Daily newspaper

Transcription

Daily newspaper

QATAR | Page 2
SPORT | Page 1
INDEX
QATAR
2 – 9, 30 – 32
REGION
10, 11
ARAB WORLD
12
INTERNATIONAL 13 – 27
COMMENT
BUSINESS
CLASSIFIED
SPORTS
28, 29
1 – 7, 16 – 20
8 – 16
1 – 12
DOW JONES
QE
NYMEX
17,856.78
12,139.42
49.61
-278.94
-1.54%
+9.17
+0.08%
-1.15
-2.27%
Latest Figures
Dozens die in
bomb attacks
Four bomb blasts killed at least 50
people in Maiduguri in Nigeria’s
northeast yesterday in the worst
attacks there since militants tried to
seize the city in two major assaults
earlier this year. There was no
immediate claim for the bombings
but they bore the hallmarks of the
Boko Haram group, which has been
waging a six-year insurgency. Page 13
EGYPT | Unrest
First hanging over
pro-Mursi violence
Egypt yesterday carried out the
first death sentence handed down
over the violence that erupted
after the army overthrew president
Mohamed Mursi in 2013, the
interior ministry said. Mahmoud
Ramadan, who was hanged
yesterday morning, was the “first
to be executed of those involved in
violent clashes”, an interior ministry
spokesman told AFP. Page 12
March 8, 2015
Jumada I 17, 1436 AH
www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals
A
South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Qatar’s Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, HE Dr Hamad bin Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari, applauding the artistes who performed
at a Korean cultural show at Four Seasons Hotel Doha yesterday. President Park is in Qatar on a three-day official visit as part of her current tour of four GCC countries.
PICTURE: Jayan Orma
IRAQ | Conflict
NIGERIA | Violence
Vol. XXXVI No. 9655
By Peter Alagos
Business Reporter
German minister
to visit Doha soon
The UN cultural body yesterday
condemned the “destruction” by
the Islamic State group of Hatra,
a stunning Roman period ancient
fortress city in the Iraqi desert. The
destruction of the Unesco world
heritage site was reported two days
after the Iraqi antiquities ministry
said that IS bulldozed the ancient
Assyrian city of Nimrud, and a week
after the militants released a tape
of them smashing artefacts in the
Mosul museum. Page 12
in
QATAR | Tour
Unesco condemns
Hatra ‘destruction’
SUNDAY
Women in
Qatar find
more business
opportunities
In brief
Germany’s economy minister,
Sigmar Gabriel, is to visit Qatar
as part of a regional tour. The
minister, accompanied by a
delegation of nearly 80 business
leaders, yesterday, arrived in
Saudi Arabia yesterday. Gabriel
is leader of Germany’s centre-left
Social Democratic Party (SPD) and
also the deputy chancellor in the
government. He will tour the United
Arab Emirates before coming to
Qatar.
d
Korean cultural show in Doha
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GULF TIMES
pu
Woqod opens service
station at Al-Wajbah
Pakistan
stay on
course for
World Cup
quarter-finals
Ministry seeks to engage
public on UN congress
More than 7,000 delegates from
around the globe are expected to
attend the UN meet that will be
held from April 12-19 at the Qatar
National Convention Centre
By Joseph Varghese
Staff Report
T
he Ministry of Interior ( MoI)
has appealed the expatriate community to suggest
points that can be taken up for discussions during the upcoming 13th
United Nations Congress on Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice in
Doha.
More than 7,000 delegates from
around the globe are expected to attend the UN meet that will be held
from April 12-19 at the Qatar National Convention Centre.
The Interior Ministry is taking
several efforts to engage the public
through the media to highlight the
importance of the Congress and its
relevance to the public. As part of
it, a drawing competition for school
students to express their ideas about
the topics of the congress has been
announced.
The Rule of Law and Development,
Operation of the Criminal Justice
Col Abdullha Khalifa al-Muftah (left) speaking at the meeting.
PICTURE: Najeer Feroke
System, Police and Correction and
Rehabilitation and Ways to Deal with
New and Emerging Forms of Crime
are some of the major topics that will
be discussed at the congress.
The ministry yesterday held a
seminar in this connection in which
a number of community leaders from
several expatriate communities took
part.
Addressing the meeting, Col Abdullha Khalifa al-Muftah, director of
Public Relations at the ministry, appealed all the members to contribute
to the success of the congress. He
explained: “It is a forum where most
of the countries in the world will be
participating and discussing some
of the most pressing issues that the
world is facing today. The discussions and outcomes of the congress
will decide the future course of action of the world for the next five
years.
“Therefore, it is important that
any member (of the public) comes
out with valuable suggestions and
recommendations that will go a long
way in helping the international
community. We have organised a
youth forum, called the Doha Youth
Forum, which will be held in this regard prior to the congress.”
The official highlighted that the
Doha Youth Forum would discuss the
same topics that would be deliberated at the congress. “The viewpoints
of the youth will be presented to the
congress. About 120 students from
25 countries will be participating in
the Youth Forum.”
The
drawing competition for
students is based on the theme of
the congress and students can submit their drawings to the organising
committee. The competition is open
to all students in two categories, for
classes 4 to 7 and 8 to 12. The last
date for submission of the entries is
March 17.
Winning entries will be awarded
with prizes while all the selected entries will be displayed at the exhibition that is part of the 13th Congress.
The Ministry of Interior has
launched a website for the United
Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
rab women, especially the
youth, now have more opportunities in business and entrepreneurship in the country, according
to Qatar Businesswomen Association
(QBWA) chairperson Aisha Alfardan.
She made the statement on the sidelines of the second edition of QBWA’s
mentoring programme dubbed, “Walk
and Talk” held at the Aspire Zone yesterday to mark the celebration of International Women’s Day.
She said the entry of more women
into the “field of business and entrepreneurship” had been gaining momentum and acceptance among their
male counterparts in Qatar.
“There has been an increase in the
number of women, who are interested
in putting up their own businesses.
They are well-educated and have the
passion to pursue their goals. They
have been working hard to reach their
objectives despite the challenges they
face along the way,” Aisha Alfardan told
Gulf Times.
Asked what type of business, women
in Qatar could pursue, she said that the
market was ripe with opportunities.
She stressed that “passion and interest” were the foundations of a woman’s
success in business.
“Each woman has her own interest
and passion to pursue what she loves.
If a person is not interested in business,
she will not succeed in the field she has
chosen. Interest and passion are important factors for a businesswoman to
last long in the industry,” she emphasised.
“They have to love the work first and
most importantly, they have to be patient when pursuing a specific type of
business.”
There is “no magic formula to a successful business”, according to Aisha
Alfardan. To page 9
Aisha Alfardan: QBWA chairperson
2
Gulf Times
Sunday, March 8, 2015
QATAR
Cables of condolences
Woqod opens service
station at Al-Wajbah
Q
atar Fuel (Woqod) has
opened a new service station at Al-Wajbah.
The station was officially inaugurated by Woqod chairman Sheikh
Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan
al-Thani.
Several board members and other
senior officials and guests were
present on the occasion.
“We are glad to inaugurate AlWajbah service station; it is the
24th service station that Woqod has
completed,” company CEO Ibrahim
al-Kuwari said.
“In designing this service station we took into account the varied
needs of the local community in AlWajbah.”
Besides providing gasoline and
diesel, the service station will also
have a Sidra Convenience store that
provides a full range of hot and cold
beverages, fast food and a wide variety of other items of daily needs.
The station also includes a car
wash and a multipurpose automobile service bay for basic vehicle maintenance. Additionally a
number of commercial shops will
be opened in the station.
Al-Wajbah station’s construction is in line with Woqod’s new
image.
Al-Kuwari said more stations will
open this year in different locations.
Woqod has 12 more service stations under construction which
are expected to be inaugurated this
year, or the beginning of next year.
Woqod is also planning to establish Fahes inspection centres at
existing petrol stations subject to
availability of space. This is in addition to 10 expansion projects which
are almost complete and expected
to be opened this year.
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad al-Thani, HH the
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 have sent cables of
condolences to Custodian of
the Two Holy Mosques King
‘Timing of Fitch upgrade critical’
HE the Minister of Finance Ali
Sharif al-Emadi said yesterday
that Fitch Ratings upgrade of
Qatar’s credit rating to AA and
a stable outlook confirms the
strong credit position of the
country.
In a statement, the minister
said Fitch’s upgrade is in line
with other rating agencies such
as Standard and Poor’s and
Moody’s. He added however that
the timing of Fitch’s upgrade
was critical as it comes after the
decline of energy prices in global
market and the impact this
might have on growth prospects
for oil and gas producers. He
said that updating the rating at
such a time reflects the strong
Q
Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan al-Thani, other officials and guests pose for a picture after the opening of the station.
HE the Chief of Staff MajorGeneral Ghanim bin Shaheen
al-Ghanim yesterday held a
meeting with US Secretary of
Defence Martin Dempsey at the
Pentagon.
They discussed bilateral
relations and means to enhance
them, especially in the military
fields. Qatar’s Ambassador in
Tunisia’s Minister of Foreign
Affairs Taieb Baccouche and
Minister of Defence Farhat
Horchani have separately met
with Qatar’s Ambassador to
Tunisia Abdullah bin Nasser
al-Humaidi.
Talks during the meetings dealt
with co-operation between
A general view of the Al-Wajbah service station.
cluding Birdman, which won
Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, and The
Theory of Everything starring
Eddie Redmayne, who won the
Oscar for Best Actor.
Other Oscar-winning and
Oscar-nominated movies debuting on board in March include The Imitation Game starring Oscar nominee Benedict
Cumberbatch,
Interstellar,
which scooped the Academy
Award for Best Visual Effects,
Foxcatcher featuring Oscar
nominee Steve Carell and Wild
starring Oscar nominated-actresses Reese Witherspoon and
Laura Dern.
In addition, Two Days, One
Night starring French actress
Marion Cotillard, who was
nominated in the Best Actress
category, will also premiere on
board in March.
These star-studded movies
join other 2015 Oscar-winning
movies already available on
board Qatar Airways, including Whiplash starring J K Simmons, who won the Academy
Award for Best Supporting
Actor, and Boyhood starring
Patricia Arquette, winner of
the Oscar for Best Supporting
Actress.
Other blockbusters debuting on board Qatar Airways
in March include The Hunger
Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and
family favourites Paddington
and Penguins of Madagascar.
Arabic movie premieres debuting on board Qatar Airways
in March include Geran El
Saad, a family comedy featuring Sameh Hussien, Kuwaiti
box office hit Elisa Khatafha
Jameel and Rock the Casbah
starring Omar El Sherief and
Nadeen Labaky.
Qatar Airways in-flight entertainment will also include
more than 850 episodes of
popular TV shows and comedy
titles such as A to Z, Brooklyn
Nine Nine, 2 Broke Girls, Flight
of the Concords, Loui, Modern
Family and New Girl season 4.
The latest seasons from hit
dramas such as Downton Abbey, Fargo, Believe, Almost
Human, Constantine, Forever,
From Dusk till Dawn, Gotham,
Happy Valley, Mad Men, How to
Get Away with Murder, Person
of Interests, Stalker, Suites, The
Good Wife and The Flash will
also all be available throughout
March.
These additions to March’s
programme of entertainment
are an extension of the existing popular library of content
on board Qatar Airways, which
includes full box sets of movies
such as the Harry Potter series,
The Lord of the Rings trilogy,
The Dark Knight trilogy, the
X-Men series, the Matrix series, the Aliens titles and all the
Twilight movies.
Qatar Airways provides its
passengers with access to a
wide range of entertainment
options, including movies, TV,
games and audio on Oryx Entertainment each month. From
the latest Hollywood premieres
to the best of Bollywood, Arabic blockbusters, children’s
films, cinema classics and
more, Oryx Entertainment offers passengers hours of enjoyment in the sky.
the winners will participate in
planting a tree on the island’s
Grand Park with the slogan and
author’s name imprinted on a
specially crafted placard.
Submissions will be received by
e-mail on [email protected] or through The
Pearl-Qatar’s social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram no later than March 14 to
allow time for the judging panel to
select winners and contact them
for the tree plantation event.
Winners of the best environment slogans will also receive a
certificate acknowledging their
effort with details of their tree.
The information will also be disseminated on The Pearl-Qatar’s
social media platforms to announce the benefit of this exercise.
Shaikha al-Emadi, environ-
ment awareness and communication officer at The Pearl-Qatar,
said: “The environmental slogan
competition is meant to raise the
level of awareness and instil environmental concepts that nurture a sustainable development
culture across the community.”
Kate Fletcher, senior environmental awareness specialist
at United Development Company, added: “It is very exciting
to engage individuals and many
public and private sector institutions to interact with the idea
of reducing the excessive consumption of water and energy.”
The theme of the competition
is to adopt positive environmental slogans which may highlight
techniques that help in the rationalisation and consumption
of electricity and water in a responsible manner.
O
to benefit from a 50% discount on
their Shahry Smart subscription
charge for three months.
With the new offer update, new
customers only will be able to access a free special number worth
up to QR6,000 in value as well as
the half price discount, the company said in a statement yesterday.
Special numbers enable cus-
tomers to choose a more memorable number for their service. The
offer will be applicable to the recently released new number range
of “50” when choosing one of the
Shahry Smart plans (55, 100, 150,
250, 450 and 750).
The special number discount
will be selected based on the
Shahry Smart pack chosen by the
Qatar and Tunisia and ways of
developing them.
zSomalia’s Minister of National
Security Abdul Razzaq
Mohamed Omar Mohamed
met with Acting Charge
d’affaires of the Qatari Embassy
in Mogadishu Hassan bin
Hamza Asad.
Workshops to
spread culture
of quality
The Ministry of Environment, in
co-operation with the Ministry
of Administrative Development,
has been conducting a series of
workshops for managers, heads
of departments and employees
of the ministry aimed at
spreading the culture of quality.
Two workshops for two hours
every day have been lectured by
Saleh al-Hunaiti and Dr Wedad
al-Asad from the Ministry of
Administrative Development.
The workshops will conclude
tomorrow.
The ministry said in statements
that Qatar National Vision 2030
underlined the importance to
follow a quality approach at
work, which led all government
institutions to adopt strategic
plans to improve the quality of
services provided to citizens and
raise corporate performance
levels.
The ministry noted that quality
management is one of the
modern management concepts,
which aims to improve and
develop the performance on an
ongoing basis by responding
to the continued development
of administrative processes by
review and analysis, and the
search for ways and means
to increase performance
and reduce the time of
accomplishment by discharging
all useless and unnecessary
tasks and functions for the
client or the process in order to
reduce costs and raise the level
of quality.
Qatar marks
glaucoma
awareness week
As an annual tradition, the Earth Hour logo 60+ will be displayed on Porto Arabia’s Boardwalk using
solar lights.
Ooredoo offers free special numbers to Shahry Smart customers
oredoo has expanded the
ongoing 50% off Shahry
Smart offer to include a
free special number worth up to
QR6,000 with every new Shahry
Smart subscription.
The company announced the
50% off offer for Shahry users in
2014, enabling new and existing
customers upgrading their bundle
Washington Mohamed Jaham
al-Kuwari attended the meeting
along with members of the
delegation accompanying the
Chief of Staff.
The Chief of Staff also visited
the US Central Command
headquarters in Florida and
held a meeting with its senior
officials.
Ties with Tunisia, Somalia reviewed
Pearl-Qatar plans many
activities for Earth Hour
T
he Pearl-Qatar, for the
fifth consecutive year, will
observe Earth Hour with
additional activities that will
accompany the typical switchoff to include an environmental
slogan competition and a tree
planting initiative.
Lights at The Pearl-Qatar will
be dimmed on March 28 from
8.30pm to 9.30pm to join millions around the world in celebrating Earth Hour.
Exterior lighting, non-essential interior lights and lights at
many of The Pearl-Qatar’s residential units and retail outlets
and restaurants will be turned
off or dimmed considerably during the celebration.
The Pearl-Qatar’s Environment Department is also launching a competition for the 10 best
environmental slogans, while
credit position of Qatar and its
ability to face the challenges
faced by energy markets.
Fitch Ratings had upgraded
Qatar’s credit rating to AA for
long-term debt securities in
foreign and local currencies. The
agency also upgraded Qatar’s
position to F1+ for short-term
debt securities.
AA rating is the third highest
possible rating that can be
offered to any country or
institution; it means that the
country in question have highgrade bonds that have little risk
of default. The F1+ is the highest
rating that could be given to an
institution or country for shortterm bonds.
Chief of Staff meets Dempsey
Qatar Airways increases entertainment channels to 2,000
atar Airways has announced that it will
double the number of
movies and TV shows on board
over the coming months, increasing the choice of entertainment channels from 950 to
2,000.
This comes on top of the already wide selection of more
than 200 audio options and 50
games to entertain both children and adults during their
journey, the airline said in a
statement.
Passengers on board Qatar
Airways flights in March will
also be able to enjoy a line-up
of Oscar-winning movies, in-
Salman of Saudi Arabia on the
death of Prince Saud bin Sultan
bin Saud bin Abdullah al-Saud.
The three leaders also sent
cables of condolences to the
Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah
al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah
on the death of Sheikh Bader
Abdullah al-Mohamed alSalman al-Sabah.
customer. For example, Shahry
Smart 55 customers will be able to
choose a free special number up
to QR500 in value or a discount
of QR500 for higher numbers
(up to QR6,000). New customers on Shahry Smart 750 will get
a free special number worth up to
QR6,000.
Reserving special numbers
is fast and easy and can be done
through the special numbers page
on the Ooredoo website at http://
www.ooredoo.qa/en/etr or at
any Ooredoo shop, the statement
adds.
Customers can also reserve
a special number through the
Ooredoo mobile app, available for
Apple iOS, BlackBerry and An-
droid mobile devices.
The postpaid Shahry Smart
packs offer a host of local and international minutes/SMS, data
and free access to the 4G network
for superfast mobile data speeds.
Packs come in denominations of
15, 35, 55, 100, 150, 250, 450 and
750 as well as Ooredoo’s VIP service, Al Nokhba.
Qatar will join other countries in
marking Glaucoma Awareness
Week starting today, under
slogan ‘Beat Invisible Glaucoma’.
The Supreme Council of Health
(SCH) organises a number
of activities on this occasion
about eye care and blindness
prevention and early diagnosis
and treatment of glaucoma.
Dr Sheikha al-Anood Bint
Mohamed al-Thani, director of
health and non-communicable
diseases at the Supreme Council
of health (SCH) said health
awareness is a fundamental
goal of the SCH, which is keen to
invest such days and weeks in
intensifying community health
education.
She stressed the importance of
early detection and prevention
of glaucoma, one of the biggest
eye diseases causing blindness
in Qatar.
Gulf Times
3
QATAR
Arts show at Katara
Katara, the Cultural Village Foundation, has launched a contemporary arts exhibition for the paintings of some Omani
artists. The opening ceremony was attended by Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, the general manager of Katara, Omani
diplomats and guests.
GCC Traffic Week
set to open today
T
he 31st GCC Traffic Week, held
under the theme “Your decision
determines your destiny”, begins today at Darb Al Saai.
The traffic exhibition will be opened
by Staff Maj Gen Saad bin Jassim alKhulaifi, Director-General of Public
Security, in the presence of Brig Mohamed Saad al-Kharji, director-general of the General Directorate of Traffic,
along with dignitaries from other GCC
countries and directors and officers of
different departments of the Ministry
of Interior.
All preparations have been completed at Darb Al Saai and the celebra-
tions will start at 6pm. The week-long
events include workshops for students
on the theme of the traffic week, on
“your safety is your choice”, workshops
on traffic signals and free art workshops.
The activities also include seminars on various related topics, including driving decisions and their role in
the reduction of accidents, (third day)
common traffic signals and (fourth
day) motorcycles - hobby and risk.
There will also be awareness lectures
during the week. They include lectures
on the role of the family in reduction of
accidents by Dr Eissa al-Hurr, Qatari
Lawyers Association, Qatar Red Crescent, on drivers’ behaviour by Sheikh
Saaban al-Sinouhri from Awqaf, the
injuries unit at Hamad General Hospital, on the rights of persons with special needs by Qatar Awareness Group,
traffic violations in view of the Islamic
Shariah and on reduction of traffic
violations by Dr Mohamed Abdul Rahman.
A variety of events will be showcased by Eid Charity, Mawater, different driving schools and other related
agencies, while competitions will be
organised on the sidelines of the Traffic
Week activities.
4
Gulf Times
QATAR
Fashion legend Valentino
to meet VCUQ students
L
egendary fashion designer and master
couturier
Valentino
(pictured) will meet students
at Virginia Commonwealth
University in Qatar (VCUQ)
today.
He is
visiting
VCUQ
for
a
Q & A
session
beginning at
6.30pm.
Va l entino was born in Voghera,
Italy, and founded the Valentino fashion house in Rome in
the late 1950s. He has since
established a glittering career designing for some of
the world’s most glamorous
women, from royalty to Hollywood icons.
Giancarlo
Giammetti,
honorary president of the
Valentino Fashion House,
will participate in the question and answer session,
hosted and moderated by
Sandra Wilkins, Chair of
Fashion Design at VCUQ.
The conversation will focus
on the Valentino Garavani
Virtual Museum and possibly address the conference
theme of 3ajeeb.
The visit coincides with
the Tasmeem Doha biennial
international art and design
conference that runs from
March 8-12, organised by
VCU Qatar, in partnership
with the Qatar Foundation.
Doors will open for members of the community to
participate in the session
at 6pm today. As there are
a limited number of seats
available, places will be offered on a first come, first
served basis.
6
Gulf Times
QATAR
QU officials announce the new PhD programme.
QU launches doctoral
course in Gulf Studies
T
he College of Arts and Sciences
(CAS) at Qatar University (QU)
has announced the establishment of a new PhD Gulf Studies programme in English at its Gulf Studies
Centre (GSC).
The announcement was made at a
press conference last week by CAS
dean Dr Eiman Mustafawi, who outlined details of the new programme,
along with associate dean for Research and Graduate Studies Dr Mohamed Ahmedna, GSC director Dr
Abdullah Baabood, and Gulf Studies
programme co-ordinator Dr Khaled
Almezaini.
The new programme, which is the
first-of-its-kind in the region, is designed to engage students in research
on Gulf-related issues and prepare
them to contribute specialist skills to
professional sectors in Qatar, in line
with the country’s ambitions towards
a knowledge-based economy.
The inter-disciplinary three-year
degree programme comprises disciplines from CAS departments of Humanities, International Affairs, English Literature and Linguistics, with
courses on the region’s heritage, society, politics, economics, environment, media, international relations
and the energy industry.
Admission requirements and criteria include the completion of the
two-year MA in Gulf Studies at QU or
a master’s degree in a related subject
or its equivalent from a recognised
university, as well as the fulfilment
of the requisite English language
standard, or a minimum score of 520
in TOEFL or an equivalent test taken
within two years after admission.
Students must complete 60 credits,
i.e. 30 credits for coursework and 30
for final thesis.
Dr Mustafawi said: “In establishing the new PhD programme, CAS is
building on its continuing development and its vision towards quality
and excellence in all its curricula.
The new programme serves to contribute to QU’s strategic plan to prepare competent graduates to meet the
society’s needs in line with the goals
of Qatar National Vision 2030.
It also builds on the College’s vision to be a regional leader in interdisciplinary education and research
and which saw the establishment of
the MA Gulf Studies programme in
2011.”
English-speaking and Arabicspeaking students will be required
to develop respective language skills
in Arabic and Persian as part of the
new programme, Dr Almezaini said,
adding that those who had not completed the MA Gulf Studies at QU will
be required to take bridging courses
according to their needs and backgrounds.
8
Gulf Times
QATAR
Experts discuss advances
in anticoagulation care
M
ore than 300 healthcare
professionals from Qatar and other countries
recently gathered at the first Qatar International Conference on
Safe Anticoagulation Management, hosted jointly by Hamad
Medical Corporation’s (HMC)
pharmacy department and Al
Wakra Hospital (AWH), to discuss new advances and trends
in anticoagulation care and
research.
“The conference, which is
the first of its kind in the region,
highlighted the work of Al Wakra
Hospital’s pharmacy-managed
Anticoagulation Clinic (sup-
ported by cardiologists), which
was established three years ago
as part of efforts to improve patient outcomes,” said Dr Ezeldin
Soaly, senior consultant, head
of AWH’s cardiology department and conference organising
committee chairman.
Anticoagulation therapy helps
fight cardiovascular disease by
reducing the body’s ability to
form clots in the blood and is
used to prevent heart attacks,
strokes and blood clots in veins
and arteries. The growing problem of cardiovascular disease in
Qatar, a major cause of death,
disability and impaired qual-
ity of life among the population,
underscores the important role
of the clinic in improving patient
outcomes.
“The clinic serves a wide
range of specialties, including
cardiology, surgery, neurology and orthopaedics, and has
benefited almost 2,000 patients
since it was created,” Dr Soaly
added.
Dr Moza al-Hail, executive director of pharmacy and
co-chairperson of the conference, said: “The idea of having
an anticoagulation conference
was based on the success of the
pharmacy-managed
Antico-
agulation Clinic at Al Wakra
Hospital, an initiative that was
further extended to Heart Hospital. Furthermore, with many
pharmacists’
involvement,
HMC has initiated a multidisciplinary programme that has
significantly increased the rate
of patients’ risk assessment for
venous thromboembolism (a serious medical condition where
a blood clot formed in a deep
vein dislodges and travels to
the lungs).”
The two-day event was held
in partnership with Qatar University’s College of Pharmacy
(CPH) and featured speakers
from HMC, CPH, Weill Cornell
Medical College in Qatar, the US,
UAE, Oman and Kuwait.
“We are happy to collaborate
with AWH’s Cardiology Department on this conference, which
gives participants an opportunity to share novel ideas and
discuss the most advanced practices in anticoagulation care,”
said Dr Rasha al-Anany, director
of Pharmacy at AWH and head of
HMC’s Pharmacy Education.
Dr Osama Badry, Pharmacy
Cardiology/Anticoagulation
co-ordinator and in-charge of
AWH’s Anticoagulation Service, added: “Physicians, nurses,
Dr Moza al-Hail and Dr Ezeldin Soaly, below, speaking at the conference.
pharmacists and allied health
professionals in the region had
the opportunity to network with
other attendees and learned
from 22 local and international
experts.”
Startup Mena Pitch Challenge
set to kick off on March 17
B
edaya Center for Entrepreneurship and
Career Development
will be hosting the Startup
Mena Regional GCC Pitch
Challenge on March 17 and
18, at Katara Building 5.
Startup
Mena
has
launched the series of intense Pitch Events in the
UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Kuwait
in February and it will
run until April to find and
boost the best technology
startups in the GCC.
The GCC pitch challenge
is an exclusive series for
only the very top technology startups, ready to raise
investments, gain international exposure and receive crucial mentoring and
feedback from an exclusive
line-up of mentors.
Of these, only 10 technology startups will be selected
for this programme. Out of
10 pitching startups in each
country, two finalists will be
selected to pitch in the grand
final, to be hosted at Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi on April
29. Featuring the 12 most
exciting and innovative
startups from the region, 12
entrepreneurs will present
their bullet-proof pitch in
front of international investors and VIP guests and
the winner will receive a
€20,000 cash prize.
Yasmeen Hasan, entrepreneurship manager at
Bedaya, said, “We are also
excited to announce that
all startups that make it to
the semi-final pitch challenge will have the possibility of being selected for
a fast-track application to
one of the successful Startupbootcamp Accelerator
programmes in Europe, Asia
and US this year.”
Registration for the GCC
startup challenge in Qatar ends March 12. To apply, technology startups
should visit applications for
the GCC Startup at http://
www.f6s.com/gccpitchchallenge#/about
Bedaya Center and Startup Mena will also be hosting a one day workshop for
students who want to learn
about how to become an
entrepreneur on March 19,
at Katara Building 15, given
by Jordan Schlipf, an experienced and widely popular
entrepreneurship mentor.
Through the day the students will get hands-on
tools and knowledge on how
to start their own business.
This workshop is free but
with limited spaces. Entrepreneurs have to register for
the event by following the
link: https://www.f6s.com/
gearupqatar#/apply
Startup Mena aims to
help develop infrastructure
to create self-sustaining
ecosystems that foster innovation and growth in
the Mena region. Startup
Mena is funded by the Danish foreign ministry and the
Confederation of Danish
Industries and was created
by VentureScout, a leading
international consultancy
sourcing start-ups and innovations to corporates.
To date Startup Mena has a
database of 2,000 plus international mentors and investors and a scout network
that reaches 40 ecosystems.
Boeing, QCRI announce
speakers for symposium
B
oeing and Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), a member
of Qatar Foundation, have
announced the speaker lineup for the Second Annual
Machine Learning and Data
Analytics Symposium (MLDAS) that will take place on
March 9 and 10, at the Qatar
National Convention Centre.
The symposium is open
to students, researchers and
industry experts, and will
feature top global experts
discussing
applications,
recent advances, and new
solutions in the fields of
machine learning and data
analytics.
The first day will focus on
applying machine learning
to healthcare and medicine.
There will be several talks,
panels and discussions on
health records and genomic
data led by David Page and
Mark Craven from the University of Wisconsin. Jenna
Wiens, from the University
of Michigan and a Forbes
‘30 Under 30’ honouree,
will lead an overview of
how to use spatiotemporal patient data to improve
patient outcomes. Rich
Caruana, from Microsoft
Research, will present his
work on intelligible models
for healthcare.
The second day will focus on machine learning
for graph data, security
and surveillance. Christos
Faloutsos from Carnegie
Mellon University will dis-
cuss how large graphs can
be mined for fraud detection. Polo Chau of Georgia
Institute of Technology will
lead a discussion of how
graph mining and visualisation can help untangle the
complicated data trails left
by cyber criminals to cover
their tracks.
Supplementing the twoday symposium will be a
hands-on machine learning workshop for students,
which will take place on 12
March at Carnegie Mellon
University in Qatar. The
workshop aims to introduce
the theory and basic concepts of machine learning,
and the application of machine learning to practical
data mining tasks.
“Data mining and machine learning are revolutionising the use of data analytics in all facets of human
endeavour, from recognising and decoding images,
to learning customer preferences, identifying and
predicting disease causing
genes, understanding social
networks, and more. The
symposium cements the
growing research partnership between Boeing and
QCRI, which is rapidly establishing itself as a worldclass institute in the science
and art of data mining and
learning, among other areas, ” said Dr Mohammed
J Zaki, principal scientist,
QCRI and co-chair of the
symposium.
Gulf Times
QATAR
Vodafone
announces
maternity
policy
V
odafone has announced that it will
become one of the
first organisations in the
world to introduce a mandatory minimum global
maternity policy.
By the end of 2015, women working at all levels
across Vodafone’s 30 operating companies in Africa,
the Middle East, Asia Pacific region, Europe and the
US will be offered at least 16
weeks’ fully paid maternity
leave as well as full pay for
a 30-hour week for the first
six months after their return
to work, the company said in
a statement yesterday.
For Vodafone Qatar, this
means its female employees starting maternity leave
from now or those already on
maternity leave will benefit
from one extra month (total
of 112 calendar days) of paid
maternity leave. Vodafone
provides one of the highest
maternity benefits in Qatar
where the standard in the
market is 50 calendar days
Al-Khalaf and Tomany
announcing the new
maternity policy.
off, according to the statement.
The news, timed with
International
Women’s
Day 2015, was celebrated
by Vodafone Qatar’s female
employees and their children who were invited to
spend a few hours with their
mothers at the company’s
headquarters.
The announcement was
made by Dalya al-Khalaf,
Vodafone Qatar’s director
of strategy, and Anita Tom-
any, head of talent, capability and resourcing, as part
of a whole week dedicated
to Women (March 8-15)
that will include competitions as well as learning and
networking activities.
Kyle Whitehill, CEO,
Vodafone
Qatar,
said,
“Twenty-eight per cent of
Vodafone Qatar’s employee
base is made up of women;
we want to retain and grow
this number and so have
been determined to instil
a culture in our company
that supports, develops
and rewards our female
employees with the same
and equal benefits that
their male counterparts
receive.”
Vodafone
also
announced yesterday the
outcome of analysis commissioned from KPMG,
which indicates that global
businesses could save up to
an estimated $19bn annually through the provision
of 16 weeks of fully paid
maternity leave.
Lab for testing pesticides opens
A laboratory for testing pesticide residue in vegetables and fruits has been inaugurated
at the Abu Samra border post by Dr Saleh bin Ali al-Marri, assistant secretary-general for
medical affairs, at the Supreme Council of Health (SCH).
Officials from SCH and the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Environment were present
on the occasion.
The new laboratory has sophisticated equipment, that are in accordance with the
highest global standards. The laboratory task will be to detect pesticide residue in
imported agricultural products. Pictured are officials and dignitaries on the occasion.
“Walk and Talk”, QBWA’s mentoring programme, held yesterday, marks the celebration of International Women’s Day.
Women find more opportunities in business
From Page 1 “Putting up a business is
not easy. And it does not flourish, say, in
a year’s time. One year is not enough for
one to become a millionaire or to become
a successful businesswoman. It takes
time for a business to pick up momentum,
which is why patience is crucial. Sometimes you will lose (profit) or it would take
several years before your business would
pick-up,” she stressed.
When asked to explain why only a few
women in the Gulf took on big-ticket
projects, Aisha Alfardan said that tradition, culture, and opportunity had all
played a crucial factor in delaying business opportunities for Arab women.
“Because women in this region have
started late compared to the well-established businessmen in other countries
thus, allowing women limited experience
in the business. They need more time to
build their confidence to pursue larger
projects.”
To address this, Aisha Alfardan said
QBWA helped empower women through
training, mentorship, and workshops “to
enlighten them to take the right path that
they are interested in.”
She added that QBWA was also establishing partnerships with different
universities in Qatar to encourage more
young women to pursue entrepreneurship.
Since it was first launched in November 2013, Aisha Alfardan said the QBWA
aimed to make “Walk and Talk” an annual
event. The mentoring programme was
part of the Vital Voices Global Mentoring
Walk held by 72,000 people from 53 countries yesterday.
In Qatar, around 100 women composed
of business leaders, students, entrepreneurs, and members of the Global Ambassadors Mentoring Programme participated in the event.
Citing the goals of Vital Voices, Aisha
Alfardan said the Global Mentoring Walk
“convenes established women leaders and
emerging women leaders to walk together
in their community”.
“As they walk, they discuss their professional challenges and successes to
establish a mentoring relationship. The
Global Mentoring Walk is an opportunity
to highlight the importance of women’s
leadership and to accelerate the impact of
women leaders through mentoring,” she
added.
International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 every year. Pages 28, 30
9
10
Gulf Times
REGION
Hadi says Aden Yemen ‘capital’
AFP
Aden
P
resident
Abd-Rabbu
Mansour Hadi, who fled
to Aden after escaping
from Shia militia controlling
Sanaa, considers the southern
port city to be Yemen’s capital,
an aide said yesterday.
But tensions were running
high in Aden, as special forces
suspected of links to the militia known as Houthis readied
defences against an anticipated
assault by Hadi loyalists.
“Aden became the capital of
Yemen as soon as the Houthis
occupied Sanaa,” the aide
quoted Hadi as saying in reference to their takeover of Sanaa
several months ago.
Hadi also accused ex-pres-
Women march during an anti-Houthi demonstration in Yemen’s central city of Ibb yesterday.
ident Ali Abdullah Saleh and
the Houthis of links with Iran,
and spoke of his escape from
Sanaa and Houthi demands to
integrate thousands of their
militants into the army and po-
lice and secure top government
posts.
His remarks about Aden reflect his determination to hold
out against Houthi efforts
to extend their influence but
are purely symbolic because
moving the capital requires a
change to the constitution.
The special forces commander in Aden, Abdel Hafez
al-Saqqaf, has defied a decree
by Hadi sacking him and said he
will only follow orders from the
presidential council in Sanaa.
His men have cut roads leading to their headquarters near
Aden’s international airport
and set up barricades, saying
they fear an assault by the Popular Resistance Committees,
loyal to Hadi.
Several Gulf states, led by
Saudi Arabia, have already
moved their embassies to Aden
after an exodus of foreign diplomats from Sanaa in February
over security concerns.
But the US, the first to close
its mission in Sanaa, has said it
will not do so although it continues to back Hadi.
Aden, the country’s second
largest city, was capital of a
once independent south Yemen.
The Houthis named a “presidential council” after Hadi and
Prime Minister Khalid Bahah
tendered their resignations in
January in protest at what critics branded an attempted coup.
After fleeing house arrest in
Sanaa, Hadi resurfaced in Aden
where he retracted his resignation. Bahah remains trapped in
the capital.
Yesterday, Hadi said he escaped his Sanaa residence
through a tunnel linking it
to the nearby house of one
of his sons and travelled to
Aden using back roads.
The Houthis overran Sanaa in September and have
since exerted their
influence
over
several other
areas.
The Shia militia has long
complained of marginalisation
and fought the government between 2004 and February 2010.
The Houthis oppose a plan for
a six-region federation, which
Hadi hopes to implement, saying it would divide Yemen into
rich and poor areas.
Hadi said yesterday the
Houthis had demanded 135 top
government jobs and the vice
presidency for one of their
leaders, Saleh al-Sammad.
They also demanded
that 35,000 militiamen be integrated into
the armed
forces and
25,000
into the
police.
Solar Impulse 2 set for taking off from Abu Dhabi tomorrow on a round-the-world odyssey to promote alternative energy.
Solar plane revs up for
round-the-world flight
AFP
Abu Dhabi
A
solar powered plane aims to fly
into history tomorrow, taking
off from Abu Dhabi on a roundthe-world odyssey to promote alternative energy.
The flight of Solar Impulse 2, whose
hoped-for Saturday takeoff had to be
put off due to strong winds, will cap
13 years of research and testing by two
Swiss pilots whose idea was ridiculed
by the aviation industry.
The Si2 made a third successful test
flight in the United Arab Emirates on
Monday, and mission chiefs reported
no problems.
Solar Impulse’s chairman and one
of the pilots is Bertrand Piccard, who
hails from a family of scientist-adventurers and was the first person, in
1999, to circumnavigate the globe in a
hot air balloon.
“We want to demonstrate that clean
technology and renewable energy can
achieve the impossible,” he said.
“Renewable energy can become an
integral part of our lives, and together
we can help save our planet’s natural
resources,” he said when the Si2’s route
was unveiled in January.
The plane is powered by more than
17,000 solar cells built into wings that,
at 72m (236ft), are almost as long as
those of an Airbus A380 superjumbo.
Thanks to an innovative design,
the light-weight carbon fibre aircraft
weighs only 2.3-tonnes, about the
same as a family 4X4 and less than 1%
of the weight of the A380.
Si2 is the first sun-powered aircraft
able to stay aloft for several days and
nights.
The propellor craft has four 17.5
horsepower electric motors with rechargeable lithium batteries.
It will land 12 times on the trip lasting about 25 days spread over five
months.
The longest single leg will see a lone
pilot fly non-stop for five days across
the Pacific Ocean between Nanjing, China and Hawaii, a distance of
8,500km (5,270 miles).
“Solar Impulse 2 must accomplish
what no other plane in the history of
aviation has achieved - flying without fuel for five consecutive days and
nights with only one pilot in the unpressurised cockpit,” said Andre Borschberg, the company’s co-founder
and chief executive, who is a former
Swiss air force pilot.
The plane will take off from the Gulf
to benefit from the region’s relatively
cloudless skies, stopping first in Muscat, Oman.
“From the operation point of view,
this part of the world and the Middle
East is the best location for us to start
because it gives us the possibility to fly
over India and China very early in the
season,” said Borschberg.
“It also gives us the possibility to be
back in summer with relatively good
weather,” he said.
From the Gulf Si2 it will cross the
Arabian Sea to India before heading on
to Myanmar, China, Hawaii and New
York.
Landings are also earmarked for the
midwestern US and either southern
Europe or north Africa, depending on
weather conditions.
Borschberg and Piccard will alternate turns at the controls because the
plane can hold only one person.
“Physically we are fine,” Piccard said
of what he said would be a “very, very
challenging and difficult” tour. “Andre
is preparing himself with yoga (and)
self-hypnosis.”
Si2 is the successor to Solar Impulse,
a smaller craft that notched up a 26hour flight in 2010, proving its ability
to store enough power in the batteries
during the day to keep flying at night.
Two years ago, Borschberg and Piccard flew the original version of their
plane on a two-month journey across
the US.
And Si2 had its first test flight of
more than two hours in Switzerland
last June.
It will travel at 50-100kph, with the
slower speeds at night to prevent the
batteries from draining too quickly.
As it circles the world, aiming to
arrive back in Abu Dhabi in July, its
progress can be monitored via live
video streaming at www.solarimpulse.
com.
Gulf Times
11
REGON
French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius (second left), US Secretary of State John Kerry (left), EU Chief Diplomat Federica
Mogherini (third left), sit opposite German Foreign Minister Franck-Walter Steimeier (second right) and British Foreign Minister
Philip Hammond (right) during a working meeting yesterday at the French Foreign Affairs Ministry in Paris.
Kerry meets allies in
Paris over Iran deal
DPA
Paris
U
S Secretary of State John Kerry
said yesterday there were still
“deficiencies and divergences”
over reaching a “solid agreement” with
Iran on its controversial nuclear programme.
Kerry was speaking in Paris where he
met European counterparts to discuss
progress in the latest negotiations with
Iran.
He said Iran must show the world
that its nuclear programme was peaceful.
“We need the right deal,” he said.
The US is leading the talks that world
powers have been holding with Tehran
over the programme, which many suspect is geared towards the production
of nuclear weapons - something Iran
denies.
Kerry’s visit to Paris saw him con-
fer with the French, German and British foreign ministers - Laurent Fabius,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Philip
Hammond - as well as the European
Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica
Mogherini.
The international talks with Iran also
include Russia and China.
Steinmeier, who said the US and Europe were in agreement, added: “We
could have had a bad agreement years
ago.”
Mogherini said: “Negotiations are
still ongoing. There will not be a deal
if it is not a good deal. Everybody in
the world has to be sure that the deal
we are working at is a deal that guarantees that there is no military possibility ... to the nuclear programme
of Iran.”
Nuclear negotiations between the
US and Iran are to pick up again on
March 15 after three days of recent talks
in Switzerland.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed
Javad Zarif said he was confident about
the upcoming talks.
“The prospects for success are better
than the prospects of failure,” the Iranian news agency IRNA quoted him as
saying yesterday.
But, he added: “Failure would not be
the end of the world.”
The international powers are ready
to offer Iran sanctions relief in return for Iran limiting its nuclear programmes.
Israel in particular has expressed
strong opposition to the talks with
Iran, with Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu warning during a controversial speech to the US Congress on
Tuesday that he believed the deal being
worked on would be a “bad” one.
On Thursday, speaking in the Saudi
capital Riyadh, Kerry sought to reassure Arab Gulf states worried about
Iran’s nuclear ambitions by saying a
safer region “begins by preventing
(Iran) from having a nuclear weapon.”
12
Gulf Times
ARAB WORLD
CONFLICT
UNREST
SECURITY
POLITICS
Palestinian fisherman
killed by Israeli fire
South Sudan peace
talks collapse
Egypt to reopen Rafah
crossing with Gaza
Egypt shakes up police
top brass after reshuffle
A Palestinian fisherman was shot dead by Israeli
forces yesterday off the coast of the Gaza Strip,
a spokesman for the Palestinian health services
said. The 32-year-old died in hospital in Gaza City
after he and two other fishermen in the same
boat were fired upon by the Israeli navy. The
two other fishermen were arrested and taken to
Israel, spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. Under
the terms of Israel’s eight-year blockade of the
Palestinian territory, Gaza’s fishermen have the
right to trawl the waters up to six nautical miles
off the coast. But fishermen have said the Israeli
navy opens fire before they reach that limit.
Around 4,000 fishermen work in Gaza.
South Sudan’s warring leaders failed to reach a deal
to end more than a year of civil war, mediators said
on Friday, with the latest collapse in peace talks
paving the way for possible sanctions. Ethiopia’s
prime minister said South Sudan’s President
Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar missed a
deadline to reach a peace agreement by midnight
on Thursday, and that further talks on Friday “did
not produce the necessary breakthrough.” “This
is unacceptable, both morally and politically,”
Hailemariam Desalegn said in the statement
issued by the east African regional bloc IGAD.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was
“profoundly disappointed” with the failure.
Egypt will reopen its Rafah border crossing with
Gaza for two days from tomorrow, for the fourth
time since it was closed after a suicide bombing,
security officials said. The terminal was shut after
the bombing in the Sinai Peninsula in October
killed 30 soldiers, and has since been reopened
three times. The only access point to the Gaza Strip
not controlled by Israel will reopen on Monday and
Tuesday to allow Palestinians stranded on both
sides to cross. Palestinians who travel through
Rafah are mostly students heading to universities,
and those seeking medical treatment. October’s
attack also led to a state of emergency and curfew
being imposed in some parts of North Sinai.
Egypt’s new Interior Minister Magdy Abdel
Ghaffar has made major changes to his senior
police command, a ministry statement said late
Friday, as security forces struggle with ongoing
Islamist militant attacks. Abdel Ghaffar was
appointed on Thursday after his predecessor,
Mohamed Ibrahim, who spearheaded a deadly
police crackdown against supporters of ousted
president Mohamed Mursi, was removed in a
cabinet reshuffle. The minister appointed 25
new commanders to head various top security
posts in a major shake-up. The changes include
appointing aides for national security and
security in the Sinai Peninsula,
Egypt hangs
first Islamist
since Mursi’s
overthrow
AFP
Cairo
E
gypt carried out yesterday
the first death sentence
handed down over the violence that erupted after the army
overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013, the interior
ministry said.
Hundreds of Mursi supporters
have been sentenced to death after
speedy mass trials, which the UN
has described as “unprecedented
in recent history”.
Mahmoud Ramadan, who was
hanged at 7am (0500 GMT), was
the “first to be executed of those
involved in violent clashes,” ministry spokesman Hani Abdel Latif
said.
A court in Egypt’s second city
Alexandria sentenced Ramadan to
death in 2014 after convicting him
of throwing youths off an apartment block, killing one of them.
He was among dozens of people
tried over deadly violence in the
city’s Sidi Gaber neighbourhood
on July 5, 2013, two days after
Mursi’s ouster by then army chief
and now President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi.
“The prison authority carried
out the hanging of Mahmoud Ramadan, accused of throwing children from the roof of a building in
Alexandria during violent clashes
organised by the terrorist Muslim
Brotherhood,” the interior ministry said on its Facebook page.
The unrest on that day came as
Mursi supporters and opponents
held rival demonstrations across
the city.
Amateur video footage of the
protests had gone viral on the Internet, with prosecutors using it
as evidence in the case involving
Ramadan.
In one scene, a bearded Ramadan in a white vest and black
trousers is walking on the roof of
a building.
Four youths are seen cowering
on top of a structure there that appears to be a water tank as the man
identified as Ramadan and others
throw stones at them.
Minutes later two youngsters
fall off the structure onto the roof.
In separate footage, aired by a
private television channel after
his alleged confession, Ramadan
says: “When I appear before the
prosecution, I will demand to be
executed.”
The leader of Mursi’s Muslim
Brotherhood movement, Mohamed Badie, has already been
tried and handed down four life
sentences in separate cases, while
one death verdict was overturned
on appeal.
Many of the prosecutions have
been in mass trials, which then
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay
described last June as “obscene
and a complete travesty of justice.”
Rights groups and activists too
have criticised the authorities, accusing them of using the judiciary as a tool of repression to crack
down on Mursi supporters or on
any kind of dissent.
“Mass death sentences are fast
losing Egypt’s judiciary whatever
reputation for independence it
once had,” Sarah Leah Whitson,
Human Rights Watch’s Middle
East and North Africa director,
said in December after a court
sentenced 188 Mursi supporters
over the killing of 13 policemen.
Libya rivals in direct
talks over unity govt
AFP
Rabat
R
epresentatives of Libya’s
rival parliaments had their
first direct talks yesterday
in negotiations aimed at agreeing a deal for a national unity
government, with the UN talking of “important progress”.
UN Libya envoy Bernardino
Leon had shuttled between the
two sides on Thursday and Fri-
day during indirect discussions
in Skhirat, near the Moroccan
capital.
The two sides are discussing
the form a unity government
would take and the terms of a
cessation of hostilities in the
violence-wracked North African
nation.
Libya’s elected parliament is
based in the eastern city of Tobruk while the rival Islamistbacked General National Congress is in the capital, Tripoli.
Participants said representatives of the two sides sat down
face-to-face for the first time
in the presence of Leon, Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar and Moroccan intelligence chief Yassin
al-Mansouri.
The discussions were due to
end later yesterday and the delegations will go back to Libya
today to consult their respective
leaderships before returning to
Morocco next week.
BAGHDAD SHOW
A man stands near a military vehicle from China
on display during Defence, Security, and Aviation
Fair Exhibition in Baghdad yesterday.
Palestinian women protest
Palestinian women shout slogans during a rally to mark the International Women’s Day and against Israel’s controversial separation
barrier yesterday, at the Qalandia checkpoint, between the cities of Jerusalem and Ramallah.
UAE jets strike Islamic
State-controlled oil sites
AFP
Abu Dhabi
T
he United Arab Emirates
(UAE) said yesterday its
warplanes had carried
out raids against oil installations held by the Islamic State
(IS) group, which controls large
swathes of Iraq and Syria.
The state news agency Wam
did not say where the raids
struck, only that UAE fighter
jets took off overnight on Friday from their base in Jordan,
another partner in the US-led
coalition against the militants.
“UAE Air Force F-16 squadron deployed to an airbase in
Jordan conducted fresh air
strikes last night against the
terrorist organisation (IS),”
Wam said.
The planes hit several IS
“operation and extraction
points along crude oil pipelines in order to dry up the terror group’s sources of funding”,
it said, adding they all returned
safely.
It was the second reported
air strikes by UAE aircraft since
February 16 when its warplanes
also took off from Jordan and
hit oil refineries held by IS.
The location of last month’s
strikes was not specified either.
The UAE suspended participation in the US-led coalition against IS in December
amid reported differences
with Washington on ways and
means of rescuing downed coalition pilots.
But it resumed air strikes
in February and deployed a
squadron the F-16s to Jordan
after militants murdered a Jordanian pilot captured in December when his place went
down over Syria.
IS released a video in early
February showing the burning
to death of Maaz al-Kassasbeh.
Coalition strikes have frequently targeted oil facilities
run by IS which has made huge
profits from illegal oil sales.
A UN report in November
estimated that IS was earning
between $850,000 and $1.6mn
daily from oil sales.
IS militants destroy ancient Hatra town
DPA
Baghdad
I
slamic State militants yesterday destroyed the ancient
town of Hatra in northern
Iraq, an Iraqi archaeology professor said, the latest in a string
of attacks on the country’s cultural heritage.
Hamed al-Jabouri, head of
the archaeology department
at Mosul University, said the
militants had blown up Hatra’s
ancient ruins and artifacts with
explosives.
“This is a new crime committed today by Daesh against
Iraqi antiquities,” al-Jabouri
said. “This is an irreparable
loss.”
There was no official comment.
Hatra, a Unesco-listed site,
lies about 110km north-west of
Mosul, Islamic State’s de facto
capital in Iraq.
Hatra, founded in the third
century BC, is famed for its
temples.
The alleged destruction
comes two days after the Iraqi
government said Islamic State
militants had bulldozed the ancient city of Nimrud in northern Iraq.
The UN’s cultural body
Unesco called Nimrud’s destruction a “war crime.”
Last month, video footage
circulated of militants smash-
ing massive 2,600-year-old
stone statues at a museum in
Mosul.
Mosul was captured by Islamic State in June as the Al
Qaeda splinter group swept
across Syria and Iraq, gaining
vast territory.
According to the militant
group, the various statues and
relics are considered idols and
must be destroyed. Many Muslim scholars have denounced
the group.
Gulf Times
13
AFRICA
Westerners
targeted in
club attack
AFP
Bamako
F
Demonstrators carry banners for the release of missing Chibok schoolgirls during a rally of leading opposition All Progressives Congress in Lagos.
47 die in Nigeria bomb blasts
AFP
Maiduguri
T
hree bombings, including one
by a female suicide attacker,
killed at least 47 people yesterday in northeast Nigeria’s largest
city of Maiduguri, in the latest violence blamed on Boko Haram.
Many children were among the dead
and at least 50 others were wounded in
the explosions that hit two crowded
markets and a busy bus station.
The Nigerian Islamist militants
have relentlessly attacked Maiduguri
throughout their six-year uprising,
which has cost more than 13,000 lives
and security forces in the city have
struggled to contain the bloodshed.
Nigeria has since last month
claimed key victories over Boko
Haram in an offensive being waged in
cooperation with forces from neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Several towns and villages in the
northeast previously captured by the
insurgents have reportedly been taken
back by government troops and experts have said that in response Boko
Haram was likely to increase attacks
on civilian targets in major cities.
A woman with explosives strapped
to her body blew herself up at roughly
11.20am (1020 GMT) when she got
out of a motorised rickshaw at Maiduguri’s Baga fish market, said the
head of the fisherman’s union, Abubakar Gamandi, who was at the scene.
“The bomb was devastating because it occurred at a crowded area,”
said Jamuna Jarmi, a grocery seller.
Boko Haram has deployed women and even girls as young as seven
as human bombs in attacks across
northern Nigeria in recent months,
prompting global condemnation,
including from other jihadist groups.
About an hour later another blast
rocked the popular Monday Market,
causing chaos as locals voiced anger at
security forces who struggled to control
the scene. Just after 1pm a third blast hit
a used car lot which is attached to the
busy Borno Express bus terminal.
There were indications that the
second and thirds blasts were also
carried out by suicide bombers but
details were not immediately clear.
Gamandi, who spoke to AFP from
the Maiduguri General Hospital
where he was helping coordinate
rescue efforts gave the toll of 47 dead
and 50 wounded for the three blasts.
His figures were confirmed by a
nurse at Maiduguri General and a
vigilante leader in Borno, Danlami
Ajaokuta, whose civilian fighters have
been working with military across the
northeast in fighting Boko Haram.
Ajaokuta said the security forces had
ordered the closure of all businesses
across the city given the apparently coordinated nature of the bombings and
the fear that more could be coming.
Borno State’s Justice Commissioner Kaka Shehu confirmed all three
attacks but declined to discuss casu-
alty figures. He blamed Boko Haram,
saying the latest bloodshed was in response to the defeats suffered by the
insurgents in recent weeks.
“The terrorists are angry with the
way they were sacked from towns
and villages and are now venting
their anger,” Shehu told AFP.
Nigeria postponed its elections initially scheduled for February to March
28 after security chiefs said they needed more time to weaken Boko Haram.
Hundreds of thousands of people
displaced by the conflict are living in
Maiduguri, swelling the city’s population to well over 2mn.
Maiduguri residents have voiced
overwhelming support for opposition leader and former military ruler
Muhammadu Buhari, who is thought
to be running neck-and-neck with
President Goodluck Jonathan.
But Jonathan is still expected to
win widespread support in the south
of the country and analysts have said
the likely result is still to close to call.
Africa seeks to shake off Ebola stigma
AFP
Berlin
T
he impact of the deadly Ebola
virus fell mainly on three African
countries but tourism has taken
a hit across the continent of more than
50 nations as fear has kept many visitors away, tourism chiefs say.
Some 56mn tourists visited Africa in
2014, a 2% rise from the previous year,
according to figures from the UN World
Tourism Organization (UNWTO), but
growth in Africa lagged behind that in
Europe, Asia or the Americas.
Africa had seen a robust 4.8% increase in tourists a year earlier.
“Africa... did well (last year) in spite of
suffering from the Ebola symptoms which
were associated unfairly” with Africa as a
whole, Taleb Rifai, head of the UNWTO,
said at the Berlin tourism fair (ITB).
He said Africa needed support, especially after the Ebola crisis, adding:
“It was very unfair the generalisation
that happened.”
Marie France Adieme-N’Dja, of Ivory Coast’s tourism office, told AFP that
Ebola had created panic. “We have operators who have had cancelled bookings because of the fear of Ebola. How-
ever in Ivory Coast there has not been a
single case,” she said.
Showing off its nine national parks
and 550km of sunny beaches, the Ivorian tourist office is one of many African
stands at the ITB trying to woo back
visitors as the epidemic appears to have
been brought under control.
Almost 24,000 people have been
infected with the Ebola virus since
December 2013, almost all in Liberia,
Guinea and Sierra Leone, and 9,807 of
them have died, according to the WHO.
The countries at the centre of the
Ebola epidemic are forecast to lose
12% of their combined gross domestic
product this year, according to World
Bank estimates.
Africa’s association with Ebola however has spread much further than the
western part of the continent actually
affected. “There was an impact (from
Ebola), we got a few cancellations,” a
tourism professional from a Kenyan
tour operator, who declined to be identified, said at the ITB, which runs until
today.
He bemoaned that some customers made up their minds not to go to
Africa without inquiring more deeply
about Ebola. “The distance between
South Africa and west Africa, or Kenya
and west Africa, is further away than
the distance between west Africa and
North America even,” Rifai, UNWTO’s
secretary general, pointed out.
Industry experts from Namibia - a
popular safari destination for Germans
in particular - at the fair were keen to
press home a similar message.
