817,100
7,440,300
4,665,700
712,200
2,556,400
4,030,000
2,005,300
4,872,600
8,970,100
5,710,000
4,539,100
16,208,500
66,683,200
7,214,000
1,012,200
422,300
1,655,200
1,493,800
7,294,900
783,200
2,650,300
3,575,600
6,695,800
2,132,700
13,830,100
5,314,800
4,806,100
1,078,700
1,277,300
5,792,000
1,826,900
2,624,100
3,200,000
10,218,300
46,197,000
1,771,400
4,294,000
1,701,000
4,535,000
1,797,800
3,864,000
2,895,000
14,623,000
5,877,900
3,560,900
10,474,600
1,420,200
13,006,000
3,334,400
8,453,000
2,515,300
7,304,000
15,270,100
185,570,800
17,519,200
3,627,900
2,654,900
7,678,300
3,616,000
5,210,000
6,520,800
1,423,000
272,600
841,500
2,761,500
2,197,100
1,105,600
301,000
5,437,400
3,973,000
1,917,400
843,200
6,321,600
2,850,600
SENSEX
Company Name
Zee Entertainment Enterprise
Wipro Ltd
Ultratech Cement Ltd
Tech Mahindra Ltd
Tata Steel Ltd
Tata Power Co Ltd
Tata Motors Ltd
Tata Consultancy Svcs Ltd
Sun Pharmaceutical Indus
State Bank Of India
Sesa Sterlite Ltd
Reliance Industries Ltd
Punjab National Bank
Power Grid Corp Of India Ltd
Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd
Ntpc Ltd
Nmdc Ltd
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
Lupin Ltd
Larsen & Toubro Ltd
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd
Jindal Steel & Power Ltd
Itc Ltd
Infosys Ltd
Indusind Bank Ltd
Idfc Ltd
Icici Bank Ltd
Housing Development Finance
Hindustan Unilever Ltd
Hindalco Industries Ltd
Hero Motocorp Ltd
Hdfc Bank Limited
Hcl Technologies Ltd
Grasim Industries Ltd
Gail India Ltd
Dr. Reddys Laboratories
Dlf Ltd
Coal India Ltd
Cipla Ltd
Cairn India Ltd
Bharti Airtel Ltd
Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd
Bharat Heavy Electricals
Bank Of Baroda
Bajaj Auto Ltd
Axis Bank Ltd
Asian Paints Ltd
Ambuja Cements Ltd
Acc Ltd
Lt Price
414.80
566.15
3,155.40
540.65
246.80
68.25
369.15
2,604.20
841.75
268.80
0.00
966.00
155.95
137.95
270.05
130.80
102.95
4,504.30
1,339.55
1,698.15
1,801.15
704.70
81.55
320.10
1,109.15
950.70
145.60
302.25
1,290.65
888.20
103.25
2,688.40
1,094.70
940.40
3,720.05
344.40
4,223.85
124.35
392.70
719.20
162.40
404.85
925.25
267.05
178.05
2,539.90
571.25
883.40
222.60
1,374.25
% Chg
1.27
0.48
-0.60
1.83
-5.49
-1.23
-4.29
1.25
0.12
-4.93
0.00
-0.30
-1.98
-0.07
-1.82
-0.42
-1.39
0.16
-1.48
0.13
-1.08
-0.37
-0.67
-0.26
2.13
0.67
-1.12
-2.37
-1.14
-1.98
-4.22
-0.58
0.00
0.42
-1.41
0.10
-0.84
-3.08
-3.74
0.55
-0.95
-1.30
-2.27
-1.98
-2.22
-0.58
-0.81
-2.08
-1.79
-0.83
Volume
1,045,962
1,307,485
198,254
1,535,986
10,400,267
1,800,193
12,513,345
1,158,565
2,452,985
44,367,704
2,272,367
3,224,353
2,507,026
1,979,110
5,819,895
2,620,193
245,138
787,826
622,877
1,244,369
759,417
19,052,161
4,474,705
4,015,537
607,832
3,191,650
10,104,564
2,285,575
1,570,600
5,185,559
724,157
727,130
915,310
80,841
891,035
283,256
8,661,354
9,021,250
1,789,576
999,727
3,087,072
1,614,145
2,613,447
7,279,285
194,319
3,407,210
1,157,785
1,718,250
285,277
A man walks down steps under a share price ticker at the London Stock Exchange (file). The benchmark FTSE 100 index
yesterday ended 1.06% lower at 6,664.54 points compared with Mondays close.
European markets close

down on China worries
AFP
London
uropean stocks ended lower yesterday after a surprise devaluation of the yuan battered key
exporters to China such as auto and
luxury goods groups, offsetting news
of a technical agreement in Greeces
bailout deal.
A survey indicating investor sentiment in Germany fell sharply in August
also darkened investor outlook.
Londons benchmark FTSE 100
index ended the day 1.06% lower at
6,664.54 points compared with Mondays close.
Frankfurts DAX 30 nished 2.68%
down at 11,293.65 points while the
CAC 40 in Paris closed 1.86% behind
at 5,099.03.
Athens main index grew 2.14% to
705 points.
In foreign exchange, the euro rose to
$1.1069 from $1.1019 late in New York
on Monday.
European equities on the back
foot... in reaction to Chinas currency
devaluation and despite proximity to
a Greek bailout deal, said Mike van
Dulken, head of research at Accendo
Markets. While markets normally
welcome any form of China stimulus with open arms, todays move in
the wake of truly awful weekend trade
data is being interpreted as admission

of growth slowing by even more than
those rather questionable official statistics are to have us believe.
China yesterday announced a sharply lower daily reference rate for the
yuan against the US dollar, saying it
was part of moves to make its exchange
rate regime more market oriented.
The 1.86% cut was the largest since
the yuan was unpegged from the
greenback in 2005.
Weak trade and ination data released last weekend reinforced concerns that growth is slowing in the
worlds second largest economy.
The devaluation weighed on several sectors, notably the auto and luxury goods markets that rely heavily on
Chinese demand.
In Paris, shares in LVMH Moet Vuitton shed 5.42% to 164.85, Peugeot
slid 3.65% to 17.70 and Renault gave
up 3.79 % to 84.84.
In Frankfurt, Daimler shed 5.15% to
79.93 and BMW retreated by 4.26%
to 89.42.
Burberry meanwhile slumped 4.42%
to 1,536 pence in London. Miners also
continued to fall under the pressure of
weaker Chinese growth, with Glencore
down 7.26% at 191 pence and BHP Billiton losing 5% to 1,148.50 pence.
The move by Beijing also pulled US
stocks mostly lower, with investors
wary of weaker Chinese exports fur-
HONG KONG
HONG KONG
Company Name
Aluminum Corp Of China Ltd-H
Bank Of East Asia
Bank Of China Ltd-H
Bank Of Communications Co-H
Belle International Holdings
Boc Hong Kong Holdings Ltd
Cathay Pacific Airways
Ck Hutchison Holdings Ltd
China Coal Energy Co-H
China Construction Bank-H
China Life Insurance Co-H
China Merchants Hldgs Intl
China Mobile Ltd
China Overseas Land & Invest
China Petroleum & Chemical-H
China Resources Enterprise
China Resources Land Ltd
China Resources Power Holdin
China Shenhua Energy Co-H
China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd
Citic Ltd
Clp Holdings Ltd
Cnooc Ltd
Cosco Pacific Ltd
Esprit Holdings Ltd
Fih Mobile Ltd
Hang Lung Properties Ltd
Hang Seng Bank Ltd
Henderson Land Development
ther strengthening the dollar.

In trades around noon, the Dow
Jones Industrial Average was down
1.31% at 17,385.23.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite
Index fell 0.46% to 5,048.35, thought
the broad-based S&P 500 reversed initial losses to advance 1.28% to 2,104.18.
The news by China overshadowed
developments within the eurozone
notably that Greece has reached a
technical deal on a multibillion bailout
with its international creditors after
marathon talks.
An agreement was reached, a government source told AFP, with Finance
Minister Euclid Tsakalotos briey telling reporters that one or two details
remained to be worked out during the
day.
European officials later noted, however, that the accord was a technical
level agreement... What we dont have
is a political agreement.
The talks between ministers and the
ECB, the International Monetary Fund
and the European Stability Mechanism
aim to nalise the list of new reforms
required of the Greek government in
exchange for a lifeline of what officials
in Athens yesterday said was around
85bn ($93.8bn).
The deadline for Greece to reach an
agreement on its third bailout is August 20, when it must repay 3.4bn to
the European Central Bank.
Lt Price
3.07
30.55
4.21
6.84
7.84
31.50
18.30
114.20
3.86
6.32
29.55
29.50
102.80
25.25
5.78
24.75
21.50
20.70
15.40
11.12
14.16
65.20
9.93
10.20
7.68
4.00
20.55
157.00
49.90
% Chg
0.00
1.33
-0.47
-0.29
2.08
0.16
-2.03
-1.47
-0.77
-0.78
1.37
1.37
0.69
3.70
-0.17
0.20
0.70
1.22
0.13
0.91
-1.12
-0.69
4.09
0.00
1.99
2.83
-1.20
-0.51
-0.40
Volume
47,149,787
2,976,059
289,946,921
37,921,590
23,590,013
8,685,751
2,615,497
6,936,746
26,440,274
214,791,824
44,950,696
5,753,238
16,850,540
37,393,331
81,868,198
2,400,513
20,258,005
4,978,515
16,478,144
36,324,984
21,525,794
2,741,722
91,103,161
3,694,523
14,981,551
6,576,660
1,491,120
2,065,795
Company Name
Hong Kong & China Gas
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clear
Hsbc Holdings Plc
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd
Ind & Comm Bk Of China-H
Li & Fung Ltd
Mtr Corp
New World Development
Petrochina Co Ltd-H
Ping An Insurance Group Co-H
Power Assets Holdings Ltd
Sino Land Co
Sun Hung Kai Properties
Swire Pacific Ltd-A
Tencent Holdings Ltd
Wharf Holdings Ltd
Lt Price
15.84
216.00
70.10
0.00
5.34
5.73
36.30
9.11
7.33
44.55
72.10
11.70
115.90
95.20
140.80
47.25
% Chg
-0.25
-1.01
0.29
0.00
-0.19
4.95
0.00
-0.98
0.83
0.11
0.49
0.00
-0.09
-0.26
-1.40
-0.11
Volume
7,470,483
8,567,885
14,949,761
234,922,791
43,813,603
3,462,482
13,973,774
102,496,743
39,716,203
2,643,875
2,887,933
2,673,942
1,319,249
15,363,733
3,728,869
GCC INDICES
Indices
Doha Securities Market
Saudi Tadawul
Kuwait Stocks Exchange
Bahrain Stock Exchage
Oman Stock Market
Abudhabi Stock Market
Dubai Financial Market
Lt Price
11,787.71
8,758.07
6,294.47
1,333.76
6,401.20
4,815.53
4,072.82
Change
+108.01
-76.75
-4.57
+0.28
-18.77
-7.24
+4.36
Information contained herein is believed to be reliable and had been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. The
accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. This publication is for providing information only and is not intended
as an offer or solicitation for a purchase or sale of any of the financial instruments mentioned. Gulf Times and Doha Bank
or any of their employees shall not be held accountable and will not accept any losses or liabilities for actions based on
this data.
CURRENCIES
DOLLAR
QATAR RIYAL
SAUDI RIYAL
UAE DIRHAMS
BAHRAINI
DINAR
KUWAITI
DINAR
Gulf Times
13
BUSINESS
Noble plans
to raise funds
from strategic
investor
Reuters
Singapore
Noble Group is considering issuing a convertible note to a strategic investor, one of several
steps the commodities trader is assessing to
revive investor confidence after a damaging
accounting dispute, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter,
said Nobles shareholders and partners have
urged the Singapore-listed company to make a
deal that would strengthen its ties with a credible partner, a move that could possibly bring
in new business. A spokeswoman for Noble
declined to comment on the matter.
Noble has been approached by investors
interested in its commodities contracts, valued
at $4.1bn, and it does not rule out the option of
going private, the source added.
By issuing a convertible security rather than
tapping shareholders for additional equity
Noble would secure funding, avoid near-term
dilution and offer the partner a cheap entry
into the company, which has lost about 50% of
its market value since its contract assumptions
came under attack in February.
(A convertible) sends a strong message to
the market. It makes sure that Noble does not
do something that is dilutive to equity at a time
when the company does not need additional
equity, the source said but stressed that there
is no certainty that a deal will take place.
Asias biggest commodity trader, already under pressure in a weak commodities market, hit
the spotlight in February when blogger Iceberg
Research alleged the company was inflating its
assets by billions of dollars by not fairly representing the value of its commodity contracts.
Noble has rejected the claims and boardappointed consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers
found no wrongdoing in a report published on
Monday. Nobles shares rallied yesterday, but
ended the session 2% lower.
The source did not name the partner Noble
was looking at.
Bankers say China Investment Corp (CIC),
Nobles second-largest shareholder which
owns a stake of about 9%, is a likely candidate.
Nobles top shareholder is chairman and
founder Richard Elman, who owns about a fifth
of its shares.
The Chinese sovereign wealth fund had cut
its stake in Noble in September 2014 and has
not made any public comment on the company
since the accounting problems.
CIC was not available for comment.
Rival commodity trader Olam was rescued
by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings
in late 2012 through a bonds-with-warrants
issue, helping to draw a line under attacks from
short-seller Muddy Waters over its finances.
The source said that Noble was exploring
all options, including the possibility of going
private. Nothing is off the table at this point,
the source said. Another source familiar with
the situation said that Noble had hired former
Citigroup banker Michael Klein to advise it.
Klein had helped broker merger talks between
Glencore and Xstrata. A call to Kleins office was
not returned. The first source said Noble had
been approached by investors to sell part of its
commodity contracts that make up the majority of its balance sheet.
That is definitely one of the options. On
the back of the PwC review, Noble is in a much
stronger negotiating position, the source said.
Given the heightened scrutiny Noble is under, it
is time for Noble to liquidate some of its $2.4bn
inventory balance or $4.1bn contract book in
order to show positive operating cash flow,
CreditSights analysts said in a report on Monday.
Chinese banks extend

$238.4bn in new loans
Reuters
Shanghai/Beijing
hinese banks extended a surprisingly

robust 1.48tn yuan ($238.4bn) in new
loans in July but economists said the
numbers may have been distorted by Beijings
massive rescue package for the slumping stock
market and other policy measures.
New bank lending has been weak for much
of this year despite interest rates cuts and looser lending restrictions.
The Peoples Bank of China (PBoC) has
cut rates four times since November and also
trimmed bank reserve requirements to support
agging growth in the worlds second-largest economy. Amid more evidence of export
weakness, the central bank also stunned markets by devaluing the yuan yesterday.
New yuan loans in July trumped the previous months lending of 1.28tn yuan while
broad money supply expanded an annual
13.3%, faster than Junes 11.7%.
Economists polled by Reuters had predicted
money supply would expand 11.7%, with new
yuan loans at 738.0bn yuan.
Outstanding yuan loans grew at 15.5% by
month-end, faster than expectations for a rise
of 13.6%.
Economists say the past two months of
stronger data may suggest commercial banks
are starting to respond more strongly to stimulus measures, but could also reect the massive
stock market run-up in June and subsequent
government rescue.
Its all about the stock market, said Zhou
Hao, Senior Emerging Markets Economist at
Commerzbank AG in Singapore.
Part of the increase is probably due to the
local government debt swap and other stimulus measures. But we know the government
has raised around 2tn yuan for the stock market rescue, and also that banks have been very
reluctant to lend to corporates over the last
several months.
Given all this, the big July lending
number is very interesting, and its difficult
to know what percentage is actually going to
corporates.
A recent note from Goldman Sachs estimated that 17 commercial banks had lent the China
Finance Corp, Chinas official margin lending
rm and the main vehicle for the stock market
rescue, nearly 1.3tn yuan.
Chinas huge stock rally in the second-quarter was also driven in part by a massive increase
apans Sumitomo Life has agreed to

buy US insurer Symetra Financial Corp
for about $3.8bn, the latest multi-billion deal in the worlds largest insurance
market by acquisitive Japanese companies.
Japans life insurance market, the worlds
second-largest, has been relatively protable and stable but its weak growth prospects amid a rapidly ageing population
have prompted major domestically-focused players to look overseas.
Tokio Marine Holdings in June agreed to
buy HCC Insurance Holdings for $7.5bn,
while late last month Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co agreed to buy StanCorp Financial Group for $5bn.
Reuters reported last week Bellevue,
Washington-based Symetra had been exploring the possibility of selling itself and
possible suitors included Sumitomo Life
Insurance Co, Japans fourth-largest life
insurer.
Sumitomo, with 27tn ($216.2bn) in assets, will pay $32 per share for Symetra,
representing a 32% premium to the US
companys average share price in the past
month.
Symetra shareholders will also receive a
previously announced special dividend of
$0.50 per share in cash.
Chief executive Thomas Marra and its
in margin debt, some of which likely had its ultimate source in bank loans.
The PBoC said in a statement the rise in yuan
loans was due to steady growth policy, demand
for working capital, a real estate rebound and
local government debt swaps.
It also acknowledged the governments eq-
uity market rescue efforts in July had probably inuenced the monetary data. Recently
Chinas capital markets have been volatile,
the PBoC said. In order to stabilise market
expectations, guard against nancial risks, and
support healthy capital market development,
monetary policy and the banking system in
July took a series of temporary measures. Such

measures also inuence the growth of money
supply and loans. Total social nancing, a
broader measure of net new credit, stood at
718.8bn yuan in July. The big drop from Junes
massive 1.86tn gure may be related to deleveraging in margin nancing, economists said.
Analysts sharply cut Japan growth forecasts

Reuters
Tokyo
apanese analysts are sharply cutting their

economic growth forecasts for the year
amid expectations that activity shrank in
the second quarter, a survey showed, piling
pressure on the central bank to trim its own
rosy projections.
A poll of roughly 40 major think tanks, conducted each month by a semi-government
body, showed yesterday analysts now expect
Japans Sumitomo Life to

buy US insurer for $3.8bn
Reuters
Tokyo
An employee counts yuan banknotes at a bank in Beijing. Bank lending in China has been weak for much of this year despite interest rate cuts and
looser lending restrictions.
management team will continue to lead the

business in the US. Shares of Symetra were
up 6.7% in premarket trading.
Founded in 1957, Symetra provides employee benets, annuities and life insurance. It is partly owned by White Mountains Insurance Group, a holding company
of several nancial services companies.
Symetras largest shareholders, White
Mountains and Berkshire Hathaway, which
have about 18% and 17% respectively, have
agreed to vote in favour of the transaction,
Symetra said in a statement.
Sumitomo Life has hitherto had only
minimal overseas operations, consisting of
minority stakes in insurance companies in
China, Vietnam and Indonesia.
The company said the acquisition of
Symetra will boost the proportion of its
overseas business to 14% in premium revenue and 8% in adjusted prots, based on
its previous years results.
Goldman Sachs is acting as nancial adviser to Sumitomo Life and Morgan Stanley
to Symetra, the two insurers said.
With three of Japans top four life insurers having made multi-billion US deals, including Dai-ichi Life Insurance Cos $5.6bn
acquisition of Protective Life, industry
leader Nippon Life will likely draw attention as the next big buyer.
Nippon Life, with $500bn in assets, has
said it is looking for overseas targets and
could spend up to 1.5tn on acquisitions
and investments at home and abroad over
the next 10 years.
the economy will grow 1.21% in the year to

March 2016.
That was a rare sharp downgrade from
1.66% projected in the previous months ESP
survey, regarded as the most comprehensive
poll available in Japan.
It also widened the gap between privatesector views and the BoJs upbeat forecast last
month for a 1.7% expansion this year.
The worlds third-largest economy likely
contracted an annualised 1.9% in April-June
due to weak exports and household spending,
a sharp reversal from a 3.9% expansion in the
rst-quarter, a Reuters poll showed. The data

will be released on Monday.
Many analysts agree with the Bank of Japan
that growth will rebound in the third-quarter
as solid US demand lifts exports and Japanese
households resume spending as wages rise.
But the expected dismal second-quarter
reading and any weak data over the summer
will most certainly force the BoJ to cut its outlook when it next reviews its forecasts in October, analysts say.
The question is how big the BoJs downgrade will be. The BoJ says the current weak-
ness in consumption is temporary but its

uncertain whether thats indeed the case,
said Yuichiro Nagai, an economist at Barclays
Capital Japan. The downgrade in forecasts has
not bolstered expectations of imminent monetary easing, partly as BoJ officials have clung
to their upbeat rhetoric despite a recent slew of
weak data.
Unless the economy suffers another contraction in the third quarter and slides into recession, the BoJ will probably stick to its rosy
scenario and hold off on easing further, said
Barclays Nagai.
Chinas big-spending tourists

pause at stores as yuan drops
Reuters
Paris/Hong Kong
The Chinese tourists who have become a common sight in the worlds major cities fear their
wings will be clipped if yesterdays shock yuan
devaluation develops into a deeper dent in their
spending power.
More than 100mn Chinese travel abroad every
year, buying more luxury goods than any other
nation. Shopping for the perfumes and designer
clothes that can cost them twice as much at
home is a major travel incentive.
Id planned to go to Seoul this month with
my friends and then Thailand alone in October.
But Im afraid the yuan will devalue more,
Xuechang Huang, a 48-year-old housewife from
Guangzhou, told Reuters. So I think I wont go
to Seoul for shopping, but just to Thailand for
sightseeing.
Huang Ruifen, a shop owner from Guangxi
on a shopping trip to Hong Kong, was equally
decisive. Ill stop buying luxuries until the yuan
is up again, she said.
China devalued its currency by 2% after a run
of poor economic data - a move some economists think could herald a longer-term slide in
the exchange rate. The downward move was
the biggest since a massive devaluation in 1994,
and appeared to reverse a previous strong yuan
policy. Investors were quick to bet companies
like Louis Vuitton holding company LVMH, Gucci
owner Kering and LOreal could suffer. The stocks
were among the biggest fallers on the Paris stock
market, dropping between 1.5 and 4%. The companies declined to comment. Chinese tourists
have been spending record amounts on luxury
goods this year, VAT-refund company Global Blue
said in a report published in April. For European
destinations, the weak euro has been a big draw.
Analysts reckon Chinese luxury spending accounts for as much as 45% of the global market
up from effectively zero a decade ago. Chinese
account for well over a third of total European
luxury spending.
Despite the market reaction, the potential currency effects are mixed for the industry.
Global Blue says as much as 40% of Chinese
tourist purchases abroad are destined to be sold
for a profit back home on the grey market, so a
weaker yuan may just displace some sales back
into China.
Luxury sector margins are also generally
higher in Asia, although the currency translation
effects for European-based companies could
cancel out some of that benefit.
Overall its likely to be negative in my view,
said Nomura luxury goods analyst Christopher
Walker, (but) its increasingly hard to monitor ...
All the luxury companies are trying to manage
their pricing and manage the gaps. This just
throws another question mark into the pricing
mix which makes it just difficult to manage a
luxury business at this point.
Either way, the sums involved are huge and
have been growing fast.
The World Tourism Organisation says China
was the biggest outbound tourism spending
country in 2014, with $165bn laid out, up 28%
from 2013. As recently as 1995, the Chinese

spend was just $3.7bn.
The price of a Gucci handbag was not the only
thing on Chinese minds after Tuesdays devaluation, according to a straw poll of Chinese tourists
around the world.
Hong Kong realtors fretted over the impact
on the market there, while students interviewed
in Beijing and Sydney feared for the cost of their
foreign schooling fees.
But for now, there was plenty of determination
among them to enjoy their purchasing power
while it lasts.
You can buy more in Australia. For example,
to buy Ugg boots its 1,000 yuan in China, its
200 yuan in Australia, said Kou Meng Nan, 20,
a college student from Beijing on a 12-day shopping trip to Sydney.
It was business as usual, too, at Galeries
Lafayette in central Paris, where visitors from
China poured off buses and into the grand department store. Before yesterdays dip, the yuan
had strengthened 15% against the euro since the
beginning of 2014.
That should make sure that this devaluation
doesnt have any significant consequences, said
Catherine Oden, China director for Atout France,
Frances official tourism promotion arm. Its the
end of the season anyway for the Chinese.
For some, of course, its just not about the
price. Its really bad news for me, said Tommy
Liu, 27, standing outside a Chanel store in Hong
Kong waiting for his girlfriend.
No matter if the currency is up or down, Ill
buy anything for her to make her happy.
14
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
Alibaba plots comeback from worlds biggest market-value wipeout
Bloomberg
Beijing
It took less than a year for Alibaba Group
Holding to turn from a stock-market darling into the biggest source of shareholder
losses worldwide.
Now, Chinas biggest e-commerce
operator is plotting its comeback. This
weeks purchase of a stake in Suning
Commerce Group Chairman Jack Mas
largest deal ever is part of the companys
push to reach millions of new customers
in rural China and abroad through a bigger
logistics network.
Ma is counting on expansion outside
Chinas largest cities to offset a slowdown
Beijing now
strengthens
position as
oil market
price maker
Reuters
Singapore
hinas growing ability to