Digu Naobeb, chief executive of the
Namibia Tourism Board, said he had
resorted to using a map since the Ebola
outbreak to point out to tour operators
exactly where his country is located.
“In fact, Europeans are closer to the
epicentre of Ebola than Namibia,” he
said.
As a result of acting quickly to try to
allay people’s fears about Ebola, he said
tourism to Namibia had seen “a bit of a
decline but not very significant”.
Tourist numbers had been rising by
more than 10% every year since the
early 2000s, albeit from a very low
starting point, but the figure collapsed
by 46% last year, according to the UNWTO.
Among those from the Sierra Leonean tourism sector who have travelled to
Berlin to try to reverse the trend, Tourism Minister Kadija O. Seisay urged
airlines to resume services to the capital, Freetown.
ive people including two Europeans and a Malian police officer were
killed yesterday in an assault on a
Bamako nightclub, in the first suspected attack targeting Westerners in a city
braced for jihadist violence since 2012.
At least one masked gunman entered
the club in an area of the Malian capital popular with expatriates around 1am
(0100 GMT) and sprayed the venue with
automatic gunfire and threw grenades,
witnesses said.
No group claimed responsibility for the
attack, although suspicion is likely to focus on Islamist rebels operating in Mali’s
vast desert north, which has struggled for
stability since a coup three years ago.
Customers of La Terrasse, in Bamako’s
lively Hippodrome district, described
how the masked assailant arrived in a
black four-wheel drive and headed to the
upstairs restaurant and bar area to begin
shooting. As he left he lobbed two grenades at a security patrol and one went off,
killing a policeman, witnesses said.
“The killer came here because there
were foreigners. He wanted to kill foreigners, that’s for sure,” a waiter said.
“This is a terrorist attack, although
we’re waiting for clarification. Provisionally, there are four dead - one French national, a Belgian and two Malians,” a policeman told AFP.
The UN Minusma peacekeeping force
later clarified that a third Malian had died.
Hospital sources said eight people were
wounded, including three Swiss nationals,
one of them a woman.
An AFP correspondent at the scene in
the aftermath witnessed the French vic-
tim being stretchered out of the venue.
In the moments after the attack, the body
of a police officer and a guard of a private
home could be seen in the street outside,
while a little further on the body of the
Belgian national was also visible.
Dozens of police officers secured the area
but witnesses to the attack were initially refusing to testify, fearing reprisals. A police
source said two suspects had been arrested
and were being interrogated, without revealing their identities or nationalities.
French President Francois Hollande
denounced “with the greatest force the
cowardly attack”, according to a statement
from the presidency which added that he
would meet Malian President Ibrahim
Boubacar Keita to offer Paris’s help to the
former French colony.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their
families,” said Didier Reynders, the foreign
minister of Belgium, which has confirmed one
of its nationals was among the dead.
EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said one of the victims worked with
the European Union in Mali, where the
28-nation bloc runs a mission to assist
police and national guard forces.
The gunman killed the Belgian and two
of the Malians in the street before entering
the club, according to a diplomatic source.
“They reportedly shouted ‘Death to
whites’ on entering the restaurant... It
sounds like an attack against the presence
of Europeans. Then they apparently targeted the French national,” the source said.
Zakaria Maiga, who told AFP he was
a friend of the French victim, described
how they been dancing upstairs when the
gunshots rand out. Maiga said there was
immediate panic and he threw himself to
the ground, before escaping the club and
running to safety. “Things happened too
fast. I did not see the shooter,” he said.
14
Gulf Times
AMERICAS
Obama criticises city of
Ferguson for racial bias
Reuters
Ferguson
P
resident Barack Obama condemned the Missouri city
of Ferguson on Friday for
“oppressive and abusive” actions
against African-Americans that
were laid bare in a US Justice Department report accusing police
and court officials of racial bias.
The president’s comments
came as US Attorney General Eric
Holder said on Friday dismantling
the city’s police department was a
possibility.
“We are prepared to use all the
power that we have... to ensure that
the situation changes there,” Holder said. “That means everything
from working with them to coming
up with an entirely new structure.”
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles
said three city workers who demonstrated “egregious racial bias” are no
longer employed by the city, and said
Ferguson officials are pursuing other
reforms to try to reach a settlement
with the Justice Department.
City spokesman Jeff Small said
police officers Rick Henke and
William Mudd resigned on Thursday and Ferguson’s top court clerk,
Mary Ann Twitty, was fired after
the release of the Justice Department report on Wednesday.
The Justice Department said it
found that the mostly white police
force routinely targeted AfricanAmericans for arrests and ticketing, in part to raise revenue for
the city through fines and fees. It
found a pattern of officers using
excessive force and illegally arresting people without cause, deploying attack dogs and tasers on
unarmed people “unreasonably.”
“What we saw was that the Ferguson Police Department in conjunction with the municipality
saw traffic stops, arrests, tickets
as a revenue generator, as opposed
to serving the community, and
that it systematically was biased
against African-Americans in that
Black teen shot dead by Wisconsin police officer
A police officer shot and killed a
19-year-old black youth who allegedly assaulted him in Madison,
Wisconsin, the city’s police chief
said yesterday.
The incident on Friday evening
touched off protests in the Midwestern university city, and local media
reported a heavy police presence
in the area where the shooting
occurred.
It was the latest in a string of police shootings of young blacks that
city who were stopped, harassed,
mistreated, abused, called names,
fined,” Obama said at a town hallstyle meeting in South Carolina.
The federal investigation started after a white Ferguson police
officer shot and killed an unarmed
black teenager on August 9, triggering nationwide protests and illuminating long-held complaints
in Ferguson and elsewhere about
have set racial tensions on edge in
the US, igniting a nationwide debate
over police tactics in minority communities.
Police chief Mike Koval told
WKOW television the police officer
was responding to a report of a battery and had forced his way into an
apartment after hearing sounds of a
disturbance inside.
The shooting was under investigation by the city’s Department of
Criminal Investigations, he said.
police treatment of minorities.
The Justice Department said it
did not find grounds to prosecute
police officer Darren Wilson for killing 18-year-old Michael Brown, but
it did find racially disparate practices rampant through the police force.
Obama said on Friday he fully
supported the decision not to
charge Wilson. “That was the decision that was made, and I have
complete confidence and stand
fully behind the decision that was
made by the Justice Department
on that issue,” he said.
The city and the Justice Department are attempting to negotiate
reforms to address the problems,
and Knowles said the city has hired
a consultant to work with the police.
Knowles said city leaders plan to
meet with Justice officials in two
weeks to review reform strategies,
and try to agree on a settlement.
Relations between the city and
the Justice Department have been
tense during the federal probe, and
city officials have bristled at some
of the report’s allegations.
Knowles would not comment
on whether police chief Tom Jackson would be asked to step down.
Several community and civil rights
leaders, as well as some lawmakers, have sought Jackson’s ouster
for months. “We’re looking at
where the breakdown was and
then we’ll make changes accordingly,” Knowles said.
Canada is warned
anti-terrorism bill
tramples privacy
AFP
Ottawa
C
anada’s privacy commissioner warned on Friday
that a proposed toughening of the nation’s counterterrorism laws would expose too much personal
information, with little or no oversight.
In an open letter, Commissioner Daniel Therrien expressed concern at the “unprecedented” scale of information sharing between government departments allowed
under the anti-terror bill currently under consideration.
The bill would dramatically expand the powers of Canada’s spy service to include disrupting terror threats, and
lower the threshold for detaining suspects in terror cases
and the standard for prosecution.
It would also allow intergovernmental sharing of information on alleged threats and suspects, which was previously illegal under privacy laws. “All Canadians - not only
terrorism suspects - will be caught in this web,” Therrien
said. “Bill C-51 opens the door to collecting, analysing and
potentially keeping forever the personal information of all
Canadians in order to find the virtual needle in the haystack. To my mind, that goes too far.”
Security agencies, he said, would potentially be aware of
all interactions between Canadians and their government,
including tax filings, business dealings and vacation travel.
He said the bill would give 17 government departments
and agencies “almost limitless powers to monitor and profile ordinary Canadians,” and 14 of them are not subject to
independent oversight. “While the potential to know virtually everything about everyone may well identify some new
threats, the loss of privacy is clearly excessive,” Therrien said.
Opposition parties have called for stronger oversight
of security agencies, but the government has insisted the
current policies are sufficient, saying any trampling of
Canadians’ constitutional rights would require ministerial and judicial authorization. The measure was drafted in
response to the October 20 and 22 attacks in rural Quebec
and in the capital Ottawa targeting soldiers and parliament. The government says Canada must act more quickly
to thwart threats to national security.
Senator in graft
probe says he is
‘going nowhere’
AFP
Washington
U
S Senator Robert Menendez staunchly defended
himself Friday against potential federal corruption
charges, saying he had not broken the law and declaring he was “not going anywhere.”
American media outlets said prosecutors plan to file
criminal corruption charges against the powerful Democratic lawmaker relating to a long-standing investigation
involving a Florida doctor who is a close friend and donor.
The two-year probe involves Salomon Melgen, a prominent ophthalmologist and businessman who contributed
large sums of money to Menendez’s re-election campaign.
Menendez acknowledged an “ongoing inquiry,” citing it
as the reason he would not take questions from reporters.
“Let me be very clear, very clear. I have always conducted myself appropriately and in accordance with the law,”
Menendez said in Newark, New Jersey.
“Every action that I and my office have taken for the last
23 years that I have been privileged to be in the US Congress has been based on pursuing the best policies for the
people of New Jersey and the entire country.”
“I fight for these issues and for the people of our country every single day,” Menendez said, in an impassioned
defence. “That’s who I am. And I am not going anywhere.”
Melgen is reported to have businesses in the Dominican
Republic, and Menendez is alleged to have intervened on
his behalf with the US government from his congressional
office.
Moonrise!
The moon rises behind the skyline of New York, as
seen from Weehawken, New Jersey.
16
Gulf Times
ASEAN
Singapore bans music festival over drug fears
AFP
Singapore
S
ingapore has banned a music festival scheduled to
take place later this month
over concerns of drug use after
multiple deaths at last year’s
event in Malaysia.
Singapore, which has one of
the world’s toughest anti-drug
regimes, late Friday denied a
last ditch appeal by organisers
of the Future Music Festival Asia
(FMFA) for a public entertainment license, following two earlier failed applications.
Organisers Livescape Singapore said the electronic dance
at the event”. Last year’s threeday edition in Kuala Lumpur was
cancelled midway after six people died and 16 were hospitalised
all for drug-related reasons.
The festival’s organisers said
in a statement yesterday that
they were “extremely disappointed” with the permit denial.
The Malaysia deaths “were
Livescape Singapore Pte Ltd to
hold the Future Music Festival Asia 2015 in Singapore,” the
Ministry of Home Affairs said in
a short statement late Friday.
The Singapore Police Force
earlier said they rejected two
separate applications for a permit “because of serious concerns with potential drug abuse
music festival, scheduled to be
held on March 13-14, was expected to draw around 20,000
people, with prominent disc
jockeys including Avicii, Afrojack and Fatboy Slim among the
headline acts.
“The Minister for Home Affairs has carefully considered
and turned down the appeal by
Widodo stands firm
on looming executions
AFP
Jakarta
M
Journalists stand on the shore across from the prison island of Nusakambangan, where upcoming executions are expected, in Cilacap, Central Java yesterday.
“The Constitution and existing laws still allow (the death
penalty) but in the future if it is
necessary to change it and the
people really want it, why not?”
he said in the interview broad-
donesian government to halt the
executions on Friday, urging the
authorities to “reinstate its moratorium on the death penalty
and conduct a thorough review
of all requests for pardon”.
that the execution of the two
Australians would have implications, not just in Australia but
globally.
UN human rights spokesman
Rupert Colville called on the In-
cast yesterday. “I think we want
to listen to what people want
first. It’s still a long time to go
through and I do not want to talk
about the issue now,” he added.
Canberra has warned Jakarta
‘Extinct’ Myanmar bird rediscovered after 73 years
AFP
Yangon
A
bird that was long
thought to have gone extinct has been rediscovered in Myanmar after a team
of scientists used a recording of
the species’ distinctive call to
track it down.
The Jerdon’s Babbler (chrysomma altirostre altirostre) — a
small brown bird similar in size
to a house sparrow — was last
spotted in Myanmar in 1941 and
was thought to have died out altogether.
But a team of scientists in
May 2014 managed to uncover
multiple birds nesting in a small
area of grassland in Myanmar’s
central Bago region, according
to their report published in the
latest edition of Birding Asia.
The scientists targeted some
of the few remaining patches of
wild grassland left along Myanmar’s mighty Irrawaddy river,
now one of the most heavily
cultivated and densely populated regions of the impoverished
but emerging southeast Asian
nation.
At one small patch of grassland near an abandoned agricultural station, the team heard
what they thought could be the
babbler’s call. They then used a
recording of a Jerdon’s Babbler
from the Indian subcontinent
to see if the bird would show
itself.
Frank Rheindt, from the National University of Singapore,
said he was the first person to
spot the bird during the survey, which was also carried out
with members of the Wildlife
Conservation Society and My-
The Jerdon’s Babbler was last
spotted in Myanmar in 1941 and
was thought to have died out
altogether.
anmar’s Nature and Wildlife
Conservation Division. “It was
unbelievable,” he recalled.
“We played the sound recordings and one of the birds
came up from the reed beds.
Like many song birds in reed
beds you hardly ever see them,
they only come out to defend
their territory when they hear a
territorial call.”
Further searches over the
next two days uncovered more
birds allowing researchers
to obtain blood samples and
photographs. But researchers
warned that the bird’s survival
is still far from guaranteed given
pressure on Myanmar’s few remaining grasslands.
“This discovery not only
proves that the species still exists in Myanmar but that the
habitat can still be found as
well,” Colin Poole, director of
Wildlife Conservation Society’s
regional hub in Singapore, said
in a statement.
“Future work is needed to
identify remaining pockets of
natural grassland and develop
systems for local communities
to conserve and benefit from
them,” he added.
Rheindt said the area of
grassland where the bird was
found was very small, “around
50-80 hectares” and that new
chicken and fish farms were being built nearby.
He added that its plumage and
song were significantly different
to how it had been described by
ornithologists in the early twentieth century — leading the team
to suspect that it may differ from
threatened populations found in
Nepal, India and Pakistan.
His team now hope to conduct
DNA tests to decide if it is a separate species.
Myanmar’s
quasi-civilian
government replaced decades of
brutal military rule in 2011. It has
since embarked on a series of political reforms and shown itself to
be far more open to foreign businesses and academic researchers
than the country’s generals were.
available over the next few days.”
Senior minister of state for the
Ministry of Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli said in a speech
in parliament on Friday that
authorities were “keeping an
eye” on music events following a spike in drug abuse among
young people in the affluent
city-state.
‘Back to drawing
board’ if MH370
aircraft search
fails: minister
AFP
Kuala Lumpur
I
ndonesian President Joko
Widodo has defended his decision to reject clemency for
foreigners on death row for drug
smuggling, but said he does not
rule out abolishing capital punishment in the future.
Indonesian authorities this
week moved the two Australian
ringleaders of the so-called “Bali
Nine” drug trafficking gang from
Bali to the prison island of Nusakambangan, indicating they
would soon be executed.
They are among a group of
drug convicts, including foreigners from France, Brazil, the
Philippines, Nigeria and Ghana,
who are expected to be executed
at the same time on the island.
In an interview to Al Jazeera,
Widodo defended his decision to
not halt the planned executions,
which have sparked diplomatic
tensions with Canberra.
“About 4.5mn people need to
be rehabilitated because of the
drugs. Please do not only see the
traffickers but also the impact of
the drugs trafficking,” he said.
“Please do visit the (drugs)
rehabilitation centre when they
are screaming due to the drugs
addiction. People must see this
from both side, not only from
one side,” he added.
But Widodo said that the
government would be open to
abolishing the death penalty if
the Indonesian people wanted
change.
isolated incidents that took place
outside Singapore, which cannot
and do not carry any implication
that FMFA is linked to drug use
or drug abuse,” organisers said in
a statement on Facebook.
“In light of this development,
we are assessing all options and
formulating our next course of
action. Full details will be made
alaysia’s
transport
minister said yesterday the hunt for
MH370 would be sent “back
to the drawing board” if the
search now under way comes
up empty, but insisted his government remained committed
to finding the plane.
Liow Tiong Lai’s comments, made on the eve of the
tragedy’s anniversary, echoed
recent remarks by Australian
officials who have suggested
the expensive search effort in
a 60,000-square-kilometre
area of the southern Indian
Ocean could be abandoned.
“If the search does not
yield anything by May or after we have completed the
60,000-square-kilometre
search, then we have to go
back to the drawing board,”
Liow said in an interview.
He said that would mean reexamining all available data
that was used to determine the
suspected crash zone for the
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777,
but would not specify what
could happen next.
But he added: “I would like
to say to the next of kin that we
will continue to be committed
to the search.”
Today’s anniversary looms
as a painful milestone for relatives of the 239 passengers
and crew aboard the plane —
which inexplicably diverted
from its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route shortly after takeoff
last March 8 -- many of whom
are deeply unhappy with the
lack of progress.
Four ships involved in the
Australian-led search are now
using sophisticated sonar systems to scour a huge and previously unmapped undersea
region.
More than 40% of the “priority search zone” has been
scanned, with nothing detected on the seafloor aside from a
few sunken shipping containers.
Australian Prime Minister
Tony Abbott said on Thursday
that, while committed to the
current operation, he “can’t
promise that the search will go
on at this intensity forever”.
Many next of kin have been
deeply critical of Malaysia’s
initial response to the crisis,
saying that opportunities to
intercept or track the plane
were lost.
Liow said an international
investigative team formed in
the weeks after the plane vanished was expected to hand
over its findings on the sequence of events leading up
to the disappearance any day
now.
He said the government
needed to review the report
before releasing it and he did
not know exactly when it
would be publicly available.
However, some next of kin
said Malaysia Airlines had informed them the report would
be released at 0700 GMT today.
AFP could not immediately
confirm that.
Liow, who was named
transport
minister
three
months after the disappearance, said the government
“will take appropriate actions
if necessary”, based on the report’s findings, but declined to
speculate on its contents.
But he denied accusations
by some family members that
Malaysia’s government and
national airline had not been
transparent, saying authorities had regularly shared all
that they know. “We are very
transparent in this. I would
like to emphasis that,” he said.
“I have told the next of kin:
they are seeking for answers?
I also am seeking for answers.
I am committed to look for the
answers for them.”
Families were again angered
on January 30 when Malaysia declared all on board to be
presumed dead.
The government said the
move would allow relatives
to seek compensation and
otherwise move forward, but
next of kin say the declaration cannot be made without
proof of a crash.
Malaysia’s government has
announced no plans to mark
the anniversary today.
Malaysia Airlines will hold
a private ceremony for staff
and the next of kin of the
flight crew at their headquarters.
A separate public event is
to be held at a venue in Kuala
Lumpur, organised by an association of MH370 families.
Liow said he hoped that
MH370’s legacy will be safer
air travel, noting that the
International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) has
taken up Malaysian calls to
increase the tracking of airliners.
Regulators will require realtime tracking of all passenger
aircraft beginning next year.
CRIME
Two detained after
grenade explodes
outside court
Thai police detained two people for
questioning yesterday after a grenade exploded outside a criminal
court in Bangkok. The explosion
caused no deaths or injuries, the
police said. It took place in the early
evening when the court was not in
session. “We are not certain about
the motive of the bombing. Officials
are investigating,” Police Lieutenant General Prawut Thawonrsiri, a
spokesman for the Royal Thai Police
told Reuters. Thailand has been
under martial law since the military
seized power on May 22 last year to
end months of sometimes deadly
street protests. In early February,
twin explosions outside a luxury
shopping mall rattled Bangkok.
After those blasts, the first in the
Thai capital since the coup, Prime
Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he
would tighten security to prevent
any further similar incidents.
Malaysia demonstrators demand opposition leader’s release
AFP
Kuala Lumpur
S
everal thousand people
marched through Kuala
Lumpur yesterday to demand the release of opposition
leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was
jailed last month for five years
on sodomy charges.
Chanting “Free Anwar!”
and “Reformasi” (Reform), the
demonstrators, led by members of Anwar’s family, staged a
short march from a busy shopping district toward the capital’s
Petronas Towers skyscrapers.
An AFP journalist estimated
the crowd at around 5,000.
Some in the crowd chanted
“Down with Najib”, a reference
to Prime Minister Najib Razak,
and carried an effigy of him.
But there were no incidents
seen, and no large police presence, despite police in recent
days declaring the rally illegal.
Anwar has said his conviction on charges that he sodomised a former male aide in
2008 was cooked up by Malaysia’s 58-year-old government
to thwart the opposition, which
has made significant gains in recent parliamentary elections.
The government strongly denies the accusation and insists
that its judicial system is independent and impartial.
“Little by little the voices of
the people will be heard, that’s
why today’s event is significant,” said Ambiga Sreenevasan, a campaigner for democratic
reform who took part in the
march.
“They (demonstrators) are
troubled by what is happening
here.” The US has been among
the international critics of the
conviction, saying it raised
questions over the rule of law in
Malaysia.
Anwar’s family has applied
for a royal pardon from Malaysia’s figurehead Islamic royalty,
but its chances are considered
slim due to the conservative nature of the monarchy.
Anwar was heir apparent to
leadership of the ruling United
Malays National Organisation
(UMNO) in the late 1990s until
his ouster in a power battle.
He was subsequently jailed
for six years on an earlier sodomy charge that he also called
politically motivated.
He later helped unite a previously divided opposition into a
formidable force.
Nurul Izzah, daughter of jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, speaks to the crowd during a
rally to protest against his imprisonment in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Gulf Times
17
AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA
Feminists
detained
ahead of
Women’s
Day event
China blocks video on
smog after it goes viral
AFP
Beijing
AFP
Beijing
A
hard-hitting video investigation into China’s
grave air pollution problem has been pulled from mainstream video sites, days after it
garnered more than 150mn hits
online.
Under the Dome, an independent documentary produced by former Chinese state
media journalist Chai Jing, was
no longer available on popular
mainland video sites, including
Youku and iQiyi, as of yesterday
afternoon.
A link on Youku’s website that
previously led to the video now
prompts the message: “We’re
very sorry, Youku was unable to
find the page you requested.”
The 103-minute documentary – hailed by some as China’s
Inconvenient Truth – remains
available on YouTube, which is
blocked in China.
Versions of the video had
racked up more than 155mn
views on mainland Chinese video streaming sites just one day
after its release on February 28.
In the video, Chai, who previously worked as an anchor for
state-run China Central Television, detailed the causes of
atmospheric pollution in the
country, including slack government supervision and lenient
penalties for polluters.
She has described the video as
her “personal battle” against air
pollution after her daughter was
born with a benign tumour.
The removal of the docu-
t least four Chinese feminists have been detained
ahead of International
Women’s Day, a lawyer said yesterday, in what appears to be a
move by Beijing to head off public protest actions linked to the
holiday.
Li Tingting, a young activist
best known for staging demonstrations in men’s lavatories to
call for an increase in the number
of public toilets for women, was
taken away from her home in
Beijing around 11pm on Friday,
her lawyer Yan Xin told AFP by
phone.
Another three Beijing activists, all women, have also been
detained, Yan said.
The four activists’ whereabouts is unknown, Yan said,
adding that while authorities
have not communicated a reason, he believes the women’s
detention “may be related to tomorrow’s holiday”.
Li, who goes by the pseudonym Li Maizi, organised protests in Beijing and the southern
metropolis of Guangzhou three
years ago in which she and other
women “occupied” men’s toilets.
According to another Chinese activist, Li was planning to
conduct a demonstration today
to protest sexual harassment of
women aboard public transportation.
Another campaigner, Zheng
Churan, has also been taken away
from her home in Guangzhou,
the activist said.
AFP was not immediately able
to confirm her detention.
China’s ruling Communist
Party has publicly highlighted
International Women’s Day,
which falls on March 8, today,
with officials hailing the advancement of women’s rights
and organising events for female
journalists in Beijing.
“Tomorrow is International
Women’s Day, so everyone is
paying attention to national
policies related to gender equality, and respecting women is also
a mark of a society’s progress,”
Wu Hongqin, a representative to
China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), said at a government news conference Saturday
on the status of women.
Yet Chinese authorities regularly round up activists and force
the cancellation of events ahead
of key dates, wary of any public
demonstrations that could spiral
into dissent against the party’s
rule.
The move comes as the annual
meeting of the NPC, China’s
rubber-stamp legislature, is underway in Beijing.
A
mentary underscores the ruling
Communist Party’s sensitivity to public debate over China’s
notorious smog problem.
It also represents a sharp
turnaround by Chinese authorities, who only days ago encouraged ubiquitous coverage of the
video in official print and broadcast media.
China’s
newly-appointed
environmental protection minister, Chen Jining, praised the
video earlier this week, telling
Chinese reporters that it should
“encourage efforts by individuals to improve air quality”.
The video’s disappearance
comes as the country’s top annual political meeting, the National People’s Congress (NPC),
is underway in Beijing, under
thick white skies and with the
city’s air quality registering as
“very unhealthy”, according to a
US embassy reading.
Online discussions related to
the video remain unblocked on
China’s popular social networks,
and users of China’s Twitterlike Sina Weibo voiced frustration yesterday with the government’s abrupt censorship move.
“Chai Jing’s documentary,
Under the Dome, has already
been ‘harmonised’ on all of the
mainstream video sites,” wrote
one user on Sina Weibo, using
an ironic term for authorities’
blocking of objectionable content. “Why? Give us a reason
first!”
“When will this country be
able to face the attitudes of its
own people?” another Sina Weibo user wrote.
China’s cities are often hit
This file photo taken on December 9, 2009 shows smog down a main street of Linfen, in China’s Shanxi
province, regarded as one of the cities with the worst air pollution in the world.
by heavy pollution, blamed on
coal-burning by power stations
and industry, as well as vehicle
use, and it has become a major source of popular discontent with the Communist Party,
Japan, North Korea could
resume abduction talks
Reuters
Tokyo
N
orth Korea and Japan could
resume talks as early as this
month over an investigation
North Korea is conducting into the
fate of Japanese citizens it kidnapped
decades ago, the Nikkei newspaper reported yesterday.
There was informal contact between
Japanese and North Korean diplomats
in China in late February, and the two
sides agreed to hold a meeting about
the investigation in China sometime
late March or early April, the Nikkei
said without citing sources.
Foreign ministry officials were unavailable for comment.
If the talks do take place they would
be the first official contact since Japan
sent a diplomatic mission to Pyongyang
in October only to be disappointed to
learn that North Korea had no new information about abductees.
North Korea admitted in 2002 to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens, and five of
those abductees and their families later
returned to Japan.
North Korea said that the remaining
eight were dead and that the issue was
closed, but Japan has been pressing for
more information.
The North promised to reopen the
investigation in 2008, but never followed through.
When North Korea agreed last year in
May to reopen an investigation into the
abductees, the Japanese government
responded by easing some sanctions in
a sign that the often fractious relationship between the two countries could
improve.
Thousands mark gay Mardi Gras
AFP
Sydney
F
rom drag queens to scantily-clad
dancers, thousands of people
paraded through Sydney yesterday for the annual Gay and Lesbian
Mardi Gras which this year highlighted
homophobia in sport.
Spectators thronged Darlinghurst’s
Oxford Street for the colourful parade
which featured some 150 floats ranging
from “dykes on bikes” motorcyclists to
those calling for same-sex marriage.
Organisers said that some 200,000
people were expected to line the streets
to watch the more than 10,000 participants in this year’s parade which also
drew attention to discrimination on
the sporting field.
“This fight against discrimination
in sport is part of the great civil rights
struggle that Sydney’s Mardi Gras has
led in Australia for 37 years,” senior parade creative Ignatius Jones said. “As
long as even one gay or lesbian kid is
afraid to play sport, one of Australia’s
defining activities, for fear of being
denounced as a dyke or a poof, Mardi
Gras has a purpose.”
The parade comes as Australia’s
rugby league season kicks off and as
the country jointly hosts the cricket
World Cup with New Zealand.
Australian cricketer Alex Blackwell
said she was proud and excited to be
involved in the Mardi Gras along with
straight allies from her sport.
A participant in the 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade yesterday
unveils herself as a hibiscus flower. The event, in its 37th year with 150 floats in
the parade, celebrates gay pride and draws thousands of spectators.
“Coming out is a very personal
choice, but I was able to summon the
courage to come out myself because I
had role models who came out before
me,” she said ahead of the parade. “I
hope this float will send a message to
all athletes that everyone should be
welcome in sport regardless of their
sexuality.”
The heads of Australia’s major
sporting codes – cricket, rugby union,
rugby league, football and Aussie rules
– last year pledged to eliminate homophobia in a co-ordinated effort ahead
of hosting the world gay rugby championships the Bingham Cup.
The Mardi Gras began as a “fun” human rights protest in 1978 – but police
cracked down heavily on marchers and
more than 50 were arrested in the brief
riot which followed.
But the event helped bring legislative change, including the decriminalisation of homosexuality in New South
Wales in 1984.
The police now take part in the
march, as do the Australian military
which will have its largest ever participation since it began marching in
2008, with more than 100 Australian
Defence Force personnel taking part in
the parade.
leading the government to declare a “war on pollution” and
vow to reduce the proportion of
energy derived from fossil fuels.
Chen, the environmental protection minister, held an hour-
long news conference yesterday
afternoon on the sidelines of the
NPC.
But out of a dozen questions
asked – mostly by Chinese
state-run media outlets – not a
single one focused on the documentary.
NPC press conferences are
usually highly stage-managed
by Chinese authorities, with organisers pre-approving both the
order of questions as well as the
questions themselves.
Chen did make a reference
to “APEC blue” – a tonguein-cheek phrase that became
popular online during the AsiaPacific Economic Co-operation
summit in November, when
Beijing shut down factories and
enacted strict regulations to ensure a blue sky for visiting dignitaries.
“From international experience and the process of bringing
about ‘APEC blue’, we can see
that if we want to significantly
improve our air quality, we cannot rely on heaven alone; we
must bring down our emissions
levels,” Chen said.
“Can it be done?” he asked.
“It can, but it’s very difficult indeed, and it will require us all to
make an extra effort.”
Swarmed by international
and Chinese journalists after the
news conference, he ignored reporters’ questions as he quickly
exited the hall.
Even as the video was being
deleted from major video sites,
China’s top leader, President Xi
Jinping, was sounding a tough
line on pollution.
“We are going to punish, with
an iron hand, any violators who
destroy ecology or the environment, with no exceptions,” Xi
told a group of lawmakers on
Friday, according to the official
Xinhua news agency.
18
Gulf Times
BRITAIN
PM chickening out
of debate: Miliband
Miliband’s challenge has left
the premier in a quandry
Reuters
London
B
ritish opposition Labour
leader Ed Miliband yesterday accused Prime Minister David Cameron of trying to
“chicken out” of head-to-head
televised debates with him ahead
of a national election on May 7
and said he would take part with
or without Cameron.
Broadcasters had proposed
three debates, two of them between the leaders of seven parties
and one between just Miliband
and Cameron, the two people
most likely to become prime
minister after May 7, but Cameron has rejected their proposal.
Instead, the Conservative
leader has said he would take part
in just one debate, with six other
party leaders, a stance widely
seen as a tactic to protect his own
high personal ratings and deprive
his main rival of publicity.
In a speech at the annual conference of Labour’s Scottish
branch, Miliband said his party
had written to the broadcasters
to confirm he would take part in
Prime minister and
Conservative political party
leader David Cameron delivers
a speech to supporters in north
London.
the proposed debates whatever
Cameron did.
Pressure from Miliband and
from the broadcasters poses a
dilemma for Cameron, who must
decide what would be worse for
him: letting the debates go ahead
without him, or backing down
and agreeing to take part after all.
“He says this election is all
about leadership, all about the
choice between him and me, and
when it comes to a debate be-
Ed Miliband and Scottish Labour Party leader Jim Murphy react after a speech by Gordon Aikman, who
has Motor Neurone Disease and campaigns for increased research funding for the disease, at the Scottish
Labour Party Conference in Edinburgh.
tween him and me, he’s running
scared,” Miliband said.
“I say to David Cameron ... You
can try to chicken out of the debates, but don’t ever again claim
that you provide strong leadership ... When all people will see
is an empty chair, his claims of
leadership will be exposed as
empty.”
Cameron is isolated over the
debates issue, with the other
main party leaders saying they
are keen to take part.
Deputy prime minister Nick
Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats who have been the junior
coalition partners since 2010,
yesterday accused the Conservatives of “arrogance” for trying to
dictate the terms of the debates.
“If David Cameron is too important or too busy to turn up, if he
doesn’t want to defend the record
of this coalition government, then
I will,” Clegg told the BBC.
The election is the most unpredictable in decades. Labour
and the Conservatives are neckand-neck in the polls, the Lib
Dems’ ratings have collapsed
since the last election and three
other parties are enjoying a surge
in popularity.
If neither of the two main parties wins an outright majority of
seats in parliament’s House of
Commons, as seems likely, one
or more of the smaller parties
will hold the balance of power
and complex coalition talks will
ensue.
Rally on climate change
Protesters dance in costume outside the Houses of Parliament, during a march calling for Government action on climate change, in central London, yesterday.
Taylor Fernandes-Nelson, right, is set to receive a life sentence
for Ryan Gray’s murder.
Mother of
murdered
man asks
killer to
come clean
Evening Standard
London
T
he mother of a young
father stabbed to death
in north London branded his killer a coward as she
begged: “Tell us why you did
it.”
Ryan Gray, 24, was beaten,
kicked and knifed seven times
after being chased down Holloway Road, near Arsenal’s
Emirates stadium, as he walked
to a doctor’s appointment.
He died in hospital four days
after Taylor Fernandes-Nelson, 18, repeatedly plunged a
knife into his chest.
The teenager was convicted
of murder at the Old Bailey on
Wednesday after a four-week
trial, but the motive remains a
mystery.
Gray, a rapper from Islington
who performed as Reckz, had
recently found out he was to
become a father for the second
time.
His mother Alison, 45, said:
“I feel like I don’t have justice when I don’t know why it
happened. Taylor is a coward.
Why he doesn’t come clean
about why it happened, I don’t
know.”
Prosecutor Tony Badenoch
QC said a trio of men — including Fernandes-Nelson —
who chased Gray into Drayton
Park at around 2.20pm on June
4 last year “must have known”
him.
Gray said the killing had
“devastated her family”. Her
son’s partner had to have their
child, Ryana, early in November as doctors feared the stress
of the killing was affecting the
baby. Gray said her six-yearold grandson Kayleb struggled
without his father.
She told the Standard: “The
people who take a life like this
need to realise how many other
lives they destroy.”
Delton Campbell-Brown, 19,
and Stephen Roberts, 22, were
cleared of murder. FernandesNelson is expected to be given
a life sentence at a hearing on
Monday.
A pensioner was attacked
by a gang of thugs as he walked
his dog in south London.
The 76-year-old man was
shoved to the ground in the
“unprovoked and cowardly
attack” after he was cornered
by two men and two women
as he strolled along Cricket
Green, Mitcham, police said
today.
One of the group then kicked
his dog before all four fled the
scene at about 4pm yesterday.
The victim has been left
“frightened and confused” by
the attack, a spokesman for
Scotland Yard said.
He was taken to hospital by
paramedics from the London
Ambulance Service where he
was treated for a fractured
wrist and rib, he added.
Police have issued an appeal
for witnesses of the assault to
come forward.
Detective constable Jamie
McIntosh, who is leading the
investigation, said: “This was
an unprovoked and cowardly
attack on an elderly man who
was out walking his dog alone.
As a result of the incident the
victim has been left frightened
and confused.
“It would have been very
busy around the Cricket Green
at the time of the attack and
there would have been a significant amount of traffic along
the A239. I am appealing to anyone who may have witnessed
the attack or anyone with any
information to come forward
and assist us with our investigating.”
Police are hunting for two
men and two women aged in
their 20s in connection with
the attack. They were all black
and were wearing dark clothes,
police said. Detectives believe
the man who pushed the victim over is 5’11” with short
black hair.
‘Pack of men’ convicted for hacking to death rivals
Evening Standard
London
F
our gangsters face double life
sentences after being convicted at
the Old Bailey for the cold blooded execution of two rival drug dealers
on the streets of London.
The two victims were hacked to death
by the “pack of men” who inflicted 24
knife wounds in less than a minute.
Their car was lured into an ambush
and hemmed in by four other cars in a
quiet residential street in Leytonstone
in March last year.
Josiah Manful, 20, and Aaron Carriere, 21, then sat helpless in their car
seats as the “swift, frenzied, utterly
brutal attack” took place.
Manful, who was stabbed 13 times,
finally staggered out of the vehicle to
call for help but collapsed on the bonnet of a parked car.
Carriere never left the passenger seat
as he was knifed 11 times and both men
died at the scene.
Only one thing was stolen –Carriere’s mobile phone containing his client
list of drug customers.
Four men, led by gang leader Devonte
Campbell, were convicted of double
Ring leader Devonte Campbell and Casey Jones
murder and will be sentenced later by
judge John Bevan.
Three others were cleared of murder
and manslaughter.
But other suspects have jumped bail
and two have fled the country to Yemen
and Algeria, said prosecutor Lisa Wilding QC.
Campbell, who has 31 convictions,
had been serving a suspended 16-week
sentence for perverting the course of
justice and dangerous driving when he
hatched the murder plot.
During the trial the prosecutor told
the court: “Each (of the killers) was
fully informed and signed up (to the
murder plan),” said the QC.
Whatever had transpired before to
cause this plan to be hatched – it was a
plan to inflict violence upon the occupants of the car.
“The ferocity of the attack inflicted
on men who were helpless and trapped
in their car seats by a pack of men who
surrounded the car, the use of at least
two knives, the stab wounds to the
neck and torso, were all intended to kill
them.”
Wilding went on: “Each of these men
was there to play his part – some wielding the knives, others lent support by
their physical, intimidating presence
and others needed to drive to and from
the scene. Once the purpose had been
achieved they fled.
“They knew each other, they supported each other and they called upon
each other to group together and further their murderous plan that night.”
Carriere sold crack, heroin and cannabis in Leytonstone and was under
investigation by undercover Met police
officers.
When he died he had four packages
of crack and eight of heroin hidden in
his underwear and £700 cash in a man
bag.
Manful bought and sold second hand
cars as well as dealing in drugs. When
he died he had a lock knife hidden in his
boxer shorts.
Detective chief inspector Jamie Piscopo of the Homicide and Major Crime
Command said: “This was a vicious
and premeditated attack on two young
men.
“The four men that have been found
guilty worked as a team and lured Aaron
and Josiah to their death. Helpless and
trapped Aaron and Josiah did not stand
a chance as their car was surrounded
and a number of stab wounds were inflicted upon them.
“I hope that today’s convictions
bring some comfort to the families of
Aaron and Josiah.”
Campbell, 20 of Plaistow, Casey
Jones, 19 of Walthamstow, Alex Bernard, 21 of Leyton, and Omar Hassan,
21 of Leytonstone, were all found guilty
of two counts of murder.
Wail Alawi, 23, and Abraar Amin , 18,
both of Walthamstow and a 17-yearold who cannot be named because of
his young age, were cleared.
Hundreds gathered lastnight for an
emotional vigil at the spot where teenager Alan Cartwright died exactly one
week ago after being stabbed as he cycled with friends.
Family, friends and well-wishers
gathered outside the Cally Pool on Caledonian Road in Islington, where they
held a minute’s silence at the precise
time the 15-year-old was attacked.
Earlier this week police released footage of the moment Alan was stabbed in
the chest as he cycled along Caledonian
before collapsing a short distance away.
He was later pronounced dead at the
scene.
Islington MP Emily Thornberry, who
was among those to attend the candlelit
vigil, said she thought around 600 people came along to pay their respects.
She said the atmosphere was still
and quiet, save for a moment where the
large crowd rippled into applause after
Alan’s family laid a tribute at the spot
where he died in the street.
She told the Standard: “People just
don’t understand how this can be happening. We’ve had too many of these one after another and each time it just
hits the community really hard.”
Tonight’s vigil came as police charged
a man with Alan’s murder.
Joshua Williams, 18, of Davenant
Road, Islington, is set to appear at
Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court
tomorrow accused of murder and conspiracy to rob.
Three other teenagers have been arrested as part of Scotland Yard’s investigation.
An 18-year-old man remains in custody after a warrant of further detention was granted, the force said.
A 17-year-old boy and a 21-year-old
man have been bailed.
Gulf Times
19
BRITAIN
Jihadi John’s sister
receiving threats
Since Emwazi’s secret has been
revealed his family has been facing a
threat
Evening Standard
London
A
sister of the Islamic State killer
known as Jihadi John is living in
fear after receiving threats over his
brutal murders, the Standard has learned.
Shayma Emwazi, 23, has received abusive messages on social media forcing her
to close her Facebook account, a friend
revealed.
Executioner Mohamed Emwazi’s family, now living under police protection at
a secret address, is said to be in shock after fleeing their west London home when
his identity was revealed two weeks ago.
Relatives including his mother, brother
and three of his sisters, are being guarded
round the clock by armed officers at a reported cost of £5,000 a day.
The friend, who attended Quintin Kynaston academy, the St John’s Wood
school also attended by Emwazi and his
brothers and sisters, described Shayma
as a normal girl, who had been shocked
by the news of her terrorist brother. The
friend, who did not want to be named, told
the Standard: “They are struggling to live
a normal life.
“Shayma came back from holiday not
too long ago to all of this drama which occurred overnight. She does not deserve to
be blamed for her brother’s evil actions.
“The only thing she and Mohamed have
Mohammed Emwazi was named as the
man known as Jihadi John.
in common is that they are blood, but she
is not a terrorist.”
The friend described how a close circle
of friends had been supporting Shayma,
a student, by explaining to other Facebook users that she is not to blame for her
brother’s actions.
She said: “She’s stressed because people
were blaming her for her brother’s actions,
so she removed her account. It’s a shame
I feel sorry for her. Friends have been telling people on Facebook to stop blaming
her for Mohamed’s actions, she’s not accountable.”
The friend said she believed Emwazi had
been radicalised by the “people he chose to
hang out with. That’s what changed him”.
She added: “I feel really sorry for Shayma because she just wants to live her life
without being attacked for the stigma of
her brother’s actions. He is not normal but
his family are.”
The friend said that at school Shayma
“was in no way an extremist, she was cool,
she would hang out with boys and girls and
although she was Muslim and wore a scarf
she wasn’t in any way extremist.
“Shayma wore normal clothes. She
didn’t stand out from anyone else in an
abnormal or weird way. She had normal
arguments and wasn’t too loud quiet or
told she was just normal. She was bubbly
and down to earth and always smiling. Her
younger brother Omar sometimes got into
fights at school and was a bit of a joker, he
was a normal lad, he was short and wasn’t
someone I would be afraid of.”
It came as Channel 4 showed a video of
Emwazi playing football at Quintin Kynaston Academy.
The terrorist dubbed Jihadi John was
barred from entering Tanzania in 2009
because he was “very drunk” rather than
due to security fears, it has been revealed.
Emwazi, recently identified as the
masked Islamic State fighter who has appeared in a series of beheading videos, was
stopped at the airport in Dar-es-Salaam
by border officials.
The west Londoner was reportedly told
that the British government could have
been behind the refusal to let him enter
the country after a tip-off from security
services.
But officials in Tanzania have said he
and two friends were stopped for being
drunk and disorderly, according to reports
in The Times.
Tanzania’s home affairs minister
Mathias Chikawe said: “They were refused entry because they disembarked
from the plane very drunk.
“They were insulting our immigration staff and other people.”
He added: “There was no information
from anywhere that they were criminal
suspects.”
The trio were held at a police station
overnight and put on a flight to Amsterdam the next day, where Emwazi
claimed he was questioned by “Nick,
from MI5”, the newspaper reported.
One of the group was reportedly fellow Briton Ali Adorus, who is currently
being held in an Ethiopian prison after
being convicted of terror offences.
Advocacy group Cage recently released an audio recording of an interview they claimed to be with Emwazi in
which he said he was threatened by the
agent during questioning at Schipol airport in Amsterdam.
He said the agent had tried to “put
words in my mouth”, adding: “’We are
going to keep a close eye on you, Mohammed. We already have been and we
are going to keep a close eye on you’ threatening me.”
Emwazi claimed the agent accused
him of trying to reach Somalia for terrorism training when he had tried to
head to Tanzania - something he denied, insisting he was going on a safari
trip.
Sinn Fein meet
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams listens to a speech at his party’s annual conference in the Millenium Forum centre in Londonderry City, Northern Ireland yesterday.
Families of
vulnerable
youth urged
to speak up
Evening Standard
London
A
senior counter-terrorism officer is issuing a
new plea to families of
young women who they fear
are at risk of joining Islamic
State fanatics in Syria.
Deputy assistant commissioner Helen Ball, the senior
national coordinator for counter-terrorism, said there was
increasing concern about the
number of young women who
had travelled, or were intending to travel.
She joined community leaders to urge families to come
forward to report concerns so
that the authorities can act to
prevent “tragedies”.
Her plea came after three
London girls sparked an international search last month as
they travelled to Syria to become brides for jihadi fighters.
Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza
Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old
Amira Abase left their homes
in Bethnal Green and are
thought to have been taken
across the Turkish border by
people smugglers. They have
not been heard of since.
Ball said later that around
60 women are believed to have
travelled to Syria from Britain
to join the jihadists. At least
18 were teenagers. Today in a
statement issued by the senior
officer and “partners and community leaders” she said: “We
are increasingly concerned
about the numbers of young
women who have, or are intending to travel to Syria. It is
an extremely dangerous place
and the reality of the lifestyle
they are greeted with is far
from that promoted online by
foreign terrorist groups.
“The option of returning
home is often taken away from
them, leaving families at home
devastated and with very few
options to secure a safe return
for their loved one. We want to
increase their confidence in the
police and partners to encourage them to come forward at
the earliest opportunity so that
we can intervene and help.”
Ball, who is to host a webchat
today, declared in a joint resolution: “We reject the degrading treatment of women by terrorist organisations. We seek to
prevent the tragedies caused
by it.” She urged those concerned about loved ones to call
101 which has trained advisers.
British police yesterday denied accusations that they had
failed to pass on crucial information that could have allowed families to stop the three
teenage girls from travelling to
Amira Abase
Syria to join Islamic State militants.
Police officers had spoken to
the girls in the weeks preceding
their departure as part of an
investigation into the disappearance of one of their school
friends, an unnamed 15-yearold girl, who had left for Syria
on December 6.
“The teenagers were all being cooperative, they were all
being treated as potential witnesses and there was nothing
whatsoever to indicate that
they themselves were planning
to travel to Syria,” the police
said in a statement.
Several relatives of the girls
have complained to British
media in the past two days that
they had not been told about
the first girl who had gone to
Syria.
“The police neglected
us, the school neglected
us. It would have definitely
alarmed me ... 100% I would
have stopped her. They did
not warn us, they did not
contact us at all,” Hussen
Abase, father of Amira, told
the Guardian newspaper.
Relatives complained in
particular that police had
handed the girls letters, intended for their parents,
requesting that the girls
continue to cooperate with
the investigation into their
friend’s departure for Syria.
Instead of handing them
to their parents, the three
girls hid the letters in school
textbooks. The letters were
found after they had absconded.
“With the benefit of hindsight, we acknowledge that
the letters could have been
delivered direct to the parents. However, the parents
were already aware ... that
Girl 1 had travelled to Syria,”
the police said.
They said that after an
officer spoke to the girls at
their school on December
9, the deputy head teacher
contacted their families on
police advice to let them
know what was going on.
‘Insane crush’ but TfL insist it’s ‘nothing unsual’
Evening Standard
London
P
ictures of an “insane” scrum of
passengers at Oxford Circus station are proof of the desperate
need to upgrade the transport network,
Tube bosses admitted yesterday.
Extraordinary images were captured
last night as more than a thousand passengers were locked out of the station
by staff trying to prevent dangerous
overcrowding on platforms after a Victoria line train broke down.
Transport for London was forced to
backtrack after a spokesman said the
situation was “nothing out of the ordinary”. As the scale of the chaos became
clear, a senior official issued a public
apology for the overcrowding.
The station - normally the fourth
busiest in the capital with around
125,000 passengers a day - is under extra pressure because Central line trains
are not stopping at Tottenham Court
Road during Crossrail construction
work.
Scuffles broke out as passengers were
crammed together on pavements. Dr
Glenys Jones, 34, a nutritionist based
in Portland Place, said: “It was like the
first day of the Harrods sales.
“All four entrances were closed and
about 300 people were queuing at each.
Thousands of commuters at Oxford Circus.
A Tube must have come in at one point,
so a gap appeared. Those at the front of
the queue got agitated because people
were pushing in from the sides. There
was a lot of pushing and shoving.”
Civil servant James Clements, 32,
from Brixton, said: “If you aren’t here
before 6pm forget about it, you’re going to have to wait. It makes me angry
because of the rising fares and yet we
are penned in like cattle.”
Danielle Couchman, 27, a voice-over
artist for ITVBe, who was travelling
home to Hackney after a recording session with Calvin Harris in Soho, said:
“I’ve never seen it this bad before.”
A security guard working at a store
opposite said: “It was absolutely insane and all because of a train breaking
down. It goes to show the system is at
breaking point.
“These crowds looked dangerous
and it’s almost as bad every night of the
week now. People get angry and people
are pushing and shoving to get space
and occasionally fights break out.”
One Tube worker told the Standard
the station was temporarily shut at rush
hour almost every day to alleviate “very
high levels of overcrowding.”
It came two days after widespread
disruption at London Bridge caused
badly-delayed train passengers to hurdle and crawl under barriers to escape a
crush, prompting demands for an investigation.
TfL sources insist the situation at
Oxford Circus “isn’t London Bridge”
and highlighted the desperate need for
Crossrail, which is due to open in 2018.
One said: “The place is so crowded that
one defective [Tube] train will cause the
gates to be shut.”
TfL operations director Peter McNaught said: “Due to the vast crowds
that often visit the West End we sometimes have to temporarily close the station to ensure customer safety and prevent overcrowding on the platforms.
“We are sorry to those who got
caught up or delayed, TfL is expanding
Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street
stations in order to meet demand. In
addition, the opening of Crossrail will
mean vital new capacity through central London.”
Terrified commuters on a Jubilee
Line train called police during the rush
hour this morning after reportedly seeing a man armed with a knife.
Officers were called to Canary Wharf
station just before 9am after passengers on the Tube reported the alleged
offender.
Despite the scare, which caused
significant delays to trains on the line
between London Bridge and Stratford,
police did not track down their suspect.
The man was also allegedly seen on
board a Central Line train.
A British Transport Police spokesman said: “Officers were alerted to reports of a man carrying a knife on board
a Central line train service on Friday, 6
March, shortly before 9am.
“The man is thought to have travelled on a Jubilee line service to Canary
Wharf . Officers searched a train at
Canary Wharf, but no one was found
matching the description.”
A spokesman for Transport for London tweeted: “No service between
Stratford and London Bridge and minor
delays on the rest of the line while the
police carry out an investigation.”
Transport for London says it expects to run a “good service” during a
planned Tube strike set to run until today morning.
Members of the RMT union will walk
as part of a row over the sacking of a
Northern Line driver for failing two
breath alcohol tests.
The union claims the type of breathalyser used does not account for people
with diabetes - but London Under-
ground bosses say the driver was dismissed for failing two random breath
tests which were not affected by the
condition.
TfL said: “We intend to run a good
service on all lines but there is a small
chance of some disruption on some
lines.”
The DLR, London Overground and
National Rail services are expected to
run as normal, with disruption limited
to London Underground lines.
Nick Brown, LU’s chief operating officer, said the strike was “indefensible”,
adding: “We will not be swayed by it as
we will never compromise on the safety
of our customers and staff.
“You wouldn’t let someone who had
been drinking alcohol drive your family in a car, and we don’t let people who
have been drinking alcohol drive people’s families in Tube trains.”
John Leach, the union’s London regional organiser, said: “LU seem more
concerned with defending their flawed
policy than they are in treating fairly
someone with an unblemished 29-year
record.
“The type of machine used to test
employees has been known to fail, indeed a failure was recorded last year
at Acton depot when a manager tested
positive, but the machine was deemed
to be faulty. It is LU directors who are
defending the indefensible.”
20
Gulf Times
EUROPE
Germany downplays report of rift with Nato over Breedlove comments
Reuters
Berlin/Riga
G
erman Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
has downplayed a magazine report yesterday of tensions
with Nato over hawkish comments about Ukraine made by the
Western alliance’s supreme allied
commander.
Der Spiegel news magazine said
an official in Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s offices had complained
of Air Force General Philip Breedlove’s “dangerous propaganda”
over Ukraine and that Steinmeier
had talked to the Nato secretary
general about him.
“It’s true that I asked in two
instances, in which the information we had from our sources was
not entirely consistent with the
information that came from the
United States or Nato,” Steinmeier said at a European Union
foreign ministers meeting.
“But I also say that we have no
interest in any dispute emerging
from this,” he said at the meeting
in Riga. “We have to see that we
stay closely together, also in the
question of assessment of risk,
and not differ in our advice.”
Der Spiegel said that German
government officials were surprised when Breedlove said on
February 25 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “upped
the ante” in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
“What is clear is that right now
it is not getting better. It is getting worse every day,” Breedlove
said in Washington.
German officials said information from their BND intelligence
agency and other sources was
that a ceasefire agreed in Minsk
was shaky but holding.
The battles between the
Ukraine army and pro-Russian
separatists had mostly halted and
heavy weapons were being withdrawn.
When asked about the Der
Spiegel report, Breedlove said in a
statement: “It is my responsibility as the commander of Nato’s
military forces to deliver clear
assessments regarding potential
threats in our periphery.
“Sometimes realities on the
ground are unwelcome and sobering. But public communication has been critical during the
Ukraine crisis, because Russia
has embarked on a deliberate
strategy to confuse using disinformation and propaganda.”
Breedlove said much of his in-
Rebels report
heavy weapons
pullback done
AFP
Snizhne, Ukraine
P
Militants of the self-proclaimed ‘People’s Republic of Donetsk’ unload
120mm mortars from a truck, in a hangar in Snizhne, east of Donetsk.
ro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine claimed yesterday to have completed
their end of a February deal with
government forces to withdraw
heavy weapons from the frontline as part of a truce.
“Today is the last day of the
weapons withdrawal,” Eduard
Basurin, one of the rebel leaders told reporters in the town of
Snizhne, where the separatists
presented eight 120mm mortars
that had been moved back from
their positions.
Watched by six international
monitors, the separatists towed
the arms to a disused brick factory serving as an arms depot,
about 90km (55 miles) from the
rebel hub of Donetsk.
Basurin said the separatists
were withdrawing a total of 26
mortars.
“They will be stored with the
rest of the military hardware,” he
said.
An AFP journalist saw four
other artillery pieces inside the
Snizhne depot.
Under the terms of the European-brokered truce signed in
the Belarussian capital Minsk
on February 12, both sides to
Ukraine’s fratricidal 11-month
conflict must move their artillery back far enough to create a
buffer zone of between 50km and
140km, depending on the weapons’ range.
Alexander
Zakharchenko,
the head of the self-proclaimed
“Donetsk People’s Republic”, ac-
Women operating in combat battalions of the self-proclaimed ‘People Republic of Donetsk’ wave as they
pose for photographers after taking part in a fashion show during a function yesterday in Donetsk ahead
of International Women’s Day which falls on March 8, today. Women fighting with pro-Russian rebels in
eastern Ukraine received flowers and gifts after taking part in a short ‘fashion show’.
cused Ukraine’s government of
failing to live up to its side of the
agreement.
“We have fully removed heavy
weapons from the line of contact.
Ukraine has not yet done it,” he
told the separatist news agency
DAN.
Zakharchenko threatened to
return the arms to their positions
if Kiev did not match the de-escalation.
Army spokesman Anatoliy
Stelmakh told AFP that Kiev
was continuing to withdraw its
220mm Uragan rocket launchers
from the conflict zone, having
already moved back its smaller
Grad missile launchers.
“The process is ongoing,” he
said.
Questioned about the rebels’
claim to be first to the finish line,
another military spokesman said
that Kiev had “no information”.
“The international observers
have not yet confirmed that to
us,” Andriy Lysenko said.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE), which is monitoring the
truce and weapons withdrawal,
has recorded movements on both
sides over the past two weeks but
said that without full access to
the rivals’ inventories it cannot
confirm how many arms remain
on the battlefield.
Speaking in the Latvian capital Riga where he was attending
an EU foreign ministers meeting, OSCE Secretary General
Lamberto Zannier told AFP there
were still areas that the monitors
“simply can’t reach”.
Russia and Germany have
called for the OSCE mission to be
more than doubled in strength,
from its current tally of 452 to
1,000.
German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who
was also in Riga, said that he had
received assurances from his
Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Moscow was committed
to ensuring the OSCE had “guaranteed unlimited access” (see
accompanying report).
Each side to the conflict, which
has claimed more than 6,000
lives since the separatists took up
arms against Kiev last year, has
accused the other of continuing
sporadic attacks.
But in the past two weeks the
truce has appeared to be largely
holding.
Lysenko said yesterday that
the government’s positions had
been shelled 14 times by the
rebels over the past 24 hours near
Avdiyivka, north of Donetsk.
But he said he had good news
to report: “For the first time over
the past few months” no Ukrainian soldier was killed or injured
by rebel fire.
formation comes from military
and civilian experts from 33 Nato
member and partner nations.
He said Nato’s assessments are
shared and intelligence agencies
are encouraged to offer alternative analysis.
“So it is to be expected that
these assessments do not always
exactly match the assessments of
individual nations. However, the
overall conclusions generated by
military analysts from Nato and
from individual nations share a
great deal of common ground.
It is normal that not everyone
agrees with the assessments that
I provide.”
This February 7 file picture shows General Breedlove with then US
defence secretary Chuck Hagel at the Nato headquarters in Brussels.
Steinmeier: Russia
backs OSCE unlimited
access in east Ukraine
AFP
Riga
R
ussia has agreed the OSCE
should have unlimited access to monitor the latest
ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, including the withdrawal of heavy
weapons, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
said yesterday.
Steinmeier and his Russian
counterpart Sergei Lavrov had on
Friday called “on the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to make a
quick decision on extending the
mandate of its special monitoring mission and ramping up its
size to 1,000 observers” from the
current 452.
“The crucial question is of
course that the OSCE gets access
there where it was denied access
in the past,” Steinmeier said after
an EU foreign ministers meeting
in the Latvian capital Riga.
“Yesterday in the talks in Ber-
lin and as well as between President Vladimir Putin and German
Chancellor (Angela Merkel) we
got the assurance at least from
the Russian side that the OSCE
should be guaranteed unlimited
access,” he added.
OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said on Friday that
the group was still being denied
full access to monitor the truce.
“There are areas which we
simply can’t reach,” Zannier told
AFP in Riga where he attended
the EU foreign ministers meeting.
Steinmeier said he had later
checked with Lavrov that the
OSCE would also be allowed full
access to verify the complete
withdrawal of heavy weapons, a
key provision in the February 12
Minsk accord brokered by France
and Germany with Russia and
Ukraine.
“The OSCE will in the future
not only observe the pull-back
of heavy weapons but verify as
well at which places these heavy
Steinmeier: we got the
assurance at least from the
Russian side that the OSCE
should be guaranteed unlimited
access.
weapons are pulled back to,” he
said. “This would be decisive
progress with a view to the security situation.”
Checking both the withdrawal
start-point and then the later
disposition of heavy weapons
should remove suspicions that
they are only being moved for
show.
The February 12 ceasefire accord has so far held much better
than a September agreement but
the situation remains fragile and
Kiev and the pro-Russian rebels
in the east are deeply suspicious
of each other.
Alarm
Little appetite at EU
on media for more sanctions
freedom
in Crimea
Reuters
Riga
AFP
Vienna
T
he media freedom situation in Crimea is getting
ever worse with a “deeply
disturbing” and at times violent crackdown on independent
voices a year after Russia’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula, the OSCE said.
“The continuous dismantling
of free media in Crimea and the
crackdown on independent and
critical voices is deeply disturbing and worrying,” said Dunja
Mijatovic, media freedom representative at the Organisation
for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE).
“Truth is the first casualty in
times of crisis and this certainly applies for Crimea. I call on
those responsible to stop media
censorship and to ensure journalist’ safety,” Mijatovic said in a
statement.
Mijatovic, who visited Crimea
in March 2014, said that in the
past year since Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory,
all Ukrainian television channels
have been blocked and replaced
with channels originating in
Russia.
At least 13 independent media
outlets, freelance journalists and
bloggers have been “threatened,
assaulted, physically attacked,
banned from entry, interrogated
and kidnapped” and their equipment confiscated or damaged,
Mijatovic said.
The premises of at least six
media outlets and media NGOs
have been raided, she added.
E
U foreign ministers showed
little appetite yesterday for
stepping up pressure on
Russia over Ukraine, preferring
to give a fragile ceasefire a chance
before deciding whether to apply
more sanctions or even to extend
existing ones.
Most ministers at an EU meeting in the Latvian capital pinned
their hopes on the latest Minsk
agreement succeeding and said
that the EU should only consider tightening sanctions if the
ceasefire was seriously violated,
such as by a separatist offensive
on the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
Both Kiev and pro-Russia separatists have accused each other
of violence since last month’s
peace accord called for heavy
weapons to be withdrawn from
the frontline in east Ukraine.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo
Gentiloni saw “encouraging signals” on the ground in eastern
Ukraine.
“At the moment we don’t need
either new sanctions or automatic renewals (of sanctions),”
he told reporters.
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz agreed.
“There is a glimpse of hope
since Minsk ... We should do
everything now to improve
the situation and decide later
whether that improvement really
happened and we can reduce the
sanctions, or if we have to extend
them,” he said.
The comments reflect divisions within the 28-nation EU
over sanctions on Russia, the
bloc’s biggest energy supplier.
While Britain, Poland and the
Baltic states take a tough line,
many other EU members, in-
cluding Italy, Austria and Cyprus, are sceptical about sanctions.
Alexis Tsipras’s election victory in Greece has strengthened
the dovish camp.
A key decision that the EU
must face soon is whether to extend economic sanctions against
Russia which it adopted for one
year last July. Unanimity is required to extend them.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday that
a debate was going on in the
EU, with some countries saying
the bloc should state now that
it would extend the economic
sanctions until the end of the
year.
“Others say it would be a bit
contradictory to say, on the one
hand, Minsk is being applied and
on the other hand we are going
to go (extend sanctions) until the
end of year,” Fabius told reporters
in Riga.
He said a decision on whether
to extend existing economic
sanctions on Russia could wait
until around July.
“If Minsk develops positively,
then it is likely that nothing new
will be done on sanctions,” he
said. If, on the other hand, there
were serious violations to Minsk,
sanctions remained available, he
said.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister
Linas Linkevicius, an EU hawk
on Russia, said on Friday that
extending sanctions to the end
of the year was “the least we can
do”.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said yesterday that
existing sanctions would probably be extended until year-end.
“What matters is that ... we
maintain unity within the EU,
and above all that we continue
to put on pressure so that things
change on the ground,” he said.
Spanish police arrest couple suspected of smuggling erection pills
Norwegian Air pilots continue strike after talks fail
Police in Spain said on Friday that they
arrested an Indian woman and a Pakistani man
suspected of peddling hundreds of thousands
of illegal erectile dysfunction pills across
Europe.
The couple are suspected of receiving
the drugs by post from India, police in the
northeastern Catalonia region said in a
statement.
Officers arrested the two on February 24
in Premia de Mar, a coastal town north of
Barcelona.
Norwegian Air Shuttle pilots will continue to strike
after overnight talks on a new collective labour
agreement with a state mediator broke down, the
airline said.
Norwegian, Europe’s third-biggest budget carrier,
said it would cancel all domestic flights in Norway
and Sweden and most flights between Scandinavian
capitals, leaving around 20,000 passengers
stranded as the strike entered its eighth day.
“The parties said that they could not change their
positions and intermediate solutions were not
acceptable,” the state mediator said. “The (mediator)
They are accused of trafficking illegal medicine
and belonging to a criminal organisation.
“They were selling more than 150,000 pills
a month,” which they received in parcels
from India, “a country with a tradition of
manufacturing illegal medicines for Europe”,
the statement added.
The racket had been operating since 2012 and
last year alone they dispatched 2,900 parcels
to customers around Europe, but mostly in
Germany.
Police investigated after a post office reported
finding a punctured parcel containing a large
number of erectile dysfunction pills.
It was addressed to a mobile phone accessory
shop that the couple are suspected of running
as a front.
Police raided the shop and the couple’s home.
They intercepted 65 parcels addressed to
countries across Europe and seized more than
400,000 pills total.
A judge identified the 53-year-old man as the
suspected leader of the racket and remanded
him in custody, the statement added.
concluded that further mediation was not likely to
lead to an acceptable settlement.”
The main point of contention is that the airline’s 650
Scandinavian pilots want a collective agreement with
the parent group instead of the current deal with its
Norwegian Air Norway subsidiary.
The firm has rejected these demands and has
instead offered to employ pilots through separate
local subsidiaries in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
The airline invited the Norwegian Pilot Union and
labour group Parat for talks yesterday but it was not
immediately clear when the sides would meet again.
Gulf Times
21
EUROPE
Two arrests over
Nemtsov killing
AFP
Moscow
R
ussia said yesterday that
it had arrested two men
suspected of killing opposition activist Boris Nemtsov,
who was gunned down near the
Kremlin in a brazen assassination
that shocked the country.
The arrests come a week after
the long-time critic of President
Vladimir Putin was shot four
times in the back as he strolled
with his girlfriend along a bridge
in the heart of the capital, in full
view of the presidency and tourist sites such as Red Square.
“Two men suspected of committing this crime were arrested
today. They are Anzor Gubashev
and Zaur Dadayev, and the head
of state has been informed,” the
head of the FSB federal security
service Alexander Bortnikov told
state television.
He said that the two men were
from the North Caucasus region,
where Russia has fought two devastating wars against Chechen
rebels and where security forces,
often accused of committing human rights abuse, continue to
clash with Islamist insurgents.
A spokesman for the powerful Investigative Committee,
Vladimir Markin, told Interfax
news agency that the men were
suspected of having been “involved in the organisation and
execution of Nemtsov”.
However he added investigations were ongoing to find others
“involved to varying degrees in
the crime”.
The latest killing of a highprofile government critic under
Putin’s rule prompted an outpouring of international condemnation and stunned opposition activists, who blame the
Kremlin for using state media
to whip up hysteria against socalled “traitors”.
The 55-year-old, an anti-corruption crusader who served as
Boris Yeltsin’s first deputy prime
minister in the 1990s and until
Putin’s rise was seen as a potential president, died two days before he was to lead a major rally
Burger hot on heels
of baguette in France
AFP
Paris
I
t’s enough to make any selfrespecting French gourmet
spit out his lunch with disgust: a new report published
this week showed the French
are chomping nearly as many
burgers as their cherished ham
baguette.
The “jambon beurre” (ham
and butter), a staple of the
French diet for centuries, is fast
losing ground in the fast-food
market to the burger, according
to the report by food marketing
group Gira Conseil.
The ham sandwich is still
selling like hot cakes – with
1.28bn guzzled last year.
But the burger is catching
up, with 1.07bn eaten last year,
a rise of 10% compared to the
previous year.
If the current trend continues, it will soon be the most
popular sandwich as consumption of the “jambon beurre”
was up only 3% this year.
The burger is now “one meal
in four” in France’s fast-food
restaurant landscape, said Gira
Conseil.
“Burger-mania is far from
being over in France,” added
Gira Conseil boss Bernard
Boutboul.
US fast-food chain McDonald’s has tasted significant
commercial success in France
and rival Burger King has begun to open a few restaurants
in Paris.
Judging by the long queues
outside one of the Burger King
restaurants at the busy Saint
Lazare station in Paris, the
French appetite for burgers remains unsatisfied.
With inflation low in France
at the moment, the price of the
ham sandwich was relatively
stable last year, rising by a mere
1.05% to an average of €2.74
($3.02).
Unsurprisingly, the French
capital is the most expensive
place to munch a ham sandwich, with the average baguette weighing in at €3.18.
The ports of Sete in the
south of France and Dieppe in
the north are the cheapest, at
an average of €2.36.
against the government.
The protest march – called to
denounce Russia’s policies in the
Ukraine war – instead became
a memorial for Nemtsov, with
tens of thousands swarming the
streets of Moscow in the largest opposition gathering since a
wave of anti-Kremlin protests in
2011-12.
Putin, whose rule has seen the
steady suppression of independent media and opposition parties, promised an all-out effort to
catch those responsible for an act
which he called a “provocation”.
Russian news agencies reported that the men were being held
in the high-security Lefortovo
prison in Moscow, and would appear in court by tomorrow at the
latest to determine whether they
should remain in custody.
Nemtsov’s Ukrainian girlfriend Anna Duritskaya, the sole
witness to the murder, returned
to Kiev after the killing.
Her lawyer Vadim Prokhorov
told Kommersant radio that he
was unsure whether she would be
summoned back to Moscow after
the arrests but was “ready to cooperate” with investigators.
Theories
have
proliferated since the killing over why
Nemtsov was targeted.
Russian opposition activist
Alexei Navalny – who was released from a two-week stint in
jail on Friday for organising the
initial anti-government rally –
accused “the country’s political
leadership” of ordering a hit on
Nemtsov.
Friends said that Nemtsov
had been working on a report
containing what he described
as proof of Russian military involvement in the bloody uprising
by pro-Moscow militias in eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, investigators suggested that the killers wanted to
destabilise Russia, which is facing its worst stand-off with the
West since the Cold War over
Ukraine.
Putin’s allies also hinted at a
Western plot.
But they were also probing the
possibility that he was assassinated for criticising Russia’s
the investigators “should work in
this direction”, referring to finding others who may have been
involved in organising the assassination.
A fellow opposition activist,
Ilya Yashin, welcomed the development but called for more
information on the men’s identities.
“We hope the arrest ... is not an
error but the result of good work
by security forces, but for now it
is hard to say,” Yashin told Interfax news agency. “Quite frankly
the execution of the investigation
had not inspired any optimism,
P
Francis: has given permission for Archbishop Antonio Mennini to be
interviewed by a parliamentary commission.
Paul VI made a personal appeal to the kidnappers on April
23, saying that “I pray to you on
my knees, liberate Aldo Moro”
but the latter was found dead
in the boot of a car in a Rome
backstreet after two months in
captivity.
Fabio Fabbri, former deputyhead of Italy’s prison chaplains,
in 2012 told a trial investigating
alleged dealings between the
state and the mafia that he had
seen Paul VI with “a mountain
of money... ready to ransom
Aldo Moro”.
Giuseppe Fioroni, head of the
parliamentary commission into
Moro’s death, holds high hopes
of Mennini’s testimony, describing him as “the man closest spiritually to Aldo Moro”, the
Corriere said.
“There are so many points he
will be able to address: his role,
his contacts, the enormous effort made by Paul VI to launch
negotiations to restore an alive
Moro to his country and family,
and why this effort was unsuccessful,” he said.
Moro’s murder has attracted
numerous conspiracy theories.
He was snatched on his way
to parliament, where his plan
for a highly-contested “historic compromise” which would
bring together the Christian
Democrats and Italy’s Communist Party was about to be realised.
Then prime minister Giulio
Andreotti was blamed for refusing to negotiate with the kidnappers.
Some critics have accused
him of secretly welcoming the
elimination of his political rival.
Conspiracy theorists on the
Italian left point the finger instead at outside involvement
from the CIA, while those on
the right say the Soviets were
behind it.
Dutch ‘luxury’ cell
prisoners lose case
AFP
The Hague
A
Dutch court has ruled
that long-term prisoners who currently enjoy
countryside views and cook
their own food must vacate
their “luxury” cells to make
way for Norwegian convicts.
The Dutch prisoners, all
serving 10 years to life, have
sued the government after
plans surfaced of a multimillion euro deal with Oslo to
transfer 242 Norwegian prisoners to the Netherlands.
“The long-term prisoners
have to move out,” The Hague’s
district court said in a statement after 18 inmates took the
Justice Department to court to
try to stop the deal.
The inmates at the Norgerhaven prison near Assen in
the northern Netherlands said
they will have to forfeit the
privileges of long-term prisoners if they are transferred.
Relatives of the Norwegian
inmates are also angry at the
deal which will see the detainees transferred to another
country hundreds of kilometres away.
Dutch deputy justice minister Fred Teeven on Monday
signed a €25mn deal with Oslo
to hire out empty Dutch prisons to help alleviate waiting
but the fact that there have been
arrests inspires some optimism.”
Nemtsov, a charismatic orator
who was one of the last outspoken opponents to Putin, was a
key speaker at mass opposition
rallies against Putin’s return to
the Kremlin in 2012.
He wrote several reports critical of corruption and misspending under Putin.
In 2013, he said up to $30bn of
the estimated $50bn earmarked
for Russia’s hosting of the Winter Olympics in Sochi had gone
missing.
The Kremlin denied this.
Germany caps
sharp rent rises
A man sells balloons at Monastiraki Square in Athens yesterday. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has requested a meeting with
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, a government source said on Friday, after Athens got no help from the European
Central Bank to address a cash squeeze.
AFP
Rome
before the new commission investigating the murder, it said.
The Vatican would neither
confirm nor deny the report.
The Pope, who has promised
greater transparency from an
institution famed for secrecy,
may be hoping not only to throw
light on an event that scarred
the national psyche but highlight the Vatican’s bid to save
Moro.
The Red Brigades abducted
the Christian Democrat on
March 16, 1978, killing his five
bodyguards.
role in the Ukraine conflict or his
condemnation of January’s killings at the Charlie Hebdo satirical
weekly in Paris by Islamist gunmen.
The former head of the FSB
– the successor to the Sovietera KGB – and now lawmaker
Nikolay Kovalev earlier told the
RIA Novosti agency that initial
information showed the two arrested were merely paid hitmen.
Former prime minister turned
opposition leader Mikhail Kasyanov said that he was pleased
with the news that arrests had
been made and told Interfax that
Making do with air and sunshine
Pope helps shed light on
notorious Italy murder
ope Francis is breaking
decades of Vatican silence to help Italy shed
light on one of its most notorious crimes, the 1970’s murder
of former premier Aldo Moro,
the Corriere della Sera daily said
yesterday.
Francis has given permission for Archbishop Antonio
Mennini to be interviewed by a
parliamentary commission, 37
years after Moro was kidnapped
and killed by the Red Brigades, a
leftist Italian militant group.
Mennini is reported to have
heard Moro’s final confession
and served as a go-between between the militants and Pope
Paul VI, who is believed to have
attempted to buy the former
prime minister’s release.
Francesco Cossiga, president of Italy from 1985 to 1992,
confessed before he died that
“Mennini managed to reach
Aldo Moro in the Red Brigades’
den and we did not find out
about it”, the Italian daily said.
The Holy See’s ambassador
to Britain, Mennini has been
shielded from prior investigations due to diplomatic immunity, but will go tomorrow
Flowers are seen yesterday at the site where Nemtsov was killed on February 27, at the Great
Moskvoretsky Bridge as cars drive along the Moskva river embankment near the walls of the Kremlin, in
central Moscow.
times in Norway to serve prison sentences.
The prisoners at Norgerhaven’s “K section” however
opposed the deal, saying that
it would rob them of their current privileges.
Inmates are allowed to
grow vegetables, keep chickens, cook their own food, all
this with a view on the scenic
Dutch countryside, and have a
generous daily exercise regime.
Dutch media have labelled
them “luxury cells”.
The prisoners also enjoy
their own “hobby space”, can
choose what colour to paint
a wall of their cells and have
private 55-channel television,
Dutch media reported.
“The ... judge is of the opinion that the hiring out of the
Norgerhaven prison to Norwegian authorities to house Norwegian prisoners is not unlawful,” the court said.
The judge however ruled
that the state “had to present
the plaintiffs with an adequate
alternative”.
The Netherlands has predicted that around 700 of its
prison cells will become vacant
over the next five years and has
housed 550 Belgian convicts
in southern city Tilburg since
February 2010.
The Netherlands-Norway
deal still needs to be approved
by the countries’ parliaments.
Germany’s lower house of
parliament has passed a law to
limit rent rises in metropolitan
areas to 10% above local
averages when properties
change hands, in a bid to stop
tenants being priced out of the
market.
Rents have shot up by as much
as 40% since 2007 in cities such
as Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and
Frankfurt.
The rises have had a particularly
big impact in Germany where
nearly half the population lives in
rented accommodation.
Home ownership at just 46% is
the second lowest in Europe after
Switzerland.
“It’s a good day for the German
tenant,” said Justice Minister
Heiko Mass, a Social Democrat.
Around 5mn properties will be
affected by the new rules, he said.
The rent cap was originally
proposed by the centre-left
Social Democrats before the
2013 election and later adopted
by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
conservatives.
The new law will only apply to
areas where the housing market
is particularly tight.
In addition, landlords or the
person who engages the broker
will have to pay the broker’s
fee rather than the tenant – a
charge sometimes as high as two
months’ rent.
German real estate company
Deutsche Wohnen has criticised
the cap, saying that the new rules
will discourage investment and
exacerbate a housing shortage in
big cities.
95 families lose
home daily: data
Nearly 35,000 home foreclosures
were carried out last year in
Spain, or 95 each day, as families
struggled to make mortgage
payments despite a rebound
in the economy, official data
published on Thursday showed.
The number of foreclosures on
main residences increased by
7.4% over the previous year to
34,680, the National Statistics
Institute said.
The total number of foreclosures,
including holiday homes, offices
and farms, rose by 9.3% to 119,442
last year.
Home foreclosures have become
a stark symbol of an economic
crisis in Spain sparked by the
bursting of a decade-long
property bubble in 2008.
Citizens’ groups often rallying
outside homes to prevent
residents being evicted.
With Spain facing a string of
elections this year, starting with
a regional election in Andalucia
on March 22 and ending with
a general election expected
in November or December,
foreclosures are a hot topic.
Spain’s ruling conservatives
have touted that the crisis is
over and the eurozone’s fourthlargest economy is on the road
to recovery as it has enjoyed
modest but steady growth since
it emerging from recession in
mid-2013.
22
Gulf Times
INDIA
CONTROVERSY
POLITICS
PEOPLE
BANKING
POLICY
Petition filed against
Rajini, Lingaa producer
Hooda govt indulged in
discrimination: Khattar
Rajnath leaves hospital
after medical check-up
Foreign exchange
reserves up $3.88bn
Widen income tax
net: senior official
A film distributor has filed a petition against Tamil
superstar Rajinikanth and producer Rockline
Venkatesh of Lingaa in the Madras High Court
for causing a loss of Rs210mn to the government
exchequer. R Singaravadivelan of Marina
Pictures, who filed the petition, was one of the
distributors of Lingaa. “Only films with Tamil titles
are eligible for exemption of entertainment tax.
Lingaa is a Sanskrit word, but using Rajinikanth’s
influence, producer Venkatesh had got an
exemption from payment of entertainment tax,
Singaravadivelan said in his petition. He said this
has caused a loss of Rs210mn. The petition will
be heard on tomorrow.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar
yesterday said the previous Congress government
of Bhupinder Singh Hooda had adopted a pick-andchoose policy in the allocation of funds to various
districts during its 10-year tenure. Addressing the
media after releasing a report on the finances of
Haryana, Khattar said the Hooda government
clearly discriminated against majority of districts at
the cost of three districts - Rohtak (Hooda’s home
district), Jhajjar and Sonipat. “The maximum funds
raised under HRDF (Haryana Rural Development
Fund) between 2004-05 and 2013-14 were confined
to three districts for development whereas the rest
18 were totally ignored,” Khattar said.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh underwent a
check-up, including a cardiology test, at a Gurgaon
hospital yesterday, a doctor said. He was later
discharged. A senior home ministry official, who
did not wish to be named, said that Singh went to
the Medicity Medanta hospital for a “pre-scheduled
annual routine check-up.” He also said that the
check-up included a cardiac test. A doctor, however,
said Singh, 63, went to the hospital following chest
pain. An earlier report said that he was admitted
to the hospital. However, he was discharged after
a few hours. Rajnath Singh arrived at the hospital
around 9.15am and left at 1.20pm. Doctors treating
him refused to say anything about his condition.
India’s foreign exchange reserves increased
by $3.88bn to $338.07bn for the week ended
February 27, the Reserve Bank of India said. The
reserves had increased by $1.02bn to $334.19bn
in the previous week. According to the RBI’s
weekly statistical supplement, foreign currency
assets, the biggest component of the forex
reserves, rose $3.90bn at $312.20bn in the week.
The foreign currency assets had risen by $1.04bn
at $308.29bn in the previous week. The RBI said
the foreign currency assets, expressed in US
dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation
or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the
pound sterling, euro and yen held in reserve.
The ambit of income tax needs to be increased
to bring in more people within its fold besides
widening the scope of taxing the super-rich
category, according to a senior official. “I think the
tax base (in the country) should be increased,”
the Income Tax Department’s Principal Chief
Commissioner for West Bengal and Sikkim C L
Denzongpa said in Kolkata. He said only 3% of
India’s population of over 1.2bn is enrolled with
the income tax department of which half are
tax payers. “The super-rich tax also needs to be
widened,” he said. The budget for 2015-16 imposes
an additional 2% surcharge on tax for individuals
whose annual income is Rs10mn or more.
Mulayam
admitted to
hospital with
swine flu
IANS
Gurgaon/Lucknow
S
amajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is suffering from swine flu and
has been admitted to a private
hospital in Gurgaon, a doctor
said yesterday. His party, however, said there was no need to
worry.
Yadav was admitted to the
Medanta Medicity hospital in
Sector 38. A K Dubey, medical superintendent of the hospital,said:
“Mulayam Singh is responding
to the treatment. His parameters
are stable but we can’t say when
he will be discharged.”
A team of doctors headed by
Sushila Kataria is monitoring his
condition.Sources said Yadav
was brought to the hospital at
1.30am yesterday.
He is also undergoing tests
under the supervision of cardiologist Naresh Trehan, a party
spokesman said.
“Doctors have advised him
rest for three days and there is no
reason to worry over his health,”
Rajendra Chowdhary, party
spokesman and cabinet minister,
said in Lucknow.
Family sources said Yadav
complained of discomfort, high
fever and breathlessness for
most of the week. He was admitted to hospital as his condition
showed no improvement.
The family and close aides initially mistook it to be exhaustion
following a hectic month due to
the marriage of his grandnephew
and Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap,
and his preoccupation with the
budget session in parliament.
Yadav was unwell for the past
few days and on Wednesday
he was admitted to the Sanjay
Gandhi Post Graduate Institute
of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) in
Lucknow. Doctors suggested
tests, including that for swine
flu, a sources said.
He was discharged late Thursday on account of Holi but was
advised to “take complete rest,
not to mingle with crowds and to
take light food.”
His son and Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
said his father was recovering
“well.”
“Netaji has recovered well. I
thank you all for the good wishes
and blessings for his speedy recovery,” Yadav tweeted.
Congress president Sonia
Gandhi expressed concern over
his health wished him a speedy
recovery, a party statement said.
Party vice president Rahul Gandhi also conveyed his
best wishes to the former Uttar
Pradesh chief minister.
z Leading theatre personality and journalist Jitendra Raghvanshi has died of swine flu in a
Delhi hospital, family sources
said. He was 65.
Raghvanshi recently retired
as head of the foreign languages department of Dr Bhim Rao
Ambedkar University, formerly
Agra University.
He was suffering from swine
flu and was admitted to a Delhi
hospital when his condition
worsened.
Raghvanshi was a member of
the Communist Party of India
and had taken part in many protests of the party.
Hundreds of theatre workers from Agra and neighbouring
areas were groomed by him over
the years.
z Bollywood actress Sonam
Kapoor was yesterday discharged from a Mumbai hospital
after treatment for swine flu.
“Discharged!!!!!! Home sweet
home!!!” Kapoor tweeted.
The daughter of actor-producer Anil Kapoor on Thursday
informed fans through the micro-blogging platform that she
was doing “much better”.
She was shifted to Kokilaben
Hospital in Mumbai from Rajkot
on March 1. The actress went
for a checkup at a Rajkot hospital last week and was diagnosed
with swine flu.
Rain lashes New Delhi
Traffic moves at a snail’s pace after heavy rains lashed New Delhi yesterday. The sudden rain in the evening took residents by surprise.
I am being targeted by
AAP leaders: Mayank
Senior AAP leader expresses
apprehensions about the
party’s future
IANS
Mumbai
S
enior Aam Aadmi Party
leader Mayank Gandhi
yesterday said here he has
been targeted by some party
leaders for his March 5 statement
challenging a gag order and revealing the proceedings of the
AAP national executive meeting.
Gandhi claimed a ‘concerted
attempt’ is being made in the
social media to label him “antiparty and anti-AK (Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal)” and
reiterated his statement that a
price might have to be paid (by
him).
“A small group of party
Those criticising Teresa
stupid or envious: Archer
IANS
Kolkata
C
elebrated British author
Jeffrey Archer yesterday said anyone foolish enough to criticise Mother
Teresa was either “envious” or
“stupid.”
“I dismiss it,” Archer said referring to comments by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief
Mohan Bhagwat on the Nobel
laureate.
The best-selling author is in
India to launch his book Mightier Than The Sword, the fifth in
the Clifton Chronicle series of
books.
“I read that (report on comments) in England. It was all
reported in England. There
are many people who don’t
like Winston Churchill (Britain’s wartime prime minister),
many don’t like (former prime
minister) Margaret Thatcher. That is the deal, part of
the deal when you are aiming
for the very top,” he said.
The author of several books
including Not a Penny More,
Not a Penny Less and Kane and
Abel said he was “very flattered”
when Mother Teresa requested
him to set up a hostel for people
with Aids in London 20 years
ago.
Archer is scheduled to meet
Mother Teresa’s close associate and Missionaries of Charity
spokesperson Sunita Kumar. The
Charity is a congregation established by the Mother.
He also recalled his son’s connection with Mother Teresa.
“When my son was at university he decided to do a year
of service before he did a job
and he came here (to Kolkata)
and worked for Mother Teresa ,”
Archer said, adding the Kumars
are “dear friends.”
Archer also said the ban on
airing of the BBC documentary
on the December 16, 2012 gangrape was not good in a democratic country like India.
“It is not a good thing in a de-
mocracy (to ban) and things have
changed so much...,” Archer
said.
Referring to the liberalisation
of women in modern India, he
said it came down to what the
present generation felt on the
ban.
“Its much more what you
think. It’s your country and if
you feel strongly you must make
a protest,” he said.
“Basically if you ban something, everybody wants to see it.
I wish they would ban my book
because then everybody wants
to have it,” he said, adding he has
not seen the controversial documentary India’s Daughter.
The documentary by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin has
triggered an uproar over the interview of Mukesh Singh, one
of the six convicts of the gangrape.
Mukesh Singh, in the documentary, has blamed the
23-year-old paramedical student for the fatal sexual assault
on her.
decision-makers in Delhi has
already removed me from an
informal group. Attacks have
begun against me from AAP
leader Ashish Khetan and others. Some dissatisfied members
from Maharashtra have started
giving interviews against me,
some old cases are being reopened,” Gandhi said in a blog.
The AAP may decide not to
fight the Mumbai municipal corporation polls or
delay the decision, the
party’s leadership in
Maharashtra will
be
challenged
and discredited
by some individuals and
information
will be leaked
to media, he
said.
“More
will come and I will be finally humiliated so much that I
will quit. That was what was
planned for (AAP leaders) Yogendra Yadav and Prashant
Bhushan, but they overturned
the plan by staying in the party.
Let me see if I can withstand
the muck that will be thrown,”
Gandhi said, expressing apprehensions about the future.
On March 4, the AAP announced that it ousted top leaders Bhushan and Yadav from its
decision-making Political Affairs Committee (PAC).
The
announcement
was made after a nearly
six-hour meeting of the
national executive that
followed a virtual
war between the two
leaders and loyalists
of Kejriwal.
Bhushan, a lead-
Morale booster
ing Supreme Court lawyer and
an AAP founder-member, and
Yadav, a known political expert,
were ousted from the nine-member PAC, the supreme body in the
party. The party was formed in
2012 and stormed to power in
Delhi last month by sweeping 67
of the 70 seats in the assembly.
Referring to his previous blog,
Gandhi asserted that he had
“personally challenged” a gag
order on the proceedings of the
national executive and it was not
intended to be any form of defiance against the party leadership.
“I am generally non-confrontational...But now is the
time to take a stand. This is not
to weaken the party nor our
leadership, but to strengthen
the AAP and the principles that
we have espoused,” Gandhi said.
Since the national executive
meeting, thousands of worried
Kashmiri separatist
freed after four years
IANS
Srinagar
T
A doctor assists a woman cancer patient to try on a wig
donated by a healthcare company during an event as
part of International Women’s Day celebrations at Kidwai
Cancer Institute in Bangalore yesterday. Hair loss is one of
the many side-effects of chemotherapy, which results in a
loss of self-esteem in cancer patients and the gesture of
donating them wigs was to boost their morale.
volunteers from across the world
have been asking about the difference between the AAP and
other (political) parties, he said.
“I want to tell the country
that there is a huge difference
and in the next few weeks, we
volunteers shall demonstrate
the same,” Gandhi declared.
Seeking mass participation in
the AAP decision-making processes, he cited the example of
Iceland which crowd-sourced
its constitution in 2013.
“(AAP) volunteers need to
propose to the national executive about processes and systems on inner party democracy,
volunteer management and
communication, constitution of
the PAC and national executive,
code of conduct for volunteers
and leaders, gender justice, conflict resolution mechanisms, and
policy stands,” Gandhi said.
he Jammu and Kashmir
government yesterday
released separatist leader Masrat Alam from preventive detention after more than
four years, police said.
Alam was arrested during
the 2010 unrest in the Kashmir Valley. He was accused of
inciting youth during the unrest in which at least 112 people
were killed in bloody clashes
between unruly mobs and security forces.
Chief Minister Mufti Mohamed Sayeed has said all separatist leaders under detention
would be released.
State police chief K Rajendra
Kumar has also said the release
of separatist leaders from detention would soon begin after
receiving orders from the chief
minister.
Alam had evaded arrest
for months during the 2010
unrest. He had made fiery
speeches at sensitive places.
Alam belongs to the Muslim League and is believed to
be close to hardline separatist
leader Syed Ali Geelani.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena
said the recent comments
by Sayeed on Pakistan and
hanged terrorist Afzal Guru
are tantamount to “treason”
and “contempt of the Supreme Court.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) earlier this month allied
with Sayeed’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to form the
government in Kashmir.
“Right after the swearingin ceremony at which Prime
Minister Narendra Modi was
present, Sayeed credited Pakistan and Pakistani-supported
terrorists for allowing the
peaceful elections in Jammu
and Kashmir,” Shiv Sena said in
a stinging editorial in the party
mouthpiece Saamana.
A day later, Sayeed and his
PDP also demanded handing
over of the remnants of Guru
- who was convicted of the attack on Indian parliament - to
the state.
Gulf Times
23
INDIA
Kerala assembly speaker Karthikeyan dead
By Ashraf Padanna
Thiruvananthapuram
K
erala Legislative Assembly Speaker G Karthikeyan died of liver cancer
yesterday. He was 66.
The senior Congress Party
leader was admitted to a hospital
in Bengaluru recently. Doctors
put him on ventilator last week
as his condition worsened and he
fell unconscious. The death was
announced at 10.50am.
His body was brought from
Bengaluru by a special aircraft in
the evening.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi said Karthikeyan would
be remembered as a grassroots
leader who dedicated his life to
serving the people.
“My condolences to the family
and well-wishers,” Modi said in a
statement. “May his soul rest in
peace.”
Congress president Sonia
Gandhi said the void he left behind would be hard to fill.
She described Karthikeyan as
“a leader whose political career
spanned student, youth, legislative and administrative politics.”
Kerala announced a week of
mourning during which no official functions will be held and
the national flag will fly at halfmast. A holiday was declared
yesterday afternoon.
Chief Minister Oommen
Chandy received the body at the
airport.
Home
Minister
Ramesh
Chennithala, Industry Minister P K Kunhalikutty and Social
Justice Minister M K Muneer accompanied the body from Bengaluru.
“He was a great human being.
He always remained composed,
well-mannered and loving,”
said V S Achuthanandan, the
92-year-old leader of the opposition in the assembly.
His
deputy
Kodiyeri
Balakrishnan agreed: “He was my
closest friend. He always upheld
high values and he could carry the
House along with those values.”
In
October
last
year,
Karthikeyan sought expert
treatment at the Mayo Clinic
in the US and returned after a
week.
He did not take part in the assembly session held in December. He also missed the budget
session that began last week.
A six-time legislator and twotime minister, Karthikeyan was
last seen in public at the opening
ceremony of the National Games
held here on January 31. He fell ill
yet again after a few days.
Karthikeyan who began his
political career as an activist of
the Kerala Students Union KSU
and went on to become its president, had held the portfolios of
attempts to bring his son K Muraleedharan into party leadership.
Manjalamkuzhi Ali, the urban
affairs minister who is also the
producer of The King, the political thriller with superstar Mammootty in the lead, remembers
him as a film buff and voracious
reader.
“After watching The King together, he told me he liked the
film though his party men were
shown in bad light,” he said.
The film was inspired by Congress politics in Kerala and many
characters resemble top leaders.
His revolt along with Chennithala and Shanavas against
Karunakaran also finds reference
in the film.
IANS
Bengaluru
D
Riot police patrol the city in
Nagaland
Agencies
Dimapur, Nagaland
T
Activists of the Asomiya Yuva Manch and the All Assam Unnayan Parishad stage a protest against the
brutal killing of an Assamese man in Dimapur, in Guwahati yesterday.
he Nagaland government
is yet to make any arrest
over Thursday’s lynching
of a rape suspect in Dimapur, as
the central government yesterday
asked the state to take strict action
against those behind the incident.
A Nagaland police official in
Dimapur said efforts were under
way to identify those involved in
the killing of Syed Farid Khan, a
native of Assam.
The Nagaland authorities yesterday handed over the body of
Khan to his family in Khatkhati
area on the Assam-Nagaland
border. Later, his body was taken
to his native village in Assam’s
Karimganj district.
Hundreds of riot police patrolled Dimapur after the public
lynching, enforcing a round-theclock curfew for a second day as
the killing was condemned as
“barbaric and inhuman.”
The 35-year-old suspect, accused of raping a woman multiple times and arrested in late
February, was dragged out of
prison in Dimapur by a mob before being beaten to death and
strung up to a clock tower on
Thursday.
Riot police patrolled the
streets of the city after authorities imposed a curfew, with Zeliang saying that “the situation
remained tense but... under
control.”
Tensions have been rising in
the city since February 24 when
police arrested Khan over the
alleged assault of a 19-year-old
tribal woman.
Thousands of irate tribals on
Thursday broke into a high security jail before dragging out the
Bengali-speaking man, who was
stripped and paraded for several
miles, while men armed with
sticks beat him to death.
Another man was shot dead
by police after the mob refused
to hand over his body, while
60 people were injured in the
clashes, which saw attacks on
properties belonging to Bengalispeaking residents.
“The act is barbaric, heinous
and inhuman,” Assam Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi said of the
lynching.
The mob as well as Nagaland’s
government had earlier called
him a Bangladeshi migrant.
“The manner in which the
youth was dragged out of police
custody and killed brutally by a
mob on the streets is highly condemnable,” Gogoi said in a statement.
Rights group Amnesty International also condemned the
‘India has committed international suicide’
Agencies
London/ New Delhi
I
Karthikeyan: dies of cancer.
No arrest yet
in lynching
case, Dimapur
remains tense
Kejriwal
responding
to treatment,
says doctor
elhi
Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal
is responding to the
naturopathy treatment for
chronic cough and diabetes at
a private hospital on the outskirts of Bengaluru, a doctor
said yesterday.
“Kejriwal is responding to
our treatment and feeling better
than when he was admitted here
on Thursday. There is improvement in his health and outlook,”
Jindal Naturecure Institute chief
medical officer Babina Nandakumar said.
Nandakumar
said
the
46-year-old Kejriwal was cooperating and following the
strict regime prescribed at the
institute.
“Kejriwal is following our regime sincerely and undergoing
various therapeutic exercises
from early morning to evening
with 30-minute breaks for food
and rest. The treatment is tailored to reduce his blood sugar
level, which is high (above 300)
and give relief from coughing
often,” he said.
The
treatment
includes
cleansing his lungs of the phlegm
that is causing him to cough due
to accumulation of secretions
and bringing his blood sugar under control as he was not able to
do despite taking 50 units of insulin daily.
“Kejriwal is taking our treatment for the second time after
he was benefitted by it when he
was here in 2012 along with (social activist) Anna Hazare for
relief from diabetic symptoms,”
Nandakumar said.
Kejriwal has been put on a
strict diet of vegetable and fruit
juices, sprouts, boiled salads,
chapatis and soup.
electricity and food in two cabinets led by A K Antony in 1995
and 2001.
He was first elected to the
assembly from Thiruvananthapuram North constituency in
1982.
A former member of the All
India Congress Committee,
Karthikeyan also served as general secretary and vice-president of the party in Kerala and
was the deputy leader of the opposition in the last assembly.
In the 90s, Karthikeyan was a
firebrand leader of the Congress.
He, along with Ramesh Chennithala and M I Shanavas led an
intra-group battle against then
chief minister K Karunakaran’s
ndia committed “international suicide” by banning a documentary
about the gang-rape and murder of
a woman in Delhi, the director of the
film said after a Friday night screening
in London.
India last week prohibited the release
of India’s Daughter and also asked videosharing website YouTube to remove all links
to the documentary.
Police said the ban was imposed as comments in the film by one of those convicted
of the crime created an atmosphere of “fear
and tension” and risked fuelling public anger.
“My whole purpose was to give a gift of
gratitude to India, to actually praise India, to single India out as a country that
was exemplary in its response to this rape,
as a country where one could actually see
change beginning,” said Leslee Udwin, director of the documentary, during a panel
discussion.
“The supreme irony is that they are now
accusing me of having wanted to point fingers at India, defame India, and it is they
who have committed international suicide
by banning this film.”
The British filmmaker said she was inspired to make the film after watching thousands of people take to the streets across India to protest the December 2012 rape and
murder of a young physiotherapy student
on a bus.
India toughened its anti-rape laws in
response to the outcry following the fatal
attack but a rape is still reported on aver-
age every 21 minutes in India, and acid attacks, domestic violence and molestation
are common.
India’s Daughter features an interview
with Mukesh Singh, one of four men sentenced to death for the rape, torture and
murder of the 23-year-old woman on a
moving bus.
In the film Singh blames the victim for
the crime and resisting rape.
Singh’s comments grabbed headlines
in Indian newspapers and sparked outrage on social media. Some people have
questioned whether the convicts should
have been given a forum to express their
views.
Udwin said that banning the film brought
India into disrepute by obstructing free
speech, one of the essential elements of democracy.
The filmmaker said that if she was given
a chance she would persuade Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the screening.
“If (Modi) spent one hour seeing this
documentary, he would see his own statements since he got into power reflected in
this film. The film is saying exactly what
he’s saying with his ‘Beti Bachao’ campaign,” said Udwin, adding that she was still
in shock about the ban.
Launched in January, the “Beti Bachao
Beti Padhao” (Save the Daughter, Teach the
Daughter) campaign is aimed at improving
India’s child sex ratio, which skews towards
boys due to sex-selective abortions, and
gender equality through access to education.
Udwin said she was hopeful the film
would eventually be screened in India and
appealed to Modi to “be a hero globally”
and stand up to his statements promoting
gender equality.
The filmmaker said her documentary was
designed to unleash a global campaign to
stop violence against women and to promote their rights.
A website, which was a part of the campaign, was scheduled to go live on International Women’s Day today, however Udwin
said that a company behind the website design has pulled out because of “all the fuss”
around the film.
It was unclear if the website would still
Lawyers face probe
India’s bar council sent a warning to two
defence lawyers for making allegedly
derogatory comments about women in
the controversial documentary India’s
Daughter, officials said yesterday.
Remarks about women made in the
programme by a convicted rapist
as well as two defence lawyers, M L
Sharma and A P Singh, have provoked
anger in India. The bar council, that
met late Friday night, gave the lawyers
three weeks to explain why disciplinary
action should not be initiated against
them. “They seem to have made very
objectionable comments,” panel chief
Manan Mishra told reporters. “We are
examining whether it amounts to professional misconduct and will decide on
the disciplinary action accordingly,” said
Mishra, who heads the statutory body
that has powers to cancel the lawyer’s
licence. In the film, Singh allegedly said
he would burn his daughter or sister if
they behaved improperly.
be launched as planned.
zIn a survey of 1,892 women from various Indian cities, over 60% of the respondents said it was a combination of patriarchy,
men and the submissiveness of women that
had led to their fate and “lack of voice” in
the country.
The results of the survey, ‘Is it an
unequal world?’, conducted by two active online communities - WE (Women
Endangered) and I Am Who I Am, were
released a day ahead of International
Women’s Day.
Conducted over six days between the end
of February and the beginning of March the
survey took into account the thoughts of
women from New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
Bengaluru, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and
Pune.
Over 50% of women felt that love had
no place in society most of the time, while
another 30% were certain of the absence
of love. They felt that norms that society
encouraged had an overriding power over
love, indicating that affection or the emotion of love was not important enough to
society.
A little over 50% respondents felt they
have a voice and audience, but around 46%
believed their audience and ability to speak
up was not regular.
The findings also suggested that
not all forms of abuse against women
got highlighted or talked about. Some
pointed out the fact that rape seemed
to be the only form of abuse or assault
against women.
The survey findings also observed that
women could not blame one specific influence that has led them to be the lesser sex or
gender in society.
killing as a “serious lapse in the
criminal justice system.”
“The Nagaland government
must ensure that every person who was part of the mob is
brought to justice,” said Shemeer
Babu, Amnesty India’s programmes director.
Khan’s brother Jamaluddin
said the killing was “politically
motivated” and accused police
of “falsely implicating his brother on behest of Naga groups, who
want to root out non-tribals
from the state.”
Nagaland’s indigenous tribal
groups, especially the largest
Naga tribe, have for years accused the growing population of
Bengali-speaking Muslims from
nearby Assam state and Bangladesh of illegally settling on their
land and usurping resources.
Nagas have previously campaigned to evict Bengali-speaking immigrants from their territory, who they claim entice local
girls into marriage for getting
tribal status.
Jamaluddin, an army sergeant,
accused Nagaland’s government
of “deliberately dubbing him as a
Bangladeshi... to justify the killing.”
“The girl’s medical report
didn’t confirm rape but still my
brother was jailed and then handed over to the mob who lynched
him just because he was a Bengalispeaking person,” he said.
24
Gulf Times
LATIN AMERICA
WILDFIRE!
A wild forest fire burns out of control in Quilmo,
Chillan, some 380km south of Santiago, Chile.
STAGNANT WATERS
ALL CLEAR
WOMEN DEMONSTRATORS
RECONCILIATION
Dengue deaths on the rise
in Brazilian city Sao Paulo
Red alert lifted for
fiery Chilean volcano
Landless Brazilians in
GM eucalyptus protest
Paris Club chief in Cuba to
expedite debt negotiations
Cases of dengue fever are on the rise in Sao
Paulo, with a nearly eightfold increase that saw
24 people die in Brazil’s most populous state so
far this year, the health ministry said on Friday.
“In many regions, owing to a lack of water,
people were stocking supplies at home. That
helped add to the proliferation of mosquitoes,”
which spread the disease, Health Minister Arthur
Chioro explained. A total of 94,623 cases were
registered state-wide in January and February,
82,747 more than in the same period last year.
The state accounted for just over half of the
nationwide total of 174,676 cases in the first two
months of the year, a 139% rise on 2014.
Authorities on Friday lifted a red alert for the area
surrounding a southern Chile volcano, whose
brief but fiery eruption forced the evacuation of
thousands of people amid a shower of fire and
ash earlier in the week. In its first major eruption
in 15 years, the Villarrica volcano burst into action
Tuesday morning, prompting Chilean authorities
to declare the alert. But on Friday they announced
they had reduced the alert level to orange, while
maintaining a 5km exclusion zone around the
volcano. The volcano forced the evacuation of
more than 3,000 people from nearby towns as
bright yellow-orange lava spewed and a column
of ash rose as high as 3km.
Members of a landless peasant group, some
wielding sticks or knives, attacked a cellulose
factory in a violent protest against its use of
genetically engineered eucalyptus plans, video
released by organizers showed. The MST landless
movement said about 1,000 women took part in
the protest late on Thursday at the Suzano/Futura
Gene site at Itapetininga, some 170km from Sao
Paulo. A video posted by the group showed
masked women smashing greenhouse panes and
destroying plants at the site, while others painted
slogans alleging that “genetically modified plants
destroy biodiversity.” The landless women face
charges of damaging private property.
The chief of the Paris Club of wealthy creditor
nations met Cuban finance officials on Friday in
what he believed was an unprecedented official
visit to Havana to discuss the Communist-led
country’s debt. After previous negotiations
had stalled in 2000, Cuba and the Paris Club
have moved swiftly in the past year toward
negotiations over a total debt that Paris Club
president Bruno Bezard estimated at $15bn to
$16bn, with France being the largest of the 15
creditors. The two sides were in reconciliation,
the process of determining exactly how much
debt and interest Cuba owes to each creditor, a
prerequisite for actual negotiations.
Brazil probes
lawmakers in
graft scandal
AFP
Sao Paolo
B
razil’s Supreme Court authorised the investigation of dozens of politicians on Friday,
including the presidents of the senate and of the chamber of deputies
over the multi-billion dollar graft
case roiling state oil giant Petrobras.
Those facing investigation include
22 serving congressmen and 12 senators, among them a former president,
after a move marking a new front in a
snowballing scandal that has caused
political and social uproar, threatening to tear apart the ruling coalition.
Not under investigation is President Dilma Rousseff, who was Petrobras board chair during much of the
decade-long period when politicians
allegedly benefited from huge kickbacks via inflated contracts struck
between the oil firm and dozens of
companies.
“Launching investigations was
considered viable as there are indications of illegality,” a court statement read, quoting a decision by
Supreme Court presiding minister
Teori Zavascki.
Around three dozen politicians
were named, many of them allies of
the leftist president’s ruling coalition, following a demand by public
prosecutor Rodrigo Janot that the
court lift their political immunity.
The list namely includes former
president Fernando Collor, now a
senator. A different corruption scandal saw Collor forced from power in
1992 - he resigned before he could be
impeached.
Those named are variously accused of crimes relating to involvement in a scheme facilitating corruption and money laundering that
saw an estimated $3.8bn creamed off
inflated contracts over a decade.
According to Janot, the scheme
operated under clear “rules... along
similar lines to a football league,”
whereby inflated contracts were
shared out principally among major
construction firms and those who
benefited received between one and
three% of the value.
Rousseff ’s Workers’ Party (PT) issued a prompt rebuttal of the allegations, while declaring its “wholesale” support for an investigation
“without favour or partiality.”
A PT statement added that, while
the party “is proud to have led governments which implacably fought
against corruption,” it would support statutory punishment for any
politician found guilty.
The party added that any money
that might have gone to politicians
were “donations” that were “legal
and duly declared” to the authorities.
Rousseff won re-election just four
months ago, her top priority the revitalization of a flailing economy
hamstrung by four straight years of
low growth and rising inflation.
The naming of Congress president and senator Renan Calheiros
and Eduardo Cunha, president of
the chamber of deputies, could have
severe repercussions for the centrist
PMDB party and the ruling coalition.
The PMDB is the strongest political group in the senate and the second-biggest in the lower chamber
after the PT, making its support in
Congress critical for Rousseff.
Both Calheiros and Cunha have
denied any wrongdoing, while Rousseff has denied all knowledge of the
kickbacks scheme, backing the investigation.
Cunha said that his situation was
“transparent - nothing to fear.”
Calheiros for his part said that his
“relations with the public authorities never went beyond institutional
limits.”
He added he would submit “all information the judges want” in a case
set to last up to four years.
The scandal, dubbed Operation
Car Wash, broke a year ago when a
former Petrobras director turned
whistleblower in a bid to strike a plea
bargain.
His accusations, which have
slowly filtered through the media,
suggest that the kickback cash was
destined for private accounts or to
finance political parties.
Among those questioned but later
released was PT treasurer Joao Vaccari Neto.
The Progressive Party, another
Rousseff ally that has 32 members
facing investigation, did not immediately react to the latest developments.
Eyeing a ride!
A young boy looks at Coco, a two-year-old pony, in downtown Havana. Coco’s owners, the family of Lazaro Perez, say they
make around $15 a day, renting out five ponies to children for quick rides.
Mexico cartels adapt to US pot legalisation
By Yemeli Ortega, AFP
Mexico City
T
he growing legalization of cannabis in the US is forcing Mexico’s
drug cartels to rethink their illicit
business model, turning to opium poppy
plantations and domestic pot consumption, experts say.
Americans have been legally allowed
to light up joints in the US capital since
late last month, joining Washington
state and Alaska, while Oregon will follow suit in July.
A total of 23 US states have legalized
the drug for medical use, and opinion
polls show that a slim majority of Americans favour legalization.
The changes in the world’s biggest
drug market appear to have prompted
the criminal organizations producing
narcotics in Mexico to switch strategies.
“As (US) domestic production increases, this will affect production in
Mexico,” Javier Oliva, a security expert
at the National Autonomous University
of Mexico, told AFP.
Drug cartels “will seek to increase
their exports to Europe and the opportunities for consumption within the country,” he said this week at a presentation
of a report by the International Narcotics Control Board, a UN agency.
With Americans now able to grow
their own cannabis in many places, one
market the cartels appear to be tapping
is the growing consumption of heroin in
the US.
Oliva said the number of opium poppy
fields has surged by 300% in the last five
years in Mexico’s southwestern state
of Guerrero, one of the country’s most
violent regions, where 43 students were
allegedly slaughtered by a police-backed
gang in September.
The scarlet blossoms are also popping up in the north, including in the
state of Durango, which forms a ‘Golden
Triangle’ of drug plantations with the
neighbouring regions of Chihuahua and
Sinaloa.
Poppy fields outnumber marijuana
plantations by three to one, said Adolfo
Dominguez, a military commander in
Durango.
“The criminals have obviously seen an
improvement in this type of cultivation
and they also pay attention to the demand factor,” Dominguez said.
South American bloc
renews mediation
efforts in Venezuela
DPA
Caracas
A
Union of South American Nations Secretary General Ernesto Samper speaks to the media as Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez (right) and Colombia’s Foreign
Minister Maria Angela Holguin look on after their meeting with Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.
delegation from the Union
of South American Nations
(Unasur) met Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro on Friday
in Caracas to launch an effort to restore dialogue between Venezuela’s
government and opposition.
The Unasur delegation was
planning to meet with the opposition coalition Democratic Unity
Table (MUD) while in Venezuela.
Opposition figures have said
they plan to brief the Unasur delegation about the persecution they
say they suffer and the imprisonment of several of their leaders,
including Caracas Mayor Antonio
Ledezma.
Talks last year between the MUD
and the government failed after the
Maduro government rejected key
opposition demands.
Unasur Secretary-General Ernesto Samper was leading the
delegation with foreign ministers
Maria Angela Holguin of Colombia, Mauro Vieira of Brazil and
Ricardo Patino of Ecuador.
Samper said they planned meetings with electoral and court officials to discuss the legal status of
imprisoned opposition leaders and
the need for due process.
Maduro hosted the delegation
for several hours at the Venezuelan
Foreign Ministry building.
After the meeting, Samper said,
the region upholds “three principles”: peace, human rights and
democracy. “Unasur countries are
united on Venezuela’s defence and
stability,” he said.
In recent weeks, Maduro has alleged several coup attempts, which
he claimed were backed by the US
and members of the opposition.
Samper said Maduro gave the
delegation a “major and lengthy”
account of his allegations, with
“evidence and data” that were a
cause of concern for Unasur.
Holguin said the goal of the Unasur mission is to promote dialogue among Venezuelans: “What
Unasur has always wanted is for
Venezuelans to resolve the situation amongst themselves.”
Human rights organizations including Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch on Friday
criticized Brazil’s response to alleged repression of the Venezuelan
opposition.
“Brazil has kept a disappointing
silence in the face of abuse in Venezuela, even including the arbitrary
arrest of opposition figures,” Human Rights Watch said.
“Brazil’s timid position regarding the situation in Venezuela
sends a very problematic message that the Maduro government
should feel free to keep arresting
opposition figures and beating up
demonstrators.”
Amnesty called on Brazil to denounce human rights violations in
Venezuela, including “arbitrary arrests, torture and an excessive use
of force.”
Protests against Maduro’s rule
saw 43 deaths in early 2014. A
14-year-old boy was killed last
week in an anti-government rally.
Gulf Times
25
PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN
International Women’s Day
Senate poll
meets with
approval of
parties
Internews
Islamabad
P
A woman holds baskets as she waits for customers along a roadside in Lahore on the eve of International Women’s Day. The day is marked on March 8 every year and is a
global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.
Afghan leader won’t
give up ‘freedoms’
President Ghani is facing difficult
times ahead as he negotiates with the
Taliban
Reuters
Kabul
A
fghan president Ashraf Ghani said
yesterday he would not compromise on the social freedoms introduced since the Taliban’s 2001 ouster as
his government works towards opening
peace talks with the insurgents to end Afghanistan’s long war.
“We will not let the price of peace be
greater than the price of war,” Ghani said
in a speech before Parliament after the
body’s winter recess.
“We will firmly safeguard the achievements of the past 13 years under former
president Karzai,” he said.
Ghani did not refer to specific achievements, but these might include more
rights for women and greater freedom of
speech.
His assurances came two weeks after
officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan said
the Afghan Taliban had signalled they
were willing to open peace talks with Kabul, a push that appeared to be driven by
Afghanistan, Pakistan and China, which
recently offered to help broker the talks.
The possibility of the Afghan government opening negotiations with the Taliban raised hopes for peace efforts, which
failed to get off the ground under Afghanistan’s previous government.
But the reports have also been met with
some ambivalence, due in part to concerns
that not all elements of the Taliban, now a
fractured group, may be on board.
Taliban representatives have publicly
cast doubt on the possibility of talks.