buy and sell millions of
barrels of crude oil on the
Asian physical market in a matter
of minutes through its main trading rms has given China so much
clout that other traders are often
forced to follow its agreed prices.
Leading Chinese oil traders
have cornered the market on
several occasions since October last year. Early this month,
Chinaoil, the trading arm of PetroChina, bought 5mn barrels of
crude in just 30 minutes through
Asias main price-nding mechanism organised by Platts, part
of McGraw Hill Financial Inc.
Market power is shifting towards big consumers, with oil
output at record highs and global
demand slowing. Chinas main
oil traders Unipec and Chinaoil
have been able to cherry-pick
the best offers and take advantage of cheap oil to build strategic reserves.
Chinas view of supply security is now increasingly a
question of becoming a price
maker and being involved in the
entire supply chain globally,
said Michal Meidan, director of
consultancy China Matters.
This year, China is challenging
the US as the worlds No.1 crude
buyer, with weaker oil prices lowering the cost of building Chinas
strategic petroleum reserves.
China bought nearly 11% more
crude in the rst seven months of
2015 from a year earlier.
For China, the cost of importing roughly 200mn barrels
of crude a month has fallen to
$10bn at current prices around
$50 a barrel, from $23bn when
prices were at $115 a barrel last
summer. Nowhere has Chinas
move from price taker to maker
been more obvious than in daily
physical crude oil trading.
Unipec, the trading unit of
Sinopec Corp, and Chinaoil often dominate daily trading, surpassing volumes dealt by Western majors. Get out of the way
when the train is running, said
a trader with an Asian rener.
Little guys like us can get run
over easily.
Riding on Chinas growth of
the past decade, which has not
only seen it become a top crude
importer but also a large exporter of rened products, Sinopec
and PetroChina have evolved
from being passive oil importers
to sophisticated traders of crude
oil and rened fuels.
Since the second half of 2014,
both rms saw oil traders ascend
to top management, replacing
executives of either planning or
renery manager background,
company sources said.
Sinopec and PetroChina do
not comment on trade-related
matters. The huge volumes exchanged by Chinas two major traders are straining Asias
benchmark price-nding mechanism in the physical oil market,
the Dubai Market-on-Close
(MoC) by Platts. In a process
called the window by many
traders, the soaring activity of
these traders has often led little space for other participants
to trade in the oil price-making
process.
The concern which I and a
lot of others have is that the Dubai market does not reect the
true market price of Middle East
crude with this kind of action,
said Oystein Berentsen, managing director of crude oil with Singapore-based Strong Petroleum.
in sales growth that helped erase $92bn of

market value since Alibaba shares peaked
in November.
While the strategy may take time to
bear fruit, Wall Street is keeping its faith
before the release of Alibabas quarterly
results today. Share-price forecasts tracked
by Bloomberg imply a 35% rally over the
next year, the second-biggest projected
return among the worlds 25 largest companies. Rural and overseas businesses
present a great opportunity, but they take
time to grow, said Li Yujie, an analyst at
RHB Research Institute Sdn in Hong Kong.
Alibabas fiscal first-quarter sales are
projected to climb 33%, the weakest
pace in at least three years, to 21bn yuan
($3.3bn), according to the average of 26
estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That

compares with a mean growth rate of 56%
for the previous 12 quarters.
Alibaba shares closed on Monday at
$80.47, down 32% from their November
10 high. While the stock is still trading
above its initial public offering price in
September, the company has lost the
equivalent of Goldman Sachs Groups entire market capitalisation since its peak
the worlds biggest destruction of market
value. The Hangzhou-based company is
now ranked 24th worldwide with a value
of $202bn.
After its record $25bn IPO and 75%
surge in the first two months of trading,
Alibaba has been hit by a succession
of bad news.It faced a scathing report
from the Chinese government about its

business practices in January, was sued in
May by the maker of Gucci handbags over
claims the e-commerce platform facilitates sales of counterfeits and agreed to
sell its US website 11 Main two months ago
amid criticism from American merchants.
Perhaps most importantly, Alibaba
is grappling with weak growth in larger
cities as new customers become harder
to find and Chinas economy heads for its
slowest annual expansion since 1990.
Despite the setbacks, Ma sees room
for growth. Mondays agreement to
spend 28.3bn yuan for a 20% stake in
Suning Commerce adds more than 1,600
electronics stores in about 290 cities and
enables its Cainiao logistics affiliate to
cover almost all of the 2,800 counties and

districts in China.
The acquisition is Alibabas biggestever, excluding a $7.1bn share buyback
in 2012 from Yahoo! Inc. This month, Alibaba tapped former Goldman Sachs partner Michael Evans as president to help
the company reach a target of getting
more than half its revenue from outside
of China.Through its AliExpress platform,
Alibaba has become the top shopping
site in Russia and Brazil. It accounts for
about half of online goods purchased in
Russia, according to Maria Gracheva, the
chief executive officer of Yandex Money,
a payments processor for Alibabas online
sales in Russia.
Within China, Ma plans to build a
delivery network that can spirit packages

between 100,000 villages, which account
for less than 10% of online purchases on
Alibabas retail platforms.
Among the 18.9mn new Internet users
in China in the first-half, more than 48%
came from rural areas, according to the
China Internet Network Information
Center. Alibabas partnership with Suning
will expand the companys reach in those
fast-growing areas, according to Cynthia
Meng, an analyst at Jefferies Hong Kong.
The deal gives Alibaba much strengthened logistics and delivery capability,
especially in lower tier markets, Meng
wrote in an August 10 report. She has
a buy rating on the stock, with a price
target that implies 22% upside.
Singapore cuts growth

forecast to 2-2.5% for 15
Bloomberg
Singapore
ingapore slashed the upper end of

its growth forecast for 2015 after
the economy shrank last quarter,
signalling a softened outlook even as
the government prepares for a general
election. The currency slipped to its
lowest in ve years.
The growth forecast is now 2% to
2.5% this year, from 2% to 4% previously, the trade ministry said in a statement yesterday. Gross domestic product fell an annualised 4% in the three
months through June from the previous
quarter, when it grew a revised 4.1%.
That compares with an initial estimate
for a 4.6% drop, which was also the
median in a Bloomberg survey.
Several key downside risks in the
external economic environment remain, the ministry said. The global
economy performed weaker than expected in the rst-half of 2015. For the
rest of the year, global growth is expected to pick up gradually, although
the pace of growth is likely to be uneven
across economies.
Singapores export-dependent economy has been hurt by slowing growth in
China, while uneven recoveries in the
US and Europe have damped demand
for Asian goods. Further volatility in
Chinas stock market could undermine
Chinese spending while nancial conditions could tighten more than expected in the region as the US begins to
raise interest rates, Monetary Authority
of Singapore Managing Director Ravi
Menon said last month.
The Singapore dollar fell 0.9% to
1.3938 against the US currency as of
9.58 am local time.
We worry that the risk is on the
downside, said Chua Hak Bin, an
economist at Bank of America Merrill
Lynch in Singapore. The main worry
is that the economy is still stagnating.
There are more indicators to suggest
that things are just as distressing as
the global nancial crisis. The government also trimmed its prediction
for non-oil domestic export gains
PSA Internationals Tanjong Pagar container terminal in Singapore. The island nations export-dependent economy has been hurt by slowing growth in China, while
uneven recoveries in the US and Europe have damped demand for Asian goods.
this year to 1% to 2%, from 1% to 3%
previously. Singapores manufacturing contracted an annualised 18.3% in
the second-quarter from the previous
three months.
Construction gained 2.9%, while
services slipped 1.1%.
The economy expanded 1.8% last
quarter from a year earlier, the slowest
growth since 2012. The central bank,

which uses the exchange rate as its main
monetary policy tool, resisted pressure
in April to add to an unexpected January easing.
This narrowed growth forecast lies
within our planning parameters of the
current exchange-rate policy, Jacqueline Loh, a deputy managing director at
the MAS, told reporters yesterday.

The current stance of a modest and
gradual appreciation of the Singapore
dollar remains appropriate to ensure
medium-term price stability.
The current policy stance remains
appropriate, Menon told reporters
on July 21 at the release of the central
banks annual report. The monetary
authority is scheduled to release its

next policy decision in October.
The ruling Peoples Action Party is
gearing up for an election that may be
called soon. The PAP in recent years
has sought to shore up support among
voters by boosting spending on lowerincome families and the elderly after
losing some districts in the 2011 ballot.
Adani hits out at activists after StanChart exit
Even as banks walk away,

coal on the rise in Australia
Reuters
Sydney
tandard Chartered has become the

second bank in a week to walk away
from a multi-billion dollar Australian
coal project, leading environmentalists to
claim a major victory in one of the worlds
top coal-producing nations.
But while coal becomes increasingly
viewed as a sunset business in many developed countries the US Clean Power
Plan unveiled last week aims to shift the
fuel generation mix dramatically away from
coal production is rising in Australia.
To say coal mining will stop in Australia
is unrealistic, said James Wilson, an analyst with Morgans Financial in Perth, noting that some of the biggest and most efficient mines in the world are located in the
country.
Banks have poured more than $3bn
into Australian coal projects in the past 18
months, seemingly oblivious to a 28% fall
in thermal coal prices over the same period,
according to Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing
Corp data.
Australias coal exports are forecast to
rise this year to 202.9mn tonnes, second
only to Indonesia and nearly twice that of
Russia, government data shows.
While President Barack Obama is trying

to wean the US off coal, Australian Prime
Minister Tony Abbott has in contrast said
coal is good for humanity and for his
commodity-reliant economy.
This year coal is forecast to generate
A$346bn ($253bn) in foreign sales for Australia, right behind iron ore, the countrys
most lucrative export, according to Australias Department of Industry and Science.
Another Australian miner, Whitehaven
Coal, says that developing new coal assets
is key to its future so that it can meet rising
demand from Asia.
Whitehavens imperative is to grow by
developing more assets, said its managing
director Paul Flynn. I am not hiding behind that at all.
Standard Chartered announced on Monday it will not advise or help nance the
Carmichael coal mine, being developed in
Queensland by Indian conglomerate Adani
Mining.
The move came after Commonwealth
Bank of Australia, pulled out as a nancial
adviser on August 6.
Adani declined to comment, but both
banks cited the rms delays in gaining government approvals to proceed with construction of the project, estimated to cost
$10bn, as reasons for withdrawing and did
not mention any environmental concerns

on their part.
Located on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef, critics say the mine will require
massive seaoor dredging to allow in hundreds of coal ships, while contributing to
global warming.
This is a victory for anyone who cares
about the future of both the Great Barrier Reef and the worlds efforts to tackle
climate change, said Greenpeace climate
campaigner Nikola Casule.
While lenders may be under pressure
to back away from coal, funding has by no
means dried up.
Australias four largest banks alone have
lent more than A$36bn ($26.4bn) to fossil
fuel projects in Australia since 2008, according to environmental group Market
Forces. Advocates for more coal mining in
Australia warn if coal resources arent exploited, India and other foreign buyers will
turn to Indonesia and South Africa, eliminating economic benets to Australia and
doing nothing to cut emissions.
If these countries cannot source our
coal, they will simply seek it elsewhere, and
that coal may not be as high quality, producing a worse outcome for global carbon
emissions while denying Australia jobs,
said Michael Roche, chief executive of mining lobby Queensland Resources Council.
Indian firm Adani yesterday

accused environmental activists
of exploiting legal loopholes to
stall a massive Australian coal
mine, after Standard Chartered
bank withdrew as a financial
adviser to the project.
An Australian court last week
revoked government approval
for the Aus$16.5bn (US$12.1bn)
Carmichael coal mine, which
could have become one of the
worlds biggest.
The British bank said on
Monday the decision to cut ties
was made amid a review of the
balance between the need for
energy generation in developing
countries and their environmental impact.
As a result of this ongoing
review by Standard Chartered
and the delays experienced by
Adani in receipt of its project
approvals, both parties have
agreed to end the banks role
in the Carmichael project, the
bank said in a statement.
The Commonwealth Bank
of Australia also last week said
it had ended its financial advisory role to Adani, while major
European and US banks have
refused to fund the project due
to environmental concerns.
Adani said it had requested
the termination of Standard
Chartereds financial advisory
role, on the basis of Adanis own
concerns over ongoing delays
to a now five-year-long approv-
als process in Australia.

In the event Australias
federal approvals framework
is not further undermined by
activists seeking to exploit legal
loopholes, enabling the project
and the thousands of jobs and
billions of dollars of investment
it would bring to be delivered,
Adani would happily work with
the bank in future, it said in a
statement.
Activists have criticised the
controversial project, arguing
it could hurt marine life in the
World Heritage-listed Great
Barrier Reef because the coal
would have to be shipped out of
a nearby port.
Last weeks successful legal
challenge, which reportedly
hinged on the vulnerable status
of two small reptiles, means
approval for the mine must now
be reconsidered by Environment
Minister Greg Hunt.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific
welcomed Standard Chartereds
statement and said the Adani
project was a massive reputational risk for even the worlds
most powerful banks.
Critics have also said falling
coal prices was dampening
interest in the development.
The mine was forecast to produce 60mn tonnes of thermal
coal a year for export, providing electricity for up to 100mn
people in India, and generating
thousands of Australian jobs.
Gulf Times
15
BUSINESS
ZEW SURVEY
ALL-CASH DEAL
TAX PLANS
GLOBAL PUSH
MARKETS STEADY
German investor morale

worsens in August
Symantec says to sell

Veritas unit for $8bn
Poland could lose positive

rating outlook, says S&P
Jaguar Land Rover plans

new plant in Slovakia
US productivity rises in
Q2, but trend still soft
The mood among analysts and investors in

Germany worsened in August due to concerns
about the effect of an unstable global economic
backdrop on the countrys export-dependent
economy. Mannheim-based ZEW said its monthly
survey showed economic sentiment fell to 25.0
points from 29.7 in July. That was below even the
lowest forecast in a Reuters poll of economists,
which had given a consensus forecast for a
reading of 32.0. The drop in sentiment was
the fifth in a row. The Eurostoxx 50 index and
Germanys bluechip DAX share index extended
losses after the ZEW reading.
US computer security company Symantec said

yesterday it would sell its data management
business Veritas to a group of investors for
$8bn in cash. Symantec, maker of the Norton
antivirus program, said the deal was expected
to close by January 1. The buyers group is led by
US global asset management firm The Carlyle
Group and Singapores GIC, one of the worlds
largest sovereign wealth funds. The all-cash sale
of Veritas will provide resources for Symantec
to continue investment in the rapidly growing
market for security products and services, the
Mountain View, California-based company said.
Poland risks losing the positive outlook on its

A- rating if it breaks its government spending
rules or penalises foreign investors, Standard and
Poors (S&P) lead rating analyst for Poland said.
Felix Winnekens said plans to slap new taxes on
banks and supermarkets and make banks bear the
costs of converting foreign currency mortgages,
all backed by the opposition Law and Justice
partys (PiS), could harm lenders and the economy.
Winnekens said increasing tax collection is a quite
difficult undertaking, so there could be a shortfall
in revenues to compensate for the increased
government spending that is anticipated.
Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has

signed a letter of intent to build a new car
plant in Slovakia, a further expansion away
from its British manufacturing base as it seeks
to boost sales worldwide. The brand, owned
by Indias Tata Group since 2008, said it was
carrying out a feasibility study for a factory in
the western Slovak town of Nitra with the aim
of reaching an annual output of up to 300,000
cars over the decade from 2018 when the plant
could start production. A final decision will be
made later this year. Slovak Finance Minister
Peter Kazimir hailed the decision.
US nonfarm productivity rebounded in the

second quarter, but a weak underlying trend
suggested inflation could pick up more quickly
than economists have anticipated. Productivity
increased at a 1.3% annual rate in the April-June
period, the Labour Department said yesterday.
But productivity, which measures hourly output
per worker, rose only 0.3% from a year ago.
First quarter productivity was revised to show
it falling at a 1.1% rate instead of the previously
reported 3.1% pace of decline. US financial
markets were little moved by the data, with
investors focused on devaluation of yuan.
Google CFO delivers on

openness pledge with
a new parent company
Bloomberg
San Francisco
oogle chief nancial officer Ruth

Porat is starting to deliver on her
pledge to improve transparency at
the far-ung company, something investors have sought for years.
Google on Monday said it was reorganising under a new holding company called
Alphabet As part of the change, Google is
breaking out its core business including
search from its new endeavours, including its research lab Google X and Calico,
which seeks to extend human lives. The
aim is to give investors a better idea of
how the units are performing and could
lay the foundation for potential future
spin-offs and acquisitions.
Porat, who will be CFO of both Google
and Alphabet, is a 25-plus-year veteran of
Wall Street who was hired in May to help
oversee the broad transition. Shes already
pushing for more of the nancial disclosures and discipline that investors expect
from a large, diversied business.
Whatever the consequences, this is her
thing, said Brian Wieser at Pivotal Research
Group, while noting its not clear how much
of this was done before her arrival. Any incremental transparency into a company as
opaque as Google is a good thing.
The decision comes less than a month
after Porat pointed towards more disclosures for the company during her inaugural call with analysts after secondquarter results. She was formerly CFO of
Morgan Stanley. Im committed to being
direct with you, she said. I wont give
you competitively sensitive information,
but my goal is to help you understand the
business as well as possible.
Larry Page, co-founder and current
chief executive officer, will hold that title at Alphabet, while co-founder Sergey
Brin will be president. Sundar Pichai,
Pages deputy, has been promoted to become CEO of Google, which generates the
bulk of the companys $60bn in annual
revenue.
Google has traditionally been stingy
with details around how its company is
performing a pattern that has frustrated investors since it rst went public in
2004. From time to time, the company has
given tidbits on how one part of the business is performing. For example, earlier
this year, the company blamed YouTube
for dragging down the average price for
ads. Google has also agged specic businesses, such as Google Play, when they
have contributed to growth.
Sundar Pichai, who was Googles senior vice-president, giving a keynote address during the opening day of the 2015 Mobile World
Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, on March 2, 2015. Google unveiled a new corporate structure on Monday, creating a parent
company dubbed Alphabet, the umbrella company for the tech giants research arm X Lab, investment unit Google Ventures and
health and science operations, as well as the search unit Google, whose CEO will be Pichai.
Yet the expanded level of transparency
should give investors a better way to value
the company, according to Sameet Sinha,
an analyst with B Riley & Co The core
business could get a higher multiple based
on its higher protability while the other
units may get more attention for revenue
and potential for growth.
I was expecting that theyd give more
information around the core business he
said. But it was probably the best-case
scenario.
The new set-up makes it simpler to
buy companies and just simply put them
in the non-core part of the business, according to Colin Gillis, an analyst with
BGC Financial. That means a company
struggling with protability or user
growth could be brought into Google
without damaging Wall Street estimates
for earnings growth.
This also gives them the structure to
add in another business line if they were

to acquire something, Gillis said. The
mechanism is in place.
In addition, Google could easily spin
off companies that are showing promise,
according to Wieser. That way, Google
could attract investors that want to invest
in a fast-growing business, driving up the
stock.
Despite the optimism, its not clear how
much clarity Alphabet actually will provide under the new structure. Investors
might be disappointed if the company
comes up short on details.
Just because they break out a segment
for revenue doesnt mean they will break
out cash ows, Wieser said. Investors
may not know where the capital expenditure is going.
Its also not clear how the company
will allocate its resources under the new
structure. With Googles core business
getting the vast majority of investments,

it raises the question about whether the
co-founders will be happy with the leftovers going into their favourite long-term
projects, said Ben Schachter, an analyst at
Macquarie Securities.
Yet Google needs to act. With a stock
price languishing until recently, the company was at a disadvantage when competing for workers who often depend on equity for at least part of their compensation.
The move was reminiscent of Amazon.coms decision to break out its fastgrowing cloud-based business in the rst
quarter. Since then, the stock has climbed
by more than 30%.
You are seeing Google really taking
a page out of the Amazon playbook, and
expecting that the stock will react favourably and that will help them with
employee attraction and retention, Schachter said.
B is for Buffett in Pages plan to

mould Google after Berkshire
Bloomberg
San Francisco
Google chief executive
Officer Larry Page speaks
affectionately of fellow
billionaire Warren Buffetts
approach to business. With
the decision to restructure the
Internet-search giant, Page is
putting Buffetts influence into
practice.
The new structure takes a
page from Buffett, 84, whose
Berkshire Hathaway is a
holding company for disparate
businesses ranging from
insurance and railroads to
running shoes and ice cream. In
the past five decades, hes built
one of the largest businesses
in the world by eschewing fads,
buying when others sell, and
taking a long-term approach
to investing. Through 2014,
Berkshire averaged annual
returns of almost 22%, more
than double the Standard &
Poors 500 Index.
They look at Warren as
a hero and Berkshire as a
template, said Steve Wallman,
a Middleton, Wisconsin-based
money manager who has
invested in Berkshire since 1982
and bought stock in Apple in
late 2003. Hes not a Google
shareholder, but says he wishes
he were.
Fellow executives in the
technology industry also noted
the similarities to Berkshire.
Googles Alphabet sounds
like a 21st-century Berkshire
Hathaway, but with a lot of very
large venture bets, Jeff Weiner,
CEO of LinkedIn Corp, said on
Twitter.
In a letter to potential
shareholders in 2004 ahead of
Googles initial public offering,
Page and co-founder Sergey
Brin quoted Buffett when
outlining the companys longterm focus.
Much of this was inspired
by Warren Buffetts essays in
his annual reports and his An
Owners Manual to Berkshire
Hathaway shareholders, the
letter said, in the lone footnote
at the bottom of the statement.
A hallmark of Buffetts approach
has been to let management
teams run their units
independently. Under Pages
structure for the newly created
Alphabet, Pichai takes over as
CEO of Google; former Apple
executive Tony Fadell leads
Nest, which Google purchased
for $3.2bn in 2014; and former
Genentech CEO Art Levinson is
leading Calico.
The new structure allows
Page, 42, to offload some of
the day-to-day operational
responsibilities of running the
company, while remaining

in charge of overseeing the
allocation of resources to the
different businesses. Its a
similar role that Buffett plays
from Berkshires headquarters
in Omaha, Nebraska.
Buffett has never been a
command-and-control-type
CEO. The decentralised
structure has allowed him to
keep the staff at the companys
headquarters to about two
dozen, even as Berkshire has
grown to employ more than
300,000 people across more
than 80 subsidiaries like auto
insurer Geico and railroad BNSF.
His main charge has been
figuring out how to deploy the
companys capital. Berkshire
doesnt pay a dividend and it
rarely repurchases stock, which
supplies Buffett with billions
of dollars annually to put back
into existing businesses or to
make new investments. On
Monday, he announced one of
his biggest deals ever, a $37.2bn
takeover of Precision Castparts
Corp, a manufacturer of parts
for the aerospace industry.
Warren says, Send the money
to Omaha, said Wallman,
the money manager. Theyre
saying send the money here
and well do capital deployment
in the same fashion in the
spirit of Warren Buffett, but in
the areas that they understand.
In an October interview with the
Financial Times, Page said he
looks to Buffett for ideas. One
thing were doing is providing
long-term, patient capital, Page
told the FT.
Still, there are differences.
Buffett has avoided technology
investments for most of his
career and focused on buying
businesses with durable
competitive advantages. And
hes rarely built businesses from
scratch.
Under the new structure,
Alphabet will still get almost
all its revenue and profit from
Google. The company has
been using the cash from
the business to fund its other
investments, whether its
acquisitions such as Nest, or
research efforts in driverless
cars, high-speed Internet
service or health-care products.
Unlike Berkshire, which
typically buys well-established
companies with steady cash
flow, Page must manage a
conglomerate tasked with
creating hit new technology
products.
You have to be able to manage
the innovation process and
decide what investments
are worth making and which
ones are not, Yoffie said. The
history of this in the technology
industry is littered with failure.
Red Ferrari convertible at $18mn to lead classic car sales

Bloomberg
New York
1961 red convertible Ferrari

California Spider may fetch as
much as $18mn at auction this
week, the top lot among 78 Ferraris
that are up for sale.
Gooding & Co is offering the Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider
one of only 37 of its kind during
the annual classic car event at Californias coastal towns of Carmel and
Monterey and at the Pebble Beach golf
course.
Three auctioneers are offering 390
cars, including 25 from one private collection that may total a record $80mn.
Cars built for Pope John Paul II and for
the former Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli are also among the items for sale.
Last year, auctions at Gooding,
Bonhams and RM Auctions reached a
record tally of almost $400mn, led by
a $38.1mn Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta
that set a record for a car sold at auction globally. Values are stablising after
rising along with other high-end collectibles as wealthy individuals appe-
tite for alternative investments grows.