Ghani has not commented directly on
akistan’s most difficult
senate elections are over
and, by and large, all the
contesting parties appear satisfied with the outcome but
all of them want a permanent
solution to put an end to the
menace of financial and political manipulation which
impede election of genuine
representatives in the provinces. Each party has won the
expected seats but some had to
put in extra efforts to beat vote
buyers. Every party would thus
like to adopt the direct polling
system so that use of money is
discouraged.
Imran Khan and JI chief
senator-elect Sirajul Haq have
already announced their intention to launch a movement
for the change of mode of senate elections in separate press
conferences in Peshawar and
Islamabad yesterday.
All the parties claim that the
use of money had been totally
thwarted but there are complaints of switching loyalties
at places and every one had to
guard its members from falling
into the money trap.
Sirajul Haq expressed confidence that PTI would return to
the national assembly sooner
than later since it has converged with the government on
details of the proposed judicial
commission, which is its only
precondition.
He further stated that the
political jirga (headed by him)
had played the intermediary
between Ishaq Dar and Je-
hangir Tareen on the contentious issues between them and
both had come very close on an
agreement and hopefully the
government would soon set up
the commission.
He supported the demand
for the change of mode of Senate elections and hoped those
elected through direct elections would be able to represent their province better and
the menace of financial wheeling dealing would also come to
an end.
He said the change should be
part of the wholesome electoral
reforms package to be drafted
by parliament’s electoral reforms committee.
PPPP, which has retained its
status of the largest parliamentary group in the upper house,
has started lobbying for the
office of chairman senate and
according to senator Farhatullah Babar PPP co-chairperson
Asif Ali Zardari has extended
his stay in the federal capital to
meet leaders of other parties.
When asked if his party would
be ready to accept the office of
deputy chairman as was being
rumoured, the senior PPP leader
said: “Why should we accept
anything less than the chairman, for our party has emerged
as the largest in the poll.”
Commenting on Imran
Khan’s proposal to change the
mode of senate polls to direct
electoral system Babar said:
“Every party will support it but
there is a need to revisit the entire electoral system in the parliamentary electoral reforms
committee and a collective decision has to be taken which is
acceptable to everyone”.
Marriage laws are
tightened in Punjab
DPA
Islamabad
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani inspects a guard of honour during the inauguration ceremony of the new session of parliament in Kabul.
the reports the Taliban are finally ready to
open negotiations.
But he said in Saturday’s speech that he
has started “consultation meetings” within Afghanistan on the peace process, in
which he called for religious leaders, politicians, women and youth to be involved.
“Peace is a national issue, not only government’s responsibility,” Ghani said.
With the departure of most US and other foreign troops at the end of last year, Afghan security forces have been struggling
to defeat the insurgency, while the Taliban
have been unable to hold much territory.
The number of Afghan security forces
fell sharply last year, due in part to desertions and casualties, according to US military data released on Tuesday.
Ghani
said
the
notion
Afghan
security
forces
were
losing morale was a false impression.
Gunmen attacked a Sufi mosque in Kabul
yesterday evening, killing at least six
people and leaving five others wounded,
police officials said, shattering a recent
calm in the Afghan capital.
The rare attack on the Sufi minority
struck around the time of evening prayer
at about 7pm (1430 GMT), and though no
group claimed the unrest, security officials
swiftly announced the arrest of five
suspects in connection with the killings.
“A group of armed men entered (a Sufi
mosque)... and opened fire,” Kabul police
spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP.
Deputy interior ministry spokesman
Najib Danish confirmed the details of
the attack, with the ministry issuing a
statement putting the toll at six dead and
five wounded.
The ministry said five suspects had
been arrested, while Stanikzai said an
investigation had been launched to
“identify the attackers and the motive
behind the attack”.
Back at studies
P
akistan’s most populous
province of Punjab increased the minimum
marriage age for girls and
strengthened punishments for
those arranging underage marriages, officials said yesterday.
The eastern province enacted the laws on Friday ahead
of international women’s day
today, said provincial law minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman.
The minimum age for girls
has been increased from 16 to
18 years, making it the same as
the lawful marriageable age for
males.
The punishment for those
arranging or encouraging child
marriages has been increased
from one month to six months
in prison, with fines increased
from 1,000 rupees (10 dollars)
to 50,000 rupees.
The law in its objectives
states that “it has been enacted to curb the menace of
child marriages prevalent in
the country and to save women
from exploitation”.
Rehman said that the government in the province which accounts for more than
half of Pakistan’s total population - wanted to send a message to the world on the eve of
women’s day that “we care for
the rights of women”.
Marriages of children are
widespread in Pakistan and
are encouraged both by local
elders and clerics. The elders
often use female minors as
bargaining chips to end tribal
feuds, while some clerics consider a minimum age limit to be
against Islam.
Maulana Muhamad Khan
Sherani, said last year that girls
as young as nine were
eligible to be married “if
signs of puberty are visible”.
Schools to be named
after massacre victims
Reuters
Peshawar, Pakistan
P
Pakistani students attend class at a reopened school that had been destroyed by militants in Lower Dir district, some 100km from the once Taliban-infested Swat Valley.
Taliban and other militants opposed to girls’ education and secular schooling have bombed or torched hundreds of schools in northwest Pakistan.
akistan
is
renaming dozens of government-run
schools
after the students killed by
Taliban militants in a massacre
at an army-run academy in the
northwestern city of Peshawar
in December, an official said
Friday.
The school attack by six
gunmen believed linked to the
Pakistani Taliban killed 153
people, with most of the victims students, is seen as having hardened Pakistan’s resolve to fight jihadist militants
along its lawless border with
Afghanistan.
A total of 107 schools in the
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region
will bear the name of the slain
Peshawar students, said the
local education minister, Atif
Khan. “We will never ever forget these students and their
sacrifices,” Khan said.
The
Pakistani
Taliban,
headed by Maulana Fazlullah,
claimed the attack and termed
it reaction to the military offensive launched by Pakistani
security forces in one of the
volatile tribal regions, North
Waziristan, against the militants.
“I heard some good news
today after losing my son,”
said Mohamad Tufail Khattak,
father of 15-year-old student
Sher Shah.
Tufail Khattak said his slain
son wanted to become a journalist and influence public
opinion through his writing.
26
Gulf Times
PHILIPPINES
Soldiers kill 14
rebels, offensive to
push into next week
Reuters
Manila
P
hilippine soldiers killed
14 guerrillas in an overnight battle to capture
a rebel position in the south,
an army spokesman said yesterday, as the number of displaced from the military offensive rose to 80,000.
The military has mounted
air and ground assault on the
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a small
but violent splinter group of
the largest guerrilla force in
Mindanao, after 44 police
commandos were killed in
January.
The predominantly Christian Philippines has been
battling rebels in the south of
the archipelago for decades
and while negotiations with
the biggest group have raised
hopes for peace, fighting
with smaller factions erupts
regularly.
Local officials have appealed for a stop to the fight-
ing, but the army has asked
for three more days to achieve
its goal of crippling the rebel
capabilities to spoil the government’s peace efforts in
Mindanao.
Army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Cabunoc
said 13 soldiers were wounded in the fighting overnight.
As of yesterday, the army
claimed three rebel bases,
including a factory for improvised bombs, had been
seized on the southern island
of Mindanao, near where 44
commandos were killed in a
secret mission to capture a
Malaysian bomb-maker with
a $5mn bounty from the US
State Department.
President Benigno Aquino
has promised the biggest
rebel group, the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), autonomy in a southern region
in exchange for peace. But
the Senate and House of Representatives suspended work
on legislation for the autonomous region amid an outcry
after the January clash.
Three OFWs test
positive for Mers
By Bernice Camille Bauzon
Manila Times
T
he Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on
Friday confirmed that
three Filipinos in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia (KSA) have
been infected with the deadly
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MersCoV).
Citing reports from the
Philippine Embassy in Riyadh,
Charles Jose, Foreign Affairs
spokesman, said the three
Filipinos worked as healthcare
personnel in various hospitals
in the oil-rich kingdom, and
they contracted the virus from
Mers patients.
“Our embassy in Riyadh and
our consulate general in Jeddah will continue to monitor
the new Filipino Mers cases as
we encourage our nationals in
Saudi Arabia to take precaution,” the official added.
“Filipinos who work in the
Anti-rabies vaccination campaign
healthcare sector are advised
to follow the infection prevention protocol of hospitals
and to seek medical attention should they experience
any symptoms of the disease,”
Jose said.Of the three cases,
the first one is a female nurse,
56, assigned at the Emergency
Room. She is now in isolation
at the hospital staff housing.
The second case is a female
respiratory technician, who is
undergoing medical tests.
The third one is also a female nurse assigned at the oncology section and is confined
at the hospital.
Although the DFA already
has the names of the Filipinos,
Jose said, their identities cannot be disclosed because they
have to first inform their families. The Filipinos cannot accept visitors because they have
to be isolated, he added.
According to Jose, the
names of the hospitals also
cannot be revealed because of
Saudi Arabia’s protocols.
A veterinarian (left) injects a dog with an anti-rabies vaccine in suburban Manila yesterday, during a free vaccination, castration and blessing of pets event. The yearly event
is sponsored by the Quezon City government in an effort to eradicate rabies from the Philippines.
Rebels sign up to vote to
comply with peace pact
The MILF rebels, unarmed
and wearing civilian clothes,
had their photographs and
fingerprints taken
at a government building
in the southern town
of Sultan Kudarat
AFP
Sultan Kudarat
H
undreds of rebels lined
up in the Philippines
yesterday to register as
voters, keeping faith with a 2014
peace pact that was thrown into
doubt after 44 policemen were
killed in a botched terror raid.
The Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF) rebels, unarmed
and wearing civilian clothes,
had their photographs and fingerprints taken at a government
building in the southern town
of Sultan Kudarat to qualify for
voter identification cards.
“They are all very eager to take
part,” Von al Haq, spokesman
for the 10,000-member MILF’s
military wing said.
Some would be voting for the
first time, he added.
“This is part of our preparations to lead our own government,” he said, referring to a
March 2014 agreement in which
the MILF committed to end an
armed rebellion that has claimed
120,000 lives.
As part of the deal, the MILF is
to disarm and President Benigno
Aquino is set to legislate an area
of Muslim self-rule.
Rey Sumalipao, regional head
of the government’s Commission on Elections, said he expects about 1,500 members to
register within the day to allow
them to vote in national and local elections.
Other MILF members are expected to apply later, he added.
Rebels have been battling
for independence or autonomy
in the southern islands of the
mainly Catholic Philippines
WWII Japan shipwreck ‘salvage unlikely’
since the 1970s. The peace process was thrown into doubt on
January 25 when MILF forces
and other armed groups ambushed police commandos going
after Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir,
one of the world’s most wanted
militants.
The fighting left 44 policemen
dead and sparked a public backlash, causing parliament to suspend debates on the proposed
self-rule law.
The MILF returned some of
the dead commandos’ weapons
and pledged to go after other
militants sought by the Philippine courts, but rejected Aquino’s demand that it surrender
Presidential office
vows to ease poverty
AFP
Manila
Manila Times
Manila
T
he presumed wreck of
one of Japan’s most famous World War II battleships whose discovery in the
Philippines was announced by
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen this week is unlikely to be
salvaged, an official suggested
yesterday.
The American billionaire
said Wednesday his exploration
team had found the Musashi
on the bed of the Sibuyan Sea
in the central Philippines some
70 years after it was sunk by US
forces in World War II.
Excited historians have likened the discovery, if verified,
to finding the wreck of the Titanic, the famed British passenger liner that sank in the North
Atlantic Ocean after colliding
with an iceberg in 1912.
President Benigno Aquino’s
spokeswoman Abigail Valte said
officials of the Philippines’ National Museum are contacting
Allen and his team to “co-ordinate” on what to do with the
wreck, which Allen says lies a
kilometre under water.
However, the Musashi will
likely remain where it was
found, she told government radio.
“There have been groups in
the past that have also been
looking for the Musashi and, in
fact, a dozen sunken Japanese
warships have already been
found in various places in the
Philippines,” she said.
“As to queries on whether
it will be salvaged, the answer
T
A catapult system on the sunken Japanese warship Musashi, one of the largest battleships ever built, is seen in an undated handout image from
a team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen off the coast of the Philippines in the Sibuyan Sea.
is no, these are not normally
refloated.” A 2009 act for the
protection and conservation of
national cultural heritage will
apply to the wreck, she said,
describing the wreck as an “underwater archaeological site”.
Under the law all cultural
properties belong to the state,
and may not be sold nor exported except temporarily for
exhibition or research.
Explorations are also banned
without National Museum authorisation and supervision.
Violators can be jailed for up to
10 years if found guilty.
“We do have the relevant law
that will apply to this particular case and, of course, we do
intend to make sure that law is
followed,” Valte said.
National Museum director Jeremy Barns could not be
reached for comment by AFP
yesterday. The
263-metre
Musashi was sunk in 1944 amid
a US campaign to liberate the
Philippines, its former colony,
from brutal Japanese World War
II occupation.
Allen said the discovery
was the outcome of an eightyear search for the battleship,
backed by historical data from
four countries and using “advanced technology” that surveyed the seabed.
Undersea footage on Allen’s
website showed what were described as a valve, a catapult for
planes, a gun turret and a starboard anchor.
It also showed the space on
the bow for the Japanese empire’s Chrysanthemum seal.
This is a unique feature of the
three biggest warships that Japan built during World War II,
according to Kazushige Todaka,
director of the Kure Maritime
Museum in Japan.
those who took part in killings.
Rebel leaders said they would
impose their own sanctions on
those found at fault.
The Senate and the House of
Representatives have since said
they will resume discussions
on the bill that they said would
likely pass by mid-June.
Al Haq, the MILF spokesman, said yesterday the high
rebel turnout was proof they
remained committed to the
peace process.
“We’re very confident that
the peace process will continue,” said Al Haq, adding he last
voted in 1986 before becoming
a full-time guerrilla.
he government will continue initiatives to ease
poverty and to alleviate
the problems of poor people,
Malacanang said yesterday.
The statement was issued
following reports that high rice
prices and super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) pushed more Filipinos into poverty.
But
Deputy
Presidential
spokesperson Abigail Valte said
the scope of the study was in the
last six months of 2013 and from
January to June 2014.
“The situation during those
times were different. The typhoon had a big effect,” Valte
said.
“I think between the time that
the study was made and now,
there’s a big difference because
the prices of basic goods have
gone down because the cost of
gasoline went down,” Valte said.
She said although the government expanded the coverage
of the conditional cash transfer programme (CCT), the Department of Social Welfare and
Development also carried out
efforts to clean up its list of beneficiaries.The DSWD delisted
beneficiaries who were not complying with conditions of the
CCT programme.
The Palace official said the
government will continue to
pursue efforts to alleviate poverty. These initiatives include
encouraging investors to invest
their money in the Philippines
and improving the competitiveness of local industries.
Economic Planning Secretary
Arsenio Balisacan had admitted that surging food prices and
the effects of Super Typhoon
Yolanda “wiped out the gains in
per capita income.”
“I think between the time
that the study was made
and now, there’s a big
difference because the
prices of basic goods have
gone down because the cost
of gasoline went down”
A report of the Philippine Statistics Authority said high rice
prices pushed the number of Filipinos living in poverty to 25.8%
in the first half of last year despite strong economic growth.
The 1.2% rise was compared to
the 24.6% of people in the Philippines who were considered
poor a year earlier.
The
government
agency
deemed a family of five who lived
off P8,778 a month—roughly
$1.33 per person a day — to be
poor. Nevertheless the Philippines, one of Asia’s fastestgrowing economies, saw the
average income of Filipinos rise
by 6.4% in the first six months of
2014, Balisacan said.
The areas ravaged by Yolanda
saw the most substantial jumps
in poverty levels, he said.
Notwithstanding the ravages
of the typhoon, the Philippine
economy expanded by 6.1%
last year, second only to China
among Asian economies according to the government.
Gulf Times
27
SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL
Lanka Tamils ask India to
stop poaching in waters
AFP
Colombo
S
ri Lanka’s main Tamil
party yesterday asked
neighbouring India to stop
poaching in local waters, saying
it was affecting fishermen struggling to rebuild their lives after
decades of ethnic war.
The Tamil National Alliance
(TNA) said they urged the visiting Indian foreign minister
Sushma Swaraj to ensure that
Indian trawlers did not breach
the maritime boundary and
destroy livelihoods of people in battle-scarred northern
Sri Lanka.
“Consequent to Indian trawlers coming here in unlimited
numbers, the fishing rights of local fishermen have been greatly
disturbed,” TNA leader R Sampanthan told reporters after talks
with Swaraj.
“Some action should be taken
to resolve this issue, preferably
on an amicable basis without
further delay.”
India has maintained the issue should be resolved through
“dialogue,” but previous talks
between fishermen of the two
countries had ended in failure.
Sampanthan said they did not
want force used to stop poaching, but defended the fishermen’
right to self defence in case they
were attacked.
Poaching is a contentious issue. Until the end of the separa-
IMF rules out fresh
bailout for Lanka
The IMF has ruled out a fresh
bailout for Sri Lanka, which
had hoped to secure loans of
more than $4bn to restructure
expensive debt taken on by the
previous regime.
Much of the country’s postwar infrastructure under
the administration of former
president Mahinda Rajapakse was
funded with Chinese debt and the
new government had hoped to
retire some of those loans.
Finance Minister Ravi
Karunanayake travelled to
Washington last month to
try to secure loans from the
International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank.
But IMF experts who reviewed
Sri Lanka’s economy during a
nine-day visit said the Indian
Ocean island was not facing an
immediate crisis.
Delegation leader Todd Schneider
said Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves
were comfortable compared to
2009, when it obtained a $2.6bn
bailout at the height of a civil war.
“The situation today is quite
different,” Schneider told
reporters in Colombo. “We only
provide balance of payments
support.”
Sri Lanka’s economy is among the
fastest growing in South Asia.
But the IMF last year warned
the island was vulnerable to
sudden external shocks due to
high levels of foreign commercial
borrowings.
By the middle of last year, Sri
Lanka’s foreign borrowings stood
at $42.4bn, up from $39.7bn
at end 2013, a figure the IMF
considers high.
The country’s economy grew by a
blistering 8% in the first two years
after the end of a decades-long
Tamil separatist war in 2009, but
growth has since moderated.
The IMF is forecasting a growth
rate of 6 to 7% this year, down
from an estimated 7.4% last year.
tist war in 2009, local fishermen
were not allowed to venture out,
leaving the rich fishing grounds
open to those from India.
However, with the end of the
conflict, the locals have been allowed to go out to sea, but they
are confronted by Indian trawlers which enter the area in large
numbers, Sampanthan said.
Swaraj is in Sri Lanka on a twoday visit ending yesterday to prepare the ground for next week’s
visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is due to travel to
the northern peninsula of Jaffna where much of the fighting
took place during the height of
the war.
Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils
share close cultural ties with
those in the southern Indian state
of Tamil Nadu, but relations have
been strained in recent years over
the fishing issue.
However, talks between the
Indian minister and her local counterpart, Mangala Samaraweera, skirted the thorny
fishing issue and concentrated
on other matters, officials said.
Sri Lanka’s new government
which came to power in January
has said it will work closely with
neighbouring India, the regional
super power, to ensure the island’s reconciliation after the
decade-long war which claimed
the lives of at least 100,000
people between 1972 and 2009.
Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe: “What we did not like
was the attempt at the time of the Rajapakse regime to play India off
against China.”
Ties with
Delhi and
with Beijing
separate: PM
IANS
Colombo
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj gestures during a meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in Colombo yesterday.
Nepal airport reopens
after four-day shutdown
AFP
Kathmandu
K
athmandu’s international airport reopened
late yesterday, ending
a four-day shutdown after
a plane skidded off its only
runway which left thousands
stranded at the start of a busy
tourist season.
Nepalese and Indian experts worked for days to help
remove the damaged Turkish
Airlines A330 after it veered
off the runway with 224 passengers on board early on
Wednesday.
All the passengers and
crew were unhurt in the accident, which led to a runway closure and saw scores of
international flights cancelled.
“The aircraft has been removed and the airport is open
for international travel,” said
the airport’s general manager,
Birendra Prasad.
“We urge passengers to
contact their respective airlines and check if they are
operating flights,” he said.
The head of the civil aviation authority, Ratish Chandra
Lal Suman, said the shutdown
had left some 21,000 passengers
stranded in the Nepalese capital.
Nepal has launched an investigation into the accident,
which damaged the aircraft’s
landing gear and front engines
and dislodged its tyres.
The distance between the
runway and grassy shoulder where the front landing
gear of aircraft collapsed and
the plane nose-dived was
around 150m.
The civil aviation authority stated that measures were
underway to move the aircraft some 700m away from
the main runway to a secured
parking area.
The Himalayan nation is
home to some of the world’s
most remote and tricky
runways, flanked by snowcapped peaks and terrain that
poses a challenge even for
accomplished pilots.
The closure of Tribhuvan
International Airport, Nepal’s
only international airport, has
led to the suspension of about
80 flights daily since the accident on Wednesday, stranding
over 25,000 passengers.
A string of crashes as well
as the European Union’s decision to blacklist all Nepalese
airlines prompted government
officials last year to announce
plans to install new radar and
weather monitoring systems.
A Turkish Airlines plane is loaded onto a truck as workers prepared to move it after it slid off the tarmac at Kathmandu’s international
airport yesterday.
S
ri Lankan Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe has
said his country’s relations
with India were separate from
that with China and that they
did not like the way the previous
regime of president Mahinda Rajapakse was trying to “play India
off against China”.
In an interview to Chennaibased Thanthi TV, Wickremesinghe said India helped Rajapakse wipe out the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
in 2009.
To a question by the TV channel about the China factor in
the India-Sri Lankan ties, the
Sri Lankan prime minister said:
“We keep the Indo-Sri Lanka
relations separate from SinoSri Lanka relations... Both are
important for us.
“With India there is historic
link. Under the Indo-Lanka
agreement, both countries have
agreed that they will not take any
measures that will harm the security of the other country.
“So in conducting our relations with China or with other
country, we keep this in mind.
With this way, we are able to
handle the Indo-Sri Lanka relationship separately from the
Sino-Lanka relations.
“What we did not like was
the attempt at the time of the
Rajapakse regime to play India
off against China. Play China
card with India, India card with
China. That is not a wise policy.
India also helped us. Without
the help of India, President Rajapakse could have not wiped out
the LTTE. He got that help and he
agreed to give concessions even
beyond the 13th amendment...
But he did not do so...,” he said.
Told by Thanthi that India has
denied helping in eliminating the
LTTE, Wickremesinghe replied:
“Amnesia, you know is very
common among politicians.”
Asked if the era of pro-China
tilt was over, he said: “As I told
you, we have no pro-China tilt,
we have no pro-India tilt.”
He said the previous Rajapakse
regime had strained relations
with the West and therefore
relied on China for economic
assistance.
“But in our case, while we welcome Chinese investment and
assistance, we will also be getting investment assistance from
other countries. There won’t be
a tilt as far as UNP is concerned,
President Sirisena is concerned
and other parties in the National
government are concerned...
“As a result of how they conducted their foreign policy, there
is a general feeling that Rajapakse
regime had tilted towards China.”
His comments come as India’s External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj is in Colombo to
lay the ground for Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit next week.
Colombo has decided to suspend the $1.5bn Colombo Port
City Project with China, pending an examination of approval
obtained by the Chinese project
proponent.
Sri
Lankan
government
spokesman and Health Minister
Rajitha Senaratne announced
in Colombo on Thursday that
the cabinet had, on Wednesday,
approved a proposal by Prime
Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
to immediately suspend implementation of the Colombo Port
City Project (CPCP) being built
on reclaimed land next to the
Colombo harbour port.
The government is to advise
the contractor China Communications Construction Co (CCCC)
to present, within a period of two
weeks, all approvals that it had
obtained from relevant institutions for implementation of the
project.
Wickremesinghe had said
that the CPCP had been signed
without cabinet approval and
following due procedure.
India has opposed part of the
agreement that would give ownership of 20 hectares of land on
a freehold basis to the Chinese
contractor, a state owned company. India uses the Colombo Port
primarily for trans-shipment
purposes, said The Island.
Sirisena had announced recently that all projects entered
into with China, including the
CPCP, would be thoroughly
re-assessed during his scheduled official visit to Beijing this
month.
Bangladesh PM narrowly escapes explosion
IANS
Dhaka
B
Sheikh Hasina
angladesh Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina yesterday
narrowly escaped a bomb
blast which occurred in a Dhaka
neighbourhood minutes after
her convoy passed the area, media reports said.
Several crude bombs exploded in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar
area only 10 minutes after the
prime minister’s convoy passed,
bdnews24.com reported citing a
police official.
The official added that one
police personnel received minor
injuries in the blasts, though he
was “fine and is still on duty”.
Hasina crossed the area on her
way to the capital’s Suhrawardy
Udyan to attend a rally organised by the ruling Awami League,
which she leads.
The blasts occurred amid a
transport blockade and shutdown across Bangladesh, enforced by the Khaleda Zia-led
opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s 20-party opposition
alliance, which boycotted the
general election held on January
5 last year, has enforced a nonstop nationwide blockade since
January 5 and shutdowns since
February this year, demanding fresh parliamentary polls
under a non-party caretaker
government system.
More than 100 people have
been killed so far in the ensuing political violence and most of
them have been killed in fire bomb
attacks on public vehicles. Frequent bomb blasts, arson attacks
and numerous strikes have crippled normal life in Bangladesh.
PM SLAMS BNP LEADER:
Addressing an Awami League rally in the capital, the prime minister yesterday said the government is showing utmost patience
to make Bangladesh Nationalist
Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia
understand the consequences of
her destructive politics and killing of innocent people.
She said Zia is giving directives from her office to her party
leaders across the country to
continue the killing and petrol
bomb attacks. Every miscreant
behind the incidents of arson
and petrol bomb attack belongs
to BNP, Jamaat or their student
and youth fronts, she said.
“So it’s a matter of time when
the BNP leader will face trial for
those killings side by side punishment in the ongoing corruption cases,” Hasina said.
Ruling Awami League organised the rally to commemorate
the historic public address by
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 7, 1971, in which
he called Bengali people for
waging all-out struggle against
Pakistani forces.
Prime Minister Hasina, who
presided over the rally as the
president of Awami League,
criticised the so-called intellectuals who are reluctant to hold
Zia responsible for the current
political violence, saying, those
who would try to protect the
killers would be charged with
aiding and abetting the killers
and bomb attackers.
She said Bangladesh would
certainly move on defying the
bomb attacks and orchestrated
conspiracy of BNP and anti-liberation forces and none would be
able to distract the nation from its
cherished goal of development.
28
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
[email protected]
Telephone 44350478 (news),
44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery)
Fax 44350474
GULF TIMES
Qatar strides
in harnessing
power of ICT
The recent milestone achievement by Qatar’s telecom
major Ooredoo by clocking a global customer base of
100mn mirrors the country’s strides in harnessing the
power of information and communication technology
(ICT) for people.
It comes after Ooredoo crosses a milestone of more
than 3mn customers in Qatar – the highest number ever
recorded by the company.
Ooredoo and the other service provider, Vodafone,
have brought about significant changes to Qatar’s
telecom landscape under the leadership of the Ministry of
Information and Communications Technology.
As HE the Minister of Information and Communications
Technology Dr Hessa al-Jaber recently put it: “When
Qatar’s leadership began the journey to build a vibrant
ICT sector that would spearhead the development of a
competitive knowledge economy nearly a decade ago, it
indeed seemed impossible to imagine that our ambitious
blueprint for change would one day come to fruition.
“But significant commitment and investments on the
part of the government and other stakeholders have helped
drive real, meaningful progress in a short period of time.
The end result is a growing collection of achievements that
have put our ultimate goal of harnessing the power of ICT
for the good of all people
in Qatar in sight.”
Qatar’s ICT-related
achievements are
many. Among these
was the launch of
Qatar’s first cuttingedge communications
satellite- Es’hail 1, which
will greatly enhance
MENA’s broadcast
capacity.
Es’hailSat or Qatar
Satellite Company, which received a 25-year operating
licence from the government in 2013, has already started
to plan the design and manufacture of Es’hail 2, which is
scheduled to launch at the end of 2016. This satellite will
further boost broadband delivery, television and global
connectivity.
By 2016, 95% of households in Qatar will have the ability
to access affordable and high-quality broadband service of
at least 100 Mbps for downloads and 50 Mbps for uploads.
To guarantee and facilitate the growth of e-business,
by 2016, iPv6 will be fully operational throughout the
country. By 2016, 90% of government services will
be made available online through Qatar’s enhanced
e-government portal.
Broadband is the basis to achieve the Connect 2020
Vision, a policy statement laid down by the Ministry of
Information and Communications Technology.
In addition, Qatar continues to steadily advance on
a variety of international indices measuring network
readiness, global competitiveness, ease of doing business,
e-government development, and other important ICTrelated indicators. In fact, Qatar currently ranks 23rd out of
148 developed and developing countries—and first among
Arab nations—on the World Economic Forum’s 2014
Networked Readiness Index rankings, up from 28 in 2012.
In the case of Ooredoo, it operates in markets with an
“addressable population” of more than 700mn people and
sees strong potential for growth across its footprint.
Says Ooredoo Group chairman HE Sheikh Abdulla
bin Mohamed bin Saud al-Thani: “Ooredoo has always
had a clear vision for growth, supported by our prudent
investment and development strategy. Reaching this
milestone of 100mn customers reminds us how far we
have travelled over the past decade, and reinforces the
incredible impact that Ooredoo services are having around
the world.”
Ooredoo and
Vodafone have
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2014 Gulf Times. All rights reserved
China faces challenge
on economic transition
China’s leaders recognise
the long-term imperative of
serious institutional reform,
even as concerns about
slowing growth heighten
the temptation to embrace
short-term fixes
By Andrew Sheng and Xiao Geng
Hong Kong
W
ith China’s economic
slowdown more
apparent than ever, its
prospects of avoiding
a hard landing are weakening.
Whether policymakers succeed will
depend on whether they can navigate
the challenges stemming from an
increasingly divided dual-track
economy.
The latest year-on-year data, from
January, highlight the danger. The
consumer price index dropped to
0.8%; the producer price index fell
by 4.3%; exports contracted by 3.3%;
imports were down by 19.9%; and
growth of broad money (M2) slowed
by 1.4%.
Moreover, the renminbi has come
under downward pressure, owing
partly to economic recovery in the
US, which has fueled capital outflows.
Given huge declines in industrial profit
growth (from 12.2% in 2013 to 3.3%
last year) and in local-government
revenues from land sales (which fell
by 37% in 2014), there is considerable
anxiety that today’s deflationary cycle
could trigger corporate and localgovernment debt crises.
China hopes to secure its long-term
economic development by shifting
from a state-directed to a marketled economy. But the process has
created significant discrepancies in
economic performance, with stateowned enterprises (SOEs) performing
significantly worse than their privatesector counterparts, despite having
better access to credit.
And there is a widening disparity
between real-estate prices in China’s
thriving first- and second-tier cities
and its lagging third- and fourthtier cities (though higher household
incomes in the former make housing
there more affordable).
The authorities’ task now is to
determine how to support continued
growth on the better performing
track (the private sector and the
first- and second-tier cities), while
eliminating overcapacity and boosting
productivity on the weaker track
(SOEs and third- and fourth-tier
cities).
To succeed, they must address
the fallout of the previous approach,
which, by providing more money and
preferential policies to the lagging
track, ended up fueling overcapacity
and unsustainable local debts.
The transition from a
dual-track economy
to a market-based
economy will not be
easy
In other words, China must
confront the sunk costs of bad
local-planning decisions. Instead of
continuing to hope that bureaucratic
intervention can repair flawed
projects, officials should take a
market-based approach, allowing
losses to be allocated through the
bankruptcy process, thereby enabling
all stakeholders to move on to more
productive activities.
The Chinese economy’s dualtrack structure also presents unique
challenges for macro-financial
management. As the fast-growing
sectors absorb an increasing amount
of resources, a shift toward more
market-oriented interest rates is
needed to ensure efficient allocation.
Meanwhile, the slow-growing
sectors risk falling into a “balancesheet recession,” with highly indebted
SOEs and local governments becoming
so focused on paying down their debts
that they stop investing in needed
infrastructure, even when interest
rates fall.
As a result, conventional monetary
and macro-prudential policies are
caught between competing demands
for credit, with one track needing
to support productive growth and
the other attempting to buy time for
restructuring.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC)
has attempted to confront this
dilemma by differentiating reserve
requirements according to sector
or type of financial institution. The
results have not been encouraging.
For example, when the PBOC
cut its benchmark interest rate last
November, in order to help reduce
private-sector borrowing costs, it
triggered a speculative stock-market
boom.
Following January’s disappointing
macroeconomic data, the PBOC
acted again, by lowering the reserve
ratio for banks by 50 basis points,
with additional cuts for banks
focused on small and medium-size
enterprises (50 basis points) and for
the Agricultural Development Bank of
China (400 basis points).
Despite these efforts, neither track
seems satisfied that their credit
demands are being met.
Efforts to address these structural
challenges are being frustrated not
just by institutional barriers, but also
by entrenched official corruption.
The problem is that anticorruption measures, despite enjoying
broad public support, undermine
bureaucratic effectiveness in the short
term – a significant issue in a critical
reform year, especially given slowing
growth.
Institutional reforms aimed at
combating corruption, reducing
overcapacity and dealing with
unsustainable local debts will generate
long-term dividends and sustainable
payoffs.
But short-term stimulus measures,
such as tax cuts and higher fiscal
deficits, will be needed to minimise
growth disruptions. This would mean
reversing the recent decline in the
government budget deficit, which
narrowed to 1.8% last year, from 2% of
GDP in 2013.
The transition from a dual-track
economy to a market-based economy
will not be easy. The Chinese economy
is clearly in urgent need of repair. But
the news is not all bad: a substantial
portion of the economy continues to
expand, underpinning much higher
overall growth rates than in most other
economies.
Moreover, despite some concerns
about capital outflows, China’s
consolidated net foreign-asset
position, which stands at $1.7tn
(17.6% of GDP), remains sufficient
to sustain China through this tough
transition.
China’s leaders recognise the
long-term imperative of serious
institutional reform, even as concerns
about slowing growth heighten the
temptation to embrace short-term
fixes. The authorities are taking strong
action to curb pollution, improve
energy efficiency, implement pension
reform and expand access to health
care and low-cost housing.
More immediately, China’s
leadership is committed to excising
the cancer of corruption. The key, as
with any critical surgery, is to ensure
that the necessary life-support
systems are in place. In China’s case,
that means maintaining adequate
liquidity.
In the end, sustainable development
will require that China’s two economic
tracks merge.
With the right approach, relatively
stable and rapid growth can be
maintained throughout the reform
process.
Avoiding a hard landing would be
good not only for China; it would
ensure much-needed growth and
stability for the global economy. Project Syndicate
zAndrew Sheng is distinguished fellow
of the Fung Global Institute and a
member of the UNEP Advisory Council
on Sustainable Finance. Xiao Geng is
director of Research at the Fung Global
Institute.
Participants of Qatar Businesswomen Association’s mentoring programme, “Walk and Talk”, held at Doha’s Aspire Zone yesterday. The programme was held to mark
the celebration of International Women’s Day. The Global Mentoring Walk “convenes established women leaders and emerging women leaders to walk together in
their community”. Around 100 women composed of business leaders, students, entrepreneurs and members of the Global Ambassadors Mentoring Programme
participated in the event.“As they walk, they discuss their professional challenges and successes to establish a mentoring relationship,” said QWBA chairperson Aisha
Alfardan. “The Global Mentoring Walk is an opportunity to highlight the importance of women’s leadership and to accelerate the impact of women leaders through
mentoring.” PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil.
A tribute to Qatar’s ‘sheroes’
By Dana Shell Smith
Doha
T
oday marks the 104th
observance of International
Women’s Day. The creation
of International Women’s
Day emerged from the activities of
labour movements at the turn of the
20th century in North America and
across Europe.
In its early years, the day honoured
the women’s rights movement,
including advocating for the right
to vote and hold public office, and
for ending discrimination in the
workplace. Today the day is observed
as a time to reflect on progress, to call
for change and to celebrate acts of
courage and determination by women
who have made a difference in their
communities and countries.
President Barack Obama has made
advancing the status of women and
girls a central element of US foreign
policy. US Secretary of State, John
Kerry, reinforced this message when
he said: “No country can get ahead
if it leaves half of its people behind.
This is why the US believes gender
US ambassador Dana Shell Smith: says she has been impressed by the Qatari
women she has met in various sectors.
equality is critical to our shared goals
of prosperity, stability, and peace,
and why investing in women and girls
worldwide is critical to US foreign
policy.
“To this end, I am very gratified to
see the US-Qatari partnerships that
empower women through investments
in education, business, arts and
culture. From the six US universities
at Education City to the over 1,200
Qatari students, many of them young
women, studying in the US, our
countries are working together to
ensure that women participate and
contribute economically, politically
and socially to their respective
societies.
Global stability, peace and prosperity
depend on protecting and advancing
the rights of women and girls around
the world. We know that progress in
women’s employment, health and
education can lead to greater economic
growth and stronger societies.
I am proud that the US-Qatar
partnership promotes these ideals
through our collaboration every
day. I have been impressed by the
Qatari women I have met in business,
education, art, in your offices and
in your homes and I look forward
to hearing more of your stories and
sharing experiences with all of you in
the years to come.
So, in closing, I would like to express
my appreciation and admiration for
the girls and women of Qatar, the
“sheroes” and the vital role you play
in society.
zDana Shell Smith is the US
ambassador to Qatar.
Gulf Times
29
COMMENT
Stars embrace flying with passion
Ford’s personal air force
is understood to include
Aviat Husky and de
Havilland Beaver bush
planes, a Cessna Sovereign
business jet, a Bell 407
helicopter, plus the Ryan
and a Waco Taperwing
biplane
By Robert MacPherson
Washington/AFP
H
arrison Ford, recovering
yesterday from the crash
of a vintage World War II
trainer, is just one of many
Hollywood stars who embrace flying
as passionately as they do acting.
Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood,
Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Brad
Pitt and John Travolta are among the
screen idols with pilot’s licences in
their wallets.
Others include Michael Dorn,
Edward Norton, Kurt Russell and
Hilary Swank, who began learning to
fly while starring in an Amelia Earhart
biopic.
“There’s a pretty good collection
of folks in Hollywood... who use
general aviation for transportation
and recreation,” says Thomas Haines
of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association (AOPA).
Ford, 72, sustained multiple gashes
to his head when his open-cockpit,
two-seat Ryan PT-22 Recruit in US
Army Air Corps colors crashed onto a
golf course.
He was attempting to return to
Santa Monica airport in greater
Los Angeles after telling air traffic
controllers that his engine had failed.
“Dad is ok. Battered, but ok!” his
The small plane owned by Ford is seen after crashing at the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California.
son Ben Ford said via Twitter, while
Ford’s publicist said the Indiana
Jones star looked likely to make a full
recovery.
On social media, fans fondly
recalled a famous scene in a Indiana
Jones film in which the swashbuckling
archeologist and his reluctant dad
crawl into an open-cockpit biplane.
“I didn’t know you could fly a
plane,” the tweedy Henry Jones, Sr played by Sean Connery - shouts to his
adventurous son.
“Fly, yes! Land, no!” Indiana Jones
yells back, as they soar off into the
wild blue yonder.
In real life, Ford is well known
among American pilots as a seasoned
airman, at home in a wide variety of
aircraft, and as a tireless advocate for
general aviation.
His personal air force is understood
to include Aviat Husky and de
Havilland Beaver bush planes, a
Cessna Sovereign business jet, a Bell
407 helicopter, plus the Ryan and a
Waco Taperwing biplane.
“I’ve been working for a living
(as an actor) to support my airplane
habit,” Ford - one of Hollywood’s most
bankable stars - once quipped.
Haines has flown several times
with Ford, an AOPA member who has
testified on Capitol Hill and spoken
out in support of America’s smaller
airports.
“He is very skilled, very methodical
in his approach to aviation,” Haines
said, adding that the actor takes his
high profile “very seriously” in order
to promote personal flying.
Hollywood’s deep ties with flying
go back to its golden era, when
Cecil B DeMille and Charlie Chaplin
ran their own airports and Jimmy
Stewart, a World War II bomber
pilot, tooled around in a humble
Piper Super Cub.
Among Hollywood royalty today,
Travolta owns several jets - including
a Boeing 707 in vintage Qantas livery
- which he keeps literally at the door
of his Florida home at a private airport
called Jumbolair.
“We designed the house for the
jets and to have, at our access, the
world at a moment’s notice,” the
Harrison Ford: well-known among American pilots as a seasoned airman, at home
in a wide variety of aircraft, and as a tireless advocate for general aviation.
Pulp Fiction and Saturday Night
Fever star told Australian television
last year.
“I was five years old when I fell in
love with aviation,” the New Jersey
native added. “This is something in
my blood. I can’t get rid of it.”
Jolie began flying lessons in 2004,
then got herself a Cirrus SR-22, a
touring aircraft - best known for its
built-in airframe parachute - that is
the world’s best-selling single-engine
plane.
She personally flew it over Death
Valley, in a crisp white suit, for a
Vogue magazine feature in 2007
photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
Last year, Jolie’s husband Pitt,
perhaps inspired by his World War
II movie Fury, reportedly dropped
$3.3mn for the ultimate toy - an iconic
Spitfire fighter.
If that’s correct, he could invite
Cruise to a dog fight: the Top Gun
and Mission: Impossible hero owns,
among other planes, a P-51 Mustang
fighter on which he had “Kiss Me,
Kate” emblazoned on the cowling in
red letters.
A recent YouTube video suggests
that the affectionate nod to Katie
Holmes now has been erased, after the
couple divorced in 2012.
Cruise has said he loved aviation as
a child, carrying Mustang and Spitfire
pictures wherever he went, but put
off learning to fly until the early 1990s
when he overcame dyslexia.
Weather report
Letters
Three-day forecast
TODAY
Umrah trips
by private cars
Dear Sir,
I applied for Umrah visas for my
family through an agent recently
ahead of our journey this month.
I followed all the procedures and
informed the agent that we would be
travelling to the holy sites by car as I
could not afford air fares.
In fact I have been going for Umrah
like this for the past few years. The
road journey saves money and time.
We received the Umrah visas
promptly on March 2. There were five
passports and I was charged a fee of
QR1,500 by the agent.
After completing all the
formalities and the fee payment, the
agent now informs me that travelling
for Umrah by private car has been
stopped with immediate effect. As
I have already paid my fees to the
agent for visas for journey by private
car, I can’t go by bus or by air now.
Many other people seem to be in the
same quandary.
I appeal to the Saudi authorities to
allow those who have already taken
visas to go on Umrah trips by private
cars, at least during this month.
Ibrar Hussain Butt
(e-mail address supplied)
Ardent appeal for
equal treatment
Dear Sir,
I ardently request the Ezdan group
to treat its old and new tenants
on equal terms. I signed my lease
contract for an apartment with
Ezdan in Al Wakrah in September
2014 but was not given any “free
months” offer. However, after one
month or so, Ezdan started to offer
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the first three months free for new
tenants.
Because of this disparity, I am paying
QR800 more than the new tenants.
I am sure that Ezdan, being such a
Fishermen’s forecast
OFFSHORE DOHA
Wind: NE-NW 03-12/15 KT
Waves: 1-3/4 Feet
INSHORE DOHA
Wind: E-SE 03-13 KT
Waves: 1-2 Feet
major and fair company, will respond
positively to this appeal.
RJ
(Full name and address supplied)
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10 ways to make relationship last forever
By Barton Goldsmith
Tribune News Service
H
aving a good and longlasting relationship isn’t
rocket science. By being
loving and supportive,
you can keep your foundation strong
and build your dreams for the future.
Here are some ways to help make that
happen.
1. Be nice to each other. For the
vast majority of couples that come
to me, this is their first homework
assignment, and it almost always
helps in a significant way. If you’ve
been at odds with each other, you
have stopped doing nice things for one
another. Keep opening doors, making
nice meals and saying, “I love you”.
2. Find little things to do that
make your partner smile. I call it the
Scavenger Hunt. Every day, I look for
something to make my partner smile.
It can be a key chain, a flower or even
a good quote - just something to make
her know that I’ve been thinking about
her and hold her close to my heart.
3. Let go of the little things that
bug you about your mate. The best
way to do this is to say to yourself that
those behaviours do not take away
from your relationship and to let your
resentment go. A conversation may
be needed, but it can be kept light,
and most things can be easily fixed.
For example, if your mate likes the
TV louder than you do, get a pair of
wireless headphones. You will both
be happier, and the sound is actually
much better.
4. Never argue in front of the kids.
The greatest gift parents can give their
children is to have a good relationship
with each other. When you argue, your
children can become very anxious
about what will happen to the family
and to them. Also never use the D
word (divorce); it is far too threatening
and toxic.
5. Look for the good things that
your mate does. Some people go on
a detective- like search for things
that their partners do wrong, maybe
because they want some ammo for
the next time they have an issue, but
telling your mate what he or she is
doing right may well prevent that
imaginary issue from ever coming up.
6. Never blame, shame or complain.
It’s easy to point fingers and voice your
disappointment, but before you do,
think about a couple of things. First,
ask yourself, how will what you are
about to say make your partner feel,
and will it make things better? A much
more effective approach is to tell your
mate you’d really like it if he or she did
some things in a different way, and
offer some solid examples. Please do it
in a nice way.
7. Leave love notes. When I reach into
my pocket and find a piece of paper that
says “Love you”, it brightens my day, and
I feel better about my life. Reminding
your partner of your unwavering
affection is very powerful and will
provide the lift he or she needs to get
through another day at the office or of
taking care of the family.
8. Cuddle often. Holding hands and
snuggling on the sofa are just a few of
the ways you can physically connect
and all of these will help to deepen
your emotional bond. If your partner
wants to go to bed early, and you still
want to stay up, lie down together
until your mate falls asleep, and then
you can get back up and do whatever
you wanted to do.
9. Have dinner as a family whenever
possible. Again, this is one of the best
ways to help your kids become good
adults, and it brings everyone closer.
In addition, having a romantic dinner
on date nights for just the two of you is
also a must.
10. Trust that you are with the right
person. When you doubt that the
person you are with is right for you,
you will be unable to put the right kind
of energy into the relationship. Even
if you’ve hit a rough patch, seeing that
you chose wisely will make resolving
issues easier and life as a couple more
enjoyable.
There are plenty of other things you
can do to strengthen your bond. Start
with these, and don’t try to do them
all at once. Just start with number one,
and the others will be easy to add to
your interactions.
zDr Barton Goldsmith, a
psychotherapist in Westlake Village,
California, is the author of The Happy
Couple: How to Make Happiness a
Habit One Little Loving Thing at a
Time. Follow his daily insights on
Twitter at @BartonGoldsmith, or email
him at [email protected]
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30
Gulf Times
QATAR
Doha Bank
launching
Al Asriya
for women
D
oha Bank is launching
its “exclusive gift” to
Qatari women, Al Asriya, today to commemorate
International Women’s.
Al Asriya is Qatar’s first and
only women account-cumcredit card, whose launching in
the Qatari market was dedicated to celebrating past, present,
and future achievements of
women across the world.
“This exclusive Ladies Banking Package, marks its entry to
radiate extra joy to the lives
of women in Qatar, and was
designed to provide attractive features and offers to fulfil
fine ladies’ needs, match their
lifestyles, celebrate womanhood, and ensure fitness and
well-being,” Doha Bank said in
a statement.
The package, which can
be opened for a minimum of
QR5,000, features a ladies account, a special pink floraldesigned credit card, and
insurance cover.
“This is a unique product offering from Doha Bank and will
appeal to a significant section
of the stylish ladies in the state.
This package was designed to
provide contemporary ladies,
both expatriates and Qataris,
with financial flexibility and
a dedicated payment solution
in the form of the ladies credit
card,” the bank said.
It added, “The lifestyle benefits of this credit is that it is offered free for life ladies account
deposit holders or salary transfer customers of Doha Bank. It
has two supplementary cards,
which are also offered free for
life to female family members
of the primary cardholder.”
In partnership with Jawad
Group, the credit card will also
offer discounts of up to 15%
on women’s clothing, accessories, shoes, linens, premium
kitchenware, and children’s
clothing at all major shopping malls in Qatar on a range
of international brands such
as Camaieu, Monsoon, Accessorize, Lakeland, Pumpkin Patch, and Hush Puppies,
among others.
“Special surprises” also
await those who use Saray Spa
at the Marriot Marquis City
Center Doha Hotel, with complimentary spa treatments and
use of the swimming pool and
health club upon purchase of
spa products. Any Al Asriya
cardholder can also take advantage of a range of health, fitness, and wellness offers across
leading hotels in Qatar.
Also, card members will also
enjoy all the standard benefits
of Doha Bank’s flagship Dream
credit card, including membership to the Dream loyalty
programme, which offers cardholders 1.25% in savings on
every purchase or cash withdrawal, locally, overseas, and
online.
Cardholders will be able to
enjoy discounts of up to 25%
when dining out at restaurants
in Qatar. Diamond jewellery,
smartphones, tablets, branded
sunglasses, and luxury holidays
are also available with the added convenience of paying more
than six months at 0% interest.
For inquiries, SMS ASRIYA to
92610 or visit any Doha Bank
branch.
Women employees of QIC with gift hampers presented by management.
Insurance firm celebrates
International Women’s Day
Q
atar Insurance Company (QIC) celebrated
International Women’s
Day to mark the significant
contribution that women had
made for the success of the
company.
Speaking on the key contribution made by women at QIC,
Ali al-Fadala, senior deputy
group president and CEO, QIC
Group, commented, “At QIC,
we acknowledge women’s im-
portant contribution and participation in our business and
the role they play in the society and the economy. We take
pride in supporting and inspiring women to become future leaders in their respective
fields.”
Layla al-Jaida, vice president, retail department at QIC,
said: “QIC has provided me
with a platform to discover,
realise and demonstrate my
true potential, which is the
most gratifying experience for
which I could have wished.”
To mark International Women’s Day, QIC has launched a
bespoke ladies’ comprehensive
car insurance product, which
is bundled with discounts
on spa and other treatments
from Guerlain Al Fardan Spa,
a complimentary three-day
access pass from Fitness First
and a complimentary an-
nual membership of Voucher
Clubs, which offers attractive
discounts from leading spas,
restaurants and hotels in Qatar.
In addition, the ladies comprehensive car insurance package also provides discounts
on QIC’s Travel and Home
insurance policies.
As a token of appreciation, the
management presented special
gift hampers to all the women
employees on the occasion.
QPM seeks recertification of its management system standards
Qatar Project Management
(QPM) has its internationally
accredited management system
standards recertified in three
important areas - ISO 9001:2008
(quality management), OHSAS
18001:2007 (occupational health
and safety) and ISO 14001:2004
(environmental management).
Mohamed Jassim al–Othman, chief
executive officer, QPM, said: “This
recertification supports QPM’s
strategy relating to the crucial
areas of quality management,
occupational health and safety,
as well as environmental policy
management. These standards
provide guidance and tools for QPM
while delivering client mandates
in accordance with international
standards. It allows QPM to
consistently meet requirements
and exceed expectations, while
ensuring that the overall quality
of internal processes and policies
is maintained and continues to
improve.”
QPM provides real estate
and infrastructure project
management services with a focus
on project efficiency and precision
for civil infrastructure, commercial,
leisure, real estate, and residential
projects.
The company currently manages
mega projects in various
locations around the world while
cultivating potential markets.
QPM’s expertise is grounded in a
full range of professional project
management services including
feasibility studies, programme
development and management,
claim management and resolution,
project control, health and safety
management, cost management
environmental management and
risk management.
32
Gulf Times
QATAR
Alfardan Sports
Motors continues
support to QCS
A
lfardan Sports Motors,
the official importer of
Ferrari in Qatar, has continued its support to Qatar Cancer Society (QCS).
In line with this, it offered support to a cancer awareness campaign titled “Not Beyond Us”, organised by QCS as part of World
Cancer Day activities at the Katara Corniche recently.
As platinum sponsor, Alfardan
Sports Motors supported the
event through activities on the
day and financial sponsorship.
“We are pleased to sponsor
this great initiative that can help
protect the future generations.
We are committed to supporting
initiatives that are in line with
Qatar National Vision 2030 set
by HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad al-Thani to achieve
a healthier society,” said Charly
Dagher, general manager of Alfardan Sports Motors. “I would
like to seize this opportunity to
reaffirm our commitment to Qatar Cancer Society after a very
successful initiative in October
where we donated 1% of our sales
profit in recognition of Breast
Cancer Awareness Month.”
Qatar’s World Cancer Day activities aim to educate the public
and create awareness through
activities on the day. Alfardan
Sports Motors organised a Fer-
rari Parade that started from the
Ferrari showroom and proceeded to Marsa Malaz Kempinski
and the Corniche before ending
at Katara where the main event
took place.
Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Jabor alThani, chairman of QCS, said:
“We are so grateful that Alfardan
Sports Motors is stepping up to
help our community. At Qatar
Cancer Society, we are continuously trying to find ways to increase awareness about cancer,
whether it is for prevention or
treatment. Having the support of
local businesses such as Alfardan
Sports Motors is vital to enable us
to do this.”
The Ferrari Parade held by Alfardan Sports Motors.
Dignitaries and participants on the occasion of the Ferrari Parade.
Screening of reality drama, feature
documentary at Qumra today
Q
A rendering of the project site.
Investors’ applications
sought for plots in
logistics area project
P
lots of land in the Jerri Al
Samr logistics project in
Umm Salal are now open
for investors’ applications, the
logistics committee at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce
(MEC) announced yesterday.
There are 21 plots of land
in different areas offered for
investment in storehouses
and assembly and equipment
plants, according to the MEC
statement.
The area will feature comprehensive infrastructure to
be accomplished within 24
months at an estimated cost
of QR133.25mn. It features a
strategic location and offers
extended lease contracts of 30
years, at QR900 per sqm over
four instalments. The rental
value covers costs and charges
for maintenance, management
and insurance.
The logistics committee
pointed out that application
forms could be obtained from
the offices of Manateq at The
Gate Mall, Tower 2, Floor 10,
or by mailing to [email protected], specifying the name
of the company, applicant, telephone number and e-mail.
The qualifying documents
to be submitted with the application include the commercial registration of the investor,
documents indicating the type
of investment and its value, a
clear work plan for the project,
adequate documents that prove
the financial capabilities of the
company and a security cheque
of QR1.5mn.
The allocation process will
be conducted through a draw,
scheduled for April 19.
umra, a new event by
Doha
Film
Institute
(DFI), will today host
public screenings of two films
in the Modern Masters and New
Voices in Cinema sections, highlighting its focus on promoting
the appreciation of world cinema
and shining the spotlight on new
talents from the Arab world.
Special guest Gael Garcia
Bernal will be in attendance to
participate in a question-andanswer session.
A compelling reality drama,
No (Chile, US, France, Mexico;
Spanish; 2012) directed by Pablo
Larrain, will be presented in the
Modern Masters section, which
is featuring the work of five
Qumra masters over the six-day
programme.
Part of the remarkable film
trilogy by Larrain on Chile, the
film is set in Chile in 1988 and
outlines the audacious and risky
plan by a young ad executive to
undermine President Augusto
Pinochet’s propaganda machine.
Shot in 4:3 television ratio with a
1983 video camera, and incorporating archival news footage and
original TV spots, No plunges
into actual events with a realism
and truthfulness rarely captured
on screen. It will screen at 7pm at
the Drama Theatre, Building 16,
in Katara Village.
Supported by DFI through
its grants programme, My Love
Awaits Me by the Sea (Jordan,
Germany, Palestine, Lebanon,
Qatar; Arabic; 2013) is screening in the New Voices in Cinema
section at 7.30pm, Opera House,
Building 16 in Katara Village.
Directed by Mais Darwazah, her
first feature-length documentary, it had its world premiere at
the Toronto International Film
Festival in 2013.
My Love Awaits Me by the
Sea is a voyage of discovery and
reckoning that contemplates the
meanings of belonging, nostalgia, affiliation and love. It charts
the first journey of Darwazah to
her native Palestine to discover
the life of Hasan Hourani, a poet
and painter, who created a fantastical world in which he was a
perpetual child, his freedom not
limited by the occupation under
which he grew up in Palestine.
Tickets are priced QR35; students have a discounted price of
QR25. They can be bought at the
Qumra Box Office in Building 16,
Katara Village, or online at www.
dohafilminstitute.com/qumra
To be held until March 11,
Qumra hosts more than 100
leading film industry professionals coming together for a series of
bespoke mentorship labs, master classes, meetings and film
screenings to nurture regional
talent. In all, 29 projects in various stages of production have
been chosen to take them to the
next stage.
Representatives from leading international film festivals,
funding bodies, sales, production and distribution companies
along with development specialists and script consultants are
part of the delegates.
A still from My Love Awaits Me by The Sea.
TV personality Lojain Omran becomes Rota goodwill ambassador
T
elevision personality Lojain Omran has been appointed as a goodwill ambassador of Reach Out to Asia
(Rota), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science
and Community Development.
Lojain is renowned for her
philanthropic campaigns supporting young refugees in Syria
and children affected by wars,
political conflicts and natural
disasters in Somalia and north
Kenya.
Lojain will be an integral and
effective member in the region’s volunteer efforts. Her
humanitarian efforts are closely
aligned with Rota’s core mission, which extends assistance
to people affected by crises
around the world through various initiatives and educational
volunteers’ trips.
As a Rota goodwill ambassador, Lojain will represent Rota in
a number of local, regional and
international events. She will be
travelling on volunteers’ educational trips to a number of Asian
and Arab countries where Rota
currently operates.
Lojain’s inaugural trip as
Rota goodwill ambassador was
a volunteer trip to Indonesia,
her first of many volunteer
trips. Lojain joined the volunteers in all their voluntary and
educational activities, which
were delivered to the benefici-
Lojain Omran’s inaugural trip as Rota goodwill ambassador was a volunteer trip to Indonesia.
ary children in Indonesia.
“Rota is honoured to have Lojain Omran as a goodwill ambassador who is well renowned for
her charitable campaigns,” said
Essa al-Mannai, Rota’s executive director. “Rota is working
hard to consolidate efforts with
all of those who can support its
mission through which we are
looking forward to deliver education to all the children who
have been unwillingly deprived
of its blessings.”
Commenting on her appointment as Rota’s goodwill ambas-
sador, Lojain said: “The world
is full of struggles and wars, yet
I possess the desire to create a
positive impact among others.
Education is the most important
step forward in changing societies for the better, and we must
all work together to promote it.
The late Nelson Mandela once
said – ‘education is the most
important weapon we can use’.
With this in mind, I am proud
to be part of Rota and to accompany the charity in its journey
towards achieving a common
goal. We see hope everywhere we
go and this is why we must also
provide hope.”
Lojain, among other local,
regional and international celebrities, participated in Rota’s
fifth Gala Dinner charity event in
Doha recently, which raised over
$21mn.
The Gala Dinner was held
under the patronage of HH the
Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
al-Thani and the leadership of
HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint
Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani,
chairperson of Rota’s board of
directors.
LOW YIELDS | Page 18
SCOTTISH CEO | Page 20
Clock ticks
down to QE
in Europe
Businesswoman
Jeanette Forbes
for Doha event
GULF TIMES
BUSINESS
SOARING BUDGETS: Page 2
Gulf arms demand
fuels UAE push for
home-grown
defence industry
Qatar’s trade surplus totals
QR73.5bn in Q4, 2014: MDPS
By Pratap John
Chief Business Reporter
Q
atar continues to generate trade surplus, which totalled QR73.5bn in Q4,
2014, although imports have risen and
exports fallen, the quarterly bulletin issued by
the Ministry of Development Planning & Statistics shows (MDPS).
The foreign merchandise trade figures released by MDPS yesterday showed that Qatar’s
trade surplus dropped last year from QR94.7bn
in Q4, 2013.
The value of Qatar’s total exports (including exports of domestic goods and re-exports)
amounted to QR104.2bn in end-2014, down
13.8% on QR121bn registered in the fourth
quarter of 2013.
According to the MDPS, the year-on-year
decline in total exports was mainly due to
lower exports of mineral fuel, lubricants and
related materials. However, it said increase in
exports was seen in chemical and related products (by QR900mn) and manufactured goods
(QR400mn).
The value of Qatar’s imports, the MDPS said,
stood at QR30.7bn in end-2014, up QR4.4bn
(16.9%) on the same period in 2013.
The year-on-year increase reflects higher
imports of machinery and transport equipment by QR2.3bn. Among the major import items were manufactured goods (up by
QR1bn) and food and animal stock (up by
QR400mn).
In the last quarter of 2014, Asia remained the
“principal destination” of Qatar’s exports and
the “first origin” of Qatar’s imports, representing 78.3% and 35.9% respectively, followed by
the European Union, accounting for 10% and
26.9% respectively, and the Gulf Co-operation
Council, with 6.7% and 14.7% respectively.
Releasing the data, HE the Minister of Development Planning & Statistics Dr Saleh
Mohamed Salem al-Nabit emphasised the
importance of providing accurate statistics on
foreign merchandise trade in a “timely” manner, and said these represented “one of the
main sources of information on the pattern
and path of economic activity in the state.”
Dr al-Nabit said merchandise trade data was
a “major input” for the compilation of balance
of payment and national accounts and an “essential piece of information” to private sector
decision makers, as well as the government.
“In addition to supporting fiscal and monetary policy decisions, governments use foreign trade data to support the negotiation of
international trade agreements,” the minister
noted.
Reforms implementation will see India among fastest growing: QNB
India will become “one of the fastest
growing economies in the world” if key
reforms outlined in India’s budget are
fully implemented, QNB has said in a
report.
India’s Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley,
recently presented the central
government’s budget for the fiscal year
starting on April 1, 2015 (2015-16). Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s government
is expected to achieve its deficit target
of 4.1% of GDP for the fiscal year 201415 (4.4% of GDP in 2013-14).
This was thanks to a combination of
bold moves such as the reduction of
subsidies, but was also supported by
lower global commodity prices, which
reduced government outlays.
Going forward, India’s government is
targeting a deficit of 3.9% of GDP in
2015-16 and expects to reach its deficit
target of 3% in 2017-18, QNB said.
Notwithstanding continued fiscal
consolidation, the government’s
medium-term fiscal strategy is growthfriendly, with a larger share of capital
spending at the expense of reduced
subsidies and other cuts in current
spending. However, Modi’s first full
budget was not merely about fiscal
arithmetic, it also represented a major
statement about his administration’s
intentions to implement the ambitious
reforms needed to unleash India’s
economic potential. In its 2014 India
Economic Insight report, QNB recently
highlighted six key reforms the
government needed to implement
to improve India’s growth prospects.
The announced budget represents a
milestone as it sets out reforms in the
following three key areas.
First, large public investment is to
reduce supply bottlenecks. One
of the key reasons behind the
underperformance of the Indian
economy in recent years has been
supply bottlenecks.
These are mostly related to the lack
of transport infrastructure and power
shortages. The budget projects a
25.5% increase in capital spending to
address these bottlenecks directly
through increased public investment in
transport infrastructure (railways and
roads).
The government also plans to build five
new large power plants of 4000MW
each. The budget, however, remains
silent on the necessary breakup of
the Coal India monopoly, which is at
the source of electricity shortages.
Nonetheless, the increased investment
spending should start addressing
some of the supply bottlenecks, thus
leading to higher growth over the
medium term.
Second, reducing the subsidy bill. After
liberalising diesel prices in October
2014, the government now plans to
follow up with an 8.6% reduction in
budgeted spending on subsidies. This
is partly due to lower oil prices and the
de-regulation of diesel prices. But it is
also a result of a more efficient delivery
of subsidies to recipients.
Key to the latter is the expansion of
the unique identification programme
(more than 750mn people now
have unique ID cards) and the
administration’s financial inclusion
initiative (more than 120mn accounts
have been opened since mid-August
2014). These measures are expected
to generate significant savings by
cutting middlemen and removing
duplications. They are also expected
to release more budget resources for
capital spending.
Third, a uniform federal goods and
services tax (GST). The government
has restated its commitment to
implement a uniform federal GST
by April 2016. A uniform federal GST
is expected to be “fiscally neutral”
for the general government (which
includes the central government and
the states). However, it is projected to
have a positive impact on growth by
eliminating state borders and therefore
creating a single Indian market for
goods and services.
2
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
Aramco said to
seek loan cost
lower than
Exxon debt
Bloomberg
Dubai
A member of the Emirati armed forces takes part in a military show at the opening of the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi on February 22. Mideast military spending has
jumped 40% since 2010 according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Gulf arms demand fuels
push for home-grown
defence industry in UAE
Bloomberg
Dubai
S
oaring Middle Eastern arms
budgets are spurring the UAE to
build a home-grown defence industry capable of meeting more of its
own military needs while exporting
weapons to markets spanning Tunisia
to India.
The UAE plans to fulfil half its defence requirements by 2030 via a local arms sector making up as much as
5% of the economy and working with
Western companies on more collaborative terms that foster overseas sales,
said Homaid al-Shemmari, chairman
of the new Emirates Defence Industries
Co.
“The biggest fundamental success, in
my mind, is being able to become a regional player,” al-Shemmari said. “The
Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, north
Africa - we have a lot of leverage and a
lot of government-to-government relationships and there’s a lot of capabilities we can offer those countries.”
Mideast military spending has
jumped 40% since 2010 according to
the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), as the war with
Islamic State and instability that has
prevailed since the Arab Spring add to
tensions. The UAE spent $14bn in 2013,
about the same as Iran, the IISS says,
and is building world-class capabilities
in armoured vehicles, munitions and
drones.
EDIC, formed in December, consolidates 16 local defence companies with
10bn dirhams ($2.7bn) of assets.
The new group is being run by Luc
Vigneron, the former chief executive
officer of French defence-electronics
and avionics specialist Thales, where
Citigroup moves
private bankers to
Dubai to lure rich
Bloomberg
London
Citigroup Inc is relocating private bankers to Dubai and may boost hiring as the
Middle East’s financial hub attracts family offices and wealthy individuals.
Mark Mills, a managing director and
investment counselling head for Middle
East and North Africa, and two other
private bankers moved to Dubai from
London this year, Anthony Habis, private
banking head for UAE and the firm’s
head of family office business in the
Mena (Middle East and North Africa)
region, said in a phone interview.
“We’re seeing more family offices
relocating to Dubai from Europe and
other parts of the Middle East as Dubai
becomes even more of a prominent
financial hub,” he said. “Most of our
Mena banker population is based here
in Dubai.”
Private banks are bolstering Middle East
operations as the number of millionaires
increases. Private wealth in the Middle
East and Africa surged 12% to $5.2tn
in 2013 amid high savings rates and
economic growth in oil-rich countries,
according to a June 2014 report by the
Boston Consulting Group.
Citigroup is the third-biggest US bank
and manages about $374bn in assets at
its private bank. It set up a unit to cater
to family offices - mini financial institutions set up by rich families to manage
their affairs - in 2010.
The Middle East is home to large family
businesses such as Saudi Arabia’s Olayan Group, the top shareholder in Swiss
lender Credit Suisse Group, and Dubai’s
Majid Al Futtaim Holding, the operator
of Carrefour stores in the Middle East.
A large number of wealthy clients are
moving away from fixed income investments and beginning to look at hedge
fund investments again, Mills said in a
separate response to questions.
Private banking clients in the region are
seeking strategic advice on their businesses and succession planning, rather
than just advice on investment offerings,
Habis said.
Habis, previously a managing director
at the bank’s institutional clients group
business, was appointed to lead the family office unit in the Middle East in 2013.
current CEO Patrice Caine said last
month that orders from the Middle
East should jump 50% this year to €3bn
($3.3bn).
Export markets likely to be targeted
by EDIC include Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and even Libya, once the
political situation there is more settled,
al-Shemmari said at the Idex defence
expo in Abu Dhabi, adding that the aim
is “to win something big there.”
The company’s workforce should
reach as many as 20,000 people, 60%
UAE nationals, he said.
EDIC’s businesses, previously units
of state defence players Mubadala
Development Co, Tawazun Holding
and Emirates Advanced Instruments
Group, include firearms firm Caracal,
armoured vehicle manufacturer Nimr
Automotive, ADASI, which makes
the Camcopter S-100 drone in alliance with Austria’s Schiebel, repair
and overhaul specialist AMMROC, and
Bayanat, a provider of mapping and
surveying services.
The UAE already leads the region
in military maintenance and can easily compete with mid-size European
and Asian rivals in drones, munitions
and armour, said Bilal Saab, senior fellow for Mideast security at the Atlantic
Council in Washington. Emirates Defence Technology, which sits outside
EDIC, has developed the Enigma armoured vehicle that will be tested in the
desert this summer and is designed and
engineered entirely by the company,
CEO Mohammed al-Suwaidi said at the
Idex show.
Still, the spread of Islamic State
has emphasised the importance of air
power, special forces and intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance, areas
in which the UAE can’t generally meet
its own requirements unaided, so that
military self-sufficiency “is not achievable anytime soon,” Saab said.
EDIC is consequently in talks about
partnerships with international companies, al-Shemmari said. Mubadala
already has ties to defence heavyweights including Lockheed Martin
Corp, Boeing Co and Thales.
European missile maker MBDA has
partnered with Nimr to fit an air-defence system on a UAE-made vehicle,
with the system set to produce at least
€1bn of Mideast orders, Florent Duleux, MBDA vice president for exports,
said at Idex.
“We’re always going to be big buyers of military and civil equipment, but
whoever we buy from we want them to
collaborate with us to establish our industry,” al-Shemmari said. “The benefits are primarily commercial. We’re
not going to compete with those technologies yet, but in future we want to.”
Saudi Arabian Oil Co, the world’s
largest oil exporter, is in talks
with banks to raise a $10bn revolving credit facility at cheaper
pricing than Exxon Mobil Corp,
according to three people familiar with the matter.
Saudi Aramco, as the company
is known, is offering to pay
banks as much as 12 basis
points above the London interbank offered rate, the people
said, asking not to be identified
as the information is private.
Banks will also receive as much
as 10 basis points fees, the people said. That’s lower than the
15 basis points above Libor that
Exxon Mobil paid for its $5bn
revolving credit facility signed
in 2013. Irving, Texas-based
Exxon is the world’s biggest
publicly traded oil exporter by
market value.
Saudi Aramco is replacing an
existing $4bn loan with a facility
more than twice its size, the
people said. The company has
told banks that it could use the
loan to fund acquisitions and
other investments, four people
told Bloomberg last month.
The loan may be the largest
in the Gulf region since 2011,
according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.
The state-owned oil company
is seeking to raise $10bn in four
tranches, three people said. Two
dollar tranches, $6bn for five
years and $1bn for one year, are
to be priced at 12 basis points
above Libor and 10 basis points
above Libor, respectively, the
people said. There are also two
tranches of 7.5bn riyals ($2bn)
for five years and 3.75bn riyals
for one year, to be priced at 11
basis points and 7 basis points
above the Saudi Riyal Interbank
Offered Rate, respectively.
Saudi Aramco didn’t immediately respond to calls and an
e- mail requesting comment.
‘Fujairah oil storage
capacity may rise
amid boom since ’09
Oil storage capacity in the UAE
port of Fujairah is expected to
rise 6mn cubic metres (mcm)
by 2020 to around 14 mcm, a
senior port official told Reuters
on Thursday.
The port, which lies outside the
Strait of Hormuz, a vital Gulf oil
export route, has seen a boom
in storage facility building since
late 2009.
But the pace of construction
has slowed in the past couple
of years, with the threat of
overcapacity and lower forward
prices for oil making storage
unattractive.
However, with the roughly 50%
fall in crude oil spot prices since
last June, traders are now able
to make money by storing oil
for delivery months down the
line, when prices are expected
to be higher - what is known as
a contango market.
Erdogan badgering obscures
Basci’s dovish intent on rates
Bloomberg
Istanbul
T
urkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s insistence that
interest rates are too high is
masking central bank governor Erdem Basci’s dovish tendencies.
Basci has lowered the repurchase
rate the past two months amid intensifying pressure to cut from Erdogan
who, along with government officials,
has questioned the central bank’s
competency. With inflation slowing from last year and the economy
struggling to gain momentum, the
central bank has had plenty of reasons to lower borrowing costs.
Ten-year bond yields fell three
out of the first four days this week
as a report on Tuesday showed core
inflation, which excludes food and
fuel, dropped for a seventh straight
month in February. While the lira has
plunged the most in regional emerging markets this year, sliding to a
record 2.6475 per dollar on Friday, a
46% slump in crude prices since June
is mitigating the currency’s effect
on price growth, according to Nigel
Rendell at Medley Global Advisors.
“Politics aside, yes the central bank
wants to cut rates,” Rendell, a senior
analyst at Medley in London, said on
Wednesday by e-mail. “The politicians are impatient and trying to hurry along the process, but there is little
doubt about the direction of travel. If
the oil price stays around current levels, then a lira at 2.50-2.60 is something they can live with.”
The lira
weakened
past 2.6 to
the dollar for the
first time
on Thursday after
The lira weakened
past 2.6 to the dollar E co n o my
Minisfor the first time on
ter Nihat
Thursday
Zeybekci
said a day earlier that the central
bank didn’t go far enough with rate
cuts, arguing there’s no need to worry
about the currency.
As the June 7 parliamentary elections approach, Erdogan and others
will continue their “daily screaming,’
Marcus Svedberg, the chief econo-
mist at East Capital Asset Management, said in an interview in London
on Wednesday.
The data are shouting too. Turkey’s economy is predicted to have
expanded 3% in 2014, according to
the median of 31 estimates compiled
by Bloomberg, missing the government’s 3.5% target. Unemployment climbed to a four-year high in
November, and a report this week
showed manufacturing contracted
for a second straight month in February.
While consumer-price growth accelerated to 7.55% in February from
7.24% a month earlier, the median
Bloomberg estimate is for 6.5% by
year-end. Core inflation slowed to
7.73% last month, the lowest since
January 2014.
“With inflation rates falling rapidly
and growth rates slowing the central
bank has an incentive to cut rates further,” Bernd Berg, an emerging-market strategist at Societe Generale SA,
said by e-mail.
Berg said he expects the lira to fall
toward 2.65 in the coming weeks.
The central bank would probably
be able to cut rates more aggressively
if it wasn’t for concern that hectoring
by politicians is undermining central
bank independence and damaging
the lira, according to Tim Ash, the
chief emerging- market economist at
Standard Bank in London.
The currency may not be as much
of an impediment to lower rates as
first appears. Turkey’s real effective
exchange rate, which takes inflation
differentials between a country and
its trading partners into account,
was 113.2 last month. With a fairvalue level of 111-112, the central bank
wouldn’t be concerned until the lira
depreciated a further 10%-12% from
its end-February level, according to
Ozgur Altug, the chief economist at
BGC Partners in Istanbul.
It is unclear what level of inflation
is acceptable for Basci. Consumerprice growth has never been within
the central bank’s 5% target since it
was introduced in 2012, eight months
after he took up his role.
“Other emerging-market central
banks would be more cautious, but
with Turkey, and their poor track
record on hitting the CPI target,
lower rates are inevitable,” Medley’s
Rendell said.
Gulf Times
3
BUSINESS
Buyout
firm Abraaj
plans to sell
control of
K-Electric
by 2016
Bloomberg
Karachi
A
A general view of the Bismayah residential project in Baghdad on February 26. Bismayah New City, which aims to house half a million people within four years, dwarfs any construction project Iraq has attempted
in a generation.
Iraq battles to rebuild
despite war, oil slump
New city aims to house half a
million people near Baghdad;
chronic housing shortage after
war and sanctions; challenges face
mega projects planned for Basra,
Baghdad
Reuters
Baghdad
O
n a main highway south of
Baghdad, dozens of buildings
rise up from the Iraqi plains,
the first blocks of a multibillion-dollar
city emerging from a landscape more
accustomed to conflict and crisis than
glitzy new development.
Bismayah New City, which aims to
house half a million people within four
years, dwarfs any construction project
Iraq has attempted in a generation.
Cranes tower over a handful of completed apartment blocks, scores of buses ferry thousands of workers across
the 18sq km (7 square mile) site, and a
huge production complex churns out
pre-cast concrete walls and pillars.
On this largely barren piece of land,
about 20km (12 miles) from Iraq’s once
proud but now war-damaged, dilapidated and overcrowded capital, devel-
opers plan to build 100,000 homes.
The fact that the project is even going ahead after Iraqi authorities lost
swathes of territory to Islamist militants and billions of dollars to an oil
price slump, underlines both the scale
of its ambition and the obstacles it
must overcome.
South Korea’s Hanwha Engineering & Construction, which signed an
$8bn contract to build Bismayah, aims
to hand over the first apartments this
summer.
But it has already had to adapt to the
unique challenge of work in Iraq, adjusting its supply lines after last June’s
Islamic State offensive cut off cement
deliveries.
It also had to contend with the departure of foreign workers when the
IS advance pulled up just short of the
capital. And Iraq’s plunging oil revenues throw into question the government’s ability to deliver critical services, including water supplies, to the
new site.
Inside the new city limits, guarded by
a private security force as well as heavily armed troops, Hanwha senior vice
president Sangsoo Kim said the project
is six months behind its scheduled
completion date of 2019.
“We are trying to catch up to schedule but unless the situation and circumstances improve, a delay of some
time is inevitable,” he said, speaking
in front of the first batch of finished
apartments.
No one disputes the chronic need to
rebuild in Iraq.
International sanctions imposed
over Saddam Hussain’s 1990 invasion
of Kuwait were lifted after the 2003
US-led invasion and occupation of
Iraq, but brutal sectarian conflict hobbled economic recovery.
In the capital, more concrete has
been used to erect anti-blast barriers
than to build houses - a visible reminder for the city’s 7mn residents of Baghdad’s wasted decades.
“In the last 30 years we didn’t build
much,” says Sami al-Araji, head of
the National Investment Commission which is spearheading the homebuilding initiative.
Al-Araji says Iraq needs up to 3mn
new homes over the next decade and
his commission has plans for two other
new cities - in south Baghdad and outside the oil city of Basra.
His offices in Baghdad’s heavily defended Green Zone are filled with
glossy leaflets and architects’ designs
Dubai IPO flops no deterrent
as Daman plans sale in weeks
Bloomberg
Dubai
D
aman Investments, a Dubaibased fund manager, plans an
initial public offering within
weeks even after recent sales in the
emirate were among the region’s
worst in a decade.
Daman is in the final stages of obtaining regulatory approvals for the
sale of a 55% stake, chairman Shehab
Gargash said in an interview in Abu
Dhabi. KPMG completed the valuation, he said.
“This is a good time for a fund company to do an IPO as the money would
go back to the market,” which is undervalued, Gargash said on March 1 at
the Global Financial Markets Forum.
Two of the most recent IPOs in the
UAE are among the Gulf Cooperation
Council’s worst-performing initial
offerings in a decade after a plunge in
oil prices sparked a selloff in equity
markets. At least six regional indexes
entered bear markets in the last five
weeks of 2014.
Since their debut, Amanat Holdings lost about 18% through March 1
and Dubai Parks and Resorts slumped
about 27%. That performance is in
the lowest quartile of more than 150
public offerings in the region since
2005, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.
Amanat, a Dubai-based healthcare startup, listed in November.
Theme-park operator Dubai Parks
first traded on December 10.
After some of the biggest stock
swings in the world, fleet manager
Massar Solutions last month cancelled an IPO, saying it will wait until oil prices are more stable. Emaar
Properties, Dubai’s largest publicly
traded real estate developer, will delay
selling shares in the hotels unit to the
second half, three people with knowledge of the matter said in January.
“Oil is less volatile now and if the
IPO goes ahead, it’s quite market positive,” Amer Khan, the Dubai-based
head of asset management at Shuaa
Capital PSC, said by e-mail. “A successful stock offering now would draw
other listings in the coming months.”
The price of Brent crude dropped
about 50% last year amid a supply glut.
Senaat, which owns Abu Dhabi
companies including National Petroleum Construction Co and Emirates
Steel, plans to sell shares in a unit this
year. The state-owned holding company, which postponed its own IPO,
is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co
and HSBC Holdings and is awaiting
approval from the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, chairman Hussain alNowais said on March 1 in Abu Dhabi.
Daman Investments will spend a
third of the IPO proceeds improving
its brokerage and another third on real
estate, the chairman said. The rest
would be used for seeding new funds,
Gargash said without being more specific.
for the new cities. They boast hospitals,
cinemas, an Olympic-sized swimming
pool, waterfront residences and skyscrapers like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar across the Gulf.
But even with projects like Bismayah,
which al-Araji and Hanwha describe as
the biggest of its kind in the world, Iraq
will struggle to catch up.
As well as the ongoing conflict, businesses complain of widespread corruption and crippling bureaucracy.
“We have been, and still are, a centrally guided economy,” al-Araji said.
“We are moving with force toward a
market economy (but) the investment
culture is very new in Iraq.”
Al-Araji’s commission is trying to
make up for the lost years, seeking foreign investment in electricity - to address a shortfall of 12,000 megawatts
- as well as refineries, transport, telecoms and health.
In the housing sector, his commission and local provincial organisations
are working to provide 400,000 to
450,000 units.
To ensure the success of Bismayah,
by far the biggest of those schemes,
apartments are offered for a downpayment of just $6,300, or 10% of
the total cost of the smallest 100sq m
homes, with the balance repaid over 20
years.
The monthly instalments are less
than the minimum government wage,
making them affordable for many people. Flats in Baghdad are much more
expensive and purchasers usually have
to pay the whole sum in one go.
Even so, and despite heavy promotion on state television, Bismayah has
to overcome concern from potential
buyers.
At
Bismayah,
where
the
8,000-strong labour force has operated for many months, workers laugh
off those concerns, but point to other
pitfalls which still threaten the project.
Although the first apartments are
ready to hand over by the summer, they
say no water supply has been delivered
to the city’s purification plant, making
the flats unliveable for now.
The other mega projects in Baghdad
and Basra, where 70,000 homes are
slated to be built, face similar obstacles.
Officials say that in Baghdad there is
not even agreement yet to use the land,
much of which remains a military base.
“A lot of work has been done,” Araji
said. “But the actual implementation
on the ground, it (will take) about eight
years.”
braaj Group, the Dubaibased private equity majority owner of Pakistan’s
K-Electric Ltd, plans to exit Karachi’s power distributor by late
2016.
Abraaj plans to reduce its
66% stake, held with two other
investors, through share sales
to 26% in a phased manner
and then sell the remainder
with management control, said
Tabish Gauhar, K-Electric’s
chairman and country representative for Abraaj. The company was sold to private investors a decade ago and earned its
first profit in 2012.
“We want to complete the
success story,” Gauhar said in an
interview in Karachi on Thursday. “We are answerable to our
foreign investors that we can
take money out of Pakistan with
a decent rate of return.” Abraaj
invested $360mn to buy a stake
in the company in 2008.
The company is in talks with
about five potential investors in
East Asia and the Middle East
over the sale of management
control, he said. The company
after taking over has dealt with
workers taking illegal possession of office equipment and vehicles for decreasing workforce
and electricity theft in the violence hit city.
“A new management will
stand to benefit in the longer run
given the city’s rising demand
and the company being the only
provider of electricity,” said Abdul Azeem, head of research at
Spectrum Securities Pvt in Karachi.
In the meantime, K-Electric
will participate in the sale of
state-owned utilities in other
Pakistani cities. The government plans to sell the first of
nine distribution companies by
September, Privatization Commission chairman Mohammad
Zubair said last month.
The company sold 775mn
shares last month through the
Karachi Stock Exchange, almost
doubling the free float. K- Electric’s net income more than
tripled to 10.1bn rupees in the
three months ended December
31 from a year earlier.
The company is the seventh biggest by market value
among the 100 companies in the
benchmark index, according to
data compiled by Bloomberg.
It ranked 64th when the Abraaj
Group took over in 2009.
The utility plans to invest
$2bn in the next three to five
years on building a plant in
collaboration with Chinese
companies that will produce
660 megawatts a day, improving the transmission and distribution network and taking
a 25% stake in Engro Corp’s
LNG-based power plant, Gauhar said.
Gulf Times
4
BUSINESS
Faith falters in S&P 500 as $17bn outflow precedes selloff
Bloomberg
New York
More than 50 record closes for the
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the
last year are proving too little to keep
investors interested.
They’ve pulled $16.8bn from exchangetraded funds tracking American
equities in 2015 and sent $16.9bn to
bonds, according to data compiled
by Bloomberg. That’s the biggest
divergence ever in quarterly data going
back to 2000.
Just as stocks seemed back on track
with the Nasdaq Composite Index
above 5,000 and shares erasing the
worst monthly loss in a year, volatility
has crept back, sending the S&P 500 to
its biggest two-day slide since January.
With nine quarters of gains pushing
equity valuations to a five-year high
and the Federal Reserve preparing
to raise interest rates, investors are
rethinking two years of loyalty in
which they sent more than $240bn to
equities.
“People get a little nervous when we
reach thresholds,” Karyn Cavanaugh,
the New York-based senior market
strategist at Voya Investment
Management, said in a phone interview.
Voya oversees $215bn. “People might
be taking some of their gains off the
table and thinking the rest of the year
might not be so good, especially if we
have a rate hike in June.”
The S&P 500 fell for a second day on
Wednesday, dropping 0.9% from its
all-time high, as investors assessed
jobs and services data for clues on
the timing of higher interest rates.
The index rallied 5.5% last month,
rebounding from a 3.1% loss in January.
While the S&P 500 rose to fresh
records four times in February, its 1.9%
gain this year trails all but two of the 24
developed markets. Accommodative
central-bank policy from Europe to
Japan has spurred rallies in global
equities and made US bonds relatively
attractive while the Fed has ended its
bond-buying program.
After more than tripling during a
six-year bull run on the back of Fed
stimulus and a doubling in corporate
profits, the S&P 500 trades at 18.7 times
earnings, near the highest level since
2010. That compares with a multiple
of 17.5 for the MSCI All-Country World
Index.
The strengthening dollar is forecast
to contribute to the first back-toback profit contractions since 2009.
Income from S&P 500 members will
decline at least 3.2% this quarter and
next, according to analysts’ estimates
compiled by Bloomberg.
“There are cheaper asset classes
elsewhere,” said Peter Sorrentino, a
Cincinnati-based fund manager at
Huntington Asset Advisors, which
oversees $1bn in assets. “There’s
a lot of fear that the big blue-chip
multinationals are going to struggle
with the high valuation of the dollar.”
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, the
biggest ETF tracking the US benchmark
gauge, has seen the biggest outflows
among all equity ETFs this quarter,
with investors withdrawing $28.3bn.
The iShares Russell 2000 ETF, which
focuses on smaller companies, has lost
$3bn.
Better returns elsewhere are luring
investors away. The WisdomTree
Europe Hedged Equity Fund and
Deutsche X-trackers MSCI EAFE
Hedged Equity ETF attracted at least
$9.4bn this quarter, the most money
among all equity funds.
Investors are also showing wariness
about US equities in the options
market. Bearish contracts on the SPDR
Rigs seeking US oil slide to
3-year low in record retreat
Bloomberg
San Francisco/New York
U
S energy explorers shut rigs
targeting oil for the 13th
straight week, extending the
biggest retrenchment in drilling on
record and dragging the total count
to the lowest level since 2011.
Rigs targeting oil in the US
dropped by 64 to 922, the lowest
since April 2011, Baker Hughes said
on its website Friday. The count is
down 43% from the 2014 peak of
1,609. More rigs were idled in the
Permian Basin of Texas and New
Mexico, the nation’s biggest oil field
and one of its oldest, than any other
play.
The country has lost more than a
third of its oil rigs since October as
a collapse in crude prices squeezes
drillers’ profits and threatens to end
the shale boom that turned the US
into the world’s largest fuel exporter. Banks including Goldman Sachs
Group have been monitoring the retreat in an attempt to forecast when
US production growth will subside
and re-balance oil markets.
The decline has already eliminated thousands of US jobs and billions
in spending.
“The big story this week is the
Permian, which accounted for a
third of the decline, as it catches up
to the rest,” James Williams, president of energy consulting company
WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas, said by phone on Friday.
“The last few weeks of declines
have been smaller, so this just goes
to show that there’s a lot of noise in
the weekly data and it probably has
a lot to do with when rig contracts
expire.”
A worker prepares to lift drills by pulley to the main floor of Endeavor Energy Resources’ Big Dog Drilling Rig 22 in the
Permian basin outside of Midland, Texas (file). More rigs were idled in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, the
nation’s biggest oilfield and one of its oldest, than any other play. The country has lost more than a third of its oil rigs
since October.
The cuts have yet to eat away at
US oil production, which has kept
climbing thanks to bigger and higher-yielding shale wells. Output rose
39,000 bpd in the seven days ended
February 27 to reach 9.32mn, the
highest rate in weekly EIA data going back to 1983. It’s forecast by the
Energy Information Administration to climb to 9.3mn this year, the
highest since 1972. Crude stockpiles
swelled 10.3mn barrels to 444.4mn
last week, EIA data show.
Exxon Mobil Corp said on
Wednesday that it plans to double
the amount of oil it pumps from US
shale fields in the next three years.
A “significant portion” of shale is
competitive with overseas projects
at current prices, Rex Tillerson,
chief executive officer of the Irving,
Texas-based company, told investors in New York.
Contract drillers including
Pioneer Energy Services Corp
are laying down rigs. The San
Antonio-based company said on
Wednesday that it has received
notices from clients terminating agreements early for 12 rigs
‘Oger Telecom may sell
S Africa’s Cell C stake’
Reuters
Dubai
Oger Telecom is looking at the possibility of selling its majority stake Cell C, South Africa’s third-largest mobile telecoms
network operator, the chairman of the Middle Eastern firm
has told Reuters.
Goldman Sachs has been appointed by Oger Telecom to
help with the process, Mohammed Hariri told Reuters in an
interview in Dubai.
“All options are open. If we get a good price, we will sell,” Hariri said, adding it had been approached by several interested
parties but no firm decisions had been made. He declined to
name the parties.
Hariri said the decision by Oger, which owns 75% of Cell C,
was triggered by the South African telecoms regulator’s
revised plan for cutting the termination fee which operators
charge competitors to carry their calls.
“For us, if we get a proper value, we’d rather not continue. If
the termination rates were honoured as original, we would
have stayed easily,” he said.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
(ICASA) announced in February last year that it planned to
halve by 2016 the termination fee of 20 South African cents a
minute, a move which brought a legal challenge by the country’s two largest operators - MTN and Vodacom.
The ICASA then revised its plan in September, deciding that
rates should instead be cut to 8 cents by March 2017.
Providers with smaller customer bases are most sensitive to
changes in the termination fee, since more calls made by their
users are to customers of other networks.
Cell C has been in an aggressive price war with its two main
rivals in a bid to gain market share. It had 19.6mn users at the
end of 2014 with revenue up 16% last year.
Oger owns
75% of Cell
C, South
Africa’s
third-largest
mobile
telecoms
network
operator
in North Dakota’s Bakken shale
formation, the Eagle Ford play in
Texas and the Permian Basin of
Texas and New Mexico.
“US companies have decreased
their 2015 spending levels by 29%,”
Evercore ISI analysts including
James West said in a research note
March 2. “The key takeaway from
this report is US production is
poised to flatten and likely fall by
year end.”
US producers are facing increasing competition from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about 40%
of the world’s oil and has refused to
curb output. Opec members including Saudi Arabia, its biggest supplier, increased their total output
0.5% in February to 30.568mn bpd,
the most since October, a Bloomberg
survey shows.
Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, Ali alNaimi, said in Berlin on Wednesday
that the country will continue to
supply as much oil as its customers need and sees no sign of their
demand slowing “because Saudi
Arabia is the most reliable supplier
worldwide.”
Goldman Sachs said in a research
note on March 1 that, despite the decline in the rig count, US oil production will still rise 385,000 bpd by the
fourth quarter from a year earlier.
“Lower prices will be required” to
spur the spending and rig cuts necessary to bring balance to oil markets, the bank said.
US rigs seeking gas fell by 12 to
268, the lowest level since 1993, the
Houston-based field services company Baker Hughes said. The total
US count, which includes two miscellaneous rigs, declined by 75 to
1,192.
S&P 500 ETF Trust are 9.25 points
more than bullish ones, according
to six- month data compiled by
Bloomberg. The gap, which expands as
demand for stock market hedges grow,
reached 9.42 points on February. 9, the
widest in more than a year.
“There seems to be more
apprehension and hesitation than we
normally have at this stage of bull
markets,” Dave Grecsek, director of
research at Aspiriant in Los Angeles,
said by phone. The firm oversees more
than $8bn. “A lot of people are of the
opinion that where prices are today
fully discounts where the economy is
headed and people are using the most
recent advance to take chips off the
table.”
Introducing
‘fracklog,’ the
new-fangled oil
storage system
Bloomberg
San Francisco/Houston
O
il drillers expecting prices to rebound after
the biggest drop in six years have come up
with an alternative to storing their crude in
tanks: They’re keeping it in the ground.
It’s a new twist on an old oil-trading technique,
known as a contango storage play, in which a trader
buys cheap crude in an oversupplied market and
saves it to lock in profits at higher future prices.
Drillers who have spent millions boring holes
through petroleum-rich shale rock are just waiting
for prices to go up before turning on the spigot.
From North Dakota to Texas, there are more than
3,000 wells that have been drilled but not tapped,
based on estimates from Wood Mackenzie Ltd and
RBC Capital Markets. Waiting gives producers
such as Apache Corp and EOG Resources a better
chance of receiving a higher price. It could also delay a recovery by attracting more supply every time
prices rise.
“Effectively, the rock is the storage,” Troy Cook,
an analyst with the Energy Information Administration in Washington DC, said by phone. “If you
can afford to hang on to it, you could certainly
choose to wait until the price goes up.”
Once a rig bores a horizontal tunnel through
the underground shale layers, another crew blasts
it with a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to
crack the rock and release the oil. It’s only after the
second process, known as hydraulic fracturing or
fracking, that the well is complete and able to produce oil.
The backlog of unfracked wells - call it a fracklog - is one reason that US crude output is poised
to climb even as companies have idled more than
a third of the rigs that were drilling for oil in October. About 85% of US wells aren’t being completed
right now, Continental Resources chief executive
officer Harold Hamm said in a March 2 interview.
“If you shut off all drilling and just went to pure
completions, you’re still talking about a half a year
of production growth,” Harold York, vice president
of integrated energy research at consulting company Wood Mackenzie Ltd, said on Thursday by
phone.
Gulf Times
5
BUSINESS
China expects to finish
Asian FTA talks by Dec
Reuters
Beijing
C
hina hopes to finish talks on
creating an Asian free-trade
bloc estimated to cover 28%
of the world economy by the end of
this year, the country’s trade minister said yesterday.
Gao Hucheng said on the sidelines
of China’s annual session of parliament that China would work hard
to wrap up talks for the RCEP, or
Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership, before the end of this
year.
RCEP, which comprises the
10-nation Asean club plus six others – China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – is
a Beijing-backed trade framework
that has gained prominence as an alternative to US trade plans.
Asean, or the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, groups
Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Laos, Indonesia, Cambodia, and
Brunei.
The US has been leading negotiations on a more comprehensive USbacked Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) trade plan that involves 12
countries, not including China.
Gao said China was closely monitoring and assessing the impact of
the TPP deal on global trade, and
that the Chinese government welcomed any trade framework that was
open and transparent.
China will “continue to unswervingly push forward and quicken the
pace of China’s free-trade agreement strategy”, Gao told a news conference.
He reiterated that China was con-
Gao Hucheng waves to the media as he arrives for a news conference at the annual session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing yesterday. China hopes
to finish talks on creating an Asian free-trade bloc estimated to cover 28% of the world economy by the end of this year.
fident of growing its trade flows by
around 6% this year, as targeted by
the government, even though he
warned that the country’s import
and export growth likely shrank in
February. China is set to release its
February trade data today, and exports are forecast to recover after a
grim January reading.
The median forecast of 16 ana-
lysts polled by Reuters showed annual export growth probably shot
up to 14.2% on an annual basis in
February, recovering from a 3.3%
contraction in January that sur-
prised analysts. Imports are seen
declining again, however, dropping
10%, although still an improvement
compared to January’s plunge of
19.9%.
Beijing to cut
use of coal
to reduce
air pollution
Reuters
Beijing
China will reduce coal consumption and
boost energy efficiency as part of efforts
to lessen air pollution, according to an
action plan released by the government
on Friday.
The world’s top consumer will cut coal
consumption by over 80mn tonnes by
2017 and more than 160mn tonnes by
2020 through efficiency measures, under
the 2015-2020 plan from the Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology.
China’s annual coal consumption, at about
3.7bn tonnes, accounts for roughly 66% of
the country’s energy demand.
The coal-dominated energy mix in China
has been identified as a major cause of the
hazardous smog that frequently shrouds
cities such as Beijing and Shanghai as well
as a significant source of climate-warming
greenhouse gases.
China aims for a reduction of dust
emissions by 500,000 tonnes and sulphur
dioxide by 600,000 tonnes by 2017,
according to the plan. China is trying
to strike a balance between improving
its environment and restructuring away
from an economy dominated by energyintensive industries such as steelmaking.
Premier Li Keqiang told the annual session
of parliament that the government
planned to cut the country’s energy
intensity, the amount of energy used
per unit of GDP growth, by 3.1% in 2015,
compared with a 4.8% fall in 2014.
Li made fighting pollution a priority
and is striving for zero growth in coal
consumption in key areas of the country.
By 2020, emissions of dust would be cut
by 1mn tonnes and sulphur dioxide by
1.2mn tonnes, the ministry said.
China will accelerate the elimination
of outdated capacities and update
technology and standards to boost usage
efficiency in coal-intensive sectors,
covering coking and industry boilers, it
said.
Hong Kong flooded by China
day trippers as rich shop less
Bloomberg
Hong Kong
H
Low: Rebuffing involvement in financial deal.
Malaysian businessman denies
allegations over investment firm
AFP
Kuala Lumpur
A Malaysian businessman has strongly denied
a report by a website that he benefited from
alleged improprieties in a complex 2009
financial deal involving a government-owned
investment company.
Lawyers for Low Taek Jho, known popularly as
Jho Low, who has been at the centre of growing
Malaysian calls for a full investigation of the
controversy, said the allegation was “false,
materially misleading and is categorically
denied by our client”.
The accusations were contained in a report last
weekend by Sarawak Report, a UK-based site
run by a former BBC journalist that focuses on
Malaysian corruption allegations.
The report, parts of which also appeared in
the UK’s Sunday Times and on Friday in The
Economist, published a series of alleged
internal emails that it said showed $700mn
involved in the deal between the state-owned
Malaysian firm, 1 Malaysia Development Berhad
(1MDB), and Saudi energy company PetroSaudi
was sent to a bank account belonging to a
company controlled by Low.
London law firm Schillings, which represents
Low, said in a letter to AFP that he was
“consulted” on the deal, “but has never been
involved in criminal acts with respect to this
transaction”.
It said the allegations, which were cited in an
AFP report on Tuesday, contain “substantial
factual inaccuracies and false allegations”.
“The allegations are entirely baseless,” it said
in a letter setting out Low’s position on the
allegations, which it termed “defamatory”.
Nobody involved in the controversy has
publicly disputed the authenticity of the emails
cited by Sarawak Report.
Over the past year, several Malaysian media
investigations into the deal have raised
mounting questions over 1MDB’s financial
dealings and whether public funds were being
abused, and Low’s role.
1MDB was launched in 2009 by Prime Minister
Najib Razak, who still chairs its advisory board.
But it is reportedly struggling to pay off $11bn
in debt, and critics say it has been opaque in
explaining its dealings.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing in the affair,
and his office has said the attacks on 1MDB are
politically motivated.
1MDB denies improprieties in the PetroSaudi
joint venture, maintaining that it received back
all of its investment of $1bn in the deal, plus a
$488mn profit, and that its audited accounts
prove this.
Both Low’s lawyers and 1MDB denied he had
ever been employed or retained by 1MDB and
that he had ever had any decision-making role.
Malaysia’s opposition, as well as powerful
ruling-party figures such as former premier
Mahathir Mohamad, have stepped up calls in
recent months for a probe into 1MDB and the
PetroSaudi deal.
After the Sarawak Report allegations, antigraft watchdog Transparency International
on Tuesday joined the calls for “a full
investigation”.
On Wednesday, Najib ordered the country’s
Auditor General to “independently verify
1MDB’s accounts”, with the findings to be
passed to a bipartisan parliamentary public
accounts committee.
“If any wrongdoing is proven, the law will be
enforced without exception,” Najib said in a
statement released by his office.
Sarawak Report’s editor is Clare Rewcastle
Brown, a Malaysia-born former BBC journalist
and sister-in-law to former British prime
minister Gordon Brown.
ong Kong wants more Chinese shoppers, just not the kind they’re getting
now.
Thinning out are the throngs of Chinese
visitors snapping up Prada bags and Swiss
watches in central Hong Kong as President
Xi Jinping strengthens his campaign against
graft and extravagance. Growing are the
numbers of so-called parallel traders who buy
shampoo, milk powder and other daily goods
to resell at higher prices in China, where concerns about the safety of local products put a
premium on those from overseas.
That’s put Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in a quandary between the
city’s luxury retailers eager to see more Chinese shoppers and angry locals who accuse
the visitors of pushing up the cost of necessities. Leung said on Friday leaders in Beijing
are studying the issue after a discussion this
week.
“The overall spending pattern of Chinese
tourists has changed,” Raymond Yeung,
an economist at Australia & New Zealand
Banking Group Ltd in Hong Kong, said by
phone. “The real issue is how Hong Kong can
cope with that change.”
Sales of luxury goods plunged 14% last
year, when the city saw its first annual drop
in retail sales since 2003. The decline has
continued into January, with total expendi-
ture down 14.6% from a year ago. With Chinese tourists making up 78% of Hong Kong’s
visitors last year, their changing composition
ripple through the economy and drag down
luxury good companies including Chow Tai
Fook Jewellery Group Ltd and Prada SpA.
Instead of rich Chinese flying in, the city
is seeing an increasing number of visitors
with big luggages hoarding up space in its
subways, on its buses and on the pavements.
“Hong Kong is basically losing market
share” of the rich Chinese, said Mariana
Kou, an analyst at CLSA. Those are going
to Japan, South Korea and Europe, while
the tourists coming to Hong Kong now are
spending less, she said.
While expenditure on luxury items fell
last year, the sales of medicine, cosmetics
and at supermarkets saw as much as a 9.3%
gain, government data shows. That’s helping companies like YATA Ltd, an operator
of seven department stores, which has seen
Chinese tourists buy up the shampoo and
groceries on its shelves, according to Chief
Executive Officer Daniel Chong.
The new shopping habits though is riling
residents.
In Hong Kong’s Yuen Long district, near
China, there have been three protest marches in a month against the parallel traders and
day visitors from the neighbouring Chinese
city of Shenzhen.
The solution is to limit the number of visitors who are here for just a day, according to
Michael Tien, founder of clothing retailer
G2000 Group. Those who come multiple
times a year now make up 50% of Chinese
tourists, compared with 20% five years ago,
he said.
“Those visitors don’t stay overnight and
their contribution is very limited,” Tien said
in an interview in Beijing where he was attending annual sessions of China’s top legislative body as a Hong Kong delegate. “I
don’t want mainlanders to see Hong Kong in
a negative way, but I hope more people other
than those from Shenzhen could visit Hong
Kong.”
The police charged 12 people out of 38 arrested during a March 1 demonstration, and
used pepper spray to break up confrontations between the protesters and their opponents, the South China Morning Post reported on March 3.
Two thirds of the 743 people surveyed last
month wanted the government to reduce
the number of individual Chinese visitors,
the Chinese University of Hong Kong said
on March 4. More than three-fifth of those
polled said the tourists have brought inconvenience to their lives.
“We have to strike a balance as we don’t
want to see any policy changes leading to a
drastic drop in visitor numbers and hence
hurt the economy,” Leung told reporters in
Beijing after attending the Chinese legislative sessions. “The central government will
see how it can support Hong Kong’s tourism
industry while at the same time not impacting the people’s daily life.”
Shoppers are seen in Hong Kong. Sales of luxury goods plunged 14% last year, when Hong Kong saw its first annual drop in retail sales since
2003. The decline has continued into January, with total expenditure down 14.6% from a year ago.
6
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
Glaxo fires employees in
China for misconduct
G
A Chinese flag is hoisted in front of a GlaxoSmithKline building in Shanghai. The company is firing about 110 employees in China for misconduct that occurred more than
18 months ago.
settlement with US authorities three
years ago. The drug maker had been
accused of failing to disclose clinical
trial data for certain medicines and im-
Huawei, Intel
expand tie-up
Reuters
Beijing
C
hina’s Huawei Technologies
Co Ltd and Intel Corp are expanding an existing alliance
to provide cloud computing to global
telecoms carriers, as US tech firms vie
for Chinese tie-ups to retain access to
a tough mainland market.
The partnership, announced by
Huawei in a statement, comes as US
and other Western tech firms’ scramble to burnish their bona fides with
China, which has become increasingly
wary of foreign technology.
Joining hands with Chinese companies, including technology transfers and adopting Chinese partners’
branding, can make these products
more palatable to local buyers and authorities in the world’s second-largest
economy.
“How do you stay in this market and
do the least damage to your core business – that’s the puzzle everybody is
focusing on now,” said James McGre-
Bloomberg
Beijing
W
Dow Jones
Beijing
laxoSmithKline is firing about
110 employees in China for misconduct that occurred more
than 18 months ago, according to a published report that a company spokeswoman has confirmed. The move comes
six months after a Glaxo subsidiary in
China was found guilty of bribing doctors, hospitals and other non-government personnel and fined more than
$490mn by Chinese authorities.
The firings are taking place in response to instances in which the
drug maker found “clear evidence of
wrongdoing,” Herve Gisserot, senior
vice president and general manager
for pharmaceuticals and vaccines for
Glaxo in China and Hong Kong, wrote
in a memo to employees, according to
Bloomberg News.
“Based on the findings, we have taken
disciplinary action against employees
whose conduct went against GSK’s values and code of conduct. We have zero
tolerance for this kind of behavior,” a
Glaxo spokeswoman wrote Pharmalot.
She added that the drug maker has
increased its monitoring of expense
claims and compliance efforts, and also
hired lawyers and consultants to review
operations.
“As we’ve said before, GSK remains
fully committed to China and has implemented fundamental policy reforms
to ensure the company operates to the
highest standards,” she continued. “We
continue to look to our business in China
and expect to make further investments
in the country as we evolve our business
model there to best meet the needs of
patients and customers in the country.”
The firings come as Glaxo seeks to rebound from the scandal, which set back
efforts to restore its image and revamp
business practices in the wake of a $3bn
Spending
increase
takes toll
on WuXi
gor, chairman for advisory firm APCO
China.
China’s government has been openly pushing for the use of more Chinese
and less foreign-made technology,
both to grow its own tech sector and
as a response to former US National
Security Agency contractor Edward
Snowden’s leaks about widespread US
cyber surveillance.
These policies have become a source
of considerable friction in foreign relations. Earlier this week, US President
Barack Obama warned of a proposed
anti-terrorism law’s impact on technology firms and international business, and demanded amendments.
Other US enterprise tech firms
adopting a partnership strategy include IBM Corp, Dell Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co and
Juniper Networks Inc.
The cloud computing industry is
a focus area for China, with Premier
Li Keqiang saying in his government
work report delivered to parliament on
Thursday that the government would
support its development.
properly marketing drugs, among other
things.
The episode in China contributed to
a 46% pay cut that Glaxo chief execu-
tive Andrew Witty took for 2014, according to the annual report. However,
the board also praised his efforts to remake operations in China and a wide-
ranging, $1.6bn cost-cutting campaign,
which was triggered, in part, by the
struggling respiratory drug business in
the US.
‘China might be better off
than economists think’
Bloomberg
Beijing
W
here will China and India be
in a decade, economically
speaking? Judging from the
abnormal speed at which they have
grown in recent decades, most forecasters think they are due for a slowdown – and, in the case of China, possibly even a crash.
Looked at another way, though, the
two countries’ prospects could be much
brighter. When assessing a country’s
growth potential, economists typically
examine just a handful of indicators,
including past growth, debt burden, the
flexibility of the labour market and the
quality of government.
As Lant Pritchett and Lawrence
Summers have demonstrated, such
measures might not bode well for China
or India. History shows that periods of
fast growth generally portend reversals
back to the world average, analysts say.
Recently, however, researchers have
been developing new ways to forecast
economic performance – methods
that employ large quantities of data to
touch on the deeper economic realities
that actually drive growth. In 2009, for
example, Harvard economist Ricardo
Hausmann and his physicist colleague
Cesar Hidalgo documented a strong
correlation between a country’s wealth
and its ability to produce a wide range of
products, as well as specialised things
– think iPhones and advanced rocket
boosters – that few other nations can
match.
They further found that such capabilities, summarised in a measure they
called the economic complexity index,
were powerful predictors of future performance. If a country’s wealth fell below where the index suggested it should
be, it could be expected to catch up.
Now, a group of researchers led by
physicist Matthieu Cristelli, using
methods drawn from the analysis of
weather patterns, has added an important caveat: The link between wealth
and capabilities appears to apply only
to countries of intermediate to high
complexity. The rest wander around in
a less predictable way, perhaps reflecting the complicating influences of poor
governance or dependence on natural resources. In short, less-developed
nations seem to fall into an essentially
different regime of economic dynamics than do nations farther up the complexity ladder.
The physicists’ insight could have
big implications for China and India.
The data suggest that the two have been
building capabilities in a wide range of
new products and skills, and have thus
graduated into the group of countries
for which complexity does predict
growth. As a result, their combined
gross domestic product should roughly
triple over the next seven years, reaching a total of about $26tn.
The analysis further suggests that
some African nations, such as Senegal, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya and
Uganda, have stored up enough capabilities over the past 15 years to finally
escape the trap of chronic poverty.
To be sure, the new research is highly
unconventional, and provides only a
taste of what we might be able to learn
by tapping big data and going beyond
the simple statistical analysis techniques that economists commonly use.
uXi
PharmaTech
Cayman Inc, a Chinese biotechnology
company, fell the most in nine
months in New York after its
capital spending forecast exceeded estimates and Goldman
Sachs Group Inc cut the stock to
neutral from buy.
WuXi dropped 7.2% to $38.01,
the biggest decline since May.
YY Inc, owner of a social entertainment website, climbed
after fourth-quarter earnings
beat estimates. The Bloomberg index of the most-actively
traded Chinese companies in
the US fell 1% on Friday, paring
its weekly gain to 1.7%.
While reporting 2014 sales
in line with analysts’ projections, WuXi said on Thursday
that earnings will drop in 2015
as capital expenses may increase to as much as $200mn.
That compares with $53.4mn
in 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Goldman
analysts led by Du Wei reduced
their price estimate by 11%, citing “earnings uncertainty,” in a
note on Friday.
“They are investing a lot to
expand their core R&D services
business and also broaden their
strategy to include health care
in China,” John Kreger, an analyst at William Blair & Co, said
by phone from Chicago. “This
company is turning up their aggressive investment strategy to
a level that surprised people.”
WuXi said diluted earnings may
drop by as much as 16% to $1.31
a share due to the increased
spending. Net revenue, which
rose 17% in 2014, may climb by
up to 19% this year, it said in a
statement on Thursday.
Goldman, which cut WuXi’s
price estimate to $39.50 and
removed the stock from its conviction list due to “heavy” capital spending, remains positive
on WuXi’s long-term strategy
as new businesses could lead to
margin improvement.
WuXi plans to complete construction of new manufacturing facilities in Changzhou and
Wuxi City in 2015 and 2016, and
will spend another $40mn to
build two cell therapy manufacturing facilities in Philadelphia,
Chief Executive Officer Li Ge
said in a statement on Thursday.
“Spending is surging for new
initiatives to drive future growth
in areas such as genomics, clinical diagnostics, cell manufacturing, and other high growth
areas of healthcare,” William
Blair’s Kreger wrote in a note
Friday. “Longer term, we believe
these investments should help
drive profitable growth given
management’s very good track
record.”
Year-on-year revenue surged
4.7% to $57.76, posting the
steepest weekly gain since August at 9.6%. The company
said sales almost doubled in the
fourth quarter to 1.17bn yuan
($188.7mn), beating the $178mn
average of eight analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
The increase was driven by revenue from Internet value-added
services doubling in the fourth
quarter, the company said in a
statement.
As hacking grows, biometric security gains momentum
AFP
Beijing/Washington
With hackers seemingly running
rampant online and millions of users
compromised, efforts for stronger
online identity protection – mainly
using biometrics – are gaining
momentum.
Biometrics, which can include
fingerprints, iris scans, facial or voice
recognition and other methods, got a
major boost with Apple’s introduction
of its iPhones with Touch ID.
Samsung followed with its own
fingerprint scanner and Qualcomm
recently unveiled its 3D fingerprint
technology incorporated in the chips
used in many mobile devices.
From major tech firms such as
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to US
cybersecurity officials, consensus is
growing that the simple password,
often the weak link in security
breaches, needs to be replaced.
“I would love to kill the password
dead as a primary security method
because it’s terrible,” White House
cybersecurity coordinator Michael
Daniel told a security forum last year.
Tens of millions of passwords have
been stolen in breaches of major
retailers and banks including Target,
Home Depot and JPMorgan Chase.
Password theft is a key element in
identity theft, the biggest source of
fraud complaints in the US.
And a survey of large Corps using
mobile commerce by RSA and
TeleSign found around three% of
revenue lost due to fraud.
Biometrics are likely to be a major
part of any new identity verification
effort, says Ramesh Kesanupalli, vice
president of the standard-setting Fast
IDentity Online Alliance (FIDO) which
now has over 170 members including
makers of hardware, software and
financial firms.
Kesanupalli said that even solutions
that add verification on top of a
password are not as robust as
biometrics.
“If you don’t eliminate dependency
on the password you’re not solving
the problem, you are only treating the
symptom,” Kesanupalli told AFP.
He says fingerprint identification
made major strides with the iPhone,
and that other technologies such
as facial recognition are still being
improved.
Apple, in a “master stroke,” used a
fingerprint ID on the home button
which is already used to activate
the phone, said Kesanupalli. That
means consumers don’t need
encouragement or special training
to use it. Additionally, e-commerce
firms can piggyback onto the phone’s
authentication to allow for a more
secure transaction without passwords,
Kesanupalli said.
And significantly, the Apple fingerprint
is stored only on the device, so there is
no database to be hacked.