Prices are at at a very high level,
said McKeel Hagerty, chief executive
officer of Hagerty, a Traverse City,
Michigan-based insurer and classic
car database. There is still very high
demand for important cars.
The estimate for the Ferrari the
rst time since the 1960s that this car
with the chassis 3095 GT is coming to
a public sale in the US is $16mn to
$18mn, according to Santa Monica,
California-based Gooding.
In February, the same model fetched
the world record for its category at
auction, selling for $18.5mn in Paris.
The car offered in California hasnt had
a full restoration, which makes it unusual for a car of its kind and possibly
more valuable, said Larry Fisher, executive director of the NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, California.
RM Sothebys created when
Sothebys auction house took a 25%
ownership interest in RM Auctions
in February will auction a yellow
1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta
Competizione for more than $17mn.
Its one of about 45 of its kind, RM
Sothebys said.
Its nearly impossible to nd a better example in the world right now,

Alain Squindo, vice-president at RM
Sothebys, said in a phone interview.
The yellow Ferrari and an orange
1998 McLaren F1 sports car, estimated at more than $12mn, are part of a
private collection of 25 autos that includes 10 Ferraris, two Lamborghinis
and two Bugattis that will be auctioned by RM Sothebys. The seller
is an unidentied collector based in
Florida.
The sale is expected to total more
than $80mn, which would be the
highest ever for a private collection
sold during a single-day car auction.
Bonhams set the record last year for
the category at $66mn.
Also included in this sale is a 2005
Ferrari Enzo the factory built as a gift
to Pope John Paul II, estimated at
$4mn to $6mn. Its the 400th version
and last one built, according to RM
Sothebys.
The Pope asked for it to be sold to
benet victims of the 2004 tsunami.
Ferrari auctioned the car after Pope
John Paul II died and presented Pope
Bendict XVI with the check.
Another notable car coming to auction is a 1956 Fiat Eden Roc created for
Gianni Agnelli, who became the Fiat
chairman in 1966 and who wanted a
car to take guests from his estate in
Nice, France, to the beach. The open
air Eden Roc looks like a cross between a Volkswagen van and a roadready motorboat. Gooding has a low
estimate of $250,000.
Its an example of a really unusual
item that never comes up for auction,
said David Gooding, president and
founder of Gooding.
Bonhams will offer a 1959 Ferrari
250 GT Competizione Alloy Berlinetta, a sports car that placed third overall at the 1959 Tour de France car race
with an estimate of $9mn to $12mn.
The auction house will also sell a 1985
Ferrari 288 GTO with a high estimate
of $3mn and a 1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic
for as much as $2.4mn thats had the
same owner since 1979.
Collectors drive their prizes in order to maintain them and for fun.
Almost without exception all of
these cars will be driven regularly and
some of them will be raced, Hagerty
said. No car is too valuable to drive.
A 1961 Ferrari 250 PF Cabrio_SII. Gooding & Co is offering a Ferrari 250 GT SWB
California Spider one of only 37 of its kind during the annual classic car event at
Californias coastal towns of Carmel and Monterey and at the Pebble Beach golf course,
which may fetch as much as $18mn.
BUSINESS
GULF TIMES
Greece, lenders
clinch deal after
marathon talks
Reuters
Athens
Delegates and the media arrive ahead of the 167th Opec conference in Vienna, Austria, on June 5. Opec raised output by 100,700 barrels a day to 31.5mn last month, the group
said in its monthly market report, citing external sources.
Opec supply reaches

3-year high as Iran
pumps most since 12
Bloomberg
London
pec pumped the most

crude last month in more
than three years as Iran
restored output to the highest
level since international sanctions were strengthened in 2012.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries,
responsible for 40% of world
oil supplies, raised output by
100,700 barrels a day to 31.5mn
last month, the group said in its
monthly market report, citing
external sources. This increase
came even as Saudi Arabia,
which often curbs output toward the end of peak summer
demand, told Opec it cut production by the most in almost
a year.
Oil prices slumped to a six-
month low below $50 a barrel

in London last week as rising
Opec supplies, resilient US
production and concerns over
Chinese demand prolong a global glut. Iran may further expand output after reaching an
accord with world powers on
July 14 that will ease sanctions
on oil exports later this year in
return for curbs on its nuclear
activity.
Iran has been rising slowly
but surely for a while now, Abhishek Deshpande, an analyst
at Natixis in London, said by email.
It doesnt need foreign investment to revamp existing infrastructure and prepare elds,
resulting in the small increases
you can see now. But the bulk
of the increase is expected once
it becomes clear sanctions will
denitely be lifted.
Iran increased output by

32,300 barrels a day in July to
2.86mn a day, the highest since
June 2012, according to data
Opec compiles from secondary
sources such as media agencies
and international institutions.
Sanctions to deter the nations
nuclear research took effect in
July that year.
Iraq, Opecs second-largest
producer, led gains in output
last month, increasing production by 46,700 barrels a day to
4.1mn, the groups data show.
The report also includes data
directly submitted by Opecs
12 members. In these figures,
Saudi Arabia said it reduced
output in July by 202,700 barrels a day to 10.36mn. Thats
the biggest reduction since
August 2014. A group total was
unavailable for these statistics
because Libya didnt provide
a production estimate. Domestic consumption in Saudi

Arabia already peaked in June,
Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst
at UBS Group in Zurich, said by
e-mail. The pullback might
also be related to challenges in
keeping exports elevated in an
environment where other Opec
countries also fight for market
share.
Opec increased estimates for
global oil demand in 2016 by
about 100,000 a barrels a day.
World consumption will climb
by 1.3mn barrels a day, or 1.4%,
to 94mn barrels a day in 2016.
The growth rate is slightly lower
than this years projected 1.5%
expansion.
Crude oil demand in the
coming months should continue
to improve and, thus, gradually reduce the imbalance in oil
supply-demand, Opecs Vien-
na-based secretariat said in the

report.
Investor concern that oil could
by dragged down further by an
Iranian sale of crude inventories
once sanctions are lifted is overdone, according to a Bloomberg
Intelligence survey published
yesterday. Irans stockpile of
crude amounts to 20 to 40% of
one days global oil demand and
the nation will add less than 1mn
barrels a day to crude supply
next year, most of the surveys
121 respondents said.
Opec boosted forecasts for
supplies from outside the group
in 2015 by 90,000 barrels a day,
while trimming them for next
year by 40,000 a day. Non-Opec
suppliers will raise output by
960,000 barrels a day this year
to 57.46mn a day. Increased estimates for US production bolstered this years outlook, it said.
reece and its international lenders reached a

multi-billion euro bailout agreement yesterday after
talking through the night, ofcials said, potentially saving
the country from nancial ruin.
The agreement, reached after
a 23-hour session of talks, must
still be adopted by Greeces
parliament and eurozone countries. The single currency blocs
nance ministers are due to
meet on Friday, giving time to
nalise the deal before a major
debt repayment next week.
The negotiations appeared to
have resolved all the main outstanding issues, after Greeces
leftist government effectively
capitulated last month to creditors demands for deep austerity measures in order to receive
loans. Finally, we have white
smoke, a Greek Finance Ministry official said after exhausted Greek officials emerged
in a central Athens hotel to
announce the two sides had
agreed on terms. An agreement has been reached.
Finance Minister Euclid
Tsakalotos conrmed only
two or three small issues
were pending. Greek shares
rose, with the banking index
surging 6%, while two-year
bond yields fell more than 4
percentage points.
The institutions and the
Greek authorities achieved an
agreement in principle on a
technical basis. Now as a next
step, a political assessment
will be made, European commission spokeswoman Annika
Breidhardt said in Brussels.
Still, officials in sceptical
northern European countries
remained cautious, pending nal approval of the deal.
There remains work to be
done with details, said Finlands Finance Minister Alexander Stubb. We must take
one step at a time. Agreement is
a big word.
Commission President JeanClaude Juncker was due to hold
talks later yesterday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel
and French President Francois
Hollande.
Approving the agreement
would close a painful chapter
of aid talks for Greece, which
fought against austerity terms
demanded by creditors for
much of the year before relenting under the threat of being
bounced out of the eurozone.
A Greek Finance Ministry
official said the pact would be
worth up to 85bn $94bn) in
fresh loans over three years.
Greek banks would get 10bn
immediately and would be recapitalised by the end of the
year.
An EU diplomat said the
agreement was worth between

82bn and 85bn.
Greek officials have said
they expect the accord to be
ratied by parliament today
or tomorrow and then vetted
by eurozone nance ministers
on Friday. This would pave the
way for aid disbursements by
August 20, when a 3.2bn debt
payment is due to the European
Central Bank.
Facing a revolt from the farleft of his leftist Syriza party,
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras
is expected to once again rely
on opposition support to push
the package through parliament. Once the deal is ratied,
Tsipras is expected to tighten
his grip over the party by facing
down rebels at a party congress
next month.
Even then, doubts remain
about whether a leftist government elected on a pledge
to reverse austerity can implement the punishing terms of
an agreement that critics say
compromises the governments
basic principles.
Popular misgivings about
funnelling yet more money to
Athens run deep in Germany,
the eurozone country that has
contributed most to Greeces
two bailouts since 2010.
Berlin had cautioned that the
talks must focus on quality before speed, raising questions
about whether it would seek to
slow down the process by insisting on conditions attached to aid.
Were talking about a programme for three years, it needs
to be negotiated thoroughly,
Deputy Finance Minister Jens
Spahn told Germanys ARD
television shortly before the
deal was announced. It must
be convincing that its not just
about August 20.
The latest round of talks with
inspectors from four creditor
institutions the European
Commission, European Central Bank, the European bailout fund and the International
Monetary Fund progressed
smoothly in Athens, in contrast
to acrimonious negotiations
during most of the year.
In talks that dragged through
on Monday night, the sides
reached agreement on the three
main sticking points dealing with non-performing loans
held by banks, setting up an asset sales fund, and deregulation
of the natural gas market.
Athens wanted to set up a
bad bank to take on the problem loans, while creditors want
them bundled and sold to distressed debt funds. It was not
immediately clear how that was
resolved.
Officials had also argued
over how to set up a sovereign
wealth fund in Greece designed
to raise 50bn from privatisations, three-quarters of which
would be used to recapitalise
banks and to reduce the debt.
Mystery money manager arrested in insider trading case

Bloomberg
New York
e seems like an American

success story: an ambitious
Russian who came to the US
and went from business school to
Wall Street to his own hedge fund.
But somewhere along the way, US
authorities say, Vitaly Korchevsky
began orchestrating a new type of
nancial crime.
Korchevsky, 50, was one of several
men arrested yesterday morning in
the biggest case of insider trading
linked to the fast-growing threat of
global cybercrime. Charges against
him were unsealed yesterday in
Brooklyn, New York federal court.
The alleged scheme stretched
from the affluent suburbs of Philadelphia, where Korchevsky ran a
small investment fund, to the darkest realms of the Internet.
Working from Russia or Ukraine,
hackers inltrated several computer
systems used by Corps to report sensitive information like earnings and
then, allegedly with Korchevskys
help, made millions of dollars trading on the condential data, people
familiar with the matter say.
Little that is known about Korchevsky seems to hint at his alleged
role in bringing together these two
illicit worlds. Less than prominent in
nancial circles, he has spent a decade and a half moving from one midlevel job to the next.
After completing university in
Russia, Korchevsky collected an
MBA in 1995 from Regent University, a private Christian institution founded by the televangelist
Pat Robertson. He also received his
Certied Financial Analyst charter,
considered the gold standard among
nancial professionals.
By 1999 he was working in the
asset management division of Morgan Stanley, where he helped manage several Invesco American Value
funds, according to Morningstar.
From there he joined Victus Capital
in New York and then Investment
Counselors of Maryland in Baltimore. He left in 2009, two years before registering his own hedge fund,
NTS Capital Fund, in Glen Mills,
Pennsylvania.
Other than traffic violations, Korchevskys US legal record appears
clean, as is his official Wall Street
record led with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
In an era of high-prole Wall
Street scandals, the scheme laid out
by prosecutors is relatively small
in dollar terms. Authorities say the
perpetrators made approximately
$30mn in illicit prots a pittance
next to the epic Ponzi scheme masterminded by Bernard L Madoff. The
insider trading scheme hatched by

Galleon Group co-founder Raj Rajaratnam netted about $72mn.
Nonetheless, the conuence of
computer hacking and insider trading raises the stakes for investors and
federal authorities.
Thought to be in Ukraine and possibly Russia, the hackers inltrated
the computer servers of PRNewswire
Association, Marketwired and Business Wire, a unit of Warren Buffetts
Berkshire Hathaway, according to
a person familiar with the matter.
They stole more than 150,000 press
releases over the duration of the
scheme.
They then allegedly fed the information to Korchevsky and others in
the US who used it to buy and sell
shares of dozens of big companies,
including Panera Bread Co, Boeing
Co, Oracle Corp, Hewlett-Packard
Co and Caterpillar, ahead of the news.
The defendants traded in personal
brokerage accounts and then siphoned the money offshore through
Estonian banks, the person said.
Korchevsky was taken into custody at his home in Glen Mills, where
he operated NTS Capital. NTS has
made no lings since its initial one
four years ago, and its unclear if the
fund is still in operation. Korchevsky
is now facing securities fraud and
conspiracy charges by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.
Vitaly Korchevsky is escorted in handcuffs from his home by FBI agents in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, yesterday. Korchevsky was one
of several men arrested in the biggest case of insider trading linked to the fast-growing threat of global cybercrime.
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Pennetta sets
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FOOTBALL
Bayern Munich eye

historic fourth title
on Peps swansong
GULF TIMES
SPORT
Page 11
HANDBALL / 2015 IHF MENS YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
BOXING
Qatar clinch two

more points with
win over Algeria
AIBA reveals
names of 30
boxers for
Doha 2015
Coach Julian Gomezs team wins 25-21; hosts Russia lose to Switzerland
Great Britains Joseph Joyce (right, Super Heavy-91+kg) qualified for AIBA
World Boxing Championships through Baku 2015 European Games.
Agencies
Lausanne, Switzerland
A Qatari player (in maroon) in action during their Group C match against Algeria in Yekaterinburg, Russia, yesterday. Qatar won the match 25-21. (Below) Qatars coach
Julian Gomez (second from left) and officials witness the proceedings of the match.
atar posted their second win

in three matches when they
beat Algeria in a close game
that ended with a strong nal 10 minutes by coach Julian Gomezs
men at the 2015 IHF Mens Youth World
Championship in Yekaterinburg, Russia, yesterday. Qatar won 25-21.
With a strong squad backed by goalkeeper Ahmed Abdelrhem, Qatar were
the favourites ahead of the game. The
Asian side were in control through the
opening minutes as Algeria took a while
to settle in.
Algeria put their rst in the net just
before the ve-minute mark and the
score was level at 1-1. Qatar took the
lead and began to increase it against
Algerias 3:3 defence, and by the 17th
minute led by three goals (7-4).
But Qatar then failed to score for
more than ve minutes, while Algeria slowly fought back to come within
a goal courtesy of a goal by line player Damir Mohamed Riad in the 19th
minute (7-6). Hammad Meroune
equalised with a fast break in the 22nd
minute (7-7), and from there on it was a
one-for-one race to the break.
Though Algeria had a one-goal lead
at half-time, it did not take Qatar long
to level the score and then claim the advantage with a fast break from left wing
Amor Dhiab. But Algeria answered and
the score line progressed evenly from
there.
Abdelrhem saved an Algeria fast
break attempt in the 17th minute to
keep the score at 17-17 before Qatar

really kicked into gear. A precise shot
into the top right corner from left back
Moustafa Heiba, who played an outstanding game, scoring ve goals for his
side, took Qatar to a four-goal lead with
just over six minutes left (23-19).
Algeria continued to push and closed
the score line to two, switching to manon-man defence in the 58th minute
(23:21). But Heiba scored from the sixmetre line inside the last minute before
Abdelrhem saved Algerias next shot,
and the game was decided.
This was a very difficult match be-
cause Algerias mentality is always difcult for us they always ght, they
never give up, said Qatar coach Julian
Gomez after the game.
Earlier in the day, Denmark added a
third set of two points to their tally with
a 37-27 win over Croatia.
Danish goalkeeper Simon Gade
caused a lot of early grief to Croatia,
who scored their rst goal only in the
11th minute, even as Denmark had netted ve.
In the 13th minute, Petar Medic received a direct red card a real blow to
Croatia, for whom Medic is a key player
in attack particularly.
Croatia switched to 5-1 formation
closer to the break but Denmarks early
lead was too much overhaul and Scandinavians took a 15-9 lead into halftime.
Denmark hit a 10-goal lead in the
40th minute, and with that the victory
was decided. The Scandinavian team
nished with a decisive win, giving
them six points on the table and guaranteeing their spot in the Eighth-Finals
in the process.
Croatia have posted no wins so far,
and face a must-win situation in the
coming two group stage games.
In the third and nal match for Group
C, Switzerland were the rst to unsettle
the hosts, leaving the court with their
second victory.
Despite a crowd of Russia supporters
at Divs, Russia took a while to switch
their engines on. Switzerland on the
other hand, were ready to play from the
rst whistle, scoring ve goals before
Russia right back Ruslan Dashko added
their rst in the sixth minute (5-1).
Russia managed to close Switzerlands ve-goal lead to two, but missed
a chance to equalise in the last seconds
of the half and the Swiss took a onegoal lead into the break.
Switzerland created a ve-goal advantage at 24-19 with 15 minutes to go.
With the support of the home crowd
Russia fought to the end, but only managed to close the gap to three goals at
29-26.
(IHF.info)
he International Boxing Association (AIBA) conrmed

the names of rst 30 boxers,
who will compete in AIBA
World Boxing Championships Doha
2015 to be held in October following the nal conrmations of their
respective National Federations, on
Monday.
AIBA World Boxing Championships is the most anticipated event
of the world boxing calendar and
these rst conrmed European boxers prove the high level of the future
bouts. In total, 260 boxers will compete for a chance to qualify to Rio
2016 and demonstrate the utmost
appeal of our sport before hundreds
of thousands of TV viewers and fans

from all over the world, said AIBA
president Dr Ching-Kuo Wu.
The 30 boxers have gained their
qualication quotas to AIBA World
Boxing Championships Doha 2015
through Baku 2015 European Games.
Further qualication places to Doha
are available through the AIBA Confederation Boxing Championships
taking place in August and September this year.
Qatar Boxing Federation (QBF)
president Yousuf Ali al-Kazim said:
The preparations to AIBA World
Boxing Championships are in full
swing and Doha is gearing up to host
the event in state of the art Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena. The event is a
tremendous opportunity for the sport
of boxing to reach out to the new audiences in Qatar and the region.
Boxers qualified for AIBA World

Boxing Championships Doha 2015
1. Mens Light Fly (46 49kg)
Brendan Irvin (IRL)
2. Mens Light Fly (46 49kg) Mohamed Unlu (TUR)
3. Mens Light Fly (46 49kg)
Dmytro Zamotayev (UKR)
4. Mens Fly (52kg) Vincenzo
Picardi (ITA)
5. Mens Fly (52kg) Elvin Mamishzada (AZE)
6. Mens Fly (52kg) Hamza Touba
(GER)
7. Mens Bantam (56kg) Bakhtovar
Nazirov (RUS)
8. Mens Bantam (56kg) Tayfur
Aliyev (AZE)
9. Mens Bantam (56kg) Dzmitry
Asanau (BLR)
10. Mens Light (60kg) Albert
Selimov (AZE)
11. Mens Light (60kg) Sofiane
Oumiha (FRA)
12. Mens Light (60kg) Sean Mccomb (IRL)
13. Mens Light Welter (64kg)
Collazo Sotomayor (AZE)
14. Mens Light Welter (64kg) Vincenzo Mangiacapre (ITA)
15. Mens Light Welter (64kg) Viktor
Petrov (UKR)
16. Mens Welter (69kg) Parviz

Baghirov (AZE)
17. Mens Welter (69kg) Joshua
Kelly (GBR)
18. Mens Welter (69kg) Yaroslav
Samofalov (UKR)
19. Mens Middle (75kg) Michael
OReilly (IRL)
20. Mens Middle (75kg) Zoltan
Harcsa (HUN)
21. Mens Middle (75kg) Xaybula
Musalov (AZE)
22. Mens Light Heavy (81kg) Teymur Mammadov (AZE)
23. Mens Light Heavy (81kg) Valentino Manfredonia (ITA)
24. Mens Light Heavy (81kg) Oleksandr Khyzhniak (UKR)
25. Mens Heavy (91kg) Abdulkadir
Abdullayev (AZE)
26. Mens Heavy (91kg) Paul Omba
Biongolo (FRA)
27. Mens Heavy (91kg) Gevorg
Manukian (UKR)
28. Mens Super Heavy (91+kg)
Maham Chennaiul Majidov (AZE)
Tony Yoka (FRA)
Joseph Joyce (GBR)
Gulf Times
CRICKET
INDIAS TOUR OF SRI LANKA
Dinosaur
Sanga happy to
say goodbye
If I had my way, I would want him to play for two more years
Sri Lankas Kumar Sangakkara leaves a practice session after it was interrupted by rain on the eve of the first Test against India yesterday. (Reuters)
who has 9,223 runs and 27 hundreds.
AFP
Galle
ri Lankas batting great Kumar Sangakkara has no regrets about his impending retirement, telling reporters
yesterday that he felt like a dinosaur in the dressing room.
Sangakkara, who turns 38 in October, will
end his international career after playing in
the rst two Tests of the three-match series
against India which opens in Galle today.
The left-hander, who is Test crickets
leading run-getter among those still playing,
said looking at the young teams in Sri Lanka
and his English county Surrey made him realise it was time to go.
Sangakkara said 37-year-old Rangana
Herath in the Sri Lankan team and Surrey
teammate Gareth Batty, also 37, were the only
ones who matched him in age.
The rest are mostly 26, he said. I feel
like a dinosaur in their company. It convinced
me this was the right time to go.
Sangakkara, who is fth in the all-time
scorers list headed by Indias Sachin Tendulkar, is head and shoulders above other
current Test batsmen.
His 12,305 runs and 38 centuries far exceed
second-placed Alastair Cook of England,
ONE SHORT OF DONS RECORD

Sangakkara wont catch up with Tendulkars
tally of 15,921 Test runs and 51 hundreds, but
his 11 scores of 200-plus are just one short of
Australian legend Don Bradmans record of
12.
Defying age, Sangakkara has been at his
best over the past year. He hammered 203
against New Zealand in January, after making
221 against Pakistan and 319 against Bangladesh last year.
He became the rst batsman to hammer
four consecutive one-day centuries in the
World Cup in Australia in February-March
where Sri Lanka entered into the quarternals.
Sangakkara, however, looked below-par
in the recent home series against Pakistan in
June, with scores of 50 and 18 in the rst Test,
and 34 and a rst-ball duck in the second.
He begins the nal leg of a remarkable career at one of his favourite venues in Galle,
where he made his Test debut in 2000 and
also scored the rst of his 38 Test centuries
against India in August, 2001.
WANTED TO RETIRE AFTER WORLD CUP
Sangakkara justied his decision to play in
only two Tests against India, just as he had
done against Pakistan in June.

The reason for the two and two split, even
though it is not ideal, was the agreement I
had with the previous selection committee
when I was discussing my future, he said.
I had plans to retire immediately after the
World Cup, but they wanted me to try and
play a bit more Test cricket. Four Tests was
all I could offer them and they were okay with
that.
Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews
laughed when asked if he will persuade
Sangakkara to play the third Test and also
whether the series was locked at 1-1.
If I had my way, I would want him to play
for two more years, Mathews said. But we
have to respect his decision and it is now up
to the younger players to make a name for
themselves.
In a recent interview with Cricinfo websites
online Cricket Monthly, Sangakkara argued the
team is better off rebuilding without him.
I think in Sri Lanka we have real trouble
letting go, he told the website.
If they want senior players to assist the
team, to come and spend some time at training or in the dressing room, all that can be arranged. We are all willing to do that, he added.
But my taking up a place for another few
months is just delaying the future for someone else.
Retiring
Sangakkara
still a thorn
in rival flesh
Reuters
New Delhi
umar Sangakkara
has featured
prominently in
strategy meetings in rival
dressing rooms over the
last one-and-half-decades and it is no different
even in the final series
for the retiring Sri Lankan
great.
Today, Sangakkara will
play the penultimate Test
of his illustrious career
against India at Galle,
the same venue where
he made his Test debut
against South Africa in
2000.
As agreed with his board,
Sangakkara will play the
second match of the
three-Test series against
India in Colombo before
hanging up his bat after
134 Tests.
Even in his retirement,
the 37-year-old left-hander had rivals worrying
how to dismiss him.
The plan is always pretty
basic against any good
quality players, India
captain Virat Kohli, leading in his first full-series
since taking over from
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
late last year, told reporters on Tuesday.
You dont need to try
something out-of-thebox. Its about creating
pressure and in the last
ODI series we played in
India, we had one or two
plans against him that
worked for us.
Obviously he is someone who scores very
consistently and can get
big runs. His last two
games, he would like to
leave a significant mark
before he goes.
It will be good to get
him out early, but its not
going to be easy, added
Kohli.
Sangakkara will go into
the match as the fifth
highest run-scorer in Test
cricket and one short of
Australian great Donald
Bradmans record of 12
double centuries.
The left-hander, who
debuted as a stumperbatsman, said he did not
like being relieved of the
keeping duties but it was
possibly the best thing
to have happened to his
Test career.
At the time, I thought I
can do both, the former
captain, who has scored
12,000-plus Tests runs
with a 58-plus average,
told reporters.
But when I look back on
it now, that was the best
thing to happen to me.
Its great that they
took that decision for
me, without letting me
take it. That has hugely
influenced the runs that I
scored, and the centuries
I made.
BOTTOMLINE
Home comfort makes Tests

even more testing for tourists
AFP
London
ome advantage has always

counted for something in Test
cricket but, after England
wrapped up the Ashes series
with a match to spare, is it now counting
for too much?
Englands innings and 78-run win, on
a typical seaming English pitch, in the
fourth Test at Trent Bridge on Saturday
gave them an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the
ve-match Ashes seriesjust 18 months
after they had been whitewashed 5-0 in
Australia.
Yet last weekends result meant that
in the 14 years since Australia last won
a series in England, seven out of eight
Ashes campaigns had gone to the home
sidethe exception being Englands 3-1
triumph Down Under in 2010-11.
And what is true of the Ashes is equally
true of Test cricket overall.
In the last two years, only four teams
out of 23 have won a series outside their
own continent.
Australia and New Zealand have both

won series in the West Indies while Australia have won in South Africa, and Sri
Lanka won in England last year.
Modern tours, mainly as a result of a
desire by boards to maximise their income, are now increasingly compressed
affairs.
UNDER STRENGTH
When Rodney Marsh, now the chairman
of selectors, made his rst tour of England as Australias wicket-keeper in 1972,
the team had 10 rst-class matches before they played the rst Test.
This year the team Marsh helped pick
had just two warm-up games, against
under-strength Kent and Essex sides.
The four Australians chosen as Cricketers of the Year in the 1973 edition of
Wisden, the sports annual of record,
had all acknowledged the benet of their
previous experience of English conditions, with swing specialist Bob Massie, fast bowler Dennis Lillee and opener
Keith Stackpole all having played league
cricket.
Meanwhile batting great Greg Chappell
had, Wisden noted, been one of the best

players with (county side) Somerset in the
1968 and 1969 seasons.
But increasingly busy international
schedules reduce the time available for
top players to spend a full season with
a county, while the wages in the highly lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier
Leaguewhich cuts across the start of
the English seasondwarf anything on
offer in county cricket.
Signicantly, Australia opener Chris
Rogers, who has fared best of the tourists against the swinging ball, a feature of
cricket in England that has done so much
damage to their Ashes chances, was in the
international wilderness for much of the
time he spent playing for several county
sides.
It is like when Australia play in India
and vice-versathats very one-sided
too, former Australia fast bowler Glenn
McGrath told the BBC.
Batsmen learn to play in their own
conditions and struggle to adapt.
Ian Healy, a former international teammate of McGrath, has questioned whether the lengthy presence of wives and girl-
friends on tour has proved a distraction

for the Australia squad.
But that was sent up rather well by
Healys niece Alyssa, a member of the
touring Australian womens team contesting their own Ashes series in England,
who tweeted Monday a picture of boyfriend Mitchell Starc, a fast bowler in the
Australian mens side, with the caption:
Mitch just doing his best to distract me
before the Test tomorrow.
However, the kind of practical changes
which might give touring teams a better
chance of winning away Test series are
unlikely to be forthcoming any time soon.
Look at the past ve years, there has
not been many victories away from home
for any team, said Australia captain
Michael Clarke, who will retire after the
fth Test at The Oval having ending up on
the losing side in his four Ashes tours of
Britain.
I think it shows how much that homeground advantage helps, he added.
It is the greatest challenge of being an
international sportsman, being able to
win home and away. Its tough, but thats
the way it is.
ASHES
Australias Smith
promises more
aggression if
appointed captain
Steve Smith, in line to take over after Michael Clarkes final Test at The
Oval later this month, has promised to be less defensive than he was
while captaining against India at home earlier this year.
AFP
London
ustralias Steve Smith

has vowed to be a more
aggressive captain if he
is appointed to lead the
side as expected following a disastrous Ashes campaign which
prompted Michael Clarkes retirement.
The 26-year-old, in line to
take over after Clarkes nal Test
at The Oval later this month, has
promised to be less defensive
than he was while captaining
against India at home earlier this
year.
I think the two games that
we drew I could probably be a bit
more aggressive there and give
ourselves more of a chance to
bowl the opposition out, Smith
told The Australian.
But in regards to my captaincy I think itll be pretty similar.
Smith skippered Australia in
Tests against India during the
last home season when Clarke
was sidelined with a hamstring
injury, and made centuries in all
three Tests where he was skipper.
Every game Ive captained so
far Ive scored a hundred. Id like
that... to keep going, hopefully it
does, he said.
If I am named the captain I
would like to lead from the front
with my performances, for sure.
Smith said one of the lessons
of this miserable Ashes tour, in
which Australia were all out for
only 60 runs in their rst innings
at Trent Bridge in the fourth
Test, was patience.
They make you earn your
runs... all of their bowlers swing

the ball both ways, Smith said in
comments to Australian Associated Press.
The learnings are just about
trying to get yourself in. Be really patient at the start of your
innings.
In Australia were taught to
play out in front a little bit more.
You have to really wait for the ball
here in England.
Clarke, 34, announced he was
retiring after England completed
a crushing innings and 78-run
victory at Trent Bridge on Saturday to take an unbeatable 3-1 lead
in the ve-match series.
Rumblings about his captaincy continued on Tuesday,
with former Australia coach John
Buchanan saying the culture of
the teams Baggy Green cap
suffered under the prolic batsman.
Players like Steve Waugh,
Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting
and others really tried to make
the Baggy Green culture something special, but I could sense
it was under threat and under
Michaels captaincy I can sense
it has disappeared a bit and that
disappointed me, he told News
Corp.
I can remember guys like
Hayden and (Justin) Langer sitting him down in a corner and
trying to get him to understand
what we were trying to achieve.
There were times when I felt
Michael did not understand or
did not want to understand.
Clarke angrily dismissed claims
of team disunity, saying Monday
that the players were as tight as
any team Ive been a part of.
OPINION
2005 Ashes-winning
England side better
than 2015s: Pietersen
IANS
London
xiled England batsman

Kevin Pietersen (pictured) has hailed his
sides Ashes win against
win against Australia as brilliant, but not as good as the one
he won the coveted series with in
2005 which had stronger batting
and bowling, and a tougher Australia team to overcome.
Cooks side reclaimed the
Ashes with a remarkable fourth
Test win at Trent Bridge in just
two days and 40 minutes after
bowling the series favourites out
for 60 runs on the rst day.
This team has been brilliant,
but our 2005 side was better. I
think our batting line-up was
stronger than this side, and with
the likes of (Simon) Jones, (Steve)
Harmison and (Andrew) Flintoff
we denitely had a much stronger bowling attack, Pietersen was
quoted as saying by dailymail.
co.uk on Monday.
There were stronger characters in both sides in the 2005
series too. Australia had the
likes of (Shane) Warne, (Adam)
Gilchrist, (Justin) Langer, (Mat-
thew) Hayden, and (Ricky) Ponting while we had Harmison,

(Michael) Vaughan, Flintoff, and
me whacking it round with a
stupid hairstyle. So I think there
was denitely a lot more for the
crowds in 2005, the former England captain added.
The 35-year-old added that
the appointment of laid-back
Aussie Trevor Bayliss as head
coach and Paul Farbrace being
retained after the sacking of Peter Moores as inspired and the
catalyst for a freer style of play
that the youthful England squad
can ourish under.
I think ( director Andrew)
Strauss has made some good decisions, especially with Trevor
Bayliss and Paul Fabrace and
those guys have done a fantastic job in turning it around this
summer, Pietersen said.
Gulf Times
TENNIS
FOCUS
Serenas US Open build-up begins with questions

Reuters
Toronto
erena Williams was in superb

form as she began her US Open
build-up with an entertaining
effort highlighted by a couple of
cheeky returns and a few clear winners
at a rainy Rogers Cup on Monday.
Williams will not actually launch her
North American hard-court campaign
until today against Italys Flavia Pennetta, so all of Mondays action took
place in a posh VIP lounge where the
world number one took questions from
the media. The media mob included
good friend turned interloper reporter
Caroline Wozniacki.
Well rested and relaxed after sitting
out the Stanford event with a sore right
elbow, Williams was asked by a playful Wozniacki: Obviously I am the
coolest person you know, why is that?
horizon, Williams could well nd her

oncourt build-up to the US Open over
the next three weeks less taxing than
what awaits in the interview room.
The Grand Slam line of questioning
that greeted her on Monday is sure to
relentlessly follow her through every
match leading up to the years nal
Grand Slam, kicking off on August 31 at
Flushing Meadows.
Im not thinking ahead to the Open
right now because I am here in Toronto
and I havent really played a hard court
match in awhile, said Williams. Im
thinking I want to get some of this under my belt and the Open will happen
when the Open happens.
For me it is really important to stay
in the moment and stay focused.
A three-times winner of the Canadian hard-court event, Williams has
captured four titles this season including three Slams (Australian, French
and Wimbledon) and close to $10 mil-
The answer came quickly, like a

saucy drop shot: Because we are just
alike Caroline, just alike, chuckled
Williams.
On court, however, Williams has
no equals. The 33-year-old American
dominates tennis like few ever have
and is on the brink of completing one
of her sports rarest featsa calendar
year Grand Slam.
With all four Slam titles already in
her possession for a second so-called
Serena Slam, a successful defence of her
US Open crown next month in Flushing
Meadows would put her in an exclusive
club along with Maureen Connolly,
Margaret Court and Steffi Graf as women who have swept all four in a season.
It denitely feels different because
I have never been in this position in my
career, Williams said. I just feel like
winning the Serena Slam this year, it
took some pressure off.
With tennis history dangling on the
ROGERS CUP
Lisicki routs Venus,

Pennetta advances
into Serenas path
lion in prize money.

She comes to Toronto with a nearperfect match record of 40-1, her only
loss coming against Petra Kvitova in
the semi-nals in Madrid.
Rather than bemoan Williamss
domination, her pursuit of the calendar year milestone has generated surprising buzz inside the players lounge.
World number two Simona Halep,
who by virtue of her ranking must be
viewed as a player capable of derailing
the Grand Slam bid, has no fear of the
muscular American but acknowledges
she must bring her best to have any
hope of delivering an upset.
I think she can be beat but its really tough, said Romanias Halep. I
have one victory against her in Singapore so it is my best match ever. I think
she can win the US Open, win all four
this year. I admire her. She is still playing and still winning every tournament
she plays. It is amazing.
Mononucleosis blamed
for Kvitovas struggles
Czech star Petra Kvitovas recent drop in form has been blamed
on the world number four suffering from mononucleosis earlier
this year. Blood tests showed that she had mononucleosis in the
spring, the 25-year-olds spokesman Karel Tejkal said on Monday.
The 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion and three-time Fed Cup
winner is competing this week in the WTA tournament in Toronto,
one of several tune-up events for the US Open starting later this
month. Petra can continue her planned programme but under medical supervision, said Tejkal, with the Czech seeded third in Toronto.
Kvitova mysteriously disappeared from the circuit at the end of February citing the need to rest. She returned in April for the semi-finals
of the Fed Cup which the Czech Republic won 3-1 by beating France.
But the defending champion was beaten in the third round of
Wimbledon by Serb Jelena Jankovic. Very probably the mononucleosis was the principle cause of her tiredness, added Tejkal.
A infectious virus mononucleosis can result in high fever, great
fatigue and a sore throat but in some cames can have no apparent
symptoms. Kvitova won two titlesSydney and Madridthis season
but only reached the third round of the Australian Open and Wimbledon and fourth round at Roland Garros.
Its always tough after a long rain delay, you dont know if you are ever going to get
onto the court and with a tough match against Venus. Its always a pleasure to play her
because you have to play well to beat her, so Im really happy with my performance
Sabine Lisicki of Germany took just 66
minutes to see off Venus Williams of the
United States 6-0, 6-3 in their Rogers Cup
first-round clash, in Toronto on Monday.
(Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)
MONTREAL MASTERS
Rivals set for top

seeds at Montreal
AFP
Montreal
Reuters
Toronto
fter a long rain delay Germanys

Sabine Lisicki made quick work
of Venus Williams, strolling into
the second round of the Rogers
Cup on Monday after routing the American 6-0, 6-3.
Rain wiped out most of the opening
day action but play nally resumed on the
Toronto hard-courts late in the evening
following a nine-hour wait with Williams
and Lisicki walking out onto a near-empty
centre court.
For those who waited out the storm, the
reward was brief as Lisicki needed just 66
minutes to dismiss the 14th seed.
Its always tough after a long rain delay, you dont know if you are ever going to
get onto the court and with a tough match
against Venus, said Lisicki. Its always a
pleasure to play her because you know you
have to play well to beat her, so Im really
happy with my performance today.
Lisicki, who got her North American
hard-court campaign off to a shaky start
Halep sympathises with Bouchard

Eugenie Bouchard has talked about her
struggles to follow up her breakthrough
2014, but according to those who've seen
first hand what she's capable oflike
Simona Halep, who had a breakthrough
year right along with her in 2014there's
no doubt she'll be back at the top again.
"People sometimes say things when
you start losing. It's normal. I knowI
have the same thing in my country," said
Halep, who, like Bouchard, is her country's
highest-ranked player in WTA history.
"It's tough to comment about it, because if you win, everything is perfect, but
if you lose, sometimes people will look to
see what you're doing off the court and try
and take everything in a bad way.
with a rst-round loss last week at Stanford, came out looking sharper and ready
to play, opening the match with a break.
Williams, trailing 3-0, had a chance to
break back but could not convert as Lisicki
held to forge further ahead. Williams re-
"But I think Eugenie Bouchard will

come back to the top soon. She was in the
top, so we know she has the game to be
there. Every player goes through thisit
takes time and energy, but it will happen."
Halep, who reached her first Grand
Slam final at the French Open last year
and has been as high as No. 2 in the
worldshe's currently No. 3had some
very classy words for world No. 1 Serena
Williams as well.
"For me, Serena's the best player in the
world," Halep said. "She has so much power, not only physical power but mentally as
well. I think she can be beaten, but it's really tough... I'm competitive too, so I'm able
to take many things from watching her."
sistance continued to crumble, with three

straight double faults in the fth game
handing her opponent a third break, before Lisicki closed out the set 40-0.
Williams, playing just her second
match since a fourth-round loss to sister
Serena at Wimbledon, held serve to open

the second set but then double-faulted to
gift Lisicki a 2-1 lead. Williams later saved
two match-points but could not ght off a
third as Lisicki improved her record to 4-1
against the American.
The match was only the second singles
contest to be completed on a soggy opening
day. In the rst match of the day on centre
court, Italian 15th seed Flavia Pennetta beat
Canadian wild card Gabriela Dabrowski
6-4, 6-1 to set up a second round encounter
with world number one Serena Williams.
A former doubles world number one,
Pennetta needed just 69 minutes to dismiss
the 222nd-ranked Dabrowski and register
her rst match win since the French Open.
Its going to be nice because Ill play one of
the best players ever, said Pennetta. But
its good because shes the hardest test and
Ill see where my game is.
Serena, who like all top seeds received
a rst-round bye at the US Open hardcourt tune-up event, has won all six prior
matches against the Italian, who will be
the US superstars rst hard-court foe
since winning her fourth Grand Slam title
in a row last month at Wimbledon.
op-ranked Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray,

Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic learned the
identities of their second-round
opponents on Monday after
rst-round matches at the ATP
Montreal Masters tournament.
Top seed Djokovic will start
after the bye given to the leading eight seeds when he faces
Brazils Thomaz Bellucci, who
worked for two and three-quarter hours to defeat Uruguays
Pablo Cuevas 7-6 (7/4), 4-6,
7-6 (7/4).
The South American red 14
aces to 11 for Cuevas, with Bellucci forced to save nine of 12
break points.
Djokovic, who has not touched
a racquet since beating Roger Federer for the Wimbledon title a
month ago, will start in Canada
with a 48-3 record that includes
six titles in 2015, including the
Australian Open crown.
Murray, seeded second and
champion in 2010 and 2011,
warmed up for his singles start
by reaching the doubles second round alongside Indias
42-year-old Leander Paes.
The one-off pairing beat
Kevin Anderson and Jeremy
Chardy 6-3, 6-1 as Murray began nding his feet on the hardcourts after an opening singles
loss last week in Washington to
Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.
In singles, the Scot will face
Spaniard Tommy Robredo, a
winner over compatriot Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a
battle of 33-year-olds who have
competed a combined 21 times
in Canada.
Robredo stands a perfect 5-0
in a series rst played a dozen

years ago. Murray leads Robredo 5-3, and has not lost to the
Spaniard in ve years.
Nadal and fellow Spaniard
Fernando Verdasco joined in
the weeks doubles lark, defeating 2014 Wimbledon doubles
champion Jack Sock and Czech
Tomas Berdych 6-3, 5-7, 10-6.
Nadal now must concentrate on a singles start against
Ukraines Sergiy Stakhovsky, who
beat Canadian wild card Filip
Peliwo 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. Nadal won
his only match with Stakhovsky
in Davis Cup two years ago.
Raonic, seeded eighth, is still
working on a comeback after
May foot surgery that has hampered his game in recent weeks,
keeping him off court after
skipping Wimbledon.
The Canadian will test himself against Ivo Karlovic after
the burly Croatian serving machine beat Polands Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) in the rst
round.
Karlovic is bearing down on
an ATP record, having added 18
aces to a career total of 9,964.
He now stands just 201 behind
historic leader and countryman
Goran Ivanisevic (10,183 aces
in 895 matches). Karlovic has
played 526 matches with an average of 19 per match.
Australian Bernard Tomic,
winner of the Bogata title last
month, reached the second
round with ease over Joao Sousa
6-3, 6-3, while French ninth
seed Gilles Simon levelled his
record in Canada to 8-8 as he
opened with a 6-2, 6-4 victory
over Italys Andreas Seppi.
Gael Monls, seeded 15th,
beat Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1 with
the Italian treated after the rst
set for a right wrist problem, receiving a taping and playing on.
Gulf Times
GOLF
FOCUS
Lowry hopes Akron win is start of something big

The Irishmans WGCBridgestone Invitational
triumph has catapulted him
into the worlds top 20 and
the Ryder Cup and 2016
Olympics are now on his
horizon
By Ewan Murray in Ohio
The Guardian
ntil now, Shane Lowrys

name was best known in
American golng circles on
account of a major championship objection. Last year, the Irishman
admitted to being annoyed at what he
regarded as a cheeky draw for the US
Open which partnered him with Kevin
Stadler and Brendon de Jonge. The trio
have full frames in common.
Whos laughing now? Lowrys success at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, his rst in the United
States, has catapulted him into the
worlds top 20. A glance at the top 10
from Akronfeaturing Bubba Watson,
Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson and
Justin Roseoffers another nod to the
fully, to drive on now and win more events

and hopefully the oodgates will open.
My game has denitely improved
a lot over the last couple of years. Im
probably 20 yards longer than I was.
My irons are so much more consistent.
My wedge play is better.
All round, Im probably a better
player and more mature as a player as
well, which is a big thing.
To close observers, all Lowry had
previously lacked was a bit of belief and,
perhaps, the good fortune which he undoubtedly benetted from on Sunday.
He has a brilliantly simple golf swing
amid which little should go wrong.
Having collected $1.57mn, the Irishman has taken a huge step towards his
two immediate goals.
I want to play in the Olympics, he
admitted. Im very patriotic, so I want
to play for my country. This obviously
puts me right in a good position to be in
the Olympics next year. The Olympics
and the Ryder Cup are two big things
on my list next year. This is denitely a
step in the right direction.
For Olympic company, Lowry would
almost certainly have Rory McIlroy.
Albeit two years separate them, Lowry
and McIlroy jousted as young amateurs
size of Lowrys achievement. His closing round of 66 lacked nothing in entertainment value.
Back home at Esker Golf Club in
County Offaly, a party intended to
mark victory in the esteemed Mullingar Scratch Cup by Alan Lowry, Shanes
younger brother, soon morphed into a
double celebration. An astonishing run
by Irish golfers on golfs biggest stages
continues apace.
At 28, Lowry is nally delivering on
the promise which was evident back in
2009, when he famously won the Irish
Open when still an amateur.
Now, he has a three-year exemption
on the PGA Tour.
Obviously the Irish Open got my
career kick-started, it was great for
me, he said. But I think this is getting
the next stage of my career kick-started now hopefully.
I feel like Ive been playing good
golf for the last couple of years. Ive
been in and around top 50 in the world
and trying to get into events and trying
to compete in events and missed a couple of big cuts by a shot or two this year,
which is a bit disappointing.
I was never too far away. I think this
is going to give me the condence, hope-
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Showdown between
McIlroy and Spieth is
the big talking point
Fit-again Rory looks to defend his title and avoid finishing the season without one of the majors
DPA
Kohler, Wisconsin
ory McIlroy has returned

from injury to set up an enticing showdown with Jordan
Spieth at the PGA Championship, golfs fourth and nal major
of the season.
McIlroy insists his left ankle is 100
per cent as the worlds top-ranked
player looks to defend his title and
avoid nishing the season without
one of the majors.
McIlroys quick recovery provides a
delicious storyline alongside Spieth,
the world number two who is looking
to become just the third player to win
the American Slam of major titles
including the Masters and US Open
in one season. Only Ben Hogan (1953)
and Tiger Woods (2000) have previously accomplished the feat.
McIlroy and Spieth tee off tomorrow
alongside Zach Johnson, who heads to
Whistling Straits following his unlikely
British Open victory last month.
McIlroy was coy in announcing his
Canadas DeLaet withdraws from PGA with sore thumb

Canadas Graham DeLaet has withdrawn from the 97th PGA Championship because of a left thumb injury,
tournament officials announced
yesterday. DeLaet suffered the injury
at the Canadian Open last month and
missed last weeks World Golf Championships event as a result.
So disappointed that I cant tee it
up at the PGA, DeLaet said in a Twitter posting. Need some time for my
body to heal. I plan on being back and
ready for a playoff run.
The season-ending US PGA Tour
playoffs begin two weeks after the
years final major tournament, which
begins tomorrow at Whistling Straits.
DeLaet pulling out opened the door
return, using social media to tease followers about whether he would play
the rugged, windswept course set on
the banks of Lake Michigan.
But McIlroy, who won the Wanamaker Trophy in 2012, has showed no
signs of aftereffects in practice from the
ankle ligament tear he sustained playing football with friends on July 5 and
which sidelined him from The Open.
He won last seasons event in dramatic fashion, rallying from a threestroke decit after the turn to edge
Phil Mickelson with dusk settling into
darkness.
But after his spectacular 2014 win, the

26-year-old Northern Irishman hasnt
been able to keep up with Spieth in 2015.
The 22-year-old Spieth, who is
enjoying a career season thanks to
Masters and US Open triumphs, looks
ready to claim the 1.8-million dollar prize money after a strong closing
round at the Bridgestone Invitational
on Sunday. Spieth can also take McIlroys top ranking in Wisconsin.
I think it helps a lot, Spieth, who
nished one shot back of Johnson at
the British Open, said of his momentum. We seem to have nice timing
for American Sean OHair to enter the

field. It will be OHairs first major start
since the 2012 PGA Championship
and his ninth appearance in the event.
OHair last won at the 2011 Canadian Open although he was in a playoff
last March at the Valspar Championship but lost to reigning Masters and
US Open champion Jordan Spieth.
with where were trending upward

this year. Whether thats the plan we
put in place or its dumb luck, one of
the two, Ill take it.
Johnson, who nished 33rd at
Bridgestone, won a three-hole playoff
with Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen to lift the Claret Jug at St Andrews last month.
If the Irish links-inspired highland
course is to provide an inaugural major champion, it could come from a
group that includes Dustin Johnson,
Jason Day and Rickie Fowler.
Day and Fowler always seem to be in
the mix at the majors but Johnson may

be the most eager to break through at
a course where the 2010 edition provided him with a nightmare nale.
The 31-year-old American missed
out on a play-off after being handed a
two-stroke penalty for grounding his
club in a sand trap on the nal hole. That
same patch of dirt has reportedly been
covered up by a corporate tent this year.
Johnson could use a boost following
a US Open meltdown where a 3-putt
nish handed Spieth victory.
Fowler, meanwhile, is looking to rebound from last seasons PGA Championship disappointment when the
26-year-old American faded much
like the daylight down the stretch.
Whistling Straits punishing layout,
with its fescue fairways and massive
bunkers, will offer few liberties to a
number of players who could use them.
Fourteen-time champion Tiger
Woods comes in having missed the
cut at back-to-back majors for the
rst time in his career. Meanwhile,
Phil Mickelson has also struggled of
late since a second place nish at the
Masters in April.
and played on the same Irish teams.