Another important development
was Microsoft’s announcement in
February that it was joining FIDO and
implementing new authentication
methods in Windows 10 that will
include biometrics.
“Moving the world away from
passwords is an enormous task,
and FIDO will succeed where others
have failed,” said Microsoft program
manager Dustin Ingalls.
International Data Corp says some
15% of mobile devices will be accessed
with biometrics in 2015, and the
number will grow to 50% by 2020.
Yahoo, for one, is developing new
security that will eliminate passwords,
according to its chief information
security officer Alex Stamos.
“We strongly believe at Yahoo that we
need to get rid of passwords and that
users need to move to other ways of
communication,” Stamos told AFP,
noting that new login credentials will
be forthcoming.
AcuityMarket Intelligence meanwhile
projects that by 2020, global mobile
biometric market revenues will reach
$33.3bn including biometrically
enabled mobile devices, apps and
software for payments.
But not everyone in the tech world
sees biometrics as the solution to
security problems.
“If you have a credit card that gets
compromised you can get a new
credit card, but what do you do if
your iris or your fingerprints get
compromised?” says Sascha Meinrath,
head of the New America Foundation’s
X-Lab studying new technologies.
Meinrath noted that there have
already been successful efforts to fake
someone’s fingerprint, and that other
biometrics may also see the same fate.
“This presents an entire new realm of
security problems,” he said.
New technologies are helping make
biometrics more secure.
Stephanie Schuckers, a Clarkson
University professor and head of
the industry-academic Center for
Identification Technology Research,
said some research is focused
on “liveness detection,” to guard
against faking fingerprints or other
biometrics. “This would ensure that
the real biometric is there at that
time and place, and recognize a fake
version of that stolen fingerprint,”
Schuckers said.
Some of the pressure for new
identity verification systems is a
response to huge losses hitting the
financial sector, said James Lewis, a
cybersecurity specialist at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies
in Washington.
“We don’t know what the technology
will be,” Lewis told AFP.
“Consumers will decide what they like,
and we will then see if the bad guys
can figure out how to crack it.”
Gulf Times
7
BUSINESS
Sinarmas to revive $300mn
industrial property arm IPO
Bloomberg
Jakarta
S
inarmas Land, the Indonesian
developer backed by billionaire
Eka Tjipta Widjaja, has restarted talks on a $300mn initial public
offering of an industrial property
arm, people with knowledge of the
matter said.
Sinarmas Land unit PT Puradelta
Lestari, which is part-owned by
Japanese trading house Sojitz Corp,
may sell shares in Indonesia this year
after shelving the offering in 2013,
the people said. They asked not to
be identified as the discussions are
private.
Puradelta Lestari is seeking a listing after shares of industrial real estate companies in Indonesia surged.
It is the developer of the Kota Delta
Mas project in Cikarang, located 37
kilometres (23 miles) east of Jakarta,
which includes commercial, industrial and residential facilities spanning an area of about 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres), according to its
website.
“We are still looking for a good
time, so I don’t want to comment
on the IPO,” Ishak Chandra, managing director of corporate strategy
and service at Sinarmas Land, said
by phone Thursday. Sinarmas Land
shares rose 1.3% to S$0.785 at the
close in Singapore on Thursday.
Puradelta Lestari delayed its
$191mn IPO in August 2013 due to
poor market conditions, people with
knowledge of the matter said at the
time. It was planning to use the proceeds from the sale to fund capital
expenditures and land acquisitions.
Shares of PT Kawasan Industri
Sinarmas Land unit Puradelta Lestari may sell shares in Indonesia this year after shelving the offering in 2013,
Jababeka, another industrial estate
developer based in Jakarta, have risen
64% in the past year while rival PT
Surya Semesta Internusa jumped
58%. The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index rose 17% over the same
period.
Sinarmas Land is part of the un-
listed Sinar Mas Group, whose interests include pulp and paper products, food and financial services. The
diversified company was founded by
Widjaja, who is the country’s fourthrichest man with a net worth of $6bn,
according to the Bloomberg billionaires Index.
Draghi’s opaque version of QE fuels queries
Bloomberg
London
T
Draghi: Set for buying €60bn a month of public and private debt.
he European Central Bank’s flexible approach to buying €1.1tn
($1.2tn) of euro-area bonds risks
making the process more opaque for investors.
Starting tomorrow and for the next
19 months, both the ECB and the euro
area’s 19 national central banks will seek
to buy debt from counterparties in the
secondary market. Within limits, their
trading desks will have discretion over
what they buy and when, in contrast to
the Federal Reserve, which issued a calendar for the purchases it made in the
US. “There is high potential for a lot of
weird market effects,” said Lyn GrahamTaylor, a fixed-income strategist at Rabobank International in London. “Reverse auctions would arguably make the
process cleaner.”
The ECB in Frankfurt will grant the
national central banks, known as NCBs,
wiggle room as they carry out purchases
within their home markets, allowing
them some choice between government
and agency debt. It also avoided setting
a target for the duration of the purchases, a measure of the sensitivity of bond
prices to movements in yield.
“The Eurosystem will follow an internal benchmark when coordinating its
purchases, with some flexibility for the
NCBs to purchase their shares within
the universe of eligible instruments,”
the ECB said in a statement on its website. The flexibility will be reviewed by
policymakers based on their experiences as the plan unfolds, it said.
In the US, the Fed typically bought
Treasuries using reverse auctions in its
QE programme that ended last year. In
those, sellers competed to sell to the
central bank, as opposed to a traditional
auction, in which buyers bid to acquire
securities.
In the euro area, purchases of bonds
will be made roughly in proportion
to the capital that each member central bank has contributed to the ECB,
though that guideline doesn’t have to be
strictly followed every month.
“Grey areas remain,” ABN Amro
Bank NV analysts, including Amsterdam-based head of macro research
Nick Kounis, wrote in a note on Thursday.
“While government-bond and national-agency purchases will follow the
ECB capital key, the ECB will still have
room to maneuver.” The ECB published
details of the bond-buying programme
on its website after President Mario
Draghi held a press conference at which
he unveiled forecasts showing higher
economic growth with an inflation outlook that puts officials on track to reach
a goal of just below 2%.
He had already said in January that
the ECB would buy €60bn a month of
public and private debt to boost price
growth in the euro area, without providing details on how the strategy would
be enacted.
Rates across the euro area tumbled
to fresh lows after the ECB’s January
22 announcement of purchases, which
Draghi said on Thursday are due to start
tomorrow. The average yield to maturity on the region’s government debt
was 0.567% on Thursday and reached
0.538% on February 26, the least since
at least 1995, according to Bank of
America Merrill Lynch indexes.
The flexibility has some advantages,
according to Luca Cazzulani, a senior
fixed-income strategist at UniCredit
SpA in Milan. It may help central banks
identify where purchases can most easily be made because competition for the
securities may come from banks requiring bonds to meet regulatory rules, pension funds who need to match their liabilities, and other central banks, which
buy European securities as part of their
balance-sheet management.
“The main theme appears to be flexibility: there is a broad scheme but no
intention to blindly stick to a set of predefined parameters,” Cazzulani wrote in
a research note on Thursday. “The flexibility is important to deal with implementation risk. For example, purchases
may become difficult at the extra-long
end, which is populated by long-term
investors with relatively little incentive to sell.” There are some hard limits
within the programme, according to
the ECB. Only securities due between a
minimum two years and a maximum 30
years and 364 days at the time of purchase will be eligible. And bonds with
yields below the deposit rate of minus
0.2% will be excluded, Draghi said on
Thursday.
While the programme will acquire
no more than 25% of any one bond, and
33% of any one national issuer, existing
holdings from previous asset-purchase
plans will be counted toward these limits, the ECB said.
Now trader attention turns to the first
day of action.
“The technical statements include
several hints at a rather flexible and
pragmatic approach,” Frederik Ducrozet
and Orlando Green, analysts at Credit
Agricole SA’s corporate and investment
banking unit, wrote in a client note. “As
ECB’s QE will go live next week, the focus will turn on the digestion of asset
purchases and market reaction.”
Blame oil for
slow start for
public issues
this year
Dow Jones
New York
It’s been a slow start to 2015 for initial public
offerings.
In the first two months of the year, US-listed
IPOs raised $4.7bn, compared to $8.3bn
raised during the same period in 2014,
according to Dealogic. In 2013 $6.2bn was
raised.
Blame oil for the slowdown.
“There were some big energy deals a year
ago, and just given the price of oil, this year
there have been none,” said Andy Sanford,
head of equity capital markets at Wells Fargo
Securities.
Indeed, two of the three biggest IPOs in the
first two months of 2014 were in the energy
sector: Rice Energy Inc raised about $1.1bn
and EP Energy Corp raised roughly $700mn
when they went public in January 2014.
But with crude-oil futures falling more than
50% between June and January, excluding
master limited partnerships, the IPO market
for exploration and production companies
has screeched to a halt. No exploration and
development companies excluding MLPs
have gone public since June, according to
Dealogic. Though MLPs are typically in the
energy sector, demand for the segment has
remained strong, in part because MLPs pass
along most of their income to shareholders
in tax-favoured distributions, making them
particularly attractive for income-hungry
investors as interest rates remain near
historic lows.
The return of volatility to the stock market
in January also delayed some stock-market
debuts, according to equity capital markets
executives.
January was plagued by sharp swings in US
stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
closed 1% higher or lower on 10 separate
occasions during the month of January, the
highest monthly total since October. Trading
volumes also were at their highest level for
any month since October.
Bankers noted that in the tech sector, a
number of companies completed IPOs in
late December, clearing out a bit of the earlyyear pipeline. And other companies have
opted for additional pre-IPO funding rather
than pushing to list.
Others in the equity capital markets industry
agree, saying despite less money being
raised by IPOs so far in 2015, the IPO market
looks strong, especially when performance
is taken into account.
“This year simply hasn’t had a few of the
large deals we had last year, but I don’t think
the high-level numbers tell the whole story,”
said Michael Cippoletti, head of US equity
capital markets for BMO Capital Markets.
“The IPO market year to date has performed
well.”
For the first two months of 2015 the average
first-day pop for an IPO was 12%, according
to Dealogic. In the same period in 2014 the
average pop was 15%, Dealogic said.
Even as activity in IPOs has remained muted,
other activity in equity capital markets has
risen in 2015 compared to the prior year. For
instance, the money raised by convertible
bonds is up to roughly $13bn for the first two
months of the year compared to $7.7bn in
2014, according to Dealogic.
Convertible bonds can convert to stocks
if the share price of their issuer rises to a
high enough level. In the meantime, they
pay income like a bond. Part of the reason
for the acceleration in convertible bond
issuance is the increased choppiness of the
equities market, industry participants say.
As volatility goes up, the value of the option
associated with the bond increases, too.
Bankers and fund managers say they
expect the rest of 2015 to pick up in terms
of IPO volumes. The pipeline for deals
remains robust, many say. It’s important to
remember, they add, that last year was the
biggest year in IPOs since 2000, and even
if 2015 doesn’t reach those levels, it still has
the potential to be very healthy.
“We just had the most active IPO market
since the financial crisis, so I would expect
the backlog to be a bit smaller, especially
because when you take away some of the
energy deals,” said Cippoletti. “Our backlog
spans all major industry sectors, but what
we don’t have as much of is oil and gas.”
Indian markets woo foreign portfolio investors
IANS
New Delhi
F
oreign Portfolio Investors
(FPIs) continued to stay invested in the Indian equities
market for the week ended March 5
on the back of post-budget expectations and an unexpected lending rate
cut by the apex bank.
For the week ended March 5, the
FPIs bought stocks worth Rs6,861.65
crore or $1.10bn, according to data
with the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).
Post-budget expectations of more
market reforms and the Reserve
Bank of India’s cut in the key lending
rates by 25 basis points glued the FIIs
attention on to the Indian markets.
During the previous week ended
February 27, the FPIs had invested
in stocks worth Rs4,625.81 crore or
$745.32mn.
The foreign institutional investors
(FIIs) along with sub-accounts and
qualified foreign investors have been
clubbed together by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of
India (Sebi) to create a new investor
category called FPIs.
“The FIIs flows have been good
till now. Post-budget, the FIIs will
now be focused at the pace of reform process and the on-going parliament session,” Devendra Nevgi,
chief executive, ZyFin Advisors told
IANS.
“The FIIs will keenly follow parliament’s proceedings especially
the government’s ability to pass
more bills.”The healthy FII flows
helped the Indian markets to make
gains during the previous week. The
30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of
the S&P Mumbai Stock Exchange
(BSE) closed the weekly trade at
29,448.95 points, up 87.45 points or
0.29%.
However, in the coming week the
FIIs may turn their focus away from
the Indian markets as a sharp increase in the US non-farm payroll
data for January and a slow rebound
in oil prices may lead them to the developed markets.
The US non-farm payrolls rose
295,000 jobs last month. The unemployment rate fell to 5.5% from 5.7%
in January.
The Indian markets were anxious
as rapid increases in non-farm pay-
roll data might lead to an increase in
inflation.
This can make the US Federal Reserve raise interest rates sooner than
previously expected. With higher interest rates the foreign institutional
investors (FIIs) will be led away from
the emerging markets such as India.
“The Indian markets are better
placed than their Brics and Asian
counterparts. The markets fundamentals are strong. The inflows will
also continue on the back of the
enormous potential of the Indian
economy in the long-term.”
The next major triggers for the
FIIs interest in the Indian markets
will be the on-going budget session and the inflation and industrial
output data for February which will
come out in the middle of next week.
The Bombay Stock Exchange. Foreign portfolio investors bought Indian stocks worth
$1.10bn last week.
16
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
Activist investors shake up America Inc
Reuters
Boston
T
he largest new field of activist
investors in years is shaking up
corporate America, seeking to tap
into billions of dollars in available capital and inspired by the outsized returns
of brand-name agitators like William
Ackman and Carl Icahn.
The surge could force more companies into costly battles with shareholders
over leadership, spin-offs, and buybacks,
though some of the new entrants risk being brushed off if corporate boards find
they lack good ideas or firepower.
“Everyone wants to be an activist
these days. Everyone wants that capital,” said Damien Park, head of consulting group Hedge Fund Solutions.
In the last five months, some 45 hedge
funds launched their first ever activist
campaigns, according to data from research firm Activist Insight, up from 26
new entrants the same period the previous year, and 15 the year before. The
October through March period is traditionally the most active season, coming in the runup to companies’ annual
meetings, usually held in the spring and
early summer when boards are elected.
Among the newcomers are firms like
H Partners, Chieftain Capital, Isaac
Capital, Vertex Capital, Jet Capital and
Heng Ren Investments, some of which
are taking on big names in the corporate
sphere. H Partners and Chieftain, for
example, are pressuring bedding-maker
Tempur Sealy to change its leadership,
while Jet Capital is complaining about
“poor capital allocation” at SunCoke
Energy.
They join more established hedge
funds that are also promoting activist
campaigns, including Kyle Bass’ Hayman Capital and David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management, which are pushing
for former Goldman Sachs banker Harry Wilson, who had been a part of the
Obama administration’s auto task force,
to join General Motors’ board.
Activism has picked up dramatically
since the 2008 financial crisis, but it
has been popular before including in
the 1970s to late 1980s when financiers
including Carl Icahn and Nelson Peltz
were called corporate raiders for their
strong-arm tactics used to replace top
management and improve value for
shareholders.
The surge comes as activist funds
outpace traditional long-short-equity
rivals’ returns, and draw inflows. Activist funds gained an average 6.3% in 2014
– with Ackman returning 40% – crush-
ing the average fund’s 3.5% increase,
Hedge Fund Research data show. To be
sure, an investor who simply tracked
the Standard & Poor’s 500 index in 2014
would have gained 12%.
Last year, 71 dedicated activist funds
that oversee $119.2bn in assets took in
a record $14.2bn in new money, nearly three times the $5.3bn they pulled
in 2013, HFR said. Meanwhile, about
$135bn in money is sitting on the sidelines earmarked for activist strategies,
according to advisory firm Kingsdale
Shareholder Services.
Still, with less expertise, fewer connections and less cash, some of the newcomers risk falling flat.
“This is like playing sports where you
can’t simply copy your rival’s playbook
and hope to replicate success if your
team can’t execute well,” said Kingsdale
CEO Wesley Hall. The world’s 14 top activists have on average $16bn to deploy
in full throttle fights, while the newcomers often have less than $100mn in
assets, Activist Insight said.
“There will inevitably be opportunists
who are trying to ride a momentum moment,” said Richard McGuire who runs
$3bn Marcato Capital Management.
“But maybe some of them have a good
nose for good ideas and I wouldn’t be as
quick to dismiss them.”
Last year, 71 dedicated activist funds that oversee $119.2bn in assets took in a record $14.2bn in new
money, nearly three times the $5.3bn they pulled in 2013
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
T
he Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE)
index declined by 305.92 points,
or 2.46% during the week, to close
at 12,139.42. Market capitalisation fell by
2.20% to reach QR660.5bn compared
to QR675.3bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies,
15 companies ended the week higher,
while 27 fell and 1 remained unchanged.
Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance
Co (QGRI) was the best performing
stock for the week, with a gain of 6.3%
on only 35,312 shares traded. On the
other hand, Doha Bank (DHBK) was the
worst performing stock with a decline
of 8.8% on 1.2mn shares traded.
Industries Qatar (IQCD), Masraf Al
Rayan (MARK) and Ezdan Holding
Group (ERES) were the biggest contributors to the weekly index decline. IQCD
was the biggest contributor to the
index’s weekly decline, contributing
85.6 points to the weekly fall of 305.9
points. MARK contributed 78.0 points
to the weekly index decline. Both IQCD
and MARK went ex-dividend during
the week. ERES also contributed 38.5
points to the index’s weekly decline.
On the other hand, Commercial Bank
of Qatar (CBQK), Nakilat (QGTS) and
Milaha (QNNS) positively contributed
toward the QSE Index. CBQK added 8.1
points followed by QGTS (7.4 points)
and QNNS (3.8 points).
Trading value during the week decreased by 32.8% to reach QR1.5bn vs
QR2.3bn in the prior week. The banks
and financial services sector led the
trading value during the week, accounting for 32.3% of the total. The
Industrials sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading
value, accounting for 27.6% of the total
trading value. Industries Qatar (IQCD)
was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of
QR179.0mn.
Trading volume decreased by 38.3%
to reach 30.1mn shares vs 48.7mn
shares in the prior week. The number
of transactions fell by 26.9% to reach
19,102 versus 26,135 in the prior week.
The real estate sector led the trading
volume, accounting for 26.2%, followed
by the banks and financial services
sector, which accounted for 23.9% of
the overall trading volume. VFQS was
the top volume traded stock during
the week with total traded volume of
4.5mn shares.
Foreign institutions turned bearish during the week with net selling of
QR74.1mn vs net buying of QR82.4mn
in the prior week. Qatari institutions
turned bullish with net buying of
QR22.8mn vs net selling of QR41.8mn
the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish for the week
with net selling of QR5.3mn vs net selling of QR8.0mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bullish with
net buying of QR55.6mn vs net selling
of QR32.9mn the week before.
In 2015 YTD, foreign institutions sold
(on a net basis) $15mn worth of Qatari
equities.
QSE Index and Volume
Weekly Market Report
Source: Qatar Exchange (QE)
Weekly Index Performance
Source: Bloomberg
DISCLAIMER
This report expresses the views and opinions of Qatar National Bank Financial Services SPC (“QNBFS”)
at a given time only. It is not an offer, promotion or recommendation to buy or sell securities or other
investments, nor is it intended to constitute legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice. We therefore strongly
advise potential investors to seek independent professional advice before making any investment decision.
Although the information in this report has been obtained from sources that QNBFS believes to be reliable,
we have not independently verified such information and it may not be accurate or complete. Gulf Times and
QNBFS hereby disclaim any responsibility or any direct or indirect claim resulting from using this report.
Qatar Stock Exchange
Top Five Gainers
Top Five Decliners
Most Active Shares by Value (QR Million)
Most Active Shares by Volume (Million)
Investor Trading Percentage to Total Value Traded
Net Traded Value by Nationality (QR Million)
Source: Bloomberg
Technical analysis of the QSE index
T
he QSE Index dropped another week
on low volumes. It ended at the
12,139.42 level, losing 2.46% from
the week before. Over the past week, the
Index’s performance confirmed our expectation on the effects of the Bearish Engulfing candlestick created three weeks ago.
Technical indicators are pointing down
and thus weakness is expected to continue at least in the first part of the coming
week. We expect the main resistance level
to be at 12,600 while the support level is
positioned between the 12,000 and 11,850
levels.
Definitions of key terms used in technical analysis
C
andlestick chart – A candlestick
chart is a price chart that displays
the high, low, open, and close for a
security. The ‘body’ of the chart is portion
between the open and close price, while
the high and low intraday movements
form the ‘shadow’. The candlestick may
represent any time frame. We use a oneday candlestick chart (every candlestick
represents one trading day) in our analysis.
Doji candlestick pattern – A Doji candlestick is formed when a security’s open and
close are practically equal. The pattern
indicates indecisiveness, and based on
preceding price actions and future confirmation, may indicate a bullish or bearish
trend reversal.
17
18
Gulf Times
BUSINESS
Clock ticks down to QE
in Europe with bond
yields at record lows
Bloomberg
London
T
he final countdown is under way
for the European Central Bank’s
programme of government-bond
purchases, which already fuelled a debtmarket rally that sent yields across the
euro region to record lows.
The ECB will start its €1.1tn ($1.2tn)
quantitative-easing plan tomorrow, President Mario Draghi said in Cyprus last
week. The purchases, which are to include
public and private debt, will be conducted
in the secondary market by national central banks via existing counterparties.
Draghi spurred demand for higheryielding bonds on Thursday, when he
said securities won’t be purchased if their
yields are below the ECB’s deposit rate of
minus 0.2%.
“What markets will key in on most is
exactly what kind of rhyme or reason are
we able to sort out from their buying patterns,” said Richard Kelly, head of global
strategy at Toronto Dominion Bank in
London. “The early flow will be parsed to
see if they are concentrating in any particular area of the curve and if it looks coordinated and correlated across countries
or not.”
Yields have plunged on concern the plan
may lead to a scarcity of fixed-income assets. Eighty-four of the 346 securities in
the Bloomberg Eurozone Sovereign Bond
Index have rates below zero, data compiled by Bloomberg showed on Friday,
meaning buyers would get less back when
the debt matures than they paid to buy
them. That includes all German government bonds due in six years or less.
“We see optimistic sellers at the start of
the program,” said Christoph Rieger, head
of fixed-rate strategy at Commerzbank in
Frankfurt. “Accounts who have bought
in advance of the ECB purchases will sell
and thus it may initially look like they can
achieve their volumes quite smoothly until the scarcity” concerns emerge, he said.
Only securities due between a minimum two years and a maximum 30 years
and 364 days at the time of purchase will
be eligible, and there are other limits on
how many bonds can be bought to reach
The new headquarters of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. The final countdown is under way for the ECB’s programme of
government-bond purchases, which already fuelled a debt-market rally that sent yields across the euro region to record lows.
the target of €60bn a month.The trading
desks of the euro-area’s national central
banks do have some discretion over what
they buy and when, the ECB said in a
March 5 document.
Italy’s 10-year yield fell one basis
points, or 0.01 percentage point, in the
week to 1.32% at the 5 pm London close on
Friday. It touched 1.259%, the least since
Bloomberg began collecting the data in
1993.
The price of the 2.5% Italian bond due
in December 2024 rose 0.115, or €1.15 per
€1,000 face amount, to €110.81.
German two-year notes missed out
on the gains after Draghi effectively set a
minimum rate of minus 0.2% for ECB purchases. Yields on the securities climbed
to a four-week high of minus 0.184% on
Thursday before ending the week at minus 0.207%. They rose for the first week
since December 5.
Speculation over the form the quantitative-easing programme will take has
dominated trading of euro-area bonds
since it was announced in January. The
first clues as to how it will work in practice
will emerge on Monday.
“As a rule we’d expect the lines least
easy to source to benefit more than benchmark issues that are still being tapped,”
Ciaran O’Hagan, head of European rates
strategy at Societe Generale in Paris,
wrote in an e-mailed note. The central
banks “will be wary of not creating large
price distortions.”
Morrisons to
bear scars of
supermarket
price war in UK
Reuters
London
B
ritain’s fourth biggest
supermarket
Morrisons is expected to report its lowest annual profit
in eight years on Thursday,
hurt by a fierce industry
price war, and is likely to signal lower dividend payouts
going forward.
Last week Morrisons, which
trails market leader Tesco,
Asda and Sainsbury’s, named
former Tesco executive David
Potts as its new CEO, succeeding Dalton Philips, who
was ousted in January after
failing to revive the grocer over
his five year watch.
Potts, who will start on
March 16, is tasked with restoring growth in a brutally
competitive market, where the
traditional big four players are
grappling with the rise of discounters Aldi and Lidl.
New chairman Andrew
Higginson, who will present
the year to February 1 results,
reckons getting Morrisons
back to robust health will take
three to five years.
“There’s a lot of customers
out there who would love to
be shopping in Morrisons but
can’t at the moment because
we’re not doing a good enough
job,” he told Reuters.
“If we improve the work
we do for them they’ll come
back.”
Analysts expect Potts to
move swiftly to sharpen Morrisons’ store standards and
customer service, as well as
improve its product offer and
merchandising.
The firm has guided to a
pretax profit before one off
items of £335mn to £365mn
($511-$556mn) for the 2014-15
year, while analysts’ average
forecast is £342mn.
That’s less than half the
£785mn made in 2013-14 and
a third straight year of decline.
The slump reflects Mor-
risons’ strategic U-turn last
year when it said it would
spend 1bn pounds on price
cuts over three years to stem
the loss of shoppers to the discounters.
Despite the profit fall Morrisons has pledged to raise its
2014-15 dividend to not less
than 13.65 pence, up 5%.
However, analysts reckon
the firm will flag a reduced
payout for the current year.
Morrisons’ joint broker Jefferies is forecasting a dividend of
7.61 pence for 2015-16.
The savings could be invested in further price reductions. Tesco has said it will not
pay a final dividend this year,
while Sainsbury’s has indicated lower future payouts.
Shares in Wm Morrison
Supermarkets are down 13%
year-on-year, though they
have risen 11% over the last
three months on recovery
hopes.
Buyers of Morrisons stock
argue that though its underlying sales continued to fall over
the Christmas period, a more
competitive pricing strategy is delivering better sales
trends, with items per basket
and number of transactions
improving.
Morrisons, unique among
British supermarkets in making over half of the fresh food
it sells, is also making progress
in accelerating cost savings
and reducing its net debt.
It has more freehold stores
and a better pension position
relative to its main rivals.
The firm’s critics argue it
has the worst growth outlook
of the big four, given its late
entry into the better performing parts of the market, namely convenience stores and online shopping.
They also question the
wisdom
of
Morrisons’
lengthy 25-year distribution deal with online grocer
Ocado and the impact of its
new customer loyalty card on
profit margins.
WEEKLY COMMODITIES REVIEW
Dollar strength weighs on prices; precious metals lose shine
AFP
London
Commodity prices came under
pressure last week from a strong dollar
which surged to multi-year highs
against the euro.
The dollar rallied as the European
Central Bank neared the launch of
its massive stimulus package and
after strong US jobs data raised the
possibility of a hike soon to Federal
Reserve interest rates.
A strong dollar makes commodities
priced in the US unit more expensive
for holders of rival currencies.
The European single currency on
Friday sank to $1.0845 - the lowest level
since September 2003.
The ECB will meanwhile begin its €1.1tn
quantitative easing stimulus tomorrow.
The US Labour Department said Friday
that the US economy pumped out a
stronger-than-expected 295,000 net
new jobs in February.
“The dollar surged higher, having
already gained substantially... from the
European Central Bank’s quantitative
easing programme and weak eurozone
GDP growth,” said Alasdair Cavalla,
economist at the Centre for Economics
and Business Research.
OIL: Oil prices won support this week
from unrest in Libya, helping to offset a
surge in US crude inventories.
Michael McCarthy, chief market
strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney,
told AFP that traders were “seeing a
lot of upside potential, possibly based
on tensions in the Middle East and
Ukraine”.
“Somehow, we are seeing investors
looking away from the huge build in US
(crude oil) inventories this week,” he
added.
Libya’s National Oil Corp declared force
majeure Wednesday at 11 oil fields after
attacks by Islamists.
The Opec member country has been
battling the rise of militias seeking
control of its cities and oil wealth since
the killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi
in 2011.
Unabated fighting has seen its output
reduced from a high of almost 1.5mn
Gold and silver prices dropped last week as the dollar shot higher
bpd to 150,000, according to analysts.
In Ukraine, investors are closely
watching latest efforts to prop up
a ceasefire in the country’s eastern
region, currently controlled by proRussia rebels.
The 10-month conflict in the country—a
key conduit for Russian energy exports
to Europe—is seen as Europe’s worse
since the war in the Balkans in the
1990s.
Data on Wednesday meanwhile
showed a 10.3mn barrel surge in US
crude reserves in the week to February
27, which dampened expectations of
robust demand in the world’s biggest
economy. The global oil market has
lost about 50% of its value since June,
weighed down by the global supply
glut.
By Friday on London’s Intercontinental
Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for
delivery in April slid to $60.10 a barrel
from $61.67 a week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange,
West Texas Intermediate or light sweet
crude for April rose to $49.83 a barrel
from $48.94 a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold and sister
metal silver dropped as the dollar shot
higher.
“Precious metals came under some
renewed selling pressure as the dollar
resumed its ascent against most
currencies,” said Saxo Bank analyst Ole
Hansen.
By Friday on the London Bullion
Market, the price of gold fell to $1,175.75
an ounce from $1,214 a week earlier.
Silver slumped to $15.99 an ounce from
$16.53.
On the London Platinum and Palladium
Market, platinum slipped to $1,166 an
ounce from $1,177.
Palladium rose to $823 from $808 an
ounce.
BASE METALS: Base or industrial
metals were mixed as investors
reacted also to a growth outlook from
commodities-hungry China.
China on Thursday lowered its
2015 economic growth target to
“approximately seven%”, scaling down
expectations in the face of “formidable”
difficulties for the world’s secondlargest economy after its decades-long
boom.
The figure announced by Premier Li
Keqiang is the lowest since a similar
goal in 2004 and comes after China’s
gross domestic product (GDP)
expanded 7.4% in 2014, the slowest
pace in 24 years. Last year’s target was
“about 7.5%”.
The cut was widely expected by
economists and reflects the reality of a
multi-year slowdown in the Asian giant
that has seen it come off regular annual
double-digit expansions.
By Friday on the London Metal
Exchange, copper for delivery in three
months dropped to $5,747.50 a tonne
from $5,862 a week earlier.
Three-month aluminium slipped to
$1,795 a tonne from $1,810.
Three-month lead gained to $1,806 a
tonne from $1,747.
Three-month tin grew to $18,090 a
tonne from $17,910.
Three-month nickel increased to
$14,310 a tonne from $14,110.
Three-month zinc retreated to $2,016 a
tonne from $2,068.
COFFEE: Futures declined as rain fell in
coffee’s biggest producer Brazil.
By Friday on the ICE Futures US
exchange, Arabica for delivery in May
slid to 134.45 US cents a pound from
143.65 cents a week earlier.
On LIFFE, London’s futures exchange,
Robusta for May dropped to $1,866 a
tonne from $1,886.
SUGAR: Prices hit multi-year lows with
the dollar reaching a ten-year high
against the Brazilian currency.
Prices hit a near six-year trough at
$364.20 a tonne in London and an
almost five-year low of 13.18 cents a
pound in New York.
Brazil’s real slid past three to the
dollar for the first time in 10 years on
Thursday, in the latest sign of weakness
for South America’s biggest economy.
By Friday on LIFFE, a tonne of white
sugar for delivery in May grew to
$373.80 from $370.10.
On ICE Futures US, unrefined sugar for
May dropped to 13.50 US cents a pound
from 13.86 US cents.
COCOA: Prices steadied after recent
highs caused by the dry Harmattan
wind across West Africa that blows
away leaves and flowers which develop
into cocoa fruits.
By Friday on LIFFE, cocoa for delivery
in May rose to £2,037 a tonne
compared with £2,011 a week earlier.
On ICE Futures, cocoa for May fell
to $2,978 a tonne from $2,984 the
previous week.
Gulf Times
19
BUSINESS
US jobs report bolsters case
for Fed rate increase in June
E.ON casts
doubt on
Irsching
plant beyond
March 2016
Bloomberg
Washington
Reuters
Frankfurt
A
erman utility E.ON is
unsure about the future
of its Irsching power
plant in Bavaria beyond March
2016 given a crisis in the sector
that has pushed many gas-fired
plants into loss.
“The economic perspective of
the gas-fired plant in Irsching is
extremely challenging. Changes
in energy policy have pushed it
to the edge of the market in a way
that makes it barely possible to
recover costs,” an E.ON spokesman said.
E.ON is considering idling the
plant, German broadcaster ARD
reported on Friday.
Germany’s gas-fired plants
are being squeezed by cheaper
coal-powered units and expanding, subsidised wind and solar
generation.
Yet there’s a need for the
steady, so-called “base power”
that gas and coal units due to
German government plans to
shut down all nuclear reactors
by 2022.
E.ON’s own Grafenrheinfeld
nuclear plant, which serves big
industry in southern Germany,
will shut in May.
Utilities have called for state
compensation and warned of
potential supply risks if they
shutter loss-making gas-fired
plants.
In April 2013 a deal was struck
between E.ON and grid operator
TenneT, approved by the regulator, under which it kept open the
Irsching 4 and 5 gas-fired blocks
in return for an annual doubledigitmn euro payment for each
block for keeping them available
for power.
The two blocks were put under a so-called redispatch agreement between April 2013 and
March 2016. That agreement has
since been called a one-off.
Irsching 4 is fully owned by
E.ON while Irsching 5 is partowned by local utilities Mainova,
N-Ergie and HSE.
Under German state rules,
should E.ON wish to close the
blocks for good after March
2016, it must notify the regulator this month to provide the
required 12-month advanced
notice.
Utilities cannot unilaterally close plants as they may be
deemed necessary to secure network operations.
A spokesman for Bonn-based
regulator
Bundesnetzagentur
said his agency had not yet received an application for closure
from E.ON.
German green energy subsidies for low-carbon wind and
solar energy generation have
sent wholesale prices and generation margins sharply lower.
Prices are currently trading
near 11-year lows.
A spokeswoman for the Economy Ministry in Berlin said the
ministry did not see any risks to
power supply security but said
the discussion highlighted the
importance of building power
transmission lines from the
north to the south.
stronger-than-forecast US payrolls report strengthens the argument for the Federal Reserve
to begin raising interest rates in June,
after the jobless rate reached the range
that officials view as full employment.
The jobs report looks “unambiguously strong” said Neil Dutta, head of
US economics at Renaissance Macro
Research. “June is still the base case”
for rates to rise, he said. “The probability of September is falling rapidly.”
With the world’s largest economy
gaining momentum, “June would strike
me as the leading candidate for liftoff,”
Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said on
Friday. “It is clear we need higher real
interest rates,” Lacker, who is a voting
member of the Federal Open Market
Committee this year, said in an interview on Sirius XM radio.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen last week began to prepare investors for an increase
this year, without saying that a move
was imminent. She signalled in testimony to Congress that the FOMC may
drop its pledge to be “patient,” which
would mean that rates could be raised
at any meeting.
“It now seems to be a done deal that
the ‘patient’ guidance will be dropped
from the March FOMC statement,”
Harm Bandholz, chief US economist
at UniCredit Group in New York, wrote
in a report. Aneta Markowska, chief US
economist at Societe Generale in New
York, echoed that sentiment.
“It virtually cements the removal
of the ‘patient’ language at the March
meeting,” said Markowska. “It keeps
the June rate hike in play.”
Unemployment fell to 5.5% in February, the lowest level in almost seven
years, the Labor Department said Friday. Fed policy makers estimate full
employment at 5.2% to 5.5%, according to their latest economic estimates
released in December.
US stocks retreated, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index heading headed
for its steepest slide since January 5, as
the report fuelled speculation the Fed
is moving closer to raising rates. San
G
The US Federal Reserve building is seen in Washington, DC. A stronger-than-forecast US payrolls report strengthens the argument for the Fed to begin raising interest
rates in June, after the jobless rate reached the range that officials view as full employment.
Francisco Fed President John Williams,
who also votes on policy this year, said
in a speech Thursday that mid-year
may be time for a “serious discussion”
about raising rates.
“The time is coming when we’ll be
making our first steps down the road to
normalisation,” Williams said in Honolulu. He said the improving labour
market will lift wages and inflation,
which means the Fed should raise rates
before achieving its policy goals of full
employment and stable prices.
The Fed defines price stability as 2%
inflation, measured by the personal
consumption expenditures price index. This gauge rose by 0.2% in January
compared with a year ago and has not
been above 2% since March 2012.
Yellen will hold a press conference
and policy makers will update their
quarterly economic projections at
their next meeting on March 17-18. The
FOMC last raised the federal funds rate
in June 2006, and has held the target
range near zero since December 2008.
Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer
said last month the central bank appears most likely to raise rates in June
or September, although economic developments might warrant different
timing for liftoff.
Even as employment grows, tepid
wage growth and low inflation will be
the main considerations for the Fed,
said Jonathan Wright, a professor at
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore
and a former economist at the Fed’s Division of Monetary Affairs.
“The timing of liftoff and the pace of
tightening thereafter have much more
to do with inflation than the labour
market,” he said. “I don’t think that the
expected path of policy has changed
materially.” Average hourly earnings
rose 0.1% in February from the prior
month after rising 0.5% in January,
which was the most since November
2008, according to Friday’s report.
Some policy makers are questioning
whether full employment is less than
the 5.2% to 5.5% jobless rate the Fed
currently defines as the lowest that can
be achieved without heating up inflation. Chicago Fed economists say this
sweet spot, also called the natural rate
of unemployment, may be as low as 5%.
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans
has lowered his estimates for the normal rate. “I now think that it might be
something more like 5.0%,” Evans said
in a speech Wednesday. “A few” members of the policy-making Federal Open
Market Committee lowered their estimates in light of “continued softness”
in inflation, according to minutes of the
January 27-28 meeting, which didn’t
identify the officials.
Wall St investors to adopt a cautious approach
Reuters
New York
U
S stock investors may be bracing
for further signs this week that the
Federal Reserve could increase interest rates sooner rather than later, with
retail sales expected to rebound after two
straight months of declines.
A pickup in retail sales could show
consumers are benefiting from sharply
lower oil prices, but analysts say spending in February was likely curbed by
unusually harsh weather in parts of the
US. Friday’s stronger-than-expected
jobs report boosted expectations of a
US rate increase as soon as June, causing the market to sell off.
The S&P 500 ended the week more
than 2% off its March 2 closing record
high, while the Nasdaq was more than
70 points off the 5,000 mark, which
it hit this week for the first time since
March 2000. Comments from some
Fed officials underscored expectations
of a June rate hike. Among them, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey
Lacker repeated his view that the Fed
should raise rates in June.
“The Fed is back at the top of the circle” in terms of the investor focus, said
Kim Forrest, senior equity research
analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in
Pittsburgh. “I think they’re feeling
some pressure to show that they really
are data driven. The economy has been
getting better, and what I think they’re
trying to do is overstay the party to
make sure the economy really is better.”
In the jobs data released Friday, unemployment dropped to a six-year low
of 5.5% last month, within the range the
Fed considers to be full employment. A
Reuters poll conducted following the
report showed many of Wall Street’s
biggest banks are more convinced the
Fed will raise rates in June.
While a stronger US economy is
better for the US stock market in the
long run, investors have worried that
if the Fed raises rates too soon, it could
dampen growth in an economy that has
been slow to recover.
Besides US retail sales, next week
brings the preliminary March reading on
consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan. Sentiment unexpectedly
fell in February from an 11-year high,
adding to recent worries about spending. Apple, which rose 0.2% on Friday
after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced
the stock would be added to the bluechip index this month, will remain in
focus next week when it is expected to
unveil the long-awaited Apple Watch in
San Francisco on Monday.
Also on Monday, the European Central Bank is due to begin its €1tn stimulus plan, an effort to jump-start the
struggling eurozone economy by buying bonds.
US stock investors may be bracing for further signs this week that the Federal
Reserve could increase interest rates sooner rather than later, with retail sales
expected to rebound after two straight months of declines.
‘Bazooka’ time for LME’s log-jammed warehouses
By Andy Home
London
It’s over two years since Charles Li, chief
executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and
Clearing (HKEx), threatened to use a
“bazooka” on the long load-out queues
at his new purchase, the London Metal
Exchange (LME).
And that’s about the time it still takes to
get aluminium out of Detroit or Vlissingen,
the two LME locations with embedded
queues.
The waiting time at Detroit was 573
days and that at the Dutch port 579 days
at the end of January. LME warehousers
don’t work at weekends or on holidays, so
cancel aluminium today at either location
and you should get it sometime in 2017.
The queues should start to shorten as
the LME’s new rule, stipulating warehouse
operators in those locations load out more
than they load in, kicks in from June.
The aim is to reduce the queues to
under 50 days.
But it’s going to take time. A failed legal
challenge to the so-called LILO rule by
Russian aluminium producer Rusal has
already pushed back implementation by
10 months and if warehouse operators
flex the model to the maximum, it could
be four years before the queues disappear.
So the LME is proposing to tweak its
formula to double the queue “decay” rate.
But even then it’s still going to take
time. Over two years, according to Matt
Chamberlain, LME head of business
development.
The LME has finally unveiled its full
armoury of heavy weapons to tackle both
queues and the ever-spiralling cost of
exchange storage relative to off-market
storage. Each of them risks causing collateral damage, so the LME has issued a
discussion paper, in effect asking its members and users which weapon or weapons
they think should be used.
Doing nothing is not an option. “The
LME notes comments from stakeholders
that – particularly given the delay to the
introduction of LILO caused by judicial
review proceedings – the rate at which
queues are expected to fall under LILO is
unlikely to be sufficiently rapid.”
And lest anyone be in any doubt about
which particular “stakeholder” is pushing
for more drastic action, the exchange goes
on to warn that “not taking action to address existing queues and the continued
persistence of such queues could call into
question the LME’s continued compliance
with its regulatory obligations.”
Indeed, UK financial regulator The
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) gets a
lot of name-checks in both the discussion
paper and the spate of warehousing-related notices issued on Monday.
The new warehousing agreement will
pull the LME’s delivery network into the
FCA’s market abuse regime. Complaints
that this amounts to regulatory over-reach
were rejected.
And the regulatory guns are now
being turned on the two key outstanding problems, those persistent queues at
Detroit and Vlissingen and the high cost of
LME storage. The latter, of course, is why
there are queues in the first place. Most, if
not all, of that metal waiting to leave LME
sheds is heading for off-market storage,
which comes at a fraction of the cost.
So at least one of the heavy weapons, or
maybe a combination of them, is “likely” to
be used “to provide assurance to the FCA”
the exchange is fulfilling its own front-line
regulatory duties.
But which one? There are eight in total,
all of which would operate in tandem with
the new LILO rule.
Two are specifically aimed at reducing
faster the existing queues.
The first would be another increase in
minimum load-out requirements, dropping the threshold to warehouses storing
over 150,000 tonnes of metal from the
current 300,000-tonne mark, and lifting
load-out rates by up to 1,000 tonne per
day for those holding over 900,000
tonnes. Which basically means Pacorini,
the warehousing arm of Glencore, in
Vlissingen.
The second would be capping rent for
metal sitting in a load-out queue. A complete ban on charging rent for metal stuck
in a queue for more than 50 days would in
essence eliminate the financial incentive
for a warehouse operator to maintain a
queue. The rent-capping idea found a
good deal of favour in the LME’s original
consultation exercise and the exchange’s
decision to go with LILO instead lay at the
heart of Rusal’s legal challenge.
But the LME warns that litigation risks
“may be higher than for other options (...)
given the amounts which certain ware-
houses have invested with the expectation of a return based at least in part on a
queue.” Moreover, a legal challenge “could
engender a long period (possibly several
years) of market uncertainty.”
And litigation risk is the main concern
about imposing an outright cap on both
storage and load-out costs.
The idea would be to appoint an external consultant to determine maximum
costs at each delivery location and set
rates accordingly, factoring in a return on
capital of 2x, the latter representing “the
highest return observed from a set of public peers operating in the logistics sector.”
“The LME’s current assessment is that
the likelihood of others seeking to challenge [rent capping and charge capping]
through litigation in the courts (or via
complaints to competition authorities),
regardless of the merits of any such challenge, is high.”
Yet, it is hard to see how restraining
warehouse operator behaviour without
doing so is going to work.
LME warehouses have responded to
previous attempts to curtail some of their
excesses by aggressively increasing both
rent and load-out charges.
And, as the LME itself notes, most of its
new proposals, which range from limiting
cancellations of metal through stipulating even higher discharge rates to setting
a straight 50-day load-out deadline, are
likely to be greeted the same way.
Moreover, there seems to be a realisation among stakeholders, one in particular,
that high LME storage costs are inextricably linked both with the current queues
and the future health of the exchange’s
entire good delivery function.
But is the collateral damage risk to the
LME and the market in general worth it?
As well as the litigation risk, there is the
unknowable impact on aluminium prices.
Just as queues have played a role,
to what extent is still hotly disputed, in
splintering the aluminium price between
LME basis price and physical premium,
so a drastic rule-change such as capping
rent could cause a potentially violent
re-connect. In the end this is going to be
a risk-assessment exercise, both for the
LME, which has the FCA breathing down
its neck, and the market.
Andy Home is a columnist for Reuters. The
opinions expressed are his own.
BUSINESS
GULF TIMES
Wealth report picks Yangon as one of four ‘Cities of the Future’
By Arno Maierbrugger
Gulf Times Correspondent
Bangkok
The annual “Wealth Report” released by
global real estate consultancy Knight
Frank on March 5 has an interesting
angle: Apart from listing global cities
most important for ultra-high net worth
individuals (UHNWI, people with a
fortune of at least $30mn), it also takes
a look at the cities with the biggest
potential of becoming an UHNWI
location in the future.
The report names four such cities,
among them Yangon, the former
capital and largest city of the formerly
secluded Southeast Asian nation of
Myanmar, which has now developed
into a bustling economic hub for the
newly opened country.
Knight Frank forecasts that the number
of high net worth individual (HNWI)
residents (people holding at least $1mn
in liquid financial assets) in Myanmar
is set to more than double over the
coming decade, reaching more than
$3,500 millionaires by 2024.
“Yangon is a classic example of
emerging market wealth creation,”
the report says, adding that the city “is
benefiting from the gradual opening
up of its economy. Following the
introduction of democratic reforms in
recent years, the city has seen strong
employment growth and inward
investment, with annual GDP growth at
a national level predicted to eclipse that
seen in India and even China in 2015
and 2016.”
Yangon, contributing around 20% to
Myanmar’s overall economic output,
will likely be the biggest beneficiary
of the country’s opening process,
the report finds. Private investments
in businesses such as construction
and project development have been
one method of gaining exposure
to rising property values, and the
restaurant, hotel and retail sectors
have been improving steadily over the
past five years with a number of new
international entrants.
Tourism is seen as another driver after a
surge of more than 50% in 2014 to over
3mn visitors. Forecasts expect more
than 7mn tourists in 2020.
In the “Cities of the Future” list,
Yangon comes along with Panama
City, a “bridge between Latin and
North America” which has seen the
number of HNWIs nearly doubling
to hit 4,700 between 2007 and 2014;
Addis Ababa, capital of Africa’s fastest
growing economy Ethiopia with a
HNWI population of currently a little
over 1,300 and an expected expansion
to 2,600 by 2024; and Serbia’s capital
Belgrade, accounting for 40% of the
country’s economic activity with a
HNWI growth potential of 72% from
now to 2024, according to Knight Frank.
While the study concedes that none
of the mentioned cities yet boasts
any billionaire residents, they are
locations whose influence Knight
Frank believes is growing strongly at a
regional level.
“Even if they are unlikely to be on the
second-home list of most UHNWIs,
they should certainly be on their
radars in terms of the wealth creation
opportunities they will present,” the
report says.
Meanwhile, the world’s most important
cities for UHNWI remain London,
New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and
Shanghai, with the most important
Middle Eastern city being Dubai
following on rank 8. The top three cities
with the greatest expected growth
in the number of UHNWI residents
between 2014 and 2024 are, again,
Hong Kong and Singapore, followed by
New York.
Yangon’s iconic Strand Hotel, a meeting place of the rich and famous in colonial times and once one of the most luxurious
hotels in the British Empire. PICTURE: Arno Maierbrugger
Scottish businesswoman
Jeanette Forbes to speak
at energy meet in Doha
S
cottish businesswoman Jeanette
Forbes will be a featured speaker
at the ‘Gulf Intelligence Women
in Energy Summit’, which takes place in
Doha this week.
Forbes, CEO of the PCL Group in Aberdeen, was invited to take part in the
summit to address delegates on “Technology: Clearing the path for women to
work in technical field?”
She will speak about how the application of new technologies has been a trigger for greater diversification in the energy industry and the new opportunities
for women to enter the sector.
During the summit, which is being
held in association with the Qatari Businesswomen Association, she will also
take part in an International Leadership
Panel which will discuss “Four decades
of change - what are the key battles
ahead?”
Other panellists include Lady Barbara
Judge, a member of the UAE Advisory
Board for the Development of Peaceful
Energy and the Chairs of both the World
Energy Council and the World Petroleum
Council Youth Committee.
Forbes said it was “a huge privilege” to
be invited to speak at the event.
“Encouraging women to consider a
career in the energy sector and supporting opportunities for them to do so
is something I’m very passionate about
and this is a marvellous opportunity to
be able to update an international audience about what is happening here in
Aberdeen in relation to how the barriers
are coming down.
“The Middle East has a strong focus
on this and the majority of new university students entering engineering pro-
Q
atar Islamic Bank (QIB) has been conferred the annual “STP
Award” presented by Standard Chartered Bank for its outstanding performance in Straight Through Processing (STP)
and delivery of commercial and financial payments in US dollars.
“The award recognises the high-level of operational efficiency that
we focus on at QIB. With our experienced personnel and strong IT infrastructure and delivery channels, we are well-positioned to continue providing the highest quality service to all our individual and institutional customers,” said QIB chief operating officer C Krishna Kumar.
Kumar said the award was handed over at a meeting held at the QIB
head office in the presence of senior officials from QIB and Standard
Chartered Bank. The award recognises QIB’s state-of-the-art, inhouse funds transfer architecture and reflects the bank’s consistent
high SWIFT payment standards, which facilitate automated processing resulting in real time beneficiary account credits, Kumar added.
The award recognises QIB’s high-level of operational efficiency.
Appeal hearing at Qatar International Court today
Forbes: Passionate about supporting opportunities for women in energy sector.
grammes in the Arabian Gulf are young
women. While the energy industry there,
as here, is still dominated by men, more
and more women are working in the sector, including in managerial roles where
they can help influence the industry’s
future. However, we still require familyfriendly working environments to accommodate women returners who have
young children and depend on childcare.
Flexible hours and remote working can
change how a women looks at an organisation for long-term employment.”
Forbes founded the PCL Group, which
provides a full range of IT, telecoms and
computer services to the offshore, marine, commercial, industrial and renewable sectors, in 2000. Since then she has
been at the forefront of promoting and
encouraging opportunities for women in
Qatar First Bank wins IFN
‘Deal of the Year Award’
Qatar First Bank (QFB) has
received the Islamic Finance News
(IFN) “Deal of the Year Award 2014”
during a ceremony held on March
2 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Dubai.
The awards ceremony gathered
more than 400 regional and global
industry professionals, QFB said in
a statement. The gala ceremony
celebrated achievements among
top Islamic bankers, issuers,
advisers, and Islamic banking and
finance institutions.
According to QFB, the bank
acted as a co-arranger for Ezdan
Holdings Group’s first tranche of
its $500mn debut syndication in
April 2014, which was considered
the first fully Shariah-compliant
international syndication Ijarah for
Qatari corporate in the real estate
sector. The deal, which was led by
Barwa Bank, attracted a number of
local and international banks.
QFB acting CEO Ahmad Meshari
said, “We are very proud to have
received this distinguished award.
The award is a testament to the
combined efforts that has been
put into this landmark transaction.
QIB receives
‘STP Award’
from StanChart
the energy sector and has won a number
of national awards and industry accolades for her work in that area along with
her role as a business mentor.
She also sits on the board of several
Scottish Government IT and digital
technology groups and was recently appointed Aberdeen City Ambassador for
Investment, to support the city’s ‘Invest,
Live, Visit’ programme.
The Qatar International Court
will today hear an application
seeking permission to appeal
in the case of QFC Companies
Registration Office v
International Legal Consultants
LLC.
Court registrar Christopher
Grout said hearings before the
Qatar International Court are
ordinarily held in public and
Barwa Bank bags 6 IFN ‘Deals
of the Year 2014’ awards
B
QFB officials during IFN’s “Deal of the Year 2014” awards ceremony.
QFB is pleased to have participated
in this first of its kind transaction
that met Ezdan Holdings objectives while demonstrating the
ability of Islamic banks in Qatar to
handle complex Islamic financing
structures.”
The IFN Award is well-recognised
in the Islamic financial industry
and is considered one of the
highly-credible awards by the global Islamic capital markets. Nearly
30 transactions were nominated
for the 2014 IFN Deal of the Year;
winners were selected on the basis
of comprehensive selection criteria
including structure, location, and
deal size, among others.
so members of the public are
welcome to attend to observe
proceedings in the courtroom.
The hearing is scheduled
to begin at 10am in the
courtroom on the 12th Floor of
QFC Tower 2.
Queries relating to hearings
before the court should be
directed to Grout at Registrar@
qicdrc.com.qa
arwa Bank has won six
awards for Islamic Finance News (IFN) “Deals
of the Year 2014,” the result of
industry-wide polling across
financial institutions, professional advisers, fund-managers, and investors.
Four awards namely, “Deal of
the Year,” “Sovereign Deal of the
Year,” “Sukuk Deal of the Year,”
and “UK Deal of the Year” went
to Barwa Bank for its Joint Lead
Manager position for the debut
of UK’s £200mn sovereign sukuk, a “landmark transaction
that saw the first Shariah-compliant issuance by a western nation.”
In addition, Barwa Bank
was awarded “Qatar Deal of
the Year” for its role in crossborder financing for the Ezdan
$500mn Islamic International
Syndicated Finance. This was
the first 100% Islamic international syndication Ijarah for a
Qatari corporate, and was able
Winners of the IFN Awards, including Barwa Bank, which took
home six awards.
to attract Islamic investors.
The “Social Impact Deal of
the Year Award” also went to
Barwa Bank for its Joint Lead
Manager position in the International Finance Facility for
Immunisation (IFFIm) $500mn
sukuk deal using the funds to
buy vaccines.
Barwa Bank head of Capital
Financing Arsalaan Ahmed received the awards in a ceremony
held in Dubai on March 2.
Barwa Bank Group acting
CEO Khalid al-Subeai said,
“We were delighted to receive
six awards from Islamic Finance
News, which acknowledge
these important deals in 2014.
Being selected as one of five
Joint Lead Managers for the
UK’s £200mn debut sovereign
sukuk last year, alongside major international and regional
banks, represented the clearest statement of our credibility, track record, solid relationships, and delivery, and we are
very proud of this deal.”
“The selection of Barwa Bank
for these deals amidst tough
competition from other banks
was an important achievement
as we strive to enhance the positioning of Shariah-compliant
banking,” he added.
The IFN is a leading provider of information on Islamic
finance markets and instruments. Awards were selected
based on peer nominations and
independent industry analysis.
NBA | Page 8
TENNIS | Page 7
FOOTBALL | Page 10
Hawks
soar past
Cavaliers
Wozniacki
in Kuala
Lumpur final
Kane brace
lifts Spurs
over QPR
BADMINTON
GULF TIMES
Saina breaks
jinx to enter
All-England final
SPORT
Page 6
CRICKET
Pakistan eye
quarters with
stunning win
over S. Africa
AFP
Auckland
P
Edwina Tops-Alexander (C) poses on the podium with HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (extreme right) and others after winning the CSI5* Grand Prix of Al
Shaqab at the Al Shaqab outdoor arena yesterday.
CHI AL SHAQAB
Edwina finishes
with a flourish
Australian lady rider beats the men to emerge champion in Qatar
By Chris Hoover
Doha
A
ustralian rider Edwina TopsAlexander and Lintea Tequila
won the CSI5* Grand Prix of
Al Shaqab at the Al Shaqab
outdoor arena yesterday. The World's
leading lady rider and two-time Global
Champions Tour season winner took
the top prize of 165,000 euros for her
winning effort.
Edwina made a slow and comfortable start in the first round with a clear
round and a timing of 80.71, but came
back with a confident effort in the second round with another clear round
and a timing of 59.43, which qualified
the champ for the jump off.
The Australian was confidence personified as she ventured into the jump
off and completed a clear round in an
unbeatable time of 38.86 seconds.
Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs on Clooney
51 played it safe and took his time in the
jump off and completed it in 48.34 seconds to take the second place. Though
Italian Emanuele Gaudiano did the
jump off course in 38.97, he accumulated four faults and had to be content
with third place. “It is fantastic victory in such a wonderful arena. I’m
extremely fortunate to have a horse
like this. I’ve had some amazing horses
in my lifetime. Jan has supported me
strongly. In the beginning we were not
sure how fast she is going. But I have
good a vibe with her,” Edwina told the
Gulf Times
“This was the first time that I jumped
over the water and this kind of combination. But the atmosphere was good
and the horses were jumping off the
ground well. Jan and I had some plans
for this event and I’m extremely pleased
that it came off very well.”
Edwina Tops-Alexander clears
a hurdle during the final day’s
proceedings at Al Shaqab
Arena in Doha yesterday. TopsAlexander, 40, won the feature
CSI5* star event and bagged
the top prize of 1,65,000 euros
PICTURE: Lotfi Garsi
Fuchs was satisfied with his second place. “Clooney is super horse.
He is nine years old. It is the first time
that he went by the plane. We said we
should do this show as the flight is
short. I brought him here and he was
feeling very good right from the first
day. He beat some of the fast horses
in the first big show. He cleared all the
three rounds. I did not want to take any
risk and was happy to finish my round
in the second place.” The world’s best
riders were part of this championship
which had a prize money of 500,000
euros for the top 18 finishers. On the list
of riders were the two of the top three
in the world; Scott Brash, and Daniel Deusser. Other famous names included Kevin Staut, Steve Guerdat and
Gerco Schröder. Sweden’s Patrik Kittel
took the first place in the International
Dressage Competition Grand Prix Freestyle to Music. Kittel, who had finished
second to Carl Hester on Friday, made
amends for that failure while garnering
77.275 points as against Britain’s Carl
Hester who collected 76.725, who had to
be content with third place. Denmark’s
Anders Dahl was third with 75.300.
Shaqab Executive director Fahad
al-Qahtani was elated after successfully hosting the third edition of CHI
AL SHAQAB. “It was an amazing week.
It could not have been better. I want
to thank all the people, who have been
involved in this, for making this an exceptional show. Right from the day,
when we had the vaulting, it has been
exceptional. We keep talking to the
media and spectators and we have got
some wonderful and positive feedback
from them.”
akistan clinched a thrilling
29-run win over South Africa at the World Cup yesterday to put themselves on
course for the quarter-finals, while
Ireland were also in sight of a lasteight place.
Chasing just 232 to win under the
Duckworth-Lewis method at Eden
Park in Auckland, South Africa, who
would have been assured of a quarter-final slot had they won, were
bowled out for 202 despite captain
AB de Villiers’ valiant 77.
Rahat Ali grabbed a career-best
three for 40, with fellow left-arm
seamers Mohamed Irfan (three for
52) and Wahab Riaz (three for 45) as
South Africa were dismissed in 33.3
overs in a game which ended in a torrential downpour.
The result left South Africa and
Pakistan both on six points and wellplaced for the quarter-finals.
Non-Test playing Ireland were set
also to move to six points after they
piled up 331 for eight against Zimbabwe in Hobart, a result which would
leave the West Indies’ hopes of making the next round on a knife-edge.
Pakistan had suffered a trademark
batting collapse following two rainbreaks in Auckland and were dismissed for just 222, having been 92
for one and 156 for three.
The match was twice held up for
rain and the second stoppage did little for Pakistan’s fragile confidence
as they lost five wickets for the addition of just 25 runs.
Skipper
Misbah-ul-Haq
top
scored with 56 off 86 balls—his
fourth half-century in five matches
at this World Cup and the 42nd of
his career—as the 40-year-old went
past 5,000 one-day international
runs, although he still awaits a first
century.
Shahid Afridi added a brisk 22,
passing 8,000 ODI runs but Pakistan were left kicking themselves after squandering an impressive start
which had seen Sarfraz Ahmed mark
his first game of the tournament with
49 before he was run out and veteran
Younis Khan hit 37.
Sarfraz later claimed a recordequalling six catches behind the
stumps and was named man-ofthe-match.
“I am very thankful to the world
and Pakistan for this opportunity,”
said Sarfraz who replaced Nasir Jamshed at the top of the order.
“This is my World Cup debut, but
Mushtaq Ahmed (one of the team’s
coaching staff ) encouraged me and
told me to go out and enjoy myself.”
Fast bowler Dale Steyn led a disciplined South Africa bowling performance with three for 30 and also
held a brilliant, flying catch to get rid
of Ahmed Shehzad.
Fellow seamer Kyle Abbott took
two for 45 despite being expected to
be dropped to accommodate a returning Vernon Philander.
When they batted, South Africa
lost out-of-form opener Quinton de
Kock for a second ball duck which
followed scores of 7, 7, 12 and 1.
But Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis comfortably put on 67 for the
second wicket before Pakistan sensationally lived up to South Africa
coach Russell Domingo’s pre-match
assessment of the 1992 champions’
“predictable unpredictability”.
South Africa conclude their pool
programme against the UAE in Wellington on Thursday, while Pakistan
face Ireland in Adelaide next Sunday,
the same day that the West Indies
play the UAE in Napier.
India’s four-wicket win against
the West Indies in Perth on Friday
kept the defending champions top
of Pool B with eight points from
four victories in four matches and
assured them of one of the quarterfinal places.
Pakistan wicket keeper Sarfaraz Ahmed celebrates taking the catch to
dismiss South African captain AB De Villiers during their World Cup match at
Eden Park yesterday. Sarfaraz took a record-equalling six catches in the game
and was declared man of the match. Scoreboard, more reports on 4.
Gulf Times
2
CHI AL SHAQAB
SPOTLIGHT
FOCUS
Sheikh Khalifa dazzles
with showjumping win
Qatar’s Bughenaim
wins Endurance
Championship
‘I am really happy with my victory. It gives me an enormous satisfaction’
l Shaqab team’s Faleh
Nasser Saleh Bughenaim on Halte A
Tout, a 12-year-old
chestnut gelding, won the
CEI** Al Shaqab CHI International Ride, a 120-km endurance ride, held in five stages at
the Mesaieed Endurance Village yesterday.
Qatar dominated the championship by taking the second
and third places as well. A total number of 58 riders started
the ride with 43 completing
the race. Qatar’s champion
Endurance rider Bughenaim
completed the course in four
hours 56 minutes and 19 seconds with an average speed of
25.55kmph.
Bilal Bassam Shawqi alKharraz on Ithilien Arwen
finished a close second in
05:03:57 while Abdulla Tahous
Saif al-Naimi on Qualine Al
Widde completed the sweep
for Qatar while finishing the
course in 05:08.01.
After the top three sweep
by the Qatari riders, Bahrain’s
Fahad Hilal Helal Mohammed
al-Khatri on Dibawah and Qatar’s Jassim Rashid Mohammed al-Kaabi on Chazar Bandana finished fourth and fifth
respectively.
Winner Faleh Nasser Saleh
Bughenaim said, “It was a fast
race. All the riders wanted to
take the lead in the morning.
The speed was good. Bilal
followed me throughout the
race. In the last loop, my horse
stayed strong and I comfortably won the race.
Qatar’s Sheikh Khalifa Abdulaziz
al-Thani in action at the CSI3*
Against the clock jump-off (1m45)
event during the CHI AL SHAQAB
competition at the Al Shaqab arena
yesterday. PICTURES: Lofti Garsi
A
“I had used the same horse
as in the 2014 race. This time,
I felt a bit easier to finish the
race,” said Bughenaim, who
will be contesting in a few races
in Europe and is planning to
buy a new horse in France as
well. “As you may be aware
that I wasn’t classified in August last year. But my coach
continued to push me in the
training camp. Then we tried
to collect maximum possible
points in the races that we did.”
“I took the lead from Khalid
Sanad al-Nuaimi in the rankings in the last two races. I feel
if the coach had not motivated
and supported, I won’t have
got the top ranking,” added
Bughenaim. He also said the
racing in Qatar is more difficult
than France. “There, we have
a nice weather and the mountains. In Qatar, the course is flat
but we have to bear a lot of hot
weather.”
The Runner-up Bilal Bassam
commented: “The race was
tough. For a 120-km race, you
need a strong horse. Every time
when I pressed my horse, he
supported. Still I could not get
the lead, so I feel I wasn’t fortunate enough to win today.”
Rashid al-Malki, the event
manager, said 43 riders took
part in the race, which had five
stages. “The race was quite fast
and the pace reached 25 kms
per hour. Every year, the level
is going higher and the race is
getting faster. I want to thank
Al Shaqab for making all the
necessary arrangements which
ensured the race was quite fast.
Another good aspect was that
more horses, compared to the
previous year, managed to finish the race.”
ing competition, Kuwaiti riders trailed
with two, while Fahad El Eid offered Saudi
Arabia its only victory at CHI AL SHAQAB
2015.
Sheikh Khalifa was delighted with the
victory. “I am really happy with my victory. It gives me an enormous satisfaction.
Everything is pretty unbelievable here.
Top facilities and a lot of work being put
into every single detail at this competition.
It’s just perfect in my view.”
Second placed Fahad al-Eid said. “It was
really difficult to compete here. I did my
utmost best but it wasn’t enough to win.
A lot of emotions were involved too. The
competition at CHI AL SHAQAB is great.
I want to thank the organisers for their
amazing work. This is the best equestrian
event in the world.”
By Sports Reporter
Doha
R
ight after Sheikh Khalifa Abdulaziz al-Thani cleared the last
of the seven course fences at the
CSI3* Against the clock jumpoff (1m45), he raised his fist up in the air
knowing that it would be difficult for any
of the four riders left to compete to challenge his flawless 37:52 clocking at the CHI
AL SHAQAB competition at the Al Shaqab
arena yesterday.
Indeed, neither the Saudi trio of former
Olympic bronze medallist Khaled al-Eid
on his brand new companion Senorita, as
well as his brother Fahad El Eid and Naser
Shbbab Albagami, nor Kuwait’s Ali alKhorafi, who had been the most successful rider at CHI AL SHAQAB 2015 CSI3*
jumping competition, managed to beat
Sheikh’s Khalifa Abdulaziz J.a. Al Thani
and 2001-born stallion’s Al Hawajer Arizona Pie time.
Fahad al-Eid on Dutch-bred mare Un-
By Sports Reporter
Doha
limited was second with a time of 38:56,
while Albagami on True Blue finished in
36:06, but was unfortunate to hit a fence
and thus received a 4 point penalty, an
outcome which dropped him back to third
place. Overall 14 riders representing 3 nations entered the competition and 9 went
on to qualify for the jump-off.
Sheikh Khalifa’s win was the third for
Qatar out of six events at CSI3* jump-
RESULTS
1. Shk. Khalifa Abdulaziz J.a. al-Thani (Qatar) –
Al Hawajer 0/37:52
2. Fahad El Eid (Saudi Arabia) – Unlimited
0/38:56
3. Nasser Shbbab Albagami (Saudi Arabia) –
True Blue 4/36:06
AMBITION
Qatar Foundation keen to add
new chapters to equine industry
By Sports Reporter
Doha
Q
atar Foundation (QF)
is keen to add new
chapters to the equine
industry and plans to
raise the bar to achieve its goals.
This was disclosed by QF president Saad Ebrahim al-Muhannadi yesterday during the CHI AL
SHAQAB 2015 competition.
“The CHI AL SHAQAB competition is a small part of what
we are doing at the Qatar Foundation. We have a world class
breeding centre, research facilities and medical resources here
to develop the Arabian horses.
We also have a riding school with
the best of facilities for the Qataris,” al-Muhannadi said.
Speaking about the event, alMuhanaddi added. “I love this
event. It’s really enjoyable. Earlier I used to visit different countries across the world to watch
this sport and now it’s happening
here, which is really impressive.”
“Most of our activities and
initiatives are aimed at taking
the equine industry to different
levels and we’d love to add new
chapters to it. The history and
heritage of the Arab horses are
quite important to us. The equine
industry has advanced quite
fast in the last decades. We’re
starting from where others have
stopped.”
The event which has received
praise from the international
competitors has impressed the
QF president, who said. “What
makes us more happy is the satisfaction of the competitors who
come and participate in CHI AL
SHAQAB. Many of them find it
really a world class event. Last
year, they even called it the Hollywood of the competitions,
which was really flattering.”
He also said that the QF would
always try to bring the class and
quality to its events. “Quality
matters to us a great deal. So anything that we like to do, whether
it is an event, participation or
facilities, we want it to be world
class. This is really what makes
us happy and is helping the Qatar
Foundation achieve its goals.”
Talking about the other goals
of QF, the he said. “Other goals
of our vision are to provide excellent education and research
facilities for the people in Qatar,
besides the community development.” Saad said the QF was
paying a lot of attention to the
physically-challenged people of
Qatar and involve them into all its
activities. “We’re now starting a
Qatar Foundation president Saad Ebrahim al-Muhannadi.
programme for the people of special needs. Under the umbrella of
the Qatar Foundation, we have a
school of autism.”
“The children with autism are
said to be showing great improvement when they are in contact
with horses. We’re working on it
and trying to boost their abilities
through horse riding and various
other programmes. We’re really
focussed and trying to integrate
the people of special needs into
everything that we do. This sector of the physically-challenge
people is quite important to the
Qatar Foundation. Just like the
Western world, we’re trying and
will continue to involve them in
education and all our activities
that we do for the society.
“We’ve invested a great deal in
terms of creating the world class
facilities and getting the best
trainers in the world. I think Qatar has it now what takes to establish itself in the equine sport.
We’re proud of the Qatari team’s
achievement in qualifying for the
2016 Rio Olympics and we wish
every success,” he added.
EXXONMOBIL PLEDGES SUPPORT
ExxonMobil
Qatar
President
and General Manager Alistair
Routledge, who was also present
on the occasion said that the
CHI AL SHAQAB has bright future and his company would
continue its sponsorship of the
events which are associated with
country’s history, culture and
tradition. “We have a history
of sticking to certain strategic
sponsorships. We’ve enjoyed our
relationship with Al Shqab and
looking forward to continuing
our support to it.
“The CHI Al Shaqab has a
great future. The Qatar Foundation and Al Shaqab are doing a
great job in organising this event.
I love coming here every year. It is
a wonderful facility, both for the
riders and the horses,” he said.
Routledge also added that the
CHI Al Shaqab is growing each
year. “This is the third year ExxonMobil Qatar is sponsoring the
event. Each year, the crowd is
getting larger and more enthusiastic. The event is getting more
visibility each year.”
“It is a nice blend of the culture, history and love for horses,
which has traditional events like
the dressage and show jumping.
What is apparent in the three
years to me is that it has expanded the awareness and popularity
about the event.
Qatar’s champion Endurance rider Faleh Nasser Saleh
Bughenaim of Al Shaqab team celebrates after winning the
CEI** Al Shaqab CHI International Ride, a 120-km endurance ride
Yesterday. Bughenaim, riding Halte A Tout, came first in
the event, which was held in five stages at the Mesaieed
Endurance Village. PICTURES: Lofti Garsi
Champion Faleh Nasser Saleh Bughenaim of Al Shaqab and
runner-up Bilal Bassam Shawqi al-Kharraz pose at the podium.
Gulf Times
3
ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP
MATCH REPORT
Ireland hold nerve to edge
past Zimbabwe in thriller
A see-saw match turned back Ireland’s way when Williams was given out caught right on the boundary by John Mooney
SCORECARD
IRELAND INNINGS
W. Porterfield c Masakadza b Williams
29
P. Stirling c Williams b Panyangara
10
E. Joyce c Ervine b Chatara
112
A. Balbirnie run out (Chakabva/Taylor)
97
K. O’Brien c Chakabva b Chatara
24
G. Wilson c Chakabva b Williams
25
J. Mooney b Williams
10
N. O’Brien c Panyangara b Chatara
2
G. Dockrell not out
5
A. Cusack not out
2
Extras (lb4, w8, nb3)
15
Total (8 wkts, 50 overs)
331
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Stirling), 2-79 (Porterfield),
3-217 (Joyce), 4-276 (K O’Brien), 5-308 (Wilson),
6-319 (Mooney), 7-322 (N O’Brien), 8-326
(Balbirnie)
Bowling: Panyangara 9-0-69-1 (1nb, 1w); Chatara
10-0-61-3 (1nb, 4w); Mupariwa 10-0-56-0 (1w);
Raza 9-0-51-0; Williams 9-0-72-3 (1nb, 2w); Masakadza 3-0-18-0;
ZIMBABWE INNINGS
C. Chibhabha c Porterfield b Cusack
18
Sikandar Raza c Stirling b Mooney
12
S. Mire c Cusack b Dockrell
11
H. Masakadza c Wilson b K O’Brien
5
B. Taylor c K O’Brien b Cusack
121
S. Williams c Mooney b K O’Brien
96
C. Ervine c N O’Brien b McBrine
11
R. Chakabva b Cusack
17
T. Panyangara c Porterfield b Mooney
5
T. Mupawira c Porterfield b Cusack
18
T. Chatara not out
1
Extras (lb8, w2, nb1)
11
Total (all out, 49.3 overs)
326
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Raza), 2-32 (Chibhabha),
3-41 (Masakadza), 4-74 (Mire), 5-223 (Taylor),
6-259 (Ervine), 7-300 (Williams), 8-305 (Panyangara), 9-325 (Chakabva), 10-326 (Mupawira)
Bowling: Cusack 9.3-2-32-4 (1w); Mooney 10-058-2 (1w); K O’Brien 10-0-90-2; Dockrell 10-0-56-1;
McBrine 8-0-56-1; Stirling 2-0-26-0 (1nb)
Ireland cricketers celebrate after winning their Cricket World Cup Pool B match against Zimbabwe in Hobart yesterday. (AFP)
AFP
Hobart
I
reland just did enough to see off Zimbabwe
by five runs in a thrilling World Cup clash in
Hobart yesterday that kept them on course
for the quarter-finals.
Zimbabwe chasing a huge 332 to win, were all
but beaten at 74 for four after a top-order collapse. But stand-in captain Brendan Taylor’s
superb 121 and a fifth-wicket stand of 149 with
Sean Williams (96) gave Zimbabwe hope.
However, a see-saw match turned back the
non-Test nation’s way when Williams was given out caught right on the boundary by John
Mooney.
There was a suggestion that Mooney may
have touched the rope in completing the catch,
which would have been a six to Zimbabwe.
But while the umpires’ review was in progress,
Williams—whose runs came from 83 balls with
seven fours and two sixes - walked off the field,
effectively making the decision for the officials
and Zimbabwe were 300 for seven.
Big-hitting from tail-ender Tawanda
Mupawira got the target down to seven off the
last six balls with two wickets standing. However, seamer Alex Cusack had Regis Chakabva
playing on with the first ball of the 50th over
and, two deliveries later, Mupawira holed out to
Ireland captain William Porterfield in the deep
as the Irish won with three balls to spare.
Cusack finished with fine figures of four for 32
in 9.3 overs as Zimbabwe, who tied a World Cup
match with Ireland in 2007, saw their bid for a
last eight place come to a dramatic end. Victory
left Ireland as one of three teams in Pool B on six
points behind already qualified leaders India,
the defending champions.
Earlier, Ireland veteran Ed Joyce’s 112 was the
centrepiece of an imposing total of 331 for eight.
Joyce made Zimbabwe pay for dropping him
early in his innings by going on to 112 while Andrew Balbirnie struck a quickfire 97 after Ireland
lost the toss.
The pair put on 138 for the third wicket at
Bellerive. Taylor, leading the side in place of the
injured Elton Chigumbura, opted to bowl first in
overcast conditions after winning the toss. Zimbabwe had an early success when Paul Stirling
FOCUS
(10) guided Tinashe Panyangara to Williams at
backward point.
Joyce should have been out when, on 34, he
saw Mupariwa drop a skyed caught and bowled
chance. The left-hander came out of his shell
and went on to a 96-ball hundred with eight
fours and two sixes.
He was dropped again, on 105, by Craig Ervine before the same fielder held an easy chance
at short midwicket to dismiss him. Meanwhile,
Balbirnie, who gave a tough caught and bowled
chance to Williams early on, scored his second
successive fifty following his gutsy 58 in the
201-run thrashing by South Africa. He faced
just 79 balls, with seven fours and four sixes,
before falling agonisingly short of what would
have been a maiden ODI century when run out
in the final over of Ireland’s innings.
Zimbabwe were left needing to set a new
record score by a team batting second to win a
World Cup match, surpassing Ireland’s 329 for
seven against England in Bangalore four years
ago. However, their top-order failed to make an
impact before Taylor and Williams repaired the
early damage.
Taylor was especially impressive with a 79ball hundred—the fastest by a Zimbabwe batsman—including 10 fours and two sixes. It was
Zimbabwe’s first century of this World Cup and
the 29-year-old Taylor’s seventh in 166 ODIs.
Taylor struck two sixes in one over from leftarm spinner George Dockrell before he was deceived by Cusack’s slower ball and skyed a catch
to Kevin O’Brien.
SPOTLIGHT
Our World Cup not over: Morgan Ireland moves pay off
AFP
Adelaide
E
ngland captain Eoin
Morgan is confident his
beleaguered team are
good enough to revive a
faltering World Cup campaign,
saying they are under no pressure despite facing two mustwin games. Morgan’s side, who
have just one win in four Pool
A matches, must defeat both
Bangladesh in Adelaide tomorrow and minnows Afghanistan in
Sydney on March 13 to remain in
contention for a quarters place.
But even that may not be
enough if Bangladesh, who have
five points to England’s two,
upset co-hosts New Zealand in
Hamilton on March 13 to squeak
through to the last eight. Morgan rubbished suggestions England had not been ruthless—or
nasty—enough and insisted the
hurdles in front of them can be
cleared if they play good cricket.
“When a side loses, a thousand theories come up so the
best thing for us moving forward
is to concentrate on what we can
do,” Morgan said yesterday.
“If we start winning games,
being nasty or not nasty does not
matter. We need to be ourselves.
The answers are within us. We
have to play our style of cricket.
We have to be ruthless enough to
do the simple things consistently well. We have not done that,
that’s why we have struggled.”
England’s lone win has been
against minnows Scotland, but
their most embarrassing moment came last Sunday when
Sri Lanka chased down what
seemed a reasonably challenging
target of 310 with nine wickets
and 16 deliveries to spare.
Morgan said England had
moved on from that loss and
looked forward to their two remaining group games. “The
guys are quite relaxed,” he said.
“The week’s break has given us
time to reflect and analyse what
happened during the Sri Lanka
game. There were a few positives in that game too. Scoring
300 was one. Joe Root’s century
was outstanding and we were
brilliant in the last 10 to 12 overs
with the bat,” the former Ireland
batsman added.
“But our bowling was a bit
of a concern. We bowled some
bad balls and were less attacking with the ball then we usually
would have been. England have
lost two of their 15 one-day internationals against Bangladesh,
but Morgan said he did not expect an easy game. “We certainly
are not taking a win for granted,”
he said. “They have come a long
way in the last 10 years and we
have played a lot against them.
But a lot of focus going forward
is going to be on us.
“If we play well, I have every confidence we can win this
game. The illusion of making it
a bigger game than it is, is probably the wrong thing to do.”
Morgan refused to confirm
speculation that hard-hitting
Alex Hales will replace the
struggling Gary Ballance to lend
solidity to the top order. Morgan
said he expected his two pace
spearheads, James Anderson and
Stuart Broad, to come good after
managing just four wickets between them in four matches.
Reuters
Hobart
I
reland opted to bring back medium-pacer
Alex Cusack for the crunch match against
Zimbabwe yesterday and gambled by promoting young Andy Balbirnie in the batting
order and both moves paid handsome dividends.
Ireland were struggling for momentum after
being put into bat on a sluggish surface in Hobart
and the decision to send Balbirnie, who batted at
number five in all previous matches, ahead of the
experienced Niall O’Brien surprised many.
The 24-year-old, who scored his only fifty in
his last match against South Africa, drove his first
ball through the covers for four and went on to
change the tempo of Ireland’s innings.
An Irish third-wicket record 138-run stand
between left-hander Ed Joyce (112) and Balbirnie
followed and laid the foundation for the team’s
highest ODI total of 331 for eight.
“That came out as we were talking about it in
the dugout, thought it might be slightly easier
with the right-left (combination),” captain William Porterfield said. “He’s flexible in the way he’s
been striking the ball... and that partnership was a
very firm partnership and got the momentum into
the innings and set it up then for the back end.”
Balbirnie, who hit seven fours and four sixes in
his 79-ball innings, looked set for his maiden ODI
hundred only to run himself out on the first ball of
the final over trying to go for a second run to get
back on strike.
Joyce, 36, said his partner made it easier for him
at the crease. “He took the pressure off me today,
hit his first ball for four and just rotated his strike
really well, and that gave me the ability to sort of
do the same thing and the confidence to do that,”
the centurion added.
Brisbane-born Cusack’s only match in the
tournament was against the United Arab Emirates, in which he took two wickets for 54. The
34-year-old dismissed opener Chamu Chibhabha
(18) in his first spell and then returned to break a
149-run fifth-wicket stand by deceiving Brendan
Taylor (121) with a slower delivery.
Zimbabwe looked set for victory, needing just
seven runs in the final over but Cusack took a
wicket with his first and third balls to end the innings and finish with four for 32.
“In those final overs, asked to defend 330 and
ran, what, 4 for 30, well, in just under 10, fantastic effort,” Porterfield said of Cusack. “He’s done
well. He never really seems to let us down, and today was no different.”
Zimbabwe fume over controversial catch
Hobart: Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor insisted his team had been victims of a World Cup
miscarriage of justice when Ireland fielder John
Mooney held a crucial catch despite indications
he had touched the boundary with his foot.
With Zimbabwe needing 32 to win off 20 balls
and with four wickets left, Sean Williams, on 96,
launched a huge hook off Kevin O’Brien towards
deep midwicket where Mooney reached high to
grab the ball.
But as he claimed the catch, the big Irishman
appeared to slightly touch the boundary cushion
with his foot which should have resulted in a six.
As the decision was examined, Williams left the
Bellerive Oval pitch and the catch stood.
“You’ve got to take his (Mooney’s) word for
it. They zoomed in, and I thought it was pretty
clear. But you’ve got to take the fielder’s word,”
said Taylor who hit a blistering 121 with 11 fours
and four sixes as his team chased what would
have been a record score.
Ireland captain William Porterfield tried to
downplay the controversy. “It’s very hard to tell
when you’re on the line. I haven’t seen a replay.
Whether or not he did or didn’t, it was a great
catch,” he said.
4
Gulf Times
ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP
FOCUS
SPOTLIGHT
We were stuck in second
gear, says De Villiers
AFP
Auckland
‘I just could feel that nothing was really happening at a hundred percent’
AFP
Auckland
S
outh Africa captain AB de Villiers
took responsibility for the shock
29-run World Cup loss to Pakistan
yesterday, blasting his team for
being stuck in “second or third gear”.
Pakistan pulled off a hard-fought triumph under the Duckworth-Lewis method in a match shortened to 47-overs-aside at Auckland’s Eden Park. Pakistan’s
222 in 46.4 overs, interrupted by two delays for rain, was boosted by 56 from skipper Misbah-ul-Haq while recalled opener
Sarfraz Ahmed chipped in with a brisk 49.
De Villiers fought a lone hand in South
Africa’s 202 in 33.3 overs with a brilliant
58-ball 77 including five sixes and seven
boundaries. But chasing a revised target
of 232, the Proteas were undone by Pakistan’s trio of left-arm seamers Rahat Ali
(3-50), Wahab Riaz (3-45) and Mohammad Irfan (3-45) who thwarted de Villiers’s hopes of wrapping up a quarterfinal place before the last round of pool
games next week.
Both Pakistan and South Africa now
have six points from five matches, behind
Pool B leaders India who have a perfect
eight from four. “I’m not blaming anyone.
I’m not saying anyone didn’t have the energy. I just didn’t feel any electric vibe at
the warm-up,” said de Villiers.
“That is normally a bit of an alarm bell
going off for me. It is my responsibility to
try to get the guys going, which I couldn’t,
so maybe I should take responsibility for
that. I just could feel that nothing was really happening at a hundred percent.
“It was almost like a car that’s stuck in
second or third gear, and that’s not going
to win you cricket games, especially not
under pressure and in big tournaments
like this. So we need to have a chat about
what maybe went wrong tonight and try
to get to fifth gear again against the UAE,”
said De Villiers, of their concluding pool
game in Wellington on Thursday.
De Villiers described the loss as “disappointing.” “Once again we seemed to
not get enough partnerships in pressure
situations. We’ve done it in the past, but
unfortunately tonight we couldn’t do
that, so it’s a very disappointing loss,” he
admitted.
“I felt that Pakistan wanted it more
than us. There’s nothing wrong with the
batting. It’s just a matter of urgency and
being prepared to fight it out.”.
The South African captain was full
of admiration for Pakistan’s bowling.
“They bowled pretty well tonight. They
were geared up and really wanted to win
the game. You could see that from a mile
away.”
South Africa were well set at 67 for before Pakistan took four wickets off 39 balls
for the addition of just ten runs to leave
them struggling at 102-6. De Villiers put
on 32 with Dale Steyn (16) for the seventh
wicket and another 34 with Kyle Abbott
(12) for the next.
But Sohail Khan had de Villiers caught
behind by Sarfraz Ahmed for a world
record equalling sixth catch—the most
by a keeper in a one-day international.
“Every time we lost a wicket it was was a
turning point. It was all about us not losing wickets and them picking up wickets,”
said the captain.
De Villiers said he retained full faith in
his team who are still on course for a lasteight place. “I’ve got full faith in the ability of the players around me. That’s why
they’re all here. I know I can’t win this
World Cup alone. I need my team-mates.”
SCORECARD
PAKISTAN INNINGS
Sarfraz Ahmed run out
49
Ahmed Shehzad c Steyn b Abbott
18
Younis Khan c Rossouw b De Villiers
37
Misbah-ul-Haq c Morkel b Steyn
56
Sohaib Maqsood c Rossouw b Abbott
8
Umar Akmal c de Villiers b Morkel
13
Shahid Afridi c Duminy b Steyn
22
Wahab Riaz lbw b Tahir
0
Sohail Khan c Duminy b Morkel
3
Rahat Ali c Tahir b Steyn
1
Mohammad Irfan not out
1
Extras: (lb7, nb1, w6)
14
Total (all out, 46.4 overs)
222
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Shehzad), 2-92
(Ahmed), 3-132 (Younis), 4-156 (Maqsood),
5-175 (Akmal), 6-212 (Afridi), 7-212 (Riaz),
8-218 (Misbah), 9-221 (Ali), 10-222 (Sohail)
Bowling: Steyn 10-3-30-3 (1w); Abbott
9-0-45-2 (1w); Morkel 9.4-0-25-2 (1nb); Tahir
9-1-38-1; De Villiers 6-0-43-1 (1w); Duminy
3-0-34-0 (3w);
Waqar sees
spirit of 1992 in
reborn Pakistan
P
South African captain
AB De Villiers watches
another of his batsman
leave the field during
the World Cup match
against Pakistan in
Auckland. (AFP)
akistan coach Waqar
Younis senses his
team are developing
the same belief which
propelled Imran Khan’s “cornered tigers” to the World Cup
in 1992 after their thrilling victory over South Africa.
Pakistan pulled off a sensational 29-run win on the
Duckworth-Lewis method after the match was reduced to a
47-over-a-side contest due to
rain at Eden Park in Auckland.
Pakistan, whose innings was
twice interrupted by rain, were
bowled out for 222 in 46.4 overs
with skipper Misbah-ul-Haq
hitting 56 and recalled wicket-keeper/batsman
Sarfraz
Ahmed scoring a run-a-ball
49. Pakistan’s left-arm pace
trio of Rahat Ali (3-40), Wahab
Riaz (3-45) and Mohammad
Irfan (3-52) then bowled with
venom to bundle South Africa
out for 202 in 33.3 overs.
AB de Villiers smashed an
impressive 58-ball 77 with
five sixes and seven boundaries but his dismissal ninth
man down sealed a third win
in a row for Pakistan. The victory gave Pakistan six points
from five matches and revived
their chances of a quarter-final
place from Pool B while South
Africa are also on six points
from five games.
Waqar said the team is gaining the same spirit of 1992 after defeats in their first two
matches. “I hope it turns out to
be the same,” said Waqar of the
1992 triumph which was also
sealed in Australia and New
Zealand.
“The World Cup means
pressure games and in 1992 the
team handled the pressure very
well. They lost early games but
then came back strongly, they
had the belief and (captain)
Imran Khan had serious belief
and I am hopeful that the same
belief is coming into our dressing room. We are going to get
better and better.”
Waqar was not part of that
1992 team, withdrawn a fortnight before the tournament
started with a back problem.
“We are gaining that belief
that we can deliver. I am not
going to think that far but, of
course, we are heading in the
right direction. We still need to
win the last game to reach the
quarter-final,” said Waqar of
Pakistan’s last match against a
dangerous Ireland in Adelaide
on March 15. The coach said he
was thrilled with the win which
was sealed by his bowlers after
his batsmen had squandered
a promising start to lose their
last five wickets for 25 runs.
“We
played
aggressive
cricket which I think Pakistan
is known for, we have started
finding the right combination
and the players have started to
trust their abilities and that’s
the key. I am very thrilled but
it’s a long way to go.”
“We bowled extremely well
and we were right on top,” said
Waqar of his attack which he
described as the “best in the
tournament” a few days ago.
Our bowlers bowled with gas
and real purpose and pace.”
Waqar also saluted Sarfraz
for his innings—his first of the
competition—and six catches
behind the stumps, equalling the world record for most
one-day catches by a keeper.
“I never doubted his ability,
we always knew how good he is
but regarding his opening, he is
a makeshift opener.”
SOUTH AFRICA INNINGS
(REVISED TARGET 232 IN 47 OVERS)
Q. de Kock c Ahmed b Irfan
0
Hashim Amla c Ahmed b Riaz
38
Faf du Plessis c Ahmed b Ali
27
R. Rossouw c Khan b Riaz
6
AB de Villiers c Ahmed b Khan
77
D. Miller lbw b Ali
0
JP Duminy c Riaz b Irfan
12
D. Steyn c Ahmed b Irfan
16
K. Abbott c Younis b Ali
12
M. Morkel not out
6
Imran Tahir c Ahmed b Riaz
0
Extras: (lb1, w7)
8
Total: (all out, 33.3 overs)
202
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (de Kock), 2-67 (Du
Plessis), 3-67 (Amla), 4-74 (Rossouw), 5-77
(Miller), 6-102 (Duminy), 7-138 (Steyn), 8-172
(Abbott), 9-200 (De Villiers)
Bowling: Irfan 8-0-52-3; Khan 5-0-36-1 (4w);
Ali 8-1-40-3 (1w); Afridi 5-0-28-0; Riaz 7.3-045-3 (2w);
Pakistan players celebrate after their win over South Africa. (AFP)
HOPE
CONCERN
Pietersen receives Holder tells team to shape up as exit nears
county offers
AFP
Perth
Reuters
London
W
F
ormer England captain
Kevin Pietersen has
received “a few” offers
from English county
sides as he bids to return to the
test team, the 34-year-old said.
Incoming ECB chairman Colin Graves refused last week to
rule out a return to the England
set-up for the controversial Pietersen but said the South African-born batsman would need
to score runs at county level to
help his cause.
Pietersen said he was excited
by the development but would
need to weigh up his options.
Leicestershire have tabled a bid
for Pietersen to play Twenty20
matches for them this year and
other counties have expressed
their interest, according to the
player. “I believe an offer was
made and so have a few others
this week let’s wait and see what
my decision is,” Pietersen wrote
on the website BreatheSport.
“Lots to think about but desperate to put (England test and ODI
shirt numbers) #626 and #185
back on my chest.”
Leicestershire chief executive Wasim Kahn confirmed
they had approached Pietersen
but existing contractual commitments in both the Indian
Premier League (IPL) and Car-
ibbean Premier League (CPL)
would make any agreement difficult. “I approached his agent
about his T20 availability,” Kahn
told CricInfo. “But he said it was
unlikely he would play any T20
(in England) due to his full CPL
commitments.”
Pietersen was sacked by England in February 2014, was later
released by county side Surrey
and appeared to have severed all
ties with the England setup following the release of his autobiography last year.
In his book Pietersen, who
last played for England in January 2014’s Ashes test defeat in
Sydney, criticised a number of
former team mates and ECB officials.
He made his England debut
in the 2005 Ashes series and has
scored 8,181 runs in 104 Tests at
an average of 47.28. Pietersen,
one of the most innovative and
exciting stroke-makers of his
generation, has made 23 Test
centuries and 35 fifties.
est Indies captain Jason Holder has challenged his batsmen to show more application after their four-wicket loss to India
left their hopes of reaching the World Cup
quarter-finals on a knife-edge.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, they
slumped to 85 for seven at the WACA ground on Friday
as their top order failed dismally, before Holder’s second
half-century in as many matches allowed them to recover to make 182, a total they were almost able to defend.
A number of West Indian batsmen, including powerhouse opener Chris Gayle, gifted their wickets to India
with injudicious shots. The loss means the West Indies
will need to beat the United Arab Emirates in Napier on
March 15 to have any chance of advancing to the quarterfinals although they may still need other results to go
their way.
Holder said he believed his side, which was dismissed
for just 151 in their previous outing against South Africa,
needed to address the issue of their repeatedly poor batting efforts. “Obviously, we didn’t bat well in this this
game and we didn’t bat well in the previous game,” he
said. “We need to address a few areas and be honest with
ourselves. The batsmen need to be accountable for not
putting runs on the board.”
Holder added: “I thought it was a good wicket to
bat on. We didn’t apply ourselves when we batted. We
should have been looking at in excess of 270. It is clear to
me we just didn’t make enough runs. It is tough trying to
defend 182 on a good batting track against a quality batting line-up.”
Holder also defended his decision to bat first. “If we
had set the game up properly with the bat it would have
been a different game in the end,” he said.
Meanwhile, West Indies great Michael Holding
slammed the West Indies’ batting as “reckless and irresponsible” and was furious that Gayle, who struggled to
make 21, gave three chances in the field.
He was also at the wicket when Marlon Samuels was
run out. “There were a lot of overs to go. Even if Gayle
bats, say, 35 overs, he has a great chance of getting a huge
score,” former fast bowling great Holding told espncricinfo.com. “The strokeplay from the batsmen was just
reckless and irresponsible cricket. They were not using
their brains. They are just playing cricket, and not thinking about their cricket.”
Holding was also stunned by Holder’s decision to bowl
part-timers Dwayne Smith and Samuels in the closing
overs even though frontline seamers Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach and Holder himself had seven overs left between them. “Why did Samuels bowl? Jerome Taylor (233), West Indies’ best bowler, still had two overs left. The
last five-six overs, West Indies seemed like they just gave
up. It’s like they told India ‘The game is yours’.
“I simply can’t make sense of it. The sixth wicket fell
in the 30th over. Why did Taylor not bowl those two
overs? There was every chance West Indies could have
gotten another two wickets and get right into the tail.”
STANDINGS
(played, won, lost, tied, N/R, points, run rate)
POOL A
New Zealand
4 4 0 0 0 8 +3.589 - qualified
Sri Lanka
4 3 1 0 0 6 +0.128
Australia
4 2 1 0 1 5 +1.804
Bangladesh
4 2 1 0 1 5 +1.182
England
4 1 3 0 0 2 -1.201
Afghanistan
4
1 3 0 0 2 -1.953
Scotland
4 0 4 0 0 0 -1.423
India
South Africa
Pakistan
Ireland
West Indies
Zimbabwe
UAE
4
5
5
4
5
5
4
4
3
3
3
2
1
0
POOL B
0 0 0
2 0 0
2 0 0
1
0 0
3 0 0
4 0 0
4 0 0
8
6
6
6
4
2
0
+2.246 - qualified
+1.462
-0.194
-0.820
-0.511
-0.595
-1.691
Top four in each group qualify for quarter-finals
Gulf Times
5
CRICKET
FOCUS
SPOTLIGHT
Clarke puts his
spin on SCG pitch
for Sri Lanka
‘It looks quite dry and certainly hasn’t got as much grass on it as I’ve seen in past’
Australian captain Michael Clarke inspects the wicket
ahead of their 2015 Cricket World Cup Group A match
against Sri Lanka in Sydney yesterday. (AFP)
Sri Lanka peaking at
right time: Mathews
AFP
Sydney
S
kipper Angelo Mathews says Sri Lanka are
peaking at the right time
ahead of today’s crunch
World Cup pool game against
Australia at the Sydney Cricket
Ground.
The 1996 winners and finalists at the last two World Cups
have won their last three games
to edge the Australians for second spot in Pool A behind New
Zealand.
Mathews believes it is all coming together for Sri Lanka, who
will lock up second spot in the
group with victory today. “Coming into the World Cup no one
really gave us a chance,” Mathews told reporters yesterday.
“We had a pretty poor series
against New Zealand. We didn’t
play that good cricket. But I
think we are peaking and I think
we’re peaking at the right time.
“It’s going to be an even contest from the quarter-finals onwards. Whoever plays better
cricket on that day will go on to
win the World Cup, but we’re
not looking too far ahead.”
Mathews, who captains the
tournament’s most experienced
team which boasts seasoned
campaigners
Mahela
Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara,
Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith
Malinga, points to Sri Lanka’s
strong ODI record against Australia, winning nine of their last
16 meetings.
“When we played the Australians recently we beat them
in England. In Australia as well,
I remember a few years ago,” he
said. “So we have the capacity and we have the skill. It’s just
they’re a hard team to beat.
“We’ve got to just flush out
every single thing in the past and
just go out there and enjoy ourselves tomorrow.”
Mathews is looking for a lift in
the team’s fielding to match their
imposing batting lineup.
Sri Lanka smashed the thirdhighest successful run chase in
tournament history to clinch a
nine-wicket win over England in
Wellington last Sunday.
Centuries by Sangakkara and
Lahiru Thirimanne ensured Sri
Lanka reeled in the 310-run target, scoring 312-1 with 16 balls to
spare.
“I think we need to lift ourselves up around the field, especially now in our fielding and
also our bowling,” Mathews said.
“We need to sharpen our game
in that aspect of the game. I
think if we can repeat the same
performance in our batting that
would be ideal.”
Sri Lanka will be forced into
making at least two changes
with spinner Rangana Herath
out with a finger injury, while
batsman Dimuth Karunaratne
suffered a tournament-ending
broken finger batting in the nets
this week.
“We are forced to make a couple of changes because Rangana
and Dimuth are out of the team,”
Mathews said.
Malinga feels rhythm, not
blues after surgery
AFP
Sydney
M
ichael Clarke expects
spin to play a role in
Australia’s
World
Cup showdown with
Sri Lanka on a dry Sydney Cricket Ground pitch today.
The 1996 champions, Sri
Lanka lead the four-time champion Aussies by one point in
the Pool A standings and a win
would likely leave them second
in the group behind current
leaders New Zealand.
But a defeat for either nation
would increase the possibility
of finishing third in the group
and thereby the chances of encountering South Africa in the
quarter-finals.
The SCG is Australia captain
Clarke’s home ground and he
believes today’s pitch will play
differently to the one on which
South Africa smashed 408 for
five against the West Indies on
February 27.
“It looks like spin is going to
play a part. It looks quite dry
and certainly hasn’t got as much
grass on it as I’ve seen in past
one-day matches at the SCG,”
Clarke told reporters yesterday.
“In saying that, that’s today,
so a day of sun, a bit of rolling, I
think it might harden up.
“The SCG in general, a change
of pace has always been a weapon. Generally spin plays a part,
and it’s a pretty big ground, as
well. I think you’ll see a pretty
good wicket. “Conditions are
very different to what we’ve just
seen in Perth (against Afghanistan) and I think it’s a little bit
different to what South Africa
played on here.”
The Australians may call up
designated spinner Xavier Doherty for his first match of the
tournament and can also call on
Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith and
Clarke to share the spin duties.
Sri Lanka will be without regular
spinner Rangana Herath because
of split finger webbing, but legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna, Dinesh Chandimal and Tillakaratne Dilshan could be used.
Clarke said the Australians
were deeply respectful of the Sri
Lankans, who bat very deep and
are the most experienced team
at the tournament.
“Sri Lanka have had a lot of
success in World Cups and in big
tournaments,” he said. “They’ve
got a lot of experience. They’ve
got some world-class players.
“They’re going to be as tough
as any team. If they play their
best, they’re always a tough
team to beat.”
Clarke, who came into the
tournament with fitness issues
after hamstring surgery kept
him out of much of the Test series against India and the following one-day tri-series with
India and England, said he was
feeling healthy.
“I feel I’m fitter, fitter and
healthier than I’ve been in a
long, long time,” he said.
“I have that hunger inside me
to be successful and help Australia go as far as we possibly can
in this World Cup.
“I’ve copped a fair bit of criticism over the past few months,
so I’m excited about what lies
ahead. “I feel like I’m at my best.
I’m ready to help this team have
success.”
He added: “I think the players know where we stand. We
haven’t spoken about it. We
don’t need to talk about it.
“I think we have to be focused
on tomorrow and regardless
who you play in the quarter-final, you’re up for a tough match.
“We know if we make the
quarter-finals
where
that
quarter-final will be (in Australia). Who we play against is
irrelevant.”
Sri Lanka paceman Lasith Malinga believes his bowling rhythm
is returning at the World Cup after undergoing ankle surgery in
September.
The sling-arm fast bowler has relied on pain killing injections to
make it through his matches at the tournament but says he is feeling more comfortable on the field.
The 31-year-old, the only bowler in history to claim three hat-tricks in
one-day internationals, said he doesn’t expect to play pain-free but
wants to be a part of Sri Lanka’s bid to win a second World Cup after
losing in the last two finals.
“I really struggled after my surgery in Melbourne,” Malinga told the
Australian Associated Press yesterday.
“There’s still pain in my ankle, but I had to get used to it. Because
I wanted to play in this World Cup, whether that meant injections
or whatever. “It’s getting there. I don’t think I will be pain-free, but I
want to get my rhythm back to perfect.”
Malinga endured a tough start to the World Cup, going wicket-less
for 84 runs off his 10 overs in his team’s 98-run loss to New Zealand.
But he has since picked up seven wickets as Sri Lanka have won
their last three matches against Afghanistan, Bangladesh and
England. Today, he will be key when Sri Lanka face Australia at the
Sydney Cricket Ground where the winners will likely avoid in-form
South Africa in the quarter-finals.
PREVIEW
Black Caps to keep focus against Afghanistan
AFP
Napier
A
fter being flattened by an Australian “freight train” this
week, Afghanistan face the unenviable task of picking themselves up to face New Zealand’s World
Cup juggernaut at McLean Park today.
Black Caps paceman Tim Southee
said the New Zealanders were intent on
maintaining momentum against Afghanistan, who slumped to a tournament record 275-defeat against Australia in Perth on Wednesday.
He said the Afghans should expect no
mercy as New Zealand seek to extend
their perfect 4-0 winning record at this
year’s tournament.
“The minnows have performed
strongly at times in this tournament
and you can’t afford to ease off because
they’re not a more recognised opponent,” Southee told reporters.
“We’ve still got to stick to our game
plan and our brand of cricket, so nothing
changes from our point of view.”
New Zealand have already qualified
for the quarter-finals and wrap up their
Pool A matches against Afghanistan and
then Bangladesh (in Hamilton on March
13).
“These two games are important to
try to win because it takes us to the top
of the pool to give ourselves, hopefully, a
better run into the final,” all rounder Corey Anderson said.
Anderson has likened New Zealand’s
campaign to a juggernaut, while Afghanistan coach Andy Moles said his
side “ran into a freight train” against
Australia.
“I’ll be doing my best to make sure
they don’t go into their shells,” said Englishman Moles, who is familiar with New
Zealand conditions after a brief stint
coaching the Black Caps in 2008-09.
“I’ll keep telling them to express
themselves and play with the freedom
Afghanistan cricket has been known for.”
Afghanistan may have stumbled
against Australia, but the non-Test playing nation has enjoyed a successful debut at the World Cup after just six years
playing one-day internationals (ODIs).
They defeated fellow minnows Scotland and came close to an upset against
Sri Lanka before a Mahela Jayawardene
century spared the former world champions’ blushes.
New Zealand and Afghanistan have
never played an ODI and Black Caps
coach Mike Hesson said he would not be
underestimating Moles team.
Its a mantra repeated every time a
Test-nation plays an associate but has a
ring of truth coming from Hesson, who
saw Afghanistan’s pace attack firsthand when he coached Kenya in 2011-12.
“They have three guys who bowl over
140km/h and they can swing it,” he said
of quicks Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran and Hamid Hassan. “Generally,
their batsmen don’t die wondering. It
should be a good contest. We have to
show them due respect and make sure
we put in a good performance.”
Hesson said in-form skipper Brendon
McCullum was fit to play after a nasty
knock from a Mitchell Johnson delivery
against Australia resulted in his forearm
swelling up like “Popeye”.
New Zealand have fielded the same
team for all of their four wins do far
leaving remaining squad players, Tom
Latham, Nathan McCullum, Mitchell
McClenaghan and Kyle Mills, kicking
their heels.
The Afghanistan match would appear
an ideal opportunity to give them some
game time but Hesson was cagey about
whether he plans to rotate his squad,
saying his first-choice team was well
rested.
“When you have a week between
games, if you leave out some of your key
players, it can be two weeks before they
play again, which is a long time,” he said.
Afghanistan players celebrating during their
group match against Scotaland. (AFP)
6
Gulf Times
SPORT
BADMINTON
GOLF ROUND-UP
Saina breaks jinx
to enter final of
All-England event
Chen defeats Lin Dan to make final of men’s competition
India’s Saina Nehwal prepares to smash against China’s Sun Yu during their semi-final clash yesterday.
AFP
London
S
aina Nehwal, the world number
three from India, overcame another significant barrier when she
reached the final of the All-England championships for the first time in
seven appearances.
Already the first woman from her country to win a Super Series title, as well as
the first Indian to win an Olympic medal
at badminton, Nehwal now earned herself
a famous day at the legendary centuryold tournament by overcoming the surprise survivor from China, Sun Yu, 21-13,
21-13.
She did so because her movement, even
though she was feeling a little sluggish,
was significantly better than in previous years, because her game has developed wider options, and because she has
learned to handle better the relentless
pressure of Indian national expectations.
Despite these improvements she started both games indifferently against a tall
opponent capable of covering wide areas
of court economically. Nehwal was 2-7
and 7-10 down in the first game and 6-9
and 9-11 down in the second.
She responded by “picking up” as
many shuttles as she could, by focusing
and battling hard, and by capitalising on
an evident psychological advantage each
time she got her nose in front.
It was nevertheless the mental side
which, as so often for her, was the biggest part of the struggle. “It’s a big hurdle
because many people think I should get to
the final anyway - and that I should win
every tournament I play,” Nehwal said.
“I like that, but it’s not easy. So I just
watched Shah Rukh Khan films and tried
to play my best.
The moments when it became clear that
Nehwal was likely to succeed happened in
the second half of each game. She reached
17-13 in the first after a long rally which
she finished with a brilliant clip to the net
from a none-too-easy position, and later
won seven points in a row from 14-13 in
the second game with a mixture of attack
and defence, with overheads and at the
net, as Sun began to flag.
The 21-year-old from Dalian had nevertheless shown she has considerable
potential, both with her performance in
this defeat and during two victories previously, against Ratchanok lntanon, the
former world champion, and Li Xuerui,
the Olympic champion.
“Playing the semi-final at the All-England is an honour, and next time I shall
try to do better,” Sun said. “Saina has improved a lot in the last couple of months,
but this has given me confidence that I can
improve.”
Nehwal was due for a final against
the winner of Carolina Marin, the world
champion from Spain, and Tai Tzu Ying,
the seventh seeded Taiwanese player,
against either of whom she might be regarded as the favourite.
She admitted she hadn’t even expected
to reach the semis because she had been
confronted by Wang Yihan, the former
world champion from China, whom she
had never before beaten in a completed
match. But Nehwal had been at her best,
even better than against Sun.
Now she needed a different mentality,
Nehwal reckoned. “I shall try to think of
it tomorrow as just another super Series
event. If I start thinking that this is an AllEngland final I am going to play, it’s pressure,” she said.
The she added: “If I win I will get a card
from my father; otherwise not.”
Meanwhile, world champion Chen
Long scored one of the most notable wins
of his career when he beat Olympic champion Lin Dan to reach the final of the AllEngland Open in his bid to win the title
back.
The top-seeded Chen’s 21-13, 21-12 win
over the fifth-seeded Lin was remarkable,
both because it was the first time on the
tour that he had beaten the man who is
regarded by many as the greatest player
of all time, and also because of the relative
ease of the success.
Once Lin had lost the lead at 12-13 in the
first game he never looked like regaining
it. He moved the shuttle round fluently
without ever really threatening in attack,
and as the match wore on made some
strange mistakes.
After spending large phases away from
the tour during the last two years perhaps
all this was not entirely surprising, but the
31-year-old did leave the impression that
there is much to do if he is to win a gold
medal for a third time at an Olympics next
year in Rio.
Lin also produced an oddly bland explanation of so comprehensive a defeat.
“It’s always hard to play against a teammate,” he said. “It’s not so easy against a
teammate to shout or show your fist.”
Fisher takes
two-shot
lead at
Africa Open
AFP
East London
T
revor Fisher junior raised
hopes of another South
African victory in the Africa Open when he fired
a third-round 63 yesterday for a
two-stroke lead.
The 35-year-old Johannesburg-based professional picked
up an eagle and two birdies on the
outward nine at a windy par-72
East London Golf Club course.
And birdies on five of the last
eight holes equalled the lowest
score of the week after German
Maximilian Kieffer carded a second-round 63 Friday.
Fisher is two shots ahead of
halfway leader Matt Ford (69)
with a double-bogey six at eight
proving costly for the Englishman.
Another South African, Jaco
van Zyl (68), is two shots further
back and would have been closer
to Fisher had he sunk several short
putts.
Spaniards Jorge Campillo (67)
and Eduardo de la Riva (72), Dane
Morten Madsen (64) and Englishman John Parry (69) are six shots
off the pace.
South Africans have won every
edition of the Africa Open since
its 2008 debut, with the event
joining the European Tour two
seasons later.
The two previous title-holders
in the field this year, Darren Fichardt and Shaun Norris, each
carded a 73 and they are out of
contention for first prize.
“I played solid, but did not expect to shoot a 63 in such tough
conditions,” admitted Fisher,
who has won eight Sunshine Tour
events but is chasing a maiden
European Tour success.
“I will play my own game in the
final round, taking it shot by shot.
I will try not to get ahead of myself
too much.”
Miami: JB Holmes hit four
balls into the water Friday but
emerged with a one-over 73 that
saw his lead slashed in half after
two rounds of the WGC-Cadillac
Championship, where Rory McIlroy made headlines for the wrong
reasons.
After a stunning 62 on Thursday, Holmes had a 36-hole total of
nine-under-par 135, his four-shot
overnight lead over Ryan Moore
whittled to two strokes over his
fellow American.
While Holmes keeps the lead,
world number one McIlroy spectacularly lost his temper, so irked
was he by hitting into the water at
the par-five eighth that he slung
his three-iron into the drink, in an
uncharacteristic fit of pique.
The 25-year-old from Northern
Ireland, who will try to complete
a career Grand Slam at the Masters next month, made one of his
The 35-year-old
picked up an eagle and
two birdies on the outward
nine at a windy par-72 East
London Golf Club course.
four bogeys at the hole, countering with six birdies in a 70 that
left him tied for 11th on one-under
143.
“Frustration got the better of
me,” McIlroy said. “I’ve sort of
been fighting that miss basically
for the last couple of weeks.”
He stressed that he didn’t think
his behaviour was anything to be
proud of.
“It felt good at the time, but
right now I regret it,” he said. “I
walked away with a bogey and I
was able to regroup and shoot a
decent score.”
Holmes could no doubt relate
to McIlroy’s frustration. After five
birdies and four bogeys he was
one-under for the day when he
arrived at 18, where his tee shot
into the water led to a doublebogey to end his round on a sour
note.
Holmes’s second shot at the
par-five first had hit the front left
side of the green but trickled into
the water leading to a bogey.
Singapore: The top three players in women’s golf will square off
for the HSBC Champions title
today with South Korean Park Inbee holding a two-shot advantage
over world number one Lydia Ko
and American Stacy Lewis.
Five-times major winner Park
put herself in prime position to
claim one of the few titles missing from her glittering resume
by producing a third bogey-free
round of the week as she fired a
four-under-par 68 yetserday for a
13-under 203 total.
New Zealand teen Ko and world
number three Lewis were tied
at 11-under after both made the
most of slightly cooler temperatures in steamy Singapore to fire
67s.
Spaniard Carlota Ciganda, who
shared the overnight lead with
Park, slipped down into a tie for
eighth after a two-over 74 left her
at seven-under for the $1.4 million championship.
Her compatriot Azahara Munoz (70) and Scandinavians Suzann Pettersen (68) and Anna
Nordqvist (68) were tied fourth at
nine-under but they appear to be
too far back to mount a challenge
against the smooth-swinging
Park.
The tricky Serapong Course
on Sentosa Island has tripped up
many but the South Korean has
negotiated her way around 54
bogey free holes in an exemplary
display.
“I hit a lot of shots really close
and probably could have made a
couple two, three more. Hopefully
my putter works tomorrow,” the
Korean said.