Their relationship was presumed to
have cooled after the bitter legal wrangle between McIlroy and his former
management rm, Horizon, to whom
Lowry is still attached.
Yet Lowry swatted aside such a notion in the aftermath of his WGC win,
stressing he will be delighted to see the
world No1 return to action at the US
PGA Championship from tomorrow.
When I heard about Rorys injury,
I just sent him a text that said, Heard
about the injury, hope to see you back
as soon as you can, Lowry recalled.
Im sure Ill hear from him, Im sure
Ill talk to him this week. Its great to
see him back so quick.
Rory developed a lot quicker than I
did. We were kind of around the same
scene for maybe two years. We played
on a couple of teams together and we
won a couple of tournaments on teams.
When you knock around with people
like that, it denitely helps you.
Id love to go down the stretch [with
McIlroy] again someday. You want to
test yourself against the best players in
the world. So if I nd myself with nine
holes to play in a battle with Rory next
week, Ill be very, very happy.
Kaymer returns
a changed man to
Whistling Straits
ive years ago, Martin Kaymer

was overwhelmed by the
level of media attention and
heightened expectations from
his German fans after he won the PGA
Championship at Whistling Straits in
Kohler, Wisconsin.
Now, aged 30, he is much wiser and
more careful with how he handles
media and sponsors commitments
as he heads back to the spectacular
links-style layout that hugs the shores of
Lake Michigan for the years final major
championship.
Back then, I was more being told
what I should say, what I should do,
said Kaymer, who has since added a
second major title to his impressive
resume with an eight-stroke victory at
last years US Open.
You should go to this TV show or
you should do this, you should do that.
And I thought, Whats the point? What
am I doing there? I dont know what I
should talk about, and I dont like this TV
person. I dont like to go there.
But its just part of it. Thats what you
do. Then you ask yourself, Do you want
to be part of that whole circus? You do
this, you do that, but you dont even
know why youre sitting there.
Kaymer, who is known for his meticulous approach to the game, now
handles such requests very differently.
I would say, I want to do this, this, and
this. Can you help me, getting me there or
not? Then youre more the active person,
and that was not the case back then, the
former world number one said.
The biggest challenge for Kaymer after he won the 2010 PGA Championship
in a playoff with American left-hander
Bubba Watson was trying to cope with
extraordinary expectations heaped
upon him back in Germany.
Its difficult to handle when youre
25 years old and in that position, the
Dusseldorf native said. When you have
someone (Michael Schumacher) driving
in the Formula 1 who wins 80 percent
of the races and you have the German
football team that wins a lot, and then
youre number one in the world in golf,
then why dont you win (every time)?
Top 10 is a disappointment. Missing
the cut ... you cannot even describe this.
The whole world is down on you. Now
its different. You think, OK, you just
have to say whatever. Whatever they
say is fine. I dont care.
Kaymer is relishing the opportunity
of playing Whistling Straits this week, a
course he rates as one of his top three
in the world.
Its beautiful to play, he said. Its really, really nice to see the surroundings.
You dont mind if you have to wait a few
minutes because you can just have a
look at the lake, at the dunes.
It can play a little bit like links-style,
which I enjoy anyways, and obviously
the memories, the experience that I had
in 2010, all those combined, it will be a
great week. The 97th PGA Championship starts tomorrow.
Gulf Times
SWIMMING
SPOTLIGHT
Ledecky shone at Worlds

but others hopeful for Rio
The US Olympic trials is the next goal, the Olympic trials are a huge meet, its very challenging
DPA
Kazan, Russia
merican teenage sensation Katie

Ledecky emerged as the worlds dominant swimmer at the world championships in Kazan over the last week but
several others have cause for optimism ahead of
the Rio Olympics next year.
Britains Adam Peaty twice came out on
top in breaststroke sprints against South Africas Cameron van der Burgh while Australians
dominated the backstroke with Emily Seebohm
claiming the 100 metre and 200m while Mitch
Larkin won those events in the mens side.
Chinas Sun Yang retained the mens freestyle
distances in 400m and 800m and though he
pulled out of the 1,500m citing a heart problem,
was named best male swimmer of the worlds.
Swedens Sarah Sjostrom conrmed her status as the quickest woman in the world in the
buttery, taking gold in the 50m and 100m.
Frances Florent Manaudou can claim to be the
fastest man in the world presently having sped
to victory in the 50m y and then the 50m free.
I think Ive done a good job here, at the championships. It was a great win in a great race, he
said after the second of his golds added to his
share of victory in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
But nobody could match the achievements of
18-year-old Ledecky who became the rst swimmer to win the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m
freestyles at the same worlds and was, predictably, named female of the tournament. It means a
lot, its pretty neat to say youve done something
nobodys done before, Ledecky said.
Ill enjoy this for a few days then Ill get back
to work. Hopefully theres more to come, theres
still a lot of fast swimmers in that 200m free, I
know I have my work cut out for me there. The
US Olympic trials is the next goal, the Olympic
trials are a huge meet, its very challenging, so I
just have to get through that.
Ledecky improved her own world records over
800m and 1,500m but in the mens breaststroke
there was a genuine back and forth between Van
der Burgh and Peaty. First the South African tied
Peatys unratied time of 26.62 seconds over
50m in the heats but the Briton reclaimed the
record by two-tenths in the semi-nals.
Peaty did not match that again in the nal but
did do enough to claim gold, cementing himself as favourite to claim Van der Burghs 100m
crown at the Olympics.
Next year is going to be a really good race to
watch around the world and hopefully we can
put on a good show for the rest of the world
then, Peaty said.
Peaty has headlined a superb meet for Britain
Katie Ledecky of US became the first

swimmer to win the 200m, 400m,
800m and 1,500m freestyles at the
world championships in Kazan. (AFP)
as the team bounced back from winning a solitary bronze at the 2013 edition in Barcelona.
Four golds, a silver and three bronzes has
lifted the spirits before Rio though with fewer
pool events at the Olympics, that tally does not
guarantee success next year. The United States
team are also dealing with mixed results. They
topped the medal table but due to the brilliance
of Ledecky and their depth in relays rather than
consistently strong individual performances.
Potential ace Michael Phelps responded to his
suspension for disciplinary reasons with light-
ning quick times back home in the US while in

Kazan, only veteran Ryan Lochte delivered an
individual gold for the men.
Missy Franklin, who arrived in Russia defending three individual titles, failed to retain a
single one as she recovers from last years back
injury - though losing the 200m to the indomitable Ledecky is hardly cause for panic.
(T)he biggest advice Im giving myself right
now is taking it one thing at a time and really
realizing this meet will not matter come next
summer, Franklin said.
FOCUS
Phelps finishes US meet, sends

message for 2016 olympics
AFP
San Antonio, Texas
lympic swim legend Michael

Phelps completed an epic effort
at the US national championships
in San Antonio, Texas on Monday,
having served notice he has the speed and
skill to star at the 2016 Olympics.
Phelps only nished fth in Mondays
200-meter breaststroke nal in 2mins 11.30
secs, well off winner Craig Bensons winning time of 2:09.68. But Phelps seldom
swims the event and was entered more as a
challenge and training exercise rather than
with a victory in mind, having won three
events in the prior three days and beaten the
winning time at the world championships in
Russia in each.
Im in a great place, a place where I
Michael Phelps competes in the 200m
breaststroke final during the National
Championships at the Northside Swim
Center in San Antonio, Texas. (AFP)
havent been in a long time, a place where I

have condence, Phelps said. Ive seen the
work Ive been doing, and done, has worked.
Im going into an Olympic year having
something to build on and that hasnt happened in a while, probably since 2007. Im
excited to get back into it.
Phelps was supposed to be competing at
the worlds but a drink driving incident led
to him being dropped from the US team,
instead having to be content with vying for
national titles as the US meet being staged
at the same time as the worlds.
Phelps met his self-imposed goal in the
200 breaststroke by breaking his former
North Baltimore Aquatic Club record of
2:12.1. Thats what I wanted to beat,
Phelps said. Ill take a 2:11.3 any day of the
week. I was just spinning coming in. I had
no legs.
Phelps, who won a record eight gold
medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, still

showed he can be a threat in certain events
next year at the Rio De Janeiro Games.
The 18-time Olympic champion won the
200 individual medley on Sunday in 1:54.75,
faster than the 1:55.81 compatriot Ryan Lochte produced in winning the world title in
Russia. He earlier won the 100 and 200 buttery in times that would have beaten the
world championship top times as well.
Phelps said he would rather have rested
and not swum Monday, but noted it will
probably help bolster his condence about
his ability to work in Olympic relays and
multiple swims within a few hours in tough
situations. I kind of wanted to just relax to
be honest, Phelps said. Its kind of good as
far as to swim events like this back to back,
to see if I can get up and race. Its probably
good I was able to race these together and
see I could race it.
But based on my results at this meet I know

my times havent been where I want them to be its not going to matter come next summer.
Im going to do I will do this next year and
be where I want to be come (the American Olympic) trials.
Hosts Russia, despite being roared on by
more than 10,000 boisterous fans each night,
settled for a disappointing 11th place on the
medal table. Im very happy to bring the
first gold for the Russian swimming team and
I hope it can lead to more, Yuliya Efimova
said after winning the 100m breaststroke on

day three.
But rather than being the rst of many, it
turned out to be the only gold Russia could celebrate. Just one silver and two bronze were added
over the next ve days.
Vladimir Morozov, a major hope for gold,
contributed to the 4x100m freestyle mens relay
team coming second but came up short in all of
his individual races. The 100m free was a particular disappointment as he was disqualied
early on for a false start.
TEAMS LOSE SLEEP OVER

RIO NIGHT RACES
Kazan, Russia: As soon as the world championships concluded on Sunday, swimmings top
nations were setting their sights on an all together
different propositionhow to deal with midnight
finishes during the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Next years Games schedule means some
swimming finals take place at night, the result of
broadcasters such as NBC seeking a peak audience in the United States.
In Kazan, the world championship finals normally finished at around 1930 local time, but Rio
finals are slated for a 2200 start.
With media commitments, warm down, drug
testing and the transport home, athletes in Rio
de Janeiro will not be in bed until the early hours
of the morning. Of the top nations Reuters spoke
to in Kazan, only Swimming Australia, who had
originally opposed the decision, had seemingly
cemented a plan to deal with late evening finals.
They will hold a week-long, pre-Rio training
camp later this year, with a two-day Grand Prix
meet in between.
The idea is to replicate what the athletes will
experience in Rio. The swim meet will finish at
midnight both days, a Swimming Australia spokesman said, with athletes going through recovery,
media and drug testing procedures as they would
in Brazil. As athletes and staff, we have to familiarise ourselves with what it means for us all to stay
in those time frames, Jacco Verhaeren, Swimming Australias head coach, told Reuters.
We want to experience it. We can talk about it
forever but I really feel like they should live it once
and get a feel for it.
Theres no way we can copy the pressure and
environment of an Olympics. But we want to get
a clear picture of these times and be the best
prepared team - and this is part of that.
Australias stance was in stark contrast to rival
nations, with British Swimming remaining coy on
the issue.
We have planned for it but we dont want to reveal our strategy, said Bill Furniss, Great Britains
head coach.
Well handle the late night finals. We didnt
complain and it is what it is.
They have given us a unique set of circumstances. Our target is to handle it better than
other teams.
Make no mistake, this isnt the Olympics. Expect it to be 10-15 percent harder, which means we
have to be more capable.
With media commitments, warm

down, drug testing and the transport
home, athletes in Rio de Janeiro will not
be in bed until the early hours of the
morning. Of the top nations Reuters spoke
to in Kazan, only Swimming Australia,
who had originally opposed the decision,
had seemingly cemented a plan to deal
with late evening finals
To keep sleep in tact during competition, some
nations are likely to accommodate swimmers on
higher floors in the carnival city to avoid any noise
distractions.
Well start making adjustments in our training
camps leading into Rio with our training times,
Frank Busch, USA Swimmings head coach, said in
a statement.
There is a possibility that swimmers will be located away from the other athletes in the village.
In January, German and Swedish teams travelled to Rio to assess conditions, while the Danish
Swimming Federation admitted it had yet to
decide on how to deal with scheduling changes.
Its a challenge that the times have been
moved, said Lars Bach, Denmarks high performance manager.
It just depends whether we should shift the
training times or stay calm and continue how we
are used to getting success.
Adjusting body clocks was less of a concern for
the Japan Swimming Federation, which will raise
the issue of practice times in the week leading up
to competition with world swimming body FINA
and the International Olympic Committee.
We would like to ask FINA or the IOC if we
are able to swim (at night) before the swimming
starts, said Tatsuo Ogura, the federations spokesman. He smiled when asked if Mays Japan Open
might be held at night.
I dont think so...because of television rights,
he said. For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, medal
races were switched to the morning to coincide
with prime-time viewing in the U.S despite swimmers complaints.
Seven years on, the general consensus from
swimmers in Kazan was that start times simply
have to be accepted.
Bruno Fratus, Brazils hope for sprint freestyle
success, said: It is going to be midnight for everyone. Youve got time to prepare and anyone who
is saying otherwise is just making excuses.
Gulf Times
SPORT
ATHLETICS
ROUND-UP
Symmonds stance
with USATF raises
thorny old issue
Nike is official apparel supplier to USATF, while Symmonds is sponsored by Brooks
Nick Symmonds, silver medallist in
the 800 metres at the 2013 world
championships, on Monday was left
off the United States team for the
Aug. 22-30 world athletics
championships in Beijing.
Reuters
Cary, North Carolina
unner Nick Symmonds refusal

to sign a statement of conditions required to be on the US
team for this months world
championships in Beijing reignited the
debate over where team sponsor obligations start and end.
Symmonds, silver medallist in the 800
metres at the 2013 world championships,
on Monday was left off the United States
team for the Aug. 22-30 world athletics
championships in Beijing.
To be included, athletes must agree
to wear official team apparel to all team
functions. Nike is the official apparel
supplier to USA Track & Field (USATF),
while Symmonds is sponsored by rival
company Brooks. Athletes can wear their
preferred shoe brand.
Symmonds, who won the 800m at the
US trials in June, said on Twitter late on
Sunday that he would present proof that

USATF was stealing millions of dollars
from the athletes and getting rich off
their hard work.
On Monday, he cited what he said was
an analysis by an economist that showed
that eight percent of expected USATF
gross revenue in 2015 would be distributed to athletes. USATF issued a statement on Monday that said, in part, that
the federations conditions and its requirements are common in professional,
Olympic and national team sports, both
domestically and internationally.
It added that it annually invests more
than 50 percent of our total revenue directly in athlete support, and that amount
is growing.
But Symmonds offered a strident response: I am offended by @USATF
statement. Not my decision to not represent #TeamUSA at #Beijing2015. And
50% investment?? Thats a at out lie,
he tweeted.
Symmonds said he does not object to
wearing official apparel to team functions, but wants a clear denition of what
constitutes an official function. This
vague commitment is hugely problematic
for all non-Nike sponsored athletes who
are contractually obligated to wear their
sponsors gear at all times outside of ofcial team functions, he wrote in a blog
on Huffington Post.
His stand provoked quick reaction
from fellow athletes. David Oliver, the
world champion in the 110m hurdles, was
among the rst to weigh in, agreeing that
team activity needs to be spelled out
more precisely.
But he appeared to offer Symmonds
only qualied support. Havent followed the @NickSymmonds case closely,
but the paperwork hasnt changed and I
know hes signed that same paper every
other time, Oliver tweeted.
In another posting, Oliver tweeted:
Personally I dont care what I have to
wear in order to be at the Worlds or Olympics. But were individuals and have
FOCUS
he IAAF has provisionally suspended 28

athletes for suspected doping offences at
the 2005 and 2007 world championships
in Helsinki and Osaka, world athletics
governing body announced yesterday.
Most of the athletes concerned have since retired, and none are competing at this months
world championships in Beijing, the IAAF stated.
A total of 32 rogue results from the two championships were uncovered after reexamination of urine samples stored at a World AntiDoping Agency accredited-laboratory (LAD) in
Lausanne.
The latest scientic breakthroughs in antidoping technology and analysis have been employed in the reanalysis of these samples to allow
us to nd previously undetectable substances,
explained LAD director Martial Saugy.
The IAAF said re-testing of the 2005 and 2007
samples had nothing to do with the recent accusations of mass doping in athletics. The reanalysis of these samples has been ongoing for
some time, and was commenced well before the
most recent allegations made against the IAAF by
(German broadcaster) the ARD and The Sunday
Times, the IAAF stated.
The athletes suspected of being caught out by
advances in doping technology cannot be named
for legal reasons. A large majority of the 28 are
retired, some are athletes who have already been
head coach Michael Clarke.
Reuters
Kingston
ix-times Olympic gold

medallist Usain Bolt
headlines
Jamaicas
squad for the world athletics championships in Beijing
later this month.
The world record holder over
100 and 200 metres is joined in
the 53-member squad by Asafa
Powell and Warren Weir, both
world championships sprint relay gold medallists.
Bolt answered questions over
his tness with a 100m seasons best of 9.87 seconds at
the London Anniversary Games
last month while Powell ran his
fastest 100 in four years to win
the sprint at the Paris Diamond
League meeting in 9.81 seconds.
Rasheed Dwyer, who set a
career best of 19.80 seconds
over 200m at the Pan American
Games, also makes the squad.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the
reigning sprint double champion
from Moscow two years ago, tops
the list of female athletes and
is joined by former world 100
and 200m champion Veronica
Campbell-Brown.
The team will be accompanied
by 19 officials including technical leader Maurice Wilson and
DISCUS CHAMPION HARTING TO SKIP WORLD

CHAMPIONSHIPS
World and Olympic discus champion Robert Harting
will not defend his title at this
months Beijing world championships as he does not want
to risk his participation at next
years Rio Olympics after struggling to recover from a ligament
injury.
Harting, who has won three
consecutive world titles and the
2012 Olympic gold medal in London, said competing in Beijing
would have been too risky for
him as he still not 100 percent t
after tearing a cruciate ligament
last September.
Unfortunately this is not
possible, he told reporters. I
just cant compete. I would have
to take a risk that I cannot take.
The temptation was certainly
there and I always hoped. But if
I tear a cruciate ligament again
then I can forget about Rio.
Harting, who is known for his
exuberant celebrations by ripping off his top, tore his cruciate
knee ligament 11 months ago and
has been working on a comeback
since. Beijing will host the world
championships between Aug.
22-30.
Usain Bolt answered questions over his fitness with a 100m seasons
best of 9.87 seconds at the London Anniversary Games last month.
SPOTLIGHT
IAAF suspends 28
athletes from 2005, 2007
world championships
AFP
Paris
different ideologies.
Former US Olympic distance runner
Kara Goucher, meanwhile, voiced support for Symmonds. I am beyond devastated for @NickSymmonds. @usatf, you
are sending convicted drug cheats and
keeping home a clean silver medalist,
she tweeted.
Justin Gatlin, the fastest man in the
world this year, is part of the US team. He
served a four-year suspension after testing positive for testosterone in 2006. The
issue raised by Symmonds is hardly new.
Back in 1992, American basketball
players were caught in a dilemma because official US Olympic team awards
uniforms were supplied by Reebok at the
Barcelona Games. So Michael Jordan,
who was sponsored by Nike, and other
members of the Dream Team unzipped
their collars to hide the Reebok patch.
As an added precaution, Jordan,
Charles Barkley and Magic Johnson carried an American ag over their right
shoulders.
Bolt headlines
Jamaica squad
for world meet
sanctioned, and only very few remain active in

sport, the IAAF revealed.
The IAAF is provisionally suspending them
and can conrm that none of the athletes concerned will be competing in Beijing.
Athletics rulers said the long-term storage
and re-analysis of samples remained one of the
best tools available to detect cheats using previously undetectable substances. The IAAF does
not shy away from the fact that some athletes
continue to cheat and defraud their fellow competitors.
But we will do everything in our power, and
use every tool available to protect those clean
athletes who form the large majority of our sport.
A rst round of reanalysis of samples taken
from Helsinki conducted in 2012 had uncovered
six adverse ndings. The IAAF said that nine
athletes have already been sanctioned following
retesting of samples from various world championships.
The body has vehemently denied any negligence in its testing procedure in the wake of the
claims by ARD and The Sunday Times of hundreds of allegedly suspicious blood tests based on
the leak of an IAAF database.
WADA last week announced an urgent investigation into the claims which IAAF presidential candidate Sebastian Coe called a declaration
of war on athletics. The 2015 world championships begin on August 22 where Justin Gatlin,
who exploded on to the track scene winning the
100m and 200m at Helsinki, clashes with Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt.
No proof dirty water made Rio

rowers ill, say officials
Reuters
Rio De Janeiro
here is no evidence that abnormal

levels of viruses or bacteria in the
water caused rowers competing in
Rio de Janeiro at the weekend to fall
ill, US and international sailing officials told
Reuters on Monday.
The Associated Press reported that 13
members of the 40-member US team fell ill
after the world junior championships, a test
event for next years Olympics in Brazil.
US officials conrmed to Reuters that 15
members took ill but said that was not unusual in international events and it was too
early to blame dirty water. It would be easy
but irresponsible for us to immediately assume that the rowing course is the main or
sole point of exposure that caused the illnesses, Glenn Merry, CEO of US Rowing,
told Reuters in an e-mail.
Merry added that US rowers often took ill
abroad and said the fact that coaches also
got sick in Rio was an indication water might
not be the problem. The only athlete who fell
into the lagoon and consumed signicant
amounts of water was not one of those who
fell ill, Merry added. Canadian officials told
Reuters that not one of their 24 athletes and
support staff were sick. We are pleased to
report that during the time the team has been
here, we have had zero incidences of illness,
Peter Cookson, high performance director
for Rowing Canada Aviron, told Reuters.
People row their boats as part of a protest against the polluted waters of Guanabara bay.
We took a number of additional measures (in addition to pre-travel vaccines/
medications) such as protecting water bottles from exposure to the water of the lagoa
(lagoon), covered all open scratches or sores,
and washed with antiseptic soap after every
session.
While there were a few reported illnesses
from some who stayed in the same hotel as
us, we feel the extra precautions we took assisted in keeping our illness rate to zero.
Event organisers said they treated 14 people for diarrheaeight Americans, and three
each from Australia and Britainand that all
were medicated and t enough to compete.
A spokesperson for Rio2016, who asked
not to be named, said everything suggests

the diarrhea was caused by familiar travel
woes rather than dirty water.
The championships were held at the same
lagoon that will be used during South Americas rst Olympic Games next year.
Water quality there, as well as in the seas
where the sailing, triathlon and open water swimming events will be held, has been
sharply criticised and authorities have admitted their own targets for reducing the
amount of sewage in the water would not
be met. Unsafe levels of viruses and bacteria
were recorded in the water, according to an
independent study commissioned by the AP
and released last month.
Gulf Times
SPORT
DOMINATING WIN
Nationals
Gonzalez
shuts
down
Dodgers
BASEBALL
Sale, Garcia lead White

Sox past Angels 8-2
Reuters
New York
The solo homers arent really going to hurt you that much. That three-run homer kind of got us
Reuters
Los Angeles
fter a solid outing in a

dominating win over
the Los Angeles Dodgers, Gio Gonzalez
praised catcher Jose Lobaton and
his Washington Nationals team
mates on Monday.
I hate taking credit, Gonzalez said. Credit goes to Lobaton
and the guys that played their
hearts out today. Offense, defense, everybody just looked
great tonight.
Shortstop
Ian
Desmond
homered twice and Gonzalez
tossed eight shutout innings,
sparking the Nationals to an 8-3
romp over the Dodgers before
45,722 at Dodger Stadium.
Gonzalez, who is 5-0 with a
1.45 ERA in his past eight starts,
scattered seven hits and a walk
while striking out six on 117
pitches (76 strikes).
The Nationals (58-53) handed
the Dodgers (62-50) their rst
four-game losing streak of the
season.
The win kept Washington 1
games back of the National
League East-leading New York
Mets, while the Dodgers lead in
the NL West dwindled to 2
games over idle San FrancisCo
I just thought he was in command the whole night, Washington manager Matt Williams
said of Gonzalez.
The key for him is pitch
count early, keeping it down as
we spoke about today. That allowed him to get through eight.
He pitched really well.
A sharp curveball helped
Gonzalezs effectiveness and
limited the Dodgers offense.
Gonzalez, though, acknowledged he faced a weary Los Angeles club that did not land in
Southern California until about
4 a.m. from Pittsburgh, where
the Dodgers dropped a 13-6
contest on Sunday night to the
Pirates.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins and
right elder Yasiel Puig were the
only regulars to start on Monday.
I wanted to be really aggressive with these guys, especially
knowing it was tough for them
with that late-night road trip,
Gonzalez said. I felt like they
were going to be real aggressive
tonight. It was just me trying to
nd (Lobatons) glove.
Desmond went deep in the
second and eighth innings, giving him 14 home runs. He recorded his second career multihome run gamethe rst was
in 2010. Desmond went 3-for-4
with three RBIs and three runs.
Washingtons ve-run sixth
inning doomed Los Angeles.
An RBI single by rst baseman Ryan Zimmerman, a tworun double by left elder Jayson
Werth and a run-scoring base hit
by center elder Michael Taylor
highlighted the sixth and chased
Dodgers starter Brett Anderson.
The left-hander allowed seven consecutive batters to reach
base, six of them on hits.
Third baseman Yunel Escobar
added a RBI groundout to cap
the scoring in the inning.
Anderson (6-7) lasted veplus innings, surrendering seven
runs on 10 hits with three walks
and a strikeout. It was the rst
time he faced the Nationals.
Theyve got some guys that
are tough matchups for him, I
believe, Dodgers manager Don
Mattingly said.
Its not a club out there trying
to pull him or roll him over. Still,
he was throwing the ball pretty
good there until he hit the snag.
Dodgers pinch hitter Carl Crawford hit a three-run home run off
Doug Fister with two outs in the
ninth to ruin the shutout. Crawford has two homers this year.
The Nationals took the lead in
the second inning. Zimmerman
led off the inning with a double,
and Desmond homered one batter later, driving a 1-0 Anderson
pitch into the seats in left for a
2-0 Washington lead.
Dodgers second baseman Jose
Peraza, making his Major League
debut in place of Howie Kendrick (hamstring), had a two-out
triple in the third for his rst big
league hit.
However, Peraza was left
stranded at third when Gonzalez
struck out Puig to end the inning.
t was just one victory, but

the Chicago White Sox were
encouraged by what they
saw on Monday at US Cellular Field.
After being swept this past
weekend, the White Sox used
impressive performances from
ace Chris Sale and right elder
Avisail Garcia to get back on
track with an 8-2 win against
the Los Angeles Angels.
Sale got back to dominating
hitters the way he usually does,
allowing two runs in 7 1/3 innings, and Garcia clubbed two
home runs to continue an impressive stretch at the plate.
I think that says a lot about
our team, said Sale, who struck
out seven and gave up ve hits.
Tough road trip (were coming off ), three one-run ballgames. Those are kind of hard to
swallow sometimes, but what a
way to start off (this series) on
the right foot at home.
Sale, who allowed seven
runs in his previous two starts,
pitched into the eighth and left
after hitting Angels right elder
Kole Calhoun with one out. It
was a rare loss of control on a
night he commanded all of his
pitches.
After watching the Boston
Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays
jump on fastballs early in counts
during his past two trips to the
mound, Sale took the option
away from the Angels.
He mixed his pitches and
went with off-speed stuff early
to set up his high-90s fastball.
I think for him, most teams
are going to try and do that,
Chicago manager Robin Ventura said.
Youre not going to sit
around and wait for a slider or
changeup. Youre going to try
to get a fastball and everyone
is trying to jump on something
early. Hes going to have to be
able to adjust to that, and I think
he did a nice job of being able to
do that tonight.
CONTROLLING COUNTS
Garcia, who drove in four
runs, has four home runs in his
past six games, all hit at home.
Chicago White Sox third baseman Tyler Saladino, fielder Avisail Garcia, relief pitcher Nate Jones, shortstop Alexei Ramirez and second baseman Carlos Sanchez celebrate a win
against the Los Angeles Angels at the end of their game at US Cellular Field on Monday.
Prior to the homer binge, he had
hit just two in his previous 48
games, which included a 46game homerless drought from
June 8 to Aug. 4.
Im using my top hands
more, Garcia said. Ive been
working on that. Today, I (felt) a
little bit better. I come here every day and try to get better and
try to get my swing back.
Left elder Melky Cabrera
went 2-for-3 with an RBI, rst
baseman Jose Abreu went 2-for4 with two runs, and catcher
Tyler Flowers went 2-for-4
with a home run for Chicago,

who nished with 13 hits.
The Angels were led offensively by center elder Mike
Trout (2-for-3) and second
baseman Johnny Giavotella,
(2-for-4 with two RBIs). Righthander Matt Shoemaker, who
had not allowed a run in 19 innings coming in, started for Los
Angeles (59-52) and took the
loss.
There was no doubt commanding counts was an issue,
Angels manager Mike Scioscia
said of his starter.
After the rst inning, he

minimized some damage and
then the home run to Flowers and then Garcia ... It just
seemed like he couldnt get back
into that good fastball command and controlling counts
and containing counts.
The White Sox (52-58)
charged out to a 3-0 lead on
runs in the rst, third and
fourth against Shoemaker, then
made it 7-0 with four runs on
ve hits in the sixth.
Garcias second homer of the
game highlighted the big inning,
NFL
US judge orders NFL,

union talk settlement
over Brady suspension
Reuters
New York
US judge yesterday
directed the National
Football League and
its players union to
engage in settlement talks before a hearing the next day in a
court battle over New England
Patriots star quarterback Tom
Bradys four-game suspension.
US District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan in
a court order requested that
both sides engage in further
good faith settlement efforts
on Tuesday. The judge said he
expected an update on their
discussions on Wednesday.
Meanwhile,
Baltimore
Ravens wide receiver Steve
Smith Sr. announced that he
will retire at the end of the
2015 season.
Smith, 36, is fully healthy
and condent he could play
a few more years. However,
Smith said he simply wants
to spend more time with his
wife, Angie, and four children.
Smith, who is entering his
15th season in the NFL, in-
New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady.

formed his team mates prior to
the morning practice and then
spoke to the media following
the workout.
Me and my family decided that this will be my last
year, Smith said. Go home
and be dad and look back and
enjoy things. I feel like its
time. My body feels great.

Smith led the Ravens last
year with 79 receptions and
1,065 receiving yards, along
with six touchdowns.
The New England Patriots
released veteran quarterback
Matt Flynn and signed former
Arizona Cardinals quarter-
back Ryan Lindley.

In other moves, the Patriots reportedly acquired
second-year guard Ryan
Groy from the Chicago Bears,
signed rookie running back
Tony Creecy and tight end
Logan Stokes and released
linebacker Chris White and
tight end Mason Brodine.
The Patriots sent sixthround linebacker Matthew
Wells to Chicago for Groy,
ESPN.com reported.
Flynn, 30, signed a oneyear deal in June to serve as
New Englands No. 3 quarterback behind Tom Brady, facing
a four-game suspension over
Deategate, and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Pittsburgh Steelers kicker
Shaun Suisham reportedly
suffered a torn ACL on Sunday
and is expected to miss the
season.
Suisham sustained the injury to his left knee during
the Steelers 14-3 loss to the
Minnesota Vikings in the Hall
of Fame Game, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported
that he will undergo surgery
and likely be placed on injured
reserve.
which started with a single by

Abreu and double by Cabrera.
Pitches were up, said
Shoemaker (5-8), who was
charged with seven runs on
nine hits, including the three
home runs.
The solo homers arent really going to hurt you that much.
That three-run (homer) kind of
got us. If that didnt happen,
it could be 3-2 and still have a
game.
The Angels got two back on
a one-out double by Giavotella
in the seventh, but that was all
they got off Sale (10-7). Righthander Nate Jones relieved Sale
in the eighth and pitched 1 2/3
scoreless innings to nish off
the win.
Results
NY Mets
Chicago W Sox
Kansas City
Arizona
Baltimore
Washington
San Diego
4
8
4
13
3
8
2
Colorado
LA Angels
Detroit
Philadelphia
Seattle
LA Dodgers
Cincinnati
2
2
0
3
2
3
1
Sterling sues TMZ,

ex-girlfriend over
secret recording
Billionaire Donald Sterling
sued celebrity website TMZ and
an ex-girlfriend over the recording of his off-color remarks that
cost him ownership of the Los
Angeles Clippers.
Sterlings lawsuit filed Friday
in Los Angeles Superior Court
accused TMZ and V. Stiviano
of violating his privacy and
causing damage on a scale of
unparalleled and unprecedented magnitude.
The suit is the latest salvo in a
legal soap opera that began in
April 2014 after the recording
caused a firestorm of criticism
when the real estate baron was
heard whining to Stiviano that
she shouldnt associate with
black people.
The remarks led the NBA to ban
him from the league and ultimately led Sterlings estranged
wife to sell the team owned by a
family trust to former Microsoft
CEO Steve Ballmer for a record
$2 billion.
Shelly Sterling won court approval for the sale by showing
her husband of six decades had
dementia and couldnt handle
his business affairs.
Donald Sterling is suing his
wife, the league and two doctors who examined him, claiming in federal court that they
conspired to remove him from
the team.
Despite litigation that put the
couple at odds, they made nice
during Shelly Sterlings recent
court case that forced Stiviano
to relinquish a $1.8 million
home and $800,000 in cash,

gifts, a Ferrari and other luxury
cars Donald Sterling lavished
on the younger woman. A judge
ruled the items belonged to
Shelly Sterling as community
property.
The recordings of Donald Sterling surfaced just weeks after
Shelly Sterling sued Stiviano,
claiming she was her husbands
mistress.
Stiviano has said Sterling consented to recordings she made
on phones while they carried
on a sexless relationship.
Donald Sterling, however, said
in the lawsuit that the illicit
recordings were secretly made
and provided to TMZ by Stiviano and/or her agents.
Attorney Mac Nehoray, who
represented Stiviano in the
previous lawsuit, said Sterling
doesnt have a claim to privacy
because his insensitive remarks
were made in front of Stivianos
sister.
Gulf Times
SPORT
NHL
Stoll gets second chance, signs with Rangers

Agencies
Los Angeles
he Rangers announced
Monday they signed
the former Los Angeles Kings forward Jarret
Stoll, who was arrested in April
and charged with felony possession of cocaine. Terms of the
deal were not disclosed, but reports have said Stoll accepted a
one-year, $800,000 contract.
Rangers general manager Jeff
Gorton told media on a conference call that the organization
was thorough in speaking with
former teammates, trainers and
others who have known Stoll in
a professional setting. The club

was impressed.
It all comes out the same, as
a real character guy that made a
mistake, Gorton said.
Stoll, who pleaded guilty to
two misdemeanors, said he has
completed the legal process and
the 32 hours of community service he received as a sentence.
What Im focusing on now,
Stoll said, is playing for the
New York Rangers, helping our
team win, getting to New York
and playing in Madison Square
Garden. Its an exciting time.
Gorton said the Rangers always want players who have
won and been through it, and
Stoll certainly meets those
SPOTLIGHT
qualications. The 33-year-old

played a key role as a leader on
the Kings Stanley Cup winners
in 2011-12 and 2013-14, the latter
at the expense of the Rangers.
The Rangers fell to Los Angeles in ve games in 2014. They
reached the Eastern Conference
nals last season, losing to Tampa Bay in seven games.
We view this as somebody
that can help us possibly get
over that hump, Gorton said.
Hes been a winning player in
the league a couple of times ...
and always in a leadership type
of role.
Stoll had six goals and 11 assists in 73 games last year. He has
not scored more than 27 points
Los Angeles Kings forward Jarret Stoll.
in a season since 2010-11, when

he had 20 goals and 23 assists.
But he has been one of the NHLs
best in the faceoff circle. He won
50 percent of his 1,125 faceoffs
last year, the worst mark of a
career in which he has won 55.1
percent.
As far as the faceoff circle
goes, I take a lot of pride in that,
Stoll said.
But he wasnt too proud to
speak about his spring arrest,
making a promise to Rangers
fans about his character.
Thats not who I am, Stoll
said. Thats not the person I
was brought up to be, and anybody important in my life knows
that.
RUGBY
No quick
fix to racial
make-up of
Springboks
Pyrgos to captain
Scots against Ireland
I didnt expect to be in this situation, but finding out about this is the proudest day of my life
AFP
Dublin
G
South Africas Minister of Sport and Recreation Fikile Mbalula.
Reuters
Cape Town
outh Africans must be

patient with the pace
of transformation in
the countrys national
rugby side and will not be asking for more black players at
the World Cup, sports minister
Fikile Mbalula said.
The debate over racial quotas and transformation in
the Springbok team ared up
again in the wake of Saturdays
shock 37-25 home defeat to
Argentina, with the countrys
biggest trade union wading
into the argument.
Two black players, Zimbabwe-born prop Tendai Mtwarira and experienced wing Bryan Habana, were included in
coach Heyneke Meyers starting XV against The Pumas.
Flank Siya Kolisi, wing
Lwazi Mvovo and prop Trevor
Nyakane came off the bench.
Mbulula, a prolic user of
Twitter, took to the social
media platform to back the
current set-up and suggest
those frustrated cannot expect
change overnight.
Full transformation in rugby is not going to emerge overnight because we are going to
the World Cup, Mbalula said.
I have (previously) addressed the transformation issues and I have gone a long way
in doing so. We need a winning
team that is black and white

going to the World Cup.
Issues around the racial makeup of the South African side have
risen prior to every World Cup
they have competed instarting
with their victory on home soil
in 1995 when wing Chester Williams was the only non-white
member of the squad.
The inuential Congress of
South African Trade Unions
(Cosatu) has called on South Africa to pick a more mixed team
for Saturdays test in Argentina.
No other team could possibly perform worse and we
insist that a more representative team be picked for the
next game against Argentina,
Cosatu said in a statement
yesterday.
The performance next
week of the mixed team should
then lay to rest once and for
all the obvious advantages of
picking mixed teams.
The coach played many of
the white players out of their
positions... where clearly there
were black players available.
When he does bring in a
few black players, the quality
of play changed; but too little too late. There is a white
cabal who still tries to control
the rugby team and who gets to
play in it.
Up until 1992 black players
were prohibited from playing for the Springboks when
South African society was
governed by Apartheid.
lasgow
scrum-half
Henry Pyrgos was on
Tuesday named captain
of a 25-man Scotland
squad for Saturdays World Cup
warm-up match against Ireland
in Dublin.
He is joined in the squad by
four uncapped players: New
Zealand-born anker Hugh
Blake, Glasgow prop Mike Cusack, South Africa-born Edinburgh prop Allan Dell and Edinburgh hooker Stuart McInally.
Head coach Vern Cotter will
name his starting XV for the
clash at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow.
Its amazing, said Pyrgos,
26, on being handed the captaincy. I didnt expect to be in
this situation, but nding out
about this is the proudest day of
my life.
I know my family are thrilled
too, but I want to now justify it
by going out and putting on a
good performance.
The squad is missing several
key players, such as regular captain Greig Laidlaw and secondrow brothers Richie and Jonny
Gray.
With Laidlaw and his understudy Sam Hidalgo-Clyne not
selected, Pyrgos is determined to
seize his chance to prove that he
deserves a place in Cotters nal
squad for the World Cup.
The competition in training
is pretty erce and Im just lucky
to be involved, he said. Now
Ive got the opportunity to play
this weekend, do well and put
down the rst marker.
Vern has already spelled out
that every jersey, from one to 15,
is still up for grabs. He wants to
see people improve in training
and in games.
If you do that you are putting
yourself in a great position to get
a shirt at the World Cup.
Glasgow Warriors scrum-half Henry Pyrgos will captain Scotland in their first World Cup warm-up match against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium
on Saturday.
After playing Ireland, Scotland will also face Italy twice
and France as they gear up for
their opening World Cup Pool B
match against Japan in Gloucester on September 23.
Cotter will trim his 47-man
training squad down to a nal
list of 31 players for the tournament on September 2.

The 22 players not involved
against Ireland on Saturday will
continue training at Murrayeld.
Scotland squad named on
Tuesday for a 2015 Rugby World
Cup warm-up match against
Ireland at Dublins Aviva Stadium on Saturday (1600 GMT):

Forwards (14): John Barclay,
Hugh Blake, Fraser Brown, Blair
Cowan, Mike Cusack, David
Denton, Allan Dell, Grant Gilchrist, Ryan Grant, Jim Hamilton, Rob Harley, Stuart McInally,
Gordon Reid, Jon Welsh

Backs (11): Dougie Fife, Sam
Hidalgo-Clyne, Peter Horne,
Ruaridh Jackson, Sean Lamont,
Henry Pyrgos (capt), Tommy
Seymour, Greig Tonks, Richie
Vernon, Tim Visser, Duncan
Weir
HORSE RACING
Baffert cautious about Pharoah run in Travers

Agencies
New York
merican
Pharoahs
owner, Ahmed Zayat,
considers
Saratoga
Race Course The
Summer Place to Be for his Triple Crown hero. Yet unless hes
100 percent, trainer Bob Baffert
doesnt want to run him at The
Graveyard of Champions.
Baffert was in Saratoga
Springs, N.Y., on Monday for
the yearling sales Tuesday night
and Wednesday night, and he
visited Saratogas backstretch in
the morning. Inevitably, he was
asked whether Pharoah will ship
from California to run August 29
in the Travers Stakes.
Were trying to make it, Baf-
fert said, but hes going to have

to really convince me. I have to
be all in and really condent,
because I know if he comes here,
hes going to have to run hard.
That would be a 180 from the
Haskell on Aug. 2, when Pharoah
cruised by 2 \ lengths.
Its a tough, demanding racetrack, Baffert said of Saratoga,
but hes handled everything
thrown at him so far.
Unlike almost everybody
else, Saratoga is not Bafferts
happy place, although he did
win the 2001 Travers with
Point Given. Hes 1-for-5 in the
Midsummer Derby, finishing
third with Roman Ruler (2005)
and out of the money with Coil
(2011), Liaison (2012) and Bayern (2014).
Hes been such a special
Triple crown winner American Pharoah.
horse and he has this following

now, Baffert said. I want to
make sure I do the right thing. I
know theres always that pressure that we want to run.
Much of it is coming from
Zayat, who has said he wants to
run in the Travers if Pharoah is
thriving. Anticipation is high
at the Spa, where posters call it
Pharoahtoga. Zayat said the
decision is up to Baffert, but its
clear which answer he wants to
hear.
Ive been pressured into
bringing other horses here and
they didnt do well, but this
horse is different, Baffert said.
Point Given is the only one I
brought in for the Travers that
had a chance to win. The other
ones, I was just trying to make
something happen.
Preakness will remain on NBC under 7-year deal

The Preakness will be
broadcast on NBC for
another seven years after
the network announced a
contract extension with the
Maryland Jockey Club on
Monday.
NBC had already reached
contract extensions to broadcast the other two races in
the Triple Crown _ a 10-year
deal for the Kentucky Derby
and a seven-year deal for the
Belmont Stakes.
This long-term agreement will allow us to build
the Preakness, Black-Eyed
Susan, Pimlico Special and
Preakness week activities
through multiple channels
to reach a wider audience,

said Alon Ossip, CEO of the
Stronach Group, the Jockey
Clubs parent company, in
a statement. The Stronach
Group is committed to growing the sport of thoroughbred
racing, and we believe our
relationship with NBC is another step in that direction.
The network has broadcast the Preakness since
2001. This years race, with
American Pharoah winning
on his way to the rst Triple
Crown in 37 years, drew a
5.8 overnight rating, down
slightly from 2014 but in
line with the numbers from
recent years.
Gulf Times
SPORT
SPOTLIGHT
FOCUS
Lee Chong Wei and