TAEKWONDO
Koreans take five of eight gold medals at stake
By Sports Reporter
Doha
T
he South Koreans dominated
on the second day of the First
Qatar International Taekwondo Championship, winning
five gold medals at the Indoor Hall of
the Women Sports Committee at the
Aspire Zone yesterday.
In a total eight finals that were held,
South Koreans were in contention for
six gold medals. However, So Hee Kim
lost to Marina Sumic of Croatia in
the women’s 62kg final. But her other
compatriots were in good form yesterday.
The South Korean men won three
titles ---- Je Yeup Kim (68kg) Chol
Ho Jo (87kg) and Tae Moon Cha (58kg)
– while women picked up two, In Jong
Lee in 73kg and Da Hwi Kim in 53kg
category.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Marim Bin-Aly
lost in the semi-final of the women’s
73kg category to eventual champion In
Jong Lee.
The championships is organised by
the Qatar Taekwondo and Judo Feder-
ation (QTJF) under the umbrella of the
World Taekwondo Federation.
Over 800 athletes from 45 countries,
representing different age groups, and
around 55 international judges are
participating in the championship,
making it the strongest Taekwondo
tournament ever in the history of the
sport. The tournament is held for Juniors, Cadets and in Children categories
for both male and female.
Results
Men:
68kg final: Je Yeup Kim (South Korea)
bt Aykhan Taghizade (Azerbaijan) 9-0
87kg final: Chol Ho Jo (South Korea)
bt Dong Min Cha (South Korea) 4-2
74kg final: Nikita Rafalovich (Uzbekistan) bt Torann Maizeroi (France)
11-7
58kg final: Tae Moon Cha (South Korea) bt Dylan Chellamootoo (France)
14-9
Women:
62kg final: Marina Sumic (Croatia) bt
So Hee Kim (South Korea) 10-6
73 kg final: In Jong Lee (South Korea)
bt Iva Rados (Croatia) 9-6
46kg final: Hajer Mustapha (France) bt
Yvette Yong (Canada) 1-0
Action from one of the
bouts yesterday.
Gulf Times
7
SPORT
DAVIS CUP
CELEBRATION TIME
Serbia, France sail
into quarter-finals
‘We did everything right today, from the first to the last point’
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (R) and Nenad Zimonjic celebrate after
winning their double Davis Cup World Group match against
Croatia’s Marin Draganja and Franko Skugor in the Serbian city of
Kraljevo yesterday. (AFP)
Qatar’s Thamer al-Darwish (No 77) celebrates with Qatar Sailing and
Water Sports Federation board member Hasan Bilal (standing) after
winning UIM-ABP Aquabike Grand Prix on Friday.
TENNIS
Wozniacki vs
Dulgheru in
Kuala Lumpur
Agencies
Kuala Lumpur
C
Reuters
Kraljevo (Serbia)
N
ovak Djokovic spurred Serbia
to a 3-0 win over neighbours
Croatia in the first round of
the Davis Cup yesterday and
they will be joined in the quarter-finals by an equally rampant France.
Britain’s progress was put on hold
after they lost an enthralling doubles
to the U.S. yesterday.
Holders Switzerland, missing Roger
Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, fell
behind 2-1 at Belgium while the Czech
Republic hauled themselves back
against Australia.
World number one Djokovic, who
was a late replacement for Viktor
Troicki, teamed up with Nenad Zimonjic to blow away Marin Draganja
and Franko Skugor 6-3 6-4 6-1 in Serbia’s central city of Kraljevo.
The home fans, who roared on the
Serbs but also gave the Croatians a
warm reception throughout the tie,
were given a scare in the second set
when Djokovic received medical treatment for a cut on his right hand.
But they were relieved to see their
hero carry on and produce one of
his best doubles performances as
38-year-old Zimonjic rolled back the
years.
“Novak played unbelievably well today and we are delighted to have sealed
a quarter-final spot,” Serbia coach
Bogdan Obradovic said.
Djokovic added: “We decided that I
should come in for Viktor because that
was the best combination in this moment. Being 2-0 up after the opening
day was a massive confidence boost
and we did everything right today,
from the first to the last point.”
Having won both their singles
against the Americans after Andy
Murray beat Donald Young and James
Ward staged a heroic comeback
against John Isner on Friday, Britain
nearly conjured another impressive
fightback in the doubles.
Murray’s brother Jamie and Dominic
Inglot predictably found themselves
two sets down against the world’s top
ranked pairing of Bob and Mike Bryan
but cheered on by a boisterous crowd in
Glasgow, the British duo fought back.
As American captain Jim Courier watched on anxiously from the
sidelines, the Bryan twins eventually
stretched the tie into a third day with a
6-3 6-2 3-6 6-7(8) 9-7 victory.
Leading 2-1 ahead of Sunday’s
mouth-watering climax, Britain will
now rest the bulk of their hopes on
Andy Murray beating Isner in the first
reverse singles.
The winner’s reward will be a lasteight meeting with France, who dismissed Germany after Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut brushed aside
Benjamin Becker and Andre Begemann
6-4 6-3 6-2.
Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans and
Niels Desein recovered from a set
down to beat Michael Lammer and
Adrien Bossel 1-6 6-3 6-2 6-2, giving
the hosts a 2-1 lead over the holders
ahead of Sunday’s reverse singles.
Australia missed a chance to seal
their tie against the Czechs after
Jiri Vesely and Adam Pavlasek beat
Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth in
a 1-6 7-6(2) 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2 rollercoaster.
The Australians lost the fourth set
tiebreak before fizzling out in the fifth
to hand the Czechs a lifeline.
“This was a tough match but we
kept fighting and managed to turn it
around,” said Vesely.
“At the end of the fourth set and the
whole of the fifth Adam played perfectly.”
Italy took a 2-1 lead at Kazakhstan,
while the Argentina v Brazil and Canada v Japan ties, both level at 1-1 after
the opening day.
aroline Wozniacki kept
cruising at the BMW Malaysian Open yesterday, and
is now just one win away
from her first WTA title of the year and the 23rd of her career.
Taking on Chinese Taipei’s alltime greatest player, Hsieh Su-Wei,
the No.1-seeded Wozniacki lost
serve two times - including in the
first game of the second set - but
she never looked in trouble, breaking serve six times enroute to a 6-2,
6-2 win in an hour and 17 minutes on
center court.
“Hsieh Su-Wei’s a tough opponent,” Wozniacki said afterwards.
“She plays very unorthodox, she has
some amazing shots - it’s tough to
play someone like that because you
don’t get much rhythm.
“I just kept my head cool out there
and fought until the end.”
Awaiting Wozniacki in the final will be Alexandra Dulgheru,
who won an a thriller in the other
semifinal, edging No.4 seed Jarmila
Gajdosova after three hours and 14
grueling minutes, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4).
Gajdosova had her chances. She
originally led 7-5, 4-2 when Dulgheru won five of the next six games
to take the second set, and the Australian had a whopping seven break
points at 4-all in the third set, all
of which would have given her the
chance to serve for the match. But
Dulgheru was just too good on the
big points - speaking of points, both
players won a total of 144 points
during the match.
Dulgheru is trying to win her third
WTA title. Her first two came at
the former premier-level clay court
event in Warsaw in back-to-back
years in 2009 and 2010. The Romanian is a former world no.26 but
has been working her way back up
the rankings after years of knee and
wrist injury struggles.
Wozniacki has beaten Dulgheru in
both previous meetings, though one
did come via retirement.
Wozniacki is playing her second
WTA final of the year - she was a
runner-up to Venus Williams at the
ASB Classic in Auckland in the first
week of the season. She’s 22-16 lifetime in WTA finals.
“It’s always exciting to be in finals
- that’s what we practice so hard
for,” Wozniacki said.
“It’s my second final this year, so
hopefully I can go the whole way.”
SHOOTING
Engachev clinches 50m pistol gold in Emir Cup
By Sports Reporter
Doha
O
leg Engachev clinched gold in the 50m
pistol event Emir Cup shooting Championship yesterday.
At the Losail Shooting Range Engachev, who had won three gold at last year’s Emir
Cup edged Konstantin Maltsev to win the gold in
the event. Engachev, who did not take part in the
recently concluded Qatar Cup as he was on a vacation, hit the target with perfection.
Ahmed.Zaied al-Shammari had to settle for the
bronze. In the junior section, Faleh al-Enaizi, won
followed by Abdulaziz.Abdullah al-Shammari,
while Turky Othman al-Yafei finished third.
Qatar’s Hanadi Salem and Bahia al-Hamad
made impressive performance to win women’s
pistol gold medal and women’s rife 10m gold medal on Friday. Hanadi Salem confidently claimed
the gold medal in the women’s pistol event, ahead
to Nasrah Mohammed who managed in the second place and the bronze medal went to Al Dana
al-Mubarak.
In women’s rifle 10m event, Bahia al-Hamad
clinched the gold medal, Noora al-Mohannadi
won the silver medal and Mahboobah Akhalaqi
seized the bronze medal.
8
Gulf Times
SPORT
NBA
Hawks celebrate ‘Nique
night’, soar past Cavaliers
James: I sucked as far as my turning the ball over. It was another one of those nights. I got to do better’
Al Horford of the Atlanta
Hawks defends against LeBron
James of the Cleveland
Cavaliers at Philips Arena in
Atlanta on Friday.
DPA
Los Angeles
T
he high-flying Atlanta Hawks celebrated
Dominique Wilkins’ night in a big way.
Al Horford scored 19 points and
Kyle Korver hit two big triples early in
the fourth quarter Friday, sending the Atlanta
Hawks to a sixth straight victory, 106-97 over
the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers in a showdown
of Eastern Conference powerhouses.
“It feels good to get this win,” said Hawks forward Paul Millsap following a 14-point, eightrebound effort. “This is for ‘Nique. It’s well-deserved and a long-time coming.”
Wilkins was honoured during an emotional
halftime ceremony at centre court, and a statue
of the former Hawk great and Hall of Famer was
unveiled outside Philips Arena.
“Now I can say I’m a Hawk forever because
you immortalised me with that statue out in
front,” said Wilkens fighting off the tears.
Jeff Teague scored 16, Germany’s Dennis
Schroder had 15 with eight assists off the bench
and Mike Scott dropped in 10 of his 14 in the
fourth frame as league-best Atlanta (49-12) won
for the 42nd time in the last 48 games.
“We’re a focused group,” Teague said. “We
know how to win.”
Kyrie Irving netted 20 points while LeBron
James added 18 but committed a whopping nine
turnovers for Cleveland (39-25) which lost for
just the fifth time in the last 25 games.
“I sucked as far as my turning the ball over,”
James said. “It was another one of those nights. I
got to do better.”
The Hawks raced out a 17-point first quarter
lead but found themselves ahead by just 81-79
early in the fourth quarter.
But Korver splashed down a pair of triples and
Schroeder added another during a pivotal 15-4
blitz that opened up a 96-83 advantage with 8.5
minutes remaining.
“Kyle Korver turned the game around making
two big threes,” James said.
The Hawks never allowed the lead to dip below
eight thereafter.
“It’s a good win, it’s a great night for Dominique,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I’m
glad we could finish it the right way.”
•Golden State Warriors 104, Dallas Mavericks
89: Stephen Curry hit five triples en route to 22
points, Draymond Green added 18, sending the
West-best Warriors (48-12) past the visiting
Mavericks (40-24), who received 14 from German juggernaut Dirk Nowitzki .
•Houston Rockets 103, Detroit Pistons 93:
James Harden collected 38 points, 12 rebounds
and 12 assists for his third triple-double of the
season, helping the Rockets (42-20) hand the
visiting Pistons (23-38) a fifth straight loss.
•Indiana Pacers 98, Chicago Bulls 84: Solomon Hill scored 16 points, Ian Mahinmi had a
season-high 14 with 11 rebounds, and the Pacers
(27-34) won their fourth in a row after beating
the visiting Bulls (39-24) despite Spaniard Pau
Gasol’s 18-point, 10-rebound outing.
•Orlando Magic 119, Sacramento Kings 114:
Victor Oladipo had 32 points with 10 assists, and
the Magic (20-43) snapped a four-game slide
after beating the visiting Kings (21-39), despite a
game-high 39 points from Rudy Gay.
•Memphis Grizzlies 97, LA Lakers 90: Zach
Randolph had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Marc
Gasol scored 18 and the Grizzlies (44-17) closed
on a 13-3 run to hand the Lakers (16-45) their
14th road loss in the last 15 games despite Jordan
Clarkson’s career-high 25 points.
•Utah Jazz 89, Philadelphia 76ers 83: Gordon
Hayward scored 25 points, sending the Jazz (2536) past the Sixers (13-49) for their eight win in
the last 11 games.
•Washington Wizards 99, Miami Heat 97:
Brazil’s Nene scored 20 points, Polish-native
Marcin Gorat added 14 with 17 rebounds, and the
Wizards (35-27) escaped the short-handed Heat
after nearly blowing a 35-point third-quarter
cushion.
Slovenian Goran Dragic netted 18 points before leaving in the third quarter after taking a
hard fall to pace Miami (27-34), which pulled
within one in the closing seconds without
Dwyane Wade (hip) and Luol Deng (right thigh
contusion).
•Charlotte Hornets 103, Toronto Raptors 94:
NHL
Al Jefferson had 23 points with 13 rebounds, Mo
Williams also netted 23 and the Hornets (27-33)
won their fourth in a row after trimming the visiting Raptors (38-24) led by DeMar DeRozan’s 30
points.
•Phoenix Suns 108, Brooklyn Nets 100 (OT):
Marcus Morris scored 19 points, including the
tiebreaking jumper with 90 seconds left in overtime, and the visiting Suns (33-30) stormed from
15 down in the fourth quarter to clip the Nets (2535), who received 19 and 13 rebounds from Brook
Lopez.
•Boston Celtics 104, New Orleans Pelicans
98: Isaiah Thomas fired in 14 of his 27 points in
the fourth quarter, shooting the visiting Celtics
(25-35) past the Pelicans (33-29) for their fifth
win the last seven games despite Anthony Davis
29-point, 14-rebound effort.
•San Antonio Spurs 120, Denver Nuggets 111:
Kawhi Leonard had 25 points, Frenchman Tony
Parker added 24 and the Spurs (38-23) won their
fourth straight after holding off the visiting
Nuggets (22-40) who dropped to 2-1 under interim head coach Melvin Hunt.
LOCAL BASKETBALL
AL GHARAFA UPSET
Jackets tap into mean streak to
end seven-game losing streak
By Shawn Mitchell
The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Results
Columbus ...................3
Minnesota ..................3
OTTAWA .......................3
Calgary ..........................5
CHICAGO ....................2
I
t appears the Blue Jackets might not go
meekly into late-season irrelevancy.
Three nights after racking up 40
penalty minutes in a loss to the Washington Capitals, the Blue Jackets kept up
their mean streak last night in a 3-2 victory
over another division rival, the New Jersey
Devils, at the Prudential Center.
It was a prudent stance to take against
tight-checking Devils, who did not smother the Jackets as they did at Nationwide
Arena last week. Instead, the Blue Jackets
jumped to an early lead, built on it in the
second period and withstood a fierce push
in the third. They did it all with a physical
edge.
It was enough to end a seven-game losing
streak and, perhaps more important, it was
a display of pride and verve for which coach
Todd Richards had been waiting.
“That’s our identity,” Richards said.
“That’s what we did all last season. When
we play our best hockey, that’s what we do.
We bring that attitude.”
Justin Falk, Brandon Dubinsky and
Marko Dano scored and defenseman David
Savard had his first career fight for the Blue
Jackets (27-33-4), who sent an early message to the Devils (27-28-10) by putting
fourth-line right wing Jared Boll on the ice
for the opening faceoff.
“It set the tone for our team,” Richards
Mark Letestu (55) of the Columbus Blue Jackets checks Adam Larsson (5) of the New
Jersey Devils during the third period at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey,
on Friday. The Blue Jackets defeated the Devils 3-2.
said.Falk, acquired from Minnesota before the trade deadline on Monday, gave
the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 6:41 of the
first period when he flipped a long wrist
shot through traffic for the second goal of
his 144-game NHL career. It was the pin-
nacle of a strong first period by the Blue
Jackets, who had been hampered by slow
starts and early deficits for much of the
season.
The Blue Jackets held the Devils without a shot for the first 8:29 and limited
NEW JERSEY.............. 2
CAROLINA ......................1
Buffalo ............................... 2
DETROIT ......................... 2
Edmonton ......... 1 (SO)
New Jersey to five shots in the opening
period.
Dubinsky, who returned to the lineup
after missing three games because of a concussion, made it 2-0 with a 4-on-4 goal at
2:24 of the second, when he teamed with
Nick Foligno to turn a neutral-zone turnover by Patrik Elias into Dubinsky’s ninth
goal of the season. The Blue Jackets took
four penalties in the second period, and
Devils forward Jordin Tootoo cut the lead to
2-1 with a power-play goal at 5:54.
Dano gathered a pass from fellow rookie
Alexander Wennberg and made it 3-1 with
a wrist shot from the left circle at 9:11. The
Devils made a fierce push in the third, and
it paid dividends when Peter Harrold beat
Sergei Bobrovsky with 13:24 left.
But Bobrovsky, playing his second game
since suffering a groin injury on Jan. 21,
was at his best late in the game. He made 21
saves.
“We won a game that was important for
us, especially for our pride and morale in
the dressing room,” Dubinsky said. “It’s
something that we’ve got to try to build
from.”
Action from the Al Gharafa-Al Wakrah match in the Qatar
Basketball League yesterday. Defending champions Al
Gharafa crashed to a 72-60 defeat. Osaro Adako scored 30
points for Al Gharafa, while Adamu Saaka excelled for Al
Wakrah with 26.
Gulf Times
9
FOOTBALL
LIGUE 1
ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP
PSG get ready for
Chelsea showdown
with win over Lens
The 4-1 home win takes the defending champions two points clear at the top,
although Lyon can reclaim first place if they win at Montpellier today evening
Derby miss chance
to go top after being
held by Birmingham
AFP
London
D
erby
squandered
a chance to go top
of the Championship as Birmingham
scored twice in stoppage time
to snatch a dramatic 2-2 draw
yesterday.
Steve McClaren’s side were
moments away from regaining
pole position in the second tier
table from Bournemouth after
Jamie Ward and Tom Ince had
put them in control.
But Birmingham had other
ideas as Paul Caddis converted
a 93rd-minute penalty and
Clayton Donaldson headed an
equaliser in the sixth minute
of additional time to stun the
second-placed hosts.
Bournemouth, who had returned to the top following
Friday’s 5-1 win at Fulham, retained their lead on goal difference as fourth-placed Middlesbrough also missed a chance to
overtake them after a 2-1 defeat
at Nottingham Forest.
A 27th-minute strike from
Grant Leadbitter gave Middlesbrough the lead, but the hosts
hit back through Gary Gardner
seven minutes later and a Dexter Blackstock goal secured a
fourth straight home win.
Third-placed Watford are
level on points with Derby and
Bournemouth after a 2-2 draw
at Wolves.
Benik Afobe and Jack Price
twice put Kenny Jackett’s side
ahead, but Watford hit back to
equalise, first through Matej
Vydra and then Troy Deeney.
Jonny Howson struck his
fifth and sixth goals of the
season as fifth-placed Norwich piled on the misery for
second-from-bottom Millwall
with a 4-1 win at The Den.
Gary Hooper scored from
the penalty spot and Wes
Hoolahan was also on target,
while Lee Gregory’s late penalty was scant consolation for
Ian Holloway’s side, who are
eight points adrift of safety.
Ipswich striker Daryl Murphy’s 22nd goal of the season
was cancelled out by Brentford
midfielder Jonathan Douglas’s
header before half-time in a
1-1 draw between two play-off
contenders at Portman Road.
Kari Arnason drew first
blood for Rotherham in their
Yorkshire derby at Huddersfield, who slipped to a third
straight defeat, with Connor
Sammon ensuring a 2-0 success for the visitors, who had
Lee Frecklington sent off in
the 74th minute for his second
yellow card.
Alex Mowatt spoiled outgoing Wigan chairman Dave
Whelan’s goodbye party with
his eighth goal of the campaign as Leeds won 1-0 at the
DW Stadium.
Sheffield Wednesday won
1-0 at bottom of the table
Blackpool and Charlton beat
Cardiff 2-1.
DEVELOPMENT
Foreign women,
not locals, may get
stadium nod: Iran
AFP
Tehran
Paris Saint-Germain's Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (right) is challenged by Lens' French midfielder Wylan Cyprien during their French L1 match, in Paris yesterday. PSG won 4-1. (AFP)
AFP
Paris
P
aris Saint-Germain warmed up for
their decisive Champions League
date with Chelsea by recording a
routine 4-1 home win against Lens
yesterday that took them provisionally to
the top of the Ligue 1 table.
A David Luiz free-kick just before halftime and a Zlatan Ibrahimovic penalty on
the hour mark put Laurent Blanc’s side in
control at the Parc des Princes, and substitutes Blaise Matuidi and Javier Pastore made sure of the points after Yoann
Touzghar had reduced the deficit.
The result took the defending champions two points clear at the top, although
Lyon can reclaim first place if they win at
Montpellier on Sunday evening.
Paris remain unbeaten at home this
season and have now gone 14 games without losing in all competitions, and that
record was never really in danger of ending here against such limited opposition.
However, Blanc will be aware of the need
for an improved display against Chelsea,
with the last-16 tie level at 1-1 and PSG
needing to score at Stamford Bridge to have
a chance of progressing to the quarter-finals for the third season running.
With that game in mind, Blanc rested
Thiago Silva and left Marquinhos, Matuidi
and Edinson Cavani on the bench against
a Lens side nine points adrift of safety and
without a win in eight league games in 2015.
The home side started well on a beautiful early spring day in Paris and almost
took the lead in the 14th minute when
Marco Verratti fed Ibrahimovic, but the
Swedish striker drilled his shot against the
bar and over.
Rudy Riou clawed away a David Luiz
header before Ibrahimovic squandered
a gilt-edged opportunity, seeing his attempted chip go straight into the arms of
Riou after being played through on goal by
Adrien Rabiot.
Lens eventually settled into the contest
and looked set to hold out until half-time
on level terms until PSG won a free-kick a
minute before the interval and David Luiz’s low strike from 35 yards swerved into
the bottom-right corner of the net.
Ezequiel Lavezzi was denied a tap-in by
a miraculous last-gasp challenge by Ludovic Baal shortly after the restart, but the
capital club doubled their lead on the hour
mark as Gregory van der Wiel was fouled
in the box and Ibrahimovic converted the
resulting penalty for his 12th league goal
of the season.
Touzghar converted a cross from the left
to reduce the arrears on 69 minutes, but
Blanc sent on Cavani, Matuidi and Pastore
for the final stages and the latter two both
got their names on the scoresheet towards
the end.
First Pastore’s low ball to the back post
was converted by Matuidi with 10 minutes
left, and three minutes after that Pastore
thumped home a volley after a delightful
one-two with Ibrahimovic.
There was still time for Van der Wiel to
crash a shot off the bar, but the win was a
fine response from PSG to Olympique de
Marseille’s superb 6-1 victory at Toulouse
on Friday night.
Marseille had not won a league game
since January 31 as their title push faltered
but the visitors were 3-0 up in 20 minutes
and 4-0 up at the break after a rampant
first-half display.
Belgian forward Michy Batshuayi gave
them a second-minute lead with a superb
long-range strike before Baptiste Aloe
diverted Benjamin Mendy’s shot home in
the sixth minute.
Toulouse’s Francois Moubandje turned
Andre Ayew’s dangerous low cross into
his own goal under pressure from Lucas
Ocampos in the 20th before Batshuayi
added his second with a simple finish seconds before halftime.
The hosts improved after the break and
pulled a goal back in the 76th when Wissam Ben Yedder’s low shot beat Marseille
goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
The visitors’ four-goal advantage was
restored two minutes later, however, when
the lively Ayew slotted home from a suspiciously offside position.
Andre-Pierre Gignac completed the
rout in the 89th minute to compound a
miserable night for Toulouse with a low
strike into the corner for his 16th Ligue 1
goal of the season.
F
oreign women may
be allowed to attend
football matches in
Iran, a top official said
yesterday, but a ban on female
nationals watching live games
seems set to remain.
The comments came a day
after FIFA chief Sepp Blatter
called the exclusion of women
from stadiums an “intolerable
situation” that he raised when
he met Iran’s President Hassan
Rouhani in 2013.
Blatter, in FIFA’s weekly
magazine, appealed to Iranian authorities to “open the
nation’s football stadiums to
women”. “A collective stadium
ban still applies to women in
Iran, despite the existence of a
thriving women’s football organisation. This cannot continue,” he wrote.
Access to football stadiums has
been forbidden for women since
the Islamic revolution in 1979, on
the official basis that the ruling
protects them from obscene behaviour among male fans.
The ban, however, has been
deemed a major obstacle to
Iran’s ambitions of hosting the
2019 Asian Nations Cup.
Without giving a timeframe, Ali Kafashian, president
of Iran’s Football Federation,
told Isna news agency that the
Asian Football Confederation
has “requested certain facilities
that we have agreed to supply”.
“We have problems
regarding the presence of
women in stadiums, but
in relation to foreigners,
we are looking at how to
solve the problems"
“We have problems regarding the presence of women in
stadiums, but in relation to foreigners, we are looking at how
to solve the problems,” he said.
Such a step would appear to
follow Iran’s Volleyball Federation, which in January said
it would break with custom and
allow foreign women to attend
male matches when it hosts a
major tournament this summer.
That decision came months
after the sport’s governing
body, the FIVB, said it would
not allow the Islamic republic
to host international events
while its gender policies remained in place.
LA LIGA
Real stumble at Bilbao, Sevilla sink Deportivo
AFP
Madrid
R
eal Madrid’s poor form in 2015
continued as they were beaten
1-0 by Athletic Bilbao at San
Mames yesterday. Aritz Aduriz
scored the only goal of the game midway
through the first-half with a thumping
header from Mikel Rico’s cross.
Madrid’s third defeat in 11 league
games means that Barcelona can move
one point clear at the top of the table with victory over Rayo Vallecano
on Sunday.
Athletic came into the game on a
high having qualified for the Copa
del Rey final, where they will meet Barcelona for the third time in seven years,
in midweek.
The hosts went in front on 26
minutes when a lovely team move
ended with Aduriz powering home a
wonderful header from Mikel Rico’s
floated cross.
Madrid didn’t even manage a shot on
target despite enjoying most of the ball
in the first-half. However, they upped
the tempo signficantly at the start of
the second period and only an amazing last-ditch challenge from Mikel
Balenziaga denied Karim Benzema a
certain goal from Cristiano Ronaldo’s
low cross.
Gorka Iraizoz then had to turn a dangerous cross from Bale out of Ronaldo’s
reach before diving to his right to save a
low effort from Isco.
Iraizoz was quick off his line once
more to deny Benzema from a narrow
angle as the pressure from the visitors built. Yet, they could have found
themselves two behind 15 minutes from
time when another prodigious leap and
header from Aduriz came back off the
outside of the post.
Seven minutes from time it was Madrid that were left cursing their luck
when a stunning Bale effort from fully
45 yards came off the post with Iraizoz
beaten.
Sevilla sink Deportivo
in seven-goal thriller
Earlier, Vitolo scored twice for Sevilla
as they put their Champions League
qualification hopes back on track with
a dramatic 4-3 victory at Deportivo La
Coruna.
Another double from Deportivo’s
Oriol Riera could not prevent Sevilla
from picking up their first win in three
league games, which cements their fifth
place in the table on 49 points.
Riera opened the scoring in the 28th
minute only for Vitolo to quickly respond with an equaliser.
The Sevilla striker then demonstrated more clinical finishing after 52 minutes, having been allowed space in the
centre of the penalty area.
Kevin Gameiro converted a controversial penalty after Vitolo, played onside by injured defender Juanfran, was
felled by Pablo Insua in the box.
Riera pulled a goal back for Deportivo
before the Brazilian central defender
Sidnei diverted a Vitolo shot into his
own net.
As the conclusion to a contest featuring some hapless defending, Sevilla defender Nicolas Pareja upended Helder
Costa for another penalty, which Deportivo’s Lucas Perez struck home.
Real Madrid's
Portuguese forward
Cristiano Ronaldo
reacts after his team's
loss to Athletic Bilbao
after their Spanish
League match, in Bilbao yesterday. (AFP)
10
Gulf Times
FOOTBALL
BUNDESLIGA
Bayern win at Hanover, Wolfsburg slip up
DPA
Berlin
B
ayern Munich extended their
lead at the top of the Bundesliga yesterday as Thomas
Mueller’s second-half double earned a 3-1 win at Hanover while
Wolfsburg lost 1-0 at Augsburg.
Reigning champions Bayern are now
11 clear of Wolfsburg but had a scare in
Hanover as Hiroshi Kioytake opened the
scoring in the first half.
Xabi Alonso levelled immediately
with a free-kick and Mueller turned the
tie after the break, netting a penalty and
a towering header.
Wolfsburg slumped to a first defeat
in 11 league matches as Dominik Kohr
bagged the only goal on a rebound from
Tobias Werner’s saved penalty in the
second half.
In the other games, Schalke defeated
Hoffenheim 3-1, Werder Bremen won
1-0 in Freiburg and SV Hamburg drew
0-0 with Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern have a Champions League tie
with Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday
which could explain a lacklustre performance against midtable Hanover.
The hosts took the lead as Jimmy Briand went on a wandering dribble and
when Kioytake’s simple run into the box
was not matched by Dante, the Japanese
finished well in the 25th minute.
The lead lasted only three minutes as
Alonso curled a free kick over the wall
from 20 yards out to leave Ron-Robert
Zieler helpless.
Dante paid the price for his lack of focus as he was substituted before the break
but Bayern remained far from inspired
until Marcelo conceded a harsh penalty
for catching Robert Lewandowski as the
Polish striker stooped for a header.
Mueller coolly converted the 61st
minute spot kick and 12 minutes later
he secured the points with a superb
leap and header into the far corner from
Franck Ribery’s cross.
Augsburg boosted their European
chances by beating Wolfsburg 1-0 when
Kohr squeezed a rebound beyond Diego Benaglio after the Swiss keeper
had saved Werner’s penalty in the 63rd
minute. The penalty was earned by Rahman Baba who had a run into the box
ended by Naldo’s foul.
Wolfsburg were not as fluent as in recent performances and in-form striker
Bas Dost had only a couple of weak
headed attempts on goal.
Schalke remain fourth but closed in
on third-placed Gladbach with a 3-1
defeat of Hoffenheim. Christian Fuchs
opened the scoring with a volley before Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting twice
crossed to set up Max Meyer.
A fine shot from Kevin Volland reduced the deficit late on but there was
no dramatic comeback from Hoffenheim who missed the chance to boost their
own Europa League hopes.
Werder Bremen drew level with Hoffenheim on 33 points thanks to a 1-0 win
away to Freiburg.
A stunning strike from Franco di Santo from the corner of the box in the first
half was enough to secure victory.
Freiburg remain 17th, two points
above bottom club VfB Stuttgart, who
were held to a goalless draw by Hertha
Berlin on Friday. The capital club are
14th, ahead of Hamburg on goal difference after the northern team gained a
home point in a hard-fought goalless
draw with Dortmund.
Today, Cologne look for just a second home win of the campaign when
they host Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer
Leverkusen, currently sixth, travel to
relegation-threatened Paderborn.
Bayern Munich’s Thomas Mueller converts a penalty against Hannover 96 goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler during their
Bundesliga match in Hanover yesterday. Bayern won 3-1 to extend their lead at the top of the table to 11 points. (Reuters)
PREMIER LEAGUE
FA CUP
Kane brace lifts Spurs,
leaves QPR in the mire
The 21-year-old England hopeful now has 16 league goals and 26 overall for the season
Reading take
Bradford to
replay after
goalless draw
Reuters
London
F
A Cup giant-killers Bradford
City and Championship Reading
played out a full-blooded 0-0
draw in their quarter-final yesterday to force a replay with a Wembley
semi-final at stake.
Third tier Bradford, who knocked out
Premier League leaders Chelsea and
Sunderland in a remarkable run to the
last eight, dominated much of the second
half but were unable to break down Reading’s resolute defence.
Despite living a charmed life, second
tier Reading could have won it in the
closing minutes when Oliver Norwood’s
looping free kick hit the post and caused
havoc in the Bradford area.
Aston Villa host midlands rivals West
Bromwich Albion later on Saturday, Liverpool entertain Championship Blackburn Rovers on Sunday and holders Arsenal visit Manchester United on Monday.
“It was just two teams going at it 100
percent in a proper cup tie and it was
difficult for both sides I think,” Bradford
forward Jon Stead told BT Sport.
“We’re still in the hat but there’s a little
bit of disappointment because we’ve not
got through. We (dominated) the second
half so that we can take great credit from
but it’s half a job so we’ve still got to do
the business down there.”
With a heavy pitch making attacking
play difficult both sides were content to
hit speculative long-balls.
Reading produced the first moment of
quality when Russian Pavel Pogrebnyak’s
well-struck shot cannoned off the post.
Bradford carved out the next opportunity when Gary Liddle’s teasing deep
cross evaded everyone before clipping the
outside of the post.
Stead, who had scored in each previous
round, was Bradford’s focal point after
halftime as they continued to lay siege to
the visitors’ goal.
The former Sunderland forward set up
James Hanson to slide a shot inches wide
before Andrew Davies’s bullet header
flew narrowly over the bar.
Reading brought on veteran Nigerian
forward Yakubu in the closing stages
and he was at the heart of Reading’s best
chance in the 85th minute.
In the other last eight clash yesterday,
Aston Villa rode on second-half strikes
from Fabian Delph (51st minute) and Scott
Sinclair (85th) to beat West Brom 2-0.
Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his second goal for Tottenham during their Premier League match against Queens Park Rangers, at the Loftus Road Stadium in London yesterday. (Reuters)
AFP
London
H
arry Kane enhanced his England credentials as Tottenham Hotspur won
2-1 at Queens Park Rangers yesterday
to move to within three points of the
Premier League’s top four.
Watched by England manager Roy Hodgson,
Kane took his season’s goal tally to 26 with a goal
in each half, making him the country’s leading
scorer in all competitions.
Spurs old boy Sandro pulled one back in the
75th minute, but despite a strong late penalty
appeal, Chris Ramsey’s QPR were unable to
avoid a defeat that leaves them three points from
safety in the bottom three.
“I’m very proud of our performance,” Spurs
manager Mauricio Pochettino told the BBC. “We
showed big character against a difficult opponent and on a difficult stage.”
On Kane, he added: “It’s difficult to say anything else about Harry. His performance today
shows his strength to keep working.”
Having exited the Europa League and lost to
Chelsea in last weekend’s League Cup final, Tottenham’s sole remaining aim is to force their way
into the top four and claim a place in next season’s Champions League.
The odds remain stacked against them, but
they retain hope, especially if Kane maintains his
outstanding scoring form.
The 21-year-old is enjoying an outstanding
campaign and the clamour for him to be included in Hodgson’s senior squad for this month’s
games against Lithuania and Italy will only increase after this display.
Hodgson was also keeping tabs on QPR’s uncapped striker Charlie Austin, who had scored
one more league goal than Kane coming into this
game and was unlucky not to add to that tally
when he hit the post in the first half.
It was Kane, though, who caught the eye,
twice capitalising on defensive errors to secure a
hard-fought victory.
The goals summed up the plight of the two sides,
with Tottenham capable of taking the opportunities presented to them while Ramsey’s men were
guilty of contributing to their own downfall.
QPR had come back into the game impressively after a bright Tottenham start, only to gift
Kane the simplest of opportunities in the 34th
minute. Andros Townsend swung in a routine
free-kick from the right that goalkeeper Robert
Green appeared to misjudge, allowing Kane to
easily head home from close range.
Ramsey’s side seemed deflated and they
would have been out of the game had Christian
Eriksen’s shot not rebounded away to safety off
the post two minutes after the restart.
It was to their credit, then, that they rallied
impressively, with Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris
once again called upon to protect his side’s lead,
this time by repelling a powerful shot from Bobby Zamora.
The hosts, though, were too vulnerable to
Tottenham’s attacking strengths and Austin
had already been forced to clear off his own
line before Kane added the second goal in the
68th minute.
Once again the forward exposed the home
side’s lack of concentration by easily springing
the offside trap to collect Ryan Mason’s throughball before rounding Green and finishing into an
empty net.
But Ramsey’s side were not finished, hauling
themselves back into the game through Sandro’s
well-placed strike, and seeing a strong penalty
claim dismissed when Nabil Bentaleb appeared
to handle Austin’s shot.
Junior Hoilett came off the bench for the home
side and sent a good opportunity flying over the
bar, further highlighting the difference in quality
between the two sides in front of goal.
Tottenham’s top-four dream remains alive, but
QPR now face an increasingly desperate fight to
avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
Eto’o rolls back years
as Samp beat Cagliari
Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o struck with a
half-volley to score his first Serie A goal
in nearly four years as hosts Sampdoria
ran out 2-0 winners over 10-man Cagliari
yesterday. Eto’o, who joined the Genoabased side in January, had failed to score
in five previous league appearances.
But a week after coach Sinisa Mihajlovic ordered the three-time African
player of the Year to stop making so
many sacrifices, Eto’o repaid his first start
for the club with an impressive secondhalf strike to wrap up Sampdoria’s 10th
win of the campaign. It was Eto’s first
goal in Serie A since the 2010-2011
season when he hit 21 league goals for
then defending Serie A champions and
Champions League holders Inter Milan.
Gulf Times
11
SPORT
CYCLING
Afghan women’s team push past roadblocks
Reuters
Kabul
M
alika Yousufi lined her bike up
alongside her teammates on a
lonely road outside the Afghan
capital, getting ready for her
weekly training ride away from the disapproving stares of Kabul.
Yousufi is part of Afghanistan’s Women’s National Cycling Team, a group that
has been breaking new ground for women’s sports in Afghanistan and pushing
the boundaries of what is—and is not—acceptable for young women in the conservative Muslim country.
Under the Taliban in the 1990s, women
in Afghanistan were excluded from public
life, banned from going to school or stepping outside their home without a male
family member.
Women’s rights have made gains since
the hardline Islamist group’s ouster in
2001, but observers worry that progress is
at risk as violence against women persists
and women remain under-represented in
politics.
“We are resolved to keep our commitments to women and we will protect and
reinforce our achievements,” President
Ashraf Ghani’s office said in a statement
released after the president made a speech
ahead of International Women’s Day being
observed across the world today.
While Afghanistan’s national men’s
cricket and football teams have enjoyed
the spotlight, women’s sports have made
more halting progress, with athletes facing
family pressure and patchy public support.
Last year, the women’s cricket team was
quietly dissolved amid Taliban threats and
a shortage of players.
The women’s cycling team is pushing
ahead, despite not having been paid for
several months, a problem for many Afghan athletes.
To clock the distances needed for training, team members pile their bikes in cars
and drive outside the capital, where their
uniform of loose-fitting tops and long
pants won’t draw stares.
During the ride, the coach leads the
pack in a car. “The coach is like a shield for
us,” Yousufi said. “If he wasn’t there, we
couldn’t ride.”
Even so, drivers sometimes shout profanities at the riders, and their team captain grapples with a back injury from a
crash after a man on a motorbike reached
out to grab her.
Abdul Sadiq Sadiqi, the coach and president of the Afghan Cycling Federation, is
not overly concerned. “These are people
who don’t let their children go to school,”
Sadiqi said.
More than 40 women train with the
group, and the core team has competed in
several international competitions.
On a recent morning, team members
leaned into the curves in the road, whizzing past a checkpoint where a group of
soldiers watched them pass.
Yousufi said she was determined to become the first Afghan woman to compete
in the Tour de France, a cycling race dominated by men since its first event in 1903.
“Nothing will stop us,” she said.
This file photograph taken on June 9, 2014 shows members of the Afghanistan national women’s cycling team
riding their bikes in Paghman district of Kabul province. (AFP)
FOOTBALL
Commercial Bank
gets Man Utd Soccer
School camp to Doha
The camp will be hosted by Commercial Bank at Aspire facility from March 10-15
Islamic Triathlon Championship
to be held at Sealine on March 13
As part of the chain of events
of ‘Active Qatar’ campaign,
the Qatar International
Islamic Triathlon Championship is scheduled to be held
at Sealine on March 13.
Competitions will include
Swimming, Shooting and
Horse Riding.
Participants will be divided
into the following categories:
Juniors: Participant’s age
shall be between 10 and 13
years. The age will be calculated from January 1 and December 31 of the same year.
Participation in this category
is only for Qatari nationals.
Youth: Age should be between 14 and 18 years.
Seniors: Above 19 years.
The conditions of participation include that the participant must pass the medical
examination.
The horse, which has to be
provided by the participants,
also has to pass the vet medical examination. Participants
must be good at both swimming and horse riding.
The applications will be
entertained by Sports Affairs
Department, located in the
11th floor of Qatar Olympic
Committee (QOC) building
near the Doha Corniche. The
application forms and other
details are available on QOC
website (www.olympic.qa).
Cash prizes amounting to
more than QR2 million have
been assigned for the winners in the Senior and Youth
categories.
While the Senior category
winner will get QR365,000,
the second placed participant
will be awarded QR182,500
and the third place finisher
QR109,500.
The Youth category winner
will get QR73,000. In addition, there will be rewards for
all positions from the fourth
to the 20th.
The organization of this
year’s championship comes
within the events of Active
Qatar, one of the projects
of the Sport Sector Strategy
(2011-2016), which includes
about 30 annual activities
throughout the year.
ACCIDENT OR MURDER?
British boxer’s body
found in Monaco
AFP
Monaco
T
By Sports Reporter
Doha
C
ommercial Bank, one of the leading full service banks in Qatar, is
proud to announce that the second Manchester United Soccer
School (MUSS) will take place in Doha between March 10 and 15. Commercial Bank
is the exclusive financial services partner
of Manchester United Football Club, the
best supported International football club
amongst Qataris.
This year, the long awaited camp will be
hosted by Commercial Bank at the world
famous Aspire training facility, where
soccer skills training will be conducted
by two of the best coaches from the Manchester United Soccer Schools.
Dean Proctor, Commercial Bank EGM
and Head of Retail and Enterprise Banking, said: “This is a rare opportunity for
the children of our Commercial Bank Manchester United Credit Card customers to
be trained by the coaches of one of the best
football schools in the world, here in Qatar.
“The Aspire training facility provides
the ideal location for kids to enjoy being
coached in essential soccer skills, following the Manchester United philosophy
that has inspired such world soccer greats
as Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney, and
we are delighted to be able to bring this
unique experience to Doha for the second
year running.”
There are 100 places available in the soccer camp, and these are available exclusively
to Commercial Bank Manchester United
credit card holders who qualify via a prize
draw. Both new and existing customers
could qualify for the prize draw by either applying for a Manchester United credit card
before February 28, 2015, or by spending QR
4,000 on their current MUFC credit card.
Commercial Bank’s exclusive financial
services partnership with Manchester
United has seen the launch of the Manchester United co-branded debit and
credit cards in Qatar, which are a first in
the country. Since launch, the take-up
by customers of these products has surpassed all expectations.
In 2014, Commercial Bank created a
series of engagement opportunities for
Manchester United fans to meet legends
here in Qatar, win all-expenses-paid trips
to Manchester to watch live matches at
Old Trafford, win player-signed T-shirts
and participate in social media experiences to communicate with their favourite
legends.
Year 2015 is also set to be an exciting
year for football and Manchester United
fans, as Commercial Bank will be running
some very exciting promotions over the
coming months allowing fans to get closer
to their favourite football team.
he body of former British boxer Michael
Graydon, who went
missing last month,
was found in a rocky crevice in
Monaco on Friday, the prosecutor’s office of the principality
informed. His body was found
by passers-by in a deep crevice
on private land.
Early investigations suggested he fell head-first.
“An iPhone, a wallet and
a driving licence in Michael
Graydon’s name were found
in searches at the scene,” the
prosecutor’s office said.
The body was also identified
by a distinctive tattoo of flowers on a bicep.
Graydon, a former boxer who
headed a boxing organisation
near Bristol in southeast England, was visiting Monaco to
attend a bout.
He went missing in the
area in the early hours of
February 21 after spending
the evening in a nightclub.
CCTV footage showed him
climbing a wall before falling
into the crevice.
A post-mortem examination
will be carried out to determine
the cause of death, the prosecutor’s office said.
Monaco authorities said
Graydon’s body would be
handed over to his partner and
parents who are in the principality as soon as possible.
BOXING
Tyson weighs in on Pacquiao-Mayweather May 2 showdown in Las Vegas
AFP
New York
U
nbeaten Floyd Mayweather’s usual conservative style
might not be enough to hold
off Filipino ring icon Manny
Pacquiao, former heavyweight world
champion Mike Tyson has warned.
Tyson is just the latest big name to
weigh in with an opinion on how the
long-awaited showdown between
the two pound-for-pound greats
might go when they step into the ring
in Las Vegas on May 2.
“He has to fight,” Tyson said this
week of Mayweather, in a video posted on YouTube.
“If he’s not going to score, he is go-
ing to lose the round. Also, if he is laid
back, he is going to lose the round.”
Tyson says the fighters who have
troubled Pacquiao have been prolific
punchers.
“Floyd doesn’t throw nowhere
near 100 punches a round,” he said.
“He’s more, you know, scientific
about it. He really plots a lot. And he
sits around and he poses. And this
guy (Pacquiao) is all over—fading,
moving. I just don’t think (Mayweather) is going to be able to play
that plotting, skill ... Floyd’s got to
fight the first couple of rounds.”
Tyson isn’t the only former heavyweight world champion who has his
eye on Pacquiao-Mayweather.
Evander Holyfield, speaking at
a sponsors’ event in New York on
Tuesday, said he plans to be at the
welterweight unification bout at the
MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“I don’t know who’s going to win,
that’s the reason I’m going to see it,”
the four-time heavyweight champion told Newsday.
“If I had to pay, I would pay to see
that fight, because that’s how great
that fight will be.”
Holyfield said the differing styles
of Mayweather and Pacquiao make
the fight hard to handicap.
“Pacquiao, the only way he can
win is if he corners him off,” Holyfield said.
“Can he corner him off? If he corners him off, I think he will win ... I
don’t think he can. But that’s what
makes the fight so interesting.”
Thailand’s Amnat Ruenroeng retains IBF flyweight title
AFP
Macau
T
hailand’s Amnat Ruenroeng retained his IBF flyweight title with
a unanimous points victory over
China’s Zou Shiming at Cotai
Arena in Macau yesterday.
The undefeated Thai was content to
box at distance for much of the fight
and despite being knocked down in the
second round coasted home 116-111 on
all three judges’ scorecards as Zou struggled to land many clean punches.
It was a crushing defeat on home soil
for China’s double Olympic gold medallist
Zou, who was fighting for the world title
in just his seventh professional contest
and only his second over the full distance
of 12 rounds.
After a cagey opening, the fight briefly
burst into life in the second round when
Amnat went down after the first real flurry
of punches that been thrown by Zou. It
looked liked the Thai had slipped over but
the referee gave him a standing count.
Both boxers struggled to land clean shots
in the opening half of the fight as they
seemed content only to box from distance
and grab and hold on once in close.
But it was Amnat, who improved his
unbeaten record to 15 wins, who was able
to prevent Zou from landing any flurries
and counter with occasional stinging
ripostes of his own.
Zou, despite having Manny Pacquiao’s
fabled trainer Freddie Roach in his
corner, appeared to lack the craft to cut
off the ring and trap the Thai, and never
really threatened to hurt his opponent.
China has only once before had a
world champion outside of the amateur
ring, and that was at the little recognised
World Boxing Council “minimum weight”
(light flyweight) category which Xiong
Zhaozhong won in 2012 and defended
the title twice.
SPORT
GULF TIMES
QSL
SPOTLIGHT
Lekhwiya surge
four clear as Ahli
hold Al Sadd 3-3
Lekhwiya have 48 points from 20 matches, Sadd have 44 with 3rd-placed Jaish way behind on 34
By Sports Reporter
Doha
Sebastian Soria of Lekhwiya vying
for the ball with a Kharaitiyat player
during their QSL match yesterday.
A
second-half
injurytime penalty scored by
Khalfan Ibrahim saved
Al Sadd’s blushes as
Lekhwiya stretched their lead
to four points in the Qatar Stars
League (QSL) yesterday.
Lekhwiya edged Al Kharaitiyat
1-0, thanks to a Sebastian Soria goal, while Khalfan Ibrahim
scored for the spot in the dying minutes as Al Sadd avoided
complete embarrassment with a
3-3 draw against Al Ahli.
Lekhwiya now have 48 points
from 20 matches, while Al Sadd
have 44 with third-placed El
Jaish way behind on 34.
Al Sadd needed to win yesterday to challenge Lekhwiya,
but the Wolves, looking for an
unprecedented 14th league title,
lost further ground after they
were held in a thriller by a determined Al Ahli.
Mosaab Khoder fired Al Sadd
ahead in the 24th minute with a
cracking shot from the edge of
the box off an assist from Grafite,
but their joy of taking an early
lead lasted just seven minutes as
Iranian Mojtaba Jabari took advantage of a poor clearance and
slotted home from close.
Al Sadd were at the receiving
end for a sustained period after
that and Al Ahli went ahead in
the 42nd minute with an unmarked Alan Dioko having it
easy after a perfect pass from
Jabari.
It appeared that Al Ahli would
head into the breather with a
one-goal advantage but new
signing Grafite rose above the
defence in first half added time
to score with a fine header off a
free-kick taken by Abdulkarim
Hassan.
In an equally thrilling second
half, both teams missed a plethora of chances but Al Ahli were
rewarded with a penalty in the
84th minute for a foul on Jabari,
and Dioko made no mistake from
the spot with a powerful shot to
the centre of the goal as goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb dived to
his left.
Al Sadd appeared on course
for their second straight defeat
– they were beaten by Lekhwiya
last week – but a whopping eight
minutes of added time came to
their rescue.
With the minutes ticking
down, Al Sadd made several for-
ays into the rival territory without much success, but Dioko
handled the ball while trying to
stop a shot, and Khalfan easily
scored from the spot to help his
team clinch a draw.
Earlier, Soria struck in the
54th minute to help Lekhwiya
bag three points and take a big
step towards retaining their title.
A defence-splitting pass from
Karim Boudiaf down the centre saw Soria perfectly placed
to slot the ball easily past the
Al Kharaitiyat goalkeeper and
put his team on course for what
could be their fourth QSL title.
In another match of the day, El
Jaish fell to a 1-0 defeat against
Qatar Sports Club.
FIA congress
supports
MENA events
By Sports Reporter
Kuwait City
F
or the second consecutive day, the activities of the first
FIA Sport Regional Congress were carried out in Kuwait,
during which the participants deliberated on the FIA plan
to support the MENA region.
The activities were carried out under the patronage of Kuwait’s
minister of information and state minister for youth affairs and
sports Sheikh Salman al-Hamoud with the participation of the
FIA President Jean Todt, the FIA Vice-President Nasser bin Khalifa al-Attiyah, the FIA Deputy President for Sport Graham Stoker
and the CEO of the Kuwait International Automobile Club Essa
Hamza in addition to a great number of international automobile
experts and around 70 attendees representing 19 members states
from the MENA region.
The participants also took part in a workshops aimed at discussing ways to develop automobile clubs in the MENA region at
the technical and administrative levels. The participants also discussed the ways to develop car races in the region and addressed
the need to ensure the safety of competitors. Rally of Egypt, which
will take part in next September, was also discussed yesterday.
Talking about 2015 Kuwait Rally - the second round of the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) - Athbi al-Nayef, Chairman of the Rally Commission at the Kuwaiti Club of Basel Salem
al-Sabah Sheikh, said the preparations are in full swing. He also
indicated that new stages would be introduced to the rally which
will kick off on March 14.
Nayef also said the attendance of an important number of motor sport experts and delegates was significant, especially that the
Congress is expected to deal with topics related to the development of motor sport in the MENA region.
The rally consultant for the MENA region Pedro Almeida also
expressed his pleasure to be in Kuwait describing the congress a
very important event for the future of motor sport in the region
which has a great potential to improve the sport.
“The number of participating countries and the presence of FIA
president here show the importance the FIA gives to this region.
That is what we are all fighting for…to raise the level of the sport
in this part of the world”, Almeida said.
FIA Development Department Director Carlos Abella said: “We
are closely following what is happening in the MENA region. We
are here every year and this is the first time that the FIA holds a
congress in connection with the MENA. The level of attendance
is very significant and reflects the importance of motor sport in
the region.”
Emphasizing the importance of this meeting, Ziad Jamous, FIA
international referee and observer and newly appointed Rally Coordinator for the MENA region, said the high level of participation to the Congress was an evidence of its significance, especially
with the establishment of working groups pertaining to different
areas to work on the development of motor sport in the region.
“That includes rallies, as we will see new events in Egypt, Oman
and Iran and cross-country races,” Jamous said.
On the last day of the Congress, the participants are expected
to adopt a series of decisions and recommendations pertaining to
the organisation of races and championships in the MENA region.
FIA Sport Regional Congress participants during the second day
activities of the congress in Kuwait City.
MOTORSPORT
World champion Ogier heads Volkswagen 1-2
Agencies
León (Mexico)
Sebastien Ogier led after 10 special
stages in Rally Mexico
T
he French duo of Sébastien Ogier and Julien
Ingrassia survived a dramatic opening leg of the
12th Rally Guanajuato Corona
and overcame the disadvantage
of running first on the road to
move into a 13.5-second lead after 10 special stages of the third
round of the FIIA World Rally
Championship.
In an incident-filled day,
where spectacular crashes and
a high rate of attrition amongst
the leading cars stole the headlines, the defending World
Champions were the models of
consistency in the lead Volkswagen Polo R WRC.
When Ogier’s closest challenger, Thierry Neuville of Belgium, sustained a puncture and
rolled his Hyundai i20 WRC out
of second place in SS8, Ogier
cruised to the end of the leg
ahead of Volkswagen teammate
Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn,
meanwhile, survived a frightening moment of his own on the
final super special stage.
“Quite amazing to have the
lead after starting first on the
road this morning,” said Ogier.
“This has been very hard and we
had to push from the first minute
to the end. But I am very pleased
with this and no road cleaning
for me tomorrow.”
Norway’s Mads Østberg re-
fused to let Andreas Mikkelsen
through into third place to make
it a Volkswagen 1-2-3 and the
Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World
Rally Team driver overcame
gearbox issues and reached the
overnight halt in the final podium place. “It got better as the
day went on. We are focusing on
trying to enjoy it,” said Mads.
Behind Mikkelsen, Welshman
Elfyn Evans was fifth in an MSport Ford Fiesta and Dani Sordo
was a distant sixth in the solesurviving works Hyundai.
The ever-improving Ukrainian Yuriy Protasov fended off an
increasingly intense challenge
from Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah to hold a 14.5-second advantage in WRC2. “It has been a
good day for us but it is a big battle with Nasser,” said Protasov.
M-Sport World Rally Team’s
Ott Tanak and Raigo Molder
were fortunate to survive a dramatic third stage plunge into a
reservoir next to the track. Their
Ford Fiesta rolled down the
banking into the water and the
Estonian duo managed to escape
before the car sunk out of sight.
It was retrieved from its watery
grave late on Friday afternoon.
“It was a difficult experience
for us,” said Tanak.
“I braked into a compression
and damaged the front-right
suspension. We couldn’t steer
the car around the next lefthand corner and went off the
edge of the road. The drop was
so steep that we rolled into the
water. Luckily the car landed on
its wheels, but the water was so
deep that the car sank really fast.
I also had a problem with my
intercom wire because it didn’t
come loose and was dragging me
into the water. It was not a nice
moment to have.”
It was an accident that bore
Rally Guanajuato Corona 2015 – positions after SS10
1. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Julien Ingrassia (FRA) Volkswagen Polo R
WRC 1hr 45min 03.0sec
2. Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)/Miikka Anttila (FIN) Volkswagen Polo R
3. Mads Østberg (NOR)/Jonas Andersson (SWE) Citroën DS3 WRC
1hr 45min 32.5sec
4. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)/Ole Floene (NOR) Volkswagen Polo R
5. Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Daniel Barritt (GBR) Ford Fiesta RS WRC
1hr 46min 06.9sec
6. Dani Sordo (ESP)/Marc Marti (ESP) Hyundai i20 WRC
1hr 46min 43.5sec
7. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Jan Tománek (CZE) Ford Fiesta RS WRC
1hr 47min 06.5sec
8. Yuriy Protasov (UKR)/Pavlo Cherepin (UKR) Ford Fiesta RRC
1hr 49min 35.4sec
9. Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Ford Fiesta
RRC 1hr 49min 49.9sec.
10. Nicolas Fuchs (PER)/Fernando Musano (ARG) Ford Fiesta RS 1hr
51min 33.8sec
11. Jari Ketomaa (FIN)/Kaj Lindström (FIN) Ford Fiesta R5 1hr 52min
07.1sec.
a striking similarity to the one
that befell Scottish former FIA
World Ladies champion Louise
Aitken-Walker and her Swedish
co-driver Tina Thörner in Portugal in 1990.
Ogier led 29 rivals from the
restart at the Rally Campus in
León to the start of the 9.91km
of Los Mexicanos. The short
gravel special took place in cool,
overcast conditions and Neuville
moved to within 0.2 seconds of
Ogier after setting the second
quickest time behind Meeke,
who climbed to third place.

Daily newspaper

Transcription

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