Lin Dan rivalry
flares up at Jakarta
I am aware many people are waiting for us to duel. I will give my best performance if
this occurs. This could be our last game, because maybe next year we will retire
Sindhu, Srikanth
advance in worlds
IANS
Jakarta
op Indian shuttlers P V
Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth earned contrasting wins in their respective categories to advance at the
World Championships, being
held at the 9,000-seater Istora
Senayan here yesterday.
Coming back from a long injury layoff, 11th seed Sindhu had to
work hard for 50 minutes to move
past Danish Line Kjaersfeldt 1121, 21-17, 21-16 in the womens
singles second round. Though
the two-time World Championship bronze medallist lost the
rst game, she found her rhythm
to bounce back and win the next
two games.
In the third round, the
20-year-old faces a tough task
as she will go up against reigning Olympic champion and third
seed Li Xuerui. The Chinese has
a 2-1 advantage over Sindhu in
career meetings.
First game didnt go well, but
overall it was okay. I could have
played much better. It was a good
match and even my opponent
played well. Pre-quarters match
is against Li Xuerui. Hope I play

well, said Sindhu.
Later, mens singles third seed
Srikanth got off to a positive start
with a 21-10, 21-13 win over Australias Michael Fariman in 24
minutes. The Guntur-born lad
will next take on Chinese Taipeis
Hsu Jen Hao against whom Srikanth won the only match played
between them last year in Denmark.
It was a good match. First
rounds are always tricky and I am
happy to nish it in two games. I
am playing against Hsu Jen Hao
in the next round. I have played
him only once before. It will be a
good match tomorrow and I want
to play my best, World No.3 Srikanth said.
However, it was the end of the
road for doubles pairs Manu Attri-B.-Sumeeth Reddy and Mohita Sahdev-Dhanya Nair with
both combinations suffering rst
round losses in their respective
categories.
While French combine Delphine Lansac-Emilie Lefel defeated Mohita and Dhanya 21-18,
21-16 in womens doubles, Chinese mens doubles pair of Cai
Yun-Lu Kai eased past Attri and
Reddy 21-9, 21-7 in 23 minutes.
BADMINTON
Israeli blames visa

saga for early exit
AFP
Jakarta
The old rivalry between superstars Lin Dan (left) and Lee Chong Wei will be on display at the ongoing world championships in Jakarta.
AFP
Jakarta
he old rivalry between badminton superstars Lee Chong Wei

and Lin Dan resurfaced at the
world championships in Jakarta
yesterday, with both players raising the
prospect of a semi-nal showdown.
Lee, a former world number who only
returned to badminton in May after an
eight-month ban for doping, looked
dangerous as he swept aside Lithuanias Kestutis Navickas 21-9, 21-13 in his
opening match.
His arch-rival Lin, a two-time Olympic champion, began his campaign for a
sixth world crown in similar fashion, demolishing American Sattawat Pongnairat
21-8, 21-11.
The pair are long-running foes, with
Chinas Lin denying Malaysias Lee gold
in two world championships and backto-back Olympics in 2008 and 2012. Fans
are savouring the possibility the veterans
could clash in a semi-nal sizzler in Jakarta.
I am aware a great many people are

waiting for us to duel on the court. Certainly I will give my best performance if
this occurs, Lee, 32, told reporters.
This could be our last game, because
maybe next year we will retire.
Lin said Lees strong return to the badminton circuitthe Malaysian has won
back-to-back US and Canada Open titles
this seasonwould make the competition increasingly erce and invited the
opportunity for a rematch.
Especially if you consider our age,
weve had few opportunities to play, Lin,
31, told reporters.
I would love if we could play again.
Lin is expected to cruise through his
next match but Leewho is unseeded
at the world championships for the rst
time in yearsmust navigate his way past
12th seed German shuttler Marc Zwiebler.
EARLY NERVES
Top seed Carolina Marin, who nearly
pulled out of the tournament due to injury, had a scare as she embarked on the
defence of her world title.
The world number one lost her rst

set against Malaysias Tee Jing Yi, before
nding her feet and delivering some blistering smashes to convincingly claim the
match 19-21, 21-14, 21-13.
The Spaniard said this tournament was
especially hard given she only returned to
the court a fortnight ago following her
foot injury.
At the beginning I was a little bit
nervous, she said.
Others could not control the jitters,
with ninth womens seed Nozomi Okuhara going down a third straight time to
unseeded Thai shuttler Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, while Taiwans Pai Yu Po
knocked out Indonesias Maria Febe Kusumastuti.
Third seed Li Xuerui breezed into the
third round with a 21-10, 21-11 drubbing
of Bulgarias Petya Nedelcheva.
The Olympic champion, who was upstaged by a gutsy Marin last year, declined to say whether she was out for
revenge.
You will have to wait and see, she
told reporters via a translator.
Other top womens players includ-
ing Wang Shixian, P.V. Sindhu, Busanan

Ongbumrungpan and Sung Ji Hyun also
booked places in the round of 16 on Tuesday.
Seeded mens shuttlers Srikanth Kidambi, Hu Yun, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus and Zwiebler progressed to the round
of 32, with Danish second-seed Jan O.
Jorgensen and South Koreas Son Wan Ho
scheduled to play later in the evening.
Elsewhere, Israeli athlete Misha Zilberman, who was only granted a visa by
Muslim-majority Indonesia at the 11th
hour to compete in the world championships, blamed the immigration saga for
his early departure from the tournament.
Zilberman was only granted a visa after the head of the Badminton World Federation intervened directly on his behalf,
but the shuttler said the disruption to his
training caused his 21-14, 21-14 drubbing
at the hands of Taiwans Hsu Jen Hao.
World number one Chen Long, who
is seeking to defend his crown and add
to the four titles he has already bagged
this season, will play his rst match on
Wednesday after being given a rstround bye.
SECURING SPORT 2015
ICSS confirms Richard Haass and

Condoleezza Rice as speakers
By Sports Reporter
Doha
he International Centre for Sport Security

(ICSS) announced today that Richard Haass,
President, Council on Foreign
Relations and Condoleezza Rice,
66th US Secretary of State, will
speak at Securing Sport the
leading annual international
sport security and integrity conference.
In its fth year, Securing Sport
will make its debut in the United
States, taking place this year in
New York City on 3-4 November. The event will once again
examine the biggest threats to
the safety, security and integrity
of sport and unite high-prole
decision-makers, law enforcement officials and senior policymakers from the US and around
the world.
Ahead of his opening address
at Securing Sport 2015, Richard
Haass, President, Council on
Condoleezza Rice, 66th US

Secretary of State.
Richard Haass, President,

Council on Foreign Relations.
Foreign Relations said:

As we have seen over recent
months, many questions have
been raised about the governance of world sport and the responsibility that sports organisations have to civil society.
This is a dening era for many
industries, including sport, and it
is essential that all stakeholders,
including sport governing bodies,
governments, sponsors, as well as

policy makers recognise that more
consistent and coordinated international effort is required in the
eld of sport safety, security and
integrity.
Securing Sport 2015 will provide an important platform for
high-level leaders from around
the world to discuss the future
of sport and I look forward to
opening this landmark conference as well as sharing my views

about the industry in New York
later this year.
Under the conference theme of
The Phenomenon of the Global
Power of Sport, Condoleezza Rice
will also join the event and will
share some lessons and experiences from her tenure as Secretary
of State of the United States under
President George W. Bush.
Of the keynote speakers, Mohammed Hanzab, ICSS President, said: At a time when governance issues, corruption and
security threats in sport continue to dominate headlines around
the world, I am delighted that
two international heavyweights
in the world of foreign policy
have decided to speak at Securing Sport 2015.
Both Condoleezza and Richard are high-prole gures that
will add a wealth of insight and
experience to the current debate
about the future of sport. In addition, their involvement also
underlines the growing attention
that sport is receiving from some

governments, as well as reinforcing the important role it plays in
developing other areas of society.
With many other important
topics set to be covered at Securing Sport 2015, I look forward
to welcoming Condoleezza, Richard as well as other leaders
from around the world for what
will be a must-attend event that
aims safeguard the future of
sport for all.
Along with the keynote
speakers, issues and topics to be
discussed at this years Securing Sport include: 1. Legalisation
of Sport Betting in the United
States. 2. Cyber-attacks during
major sporting events. 3. Financial Transparency, Corruption
and Organised Crime in Sport.
4. The role of sport in economic development. 5. Player
and spectator safety and major
sporting events
Further details about Securing
Sport 2015 speakers, panels and
media accreditation will be announced over the next few weeks.
n Israeli who was only

granted a visa at the 11th
hour to compete in the
world badminton championships in Muslim-majority
Indonesia blamed the immigration saga for his early departure
from the tournament yesterday.
Misha Zilberman, who represented Israel at the London 2012
Olympics, was defeated by Taiwans Hsu Jen-hao 21-14, 21-14
in his opening round match in
Jakarta, ending his campaign.
The 26-year-old shuttler had
initially been refused permission to enter Indonesia and was
stuck in Singapore, a short ight
from Jakarta, in the run-up to
the tournament.
Indonesia, the worlds most
populous
Muslim-majority
country, and the Jewish state do
not have formal diplomatic ties
and it is difficult for Israelis to
visit the Southeast Asian nation.
But he was granted a visa at
the last minute after the Badminton World Federation directly intervened on his behalf.
The federation conrmed
with AFP its secretary general
Thomas Lund travelled to Singapore to assist with his case.
The Israeli player did not
speak to media following his
rst-round loss, with the badminton federation citing security concerns for his absence.
But in an interview with the
federation, he blamed the fracas around his visa for his poor
showing, saying the whole experience had not been easy after
a year of careful preparation for
the championships.
DISAPPOINTED
I am very disappointed that I
didnt show even 50 per cent of
what I could because I didnt
practise for the last ve days or
hit any shuttles, he said.
I thought I could play better... more close to him. I would
have needed three or four days to
come and feel everything.
Despite the outcome, Zilberman said he had been happy to
compete in Jakarta, saying it was
proof sport is more important
than politics.
The World Jewish Congress
welcomed the decision Monday
to allow Zilberman access to
Indonesia, saying athletes who
qualify for international events
should be allowed to compete
regardless of their nationality.
According to Indonesian immigration regulations, Israelis
who wish to visit the country
must obtain a special visa in
Bangkok or Singapore after getting a sponsorship letter from
Indonesian officials.
Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge 2015

rolls in to South Africa for first of two
qualifiers
Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge (XCGC), the successful
corporate golf tournament
with multiple qualifiers across
the GCC states, will stage the
first of two qualifiers in Johannesburg. The seventh qualifying round of the tournament
will take place on 13th August
2015 at Johannesburgs Els
Club Copperleaf, the second
Signature Ernie Els-designed
golf course in South Africa.
The Els Club Copperleaf features an 18-hole championship
course with an enormous driving range and putting green
offering guaranteed five-star
golfing experience, along
with the ideal way to golf
competitions with landscaped
recreational areas.
On the day of the qualifier, invited golfers from across South
Africa will compete in twoplayer teams for a place to play
in the grand finals at the end
of the year in Ras Al Khaimah,
United Arab Emirates.
Dan Smith, Director of Integrated Marketing, Xerox Middle East & Africa said: South
Africa is very important to
Xerox and we are happy to, for
another year, bring the Xerox
Corporate Golf Challenge to
golfing enthusiasts in South
Africa. Securing a berth at the
finals is proving to be a mark
of pride for the regions golfers, and the camaraderie and
the networking opportunities

offered by this championship
is the main reason that we
have continued to invest in
it. We wish the South African
teams the best, and look
forward to welcoming the winners to the finals.
Securing a berth at the

finals is proving to be
a mark of pride for the
regions golfers
Sponsors that are supporting the Xerox Corporate Golf
Challenge this year include
Prestige Wealth Solutions
(PWS the Dubai-based firm
of financial advisers), longterm partner Ecco, RAK Tourism, and first-time sponsor,
Aramex.
Further information about the
Xerox Corporate Golf Challenge, including registration to
play in each qualifying round,
is available at www.xeroxcgc.
com The tournaments announcements and action can
be followed on social media
through #XCGC2015.
The top two teams in the
invitation-only seventh
qualifying round will earn
spots in the Xerox Corporate
Golf Challenge Grand Final. To
be held over 2 days in Ras Al
Khaimah, UAE, in late 2015, the
Grand Final will see 41 teams
participate.
10
Gulf Times
SPORT
SPOTLIGHT
FOCUS
United post Fergie:

A nightmare stint
for David Moyes
Qatar and Atletico

Madrid share 1-1
draw in friendly
It has to be a new era. Whatever we say, my job now is to make my history. Im going
to be following someone who has made incredible history
By Jamie Jackson, The Guardian
London
Action from the match between Qatar and Atletico Madrid in the
second round of Group B in the LAlcdia International under-20
Football Tournament, at Els Arcs Municipal Stadium in Spain.
he plane is on the runway at

Manchester Airport but the
captain is not on board. A club
source conrms Nemanja Vidic
has suspected sciatica. David Moyes is
about to navigate his rst tour as Manchester United manager through the
testing lands of Thailand, Australia, Japan and China without his on-pitch lieutenant. But while Vidic will play no part,
it is the player who is to join the central
defender as a tour absentee almost as
soon as United arrive in Bangkok who will
exercise minds throughout.
Tour Life. No one really likes it. One
senior member of the party confesses
that he detests being away with the club
for so long. These are to be three long
weeks. A blur of time zones and hotels
and football elds and sponsorship appearances and never, ever, ever straying
off-message. The Holy Grail of the Manchester United footballer on tour: do not
create needless headlines. They will nd
you anyway.
Within hours of United landing there is
a major story. Wayne Rooney has a hamstring injury and is to return straight home
for treatment. The conspiracy junkies
are in clover. And who can blame them?
There is no secret that the Liverpudlian is
unhappy following a seismic falling-out
with Sir Alex Ferguson towards the end
of last season and is desperate to leave for
Chelsea. And with Rooney having only two
years left on his contract the question is
who will blink rst. If the club want to cash
in now he will achieve his wish. If United
stand rm and are happy to allow Rooneys
contract to wind down should he refuse to
agree another, then this leverage becomes
neutered.
THE GRILLING
The Cut Bar & Grill in downtown Sydney
is a high-end restaurant for the movers
and shakers who pass through the city.
And for the wannabe movers and shakers
who pass through the city. What the difference is, who knows It is a quasi-kind
of place. No one really has fun in here.
They only think they do. All the fun is
happening elsewhere. The place has soft
lights and soft sounds and seems always
to have been at this point now, approaching 8pm, the evening about to move from
quietude to a rising murmur in anticipation of something that never arrives. Its
what this all these places are about.
The joints pice de rsistance is
Wagyu beef Japanese Black, Japanese
Polled, Japanese Brown and Japanese
Shorthorn the nest of ne steaks real
File picture of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson (left) with then Everton manager David Moyes towards the end of the
English Premier League match at Old Trafford Manchester, Britain.
money can buy. The wine list teems with
ne Shiraz and Malbec and Pinot Noir.
Some of these come in at 1,450 Australian dollars around 1,000 so its nice
Manchester United are hosting. There is
probably a waiting list to dine here. And a
guest list. And a VIP list. And a VVIP list.
On the evening of 18 July 2013 at
around, yes, eight oclock, the correspondents covering Manchester United
for the daily newspapers have assembled for dinner with David Moyes, the
tour sit-down as it is known. Yet this
nearly doesnt happen. Today is a Thursday. Word has come that Moyes is furious with some of his fellow diners and
has considered cancelling due to stories
splashed on websites on Sunday evening
and on the front and back pages of the
newspapers the following day. The opening line of the Guardians account reads:
Wayne Rooney has been left in no doubt
regarding his position at Manchester
United with David Moyes, the manager,
issuing a stark message that the striker
is considered vital only if we had an injury to Robin van Persie. Ed Woodward,
Uniteds executive vice-chairman, also
underlined the hard-line stance towards
Rooney, claiming the club have no fear of
a players deal running down.
THE HISTORY MAN

There is a certain amount of disbelief at
this performance near the bar of the Cut
Bar & Grill. But on the credit side (and he
deserves a large amount), despite being
seriously cheesed off, Moyes is still here
and about to sit down and enjoy a good
meal and a drink and an honest, expansive chat. Who can argue with that? At
the table after this start to the working
relationship some feel more awkward
than others. The atmosphere might not
be great but thats football journalism.
The same people have to be dealt with
most weeks of the year. The relationship,
the world, is an odd one. There are genuine moments of warmth and there are
squabbles and disputes. There are forced
situations where the manager or press
officer or whoever has just been argued
with has to be spoken to again on some
other matter, sometimes instantly and,
of course, courteously.
This is a ne illustration. The atmosphere soon thaws and Moyes is as engaging and as open as he can be. The wine
ows. As do the words. Someone asks
what advice stands out from the barrage he received on becoming Manchester United manager. Youll do it easy,
Moyes says. But Im not saying who it
was. I dont take that as a given, because

I know its going to be really hard at Manchester United. I know that. There is a
straight answer about why he brought his
own backroom team and Fergusons were
told to leave.
I needed it to be David Moyess era
now, so that meant me taking some of
my own people. He is also clear that: It
has to be a new era. Whatever we say, my
job now is to make my history. Im going
to be following someone who has made
incredible history. I think about Matt
Busbys history and then Alex Fergusons
history they could do a lm about it. I
have to make sure now that my history
and my time is something which the fans
and people in the future talk about.
This sums up the monster Moyes is
grappling with. And considering his former
unhappiness at how his words on Rooney
were reported, he is now relaxed. He talks
freely of being the manager for 10 or 15
years, and building his own dynasty and
emulating Busby and Ferguson. Id really
like that, not just because of the history of
Scottish managers, but I think there has
been a succession of Scottish managers
Bill Shankly, Jock Stein, Sir Matt, George
Graham you could go on and on. Ive
probably missed a few out.
BOTTOMLINE
MLS fans may brawl but Americans

will remain second-class hooligans
By DJ Gallo, The Guardian
New York
merica has made great

strides in soccer in recent years. From the
nationwide enthusiasm for the 2014 and 2015 World
Cup teams to the growing attendance and TV ratings enjoyed by MLS, soccer culture in
the United States is inching ever
closer to what is found throughout the rest of the world.
But there is still one vital area
in which America is lagging far
behind other soccer nations:
hooliganism.
The soccer hooligans of Europe and South America are far
more advanced in their tactics,
violence and hatred than the upstart stateside hooligan community. America may be the favourite in any military conict, but
our homegrown ruffians simply
would stand no chance physically or strategically in a ght with
their international counterparts.
This harsh reality was laid
San Roman fumble the ball right

towards the right foot of Khalid
Muneer who smashed the ball
into the back of the net.
The Torneo Internacional
de Ftbol Sub-20 de LAlcdia
(LAlcdia International Under-20 Football Tournament),
better known as COTIF, is an
annual international invitational
football competition for youth
teams, open to both clubs and
national and autonomous teams,
held in LAlcdia, Valencia since
1984.
Qatar features in Group A
alongside Chile, Equatorial
Guinea and Spanish club Atliteco
Madrid.
Qatar is preparing for the GCC
U-19 tournament set to take
place in September, as well as the
AFC qualication group in October.
The boys in maroon have already conducted a training camp
in Turkey besides playing friendly games against Levante and
Villarreal CF. The Qatar squad
will continue their preparations
following their return to Doha,
Qatar Football Association said
on Sunday.
Qatar line-up: 1 Mohammed;
5 Bassam (8 Addullah, m. 16),
6 Khalid, 7 Abdulrahman (10
Muneer), 9 Hassan, 12 Khalifa, 14
Meshaal (4 Tarek, m. 28), 15 Hussain (3 Ilys, m. 36 TA), 17 Abdulrasheed (11 Mubarak, m. 36), 18
Ahmed (20 Moustafa, m. 36) 23
Abushanab.
Atltico Madrid line-up: 13
San Romn; 4 Toni, 8 Toni Vargas, 10 Spoljaric (6 Gmez Da
Costa, m. 52), 11 Juan Moreno, 15
Perea, 16 Pekes (19 ngel Torres,
m. 52), 17 Nacho (9 Jaime Almagro, m. 52), 18 Keidi Bare (7 Rubn
Fernndez, m. 52), 20 Muoz y 21
Daniel Hernndez.
By Our Correspondent
L Alcudia, Spain
bare for all the world to see on

Sunday in Newark, New Jersey,
when, before the Red Bulls-New
York FC match kicked off, a brawl
broke out between supporters of
the two sides. Of course, some
may want to quickly dismiss the
scene as not a soccer-induced
melee, but just the average Sunday afternoon in downtown Newark. However, as the New York
Daily News noted, audio from
the scene included chants consistent in tone with soccer supporter groups. So there you go.
This was a real American soccer
hooligan-off. But it was a pathetic imitation brand compared
to what one might see in Italy or
Argentina.
As the video reveals, the highlights of the uprising consisted of
tossed sandwich boards, a pool
cue waved about menacingly, and
some hurled bags of garbage. And
when police arrived, the entire
mob dispersed. In short, it was
child hooligans play.
Your classically trained hooligan would never throw a
sandwich board at someone.
Not when, for example, a much

heavier and potentially more destructive scooter can be thrown
off the upper deck. And why
wield a pool stick when you can
use a vibrator or dildo? Or many
vibrators and dildos? And garbage bags? Pffft.
A severed pigs head with
its loose blood and tissue is far
more disgusting than some tidily bagged collection of trash.
Yet Sundays Newark brawlers
do deserve some credit for even
making an effort to hooliganize.
Many top European clubs have
been around for more than a hundred years. Their supporters have
been blessed with decades to develop their approaches to asymmetrical havoc. The art of mayhem and destruction has been
passed down from generation to
generation, each new era of fans
rening and retooling the violence
and adding modern elements.
Whereas NYC FC played
its rst ever league game on 8
March of this year. To be chucking sandwich boards down the
street in broad daylight already
is no small accomplishment. But

still, the hooligan gap between
the US and Europe is so wide,
its foolish to think it will ever be
closed. Supporters of European
clubs have forgotten more about
who they are to illogically hate
and why than NYC FC fans have
even begun to learn.
America likes to think it is
the best at everything, but the
fact is that the United States
may not be capable of developing a world class hooligan class.
Soccer dominates the sporting
landscape in Europe and South
America. Other sports exist,
sure, and have followings, but as
far as engendering full-throated
passion from large segments
of society? Soccer is it. All of a
communitys rage, all of its insecurities and perceived slights,
all of its heartache and broken
dreams, all of its prejudices and
biases, everything negative can
be directed with laser-sighted
focus on the pitch, or at a pub
near the pitch as the case may
be, ready to billow over at any
moment into violence.
In America, there is no singular team sport. The NFL is

the most popular league, but
throughout the entire Southeast its actually college football
that is more popular. The NBA
has its own large following. As
does Major League Baseball. The
NHL and college basketball have
devoted fanbases, as well. And
then theres the growing popularity of MLS.
Americas gun culture may
also contribute to the nations
lack of hooligan culture. When
you can spend your evenings
blowing off steam by blasting cans off a fence or spend
your vacations from your dental practice killing lions for
amusement the urge to break
a bottle over the head of a person who happens to like a different team may not be quite
as strong. And, really, why risk
breaking a bottle over the head
of a person who may very well
be carrying an assault weapon?
Those with hooligan inclinations may be drunk and insane,
but theyre not stupid.
ubstitute Khalid Muneer

took the plaudits as he
scored late in the second
half to grant Qatar a 1-1
draw against Atletico Madrid in
the second round of Group B in
the LAlcdia International under-20 Football Tournament, at
Els Arcs Municipal Stadium, L
Alcudia.
Having lost their opening
match to Chile; the draw revived
Qatars hopes of reaching the
quarter-nals when they next
take on Equatorial Guinea today.
Coached by former Qatar U-16
manager Oscar Fernandez, the
Spaniards dictated most of the
exchanges throughout the rst
half, however, Qatar were the
rst to pose a serious threat when
striker Hassan Ahmed bizarrely
squandered a golden chance after being set up by winger Abdulrashid Umaro inside the six-yard
box.
Cano Pekes opened the scoring for Atltico just two minutes
before halftime when he headed
home a Tony Vargs cross past
Qatar keeper Ahmed al-Bakri.
For Qatars youngsters, despite
glimpses of quality in the opening session, a heavily dissimilar
line up to the one that played
Chile 24 hours prior had to wait
until the second half to shine, as
the introduction of trio Abdulla
Abdulsalam, Khalid Muneer and
Tarek Salman helped pace matters for Joao Pereiras men, forcing Atletico to retreat in a bid to
withstand pressure, nonethless,
Qatar were justly rewarded the
equaliser just seven minutes
before the nal whistle when
a defensive blunder saw goalie
QATAR STARS LEAGUE
Qatar Sports Club to play friendly

against Terrassa FC in Spain
Qatar Sports Club (QSC) will
face Spanish fourth division
side Terrassa FC today as part
of their preseason preparation
programme.
This is the second friendly
match for the Kings in Spain
this summer; the team has
already played against CF Peralada who hail from the 5th tier
of the Spanish football league
system. QSC lost 3-1 but new
signing, Mohsen Yagur scored
his first goal in his first appear-
ance for the club.

The Kings still have a further
two friendlies before they
return to Doha to contest
the new Qatar Stars League
season which will start of
September 11.
Last seasons top scorer for
the yellow and blacks, Hamdi
Harboui is still coming back
from injury but the clubs physicians have said he should be
ready to join up with his teammates in the coming days.
Rben Amorim arrives into Doha to

finalise deal with Al Wakrah
Portuguese midfielder Rben
Amorim arrived in Doha and
will look to finalise a deal with
Al Wakrah ahead of the new
Qatar Stars League season.
The Portuguese will have a
medical at Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine
Hospital on Monday, and if all
goes well, the player will then
be introduced to the local media a few days later according
to the clubs official website.
The Waves have been after
the Benfica man for some
time, and will hope he can
solidify a sometimes porous

midfield.
Last season Benfica won the
domestic Portuguese title and
Amorim is known as a box-tobox midfielder who can also
play as a right back.
Amorim spent most of his
professional career with
Belenenses and Benfica, signing with the latter in 2008
and going on to win ten major
titles, including three national
championships. Amorim also
represented Portugal in two
World Cups.
Christian Bolaos and Al Gharafa

part company
Al Gharafa has ended their
contract with winger Christian
Bolaos, the decision was
made with the mutual consent
of both parties.
The Costa Rican made only
eleven appearances for the
Cheetahs last season scored

four goals and gave 6 assists.
Bolaos joined during the
winter transfer window and replaced Brazilian Nene who left
for English Premier League
side West Ham United.
Gulf Times
11
FOOTBALL
PREVIEW
Klopp rules out Marseille job
Bayern Munich eye

historic fourth title
on Peps swansong
We are prepared for the season, were in good spirits and were looking forward to it
AFP
Munich
Bayern Munichs coach Pep Guardiola reacts during the

German Cup DFB Pokal first round match against FC
Noettingen in Karlsruhe, Germany, on August 9. (AFP)
ayern Munich kick-off the new Bundesliga season at home to Hamburg on Friday with the Bavarians bidding for an historic fourth league title
and Pep Guardiola tight-lipped over his future.
Bayerns head coach is about to start the third and nal season of his contract and will reveal his future plans
over the course of the campaign.
Global broadcaster BeIN Sport insists he has already
signed a four-year deal to join Manchester City for the
2016/17 season, while Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge is eager to extend Peps stay.
Bayerns senior gures regularly claim the Bundesliga
title remains the priority each season, but Guardiola was
brought in to bring Champions League glory to the Bavarians.
Having exited the semi-nals at the hands of Real Madrid, then Barcelona in their two seasons under Guardiola, Bayern bosses hope it will be a case of third-time
lucky this term.
Whatever Guardiola decides, Bayern will have to adjust to life without mideld general Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has quit Bayern after 13 seasons for another
famous red shirt at Manchester United.
Munich are the big favourites to win the German
league again and become the rst to win a fourthstraight crown.
But Guardiolas men have lost six of their last eight
competitive xtures, including defeat to last seasons
runners-up VfL Wolfsburg on penalties in Germanys
Super Cup. There were no surprises in Sundays 3-1 win
at fth-tier Noettingen in the rst round of the German
Cup, though.
New signing Arturo Vidal gave the visitors an early lead
and after the hosts pulled level, Mario Goetze and Robert
Lewandowski scored for Bayern.
It was a good test for the Bundesliga opener on Friday, said Goetze.
We are prepared for the season, were in good spirits
and were looking forward to it.
Bayerns advantage at the top has reduced year on year
over the past three seasons and their main rivals are likely to be Wolfsburg and Moenchengladbach again.
Borussia Dortmund are an unknown package under
new coach Thomas Tuchel, after Jurgen Klopp quit at the
end of last season.
They are looking to once again challenge Bayerns title
stranglehold, which shows only vague signs of weakening.
Their record 25-point cushion over Dortmund in the
2012/13 season was reduced to a comfortable 19 points in
2013/14 while they only enjoyed a ten point-lead over
Wolves last term.
Bayern have boosted their mideld options with Chile
international Vidal set to bring his box-to-box energy
while Brazil winger Douglas Costa can cover for either
injury-prone Arjen Robben or Franck Ribery.
Around the league, Germany internationals have returned home with striker Kevin Kuranyi joining Hoffenheim after a ve-year stint with Dynamo Moscow and
Augsburg winger Piotr Trochowski is back from Sevilla.
Yoshinori Muto is the latest big-name Japanese player
to grace the Bundesliga having signed for Mainz from
FC Tokyo. The Bundesligas new teams are Bavarias Ingolstadt, who are making their debut in Germanys top
ight, while Darmstadt are back after a 33-year absence.
They failed to stay up on their brief sojourns into the
Bundesliga in 1978/79 and 1981/82 and the Lillies will
have to prove themselves to avoid a swift return to the
second division.
Fans are still lapping up live Bundesliga football,
though, as an average of 43,500 fans went to each match
last season. The gure dwarves Englands Premier League
where the average is 36,200, while Spains La Liga has 27,000
fans watching each game and Italys Serie A a modest 22,200.
Highly-rated German coach Jurgen Klopp has ruled out taking over
from Marcelo Bielsa at Marseille, his agent told Tuesdays edition of
Bild. Marseille have shown great interest in him but, for Jurgen, the
time has not yet come to return, said Marc Kosicke.
Klopp quit Borussia Dortmund at the end of last season following
seven highly successful campaigns in which he won two Bundesliga
titles, the German Cup once and guided Dortmund to the 2012/13
Champions League final. French press have claimed Marseille want
Klopp to succeed controversial Argentine Bielsa, who quit abruptly
on Saturday following his sides opening day 1-0 defeat at home to
minnows Caen. Klopp left Dortmund at the end of last season and
has since been linked with a host of top jobs, such as Liverpool, Real
Madrid and Napoli, but the 48-year-old insists hes on sabbatical for
an indeterminate period of time.
All-star game in Iran with the likes of Figo, Lineker

A football all-star game between Iran players and an international
team featuring the likes of Luis Fogo and Gary Lineker is planned
for late August in Tehran in the wake of the nuclear deal, according
to local news reports. The game is reportedly planned for August
28 in Tehrans Asadi stadium and the former England star Lineker,
Portugals Figo, Roberto Carlos of Brazil and Italys Fabio Cannavaro
have agreed to play on the international team. Irans nuclear dispute
with the western world had isolated the country over the past
decades, which was also felt in football as no major team has played
in Iran in the last 10 years. There is speculation that the nuclear deal
reached last month and the planned lifting of sanctions will boost
the popular sport in the country by allowing foreign investment.
Iran won three straight Asian Cup titles between 1968 and 1976.
Leipzig offer rematch after game was abandoned

Second-tier RB Leipzig yesterday offered to replay their German
Cup first round match against Osnabrueck which was abandoned a
day earlier after the referee was struck with a lighter.
Favourites Leipzig were trailing 1-0 against their third division hosts
when referee Martin Petersen was hit on the head with a lighter
thrown from the home fans in the 71st minute.
Lighters, cups and other objects were being thrown in the direction
of the players...it was certainly not just one culprit whose actions
lead to the game being stopped, said Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick
in a statement. Nevertheless we are offering for the game to be
replayed because our club stands for fairness....and mutual respect.
Petersen initially stopped the match before abandoning it.
Osnabrueck police said they were trying to identify the fan who
threw the lighter while the German Football Association (DFB) was
considering sanctions. The control committee has started the
investigation. It will be the DFB sports court that will decide on the
result of the game. Apart from that there are also the sports legal
sanctions against the club, DFB spokesman Ralf Koettker said.
Fenerbahce players car attacked in Istanbul

Unknown attackers yesterday fired at the car of Turkey international
Mehmet Topal in Istanbul but the Fenerbahce midfielder escaped
unhurt, the club said. Topal was travelling home from the clubs
training facility when unknown assailants opened fire on his car in
the Sancaktepe neighbourhood on the Asian side of Istanbul, Fenerbahce said in a statement. It said that Topal, who appeared to have
been driving himself, escaped unhurt because his car was bulletproof. The 29-year-old pulled his car off the road to ask for help from
the police, private NTV television said. NTVs pictures showed a
single dent on the car made by a bullet.
This is a terrorist attack, the club said, strongly condemning the
incident. There was no immediate indication over who was behind
the attack. A bus carrying Fenerbahce players had been shot at in
April as the Turkish Super Lig side returned home following an away
game in the Black Sea province of Rize.
Swedish ref starts Facebook page to give insight

Swedish referee Mohamed al-Hakim has taken to Facebook to offer
an insight into the minds of the men who officiate soccer matches:
and has received a thumbs-up from Allsvenskan fans for his efforts.
Concerned that referees are seen as being too remote, the 30-yearold started the page on the social media site to post about his role,
discussing decisions with fans and showing them a glimpse of what
happens behind the scenes of one of the more unpopular jobs in
football. I know theres an interest for the role of the referee and I
think the football family can benefit from having an insight into it,
the 30-year-old told Reuters as he prepared to referee a top-flight
clash between Kalmar and Sundsvall. A promising under-age
footballer before deciding to focus on refereeing, Al-Hakim says he
wants to inspire others and to provide a balanced view of referees.
But most of all, I want to increase the accessibility and the dialogue
within the football family, he says. Fans in Sweden seem to agree.
Over 3000 have already liked his Facebook page, and his admission
that he should have awarded a penalty in a game between Norrkoping and AIK provoked an interestingif not always refineddebate.
I have enough self-awareness that, if I have made a mistake, I have
no problem admitting it, says Al-Hakim, who also serves in the
Swedish defence forces as a lieutenant.
Courtois to miss City trip after appeal fails

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will miss Chelseas trip to Premier
League title rivals Manchester City on Sunday after the Football Association yesterday upheld his dismissal against Swansea City.
Chelsea made a claim of wrongful dismissal after the Belgium international was sent off for felling Bafetimbi Gomis on the edge of the
area during his sides 2-2 draw with the Welsh club last Saturday.
But the FA found there were no grounds to overturn the decision, meaning Asmir Begovic will step in for Courtois at the Etihad
Stadium.
FOCUS
Giants Celtic wary of Kilmarnock backlash

AFP
Glasgow
eltic manager Ronny

Deila says the Hoops will
be wary of a Kilmarnock
backlash when the sides
clash at Rugby Park today.
Gary Lockes team have endured
a difficult start to the season and
sit bottom of the Scottish Premiership following two consecutive defeats.
Glasgow giants Celtic, however, occupy a familiar position at
the top of the table after wins over
Ross County and Partick Thistle.
Deila knows the danger a Killie side desperate for points could
pose but says his team are relishing
the challenge of defending the title they have won for the past four
seasons.
Every game is challenging and
now games are coming every three

days so its a tough programme but
were loving doing it, he said.
We have a big squad and a good
squad.
We had some changes for the
weekend and they did very well.
I think the rst-half was some
of the best weve done so far this
season so its exciting times. We
have so many things to play for
and were looking forward to every
game.
Were developing in every
training session and every game.
Wednesday will be a tough game
but we know when we play at our
best we have the level that is very
hard to cope with.
One Hoops player desperate to
be involved on Wednesday is Australian international Tom Rogic.
The midelder made his rst
start for Celtic in nearly two years
at the weekend and netted the
opener in the 2-0 win over Partick

Thistle.
The 22-year-old, who missed
almost a full year out with injury, is
hoping to take advantage of Celtics busy schedule to earn himself
more game time in his battle to regain full tness.
The manager has told me just
to keep working and I will get a
chance, Rogic said.
We have a good squad and good
players and its hard to break in but
as long as everyone is working for
the right reasons and for each other then we will be successful.
Obviously with missing some
football, its work-in-progress for
me in becoming tter and stronger, and better for myself and the
team. Im feeling good.
It was a long road and at times
you get a bit negative. Everyone in
the dressing room has been really
positive and made the past year
easier going in each day.

The manager has given me a lot
of condence this season. I have
been working really hard and there
have been a lot of lonely hours in
the gym. I have had to keep pushing on and working, hoping the
opportunities would come.
We have an important few
weeks coming up for the club and
its important that everyone is
switched on and ready for them.
Elsewhere today, Hearts will attempt to keep pace with Celtic at
the top of the table when they host
Motherwell at Tynecastle while
Inverness Caledonian Thistle welcome Partick Thistle to the Caledonian Stadium.
Fixtures
(1945 unless otherwise stated)
Today
Hearts v Motherwell
Inverness CT v Partick Thistle
Kilmarnock v Celtic
Celtics Kris Commons (R)

celebrates scoring their second
goal against Partick Thistle
with Leigh Griffiths. (Reuters)
FOOTBALL
GULF TIMES
EPL
Vintage Toure in the mood

as City begin impressively
There are a lot of games so we can do it and if we can bring in players that will improve our squad, we will try to do it
AFP
London
Pellegrini backs Toure

to be on top form
Manchester Citys Yaya Toure in action with West Broms

James Chester during their EPL match. (Reuters)
aheem Sterlings Manchester

City debut was overshadowed by
the old guard as Yaya Toure and
Vincent Kompany made the decisive contributions in an impressive 3-0
win at West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
Having seen rivals Chelsea and Arsenal
both slip up over the weekend, Manuel
Pellegrinis team took full advantage as
they provided an early glimpse of their
Premier League title credentials with a
dominant display at the Hawthorns.
The City coach Manuel Pellegrini said he
was still looking to strengthen his squad.
If we can, we must have a stronger
squad because we must play four competitions, Pellegrini was quoted as saying in
British media reports.
There are a lot of games so we can do
it and if we can bring in players that will
improve our squad, we will try to do it, he
added.
Toure and David Silva combined to
hand City the initiative just nine minutes
in, with the Spain international icking
home his team-mates shot with the aid
of a deection, although the Ivory Coast
midelder was credited with the goal.
Toure doubled Citys advantage 15 minutes later and Belgium defender Kompany
added the third after half-time to cap a
condent opener for last years runnersup, who sit top of the table after the rst
round of xtures. Sterling, signed in contentious circumstances from Liverpool
for a club record 49 million ($76 million)
over the close-season after his attempts
to force a move from Aneld, should
have joined his new teammates on the
scoresheet.
The England winger spurned a glorious
opportunity during what was an encouraging, yet far from awless, competitive
bow for his new club which lasted 74 minutes before he was substituted.
Deployed on the left side of a threepronged attack, Sterlings pace, trickery
and movement posed problems for Albion, however he lacked the nishing touch
in front of goal City would expect for their
investment.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis will
hope the arrival of their own record signing, 12 million Venezuela forward Salomon Rondon, will signal a marked improvement from them after his capture
Zenit St Petersburg hours before what was
a disappointing start to the season.
That his side lost the initiative so early
on will have been of particular frustration
to Pulis.
Jesus Navas cutback was met by Toure,
on the edge of the area, and his shot was,
with typically textbook technique, icked
goalwards by Silva only to take a further
deection off Craig Dawson and dribble
over the line beyond the wrong-footed
Boaz
Myhill. Given the speed at which the
ball travelled, Myhill, who remained rooted to the spot, may feel he could have been
quicker to react.
Superb shot
Albion were penned into their own half
Manuel Pellegrini is confident Manchester City will see Yaya Toure

back to his best after insisting the problems the player faced last
season are now behind him.
Toure was on the scoresheet as City showed their Premier League
title credentials with an impressive 3-0 opening-game win away to
West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
Having seen rivals Chelsea and Arsenal both slip up over the
weekend, City manager Pellegrinis team took full advantage with
a dominant display which will give them confidence ahead of Sundays showdown with Jose Mourinhos champions.
Having struggled to find his best form for a variety of reasons last
term, the performance of Ivory Coast star Toure stood out as he
gave signs he is fit and focused with a dominant display at the heart
of Citys midfield.
I always said last season it was a strange season for Yaya, he
started with a lot of problems, the death of his brother, his agents,
I think he was not focused maybe on what he had to do last year,
Pellegrini explained.
We spoke a long way before the start of the season and I am very
sure we will see the Yaya from two years ago. He is a very important
player for us, the Chilean added.
I dont think Yaya deserved the amount of criticism he received last
season. It was not his best season but he did not play so, so bad like
everyone said. But he is an important player for us. I am sure last
season his head was not in his best moment. It is very difficult for a
player when you have so many problems.
by City and looked bereft of attacking ideas.

That City doubled their advantage
came as no surprise and it was a goal made
in the Ivory Coast as Toure played a neat
one-two with Wilfried Bony - handed a
start with Sergio Aguero left on the bench
following his Copa America exploits - before wrapping his foot around an superb
curling shot that ashed into the topright corner.
Sterling then uffed his lines as he
spurned a glorious chance of a debut goal
FIFA appoint reform

commission chairman
FIFA yesterday appointed former International Olympic Committee director general Francois Carrard
to lead the world football governing bodys 2016
Reform Committee. Swiss lawyer Carrard previously
guided the IOC through its own governance reforms
in the wake of the bribery scandal-hit Salt Lake City
Winter Olympics of 2002.
FIFA is currently reeling from its own bribery scandal
after seven football officials were arrested in a raid
on a Zurich hotel on the eve of a FIFA congress in
May.
It is vital for the future of global football to restore
the integrity and reputation of its governing body,
said Carrard, who was appointed following consultation with the six football confederations and will be
assisted by representatives from two of each.
As the independent chairman, I am committed
to delivering the necessary package of credible
reforms, working with representatives from within
football and wider society.
To that end, I will establish an independent advisory
board, made up of representatives from outside
football, to support the work of the committee and
provide an additional layer of independent expertise.
The Reform Committee will provide a preliminary
update to the FIFA Executive Committee at its regular quarterly meeting on September 24-25, FIFA said
in a statement.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who is due to stand
down in February when a new election will be held,
said Carrard was the right man with a proven
track record.
He added: We are confident that he can help FIFA
to strengthen its governance structures in a credible
and meaningful way.
just before the interval when played clean

through by Toure, only to give Myhill a
chance to block his shot.
Myhill foiled Sterling again from a tight
angle soon after half-time.
Whatever Pulis said at half-time roused
West Brom, though, and there was immediately more purpose to their game upon
resumption. One of Sterlings colleagues
at Aneld last season, Rickie Lambert, almost marked his competitive Baggies bow
in style with a brilliant free-kick which
whistled agonisingly over. Yet any home

hopes of a revival were stopped in their
tracks when Kompany met Silvas corner
at the near post to beat Myhill with a looping effort which appeared to come off his
shoulder.
The last thing the Baggies wanted to
see was the introduction of Aguero, who
replaced Bony for the nal third of the
game, but the Argentine didnt need to get
out of rst gear with the points already in
the bag.
More trust
Toure and David Silva combined to hand City the initiative just nine
minutes in, with the Spain international flicking home his teammates shot with the aid of a deflection before midfielder Toure
curled home a fine second goal 15 minutes later.
With Vincent Kompany making the points certain, Citys old guard
overshadowed 49 million ($76 million) record signing Raheem
Sterling on his competitive debut.
The former Liverpool forward twice had good opportunities to join
them on the scoresheet only to be foiled from close range by Baggies goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.
Im not disappointed because Raheem plays 70 minutes very well
(before he was substituted), said Pellegrini. If he continues to play
like this I am sure he will be the player we bought.
Pellegrini played down the significance of this weekends meeting
with Chelsea, who already trail City by two points following Saturdays draw against Swansea.
It is important to have a difference with them at the start of the
season because they are one of the five teams who have the most
chance to win the title.
Every point is important but the gap after the second game is not
decisive... It is important to beat the champions of last year to give
you more trust.
West Brom boss Tony Pulis refused to blame his players for the
defeat.
I take responsibility for the way we set up and the fact we had (two
strikers) Saido Berahino and Rickie Lambert both playing, said
Pulis.
I have to look at it and say if I did it again I would probably do it differently. The pivotal moment was when I decided to play the two up
front instead of an extra man in midfield.
Pulis hopes the arrival of West Broms own record signing, 12
million Venezuela forward Salomon Rondon, will signal a marked
improvement after his capture from Zenit St Petersburg on a fouryear deal was sealed hours before kick-off.
Speaking to Manuel (Pellegrini) and Andre Villas-Boas (the Zenit
coach) who have both worked with the lad, he comes highly recommended, said Pulis. Pellegrini had previously coached Rondon at
Malaga
He has played a good level, has a good goalscoring record, he is
quick and powerful and at that price hopefully it turns out to be a
good deal for us.
The reason Zenit had to sell him is their quota of foreign players
had been cut.
FOCUS
English talents get fewer chances to shine

Reuters
London
he percentage of English players in top-ight

starting line-ups fell below one third during the
opening weekend of the Premier
League, fueling the FAs concerns
about a lack of opportunities for
home-grown youngsters, the
Times reported.
Of the 220 players who started
for Premier League clubs at the
weekend, only 73, or 33.2 per cent,
were eligible to play for England,
the Times said.
The numbers represent a dip
from last seasons 35 per cent
and a steep fall from 69 per cent
in 1992-93, when the Premier
League was launched.
The English top-ight already
has the lowest proportion of
players among Europes leading
leagues.
This seasons opening day gures were inated by newly promoted Bournemouth, who started
eight English players against Aston Villa, the Times said.
But fellow new boys Watford,
along with Arsenal and Newcas-
tle United, started with just one

Englishman. Champions Chelsea
started with two, but one of those
was John Terry, who retired from
international football three years
ago.
Reece Oxford, the 16-year-old
sensation who impressed on his
debut with West Ham United, was
one of just ve English teenagers
to start a Premier League game
at the weekend. The others were
Brendan Galloway for Everton, Joe
Gomez and Jordan Ibe for Liverpool, and Matt Targett for Southampton.
Greg Dyke, the FA chairman,
has already warned that English
football is a tanker that needs
turning, but his efforts to tighten
rules to improve prospects for
home-grown players have met
with resistance from Premier
League clubs.
The majority of club managers and chairmen feel they should
not have to consider nationality when building their teams and
that English players are often too
expensive.
Reuters reported last week that
the Premier League Chief Executive was also more in favour
of helping develop grass-roots
football rather than articially

increasing quotas for English
players in Premier League squads.
(http://reut.rs/1J14BcN)
But with many of the English
players who did feature already
in their late twenties and thirties
and therefore unlikely to be called
up to the national team, the question of how to boost the numbers
of young Englishmen in the topight is more pressing than ever
before.
Of the more than 500 million
pounds ($780 million) spent on
top-ight transfers this summer,
just over a fth has been spent on
English players, according to the
Times.
Nearly half of that 100 million
pound outlay was due to Manchester City spending a reported
49 million pounds to buy Raheem
Sterling from Liverpool.
With the Premier League sticking to its position that improvement will come through the Elite
Player Performance Plan, which
requires better standards and facilities as well as more contact
hours for academy players, the
dearth of young English players in
the top-ight seems likely to continue in the near term.
REECE OXFORD

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BUSINESS | Page 1

Qatar bag two

Qatar investors eyeing

Vol. XXXVI No. 9812

August 12, 2015

Deputy Emir meets ambassador

New security unit to

The five stadiums announced

Big gain for

vast majority of respondents in

In addition, he expressed concern that

There is a need to focus

atar hope to decide how

Details about the five stadiums

Tournament capacity: 40,000

Tournament capacity: 60,000

Tournament capacity: 40,000

Estimated completion: Q2 2017

Tournament capacity: 40,000

Tournament capacity: 40,000

Kahramaa switching to smart meters by 2016

atar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa)

revenue unit of energy data in real-time

lined the importance of providing the

The integrated water and project,

of water (40mlgd), which is scheduled

ilipino expatriates in Qatar

clients complete their information accurately by specifying the

his commitment to Filipino expatriates in the country to further

Temporary lane closure on Al Shamal Road

atar will host the 32nd

This years conference will

Demand for solitaire

he demand for solitaire

25-40 age group, said Shamlal

QNCC receives 87% customer satisfaction rating

atar National Convention Centre (QNCC) has

ther outstanding or excellent in

regardless of their size. QNCC

United Nations staff, in the effective exercise of their functions.

E the Minister of Youth

ICC all set to

trong winds are expected

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin

Thousands donate blood druing HMC drive

round 4,000 people donated blood during the

One expatriate donating blood.

troducing a number of new programmes and awareness events.

organisations as well as social

op companies and stakeholders in the country

View of the port basin at Hamad Port.

view investment opportunities

Yemen loyalists capture

audi-backed forces loyal

Military sources say the

As well as the Houthis, rebel

Kuwaiti divers search for shells containing pearls during the

Iraq parliament backs

Abadi will be given the power to re

standing, said Kirk Sowell, publisher

Jewish leader quizzed over

srael police questioned yesterday a Jewish extremist

his comments regarding the